Rebirth of the Damned

by Borsuq

Rating: teen
Tags: Random, Crossover, Main 6, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Warcraft, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Other, Romance, Adventure, Sex
Length: 802049

Months after his death, Arthas Menethil, long known as the Lich King, is given another chance. In a world populated by talking ponies, of all places.

His evil was legend. He was an entity of incalculable power and unparalled malice - his icy soul utterly consumed by his plans to destroy all of life, until he was stopped and defeated. But what if that wasn't the end? What if he was given a second chance, in another world? For he was not always like this. Nobody is born evil. But anyone can turn evil. Will he become a hero? Or is he doomed to repeat his mistakes and walk the same path as before, the Path of the Damned?

Edited by Zaleros, TimePrincess
Proof-read by: Bazing, Sage Probo, guardianxela
Former edit: Lazygamer313
Former last check-up (starting from chapter 139): Dubz
Chapters 132-133 proofread: Sixkiller5, DarkZonker, SmurfOnSteroids, Bast, Shadowfire, Wraithguard, Bazing, Sage Probo, guardianxela
Former proof-readers: Vrilix, Defias, Merchent343, TexPony
Fan Fiction Read on youtube by lunarassassin

Epub with styles (italics, bold): http://www.mediafire.com/file/l7flswrrl68do0y/rebirth-of-the-damned.epub, created by Halusm

AUTHOR'S NOTES:
1. This is my first fanfiction, so honest criticism is appreciated.
2. This is a crossover with Warcraft universe.
3. English is my second language, so you will have to forgive me for possible grammar mistakes.
4. Hope you like it.
5. There is a prequel called: Project Eclipse.

Published 2012-10-08 09:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2023-03-18 18:34:31 UTC

2. Name

As soon as he opened his eyes, he wished he hadn't.

“No... Not here! Not again!”

He knew the Great Hall he was in very well. He looked at the all too familiar fireplace, tall enough for a man to stand in, that was filled with thick burning logs. Over the ornately decorated mantel, carved with images of fantastical creatures, the giant antler of a shoveltusk was mounted. Carved dragon heads served as sconces, holding torches with flames burning bright. Heavy beams supported the feast hall that could have housed dozens, the warm orange hue of the fires chasing away the shadows to hide on the corners. The cold stone of the floor was softened and warmed by thick pelts of polar bears, shoveltusk, and other creatures.

A table, long and heavy and carved, occupied most of the space in the room. It could have hosted three dozen easily. But now, besides him, only two others sat at it, and they were both known to him. One was old and green-skinned, with a white skull painted at his face; while the other, sitting in place of honor at the table, looked like a flame that was shaped into humanoid form and enclosed in pieces of plate armor.

“So you are awake, at last.” said the burned man.

“Bolvar Fordragon?” he asked, confused. For a moment there, he feared that what happened in past few months was nothing but another dream, but in those dreams never had this person appeared. “What are you doing here? What am I doing here?! Shouldn't I be dead?”

“Hmph.” snorted the old orc.

He paid him no heed. Once, the orc had been a shaman, able to direct vast powers of the elements, but all that remained of that time was his gift of visions.

“There must always be a Lich King.” said Bolvar, looking at him with quite literally burning eyes. “Without the master's command, the Scourge would have shred Azeroth to pieces. I am now The Jailer of the Damned, Arthas Menethil.”

Arthas winced at the sound of his name as if the man had hit him.

“As for why you are here, a piece of you have been left inside here since you died and I donned the Helm of Domination, along with Ner'zhul's soul. Although opposite to him, those shreds of your soul had no form until a few hours ago, interesting appearance by the way.”

Arthas looked at himself at noticed that he still bore the shape of a pony.

“Few hours ago...” he said, trying to understand what was happening. “... I woke up in this body, alive and in weird world, whose inhabitants look like this.”

“We know.” rasped Ner'zhul, looking at Arthas with hatred. “We've seen and heard everything that happened to you there.”

“You know, if anyone should be unhappy about being in the same room with somebody, it should be either me or Bolvar.” Arthas replied, offended by his tone. While he may have walked his path willingly, it was Ner'zhul who set the path.

“Both of you be quiet.” warned silently Bolvar. “It would appear that we are stuck with each other, so get over it.”

“You could always just kill him, that’s what I did.”

“I don't have a magical blade on me. And besides, as much as annoying Ner'zhul is, it's better to have some company, rather than sit on the Frozen Throne alone. It’s bad enough that I have to keep the Scourge in check, I don't need to go insane out of loneliness.”

“So...” Arthas said after few moments of silence, wanting to go back to his problem. “... have I died again?”

“No, you just passed out. You're not really here, we're talking through the bond we all share thanks to the pieces of your soul left here. I suppose you should wake up back in that weird world soon.”

“But why am I there?” asked Arthas, not understanding that. “Why am I alive? I remember that I was among the dead, in the darkness. And why am I brought back to life as a talking pony?!”

“How would any of us know that?” snorted Ner'zhul. “Even my visions haven't showed me that.”

“Your vision haven't showed you me impaling you on the Frostmourne, either, so I don't think they are that reliable.” answered Arthas, annoyed. “There must be a reason for this!”

“There probably is.” said Bolvar, silencing the orc before he had a chance to reply. “But it is up to you to figure out who did this and why.”

At that moment, Arthas vision became blurry. He felt as if something was pulling him somewhere.

“It would appear that you are waking up at your side.” told him Bolvar, noticing his behavior. “We will talk again, Arthas.”

Arthas stirred as he woke up.

“I think I'm starting to get used to this.” he thought, half annoyed, opening eyes.

Hovering above him was a pink head.

“Well, clearly I was wrong.”

“Oh my gosh, you're awake! The doctor said you'd be fine, but you slept whole day, so I was, like 'What if he doesn't wake up?', but...” the pink pony, that was for some reason standing atop of him, kept spouting words quickly, until she was interrupted.

“Pinkie Pie, get off him!” shouted some voice, after which strange aura enveloped the pink pony and dragged her off. “I'm terribly sorry.” said his rescuer, a lavender pony with indigo-pink-purple mane and horn. “Pinkie Pie sometimes behaves as if...”

“... As if she didn't know the meaning of words 'personal space'?” asked Arthas, more amused than annoyed.

“Well, I was going to say 'as if everypony was her friend and knew how she acted', but I suppose you are correct.” she answered, chuckling.

Arthas looked around. He was in green room (which was an understatement), and was surrounded by six mares and something that looked like a small purple basilisk standing on his hind legs.

“This will be interesting.”

“I hope I don't sound rude, but do you mind telling me why am I surrounded by six ladies and some small lizard-thing? Or, for that matter, where am I?”

They all exchanged glances, before the lavender one answered: “Well, you are in Ponyville Hospital, we are here because you saved three fillies that we know and love, and...”

“And I'm not a lizard, I'm a dragon!” snapped the lizard, apparently offended by his comment.

“This can talk?” thought Arthas, now not sure if he should expect everything, including plants, to talk in this weird world.

“Wait, you are dragon?” asked, to which the purple lizard nodded. “Are you sure? I haven't personally seen a dragon hatchling, but... eh, forget it.” Arthas stopped himself before he said 'I've heard enough from the Cult of the Damned about their experiments in Scholomance and Sindragosa's Fall to know they look different', which most likely wouldn't mean anything to them. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean any offense.” he said instead.

“That’s okay, we're cool. I'm Spike, by the way.”

“I'm Twilight Sparkle” said the lavender one, nodding her head. “And those are...”

“I'm Pinkie, but you already know, because Twilight told you!” shouted the ridiculously pink pony.

“Name's Rainbow Dash, best flier in Equestria.” said the cyan one with a rainbow colored mane and tail, which was flying above the floor.

“I could guess.” thought Arthas, noticing her mane's colors and remembering fillies talking about her.

“Applejack.” said the orange one with blond mane and tail, both tied who was wearing a hat and sounded familiar. “Thank ya for savin mah sister, Apple Bloom.”

“You saved my sister, Sweetie Belle, too.” added a white one with a horn and purple mane and tail which were combed in wavy curls. “You can call me Rarity, or Miss Rarity, if you like.”

“Is she a noble or something?” Arthas thought, noticing slight difference in Rarity's way of speaking in comparison to the other mares.

“And, um.... I'm Fluttershy.” said the one with a light yellow body and a pink mane and tail so silently that Arthas barely heard her.

“So, what’s you're name?” asked Twilight Sparkle, when everybody introduced herself. “Girls said you never got to introduce yourself.”

“My name...” said Arthas, who started to slightly panic. He didn't want anyone here to know his name. Even though this was a different world and they never heard of him and probably never will, he didn't want to say it aloud for in his mind, he wasn't the same man he was the last seven years ago.

So, instead of saying his real name, after a second of hesitation he said a name he knew the best part of him bore for some time.

“My name is Matthias Lehner.”

3. Eyes

"Matthias Lehner?" asked Twilight, puzzled. "That's a weird name for a pony."

"Well, I'm not from around here." said Matthias, not really caring. "It's rather common where I came from."

"Which brings us to our next question: where exactly are you from?"

Matthias wondered is he should tell them that he was from another world, or that he wasn't a pony. That, however, could bring even more uncomfortable questions, so he decided that for now it would be best to be as cryptic as possible.

"Why would you want to know that?" he asked instead.

"Well you're definitely not from Ponyville, and that’s the only town in Equestria that close to the Everfree Forest. And I hope I'm not offending you, but... well..."

"How can you be this old and not have a cutie mark?!" interjeceted Rainbow Dash. "You must be the biggest loser ever."

Matthias facehoofed himself and let out exaspereted noise, remembering similar reaction from the three filies. He didn't have a high opinion of himself, not after everything he has done, but calling him a 'loser' was a bit irritating.

"For the love of Light, can somebody please tell me what the hell is a cutie mark!?" he said, a bit louder than he intended.

"Aaand that's another thing." Twilight said, frowning. "How can you not know what's a cutie mark? That's something everypony knows!"

"Everypony? For Light's sake..."

"I'm from very far away, so things that are normal here are considered rare there." he said, hoping it will be good enough explanation. "I'm willing to bet that there are also few things known to me and not to you or... anypony here."

"Well, at least that's true."

"That's still impossible! How can you be a pony and not know what's a cutie mark?"

"Can you please just explain to me what it is, for Light's sake?"

"Aargh" growled Twilight, irritated. "A cutie mark is a symbol that appears on a pony after he or she discovers his or her's special talent." as to emphasize her words, she moved her body so that Matthias could see her flank, and the star like symbol on it.

For a moment he almost wished that he still had the Helm of Domination on his head, so nopony could see his face as he stared for next few seconds with undoubtedly stupid expression at Twilight cutie mark, until he realized that he was also looking at her ass, which made him uncomfortable enough to snap out of this.

"You're serious?" he asked to be sure. When all of them nodded, he tried to buy himself time to think of some good explanation as to why he didn't know something that apparently was part of this creatures life cycle: "And what, pray tell, is your special talent, Miss Sparkle? Stargazing?"

"No, my cutie mark represents expertise in magic."

"So it's more a metaphorical thing..." Matthias wondered, looking at the other mares: Applejack's cutie mark were three apples, Fluttershy's three butterflies, Rarity's three diamonds, Pinkie Pie's three balloons and Rainbow Dash's was a cloud with thunder in rainbow's colors. "Why more than half of them has three things on their cutie marks?".

"I'm beginning to see why the fact that I didn't know about something like this seemed strange to you." he said slowly. "However, I still stand by my previous explanation: I'm from very far away, where things regarding ponies are... different." Matthias hoped it sounded better than he thought it did. Funny thing was, he was still telling the truth, to some degree at last. "We don't have those cutie marks there, or, in fact, ponies with wings or horns, although we do have legends about them."

He was rewarded with confused looks.

"Where the heck are you from?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Ever heard of Azeroth?" Matthias answered, figuring he could say at least the name of his world.

"Eee, no." she answered , looking at Twilight.

"I haven't heard of that place either!" she practically yelled, surprise at her voice. "Where is this Azeroth of yours? I've read tons of books, but none of them mentioned of such place, with just earth ponies without cutie marks!"

"Her 'special talent' thing is magic, and she 'read tons of books'? I didn't know Light could be so ironic..." Matthias thought, reminded of Jaina.

Before he could answer Twilight's question, the doors opened and a brown pony with horn wearing a white coat walked in.

"Oh good, you're awake. I'm one of this hospital's doctors." he said as he came closer. "Do you mind if I take a look at your head?"

"Not at all." answered Matthias, relieved.

The doctor's horn glowed and bandages on Matthias' head had untied themselves, or at least he thought so, until he noticed strange aura, that had the same color as light around doctor's horn, surrounding them. Remembering that something like this happened to Pinkie when Twilight took her off him, Matthias guessed that this was magic.

"So only ponies with horns can use it?"

When he finished untying Matthias' bandages, the doctor examined his head, which took him mere second.

"It looks like your skin has healed. I must say, though, you must be really tough. From what I've been told, that timberwolf threw you into a tree so hard that many of its branches fell. Not only it didn't crush your skull, but you also managed to stay conscious for a good ten minutes."

"Yes, well, I've been through worse." Matthias muttered.

"I could see that. Mind telling me how those wounds on your chest were treated? They must have been grievous, to leave such scars."

"One was treated by freezing myself for few years, and the other wasn't."

"I don't really remember, I was unconscious both times. Blood loss does that to you." he said, telling the first thing that came to his mind.

"Hmh... Anyway, I don't see any reason to keep you here any longer. We're kind of full, you see, since there are still ponies with the feather flu here. I need you to fill some papers for the hospital. If you could come with me, please..."

Matthias nodded and got up. While he may have never heard of such disease as 'feather flu', as a former paladin he understood their need for more space. He wondered how serious it must be, so that priests or paladins couldn't have simply healed them, until he realized that maybe ponies don't have either of them.

As he rose from the bed he was lying on, he realized he had some kind of gown on himself, which he took off, since, apparently everypony was walking naked around. Some of the mares gasped when they saw his scars.

"I'll see you later, ladies, Spike. Light be with you." he said for a goodbye, bowing his head, and followed the doctor.

As doctor led him to his office, Matthias discreetly looked at his cutie mark, which appeared to be some sort of gnomish device. Not really sure what was that suppose to represent, he hastened his pace, until he stood in doctor's room.

"Ah, here it is." said doctor, levitating some sheets of paper and a quill. "Name?"

"Matthias Lehner"

Doctor's brow rose, but all he said was: "With two 't'?", to which Matthias nodded.

"Place of residence?"

"Hmm... homeless, I guess?" answered Matthias.

This time doctor made a comment: "You 'guess'?"

"Well, I have no place to sleep, if this is what you meant. Speaking of, do you know of any place they let you live in in return for work?"

"Not at the moment. Maybe one of those ladies would let you stay at her house? They seemed to be grateful to you for saving those fillies, and they are quite friendly."

"Maybe" Matthias replied, not really expecting anyone, or rather, anypony, to be friendly or grateful enough to let a complete stranger live in their house.

"So, what did you think of him?" Twilight asked the other girls as they left the hospital.

"Ah'don know, Twi." said Applejack, her expression puzzled. "Ah mean, am thankful he saved mah sister and all, but... he seems strange."

"Yeah, no kidding!" added Rainbow Dash. "I mean: place where ponies don't have cutie marks and there aren't any pegasi or unicorns?! Does he think we're stupid?! He's hiding something, Twilight."

"Oh, I wouldn't have said so." interrupted Rarity. "Personally, I found him quite charming. I could tell by his behaviour that he's clearly a sophisticated pony. Well, aside for cursing few times, but he was probably under a lot of stress."

"Ye, Dashie, give him a chance." said Pinkie, hopping up and down as they walked."I'm sure we're all gonna have a lot of fun at his welcome party. There're will be music, balloons, food and big sing that will say: 'WELCOME TO PONYVILLE, ATIAS MENER'. Wait... how do you write Matthias Lehner?"

Everypony else rolled their eyes. To Pinkie Pie, only few things mattered.

"And what was this 'light' thing he kept saying about?" wondered Spike. "'Light be with you', what is he, afraid of dark or something?"

"I'm sure this is some custom from where he's from." said Twilight, shooting her assistant a glance. "I'll write a letter to the princess about this 'Azeroth', as well as about Matthias. In the meantime, I think it would be best if he stayed at my place..."

She was interrupted by both Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

"Are ya crazy?!"

"He beat five timberwolves in a matter of seconds!"

"I know, and that is why he should stay with me; if he tries something, I can easily stop him with magic. And besides, I want to hear more about the place he's from, anyway."

"Are you sure, sugahcube? Ah don't know if this is good idea."

"Oh, Applejack, you're fretting over nothing, I'm sure Matthias is a real gentlecolt." said Rarity with a dismissive tone.

"And beside, I'll be there." added Spike with cocky attitude. "Even if he would try to do something bad, he can't beat a dragon."

Ponies again rolled eyes.

"Hey Fluttershy, what do you think of Matthias?" asked Twilight, noticing that their timid friend haven't said a word.

"I, well..." said the shy pony, looking at the ground. "I think he's scary."

"You think everything is scary, Fluttershy." replied Rainbow Dash.

"I know that those scars he had looked scary, Fluttershy," said Twilight; she herself was afraid to think what kind of creature left such wounds on somepony able to beat five timberwolves with relative ease. "but if he often finds himself in such situation as yesterday's, it's not really a surprise he was wounded, right?"

"Um, its not that." answered Fluttershy, shaking her head. "I was scared of... his eyes." she added in a whisper.

"His eyes? Why?" asked Twilight.

"They... were empty."

4. Mists of Equestria

After ten minutes of answering the doctor's questions and over five of putting down his signature, which was embarrassing, Matthias was finally free to leave the hospital. As he walked out by the door, wondering were should he go, he had been surprised by the sight of Twilight Sparkle and Spike waiting for him.

"Hi!" said Twilight, noticing him. "All done?"

"Yes." Matthias nodded. "While I'm pleased to see both of you again, do you mind telling me what are you still doing here?"

"Well... I just thought, that since you don't have anywhere to sleep, you could come to my place."

"Really?" asked Matthias, surprised. "That’s... nice, thanks."

"You're welcome. So, shall we go?"

"Lead the way."

Twilight smiled and started trotting away. Spike run up to her and jumped on her back.

"So," said Twilight to Matthias, not reacting to Spike's behaviour; Matthias guessed it was normal, "could you tell me more about Azeroth?"

"Ah, there it is." thought Matthias, looking around. It was already past nightfall, but only one of the moons was rising. "Or maybe they have only one moon here? Better not ask." The town was preparing for the night, it seemed; he could see ponies leaving places that reminded him of his world's taverns and inns and hurrying to their homes. More than few of them shoot him a curious glance and were more than disturbed by his scars. What struck him as odd was the fact that he couldn't see any fortification around town, no walls or anything. "Is it really that peaceful around here?" Matthias thought. At the same time, however, he noticed a town at the mountineside in a distance, which looked like somebody mixed together Dalaran and Silvermoon.

"Maybe," he said, answering pony's question. "but perhaps you could tell me few things about this place, first?"

"Oh!" said Twilight, as if the thought of him wanting to know where he is didn't occured to her. "Sure. What do you want to know?"

"How about you give me some basics?"

"Okay. This is the town of Ponyville, and this land is called Equestria, ruled by sisters Princess Celestia and Princess Luna from the capital, Canterlot, which you can see over there."

Matthias nodded.

"Princess Celestia also raises the sun, while princess Luna..."

"Wait, wait." interrupted confused Matthias. "What do you mean by 'raises the sun'?"

"Eee... what I said? She raises the sun every morning, and Princess Luna raises the moon."

Matthias shoot her a look of disbelief, but didn't say anything. Either all of these ponies were being fooled by their rulers, or this world was even stranger than he thought.

"Or is it?" he thought, remembering some of vrykul's myths about horses pulling the sun, moons and stars, or about the night elf's moon goddess Elune.

"Never mind. They're good rulers, I take?"

"Of course!" Twilight snapped at once.

"Sorry, didn't mean anything rude." said Matthias, flinching a bit.

"So, can you tell me now about your homeland? And how come nopony ever heard of it?"

"It's... complicated. You see, our land is hidden behind... a magical mist."

"What?"

Arthas stood near the dying wildkin. It was the biggest one of the group; the three smaller ones already died. Arthas mused over an idea of raising their corpses to add them too his army, but rejected this notion; he would deal with his former brothers personally, with only his subjects fighting beside him.

"Mind telling me why you attacked us?" he asked the beast, not really interested. "Most creatures simply run away. Did you liked those trees we've cut so much?"

The wildkin looked at his direction and gasped something. Arthas shook his head. He thought for a moment that these creatures were intelligent, since they used some weird magic to fight them besides their claws and beaks, but apparently, this wasn't the case. They were just some animals.

Arthas came closer to the dying beast, deciding to end its suffering in a rare moment of mercy. He raised Frostmourne and plunged it through the heart of the wildkin. As his runeblade took the soul of the beast, the death knight took a peak in its memories.

His mind was assaulted by a stream of memories and thoughts, of some strange beings and their promise.

"Slay them. None can know about this secret pandaren relaxation area." was the most recent thought in creature's head.

Arthas looked at the corpse for a long moment.

"You weren't just some animals, weren't you?"

"About few thousand years ego, our land was in terrible danger." Matthias said, recalling the memories of the wildkin who was guarding for the pandaren of the Wandering Isle their relaxation area and what they told it about their home as well as about Pandaria. "In orded to save our land, our last emperor created a barrier made of mists that hid Azeroth from the rest of the world."

Twilight looked at him, stunned. When she finally spoke, she did so in a bit unsteady voice:

"How come you are here, then?"

"I'm... not sure." he said, for it was the truth. "All I now is that I woke up in a middle of that forest and almost immediately heard three fillies screaming for help."

"So that’s why you were there." said Twilight, nodding.

"Wait, she actually believes me? What in Light's name is wrong with this world?"

"I'm assuming you would like to find a way for you to return to Azeroth?"

"No, not really."

Again, she looked at him stunned.

"You don't want to return to you home? Why?!"

"Well, mostly because I'm pretty certain that it's impossible. And besides," he added in much sadder tone "I don't really have anything to return to."

Twilight looked at the weird stallion that was walking next to her. She didn't know what to make out of him. He was big and well muscled, probably even more than Big Macintosh, which along with his scars made him appear as some brute, but spoke with eloquence befitting a prince, aside of few moments when he was irritated at something.

And there were also his eyes. Now that Twilight took a good look at them, she could understand what Fluttershy meant.

"There wasn't any emotions behind them. Whenever he has smiled or frowned, it didn't reach his eyes. As if their were obscured by a mist."

6. News from home

Matthias soon finished eating and went to sleep. While his head has healed, it still hurt a bit, and all the weird things he had to deal with since he came to this world were only adding to his migraine. The bed Twilight prepared for him looked comfortable, and surprisingly, normal. He half expected that ponies slept in a piles of hay or something.

It didn't take long for him to fall asleep. However, as soon as he did that, he opened his eyes and found himself again in Bolvar Fordragon's consciousness.

"This Equestria is really weird." the current Lich King commented.

"Tell me about it." replied Arthas, shaking his head. "I can't figure out why was I brought there."

Both Bolvar and Ner'zhul looked as confused as he.

"Logic would dictate that however it had happen, it was for a reason." said Ner'zhul. "Perhaps there is something to be done in this world that only you can do."

"But what could that be?" asked Arthas, no longer caring to be angry at the old orc. "This world appears to be more peaceful than Azeroth would ever be. What could possibly somepony like me do?"

"I see you're adapting to you new life well, despite not knowing what is it that you have to do there." said Bolvar, noticing his choice of words.

"Guess those ponies are rubbing off on me." Arthas replied, facehoofing himself. Suddenly, a thought came to him: "Hey, how long was I dead, anyway? I lost track of time in that... darkness. For a moment I even thought I sensed Sylvanas there."

"Ah yes, Sylvanas. She came before the Frozen Throne few days ago. She didn't seem to be very happy to see me sitting on it, though."

"I imagine she would be even less happy about me living again." muttered Arthas, regret piercing his heart. "What did she do after noticing you?"

"She jumped."

"She what?"

"Jumped. It appeared that with you dead she didn't have any reason to live."

"I'm touched." Arthas said sarcastically, despite how heavy his heart felt at the moment.

"So she was there. I thought it was just a different part of my torment..." he thought, feeling guilty of her death this time as much as of her first.

"However, she appeared to change her mind, if my informations that she's currently planning an attack on Gilneas on behalf of the Horde is true."

Arthas stared at Bolvar, not understanding a word he just heard.

"You said she jumped." he finally said. "While the fall itself probably would not have killed her, there are plenty of saronite spikes at the base of the Citadel. She couldn't have survived! I sensed her in wherever the hell I've been, for Light's sake!"

"Val'kyr." said Bolvar, one word enough for Arthas.

"Dammit." Arthas cursed, understanding at once. The Val'kyr were bound to him; after his death and Bolvar's 'succession', they became bounded to him. Apparently, they weren't happy that they had to lay dormant atop Icecrown Citadel, so they made pact with someone so familiar to them, bringing her back to life. "How many are with her?" he asked, not remembering at the moment how many Val'kyr were left at the time of his death.

"Eight. One of them took her place in that realm."

Arthas shook his head. The thing Sylvanas could do with Val'kyr serving her...

"Why is she attacking Gilneas?" he asked, still not understanding that. "Why is the Horde attacking them? They sit behind their Wall, not integrating with the rest of the Azeroth. The Horde has no reason to attack them."

"They still have no reason." answered Bolvar, his brow furrowing. "However, the Horde is under new management, and this management is convinced that they need a save port in Lordaeron."

"'New management'? Seriously, how long was I dead?"

"About... two or three months."

"Could you tell me what happened during that time?" Arthas pleaded. He needed to know, even if he couldn't do anything for Azeroth.

"Soon after the end of what everyone calls 'War against the Lich King', the world of Azeroth came under attack from the Emerald Nightmare. It has been stopped, however, by Malfurion Stormrage, archdruid of the kaldorei, and few others."

Arthas glanced at Nar'zhul. He has seen it happen, in one of the old orc's visions.

"Since then, both Alliance and Horde agreed to hold a temporary truce so their armies could return from Northrend without unnecessary problems. Problems they still had, however; this world is in great pain, Arthas, and all the elements are acting violently, for some reason. I'm sure that you remember that the Warchief of the Horde, Thrall, is a shaman. He went to the Outland, to seek counsel from shamans who know about violent elements, so that he could figure out what ails Azeroth."

Arthas once again glanced on Ner'zhul, the one responsible for the state that Outland is now. If he had any regrets, he didn't show them.

"Do you know what ails Azeroth?" he asked, not expecting him to answer.

"No." he said, surprising Arthas. "But I can feel the earth's pain, despite not being shaman for many years. And whenever I try to concentrate, I see a vision that you've seen through me once; a huge mass of swirling water, and laughter."

"Helpful." the comment, surprisingly came from Bolvar. "Let's hope Thrall is more successful. Anyway, during his absence, he appointed Garrosh Hellscream as acting warchief."

"Garrosh?" he knew of him, of course. Garrosh Hellscream had been an Overlord of Warsong Offensive, the Horde's army sent to fight the Lich King. From what he know, he hasn't been part of the Horde for long; why did Thrall appointed him...

"Apparently, he earned a great popularity within Horde for his victories in Northrend." said Bolvar.

"Victories? What victories?" asked Arthas, slightly offended. "Hadn't those who slain me told everyone that the whole point of this war was for me to resurrect the most powerful champions of Azeroth as my servants?"

"In case you forgot, there were only Alliance heroes in that group." said Bolvar, amused. "As for Tirion, his Argent Crusade is neutral in Alliance-Horde conflict."

"Oh, whatever."

"However, it might have been better if Thrall knew and chose somebody else, for there appeared to be some disagreement between Garrosh and tauren high chieftain, Cairne Bloodhoof. I don't know all the details, but he challanged Garrosh to a duel, which he lost, because Magatha of the Grimtotem poisoned Garrosh's weapon, and she and her tribe currently occupies Thunder Bluff."

"It might have been better, indeed."

"There are also some tragedies for Alliance, as well. King Magni Bronzebeard also tried to understand what ails Azeroth, using an old ritual that dwarves found out about while exploring Ulduar. It allows whoever performs it to be one with earth. Unfortunately, nobody expected it to be literal, and Magni ended up transformed into stone. To make things even more hectic, his daughter, Moira, returned with her half Dark Iron son and half of Dark Iron dwarves and took the throne of Ironforge."

"Thats... saddening." Arthas said, not happy that even without him Azeroth is still plagued by such disasters.

"Indeed."

All three of them were silent for a long time after that, each of them thinking of what would became of Azeroth. Being practically one being, each knew what visions visited Ner'zhul, but even he, who understood them better, could not explain or predict every thing.

"How do you know all of this, anyway?" Arthas eventually.

Bolvar smiled sadly.

"While you controled the Scourge through more intelligent and powerful servants, leaving them to control the weaker ones, I cannot do that. Those more intelligent and powerful are mostly beyond my control, Val'kyr being prime example of that. So I keep the Scourge in check by controlling those mindless ones. Their are my eyes and ears, whatever they see or hear, I see or hear."

Arthas nodded. This made sense.

"I'm sorry you have to bear such burden." he said, truly meaning it.

"It was taken up by me voluntarily," answered Bolvar. "but I appreciate your words."

Arthas bowed his head and said: "I'd better go back to Equestria, I really need some rest. See you two later."

And with that, he closed his eyes and welcomed the sweet embrace of sleep.

7. Surprise

Twilight stretched as she woke up. Despite putting several wards that were suppose to awaken her if Matt tried to rob her, hurt her or Spike or simply leave the library, she slept without being disturbed the whole night, and now she felt bad about not trusting the strange stallion.

She got up from her bed and looked at Spike's which was empty. Guessing he either was doing some of his chores or went to Rarity's, she headed down to make some breakfast for herself and Matt.

"Good morning." she heard, surprised. Matthias was already awake, lying on her spare bed and reading one of her books. Several others were lying on a small table next to the bed. "I hope you don't mind that I'm reading these - Spike said its okay, but..."

"No no, it's quite alright." she answered quickly. "This is a library, after all. I didn't know you like to read, though."

"Well, it's not that I like it, but I wanted to get to know Equestria." Matthias said pouting, at the same time blinking with one eye, as if to show her he meant it as a joke.

Twilight looked at the titles he picked. 'A millennium of Celestia's rule', 'The land, towns and cities of Equestria', 'Customs and everyday live of ponies', and 'All about dragons', which he was currently reading.

"Dragons from Azeroth are different than Spike" he said, noticing where sha was looking. "I was curious if all dragons here are like him. Unfortunately, this book doesn't have much information in it."

"Yes, ponies know close to nothing when it comes to dragons." Twilight said, a little ashamed. "Dragons tend to keep to themselves, and ponies are too scared to properly study them."

"I guess that's understandable" Matthias chuckled.

"How different are dragons in your homeland?"

"To make it short, they're the most intelligent and ancient race on Azeroth, and they are guardians of it. There are five dragonflights: red, green, blue, bronze and black. Well, there are others beside those, but they are not natural, so I skipped them."

"Not natural? What do you mean by that?" asked Twilight, intrigued.

"Trust me, you don't want to know" he said, not looking at her.

Twilight, even more intrigued now, frowned. She remembered how dragons where in Equestria: selfish, brutal, and greedy. "Well besides Spike, of course." she corrected herself. To think of dragons as guardians of some land...

"How do you know so much about them?" she asked, baffled; she didn't know much about dragons, despite her love for studying and living with a dragon.

"How should I put it... I learned few thing about them during my work." he said, and almost immediately winced on his own words.

Twilight knew better by now and didn't ask what was his work.

"Speaking of dragons, do you know where is Spike?" she asked, hoping to distract him from his thoughts.

"He mentioned something about helping Rarity at her boutique."

"Of course he did." she muttered. "Do you want something for breakfast?"

"Thanks, but Spike already made me something, as well as for you. Quite the helper you've got." he said, smiling.

"Yes, Spike is a great assistant." she answered, feeling pride in young dragon. "Well, I better eat whatever he made me."

And with that she turned to the door, thinking how to get Matthias to be more open; after all, Princess Celestia sent her here to study the magic of friendship. What kind of friend she would be (for she already thought of herself as Matt's friend) if she couldn't help him deal with whatever was plaguing his mind?

So engrossed was she in her thoughts, she didn't pay attention to anything when she entered the main room of her library. Only after few paces did she noticed something was off.

Her jaw dropped.

When Twilight left, Matthias turned his attention back to one of the other books. He wandered how long he could put her off with his half answers.

The more he studied Equestria, the more weird this world seemed to him. The fact that the Princess Celestia was at least a thousand years old wasn't strange to him (after all, there were those in his world much more older than that), but that she banished her own sister to the moon after she was corrupted by dark powers born out of her own bitterness and jealousy amazed him. He thought this world to be peaceful, and its inhabitants innocent. He was impressed by what Celestia did, and could identify himself with Luna, even if what happened to her was more similar to the work of the Old Gods .

He thought back to Stratholme. At the time, he really believed that what he was doing was right. Even now he wasn't sure what would happen if he didn't slaughter everyone there; the number of dead from that city could have been enough to destroy Lordaeron, or maybe they wouldn't. He would never know, but what he knew was this: that day, he did not only killed his subjects, but himself as well.

"Did Princess Celestia feel the same after she banished her sister?" he wondered. He thought about his own sister, Calia, who disappeared during the fall of Lordaeron, and was probably dead. At least Celestia got her sister back; according to the book, which was quite new, being printed barely six months ago, Princess Luna returned from the moon more than year ago, and was purified of her dark self by something called the Elements of Harmony, and now ruled alongside her sister again after a thousand years. "Why don't we have those back on Azeroth?" he smirked at his dark humor.

No less surprising was to him the fact that they had essentially the same celebrations: Azeroth's Love is in the Air for Equestria's Hearts and Hooves Day, Winter Veil and Lunar Festival for Hearth's Warming Eve, Hallow's End for Nightmare Night, Midsummer Fire Festival for Summer Sun Celebration, and apparently, Apple family (which he guessed must be Applejack's family) had something called Applebuck Season, which was more or less same as Harvest Festival, as well as Cider Season for Brewfest. While there were some differences, it was still weird for two worlds to have similar celebrations in in the same time.

Despite Matthias concentration on ponies related subjects, he managed to learn something very useful: what kind of other creatures were intelligent in this world, such as griffons, Diamond Dogs, mules, donkeys, zebras, minotaur, buffalo, cattle, sheep...

"Hey Matt?" his train of thoughts was interrupted by Twilight's voice. "Would you mind coming here for a moment?"

"Sure, no problem." Matthias answered. He could use a break anyway. He never understood how Jaina could read for hours without one.

Wondering what was it that Twilight wanted from him, he opened the door.

"SURPRISE!" greeted him a fairly big crowd of ponies, which were surrounded by balloons and colorful pieces of paper.

His jaw dropped.

8. Detrimentum a do sola ditas

Matthias could only stare wide-eyed at the crowd of ponies and jumping Pinkie Pie among them.

"So, do you like it? Were you surprised? Were you? Were you?" she asked, suddenly appearing next to him.

"'Surprise' is an understatement." he muttered to himself, and to Pinkie said: "What is all of this?"

"Duh, your surprise 'Welcome to Ponyville' party!" she shouted with excitement.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that, I..."

"Of course I had to it, silly, I throw them for anypony new in town! So, do you like it?" she asked again.

"Why, yes, of course." answered Matthias immediately, and then he realized something: "Hey, wait a second! Half an hour ago I went to the kitchen to get something to drink. How did you prepare all of this in such short time, without making any noise at that?!"

"With my party cannon." she said innocently, while pulling a big cannon from somewhere behind her and shooting a bunch of balloons and pieces of paper from it.

"That still doesn't explain the lack of noise..."

"Oh, just let it go." interrupted him Twilight, coming closer. "Trying to make sense out of weird things happening around Pinkie Pie is a waste of time."

"What do you mean?" asked Matthias, confused.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." answered Twilight, smiling.

Matthias chuckled, hearing her use his own words against him.

"I guess that’s fair."

"All right!" shouted Pinkie. "It's time to party!"

She ran up to a unicorn pony sitting near some weird contraption and said a few words to her. The pony, who was wearing purple tinted sunglasses for some reason, nodded and used her magic on her machine. Out of nowhere, a music could be heard.

"This world is really weird." Matthias thought, rolling his eyes.

"Did you know about this?" he asked Twilight.

"No, I was just as surprised as you are. Pinkie could have at least asked me before she threw a party here." she answered, but didn't appear to be angry. "Oh well, no sense standing here. Go and enjoy yourself." Twilight said as she trotted away to talk to Spike and Rarity.

Matthias looked resigned around, and made his way to the table with snack on it. Few ponies that walked past him said "Hello.", or something along those lines, but other than that, they were talking between themselves, for which he was grateful.

"Hi mister." said a familiar voice.

Matthias turned his head left and smiled.

"Hello to you, too. I hope the three of you didn't get into much of trouble while I wasn't around to save you." he said to the three fillies with a grin.

"No, we kinda all got grounded after that timberwolves thing." answered the little unicorn, Sweetie Belle, if he remembered correctly, with anunhappy voice. "We were only allowed to come here to again thank you for rescuing as."

"Serves you right." he thought.

"Your families just want to make sure you won't do something like this again." Matthias said, trying to cheer them up.

"Yeah, we'now, but its still unfair." said the earth pony, Apple Bloom.

"But that’s not what we came to talk to you about." said the pegasus, Scootaloo; Matthias was thankful that he asked Spike this morning about her name, among few other things.

"Oh right, we wanted to ask you if you would liked to join our club."

"Your club?"

"Yes, we are the Cutie Mark Crusaders." said Scootaloo with pride in her voice.

Matthias barely stopped himself from bursting into laughter. He couldn't help but wonder how would the Argent Crusade, or even better, the Scarlet Crusade, react to those three fillies and their club.

"And what is it that you do?" he asked, keeping amusement out of his voice.

"We're on a mission..."

"... a quest..."

"... to find our special talents and earn our cutie marks!"

"And we figured, that since ya don't have yar's, and you saved us at the Everfree Forest, you could join us and discover you special talent as well!"

Matthias was touched that these three girls wanted him to join their special club (and once again, he was amazed how trustful denizens of Equestria were), however, he knew he couldn't accept their invitation.

"I'm honored that you would let me join the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but unfortunately, I will have to respectfully decline."

"What? Why?!" said the three fillies, crestfallen.

"Because I'm afraid how would my cutie mark looked like."

"I'm not sure if you heard already, but I'm from a land that ponies don't have cutie marks." he said, and the fillies nodded. "While coming here might have changed that thing for me, I still don't know if I can have a cutie mark. If I can't, I would be wasting your and my time by trying to discover what my special talent is. You could spend that time better on discovering your talents, while I on figuring out why am I here."

"What'ya mean, 'why am I here'? asked Apple Bloom.

Matthias cursed at himself. While trying to cheer them up, he said to much.

"Everything happens for a reason." he said, hoping he won't have to go into much details. "I don't know how come I am here, but there must be a reason for that... as well as I am sure there is a reason ponies have to earn their cutie marks, instead of simply being born with them."

"I suppose you're right." said Sweetie Belle, still a bit sad.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you will discover your special talents soon. You don't need an old colt like me to slow you down." Matthias said, winking.

That finally made the girls laugh. Saying their farewells, they went over to the group of ponies near their age.

"Ya handled them pretty well." said Applejack from behind him.

"I'm assuming that's not easy." he replied, turning around.

"Yah, well, they can be handful, alright." Applejack said, looking at him closely.

"Finally, somepony who doesn't trust me." he thought, almost happy.

"You don't trust me, don't you?" Matthias said, pouring himself a drink.

"Ah just think ya're dangerous." she answered, not even trying to deny it. Matthias couldn't help but to admire her courage, as well as her common sense. "Don't get me wrong, Ah'm happy ya saved mah sister and the others, but that doesn't change the fact that ya are stranger. No offense."

"None taken. In fact, I'm impressed."

"Pardon?" she asked puzzled.

"You're right, I am dangerous. So are you, if what Spike told me about your applebucking skills is true. However, you're the first pony who remembers that, beside Spike, who is a dragon, so he is bound to look at some things different than ponies. Hell, Twilight even invited me to sleep in her house without taking any safety measures, unless she put some sort of magical wards on me or something."

"So... ya're sain' that..." said Applejack, confused.

"What I'm saing, Miss Applejack, is that you have the same reasons to be cautious of me, as I have of you."

Applejack stared at him for a moment, and finally said:

"Ya're weird."

"Duly noted." he replied, amused.

"Well , hope you have fun at the party." she said, leaving.

Matthias looked at his drink, which, despite not having any fingers, he somehow managed to hold.

"Fun, huh?" he thought, wondering if somepony like him deserved to have fun, and taking a sip of what turned out to be an apple juice.

"Hey Spike." Matthias said, noticing the dragon.

"Hey." Spike answered, pouring himself a drink. "How do like the party?"

"It's fun." he said. "Hey, what were you going to do at Rarity's place? You said she is a fashion designer, right?"

"Yes. I figured she may need some help with something." dragon answered, slightly blushing.

"You... like her, don't you?" Matthias asked, surprised.

Spike jumped.

"Hey, not so loud!" he said in a hushed tone, looking around. Nopony was paying any attention to them at the moment, though. "Yea, I kinda have a crush on her." he confessed.

"A dragon has a crush on a pony. I officially cannot be amazed by anything anymore."

"Mind if I ask you a question, Matt?" asked the dragon.

"Shoot." Matthias said, taking another sip.

"We're you ever... dating somepony?"

Matt's mind whirled at the memory of Jaina, but nonetheless, he nodded.

"Mind giving me some tips about asking girl out?" Spike said, both hopefully and embarrassed.

"And now dragon is asking me for tips about dating." Matthias thought, confident that Bolvar and Ner'zhul must be laughing right now.

"Looking how my relationship ended, I don't thing it's a good idea for you to listen to me." he said, hoping the dragon would take a hint and dropped the subject.

"What do you mean?" asked Spike, oblivious to Matthias discomfort.

"That the last time I've seen the woman I love, I tried to kill her."

"Who does what mean?" asked Rainbow Dash, who flew up to them.

"Matt has been telling me about his girlfriend and how things didn't end well." blurted out Spike.

Matthias looked at the dragon, who just now realized that he may have wanted to avoid this subject in front of others.

"Wait, a loser without a cutie mark had a girlfriend? I find that hard to believe." said Rainbow Dash with a smirk on her face.

"Are you jealous or something?" asked Matthias, trying to change the subject.

"Huh, you wish!" answered Rainbow Dash, clearly offended. "I don't deal with losers, let alone date them!"

Matt privately wondered if the tomboyish pegasus would ever date anypony.

"So..." said Spike, unsure if he should continue. "How did your relationship ended?"

"Basically, I told her I wasn't ready for a serious relationship, and we broke up." Matthias said, bitterly remembering that Winter Veil. "We tried again few years later, but things... didn't work out so well again."

"'Things didn't worked out so well'." he snorted in his thoughts. "I asked her to help me slaughter thousands of innocent people. Of course she would leave me! Pity she or Uther didn't simply kill me then."

His pain must have been visible on his face, because Rainbow Dash said sympathetically:

"Wow, I almost feel bad for you."

"Don't." he answered, thinking: "Better feel bad for all those who might have lived have I been husband and father."

"I said almost." Rainbow replied with a grin.

Matthias sighted.

"If the two of you would excuse me, I'm going to get some fresh air. It's a bit stuffy here." he said, bowing his head to them, and left the library.

Twilight heard the doors open and notice with a surprise that Matt has left. Last she seen him, he was talking to Spike and Rainbow Dash, so she went over to them, the other following her.

"Hey, what happened? Why did Matt left?"

"Well, he might have felt bad about what we were talking about." said Spike uncomfortably.

"What were you talking about?"

"He was telling us about his girlfriend that he broke up because he wasn't ready for a serious relationship, and later when they got together again they broke up." answered Rainbow Dash.

While Twilight was thinking this through, realising this was most likely this friend he mentioned to her yesterday, and started to better understand Matt, she heard Applejack say:

"Man, Ah almost feel bad for him."

"That’s what I said!"

Twilight shook her head.

"We better go after him." she said.

"Why?" asked Rainbow.

"Duh, because the party is still on!" said Pinkie happily.

"I don't think it's just about this." Twilight replied, as if Pinkie hadn't said anything. "Like Fluttershy said, he's... empty inside. Whatever happened to him that caused it, it must have been something horrible. Now, while you got him thinking about his girlfriend, it might be easier to get him to talk."

"Couldn't you just use some spell to read his mind?" asked Rainbow Dash, clearly not interested.

"No, because it's an invasion of a pony's privacy." replied Twilight, not mentioning that she didn't know a spell to read minds.

"Come on, ya'll, lets just go and find him." said Applejack.

"Spike, you stay here and keep the party under control."

"Got it!" Spike said, saluting, as Twilight and the other five left.

They looked around the library, but he was nowhere in sight.

"Okay, think." Twilight said, poking her head with hoof. "Where would you go, if were in an alien land and were feeling depressed?"

"Umm... to the river to look at the water?" shouted Rainbow Dash, looking from high above the ground.

Twilight looked at the direction her friend was pointing, nodded at the rest, and galloped over there. After few moments, they spotted Matthias.

Spike looked at the door few minutes after his friend left. He felt guilty; if he didn't keep pestering Matt about relationships, he wouldn't have left, feeling sad. He should apologize to him.

And with that in mind, he left the library as well.

Matthias looked at his reflection in the river, thinking about Jaina, as well as his father, Uther, Muradin, Antonidas, and everyone he ever hurt, which meant pretty much everyone. Even Invincible. He winced as he recalled how he caused his friend's accident, and was forced to end his suffering. He remembered, how the first thing he did after murdering his father was raising his beloved steed from his grave, so he could serve him once again.

He looked at he sky. "Had Invincible hated me?" He never thought about this before; he always assumed that stallion trusted him in everything, but now... he wasn't sure of anything anymore.

And it was with this thoughts in mind that he opened his mouth and did something he hadn't done in years: he started singing.

Comilito equinus

Orbitas lacuna

G'Odhun A'l Korok Boda Uh'm

Boda Uh'm Ron'Kashal

Detrimentum a do sola ditas.

An Karanir Thanagor

Mor Ok Angalor

Mor Ok Gorum...

Pala Ah'm Ravali Ah'm.

Comilito equinus

Orbitas lacuna

G'Odhun A'l Korokh Boda Uh'm

Boda Uh'm Ron'Kashal

Detrimentum a do sola ditas.

An Karanir Thanagor

Mor Ok Angalor

Mor Ok Gorum...

Pala Ah'm Ravali Ah'm.

The girls listened, mesmerized. None of them could understand any word of this song, but the sadness of it could pierce anypony's heart. And none of them expected Matthias to have such beautiful singing voice, either.

When he finished his song, they looked at each other, unsure what to do now. Finally, Twilight stepped forward and said:

"Matt?"

He whirled around, surprised. It said something about how lost in thoughts he was that he hadn't noticed them earlier.

"Oh, hey. Sorry I left the party, but I needed to think about something."

"Yes, we guessed." said Twilight carefully. "That was a beautiful song, by the way."

"I don't know what came over me." Matthias replied, looking away. "I usually don't sing."

"Pity." said Rarity, trying, without a doubt, like Twilight to make him more open. "You have a very beautiful singing voice."

"Thanks."

"Do you mind telling us what this song means?" asked Twilight. "We couldn't understand its words."

"Very well, but I warn you: it's not a happy song." Matthias answered, thinking how to best translate this song into Common. He decided to use the translation he was most familiar with, changing only the word 'steed' into 'friend'.

'O friend, stalwart companion

I mourn your loss

Even in death, first in battle,

Last to retreat, even so in death

Alas, I have lost a part of myself.

Long live the king

May his reign last forever

May his strength...

Fail him never.

'O friend, stalwart companion

I mourn your loss

Even in death, first in battle,

Last to retreat, even so in death

Alas, I have lost a part of myself.

Long live the king

May his reign last forever

May his strength...

Fail him never.

As he expected, all of them, including rough Rainbow Dash and always happy Pinkie Pie, were looking at him with sad eyes.

"Matt..." started Twilight, but never finished.

She was interrupted by a loud laughter and terrified scream.

"That sounded like Spike!" said Rainbow Dash, and everypony looked at each other, before they galloped toward the source of the scream.

9. Where Dragons Fell

As they run, Twilight tried to imagine into what kind of trouble Spike got himself now, but nothing could prepare her for what she was about to witness.

There they were, in the center of Ponyville. The three jerky dragons that Spike first befriended, then angered when he realized what kind of friends they really were during the Great Dragon Migration, were standing right here, and their leader, the red one, was holding Spike by his head high above the ground.

"Hey, leave him alone!" she shouted to them, infuriated.

They noticed here and started laughing.

"Aww, look! Those are the namby-pamby pony friends of Spike!" said the red one, still laughing.

Twilight bit her lip, thinking for a heartbeat what she could do. The dragon was still holding Spike; she could easily teleport him out of his grasp, but what then? The dragons would be still in Ponyville, and she doubted than anypony beside the Princesses could made them leave, even if they were only teenagers.

"We're so sorry to decline your request," said the red dragon with mocking tone. "but, you see, we kinda came a long way to visit our friend Spike, and we're not really in a hurry to part ways. Right guys?"

"Heh, yeah!" replied the fat bronze dragon.

"Yeah!" repeated the tall purple one.

"But don't worry, we will come over to you and say hello, soon."

Twilight's horn glowed, as she prepared to cast a spell.

"I said: Leave! Him! Alone!"

"Oh yeah?" red dragon said, snorting. "Or what?"

Before Twilight had a chance to reply, a calm voice sounded behind her:

"Or else, you will have me to face."

Matthias came closer to the dragons, so they could see each other better. Like Spike, they were different from dragons from Azeroth. They were bipedal, had small wings, one of them was ridiculously fat, and they appeared to be incredibly stupid. Judging by the size difference between them, Spike and a matured dragon from the 'All about dragons', Matthias guessed that they must be a teenage dragons, on Azeroth called drakes.

Just as he was observing and judging them, the dragons judged him. They weren't impressed, if their laughter was any indication.

"Oh look, those ponies have a knight in shining armor!" said the one holding Spike, who looked slightly less brain-dead than the others. Nevertheless, he was laughing. "And you know what dragons do to knights in shining armor, right?"

"They let them kill them?" Matt asked, keeping his voice casual.

That finally got him attention from the dragons. None the one he would desire, since they were rather angry instead of worried, but still, it was some improvement.

"Now, how about you release Spike and leave the town, before things get... ugly."

"Oh yeah?" snapped the red dragon. "We'd rather prefer things to get ugly. Whole town's gonna be ugly when we're finished with it." he said, and burst into laughter again, along with his two henchdragons.

"Big mistake." Matthias thought, as they took their eyes off him.

"I don't know what surprises me more." he said, not caring that with the noise the dragons were making they couldn't hear him. "That dragons can act this way despite not belonging to Black Dragonflight, or..." he added in much darker tone, as he throw himself at the three drakes. "... that you actually think the three of you stand a chance against me!"

By that time the red dragon noticed that something was off, mostly because the last word Matthias practically shouted right into his ear. But he still couldn't do anything to stop Matt from slamming his knee into the dragon's throat.

As soon as he landed his hit, Matthias bit back a shout of pain that came with it. Dragon's scale was even thougher that he gave it credit for, but now there was no turning back. As the red dragon gasped for air, he hit him with his elbow at the base of skull for good measure.

At the same time, he could hear that the other dragons noticed what was happening, so Matthias whirled, grabbed Spike, and jumped away, just in time to avoid the flames, which were most likely meant for him, but hit the red drake instead.

Being save for a moment, he spared few seconds to toss Spike to Twilight, knowing she would catch him with her magic, and said:

"Don't interfere! I won't be able to both fight them and protect you at the same time!" and with that, he turned his attention back to the dragons.

As he suspected, their scales gave them more resistance than even the bark of the timberwolves. The two strikes, which would have crushed any other creature's spine, didn't do much to the red drake beside leaving him stunned for few seconds, and his comrades flames did even less. In fact, he was the one who was more hurt.

"Time to change tactics." he thought, and threw himself between the dragons.

Twilight and her friends were looking, stunned, as Matthias threw himself right between the dragons. That was pure madness! Now not only he was fighting three dragons, but was also surrounded by them.

"I have to help him!" she thought, and prepared to cast a spell, despite Matt's warning not to help him. At the same time, however, one of the dragons tried to hit Matthias with his tail, which he swiftly dodged, and the tail hit the other dragon instead.

Twilight now understood what Matt's plan was. He noticed, or, which was even more likely, knew from the beginning, that his punches weren't going to have much effect on dragons. Their scales were too thick and durable. Even striking at vital points such as the throat wasn't enough. So, instead of using his strength, he was going to use the dragon's own strength instead.

Still, this was going to be risky. If he couldn't dodge a single strike like the one before, he would end up with his bones broken.

Twilight looked at her friends. All of them were staring at the scene before them with wide eyes, as well as all the ponies, who were showing a common sense by staying in their houses and were watching the fight through their windows. And none could blame them. How often a single pony was fighting three dragons and was winning? It was such a captivating scene, that it wasn't until few hours later that it hit Twilight that she should have sent a message to the Princess at this moment.

Matthias tried his hardest to keep up. As much as he hated to admit it, he underestimated those drakes a bit. They were faster, and, judging by their yowls of pain as they hit themselves, were also stronger that he gave them credit for. But still, he had the upperhoof: it was a lot harder to hit a smaller target. All he had to do was keep in mind their positions and react in time.

And that was what he managed to do, until he was forced to jump in the air, and realised too late that he couldn't dodge the fireball the purple dragon was about to fire at him. Cursing at himself, he crossed his arms in front of him, and waited those few fractions of seconds for fireball to almost reach him, and in that precise moment, he hit the air in front of him, which actually worked better that he expected. The dragon was also surprised, so Matthias used his momentum and slammed the dragon's face with his hooves, extinguishing few flames that were on them in the process.

Unfortunately, he lingered with pummeling the purple dragon's face a second too long. The brown dragon grabbed him from behind and lifted him in the air, squeezing his chest. As he felt his ribs shatter, he uttered a short, painful scream.

Ponies looked terrified as Matthias screamed. Their defender has lost, and dragons won.

"Heh, not so tough now, huh?" laughed the brown dragon, as he squeezed him even harder with one had, and moved the other to his throat..

Twilight was as terrified as anyone, but her fear lasted only a short time. She once again prepered to cast a spell she had in mind for a while, but before she finished, she stopped.

Matthias, despite being strangled, was talking.

Sensing the dragon's claws around his throat, Matthias didn't fall into despair, as most ponies would. Instead, he fell into rage.

Uther couldn't kill him. Sylvanas couldn't kill him. Anasterian couldn't kill him. Antonidas couldn't kill him. Such great heroes, warriors or wizards, and they fell before him. And now, when he was actually fighting to protect others, for the first time in almost a decade, he was going to get killed by those pathetic creatures?!

He gazed at the dragon with eyes that could cut through a saronite, and the drake, despite crushing him, despite strangling him, backed off a bit, scared, and loosened up his hold of Matthias. Not enough to let him escape, but enough to let him speak.

"I defeated the dreadlord Mal'Ganis at Drak'Tharon Keep!" he snapped, getting everypony's attention: both from dragons and ponies. "I fought with the blue dragon Sapphiron, the ancient servant of Malygos the Spell-Weaver, at the wastes of Dragonblight, and made him serve me instead! I dueled the demon hunter Illidan Stormrage, Lord of Outland, in front of the doors of the Frozen Throne, and was victorious! I faced the avatar of the Old God, Yogg-Saron, in the forgotten depths of Azjol-Nerub, and walked away alive! I will NOT be defeated by the likes of YOU!!!"

His last words turned into a yell, as he managed to free one arm and hit the drake right in the eye, which caused the dragon to yowl in pain. Whirling himself free after that, Matthias spun around and kicked the drake in the jaw, breaking it.

As the bronze drake fell to the ground, writhing in pain, Matt looked at the other dragons with hatred in eyes, and attacked again.

Twilight watched as her friend once again threw himself at the dragons, but this time it was different. This time he wasn't letting their attacks to land on each other while he dodged them. This time he was attacking, with rage burning through his eyes.

She though about what he just said, about all those victories against some strange creatures, including a dragon, which, judging by his title, was a full grown dragon. She though about his scars, and how he seemed so full of hatred right now.

For the first time, Twilight felt actually scared of Matthias.

Despite his injuries, Matthias moved even faster now, easily dodging all of the drakes attacks, and landing his. While they still were far from effective, he kept striking at sensitive areas, such as the throat, eyes, and joints. After a while the dragons started to actually grunt in pain whenever he hit them, which told him they wouldn't last long. That thought almost became his undoing, when he let his guard down and once again jumped up into the air, and get hit by red drake's tail. Thankfully, he managed to lift his arms and block it, but the force of the strike threw him trough the doors of a bakery.

"Now I'm pissed!" he thought, angry both at the dragons and himself. As he got up from the floor and looked around to see if the owners were here so he could apologize to them before he throw himself back into the fray, he noticed a long knife lying on the table next to him.

"Mind if I borrow it?" he said aloud, and, not waiting for an answer, hit the knife with a hoof, and as it shoot into air, caught it with his teeth, with the blade on his right side.

He could see the the purple dragon in front of the bakery, preparing to set it aflame and him along with it. Matthias was faster. He jumped out through the hole in the door and slashed the drake's open mouth.

"Awhh, mah toungh!" yelled the dragon, despite his wound being a mere graze. Matt didn't spare him a look, and kicked with his back legs drake's kneecap, causing the dragon to collapse.

As he looked at the last standing drake, he throw the knife into air, let it spin around, and caught it. Now the blade was on his left side.

He charged at the dragon, not bothering to look at his face. Matthias jumped between his legs, and slashed, managing to cut, even if barely, through drake's scale at it weakest point. As the dragon was falling, Matthias swiftly rolled out from under him, and jumped on his chest. He twisted the knife again, and prepared to lower it into the red dragon's throat, looking into his eyes.

The dragon looked backed at him with the exact same look as the children's of Stratholme gave him.

Terrified.

For what seemed like an eternity, he stared at those eyes, realizing what he almost did. Finally, he spat the knife away, and get off the dragon, forcing himself not to tremble.

"Get out of this town and never return." he said, somehow managing to keep his voice calm.

As the dragons picked themselves from the ground, two of them limping and one holding his jaw, he stood still, despite his urge to go away from everypony. But he wasn't going to take his eyes off the dragons until he was sure they left for good.

For a moment, it seemed that it would take long. But soon, the red drake looked back at him, all his fear disappeared already, and said:

"Don't think this is over! We're just a teen dragons. But just you wait. When we are full fledged dragons, we will return. And you will burn!"

Matthias shook his head. If the dragon didn't learned anything, he would break it to him.

"The only reason why I'm letting you leave is BECAUSE you are youths. Return when you are all grown up, and I will kill you without a moment of hesitation."

The dragons throw him scared looks, and all the ponies gasped.

"I don't know how the ponies in Equestria do things," Matthias said, making sure the dragons knew that he wasn't kidding, "but where I'm from, if somepony threatens to hurt our friends and burn our village, we don't sit idle."

The dragons hastened.

When they left, Matthias didn't bothered to looked at the ponies. He knew what he would see in their faces.

He turned away and went once again to the river.

10. The Pony and the Raven

Twilight simply stared at the space where Matthias had nearly killed three dragons long after everypony started whispering between themselves about what just happened. Finally, her friends managed to snap her back into reality.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"Ah was sayin': what are we going to do'bout Matthias?'" repeated Applejack.

"What do you mean?" asked Twilight, despite knowing the answer.

"What do you mean: 'what do you mean'?!" asked Rainbow Dash. "He just beat three dragons, and said that he could kill them! He is dangerous!"

"Twilight, darling, as much as I hate to do it, I must agree with Rainbow Dash on this one." added Rarity, clearly unnerved by what they all just saw. "That Matthias is some kind of... " she stopped, looking for the right word.

"A nut job?" hinted Rainbow Dash.

Rarity nodded, dismayed.

"Ya, well, what are we going to do ya'll? We've got a potential murderer in Ponyville, for pity's sake!"

"Shouldn't you write to the Princess about him by now, Twilight?"

Twilight bit her lip, unsure. While she really needed to write to the Princess (quite frankly, she should have written to her yesterday), that would most likely result in Matt being arrested or banished, and that would be unfair. After all, he was only protecting Ponyville and them, even if his methods were a bit brutal.

And like that, Twilight has made her decision.

"I will write to the Princess," she said, looking at her friends, "but not now. First, I need to talk to Matt."

Her friends almost immediately protested and tried to talk her out of this.

"Twi, have you gone bonkers?"

"He almost killed! Three! Dragons!"

"Exactly!" said Twilight, hoping her friends could see her reasoning. "He almost killed them. But he didn't. He stopped the moment when they understood they were beaten, and let them leave."

That finally got some positive attention out of them, but they still remained unconvinced.

"But... he still told them that he would have kill them if they were grown up dragons." said Rarity.

"Maybe he was bluffing?" replied Applejack, but her tone said she didn't believe that.

None of them did. They all could hear in Matthias voice that he meant his words.

"Well... he is from a different land." said Twilight. "He said himself that's how they deal with threats. At least they don't kill kids."

Her friends looked at each other.

"Ah ya sure, sugarcube?" asked Applejack. "Ah wouldn't want to see ya get hurt."

"Yes, I'm sure, and I will be fine. I will go talk to him now, and I will send Princess Celestia a letter about this later." she answered, hoping that Matt would tell her something that would convince the Princess to let him stay in Equestria.

"Do you want us to come with you?" asked Rarity.

"Not now, it would be better if it would be just me talking to him."

"Well, okay then." said Applejack. "Ah have to get Apple Bloom back home now, anyway."

"I have to get my sister back home as well." added Rarity.

"And I would better see how the Cakes are doing. Oh, and I should bring them their knife back, too!"

"I have to check on my animals. Oh, and, umm, Twilight... please thank Matthias for scaring those scary dragons away."

"Well, since everypony is going to do something, I might go bring you back that 'Daring Do' book and borrow the next one."

"Okay, lets all meet all back in a library in... half an hour?"

They all nodded their agreement.

"Spike, could you clean the mess from the party?"

"Fine." said the baby dragon, reluctantly.

And with that, saying their farewells, Twilight walked the way Matthias went.

When Twilight left to find Matt, her friends stayed a few moments longer, besides Spike, who went to the library and started cleaning it.

"Is it just me," started Rarity. "or was Twilight trying really hard to find some... excuse to not throw Matthias into a dungeon or something?"

"Ah noticed that too."

"But why would she do that?" asked Rainbow Dash, confused.

"Maybe she, umm... likes him?" said Fluttershy.

"Well, he did seemed to be fun." replied Pinkie.

"Pinkie, darling, I think Flutteshy meant that Twilight really likes Matthias."

"I know, I heard her." Pinkie said, still oblivious... or maybe not, nopony was sure.

Rarity and Applejack shared a look.

"This won't end well." they both said, worrying about Twilight.

Matthias trotted to his 'pondering place' by the bridge, as he came to call it. While his mind and soul were struggling not to break after what he nearly did, he was at the same time suffering from bodily pain as well.

Now that the adrenaline rush was over, he could feel how bad he was hurt. He was certain that he had all of his ribs shattered. Pity he couldn't remember how many ribs ponies had at the moment. Matthias thought that maybe thirty six. He was just glad that at least none of them punctured his lungs. And as if that wasn't enough, his hooves bore first and second degree burns, despite him extinguishing dragon's flames quickly.

But none of it mattered to him. He looked at his reflection, the memory of the Culling of Stratholme renewed in his mind. He could practically hear the screams of his people, his subjects that he swore to protect, as he slaughtered them all. Nearly twenty five thousand people killed in a single day.

He would have probably stayed like this for hours, ravaged by his memories, if he wasn't interrupted by something that tried to collide with his head. Matthias ducked at the last second, and was just about to strike at it, but he stopped himself at the last moment.

That 'something' turned out to be a raven, which was now sitting on a bridge and looked directly at him.

"Stupid bird!" Matt snapped, glaring at it. "I could have hurt you!"

"You would not have harmed me, and I required your attention." replied the raven, its voice deep and mild.

Matt's jaw dropped.

Not just because the raven spoke. By now, he was far to used to this, even though he was pretty sure ravens here didn't speak. No, what unsettled Matthias was what the bird had said. There was one that had said the exact same words, when he came with a warning to him. A warning, that, if he would have heeded it, he would have never became the Lich King. And even though that seemed to be impossible, he called the raven by the name he knew that person bore, despite not knowing it back then.

"Medivh?!"

The raven bowed his head.

"I'm pleased that you remember me, young king."

Matthias winced at the title the Prophet had used, but he had bigger issue now.

"You're suppose to be dead!" he said.

The raven turned his head, as if mocking him.

"The same could be said about you, King Arthas" he reminded him.

Arthas barely stopped from facehoofing himself. He decided not to bring up the fact that Medivh should be dead twice.

"Alright, forget that. What are you doing here?"

"Helping you."

"Helping me. You couldn't help me back then, so that I wouldn't tried to commit a mass genocide of the whole Azeroth, but you find some free time to come to a world populated by talking ponies, seven years after your second death!"

"If you would recall, I did try to help you." said Medivh calmly, not angered by Arthas accusation. "I warned you, but you didn't listen. Have I spoken more clearly of the fate that awaited you at the end of that road, would you have listened to me?"

"... Fair enough." said Arthas.

"And if you think that me being in Equestria is weird, you should see what I'm about to do in a month and a half from now. Now listen to me, boy!"

"If you say: 'This land is lost!', I swear, I'm going to hurt you."

"You were brought here for a reason." Medivh said, with a voice that couldn't be interrupted. "There is something that only you can do here, but as you are now, you won't be able to do it."

"What do you mean?" Arthas asked.

"You are not as you are suppose to be." explained Medivh without explaining anything. "You have to heal the wound that's within you, if you are going to do what you are supposed to do here."

Arthas sighed and looked at the sky. Somehow, he doubted that Medivh meant his injuries.

"... Or else this land is lost."

Arthas swung his hoof, while still looking at the sky, only to hit an empty space. Medivh was nowhere to be seen.

"Get back here, you confounded..."

"Who are you talking to?" said a familiar female voice.

Matthias sighed again.

"My raging insanity, most likely." he replied to Twilight Sparkle.

11. Magic of Friendship...

Twilight looked at Matthias and fought back the urge to gasp. His hooves were badly burned and judging by the shallow breaths he was taking she guessed that most of his ribs were broken.

"Shouldn't you go to the hospital?" she asked, wondering how was he able to stand.

"They have their hooves full with the feather flu." Matt replied, shrugging. "I'm not bleeding internally, I'll be fine."

After saying that, he returned to staring at his reflection. Twilight came up and sit next him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, almost immediately realizing how stupid that question sounded.

"Since we just talked about my physical condition, I'm assuming you're inquiring about the fact that I almost killed a bunch of kids?" he snorted, not looking at her.

Twilight winced. This talk wasn't going the way she hoped. However, before she had a chance to say anything, Matthias took charge of the conversation.

"Mind if I ask you something?"

"Eee... sure." answered Twilight, surprised.

"Have you ever done something... that at the time you were sure was a right thing to do, but later realised that it was in fact a terrible thing, and regreted doing it?" asked Matthias, visibly putting a lot of effort to formulate this question.

Twilight thought a moment before she answered him.

"Well... sort off. Few months ago I accidentally... brainwashed the whole of Ponyville."

That finally got some reaction out of him. Matt turned his head, stared at her, surprised, and asked:

"Why?"

"It wasn't on purpose! I just needed some friendship problem to solve before sundown so I could write to the Princess... "

"You just said a lot of words, and I didn't understand any of them." Matt said calmly.

Twilight took a deep breath.

"He is the one that should be freaking out, not you!"

"Let me start from the beginning." she said when she calmed down. "Princess Celestia is my mentor." Matt's eyes went wide as she said that, but he didn't interrupt her. "She sent me to Ponyville to study the Magic of Friendship. I am supposed to write her letters describing what I learned. One day though, I forgot that I haven't sent her a letter since the previous week, and I was afraid that I was going to miss the deadline."

Twilight decided she wasn't going to mention to him about the whole 'magic kindergarten' thing.

"I started looking around town if any of my friends had some problems that I could help them solve, but none of them had, even Fluttershy. I later asked them for help, but they thought that my problem was silly, so they didn't help me. So, after a while, I might have gone a bit... crazy. I figured that if I couldn't find a friendship problem, I could create a friendship problem. I enchanted my old doll Smarty Pants, so that everypony would fall in love with it, and the next thing I knew, the whole town was put under that spell. Thankfully, Spike wrote to the Princess Celestia how the whole letter thing got into me, and she came to Ponyville in time to fix the everything. In the end, it turned out I didn't have to send her those letters every week, but only after I learned a new lesson. So... yeah, that’s it."

Matthias looked at her for a bit, and then started chuckling. Twilight, who was expecting that, rolled her eyes. After few seconds Matt stopped laughing and shook in pain.

"Aau... It hurts to laugh." he said in light tone, holding his chest. "It isn't exactly what I had in mind, but I suppose it's the best I can get in a world such as peaceful as Equestria's. Well, beside occasional dragon's raids or timberwolves attacks, I guess."

Twiligh couldn't help but notice his choice of words.

"Did Matthias just said 'world'? He must have meant 'land'." she thought, shaking her head.

"Matt, could you please tell me whats wrong?" she asked, hoping that this time she could finally get some answers. "I can see that something is plaguing your mind, and I would like to help you, but I can't if you don't talk to me." Twilight for a moment thought that she could see fear on Matt's face, but she must have been mistaken.

Matthias barely managed to keep his composure when Twilight said 'plaguing'. This odd coincidence had made him abandon his idea of telling her everything. But he knew he had to tell her something. For some reason, Twilight wanted to help him, and he found out that it was nice to have a somepony who cared about him. And he liked her, even though she reminded him so much of Jaina that he could feel the pain in his heart renewed whenever they talked.

"Telling you everything that is wrong would take forever." he said after a moment of hesitation. "And even if I did tell you, you would either not believe me, or would get scarred mentally. Or both."

Matthias glanced at Twilight. She seemed to be a bit scared after what he said, but she was still listening to him.

"I've read in one of your books about what happened to Princess Luna over a thousand years ago. Since you're Princess Celestia's apprentice, I guess you are more familiar with this story than me. I suppose you could say that something similar happened to me."

"You became... evil?" Twilight gasped.

"Why is that such a surprise to her?"

"I didn't just became evil. I was evil. I made... a bad choice, which seemed right to me at the time. I have followed a path of revenge, and it led me to the weapon of great power, which I had paid a great price to get. It corrupted me. I slowly forgot about everything and everypony I ever cared for. It wasn't until shortly before I woke up in Equestria that I returned to who I was once... more or less."

"More or less?"

"You can't do the things I did and be yourself after you've returned to your senses. I may no longer be the same pony I was during last few years, but I'm not as I was before, either."

"Is that what Medivh has meant when he said about a 'wound that's within'?"

Twilight gazed at Matthias, trying to comprehend what he said. That he was once evil, while wouldn't be shocking to her friends, surprised her. She had assumed that something terrible has happened to him, and even though she was right after a fashion, Twilight didn't think that it would be anything like Princess Luna becoming Nightmare Moon kind of terrible.

However, there was something different between those two cases. While Luna had a lot of trouble to adjust to the life in Equestria, it was mostly because she was banished for a thousand years. Matthias, on the other hoof, seemed to be troubled by what he did.

"What could have been so terrible?" with this thought, Twilight made a mental note to look into a mind reading spells.

"I'm afraid, Twilight." confessed Matt out of a blue.

"Afraid?"

"Afraid that I might became evil again."

And now Twilight understood why he took what happened with the dragons so badly.

"Matt." she said to him, trying to get him to look at her. "I don't know what happened to you in Azeroth, or what you did, but what you did today wasn't evil. You saved Spike, and Ponyville. While your methods might be considered barbaric here, I understand why you did that. I guess, sometimes you have to step down to their level."

"That's what I said to myself back then, you know." Matthias snorted.

"Yes, but did you have friends with you then?"

That caught Matt off guard.

"I... did, for some time. They refused to help me, though."

"Well, if they were with you all the time, do you think that you'd have done all those things?"

"It wasn't exactly as simple as you make it sound." said Matthias, getting angry, only to be calm a second later. "But... I can see your point."

"If you have your friends with you, they can tell you when what you're about to do is wrong. Being surrounded by ponies you trust and have them advising you will always make you take the right course of action."

Twilight smiled to herself, realizing that when she'll write Princess Celestia a letter about Matt, she could add a new lesson about the Magic of Friendship.

"My friends did tried to warn me... I just didn't listen. Guess that makes me a bad friend, huh?" said Matthias with an unhappy grin.

"Well, you could try again, with new friends. I would like to be your friend, if you would let me."

As she said that, she extended her hoof, hoping that Matt would do the same. What he did, however, was something she didn't expect.

Matthias took her hoof, lowered his head and planted a kiss on it. While Twilight blushed with embarrassment, she heard Matt say:

"It would be an honor to have you as a friend, Lady Twilight."

When they eyes crossed, Twilight saw a spark of amusement in his. Realizing that he meant for her to feel embarrassed, she fought the urge to frown. Instead, she came up with an idea for revenge.

"Well, we'd best be going. We have to take care of your injuries."

"I told you, I'm not going to the hospital. I'm not that hurt."

"Who said anything about a hospital?" Twilight replied innocently.

12. ... and its pains

As promised, half an hour after Twilight went after Matthias, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie gathered in front of the library, wondering if they should come in or wait a bit. They were about to start discussing it, when they heard a loud yowl of pain coming out of the Twilight's house. Without a moment of hesitation, they all barged in, expecting to see Matthias hurting their friend.

"Twilight, are you..." started to say Rainbow Dash, only to stop at the sight of the scene inside.

Matthias was being held by Twilight's magic hovering above the ground in the center of the room. There was a bandage wrapping itself very tightly around his chest. His front hooves were in a bucket filled with some funny smelling liquid. Twilight was standing in some distance away from him, levitating a book in front of her. Spike was watching them both, not sure if he should be amused or scared.

"... okay?" Rainbow finished her question, despite knowing it wasn't her that screamed.

"Oh, hi girls." greeted them Twilight.

"Umm... what are ya'll doin'?" asked Applejack, glancing at Matthias.

"Torturing me." replied the stallion, looking at them with pleading for help all over his face.

"Oh, hush." said Twilight. "Those injuries of yours needs treatment."

"If this is treatment, then how come I feel worse?" he asked, and although he was in pain, the girls noticed that the corners of his eyes sparkled with amusement.

"That’s just what you get for being stubborn and refusing to go to the hospital." replied Twilight unsympathetically.

"Oh?" said Matthias, surprised. "I thought this was all about..."

Whatever he was going to say, it transformed into another yowl of pain as Twilight tightened his bandage.

The five mares and Spike exchanged worried glances. What in Equestria has happened to their friend? Finally, Rarity came over to Twilight.

"Um... Twilight?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Yes?" replied Twilight in the same tone, reading the book. Rarity glanced at the title.

"Is this book called: 'Medieval's art of medicine'?"

"Yes."

"And is the chapter you're currently reading named: 'The most painful kind of healing'?" she asked after looking at the part that she was on.

"Ahuh."

Rarity waited few moments for her friend to explain herself, but soon realised she wasn't going to.

"Is there something wrong, dear?"

"Oh!" gasped Twilight, as if only now realizing how it all must have looked. "I, aaa... look, lets just say that he deserves this and leave it at that."

She tried to sound casual, but Rarity noticed her voice to be a little shaken, as well as that she was blushing.

"I must have gone out of practice." said Matt unexpectedly. "I recall getting away easily with this sort of joke."

Twlight, realizing that he heard what she and Rarity were talking about, tightened the bandages again. To his credit, this time Matthias only grunted.

"Aren't ya bit too hard on him?" asked Applejack, feeling pity for the stallion.

"Oh no, he is very resistant to pain. I've never seen a pony that could walk around town with so many ribs shattered. Or, just a pony with so many ribs shattered, for that matter."

"Glad to know I'm so impressive." said Matthias. "And how many ribs do I have shattered, exactly?"

"All of them."

All five of her friends gasped, wondering how he could have simply walk away after the fight, or how he was able to withstand Twilight healing methods without passing out. Rarity sharp eyes, however, managed to notice an expression Matt's face had for a second: as if he was expecting more concrete answer.

Twilight finished paging through the book, unhappy.

"I'm going to visit Zecora and ask if she has any potions to help. Do you mind watching Matthias?" she asked, and when her friends agreed, although not very enthusiastically, she picked up her saddlebag and made her way to the door.

"Help you heal me, or inflict more pain?" Matthias asked her, but after a moment he added: "Wait, doesn't this Zecora live in the Everfree Forest? Are you going to be fine?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." she answered, smiling.

"Good, because in this state I wouldn't be able to help. I'd really hate the irony..." he said with dark tone and trailed off.

"Okay, see you all later." said Twilight and left.

Matthias glanced at the five mares and one dragon. They were looking at him with confusion and suspicion.

"What in tarnation did'ya do to her?" asked Applejack.

"Well, I may have... kissed her in a hoof when she extended it with an intent of shaking hooves purely out of desire to see her embarrassed." answered Matthias awkwardly.

He was rewarded with four mares staing at him with a mix of astonishment, anger, and embarrassement. Pinkie and Spike, on the other hoof, burst into laughter.

"No wonder she was mad!" Spike said through tears.

"In retrospect, that was a horrible idea." confessed Matthias.

"You're lucky Twilight is not me. I would have kicked you all the way to the other side of Equestria." said Rainbow Dash angrily.

"Oh don't worry, I would have never dream of doing that to you." he answered with a smirk.

"Good, because... hey, wait just a minute!"

"Calm down. sugarcube." said Applejack.

"Matthias, would you mind telling as if before all that Twilight had talked to you about, well, what you almost did to the dragons?"

"Why, yes." answered Matt, a bit uncomfortably. "In fact, it is thanks to her talking to me that I'm not still near that bridge sulking."

The girls shared a look. Matthias could guess this wasn't what they wanted to hear.

"She also mentioned to me that while my way of dealing with danger may be normal for where I am from, it's not well looked on in here, so the next time something like those dragons attack, I will just beat them into submission again."

"Is that all you talked?" asked Rarity.

"Since I told Twilight, I suppose I should tell them as well."

"Umm... I also told Twilight that used to be evil."

Their reaction was more along the lines of what he expected.

"WHAT?!"

"Hear me out, before you will pass your judgement upon me." Matthias said, and before any of them objected, he continued: "What happened to me was similar to the fate of Princess Luna: like her, I succumbed into dark powers, and did a lot of terrible things. For many years I had no feelings such as pity, remorse, or shame. I had no longer cared for my friends and family, either. It wasn't until before I had come to Equestria that I was freed, and I still have problems... adjusting."

Matthias looked at the floor, trying to find the right word to describe it to them how he felt, but found none. Luckily, he didn't have to say more.

"Well, we've seen Luna having the same problem, so we get the idea." said Applejack, coming closer to him. "Twilight trusts ya, so Ah will as well, but please, don't be so, brutal. Deal?"

"Deal." Matthias said.

"Lets shake on it." Applejack then did something weird: she spat on her hoof and then extended it.

"... You know, I have learned my lesson." said Matthias, glancing at it.

"Ya're just as prissy as Rarity, aren't ya?" Applejack replied in dismay. Rarity frowned.

"Now wait a moment." said Matthias, offended. He figured that this was some sort of 'peasant' custom, so he spat at his hoof and bumped into Applejack's. "I've been called many names, but 'prissy' isn't one of them."

Applejack smiled, but then frowned when she looked at his hoof.

"Don't let it bother you." he said, putting the hoof back in the liquid. Twilight said it was cleaning his flesh... by melting the burned and contaminated parts of it.

"Okay..."

"Well, if both Applejack and Twilight trust you, I suppose I can as well." said Rarity. "You will forgive me for not giving you my hoof, though, I'm... afraid to cause you pain. Heh."

"Wow, she is prissy." Matthias thought, realizing she didn't wanted to touch his hoof.

"Yay! I know you could be fun!" said Pinkie Pie, jumping around him. "Oh! We should throw another party!"

"No, thank you, that one was fun enough."

"Oh, okay!"

"Umm... You did scare off those scary dragons, so I think you deserve to be trusted." said Fluttershy, not looking at him.

"You really don't like dragons, don't you?" he asked, wondering why was she so shy around him.

"Yes, they're scary, big, mean... oh, I don't mean you, Spike!"

"I know." Spike said, amused. "I also think that Matthias can be trusted. And besides, I would like to hear how you beat that Sap-something dragon!"

Everypony looked at Rainbow Dash.

"Fine." she said finally, although unhappy."But I'm watching you. Like a hawk."

"Duly noted." replied Matthias, but at the same time Pinkie said:

"Why? Can't you watch him like a pony?"

"Ugh! Never mind. I need to borrow another 'Daring Do' book." she said and started looking at one shelf.

"I didn't think you were the reading type." said Mathias.

"Reading is something anypony can enjoy. Especially, books cool as those!" she replied excited, and flew up to him with the book she was about to put back on the shelf.

Matt looked at the book. The title of it was: 'Daring Do and Snake God's worshippers'.

"Wait, why does it sound so familiar?" he wondered, reading a description at the back. After a while he started chuckling.

"Hey, what so funny?" asked Rainbow Dash, preparing to kick him.

"It's not funny, it's, well, weird." Matthias said quickly. "There is this... pony, named Harrison Jones, back on Azeroth, who is exactly like this Daring Do character. Well, besides gender."

"You're making that up. Nopony is as cool as Daring Do. Besides me."

Before the two of them could get into an argument, the door opened and Twilight came in.

"Hi, I'm back."

"How in tarnation did'ya make it to Zecora's hut and back so fast?" asked Applejack.

"Oh, I didn't. Zecora happened to be in Ponyville, buying some ingredients. I bumped into her, and she made me these: a body lotion for regenerating skin, and a brew for healing broken bones."

Everypony looked at what she was showing them and shook. The bottle with the brew had some scary looking pictures of bones on it. There were letters on it, too, which were forming a word: 'Skele-Gro'.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

13. Nightmares of night and day

Dear Princess Celestia

I'm writing to you today because of the strange thing that had happened in Ponyville a few days ago. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, the three fillies that you often read in my letters, and who barely a week ago sent you their own letter, got lost in the Everfree Forest. While they were trying to find they way out of it, they were suddenly attacked by a pack of timberwolves. Before any harm came to them, out of the woods jumped out a strange stallion and fought them off. After he managed to take the girls out of the forest, he lost conscience due to the injury he received during the fight. We took him to the hospital, and when he awakened, we asked him who he was and where did he came from.

It turned out that his name was Matthias Lehner, and he is from a land called 'Azeroth', which I never heard of, and apparently, it is only populated by the earth ponies. In fact, he didn't know that unicorns and pegasi really existed, he thought that they were only in legends. But that is not the weirdest part of it. Matthias, despite being older than me and the rest of my friends by at least ten years, doesn't have a cutie mark! And according to what he said, ponies in Azeroth doesn't have them either! Not to mention, that until we explained to him what was a cutie mark, he didn't know about it!

I think it would be best if I told you about this Azeroth a bit, in case you haven't heard about it like me. Matt told me that a few thousand years ago his land was faced with a terrible danger. To protect it, the last emperor of Azeroth somehow managed to create a magical mist around it, which hid it from the rest of the world. Is such a thing even possible?

However, those aren't the most important reasons that I'm writing to you now. If that were the case, I would have waited until I've gathered more information. Today, while we were having a party for welcoming Matt into Ponyville (you know how Pinkie can get), our town had unwelcomed visitors. The three teen dragons that Spike met during the Great Dragon Migration came after him to the Ponyville, with an intent to cause trouble. Before they managed to do that, Mattias started fighting them, and despite getting severely injured, he beat them. For a moment he was even go as far as to kill them, but stopped himself, and let them leave. When one of the dragons warned him that one day, when they were all grown up dragons, they would return, Matthias said something that scared everypony: that he let them leave only because they were merely kids, and if they would return as grown ups, he would kill them without hesitation! Apparently, that is how ponies in Azeroth handle danger.

After the dragons left, he went to sulk near the river at the end of the Ponyville. I went after him: I wanted to know why he said what he said, as well as better understand him in general. He told me then something terrifying: that because he made wrong decision once in his life, and followed a path of revenge, or something along those lines, he became evil after he found some weapon that corrupted him. He didn't say what exactly he did, saying that it would take long time and would scar me mentally. He only said that he did a lot of terrible things, and it wasn't until shortly before he came into Equestria that he was brought back to his senses, and he fears deeply that he might became evil once again. He is plagued with guilt for what he did. His story sounds a lot like what had happened to your sister, Princess Luna.

I had said to him what I think is a great lesson about friendship: that If you have your friends with you, they can tell you when what you're about to do is wrong. Being surrounded by ponies you trust and have them advising you will always make you take the right course of action. I had also offered to became his friend, which he happily agreed to.

Matt is currently staying at my house. Of course, I have placed magical words to warn me if he would tried to cause harm, just in case. I don't believe he is of any danger to anypony, and my friends agree with me (well, mostly), but I felt that I have to ask for your opinion nonetheless.

Awaiting your response, your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

He was in a dark room, chained to the table. He couldn't get out, his bindings were to tight. He tried to look around the room he was in. At first, he couldn't see a thing, but after a while, he managed to make out several shapes, and he wished he didn't.

There were corpses on the floor, and the tools, which, judging by the blood on them, were used to kill them, hanged on the walls. But it wasn't until he noticed what those corpses had in common that he started to panic and tried to break free.

The corpses were skinned and had most of their organs removed, and if their faces were of any indication, it all happened when they were still alive.

He struggled with all his strength to break his bonds, but to no avail. When he finally stopped to catch his breath, he noticed that he could hear something.

Steps.

Whoever his captor was, he was coming.

Step by step, heartbeat by heartbeat, he was coming closer. Soon, his captor's steps became loud as thunder in his ears. He could feel his heart beating, as if anticipating that it would soon stop for all eternity.

Slowly, his captor came into sight. He gasped when he recognized the full body armor he wore. He tried to scream, but no sound came out of his mouth.

And his captor was still coming closer, until he stood right next to him. He raised a hand wielding an all too familiar to his victim shattered blade, and slowly, very slowly, brought it down to his chest.

When his captor started skinning him, an unbelievable pain shoot through him, but still no sound came out of him.

He didn't know how long it had taken, but cutting off all of his skin couldn't have been fast. When his captor finally stopped, he felt his mind empty from his soul's screams. That he was still sane was a testament to his will.

But what came next was possibly even worse.

The blade once again cut his flesh, this time digging deeper. He could feel a cold hand grabbing his insides and taking them out one by one. His captor didn't even spare his bones. By now, he was sure he was still alive - if he was alive - only because of his captor's whim.

Feeling the cold fingers grasping his heart, he struggled and looked at his captor's face. He must have sensed his victim's gaze, for he turned his head and their eyes met.

He frowned. Something was wrong.

His captor's eyes gleamed with a sadistic joy and started laughing, while at the same time spouting words very quickly, that his victim, despite his barely sane mind, or maybe because of it, could distinguish from one another, but not understand. He then put his hand on his helmet and took it of.

The face under it, bearing a horrifying grin, was Pinkie Pie's.

This time, Arthas Menethil screamed.

He woke up from his nightmare, only to find out that while in reality he wasn't in a dark room or that he wasn't bound, he could still feel the pain.

Matthias frowned as he remembered the taste of the 'Skele-Gro' that Twilight practically forced him to drink, or how he soon realised that the taste of it was the most pleasant part. The pain he felt now was nothing compared to the sensation of having a thousand small hot needles piercing his chest. He was surpised that he actually managed to fall asleep, although had he known he would have such scary and bizarre dream he would have stayed awake.

His thought were interrupted as Twilight barged into room.

"Is something wrong? I heard you screaming." she said with worried face.

"Guessing by your expression, nightmares aren't a side effect of your treatment?" Matthias said in light tone, despite his ordeal.

"Uh, no." replied Twilight with a hint of guilt. "What was your nightmare about?"

Matthias considered not telling her, but he knew that she would continue to pester him about it later.

"I saw what I thought was an old me torturing me, only to realise it was Pinkie Pie, and then I woke up."

"Pinkie?!"

"Yeah... I must have eaten something bad before I went to sleep." Matthias said, shrugging his arms.

Twilight gave him a look that said she wasn't convinced he had said the truth, but soon forgot about it.

"How do you feel?"

"All things considered, better." he replied, taking off his bandages.

The body lotion worked very well, despite not hurting nearly as bad as any other treatment Twilight have given him, and his hooves were completely healed. His chest, while still aching, appeared to be healed as well. Matthias stretched carefully and checked his ribs. Throughout the pain, they mended.

"I think I'm fine." Matt said, jumping down from his bed.

"Great. So, what do you want to do today?"

"I was thinking about having breakfast, and then tour around Ponyville, maybe? I didn't have a chance to get a good look of it yesterday with all that was going on."

"Excellent idea!" replied Twilight happily.

After they ate, they went outside. Spike stayed in the library, cleaning after the mess Twilight made while studying in the night and in the morning before Matthias woke up.

"You really like studying." he commented as they left.

Twilight just shrugged and went on.

"I was thinking we could go to the Sugarcube Corner first. You should apologies for the hole you made in their door, after all."

"Ow... I forgot about it. I should probably help them repair it, too."

"Don't worry about it, I already fixed it with my magic yesterday." replied Twilight.

Sugarcube Corner turned out to be run by Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and Pinkie Pie was their employee.

"Figures she would work in a place like this." Matthias thought as she was giving some pony cupcakes he just bought. For some unknown reason, this made him remember his dream. He shook his head and returned to the conversation.

"Once again, I apologize for... well, bursting in yesterday." he said to Mr. Cake.

"Don't worry about that. Thankfully, we were both upstairs at the moment, feeding the babies."

"I hope the noise I made didn't scare them." Matt replied, worried.

"They're just foals, they get scared of every loud noise. By the time Pinkie came they were already sleeping."

"I'm glad to hear it." Matthias said, glancing at Pinkie Pie, who was talking with Twilight at the moment. "Mr. Cake, do you mind telling me why you hired a pony like her? I mean no offence, but she seems kind of, well..."

"I know what you mean, but trust me, she's a great employee, and my wife and I couldn't have asked for a better foalsitter than her."

Matthias stared at him. Mr. Cake sighed.

"Yes, originally we thought the same. But she's really great with foals."

Before Matt could reply to that, Twilight came up.

"We'd best be going, if you want to see the rest of Ponyville today."

"Very well. Goodbye." he said to Mr. Cake.

"Goodbye Mr. Cake."

"Goodbye, and once again, thank you for fixing the door, Twilight."

"Where to now?" Matt asked Twilight when they left.

"Town hall. After that we could visit Rarity's boutique, Pinkie should join us there once she finishes her work."

The town hall was an impressive building, to say at least. A lot more familiar to Matthias than a giant tree he was sleeping in, that’s for sure. However, it looked more like a carousel than town hall, but he decided to keep it to himself as he talked with the mayor of Ponyville, a sympathetic mare, who thanked him for getting rid of the dragons, but asked him to not be so brutal in the future.

At Rarity's boutique they found Spike, which wasn't a surprise to neither of them. Soon after they came in, Rarity started asking Matthias questions about fashion in Azeroth, like how did the most luxurious dresses looked like, how much the most expensive suits cost, and stuff like that. He tried to answer to the best of his possibilities, which normally wouldn't be so hard; his mother and sister, as well as Jaina for some time, had plenty of beautiful dresses, and he have seen them on many occasions. He also had to wear formal clothes from time to time, not to mention he had dealt with many nobles and have seen what they wore. There was one problem: those were human's clothes. He tried his best to describe how would they looked like in a version for ponies, helping himself by looking at some of Rarity's dresses, and surprisingly, she found the clothes from his description to be 'dazzling', and said that he gave her a lot of ideas.

By the time they finished talking, Pinkie Pie came, and they decided to go visit Applejack, who was living on a farm outside Ponyville with her family. On they way there, they unexpectedly run into Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Apparently, Rainbow Dash have just finished her weather jobs for today, and Fluttershy returned somepony's pet that she was taking care for. Since neither of them had anything better to do for the rest of the day, they decided to join the others and they were going to see Applejack all together.

Before they managed to make few steps, however, something weird happened.

"Oh no!" Pinkie started shouting out of the blue.

"What happened?"

"My knee is pinching!"

Matthias was about to roll his eyes, when he noticed that for some reason everypony was looking at her with fear in their eyes.

"Something scary is about to happen at Sweet Apple Acers!"

And like that, everypony started running in the direction of Applejack's farm. Besides Matt, who for few moments simply stared after them.

"Can somepony explain to me what just happened?" he asked, easily catching up with them.

"Look, I know this won't make much sense," started Twilight, "but Pinkie has something she calls 'Pinkie Sense'. She can predict the future through various twitches and involuntary motions made by her body. And now she predicts that something scary is about to happen on Applejack's farm!"

"How come in a peaceful land like this so many bad things happen?" asked Matt, trying to imagine what could be happening at the farm.

"Well, its... Wait, you believe this? Just like that?!" Twilight asked in astonishment. And she wasn't the only one; even Pinkie Pie seemed to be surprised.

"Are you kidding? After all the things prophets and shamans put me through, I am just glad that this 'Pinkie Sense' is at least specific!" Matthias replied without glancing at them.

They quickly made they way to the farm, and could already see the big sign saying 'Sweet Apple Acres'.

"What that noise?" asked Rarity.

Matthias started listening.

"Oh its just Winona. Applejack's dog." Twilight added to Matt, but he was already running towards the noise at the back of the farm.

"It's not a dog!" he shouted back, speeding up.

Rainbow Dash, who quickly realised what he meant, flew fast ahead of him.

"You fool!" thought Matthias, forcing his legs to run even faster.

By the time he got there, a huge timberwolf was about to pounce at Rainbow, who was standing over Applejack laying form.

"Duck!" he shouted at Rainbow Dash, jumping.

Thankfully, she listened, so the timberwolf, instead of pouncing at the cyan mare, collided in the air with Matthias. The speed with which Matt was running made both of them roll on the ground, but the wolf was faster to recover, and pounced at him, biting his arm.

Matthias growled and attempted to throw the timberwolf off him. He almost stopped when he recognized the scars on its muzzle and missing teeth.

"You again?!" he thought angrily, shaking him off.

The loss of his teeth didn't work well for the timberwolf. He was visibly thinner, and alone. The other wolves must have abandoned him. Not feeling sorry for the animal that just tried to hurt his friends, he quickly turned and kicked him with his back legs. Since the fight with the timberwolves, he grew more accustomed to his new body, and was a lot faster now. The wolf didn't even have a chance to dodge, and soon was flying between trees.

The timberwolf picked himself up, growled, and started running away.

"You think I will let you get away that easily?!" Matthias thought.

He started to give chase after the timberwolf, but soon Twilight scream stopped him dead in his tracks:

"Applejack!"

Matthias looked back and felt his blood run cold.

Applejack was laying on the ground in the pool of her own blood, gasping for air, with her throat ripped open.

14. Heart's tears

Twilight watched in shock as her friend's life fluids were flowing out of her body. For what seemed like an eternity, she couldn't move a muscle, or think a single thought other that:

"This can't be happening!".

Finally Rarity managed to snap her out of her torpor, shaking her vigorously.

"D-do something!" she shouted.

Twilight shook her head and tried to focus. If she could teleport her and Applejack to the hospital, the doctors might be able to stop the bleeding. There was one problem, though; teleportation spell was always a bit tricky if it was used to teleport more pony than just the user. With Applejack in this state, she could go into shock and pass out, and if she would pass out now...

"It's no use." said Matthias unexpectedly. Twilight glanced at him; when she saw him a moment ago, he was still wrestling with that timberwolf. Now he walked up to them, despite a bitemark on his arm. "She has lost too much blood already. I'm sorry, but there is nothing you can do."

He spoke calmly, with a voice that spoke of a first-hoof experience in the matter, but when Twilight looked in his eyes she saw a deep sadness in them.

"This can't be happening!" she thought, forcing herself to think of something - anything - that could save her friend.

Nothing came to her mind.

"It's your fault!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

Twilight watched as the cyan pegasus hit Matthias and pinned him to the ground. He didn't even tried to fight back.

"That timberwolf came here for you!" she kept screaming at the stallion; Twilight noticed that she also bore few wounds, and there was a small stream of blood on her head. "If you haven't beaten that wolf so badly, he wouldn't have come here, and Applejack wouldn't... wouldn't..." unable to say it, Rainbow Dash surrendered to her grief and started crying, putting her face in hooves.

The sight of their friend, who so disliked showing any 'sappy' emotions, crying, was to much for everypony. They all burst into tears. Twilight pressed her head to Applejack's trying to comfort her in her last moments.

Matthias knew that he had to try.

He rose up, despite knowing that it couldn't work. He came closer to Applejack, despite fearing that his action could only give a false hope to everypony. He put his hooves on her body, despite not having hope.

He closed his eyes, lifted his head, and started praying.

"Light, I will not ask for forgiveness for my sins, for I am far beyond redemption. But I do not ask you for help for me, I ask for you to help this mare. She is innocent. She doesn't deserve to die. Please, grant me the power to heal her."

Nothing happened.

Twilight looked up hearing Matthias spoke. He was standing close by, performing some sort of prayer. But what he said made no sense: 'grant me the power to heal her'? Twilight felt angered that he tried to do something so useless, and wanted to hit him like Rainbow Dash for a moment, but she was too grief-stricken to do that.

Like he expected, nothing happened.

Matt was about to move away, when Applejack coughed. He instinctively glanced at her. She was still alive, somehow, but she didn't have much time. She must have tried to say something, because she coughed blood.

Looking at her, Matthias remembered how she boldly said to him that he was dangerous, or how she was the first one after Twilight to trust him.

He remembered Invincible.

The day when he died flashed before his eyes. It was during winter. He would have normally had a prayer session at that time, but his father was on a diplomatic mission to Stromgarde, and Uther had accompanied him, and that left Arthas with his afternoons free, and he wasn't going to waste them, despite the weather. So he rode with Invincible through the snowstorm, galloping the familiar path. He was about to turn back, right after they would've jumped, like they had jumped so many times in the past. But that jump turned into a disaster, as Invincible lost his balance on the ice and shattered both of his forelegs. Arthas wanted to help him, but he wasn't a paladin then, he didn't know how one channeled the powers of Light to heal others, and they were trapped in the middle of storm. He didn't know how far it was to the closest town, and even then, he couldn't know if there was a priest there. Uther was in Stromgarde, and so was the bishop. There was only one thing the young prince could have done for the poor stallion.

And that was to end his suffering.

He didn't know how long it took him to find the strength to do that, but he finally rose, lifted his sword, and, apologizing to his friend, he pierced his heart.

The memory of that day haunted Arthas for the rest of his life as a human, blaming himself for what he knew to be his fault. Even after he became death knight, and resurrected Invincible, he still yowled in pain when King Anasterian Sunstrider cut of both of his forelegs, reminding him of his first failure.

Now he looked at Applejack, a pony, laying in a pool of her own blood.

"No!" he shouted in his head. "I will not fail again!"

He started praying again, trying to recall how did it felt, when Light touched his heart and soul.

"If you have to, take my life! I deserve to die a thousand deaths, while she doesn't! Take my life and save her!"

Nothing happened.

Matthias cursed in his thoughts. He shouldn't have expected the Light to answer him. It didn't help him save Invincible, it delayed its approval at his introduction to the Order of the Silver Hand, it didn't...

... it didn't help him in Stratholme.

Twilight glanced at Matt, when he again pleaded to whatever this 'light' was. She didn't bother to tell him to stop. She, along with her friends, preferred to spend her last seconds with Applejack recalling every moment they knew her; like when they defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord, when she refused to accept help during Applebuck Season, when she and Rarity were forced to spend the night in Twilight's house, when she and Rainbow Dash competed for the title of best athlete in Ponyville, how Applejack refused to go back home after the Equestria Rodeo Competition...

Unbelievable pain shoot through Twilight as she realised that they were about to lose their friend forever, and there was nothing they could do.

So lost was she in her pain, that she didn't even noticed, that Matthias, whose face was a second ago bristling with anger, was now crying.

He started to cry as the realisation had struck him.

"It's my fault."

It was his fault that he couldn't heal her. Had he not done all those atrocities, had he not slaughtered his subjects and rose them from death, had he not killed his father and Uther, if he wasn't so far beyond redemption, he could have easily save Applejack.

But he couldn't. All he could do was cry.

He cried for Applejack. He cried for his father. He cried for Uther. He cried for his subjects. He cried for Invincible.

Arthas Menethil, King of the fallen Lordaeron, cried for everyone.

"Please..." he tried one last time. "It's my folly... my fault... Please..."

Twilight Sparkle wiped her eyes. She tried to think how was it possible that the sun was in her eyes when it was just few hours after noon, but she soon realised that the light that was blinding her didn't come from the sun, but instead was coming from Matthias.

Like a familiar caress from a loved friend, he felt it.

Tears are the first step in healing one's heart...

The Light raced through him, comforting and warm, and he bit back a sob as he saw the glow begin to embrace his hooves.

The Light never abandons those in need...

Matthias drank it in, opened his heart to it.

Applejack would not die.

Twilight gasped as the light from Matt's hooves flew and embraced Applejack body. For a moment that seemed to her and everypony else stretch forever, Applajack seemed to shine like a sun. Everypony gasped as they realised that her wound stopped bleeding, and started closing.

After a second the light dimmed, and then vanished.

And so did the wound.

Applejack stirred, opened her eyes, and then got up.

"Wha... what happened?" she asked, looking them with a puzzled expression.

Before she knew it, everypony thrown themselves at her, hugging her and crying.

"Oh Applejack, you're okay!"

"I'm so glad..."

"What's with ya'll?" she asked confused.

"Don't you remember?" asked Twilight. "A timberwolf attacked you, and he... ripped your throat! You were dying!"

Applejack stared at her in horror as she remembered. She quickly put a hoof at her throat, to check if it was really healed, while looking at the blood pool they all stood in.

"How did... what... how..."

"Matthias... he did something." that was all Twilight could say. She had no idea what it was that he did, but at the moment, she didn't gave a flying feather about it.

She was simply glad she didn't have to say good bye.

They all glanced at him. Matthias was starring at his hooves, a shy smile on his face.

"Thank you." they said to him in unison.

Matt glanced up, his smile widening, and reaching his eyes.

"Do not thank me. Thank the Light."

15. Compassion

Twilight stared at Matthias, trying to comprehend what he just said. Apparently, it was thanks to to this 'light' that he's been praying to that Applejack was alive.

"That makes no sense!" she thought. "You can't just 'pray' and make something like that happen! It's not scientifically possible."

The only explanation that came to her mind was that Matthias somehow managed to use some sort of magic, despite not being an unicorn. But if that was the case, then why was he trying to say that it wasn't his doing? And what was that magic? It looked a bit like something Twilight has seen Princess Celestia do few times, but felt... different.

"Just what is Matthias, exactly?!"

"What do you mean?" she asked, feeling her head hurt from trying to figure out all of this. "What kind of magic was that?"

"That wasn't magic." Matt replied calmly.

"What?!" asked Twilight, starting to shout. "You can't just heal somepony's ripped throat and say that it wasn't magic!"

"Then let me rephrase that: it wasn't magic as you understand it". said Matthias, amusement in his eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Twilight, still angry.

She didn't notice that her friends moved away from her a bit.

"As much as I would love to explain the ways of the Light to you, I have other matters to attend to." replied Matthias, getting up from the ground.

"What 'other matters'?" asked Rainbow Dash suspiciously.

"Isn't it obvious?" told her Matthias, turning to look at her.

Noticing her wounds, he frowned. He closed his eyes and pointed a hoof at her. Again, mysterious light enveloped it, and before anypony could react, the light enveloped Rainbow Dash as well. The cyan pegasus gasped, but the light vanished from her even faster than from Applejack.

Dash looked at the few bitemarks left by the timberwolf. They were gone.

Matthias opened his eyes.

"I'm going to hunt down that wolf before it causes any more harm."

Having said that, Matt turned and was about to follow the track left by the timberwolf.

"Wait!" Twilight called after him. "What are you going to do to it once you find it?"

Matthias sighed. He should have expected that they would try to talk him out of it.

"An animal isn't a sentient creature like dragons, it can't be reasoned with." he said, glancing back at them. "If it won't be stopped permanently, it will come here again. I know it's not the way you do things around here, but there is no choice. That timberwolf has to be put down."

And with that he resumed tracking the beast, only to be stopped again.

"Wait!" came a shout from above him, and a blink of an eye later Fluttershy landed in front of him. "That timberwolf only came here because he couldn't hunt normal prey with so many of his teeth missing! If you could heal him like you did Applejack and Rainbow Dash, he wouldn't have a reason to come here again!"

Matthias shook his head.

"Even if I were to do that, it already tasted pony's blood. It knows it's an easier prey than whatever they eat in the forest." he said and attempted to get pass Fluttershy, only to have her stop him again, much to his annoyance.

"I could talk to him, tell him to not attack ponies."

"You've barely spoken to me, but you think you can convince a wolf to not attack ponies just by talking to him?"

"I..."

"Look, enough is enough!" he finally snapped. "I have a deep respect for the fact that Equestria is such a peaceful land, but you can't always have that kind of attitude in the face of danger! Now, if you excuse me, I..."

"Just who do you think you are, mister!" shouted Fluttershy unexpectedly, and Matthias found himself backing up. "Just because you're big and strong doesn't mean you can go ordering everypony around, or deciding who can live and who should die!"

Matt, to his amazement, realized that he was stunned, or even scared, from her change of attitude.

"What the bloody hell just happened?" he thought.

This was ridiculous; he was once a Lich King, a single most evil being on Azeroth - why was he suddenly afraid of this shy little pony, who until now had barely exchanged two sentences with him?

"That timberwolf had nearly killed your friend!" Matthias replied when he managed to hold himself together. "Next time it can come after you, or somepony else, and I might not be around in time. Life of one wolf, or lives of many ponies. It's as simple as that!" Matt said it in a voice full of conviction...

.. the same conviction Prince Arthas's voice held when he ordered the Culling of Stratholme.

Matthias sighed, took a deep breath, and said:

"Very well, lets try this your way."

Fluttershy, who was about to start lecturing him again, looked at him wide eyed. And she wasn't the only one; everypony was surprised by this sudden change of heart.

"Um... what?" asked Fluttershy when initial shock passed.

"You're right." replied Matt, sighing again. "I shouldn't decide who can life and who should die. My mentor once said to me: 'the third and most important of the Light's virtues is compassion'. I should have at least tried another option before I would do something irreversible. Lets go."

"Wha... now?" asked Fluttershy as Matthias started to make his way again.

"Yes, we need to find him now, when his trail is still fresh." Matt replied, stopping briefly.

"Uh... 'we'?"

"You're going to talk to it, I'm going to heal him."

"Eh... shouldn't we all go?" asked Rainbow Dash. "The timberwolf probably went back into the Everfree Forest. It would be dangerous if it's just the two of you."

"If there will be more than two ponies, it will most likely try to escape." said Matthias, starting to get annoyed again. "Do not worry, I won't let any harm come to Fluttershy. The rest of you'd better clean yourselves from this blood on your coats."

"Matt..." started Twilight.

"What?!" snapped Matt, looking back.

Twilight was pointing at him.

"You have a cutie mark!" she said happily.

Matthias looked surprised at his flank.

"Hey, she's right." said Dash, flying up to better see it.

"But... what is that?" asked Fluttershy.

"It's like a... "

"Did it appeared now, or was it after he healed Applejack?"

"I don't know, I just noticed it."

"What is that?" asked everypony.

"It's a symbol of the order I once belonged to." replied Matthias, looking with a frown on a silver symbol on his white coat. "It's Silver Hand. Lets go, Fluttershy." he said with a sigh.

Twilight looked at the distancing figure of Matthias, followed quickly by Fluttershy, with a lot of questions going through her head.

"Why was his cutie mark a hand? Did he earned it when he healed Applejack, or when he listened to Fluttershy? What kind of order he belonged to? How could he have a cutie mark, when he said he was from a land where ponies didn't have them? Why wasn't he happy that he earned it?

"Why didn't he heal the wound on his arm?"

As Matthias walked, fallowing the timberwolf's tracks on the ground, he was thankful that Fluttershy reverted to her quiet self. He needed to think. The pain in his shoulder wasn't helping, but it wasn't anything serious, so he didn't bothered to ask the Light for healing for himself.

"Why is my cutie mark a symbol of the Knights of the Silver Hand? Does this mean that my special talent is... being a paladin?" he though back to the voice he heard when the Light touched him. He knew it must have belonged to the naaru, a dimension-traveling race of sentient energy beings, that seemed to be an embodiment of the Light, or at least had a very deep affinity for it. It said that 'tears are the first step in healing one's heart'. Was that the 'wound' that Medivh had mentioned? "Well, I did cut my heart out, and had it destroyed. No wonder it was wounded." he thought with a dark humor.

"Does the fact that my cutie mark is a symbol of the Silver Hand means that there is no chance I will lose my way again?" that was the most important question. The one he didn't know an answer to.

They had entered the forest soon - too soon for Fluttershy's liking, judging by the way she started shivering - and he had to stay focused. If his tracking sense was correct, the timberwolf was close by.

"When we find it, stay behind me." he said to Fluttershy, turning his head. "Wait for me to subdue the wolf, then you can do... whatever it is that you want to do."

"Alright..." her widening eyes were the only warning he got.

He uttered a prayer for protection.

A barrier made of pure Light enveloped him. The timberwolf that tried to pounce on him yowled surprised when he collided with it. He stumbled back, dazed.

Matthias was about to make it even more dazed, but suddenly Fluttershy jumped in front of him.

"What do you think you're doing!" she started screaming at wolf, which, to Matt's amazement, instead of growling, whimpered. "You should be ashamed of yourself! Not only you attacked my friend at the farm, but now you attacked another pony when he came to help you! What do you have to say for yourself!? I asked: 'WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF'!?" she repeated when the wolf didn't react immediately.

As the giant timberwolf whimpered even more sorrowfully, Matthias was glad that Fluttershy wasn't shouting at him.

"That's okay, nopony is hurt now." Fluttershy said in her normal sweet voice. "But you must never do that again, understood!?"

Matt could swear he heard the wolf say 'understood'.

"Um, Matt... could you heal him now?"

"Oh, sure." he replied, trying not to think to much into it.

As he approached the timberwolf, he started growling at him, until he was silenced by Fluttershy stare. Matthias put a hoof on wolf's muzzle and uttered a prayer for healing once again.

Once again, the Light enveloped him and spread to the timberwolf, which, in contrast to Dash, stayed calm. In fact, it was even calmer that... ever. When the Light finished healing him, he looked back at Matthias with his muzzle full of teeth, and unexpectedly licked his hoof.

As Matthias moved back, astonished, the wolf started licking Fluttershy's face.

"I'm glad that you're healed, too." she said, laughing. "Now, off you go, and remember, don't ever harm another pony."

The timberwolf barked at response, wiggling his tail, and run back into a deeper part of the forest.

Matt stared at Fluttershy.

"How did you do that?!" he asked with wide eyes. "You just turned a giant wolf into a happy pup!"

"Oh, I'm just good with animals." she answered. blushing. "It's my special talent, you see."

"'Just good with animals'?" repeated Matthias as the made they way back. "I know of druids that could learn from you!"

"'Druids'?"

"Nevermind." he answered, shaking his head.

Once again, this world proved to be more amazing than anything he knew on Azeroth.

"We should go and tell everypony that the timberwolf won't return again." said Fluttershy.

"Do you mind doing this yourself?" asked Matthias. "I... need to think about few things."

"Oh, okay."

"If anypony needs me, I will be by the river." he said, meaning his pondering place. "And Fluttershy?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"For what?" asked surprised Fluttershy.

"For reminding me what compassion is. I needed that."

16. Shattering

When Matthias and Fluttershy left, the rest did as he suggested them. They went to Applejack's house and cleaned themselves up. They were all grateful that nopony was here: Granny Smith went to visit one of her friends, Big Mac was selling apples at market, and Apple Bloom had stayed with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo at school working at the school newspaper, the Foal Free Press. They didn't think they could explain to anypony why they were all covered in Applejack's blood.

"So... what do you all think?" asked Twilight when they were cleaning themselves.

"About what, darling?"

"Oh, I don't know: about the weather, the sun, or that our friend was saved by a weird earth pony that can use a weird magic!"

"Calm down, sugarcube." said Applejack. "Ah was the one dying, Ah should be nervous."

"Right, sorry." said Twilight, but then noticed something. "Wait a second, you're right! You should be nervous, or depressed, or something!"

"What'ya mean?"

"You can just have a near death experience and just act normal so soon. But here you are, calming me."

"Ya know, ya're right." said Applejack, rubbing her head. "Ah know Ah shouldn't be calm, but... Ah am. Ah don't understand, but when Matt did... whatever he did, Ah felt..."

"Felt... what?" asked Twilght after few moments when her friend stayed silent.

Applejack thought few seconds more, then shook her head.

"Ah don't know how to explain that. Rainbow, he did the same to'ya." she said, turning to the cyan pegasus. "Could'ya tell what that feeling was?"

Rainbow Dash made a troubled expression, and after a while also shook her head.

"Trust Dash to talk about feelings." Twilight frowned.

"Does it matter?" asked Spike. "Shouldn't we be just glad that Matthias healed them?"

"It's not that I'm not glad." replied Twilight. "I just want to know how an earth pony could use magic. It doesn't make sense!"

"Sugar, remember how'ya tried to figure out somethin'bout another earth pony?"

They all looked through the window. Pinkie Pie was outside, apparently talking to some bird.

"And how did that turned out?" asked Spike.

Twilght turned her sight at the wall.

"Point taken." she admitted. "But still..."

She was interrupted as Fluttershy entered the room.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I interrupt you?"

"No, Fluttershy." she sighed. "Back so soon?"

"Yes, we found that poor wolf quickly, and..."

"'Poor'? Fluttershy, dear, it tried to kill Applejack!" Rarity said.

"Only because he was hungry!" the shy pony defended the wolf, cringing at Rarity's tone of voice.

"Hey, where's Matt?" asked Spike, and only now they realised that he didn't come with Fluttershy.

"Oh, he said that he needed to think about some things. He said that if anypony needs him, he will be by the river."

"Did he went sulking again?" thought Twilight, half annoyed, half worried.

"Lets go everypony. I have some questions for him."

"Alright, Ah need to thank him properly, anyhow."

As they made their way out of Applejack's house, they were approached by Pinkie.

"Pinkie, we're going to see Matt. Are you coming?"

The pink pony nodded her head energetically.

"Of course I'm coming, how else I'm going to deliver Mattie that message?"

"Well then, lets... Wait, what? What message?" asked Twilight.

"This message." Pinkie replied, giving her a piece of paper.

Twilight looked at it. To her astonishment, the paper was covered with some strange symbols she didn't recognise.

"Pinkie, where did you find this?"

"Oh, I didn't find it." replied Pinke. "This really nice raven asked me to give it to Mattie."

"A raven."

"Aha."

"A bird."

"Correctamundo!"

"Pinkie, birds don't talk!"

"Well, that one did."

Twiligh facehoofed herself.

"Did this 'raven' told you its name?" she asked, figuring it would be easier to play along instead of objecting.

"He said his name was keeping secrets... wait... or that it was 'Keeper of secrets'."

"That’s not a name!"

"Well, that's what it meant."

Twilight was about to burst into flames out of irritation, when Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Sugar? Matt?"

"Right." Twilight replied, irritated even further that her friend, that almost died not even an hour ago, was calming her down again. "Lets go, everypony. The sooner we get to Matthias, the sooner we can get some answers."

Matthias sat at by the river bank, not looking at his reflection this time. This time, he had his eyes closed, as he tried something he never actually tried to do before.

Meditating.

He knew he wasn't going to find any answers by thinking things over and over, so the only way to figure out why he was here that was left for him was to try to use his renewed connection to the Light and get into a trance, in which he might find those answers.

The problem was, the spiritual aspects of the Light never were his speciality. In fact, that actually fell more into a priests' area of interests rather than paladins'. However, paladins were as much as warriors as priest, so he hoped that Light would answer him. He knew it spoke to Uther, Tirion and Turalyon, the three greatest of this calling ever to be born among humans, or even other races. While Matthias was definitely far from being a perfect paladin, if he could muster enough patience, it would surely bring results.

"Then again, patience isn't really my speciality, either." he mused, but quickly brushed that thought off and resumed his trance.

He could feel the Light. That alone brought him happiness, joy, pride, and inner peace... as well as pain and deep shame. But it was there, in his heart, and even if it wasn't speaking to him like it did at the moment when he healed Applejack, he could feel its warmth. That the Light forgave him, or at least trusted him enough to let him help somepony filled Matthias with wonder at its purity.

"Lad, no one feels ready. No one feels he deserves it." Uther's words, said to him at the day of his introduction to the Order of the Silver Hand came to him now. "And you know what? Because no one does. It's grace, pure and simple. We are inherently unworthy, simply because we're human, and all human beings--aye, and elves, and dwarves, and all the other races--are flawed. But the Light loves us anyway. It loves us for what we sometimes can rise to in rare moments. It loves us for what we can do to help others. And it loves us because we can help it share its message by striving daily to be worthy, even though we understand that we can't ever truly become so. So stand there today, as I did, feeling that you can't possibly deserve it or ever be worthy, and know that you're in the same place every single paladin has ever stood."

"If all human beings are flawed, than how would you have called me?" Matthias thought, feeling the tears to start gather in his eyes again.

He shook his head. He couldn't meditate with those kind of feelings - or, in fact, any kind of feelings or thoughts. He took a deep breath...

"Hi mister!" shouted three familiar fillies.

Matt sighed and felt his tail twitch in annoyance.

"Hello, girls." he replied, opening his eyes.

"What are you doing, mister?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"You know, you can call me Matthias, or Matt. 'Mister' makes me sound old." Matthias said with a grin. "As for what I was doing, I was meditating."

"Medy-what?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Thinking." Matt simplified.

"Ouhh... what were you thinking abo..."

"HE HAS A CUTIE MARK!!!" shouted Scootaloo.

"Oh, no." Matthias thought as the three fillies stared at him wide eyed.

"When did you get a cutie mark?"

"About... an hour ago."

"How did'ya get it?

"What is you special talent?"

"Yeah, what is that, some kind of statue or something?"

"You do realize I can't answer all you question at once, right?" asked Matthias, hoping somepony would come and save him.

The girls looked at each other, and Sweetie Belle was about to repeat one of the questions, when suddenly:

"There he is!"

Matthias and the fillies looked at the direction the voice of Twilight Sparkle came from. She was followed by the other mares and one dragon. For some reason, she appeared to be almost angry.

"Did'ya do somethin' bad again, Matt?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Nothing I know of." replied Matthias.

"I'm not going to meditate today, aren't I?" he though, regretting for what he wished a moment ago.

"Hey." the paladin asked his companion.

"Yeah?" the death knight replied, not taking his eyes off from the frozen wasteland that was below them.

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

" It’s one of life’s great mysteries, isn’t it?" said the death knight, looking up at the sky. "Why are we here? Are we just a product of Titans failed experiments, or is it Light's doing? I don't know, man, "he added with a sigh, "but it keeps me up at nigh."

His friend from the Argent Crusade stared at him.

"...What?! I mean why are we out here, on this freaking ice spire?"

"Oh. Uh... yeah." replied the Knight of the Ebon Blade.

"What was all that stuff about keeping you up at night? You don't sleep!"

"Uh...hm? Nothing."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Seriously though, why are we out here?" asked the paladin, getting back to the subject. "As far as I can tell, it's just a pile of ice in the middle of nowhere"

"Well, it is the Icecrown Citadel." reminded him death knight. "We're suppose to guard it."

"Guard it from what? The sleeping beauty over there?" said paladin, pointing at the frozen figure behind them.

As everyone within the Ashen Verdict, the combined force ot he elite Argent Crusaders and Knights of the Ebon Blade, they knew who sat on the Lich King's Throne, as well as why.

"You know, for a paladin, you have surprisingly little respect for someone who chose to be damned to save Azeroth."

"It's not that I don't respect him, it's just that I don't understand why we have to freeze our asses up here."

"If you're asking specifically why here, it's because it was our turn to stand here. Just be glad it wasn't our shift when the Banshee Queen came, those two are still standing guard at the bottom of the Citadel, near the entrance to Naz'anak."

That got the paladin to shiver. The Forgotten Depths were the home to the faceless ones, servants of the Old Gods. Where they walked, only madness stayed. The commander left in charge felt it was a perfect place to have stationed two imbeciles who let the Dark Lady do whatever it was she wanted to do without anyone from Ashen Verdict accompanying her.

"And if you mean the Citadel in general," continued the death knight, "it's because both of the Highlords ordered so. Write them a letter of complaint."

"Before it would get to them, I would be an ice sculpture." muttered the paladin. "It's easy for you, you don't feel cold anymore."

"One of the perks of being dead." replied the death knight with a typical for his kind dark humor.

"Hello." said Matthias as the group approached.

But for the moment, their main focus wasn't he.

"Apple Bloom, ya told me ya'll were stayin' at school to work at the school paper!"

"We are!"

"Yes, we were hoping we could get an interview from Matt!"

"What?"

"I hope you weren't going to write anything like during the whole 'Gabby Gums incident', weren't you girls?" asked Rarity.

"Wha... Of course not!" replied Sweetie Belle.

"We were going to ask him about where he came from, how did he got here, where did he learned how to fight..."

"But now we wanted to ask how did he got his cutie mark!"

"I'm sorry, girls, but that talk will have to wait a bit." interjected Twilight. "We have to talk with Matt about some... grown up ponies stuff."

"'Grown up ponies stuff'? What'ya mean?"

"Why do I have a weird feeling that none of them is going to ask me out on a date?" thought Matthias, suspecting what they wanted to talk in general. "It would seem that I'm not the only one with questions."

This time he was prepared to tell them almost everything; that he was from another world, that he wasn't always a pony...

Everything except his crimes. He doubted that they would have wanted to have anything to do with him if they knew, despise their declarations of trust and friendship yesterday.

"But we want to know how he got his cutie mark now!" begged Sweetie Belle with an eyes of a puppy.

"Come now, girls." said Matthias before anypony else answered her plea. "I'm sure this won't take too long. And besides, we can always talk another time, right?"

The fillies looked at each other.

"Ya promise?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Yes, I promise. And a gentlecolt always keeps his word." he added with a courteous bow.

"Okay then." replied fillies, brightening up. "See you."

"So..." asked Matthias when the three of them were out of earshot. "What do you want to talk about?"

Thrall, Former Warchief of the Horde, looked at the piece of Cairne's shattered runespear he selected from his pyre. It bore a single rune: healing. He would keep this, to remember Cairne by. To always be in touch with his heart.

Thrall jumped lightly to the earth and began to walk slowly toward the setting sun. He didn't look back.

The wind was slightly chill after the sun had gone, Thrall reflected. There was much that yet needed to be discussed with Baine, much planning that still needed to be done. Yet before that, Thrall desired a little time to sit with Aggra in this peaceful land.

"Who you really are?" started Twilight. "How can you use magic despite not being a unicorn? What kind of magic was that? Why are ravens sending you messages?!"

Twilight cursed at herself as she yelled in her frustration Pinkie's ridiculous story.

"Ravens?" asked Matt with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I..."

"You mean Medivh?"

"Yeap, that’s his name." replied Pinkie Pie.

Twilight stared at both of them.

"What?!" she screamed finally. "Pinkie, you said that its name was 'Keeper of secrets'!"

"Yes, it is!" confirmed the pink pony happily.

"Eee... I don't know how she knows this..." interjected Matthias quickly. "... But his name, Medivh, actually means 'keeper of secrets'. What was the message?"

"Here you go!" said Pinkie, giving him the piece of paper with strange symbols on it.

As Matt read the message, Twilight fought hard to calm herself.

Deep within the Alterac Valley, Drek'Thar and his attendant Palkar sat in the hut, eating dinner. News of Baine victory over Grimtotem and reclaiming of Thunder Bluff spread quickly, even to this faraway corner of the world, and they warmed everyone's hearts. Even Drek'Thar, who has once again started to lose his contact with reality, joined in public joy.

Matthias looked at the brief message that Medivh for some reason wrote in Thalassian and entrusted to Pinkie Pie:

Well done, young king

-Medivh

Matt made a mental note to hit the Prophet as soon as he sees him next time.

"What a confounded..." he muttered.

"What did it say?" asked Twilight.

"Nothing of a significance. I swear, annoying others must be the only amusement he has left."

"Okay..." said Twilight, visibly handling the situation as well as Matthias. "Matt, look. I respect your privacy, and understand that you have reasons for not telling us everything, but...

"Yes, I know." interrupted her Matt. It was time for some confessions.

Deep within the middle of Azeroth, the Maelstorm, the gigantic rift that was created when the Well of Eternity collapsed into itself during the Great Sundering, was furiously spinning, as it always had in the ten thousand years of it existence.

If there was anybody unfortunate enough to find himself close to it, he would have noticed that suddenly, the water shook.

That there was a light coming from the center of the Maelstorm.

That you could hear a laughter.

Twilight listened as Matthias spoke.

"I know it must be hard when you are trying to trust somepony that you know close to nothing about. That's why I decided to tell you everything. Make no mistake - I will still not tell you what it was that I did during my time as 'evil', not just because I dislike thinking about it, but for your own good. I doubt you could get much sleep after hearing this story."

Twilight enthusiasm for hearing the truth about Matt was a bit shaded by the feeling of offense at his comment; they fought Nightmare Moon, they fought Discord; what could possibly he worst than the two of them?

"Were should I start?" wondered Matthias. "I guess it would be best if I told you that-"

Whatever Matt was going to say, it was immediately interrupted by a terrifying yowl of pain that came out of his mouth.

Arthas Menethil screamed.

He screamed louder that he ever did, as the pain that he felt, that some part of his mind knew to not be his, erupted within him with an intensity that he never thought to be possible.

And in the back of his mind, he could hear two other screams.

Icecrown Citadel, until now silent as death, shook.

The paladin and the death knight desperatly throw themselves away from the gasp, trying to grab anything that was attached to the Citadel. The Knight of the Ebon Blade managed to get a hold of one of the ice spikes coming out from the frozen floor near the Throne. Noticing that his friend was about to fall over, he reached with his hand, barely managing to grab him in time.

He hawled the paladin up to where he stood and they waited. Waited for whatever the hell was going on to stop. At some point, they looked at the Frozen Throne.

The paladin felt his heart stop beating, and he had no doubt that if his friend's would still beat, it would also had stopped.

It was cracking!

The earth split before Thrall.

He leaped aside, landing and rolling and getting swiftly to his feet only to be knocked off them again. The ground beneath him surged upward as if he were riding the back of the great creature, lifting him up and up. He clung to it, unable to rise and flee, and even if he did flee, to where?

"Earth, soil and stone, I ask of you calmness. Share with me what it is you fear, name it, and I will-"

The earth did have a voice, and now it screamed, a rumbling agonizing cry.

Thrall felt the rip in the world. It was not here, not in the Thunder Bluff, nor even in Kalimdor-it was to the east, in the midst of the ocean, in the center of the Maelstorm.... This, then, was what the elements had been afraid of. A shattering, a cataclysm, breaking the earth as Dreanor had been broken. Through his connection with them, their terror surged through him, and he, too, threw back his head and shrieked for a long moment.

Drek'Thar, who had been dozing, bolted upright.

His blind eyes could see what other's could not, and he now beheld the full terror of what was happening to Azeroth.

A scream was thorn from his throat.

Twilight and everypony else looked terrified at Matthias, cowering their ears.

Matthias, who fought with timberwolves without uttering a single sound of pain, who had his ribs shattered and hooves burned by a dragon and merely grunted, who endured medieval medicine's treatment with only few yowls, was now screaming in a voice that nopony would believe a pony could utter, as if he was pelted from his skin.

They weren't the only ones that heard it. As Matthias scream grow louder and louder, and he was squirming at the ground in pain, few ponies came, alarmed, to see what was making such terrible noises.

Twilight knew that even more were cowering in fear.

As Matthias screams seemed to go on forever, it shifted, and everypony could hear the words...

Words that were uttered by three voices.

Arthas Menethil, Ner'zhul, Bolvar Fordragon, Thrall and Drek'Thar all sreamed the same words at the same time:

"The oceans will boil! The land will weep, and the world will break!"

After that, they knew nothing.

Twilight gazed at Matt, who finally went silent.

However, she was now more afraid for him than when he screamed.

"Quick, we have to take him to a hospital!" said somepony, Twilight didn't know who; Matthias scream deafened them all.

"No." she said. "Bring him to my library."

The paladin of Argent Crusade and the death knight of the Ebon Blade looked at the Frozen Throne. Now that the quakes has ended, so did the cracking of it. The cracks that were already made started to disappear, as the ice prison repaired itself.

"I'm going to report this." said after a while the death knight. "You stay here."

"Why me?" asked paladin in a bit too high voice.

"Because I already died once, it's your turn now." replied death knight as he made his way down.

"There he is!" shouted Aggra to Baine.

Thrall was laying on the earth, a short distance from the funeral grounds. Baine quickly followed the brown skinned orc to see if his father's friend was alive.

"He's just unconscious." she said with relief.

"Good." grunted Baine, letting a humor to slip into his voice. "I doubt my father would have liked if he joined him in death so soon."

Drek'Thar wept despite being unconscious, tears falling from his blind eyes. Palkar knew better than to doubt him. He felt nothing, at least not here, not physically, but he could sense the world's distress. And so when Drek'Thar awakened, inhaled a sobbing breath and turned his face up to his young caretaker, Palkar waited for what the seer would impart. The younger orc's blood seemed to run cold in his veins at the words.

"Someone is breaking down the door! Bar it! Do not let him in!"

17. Cataclysm

"Where is it, where is it!?" repeated Twilight as she looked around her library.

"What are'ya looking for, Twi?" asked Applejack as she and Rainbow Dash put Matthias on the floor.

Since he stopped screaming, he hadn't moved, and everypony was worried about him, even those ponies that were more terrified of him than grateful for fighting those dragons off. There were some that thought it would be best if he was moved to the hospital right away, but Twilight knew better.

Whatever has happened to Matt, wasn't caused by an injury, or at least, an injury that could be healed by Equestia's doctors, or probably nopony in Equestria. And the only pony that wasn't from Equestria happened to be Matthias himself.

So Twilight was going to ask him, in a fashion.

"Spike!" she finally yelled when she realised she wouldn't find that book by herself. "Where is 'The psychological art of mind's magic'?!"

"Er... right here?" replied Spike, grabbing the book from a shelf.

"Twilight, what are going to do?" asked Rarity as Twilight pulled the book to her with magic while Spike still held it, dragging him along.

"When yesterday Rainbow mentioned to me that I should just read Matthias mind, it got me thinking on the subject of how you can affect minds with magic."

"That's why you made such a mess here earlier?" asked Spike as he picked himself up from the floor.

"And in this book, I found a spell that allows a pony to read the mind of another." finished Twilight as if the dragon haven't said anything. "Well... sorta."

"What do you mean: 'sorta'?"

"The book says that it doesn't actually work as simply as it sounds. The spell allows to enter the pony's mind, and there you can see its thoughts, feelings and memories, or, in some cases, talk directly to the consciousness of a pony, which, in this situation, would be best. I could just ask Matt what had happened to him."

"Are'ya sure that its safe?" asked Applejack. "Ah don't think that Matt would be happy to see'ya inside his head."

"Well, its not like we have a choice, don't we?" replied Twilight, not mentioning that there were other dangers that the book warned about.

Rarity was about to say something, but was interrupted as a sudden burst of green flames came out from Spike's mouth. Soon, a letter was laying on the floor.

"It's a letter from Princess Celestia!" said Twilight, who, with all that had happened today completely forgot that she was waiting for he mentor's response.

"What does it say?" asked everypony as she quickly opened the letter.

She read aloud:

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

My most faithful pupil, I must admit, what you had written to me surprised me. I had never heard of a land called Azeroth, nor did I heard about ponies who couldn't have cutie marks. I am, however, sure that there never was a society of ponies ruled by an 'emperor'. Such title was invented by Diamond Dogs, three thousand years ago, but their empire was destroyed long before Equestria was founded, and they themselves degenerated, mostly mentally, into what you and your friends encountered. So I am afraid that this Matthias Lehner has lied to you, at least at that subject. However, it can be understandable that he wanted to hide some things from his past, judging by what you've also written.

I was deeply sorry to hear that somepony shared my sister's fate. I can't imagine what it must have been that exactly happened, but being turned into something that you're not, and performing acts of evil can't be anything but terrifying. Luna doesn't like to show it, but I know that she herself also has problems with her past.

I'm proud of you that despite hearing from him that he was once evil, you decided to befriend him rather than ostracise. If he truly regrets his actions, then he needs friends like you. However, I want you to let him know: if he ever becomes a danger to Equestria, or any of my subjects, he will be dealt with. I also want you to observe his reaction, and write about it to me in your next letter.

I know I don't have to mention to you that Matthias has to learn to respect the law of Equestria. If he wants to live here, he can't do as he please, and decide to kill somepony, even if that happens to be rampaging dragon.

Since it is you that took it upon yourself to help him, I'm sure in time he will warm up enough to tell the truth about where he came from. Until that time, take good care of him.

Your mentor,

Princess Celestia

Twilight finished reading and looked at her friends.

"I guess that now we really don't have a choice. The Princess said to take good care of him."

Everypony shared a look and nodded.

Twilight trotted over to where Matt was and laid next to him. She checked one last time the spell in the book, to be sure it won't backfire, took a deep breath, closed her eyes and pressed her head against Matt's, wondering if it was really necessary to have the base of the horn touch the forehead of the pony. Twilight blushed as she thought how it must have looked like.

She casted the spell.

She was in a darkness.

Twilight looked around, panicking that in her embarrassment she botched the spell. But just then...

Pain... rasped a terribly loud voice.

Twilight gasped as an image appeared from the darkness, a hammer hitting a red hot metal plate, and as soon as it registered in her mind, it disappeared.

Agony... rapsed the voice again.

This time the scene that had formed was of many hammers hitting a gigantic red hot metal plate. Twilight wondered for what reason they were doing this, and the strange voice, that make her shiver for some reason, said:

My hatred burns through the cavernous deeps.

Twilight eyes went wide when she saw what they were doing with a finished plate.

"They're nailing it to a body!" she thought, noticing though that the metal plate (still hot) appeared to hold together this... whatever that huge being, which now growled in deep pain, was.

And its roar... it sounded somehow familiar, but louder, and more sinister. And it not only was much louder than Matt's screams of pain, but it also vibrated through her body.

She kept watching as some strange beings were adjusting the armor on this humongous being, when suddenly the scene shifted to a barren wasteland, where the earth had cracked, causing some kind of tower to shake. The scene shifted back to the huge being, that had another nail pierced deeper into its body, and flapped its bat-like wing.

Twilight gasped as she saw an image of a town that was about to be hit by the biggest wave she ever saw.

She returned to the being before the wave hit, to see how a nail on its spine was plunged deeper, and the being (which by now she was certain to be a dragon) hit a stone wall with its neck and head out of pain.

The world heaves with my torment. Its wretched kingdoms quake beneath my rage...

Twilight could only stare as she saw the images of the barren wasteland from earlier was split apart, a zeppelin crashed into a building within some city, and a canyon filled with towering mesas was assaulted by another big wave of water.

"So much... destruction." she thought as she watched, helpless. She didn't knew why she was seeing this in Matt's mind, but she wanted it to stop.

The scene soon shifted back to the dragon, who had the strange, small in comparison to him, beings finish adjusting his armor, and started to rise.

"Wha... what is that!?" Twilight thought as she beheld his size. If he was a dragon, then must have be the biggest one there was - even the greatest dragons she saw during the Great Dragon Migration where dwarfed by him several times. She watched, as he put forth one of his clawed paws with molten lava slipping through it

She watched as he flew up.

He burst through a maelstorm, burning the air around him with just his body's heat.

But at last... The whole of Azeroth will break...

Some part of Twilight's mind registered the name of the land Matthias has claimed to come from, but she was too petrified with fear to think about it now. She watched as the black dragon flew across the sea, sinking some island with town full of small green beings in it. She gazed as he flew above huge dam, and by just doing that, causing it to crack.

...And all will burn beneath the shadow of my wings...

When the dragon finally landed on the city as big as Canterlot, and she could see once again how big he was, she snapped. It was too much for her. Twilight screamed and closed her eyes, unable to watch what kind of sick fate had the dragon in store for the city's inhabitants in his wrath.

"Twilight?!" asked a familiar voice.

Twilight opened her eyes to see Matthias standing over her, shock and concern on his face. Without thinking, she threw herself at him and hugged him, sobbing.

Arthas was surprised to see her here, to say at least, as well as to see her act like this.

Until he remembered what he himself saw few moments ago.

"It's fine, you're safe." he said to Twilight, patting her mane in an effort to calm her down.

As Matthias spoke, Twilight felt his hoof patting her mane and blushed, realizing she just embraced a stallion she knew three days. Feeling embarrassed, but calmed, she pulled back.

"Matt, I..." she started, not sure if she should apologise for barging into his mind or ask about just what it was that she saw, but she was interrupted.

"You've got a lot of arrogance to just come here like that." hissed a strange voice.

Twilight gasped when she saw what kind of creature uttered it. It was big, bipedal green being, that was wearing some robes and had a white skull painted on its face. It not only seemed unhappy to see her here, but was also walking in her direction.

Before he could do anything to her, or even get close, Matthias stepped in front of her.

"Back off, Ner'zhul, or I swear, this time I will kill you for good." he said, keeping his voice calm, but that only made him sound more dangerous.

The creature - Ner'zhul - snorted and turned around.

Twilight looked around. They were in some kind of hall - or rather, they were in Matthias mind that for some reason looked like hall. It had a fireplace, a table that could host many ponies, and on the walls there were...

She swallowed. There were animals heads hanging from the wall.

"Twilight?" asked Matthias, puling her back into reality - well, closely.

"What is this? What is that?" she asked, meaning both the hall and the strange creature. "What's that... Ner'zhul doing inside your head?!"

"Technically, it's my head." said a voice that was both cold and burning before Matthias could answer.

Twilight gazed at the direction the voice came from and screamed.

The creature that said that shouldn't be alive. He looked a lot like Ner'zhul, but there were some differences in their body build that told her they were of different species. But she doubted that all of this one's kind appeared as he. He seemed to be constantly burning, with pieces of plate armor attached to him and melted directly into his skin.

"Thanks for helping." she heard Matthias say in sarcastic voice to the strange creature. "Twilight, look at me."

She didn't answer. She wasn't too shocked by the appearance of the that being to take her eyes off him.

She was too terrified of everything she saw to move.

Suddenly she felt Matt hoof on her chin, and her head moved in his direction.

"Twilight, I know that what you saw must have shocked you. I will explain it to you, along with everything else, but not here. Please, leave my mind and return to your body. I will wake up shortly, I promise."

Looking into his eyes, Twilight could tell that he spoke truth. She nodded, taking some comfort from his promise, as well as managing to calm herself. She casted the spell and returned to her body.

Arthas looked as Twilight's horn glowed and she disappeared.

"We will have to finish this discussion some other time, it seems." he said to the other two. "I have to return and explain some things to them."

Bolvar nodded, but Ner'zhul had some objections.

"You choose to go calm some horse rather than talk about the fate of the world?"

"There is nothing I can do to help Azeroth." said Arthas, frowning at his own words. "And neither can any of you. If I have a choice between going to help my friend or talk about something I have no influence over, I choose the first."

As he prepared to wake up in Equestria, he told Ner'zhul one more thing:

"And she's not a horse. She's a pony."

18. Confession

Twilight gasped as she woke up in her body. Trembling, she moved away from Matt.

"Twilight! How did it... why are'ya shakin?" asked Applejack, worried.

"Its... nothing..." replied Twilight, knowing how unconvincing that sounded.

"How could I explain to them what I saw? So much destruction, so much hate..." she shook as she remembered the fury of the black dragon. "How could I explain that Matt has two other minds in his head?".

"Darling, what happened? Did Matthias..."

"No!" Twilight said quickly, before Rarity could accuse him of something. "It wasn't his fault, I..." she paused to take a deep breath. "Before I found Matt's conscience, I saw... some kind of vision..."

Her friends waited for her to collect her thoughts and continue with her story.

"In that vision, I saw... a dragon, but he wasn't like any dragon I ever saw. He was huge! I saw him land on a city as big as Canterlot, and he could have easily squashed it if he wanted! And he could have, for all I know! The vision stopped then."

"So you are just afraid of some imaginary dragon from Matt's head?" asked Rainbow, confused.

Twilight shook her head.

"It wasn't just that. He... he was destroying everything! Just from his rage, the earth cracked, and the oceans split! And he... He looked as if he was falling apart!" Twilight screamed as she tried as best she could to described the terrifying appearence of the dragon. "He had metal plates nailed directly into his body just to keep himself together! He looked like... like a volcano, or..."

"Your comparison is surprisingly accurate." interjected a calm voice.

Everypony turned their heads.

Matthias has awakened.

"Predictable." Matt commented in his thoughts as Rainbow Dash flew over to him, angry.

"Just what the hay you showed her in that head of yours?!"

"It wasn't my intention for her to see that." he replied, getting up.

He could see that Twilight wasn't handling what she saw very well. And who could blame her? Matthias himself was shakened by the vision he saw because of Ner'zhul, not to mention the feeling of pain as the world was breaking.

"Light," he started praying. "I ask of you to calm her. Grant her peace, so that her heart won't break." he could hear gasps as he and Twilight were basked in Light's grace. "Grant them all peace." he added, letting the others know of the Light's love for them and everypony.

Twilight couldn't believe it.

She felt... at peace. A moment ago she was distraughted by the vision of the black dragon, but now she was calm, and happy. She could feel warmth coming from her heart, warmth that loved her, and as the light embraced her friends, she knew they could feel it to.

"This was what Applejack meant." Twilight realised, as the warm in her heart magnified, and could be felt in every part of her being. "This feeling... this love... it cannot be put to words."

She opened her eyes, not even knowing when she closed them. The light was vanishing, and so did the warmth, and while she was saddened by that, she somehow knew it was always there.

"How did you do that?" she asked Matt.

"It's a long story." Matthias replied. "I think it would be best to explain some other things first."

He now had everypony's attention. They all felt the Light, and Matthias knew that despite never hearing about it, they all understood it now on some levels. Explaining how it worked could wait.

This could not.

"I suppose I should start by saying where I really came from. Earlier, I said that I came from the land known as Azeroth, and while it is true, I lied when I told Twilight that you don't know about it, because it was hidden in a magical mist."

Matthias paused and took a deep breath.

"You don't know about it, because it's not a land. Azeroth is the name of the world I came from."

His words were answered with confused and shocked stares.

"Now, when you say 'world'..."said after a while Twilight. "Do you mean it, like, a completely another world, or..."

"Yes, that's what I mean." he answered, looking around. "I'm sure in one of those books you must have some theories about different worlds, planets, as well as dimensions, universes, and such. Since I'm not a scholar, those books would probably better explain that to you."

Twilight rubbed her head, thinking about it.

"So, you trying to tell as that you're from a different world." Rainbow asked to be sure.

"Yes."

"So that vison..." said finally Twilight.

"Yes, those lands that you saw being destroyed were from Azeroth. You don't have to worry about that happening here."

"That's some relief, but... I can help but feel sorry for that city."

"That was Stormwind." replied Matthias, closing his eyes.

"Varian." he thought, remembering his old friend. He hated that he couldn't do anything to help him, although if he somehow found a way to go to Azeroth, Varian would have killed him as soon as he realised who he was. "I will pray that you, Anduin and your kingdom are safe."

"Don't feel sorry for them." he finally said, trying to convince her as much as himself. "It has some of the best warriors and mages from Azeroth, and its ruler wouldn't let some dragon to harm his subjects."

"You speak as if know him." noticed Rarity.

"We... met." was all that he was going to say about it.

"But how?" asked Twilight. "I got a glimpse of the city's inhabitants, they weren't ponies."

"They're called humans." replied Matthias, preparing to tell them something even less believable. "They're bipedal creatures, 147 to 198 centimeter height if male, 135 to 185 if female. Besides the hair on their heads and... some other body parts, their pink skin is furrless, which is why they wear clothes all the time."

"You sure know a lot about them." said Twilight, no doubt remembering Bolvar.

"Well, that's quite understandable, since before I came to Equestria I was one of them, isn't it?"

"What?!" asked everypony.

"Before I came to Equestria, I was a human." repeated Matthias, while thinking "Well, technically, I was an undead human, but still..."

"How... is that even possible?" asked Twilight. "Something changed you from a human into a pony?!"

"It would appear so. And because of both that and me being from another world, I didn't know about cutie marks, not to mention the fact that I didn't have one then. Hell, when I woke up in the Everfree Forest, I didn't even knew how was I supposed to walk! It's a good thing for those three fillies that I'm a fast learner when I need to."

When he mentioned his original luck of knowledge about cutie marks, it seemed to convince them that he was telling the truth.

"Why were you changed into a pony?" asked Twilight. "Why were you brought into this world in the first place?"

"I... don't know." answered Matt uneasily.

"Well, do you remembered what happened the moment before you woke up in the Everfree Forest?"

"That's... another thing you will probably find try to believe in." Matthias said, rubbing the back of his head and looking at the ceiling. "For about two moths prior to all that, I was..."

"Was... what?" asked everypony as he paused.

"Do you remember how the doctor back in the hospital said how terrible must have been the wounds to leave such scars?"

The ponies and dragon exchanged looks, surprised by the change of subject.

"Yyeess."

"Well, can you see this scar?" asked Matthias, pointing at the scar that went vertically through his chest.

"Yyeess."

"And do you remember how I told the doctor that I don't really know how it was treated?"

"Yes! Will you tell us what are you getting about, or not!?" shouted Rainbow Dash, fed up with his questions.

"Well, that was a lie." said Matt calmly, as if Rainbow didn't say a word. "The truth is, this wound was never treated."

Everypony looked at him, confused.

"Wait, if that wound was never treated, then how come..."

"I died." replied Matthias, getting tired of waiting for them to figure out what he meant.

"W-What?!" asked everypony, backing away.

"You mean...

"... you're a...

"... ghost?!" asked Pinkie, terrified.

"Wha... no, of course not!"

"A zombie?" asked Spike, hiding behind Twilight.

"No! For Light sake, you can check my heartbeat if you want." replied Matt, angry that they thought that now he was an undead.

"But... if you died, how come you're... alive?"

"I've been wondering about it myself. However, while bringing another back to life is hard, it's not impossible on Azeroth. At first, I thought that was what had happened, but then I realized that I was a pony, so..."

Everypony was even more confused than him.

"But why would somepony want to kill you?" asked Fluttershy.

Matthias smiled sadly.

"I mentioned that I was evil, didn't I?" they gasped as the realisation hit them, and he added. "The moment before my death I managed to return to my senses, and I died without remorse. I deserved to die. I was actually happy that it was over."

Matt decided not to say anything about the void of darkness that he later found himself in.

"But then... two months later, I woke up, in Equestria."

"How do you know it was two months?" asked Twilight.

"You remeber who you've seen when you entered my mind?" said Matthias.

"That's another thing; how can you have two other minds in your head?!"

Matt glanced at the shocked expression of the others and sighed.

"Twilight encountered two beings while she was in my mind. One was an orc - similar to human, but green-skinned, bigger and uglier - called Ner'zhul, and a human called Bolvar Fordragon. They told me it has been two months since my death."

"That thing was a human?!" asked shocked Twilight.

"It's a long story. Anyway, there is a connection between the three of us - a part of my soul is inside Bolvar's mind, alongside what's left of Ner'zhul's soul. I can shift my conscience into that part of me if I want to, and speak with them, which was what I was doing when Twilight... barged in." he stopped to give her a stern look.

"I... I guess I'm sorry. But I didn't have a choice! You were screaming, whirling in pain, and then you were unconscious, so..."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to bear a grudge because you were trying to help me." said Matt, smiling. "And even if I was going to punish you in some manner, seeing that vision was more than enough."

"But why there's this soul part of'ya is inside this Bolvar fella's head?" asked Applejack.

"That's... complicated. Lets just say it has something to do with my being evil and leave it at that."

"Fine." said Twilight before anypony could say anything.

Matthias blinked at her, gratefully. She understood that he didn't wanted to mention much that had to do something with his time as 'evil'. She replied with a wink.

"So lets sum this up." added Twilight."You're from a different world called Azeroth. You used to be human, went evil, and you died. But two months after that, you awakened in Equestria in a body of a pony, not knowing why, and a part of your soul is inside Bolvar, which lets you talk to him and Ner'zhul, who's also there."

"That about sums it up, yes."

"Okey then. Do you mind now telling us what was that vision, who was that dragon, and about this... light?"

"Sure." said Matthias, but at that time his stomach growled. "Oh, sorry." he said embarrassed as everypony started laughing.

"Well, ya're definitely alive, alright." said Applejack. "C'mon ya'll, lets get somethin' to eat."

Everypony agreed.

20. Two months

There was nothing left. The world was silent

There was not a cry of anger, or pain, or delight. Not the soft sound of breath. No waves crashed on shores, for the oceans have dried up. Not even plants were left alive.

The Hour of Twilight had come.

Dragonblight, once a holy place for dragons, where they came to die, was swollen with echoes of the past, long since forgotten. At the foot of Wyrmrest Temple lay the bodies of the mighty Aspects: Alexstrasza, Ysera and Kalecgos. There was no Nozdormu, not anymore - only Murozond remained, the sole living being left on Azeroth.

And at the spire of Wyrmrest Temple...

A single, massive body. It was illuminated by the dim, somber light of the twilight skies of Northrend, a limp and too-still thing.

Deathwing.

This... was the End Time.

Matthias woke up, shaking. Even though it hasn't been the first time he had that vision - courtesy of Ner'zhul - during the last few weeks, he still found it terrifying.

It has been close to two months since he was brought back to life in a body of a pony in Equestria. Two months... and he still didn't knew what it was that he was suppose to do here.

Annoyed, he got up from the bed and made his way into the main room of library, where he saw Spike, busy with cleaning.

"Good morning." he greeted the baby dragon.

"More like 'good afternoon'." replied Spike, amused that for once it wasn't he who overslept.

"Guess that will teach me to never again compete with Applejack." chuckled Matthias.

Since that day that he helped her on Sweet Apple Acers in return for paying for him at that restaurant, he continued to come and help every few days, finding apple bucking as a good way for strengthening his muscles, as well as quite relaxing. Yesterday, for some reason, he and Applejack gotten into a friendly argument about who could gather more apples within a day. They made a bet, with the loser having to do anything the winner said for the next day, got their friends to be judges, and spend the rest of the day bucking as many trees as they could. While Matt was overall stronger physically, Applejack had stronger hind legs, and had a lifetime of experience with apple bucking, so he had to work at double the pace to keep up. In the end, it turned out that Matthias managed to gather more apples, but Applejack bucked more trees, so they decided to call it a draw.

However, the competition left Matt all sore, and because of that he slept so long.

"You could have just healed yourself with Light." noticed Spike.

"I could have." admitted Matt.

Spike frowned. No doubt by now he knew that unless it was something important, Matthias wouldn't ask the Light to heal him.

"Where's Twilight?" asked Matt, wondering why the lavender unicorn wasn't here.

"Oh, she went on a picnic with the rest of the gang. She said she would have woke you up to ask if you wanted to come, but she knew you would probably went to meditate by that 'pondering place' of yours."

"Ahh, how well she knows me." sighed Matthias.

He tried to meditate as often as he could, which to his annoyance not only hasn't brought any results, but was also very hard. Only the day after the Cataclysm, he was interrupted by the Cutie Mark Crusaders again, attacking him with questions. While he didn't say that he was from another world, he did answered most of those questions truthfully. He told them about the Light, which they were sceptical until he did the same as with Twilight and the rest, about the Knights of the Silver Hand, about Muradin Bronzebeard, who taught him how to fight, and Uther the Lightbringer, who tutored him in the ways of the paladins. To his amusement, the three fillies said that the names of those two were more 'pony like' than his.

After that, he hoped he would have some peace and quiet the next day. He was wrong. The fillies tried to talk with him as often as they could through the first month of his stay in Ponyville, and while Matthias couldn't find within himself to be truly angry at them, he still regreted the time he could have spend on finding about why he was here. Despite that, he found some amusement in that, because the glares that Rainbow shot him few times when she was flying over as he talked with Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, as well as Twilight tales about a few things that happened around Ponyville before he came here, made him realise that the reason Dash still disliked him, albeit not as much as at the beginning, was that she was jealous, or rather irritated, that in such short time he managed to gain so much admiration from those three, that was usually reserved for her.

There were other 'distractions', of course - after all, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had to attend the school, so he had mornings and noons free of them. Soon after his powers were a well known fact around Ponyville, he was approached by the doctor who treated him after his first encounter with timberwolfs, and asked if he could help in the hospital. Matthias obviously agreed, cursing at himself for not thinking about it earlier, and soon, the feather flu epidemic was nothing more than a memory. Matt would have stayed all the time there after that, but the hospital's staff told him, laughing, that it would made them lose their jobs. They said that they would only called him if there was a case that they couldn't deal with themselves. Matthias, painfully aware that there are diseases that even Light can't heal, hoped that they would never have to resort to that. He also instructed the hospital's staff to not call him in cases such as broken bones, unless it was necessary.

"Broken bone that mends naturally is stronger than the one magically healed." he told them. "And the pony that endures pain of his or her injuries grows stronger, as well. That was why it was forbidden by my order to heal ourselves, unless one was in the middle of the battle and such."

He tried to help Twilight within the library, despite not being nearly as organised. He also told her some of Azeroth's history, which she had great interest in. He went to Fluttershy once to deliver her a book she asked from Twilight and helped her feed her animals, and that finally made the shy pegasus more open towards him, and despite being acquainted with her pet rabbit Angel, he found the whole day fun. After that, Fluttershy asked him from time to time about animals from his world. Similarly, he talked about clothes on Azeroth with Rarity whenever she asked him about it, this time more easily, since he didn't have to adapt them to ponies bodies. And of course, he helped at Applejack's farm. Pinkie Pie didn't seemed to need his help with whatever it was that she does, but he still made a point to talk to her few times at Sugarcube Corner. The hardest one to get to know and befriend was Rainbow Dash, of course, but eventually, about a month after Matt has offered to teach her some of his fighting moves she agreed, and they had sparring fights every few days.

One time she asked him why he was trying to be friendly with everypony.

"Because I'm afraid." he replied, earning a confused stare form the cyan mare. "Afraid that I might become evil once again. But Twilight told that if I have friends by might side, they will stop me before I fall down this path. In other words:" Matt said, grinning,"I trust you and the rest to smack me at the back of my head if I go on a rampage around Ponyville."

Rainbow chuckled at that, and since then she became friendlier.

Despite all that, however, when about a month ago they all went to Canterlot to deliver Cakes cake for National Dessert Competition, he opted to stay and meditate. While when he heard what ridiculous adventure had happened to them on that train, he was glad of his choice, he didn't get much time to do as he planned. Soon after everypony left, the Cakes realised that they had some large catering order to complete, and needed a foalsitter for their toddlers, Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. Not having anypony else to ask, they turned to Matthias, who agreed. The foals were quite handful, but he didn't have any bigger problems, aside from changing their diapers.

Matt shook his head. At the rate he was going about, he might have as well went to that picnic. But he knew this was more important.

"I better go, then." he said to Spike, turning towards the door.

"Don't you want anything to eat?"

"No, thanks, I can eat when I return." Matt replied, leaving the library.

As he went through Ponyville, saying his greeting to few ponies that passed him, he couldn't help but wonder how were things on Azeroth going. He knew about the most important events thanks to Bolvar - the destruction the Cataclysm has wrought, the rejoining of Gilneas, or rather, the survivors from Gilneas, to the Alliance, the introduction of Bilgewater Cartel to the Horde and the mess they made out of Azshara, the continued war between the two factions, dispite their world crumbling around them, the assault on the World Tree, the battles across the sunken ruins of Vashj'ir, and the events that traspired around the Dragonblight. As he remembered Chromatus, the dreaded chromatic dragon with five heads, he felt as if the air around him grew colder.

He cursed at his inability to help Azeroth. Even Bolvar couldn't do anything, since he wanted to keep the information that the Lich King hasn't been destroyed, like everyone thought, a secret. Matt wished there was something he could to to help, if not his world, then at least his friends, like Varian, Muradin... or Jaina.

Matt could help but think how much she would love Equestria. Here everything was peaceful, everypony was kind, there were tons of book around and plenty of magic for her to study. He tried to imagine how would she look like if she was transformed into a pony...

... and in his head, she looked exactly like Twilight.

That was another thing that worried him, as much as his inability to find out why he was here and to help anyone on Azeroth. Twilight reminded him so much of Jaina, that he soon realised that he started to have the same feelings he had for the daughter of Grand Admiral Daelin Proudmoore. He was dismayed at himself for that. Those feelings were nothing more than an echo of his love for Jaina. Twilight, no matter how much she was alike her, was Twilight. If he tried to get into that kind of relationship with her because of that, it would be unfair for her.

Not that he would even try.

As Matt reached his pondering place, he looked around. The ponies have long since learned that he desired to be undisturbed when he was meditating, and none of those he saw in the distance paid him any attention. Satisfied, he sat down, when Canterlot caught his eye.

"Is it just me, or does it look... different?" he asked himself, gazing at the far away city. There was something that seemed familiar to him about this, but...

Brushing this weird feeling off, he started meditating.

He sat there for a few hours - at least that was what he thought, time didn't matter to him when he stayed connected to the Light for so long - when he noticed that somepony was approaching him.

Matt opened one eye and saw Twilight trotting over to where he sat, not looking at him. She sat next to him, her eyes on the water.

"What happened?" asked Matthias.

Twilight shook and finally looked at him.

"How do you know that something had happened?" she asked him. "Did you use some Light trick to read my mind?"

"You don't need to be the paladin of the Holy Light to know when your friend is unhappy about something." Matt replied, and he meant it. Twilight was still his friend, despite those feelings he started to have for her because of her alikeness of Jaina. "And affecting minds of others is more priests speciality than paladins, anyway."

"What about that time when you calmed me?"

"I affected your heart, not your mind. What's wrong?" he asked, growing concerned.

Twilight sighed and looked away.

"My brother is getting married."

21. Prelude

"You have a brother?"

Twilight shot him a glare.

"The only thing I know about your family is that your mother knew a beautiful lullaby."

"Fair enough." Matt replied, shrugging. "But... forgive me, why are you upset about your brother getting married? Isn't that supposed to be something you should be happy about?"

"Oh sure, I'm very happy." she said in a sarcastic tone. "I'm so happy that my brother didn't see fit to tell me in person, or even introduce me to the mare he's marrying!"

Matthias was beginning to understand what everypony meant when they said that Twilight sometimes has this 'crazy eyes' thing when she is very angry.

"Twilight." he said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "Take a deep breath."

She shot him another irritated glare, but did as he asked.

"Now, tell me - calmly - why are you so upset."

"It's just that... Shining Armor and I were always... why are you smirking?" she asked Matt.

"No reason." he replied, putting a hoof on his mouth.

"His name is Shining Armor? Next thing I know, she will tell me he's a Knight-Captain or something."

"Please, continue." he said, getting a hold of himself.

Twilight glanced at him a moment longer, and continued:

"Shining Armor and I were alway very close. Before I came to Ponyville, I didn't have many friends; in fact, I only considered my brother and Spike as friends. We always did everything together, but now... I feel as if we are so far apart. He didn't even bother to come and tell me in person that he's getting married!"

"Twilight, I'm sure there is some reason for that." Matt said calmly. "You can ask him what that reason was when you see him. Speaking of, when is the wedding?"

"In two days in Canterlot."

"Wow. Quick, isn't he?"

Twilight again glared at him.

"Please stop doing that. You're scaring me." he said with quite well pretended fear.

That finally got her to laugh.

"Sorry." she apologised, chuckling.

"So you'll be going to Canterlot, I take?" Matt asked, supressing a frown at the thought of her of being away for few days.

Some time away from Twilight might give him the chance to sort out those stupid feelings.

"Yes, and it's not just me that's going." she replied, and noticing his confused stare, added: "Princess Celestia asked me and the other girls to help with preparations for the wedding."

"Why would the Princess... wait, all of you? As in, including Rainbow Dash?"

Twilight nodded, amused.

"What the hay can somepony like her possibly do to help with a wedding?!" Matthias asked, unable to comprehend that.

"The Princess asked her to perform sonic rainboom as the groom and bride complete their 'I do'." she answered, stoping herself from laughing.

"What in the name of the Light is a 'sonic rainboom'?" he asked, this time more intrigued.

Twilight was about to reply, but suddenly closed her mouth.

"You know what, I'm not going to tell you. You will have to wait and see."

"Fine then." he sighed, but then his mind registered what she said. "Wait, I'm coming too?"

"Well... " Twilight replied, looking away. "I just thought that, since everypony is going, you should come as well. After all, you didn't come with us to the Canterlot the other time, and we could have used your help at that..."

"As I told Pinkie, I couldn't ask the Light to 'heal' the cake that you all ate!" Matt said in frustration, reminded how the pink pony was badgering him about it when they returned.

"I didn't eat it! And that wasn't what I meant, anyway. I meant that we could have used your help with solving that mess." she sighed. "'Getting back to the topic, Applejack mentioned to me that she could use your help with getting the food there."

"Oh, so you want me there as a pack mule?" he said amused, and then quickly glanced across the river. "No offense."

"None taken." replied the mule that was walking on the road on the other side.

Twilight sighed again.

"Look, I know that what you're doing - or rather, trying to do - is important, but... you could use a little break, maybe?"

"You just want me there to heal your brother after you're done beating him, don't you?" asked Matt, who whirled at her comment about him not making any progress.

"No! I mean, I just... thought that maybe if you enjoyed yourself a bit, it would be easier for you." she said, looking at the ground. "And... it would have been nice to have all my friends with me there. In case I was going to do anything stupid to my brother."

Matthias sighed and looked at the Casterlot, once again noticing that it looked somehow different, thinking this through. Every logical part of his mind told him to stay. He needed to know why he was here, and the fastest way to know that was through meditation. Unless Medivh would have dropped by, but even then Matt doubted he would get any clear answers out of him. He also needed to stop thinking about Twilight as if she was Jaina, and going to the wedding of her brother wouldn't help with that.

"Then why do I feel that I have to go?" he thought, sighing again. He knew his logic wasn't going to win.

"It's not as if I'm making any progress here."

"So you're coming?" asked Twilight hopefully.

"I guess I am." he replied, and smiled back to her.

"Great! We're going tomorrow morning, so you better go to Sweet Apple Acers and see what Applejack will need your help with."

"Very well, but please, first tell me: why is the Princess so interested in this wedding?" he asked the question he almost forgot earlier.

"Oh, well, my brother is marrying some Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, so it must be one of her nieces."

"Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?" said Matt, searching his memory. "Odd. I don't recall reading about anypony named like that in that book about Equestria's royal family you borrowed me." he almost rolled his eyes at the thought that he memorized the whole family tree of the royal family up to the cousins of Celestia and Luna.

"Old habits die hard."

By going over the list, he reminded himself of that "Prince" Blueblood Rarity had mentioned to him. He wondered if he would stumble upon him in Canterlot. He was itching to teach that snob how a prince should behave.

"How did your brother managed to get a princess to marry him?" he asked, getting back into subject. "He must be a great pony."

"Well, obviously, he's great. They don't just make anypony the Captain of the Royal Guard, you know... Why are you laughing?!" she asked the stallion that was rolling on the grass.

"Pity I never had a chance to take a ride on Deeprun Tram, maybe then this ride would be more comfortable for me." Matthias thought as the train rode toward Canterlot.

"A sonic rainboom?" said Rainbow to the others in daze. "At a wedding?! Can you say 'best wedding ever'!"

Matt frowned as Pinkie screamed: "Best wedding ever!", and her voice was echoed by the cave they just rode into. Warned by Twilight, everypony refused to tell him just what this 'sonic rainboom' was, except that it was the 'most awesome thing ever', according Dash and Pinkie.

"So you all get to help with the big fancy wedding," was saying Spike. "but I'm the one who gets to host the bachelor party! I have just one question. What's a bachelor party?"

As everyone laughed at dragon's question, Matt poked Applejack.

"Whose idea was it to let a baby dragon host a bachelor part?" he asked her.

"Ah don't know." she replied, chuckling.

Matt sighed and looked for Twilight. Her brother was about to be deprived of 'man's last night of freedom', as Muradin had called it. But all the thoughts and ideas about this problem evaporated from his head as he saw Twilight laying on the compartment 's bed.

"Oh great, now she's sulking." he thought.

He once again poked Applejack and pointed at Twilight. Understanding what he meant, she went over to talk to her.

"Why the long face, sugarcube?" he heard her ask.

"I'm just thinking about Shining Armor." Twilight replied. "Ever since I moved to Ponyville we've been seeing each other less and less. And now that he's starting a new family with this 'Princess Mi Amore Cal-whatshername', we'll probably never see each other."

"Come on, now. Ya're his sister. He'll always make time for ya."

Hearing that, Matthias couldn't help but feel pain in his heart at the thought of his sister, Calia, who he would never see again, even if she was still alive.

"Couldn't seem to make time to tell me he was getting married." Twilight snorted and rolled down the blinds.

Matt got up and started walking toward them to tell her she should consider herself lucky, but before he got to them, Pinkie started screaming:

"We're here, we're here!"

Suddenly, a pink wall of energy went through the compartment.

"What was that?" thought Matt. The feeling he had when it phased through him... it reminded him of a scanning spell.

He was even more confused as they got out of the train and saw that the station was full of guards.

"Whoa, what's with all the guards?" asked Rainbow

"So, there aren't so many guards here normally..." he mused, looking at the armor they wore. "They fight in this?! I hope it's magically enchanted or something, it looks as if it could break with one hit!"

"I'm sure they're just taking the necessary precautions." Rarity replied to Dash. "Royal weddings do bring out the strangest ponies."

"I wouldn't be so sure that's the issue..." Matt muttered as he looked around, but his words were stifled by Pinkie sneeze. He was about to turn and say 'bless you,' when he noticed that the sky around Canterlot appeared to be pink, until it glimmered and he knew it wasn't sky at all.

"No wonder I thought yesterday that there was something different and strangely familiar about it." he thought as he recalled the glowing dome that the Kirin Tor erected around Dalaran as they rebuilded their city.

For some reason, a similar dome now protected Canterlot.

"What is going on? Increased number of guards could be explained by the wedding, but not this!"

He was about to say his thoughts aloud, but at that moment Rarity said:

"Now let's get going, we've got work to do!"

"And ya've got a big brother to go congratulate." added Applejack to Twilight

"Yeah. Congratulate. And then give him a piece of my mind." she said angrily as she marched away.

"Eee... should I go after her in case she plans on killing her brother?" Matthias asked, worried.

Everypony chuckled, thinking he was joking.

"Come now, we need to get movin'with the food." said Applejack.

22. The Knight and the Captain

"Cake, check." said Applejack as she ran around the kitchen making sure everything was ready.

Twilight ticked off the cake from her list.

"Ice sculpture, check. Best darn bitesize apple fritter you ever tasted..." Applejack said while putting one of them in Twilight's mouth.

"Mmm. Check." answered the unicorn.

"So what were you saying about the bride?" asked the farmer pony as she put the next batch of apple fritters into the oven.

"That it's my old foalsitter, Cadance." replied Twilight, glad that they returned to the topic.

"Well, isn't that dandy! And ya'were all worked up 'bout not knowin' his bride!"

"Well, yeah, but... she acted as if she never met me before." Twilight said with sadness in her voice.

"She couldn't forget me... could she?" she thought, not able to understand how Cadance could treat her as if she was air.

"Who acted as if she never met you before?" asked Matthias as he walked through the door, dragging a cart filled mostly with apples.

"The bride." replied for her Applejack. "Is this the last one?"

"Huh? Yes, that the last one. I thought you didn't know this Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?" Matt said as he turned to Twilight.

"I knew her, but just... I forgot that it was her full name." she explained nervously. "I just called her Cadance. She was my foalsitter."

Matthias eyes went wide, but soon his face was covered by that smirk she always found both charming and irritating.

"While this kind off explains how you brother managed to get a princess to marry him - by starting to seduce her all those years ago when she was supposed to watch over you - I don't... Au!" he yelped as Twilight used her magic to grab his ear and pulled it. "Sorry! Sorry! But seriously, a princess was your foalsitter? How did that happen?"

"It's a long story." she replied, still angry at his comment.

"It's that what I sound like?" Matt muttered, but soon shrugged. "Nevermind, it's not my business. But what do you mean that she acts as if she never met you?"

"I mean exactly as it sounds! I talked with my brother, he told me that it was Cadance that he was marrying, I was happy, and then she came in, I recited our little chant, and she walked by me indifferently!"

Matt and Applejack exchanged glances.

"So..." said the stallion with a serious face. "... you had a chant?"

Twilight facehoofed herself, starting to regret that she bothered to convince him to come, as he and Applejack laughed.

"Aw shucks." chuckled the cowpony. "Ah bet it was somethin' cute, with a little dance."

"Would the two of you focus!" Twilight shouted at them.

"Sorry, Twi."

"I beg your forgiveness." added Matt with a bow.

"Hmpf." snorted Twilight. "So, what do of you think about this?"

"Ah think ya're frettin' over nothin'." said Applejack, getting back to cooking. "Ah mean, tomorrow it's her weddin'. She's bound to act weirdly."

Twilight frowned and glanced at Matthias. For a moment, he look as if he was going to say something, but then shook his head.

"I agree with Applejack. I'm sure she remembers you, she's just focused on wedding. And with this increased security, I bet your brother is too busy to help and everything is on her head."

Twilight must have admitted that he was speaking sense.

"You're probably right." she sighed.

"Great." he commented. "Now, is there anything else I could help with?"

Twilight was about to reply, when they heard:

"I do. Do you? I do!" followed by a kissing noises.

They both glanced at Spike, who playing with the figurines of Shining Armor and Cadance that were supposed to go on the cake. Twilight snatched them from him with magic, causing the dragon to laugh nervously.

"You can take Spike away before he causes some trouble." she said with stern voice, but winked at Matt.

"Fine by me. I wanted to go and see Canterlot, anyway. Hop on, Spike!" he beckoned the dragon, who jumped on his back, and they both left.

Matthias was still a bit unused to the feeling of having a dragon hatchling riding on his back, but he didn't mind. He liked the little guy.

"So Spike, how about..." he started saying, but trailed off as he noticed the approaching pony.

She was simply beatiful. Her coat had a light pink color, while her mane and tail were dark violet with moderate rose and pale gold streaks. She wore a gold tiara, gold necklace, and gold horseshoes. But the most amazing thing about her was her horn and wings, marking her as an alicorn.

Matthias knew who she must be.

"Princess Mi Amore Cadenza," he greeted her, bowing and almost causing Spike to fall. "congratulations on your upcoming wedding."

"Thank you." she replied coldly, acknowledging his bow with a nod, and passed them, going to the kitchen they just left.

Matt glanced at her cutie mark as she walked by. It was a teal crystal heart within gold lace. He wondered what was her special talent, as well as how much Muradin would enjoy having an excuse to stare at princess's ass.

"Wow, talk about cold." said Spike.

"She's royalty, of course she acts like this when dealing with 'commoners'." snorted Matt. "And don't forget, she has a wedding on her head, she doesn't have time to exchange pleasantries."

When Twilight mentioned to him her weird behaviour, however, for a moment he was thinking if that had anything to do with this increased security, but quickly brushed that off. Now he didn't even cosidered it - to him, Cadance was acting like most royals and nobles from Azeroth.

Reminding himself about that issue that bothered him, he looked at the magical dome. He needed to know what was going on.

"And I know who's going to tell me." Matt thought with a smile.

"Well, Spike, since we congratulated the bride, it would seem fit to go and congratulate the groom as well, don't you agree?"

"You mean Shining Armor? I suppose... but how are we going to find him?"

"We're just going to ask." replied Matt, noticing a guard that was going somewhere in a hurry.

"You think he's going to tell some stallion where his captain is just like that?" asked Spike as Matthias trotted over to intercept him.

"Honestly, Spike, I find your lack of faith in me disturbing." he chuckled in response.

After few seconds, they stood in a place that the guard had to pass right in front of them.

"Guard, halt!" shouted Matthias after him in a voice he often used to adress his troops back in Lordaeron.

The guard looked back, surprised.

"Eee... you're talking to me, mister..."

Matt stomped the ground.

"I told you to halt, not talk!"

The guard closed his mouth and saluted.

"Yes sir!" replied the unicorn, sensing the note of superiority in his voice.

"Good." Matthias commented, supressing a smile. "What's your name and rank, soldier?"

"Private Grey Stripes, sir!"

"I'm looking for Captain Shining Armor, private. Do you know where I can find him?"

"The captain?" asked the private. "I think he should be still on the north wall. I would lead you there myself, sir, but I have to go to my station, so..."

Matthias nodded.

"As you were, soldier." he said, letting him go.

When the guard was out of earshot, they started laughing.

"That was awesome!" Spike said through tears. "How did you do that?"

"I was a paladin of the Silver Hand back on my world, remember? I'm used to giving orders to the other soldiers. My attitude made Grey Stripes think of me as somepony that is higher in rank than him, even though he never saw me."

They laughed together for few moments as Matt walked in the direction the guard pointed him in.

"So..." said Spike. "You said that you're used to giving orders?

"Yes." replied Matt carefully.

"What was your rank?"

Matthias cursed at himself. He didn't wanted the dragon or anypony else to know who he really was, not yet at least.

"Does it matter?" he answered with a question. "We're in Equestria, not on Azeroth. My rank has no meaning here."

"Oh, come on, just tell me!"

"Tell you what, you'll try to guess, and I tell you when you get it."

"Oh, was it a 'captain'?"

"No."

"Oh, ehh...

"Was it a 'supreme super captain'?" Spike tried about twenty minutes later.

"You already asked that one." replied Matt, gazing around.

There were already at the northern part of the city and could see a lot of royal guards.

"Do you know which one of them is Shining Armor?" he asked the dragon.

Spike jumped on Matt's head and looked around.

"I don't... Oh, there he is!" Spike shouted excited.

Matthias glanced at the unicorn he was pointing. He wore a violet armor with more decorations on it, had white coat and blue-striped mane and tail. At that time Shining armor turned and noticed Spike.

"Hey, Spike!" he greeted the dragon, coming to them. "Long time no see!"

"Hi Shining!" replied Spike, bumping his claws with his hoof. "Congratulations on getting married."

"Heh, thanks." said the captain, and turned his attention towars Matthias. "And who you might be?"

He was about to introduce himself, when Spike decided to do it for him.

"Oh, thats Matt. He's been living with Twilight and me for two months."

"Oh, no..." Matt thought as Shining Armor's eyes went wide, knowing what he must be thinking.

"Please allow me to rephrase what our dragon friend said, as well as properly introduce myself." he said quickly, and cleared his throat. "My name is Matthias Lehner, a Knight of the Order of the Silver Hand. I arrived at Ponyville about two months ago and your sister was kind enough to offer me a place to stay. Over the time, I've became a good friend of her and Spike, as well Twilight's other friends."

"Oh, is that so." said Shining Armor, gazing at him suspiciously.

Matt allowed himself to chuckle.

"Judging by Twilight's reaction to the news of your wedding, I guess she values how close the two of you are. Do you think that if what you're suspecting was true, she would kept that away from you?"

"I guess you're right." said the captain, looking ashamed .

"What are you talking about?" asked the dragon, not understanding.

"Nothing." they both replied.

Shining glanced at one of the other guards.

"Sergeant, lead the patrol. I will catch up to you later."

"Yes, sir." saluted the earth pony, and he and three others marched away.

"So you're saying you're a knight of some order?" asked Shining, leading them away to some garden, while glancing at his scars. "I suppose it's a given you're not a stranger to combat. I've never heard about Order of the Silver Hand, though."

Matt opened his mouth to reply, but again Spike was faster.

"Well, no wonder. It's from another world."

"Another what?" asked Shining, glancing back at Matthias.

"Is he doing this on purpose?"

"As strange it may sound, it's true. I came from the world known as Azeroth. Two months ago, I woke up in the middle of Everfree Forest, and found myself in a body of a pony. I have no memory as how that happened, though."

Shining Armor looked into his eyes, as if to see if he was kidding, and turned to Spike.

"Is it true?" he asked, and when the dragon nodded, he added: "It seems so... weird."

"That was nothing." replied Spike. "When until he tells you that he was actually dead."

Matthias rolled his eyes.

"Or that he was evil."

Matt's eyes went wide at that. And so did the captain's.

"Spike, would you mind going to Twilight and see if she needs your help with something?" he asked the dragon. "Matt and I are going to... talk a bit longer."

"Oh..." said Spike, looking at both of them, as if now realizing what he said. He was about to protest, but noticed Matt's nodding to him. "Okey. See you later."

When Spike left, Matt and Shining long stared at each other.

"So..." finally said the captain. "You were evil."

"One of the princesses you serve also was evil once." replied Matt.

"You compare yourself to Princess Luna?"

"You would be surprised how much she and I have in common."

"How so?"

"Lets just say that the way she became evil - by being corrupted by dark powers, to be specific - is very similar to my story."

"And what is your story?" asked Shining Armor.

"I haven't told your sister or her friends, despite knowing them for two months." said Matthias, smiling. "Why should I tell you?"

"Because Twilight and her friends can't throw you into prison?" replied the captain as if they were talking about the weather.

"You raise a good point, captain. However, I don't think my explanation will be necessery."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Firstly, because I am no longer evil. I was killed on my world and returned to my senses before I died. When I was brought back to life, one of my first thoughts was that I should be dead." Matt said, unable to keep the shadow from passing over his face as he recalled the darkness he was in before that. "And besides, do you think I would go around telling everypony that I was once evil if I still were?"

"I... guess that makes sense." replied Shining Armor.

"Secondly, I know for a fact that Princess Celestia knows about it, as well as my existence in general, thanks to Twilight, If the Princess doesn't have a problem with me, I don't think you need to either."

"You know, you could have spared us all this talk if you said that at the beginning." Shining Armor said, frowning.

"And miss the 'serious talk'?" asked Matt, grinning.

The captain chuckled.

"Well, I guess you must be okay if both Princess Celestia and Twilight trust you."

"Thank you. Now that you're not threatening to throw me into a dungeon, may I congratulate you?"

"Oh, right, thanks." said Shining Armor, smiling.

"I met your bride briefly. You're one lucky stallion."

"Heh, thanks."

"Pity there is a terrible danger threatening Canterlot."

"W-what?" asked shocked Shining Armor. "What do you mean?"

"I hope you're not going to pretend that there isn't any danger." Matthias frowned at him. "My world is practically in a constant war. I know what increased security means, as well as magical dome protecting a city."

Shining Armor stared at him, and finally said:

"You're right." he sighed "A threat has been made against Canterlot. We don't know who's responsible for it, though."

"Huh." said Matt, thinking. "You know, I was actually kind of bluffing."

...

"You know, I can still throw you into prison." replied the captain when he recovered from shock.

"I'm starting to see the family resemblance."

"So you don't know anything about this 'threat'?" asked aloud.

"No."

"You should work on your spy network. No offense, but your's is a long way from SI:7 level."

"Who?"

"An organization from my world specializing in special operations, assassination and stealth tactics." Matt answered automaticly, as his mind pondered possible threats to Canterlots security. "Are the spellcasters that erected that barried well protected?"

"Excuse me?" asked the captain.

"In case when the whole town is shielded by a magical dome, there are only three solutions." Matthias said and started counting. "One: find a way to neutralize the barrier, but I'm assuming that if that is even possible, you already took some precautions against that." he waited for Shining to nod, and went on. "Two: hit it with a great force, until it breaks. The weak point of that strategy, however, is that it would annouce the enemy attack, and you could deal with them quickly. And three: take care of those that are sustaining the barrier."

"You really are no stranger to combat." commented Shining. "Or rather, warfare."

"My world is a lot different than yours." replied Matt, shrugging.

"Going back to your question, yes, the spellcasters are well protected."

Matthias could help but notice the way he said that, but shrugged that off as not important.

"I need to go catch up with patrol." said the captain, preparing to go. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Knight of the Order of the Silver Hand."

"Likewise, Captain of the Royal Guard." Matt said, nodding.

23. Dueling nobility

Matthias entered the castle, looking back at the setting sun.

"I should look for Twilight and the rest." he though, feeling a bit tired.

After his talk with Shining Armor he spent some time walking around Canterlot, which still was to him a lot like Silvermoon, as well as Dalaran. The architecture, the magic... It wasn't a surprise to him, however, everypony that passed him, meaning mostly unicorns, stared at his scars, both terrified and disgusted. He noticed that earlier, but didn't mentioned it to anypony, simply not caring. The royal guards, on the other hoof, looked at him with a mix of respect and wariness, which earned them his respect in return.

As he came into a crossroad of corridors, he wondered just were the rest could possibly be, when suddenly he heard a raised voice nearby. He crept closer in their direction.

"... and how dare you to not proparly apologise to me for spilling that drink on me!" he heard somepony say and soon saw a white unicorn stallion, screaming at some brown mare, also unicorn.

"Excuse me, what seems to be the problem?" Matthias asked, interjecting.

Both ponies looked at him. The stallion was wearing some kind of formal attire, which probably meant that he was part of nobility, while the mare was wearing some kind of bonnet that made her look like maidservant.

"Ah, finally somepony who shows proper respect." said the stallion. "Could you please instruct this servant about..."

"For the last time, Prince Blueblood," intejected the mare. "I am not going to apologise for you walking into me. Now if you would be so kind to move away, I have to..."

"How dare you to speak..."

"Wait, you're Prince Blueblood?" asked Matthias.

"Why, yes. I'm surprised you haven't recognised me."

"Well, that explains everything to me." said Matt and he meant it. He heard enough about him from Rarity and the others to know that this was his fault. "Apologise to this lady."

"E-excuse me?!" asked Blueblood in shock, as the mare looked at Matt, confused. "H-How dare you speak to me that way? Who are you?"

"Matthias Lehner." replied Matt politely.

"I've never heard of you."

"Well, I've heard of you. You're a self-centered snob, who doesn't understand what chivalry means. I'm sure that whatever you're accusing this lady is your fault. Apologise to her."

"Wha... The nerve! Don't you understand that you are talking to a Prince?!"

"Don't make me laugh." snorted Matthias, who had enough. "You're not a Prince. I've given you chance to walk away with your honor intact, but since you refused..."

Quicker than eye could follow, he slapped gently the snobbish 'prince' in the face with his hoof.

"... I challange you to a duel, and when I win, you have to publicly apologise to every mare that you have offended in your life."

The shock on Blueblood's face turned into an outrage.

"How dare you! Very well, you shall have your duel, and when my representative defeats you, you will leave Canterlot immediately!"

"Name the time and place." replied Matthias, not surprised that the 'prince' didn't want to fight him himself.

"In an hour, at the Canterlot's Grand Arena!"

"Great. You will have a good stage for your apology."

Blueblood snorted and walked away.

"Why did you do that?" asked the mare that Matthias almost forgot about. "This wasn't something worth fighing for."

"That's maybe true." replied Matt. "But I heard about this pony earlier, and I practically waited for an excuse to teach him a lesson. Pity I can't fight him, though."

"Well, for what it's worth, thank you." she said, bowing. "I'm Pixie, one of Princess Celestia's maidservants."

"Pleasure meeting you, Lady Pixie."

"I would love to stay and chat, but I have to go. Princess Celestia will be tired after whole day of guarding Canterlot."

"I won't keep you, then. But try to come to the Grand Arena to hear that snob apologise." Matt said, trotting off.

"Now, just which way is this 'Grand Arena'?"

Pixie looked as the stallion was leaving. There was something... familiar about him, but the unicorn couldn't remember what exactly.

Twilight could belive that her friends could be so blind.

"The princess is about to get married." Rarity said, trying to calm her, but instead she added more fuel to her anger. "I'm sure any negative behavior she might be displaying is simply the result of nerves."

"And I'm sure it's the result of being an awful pony who doesn't deserve to even know Shining Armor let alone marry him!" Twilight said, stomping on the table.

Everypony looked at her, worried.

"Think maybe ya're being just a tiny bit possessive of your brother?" Applejack asked.

"Uh-huh." agreed the rest of her friends.

"I am not being possessive, and I am not taking it out on Cadance! You're all just too caught up in your wedding planning to notice that maybe there shouldn't even be a wedding!" she said, hitting the table so hard that she spilled all the drinks, and turned around.

She nearly bumped into some stallion.

"Uh, sorry." he apologised and went to the table were two other stallions were sitting. "Hey, you guys are off-duty too?"

Twilight walked away, thinking what she should do next, when she overheard what they were talking about.

"There's a fight in the Grand Arena in about twenty minutes!" said the pony that nearly collided with her. "That douchebag Mighty Shot is fighting."

"Really?" asked one of the other stallions, who, as she realised, were royal guards. "Who is the unfortuned pony that he's going against?"

"I don't know, some kind of weirdo that came into Canterlot today and challenged the Prince 'Snobblood' into a duel. Anyway, lets go and watch."

As the three stallions were leaving, Twilight glanced back at her friends, their argument forgotten for a moment. She saw the same thought in their eyes.

They all knew who this 'weirdo' was.

"Fillies and gentlecolts!" said magically enforced voice that could be heard across the whole Arena. "Mighty Shot, a long time friend of Prince Blueblood, is representing him in the duel that he was challenged to by Matthias Lehner! The fight starts in five minutes!"

Twilight and her friends looked at the stadium, and there he was. Standing completely still, waiting for his opponent.

"What the hay is he doing?" she asked, flustered.

"Did the announcer said that he challenged Blueblood?" asked Rarity.

"You mean that snob that you wanted to marry?" replied Rainbow with a smirk.

"I thought we agreed to never. Speak of it. Again." Rarity hissed.

"Ah don't get it. Why did he challenge him? And why isn't that prince fightin' himself?"

"When a noble is challenged into an honorary duel, he can choose a representative to fight in his place." replied Twilight as they made their way through the crowd. "But why did Matt challenge him?"

"That's some crowd." Matthias fought as he scanned the spectactors. "There he is!"

Blueblood finally came and sat on the honorary place at the other side of the arena. They both looked at each other with disgust.

There was still some time left before the fight, but Matt was already standing at the stage, waiting for this 'Mighty Shot'. He had stretched himself a minute earlier in the locker room, after declining from the Arena's staff the armor they wanted to give him.

"As if that thing could be of any help..."

"Matt!" a shout interrupted his thoughts.

Matthias glance to his right. His friends were standing by the barrier at the edge of the fighting stage.

"Hi everypony." he said casually as he walked to them. "How do the preparations for the wedding go?"

"What the hay are you doing?!" asked Twilight.

"Killing time." he replied with a smirk.

The expression on her face was priceless, even though he wouldn't be thinking so if it wasn't for the barrier that prevented anypony from the other side from intervening.

"Look, I would love to stay and chat, but the fight starts soon. I asked the Arena's staff to save you some seats in case you came." he said as he trotted away.

"This is going to be fun." he thought, and he recalled how few years ago he was watching another fighting in the arena.

Who would have guessed that the orc, that was a slave and was even named so, would rise up to be the Warchief of the Horde and a shaman that is destined to stop Deathwing, while the prince, that was going to be a paladin and King of Lordaeron, would have done all that he did, and would find himself here?

"Things change." he repeated Anub'arak's words.

"Calm down, sugarcube." said Applejack. "Ah mean, it's Matt. I'm sure he knows what he's doin'. And hey, he deserves some excitement, right?"

"Yes, it's just..." Twilight trailed of as they sat on the seats that Matthias had reserved for them, trying to collect her thoughts.

"First, it's this whole wedding thing, and now this." she sighed. "I guess I expected Matt to help me find some solution, but he goes around fighting."

"Just what, dear?" asked Rarity.

"I just... wonder if he's going to be okey." she answered, not wanting to go back into the fight with her friends over the wedding. "I heard about this Mighty Shot from my brother. He's a royal guard, like Shining Armor, but he is kind of... unpleasant. And strong. He never lost a fight."

"Well, that's about to change!" said Rainbow.

Matthias came closer to the middle of the fighting stage and glanced at his opponent. He was surprisingly well muscled for an unicorn; in fact, the only other well-built unicorn that came into Matt's mind was Shining Armor. He wore full body armor; at least, by Equestria's standards, and underneath it Matthias could see a dark coat, same color as his mane and tail.

"The combatants are ready?" asked the announcer.

"Yes." they both replied.

" Before we begin the fight, let me remind you the rules: no magic, no killing. We fight until the first blood is drown. The medics are staying within the barrier, but won't interfere until the fight is over. The fight begins... now!" shouted the announcer and the crowd cheered.

"This is your unlucky day." said Mighty Shot as he started to circle around him.

"Mind if I ask you something?" asked Matt, following him with only his eyes.

"Shoot."

"Why are you friends with somepony like Blueblood?"

"Because we think alike. We both know that we are better than commoners that the Princess holds in such great regard for some reason."

"Good." replied Matt, grinning, although the unicorn couldn't see his face.

"What do you mean?" asked his opponent, and Matthias heard his armor creak as he prepared to jump.

"Isn't it obvious?" he replied with a question, and swiftly dodged Mighty Shot's attack. "I'm glad that was your answer, because that means I still get to beat up a snob."

Mighty Shot snorted and attacked again.

Matthias was impressed by the number of kicks and punches the unicorn had thrown at him. Despite his heavy build, he was very fast, and had a good fighting technigue.

But he was not as fast as he was, and his fighting technique could't match with that of a Knight of the Silver Hand.

Every punch, every kick, every headbutt hit an empty air as Matt moved out of the way. Since most of those strikes were aimed at his head, he could simply stood still for most of the time, and just move his head.

After few minutes his opponent, who started growing tired, backed away and charged at him. Matt jumped over him and kicked Mighty Shot at the back of his head, causing his helmet to fall off and giving the stallion's face a ride through the ground.

After a few moments of silence, the crowd started cheering, Mighty Shot picked himself from the ground, spitting dirt.

"Do you need a break?" asked Matthias, smirking.

The unicorn shoot him a glare that could probably melt steel. His horn glowed.

"Oh..." said Matthias.

Twilight watched, speechless, as the magical bolt hit her friend...

... and everything exploded.

"Matt!!!"

Mighty Shot looked at the huge smoke that covered the area where that dirty commoner stood. He didn't even try to suppress the cruel smile on his face. Who cares that he broke the rules? The rules are below those of noble blood, such as he. He was...

...clip... clop...

"Wait, what?" he though, sure that he must be hearing things.

...clip... clop...

"Tha... That's impossible!" Mighty Shot though, backing away, as the joy on his face changed into a terror.

From the smoke, Matthias Lehner emerged, not a scratch on him.

"My turn." he said with a smirk, and charged.

Mighty simply stared, unable to keep up with earth pony's speed, as his hoof hit him with unbelivable strength, shattering his armor and sending him flying.

"Did the hoof... glow?" he manged to think before he collided with the wall.

24. Discorded

Prince Blueblood stared at his dented into the wall friend, speechless.

"How could he lose to that commoner?" he thought.

As the crowd started cheering, one of the Grand Arena's ponies came closer to him.

"Prince Blueblood," he said, turning the royal pony attention away from the fighting stage, "there's a letter for you."

Blueblood frowned, and took the letter.

I hope you remember what you are supposed to do now. You don't want me to go to you, don't you?

The prince glanced at Matthias, who was bowing before the crowd. As if sensing this, the earth pony looked back at him. Blueblood found himself quivering from that look. He quickly returned to reading the letter.

Seeing as you are too frightened to properly think, I took the liberty of writing for you what you are about to say.

As Prince Blueblood read the other part of the letter, he blushed out of embarrassement.

Matthias once again bowed before the cheering crowd.

"I'm beginning to understand why it took so many years for Thrall to run away from Durnholde." he thought, waving. "How long has it been since I heard such large group cheering for me?"

He frowned as he remembered.

"It was the moment before I killed my father."

He stoped reacting to the crowd as his thoughts once again turned dark. With his good mood dumped, he was about to turn around and leave, when he heard Blueblood's voice.

"If I could get everypony's attention..." he said, clearing his throat. " I have an important announcement to make."

Matt, who completaly forgot about this, glanced at him. Even from here, he could see that the 'prince' was all red out of embarrassement.

"I, Prince Blueblood, would like to publicly and officially apologise to every mare that I ever offended. My behaviour is beyond forgiveness, unless one can count being a self-center snob as an excuse. Truly, it's a wonder that I haven't been yet accused in a court. I hope that I never put any lady in any discomfort by being a jerk. Once again, I apologise."

Hearing the murmur of laughter that went through the Arena, as well as seeing Blueblood leave in a hurry, made Matt feel better as he left the fighting stage.

Twilight laughted with the others as the prince said his apology, knowing that it was because of Matt that they could hear it. She was about to call him, when she noticed that he no longer was where he stood a moment ago. She looked around and saw his tail disappearing in the exit of the stage.

"I will go talk with Matt. Can the rest of you go back to the castle and check on everything?" she asked her friends.

"Be sure to give him my thanks." said Rarity as everypony nodded, and Twilight went looking for the entrance to the locker rooms.

She needed to talk to him.

Matthias stared at his reflection in the mirror, wondering how would his father think of him now.

"Oh, for pony sake!" he heard Twilight say behind him.

"Well, it's rather a long way to my usual pondering place, isn't it?" he chuckled, turning around.

"You know that you technically cheated, don't you?"

"Technically, this isn't magic as you understand it in Equestria, so I didn't cheat. And besides, would you prefer me to get hit by his spell?"

"Well, no." she said, looking at the floor. "You scared everypony, you know that?"

"Sorry." Matt replied, trully regreting worrying his friends, especially her. "I didn't mean to make it look so... dramatic, but he really caught me off guard."

"Oh, now you really calmed me." Twilight chuckled, then sighed. "I'm just glad that you're okay."

"Once again, I'm sorry." Matt said. "So, how are the preparations for the wedding going?"

His question had an unexpecting result. Instead of brightening up and telling him how great everything was going, Twilight looked distraught.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I... I'm not sure there should be a wedding." Twilight said, staring at her hooves.

Matthias wasn't sure what to say. He recalled how unhappy she was earlier today, but he thought she had gotten over it by now.

"Why?"

"Because she's mean!" Twilight started shouting. "She's been horrible to everypony: she threw away the snacks Applejack gave her, after saying that she 'love, love, love them'; she was being so demanding about her dress; and she insulted Pinkie Pie's party!"

"What did the others say?"

"They are so too caught up in their wedding planning that they didn't even noticed!" replied Twilight, starting to pace around.

"Um... Twilight?" asked Matt, mentally going over the prayer for protection, just in case. "Don't you think that you're maybe... overreacting?"

"What!?" she shouted, looking at him in disbelieve.

"Princess Cadance is getting married, of course she's going to be a bit..."

"Urghh, you'r just the same as everypony else." said Twilight, turning around.

Matthias knew he couldn't let her go like this.

"Twlight wait!" he shouted, and noticing her glowing horn, he spoke fast, before she managed to teleport herself. "Remember what you told me after that dragon incident?"

That got her attention.

"You said that if you have your friends with you, they can tell you when what you're about to do is wrong. Being surrounded by ponies you trust and have them advising you will alway make you take the right course of action."

"You... remembered it all?" she asked with wide eyes.

"What you're about to do is the same what I did." Matt continued, not bothering to reply. "You're turning your back on a friend that is trying to advise you."

Twilight, looked at the floor.

"You're right. Sorry." she sighed.

"Twilight, I have no right to judge somepony because she's trying to do what she believes to be right." Matthias said, coming closer to her. "But I would prefer to not see you suffer as I did when I watched my friends turn their backs on me."

"But... what am I going to do?" Twilight asked, tears forming in her eyes. "If I am right, she's going to ruin Shining Armor's life! I can't..."

"Talk with your brother." told her Matt. "I've met him today, and he seemed to me happy about getting married. But maybe you are right. If the two of you talk - calmly - I'm sure that the truth about Cadance and the wedding will come out."

Twilight looked into his eyes and smiled.

"I will do that. Thanks." she said, whipping out tears.

"You want me to come with you?"

"No, I... I will be fine." she said, taking a deep breath. "You'd better go and take some rest. I will tell you tomorrow how it went."

"Very well, see you tomorrow. And remember, stay calm!" he shouted after her.

Matthias trotted toward the castle. Everypony he passed greeted him with a smile. News about Blueblood apology traveled fast, and everypony, even those of the same social class as the 'prince' seemed glad about it.

As he was approaching the castle, he noticed the entrance to the castle's gardens. Thinking that it would be a good way to calm himself after all that happened, he entered the gardens.

The flowers and trees looked a bit scary, now that it was night. Matthias found that refreshing. He was still unused to the way everything screamed 'happiness' in Equestria.

He bent over to smell few flowers. He remembered snapdragon at the Balnir Farmstead, the pride of Vera Balnir. He loved spending time there as a child, whenever he didn't have any lessons, and play with Jarim. He whirled as the memory struck him, but soon was repleced by another, as he saw a lilies. They looked a lot like flowers once called Stratholme's Lilies, before their name was changed.

Into Arthas' Tears.

Matthias wondered how come he hadn't gone insane with all those memories.

He began to regret the idea of coming here and looked for exit. As he walked, he passed few statues, not paying them much attention, until he came across the last one.

"What by all that is holy is this supposed to be?"

It was... Matthias couldn't even find a proper word to describe it. The abominations that Putricide made could at least be described as that, but he couldn't help but feel as the statue was based on the living creature. The expression of pure fear on it's face, that looked a bit like pony's, told him that. Other than that, the creature had a body of a cloud serpent that Matt knew to exist in Pandaria, two wings - one pegasus', other bat's - that were too small to lift this body, a mountain cat's paw, eagle's claws, dragon's paw and and pony's hoof. Even it's face was weird, had a goat-like horn and deer-like antler, one eye bigger than the other one and a giant tooth.

Matt stared at the creature, his thoughts about his past evaporeted.

"What the bloody hell are you?" he finally asked.

"This is Discord." said a serene voice behind him.

Matthias turned around and gazed at her.

Like Cadance, she was beautiful, but while Cadance beauty was a simple, mortal beauty, she emanated a godlike beauty. She was a lot bigger than other ponies. Her coat was white with a slight pink tinge, and her mane and tail... Matthias thought he saw four different colors of the sky on them, but he couldn't be sure, because they were constantly flowing, despite that there was no wind. She wore similiar regalia as Cadance, but they were a lot bigger and valuable, and her cutie mark was the symbol of the sun.

Matt quickly took a hold of himself and kneeled before her.

"Princess Celestia, it's a pleasure to meet you. Please, pardon my previous words. I had no idea I was in your presence."

"That's quite alright, Matthias Lehner, there's no need for you to apologise. And it's a pleasure to meet you, as well. Please, stand up." as Matt did as Celestia told him, she continued: "I read quite a lot about you in Twilight's letters."

Matt smiled sadly.

"Normally, a pony would say: 'all things good, I hope?', right Your Highness?"

The Princess nodded.

"Normally, yes." she replied and glanced at the statue.

"You said that this is discord." Matthias said, "What did you mean by that, Your Highness? Was it the name of this creature, or is this all symbolic?"

"Both statements are true in this case. Discord is a Spirit of Chaos that once ruled over Equestria, before my sister and I defeated him and imprisoned him in stone."

"So... that's not really a statue?"

"No."

"What did you mean by Spirit of Chaos, Your Highness?"

"Discord in chaos incarnated. He can warp reality to his own amusement, and he doesn't care that it hurts other ponies. Quite the contrary, he finds great delight in their suffering. And he has a terrible sense of humor. I'm surprised Twilight didn't mentioned him to you." added the Princess.

"Why would she mention to me about some creature that you and Princess Luna defeated more than a thousand years ago?" asked surprised Matthias.

"Because it was her and her friends that defeated Discord when he broke free few month ago with the Elements of Harmony."

Matthias eyes went wide and he almost let his jaw drop.

"You mean the Elements of Harmony, Princess? The ones that changed your sister back to her old self?"

Princess Celestia chuckled.

"Yes, and that was also their doing. It would appear that Twilight kept a few secrets from you."

Matthias looked back at the statue.

"Well, it would seem that it's only fair, since I keep a few secrets away from her as well."

"So they can use the most powerful artifacts on this world... Looks like I really don't have to worry about hurting anypony if I ever become evil again."

Thinking about it made him ask the Princess something.

"Why did Discord became evil?"

"I'm sorry?" asked Princess Celestia.

"Why did he became evil? What was the reason that triggeret it?"

Princess looked at him with wide eyes.

"He always was evil, ever since he came to Equestria. He's the incarnation of chaos."

"I beg your forgiveness, Princess, but he couldn't always be evil. Nopony is born evil, of which I am the prime example of. There must have been a reason for that, but if what you say is true, then it must have happened before he came to Equestria."

Princess Celestia looked at him thoughfully.

"You know, Matthias, I have never thought of that." she said finally. Glancing at the statue, she added: "I guess to me, he was always the monster from the stories my mother told me and Luna. But there is nothing we can do about it, unless he would break free again, but that would be most unfortunate."

"I guess your right, Princess." replied Matthias, pitying the creature.

Princess Celestia turned away, signaling for him to follow her. Matt walked beside her.

"You haven't told much to anypony about yourself from the time before you came to Equestria."

"Am I right to assume that Twilight wrote you everything I have told her or said in her presence?"

"Yes."

Matthias chuckled.

"It looks like I have to apologise to Shining Armor for saying that you don't have a very good spy network."

"It's not exacly spying." said the Princess a bit . "Twilight is just..."

"... observing me." finished for her Matthias. "And I don't mind, honestly. I'm actually grateful."

"Because you're afraid you will become evil once again."

"Yes."

"Is there a reason why would that happen?" asked Celestia, glancing at him.

"There are may reasons why one would became evil." replied Matt. "Hate, fear... duty to protect others..."

Princess stared at him few moment after that.

"You are an interesting pony, Matthias. Why would the duty of protecting others could make somepony evil?"

"You don't want to know, Your Highness." Matt sighed.

He doubted that Celestia agreed with him, but she didn't press the matter.

"Twilight also wrote me that you constantly meditate, trying to find the answer to why you are here."

"Unfortunately, without luck."

"Why is it so important to you to know why you are here?" the Princess asked. "It's clear that there must by a reason for such thing, but I don't understand why you need to know it as soon as possible."

Matthias hesitated. This was another thing that he hasn't told Twilight.

"Twilight's letter mentioned to you the name Medivh, right?"

"The raven that gave you some message through Pinkie Pie that is actually a human from Azeroth, and some sort of prophet?"

"Yes, but I haven't told Twilight everything. Medivh warned me that if I don't do what I'm supposed to do here, this land would be lost."

Princess Celestia stopped, and so did Matthias. As she looked into his eyes, felt as if she was scanning him with magic, which, for all he knew, could be true.

"Why haven't you told Twilight about this?" she asked at last.

"Because I didn't want her to worry about something she had no influence over."

Celestia nodded.

"Then you should do the same."

Matthias stared at her, sure that he misheard her.

"Forgive me, Princess, but..."

"You don't have the influence over this, either. When the time comes for you to do whatever this is that you are supposed to do, I trust that you will know by then what it is."

Matthias was speechless. He hadn't thought about it.

"In the future, don't waste your time meditating when you could spend it with your friends." she added, resuming her walk. "And since we're already talking about it, I can tell you why you haven't been able to fell into a complete trance and get in contact with Light."

"How could you know?" asked shocked Matt. "I mean no offense, Princess, but before I came here nopony knew what Light was. How could you..."

"You don't always need to know something to understand it." replied Celestia calmly.

"You are indeed as wise as Twilight made you to be, Princess." said after a while Matthias. "Please, if you would be so kind, Your Highness, could you tell me why am I failing?"

"Because you're in conflict with yourself. I don't know if this is because you can't forgive yourself for what you did or for some other reason, but as long as you are like this, you won't be able to succeed."

Matthias glanced at the floor. He didn't even notice when they entered the castle.

"How could I ever forgive myself?"

"You gave me a lot to think about, Princess. Thank you."

"You're most welcome, Matthias. It was the least I could do after you stood up for Pixie, not to mention the fact that you're one of Twilight's friends."

She stopped in front of the door that, as Matthias recalled, led to the rooms that he and others were staying in.

"I hope you will have peaceful dreams, Matthias Lehner. Good night."

"Likewise, Your Highness. Good night."

As the Princess left, Matt entered through the door into the hallway, and saw five of his friends...

... wearing beautifull dresses.

"So thats how ponies look like in them, huh..." he thought as all he could do beside that was stare at them.

He has seen dresses in Equestria, of course, but they were always on the dress forms in Rarity boutique. To see them on his friends...

"Oh, Matthias!" said Rarity, stopping her discussion about Applejack's hat. She came over to him and hugged him. "Thank you so much for making Blueblood to apologise like this!"

"You're welcome." Matt replied, blushing. "Might I say, those are beautiful dresses. You all look astonishing."

"Thank you very much. We are going to be beautiful bridesmaids, don't you agree?"

"Of course you... wait, you're the bridesmaids?" Matt asked, confused. He knew from Spike that Twilight was the best mare (on which he rolled his eyes), but... "When did this happen?"

"Oh, about the time we came back from the Arena." replied Rarity. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza came to us and asked us if we wanted to be her new bridemaids."

"'New' bridesmaids? What happened to her 'old' bridesmaids?"

"That's funny, it's exactly the same thing Twilight said." replied Applejack.

"Twilight is here?" Matthias asked, wondering how her talk with Shining Armor went.

"No, ya missed her. She went off somewhere."

"Hmm..." Matt said, trying to imagine how it went. If there was still wedding tomorrow, that must have meant that her brother convinced her that everything was fine. "Well then, I guess I'm off to sleep. The wedding is somewhere around the noon, right?"

"Yes, although we have the wedding rehearsal few hours before that."

"Isn't this all exciting?" asked Pinkie.

"Yes." replied Matt, smiling. This was the first wedding he attended in fifteen years, and he couldn't help but feel a little excited at seeing how different weddings were in Equestria. "Have fun with the rehearsal, everypony. Good night."

25. Revelation

Matthias stretched as he woke up. While he had nothing against the bed Twilight gave him, it was refreshing to sleep in a king-sized one. Yawning, he got up, glad that he didn't have any dreams this time. Judging by the fact that Bolvar and Ner'zhul haven't summoned him, he quessed that things were quiet on Azeroth... as quiet as they could be on the world that was literally falling apart.

He entered the balcony and gazed at the city. He had to admit, Canterlot looked beautiful, even more so during a morning like this.

"What a beautiful day." he said aloud. "On a morning like this, you can't help but think that this day is going to be perfect."

"And it is going to be perfect." he reflected. Shining Armor and Princess Cadance were getting married, and Twilight had gotten over her silly fear that Cadance was going to ruin her brother's life. He gazed at Canterlot, allowing himself few more moments of happiness, and after a while he went into the bathroom.

It took him about ten minutes to refresh himself and he was about to leave his room, when he heard voices on the other side.

"Can ya'll believe what she did?!"

"I must say, that was..."

"What are you guys talking about?" interrupted Matthias, coming in.

The five mares and dragon glanced at him.

"We were at the wedding rehearsal, when suddenly..." said Rarity and trailed off.

"Suddenly what?" asked Matt, sensing that something terrible has happened.

"Twilight barged in and started accusing Princess Cadance of being evil!" said Applejack.

Matthias stared at her, and then at the others. They all nodded.

"Damn it!" he thought, mad at himself. "I should have gone looking for her yesterday!"

"Tell me exactly what happened." he asked the girls.

"Well, when Twilight came in, she said that she wasn't going to stand next to Cadance, and that neither should Shining Armor."

"We tried to stop her..." added Fluttershy.

"... but she wasn't listening!" finished Rainbow.

"Then she started accusing Cadance of being evil..."

"... that she was horrible to us..."

"... that she did somethin' to her bridesmaids..."

"... and in the end, Twilight said that she saw her put a spell on her brother that made his eyes go [bells jangling]!" ended Pinkie Pie, rolling her eyes in opposite directions.

"Wait, what? What spell?" asked Matt, immediately on alert.

"Shining Armor later said that the princess was using her magic to heal him. He's been having some terrible migraines as of late."

"'Later'? What happened in between?" he asked, fearing worst.

"What'ya think happened?! The princess burst into tears! She asked Twilight why she was doin' it to her, and as she run away, cryin', Twilight was shouting after her that's because she was evil! Can ya belive it?!"

"Actually, I can." Matt thought, puttin his hooves over his eyes. He knew how Twilight was upset about this whole wedding, and still he didn't do anything to help her. "I should have gone with her to talk with Shining Armor!"

"After that her brother yelled at her, dismissed her accusations, and told her that she could forget about being his best mare, or coming to the wedding at all."

Matthias started pacing around, trying desperetly to think of something to fix this all. The thought of Twilight, who loved her brother so much, hearing Shining Armor say that, was causing him greater pain than any physical injury, even the one that killed him.

"Even Princess Celestia was mad at her." added Rarity. "I hear her say to Twilight that she 'have a lot to think about' as we all left."

Matt forgot that the Princess would be there. Not only was Twilight rejected by her brother, but by her mentor as well...

"Wait..." he stopped, noticing what Rarity said. "What do you mean by 'as we all left'?"

"Well, we all went after the princess, of course, to check if she was alright."

Matthias stared at them as if they all had suddenly grown second heads.

I can't watch you do this.

"But don't worry, Princess Cadance feels better now. The weddin' is still goin' as planned." quickly said Applejack, thinking he was worried about that.

"You mean to tell me... " he finally said, barely keeping the fury away from his voice. "... that when your friend was being rejected by both her brother and her teacher, you were all worried about somepony you met yesterday?!"

His voice was raising as he talked, and his last words were practically a scream. Everypony looked at him, scared at confused.

"What the hay is your problem!?" asked Rainbow Dash, the first one to react. "Twilight was going crazy out there, and deserved to hear what they said to her."

"I must agree with Rainbow Dash." supported her Rarity. "As bridesmaids, it was our duty to make sure the bride was alright."

I would prefer to not see you suffer as I did when I watched my friends turn their backs on me.

Matthias snorted at them all and made his way to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To find Twilight and figure out a way to fix this whole mess." glancing back at them, he added with venom: "You are obviously too busy to help a friend in need!"

Having said that, he slammed the door behind him with his tail, before the shocked ponies could answer him, and he ran toward the hall that the wedding was supposed to be held. Twilight, however, wasn't there.

He backed away, trying to think. He knew Twilight. He knew how she was thinking. Where could she go?

He couldn't find her.

He looked for her everywhere. Inside the castle, in the gardens, at her parents' house (luckily, they didn't know about what happened and Matt didn't tell them). He also asked few royal guards if they saw her, both in the castle and in the city, but nopony saw her since the wedding rehearsal. He checked even the train station and asked ponies working there if they saw a mare matching her description board the train leaving to Ponyville, but they also said no.

"As if she sank underground!" he thought in frustration.

The only place that he didn't check was her brother's house, doubting that she would find by herself courage to go and apologise, and Princess Celestia's private chambers, knowing better than to disrupt her.

Finally, thinking that maybe Twilight would come to the wedding after all, he went back into the castle, took quick shower and went there as well, only to see no sign of her.

So he sat there, resigned, as he watched the young couple getting married, wishing that Twilight was here to see it, as she should have.

"Why... Why do I always have to fail?" he asked in his mind. "I couldn't save Invincible, my resolve to save my homeland has made me into a monster... I can't even help one friend."

He shook slightly and returned his mind to the present moment.

"Mares and gentlecolts," was saying Princess Celestia, "we are gathered here today to witness the union of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor.

He didn't look at Spike and the girls, still mad at them for abandoning Twilight, as well as feeling guilty for his outburst. After all, most ponies would do the same as them. It was unfair of him to yell at them like that.

He glanced at the groom and the bride. He noticed a weird expression on Shining Armor's face.

He's been having some terrible migraines as of late.

"Why would he be having migraines?" he asked himself quietly, while at the same time wondering how could Twilight mistake a spell for healing headache for some mind hurting one.

"Hm?" asked the stallion sitting next to him.

"Oh, sorry." he apologised, whispering, just now realising that he said that aloud. "I heard that the groom was having migraines lately, and I was just wondering why. I mean, I know stallions can feel a bit sick before the wedding, but headaches are more of a mare's thing, right?" he asked, trying to make a joke out of it.

The stallion, that, as Matthias realised, was the sergeant that was on a patrol yesterday with Shining Armor, smirked and covered his mouth with a hoof.

"Good one. But it's not really a surprise that he's been having migraines lately. After all, keeping up this barrier around Canterlot by himself can't be easy."

Having said that, the sergeant returned his attention to the ceremony, so he couldn't see Matthias staring at him with eyes round as plates, as his mind whirled.

... she walked by me indifferently!

A threat has been made against Canterlot.

And three: take care of those that are sustaining the barrier.

... Twilight said that she saw her put a spell on her brother...

As if she sank underground!

"Princess Cadance and Shining Armor..." said Princess Celestia as she prepared to pronounce them as mare and colt.

"No!"

Queen Chrysalis could barely keep her expression as cute as if she really was Cadance.

How easy it has been to fool those ponies! Only one had realised that something was wrong, but Twilght Sparkle has been dealt with. Now, nopony could stop her.

Soon, this city would be hers. Her subjects would devour all of Equestria's love. They would all feed as they have never fed before. And then...

... then she could look for him.

"Princess Cadance and Shining Armor," said the pony princess, that wasn't much smarter than the rest of her species, even if she was an alicorn with astonishing powers, "it is my great pleasure to pronounce you...

"Yes!" thought Chrysalis, savoring her victory.

Out of nowhere, golden chains surrounded the Queen of the Changelings.

"What is that?" she thought, suprised as everypony, exluding Shining Armor, who she fed off so much that at this point he was almost a doll compered to other ponies.

She has never seen something like this. Those chains looked as if they were made not of gold, but rather some kind of solidified light. She felt the heat emanating from them, and she knew that if it wasn't for the fact that they were few centimeters away from her body, they would probably burn her.

"What the are you doing?!" said few of her new bridesmaids with fear in their voice. She looked in the same direction as they.

Coming up the walkway that she herself went through moments ago was an earth pony, the one that, as she recalled, was friends with those ponies that helped prepare the wedding, and was yesterday the talk of almost whole Canterlot. But he was different now. His whole body glowed with the same light as the chains that trapped her. But the worst were his eyes.

They shone like two miniature suns, and were looking at her with such righteous anger, that despite herself, Chrysalis felt herself shrunk.

"Where are they?" he asked, and despite how quietly and calmly he said that, everypony heard him...

... and feared.

26. Face of the enemy

Matthias walked up to the altar, not paying any attention to the other ponies. His eyes were fixed on 'Cadance'. He could see how her fear was quickly replaced by anger, only to masked by fake tears a heartbeat later.

"Why are you doing this to me?!" she cried.

That only served to fuel Matt's anger, as he realised that this was the same trick she used earlier to turn everypony against Twilight.

"I swear, if I find out that she hurt as much as a single hair on her coat, there will be no end to her suffering!"

He could see in the corner of his eyes his friends looking at him with both fear and dismay, probably thinking that he was crazy, like Twilight. He could also hear few of the royal guards coming from behind, no doubt to apprehend him. Knowing that the imposter won't do anything drastic while in front of all the wedding quests, Matt turned his head and uttered quick prayer.

A wave of Light formed before the four guard and pushed them away, dazing them a bit but not causing them much harm otherwise. Everypony else gasped and moved away from him.

Despite his anger toward the fake Cadance, he was still relatively calm, so when Princess Celestia called him, he listened.

"What is the meaning of this? Explain yourself!"

Matt knew he had to answer, not just because she was the ruler of this land or that fighting her would serve no purpose, but also because if half of what he heard or read about her powers was true, he wouldn't stand much of a chance against her.

"Forgive me for interrupting the ceremony, Princess." he said, keeping his eyes on the imposter, who was still crying. "I just thought that it would be better for the groom to not go through divorce proceedings after this whole farce is over." adressing the fake Cadance, he repeated his question. "Where are they?"

"I-I don't know what you mean!" she cried.

Matthias stomped, causing the floor to crack.

"My patience is running short. Tell me where are..." he started to say, but stopped as he felt strange force pick him up from the ground.

"Enough of this!" said Celestia, her horn glowing.

Feeling that she was not only holding him, but also trying to free 'Cadance' (which he felt she would have already done if she was more familiar with this kind of magic), he asked the Light to strengthen her bonds and free him.

Celestia gasped surprised as he landed on the floor. Matt turned his attention on the fake bride.

"Those chains are made of pure Light. When they touch such a vile creature as you, they cause immense pain. Answer my question or I will tighten them! Where are the real Princess Cadance and Twilight Sparkle, you imposter!?"

His words caused the everypony to gasp, but Matt doubted they believed him. He probably rather convinced them that he was insane. The fake princess was still crying.

"Matthias Lehner, stop this, or I will be forced to take drastic measures!" said Celestia, growing angrier. Her horn glowed again, this time brighter.

Matt started tightening the chains.

Princess Celestia shoot a beam of concentrated magic energy at him. He stombled back, despite the shield that Light had enveloped around him in the nick of time.

"You have been warned." said Celestia, her horn now bright as the sun that she raised. "Release Cadance at once!"

"That was just a warning?! Just how powerful is she?"

"Am I the only one that finds the lack of reaction out of the Captain of the Royal Guard as his bride is being threatened strange?!" he asked, hoping that at least Celestia would finally notice that something was wrong.

Celestia glanced at Shining Armor, and so did Matt. He stared into nothingness, and his eyes had a strange green hue to them.

Suddenly, the fake Cadance started crying even louder.

"What have you done to him?! Why are you ruining my special day?"

Matthias, feeling fed up with her, was about to reply, but somepony beat him to it.

" Because it's not your special day. It's mine."

Surpised, he turned his head.

Twilight knew that everypony would be suprised to see her and Cadance enter the wedding hall. After all, you don't see two identical ponies too often.

What she didn't expect, however, was to be surprised as well.

The fake Cadance, standing next to Shining Armor, was surrounded by some gold chains. Near them stood Princess Celesia, with her horn glowing, although now that she and Cadance were here the glow was fading. And in front of them all was Matt, his body glowing with Light.

As the realisation hit her - that whatever had happened before they came here was his doing - he turned his head and gazed at her with eyes that shone like suns.

As they looked at each other, the expression on his face turned from one of anger and worry to one of joy and relief.

Twilight couldn't help but smile at him.

"She's safe! Thank the Light, she's safe!" was all that he could think as he stared at her and her beautiful smile.

As everypony was gasping again, he glanced as well at the real Princess Cadance. Unlike her double, she was covered in dirt and her mane was in mess. She also looked a lot thinner.

Matt grew angry once again as he realised how long it must have been since those two switched places.

"Calm yourself." he thought, knowing only too well that anger led nowhere; now that he knew Twilight was safe, he remembered that.

"Well, you two sure took your time." he said, returning to his witty attitude. "I was starting to fear you would miss all the fun."

Twilight smile turned into half frown.

"What?" asked the imposter. "But how did you escape my bridesmaids?"

"So that's what happened to her bridesmaids..." Matt thought as he watched Twilight and Cadance exchange a glance and the princess said:

"Why, I throwed a bouquet at them, of course."

"That actually worked?"

"Hmph. Clever." commented the fake princess. "But you're still too late."

"A-Ah don't understand." said Applejack, voicing everpony's thoughts. "How can there be two of 'em?"

"She's a changeling." answered her question Princess Cadance. "She takes the form of somepony you love and gains power by feeding off your love for them."

The fake princess' eyes and horn glowed green and Matt felt the chains beginning to break.

"Do you think I'll let you get away?!" he said, reinforcing them with his will and prayer.

The changeling smirked in response.

The pressure on the chains increased tenfold, and as they broke, a beam of sickly green energy that reminded him of the fel magic of the Burning Legion shot at him. Surprised and strained, all he could do was block it with his foreleg.

The force of the impact had send him flying across the walkway. Somehow, he managed roll in the air and land on his three legs behind Twilight and the real Cadance.

"Matt!" Twilight screamed.

"I'm fine." Matthias gasped as the Light healed his limb.

"Second degree burns." he noticed. "And I think she broke it in at least five places."

As his foreleg healed, he looked at the imposter, that was now surrounded by green flames that soon erupted around her.

As the flames dispersed, the true form of the imposter was revealed. She was as tall as Celestia, and like an alicorn, she had wings and horn. But her horn was twised, and her wings weren't covered in feathers. Instead, they had insectoid appearance. Her coat (if it was coat; it looked more like a carapace) was black, and her mane and tail teal. She also had blue-green chitinous plating over her midsection, a sharp pair of fangs, dark green eyes with elongated oval pupils, and she wore a small, black crown tipped with blue orbs. Her legs, mane, and tail were full of holes and her limbs and torso were very slender.

"Right you are, Princess." she laughed in a voice that had a distorted echoed quality, as if two voices were speaking slightly out of sync. She continued talking as she came closer to Cadance: "And as Queen of the Changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects. Equestria has more love than any place I've ever encountered. My fellow changelings will be able to devour so much of it that we will gain more power than we have ever dreamed of!"

"They'll never get the chance!" replied the princess defiantly. "Shining Armor's protection spell will keep them from ever even reaching us."

The Queen of the Changelings chuckled in response.

"Oh, I doubt that." with her horn glowing, she looked behind her and asked. "Isn't that right, dear?"

"Mm-hmm." confirmed Shining Armor, his eyes glowing with the same color as changeling's horn.

Cadance, seeing that, was about to run to him, but was stopped by the Queen.

"Ah, ah, ah. Don't want to go back to the caves, now do you?" she asked with horn glowing once again.

Matthias, his foreleg fully healed, jumped in between them.

"You know, I heard that mares can get jealous of the bride at weddings," he said lightly, despite his serious frown, "but you've taken it to the extreme."

The changeling's attention shifted to him, and for a heartbeat she studied him with angry grimace. Matt noticed that her gaze lingered a moment on his foreleg, no doubt wondering how did he heal it so fast. But soon she turned away and flew up to Shining Armor.

"Ever since I took your place, I've been feeding off Shining Armor's love for you." she told Princess Cadance. "Every moment he grows weaker and so does his spell. Even now my minions are chipping away at it." He may not be my husband, but he is under my total control now." she laughed, holding him by his chin, and as Twilight and Cadance gasped, she added: "And I'm sorry to say, unable to perform his duties as Captain of the Royal Guard!"

"Not my Shining Armor!" cried Cadance.

"Soon, my changeling army will break through. First, we take Canterlot. And then, all of Equestria!" declared the Queen of the Changelings, acting as if she already won.

"Isn't she forgetting something?" Matthias thought.

"No." interrupted her Celestia. "You won't."

"Ah, there it is."

As the Princess confronted her, the changeling turned her attention toward her.

"You may have made it impossible for Shining Armor to perform his spell, but now that you have so foolishly revealed your true self," Celestia paused as she and the Queen clashed, "I can protect my subjects from you!"

Princess Celestia disengaged from The Queen of the Changelings and shot a beam of magical energy at her, and the Changeling retaliated with a beam of her own. Everypony watched as they collided. Immediately, Celestia had the upper hoof.

"No surprise there." commented Matt, who experienced a bit of her power. "After all, she is a goddess."

So it was a big shock to him and everypony else as after few seconds the green beam of the Changeling's Queen overwhelmed Celestia's and hit her.

Everypony gasped in terror as their Princess fell, and her crown clanged when it hit the floor.

"Princess Celestia!" screamed Twilight and was at her side in a second, along with her friends.

This kingdom shall fall...

Matthias, whose gaze lingered a moment on the crown as his mind was plagued a memory, shook and concentrated on the Queen of the Changelings. She seemed surprised as everypony else.

"Ah! Shining Armor's love for you is even stronger than I thought!" she said to Cadance. "Consuming him has made me even more powerful than Celestia!"

"Dammit, this is bad!" Matthias thought, preparing for what she would do next.

" The Elements of Harmony." he heard Celestia rasp. "You must get to them, and use their power to defeat the queen."

Matthias noticed in the corner of his eye that Twilight and the rest nodded and run towards the door.

At the same time, however, the queen disappeared in a burst of green flames.

"Now now, it's not polite to leave so soon." she chuckled at the girls as she blocked their way.

Matthias, summoning the power of the Holy Light, charged at her. The changeling either didn't noticed him in time, or was too surprised to react, but either way, he hit her in the chest with the same foreleg that she harmed earlier, throwing her away from the his friends and bursting her threw the wall into the next room.

"Go!" he screamed to them as he jumped after her. "I'll hold her off!"

"Wait..." he heard Twilight scream after him.

Using the Light to increase his strength again, he bucked the column next to the hole in the wall, causing the rest of it and the ceiling to collapse and block the entrance.

"Good."

Twilight and the others stared at the rubble that blocked their way to their friend that was fighting the Queen of Changelings.

"Calm yourself." she thought, despite how scared she was. "Matt will be alright, he knows what he's doing."

"Come on everypony!" she urged her friends as they resumed running towards the Elements.

Matthias looked as the Changeling's Queen picked herself from the floor. In the place on her chest where he hit her was a crack, that confirmed his quess that it was carapace, and a green liquid was coming out of it. Suddenly, her horn glowed and her carapce repaired itself in a blink of an eye.

"I must say, you continue to be both irritating and intriguing." she said as if she wasn't just punched through the wall. Glancing at the rubble behind him, she added: "You do know I can teleport out of here, right?"

"Who said I wanted to trap you here?" asked Matthias, smirking. "I just wanted to keep anypony from interfering."

27. Battle of Light and desires

The Changeling's Queen smirked in response.

"Very well then. I do happen to have some time to kill." she said as Matthias watched her carefully. "But you do realise that I am stronger than your precious Princess Celestia, right?"

Of course, Matthias knew that. But he also knew that it's not always the strongest one that wins.

"That may be true." he replied, preparing to attack. "But you see, Queen... I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"Hmm, it's Queen Chrysalis. Why do you ask?" she inquired, surprised. "Most ponies would be just content with calling me a monster, and such."

"Why would I call you a monster? You're just doing what's in your nature." Matt answered with a shrug. "If it wasn't for that little fact that you trapped my friend in some caves and turned everypony she cares about against her, I would have even felt pity for you."

"My, what a gentlecolt." Chrysalis replied, and Matt couldn't tell if she was mocking him or being honest.

"Anyway, Queen Chrysalis, there is one thing that I have that gives me an advantage here." he said, coming a bit closer.

"Oh? And that would be...?"

"Plenty of experience in combat!" he answered, emiting a dazzling light in all directions, blinding her, and charged.

As Chrysalis backed away, covering her eyes, he jumped and swung his Light enveloped hoof, aiming at her horn, but before he could reach it, he was blocked by a barrier of green energy.

Noticing that the queen was opening her eyes, Matt quickly jumped away. After a second Chrysalis shot a magical beam through the place were he was, and made a hole in the wall. Amused, she attacked once again. Matthias dodged that one as well, although this time he got grazed.

"I could sure use a weapon right now!" he thought, and grimaced as an idea formed in his head.

The Light shaped itself into the form of hammer in front of him, and was hurled in the direction of the changeling, hitting the floor.

"Nice aiming." commented Chrysalis, smirking. Matthias smirked as well.

She soon screached in pain as the hammer started blasting the area with arcing Light, hurting her and healing Matt's injury.

Chrysalis teleported out of the reach of the hammer and gazed at Matthias with sickly green eyes, now enraged. Knowing what she was going to do, he jumped away, and as the place he stood was hit by another beam, he grabbed a rock from the rubble and threw at her as she was about to shoot again.

The rock turned into dust as the beam hit it right in front of her face, once again blinding the queen. Matt took the opportunity and hid behind one of the columns.

Next to the column was a window, and Matthias saw to his horror, but not surprise, that the protective spell of Shining Armor was broken. The barrier was collapsing, and he could see many black objects - probably changelings - flying in.

"Girls..." he thought, but shook his head. "If I leave now, she will just follow me and make things more chaotic down there. I need to have faith in them."

And he had. He knew that Twilight Sparkle was a powerful unicorn, second to none of her kind when it came to magic; Rainbow Dash was a great fighter, even if impatient, but so was he in the past; Applejack was strong; Fluttershy scary when she wanted to; Rarity could wrap anypony around her hoof, like those Diamond Dogs he heard about; and Pinkie Pie... was Pinkie Pie. They would be fine.

He had only a second to think about this all, because in the next one the column he was hiding behind exploded, and he was hurled through the window.

"What the..." he thought as his body shattered the glass. "I made sure she couldn't see my reflection in it!"

On the plus side, he didn't need to think about avoiding collision with the ground.

On the minus side, it was because he was surrounded by green aura.

Chrysalis pulled him back and threw him into the wall, and then into the floor in front of her. Stunned, he shook his head and saw her standing over him, about to bring her hoof down on him. Not having time to dodge, he asked the Light for protection.

The Light's barried formed around him, blocking the queen's attack. The look of amusement returned to her face, as she brought her hoof up for another strike.

Matt smirked as another idea hit him.

Chrysalis wanted to laugh as she saw the earth pony smile, thinking that his puny shield could stop her. Unknown to him, the power that changelings gained as they fed wasn't just magical.

It was also physical.

She stomped once again, this time putting more strength into it, and this time shattered his barrier. Punching him in the stomach more lightly, she leaned over.

"Now, seeing that we still have some time, prehaps we could talk?" she asked, curious about him.

As in response, she felt a light pain that didn't have any particular source. Pressing her hoof tighter, she said:

"Still thinking that those light tricks of yours will help?" noticing that the pain was growing more intense, added: "Stop it!"

The earth pony - Matthias, she heard him called - smirked, despise the increasing pain he should be feeling.

"As if I could." he rapsed, and at the same time, golden chains once again formed around her.

"What?!" Chrysalis thought, not understanding what he was trying to do...

... until she saw her shadow move.

She glanced above her and couldn't belive it.

A giant hammer-shaped beam of light was coming down on her, and the closer it was, the more pain she felt. And it was already too close for her liking. She didn't want to find what would happen if it collided with her.

She casted a teleportation spell, only to find that it didn't worked.

"So that's why he summoned those chains again!" she thought.

In any other circumstances, she would have spared a second to congratulate him that he was willing to get hit by his own attack to defeat her. But the hammer was a second away.

Thinking fast, she casted another spell.

Matthias yowled in surprise as the the floor below them collapsed.

He whirled in the air so that he could land on his hooves and attack Chrysalis, but before they both hit the floor, she shot him in point-blank range in the chest.

They both screamed: he as he was blasted across the room and hit the wall, and Chrysalis as she was hit by the hammer he summoned, and fell on the floor.

"That was close." he thought, looking at his chest. "If it wasn't for that attack healing me, I probably wouldn't get up."

Matthias glanced at her as the Light healed him. She managed to minimise the damage from the Light's hammer by bursting through the floor just in time, but she was still hurt pretty badly. Both her wings were reduced to small knots, there was green liquid everywhere around her, and judging by the way she was lifting herself up from the floor, her spine was damaged.

"Does she even have a spine?" Matt wondered as he watched her heal herself.

They soon both finished healing, got up and prepared to resume the fight.

"Ah, how cute." spat Chrysalis, looking pissed. "We both finished together."

Matthias' eyes went wide.

"You're making that kind of joke after I broke your spine?" he asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"That coming from a stallion..." she snorted, and her horn glowed.

Matthias asked the Light for help as he dodged her attack, and the Light answered.

In front of him materialised Guardian of Ancient Kings, a huge humanoid, with two wings spreading from his back, clad in armor and made entirely out of Light. In his hands was two-handed sword Decimation. At once, he charged at Chrysalis.

So surprised she was by his appearence, that she barely flew out of the way of his sword and attacked him with magic. The Guardian of Ancient Kings stumbled back and fell, disappearing.

Matthias, who was waiting for that (apologising in his soul to the ancient spirit), unleashed the Ancient Fury.

Now it was Chrysalis turn to stumble back as Matt's attack hit her, but noticing that the distance between them was too long, he took advantage of the fact that she wasn't paying attention and hid behind one of the columns.

He needed a moment to think about his next step. So far, the Queen of Changelings managed to deal with everything that he threw at her, and he was about to run out of tricks. What could he...

Matthias jumped away at the last second as the column exploded.

"How the bloody hell are you doing this?" he asked frustrated.

Chrysalis chuckled in response.

"We changelings feed on love, remember? I can sense your emotions, you poor fool. I must admit though, they have quite an unique taste."

"Why didn't I figure that out?!" Matt cursed at himself, but in a heartbeat he smiled.

"Oh, so all I have to do to hide from you is stop feeling any emotions?" he asked her as if to be sure, teasing her. "Thank you, Queen Chrysalis, that will surely help!"

"Stop fooling around." she snorted. "Nopony can just stop feeling emotions on call."

Matthias smirked.

"Apparently you've never fought a paladin before." he said as he blinded her once again with Light.

Deep beneath the ruins of Capital City, within the Undercity's Royal Quarter, the Dark Lady Sylvanas Windrunner shook.

Sharlindra, Bragor Bloodfist and ambassador Sunsorrow all looked at her, surprised.

"Mistress? I something wrong?" asked Sharlindra, concern on her ethereal face.

Sylvanas, no less surprised than them, replied:

"Nothing."

... despite the warmth she briefly felt inside.

She couldn't sense him.

"That's impossible!" she thought, continuing to keep up the barrier that she created as she was blinded by his attack around her.

Before, she could sense a torrent of emotions: great anger for her, deep love for his friends, tiny fear of what might happen to them all... and deep down, almost not noticable, an insane hatred for himself.

But now there was nothing.

Of course, she knew that there were certain ways for ponies to stop feeling any emotions for some time, like through meditation, but no pony could do something like that in the middle of the battle.

"Where are you!?" she shouted, frustrated.

Matthias sat behind anothet column, knowing that his plan was working. He once again repeated in his head a prayer that helped paladins to clear their minds before the battle:

Light, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference.

Focusing on those words helped him to achive the same state of mind as during meditation. Now Chrysalis couldn't tell where he was.

Glancing at her, he noticed that she was still keeping up her barrier. He waited. Either she would soon drop it, or she would continue losing her energy.

Both options worked fine for him.

Chrysalis was thinking.

She couldn't sense him. He could probably see her. He knew she was loosing her energy the longer she kept her shield up. Of course, it would take a while for her to run out of the power, but if it would last longer, she might find herself weaker than Matthias.

He intrigued her. His abilities were like nothing she ever faced before. She wanted him alive, so that she could know how he acquired them, and who he was. Even looking over his weird powers, he was unique. He not only managed to figure out that she wasn't Cadance -which even Twilight Sparkle couldn't - but also showed great skill in combat. He kept surprising her, and she knew that if she grew weaker, he might actually win.

"What to do..." she mused.

She couldn't start shooting random columns. If she chose the wrong one, she would give him an opening. Maybe if she could force him to reveal himself...

Chrysalis smirked and dropped her shield.

"Now!" thought Matthias.

Without making a sound, he left his hiding place and jamped and Chrysalis. He asked the Light to give him strength, and it once again enveloped his hoof as he was about to break her horn.

Green flames flashed.

He was about to attack Twilight.

"Wha...? he thought, terrified.

Nowhere to run...

Twilight looked back. Her horn and eyes glowed green.

Matthias was thrown into the wall. He couldn't move.

Twilight laughed and once again the green flames flashed, transforming her into Chrysalis.

"Dammit!" Matt thought, realising how stupid he was.

"I knew you would feel something if I transformed into her." said the queen, still holding him with magic and coming closer. "She's special to you, isn't she?"

Matthias didn't bother with reply and instead tried asking the Light to help him, only to find out that he couldn't concentrate.

She wasn't just holding his body. He could feel her doing something with his mind, and to his frustration, he couldn't do anything to stop her.

"You know, I actually enjoyed this." said Chrysalis, looming over him. "It's been a while since I've had to fight like this. And you are interesting. Who are you?"

Matthias didn't answer.

"Now now, no reason to be like this." she chuckled, and her horn glowed brighter for a second. "We should be friends, don't you agree?"

"Why would I be friends with you?" Matt asked, feeling his head hurt.

"Because I can be generous to my friends." she whispered. "I could give you anything you want..."

Green flames flashed.

"... or anypony." finished Twilight, coming closer.

Matthias knew this wasn't her, or that he didn't even truly wanted her. And yet...

"There's no reason why we shouldn't be friends." whispered Twilight even quieter as she brushed his his cheek with her nose.

Their lips touched and Matthias gave in.

"Stallions truly are the easiest to fool." Chrysalis thought putting her hooves around Matthias neck as the kiss deepened.

Noticing how furious he was when he realised that she did something to Twilight Sparkle and how quickly he became calm when she appeared at the wedding hall, she guessed that the unicorn was more than just a friend to him. But there was something else to this than just that. Even now as she fed off him, there was some dismay he had for himself that had nothing to do with the fact that she wasn't real Twlight. As if... she wasn't who he truly wanted, but still...

"He really is an interesting one." conluded Chrysalis as she run her hoof down his body.

But she had time to discover what this was. The spell that she used on his mind subtly increased his feelings to easier bend him to her will, and now he was hers, despite that he still knew that she was a changeling.

Chrysalis would have smirked if her mouth wasn't busy. What Matthias was experiencing now was even worse than what she did to Shining Armor. He didn't knew that she wasn't Cadance, and now, after she consumed so much of his love, he didn't knew what was happening around him, but this one... he was fully aware of everything and couldn't do anything to stop himself.

"Tormenting ponies is so much fun." she thought as she was about to place her hoof on his member.

Suddenly a pain exploded in her mouth.

It took incredible effort of willpower from Matt to bite both of their tongues off, but it had done the trick.

When somepony was trying to take over your mind, it was always the easiest way to force yourself out of her or his control by inflicting pain on yourself. And she happened to be kind enough to present a way to harm her as well.

As Chrysalis, still looking like Twilight, pulled back, screeching, he felt both his mind clear and the magic holding him weakened. Not wasting time, he headbutted the Queen of Changelings and ran once again behind a column and calmed his feelings so she couldn't find him.

"Ooo..." rasped Chrysalis as they both healed their tongues. "... ret... skshgn... just you wait!" she finally screamed. "I've given you chance to serve me, but you chose to suffer! When I get my hooves on you, I will devour every bit of love of yours, and make you watch as I do the same to your friends! I will break your mind and make you serve my every whim!"

Matthias wondered what to do now. Another mistake would cost him dearly. He knew that he couldn't beat her alone but who could...

He almost facehoofed himself.

Queen Chrysalis was never this angry before.

"How dared he?!" was all she could think of as she changed back to her true form.

No being ever had done something like that to her. She wasn't really hurt, but was offended beyond measure.

She had enough.

Her horn glowing, she prepared to destroy this whole room. After that she could wait until the smoke and dust cleared and he would emerge, covered in that shield of his.

"Looks like I really pissed her off this time." Matthias noticed as he heard a loud explosion behind him.

Why didn't he thought about this earlier? If he could heal Celestia, then together they could beat Chrysalis. It was so obvious, and yet...

Matt shook his head. He knew why he didn't thought about it.

It was because he forgot how to fight with somepony standing by his side.

"How long has it been?" he wondered as he run. "It must have been when Anub'arak and I lead the Scourge against Illidan's forces at the base of Icecrown."

Even when he was still just a death knight, he knew how to fight side by side with others. But as the Lich King...

He shook his head again. He could think about it later.

As he run, he passed by a few windows, and could see hundreds of changelings attacking everypony. He sped up, but then he stopped as he realised what he was seeing.

Terrified, he looked through the window.

"H-How... How is that possible?!"

He stared at them, unable to understand. It took all his willpower to make him turn away and force himself to run.

"How?" he kept thinking.

Noticing that he was about to enter the wedding hall, he took a deep breath. Right now, what mattered most was healing Celestia and defeating Chrysalis and her minions.

He will deal with that later.

He burst into the hall, and noticed that it was now empty, save Spike, Princess Cadance, that was glued to the floor, Shining Armor, that was still staring into nothingness, and Princess Celestia, unconscious, that was in a lime green goo cocoon.

And there they were.

He didn't bother to fight the six changelings that were guarding them. He just flashed Light at them all, causing them to flee out of fear.

"Don't worry, I will free you in a moment." he told Spike and Cadance as he ran up to Celestia, wondering how to free her from that cocoon.

"Behind you!" they screamed.

Too late.

Matthias was blasted across the hall and hit the wall. Slowly, he fell on the floor.

As he tried to get up, stunned, he could hear the sound of hooves.

"Did you really think I wouldn't figure out were you went?" asked Chrysalis, a bit calmer that when he last heard her, but with an edge in her voice that told him she didn't forget what he did to her.

Matthias forced himself up, summoning the Light.

A beam of green energy hit him before he could do anything, causing him another wave of pain, but instead of blasting him away, it was...

... trapping him in a green amber.

Tired and full of pain, he lost consciousness.

28. All's well that ends...

Chrysalis looked satisfied at the green amber containing the troublesome stallion. Now that their fight was over, she found that she wasn't that much angry at him anymore... although, she still intended to punish him in some fashion, but that could wait.

"Who are you?" she wondered once again. "You are definitely a unique pony, you know a lot about combat... but why then aren't you a royal guard? You would have make a much better captain than Shining Armor, that's for sure. I didn't have a battle this intense since... since..."

She grabbed her head with her hoof as a migraine attack hit her.

"You won't get away with this!" Princess Cadance's words pulled her back to the present moment. "Twilight and her friends will..."

At the same time, the door opened, and six ponies escorted by her subjects entered.

"You were saying?" she asked Cadance.

When changelings captured her and her friends, Twilight thought that things couldn't be any worse.

She was wrong.

Not only her brother was still under the Changeling's Queen spell, but also Cadance was glued to the floor, Princess Celestia was in some lime green goo cocoon on the ceiling upside down, while Matthias was in some kind of green amber.

Twilight looked at Cadance, hoping her eyes would tell her how sorry she was that she failed her and everypony.

"You do realize the reception's been cancelled, don't you?" said the queen, rubbing it in. Looking at the other changelings, she added: "Go! Feed!"

All the changelings beside her flew away, and their queen closed the door behind them with magic.

"She's that confident that we won't be a threat to her?" thought Twilight, but knew that the Queen of Changelings was probably right. After all, she did beat both Celestia, who was the most powerful pony, and Matt, who came from the world that was in a constant war. "What now?"

The Changeling's Queen laughed as she came closer to them.

"It's funny, really." she said, lifting Twilight's head with her hoof. "Twilight here was suspicious of my behavior all along."

Angry, Twilight pushed her hoof away.

"Too bad the rest of you were too caught up in your wedding planning to realize those suspicions were correct." she continued to laught at everypony.

"Sorry, Twi." said unexpectedly Applejack. "We should've listened to you."

"It's not your fault." replied Twilight, simply glad that her friends were once again on the same side with as her. "She fooled everypony."

"Hmm, I did, didn't I?" said to that the queen, glancing back at them as she walked up to the trapped in amber Matthias. "Although, I wouldn't say 'everypony'. This one managed to somehow figure it out." she poked the amber, as if to see if it still holded him. "He also proved to be quite an opponent... much more dangerous than your Princess Celestia, that's for sure." she added with a smirk, looking at the Princess trapped in the cocoon. Returning to gazing at Matt, she said, as if after a thought. "He is also quite the kisser."

Twilight's eyes went wide. Was she saying that Matt had kissed her?!

The Changeling's Queen looked back at her and chuckled.

"Oh, your faces now are priceless." she commented.

Twilight glanced at her friends and noticed similar to hers reaction on their faces.

The Queen of Changelings, still chuckling, walked away from Matthias toward the window, that opened to the balcony, and out of a sudden, started singing:

This day has been just perfect

The kind of day of which I've dreamed since I was small

Everypony I'll soon control

Every stallion, mare and foal

Who says a girl can't really have it all?

Twilight, who's been thinking what they could do this whole time, had an idea. Taking advantage of the queen's smugness, she sneaked over to Cadance.

Chrysalis watched through the window as her minions were wrecking chaos all over Canterlot. Despite those ponies behind her interfering with her plans, the victory was hers.

It was now only a matter of time before the whole of Canterlot would belong to the changelings.

Soon, very soon, she would find him.

"Where are you?" she wondered, not caring for what the ponies were doing inside the wedding hall.

"Quick! Go to him while you still have the chance!" Twlight whispered to Cadance and used her magic to free her.

She knew that if anypony could break the spell on Shining Armor, it was her old foalsitter. The prisons of Princess Celestia and Matt looked too strong to be destroyed by Twilight, at least not without notifying the queen, so everything she could do right now was to hope that if her brother was free, he could cast his spell to throw the changelings away from Canterlot.

Twilight and her friends watched as Princess Cadance came over to Shining Armor, tears in her eyes. She rubbed his cheek with her hoof, and when he didn't react, she hugged him and closed her eyes, concentrating. Sparks appeared around her horn, as she casted her love spell. Soon, a heart appeared, and it hovered over Shining Armor's head, enveloping him in a small blast of magic.

Her brother closed his eyes and shook his head. When he opened them, there was no longer any trace of green hue.

"Wha- whe- huh?" said Shinig Armor, as everypony, but especially Cadance, looked happily at him. "Is...is the wedding over?"

Before anypony could reply him, the Queen of Changelings landed in front of him and Cadance.

"It's all over!" she declared, not even caring that the princess broke the spell.

"Your spell!" Twilight shouted to her brother. "Perform your spell!"

Hearing that, the queen laughed.

"What good would that do? My changelings already roam free." she said, pointing at the chaos outside.

"No!" said Shining Armor as he realised what happened.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, but nothing happened beside a little light appearing at the top of his horn.

"My power is useless now." he finally said, sweating, as the light disappeared. "I don't have the strength to repel them."

Cadance came closer to him.

"My love will give you strength." she told him as she hugged him.

That caused another wave of laughter out of Changeling's queen.

"What a lovely but absolutely ridiculous sentiment."

"That coming from a monster that feeds on love." thought Twilight, glancing at her brother and Cadance.

The two of them looked into each other eyes and concentrated.

Chrysalis was about fed up with those ponies. She let them be, for the moment, allowing them enjoy each other's company for few more moments, before she would put them in cocoons.

Suddenly, she noticed that her shadow moved. Earlier, she wouldn't care about something like this, but her fight with Matthias caused her look back, and she was glad she did.

Princess Cadance and Shining Armor horn's were connected, and magical energies circled around them.

"Nice try." said Chrysalis and used her magic to strangle them, interrupting their spell.

"No!" shouted Twilight, her horn glowing, and her friends about to charge at her.

Rolling her eyes, Chrysalis started strangling them as well. Not that she planned to kill any of them. She just wanted them unconscious. She mentally summoned her minions so that they could capture them.

Twilight gasped for air, but there wasn't any.

"This can't end like this!" she thought.

She opened her eyes and looked around, trying to think about something she could do. But due to the lack of air, she couldn't cast any spells.

At some point, her gaze rested on Matthias, still encased in green amber.

"Matt... please..." she thought, despite knowing he couldn't hear her thoughts, hoping would cause some miracle. She knew he could. "... help me... please, save me... Matt..."

She gasped as she noticed that her vision started turning black. She fought to stay conscious, knowing everything would be over is she gave in.

"...Matt..." she tried to think once again, but she couldn't concentrate on even that now.

Matthias mind was plagued by nightmares.

...turn to bloodlust, we will become as vile as the orcs...

...forget this business! Lead your men home...

...and you've ground it to dust in a matter of days...

...you lied to your men, and betrayed the mercenaries who fought for you! What's happening to you, Arthas?...

...How fares your noble father?...

...Your curiosity will be the death of you.

Face now your tragic end!

...No king rules forever,...

...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...

...I'm sorry, Arthas. I can't watch you do this.

Matt... please...

Matthias shrugged as his mind registered Twilight voice.

... help me... please save me... Matt...

He opened his eyes, but what he saw didn't seem much different from his nightmares.

Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Shining, Cadance were all being choked by Chrysalis... and he couldn't do anything!

He tried to move, to break the amber around him, but nothing even budged.

"I have to do something!" he thought, desperetly trying to save his friends.

...Matt...

He looked at Twilight and noticed that her struggling was ceasing.

"Light," he thought, putting every bit of his soul into this prayer, "please, I beg of you, give me the strength to break this prison!"

It was over.

Twilight could only see darkness before her. Some part of her mind wondered why she never asked Matt how it felt like to die, or what happens after that.

... crack...

A bright light shone threw the darkness and reached her, giving her warm and the feeling of safety.

She opened her eyes.

Were Matthias was a moment ago was, imprisoned in the green amber, now a pillar of Light shined, and Matt himself was flying towards the Changeling's Queen, emiting the same warm Light.

"Wait, flying?!" thought Twilight as her vision cleared.

Matthias wasn't just emiting Light. His coat's color turned from white into gold, his entire body beside his head was enclosed in a glowing gold plate armor, his eyes shone brighter than a thousand suns, his mane and tail looked like golden fire, and...

... and he had wings and horn.

Matt has just became an alicorn!

She watched, as in slow motion, he descended upon the queen, who with fear on her face tried to move away. Matthias lifted his hoof, and as long beam of Light shot from it, he brought it down on her. A second before he hit her, Twilight noticed what that 'beam' really was.

It was a huge sword, with a glowing crystal embedded into it.

For a heartbeat, Twilight thought that the sword cut threw queen's head, but soon realised that wasn't what happened.

"My horn!!!" screeched the Queen of Changelings, squinting her eyes to look at her forehead and what was left of her horn.

Matthias landed between her and everypony else.

"No more, Chrysalis!" he shouted, spreading his wings and pointing the sword at her. "No more ponies will be harmed by your hunger!"

On Azeroth, inside Mardenholde Keep in Hearthglen, Highlord Tirion Fordring sneezed. Waving his hand, he urged the commander to continue his report about Andorhal.

Matthias was well aware just how ironic this all was.

And he was delighted by it.

When the Light shoot from his hoof and formed into a blade, he was afraid for a heartbeat, but as he registered the shape of it, he smiled in his mind, and couldn't help himself from uttering the same words Tirion have said.

He didn't know why the Light decided to take shape of the Ashbringer, or why did it change him into an alicorn, but he had more important things to worry about, namely a pissed of queen and an army of insectoid creatures that were about to fly into the wedding hall. He raised the Light's blade as he prepared to strike at them, but then:

...your methods might be considered barbaric here,...

...deciding who can live and who should die!

...he can't do as he please, and decide to kill somepony, even if that happens to be rampaging dragon.

Matthias rolled his eyes and caused the blade to vanish.

"Whatever it is that you're about to do, I suggest you do it fast!" he said, glancing behind him and summoning the Guardian of Ancient Kings once again, this time equipped with the mace Remorseless and shield called the Crystal Plated Vanguard. Asking the ancient spirit to protect them, he turned back to Chrysalis and her changelings. "I will hold them all off as long as I can. Esarus thar no'Darador!" he shouted as he charged at them, sending a wave of Light that pushed them away.

He jumped outside the window and confronted the changelings.

"You will pay for this!" Chrysalis hissed at him, pressing a hoof to her bleeding forehead.

Twilight could hardly believe what had happened, but she didn't have time to ponder on it.

"Quick, complete the spell!" she told Shining Armor and Cadance, ignoring the towering figure made of Light that appeared as Matt's horn glowed.

Her brother and her old foalsitter both shook their heads and once again connected their horns and closed their eyes.

"Look out!" shouted Rainbow Dash, pointing at the window.

Twilight looked that way and saw two changelings that gotten past Matt and flew toward Shining Armor and Cadance. She was about to counter them with magic, but they suddenly bounced back as they hit some kind of barrier.

Twilight glanced at the strange creature, which was holding up its shield as it regarded the changelings. Knowing she didn't need to worry about them, she looked back at her brother and the princess, who were once again enveloped in the whirling magical light that lifted them into the air.

When they opened their eyes, they glowed with light that soon spread through their bodies.

Matthias wondered how long he could keep this up.

Between sending waves of Light, summoning the golden chains, blinding changelings and causing them to flee in terror, he started to feel a bit tired, despite the Light filling him with it's warmth and strength. He could also tell that this empowered form of his wouldn't last much longer.

And then, it happened.

A huge wave of purple light erupted from behind him and blasted all the changelings away... beside those that were bounded by the golden chains, including Chrysalis.

Matt released them one by one, letting them be thrown away as well. Soon, there was only their queen left. He walked up to her.

"What? Are you going to gloat now?" she growled, and Matthias thought he could see tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" he frowned.

He pointed his horn at her and basked her in the Light. Chrysalis gasped and closed her eyes, most likely thinking that he was going to hurt her. So she must have been surprised as after a second she noticed that she not only didn't feel any pain, but didn't feel any pain at all now.

Matt stepped back as she squinted her eyes to look at her restored horn.

"Don't ever dare to return." he told her as he released her.

"Whaaaa..." screamed Chrysalis as she was thrown away from Canterlot.

Matthias turned away.

Twilight looked as her brother and Cadance gently landed on a floor.

"Princess Celestia!" she suddenly reminded herself as she looked for her mentor.

Celestia was laying on the floor, free of her prison. Twilight run up to her and helped her get up.

"Don't worry about me." said Princess Celestia. "I'm fine."

As she said that, a gold glow enveloped her, and everypony else. Twilight once again felt the warm spread across her body, soothing her strained nerves. She looked up and saw Matthias walking in.

He smiled, while suddenly his eyes stopped glowing, his wings, horn and armor disappeared, his mane and tail returned to normal and his coat turned white... soaked in blood and green liquid, which, Twilight realised, was most likely chagelings' blood.

"How did you do that?" she heard Rainbow Dash ask him.

"I must admit, I was surprised by that as well." replied Matt, and turned his head toward the strange being he somehow summoned. "Thank you for your help, ancient one." he said, bowing his head.

The being repeated the gesture and disappeared.

"All I did was ask the Light for help, and a miracle happened." he finished answering Rainbow's question. "Although, it pales in comparison to the one you caused." he nodded toward Princess Cadance and Shining Armor.

"And what was that being?" asked Twilight as the two of them smiled after his complement.

"A very old spirit, called the Guardian of Ancient Kings, that one can summon through Light to help him or her in battle." Matt replied as if they were talking about the weather.

"Soo..." interjected Applejack. "Is it all over?"

"It would appear so." said Princess Celestia. "The changeling, along with their queen, have been repelled from the city. This reminds me..." she added, turning to Matthias. "How did you realise that it wasn't the real Princess Cadance during the ceremony?"

For some reason, he frowned at the question.

"I would have realised that much sooner if somepony told me who was responsible for keeping the shield around Canterlot." he said, looking at Shining Armor. "Didn't I mentioned to you yesterday that targeting the one that sustains the barrier is the easiest way for enemy to break into the city?"

Twilight glanced at her brother, who looked a bit uncomfortable from Matt's remark.

"Well, yeah, but..."

"You're lucky that the sergeant you were yesterday on a patrol was sitting next to me. If we hadn't talked, you would be married to Chrysalis."

"Chrysalis? You mean the Queen of Changelings?" asked him Celestia.

"Yes, Your Highness, she mentioned her name to me as we fought." Matthias replied with a shrug, as if he didn't think that was important.

As Twilight heard him say that, she recalled something that the queen have said, and she suddenly felt angry.

"Was that before or after you kissed her?"

Matthias stared at Twilight wide eyed.

"H-How did you..." he started to ask, but then all the other girls gasped.

"So the bug was telling the truth?" asked Rainbow with disgust on her face. "Eew!"

"That..." Matt thought, regreting healing Chrysalis.

"Eee..." he stammered, rubbing the back of his head with his hoof. "How much did she tell you?"

"Please, Light, tell me that she didn't say about transforming into Twilight!" he prayed.

"Enough to be disgusted!" said Twilight. "Why would you do that?"

Matt looked closely at her face and decided it was safe to assume that Chrysalis didn't mentioned that which he feared. If so, Twilight would have been more embarrased than angry.

He cleared his throat.

"Why, it was a part of my brilliant battle strategy, of course." he said with a smirk.

"There is no way that I'm going to tell them that I was molested by her."

"A 'brilliant battle strategy'?" asked Twilight, and Matt realised that putting a smirk on his face in this situation probably wasn't his best idea today. "Care to explain how exactly does putting your tongue in the throat of your enemy helps in battle?"

"That's... complicated." replied Matthias, wondering what to say. "I swear, if I knew she told you all that, I wouldn't have healed her horn."

"Wait. Did I thought that, or said that?" thought Matthias.

Everypony gasped.

"Oh, for Light sake." he sighed, wondering if he was low on sugar or something.

"Why in thunderation would'ya healed her?" asked Applejack.

"Because I... felt sorry for her?"

"Felt sorry for her?!" screeched Twilight.

"Why are you this angry?" inquired Matt, while at the same time backing away.

"I am just wondering why one of my friends would first kiss and then healed a monster that trapped me in cave and nearly destroyed Canterlot!" replied Twilight, following him with with her horn frowing few sparkles.

"Technically, she's not a monster... " Matthias started to explain before he could stop himself.

The look that Twilight shoot him immediatelly silenced him.

"She kidnapped Cadance, pretended to be her, turned everypony against me, trapped me in a cave, and all that while trying to take over Canterlot and whole Equestria." she counted as Matt continued to back away and she continued to follow him. Now they were on the balcony. "And you say, that she isn't a monster!?"

Matthias felt his tail brush the balustrade.

"Well, eee... you see..." he glanced behind Twilight, hoping to see some help.

He saw none. Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity and Pinkie looked at him disgusted, Cadance and Celestia were glancing surprised at Twilight, Fluttershy stared scared at Twilight, while Shining Armor and Spike were exchanging uncomfortable looks with each other.

"... It's like this... "he said to Twilight while trying to think of something.

"Oh, forget it."

"Later!" he told her and jumped off the balcony.

As he fell, he twisted in the air, and rolled few times as he hit the grounds to minimise the pain, unsure if Light would agree to help him in a situation like this.

"Get back here!" he heard Twilight shout after him.

"What are you looking at?" he asked the royal guard that stood nearby.

"Nothing, sir!" he quickly replied, probably scared of his blood-soaked coat and scars, or remembering him from his fight yesterday.

Matt was about to go away, but he noticed few wounds on the stallion. Concentrating, he asked the Light to heal him. As he gasped, Matthias realised that his work wasn't over yet.

"Were any ponies wounded in the attack?" he asked the guard.

"Only a few, sir." answered the stallion. "The changeling preferred to capture ponies unharmed. Those few that were wounded were directed toward the Sacred Heart Hospital."

"Which way is it?"

Twilight couldn't believe him.

"Oh, that..." she muttered angrily.

"Calm down, sugarcube." said Applejack. "Ah am disgusted by him as well, but'ya shouldn't be that mad at him."

"Oh, really? Why?"

"Well... " said Applejack, blushing with shame a bit. "After we told him about... you know, the rehearsal, he was pretty angry at us for not stickin' with'ya, and he went looking for'ya."

Twilight frowned. That did sound like something he would do.

"Twilight..." said Rarity. "We all are really sorry that we didn't believe you earlier."

"Yea..." added Rainbow, rubbing her neck. "We should have listened to you."

Twilight was about to replie, but Celestia interjected.

"I am sorry as well, my faithful student. I should have trusted your judgement."

Hearing not only her friends, but Princesss Celestia apologise as well, caused her to feel a bit embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, Twily." said her brother. "I more than anypony should have trusted you. I... will understand if you don't want to be my best mare again."

Overwhelmed with emotions, Twilight hugged Shining Armor, answering his question.

"No hard feelings." she told everypony.

Everypony had tears in their eyes. Princess Celestia smiled to her.

"I think you have a real wedding to put together."

29. ... well?

Matthias wondered how did he get roped into this.

It didn't take him long to heal everypony in the hospital. Like the guard have said, there weren't many who got hurt, and their wounds in most cases weren't serious. It would have taken him even less time if it wasn't for those two annoying doctors. Matt has made a mental note to never allow the two of them to meet Pinkie Pie, which he was sure would cause a Cataclysm.

After he was done treating ponies, he went back into the castle, wanting to clean himself. On his way there, he bumped into Shining Armor, who asked him to became one of his groomscolts.

"I would be honored." he immediatly replied, surprised, but then added: "But have you run this by your Best Mare?"

"Yes, well, after she calmed down." Shining Armor said, chuckling nervously. "She's still pretty angry at you, but I would've guessed that you're used to it by now. Her friends told me how she practically tortured you when you pulled some joke on her."

"Don't remind me." Matt told him, shuddering despite his light tone.

"So... Why did you kiss the Changeling's Queen?"

Matthias looked at him coldly.

"I believe your the last pony who can judge me on this matter."

"I'm not judging you, I'm just asking." Shining replied, although he did blush a bit.

"Like I said, it was part of my strategy." Matt said as they entered the castle. "She managed to grab me with her magic, so I seduced her, and when we kissed, I bit her tongue off - and mine as well, but that's not important - and the pain forced her to release me. I had no idea it would have so angered your sister, though."

"Yeah, I was a bit shocked too." admitted captain. "But I guess that's understandable, since she turned everypony against her."

After that they went their separate ways.

And that is how he ended up here, after getting himself thoroughly cleaned, standing near Twilight, Spike, and two other groomscolts, wearing the attire that Rarity somehow managed to make for him in time. He noticed that the Best Mare tried to not look at him, but when she did, she did so with such a look that he immediately turned away.

He found out that it wasn't easy, however, as he once again glanced at Twilight. She looked so beautiful in her purple dress and with that wreath on her head that she kept catching his eye. It was hard for him to know that she was so mad at him, and even harder to remember that she wasn't the one he wanted.

He turned his attention toward the door as the music played and the birds started singing. The door opened and the flower fillies - Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo - came through, throwing flowers.

"Here comes the bride."

Princess Cadance, wearing a beautiful dress, has walked to the altar, with few of Fluttershy's bird holding her train. As Matthias watched her march on the walkway (that he himself has walked on barely few hours ago), he wondered how come the ponies didn't had any traditions like Saber Arch. It would've been appropriate to have it on the wedding of the Captain of the Royal Guard. Matt decided to ask somepony about it later.

"Seriously, though." he heard Twilight say to Shining Armor. "I get why the Queen of the Changelings wanted to be with you, but how did you get someone as amazing as Cadance to marry you?"

"I told her she wouldn't just be gaining a husband, she'd be getting a pretty great sister, too."

"Kiss flank." Matthias muttered, and both Twilight and Shining Armor glanced at him, although the groom was amused.

He glanced at the bridesmaids, who were also looking beautiful. He half frowned, half smiled as he saw that Applejack had taken the advantage from the fact that Rarity had to wipe a tear with a tissue, and put her hat back on. The cowpony noticed his gaze and smirked.

"Well, at least the others seem to put that whole 'kissed the bug' thing behind them." Matt thought as Applejack looked back at Rarity, to make sure she wasn't looking.

Cadance had joined them finally at the altar.

"Mares and gentlecolts," started Princess Celestia when everypony was ready, "we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of the real Princess Mi Amore Cadenza..."

"Princess Cadance is fine." interrupted her the bride, smiling uncomfortably.

Celestia smiled warmly at her niece before she continued:

"The union of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. The strength of their commitment is clear. The power of their love, undeniable."

"I'll say." commented Matt as he recalled the purple light that repelled all the changelings away from Canterlot. There were few feats done by mortals on Azeroth that could top that.

"May we have the rings please?" asked Celestia, glancing at Spike.

Spike presented to her the pillow he's been holding that had the rings on it. A gold glow appeared around them as they were wrapped in Celestia's magic and lifted through the the air towards the couple.

"I now pronounce you mare and colt." she said as she put the wedding ring on their horns.

Matthias joined everypony in the hall in the cheering as the newly-wedds stepped out to a balcony to wave to a huge crowd of even louder cheering ponies.

"This is your victory as much as theirs." he heard Princess Celestia say to Twilight after a while. He turned his head so that he could hear better. "You persisted in the face of doubt, and your actions led to your being able to bring the real Princess Cadance back to us. Learning to trust your instincts is a valuable lesson to learn."

"Sure, don't mind the pony that fought with an army of changelings and with their queen." Matt coughed.

"You mean 'fought with an army of changelings and made out with their queen', right?" Twilight replied, shooting him another glare.

"I'm not having this argument with you." Matthias sighed as everypony chuckled. He shrugged and added: "Still, you deserve some extra points for managing to put together the wedding again in such short time, so I will admit you were the better one today."

As he said that, he bowed his head to Twilight respectfully. His comment, along with the gesture, seemed to calm her. At any case, it made her stop glaring at him. Matt noticed that Celestia gave him a pleased smile.

They all turned their attention to Cadance and Shing Armor as they shared their first kiss as a married couple. It was a kiss that spoke of love and devotion, clearly the opposite of the one Matthias has shared with Chrysalis.

"Rainbow Dash, that's your cue." whispered Celestia to the cyan mare.

Matt glanced at her, confused. For a heartbeat, Rainbow seemed to share this confusion, but soon her eyes went wide as if she remembered something. Smirking, she flew quickly through the window, leaving her dress behind.

"Oh right, she was supposed to do some "sonic rainboom" or something." Matthias thought as he trotted over to the said window.

His jaw dropped as he beheld the seven-colored spectacle.

"Did she just..." he started to ask, with his voice shaking, but then decided not to.

"I'm never going to get used to this world." he thought as he facehoofed himself.

"Mossst of the ssswarm isss accounted for, Your Highnesss." said the changeling. "There are but few who haven't reported back to the hive."

"How many are wounded?" asked Chrysalis.

"Many." he simply replied.

The queen frowned and gave him the signal to leave. The changeling bowed and flew away from the royal chamber.

"How could this all go so wrong?" Chrysalis pondered as she was left alone with her guards.

Along with every changeling, she was blasted away from Canterlot, right to the very borders of Equestria. Every fiber of her being urged her to go back and attack again, but her subjects were wounded and beaten. Knowing her first duty was to them, Chrysalis ordered the retreat back to Dread Wastes.

"How could this all go so wrong?!" she thought again. Chrysalis was sure that she would have cried if she could do that in her true form.

The Queen of Changelings face turned into an angry frown as she answered her own question.

It was because of Matthias.

"If it wasn't for him, we would have won!" Chrysalis thought angrily as she rose from her throne and started pacing back and forth. Her guards shook as they felt her hatred. "Because of him, my subjects were hurt! Because of him, they are wounded! Because of him, now our larvae are starving!"

Contrary to what most ponies thought, the changelings weren't like bees and ants. She wasn't the mother of any of her subjects, and they weren't sterile and divided into castes. While they weren't exactly working like ponies families, they still cared for each other.

Chrysalis calmed a bit as she considered going to the incubation and nursery chambers, to comfort the eggs and larvae, but decided to do that later. Her main concert was making sure that every changeling that took a part in the attack was safe, and there were still few that were missing. Chrysalis had a mental contact with all her subjects, and could tell where the conscious ones were. She already instructed few changelings that were still full of energy and not wounded to go get them, noticing that most of those that haven't returned had injured their wings.

But there were still those that haven't answered her mental summons.

She knew they were alive. If they died, she would have felt it. She hoped they would wake up soon and contact her.

"It's all you fault, Matthias!" she once again grew angry. That strange pony with his strange powers caused her more pain and humiliation that any other being. He...

... he healed her horn.

Chrysalis stopped her pacing as she pondered on it.

"Why did he heal me?" she thought. It was the first time a pony showed her some form of kindness since... since...

Again, pain shook her. Cursing her inability to remember, she frowned.

"Why did I do it?" she wondered. They had never any lack of love to feed on - until now - and yet she ordered her subjects to attack the city she knew was well prepared for such threats.

All because of the dream she had over a month ago.

"Assume this form." she ordered one of her guards as she showed his mind a part of her dream. "Act like him."

The guard's eyes flickered with surprise, but didn't question her. They never did. Chrysalis knew they would have jumped into the fire if she ordered them to. Not that she ever would.

She looked at her guard as the green flames shot. Now, in front of her, cowered in fear an odd looking young colt, barely in his teen years of life.

"Please, help me." he pleaded, extending his hoof towards her. Suddenly, he shook as if somepony strucked him. "Save me, please. Make it stop. MAKE IT STOP!!!"

The last sentence was a scream much louder than any colt should be able to utter.

Chrysalis stared at the the young pony, who was as strange as Matthias, and not just because of his unique look.

He was strange to her because she cared about him.

"It's just a pony." she thought, not understanding. "I shouldn't care for him in the slightest. Why then, as I hear his cry of pain, I feel as though my heart was being shredded to pieces?"

In the forgotten caves beneath Canterlot, much deeper than Princess Cadance was imprisoned by Changeling's Queen and were she sent Twilight Sparkle, at the very bottom of it, six unicorns gathered.

Five of them were enclosed by shadows, protecting their identity.

"The changelings have failed." one of them said, its voice enchanted so that it wouldn't gave away anything about the pony, including gender.

"We knew that their attack on Canterlot would fail." reminded one of the others.

"But we hoped that they would kill Celestia! How are we supppose to operate when she still lives?"

"Perhaps it's a good thing, actually?" interjected the third one. "Think about it. If Celestia had died, there would be chaos across the whole of Equestria. Luna would be on alert for every strange occurrence in the land. We would be found out quickly."

"I agree." rasped a voice belonging to the sixth pony, the one who didn't use magic to conceal his identity. He didn't need to. He couldn't leave this place.

Not looking like this.

"I, for one, am not surprised that their queen didn't kill Celestia." he continued. A cruel smile, which made his face look even more terrifying, appeared on his lips as he said: "After all, once a failure, always a failure."

He took a moment to ponder at his own words, then shook his head.

"Either way, it matters not. We've got what we wanted. As expected, the changelings proved to be a great distraction. I'm pleased to officially announce that Phase One of the Eclipsed Eye Plan is complete."

He paused as the other ponies murmured their excitement.

"Now is the time to begin Phase Two. But which one of you..."

"I will do it." said one unicorn, they same one who said that Celestia surviving the battle was a good thing. "I will need some time, though."

"It's settled, then." replied the not concealed one, clearly the leader of the group. "I trust you will regulary report about your progress. You may all leave."

The unicorns teleported themselves out. One lingered a bit and exchanged glances with its leader. Then, it too disappeared.

The leader of the group stared in front of himself, thinking about all that happened.

"Soon..." he muttered to himself, "everything will be restored to its rightful place. The true power... the power that was supposed to be mine will finally belong to me."

He started chuckling, at first silently, but as his voice grew louder, and louder, and louder, and soon loud as an avalanche, the unicorn's maniacal laugher echoed through the caves.

"To think that after all this time, Project Eclipse would turn out to be a success!" he laughed, not caring if somepony could hear him.

And nopony did.

Matthias looked with everypony else in the courtyard as the newly-wed started dancing.

"Hello, everypony. Did I miss anything?" he heard somepony ask and turned his head to the right.

The pony that just flew in could only be Princess Luna. Like Celestia, she emanated godlike beauty, but unlike her sister's, hers had a darker tone to it. Her coat had the color of cobalt blue, her mane and tail - flowing like Celestia's - looked like a night full of stars. She was a bit shorter than her older sister, but that didn't made her any less royal or beautiful.

Matt frowned.

"It is about time I tell them this."

Twilight nodded to Pinkie Pie, signaling her to start.

Pinkie reacted with the usual for her enthusiasm and run over to the mixer with gigantic speakers connected to it.

"Let's get this party started!" she shouted while pulling Vinyl Scratch, or, as she preferred to go by, DJ Pon-3 from under the mixer and together they started playing the music.

Pinkie threw Twilight the microphone, which she catched with her magic and started singing:

Love is in bloom

A beautiful bride, a handsome groom,

Two hearts becoming one

A bond that cannot be undone because

Love is in bloom

A beautiful bride, a handsome groom

I said love is in bloom

You're starting a life and making room

For us (For us, For us....)

Your special day

We celebrate now, the pony way

Your friends are all right here

Won't let these moments disappear because

Love is in bloom

A beautiful bride, a handsome groom

I said love is in bloom

You're starting a life and making room

For us, (For us... For us...Aah...)

"What, did you think you're the only one who can sing, mister?" she thought as she finished, happy that her spell that made the echo worked, and looked around for Matt...

... only to realise that he was gone.

Twilight's anger toward him, that had been quenched, was now renewed.

Matthias glanced as Twilight started singing. He suddenly realised it was the first time he heard her sing. Her voice was simply beautiful.

"Oh, for Light sake, get a hold of yourself! She can't be that perfect that you have to constantly think that everything about her is beautiful!" he thought, rolling his eyes.

Nevertheless, he regretted that he wouldn't hear the entire song.

"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna." he said as he approached them, bowing.

"Ah, you must be Matthias Lehner." said the Princess of the Night. "It's a pleasure to meet you at last."

"Likewise, Princess." Matthias replied, bowing once more. "I'm afraid, however, that the pleasantries will have to wait. I have something important to talk about with the two of you in private, Your Highnesses." glancing at Twilight and the others, he added, regretfully: "Right now, if you would be so kind."

The two sister exchanged surprised glances. Luckily, both of them nodded.

"Very well." said Celestia and her horn glowed.

Matthias blinked as he suddenly found himself in a large room. He could hear through the window noises coming from the courtyard, so he knew he had to be in the castle.

"Those are my private chambers." answered his unasked question Celestia as she closed the window. "Nopony has access here exept me, my sister, and few of the castle's staff. We don't have to worry about anypony overhearing us."

"Thank you for allowing me to speak to the two of you here, Princess." Matt said, bowing once again.

Knowing this was Celestia's private chamber, he immediately stopped himself from glancing around and concentrated on the two Princesses instead.

"What is it that you wanted to talk to us about?" asked him Luna.

Matthias noticed that her cutie mark was a crescent moon on a dark purple background.

"What I wanted to talk to you is about something I realised as I fought with the Queen of the Changelings."

He stopped and took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

"Well, here goes." he thought, opening them after a second.

"The changelings, or at least their ancestors, came from my world."

30. Connections

The two Princesses stared at him with wide eyes. After a few heartbeats Celestia finally recovered and asked:

"Are you sure?" and when Matt nodded, she added: "How can you know about this? Twilight wrote me in her letters every bit of information you told her about Azeroth. If there were creatures like changelings in your world, you would have mentioned them to her, seeing as they resemble ponies to some extent."

"Let me start from the beginning, Your Highness." answered Matthias, frowning. "When I fought Chrysalis, I looked through the window and saw the other changelings. The way they moved, fought... it made me realise that I saw that already."

"You realised that they are from your world by the way the changelings moved and fought?" asked Princess Luna. "What about their queen?"

Matt shook his head.

"She looked and acted as if she was pony, or at least, she was more pony than what I think her ancestors were."

"Do you mind telling us what those ancestors are, exactly?" asked Celestia, frowning.

Matthias closed his eyes.

"Long ago, a race of intelligent insectoid creatures was born on Azeroth, called Silithids. About sixteen thousand years ago, the fallen Old God C'Thun recognized their appearance, and attempted to sunder the world that it once held in its merciless grasp. The Old God created avatars from the Silithid in its own image. These avatars were eventually known as aqir. They created an empire — the civilization of Azj'Aqir. These clever insectoids were greatly expansionist and incredibly evil. The aqir were obsessed with eradicating all non-insect life from the fields of Kalimdor. The trolls’ empire - I told Twilight the history of trolls, didn't I?" he asked to be sure, not wanting to start another tale. When the Princesses nodded, he continued: "They fought them for a thousand years, but never succeeded in winning a true victory over the aqir. However, due to the trolls' persistence, eventually the aqiri kingdom split as its citizens fled to separate colonies: Ahn'Qiraj in the southern desert of Kalimdor, Azjol-Nerub in the northern wastes of Northrend, and one more in the Dread Wastes of Pandaria. Possibly due to the environment, the three groups eventually became completely different beings, though whether this was a divide that had always existed remains unknown. The more insectoid qiraji have taken up residence in Ahn'Qiraj, the spider-like nerubians populate the northern city of Azjol-Nerub, and and mantis-like mantid live in the Dread Wastes of Pandaria."

He finished and glanced at the Princesses. They seemed to take everything in rather well.

"So you think that the changelings are the fourth offshoot of aqir that somehow found their way into this world." said Celestia, nodding.

"Yes, although how that happened is beyond me." Matt said, frowning.

"That is impossible!" "shouted Princess Luna suddenly. "If what you said is true, then the aqir race split around fifteen thousand years ago." she waited for him to nod, and continued: "The changelings were first discovered a little more than thousands years ago. I remember it well, because... it's one of the last memories I have from that time before I became Nightmare Moon." she added, shaking a bit.

"Sister." told her Celestia, placing her hoof comfortingly on her shoulder, "stop thinking about it."

Luna gave her a weak smile.

"Luna raises a good point." she said, turning to Matthias.

"Maybe you didn't notice them, Your Highness." Matt replied, shrugging. "They are shapeshifters, after all."

Princess Celestia shook her head.

"Before our reign, Discord ruled Equestria." she reminded him. "If the changelings were here at the time, he would have know about them, and revealed them. He would have found a great joy in telling ponies about creatures that fed on their love. The changeling were discovered some ten or twenty years after we defeated him."

"Maybe..." Matt pondered about it. "Somepony like an incarnation of chaos wouldn't be fooled. But if that's true, then how?"

"How long did Discord's reign lasted?"

"About fifty years."

"A thousand years ago... " he said aloud, pacing. "Sometime after you defeated Discord and before Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon, the changelings appeared, a thousand years ago..."

He whirled as the realisation struck him.

"Wait, all of this happened during a single century thousand years ago?!" he asked the Princesses with his eyes wide.

They shared a look, startled by his reaction.

"Yes." Princess Luna answered his question. "What are you..."

"And when did you return?" he interrupted her, forgetting about formalities in his panic.

"What?"

"When did you return from your banishment to moon?"

"It was two years ago." answered for her sister Celestia. "Why do you ask?"

"I couldn't be... could it?" Matthias closed his eyes as he forced himself calm.

"A thousand years ago, the Old God C'Thun nearly awakened, and the qiraji waged war, trying to dominate the continent of Kalimdor. The night elves and eventually dragons opposed them in what became known as the War of the Shifting Sands."

"You think that it have something to do with what was happening here?" asked Celestia, alarmed.

"As much as I find it hard to believe that, yes, that's what I think. And there is more. That war ended when the Scarab Wall was erected to contain the qiraji within the city of Ahn'Qiraj. But, two years ago, the Old God began to awaken again." Matt added, looking at Princess Luna. "A Second War of the Shifting Sands took place, as the Azeroth realised that the only way to deal with the threat once and for all was killing C'Thun."

Luna's eyes went even wider as she understood what he was suggesting

"So, my escaping from the moon, as well as me turning into Nightmare Moon." she asked, shaking., "was because of that... Old God waking up?"

She looked like she was sick.

"I don't know, Princess." Matt said, bowing his head. "But I know this: when I first heard about what happened to you, I immediately thought about Old Gods, but until now I haven't thought that to be possible."

"Luna?" asked Celestia, worried about her.

"I'll be fine, sister." she replied, forcing herself to be calm.

From the look that Princess Celestia gave her younger sister Matt figured that she was as much convinced by her words as he was, but didn't pressed her.

"How would all of that be possible?" she asked Matt.

"I have no idea, Princess." answered Matt, frowning. "Although it is not impossible to travel to other worlds, as there is another world - or rather, remains of a world - connected to Azeroth called Outland through the gate known as the Dark Portal, it would take a similar connection for the Old Gods' influence to reach here, and I'm sure that there is no Dark Portal near Ahn'Qiraj."

"And what about the changelings?"

"That's another thing that I don't understand. None of the aqir descendants have shapeshifting abilities, and they don't feed on love. At least, to the limits of my knowledge."

"And how limited is your knowledge, exactly?" inquired Princess Celestia.

"I know next to nothing about the mantid, unfortunately, but on the other hoof, my knowledge about qiraji is fairly vast. As for nerubians." he added with a smirk, "I most likely know more about them than anypony, beside the nerubians themselves."

"Quite a feat for somepony who repeatedly says he's not a scholar." noticed Celestia, but she shook her head. "I guess it doesn't matter. I wonder, though - do you think that's why you're here? So you could help us with them?"

Matthias has been wondering about it for some time, too.

"I'm... not sure." he said, frowning. "You said that I would know what it is that I have to do when the time comes, Princess. I still don't."

Celestia nodded and was about to say something, but her sister interrupted her:

"Why did you heal her?"

"Excuse me, Your Highness?" asked surprised Matt.

"You healed the Queen of the Changelings. Why?" repeated Luna. "Not only she tried to take over Equestria and harmed many ponies, including your friends, but also is a descendant of one of the most violent race on Azeroth. And you healed her horn, Why?"

Matthias smiled and closed his eyes.

"I am a paladin, after all. My obsession with redemption goes beyond the insane. And the queen didn't seemed that evil to me... compared to those on my world." he added, noticing that both of them were about to protest. "All she did was for the good of her subjects, after all."

"You're a strange one, Matthias." said Princess Luna after few seconds.

"Maybe." told her Celestia. "But I can see his point. I just hope it won't come back to haunt us later. As for the possible connection between our worlds... I will have to look into it. Maybe in one of the oldest scrolls there will be something that could shed some light on this mystery."

"I will leave this to you then, Princess." Matt said, bowing.

"I have one more question, though." added Celestia. "Why didn't you want to mention this near Twilight and the rest of your friends?"

"I... still feel guilty about how terrified Twilight was after she saw the vision of Deathwing." Matthias said uncomfortably. "I prefered to spare her and the others more horrors of my world."

"I guess that's understandable. But Twilight is stronger that you think. While she was shaken by that vision then, she would probably be fine now after hearing such news. And you don't need to feel guilty that she saw that." she added, looking down. "If anypony is guilty of that, then it would be me."

"You, Your Highness?" asked surprised Matt, not understanding.

"That book where Twilight found the spell to enter your mind, the 'The psychological art of mind's magic', was forbidden by me to read over forty years ago, soon after it was published. I was sure that all copies of it were either destroyed, or kept in the locked part of Canterlot archives. I had no idea that there was a copy in the Ponyville library." she sighed. "I allowed Twilight to keep the book, although I forbade her to use spells from it unless it would be necessary."

"Why did you forbid this book to be read?" asked Matt, curious.

"Aside from the fact that entering ponies' minds is an invasion of privacy? There are very dangerous spells in it."

"Makes sense."

"Lets return to reception." said Princess Celestia, her horn glowing. "I don't see any reason why we shouldn't celebrate with everypony, even in light of those revelations."

She flashed her horn and Matthias found himself once again in the courtyard.

"Will you tell Twilight and the others about it?" he asked Celestia.

The alicorn pondered that thought for a moment.

"Not for now, I think." she said finally. "I would prefer to research about this before I will let anypony know."

She glanced at him.

"Then I won't tell anypony either." Matt said, bowing his head.

He glanced at everypony. Shining Armor and Cadance were still dancing, but were now surrounded by many other dancing ponies, including his friends.

"Are you sure you're alright, little sister?" he heard Celestia ask Luna.

He turned his head to them. Princess Luna was gazing in front of her with empty eyes. She stirred as her sister called her.

"I am alright, my sister, it's just..." she stammered, looking for right words. "To think that all of that happened to me because of some evil being waking up, manipulating me, just..."

"Look at it this way, Your Highness:" said Matt as she once again stopped to look for words that would describe what she felt. "it wasn't entirely your fault."

Luna looked at him, surprised.

"I had became evil once myself, so I know how you must feel." Matthias told her, coming closer. "You feel used, sick, weak, because you allowed that evil to control you. But, the fact that you were controled, means that at least it wasn't entirely your fault. It's better than becoming evil on your own, I think."

As Luna gazed into his eyes, Matthias knew she was trying to believe what he said, but also knew that her guilt made her hesitate.

"You will probably never forgive yourself for that." he told her, despite that he could see tears in the corner of her eyes. "But you are luckier than me, Princess. While I will forever be remembered in my world for who I became, you were given a second chance by fate here, in Equestria, and you have your sister beside you."

Princess' gaze moved from him to her Celestia, who smiled in response.

"Thank you, Matthias." finally said the Princess of the Night, smiling as well, although it was a weaker version of the smile her sister gave her.

But at least, it was an honest smile, not a forced one.

"My pleasure, Your Highness." Matt answered, bowing. "If you would be so kind to forgive me, I would..."

"Of course, Matthias." nodded Celestia, allowing him to leave.

Matthias once again bowed and made his way to the celebrating ponies.

32. Canterlot Idol

"Will you be able to do it?" Matthias asked Octavia, a gray mare with a purple treble clef for a cutie mark.

"I don't see any problem." she replied, glancing at the other musicians. Each of them nodded. "Give us few minutes to prepare and we should be ready."

"Take all the time you need." Matt said, moving away. "Call me when you're sure you're ready."

"What had you started to say after our duel, Illidan? 'You are not prepared'?" he thought as he made his way over to where everypony - the bride and the groom, the best mare and the bridemaids, the Princess of the Day and the Princess of the Night - stood. "Somewhere out there you are laughing at me, aren't you?"

"So?" asked Twilight with a smirk.

"'So' what?" Matt replied with a question, being casual.

"Are we gonna hear you sing, or not?" she specified her question, frowning.

"I already told Princess Cadance and Shining Armor that I am going to sing. Are you suggesting that I would go back on my word?" Matt answered, pretending to be surprised and offended. "Shame on you, Twilight, I thought you know me better."

The look she gave him in response told him to not push it. Everypony else seemed to be amused, though.

"Now, Matthias," said Rarity, "you do realise that this is a wedding, so songs about..."

"... war and death are not appropriate?" finished for her Matt, grinning. "You know, my world isn't that bad as to have only those kind of songs, although I do plan to sing one or two sad ones, so that a few love couples will have an excuse to hug tightly. Anyway," he said as he trotted over to the closest table, "the musicians need a few minutes to prepare so I thought I would use this time to prepare myself as well."

"What do'ya mean by 'prepare'?" asked Applejack.

Matthias replied by picking up a bottle of wine.

"Really?" asked Shining Armor as Matt uncorked the bottle.

"I have no problem performing in front of a crowd, as you can guess by the spectacle in the Grand Arena yesterday, but singing is another matter." he answered as he lifted the bottle, backed his head and put the bottleneck into his mouth.

Everypony looked with wide eyes, either out of amazement or dismay, as Matthias proceeded to drink the bottle in one go.

"Um... Matt?" asked Applejack.

He lifted a hoof, signaling her and the others to wait. In few more gulps he completely emptied the bottle. He shook his head, put the empty bottle back in the table, and looked at them.

"Are you trying to get drunk?" asked Shining Armor, who was the first one to recover.

"With wine?" Matthias asked and chuckled. "Remind me once to introduce you to a dwarven ale, that's the strong stuff. Your Highnesses, I hope you'll forgive me that act on account of being roped into singing." he added, bowing his head toward all three princesses, and they nodded in response, although a bit surprised.

The others were still gazing at him, unsure how to react.

"If you excuse me for a moment, I need to take care of something. Be right back." Matt said, bowing his head, and made his way toward the closest toilet.

Twilight frowned as they all glanced at Matt talking with the musicians ten minutes later. She intended this to be his punishment, but he seemed to be dealing with this somehow.

"Oh, well." Twilight thought, resigned. "At least this means I won't turn Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding into a disaster."

But still, she was surprised that he managed to tell the musician what music to play. She didn't knew he was that talented.

"He is a master in terms of combat, he can call upon the power of Light, he knows a lot about battle strategies - according to Shining Armor, his knowledge about his world is astonishing, he is well familiar with an etiquette of the elite circles, but at the same time, he can act like a pony that doesn't know anything about it, can tell musicians how to play a melody that they never heard of..." she pondered about everything she knew about him, wondering if there was more to him than she knew.

"Ah think they're 'bout to start." Applejack said, interrupting her train of thoughts.

Twilight glanced at the space in front of the musicians, where Matt now stood, armed with a microphone. At the same time, DJ Pon-3 stopped spinning the vinyls.

"Good evening, everypony." said Matthias, as all the guests turned to him once the music stopped playing. "To those of you who don't know me - my name is Matthias Lehner, and I am a pony that used to live far away from Equestria. I have been asked to perform a few songs from my homeland, and although I'm not a big enthusiast of singing in public, it would have been impolite to refuse, so please, bear with me, ponies, and dance to the music."

When he finished, the musicians started playing amelody. Matt took few breaths, and started singing:

Who do I turn to when things are broken?

Where do I go when I'm feeling alone?

Who's always there with arms wide open, it's you.

Yeah, it's you.

Twilight wasn't surprised when she saw that more than few ponies opted to simply listen to the song instead of dancing.

Where do I hide when it's dark and stormy?

Where do I run when it's all too much?

Who gives me hope when I wake each morning, it's you.

Yeah, it's you.

You were there for me in my darkest days,

You cared for me when I lost my way,

My guiding light, you always pulled me through,

I believe in you.

Yeah yeah.

When I stumble and fall, you take my hoof.

When I don't have a clue, you know what to do.

When nothing makes sense, you help me to understand.

It's true.

It seems like forever, it's been you and me.

I know who you really are.

Sometimes I wonder where would I be without you?

Yeah yeah.

You were there for me in my darkest days,

You cared for me when I lost my way,

My guiding light, you always pulled me through,

Yeah, you gave me strength when I was weak,

You were my voice when I could not speak,

One ray of hope that I could hold onto,

Yeah, I believe in you.

Yeah, I believe in you.

You were there for me in my darkest days,

You cared for me when I lost my way,

My guiding light, you always pulled me through,

Yeah, you gave me strength when I was weak,

You were my voice when I could not speak,

One ray of hope that I could hold onto,

Yeah, I believe in you.

You were there for me in my darkest days,

You cared for me when I lost my way,

My guiding light, you always pulled me through,

Yeah, I believe in you.

Yeah, I believe in you.

The song was over before anypony noticed. As soon as it ended, the sound of stomping could be heard. Matt bowed, and turned around a bit to drink a few sips from a glass of water, as the musicians started toplay once again.

"The next song is a bit slower, so it's mostly for couples." said Matthias, winking at Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, and once again started to sing:

Whenever sang my songs

On the stage, on my own

Whenever said my words

Wishing they would be heard

I saw you smiling at me

Was it real or just my fantasy

You'd always be there in the corner

Of this tiny little bar

My last night here for you

Same old songs, just once more

My last night here with you?

Maybe yes, maybe no

I kind of liked it your way

How you shyly placed your eyes on me

Did you ever know?

That I had mine on you

Darling, so there you are

With that look on your face

As if you're never hurt

As if you're never down

Shall I be the one for you

Who pinches you softly but sure

If a frown is shown then

I will know that you are no dreamer

So let me come to you

Close as I wanna be

Close enough for me

To feel your heart beating fast

And stay there as I whisper

How I loved your peaceful eyes on me

Did you ever know

That I had mine on you?

Darling, so share with me

Your love if you have enough

Your Tears if you're holding back

Or pain if that's what it is

How can I let you know

I'm more than the armor and the weapon

Just reach me out, then

You will know that you are not dreaming

Darling, so there you are

With that look on your face

As if you're never hurt

As if you're never down

Shall I be the one for you

Who pinches you softly but sure

If a frown is shown then

I will know that you are no dreamer

Once again, as the song stopped, ponies started stomping, giving their thanks to the singer and musicians, who after a short break started toplay another melody.

"The next song," said Matthias after he cleared his throat and the music started, "isn't exactly one you would expect to hear on wedding reception, but I was given a free hoof, and I would have liked to honor... a memory of a little filly from a small village called Darrowshire."

He looked up into the sky, and opened his mouth:

I've seen a great many things that cause a stallion to wonder

I've seen a great many things that can tear a stallion's heart asunder

But the day that will not let me go, it haunts me to my burning soul

Is the day I found Pamela wandering Darrowshire

Can you help me find my dolly? I left her by the window sill

Have you seen my daddy? I think he went off to war

And can you tell my family I've been missing them for oh so very long

Ask them why'd they leave me here alone in Darrowshire

I bring word from your sister, she's alive and well in Winterspring

Here I found your dolly, it's up to you to keep her safe

And your father's coming home again. The war for him is over

And your spirits once again may be at rest in Darrowshire

Twilight almost whirled as she heard the last line. Was Matt implying that this... Pamela, was a ghost?

"Then again, he did die once. I suppose it's not impossible." she thought, looking at the crowd of ponies.

Like Matt predicted, those who could hugged somepony tightly. Twilight was beginning to wish that she could hug somepony after that sad song, when suddenly:

"That was sooo sad!" cried Pinkie as she hugged tightly all five of them.

"Pinkie, get a hold of yourself!"

"Okay." said Pinkie, calming down almost immediately.

Twilight shook her head and turned her attention back to Matt, who started another song:

Just look from there once more

Look from the place that you returned to

Just let the soft, soft waves

heal your heart so tired from sadness

Just begin to dream once more,

to bring back your 'courage'

And from just that dream,

let the passion you once forgot

into your smile and melt your frozen heart

Yes, on that Friday that I saw you

riding on the back of waves

Let your emotion overflow

Just like you did back then

Let me see that shine anew

Let me see that shining you

Just like you did back then

Let me see that smile anew

Let me see that smiling you

Ripples on the waves

Battles on the brain

Can you ease my mind?

Can you feel the strain?

Carry me across the sea

Carry me to days gone by

Let me feel what I felt then

Let old passions fly

Love the ones you have lost

Love the times you knew

But new life has come along and

It needs your love too

Rippling waves will bring me home

Back to where life starts

Rippling waves will bring with me

My beloved's heart

Rippling waves, rippling waves

Rippling waves of love

Just one more time, please look

At the place you wish to return to

And allow the quiet small ripples of time

To heal your tired heart

Just one more time, please dream

And remember the dream called courage

The passion you have forgotten

Will melt the ice in your heart

Memories of you riding that wave

Fills my mind, even now

On that Friday

Memories of that time

I wish to see you shine again

Shining like a new star

Like a new moon

Memories of those times

I wish to see you smile again

Smiling

"The next song is going to be in a different language." said Matthias after he finished and the musicians started to play a newmelody. "I would have translated it for you, but it doesn't sound so beautiful."

Anar'alah, Anar'alah belore

Quel'dorei

Shindu fallah na

Quel'dorei

Anar'alah

Shindu Quel'dorei

Shindu fallah na

Quel'dorei

Anar'alah belore

Shindu Quel'dorei

Shindu fallah na

Quel'dorei

Anar'alah belore

Belore

Twilight frowned. Something about that song told her that this wasn't one that would fit an occasion like a wedding party.

She looked as Matt prepared to sing once more.

"This is going to be the lastsong." he said, and, noticing the disappointment on almost everypony's faces, he added: "I'm sorry, but on such short notice I can't remind myself more songs."

As he opened his mouth and started to sing, he looked at Twilight. She could swear she saw him wink at her.

You can reach for the stars

And know that in your heart

You have the strength deep inside.

Let it be your guide.

You can fly past the moon

And race all afternoon.

Don't be afraid to make a choice.

Raise your voice.

Just follow your star.

Spread your wings and be free.

Wherever you are

Is right where you should be.

So listen to your heart

And believe in what you dream.

And follow, follow your star.

Twilight was beginning to understand that Matt winked at her to refer to her cutie mark. She blushed, wondering how many times he was going to repeat the world 'star'.

There's a time when you know

How to find your destiny.

And with each turn in the road

It's clear for you to see.

So push through the days

Don't let your spirit fade.

Throw away all your doubts.

I'll sing out loud.

Just follow your star.

Spread your wings and be free.

Wherever you are

Is right where you should be.

So listen to your heart

And believe in what you dream.

And follow, follow your star.

Just follow your star.

Spread your wings and be free.

Wherever you are

Is right where you should be.

So listen to your heart

And believe in what you dream.

And follow, follow your star.

Follow your star.

Follow your star.

Follow your star.

Follow your star.

Follow your star.

Follow your star.

Follow your star.

Follow your star.

Follow your star.

Just follow your star.

As Matthias's song was coming to an end, the Light started to envelop him, but the moment he finished, a bigger pillar of Light appeared around Cadance and Shining Armor.

"May the Light's blessings be with you." said Matt, bowing. "Everypony, thank you for your attention, you've been a lovely audience. Remember to congratulate the newly wed, if you haven't yet."

He bowed once again, as the Light disappeared from him, but stayed on Cadance and Shining Armor, although dimmed, and with that, Matthias moved away.

33. Wedding party montage

"So what did you think?" Matt asked his friends.

They all whirled around and looked at him.

"How did you..." Twilight said, surprised. "Did you just teleport?"

Matthias chuckled as he glanced at the crowd that gathered around the musicians as soon as he finished singing.

"This isn't the first time I had to escape from a large crowd, you know." he told them, thinking back as he sneaked away from the castle as a child, or how he escaped from the same castle when the dreadlords took control of most of the Scourge and tried to kill him, or when he and Jaina sneaked away from the guards and castle staff to Arthas' private chambers. He shook his head to clear away that memory and repeated his question: "So, what did you think about those songs?"

"Oh they were awesome!" shouted Pinkie Pie, jumping around him. "Except that one about the filly in Darrowshine, that was so sad, and maybe that one in that weird language, but oh my gosh, the others were amazing!"

"Thank you." Matt replied, making a mental note to not let Pinkie drink any alcohol.

"I agree with Pinkie. Those songs were simply gorgeous!" exclaimed Rarity. "You should sing more often!"

The others nodded their agreement. All of them... besides Twilight.

"And what says the one that caused all of this?" Matthias asked her, winking.

"You didn't have to make the last one so dramatic." she replied, blushing.

"Oh, so she got my joke." he thought amused as he noticed the shade of red on her cheeks.

"You mean that blessing of the Light?" he asked her teasingly. "Because I was also considering assuming that alicorn form when I said 'Spread your wings and be free', but I figured that would be overusing the Light's powers a bit."

"Speaking of overusing..." said Shining Armor, as he and Cadance, still enveloped by the golden glow, came back from the dancing floor. "... how long is this gonna last, exactly?"

"Why, they prefer to have the lights turned off?" Matt heard Applejack whisper quietly to Rainbow Dash, who chuckled.

"The Light should disappear completely in about an hour or so." he replied, suppressing a laugh. "But I hope its blessing will remain afterwards."

"So do we, and we are thankful for it." said Cadance. "As well as for those songs. They were simply beautiful."

"Thank you, Princess." Matthias replied, bowing, and then added, glancing at Twilight: "I wish everypony thought so."

"I didn't say they weren't beautiful!" Twilight quickly protested.

"You didn't say they were, either." told her Matthias, frowning with fake sadness. "Even after I went through the trouble of remembering a song with the word 'star' in it, so that you would forgive me for that little disagreement earlier."

"I just..." Twilight said, glancing at her friends, brother and sister-in-law, who started to laugh. "... I'm now mad at you for leaving when I sang!" she finished, stomping.

"So she's no longer mad about me defending Chrysalis from her accusation of being a monster?" thought Matthias. "I guess it's some improvement."

"You're right for being angry at me, then." he said, bowing. "Please, tell me, Lady Twilight, what can I do to make you forgive me?"

He glanced at her, and saw that she wasn't amused by the formal gesture.

"Oh I know!" shouted Pinkie. "You could dance with her!"

"Dance with her?" he asked the pink pony, surprised, while Twilight, no less surprised, asked: "Dance with me?"

"I will go tell the musicians to play something!" exclaimed Pinkie.

"I wanted to make her forgive me, not seduce her." Matt called after her, but Pinkie Pie was already running toward the musicians.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Seduce me?! What, are you a master of dance as well?" asked Twilight, clearly displeased with his choice of words.

"By now you should have realised that I'm a master of everything I do." he smirked at her.

"I think Pinkie had a great idea!" said Rarity unexpectedly. As both Matthias and Twilight looked at her, she explained: "How often do you get a chance to have a romantic dance at a royal wedding?"

Matt realised that he was in a dangerous situation.

"If I ask her to dance, she might get even angrier at me, and now her brother might get mad as well. On the other hoof, if I don't ask her, she might actually get offended that I don't want to dance with her." he mused, wondering what to do.

He rolled his eyes, knowing he could do only one thing.

"Rarity has a point." he said finally, causing Twilight to turn back and look at him surprised. "Chances like that don't happen everyday. Lady Twilight," Matt bowed once again, " would you do me the honor of dancing with me?"

He didn't need to look up to know that she blushed.

"Well... I..." Twilight stammered. She then took a deep breath, and said: "Sure, why not."

Matt rose from the ground and winked at her. At the same time, the musicians started playing a melody that Pinkie requested for them.

"Lets go, then." he said and led her to the dancing floor.

As he passed Shining Armor, he threw him a quick apologizing glance.

Shining Armor shrugged his arms when he saw the glance that Matthias had thrown him. He understood that the stallion didn't have much of a choice.

He turned his head when he felt his wife poke him.

"We're not going to let them be the main sensation on the dance floor, aren't we?" she asked him, smiling.

Shining grinned in response and they both followed Twilight and Matthias.

Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash looked as the two pairs of ponies moved away. Soon, Pinkie Pie joined them.

"So, ya think this will work?" asked Applejack the rest of them.

"Oh, heavens no." replied Rarity, rolling her eyes. "Those two are more silly than foals."

They all frowned, knowing she was probably right.

"Oh, cake!" shouted Pinkie, and she ran away.

The rest exchanged glances and laughed.

"I didn't know you could dance." said Twilight.

The music that Pinkie chose - Twilight made a mental note to talk to her about that later - was intended for love couples, so they danced with their chests pressed against each other. She felt extremely embarrassed by this, but at the same time she realised that she liked this weird... sensation of having somepony so close to her.

"So you thought that because I'm a good fighter, I'm some kind of uncivilised brute?" Matt responded, smirking.

Twilight fought back the urge to stomp on his hoof.

"No, but you were human most of your life. As a bipedal creature, you should have problems doing things like dancing or..."

"... fighting?" he interrupted her, smiling warmly. "I got used to having a pony body a long time ago."

They both stayed quiet as they listened to one of the musicians that started singing.

Nothing could be finer than to be in Marelina in the morning,

No one could be sweeter than my sweetie when I meet her in the morning.

Where the morning glories

Twine around the door,

Whispering pretty stories

I long to hear once more.

Strolling with my girlie where the dew is pearly early in the morning,

Butterflies all flutter up and kiss each little buttercup at dawning

"Nice song." commented Matthias after a while as the singer continued. "But I wish I heard yours. I'm sure it was ten times more beautiful."

Twilight blushed again even more.

"Well, maybe I will sing it to you some other time."

"So we're still friends?"

"After today I dare to say best friends." answered Twilight, pressing her body a bit hard on his.

"I think you might be right." replied Matt, slightly nuzzling her neck.

Much later Matt found himself wandering around the courtyard, exchanging pleasantries with other ponies he hadn't met yet. To be honest, he would have prefered to dance a few more times with Twilight, but as the 'wedding coordinator', she had to make sure that 'the few things that could go wrong wouldn't go wrong', as she said.

"Matt, come here for a moment!" Rarity, who had been talking with some white-coated unicorn with blue hair and three golden crowns with purple jewels for a cutie mark, called him. He also wore some formal attire and a monocle.

"Well, this one is definitely a noble."

"Fancypants, may I introduce you to my friend Matthias Lehner." said Rarity once Matt joined them. "Matt, this is Fancypants, the most important pony in Canterlot."

"Well, I don't know anything about that." chuckled Fancypants. "A pleasure meeting you, Matthias."

"Likewise." replied Matt, shaking his hoof.

"I must say, you're one intriguing pony." said the white unicorn. "Yesterday, you've beaten Mighty Shot and forced Blueblood to apologise to all the mares he had ever offended, earlier today you've tackled that Changelings’ Queen, and now you have shown a great musical talent, not to mention that despite being an earth pony, you can use magic. I dare to say that by tomorrow, everypony in Canterlot will know your name."

"While I'm thankful for you praise, I must admit that I'm not happy about receiving that much attention." confessed Matt, not bothering to correct him about the 'magic' thing.

"Well, I suppose I can understand that." chuckled Fancypants. "But I guess that's the price of putting yourself in situations like this."

"You're probably right, Fancypants." Matt said, bowing his head. "If the two of you would excuse me, I was going to get something to eat."

"Of course, don't mind us." answered Fancypants. "I was going to leave soon, anyway. I hope that we will meet sometime and get a chance to get to know each other better. I would love to hear about the land you're from. Maybe at your and the groom's sister's wedding?"

Matt's eyes widened at the remark, and Rarity giggled.

"I hate to disappoint you, but Twilight and I are only friends." Matthias replied, blushing.

"Really? I was under the impression you were a couple, seeing the way you two danced earlier."

Rarity had to press her hoof to her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"It was only a form of me apologizing to her, that our friends have roped us into." said Matt, glaring at Rarity.

"Five times?" asked Fancypants with raised eyebrow.

"You would understand if you knew what Twilight did the last time she was mad at me. Anyway, I hope you have a pleasant night." Matthias told him, bowing his head once more and trotting away.

"I hope I haven't caused your friend any discomfort." said a worried Fancypants to a still giggling Rarity once Matthias was out of earshot.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." replied Rarity, winking. "Give them some time, and they will end up together. Me and the rest of our friends will see to it."

"Well, they would make a beautiful couple." chuckled the stallion.

Matthias was more stirred by Fancypants' words that he let on. There was a part of him that wished that what the unicorn said was true - that he and Twilight would get married. However, there was one problem.

That part of his mind was the same that insisted on seeing Jaina in her.

"Even after my death, you still haunt me, Jaina." he thought and shook his head as he came closer to the table with some apple pies on it.

He then noticed to his great surprise that by the table stood Rainbow Dash, talking with some stallion. At that moment, she turned her head, saw him, and gestured at him to come closer.

"Hey Matt, this is Soarin', from The Wonderbolts." she introduced to him the blue-gray pegasus in military shirt with collar badges, epaulettes, and black tie, and with a yellow lightning bolt with wings for a cutie mark. Matt could see that she was forcing herself not to squeak. "Soarin, this is Matthias."

"Nice meeting you, Matthias." said Soarin', extending a hoof.

"Likewise." replied Matt, shaking it. "I didn't expect to bump into one of the best flyers in all of Equestria."

"Normally, you would see more of us. We usually perform some aerial acrobatics and demonstrations for occasions like this, but Rainbow here beat us to it." he chuckled, and Rainbow blushed. "Although, if we knew the wedding was going to be so interesting, all of the Wonderbolts would have come to lend a hoof."

"Hey, I love this song!" unexpectedly said Rainbow. "Wanna dance, Soarin'?"

"Sure!" the stallion replied, and they both trotted away.

Matthias looked around.

"Nope, the world is not ending." he giggled and ate an apple pie.

"I had no idea you could play the violin, Applejack." he told her when she took a break.

"What, ya thought that ya're the only one that was talented around?" she glared at him, daring him to say 'yes'.

"I'm not talented, I'm awesome." Matt replied with a smirk.

"Wanna prove it?"

"How?"

"Play on some instrument!"

"Now, wait a minute." Matt protested, his enthusiasm evaporated. "I already performed tonight once, I don't want to do it again."

"Well, Ah guess it means ya're not awesome." Applejack said, shrugging her arms.

Matthias was never good with attacks on his pride.

"Can you get me a guitar?" he asked, resigned.

He inspected closely the guitar that Applejack borrowed for him from the musicians.

"I will need to be careful." he thought, looking at his hoof.

Already, a small crowd gathered around him. Apparently, everypony wondered if he was as good with playing on instruments as he had been singing.

Sighing, he plucked the strings few times, and when he was confident he could do this, he played one melody that came to his mind, and it didn't take him long to start singing as well:

On the stormy shores of Azeroth,

A silhouette did stand.

A brave and stalwart sailor

Who gave a helpin' hoof.

Without fail, on every whim,

Which we did demand,

He simply smiled and waved his hoof,

And sent us 'cross the land.

Farewell to thee, Placeholder,

Your ship has sailed to sea.

We'll tip our hats and pray one day

To be as great as thee.

Captain P, you'll never know the emptiness inside

As we sit ashore on Menethil, waitin' for a ride.

Time did pass, until, one day,

That silhouette did fade.

Where once we found Placeholder

Only scattered winds remained.

The stormy sea went silent

On that dark and dreary day.

But come along, my friends,

Let's raise a glass up for his name!

Farewell to thee, Placeholder,

Your ship has sailed to sea.

We'll tip our hats and pray one day

To be as great as thee.

Captain P, you'll never know the emptiness inside

As we sit ashore on Menethil, waitin' for a ride.

So when you find yourself lamenting

On that lonely pier,

Watching as the ships come in,

And dryin' off your tears,

Believe in what he stood for,

And I know that he’ll survive.

Inside our hearts dear Placeholder

Will always be alive!

Farewell to thee, Placeholder,

Your ship has sailed to sea.

We'll tip our hats and pray one day

To be as great as thee.

Captain P, you'll never know the emptiness inside

As we sit ashore on Menethil, waitin' for a ride.

He bowed to the cheering ponies.

"Told you: I'm awesome." he winked at Applejack.

Matt once again had to escape from the crowd after that, but he had fun singing that song. He was surprised that he managed to play so good with hooves, but, like he told Twilight, he had grown used to this body.

As he pondered on that thought, he nearly bumped into something big.

"Careful there." said a familiar voice.

Matt took a good look at the owner of the voice, and the other pony next to him. He recognised the two unicorns quickly.

"Oh, hey, Sound Wave, Cherry Bomb." he greeted the two other groomcolts. He pointed at the big thing they were carrying between them. "What is that?"

They grinned in response.

"Something to have fun with, once all the royals leave." they said in unison.

Matt chuckled as the comprehension dawned on him.

Matt and the others watched as the bride and groom came over to the carriage whose doors Twilight had opened for them.

"Twilight!" said Shining Armor as he was about to enter it. "None of this would've been possible without you, little sis. Love ya, Twily."

"Love you too, B.B.B.F.F." answered Twilight happily, and hugged him.

Shining Armor went into the carriage. It started to move, taking the bride and groom away for the honeymoon, when suddenly, it stopped. Cadance leaned out, and threw the bouquet behind her.

At once, Rarity thrown herself at it, pushing away all the other mares.

"AND MINE!" she shouted, but once she noticed the looks that the other mares gave her, she giggled nervously: "Oof! Ahaha... ha."

Matthias and the rest of the gang laughed at that, and watched as the carriage, with horseshoes tied to it, left.

"Now this was a great wedding." summed up Twilight.

"Oh yeah?" said Spike "Just wait until you see what I have planned for the bachelor party!"

Matthias facehoofed himself as the mares laughed.

"They're gone?" asked Sound Wave who suddenly appeared near them.

"Yes." replied Matt, not paying his friend's surprise any attention at the moment.

"Great! Princesses Celestia and Luna also left. Let's go!"

"What is going on?" asked Twilight, not understanding what the two stallions were talking about.

Matt and Sound Wave exchanged glances and grinned.

"We're going to have a drinking competition!”

34. Drunken mistakes

"A ‘drinking competition'?" asked Twilight, dismayed.

"Well, originally, Bomb and I were going to just drink the ale that we brought, once all the Princesses left, of course." replied Sound Wave as the whole group made their way back to the courtyard. "However, this one," he pointed at Matt, " found us, and as soon as he realized what was in the barrel that we've been carrying, he started to joke that he 'didn't think that the unicorns could deal with such strong stuff'..."

"For the last time, I didn't mean it as an insult!" interrupted him Matthias. "I just know from experience that magic users don't usually drink that much."

"Whatever." Sound Wave waved his tail to show that he didn't care about that now, and continued from where he left. "After that, Bomb and I did the only thing that we could: we challenged him to a drinking competition."

Twilight frowned at Matthias.

"What?" he asked her. "The reception is almost over, and most of the guests have already left. It won't hurt anypony if we have a little fun, right?"

"It wasn't in the plans!" Twilight sighed, but she figured that the stallions deserved some fun.

"Fine." she said. "Just don't make a big mess."

"You needed her permission?" smirked Sound Wave. "Wow, I didn't think..."

"We needed her permission, she's the one that coordinated this whole wedding, remember?" Matt explained to him, although Twilight noticed, surprised, that he slightly blushed. "She could have the guards take away the ale if she wanted to."

"Oh." said an astonished Sound Wave, and he glanced at her. "Thanks, then."

"You're welcome." replied Twilight.

They finally arrived at one of the tables that Cherry Bomb was preparing, with an enormous barrel filled with ale near it, as well as three huge mugs.

"Ah, there you are." he said as he noticed them. "All set."

"Hey, mind if I join you?" asked Rainbow out of the blue.

"Me too! This could be fun!" said Applejack, chuckling.

"Mares want to take part in a drinking competition?" asked a surprised Cherry Bomb.

"And what's that supposed to mean?!" said Applejack as she glared at him.

"You know what, Bomb, I think it's a great idea!" exclaimed Sound, and Twilight noticed him winking at his friend.

"Is he thinking that they're gonna throw themselves at them once they're drunk?" thought Twilight, dismayed at the stallions' attitude.

She was about to warn her friends about this, but she felt somepony tap her on the shoulder. She glanced to her right and saw Matt, winking at her reassuringly. Apparently, he also noticed what was Sound's motive. Twilight relaxed, knowing Matthias wouldn't let their friends do anything they would regret.

"Chug, chug, chug, chug, chug!" shouted the surrounding ponies as two earth ponies, two unicorns and one pegasus drank the eighth round.

Matt wiped his mouth and looked at his competition. Besides him, only Applejack and Cherry Bomb seemed unaffected so far by the alcohol. Rainbow and Sound Wave, on the other hoof, looked a bit tipsy.

"I guess that as a pegasus, her body is much lighter, and she can't take as much as the rest of us." he thought, remembering to keep an eye on her.

He figured that the two mares would prove themselves to be worthy opponents. In fact, he was wondering if Applejack might actually win.

"Anypony wants to quit?" asked innocently Cherry.

"Screw...hic... you." replied Sound, shaking his head.

"How'bout ya, Rainbow?" teased Applejack. "Ya look..."

"I'm fine!" snapped the annoyed pegasus. "Hic!"

"Pinkie, how are the odds looking?" Matt asked.

When they prepared to start the competition, a few ponies started making bets who would last the longest. Somehow, Pinkie Pie found herself in the role of a bookmaker.

"Five to three on you, Mattie!" happily replied the pink pony.

"Ah, looks like I'm still the crowd's favorite." he smirked at the others.

"We'll see 'bout that, partner!"

"Chug, chug, chug, chug, chug!"

Fifteenth round.

"You all might as well give up." told them Matt, who only now started feeling something.

"I've... hic... never lost!" replied Cherry Bomb defiantly.

"Ah'm not that... hic... easy, either!" said Applejack, and chuckled as she realized how that had sounded.

"I'm fine... hic... too,,, hic!" told them Rainbow Dash.

Sound Wave was looking blankly in front of him, shrugging left and right.

"Wave?" asked him Matt.

The unicorn was about to reply, when suddenly his body gave in and he fell on his face.

"And Sound Wave is out!" shouted Pinkie, and the few ponies that had bet their bits on him yowled in frustration.

A few guards came over and gently picked him up. Everypony laughed when Sound vomited on one of them as they carried him away.

"Another round?" asked Matt.

His opponents shot him a glare.

"Chug, chug, chug, chug, chug!"

Sixteenth round.

"How in... hic... tarnation are ya still not affected by this?!" Applejack asked him, shaking her head.

Matthias laughed at that.

"Are you kidding me? I've beaten King Magni Bronzebeard at Brewfest a few years ago, this is nothing compared to that time!"

"A king was taking part in... hic... drinking contest?" asked Cherry Bomb.

"Brewfest was originally created by his nation."

"Wait, wasn't a Bronzebeard the pony that thought'ya how to fight?"

"Muradin? Yes, that's King Magni's younger brother."

"A prince was your mentor? How did that happen?"

Matt turned his head back and saw that Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy had come back.

"Long story." he grinned. "You've put Spike and the fillies to sleep already?"

"Yes." Twilight replied, and looked around. "Rainbow, are you alright?"

Matthias glanced at the cyan pegasus. She wasn't looking good.

"I'm... fine..."

"No, you're not, dear." told her Rarity. "You should stop drinking right now."

"I'm not..."

"Rainbow." said Matt, nudging her. "One more round and you're going to end up like Sound Wave. I might be wrong, but I think that vomiting in public is uncool."

That got some attention from her. She turned to him, then to the barrel with with ale, and then to her mug.

"I'm not... hic... a quitter!" she exclaimed finally.

"Dash, there is no shame in admitting defeat." Matthias told her, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "It's better to retreat with honor, than pass out without it."

Rainbow Dash glanced at his hoof, and then into his eyes. After few heartbeats, she blushed out of shame and said:

"Fine, I quit... hic."

Those ponies that knew her gasped in surprise, and those that put bids on her growled in disappointment as Rainbow rose and stumbled towards Twilight and the rest.

"Oh my!" said Fluttershy as she flew over to her to support her. "We should get you right to bed!"

"No..." protested Rainbow. "I wanna see... hic... who will win."

The mares glanced at Matt, who shrugged his arms. They all knew that it would be impossible to make her change her mind twice in a row.

"Letz get on with the drinkin'!" reminded Cherry them.

"Chug, chug, chug, chug, chug!"

Round twenty-seven.

It was now only Matt and Applejack. Cherry Bomb managed to last until twenty-fifth, which was impressive, considering that according to Twilight he should have passed out two rounds earlier. Matthias made a mental note to ask him later how in the Light's name he did that.

"You've been... a worthy opponent, AJ." he told her, gasping. The last few rounds started to have an affect on him, but he was still in better shape than her. "But it's time to end this."

"Ah was... hic... just about to... hic... say it." stammered the farmpony.

Frowning, Matt signaled for another round. Somepony filled his mug, and Twilight poured Applejack's, while whispering to her ear something, probably asking her to quit, but the proud cowpony shook her head.

"Well, I'm not the one to talk about pride making you do stupid things." he thought unhappily. "This all could end if I just gave up, after all."

"Chug, chug, chug, chug, chug!"

He looked into his mug, and lifted it, while at the same time focusing on the prayer in his head:

Light, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference.

After all this years since his victory over King Magni, he was still surprised how well that chant alone helped with drinking ale. It allowed him to focus, and helped him to keep himself from going drunk by sheer willpower.

And as Lady Deathwhisper said, his will was unbending.

Applejack's, on the other hoof...

Matt and everypony watched, as in slow motion, as AJ, while still drinking from her mug, flung backwards, and fell on the ground.

At once, Twilight and Rarity were at her side, and Matthias jumped over the table and joined them. They looked concerned at their friend, but as Rarity shook her, she opened her eyes.

"Fine... hic... ya win." she said as they helped her up.

Ponies around them started cheering and stomping the ground. Matt, after he made sure that Applejack was alright, jumped at the table and proclaimed his victory.

"Oh, yeah! I am the Brewmaster Pony!"

Everypony laughed and cheered as he held up his forelegs in the air.

"How are they?" Matt asked as he came over to his friends.

"Wasted." commented Twilight, glaring at him. "How in the name of Celestia are you still standing?!"

"Strong will." he smirked, but his facial expression once again turned to a concerned one as he regarded Rainbow and Applejack. "We better get them to their beds."

"I'm not..." started to say Rainbow, only to shift back to the half asleep state she was previously in.

"Put them on my back." Matt told to the other girls, kneeling.

"Are you sure you can carry both of them all the way?" Twilight asked him as she levitated the two half conscious mares and put them on his back.

"Don't worry, if I start to get tired, I can always ask the Light to refresh me." he assured her, standing up.

"Still, Fluttershy and I would better go with you." said Rarity. "We were planning on going to sleep, anyway, and besides, somepony needs to... undress them."

Matthias blushed, although he wondered if it really mattered, since they weren't normally wearing any clothes, but decided to not say that out loud.

"Okay then. Twilight, Pinkie, are you coming too?"

"Leave the party before it's over?!" asked him a surprised Pinkie. "Never!"

"I need to stay until everypony leaves." said Twilight, yawning.

"You shouldn't push yourself too hard." told her Matt. "Anyway, I'm still feeling pretty fresh, so I will come back in a few moments. See you later."

"Bye, and good night, girls." replied Twilight.

"Good night."

"So Matt," asked him Rarity as they trotted toward the castle, "is this King Magni the same one you mentioned when Twilight went to your head and saw that vision?"

"No, that was Varian, I mean, King Varian. He is the King of Stormwind. Magni was the King of Ironforge." replied Matthias.

"My, you knew two kings and were mentored by a prince?!" exclaimed Rarity, surprised. "How come you've never mentioned anything to us about this?!"

"Well, if you think that's amazing... hic.." Matt stammered, no longer focusing, and his mind started to be clouded by the ale. "... wait until..."

"Ugh..." groaned Applejack on his back, interrupting him. "Where am'Ah?"

"Hush, Applejack." said Fluttershy quietly. "Soon, you're going to be sleeping in a warm bed."

"Ah'm already warm." she muttered, looking around. "Matt... that's you?"

"Yes." Matt replied, glancing at her. "Sorry for pushing you so hard, I should have quit earlier."

"That's stinkin' thinkin'... hic." she told him. "Why are ya carrying me? And Rainbow?"

"Because you're too tired to walk to your bedrooms on your own." Matthias said, turning his head to look in front of him.

"Still looking after us..." chuckled Applejack. "And Ah still haven't thanked ya for that time with the timberwolf."

"That was a long time ago. And you already thanked me." replied a confused Matt.

"No, Ah meant, thank ya properly." she said, shifting her position.

"What are you..." Matt started to say, but trailed off.

Applejack was nuzzling his neck.

Rarity and Fluttershy stared with wide eyes as Applejack started affectionately nuzzling the stallion carrying her and Rainbow.

"H-how can she do this!?" thought Rarity, wondering what she should do, as the farm pony started kissing Matt's neck. "She knows how Twilight feels about him! Although... she is pretty drunk, and Matt is..."

She blushed as she started to think what Matt was. Handsome. Charming. Strong. Fun. Courteous.

Rarity asked herself: if she had found herself in Applejack's position, would she bother to remember about the feelings of a pony that didn't even know she had them?

Matthias glanced uncomfortably at her and Fluttershy. There was panic in his eyes.

"A true gentlecolt."

"Um... Applejack." Matt tried to talk some sense to her. "You don't have to do that..."

"Ugh..." sounded from his back as Rainbow rose. "Who's carrying me?"

"Um, Matt." said Fluttershy, taking her eyes away from Applejack. "He's carrying you and Applejack back to your bedrooms."

Rainbow Dash glanced at her, and then her sight shifted to Matthias and Applejack. Rarity prepared herself to hear some jokes from the pegasus but what the cyan mare did a second later was something she certainly didn't expect.

Rainbow jumped over Applejack, and grabbed Matt's neck.

"Hey... hic... handsome." she said as she hugged him. "Ya know, that was nice of ya to stop me..."

"Eee... you're welcome..." Matt replied, but trailed off as Dash started licking his ear.

Rarity felt her jaw drop in a very unlady-like manner. Now there were two mares, Applejack on his left, Rainbow on his right, that were either kissing, licking, or nuzzling him, and both of them were still being carried by him on his back.

Matthias was desperately thinking of something he could do, but he doubted he could think of anything even if he had been sober.

For some reason, two very beautiful mares were showing him their affection, and both were on his back. He found himself in a situation that most stallions dreamed of. And yet he was he was feeling uncomfortable.

"Maybe I shouldn't?" he thought as Rainbow nuzzled his chin. "After all, here I'm not the Crown Prince, I don't have to behave myself all the time. It would be nice to have some fun..."

He quickly shook this thought off and continued to walk toward their bedrooms, which thankfully weren't far away. They were still his friends. He wouldn't take advantage of their drunk state. And while he thought of them as very attractive, he wasn't interested in them in that way.

Still, though, their continued efforts were starting to make him excited. If it wasn't for his paladin's training, he would probably have had his will broken and kissed them back.

"Wait, am I forgetting something?" he thought suddenly.

Rarity and Fluttershy, both red as the setting sun, were staring at Matt's growing member.

"Oh, my..." thought Rarity.

She had never seen an erected stallion's member. Of course, since most ponies weren't normally wearing clothes, private areas were exposed, but it was considered very rude to stare at them. But to see an erect member, one would have to get the stallion very excited.

Rarity still stared at it, unable to take her eyes off it. Despite not seeing any stallion's before, she was pretty sure that Matt's was a big one. She started to get excited by looking at its size and length, when suddenly she was blinded by a sudden burst of light.

Matthias, with Applejack biting gently and Rainbow kissing his neck, glanced angrily at Rarity and Fluttershy as they stumbled, momentarily blinded by him.

"What a great way to be reminded that you're not wearing any pants!" Matt thought, putting his tail between his legs to cover himself.

"That was very unlady-like of both of you." he told them as they quickly recovered.

They cringed under his gaze, but didn't say anything, too embarrassed.

"And the two of you: stop!" he yelled at Rainbow and Applejack.

The two drunk mares looked at him, confused.

"Why?" asked him Applejack.

"Ah wanna kiss ya..." stammered Dash.

"Me too!"

"Kiss yourselves and leave me out of this." he replied annoyed, not bothering to look at them.

A few heartbeats later he felt Rainbow shift her position. Matthias stopped.

"Don't tell me..." he thought, looking back.

Rainbow Dash, impressively bent, had her forelegs around Applejack's neck, and her tongue in the farmpony's throat. AJ replied with slipping her tongue into Rainbow's mouth, and judging by the soft moans the both of them were uttering, they both liked it.

"Oh my..." he heard Fluttershy whisper.

Matt glanced at them and saw the similar reaction to his on their faces.

"Remind me to never let them drink again." he asked Rarity as he resumed walking, who nodded, cowering her mouth with a hoof and still staring at two of her friends making out with each other on her other friend's back.

Finally, they entered the chambers that were given to them. Matt gestured at Fluttershy and Rarity to take Rainbow off his back.

"What are ya..." she asked them slowly as they pulled her away from Applejack and Matt and carried her to her bedroom.

"Huh? Where did Rainbow go?" asked Applejack as Matt took her to her bedroom.

"To her bedroom."

"Where are we?"

"In your bedroom."

"Really?" she asked him seductively as she started nuzzling him again.

"Light, give me strength." Matt prayed, not sure how long he could resist her.

Thankfully, Rarity came and helped him take her off his back. Once Applejack was laying on her bed, Matthias moved away.

"Matt, where are'ya goin'?" he heard her call after him. "Hi, Rarity..."

Matthias closed the door as Rarity squeaked:

"Applejack!"

He went to his bedroom, trotted into the bathroom, took off his clothes, went under the shower, and poured cold water on himself. He stayed under the torrent for a few minutes, until he was sure that he has calmed himself, then he turned the water off and dried himself with a towel.

Not bothering to put the attire back on, he left his room. Outside, Rarity and Fluttershy were waiting for him.

"They're asleep." told him Rarity, not looking directly at him. "Matt, we're really sorry about..."

"Forget it." Matt told her gently. "You were drinking today as well, after all. Besides," he added as he moved past them, "it could have been worse."

"What do you mean?" asked surprised Rarity.

Matthias smirked.

"You could have laughed." he said, winking.

Rarity and Fluttershy chuckled nervously, blushing.

Matthias made his way back to the courtyard, wondering if something interesting had happened there in the meantime.

"Oh, yes!" he heard somepony scream as he passed the gardens.

"I think that was Vinyl Scratch's voice." Matt thought, wondering if he should look for a quick fling at the reception.

There were still few pretty mares left, as he noticed when he entered the courtyard, that weren't his friends. It might be a good idea; it could help him take his mind off from all that happened a few moments ago. However, all thoughts like that disappeared as he noticed one particular mare sitting by the table where he and the others had been drinking. At once, he ran up to her.

"Twilight?" Matt asked her, worried.

"Oh... hic... hey." she said, looking at him.

Matthias glanced into the mug next to her. It was empty.

"How much did you drink?" he asked her, only to realize that she was asleep.

Matt cursed. Twilight was much more light-headed than Rainbow, and this was a very strong ale. And she had drunk wine earlier!

Gently, he put her on his back and walked up to the nearest guard.

"The reception is over. Ask the remaining guests to leave and start cleaning this place."

The royal guard nodded and walked away to carry his orders.

"Oh, wait." Matt called after him. When guard stopped, he added. "If you see a very energetic pink earth pony, tell her that the rest of her friends already went back to the castle."

The guard once again nodded and Matt turned away, carrying Twilight to her bedroom.

On their way, Twilight remained asleep, aside from a few times when she woke up and mumbled something, for which Matthias was grateful. He doubted he could resist if she started to kiss him.

When they reached the chambers that they were staying in, he frowned when he realized that Rarity and Fluttershy were sleeping, which meant that he had to undress Twilight.

"If she wakes up, she will murder me." he thought as he entered her bedroom, closed the door, not wanting to get caught, and put her on her bed.

Looking at her, laying on a bed in her dress, Matt could barely suppress a shiver. He forced himself to remain calm and started to undress her, feeling that he was becoming as red as the Horde's banner.

The whole thing took longer than he expected, and the fact that he started to get excited again didn't help him in a slightest. However, he somehow managed to take off all of her clothes without waking her up. He put the dress on the table, and looked back at her, admiring her beauty.

He came over to her, and planted a kiss on her forehead, next to her horn, whispering:

"Good night, my little star." and he moved away.

"Matt...?" he heard her say before he reached the door.

Cursing at himself and hoping it wasn't the kiss that woke her up, he glanced back.

"Yes?"

"Could you sing me that lullaby again?" she pleaded him.

Matthias smiled warmly.

"Of course."

He came over to her bed, laid next to her comfortably, and started to sing:

Dormite liberi,

Dulci pueri dormite, caloria et,

Comodus Vester lecti boni.

Osservo te, semper te,

Latus tui costa te, autem solus, mitite,

Latus tui hic sum.

In Somninum plati

Floridus plena, dormite liberi

Dulci mei dormite

Mitite liberi,

Sine pater autem, mitite, liberi,

Visi te tua mater.

Osservo te, semper te,

Latus tui costa te, liberi sine sentite,

Momentum dormite.

In conclave sine mater.

Conclave dum dies saperis…

They both fell asleep before he noticed it.

35. Aftermath

Matthias found himself in a strange, but familiar place. It wasn't the Great Hall, nor was it one of Ner'zhul's visions.

He was home.

He glanced over the balcony of his father's castle and looked at the Tirisfal Glades, which once again were beautiful instead of gloomy. The sky was clear, and there wasn't any trace of decay in the air.

"What is going on?" Matt thought, shifting his gaze over to the Lordamere Lake and Silverpine Forest.

He knew he was sleeping, but usually, that meant that he would either talk with Bolvar and Ner'zhul, have a vision, suffer a nightmare, or just sleep through it. Never before since he was brought back to life did he had such peaceful dream.

"Do you like the view?" asked an ethereal voice from behind him.

Matt turned around and saw an alicorn green like the forest's leafs, her mane and tail, in slightly darker shade of green than her coat, was like condensed mist. She wore a few pieces of jewelry, like bracers with pearls on her legs, and a diadem that looked like a crescent moon, but upside down. She was about as big as Celestia, but there was one thing that made her different than the three alicorns he met until now. Her wings weren't covered in feathers, instead they looked like a bat's or a dragon's. And her eyes... her eyes were of many colors, like a rainbow. The eyes of every sentient creature could be seen at once through her eyes.

"Who are you?" asked Matt.

There was one name that came to his mind, but that was impossible... right?

"I am Ysera, the Awakened." replied the alicorn, smirking. "And you are Arthas Menethil, the King of the fallen Lordaeron."

Arthas blinked dumbfounded, before he finally reacted. He dropped to his knees, and asked:

"Lady Ysera, what have I done to deserve such an honor?"

He was shivering. That surprised him. He was sure she came to his dream to kill him, but he deserved to die. He always knew that... but why then he suddenly found himself longing to live?

"It is not what you have done, but what you are going to do that brought me here." Ysera responded. "I... think so, at least."

Arthas glanced up, confused, and watched as the Awakened looked around their surroundings with eyes disturbingly wide open.

"Are we in a dream?" she asked finally.

"Eee... yes?" Arthas replied, tilting his head in surprise.

"Oh, right." Ysera said, as if it was obvious now. "It's sometimes difficult to tell the difference."

"Riiight..."

He frowned. He heard from Bolvar that since Ysera awakened from her slumber within the Emerald Dream, she had problems to tell the difference between dream and reality, but this was...

"Wait, how did she get into my dream?"

"Pardon my curiosity, Lady Ysera," he asked her, clearing his throat, " but how did you managed to enter my dream, when I'm not on Azeroth?"

Her gaze rested on him and Arthas once again stared into her weird yet beautiful eyes.

"I'm not sure..." she replied. "I didn't even noticed when it happened; one moment I was among my kind, and in the next one..." Ysera trailed off, looking around again.

Arthas frowned, unsatisfied with her answer, but decided to ask about something else.

"What did you mean by 'what you are going to do'?"

Ysera glanced at him.

"Follow me." she told him, spreading her wings and flying towards the lakeshore.

"How?!" yelled after her Arthas.

"Just fly."

Arthas was about to yell back that he didn't have wings, when he noticed a weird tingling on his back. He looked back and saw that he had wings.

"Oh, right, this is a dream." he thought, wondering why he hadn’t expected that.

He trotted over to the edge of balcony, and, glancing down, he jumped. He started flapping his wings, finding it surprisingly difficult. Some part of his mind pondered on an idea of Rainbow Dash laughing at him if she was to see him now. Shaking his head, he flew after the Awakened.

He landed next to Ysera walking by the lakeshore and followed her on hooves. He took the chance and glanced at her cutie mark. It appeared to be a closed eye, surrounded by a green mist.

"What did you mean?" he repeated his question.

Ysera was about to answer him, when suddenly some nearby bushes rustled and from it, a cat jumped out. It looked at them with clear blue eyes, shifting his head from Arthas and Ysera, and then spoke:

"It's you again."

Arthas lifted one eyebrow as he glanced at the dragon in pony form.

"Yes, it's me." confessed Ysera. "But I cannot talk with you now. Go hunt mice, Jayfeather."

The cat frowned.

"Wait, can cats frown?"

"Fine, but one of this days you're going to explain to me what are you." the cat - Jayfeather - replied and walked away, crossly whipping his tail.

"What in Light's name was that supposed to be?!" Arthas wondered, noticing a scar running down on one side of the cat.

"I had a vision." said Ysera unexpectedly.

Arthas glanced back to her, all thoughts about the cat forgotten.

"In this vision, the Aspects, along with Thrall and a few other short-lived beings, fought against Deathwing." Ysera continued, looking into Arthas' eyes. "I had many visions as such, with different endings. In this one, I saw a dead horse, that had a debt he had to pay to Azeroth, fighting side by side with everyone... and we won."

Arthas found himself in a loss for words. He simply stared at her the Aspect of the Dream, not understanding her.

"I..." he finally stammered, "... you mean that I... can help Azeroth somehow?"

"I... think so." replied confused Ysera.

"But how in Light's name can I help Azeroth if I'm in Equestria?!" he asked her, getting tired of her constant confusion.

"How would I know that?" she asked him in return, not sounding offended at all. "I would give you some advice if I could, but I doubt we will meet again, and... I think it would be best for you to... awake now."

"What do you mean?"

Twilight groaned from pain.

"What happened last night?" she wondered sleepily, not opening her eyes.

The last thing she remember was seeing Matt take a wasted Rainbow Dash and Applejack back to the castle, followed by Rarity and Fluttershy. She recalled how she had glanced at the ale that they drunk earlier, and how she had wondered how it tasted. Everything after that was blurry.

"Uhh, why did I drink it?!" she thought, once again groaning with pain.

She moved her hoof to grab her head, and she felt it brush something. Surprised, she crawled up to it, while trying to feel what it was with her hooves, when suddenly, she felt something warm press against her lips.

She opened her eyes and saw one half opened sea-green eye stare back at her.

Twilight screeched and jumped away from Matthias. Not a very good idea, considering she had a hangover. She yelped as she felt her head pulse with pain.

"What am I doing here?" she heard Matt ask.

"You're asking me?!" Twilight screamed at him, holding her head. "What are you doing in my bed?!"

Her eyes widened as she realized what could all of this mean.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!" she exclaimed, jumping from leg to leg. "Did we... we didn't..."

"Wha..." Matt replied, still half asleep, but as he glanced at her, he immediately straightened up. "Of course not!"

"Then what are you doing in my bed?!"

"I carried you here when you got yourself drunk - you're welcome, by the way - I tucked you to sleep, and when I was leaving, you asked me to sing you that lullaby, and then... I must have passed out." he confessed, looking embarrassed. "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not alright!" she screamed at him, scowling. "My head hurts like crazy, I slept in the same bed with you, and you just kissed me!"

"Excuse me, but I believe it was you who kissed me!" Matt shouted back at her, blushing.

Twilight also blushed, knowing he was right, but she wasn't going to admit it.

"Get off my bed!" she demanded, stomping.

Squuuuuuuueak.

Twilight turned red as she continued to look at Matthias, not wanting to turn around.

"Did the door just open?" she asked him, hoping he would say 'no'.

Matt, also red, glanced that way.

"Yes." he said uncomfortably.

"Oh, no..." Twilight thought as she closed her eyes, hoping it would all turn out to be just a bad dream.

Matthias looked as Rarity and Fluttershy were staring at them with wide eyes, both no less red than he or Twilight. Behind them he could see Applejack and Rainbow, sitting at the table and drinking some tea, with similar expressions on their faces, and Pinkie and Spike, looking at them confused.

"You couldn't make me wake up sooner, couldn't you, Ysera?" he thought, angry at the green Dragon Aspect.

"Did the two of you..." asked finally Rarity.

"No!" shouted both Matt and Twilight before she could finish her question.

They continued to shift their gazes between them.

"Did they what?" asked Spike, clearly oblivious of what a stallion and a mare could do.

"Oh, this is what I needed." Matt thought as everypony glanced at Spike, unsure what to say.

"Rarity was going to ask us if we slept well." he told him, saying the first thing that came to his mind. He grunted. "Spike, why don't you come to my room for a moment so that Twilight and the girls can catch up, while we could talk about... how I defeated the blue dragon Sapphiron?"

"Oh cool!" responded the baby dragon, immediately forgetting everything about Matt and Twilight.

Matthias, still blushing, walked past Rarity and Fluttershy, and followed Spike to his room.

"Is there anything you would want to talk to us about, dear?" asked her Rarity as soon as Matthias locked the door behind him. "Anything at all?"

"There is nothing to talk about." Twilight replied as she exited her room. "I got drunk, so Matt carried me here, and he passed out on my bed. That's all that happened."

She sat down at the table, rubbing her still aching head, not looking at her friends.

"What was that about you kissing him?"

Twilight sighed miserably. She was hoping they hadn't heard that.

"I accidently kissed him when I woke up. Can somepony make me some tea?"

"Okay!" replied Pinkie. "One tea coming right up!"

"Not so loud!" told her Applejack, Rainbow and Twilight.

"Ups, sorry." apologized Pinkie Pie as she trotted away.

"So: you kissed Matt?" Rainbow asked her, while she and Applejack chuckled.

Twilight glared at them, but it was Rarity who replied:

"I don't see a reason for you to laugh at her, seeing as how the two of you behaved last night!"

"What'ya mean?" asked confused Applejack.

"Don't you remember what happened after the drinking contest?"

Applejack and Rainbow exchanged looks.

"Well, Ah remember losing." replied the cowpony, concentrating. "Ah think somepony carried me... oh no!"

"What?" asked Twilight, glad that the subject changed.

Applejack glanced at her, blushing.

"Ah... Ah think Ah tried to seduce Matt."

Twilight stared at her friend.

"What?!"

"Ah remember Ah started nuzzling him, and kissing his neck..."

"Oh no..." interrupted her Rainbow Dash, with a look of horror on her face."I... I think I did that too!"

"What?!" asked Twilight, switching her sight from one to the other.

"Both of them tried to seduce Matt?!" she thought, growing angry all of a sudden.

"And you had let them act like this?" Twilight glanced at Rarity and Fluttershy.

For some reason, both of them blushed, as if they had done something equally embarrassing.

"Well..." said Rarity uncomfortably." We were thinking about doing something to stop them, but then..."

She and Fluttershy exchanged looks and turned even redder.

"Then what?"

"We... Matt got a bit excited because of Rainbow and Applejack, and we saw his..."

Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow looked wide eyed at them.

"You mean that you saw his..." asked Twilight.

"Um..." replied Fluttershy. "... 'stared at' would be more correct..."

"Stared?"

They all fell silent, thinking about their respective embarrassing moments they shared with Matt.

"Should we... apologize?" asked Applejack.

"Probably." muttered Rainbow Dash. "I can't believe I kissed him!"

"Me too."

"You didn't kiss him." corrected them Rarity.

"What'ya mean we didn't kissed him? Ah remember kissing him, as well as him putting his hooves around my neck..."

"And I remember kissing him as well!" interrupted her Rainbow Dash. "I pulled myself closer to him, put my hooves around his neck..."

"Wait, what?" thought Twilight, glancing wide eyed at both mares.

It took Applejack and Rainbow a few heartbeats to notice what both of them said. With their eyes open very wide, they slowly turned their heads and looked at each other. They continued to stare like this for few moments, as the memories of last night returned to them, before they moved away from each other.

"That never happened." said Applejack, taking a sip of her tea.

"Agreed." replied Dash, drinking the rest of hers.

"Here's your tea." Pinkie told Twilight unexpectedly.

"Thanks." muttered Twilight. "Hey Pinkie, what did you do after Matt and the rest went into the castle?" she asked, wondering how comes the pony that loved parties the most didn't seem to do anything stupid last night.

"Oh..." the pink pony answered. "I went for a walk, and I nearly bumped into Vinyl and some stallion when they..."

"Please, don't finish." waved at her Twilight, who already had enough of those topics for one morning.

"Okay." replied Pinkie. and after a while, she asked: "So when is my turn to do something fun with Mattie?"

Everypony facehoofed.

36. Old friends...

"Throw them!" he shouted to Rainbow Dash.

The cyan mare saluted and disappeared from his view. A moment later a boulder was falling towards him, and the next one, and the next one...

Matthias was standing at the bottom of the Ghastly Gorge. He found this place to be perfect for this kind of training. Since Rainbow had begun talking to him again, he managed to convince her to help, and he was making progress even faster.

Matt watched as the boulders came closer. They were a few meters away from the ground when he finally jumped at the closest one, summoning the Light-made Ashbringer. He slashed, cutting the rock in half, and used one half as a hoofhold and jumped at the next one in mid-air. He dispatched all ten boulders Rainbow Dash dropped from the top of the gorge in a similar manner.

He landed on the ground, panting slightly. He glanced as he noticed Rainbow flying down to him.

"Wow, you managed to get all of them before they hit the ground this time!" she exclaimed.

Matt smirked.

"Well, what can I say: practice makes perfect." he nodded toward the pile of rocks, most of which came from their training. "Try kicking them at me."

"On it!" saluted Rainbow and landed on the ground, about eight or ten meters away from Matthias. "Ready?"

"Ready." Matt responded, lifting the Holy Avenger, as he started to call it.

Dash turned around and kicked a rock after rock with her hindlegs. Her speed was really amazing, although Applejack would probably be even faster. Matt rose and cut all those rocks, standing on his hindlegs. It was almost like a dance: he would swing, retreat, cut, whirl around... All the familiar moves were coming back to him. Despite not being able to stand like this for a long period of time, he thought he was actually better with his sword's skills than before. While Frostmourne seemed like a part of him (which, in a sense, was the case) ever since he first grasped it, this Holy Avenger was made out of Light that was part of everything, and yet was also a part of him. Somehow, despite not having fingers, he could move the giant sword in his hoof as if he had held it in his hand.

He continued to hit the rocks that Rainbow kicked at him, until she ran out of ammunition. They both panted heavily, and decided to take a short break. Matt shook his hoof and caused the Holy Avenger to vanish.

"You know, you could use that Light of yours to heal us from being tired of something, right?" asked him Rainbow, laying on the ground.

"Yes." replied Matt, grinning. "But what kind of training would that be?"

She rolled her eyes at that.

"Whatever." she replied, getting up. "Okay, I helped you. Now it's time to get back to my training. I wanted to test on you that move you showed me a few days ago."

"Oh? So you've mastered it?"

"You bet I have! Now put 'em up!" Dash said, preparing for a sparring fight.

"You seem very eager to get into physical contact with me." Matt smirked.

At that comment, Rainbow immediately blushed, all her excitement gone.

"Oh, for Light's sake!" Matthias said, rolling his eyes.

It has been over a month since the wedding. Since then, all his friends were nearly constantly acting like that: ashamed and embarrassed. Out of the six mares, only Pinke was still her usual self around him, but that wasn't exactly making him comfortable. Twilight was ashamed of kissing him accidentally, Rarity and Fluttershy were embarrassed because of looking at his stallionhood, while Rainbow and Applejack were deeply ashamed of their behavior when he was carrying them. Strangely, they seemed to completely forget about how they kissed each other, although for two weeks they avoided seeing one another. Only recently had everything returned to normal, but still, at a slightest joke from Matt, everypony was blushing.

"Would you just let it go?" he asked Rainbow, tired of this. "I told you all already, you were all drunk - some more than others - and alcohol brings out the worst in ponies."

"Yeah..." said Rainbow, rubbing her head. "But..."

"Besides," Matt interrupted her, smirking, "I'm an attractive stallion, so it's really not a surprise that you all..."

He stopped and laughed when he saw Rainbow's face.

"That's not funny." she said.

Rainbow glanced angrily at the laughing stallion. Not only she was still embarrassed by what happened after the wedding, but now she was angry that he was implying that they all had a crush on him. Although, to be honest, Rainbow thought of him as handsome, but she would sooner turn in her daredevil license than admitting this... while sober.

"If you're done, can we get back to training?" she asked him, growing more annoyed with each passing moment.

Matthias ceased laughing and picked himself from the ground.

"Fine, sorry." he said, shaking his head. "I wanted to practice using the alicorn form, but I can wait until we're done."

"How long can you keep it up, by the way?" asked Rainbow, curious.

"For about two minutes." he replied, frowning. "After a month of training."

"Well, it's still an improvement, right?"

Matthias smiled at her briefly, then his expression turned back to a serious one.

"Okay, lets get this sta..."

He quickly spun around and kicked a rock. Rainbow watched, confused, as the rock flew towards a nearby boulder, and nearly hit a raven sitting on top of it.

"Matt, what the hay!?" she asked him, wondering how would Fluttershy react if she knew that he almost hit an innocent creature with a rock.

Matthias completely ignored her and stared at the raven, that flew up into the air when the rock passed him, cawing offended, and landed nearer Rainbow.

"Your concern is appreciated, young pegasus, but unnecessary." a strange voice said from somewhere.

"What?" asked Dash, looking around. "Who said that?"

She glanced at Matt, who was still eyeing the raven.

"Wait a second..." Rainbow thought, glancing behind her.

The raven tilted his head, as if amused by her confusion, and spoke:

"A pleasure meeting you, Miss Dash. I am Medivh."

Rainbow felt her jaw drop. She recalled hearing from Matt about this... Prophet, as he called him, that could take the form of a raven, but to actually see a bird talking was another thing.

"Eee... hi." she mumbled finally.

The raven shifted his gaze back to Matthias.

"Was that rock really necessary?" he asked, not really sounding offended.

"After that 'message' you asked Pinkie to give me? I would say that the rock wasn't enough." replied Matt, glaring at it, and stomped. "What in Light's name was that supposed to mean?"

"What?" asked Medivh, and Rainbow could tell that he took great amusement in Matt's anger. "Couldn't I congratulate my..."

"Don't you dare!" shouted Matt.

Dash glanced at him quickly, startled by his outburst.

"What was that about?"

Matthias glared at Medivh, terrified for that long second of what he could still say.

"... old friend that he managed to find his way back to the Light?" the raven finished.

Matt could swear that he was smirking at him.

The last thing Matthias needed right after his friends started acting normally around him was them knowing that he was a king. And this annoying Prophet knew this.

"Care to explain why you asked Pinkie to deliver that message?" he asked, changing subject.

"Oh, I just wanted to meet her. She's really interesting."

"Well, that's one way of putting it." Matt muttered, glancing at Rainbow.

She was staring wide eyed at both him and Medivh. Matthias figured that seeing a raven talk was just too weird for her.

"Welcome to my world." he thought, smirking.

"So..." he said, turning to Medivh. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to kindly remind you that you need to heal yourself before you can accomplish what you need to do here."

"What?!" Matt shouted, staring at the raven in confusion. "I thought I already healed myself! Wasn't that the reason for your congratulations?"

"No, I just congratulated you for passing step one." replied Medivh.

"Step one?" Matthias asked, while at the same time thinking:

"Where have I heard that before?"

And then it hit him.

Tears are the first step in healing one's heart...

"Oh, for the..." he thought before he took a deep breath, calming himself.

"How many steps are there?" he asked Medivh.

"Five." the raven answered. "You already passed two: first, when you opened your heart to pain, and shed true tears, and the second, when you asked for help with every bit of your being a month ago."

"He means when I was trapped in that amber by Chrysalis." Matt thought, sighing.

"And what do I have to do to pass the other steps?" he asked.

"You will have to figure that one on your own, I'm afraid."

"Helpful as always." muttered Matthias.

He pondered on what he heard.

"Steps... if the first one was opening my heart to pain, and second was asking for help with every bit of my being, what could the other three be?"

"I also bring you a warning." Medivh voice pulled him from his thoughts. "If you fail in passing any of those steps when the time comes, your worst nightmare will repeat."

Matt gasped. He could feel the blood in his veins turn cold.

"You mean..." he stammered, noticing in the corner of his eye that Rainbow was glancing at him, surprised. "... you mean I could..."

"Yes." said raven, the short answer sufficient.

Matt looked down at the ground.

"No... this cannot repeat! No..."

"How..." he asked weakly.

"I do not know, and for that, I am sorry." replied Medivh. "I wish I could help you, or be more clear at least, but I can't. All I can tell you for now is to be strong."

"Helpful as always." Matt muttered again.

He heard the sound of hoofsteps as Rainbow trotted over to him.

"Hey, you're alright?" she asked him, concerned.

Matt smiled weakly.

"For the moment." he replied, meaning the state of his mind. He turned to Medivh as he suddenly remembered Ysera: "Medivh, do you know... dammit!"

He was gone.

"What the hay!?" asked Rainbow, looking around. "How did he do that?"

"It's kind of his thing." Matt replied, rubbing his head. "Listen, Rainbow, would you mind if we skipped our training today? I don't feel up to it."

"Sure." replied pegasus, although he could see disappointment on her face for a brief moment.

"Lets head back, then." Matt said, standing up. "I will make it up to you some other time."

For a few minutes they walked through the Ghastly Gorge in silence, but when they left it, the cyan mare asked him:

"So... you can still turn evil, I take?"

"No, my worst nightmare is for you to start acting like after the reception again." Matt chuckled weakly, but he soon grew serious again. "Do me a favor and don't mention that to anypony. I will do it as soon as we all get together."

"Okay." replied Rainbow, winking. "Just don't turn evil in the meantime."

They both laughed at that very weak joke for some time.

"I need to get back to Ponyville and take care of a few weather jobs. You can walk back by yourself, right?" asked Rainbow, flying up into the air.

"Of course I... wait, didn't you tell me you already took care of your job in the morning?"

"I lied." she said, poking her tongue at him, and flew away.

Matt rolled his eyes.

It took him about an hour to get back to Ponyville. All the way back, he wondered how would he break the news Medivh had told him to his friends.

How would he break it to Twilight.

He finally reached the library, and still he had nothing. Shaking his head, he entered.

"Hey Spike, is Twilight here?" he asked the dragon, who was clearing one of the shelves.

"Hi. Twilight is upstairs." replied Spike, not looking up. "Aaaand... done. If Twilight asks, I'm at Rarity's."

Matt watched amused as the baby dragon ran past him. Wishing for a few minutes his problems were as easy as Spike’s, he sighed and made his way to the bedroom.

Twilight was laying on her bed, reading a book and making some notes.

"Oh, hi Matt!" she said as she noticed him. "How did the training go?"

"Well, it was... eventful, to say the least." he chuckled.

"That's nice." the unicorn replied, turning back to her books.

Matt watched her for about ten seconds.

"Twilight..." he started, but was cut short by the noise of somepony knocking on the door. "I'd better go see who it is."

"Spike can do that."

"He's at Rarity's."

He could hear Twilight sigh as he made his way back.

"Who could this be?" he wondered, thinking that it was one of their friends, as he opened the door.

His eyes went wide.

"Long time no see." Princess Cadance and Shining Armor greeted him.

37. ... and older acquaintance

"Indeed." Matthias smiled, and he bowed. "Pleasure seeing you again, Princess Cadance, Captain... or do you prefer Prince Shining Armor?" he added, smirking.

Shining Armor looked at him in a similar way as Twilight often did, although after a moment he chuckled.

"You really don't need to use our titles." Cadance said, smiling. "We're all friends, aren't we?"

"Of course, Princess." Matt replied, still smirking, as he moved away to let them come in.

"Who is it?" he heard Twilight shout from the bedroom.

Shining Armor was about to reply to his sister, but Matt signaled him with his hoof to be silent. He cleared his throat, and took a deep breath.

"Hear ye, hear ye!" Matt shouted. "Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor cordially invite Twilight Sparkle to stop reading her books and come to greet them!"

As soon as he finished, he heard a 'shish' noise behind him, and he glanced behind to see Twilight, who teleported herself.

"Hi!" she greeted them as she hugged her brother, then she turned to Cadance.

Matthias was expecting to see Twilight hugging her as well, but instead they both started hopping from leg to leg.

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" they recited, while clapping their hooves and shaking their flanks, ending with laughter.

"Wow." Matt said, still staring at them with a raised eyebrow. He shook his head. "Remind me to tell Applejack she was right about the dance thing."

Twilight scowled at him, but quickly returned her attention to her guests.

"You could have sent me a letter to tell me you would be visiting. How was your honeymoon?"

"Oh, it was great." Cadance answered her, and went on telling her about the past month.

"So, ready to get back to duty?" Matt asked Shining Armor, as they trotted away a bit, letting the mares gossip.

"We still have a few days left before we need to get back to Canterlot." replied the unicorn, and glancing at Twilight and Cadance, he added quietly: "Thanks, by the way."

"No problem." Matt said, knowing what he was referring to.

"What are you two whispering about?" Twilight asked them.

"I was just complimenting how his wife seems to radiate with beauty after the honeymoon." Matt quickly answered, bowing to Cadance.

"Thank you." she replied, blushing slightly.

"Do you have a prepared response for every situation?" Shining Armor whispered as his wife and sister stopped paying them attention.

"No, it's just quick wits." Matt replied, winking.

"Why are you winking?" Twilight asked him, glaring.

"Your brother asked me if it was hard living with you under the same roof." Matt replied, smirking. "I answered with a joke."

"And what would that joke be about?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, you know, about your temper."

"My what?!"

"Exactly."

Shining Armor and Cadance’s gazes shifted from one to another as they argued.

"Wow, you two are bickering like an old married couple." Cadance joked. That made both Matthias and Twilight blush and stopped immediately.

"Excuse me, we weren't bickering." Twilight said.

"Well, one of us wasn't." Matt corrected her, moving away from Shining Armor, who didn't appear to be amused by his wife's joke.

Twilight silenced him with a glare, and cleared her throat.

"Anyway, why don't we go for dinner?"

"Great idea, Twilight." Cadance said happily. "Maybe we could get the rest of your friends to come as well?"

At that moment, somepony knocked at the door.

"I'll get it." Matt said.

He opened the door to see Pinkie, and behind her the rest of their friends, which looked a bit confused.

"So what's this 'bout some dinner Pinkie Pie practically dragged us for?" Applejack asked.

Watching the pink pony jump up and down, Matt couldn't help but ask:

"How..."

"Well, at the morning, my ears were flapping, tail itching, and knees aching!" Pinkie replied, showing her body parts' spasms respectively. "That usually means that some friends are gonna come over for a dinner!"

Matt rolled his eyes.

Soon nine ponies and one dragon were seated by the table at the restaurant. They didn't have a table big enough for that many ponies, but once the restaurant's staff realized that there was a princess and a prince with them, it quickly turned out to be a little problem.

"They didn't have to run and buy a table..." Cadance muttered, slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, come on, that was hilarious!" Rainbow Dash chuckled, recalling how three waiters ran to the nearest store, while the owner himself took their orders as they waited for the table.

"Why wouldn't they have to?" Rarity asked Cadance. "After all, royalty, such as you two, deserves some privileges, right?"

Cadance was about to reply, when the waiters and the owner brought their orders, along with salads, appetizers, two bottles of wine and few others with either apple juice or water, glasses and napkins. They quickly moved to serve their guests.

"Would you like some wine, sir?" the waiter asked Matthias.

"Yes, white wine, if you would be so kind."

"Of course." replied the unicorn, pouring him wine.

"Thank you."

Matt took a napkin, unfolded it, and put it on his lap.

"What ar'ya doin'?" asked Applejack who was sitting next to him.

"Following a dining etiquette." Matt replied.

"Oh." Applejack said. She glanced at the plates in front of her. "Do you know which is the main dish, which is the salad and which is the appetizer? And which am I supposed to eat first?"

"Your order - daffodil and daisy sandwich - is the main dish, the salad is the green one, and the bite-size apple fritters are the appetizers." Matt explained. "I would advise you to eat the salad first, and then the main dish. You can eat the appetizers whenever you want."

"How do you know so much about the formal etiquette?" Twilight asked him as the waiters left, while she sitting by his other side.

"I might've had to bear through it back on my world." Matt replied, winking.

"Well, that was certainly a delightful dinner." Rarity exclaimed one hour later as they all were leaving. "We should get together like this more often."

Matt guessed by the expressions on the faces of Rainbow and Applejack that their opinion on the matter was different from Rarity's.

"So, how long do you plan on staying in Ponyville?" Twilight asked Shining Armor and Cadance.

"About five days." her brother replied. "We would stay longer, but I'll have to return to my duties in the Royal Guard."

"Pity." Twilight said, saddened. "Still, though, five days is plenty of time."

"Enough for a party!"

"Pinkie, you've already thrown them a party." Matt reminded her. "It was called 'reception'."

"Yeah, but now I have to throw them a 'Welcome to Ponyville for five day' party. Duh."

Matt sighed and shook his head. He noticed Rainbow Dash glancing at him, her eyebrow raised. Matthias nodded and cleared his throat.

"If all of you wouldn't mind, I wanted to talk to you about something." he said, gaining everypony's attention. "Can we all go back to the library?"

"Err... sure, I guess." Twilight answered, confused, and the others nodded.

They all made their way towards Twilight's library, all giving Matthias curious glances. He still wasn't sure what to say, but he was pretty certain that if he had problems, Rainbow would probably just tell it bluntly. He barely kept himself from chuckling at the thought of how everypony would react to that. They were walking through the middle of Ponyville, when suddenly, Pinkie's tail started twitching.

"Oh no! My tail is twitching!" she shouted and hid herself under a roof of a nearby building.

"Twitchy tail!" Spike shouted, as he, Applejack, Rainbow and Rarity followed her.

"Twitchy tail was things falling from the sky, right?" Matt asked, while looking up, preparing to pray to Light for protection.

"What are you all talking about?" Shining Armor asked, as he and Cadance watched them, confused by their behavior.

Twilight, who was nodding at Matt, turned to them and started explaining her brother and sister-in-law about the Pinkie Sense, when suddenly, a strange burst of light erupted above the town, startling everypony. It disappeared as soon as it had appeared, and suddenly, everypony could hear terrified shouts coming from a figure as it was falling from the skies.

Matthias was about to jump and try to catch it, but as soon as the shape of the being registered in his head, he stopped, staring at it with wide eyes and his jaw dropped, as the being fell right on his face in the middle of Ponyville.

"Ow, that's gotta hurt." Pinkie said as she and the rest joined Matt, Twilight, Shining Armor and Cadance.

"By my grandfather's beard," the being exclaimed as it rose up, "why did that blasted..." the being, about 130 cm high with a bushy ginger beard, clad in brown leather clothes and a hat, armed with mining pick, rifle gun, and whatever he got in a bag on his back, stopped talking and stared with a dumbfounded expression at the ponies surrounding him.

"This won't end well." Matt thought, facehoofing himself.

"What the..." the creature was about to say, but was interrupted.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Shining Armor shouted at the being, stepping in front of him and lowering his head threateningly.

The being's eyes widened even further as he heard the pony talk.

"Easy there, horsie..." the creature said, raising his hands, and taking a step back as he noticed Shining Armor's horn glow.

"Matt, is that somepony from..." Twilight asked him, but trailed off as he nodded to her.

Hoping this wouldn’t end with a disaster, Matt walked up to the being.

"Shining Armor, I will deal with him." he told the captain as he passed him.

The unicorn glanced at him, and after a moment he nodded. Matthias continued to walk towards the being, whose facial expression would be hilarious to him if this situation wasn't so serious.

"Where the bloody hell am I?" the being asked, looking around and aching from pain that the fall had undoubtedly caused.

"You're in the land of Equestria, in the town of Ponyville." Matt replied as he stopped a meter away from him.

"Equestria? Ponyville?" he asked, his confusion deepening.

"You are far away from Azeroth, Brann Bronzebeard."

If Brann's eyes could go any wider, they would probably pop out from his skull.

"How in the name o' Madoran do you know me?"

Matt could hear the same question being repeated among his friends.

"I'm Matthias Lehner." he said to Brann. "We've met twice, although both times happened many years ago."

"Matthias Lehner? I heard somebody mentionin' that name to me..." muttered the dwarf. "Wait a second: I know yer voice, and those eyes..."

Brann stumbled back as he found the answer.

"You..." he said, surprise, fear and rage in his eyes, and his hand prepared to reach for his Trusty Pick.

"That won't be necessary." Matt told him as he noticed the slight twitch of his hand.

"Oh? And how do ye figure?"

Matt allowed himself to chuckle.

"Look around this place." he told Brann, gesturing with his hoof. "I've been here for three months. If I was as you think, would this place look like this?"

Brann gazed from side to side, making sure that Matt was some distance away from here. No doubt he realized how peaceful the town was, until he fell down, at least, and that ponies were more afraid of him than Matthias.

"Also..." Matt added, and opened his heart to the Light.

"What are ye..." asked the dwarf, but trailed off as the Light enveloped him and healed his injuries from the fall. That seemed to calm Brann a bit. At least, he wasn't reaching for his weapon anymore. "Okay, ye got my interest."

Matt nodded and glanced back.

"Twilight, do you mind if we take him to your library? I would prefer to talk in a bit more private area." Noticing uncertainty in her eyes, as well as everypony else, he added: "Don't worry, he's not going to harm anypony. Right?"

"Of course." promised the dwarf, bowing to his friends. Twilight looked at Matt and after a second she nodded.

"Follow me." he told Brann, and made his way towards Twilight's library, with the dwarf and his friends at his hooves.

Thankfully, they were already close to it, so they didn't need to pass by too many ponies staring at the strange bipedal creature that appeared in a unique way in their town. Matt was curious how in Light’s name did the dwarf do that, but he could wait a couple of minutes to get his answers.

In a few moments, they all were inside Twilight's library. Matt could see Brann glancing curiously at the books, while his friends were glancing either at the dwarf, or at Matthias, urging him to start explaining.

He cleared his throat.

"Everypony, I would like to introduce to you Brann Bronzebeard, Prince of Ironforge and High Explorer of the Explorers' Guild, younger brother and heir apparent of Muradin Bronzebeard, High Thane of the Bronzebeard clan and Bronzebeard representative in the Council of Three Hammers."

The ponies gasped as they realized they were dealing with royalty of Azeroth, although they didn't know what was the Explorers Guild or the Council of Three Hammers. Also, Matthias noticed that Rarity had winced, probably at the clothes he was wearing. He suppressed a chuckle and turned to Brann.

"Brann, this is the owner of this library, Twilight Sparkle." Matt told him, introducing the hostess first. "Next to her is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza - or, as she prefers, Princess Cadance" he added, noticing the look the alicorn gave him, "niece of the sisters ruling over Equestria, Princesses Celestia and Luna. That's her husband, Prince Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard, and Twilight's older brother. Over there is Applejack, her family runs the apple farm called Sweet Apple Acres. Next to her is Fluttershy, an animal caretaker. The one flying above the floor is Rainbow Dash, Ponyville's weather manager. That's Rarity, fashion designer and owner of the Carousel Boutique. The little one next to her is Spike, a baby dragon that is Twilight's assistant..."

Brann, who until now was taking his hat off and bowing his head politely to each pony Matt introduced to him, frowned.

"Wait, that's a dragon?"

"Hey!"

"You know, I would scold you, but you had a similar reaction to mine when I met him." Matt smirked. "And yes, he is a dragon."

"Hmm. No offense, little guy." Brann apologized to Spike.

"And the last one is Pinkie Pie, baker at Sugarcube Corner..." Matthias trailed off as he noticed that she had disappeared.

"... and party thrower extraordinaire!" Pinkie shouted, appearing on Brann's shoulder. "Now that you’re in Ponyville, we need to throw you a welcome party as well!"

To Brann's relief, Twilight grabbed Pinkie with her magic and lifted her away from him. The dwarf glanced at Matt, who shrugged his arms.

"She didn't hover a few inches away from your face while you woke up after a fight with a pack of timberwolves, so don't whine." he told him.

"Hmm. Well, nice to meet ye all." Brann said, bowing once again.

"Nice to meet you too, um, Prince Brann." Twilight replied for everypony, unsure how to address him.

"Bah, nobody called me 'prince' in ages. Just call me Brann." the dwarf said, winking.

"Okay then, Brann. Could you tell as how did you come to Equestria?" glancing at Matt, she added: "I guess by the fact that you didn't become a pony that unlike Matt you didn't die."

"If ye all don't mind, I would like to hear first about this one." Brann replied, frowning at Matthias.

"As much as I wish I could explain everything to you, I can't. All I know is that about two months after my death - three days before the Cataclysm, if you want to be specific - I was brought back to life in this body, and that's it. I have no idea why, how or who did that."

"How do ye know about the Cataclysm?" Brann asked, confused. "And about the Council?"

"A part of my soul was left in... with Bolvar." Matt replied, knowing that the dwarf without a doubt knows about the current Lich King. "We can communicate through this link that my soul shares. As a matter of fact, I can shift my conscious there and tell Bolvar you said hi." noticing the dwarf wasn't much amused, he went on. "I know thanks to him about most important things that happened on Azeroth. I'm sorry about Magni." he added, saddened.

The mention of his brother's name made the usually cheerful dwarf look at the floor, seeming sad and... guilty?

"Never have I expected to hear that from you." said Brann after a few heartbeats. "Or about this brother." Matt winced slightly at his words. Glancing at his friends, he noticed that they were looking at him confused.

"I have no rights to ask him to keep the truth of a secret if he decides to tell them." he decided, knowing that they probably won't want to have anything to do with him.

"There is more." he confessed, figuring he might as well tell his friends what he planned. "Medivh is here."

"Medivh?" Brann asked, his eyes widening at the mention of The Last Guardian of Tirisfal's name.

"Yes. He talked to me shortly after I came here, and day after that he... sent me a message." he glanced at his friends, and sighed. "And he also came to talk to me today, while Rainbow and I were about to have a sparring fight."

Everypony glanced at him and Rainbow, who nodded.

"So that was what you wanted to talk to us about." Twilight said.

"Yes. Medivh told me earlier that there is something I have to do here." he turned to Brann. "He also told me that I need first to heal the 'wound within within me', before I could do whatever this is I'm supposed to do. I thought that I already healed that 'wound' when I restored my connection to the Light, but, as Medivh kindly informed me, that was just 'step one'."

"'Step one'?" everypony asked.

"How many 'steps' are there?" Twilight asked.

"Medivh said there are five, but I already passed two: the first one, before I healed Applejack, and the second one, before I broke free from Chrysalis' prison." he said, not really wanting to explain to everypony all that about shedding true tears. "As for the others, I have to figure that one on my own." he rolled his eyes.

"I'm beginning to understand what you meant about prophets and shamans not being 'specific'." said Twilight.

"There is also one more... thing." Matt told them, closing his eyes, not able to look at them. "Medivh told me that if I fail at passing any of those steps, my nightmare will repeat, and I'll become evil once again."

He heard everypony gasp, and one dwarf snort:

"Well, ye're boned."

"Gee, thanks for helping." Matt scowled at Brann.

"What? I'm just being honest." Brann replied, shrugging his arms. There was no malice in his voice. "Face it, lad, ye're a monster."

Matt winced at his words.

"Face it, lad, ye're a monster."

Twilight watched as Matt winced as the creature - dwarf, if she remembered Matthias' description correctly - called him a monster.

Technically, she's not a monster...

"You have no right to call him a monster!" Twilight said, looking at Brann with a stern look. "He's done nothing but help everypony since he came here!" Brann, as well as everypony, was startled by her outburst.

"Listen, girlie, you don't know..."

"Barely a few moments after he woke up, he saved three fillies from a pack of timberwolves!" she interrupted the dwarf, coming closer to him. "A day later he chased out three dragons from Ponyville, and a day after that, he healed our friend after she got her throat ripped open! And a month ago, he battled to a standstill a queen of a shapeshifting race that feeds on love when they invaded Canterlot! And I will tell you one more thing - I have long since lost track of times I saw him sulking or grieving whenever he thought about his past! I'm sure that whatever those other steps are, he's gonna pass them, and he won't became evil ever again! So," she summed up, flashing her horn, "I want you to apologize to him. Right now."

She still continued to gaze at the dwarf, who appeared to be surprised, but could hear everypony behind her support her.

"You know, Brann, you should listen to her." Twilight heard Matt said, amusement returned in his voice. "Trust me, you don't want to see her really angry."

Twilight shot him a glare, but turned back to Brann when she heard the dwarf laugh.

"Looks like ye managed to find yourself some loyal friends, lad." Brann told Matt. "I see ye haven't lost yer charm. Fine, since this lady insists, I apologize for calling ye a monster, lad."

"Thank you." Matt replied.

Twilight and Matt looked briefly into each other’s eyes.

Thanks.

Don't mention it.

Matt turned his attention back to the dwarf, warmed by Twilight words. He hoped that she was right.

"You still haven't told us how you got here." he asked Brann.

"Ye still haven't exactly explained to me everything. I mean, can you affect Azeroth in any way?"

"Well, to be honest..." Matt stammered; he completely forgot to mention to everypony about his encounter with Ysera. "About a month ago, I've been told in a dream that I still have a role to play in Azeroth by Ysera, the Awakened."

"The Dragon Aspect?" Brann asked, surprised.

"Yes, she…”

"Wait a minute." Twilight interrupted him, "Why didn't you tell us about this?"

"Well, I was going to, of course." Matthias carefully replied to her, knowing all too well that she could turn on him in any moment. "But then I kind of... forgot about it."

"You forgot about it?! How can you forget about something like a Dragon Aspect talking to you in a dream?!"

"Well, excuse me, but considering the way I was woken up that day, you can't really blame me!" Matt barked back at her, getting annoyed by her mood swings.

"Oh," interjected Spike, "you mean when the two of you slept together?"

Matt's and Twilight's eyes went wide as they slowly turned to the baby dragon. For a moment, which seemed long like eternity, everypony stared at Spike. But soon, a couple of things happened. Twilight blushed, and was closely followed by Rarity, Rainbow, Fluttershy and Applejack, blushing both on her behalf, as well as because Spike's comment made them remember their own embarrassing moments, Cadance and Shining Armor stared at Twilight, with Shining Armor asking:

"What!?!"

At the same time, Brann bursted into laughter, while Matt facehoofed himself.

"This can't be happening..."

"Shining Armor, this isn't..." Twilight started to explain.

"Oh, I know! It was when the two of you kissed, right?" asked an excited Pinkie.

"Well, I see now why she defended ye so fiercely, lad." Brann laughed. "Looks like my brother managed to teach ye a few things besides fighting, after all."

"Light, please, get me the hell away from here!" Matthias pleaded.

As if to answer his prayers, the door bust open, and Big Mac entered, panting heavily and sweating.

"Big Mac?" Applejack asked, surprised to see her brother look as if her run all the way from Sweet Apple Acres. "What happened?"

The big stallion took a moment to catch his breath. Everypony having forgotten about the commotion from earlier and looked at him.

"Apple Bloom..." Big Mac panted. "... at the farm... something wrong..."

"That sounds serious!" Matt said immediately, getting up, passing Big Mac and running towards Sweet Apple Acres. "Let’s go everypony!"

As he ran, Matthias wondered briefly if it was bad that he was almost glad that there was a problem.

38. Old problem

Matt ran fast towards Sweet Apple Acres, not giving the others time to catch up with him, both because he was worried about whatever it was that caused Big Mac to come running for help, as well as because he didn't want to find out what a unicorn that was able to maintain a barrier around Canterlot all by himself could do to a stallion that he thought had slept with his sister.

He felt a bit guilty about leaving Twilight to explain all of that to Shining Armor by herself, especially with Brann who was, undoubtedly, still laughing, but he would make it up to her later. He also needed to talk to Spike; this time he really overdid it. Although, since Spike didn't understand what his words were implying...

"Okay, I am NOT having a talk about the birds and the bees with a baby dragon!"

Matt shook his head, noticing that he finally reached Applejack’s house. He slowed down, thankful for the Light refreshing him during the long run. Matthias trotted over to the door and knocked.

"Oh, thank goodness ya're here." Granny Smith exclaimed as she opened the door for him.

"Applejack and the others will be along shortly." Matt told her, nodding his head in a greeting as he walked in. "What happened? Big Mac mentioned something about Apple Bloom."

"Well, ya best see for yerself. She's upstairs in her room, with her friends."

Matthias looked at her, raising an eyebrow, but didn't ask any questions, and instead turned towards the stairs and went upstairs. As he entered the corridor, he saw the heads of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo poking out from one of the rooms.

"Matt, come quickly!" they both said, with fear on their faces, and beckoned with their hooves.

Now Matthias was starting to get worried. What could have possibly happened to Applebloom?

"Can somepony please explain to me what happened?" he asked as he trotted over to them.

They both moved to let him enter. Matt glanced at the bed.

His jaw dropped.

"I swear that's what happened." Twilight told her brother.

They well all running towards Sweet Apple Acres, although they hadn’t managed to catch up with Matt yet. It took them a bit to leave the library, with all that ruckus, and with Big Macintosh nearly fainting. They tried to ask him about what happened, but he said that they had to see it for themselves. And so they left, leaving Spike to look after Big Mac until he would have rested and joined them back at the farm.

Recalling about the dragon, Twilight made a mental note to have a chat with him. And with Matt.

"I can’t believe he just ran off like this!" Twilight thought, angry that the stallion left her to explain to her brother and sister-in-law about what happened a month ago.

"You're sure that you're telling the truth?" Shining Armor asked, glancing at her.

"Yes! Matt and I are just friends, for pony’s sake!" she told him, and at once, glared back at him: "And while we're at it, I would like to point out that it's none of your business if I have a special somepony or not."

"Like it wasn't your business about who I was marrying?" her brother bit back.

"That was different!" Twilight said, not believing that he brought up that incident before the wedding. "She was an imposter!"

"Well, you didn't know that at the time."

She was about to reply, when Brann laughed again.

"I'm starting to like this place more and more." he said, panting.

"How can you run so fast on just two legs?" asked Rainbow Dash, who's been flying over their heads, to the dwarf with confusion on her face.

The dwarfed laughed in response.

"Lass, ye have no idea how often I had to run in my life. Usually there is something huge chasing me, though."

Twilight glanced at the dwarf. She felt a bit uneasy with him tagging along, but he offered to help, so they had let him join them. Still, everypony that they passed by were staring at Brann with wide eyes, which made her a bit uncomfortable.

When they finally reached Applejack's family's farm, she was out of breath, as well as a few others.

"Wow. That's a lot of apple trees." Brann remarked.

"Thanks’." Applejack replied with pride in her voice.

"Applejack, do you know anything about what could have happened to Apple Bloom?" Twilight asked her as they made their way to the door.

"Well, she did say that she was sick when Ah knocked on her door and tried to wake her up in the morning." the farm pony replied, worried. "She sounded as if she had a sore throat, so Ah figured Ah could let her sleep."

"I hope this is nothing serious." whispered Fluttershy.

"Ah hope so, too." Applejack said, as they all entered her family's house. "She's probably upstairs, in her room. All of us won't fit in there, so ya'll make yourself comfortable, Ah will go check on'er."

"I'm going too." Twilight said.

Applejack nodded and they went up the stairs. When they reached the top, they nearly bumped into Scootaloo.

"We heard you enter. Come in." she said as she ran back into Apple Bloom’s room, from which was emanating a golden glow, that was without a doubt Matt's doing.

Twilight and Applejack exchanged glances. They both noticed the strange expression on the young pegasus's face. After a second of hesitation, they went into the room. Inside, there was Granny Smith, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Matthias, who had his forelegs stretched over the bed, and in the bed, basked in the Light, was...

The two mares looked wide-eyed at Apple Bloom, who they recognized only by her bow. On the bed was laying not a filly, but a mare that was well past her youth. Applejack's younger sister now looked older than Granny Smith!

"What happened?!" Twilight asks as soon as she manages to find her voice.

Applejack just continued to stare at her sister.

"Ah... Ah don't know." Apple Bloom answered with a rusty voice. "Ah woke up this mornin' and I was old!"

"Why ya didn't tell me 'bout it?!" Applejack asked her.

"Ah... Ah thought that maybe it would end sometime later. And Ah didn't want anypony see me." she answered, cowering under her coverlet, thinking that Applejack was mad at her.

"We found out that she... was like this, when we'd broken through the window when she refused to come out." told them Scootaloo.

Twilight glanced at Matt, who, through the entire conversation, kept his eyes closed as he concentrated on his prayers.

"Can’t the Light help her?" she asked him.

He shook his head.

"I thought that this was some sort of curse, but it seems... natural." he said, as he lowered his forelegs and opened his eyes.

"Ya're tellin' me mah sister aged 'naturally' by eighty years in one night?!"

"Twilight, do you know any spells that could help?" Matt asked, ignoring Applejack's question.

"I... don't know. Maybe." she answered.

There were few spells that could alter the age of pony. She ran them through her mind, and picked the one that should work. Twilight closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and aimed her now glowing horn at Apple Bloom. The violet aura enveloped her... only to disappear without doing anything.

"It didn't work." Twilight unnecessarily stated, surprised.

"Then again, if even the Light can't heal her..."

"Ya hav'to do somethin'!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, starting to panic. "Ah can't be so old and still not have a cutie mark!"

Twilight rolled her eyes, wondering how could that be the only thing the old filly could think about.

"I will teleport back to library and look if there is something in my books." she said, backing away. "I will also send Rainbow to fetch Zecora."

"Good idea." Matt commented, once again lifting his front hooves. "I will try again with the prayers; it can't hurt, at least."

Twilight nodded and made her way down, wondering what could have caused this. If that spell she used didn't work, then it couldn't be any of the aging spells. Maybe it was some sort of disease?

"No, Matt have said that Light could cure almost all diseases." she thought, shaking her head.

"So, what happened?" everypony asked her as soon as she entered the main room of the house.

"Something caused Apple Bloom to age dramatically. She appears older than Granny Smith now."

Everypony looked at her, surprised. Except for the dwarf.

"When ye say 'appears' do ye mean, she looks aged, or that she was aged?" Brann asked in a voice that spoke of experience.

"Eww... I think the latter, she also sounded old, but I didn't check." Twilight answered, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you ask? Have you already seen something like this?"

"Well, aging somebody is not uncommon back on Azeroth." the dwarf replied. "Warlocks can suck away someone's youth, or, for that matter, life, and use them to heal themselves, and there was one mage that once cursed a friend of mine and made him look old, but other than that, he was physically as strong as before, and magically even more."

"Do you know how to cure it? Matt tried asking the Light, but it didn't seem to work, as well as my spell."

"Well, if it was something like the warlock thing, then we could technically restore her youth by making the warlock reverse the process."

"Technically?" Twilight asked, suspecting what he meant by that.

"Nobody had tried that before." Brann admitted, confirming her suspicion.

"Great." she frowned, and then sighed. "We still don't know how it happened, so we will worry about that later. Rainbow!" Twilight said, addressing the cyan mare. "Go to Zecora and tell her what happened. We might need her help."

"On it!" the pegasus saluted, and flew away.

"Wow, she's fast." Brann commented.

"I'm going to my library, to see if I can find anything useful." Twilight told the rest of her friends.

"I will go upstairs." Cadance said, getting everypony's attention. "Maybe my magic could heal her, or at least make her feel better."

"Great idea." Twilight told her sister-in-law, smiling, but she soon gotten back to being serious. "Okay, everypony, I'll see you in a few moments."

And with that, she teleported herself back to her library.

Matthias concentrated, trying to find anything in Apple Bloom that spoke of some sort of anomaly. But he found nothing. There was no wound, either of body or of soul, no sign of disease, no curse... She appeared to be fine.

"I don't understand this." Matt confessed, although he still kept basking her in the Light. He didn't know if it was helping in anyway, but it did calm her.

"What'ya mean 'don't understand this'?!" Applejack asked him.

Matt knew she was angry only because she was worried about her sister, but she wasn't exactly helping right now.

"Are you sure nothing strange happened to you yesterday?" he asked Apple Bloom.

"Ah already told'ya, we were at the school, after that Ah helped Applejack paint the barn, and later, we all tried mud wrestlin' to see if we would earn our cutie marks!"

"Mud wrestlin'?" her sister asked her with wide eyes. "Who the hay told ya'll to try that one?"

"Can we please focus here?" Matthias said, although that was the same reaction he had when the fillies told him that.

Noticing that he could hear the sound of hoofsteps coming, Matthias glanced at the door, and saw Princess Cadance coming in.

"May I come in?" she asked.

"Sure, Princess." Applejack replied, startled by her voice. She cleared her throat. "That's my grandma, Granny Smith."

"Nice to meet you." Cadance told the old mare pleasantly, but she added. "I just wish that the circumstances were different."

"Likewise." Granny Smith said, bowing as much as she could in her age.

Cadance turned to the three fillies, one of which seemed as old, if not older, than Granny.

"Hello, girls. How are you feeling, Apple Bloom?"

"As if mah name should be 'Apple Wither'." the old filly chuckled. "Ah feel better when Matt is doing that Light thing of his."

Matt rolled his eyes at her words. But still, if it was helping her, he wouldn't stop to preach her.

"I thought that maybe my magic could help you." Cadance said, coming closer. "Do you mind if I try?"

"Not at all, Yar Highness."

Cadance closed her eyes and lowered her horn, which was now glowing with a blue energy which also surrounded the filly. Matt glanced at her, wondering if Cadance's...

"How did Twilight describe it?" Matt thought. "Love-spreading spell?"

Anyway, it seemed that her efforts brought similar results to Matt's.

"Ah feel even better now!" Apple Bloom said, her spirit returning to her voice. "Do Ah look youn' again?"

"No." Scootaloo told her sadly.

"U-oh." Apple Bloom winced.

Cadance glanced at Matt, who shrugged his arms in response. Both of them continued their efforts, hoping that either Twilight or Zecora would have some solution.

39. The best laid plans of ponies and others

"So, ye're thinking that this zhevra can help?" Brann asked when everypony was in the living room.

"Zebra." Matthias corrected, glaring at the dwarf.

He was extremely irritated that he couldn't do anything for Apple Bloom, even with Princess Cadance’s help, and although when Zecora asked them all to leave so she could examine the old filly, he walked out of the room without any complain (and practically dragged Applejack away), he didn't have much self-control left.

"And she better help, otherwise I have no idea what to do." he added, stomping the floor angrily.

"You know, it wouldn't hurt to show a bit of optimism." Twilight scolded him.

Matt could see that she was about as angry as he was. She had teleported herself (and with Big Mac and Spike) back shortly before Zecora and Rainbow arrived. Twilight said that she couldn't find anything in her books about aging a pony other than what she already knew. Seeing her better handling this situation made Matthias ashamed.

"Sorry." he apologized, looking at the ground. "I just don't take well the fact of being useless."

Twilight was about to reply, but Brann cut in.

"Yeah, I'm gonna move away a bit..." he said, taking a few steps away from Matthias.

Matt, along with everypony else glanced at him, not understanding, when suddenly he realized what the dwarf meant.

"Oh, very funny." he snorted. "Since you have time to crack jokes, maybe you could tell me how in Light's name did you get here?"

"Oh right, I haven't told ye that." Brann said, scratching his beard. "Well, to put it bluntly, I'm here because of... this."

Everypony looked at the necklace he took off from around his neck and now was holding it in his palm. It was shaped like some kind of golden coin, that was slightly smaller than his hand, attached to a leather rope that Brann must have added recently so that he could wear it. From the center, which bore the symbol of a heart, circles were coming out, and between them, strange glyphs shone.

"It's Titan's." Matt said more statement than question.

"Aye." the dwarf confirmed.

"You mean the race of god-like beings that shaped Azeroth?" Twilight asked, looking mesmerised at the necklace. When Brann and Matthias nodded, she added: "What do those symbols on it say?"

"They say..." Brann started

“'Whosoever binds with this necklace will be granted a passage to and from the land of eternal peace and happiness'." Matt read, tilting his head so he could see the whole message.

"Ye... know Titan?" Brann asked, surprised. "How?"

"I will tell you some other time." he replied, rubbing his chin. "You found it in Uldum, I take, or in Ulduar?"

"Eee... Uldum." the dwarf said, still a bit astonished. He glanced at the necklace. "I've stayed there behind to do some more research, while Junior went back to Stormwind."

"'Junior'?" Matthias asked him, before he realized: "Oh, you must mean Harrison Jones, right?"

"Aye, that's right. Anyway, as I was searchin' through the Halls of Origination, I found this." he lifted the hand holding the necklace. "I performed some ritual to bind it to me, used it, and... here I am."

"Let me get this straight:" Matt said, holding up his hoof: "you used some artifact that you found in an ancient temple guarded by timeless titan constructions, after what happened to Magni? It could have killed you, for all you knew!"

“Well...” the dwarf replied, cringing a bit from his words. “I didn't think that it would work like this. I... might have mistranslated that part about 'a passage to and from'.”

Matt facehoofed himself, wondering how comes Brann was still alive after all the things he'd done. He was about to ask another question, when he heard the sound of hoofsteps behind him. He turned around, with everypony else, to see Zecora, a pony-like creature in white and black stripes on both her coat and mane, with gold braces on her hoof and neck, gold earrings and a cutie mark like a spiral sun, trotting up to them.

"Well? What is it? Can it be cured?" Applejack immediately asked the zebra.

Zecora lifted a hoof to silence her, before she spoke.

"I gave her a sleeping potion, to ease her tension. This case is rather dire, but I can do what you desire. Little Apple Bloom can be cured, although the medicine won't be easy procured."

Matthias rolled his eyes. He already met Zecora a few times during the last three months, but still didn't get used to the strange way she insisted on speaking. Still though, if she knew the cure for whatever it was that happened to Apple Bloom, he could deal with that.

"I'm sure you all remember the plant called poison joke?" Zecora asked, and Matt saw that the Ponyville's friends nodded. "Well, what happened here is quite the same, only this time, there's no 'joke'."

"Aaaand I'm lost." Matt said, raising an eyebrow. "What's a 'poison joke'?"

"It's a plant that's sort of like poison oak." Twilight quickly explained to him, Shining Armor, Cadance and Brann. "This plant does not poison its victims; rather, it plays practical jokes, which manifest as physical afflictions. The jokes magically match the victim's personality and traits."

"So... it turned Apple Bloom old because she's young?" Matt asked, wondering how comes he never heard from Twilight or the rest about this 'poison joke'.

Zecora nodded.

"Well this would explain why it seemed natural..." he murmured, and noticing that Brann was about to say something, he told him: "Don't ask how something like this can work. Trust me, there are stranger things in this world."

The dwarf glanced at him and closed his mouth.

"Great." exclaimed Applejack. "So all we need to do is to get Apple Bloom into that herbal bath?"

Zecora shook her head.

"What? Why not?"

"Sometimes, when a poison joke grows in a place filled with magic, it mutates." the zebra explained. "When that happens, the effect of the ‘joke’ escalates."

"Stop speakin' in fancy and tell us what's wrong!" demanded Applejack.

At the same time, Matt, along with Twilight, and Brann stared at the zebra, all thinking:

"Oh, no..."

"So, ye're sayin' that this is gonna..." Brann started.

"... get worse?" Twilight finished.

Zecora nodded.

"So, basically, Apple Bloom is going to get older, until she..." Matt said and trailed off.

The zebra nodded with sad eyes.

Twilight stared at Zecora, processing what she just heard. Applejack summed it up for her.

"Ya're sayin' that my younger sister is gonna die of old age?" she asked with wide eyes.

"She's not going to die." Matt said before anypony could answer, with confidence in his voice and eyes. He turned to face Zecora. "You said you can cure her, but you need some medicine, right? Tell us what it is so we can go find it, and please, tune down the rhyming, we have no time for that."

Zecora rolled her eyes, half amused and half annoyed by his comment.

"What I need is the mutated poison joke, to add to the herbal bath."

Twilight was relieved; this should be easy. They just needed to find this plant.

"Okay then." she said, gaining everypony's attention. "Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, we will need the two of you to show us where all three of you played yesterday. Zecora, can you describe how this mutated poison joke looks like?"

"The poison joke that has grown with mutation, will look like the one that it lacks. Except for where there is blue, dominates black."

Twilight noticed that Matt glared at Zecora, who smirked, and she had to suppress a giggle. She herself has long since gotten used to the way the zebra talked, so it didn't bug her as much as him.

"Now, wait a moment." Brann interrupted. "Didn't ye say that this weed grows in area that was filled with magic, right?"

Zecora nodded. Being once feared by citizens of Ponyville due to being an outsider, she was quick to get used to dwarf appearance, and greeted him politely as soon as they were introduced to each other.

"Well, are there any places like this around this town?" Brann asked everypony.

Twilight pondered on that. She completely forgot about that until the dwarf pointed it out.

"There aren't any places like this around Ponyville." she realized quickly. "Only in the Everfree Forest! But they said they had played yesterday within Ponyville's borders!"

"Girls," she asked them. "Did you go to the Everfree Forest?"

"No." they both said, shaking their heads.

"This is important." she reminded them.

"Why do you not believe us? We swear; we played near our clubhouse!"

"But that's impossible! If it grows only around places that have a strong magical aura around them, then it couldn't grow anywhere in Ponyville, only in the Everfree Forest."

Everypony glanced at each other. Twilight had no doubt that they all thought the same thing as her.

"Where could have Apple Bloom got in contact with the mutated poison joke?"

Twilight glanced at the Apple's grandfather clock. It was already after five pm. In a few hours it would be dark.

"Ah hate to point it out, but mah sister isn't gettin' any younger." Applejack said suddenly. "Quite the opposite, in fact. So what are we goin' to do?"

Twilight bit her lip, thinking. She wondered if they should first check around Ponyville and the Cutie Mark Crusaders’' clubhouse, or go straight to the Everfree Forest. She was about to suggest something, when Matt spoke up.

"Zecora, I have a question." he asked the zebra, who turned to him. "Earlier, when Princess Cadance and I were trying to heal Apple Bloom, she said she was feeling better. Do you think that there is a chance that while either of our powers couldn't heal her, we could have been..."

"... slowing down how fast the mutated poison joke's effect escalates?" Zecora finished for him, and pondered on it for a moment. "Yes, I believe that Light and love is what the affliction hates. I also know a potion or two that relates."

"Okay then: three teams." Matt said in commanding tone.

Twilight looked at him, amazed. Until now, she hardly ever heard him talk like this. He probably spoke with that confidence after he healed Applejack, or when he chased off the dragons, but she had more important things on her mind at the time back then to take a notice of his voice.

"Team One stays here and looks after Apple Bloom. Team Two looks around Ponyville for that stupid weed. Team Three goes into the Everfree Forest for the same purpose. Any objections?" he asked, looking around, mostly at Shining Armor. Twilight guessed that was because her brother was the Captain of the Royal Guard, and Matt wanted his opinion on the matter. When everypony nodded, he carried on: "I want Princess Cadance, Zecora and the Apple family on Team One."

"Now, wait just a minute!" Applejack interrupted him. "Ah think it would be better if I went to the forest..."

"No, it wouldn't be better." Matt cut her off, and explained in a gentler tone. "While Apple Bloom doesn't know what's happening, she is still scared. She needs her family right now to be with her."

Applejack looked at him, and finally nodded, although reluctantly. Twilight briefly wondered if Matt had another reason for wanting her to stay; so that she could say her goodbye in case they wouldn't make it in time, but brushed that thought off as soon as she recalled how confident he was earlier when he said that Apple Bloom wasn't going to die. Twilight realized that she believed him, despite the odds.

"Excuse me, Matt dear, but you didn't count yourself in 'Team One'." Rarity pointed out, interrupting her train of thoughts. "Didn't you just asked Zecora if your powers could slow down Apple Bloom's... aging?"

Matt smirked in response, but didn't answer her question. Instead, he carried on with his plan.

"Team Two: Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, of course, as well as Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Spike."

The ponies he mentioned either nodded or saluted.

"That leaves me, Shining Armor, Twilight and Rainbow for Team Three." Matt finished.

"Wait, why do you want to drag mares into that forest?" Shining asked him, obviously concerned for his sister. "Isn't it very dangerous? I think it would be better if we would go by ourselves."

Twilight rolled her eyes. She had faced Nightmare Moon, Discord and changelings, for pony's sake! She could handle herself.

"Am I to assume that you know how to detect an area with a large magical resonance?" Matthias asked her brother. "Look, as much as I hate to go to that forest myself, let alone drag others into it, we have little choice in the matter."

Shining Armor glared at him, but nodded.

“Wait. Why do you want me to go there?” Rainbow Dash asked.

"Because I know you would get bored if I tried to put you on Team Two and you would follow us." Matt smirked and her.

"And what about me?" Brann, who's been forgotten, asked.

"Well, I was hoping you would join Team Three." Matt confessed, glancing at the dwarf. "I could think of nopony else better for the job of finding something in a dangerous place. The question is: can you bear working alongside with me?"

Everypony glanced at Brann.

"Well, I dunno." the dwarf replied, stroking his beard. "How dangerous is it?"

"There are wolves made of wood, wyvern-like beast, giant sea serpents and hydras, snake-like things that can turn you into stone, dragons and bears bigger than Ursoc and Ursol combined." Matt told him, grinning.

Twilight looked at him, confused, until Brann started laughing.

"Well, I always say: 'Ye'll find me wherever the action is'." he said, picking up the strange long rod from his back and cocking it, making a strange clicking sound.

"Oh, and before I forget; Equestria has a very strict policy against killing." Matt told Brann.

"How strict?"

"They will throw you into prison if you kill anything in self-defense." he replied, chuckling at the sight of dumbfounded expression on the dwarf’s face. "Everypony, let’s go!"

"Wait!" Twilight stopped him. "What about you helping Apple Bloom?"

"I never said anything about me helping her." Matt pointed out, amused. "I only asked about the Light's effect, didn't I?"

Twilight was about to ask him what he meant, when suddenly, a familiar figure made out of Light appeared suddenly next to Matthias, armed with a different looking mace andshield than the last time.

"You can summon the Guardian of Ancient Kings?" Brann asked whistling, impressed.

"This spirit can heal with Light as well as I could." Matt told everypony, ignoring the dwarf's question. "Okay, let’s go!"

The ponies left the Apple's house and split into two groups: one that went deeper into the farm, and the other, smaller, with that galloped in the direction of the forest's entrance. Both groups were accompanied by two non-pony creatures.

None of them noticed a shadowy figure that detached itself from the shadow of the tree and, glancing at the smaller group, turned to Ponyville.

40. Search and chit-chat

"You know, I've been meaning to ask for some time." Matt said as they passed the boundary of the Everfree Forest: "How come there is no warning sign here?"

"Well, I guess it's because everypony in Ponyville knows how dangerous this forest is." Twilight replied.

"Really? Because I could swear I saw three fillies here a few months ago."

"They were going to visit Zecora and got lost." Twilight told him, glancing at him sternly. "It's mostly safe when you stay on the road."

"Right. Trust fillies to stay..."

"Could the two of ye quit flirting?" Brann asked.

Both of them gazed at the dwarf with a look that could kill, who grinned, along with Rainbow. Matt rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Would you please not joke like this in front of her overprotective brother?" he asked Brann, noticing that Shining Armor wasn't amused.

"Why? Ye're 'fraid of him?"

"He is strong enough to keep a magical barrier around the city of a size of Stormwind by himself, so while I'm not especially terrified of him, I would prefer if he wasn't angry at me. Which reminds me:" Matt added as Brann looked at Shining Armor astonished: "Have Twilight explained to you what exactly happened?"

"She did." Shining Armor said, and sighed. "I suppose I should be thankful to you for taking care of my sister, but it doesn't justify that you kissed her when you woke up."

"That I..." Matt started to reply, surprised, but stopped as he glanced at Twilight. "Oh, right, how could I forget?"

"Either she still refuses to believe that she kissed me, or this is my punishment for running away."

Guessing by the look Twilight gave him, it was the latter. Matt replied with a look of his own.

I will get back at you for that.

Just try.

Matt turned his head, breaking the eye contact, and cleared his throat.

"Moving on... Rainbow, fly above us, and warn us if you notice any strange movement."

"On it!" Dash saluted and flew above the trees.

"Twilight, start scanning the area for any magical residue."

"You know, the whole Evertfree Forest is a giant magical residue." Twilight commented, lightening her horn.

"Then look for the highest points around." Matt added, although he knew he didn't have to. "Shining Armor, be ready with your protection spell in case something jumps on us. And Brann, remember, no killing."

"Aye, I heard ye the first time." the dwarf rumbled, lifting his rifle gun. "If somethin' attacks, I'll just scare it off."

Matt nodded and for few minutes they ventured deeper into the forest in silence.

"So..." Twilight broke the silence. "Have you learn how to give orders when you were a Knight of the Order of the Silver Hand?"

"I suppose you could say that."

"Wait, hold on." Brann interjected. "They know ye were a part of the Silver Hand? What else they know about ye?"

"Well, they know I was a human, I am a paladin, I was mentored by Uther and Muradin, I met Varian, I beat Magni at Brewfest nine years ago, that I became evil, and that I died."

"That's a bit... an understated story." the dwarf commented.

"If you’re referring to the 'evil' part, I mostly didn't elaborate out of fear I would scar them mentally." Matt replied.

"Well, what about..."

"I don't think it matters, doesn't it?" Matt said, glancing at Brann.

Brann took a moment to look at him, and shrugged his arms.

"I guess it doesn't."

"What are you two talking about?" Shining Armor asked, with Twilight and Rainbow glancing, interested.

"Nothing." Brann replied, coughing. "So, what's with those tattoos on yer butts?"

"Those are cutie marks." Matt answered quickly. "And while we're at it, use the word 'flank'. Anyway, the cutie marks are symbols that appear on ponies when they discover their special talent. Mine, for example, is the symbol of Silver Hand, due to me being a paladin."

"That's a bit... weird." the dwarf commented.

"Tell me about it." Matt replied, rolling his eyes. "You wouldn't believe what kind of headache I got from just that on my first day here."

Twilight and Rainbow giggled, no doubt recalling his reaction to their questions about his lack of cutie mark. Matt glared, silencing them.

"Anything else I should know about?" Brann asked.

"Hmm, let’s see... the ponies with horns, like Twilight and Shining Armor, are called unicorns and can use magic, although their magic revolves around their special talents. Ponies with wings, like Rainbow, are called pegasi, and they can control the weather 'manually'. As for those like me, without either horn or wings, are Earth Ponies and we have greater physical strength and ingrained connection to the Earth that makes us better at working with plants and animals."

"But wait," the dwarf said, turning to Shining Armor, "doesn't your wife have both horn and wings?"

"Yes, because Cadence is an alicorn." Twilight replied for her brother.

"Twilight, focus on the spell, leave explaining things to Brann to me." Matt scolded her. "Alicorns are a special kind of ponies. Their wings are bigger than pegasi, and their magic is more powerful than that of unicorns. I'm not really sure how it is with Princess Cadence, but Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are practically goddesses."

"Really? Would they beat ye... in yer prime?"

"He wants to know if they could beat me if I become the Lich King again." Matt realized.

"Considering how arrogant I was, I guess the answer would be yes, because I would have most likely started laughing the moment they challenged me." he replied. "But, other than that... I think that together they would stand a chance. It's difficult to say, since I saw just Princess Celestia 'in action', once. Anyway, alicorns are extremely rare. I think that since the founding of Equestria, there have only been those three princesses."

"So, if ye're royal ye get to be an alicorn?"

"Oh, no, Equestria's royal family is mostly composed of unicorns. According to legends, an alicorn can be born even in earth ponies family, and there was one legend that mentioned a pony becoming an alicorn later in his life."

"You mean like you do?" Rainbow Dash asked from the air.

"No, in that legend, they became permanently." Matt answered, and noticing Brann curious glance, he explained: "I can use the Light to change myself into an alicorn for a short period of time. However, in this form, I'm mostly composed of Light instead of flesh and bones, so I suppose you could say that I become an avatar of Light that happens to have a shape of an alicorn."

"So, it's somethin' like the elemental ascendants things from Twilight's Hammer cult, only with the power of the Holy Light, and temporary."

"I guess so." Matt replied shrugging, and turned to Twilight. "Can you sense something?"

"I... think so. But it's much deeper in the forest."

"For every good news there's bad news."

"So ye must be pretty good sweet talker to have a wife like that, heh?" Brann asked Shining Armor.

"I wouldn't know anything about that." The captain replied, blushing slightly.

"This reminds me: what was that ye and Twilight were arguin' earlier? About 'wasn't your business who I was marryin', or somethin'?"

"Oh, that. There was a little... problem during the wedding."

"Remember the 'queen of shapeshifting race that feeds on love' that Twilight mentioned?" Matt asked. "Well, she abducted Princess Cadence, and pretended to be her, so that she could weaken him and his protection spell around Canterlot - the capital. Twilight, who knew Cadence, noticed that there was something off about her, confronted her and everypony at the rehearsal... long story short, she ended up being sent to the same place Cadence was, but together they escaped."

"And later ye fought this queen?"

"To be honest, I started 'fighting' her earlier, because I happened to notice that few things were off, and that Twilight was missing, and that somepony finally told me that it was Shining Armor that kept that protective spell around Canterlot, which made me realize that this was an imposter. Just in time, too: I managed to interrupt the wedding before the Captain of the Royal Guard over here got married to an overgrown pony-like bug."

Shining Armor rolled his eyes.

"That's a funny way of speaking about somepony you kissed." he said back at him.

"Oh, no you didn't..."

Brann laughed.

"What?" he asked through tears.

"It was part of my strategy." Matt replied, glaring at the captain.

"Sure it was." dwarf replied, winking at him. "Although, to kiss a bug..."

"That's a funny comment, coming from the dwarf that slept with the nerubian queen in the Sundered Monolith." Matt talked back at him with a grin, which turned into horror as he saw Brann blushing. "Wait, that wasn't just a rumor?"

"Well..." Brann said and trailed off.

"What in Light's name is wrong with you?!" Matthias exclaimed, staring at him.

"What's a 'nerubian'?" Rainbow asked, confused at his reaction, as well as Twilight and Shining Armor.

"Imagine a changeling with eight legs, an abdomen, and a chelicerae for a mouth." Matt explained, shaking his head. "I have no idea how is it even possible to..."

"Look, I'd really not talk about this." Brann mumbled, and he cleared his throat and glanced at Twilight. "So, when ye confronted everybody, they didn't believe ye?"

Twilight sight shifted between Matt and Brann, probably wondering what was wrong with everypony form Azeroth.

"Yes, but I was acting as if I was crazy, so it was quite understandable." she explained to Brann

"Pity I wasn't at the rehearsal." Matt commented, muttering. "That farce would've ended a lot faster."

"You would have believed her?" Shining Armor asked him.

"Maybe not, but I would have kicked Chrysalis in the face when she tried to teleport her into those caverns." he replied, shrugging. "And I would consider the possibility of her being right, on account of her being so smart."

Matt winked at Twilight, who blushed, and returned to concentrating on her spell.

"Well, it's not as if ye didn't have a similar experience." Brann said. "I recall hearin' from Muradin that Calia was supposed to marry somebody she didn't like, right?"

"Who's Calia?" Twilight asked, breaking her concentration again.

Matt glared at the dwarf, but sighed, realizing he should be happy that he didn't add 'Princess'.

"My sister." Matthias answered

"You have a sister?!?" Everypony, save for Brann, asked.

"How come you never told us about this?" Twilight added, being surprised that Matt haven’t told her about having a sister.

"You've never mentioned to me that you had a brother until a month ago." Matt reminded her. "Besides, I had no reason to tell you; it's not like you're gonna meet her someday."

"Why?" Twilight asked. "I mean, since Brann could come here, she could..."

"You misunderstood me." Matt interrupted her, closing his eyes.

Everypony looked him, not understanding, until Twilight gasped.

"You mean she's... she's..."

Matt sighed and looked at the ground.

"To be honest, I have no idea. She... went missing when I became evil. Nopony knows if she's dead or alive."

"And if she's dead, then it is my fault."

"I'm so sorry." Twilight said, dropping her eyes.

"Don't be."

"So, aah... what was that about her marrying somepony she didn't like?" Rainbow asked.

"Rainbow!" Twilight scolded at her, most likely trying to spare him remembering his sister.

"You should really concentrate on that scanning spell, you know?" Matt half-smirked at her, amused, but grew sad again soon. "To answer your question, Rainbow Dash, Calia was supposed to marry 'Daval Prestor'." he sneered as he said that name.

"So... what happened?" Shining Armor asked, unsure if they should continue.

"Ye know, I was never clear on that part." Brann interjected. "I only heard rumors that he disappeared under unusual circumstances."

Matthias wasn't surprised. Even after a decade and a half, few knew the real identity of the first 'Prestor'.

"Yes, thankfully for Calia."

"Why was she going to marry him if she didn't like him?" Twilight asked.

"Err... Did I mention that among humans daughters often marry somepony that their parents choose?"

"What?!?" everypony, again save for Brann, asked.

"Well, maybe not every family does that." Matt admitted in his thoughts, apologizing to the human kind for his friends' new view on them.

"That's the most ridiculous thing about your world I ever heard!" Rainbow exclaimed loudly.

"I know."

"What about sons?"

"That... depends. But in most cases, they have more freedom in the matter."

"Well that's just..." Rainbow Dash started and went on for few minutes how unfair something like this was.

"Matt, you didn't happen to have anything to do with that Davel Prestor’s... disappearance, now would you?" Shining Armor asked coldly.

For some reason, Matt felt a chill run up his spine.

"Sadly, no. I was fourteen, mind you - there was hardly anything I could do back then." He admitted, recalling how distraught Calia was when father told her what he planned for her. Matt felt a great deal of rage and he said, clenching his teeth. "You know, I wouldn't have minded if that 'role I have to play in Azeroth' that Ysera talked about happens to put me and him on the same path."

"Why would it?" the confused dwarf asked. "It was just some human, right?"

"Surely you recall the name Katrana Prestor, right?" Matthias answered his question with a question of his own.

"Ye mean Onyxia? Aye, everybody figured she chose to pretend to be a daughter of Daval Prestor, since nobody could prove her wrong."

"Well, now think of somepony else that disappeared around the same time as Prestor from the face of Azeroth, and add one to the other."

Even before he finished speaking, Brann's eyes widen.

"Ye mean..."

"Yes, it’s Deathwing." Matt immediately replied, switching into dwarven. Ignoring confused gazes of his friends, he continued: "Please, don't mention that name, I will explain later. Call him Xaxas, if you have to."

He preferred to not have Twilight inquiring why the insane Dragon Aspect wanted to marry his sister.

"What the hay are you talking?" Rainbow asked.

"I described to Brann what I'm going to do to Prestor if I see him." Matt replied casually. "I thought I would spare you the gruesome details."

That seemed to convince Rainbow and Shining Armor, Matt noticed, however, that Twilight glanced at him suspiciously.

"Perhaps we should change the subject." He said. "All this talk about that pony and my sister is making me... uncomfortable." Matt twitched his tail in annoyance. "So Brann, what exactly did you and Harrison Jones discover in Uldum? I'm a bit sketchy on the details."

"There." he thought. "This should get Twilight off the topic."

Unfortunately, his plan was about to backfire.

"Wait." Rainbow said, flying up closer to them. "Didn't you say that this Harrison Jones was like Daring Do?"

"Daring Do? Who's that?" Brann asked, interested.

"Oh no..."

"Well..." Rainbow started.

"This is going to take some time." Matt commented in his thoughts as he trotted up to Twilight.

"Feeling something?"

"Yes, but it's a bit further away. Probably somewhere around that mountain over there."

"Actually, that looks more like a plateau." Matt replied, frowning.

"What's the matter?" Twilight asked, as Rainbow continued to tell Brann about Daring Do.

"It gets old the tenth time you hear it." he replied, pointing at them.

Twilight chuckled in response.

"Well, she would have stopped telling you about this if you have finally read at least one book."

"Fine, I will read one, stop badgering me as well." Matt groaned.

"Did you find anything?" Rarity asked.

"No." Fluttershy, Pinkie and Scootaloo replied together. "Did you?" Scootaloo asked as they looked at Spike and Sweetie Belle

"No." Spike and Sweetie Belle said simultaneously.

"W-What now?" Fluttershy asked.

"Let’s see." Spike said as he started counting. "We've checked the school, Sweet Apple Acres, everything between the school and Sweet Apple Acres..."

Rarity sighed and looked at the sun. The day was about to end within an hour.

"I hope the others have better luck."

"So you’re saying that area with high magical residue is up there?" Matt asked to be sure as he regarded the plateau... or mountain, whatever.

"Seems so." Twilight replied, glancing at the abruptly ending forest path, and at the mountain.

It wasn't very steep, they could easily walk to the top, but there was something... weird about it.

"That's strange." Twilight said thoughtfully. "I didn't know there were other ruins within the Everfree Forest, besides the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters."

Matt looked at the direction she was glancing, and noticed that she was right. There were a few ruined buildings above them.

"Are they crooked?" he wondered, but shook his head. "It doesn't matter. The cure for Apple Bloom may be up there. That's all that is important right now."

"Why the base of those trees isn't growin' up straight from the ground?" Brann asked.

"Who knows?" Twilight replied. "Everything in this forest isn't natural."

"Alright, everypony, enough with the chit chat." Matt said as he started moving. "Let’s go."

41. Secrets within the Forest

Matthias hissed in frustration half an hour later, as he continued to look around through the trees, searching for poison joke without any results.

"And the day is almost over." he thought as he glanced at the sun, slowly hiding on the horizon. "Soon, we will have to rely on Twilight and Shining's magic and The Light to see."

And that would mean they wouldn't be able to cover as much ground, which would mean they might not find that plant on time, and Apple Bloom would…

"No!" he yelled in his mind, interrupting his dark train of thoughts. "I will not let that happen!" Matt shook his head, trying to focus. "Now, for my other problem..."

"If you are going to kill me, I would suggest using your pick instead of the gun." he told the sneaking Brann without turning to him, keeping an eye out for poison joke instead. "Makes less noise."

The dwarf muttered something under his nose as he got out of the bushes.

"Why would ye think I would try to kill ye?"

"Well, let’s see:" Matthias started, taking advantage of the fact that none of the ponies were around "because of me, your brother lost his memories and was believed to be dead for about seven years, I killed thousands of innocents, was responsible for deaths of thousands more, raised them from the dead, tried to exterminate all life on Azeroth... should I go on?" he asked glancing at him. "While I appreciate that you didn't say or did anything while the others were with us, I won't believe if you tell me that you're fine with me being alive in any matter, and in such close distance from you."

Brann was slightly taken aback by Matt's words.

"I just wanted to talk."

"Talk, then." Matthias replied, shrugging. "But continue to look for that plant, will you? Saving Apple Bloom takes priority. So, what’s on your mind?"

"Err..." Brann stuttered, putted off balance a bit, and coughed. "So, ye were brought back to yer senses once ye were alive, or..."

"When Tirion shattered Frostmourne with Ashbringer, he freed all the souls it stole." Matthias replied as they exited the forest, passed some ruins of a fence and entered a clearing. "Mine included. Can you imagine what I felt as my humanity returned to me in my final moments?" he asked the dwarf. "I was glad I was dying. And trust me when I say that what came afterwards was much worse."

"Really?"

"You don't need to sound so happy..." he replied as he checked the ground with his hoof. “Hey, is it just me, or was this clearing created by an explosion?”

There was a huge circle, with a diameter of about twenty - thirty meters, covered by grass, but underneath it, there were marks on the ground that one could identify as from explosion from a long time ago.

"I think ye're right, lad." Brann said, kneeling. "What do ye think happened here?"

"I don't know." Matthias told him, glancing at the ruins on the other side of the clearing, but he shook his head. "Nor that it matter now. We can look into this after we make sure Apple Bloom is gonna be fine."

"Seems reasonable. Speakin' off, the sun is about to set."

"Damnit." he muttered and sighed, then resigned. "Let’s head back to the spring."

They turned back and went into the direction of the meeting spot with the others.

"Ye seem to be completely fine with the fact that ye'r a small talkin' horse." Brann noted.

"I've been like this for three months, I've gotten used to this body. And I'm a pony, not a horse. Although," Matthias added with a chuckle, "I admit, after I woke up alive, I must have spent a long time just staring at my hoof. The fact that a few minutes later I had to defend three talking fillies, one with wings and one with horn at that, from a pack of wolves made out of wood didn't help."

"Aye, I suppose it's understandable." the dwarf laughed. He then returned to be serious: "So, ye'r once again the boy that my brother taugh how to fight?"

"You can't do the things that I did and be still yourself." he replied, telling Brann the same thing he told Twilight not so long ago. "The memories of my actions will haunt me to until the end of time." he sighed as he added what's been on his mind for months: "To be honest, when I came back to life, I considered killing myself, seeing as I don't deserve to live. If it wasn't for the fact that Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo needed my help, I would have done it. Later, when I realized that I had something to do here, I decided to put that thought on hold. Now, though..."

Brann waited patiently for the former Lich King to finish gathering his thoughts as they entered the smaller clearing with a spring in the middle of it. The whole area around the spring was a small dale, as if there was a lake earlier here.

"... now, I wouldn't be able to bring myself to cause my friends such pain." Matthias finished, as he saw Twilight and her brother trotting over to them to them.

"Did you find anything?" she asked them when they reached each other. She frowned as Matthias and Brann shook their heads. "Neither did I, or Shining Armor."

"Maybe Rainbow Dash will find it?" her brother asked, trying to remain optimistic.

"Maybe." Twilight sighed, sitting down. "She will probably be along shortly."

They all sat in a silence. Matt was meditating, trying to clear his mind from thoughts about what would happen if they fail, as Twilight began to plan in her mind how they would organise the next part of the search, Shining Armor staring at the stream coming from the spring and Brann deep in thoughts.

"Why there are two scars on yer chest?" the dwarf broke the silence after few minutes passed.

"Pardon?" Matthias asked as he shook himself off from the trance.

"Why do ye have two scars?" Brann repeated his question, pointing at his chest. "I recall hearin' that ye died from a single blow."

"Yes, that would be this one." Matthias said as he pressed hoof to the shorter scar, but that run deeper. "This one," he added, sliding his hoof across the longer, "is a memento from my duel with Illidan at the entrance to the Frozen Throne." he smiled as he recalled that fight; despite what came after it, it was still a good duel. "It was the only time I came close to dying in a fight... besides my actual death, of course."

"Pity there weren't any witnesses there." the dwarf grinned. "Maybe some bard would made a song about it."

"And how he would have titled it?" Matt snorted. "'Two insane maniacs fighting in a Light forgotten place'?"

"Maybe, but I think 'A Symphony of Frost and Flame' has a better sound to it."

"Very funny."

He noticed that Twilight watched as the two of them talked. Raising an eyebrow, he silently asked her if something was wrong.

"Oh, nothing, just... did you noticed that this whole 'mountain' appears to have formed after a tectonic movement?" she said, appearing glad that she gotten a chance to touch the subject.

"Aye, we've noticed." Brann confirmed.

"We've also found a bigger clearing on the other side of those trees, with ruins of some fence and buildings, and a huge circle on the ground that seems to be from an explosion." Matt added.

"Hmm..." Twilight rubbed her chin as she pondered on that.

She was about to say something, when suddenly, a seven-colored bolt appeared right in front of them.

"I found it!" the bolt yelled as it materialized into their friend.

"Really? That’s great!" Twilight exclaimed. "Where?"

"Over here, come on!" Rainbow Dash replied as she led them back into the woods.

They all galloped after her, eager to take what they came here for and get the hell away from this strange forest and this even stranger 'mountain'. Matthias soon realized that Rainbow was leading them around the clearing that he and Brann had stumbled upon. He once again began to wonder what this place was before it was destroyed. It didn't appeared to be a village, but he wouldn't be able to tell, even if he managed to take a good look at them. Those building were destroyed beyond recognition.

"Here it is!" Rainbow Dash shouted few moments later as she flew from between the trees into the clearing, almost on the opposite side from where he and Brann entered earlier.

The ponies and the dwarf sped up and halted in front of small knoll, or rather, by a small bunch of plants that grew by it. Matthias looked dismayed at the black plant that caused the little filly so much grief. It didn't appear threatening, to eye, at least. He wondered how druids would react to it. Even he could feel that there was something wrong with this weed.

"Okay, now carefully..." Twilight muttered as she levitated a small jar from Shining Armor's saddlebag that they borrowed from Applejack's house before their left.

While the others watched as she delicately plucked a few poison jokes from the ground and put them into the jar, Matt walked around the knoll, scanning the area for any signs of danger. What he found, however, left him speechless.

On the other side of the knoll, there was an entrance with its steel doors pressed inside, with stairs leading down.

"Just what is this place?" he wondered as he came closer to the passage.

At that moment, a dry air from the inside attacked his nostrils. It brought the stench of unused in centuries halls and...

... a slight similarly hint of old decay.

"Okay, we're good to go!" he heard Twilight say.

Focusing on what was important, he turned to regard all of them.

"Rainbow Dash, it's still bright. Take the jar and fly as fast as you can back to Sweet Apple Acers, but don't take any unnecessary risks."

"Yes, sir!" she saluted and prepared to leave.

"The rest of you, follow her on hooves. I will join you back at the farm."

"What?" everypony, Rainbow included, shouted at the same time.

Instead of answering, Matt pointed with his head at the entrance. Four ponies looked confused at it, while Brann whistled, visibly excited.

"I want to check what in there. It shouldn't take long." Matthias said.

"You can't expect us to leave you!" Twilight exclaimed.

"I agree." Shining Armor supported his sister.

"Yeah, and besides, it would be fun to explore such a place." Rainbow added, smiling. "I would be like in 'Daring Doo and...'"

"Sorry to crush your dreams, Rainbow, but you are definitely not coming." Matt said, pointing at the jar.

"Aw, horseapples." pegasus sighed unhappily.

"She does hav'a point, ye know." Brann interjected. "It would be fun."

"For you, maybe." Matt told him and turned to Twilight and Shining Armor. "I could agree to take Brann with me there, but the two of you should start making your way back."

"Why?" the captain inquired. "What is there that you don't want us to see?"

Matthias sighed. He hoped he could avoid saying it.

"You could see something you don't want to see." he said as he glanced behind him. "I can smell a stench of decay from within. There are dead bodies in there."

Twilight's and Rainbow's eyes widened as he said that, while Shining Armor's didn't even flinch. Apparently, Equestria wasn't so peaceful that the Captain of the Royal Guard didn't see a dead body. That or he could better control himself than Matt gave him the credit for.

"Guessin' by the dry air, the'r will be well preserved, too." Brann, who peered inside, added. "I agree with Matt, the lasses shouldn't see this, and somebody... err, I mean, somepony, should escort Twilight out."

"Well..." Shining Armor stuttered, obviously torn between making sure his sister is safe and leaving his friend and friend's acquaintance to fend for themselves.

"Why does everypony seems to think we wouldn't be able to deal with it!" Twilight shouted out of the blue, shocking the males.

"Yeah!" supported her Rainbow Dash. "We defeated Nightmare Moon, for pony sake, not to mention that we whopped Discord's flank!"

"Exactly." Twilight said, calming herself down. "So, like it or not, I'm coming."

"Oh, great." Matt thought as he searched for a way to make her reconsider. He didn't want her to get hurt, no matter how physically or psychically.

"Twily..." Shining Armor began.

"I know you want to protect me, big brother," his sister cut him off gently. "But I can take care of myself."

The two siblings stared at each other for a few heartbeats, until one of them let go.

Unluckily for Matt, it was Shining Armor who gave up.

He sighed, knowing that if her brother couldn't convince her to change her mind, he didn't stand a chance.

"Fine." he said and he turned to Rainbow. "You need to get going, it will be dark soon."

"Oh, right." pegasus replied, as if she forgot about it.

"Tell everypony that we will be back in few hours." Matt told her as she prepared to fly away.

"Sure. See you guys later!" Rainbow said as she launched into the air.

They stood there for a few moments, admiring their friend's speed, watching her leave behind her a rainbow-colored trail.

"Well, let’s get going." Matt finally said and descended behind the dented doors, silently asking The Light to brighten his path, and soon, a dim light radiated from his body.

As soon as he put three hoofsteps, he felt stomping on something. Curious, he lifted his hood and glanced at what turned out to be a metal plate with some letters on it. Matthias lifted it and read it aloud:

"Project Eclipse... Have any of you heard about something like this?" he asked two unicorns.

"Project Eclipse?" Twilight repeated as she took the plate to look at it closer, while they continued to go down. Both her and her brother's horn were glowing. "Can't say that I've heard... I mean, I know what an eclipse is, of course, but I've never heard of such a thing as 'Project Eclipse'."

"Project Eclipse..." Matthias mutter under his breath as he pondered what could it mean. "A 'Project'." he said as he glanced at Brann. "A scientific outpost?"

The dwarf nodded.

"Or a military." he added.

"Or both." Shining Armor said as they entered a lab of some sorts.

There was quite a number of burned and bleached paper scuffled everywhere, covered in layers of dust, broken parts of tables, cupboards and closets, pieces of glass, that either came from the small vials or bigger glass containers, which, shattered, laid next to the wall. The wall... that had marks of a fight on it.

"What kind of creature could leave such marks?" Matt wondered as he brushed the wall with his hoof. "It looks as if it was melted down, so it couldn't be a pony, unless it was a unicorns with some weird spells at his disposal..." noticing the broken vials on the floor, he added. "... or maybe, he or she simply used whatever was in those."

He was about to turn away from the wall when he noticed something small and shining embedded into it.

"Hey Twilight, mind taking a look at this?" Matt asked, knowing better than touching something shining within an abandoned lab, as he wondered what it could be. It almost reminded him of runes, but he wasn't sure.

The lavender unicorn trotted over to him and gasped.

"It's a magical rune!" she exclaimed.

"Thought so." the earth pony muttered. "Do you know how it works?"

"I'm not sure." Twilight admitted. "Creating magical runes takes time for a unicorn, which is a reason practically nopony uses them anymore, but I've read few things about them. I think..." she stopped as she pondered about it. "... I think this rune is designed to show some kind of... projection. It appears to also be linked to other runes, probably of the same type."

"Can you activate it?" Shining Armor asked.

Twilight thought carefully before she gave her answer.

"No, it appears to be broken." she finally said. "If I had time, I could maybe fix it."

"Can we take it with us?"

"Yes, I think so." Twilight answered, lowering her glowing horn. As the same glow enveloped the rune, it started to shake, and soon it levitated safely within the air. "Maybe I could send it to Princess Celestia when I write her about all of this."

"Princess Celestia is Twilight's mentor." Matt explained to Brann as he began moving deeper into the lab, while Twilight put the rune within Shining Armor's saddlebag.

"Really?" Brann asked the mare as they followed him. "Ye must be very special, to have yer ruler mentor ye."

As Twilight blushed and looked for a courteous answer, they entered another lab, a lot bigger one, and more destroyed.

"It's too big for us to explore as a group." Matt thought to himself

"Okay, spread out." Matt told them. "Search for anything that could gave us an idea of what this place was. Remain within eyesight of each other."

Twilight nodded along with everypony else to Matt orders, taking comfort in his decisiveness. Truth to be told, she was beginning to regret that she insisted on coming here. This place is really spooky.

She turned to the closer wall and started trotting around, searching for any clues. Like in the previous, much smaller lab, there were pieces of paper that were too destroyed to read, and of glass which she was especially careful for. The fact that the floor, along with everything on this 'mountain', was uneven wasn't helping. Twilight couldn't help but notice that the floor appeared to be melted in some places, and in others, cut by something really sharp. She turned her head to ask the others about those cuts, when she noticed that the light from her horn reflect on something.

Curious, Twilight turned her head and almost screamed. For a second, she was sure she was once again within Canterlot during the changelings invasion. What stood in front of her was almost exactly like the amber that the Changeling's Queen trapped Matt within. Twilight began to fear that they were in their stronghold or something, until she realized that, while quite similar, this 'amber prison' was a lot different. It actually appeared to be more like a crystal or something, and it was a different shade of green than the queen's.

She took few deep breaths to calm herself and called the others, while looking into the 'amber prison'.

"Hey, everypony..."

From within, a pony stared back at her.

Twilight jumped away, screaming. She continued to back away, while the others, alarmed, rushed to her. Twilight stopped screaming and tried to focus on something, anything, when she felt the floor below collapse.

"Twilight!" she heard Shining Armor and Matt scream.

Author's Note

Arthas' back, baby!

Greetings fellow readers,
The Project Eclipse that is mention in this chapter also have a side story with the same that is based on the lore and background of the Rebirth of The Damned Universe. Learn the truth about the abominations that spawns from the facility as you witness soldiers are augmented for a secret purpose before insanity descended upon them all. The truth that is forgotten by everypony, even time itself.
-Lazygamer313, Editor

42. A moment

"Twily!" Shining Armor shouted as he kept lifting boulders from the rubble.

"This is all my fault." he thought, mindless of the rocks falling around him due to his actions. "If I have been more firm, she wouldn't..."

"Look out!" Shining Armor heard Brann shout as he slammed into him, pushing him away from where a bigger rock fell.

The unicorn quickly jumped back to the huge pile of debris created when Twilight jumped in the most damaged part of the floor in the lab, causing it to collapse. The small avalanche continued to fall down few floors below, until it stopped in a cave of sorts... with his sister and Matthias trapped somewhere within the rubble.

"What are you standing there for!?" the captain snapped at the dwarf. "Help me!"

"Look, I know how ye feel, but burying us alive won't help then." Brann stated as he continued to examine the debris from the distance.

"And how would you know how I feel, huh!?" Shining Armor whirled around at him, overcome with anger and guilt. "If something happens to her, it will be my fault! Don't you dare..."

He stopped as Brann's gaze pierced him.

"My brother is dead because of something that I found." he stated calmly, his usual joyful tone darkened. "And it happened only few months after we've been reunited wi' our other brother, who was believed to be dead for yers."

"I'm... sorry to hear that." Shining Armor muttered, taken aback. "I'm also sorry for my words. But Twilight..."

"She'll be fine." Brann said, waving his hand. "I told ye already, I saw Matt catch her as she fall, and The Light enveloped both of ‘em. It would take more than some pebbles to harm them."

Shining Armor frowned at the thought that he wasn't close enough to cast his spell on them, just to be sure. He also wasn't particularly happy about Matthias rescuing his sister, even if they were just friends as they kept saying.

"Now, then." the dwarf said, coming closer to the debris. "Let's move the bigger rocks from the top, so they won't squash us."

The unicorn nodded and concentrated. Soon, his magic surrounded the most loose big rock above him and moved it away.

"I just hope she'll be okay by the time we'll get to them." he said quietly.

For some reason, Brann smirked.

"Lad, trust me, ye have no idea into what extents Matt will go willingly to protect others."

Twilight moaned in pain as she regained consciousness.

"How do you feel?" she immediately heard Matt's voice from below her...

"Wait, from below me?" Twilight thought as she opened her eyes.

She was lying on top of him.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry..." she gasped as she tried to move away.

But she couldn't. His hooves were holding her firmly atop of him.

"W-why is he embracing me?" Twilight thought, blushing with embarrassment.

Noticing it, Matthias rolled his eyes.

"Twilight, we kind of don't have time for that now." he told her, and added: "Look around you."

She did as he asked and gasped. Above, around and under them was spread Light's protective shield, and on the other side of it were...

"Are we underground?" she asked Matt, confused.

"Well, there is some ground atop of us. Although, most of it are rock and pieces of many floors we've collapsed through on our way down here."

Twilight gasped as she remembered how the floor of the laboratory collapsed under her, as well as something hitting her in the head and causing her to lose her consciousness.

"No wonder my head hurts."

"How long was I out?" she asked, rubbing the bruise on her head.

"I think it was about ten minutes." Matt replied. "Sorry for not healing that, I've been a bit busy. Turns out keeping a ton of debris from crushing you takes more than just praying."

The lavender unicorn shook as she realized how close she came to dying.

"Thank you." Twilight told Matt, who smiled.

"What are friends for?" he asked her, and then he smirked. "Besides, you will probably get a chance to repay me soon."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if your brother sees us like this, he will most likely try to kill me, so..."

At that moment, Twilight realized that she had no idea if anything happened to Shining Armor.

"My brother! And Brann! Are they..."

"Yes, they're fine." Matt answered her before she finished her question. "They were further away from you when the floor collapsed. They are probably trying to dig us out now."

"So.. we are going to just wait for them?" Twilight asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Since it would be stupid idea if you tried to teleport not knowing how far away the closest free space is, not to mention after getting hit in the head, I guess we are stuck." noticing her discomfort he added, despite slightly blushing himself: "You know, you're not the one who's literally laying on rocks."

"Um, sorry." Twilight muttered embarrassed.

"So, what got you so spooked back there, anyway?" Matt asked, changing the subject.

"There was..." she gulped as she recalled what she saw. "... in that lab, there was something like that amber prison in which the Changeling's Queen captured you."

Matthias eyes widen as she said that.

"Do you think changelings could have caused whatever happened to this place?" he asked, frowning.

"I don't know." she admitted. "It was different from the one queen made: it was more crystal-like than amber-one. Although," she added, rolling her eyes in annoyance," considering that ponies know even less about changelings than about dragons, it might be what those prisons look like when they are made by an ordinary changeling."

After Shining Armor's and Cadence’s wedding Twilight spend a good week researching everything that was known about this love-feeding race, only to be disappointed. It turned out that since their discovery over a thousand years ago, there were written only five books about changelings, each with different view on them, all of which were eventually labeled as 'unreliable' once it has been discovered that the authors of each one of those books were changelings.

"Maybe..." Matthias mused, rubbing his chin. "Although...

"And there was a pony inside!" Twilight exclaimed as she realized she almost forgot to mention the most important part.

"What?" he asked with wide eyes. "Are you sure?"

She nodded, and then, not really sure if she wanted to know the answer, asked:

"Do you think that this pony could be alive?"

There was sorrow in his eyes when he answered her:

"Sorry, but... those type of 'prisons' usually still allow their captives to live, supporting their life system so they won't need to breathe, sure, but... they do not stop time from affecting the body, and it was at least few centuries since this place was wrecked." Twilight felt tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she imagined how this pony must have felt, being forced to die of old age imprisoned for nopony knows how long. Matthias hugged her tightly, patting her head. "Try not to think about it. That pony's suffering is over."

Twilight allowed herself to linger like that for few more moments, before she pulled back. As much as she could, at least.

"What do you think caused all of this?" she asked, trying to distract her thoughts from that pony, as well as their own situation. "Could it be the changelings?"

Matthias shook his head.

"If the scent in the air is any indication, there are corpses somewhere in the further chambers, and killing ponies, or trapping them forever isn't something changelings seem to do."

"Their queen tried to choke me!" Twilight protested, getting irritated, remembering the invasion at the wedding with the changeling queen.

"And yet, nopony was seriously hurt during their invasion." he countered, but he stopped as he noticed the look Twilight was giving him. "Anyway, considering what happened, I think we should quit exploring this place. Let’s just send that rune to the Princess and see what she decides."

Twilight immediately felt ashamed. Because of her carelessness, they were going to stop their investigation. And even though she was secretly glad of that, she couldn't help but feel disappointed that this didn't turned out to be an adventure like from 'Daring Do' books.

"I'm sorry." she said, her ears dropping. "I shouldn't have insisted on coming, it's my fault..."

"Twilight, stop that." Matthias interrupted her. "Don't try to blame yourself for this. You came here because you refused to leave me in such place, even if it was something that I wanted, actually. Personally, I blame whoever made those floors."

The unicorn chuckled at his comment, already feeling better.

"And besides, without you, I wouldn't know if it was safe to take that rune." he continued. "Don't worry about being scared of that poor pony's body. It's completely understandable. Just between you and me:" Matthias paused as he looked around, as if making sure that nopony else was listening, which caused another giggle from the mare: "I was also scared the first time I saw dead a human."

"Really?" Twilight asked, surprised.

To her, Matthias always seemed fearless.

"Well, the circumstances were quite different." he admitted, smiling briefly. "But yes, I was scared."

"But you are always so brave!" Twilight said, not believing him. "How could you get scared of something that practically couldn't hurt you?"

For a moment, she could swear he shook.

"That doesn't mean I'm not afraid of anything." Matthias told her, slightly amused. "Twilight, barely a quarter ago, I was terrified when I heard you scream, and even more when the floor started to collapse under you. Being brave isn't about not fearing anything, but it’s about acting despite the fear. Are you going to tell me that when you faced Nightmare Moon you weren't scared?"

"Well, actually, I've never thought about that." Twilight stuttered, embarrassed.

Suddenly, she heard Matthias chuckle. She looked at him questioningly.

"Did I ever mention how cute you look when you're embarrassed?" he told and his eyes widen slightly as if he only now realized what he said.

"D-did he say that I'm... cute?" Twilight thought, astonished.

"You-you think I'm cute?" she asked him, blushing.

Now it was his turn to blush.

"Only when you're embarrassed." Matthias said, and quickly added, as if fearing he would lose courage to say it: "Other times, you're beautiful."

Twilight was positive that now she was as red as a tomato.

"He thinks I'm beautiful?"

This was the first time she heard a stallion call her that. Or maybe it was the first time she took notice? Either way, she felt... flattered and... strange.

She looked into Matthias's eyes as she tried to figure out what this weird feeling was, as well as think of some sort of respond.

"Should I tell him his handsome? Because he is. And also brave, caring, smart, funny, and... and..." Twilight thought as she unknowingly leaned a bit closer to him.

"What are you doing, you idiot!" Matthias thought as he told Twilight that she was beautiful. He quickly reflected on that: "Well, it's not like she isn't..." but immediately, the other side of him yelled: "That's not the point!"

He stopped as he realized what he was doing.

"Oh, great, as if I didn't have enough personality issues." he thought and immediately added: "Speaking of...", as he had to tell Bolvar and Ner'zhul to stop laughing.

She was looking into his eyes, and he was still embracing her, not to mention that she was still on top of him. Matthias could feel the warmth her body and smell her sweet scent as he gazed back into those violet eyes, noticing that she leaned closer to him.

And despite knowing that he was going to regret this later, he pushed his head forward, closer to her face.

Twilight watched, as if she stood next to herself, as hers and Matt's heads were coming closer to each other, both terrified and excited at the same time.

"What am I doing?" she thought. "I can't kiss Matt, he’s my friend... can't I?"

Despite the war of thoughts going through her mind, she still pressed her lips closer to his.

There was nothing.

No second thoughts, no worries, no fears, and nothing else that mattered at this moment, as he pressed his lips towards hers.

All that was, was he and the mare that was atop of him.

Their lips were two inches away from each other. One inch.

Half of an inch...

"Twilight!"

The unicorn and the earth pony quickly pulled away, their trance broken as they heard voices, causing her to hit his Light shield, and him to the ground.

"Matthias! Twilight!" they heard once again the voice of Shining Armor calling to them, accompanied by the sound of rock being pulled from the debris and thrown away a distance.

The two trapped ponies looked at each other, both extremely red and embarrassed.

"S-Shining Armor?" Twilight answered her brother, her voice quivering.

"Twily!" the captain shouted louder and the sounds of digging stopped. "Are you alright? Is Matt with you?"

"Yes, I'm fine." his sister replied, and swallowed nervously. "And Matt is und- I mean, with me! Hehe..."

"You're terrible at this." Matthias noticed, although he wasn't exactly sure if he was going to fare any better.

"Great." they heard Brann's voice. "Don't ye worry, we'r gonna get ye out. It's sounds as if yer only few meters away."

Due to the recent near development that was pretty easy to guess thanks to the blushes on their faces, the vision of Shining Armor finding them like this was even more unwanted to Matthias.

"If that's only few meters..." he said out loud, thinking fast. "... then Brann can dig us out of here by himself. Shining Armor, if you would be so kind, can you look for safe exit? I changed my mind about exploring this place and I just want to get out of here as fast as possible."

"I was about to suggest something like that. I'll be right back!" they heard Shining Armor replied and his words were quickly followed by the sound of hoofsteps. They stopped for a moment: "Twilight is fine, right?"

"Yes she's ato- I mean, fine." Matthias said as he shook his head, annoyed at himself.

"Okay, I'm going to look for the exit." Shining Armor told them and they heard his hoofsteps getting further away.

"Brann. Quickly, dig us out, I beg of you." the paladin begged the dwarf.

"Sure, but what's the hurry?" Brann's voice asked as they heard once again the sound of digging. "Don't you want to spend some time alone?"

"No! Get us out of here right now!" Twilight shouted and immediately covered her mouth, glancing at Matthias, probably worrying that she hurt his feelings.

That was the reason why Matthias hadn't said the exact same words. He was worried that it might have hurt her.

"You heard the lady." Matthias told Brann as he nodded to Twilight, to show her that he agreed with her.

They were just friends.

43. On the way back

"I don't really understand why this is so funny to you." Matthias told the laughing dwarf as he followed Twilight out of the rubble.

"Right, and that's why the two of ye are blushing." Brann countered.

Matthias didn't need to glance at Twilight to know that he was right.

"Look, can you just not mention to Shining Armor the... position, you found us in?" he pleaded, not wanting to give the overprotective unicorn any more reasons to mistrust him.

"Well, I dunno. It seems that I hafta keep a lot of yer secrets."

"I've never asked you to keep details of my past secret." Matthias reminded Brann, gazing at him. "You did that out of goodness of your heart, I presume. You are free to tell anypony about it, though, starting with Twilight over here, and ending with Princess Celestia herself."

"I don't want to hear about it." Twilight suddenly said. As Matt and Brann glanced at her, she explained: "I might have been curious about it when we first met..."

"'Might have'?" Matthias asked, amused.

Twilight shot him a glare and he kept quiet as she went on:

"... but now, I don't care who you were back in your world. I know the real you, and everything else is irrelevant."

Matthias was amazed by the wisdom in her words. Usually, one can hear such words coming from the mouth of much older pony.

"I see that you gain not only knowledge from you mentor, but wisdom as well." he told her, earning the sigh of her being embarrassed. He also noticed a bruise on her head. "Oh, right, I forgot."

As Matthias quickly healed her minor injury, he heard Shining Armor return, coming out from one of the tunnels.

"Twily!" he shouted as he run up to her, hugging her. "I'm glad to see that you are alright!"

"You can thank Matt for." his sister replied.

"Thank you." Shining said, addressing Matthias. "If something would have happened to her, I..."

"Think nothing of it." the earth pony cut him off. "I would gladly give my life to protect anypony, not to mention one of my friends. Have you found the exit?"

Shining Armor nodded.

"Yes, although... It's a bit, how should I say it" the other stallion stammered, looking for the right word. "... unsafe."

"Unsafe?" everypony asked.

Twilight's brother sighed.

"There's an Ursa sleeping next to the exit."

While Twilight looked as terrified as she was back in that lab, and Brann was confused, Matthias merely sighed.

"Let me guess, that is the only exit, too?"

The captain nodded.

"What's an Ursa?" asked Brann.

"A gigantic bear." Matthias replied, and addressed the others. "If all the noise we made so far didn't wake it up, then it shouldn't be a problem, but still, all of you be as quiet as possible."

Twilight, who would had the best idea just how dangerous Ursa could be, didn't look so keen on passing by one, but as everypony left to the tunnel Shining Armor checked, she followed.

"So what made you freak out like this back there, anyway?" Shining Armor asked, turning his head towards her.

In a hushed voice, Twilight told him and Brann about the strange crystal/amber-like thing, and a pony's body trapped inside.

"Do you think that pony could be still alive?" her brother, slightly unnerved, asked.

"Not likely." Matthias answered. "If we had stumbled upon him or her a few years or even decades after he or she was trapped, maybe, but considering that this whole place was abandoned for at least centuries, that poor pony died a long time ago."

"What a horrible death."

"Indeed. It's a pity, not only because that is a terrible fate, but also because he could tell us what this place was." Matthias said, and then shrugged. "Maybe Princess Celestia will know something about this 'Project Eclipse'."

"Hmm..." Brann murmured, pondering the new information. "Maybe ye could bring it back to life?"

"You can do that?!?" Twilight and Shinning Armor asked Matthias, astonished.

"Not so loud!" he hissed at them, and then nodded. "I told you Twilight that bringing others back to life is not unheard of on Azeroth. It can be done mostly by paladins, priests, druids and shamans."

"That's amazing!" Twilight whispered, her eyes gleaming with interest, as always when magic was involved. "So you could revive that pony?"

"I doubt it, for several reasons." Matthias replied. "One of them is which that I've never actually revived anypony here. Although, considering that Light seems to favor my since my own resurrection, I don't think the lack of experience would be that much important. There are other factors, however."

"Such as?" Twilight inquired.

"The revival of and living being, while appears to be a single 'spell', is actually composed of three steps:" he said, counting. "First, you have to summon the soul of the deceased back from the beyond that awaits everypony after death. Depending on who that was, it can be easier, or harder. If the pony was powerful in life, his soul would be easier to get in contact with. In some extreme cases, his soul can summon itself back, or linger on in the world of the living to begin with. The last one also happens if the death of said individual was traumatic. That's what given rise to ghost stories back on Azeroth. Since you have those here as well, I assume that is a universal rule."

"Wow, you really know a lot about it!" she noticed, excited.

Matthias heard Brann snorted, but paid him no mind.

"Actually, you can thank my former girlfriend for that." he said, shaking his head. "I was just taught the basics of how the revival works, so I could do it. Jaina was the one that learned all of the 'mechanics' and details behind it, and told me about them." Matthias sighed and continued: "Anyway, it is also easier to summon the soul when it was a close relative, or a friend. The second step is to connect the soul with the body, and the third, done at the same time, is to heal the body from whatever it was that killed him. To bring somepony completely to life, the third step is even more important that the first."

"Why?"

"If the pony died out of old age, then it would be impossible to revive him, which, sadly, is the case of that pony that was trapped in that amber-crystal thing. It is also impossible to revive somepony whose body became too decayed, or, to be precise, starts to decay at all. Due to that, the revival has to be performed within few minutes of death, unless special circumstances, but nevermind that now. And also, the most important part - if the damage to the body is too great, then it would be impossible to heal the pony back to life."

"'Damage to the body too great'? What do you mean?"

"Do you really want to know?" Matthias sighed.

"Err... no, I don't think I want to." Twilight stammered uncomfortably, but soon returned to her curious attitude. "So, if Applejack would have died after the timberwolf attack, you could have revived her?"

"If I'd have my full paladin powers, sure, but I'm glad it didn't came down to that. You know, dying isn't exactly a pleasurable experience." Matt glared at Brann, who started chuckling. "Sometimes, the one brought back to life suffers a mental trauma due to it."

"How come you didn't get it?" Shining Armor inquired.

Matthias snorted.

"I have better reasons to have a mental trauma than that. And I am too strong willed for that, anyway."

"And humble." Brann smirked.

"Oh, hush."

"So, it is impossible to revive that pony in the lab." Twilight summed up.

"Correct."

"Unless ye want to raise him back as an undead." Brann pointed out.

Matthias, hearing that, stopped dead in his track and looked back.

"Don't try to suggest that ever again." he told the dwarf, and continued to move down the tunnel.

"Eh... sorry." Brann said, sounding honest.

"Apology accepted."

"What was that about?" Twilight asked, not understanding. "What do you mean by 'undead'?"

Matthias could only sigh as he explained to her about the subject.

"An undead is a, basically, an abomination against life, a walking corpse, that in most cases, was risen by somepony, usually a necromancer."

"A walking corpse as in... a zombie?" Shining Armor asked, raising an eyebrow. "I could buy that you can bring ponies to life, but you can't be serious about this one."

"Sadly, no, I am dead serious." Matthias said, and immediately rolled his eyes at the irony of his words. "I would prefer not to talk about it, though. It's not a pleasant subject. Is it getting brighter?" he asked, noticing the faint glow around the corner.

"Smooth." Brann said, but then noticed the glow as well. "Oh, ye'r right."

"There is the exit over there." Shining Armor explained, and then added. "And the Ursa."

"Why is there a light comin' from there? Isn't it night-time?" Brann asked.

"It's coming from Ursa's pelt." Twilight explained, and then turned to her brother. "You didn't say if it was an Ursa Minor, or Major, you know."

"Take a guess."

"It's Major." Twilight stated, shaking a bit.

"Just stay calm, and quiet." Matthias told her, as they heard the snoring of the beast. "Let’s pass it quickly. Ready?"

They all nodded, and Matthias walked around the corner.

He was now in a gigantic cave, much, much bigger than the tunnel they've been traveling through, There were no stalactites or stalagmites in it, which meant probably that water didn't take part in creating it. If Matthias had to guess, the cave (along with the tunnel) was created during the earthquake that caused the piece of land with this ruined facility to rise above the ground. However, all those thoughts evaporated from his mind as he regarded a ridiculously gigantic, partially translucent bear, which fur looked like the night sky.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Matthias thought, as he fought to not ask any question until they were out of the cave.

He quickly trotted over to the exit, followed closely by the others. As soon as they passed the entrance, they broke into run, and didn't stop until they were well away from the cave.

"You know, Twilight..." Matthias said, panting. "When you told me how big the Ursa Major could be, I was sure you were exaggerating a bit."

"To be honest... I thought I was..."

"So wait, ya're sain' that they just entered some spooky place with corpses inside?" Applejack asked for confirmation.

"Yep." Rainbow Dash replied. "I would have stayed too, but somepony had to bring that plant back."

Applejack sighed and glanced to the kitchen, where Zecora was preparing the brew for the herbal bath to heal her little sister. As much she was glad that this problem was solved, Applejack couldn't help but worry about Twilight and the others.

"Ah hope they will be okay, Ah don't think I could deal with another crisis." she thought as her gaze shifted at the stairs, leading back to Apple Bloom's room, where the rest of her family, Princess Cadence, the two other Cutie Mark Crusaders and that weird spirit Matt summoned were keeping the little filly company.

"That's just dreadful!" Rarity exclaimed, looking sick at the thought of exploring some place with dead inside of it. "Why would they go in there?"

"I dunno. Matt wanted to check it out, but wasn't too keen on letting others to stay as well, especially Twilight."

"Well, that's understandable..." Rarity muttered, and rubbed her chin. Applejack knew her well enough to know that she was thinking about what the five of them were talking about for some time now. "Idea!" she suddenly shouted, excited, and turned back to Rainbow: "When do you think they will be back?"

"Well, if they haven't spent too much time in there, they could be back in two hours." the cyan mare responded. "Why?"

There was a devilish smile on the face of their fashionista friend.

"You will see. Now, if you excuse me, I have a quick spa reservation to make!" Rarity said as she trotted towards the door.

"Huh?!?" the others asked, but she was gone.

Neither Rarity, who left and went towards Ponyville, nor the ponies that stayed inside noticed the shadow that was observing them through the window.

"Hey Twilight, mind if I ask you something?" Matthias addressed the lavender unicorn.

It was almost two hours since they exited that cave in the hurry. It took them a while to get back on the main road of the Forest, but now, they were close to the exit, a fact of which all of them were happy. The close encounter with the Ursa Major, even if this was a sleeping one, put them all a bit on edge and they traveled mostly in silence.

"If I ever see that bear again, it will be too soon." he thought as he tried to not think about it.

"Sure, ask away." Twilight replied.

"How does an eclipse work here in Equestria?" Matthias inquired.

"Well, an eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when..." she began to say as if she was reading that out loud from one of her books.

"Twilight, I know what an eclipse is." he interrupted her. "But, as I told you some time ago, on Azeroth, the sun and moons move around by themselves. I wanted to know how an eclipse could occur in a world that requires two princesses to move those.

"Aye, me... Wait, what?" Brann, who was about to voice his interest on the matter, stopped, not sure if he heard him right.

"Oh, in that case..." Twilight stammered, thinking for a moment before answering Matt, completely ignoring the dwarf "Back in the days before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were born, the unicorns that moved the sun and the moon made an eclipse during certain occasions, like during the time in between the death of a king or a queen and crowning of his or her heir. After Discord took over Equestria, however, he randomly chose whenever the sun or moon was up. Sometimes, he made and eclipse for few moments. Since his defeat, the Princesses used to make an eclipse each year to celebrate the day Equestria was freed from his chaos. But after the Nightmare Moon... Raising both sun and moon at the same time was impossible for Celestia, so there wasn't any eclipse ever since. Since the return of Princess Luna, she and Princess Celestia were wondering when should they make another eclipse, but nothing came out of their planning as of yet."

"... What?" Brann repeated his question.

"Brann, I am sure Twilight will loan you few of her books about Equestria's history once we get back." Matthias replied. "And since you won't just skip to the interesting parts, like me, I have no doubt that you will have bigger knowledge on the subject than me. This reminds me, where will he going to sleep in?" he asked, turning to Twilight and Shining Armor.

"I suppose I could let him sleep in my library as well, for few days at least. After all, you do plan on returning to Azeroth, right Brann?"

The dwarf nodded and was about to reply when suddenly, in front of them from between trees something small jumped, followed closely by something a lot bigger. The bigger creature, which appeared to have the body of a lion, a scorpion's tail, and a pair of wings, slashed at the smaller one with his paw, claws outstretched.

Matthias, seeing this, automatically charged at the manticore, slamming into it with his head, throwing it off his prey. The beast roared, surprised, and took a swipe at him. The paladin ducked and turning around, he bucked the manticore in the chest. As the big wyvern-like beast hit the tree behind it, it roared, but the magical blasts Twilight and Shining Armor shoot next to it made reconsider attacking, and quickly run away.

"Good riddance." Matthias, who didn't even break a sweat, turned over to see what kind of poor creature nearly became manticore's snack.

To his surprise, it was a cat.

"A cat?" Twilight, who also looked at it, gasped. "What was a cat doing in this forest?"

"Beats me." Matthias replied, pressing a hoof to cat's slender and lithe body.

There was a huge scratch on its side, and its pelt was quickly soaking in its own blood. As Matt asked the Light to heal the poor thing, he couldn't help but notice how strangely colored the cat was. Its chest, muzzle and paws were white, while its back was either orange or black. One of its eyes was rimmed with darker fur than the other, and had a black tipped, gold-and-brown striped tabby tail.

"Weird looking cat in the Everfree Forest? Seems about right." Matthias concluded as he finished healing the small animal.

He bends down to it, as the cat slowly began to open its eyes.

"Hi there, little guy. How do you feel?" he asked, curious to the cat's reaction.

He most certainly didn't expect to see the cat open its large pale amber eyes wide and slash with its claws, scratching him on the nose. As Matthias backed away, pressing a hoof to his small wound, more from a surprise than an actual pain, the cat rose and bolted towards the treeline, disappearing behind it.

"That little..." Matt cursed as he began to heal the scratch, while Brann and Shinning Armor bursted into laughter and Twilight chuckled.

"Are you alright?" she asked, trying to hide her smile with her hoof.

"Yes, I'm fine." Matthias murmured in response, embarrassed that the cat got him so good. "Let’s go, I'm beginning to hate this forest."

Atop of a tree, the cat continued to examine its side, where barely few moments ago a mortal wound was, and was still marked with the cat's own blood.

Its tail twitched as it turned his head to regard the disappearing ponies, ears alert. It was especially eyeing the one that it scratched in its panic.

Twitching its tail one final time, the cat climbed down and began to follow them.

44. Conclusion

"Thank the Light, we're finally back." Matthias exclaimed as the Sweet Apple Acres came into their view.

Somewhere between running away from a huge cave with only a slightly smaller bear in it, and getting his nose practically sliced open by a small kitten, he lost interest in adventuring for some time.

"I wonder if Zecora finished the brew for Apple Bloom." Twilight said as the trotted closer to Apple family's home.

"Considering how long it took as to get back, I suppose she did." Shining Armor replied, suppressing a yawn.

Matthias, who was wondering about the topic as much as Twilight, knocked on the door (out of courtesy, they could see the light coming from the inside) and waited few seconds for the door to be opened by no other that a filly in question.

"Howdy!" Apple Bloom, once again as the young self, greeted them cheerfully.

"Apple Bloom, you're okay!" Twilight exclaimed, coming up to the little filly. "I'm so happy you're back to normal!"

"Thanks, Twilight. Ah must say, Ah never thought Ah would be so glad to be so youn' and all." Apple Bloom chuckled as she led them into the house. She immediately stopped as she noticed Brann. "So ya're the strange fella the others told me about?" filly asked, immediately appearing next to him. "Ya look funny."

Matthias shook his head in amusement and entered the living room.

"Hi everypony." he bowed his head to them. All ponies save Granny Smith, who, Matt assumed, was sleeping already, were present here.

"What took you guys so long?!" Rainbow asked, frowning. "It's been more than three hours already! And why are you all covered in dirt?"

"Well, we had to make a detour." Twilight answered as she and Shining Armor came in after Matthias, followed by Brann and Apple Bloom. "I will explain later."

"The most important is that you all came back safely." Princess Cadence said, while nuzzling her husband affectionately.

"So, Apple Bloom is going to be completely fine now, right?" Matthias turned to Zecora.

The zebra, who was drinking a tea, nodded.

"At least she doesn't want to rhyme." he thought, relieved, as he was not sure he was in shape to understand her.

"That's great." Brann said before anypony could. "What do ye all say we go and celebrate it? Ye do have taverns here, right?"

"Dwarves." Matthias thought, shaking his head and chuckling.

"I don't think the ladies would appreciate such form of celebration." he answered to his question. "But I guess you, me, Big Mac, and Shining Armor could go."

"Actually, that sounds perfect!" Rarity beamed up all of a sudden. As the newly arrived turned to her in confusion, she explained: "I just reserved the spa for as girls, so you boys can go do whatever you want."

"The spa is opened at this hour?" Twilight asked surprised.

"Well, no, but I managed to catch Lotus and Aloe as they were closing. Since they owed me a favor, the two of them agreed to wait few hours for us, though I suppose that it was the fact that one of the customers was going to be a princess was what swayed them over... Anyway, I think we deserve some relaxation!"

Matthias could see from Applejack and Rainbow's rolling their eyes that they weren't as keen on this idea as Rarity was.

"I don't know..." Twilight stammered. "I kinda have to write Princess Celestia a letter..."

"Oh, pish posh darling; I'm sure this can wait until tomorrow." Rarity interrupted her, waving her hoof in a dismissive motion. "Besides, you need the spa treatment the most. I mean, just look at your coat."

Glancing at Twilight now in the light, Matthias had to admit that she was really dirty, and he wasn't in much better state. He made a mental note to get a bath later.

"Fine." the lavender unicorn gave up as she too noticed the state of her coat. "But I WILL send Princess a letter real quick. Come on, Spike!"

Before anypony could react, the little dragon was grabbed a bright violet light and carried over to Twilight, and with a flash of light, they were gone.

"This is kind of important." he explained to her friends.

"Oh, well, I suppose we'll hear about it at the spa." Rarity said, brushing her mane nonchalantly. "You didn't ask about that spirit." she noticed.

"It disappears when it is no longer needed." Matt explained.

"Oh, well, in that case, everything is okay now. We'd best be going." Rarity said to the other mares.

"Can we come to?" pleaded her Sweetie Belle, making poppy eyes.

"No, sorry girls, but its past time you three went to bed." she replied sternly.

"But we're not even tired!" Scootaloo protested, but her words were proven wrong as she yawned loudly in next second.

"Off to bed with ya'll."

"I spend the entire day in bed..." Apple Bloom mumbled as her sister escorted them back into her room.

"Won't your parents and Scootaloo's be concerned that they haven't returned for the night?" Matthias asked Rarity.

"Not at all, the three of them were planning a sleepover today."

"Huh, what a coincidence." he said, shaking his head. "Anyway, ladies, I wish you good time in spa. Come on, guys, let’s go to the pub."

"Eeyup!" Big Mac voiced his approval of the idea.

As Shining Armor murmured something to his wife, Matthias noticed Zecora put her now empty teacup on the table and rise.

"It seems that everypony is leaving, so I'm off to my hut to for some sleeping."

"Are you sure, Zecora?" Rarity asked her, surprised at zebra's sudden declaration of leaving. "There is no reason why you shouldn't join us in spa."

"Of that, I am quite sure, but alas, I am dead tired from making a cure."

"Do you want me to walk you back to your hut?" Matthias offered. "There was a manticore near the forest's path."

"You're concern is appreciated, but do not let my peaceful nature make you blinded. I can be more dangerous than boas, when the need arises." Zecora replied with a smirk that made him a bit nervous.

"I... will take your word on that one. Have a safe journey."

"Yes, and once again, thanks." Applejack, who came back to the room, added.

The zebra nodded and made her way out through the door. The stallions (and one dwarf) followed suit.

"Soo... who's treating?" Matthias asked the other males as they headed out towards Ponyville.

"A round is on me for everypony!" Brann said to the bartender, placing a small bag of gold in front of him, making all the scared and suspicious glances thrown at him by other patrons disappear and then replaced by happy cheers.

The pub, named strangely 'The Prancing Pony', was the only place in Ponyville a pony could get an alcohol this time of year. Matthias visited it few times with Big Macintosh, so he was fairly familiar with it. The pub had few of its regular guests, who were currently sitting in their usual corner. Other than them though, ponies didn't visit this place so often, which spoke something about the nature of everypony in town. They usually came here only after a very tiresome day. Matthias recalled hearing that after his fight with dragons, the whole place was crowded.

Brann soon returned to the table they sit by, holding four mugs of hard cider. He gave them their beverage, and raising his, said:

"Cheers!"

"And then we came out of the forest." Twilight said, finishing the story of what happened to her, Shining Armor, Matthias, and Brann since Rainbow Dash left with the poison joke.

They were all enjoying a relaxing bath within the spa. Twilight arrived there almost at the same time as the others, after she quickly dictated a letter for Spike to write, send it to the Princess along with the rune they found and put the baby dragon to bed. She was quite embarrassed when both Lotus and Aloe lamented on the state of her coat which caused all of her friends, Cadence included, to chuckle.

After the two spa ponies finished cleaning her coat out of all the dirt, she joined her friends who asked her about that place she, two stallions, and one dwarf visited. They were all pretty scared when Twilight told them about the pony, who died trapped in a crystal-amber (Fluttershy shaken so badly that ripples formed on the surface of water), and terrified when she told them how the floor under her collapsed. They were relieved to hear that almost nothing happened to her, thanks to Matt, and that they decided to leave after her brother and Brann dug them up. Twilight then told them the short version of what the paladin told her about bringing others back to life, how they passed a sleeping Ursa Major, about Matt tackling the manticore, and the cat. They laughed when they heard what the cat did to him.

"To think that Matt was the only one wounded to the blood, and from a little kitty!" Rainbow laughed, holding her sides as if afraid she would explode out of too much laughter, and splashing water around her.

"The poor thing..." Fluttershy murmured, thinking about the cat. "How did it get lost in that dreadful forest? It must be so scared and lonely."

"Don't worry, Fluttershy." Twilight calmed her. "I'm sure Matt will agree to come and help you look for it tomorrow."

"Oh, I will come too!" Rainbow declared. "I gotta see how that kitty scratches him when it happens again!" she said as she bursted into laughter again.

"So you wrote to Princess Celestia about all of this?" Cadence asked Twilight.

"Yes, I also send her that rune we found." she replied, glad to be back on the subject of this 'Project Eclipse', and not on 'Matt got his nose cut by a kitty. "I hope she will know something about the whole thing, or at least, will be able to quickly repair the rune. That place was really weird… and scary." Twilight added with a shrug.

"Well, like I said, the most important is that you all came back safely." Cadence said as she submerged deeper into the water with closed eyes, relaxed.

"Yes, it was most certainly a good thing that Matt managed to save you just in time." Rarity exclaimed, moving a bit closer to Twilight. "That was quite brave of him, to jump after you, don't you agree?"

"Well, yes, sure." Twilight stammered, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

She didn't mention to anypony in what position she found herself once she regained consciousness, or about what almost happened between the two of them.

"It was nothing." she once again told herself. "Matt is just your friend Twilight. What you nearly did was probably caused by the limited amount of air."

"And being brave is not his only virtue." Rarity continued, as if oblivious the Twilight's discomfort. "Matt is also handsome, charming, strong, fun, courteous, and most importantly among other things, cares deeply about others, and I think especially you."

As her unicorn friend continued to exalt Matt's virtues, Twilight blushed more and more, knowing Rarity's words to be true. When she came down to the last remark, she was as red as s strawberry. She didn't think of it before if Matt treated her better than their other friends. Okay, granted, they were best friends, but that was it, right?

"You know, there are few ponies that would say you two should become special someponies."

"What?!?" Twilight screamed surprised and embarrassed as Rarity's final remark hit. "N-no, I mean, Matt is just a friend!"

"Oh come now, darling!" Rarity dismissed her denial with a flick of a hoof. "You can't tell me that there is nothing going between the two of you."

"But there isn't!" Twilight protested. Seeing the disbelieve look on Rarity's face, she turned to her other friends. "You know that, right?"

She was shocked when she saw that none of them supported her, or even looked her in the eyes. And Twilight was even more shocked, when she realized that Cadence was chuckling.

"Twilight, there is no reason why you should hide your emotions from your friends." her old foalsitter told her, much to her dismay.

"I am not hiding anything!" she once again protested, not understanding why all of them were so convinced that there was something between her and Matt. "Neither me or Matt thinks of the other that way!" as she said that, a small voice in her head asked her if that was the truth. Considering what almost happened... "Although..." Twilight murmured, uncertain. "... we did... almost... kissed..."

"YOU WHAT?!?" everypony, including Lotus and Aloe, shouted, excitement on their faces as they moved closer to her.

Twilight, not believing she actually said that, submerged slowly underwater in embarrassment.

"I hope at least Matt doesn't have to put up with anything like this..." she thought, facehoofing herself.

Meanwhile…

"... and then he said: 'I don't have a drinkin' problem! I drink, I get drunk, I fall down. No problem!'" Matthias finished and bursted into laughter, along with his three drinking companions.

"Hehe, good one!" Brann said, taking another sip of the beer. "Have ye hear' this one? 'I was standin' near the bar with some undead guy in front of me, and all of the sudden he just lets one go! Didn't even try to disguise it! I don't know what he ate but it did not agree with 'im. I said, 'What crawled up YE and died?"

Matthias laughed, and was followed by Shining Armor and Big Mac, despite the two of them not understanding how such joke could come into being.

"I still don't understand how those 'undead' things could work." the captain voiced that matter.

"It's a walkin' corpse." Brann replied with a shrug. "What's there not to understand?"

"Eeyup." Big Mac nodded, with his usual calm attitude.

"Hmm... true, I guess." Shining Armor said, taking another sip. "So, any more jokes from Azeroth?"

"Well, there is this funny song the troll likes to sing..." Matthias said, glancing at Brann with a smirk, feeling a bit tipsy from all the cider they drunk so far. He coughed and song:

I kill two dwarves in da morning, I kill two dwarves at night,

I kill two dwarves in the afternoon, and then I feel alright.

I kill two dwarves in time of peace and two in time of war,

I kill two dwarves before I kill two dwarves, and then I kill two more.

They once again bursted into laughter, with Brann laughing the loudest.

"Ah, trolls." he said after a while. "Funny race that is. For example, the male trolls often say 'I like my females dumpy and droopy with halitosis'."

"Really?" Shining Armor said, confused. "What, pray tell, do dwarves say?"

Brann could only grin.

"That we like our female like we like our beer: Stout and bitter."

"I think you and Matt should talk about it." Cadence said as the Aloe massaged her wings.

Twilight groaned in her mudbath. She just finished telling everypony the unabridged version of how the two of them were trapped under the debris, which somehow immediately made that memory even more embarrassing. Even if she overlooked the constant giggles, mainly from Rainbow and Pinkie, the worst was that it confirmed her friends in their belief that she and Matt had feelings for one another.

"For the last time," Twilight said, grinding her teeth in frustration as she forced herself to stay calm, "Matt and I are friends, nothing more. And neither I nor he wants to be anything more."

"How can you know that if you haven't talked about it?" Rarity countered.

"Because I know him!" Twilight replied, and she wished the other unicorn didn't have a mud mask on face with cucumbers on eyes, so she couldn't see the look she just gave her. "If he wanted to be more that just friends, he would have said that a long time ago, or at least when we were within that debris! We've lived in the same house for three months, for pony sake!"

"Okay then." Cadence interrupted her. "Let’s say you are right. Don't you think you should at least talk with Matt about that you nearly kissed?"

Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but as she thought about it, she realized that what her sister-in-law said was true. She should talk about it with him. As much as she believed that what almost happened was due the lack of air and near death experience, she knew that she could technically be wrong on that matter.

"I suppose you're right." Twilight sighed.

"Oh, this is going to be soo awkward."

"Come on, let’s do it!" Brann said to the rest of them as they prepared to leave, everypony a bit shaking.

"No, that's stupid." Matthias replied, wondering how much did they drink. At the reception, the cheering crowd of ponies was kind enough to count for them. "I don't want to do it."

"Yes, me neither." Shining Armor, who was in the worst shape of them all, had added. "Cadence would be mad if I did something like this."

"You know what, Brann? Scratch what I said earlier, I kinda want to do it now." Matthias said, grinning. "I will be fun to watch him getting yelled by his wife."

"You traitor!" the captain accused him, surprised at Matt's cruel intention.

"Eeyup!" Big Mac added with a chuckle.

"We hope to see you again soon!" Lotus and Aloe called after them as they were leaving.

"Oh, most certainly." Cadence said, smiling. "None of the Canterlot's spas can compete with yours."

Twilight watched as the two spa ponies beamed up after the complement. Wondering how she should start her talk with Matt, or even better, how would she managed to talk with him at all with her brother, his wife, and a dwarf from another world staying at her house, not to mention a baby dragon, who somehow kept putting the earth pony in uncomfortable situations.

She was about to ask Cadence if she could distract Shining Armor for some time when they would return to her library, when suddenly:

Ohhh, aye-dee-di-dee-di-dee-di-dee-di!

"Pray tell, what was that noise?" Rarity asked, looking around.

Twilight did the same, and what she saw made her jaw drop.

Her brother, Brann, Matt and Big Mac, all of them with forelegs on the arms of those standing next to him, with ponies standing on their hindlegs, moved towards their direction. And they were singing.

Since I popped the question. Shining Armor started.

I've been very sad. Brann carried on.

My life is changing. Matt added.

My wife, she makes me mad. Big Mac ("!") finished.

Every time she's talking.

Yappity Yappity Yap.

She goes on for hours.

I love her, I'm a sap.

Ohhh, aye-dee-di-dee-di-dee-di-dee-di! All of them sang

Everypony watched with wide eyes as the foursome finished what soon turned out to be just the first verse.

Oh we've been married 10 years now. this time, it was Brann who started.

I don't go out so much. then Matt carried on.

She doesn't come around me. Big Mac added.

She doesn't let me touch.Shining Armor finished.

All my friends they hate me.

They don't let me play.

I'm by myself all day.

Ha, but my wife isn't that way!

Ohhh, aye-dee-di-dee-di-dee-di-dee-di!

I need a change in my life. Matt started.

I think I'll leave her now.

I'll pack me bags and get skipping.

I'll trade her for a cow.

Maybe I'll go overseas.

Maybe to the griffon's land.

I'll meet myself a griffon girl.

And marry my right hand. Brann sputtered.

Ohhh, aye-dee-di-dee-di-dee-di-dee-di!

Oh, but I love her. Big Mac picked up.

I love her just the same. Shining Armor added

I love her to death ye see.

I am really game.

And when she loves me.

We'll never ever part.

I'll probably die with her.

And then we both will fart.

Ohhh, aye-dee-di-dee-di-dee-di-dee-di!

As the four males finally finished, they bursted into laughter as they stopped before the mares, and where soon accompanied by Pinkie, Rainbow and Applejack, who joined in with the laughter. While the others merely chuckled.

"My my, Shining, I haven't see you this drunk." Cadence stated in a good-humored voice.

Twilight silently admitted that she was right, and, glancing at Matt, she noticed he was not so much better.

"Guess the talk will have to wait until tomorrow." she thought, relieved and annoyed at the same time.

"Took you long enough." the leader rasped.

The same shadow that was observing ponies within Sweet Apple Acers nodded to him, as well as to the four other figures, all similarly hidden.

"The protections spells around that mare's house were more complicated that I imagined." the one that was send explained, his voice echoing across the forgotten caves. "It took me a whole month to figure out how to break them all, and even after that, I still needed to distract them all long enough for me to break them and cover my track without her noticing."

"Excellent." their leader murmured. "Phase Two of the Eclipsed Eye Plan is complete. Now, before we will begin Phase Three, I will have to study this carefully. We cannot allow ourselves to make any mistakes now." he added as he gazed at what his underling brought him.

'The psychological art of mind magic'.

45. Dreams and mornings

"Just how much did you drink?" Twilight asked Shining Armor, Matt, and Brann as she and Cadence led them back into the library.

"I don't know." her brother stammered in reply, waddling, and making Twilight once again wonder if she should just carry him with her magic.

"Brann was paying, so maybe he knows." Matt said who, despite looking only slightly better than Shining, had no problem with walking. He glanced at the dwarf and asked: "Why were you carrying this much gold with you, anyway?"

"Well, lad, if I had to chose what was the most important lesson I learned during my travels, then it would be that ye never know when or where ye will stop by a tavern, so it's best to always have somethin'." Brann replied with a grin, the only one that appeared to not have been affected by alcohol.

Twilight shook her head, amazed by males' stupidity as she opened the door. Sure, she got herself drunk once, but that was an accident. She didn't drink mug after mug of beer, or whatever did her brother and the rest drunk.

"Be quiet everypony, Spike is already asleep." Twilight whispered, pointing at the sleeping form of a baby dragon in his basket, which she moved to the living room. "Okay, Cadence. you and Shining Armor sleep in my bed. No objections!" she added, seeing as her sister-in-law was opening her mouth. "This is the only bed big enough for two ponies. The rest of us will sleep here, to give you some privacy, just give me a moment to bring the spare beds..."

"Thanks, Twilight." Cadence said as she nuzzled her husband forward to the bedroom.

"I doubt'at there will be any need for privacy tonight, considering his state." Twilight heard Brann whisper to Matt, and both of them chuckle.

"Do you want to sleep outside?" she asked them, with a stare that made them both look away. Turning to Matt, she asked: "And I thought you were more resilient to alcohol."

Matt, glancing at the door to her bedroom, as if to check if nopony was listening, came closer to her and whispered to her ear:

"Actually, I'm not. I am just strong willed enough to not let that be seen." he blinked at her in a conspiracy-like fashion, and then, after a little hic, he added: "Well, most of the time."

Twilight glanced at Brann, and then back at Matt, comparing the state of two of them.

"How exactly did you beat his older brother?" she asked finally with a raised eyebrow

This made the dwarf chuckle, although there was a pang of sadness mixed.

"Magni had the lightess head out'a us three brothers." he explained.

"And..." Matt said, blushed a bit. "... I can’t really remember the end of our duel. I was told I won the next day... after I was cured out of hangover..."

Twilight once again shook her head as Brann begin to chuckle dangerously loud. Making sure that Spike was still asleep, she went to fetch beds for her and the two males.

"It's a good thing I run through that book called 'Emergency furnitures' by Icy Kelp and Eerie Amarilis the other day." she thought as she teleported two beds she created earlier and the one Matt usually slept in to the living room.

She went back there and saw that while Brann was already laying in one, Matt was nowhere in sight. Guessing that he probably went into the kitchen, Twilight teleported there and found him drinking a glass of water.

"What?" he asked as he noticed her.

Twilight sighed.

"Just go to bed." she said as she turned around to leave.

"As you wish, Lady Twilight." Matt replied as she heard him follow her back to the living room.

Twilight rolled her eyes and glanced trotted over to the shelves with history books on it.

"Why aren't you going to bed?" she heard Matt ask her.

"I want to check if there is anything about 'Project Eclipse in here." Twilight replied without turning around.

"Twilight, it’s long past midnight."

"I am aware of that." she replied, annoyed that he was scolding her. "But this is important, so..."

Whatever was she going to say was abruptly stopped as a pair of strong foreleg lifted her without a problem into the air.

"What are you doing!?" Twilight, being surprised, enraged, and embarrassed, hissed at Matt who was carrying her to her bed. "Put me down right now!"

"Okay." he replied almost cheerfully as he dropped her on her bed. He then leaned over her, the cheerfulness gone. "You're going to sleep. Now. Got it?"

Under his stern gaze, Twilight found that she could only nod.

"Good filly." he said patronizingly as he patted her on her head. Matt grinned as he noticed the look on her face. "Oh, come on, that was funny."

Twilight rolled her eyes as she chuckled weakly, getting past her frustration and embarrassment and finding some amusement in his action.

"Good night." she murmured to him.

"Good night." he responded as he retreated to his bed. "Sweet dreams."

The lavender mare rolled over in bed, closing her eyes as she recalled that she had to talk to him tomorrow about what happened back under that debris. Twilight wondered what exactly Matt was thinking about that, and how he would respond to her tomorrow, as her mind drifted to sleep.

Everypony was asleep inside the library when a cat - the same one that the group encountered within the Everfree Forest - jumped through the open window. It glanced at the four sleeping figures and one awake. Owlowiscious and the cat long stared at each other, the formed curious as to what the cat was doing here, and the latter surprised that the small owl didn't flew away at the sight of it.

"Who?"

The cat finally decided to pay no mind to the bird as it searched among the sleeping figures the one that healed it from the brink of death. Recognizing Matthias, the cat crept silently towards him. It jumped on his bed, and stared into his face. The cat wrinkled its nose at the disgusting breath the pony acquired after consuming so much alcohol.

It continued to stare at him, appearing unsure as what to do now. Finally, still looking unsure the cat laid down next to Matthias, curling up into a ball and snuggling close to his head as it falls asleep.

Matthias and Twilight nuzzled each other as the laid at the edge of a lake, which reflected not only them, but the moon and stars as well.

"It's so beautiful here." Twilight hummed as she brushed his mane. "And peaceful."

Matthias murmured something in agreement. This scenery was indeed beautiful and peaceful, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong. He couldn't put his hoof on it, but it was there, like a very stubborn feeling.

He shook his head, resigned, choosing to simply enjoy the closeness of Twilight. Matthias glanced at their reflections in the lake...

... and a pair of cold eyes with ice-blue glow stared back.

Matthias quickly jumped away in terror, and it all disappeared. Gone were the eyes, the lake, the moon, and the stars...

... gone was Twilight.

"It was just a dream..." Matthias muttered to himself, both relieved and saddened.

"It still is a dream." somepony corrected him.

He spun around, expecting to see Ysera, or Bolvar, or whoever... but except this one…

"If I am dreaming, then what are you doing here?" the earth pony asked the colorful cat from the forest, forcing himself calm and letting go of the fact that it scratched his nose... for the moment, at least.

"I... kind of forced my way into your dream." the cat replied, the tone of voice marking it as female. From what Matt could see, she appeared to be confused. "I didn't expect it to work this well, actually." she shook her head. "Anyway, I wanted to thank you. I don't know what you did, but I know you saved my life. And I didn't exactly showed appreciation back then."

The last comment was followed by a warm purr, and Matthias realised that the cat chuckled. Confused with her overall behaviour, which was quite strange for an animal, even in Equestria, he asked:

"You are not from around here, right?"

The cat, managing to compose herself, nodded.

"Yes, I suppose so. I don't recall ever seeing horses living in a twolegs' nest, or them having some kind of strange healing powers." she said, calmly, and then after licking her paw and cleaning her ear, added: "Although, it is much less surprising than the fact that I exist."

"That you 'exist'?" Matthias repeated the last word, beginning to understand. "You died, haven't you?"

The cat, to his surprise, chuckled as if amused.

"I died many seasons ago, while I tried to defend my clanmate's kits." she said, memories flashing before her eyes. "I joined my ancestors in StarClan, and watched over the living cats from all clans, until a great battle took place. A war that was long in coming: a fight between the clans and the Place of No Stars, where the spirits of dead cats walked if they were forbidden from joining Starclan. Unable to let go of their hatred, they attacked, and I fell while protecting a cat that was dear to the one I loved. And if a cat that died dies again, it disappears, forever. And yet, I woke up in a forest that I didn't know, and was soon chased by a very strange creature."

As she talked, Matthias, besides listening could only stare, which was what he was doing long after the cat finished her tale. Finally, he shrugged and said:

"You just told me a lot of things about yourself, and I understood almost none of it. How about I tell you some things about myself?" seeing the cat nod, he went on: "I was born a human, or a 'twoleg', if you will. I was a great warrior, and was to become the leader of my people, but instead, due to the curse and strange twists of fate, I became a murder and a butcher to them. I was finally killed, and few months later, I found myself in a different world in a pony's body."

Now it was the cat's turn to stare. It recovered quicker than him, however, much to his annoyance.

"So... this is a different world?" she asked, and Matthias nodded. The cat looked down on the ground, saddened. "What am I going to do now?"

Feeling a rush of sympathy for her, Matt gently pressed his hoof to her body.

"You could stay with me, if you want to."

The cat looked up, her amber eyes meeting his sea-colored ones.

"I dislike the idea of becoming a kittypet." she replied, and although her voice was stern, her eyes twinkled with amusement, as if the thought brought back some memories. "But I can exactly be one when you aren't a twoleg. Thank you."

"No problem." he said, smiling. It was then that he realized they haven’t introduced themselves to each other yet. "I'm Matthias Lehner, and you?"

"Spottedleaf." the cat replied, also smiling.

"Wake up, you sleepy heads! It's morning!" Twilight, waking up Matt and Brann, said cheerfully who rested well after a good-night sleep.

Seeing that the dwarf was getting up, she trotted over to still asleep Matt. Twilight nudged him gently, mindful that he might have a headache.

"Did I dream about him this night?" Twilight wondered as felt something click in her head.

She dismissed the thought as soon as it appeared, If she did, then it was caused by her thinking about the upcoming talk the two of them would have. Twilight was still unsure as how to start, but she still got at least an hour or two before they would get a chance to be alone.
Matt gave a weak moan as he opened one eye.

"Hi." he said and yawned loudly.

Then, he closed his eye back.

"Oh, no you don't!" Twilight told him, taking off his quilt with magic. "Get up!"

She looked at Matt, who still slept, and then noticed that there was something furry next to his head.

"Matt, what is this?!" she asked, but she soon found the answer to her question, as she leaned closer to what was the cat from the forest.

"Hmm?" the earth pony asked, turning to see what she was going about. "Oh, that's just Spottedleaf."

"Spottedleaf?" Twilight thought, not understanding.

"This reminds me: Twilight is it okay if I have a pet?" Matt asked her.

"Err... yeah, I guess..." she answered, uncertain as to what was going on.

"Thanks Twilight." he said, taking her fronthoof and kissing it gently. "You are the best friend a pony can have."

Twilight, blushing, rolled her eyes as she realized that Matt was again asleep, with his lips still on her hoof.

"Okay, ye've gotta be kiddin'." Brann said as Matthias finished. "This is just too weird."

The earth pony rolled his eyes.

They were all sitting in the kitchen, eating breakfast that Spike made. He just finished telling everypony about Spottedleaf, who was currently eating some animal food under the table, and about what she told him.

"A world where cats are smart enough to live within clans, their leaders have nine lives, when they die, they join their ancestors, or go to a dark forest with no light in it?" Matthias summed up in short. "How is that much weirder from what we have on Azeroth, Equestria or Outland?"

"Well, granted, but..." the dwarf mumbled. "... a cat telling ye all that in a dream?!?"

"Like a tree trying to cover the whole world in a nightmare?" Matthias countered.

That left Brann speechless.

"Okay, just how in blazes do ye know about the Nightmare Lord?!?" he asked when he recovered.

Matthias chuckled, amused by this banter. True, he also found all that Spottedleaf told him hard to believe, but she was equally confused by the stuff he told her, like The Light, for example, or the magic. He pitied the fact that she could only talk in dreams, otherwise this discussion would be much more entertaining.

"Well, all in all, it's a nice cat." Twilight said, patting her on head, to which Spottedleaf replied with purring noises. "We should later visit Fluttershy and tell her that she's here, and not in that forest. She's been really worried when I told everypony about our trip back."

"Of course she is." he chuckled. "Why don't we go now?"

"Ye mind if I stay here?" Brann asked. "I kinda wanted to check few of these books."

"I better stay then." Spike said, "Don't want him to mess up the library, so soon after cleaning the place."

"And I wanted to go back to bed." Shining Armor, plagued with a hangover, murmured, causing his wife to giggle.

"Well, then I guess it will be just the three of us then." Matthias said, glancing at Twilight.

She appeared to be thrilled by the idea, for some reason. He brushed that thought off, and they prepared to leave with Spottedleaf, when suddenly, Spike breathed green fire, and it soon materialized into a letter with the royal seal on it.

"A letter from Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed, immediately forgetting about going to Fluttershy, as she snatched the letter, broke the seal, and began to read it.

Under other circumstances, this would cause Matthias to chuckle at Twilight's behaviour, but this time he was eager to hear what the letter brought. Perhaps Princess Celestia knew something about the mysterious 'Project Eclipse'? So he waited, along with everypony else, until Twilight finished reading. When she did, she glanced at him, confused.

"Princess Celestia wants to see you and Brann in Canterlot, today."

Author's Note

Okay, I know I promised no more Warriors would appear, but I wanted Arthas to have a pet, and this was all I could think off. True, it may had more sense to my story if this was a cat from the Dark Forest, but the two that I could see in Equestria, Thistleclaw and Mappleshade, are still 'alive', so I went with Spottedleaf.

46. New orders

“Why would Princess Celestia want to see both of us?” Matt asked, confusion on his face.

Twilight, also not quite understanding, began to read out loud:

My dearest Twilight,

I must confess, your letter have disturbed me greatly. I will send a detachment of royal guards to investigate and secure this facility. They should arrive by the edge of the Everfree Forest at 12:00 am. Would you be so kind to ask Shining Armor to lead them to that place? Tell him I’m sorry that I’m giving him orders during his honeymoon, but it is the matter of great importance. And before you start wondering - no, I have never heard of ‘Project Eclipse’, the fact which frustrates me more than even you, my studious pony.

I would also like to meet Brann. While it’s surprisingly common these days, It’s not every day that a traveler from the other world comes around. Please, ask him in my name to come to Canterlot today, along with Matthias. There are few things I and my sister wanted to talk with him for some time, so it would be perfect opportunity.

Your mentor,

Princess Celestia

“What would both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna want to talk to you about?” Shining Armor asked Matt, who was deep in thoughts, when Twilight finished reading.

Brann, on the other hoof, nudged him with his foot and asked:

“What did’ye do?”

“Nothing of any significance.” the earth pony replied calmly. “Although, if I was a gambling pony, I would put my bits on the possibility that this has something to do with the topic me and the princesses discussed after your wedding.”

Hearing this, Twilight had to admit that it made sense, but for some reason she thought that she missed an important detail. When she realized what it was, she nearly facehoofed herself.

“You know, you never mentioned what you talked about.” Twilight told Matt, surprised that she never asked him about it.

“Oh, nothing of that much interest.” he replied with a shrug. “We discussed how I could have been brought back to life in such manner. Princess Celestia promised she would look into it. Perhaps she found something. Either way, we’ll best be going. If I remember correctly, the train to Canterlot leaves in about...” Matt paused as he glanced at clock. “... half an hour.”

Twilight was taken aback by his quick change of subject. She frowned, realizing that he was hiding something, but decided she would ask later. Twilight trusted him, and she knew that he probably had a good reason to not tell her.

“But why would she want to meet me, though?” Brann asked.

“Most likely? She curious.” Matt replied.

At that moment, the doors to the library burst open and five ponies entered.

“Good morning!” they said happily, a bit too loudly for certain pony.

“Ugh, not so loud.” Shining Armor said, rubbing his head.

“Don’t mind him, girls.” Cadence said, grinning. “He gets what he deserves. How are you today?”

“Just fine, Princess, thank you so kindly for asking.” Rarity replied with a bow.“We actually came here too...”

“Invite you all to a party!” Pinkie Pie interrupted her, jumping up and down in front of them. “A ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party for you, and you, and you!” she added, pointing at Cadence, Shining Armor, and then Brann.

“I’m sorry, Pinkie, but Brann and I have to go to Canterlot.” Matt told her, before the dwarf get a chance to ask why she was doing that. “Princess Celestia wants to see us.”

“What?!?” Pinkie screamed. She slid down to the floor, saddened. “But, but... I had everything already planned...”

“Don’t worry, we will probably be back later today.” the earth pony tried to cheer her up.

“You promise?”

“Yes, I promise, we will be back in time for the party.” Matt replied, and Twilight detected a slight hint of annoyance in his voice.

“Pinkie Promise?”

There wasn’t just a ‘slight hint’ in the sigh Matthias gave after that, but nonetheless, he did as she asked.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” he said, making the required motion with his hoof.

“Okay!” Pinkie exclaimed, beaming up immediately.

As Twilight rolled her eyes, she noticed two things: Brann was asking Matt in hushed voice what was that about, and Fluttershy was glancing under the table.

“Oh, and who you might be?” the shy pegasus asked, and she soon flew from under the table, holding a purring Spottedleaf in her hooves.

“That’s the cat I told you about yesterday.” Twilight said as the attention shifted in the room towards the pair. “She followed Matt after we came from the forest, and snuck in at night. Matt decided to keep her as pet.”

“No sense in telling them now what Matt said about her.” Twilight decided, making a mental note to tell them later. Right now, they all had more important things to do.

“Wow, really? What’s her name? She soo adorable!” Fluttershy went on, hugging the cat as if it was her baby.

Twilight wondered how Spottedleaf was taking this treatment. She was still purring, but if all Matt said was true, she was intelligent enough to get offended by it.

“Her name is Spottedleaf.” Matt replied to her question. Twilight glanced at him and noticed that his face twisted into grin for a moment. “I’m happy you like her so much, because I wanted to ask you for a favor: could you look after her until I return? I don’t want to trouble Twilight...”

“Oh, I would love to look after her!” Fluttershy almost screamed, hugging the cat a bit tighter. “I could introduce her to the other animals I’m taking care of right now! It will be so fun!”

As the grin appeared once again on Matt’s face, Twilight finally understood what was his goal.

“You just want her to scratch Angel a bit, don’t you?” she asked him, raising a hoof to cover her mouth.

Matt looked at her, a bit embarrassed on being caught.

“Well, the little beast deserves it, for all the time he tried to whack me with a carrot or with various other objects.” he explained himself. “Don’t worry, I told her already in the dream to not harm any other animal besides fish. She seemed offended when I suggested fish, for some reason...”

“So this is the mighty cat that took a swipe on you?” Rainbow interrupted him, flying over to him and Twilight after taking few glances at Spottedleaf. “Doesn’t look so tough.”

“You would be surprised.” they both answered her, and chuckled at the confused stare the pegasus gave them.

“Anyway, we need to go catch the train.” Matt said and beckoned Brann towards the door.

“I guess I should go as well, the royal guards should arrive soon.” Shining Armor murmured unhappily as he got up.

“Royal guards?” Applejack asked.

“Princess Celestia has sent them to secure that place we found yesterday.” Twilight explained. Turning to her brother, she added. “And I’m coming as well, you’re not exactly in shape to lead them there by yourself.”

“Very funny.” the captain said in offended tone, although he smiled briefly at his sister.

“Princess Cadence?” Rarity took the opportunity to start a conversation. “Since they will be busy, perhaps you would like to come to my boutique? I wanted to show you some of my dresses.”

“Sure, that sounds fun.” Cadence replied.

In a matter of minutes, everypony (besides Spike, who said he wanted to clean after breakfast, but knowing him, Spike wanted to take advantage of the fact that nopony would be around for awhile and take a nap) left Twilight’s house, and went their separate ways. Matt and Brann, followed by Rainbow and Pinkie (the earlier asking what Matt and Twilight meant earlier, and the latter asking what kind of treats dwarfs like), headed towards the train station. While the rest headed to the center of Ponyville.

“Why are ya lookin’ so gloom, sugarcube?” Applejack asked Twilight quietly, who was trotting lightly behind the rest.

She sighed. Was she that bad at hiding when she was upset with something?

“I wanted to talk with Matt about... you know what, and I was just about to do that when the letter came in.” Twilight explained. “Now I will have to wait for him to get back from Canterlot.”

“Don’t worry, Ah’m sure it won’ take him long.” the cowpony replied. She then glanced at Rarity and Cadence, who separated from the rest, as they headed towards Rarity’s boutique. “Eh, sorry everypony, Ah wanted to borrow somethin’ from Rarity.”

Twilight glanced confused as Applejack run after them, wondering just what did the farm pony could possibly want to borrow from their fashionista friend. She was distracted from her thoughts as Rainbow caught up to them.

“The train to Canterlot was early, so after leaving Matt and Brann I figured I will come with you to that place.” she explained. “Also, Pinkie went off to plan that party of hers. Soo...” Rainbow said, looking uncertain as she glanced at Spottedleaf, who was walking besides Fluttershy. “... is this cat really dead?”

“What?!?” Fluttershy exclaimed, staring first at the cyan mare, and then back at Spottedleaf.

“Oh, for the love of...” Twilight thought as she sighed.

“I’m kinda surprised they have trains here.” Brann said as they made themselves comfortable in empty compartment. “Are they always this empty?”

“I only rode them twice, so I wouldn’t know.” Matthias replied, glancing through the window. “So, do you want to know what I really talked about with the princesses?”

“Do I?!” the dwarf replied, with a wide grin on his face.

“Princess Cadence...” Rarity began.

“Cadence.” the Princess corrected her.

“Cadence.” Rarity said, and suppressed a giggle at the thought of addressing royalty by just her name. “We wanted to ask for your help.”

The three of them -Rarity, Cadence and Applejack - were inside her boutique. While she still intended to try few dresses on the Princess, the real reason of why they’ve gotten her here. Separated from Shining Armor and, more importantly Twilight, was different. Rarity was about to reveal that reason to her, but Cadence beat her to it.

“Does it have something to do with my sister-in-law and Matthias being in love with each other and not realizing it?” she said with a smirk.

As Rarity and Applejack stared at her, speechless at the Princess’ perceptiveness, Cadance giggled.

“Was it that easy to figure out?” Rarity finally asked. “Our intent, I mean. That those two love each other is so obvious even foals would figure it out.”

“I just remembered how you talked to Twilight about Matthias’ virtues.” Cadence explained, and grinned again as she added: “As for the two of them, I figured it out by the way they acted at the wedding, especially how relieved Matthias was when he saw that Twilight was okay.”

“Well then, would ya care to tell us what ya think about them bein’ together?” Applejack asked.

“I think they would be a great couple. Matthias seems like the kind of pony that would make Twilight happy, and that is good enough reason for me.”

Hearing that, Rarity exchanged a look with Applejack and nodded.

“We’re glad you say that, because we wanted you to help us help them realize what they feel. As you can see, they are quite... dense.”

“Yes, I noticed.” Cadence sighed. “I suppose I should have expected as much from Twilight - she wasn’t very social pony back when I foalsitted her, and she only got worse after she became my aunt student. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard she found friends such as you. It is no surprise that she doesn’t realize that she’s in love, if it took her so long to realize she needed friends. But I don’t understand Matt.”

“Ah hear ya. Matt strikes as a pony that knows what love is.”

“Maybe all that he’s been through before he came to Equestria caused him to become... less in touch with his heart?” Cadence wondered out loud.

“Anyway, we were wondering: could you use your magic on them?” Rarity asked. “We heard from Twilight that you can do that.”

“Yeah, how does that work, anyway?” Applejack asked, wondered about that too.

“It’s a bit complicated.” Cadence explained. “But basically, it takes the memories of two ponies of them being happy together in a different situation, and awakens it in their minds, making them realize how much they care about each other.”

“That sounds perfect!” Rarity exclaimed happily, not expecting it to be so easy.

“But I can’t do that.” Cadence said, looking sad.

“What?!?” the two other ponies asked, surprised and confused. “Why?”

Cadence sighed.

“When I told Shining Armor about my talent for spreading love, and how does my spell work, he thought that what he feels for me was caused by my spell and was not real.” she said, and they could see tears forming in her eyes. “We... almost broke up then. I never put a spell on him, and even if, it’s not how my magic works! I can’t make two ponies fall in love, they have to already be in love for it to work, but Shining Armor didn’t listen. Those were the worst days of my life.

“I’m so sorry to hear that.” Rarity told her, feeling tears to form in her own eyes as well. “I never thought Shining Armor could be so dense.”

“Yes, stallions can be quite stupid sometimes.” Cadence chuckled, beaming up. “Eventually, Shining Armor believed our love was real, but... I just can’t put any sort of spell on his sister. I don’t want to go through that again.”

“We understand.” Applejack said. ”Sorry for askin’.”

“That’s alright, you didn’t know.” Cadence replied, and then, to Applejack’s and Rarity’s surprise, she grinned. “I do, however, have a plan for Twilight and Matt to realize what they feel.”

“Really?!?”

“Yes, now come closer...” she said, beckoning them closer, and started to whisper to them the plan she already began to design almost right after her wedding, as she covered the unicorn and the earth pony with her wings, so nopony would hear them.

Spottedleaf sighed as she followed the pony called Fluttershy to her den, or ‘cottage’, as she called it. It took some effort from Twilight to calm her down enough to tell her the story that Spottedleaf herself told Matthias, which was a short tale about her life.

What came afterwards was much worse than the panic attack the winged pony suffered.

“You poor, poor little thing!” Fluttershy cried as she hugged Spottedleaf tighter than ever.

She let go of her as the medicine cat started to voice it discomfort. “Oh, sorry. But you really had a tough life. No animal should endure so much as you!”

Spottedleaf shook her head, amazed by those creatures. It was so much different from what she was used to...

“Okay, here is my cottage!” Fluttershy’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. “I hope you will become friends with other animals in here.”

Spottedleaf wasn’t sure for that one. As a medicine cat, she was much more friendlier that majority of other clan cats, but she still doubted she could become friends with prey. She rolled her eyes as she recalled how Matthias told her she could eat fish. The thought of her clanmates calling her a ‘fishface’ was annoying like...

“Oh, Angel, come and say hi!” she heard Fluttershy say and next thing she knew, she was staring into the eyes of a white rabbit.

Spottedleaf, not really surprised anymore, so that not only the rabbit - Angel - was not in slightest afraid of her, but also appeared to be quite angry... for some reason.

“This is going to be a long day.”

The ride to Canterlot was long and uneventful, so they passed it sharing stories. Matthias told Brann, aside from his suspicions about what changelings and connections between events on Azeroth and in Equestria thousand years ago, about what he’s been up to since he was returned to life. For which Brann replied with, among some other things, few details about Azeroth that escaped from Bolvar’s notice.

“How does that even work?” he asked at some point. “Yer connection, that is.”

“Well at first, I could only switch my consciousness between my body and that piece of soul in Helm of Domination when I was asleep, or something along those lines. Now... I guess you could say I’m both here and there. I still need to switch my consciousness for better focus, but I know what’s happening on both ends.” Matt explained, and then smirked. “Which is pretty good, since I am sure Ner’zhul was kicking my soul in kidneys when I was over here.”

They both laughed back then, but now it was time to be serious. They have left the train, and were currently walking through the streets of Canterlot, watched by many ponies as they headed towards the castle.

“It’s quite beautiful.” Brann commended, glancing around the architecture.

“Yes, it is.” Matthias replied, his mind slightly absent as he listened to what the ponies were muttering between themselves.

“What kind of creature is that?”

“It’s so revolting!”

“Who is that walking with it?”

“I dunno...”

“That’s Matthias Lehner.”

“Looks like ye made a name for yourself already.” Brann noticed as he also heard his name.

“Well, I did lend a hoof during the changeling invasion.” Matthias replied, holding his head a bit higher as he perked his ears towards that peculiar discussion.

“Who?”

“You know, the one that was singing at the reception at the royal wedding!”

“Oh right, the ‘Brewmaster Pony’!”

“Oh Light, why?” Matthias asked, facehoofing, while Brann burst into laughter.

“It’s official: next time I’m having an epic battle with a strong opponent, I’m making sure that there is a bard nearby.” he told the dwarf as he paused to take a breath.

“Okay, on the other side of these doors are two powerful beings, rulers of this land and movers of the sun and moon.” Matthias told him some time later inside the castle. “Are you ready?”

He wasn’t exactly surprised when he heard from Sound Wave, who was guarding the gate, that the princesses decided to grant them a private audience. If Celestia did find something about changelings, she would have firstly informed him.

“Aye, let’s get this done.” Brann said and they nodded at the guards, who opened the door for them.

The throne room seemed bigger with just two ponies that, instead of sitting on their thrones, simply stood by them, deep in conversation. At the sound of opening doors, their tilted their heads and smiled.

“Ah, Matthias Lehner.” Celestia greeted him warmly. ”It is a pleasure to see you again.”

“Likewise, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna.” Matthias replied, bowing to them in turn.

“And you must be Brann Bronzebeard.” Celestia continued as she regarded his companion. ”It is a pleasure to officially welcome you to Equestria.”

“Thank ye kindly, Yer Highness.” Brann said, bowing as well.

“Princess Celestia, while it is an honor to be summoned before you, I feel as though I must ask: why did you wanted to see us?” Matthias inquired.

Celestia and Luna exchanged looks, and both sighed.

“For several reasons.” Princess Luna said. “The first in regards to the ‘Project Eclipse’ that was discovered thanks to you, the Captain of the Royal Guard, my sister’s student, and her friend.”

“I thought the letter said you didn’t know anything about it.”

“And we don’t.” Celestia replied. “We did, however, manage to repair the rune Twilight send us. We wanted to hear your opinion, as outsiders, in regards to what we discovered.”

Princess Celestia paused as she levitated a small rune from the nearby table.

“Like Twilight had speculated, it shows a picture, but there are other spells woven into it. We think this rune was linked to the others with similar function, so if the picture was changed, the pictures on the others runes would change as well.”

“Change?” Matthias and Brann asked.

Instead of replying, Celestia simply activated the rune.

Directly above the rune, a blue lights formed into words. Matthias’ frowned as he read them.

Leaderboard

Rank Codename Status Threat level

1. Crystal Inactive 0

2. Baltimare Active 1

3. Los Pegasus Active 3

4. Eastin Unknown 5

5. Canterlot AWOL 4

6. Trottingham AWOL 4

7. Hoofington AWOL 2

8. Cloudsdale KIA 0

9. Fillydelphia KIA 0

10 Manehatten KIA 0

Matthias and Brann long stared at the strange list, before the dwarf finally coughed.

“Well, this is somethin’ interestin’.”

“And different.” Matthias added. Glancing at the royal sisters, he asked: ”You don’t know of anypony that would use a name of a town as a codename, correct?”

“Yes, but what disturbs us the most are the names ‘Crystal’ and ‘Eastin’.” Celestia stated.

“Now that you mention it... I don’t think I heard of those two before.”

“Few ponies did.” Celestia said and explained. “By the northern border of Equestria, there used to be a Crystal Empire, our neighbor, which was populated by crystal ponies. However, a thousand years ago, an evil unicorn: King Sombra, conquered the Empire along with his warriors, the so called ‘Six Shadows of the King’. He was a tyrant: he cursed and imprisoned the crystal ponies, making them his slaves. Once the word finally reached Canterlot, Luna and I faced King Sombra. After a long battle, we won, and we banished him to the ice of the arctic north. However, he managed to put one last curse on the Empire, causing it to vanish into thin air.

“He was able to make an entire Empire vanish just like that?” Brann asked.

“A thousand years ago...” Matthias murmured, wondering if that was connected to what was happening on Azeroth as well as Princess Luna becoming Nightmare Moon. “What about Eastin?”

“That was a city, which was founded shortly after Equestria was founded.” Celestia replied. “It was mostly inhabited by earth ponies. One day, long before our birth, it’s citizens... vanished.”

“Vanished?!?” Matt and Brann asked. “How?!?”

“We don’t know. It happened during the last months of the reign of our grandfather, King Brom. When the citizens disappeared, search partied and investigating teams were sent, but they found nothing. Over the time, the city’s ruins were eaten away by time and nature, and by the time when new settlers arrived, there was no trace of Eastin.”

“Let me guess:” Matthias said as he followed his train of thoughts: ”Eastin was located where Ponyville is, right?”

“You’re really sharp, Matthias.” Luna replied.

The earth pony bowed to the complement, while processing the information in his head. What could possibly have happened to Eastin’s citizens?

“So, that would make the “Project Eclipse’ older than a thousand years.” Brann stated.

“Yes, and I can’t help but wonder: did it have something to do with the fate of Eastin?” Celestia asked, frowning.

“There is that possibility.” Matthias answered. “I think we will have to wait and see what the royal guards you’ve send find out.”

“Aye, that is what I thought, too.” Brann agreed.

“I just hope they will find something...” Luna said and let her voice trail off. She shook her head and continued. “Now that that’s over, why we don’t move up to the next reason why we’ve summoned you.”

“Fine by me.” Matthias replied, curious at what else the princesses wanted to tell him.

Celestia and Luna once again exchanged glance, before they said in unison:

“We would like to ask you to teach ponies how to become paladins.”

47. Plans for the next few days

Matthias wasn’t sure he heard that correctly.

“You want me to do what?”

“We want you to train ponies how to become paladins.” Celestia repeated, looking amused by his reaction.

Apparently, he heard correctly.

“Luna and I have been discussing this since changeling’s invasion.” Princess Celestia went on. “We realized that the Royal Guard, while highly capable of dealing with usual enemies of Equestria, can be outmatched by creatures that they were never prepared to face. You, on the other hoof...”

“Excuse me, Princess, but I have to interrupt you.” Matthias stopped her as he regained his composure. “Training others in the ways of the Holy Light isn’t like teaching somepony magic: it takes a real conviction; a pony needs to believe in the Light, follow its philosophy...”

“And that is exactly what we want you to teach ponies.” Luna interrupted him.

“But I never thought anyone! I was a paladin for just few years before...” Matthias trailed off, saddened by the memory. He sighed and went on: “I’m not a pony that can be trusted to teach others.”

“This is going to take longer than we assumed.” Celestia sighed and turned to Brann. “From what Twilight wrote to me in her letter, I understand that you are interested in history, correct?”

“Aye, Yer Highness, history and some other things.” the dwarf replied with a bow, curious as to what she was getting at with this sudden change in conversation.

“Seeing as my sister and I will need some time to convince Matthias to our idea, perhaps you would like to study Equestria’s history, and ‘some other things’? I can grant you access to Canterlot archives.”

Brann looked to Matthias as if he was a kid during Winter Veil, and Princess Celestia was Greatfather Winter.

“Ye’r generous, Yer Highness. I will take ye up on this offer.”

Celestia nodded and called to the guards who were on the other side of the doors.

“Yes, Your Highness?” one of them asked after he opened the doors to the throne room and glanced inside.

“Show our guest the way to Canterlot Archives.” Celestia told him, after which she glanced at Brann, her horn glowing. In front of the dwarf appeared a small scroll, with royal seal on it. “Give this to the Royal Archivist.”

“Thank ye, Yer Highness.” Brann replied with even lower bow and turned back to follow the guard. “Have fun!” he called over his shoulder, and Matthias wasn’t sure if he was talking to the princesses, or him.

“This most certainly won’t be fun for me.” he thought, confused by Brann’s departure.

Matthias would have expected the dwarf to be highly against the idea of him training others. The world of Azeroth still remembered the last ones he trained - or rather, instructed, but that’s beside the point - the death knights of Acherus’ order and its successor, the Host of Suffering. Neither of them were good examples of him teaching anyone. While Brann seemed to be more and more fine with him being alive, Matthias wouldn’t have thought that the dwarf would just sit by - or walked off - and let the princesses try to convince him without warning them first, at least.

As the doors closed again, Princess Celestia looked deep into Matthias’ eyes, as if trying to see his soul.

“Matthias,” she said, choosing her words carefully, “I will not try to pretend that I understand what you have and still are going through. Even if I knew everything about your past live, I still wouldn’t; my sister maybe, but not me. In her letter, Twilight mentioned Medivh’s warning, as well as her assurance that she believes in you, even if you don’t.” a warm smile briefly crossed Celestia features, but it quickly disappeared as she asked her next question: “Tell me, and answer me - and yourself - honestly: if your worst nightmare ever repeats, what would have happen to Equestria?”

“Well...” he stumbled, trying to turn his gaze away, not wanting to... no, being afraid of answering this question, of admitting what he knew when Brann asked him similar question. Ever since Medivh gave him this warning, deep down, he knew what fate would befall Equestria if such thing were to happen.

But Celestia wouldn’t let him get away.

“Would me and Luna, or the Elements of Harmony, would be able to stop you?”

Matthias gathered his strength, and answered, forcing back tears. He would not cry; tears would not avert this dark fate.

“No.” he answered quietly. “If I become what I was before I died, nothing will be able to stop me. Not you or anypony. Your royal guards and Wonderbolts would be a laugh.”

There was no surprise, or dread in Princess Celestia eyes; only sadness.

“And the Elements?”

He pondered on that thought. The Elements of Harmony were strong enough to heal Princess Luna of Nightmare Moon’s taint then maybe...

“They need Twilight and the rest to work.” Matthias said finally. “If they would be strong enough to not be broken after my... transition, then they probably could defeat me.”

“Then there is still some hope, even if you fail. Those girls are stronger than you give them credit for.” Celestia responded, but he noticed a hint of worry in her voice.

Matthias hoped she was right.

“However,” the Princess went on, “at the present, you are, without a doubt, one of most virtuous being I’ve ever met. If you were to train others now, nothing bad could possibly become of this. Let me finish.” she said calmly, raising a hoof to stop Matthias protest. “From what I saw and have read in Twilight letters, The Light grants you power to heal others, defend them, and even bring them back to life, if propher circumstances are met. Is this correct?”

He nodded, wondering what she was getting at now.

“If you ever become evil - which privately, we both doubt, but as the rulers of Equestria we have to take certain measures for the sake of our subjects - then even if Twilight and your other friends would defeat or healed you with the Elements of Harmony, ponies would get hurt. Wouldn’t it be best if there were other paladins, who could minimize the damage you would cause?”

Matthias shifted uncomfortably, pondering the matter now that he understood her intention. Knowing the burdens of leadership from observing his father for long years, he knew that in her place, he would have done the same.

“I can see your point.” he finally nodded, although still a bit reluctant.

“So will you do it?” Princess Luna, who until now let her sister speak, asked.

“Or more importantly, is it possible for ponies to become paladins?” Celestia asked, raising a good point.

Matthias wondered for a moment, thinking back to what he knew about the Light.

“I believe it is possible.” he said thoughtfully. “I think... if we would perform the ceremony...” seeing puzzled expressions on both princesses, he explained. “Humans aren’t born with connection to the Light. For one to become connected like this, it would take special ceremony, during which the heart of that one would be opened to the Light. There are, of course, some exceptions, but this is the most common manner for paladins and priests to receive their powers. The ceremony also signifies the commitment of the new paladins, their introduction to the order and promise to uphold everything that is good and right and fight what’s evil and wicked.”

The two princesses nodded.

“Would you be able to perform such ceremony?” Luna asked.

“I... think so.” he answered, uncertain, as he recalled his introduction to the Order of the Silver Hand. Shaking his head, he recalled one important thing. “Your Highnesses, there is one problem: paladins not only protect the innocent, but also vanquish evil. I do believe that this is something you would...”

“You healed Changeling’s Queen’s horn.” Celestia interrupted him, clearly prepared for this. ”Despite all she did, you haven’t thought of her as ‘evil’. Now tell me, what kind of creature to you would be considered evil?”

Taken aback, Matthias wondered what he should answer.

“Princess, remember what I told you about the Old Gods?” he finally said. “That’s what I would call evil, for example.”

“If an Old God ever shows up in Equestria, then please by all means, ignore the law and kill it.” Celestia replied, and despite that her voice was light, the tone of her voice told him she was serious.

“Okay then...” he said, a bit shaken by the fact that he heard a pony say ‘kill it’. Thinking this all over for the last time, he finally could only say one thing. ”Very well then, I agree.”

To his surprise, both Princesses bowed their head to him.

“You honor us by agreeing to teach our subjects in the ways of the Light.” they both said.

“The honor is all mine.” Matthias replied, feeling uncomfortable.

“Now that you agreed,” Princess Luna spoke, levitating a table and three chairs for them, “we will have to discuss this from... technical side. What would be needed to start a paladin order?”

“Somepony more worthy...” Matthias thought darkly as he sat at the place offered to him, while the princesses took their places.

“Well, for starters, we would need a Cathedral.” he said, recalling everything he knew about not only about the Order of the Silver Hand, but about all paladin orders he ever heard off, and choosing the most appropriate options. “It would be a place of prayer, and where would the introduction to the order took place, making a pony a paladin and granting him his or her powers. It would also have to be a headquarters of sorts, so it would have to be able to hold a respectful number of ponies, with a training space nearby...”

“You would want it to resemble the cathedrals back on Azeroth, I presume?” Celestia asked, conjuring a small bell.

“Yes and no.” Matthias answered as he watched a brown maidservant walk in by the side doors.

“Yes, Your Highness?” she asked Celestia and Matthias realized he met her before.

“That’s that maid that Blueblood was bothering… Pixie!” he recalled and smiled to her, and Pixie bowed her head slightly in greeting.

“Bring three cups of tea, and some biscuits, please.”

“At once, Your Highness. Is there anything else?”

“No thank you Pixie that would be enough.” Celestia replied, and turned to Matthias as the maid trotted back toward the doors she used to enter. “Would you care to explain?”

“I would like it to be based on the Cathedral where I was introduced to the Order of the Silver Hand, but all together, I feel that if should be more... pony-like.” he replied. “I’m not an architect mind you, but I’m sure with Brann’s help and some of yours architects, we should manage to think of something.”

“Excellent.”

They all paused for a brief moment as Pixie came back, levitating a trace with three cups, a pot of tea, some sugar, and biscuits on it. She quickly poured the tea, added as much sugar as everypony wanted, and trotted away.

“You would like the Cathedral to be built in Ponyville.” Celestia not asked but stated.

Matthias blinked in surprise. He didn’t think he was this predictable.

“Yes, for several reason.” he quickly took a hold of himself. “The most important being that I believe that such serene place would prove much easier for new paladins to learn how to channel the power of Light.”

Celestia nodded approvingly.

“I would have suggested Ponyville as well.” she simply said, taking a sip of tea.

“There is also a matter of who you would teach, and how many of them.” Princess Luna took over the conversation. “My sister and I think it would be best that at the beginning, you would teach only three ponies.”

“An earth pony, a pegasus, and an unicorn?” Matthias smirked knowingly.

“That’s right.” Luna nodded.

“I think I know of a pegasus and an earth pony within the royal guard that would qualify to become paladins.” Princess Celestia said thoughtfully. “We will still need to find a unicorn. And of course, I will give you their records to look into. They will include their psychological profiles.”

Matthias tried not to show that he was surprised that they had something like this. It seemed a bit excessive. Then again, since they were guarding the princesses of Equestria...

“On the side note,” Princess Celestia suddenly changed subject. “I think it would take several days to plan everything. Would you like me to notify Twilight that your stay will be prolonged?”

“Yes, Princess, thank you.” he answered, completely forgetting about that.

As Celestia quickly wrote the letter, he pushed the thought away. He had more important things at the moment.

“Since we’re speaking about technical side of the matter...” Matthias told Luna. “... Why don’t we discuss the future paladins’ armor?”

Twilight sighed when they finally reached her library. She was tired from leading the royal guards to that dreadful place along with Shining Armor, and then trotting back. Twilight was grateful that at least they didn’t have to go inside or even anywhere near the entrance.

She wondered when Matt would be back. Being smart as she was, she calculated that by now he and Brann had already reached Canterlot, or even the castle, so now it was a question of how long Princess Celestia would keep them.

“Well, that was tiresome.” Shining Armor murmured.

His sister nodded in agreement as they entered her home, and were welcomed by everypony except Fluttershy and Rainbow. Twilight guessed that both pegasi were busy with their respective jobs.

“Hi everypony.” she greeted them. “What you’ve been up to?”

For a moment, Twilight could have sworn that Cadence, Rarity and Applejack have all smirked, but as she blinked, they all had normal expressions on their faces.

“Huh.” she thought, but before she could ponder on that, Pinkie Pie began to bounce around, automatically gaining her attention.

“Oh, I’ve been putting together a super-duper fun party! We will just have to wait for when Mattie and Brannie return from Canterlot, and we can get this thing going!”

Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Pinkie, it will take some time for them to get back here.” she told her pink friend.

“I know, but they will be back soon. Nopony breaks Pinkie Promise.”

At that moment, Spike burst out a green flame and a letter materialized. Twilight grabbed it and read it aloud:

Dear Twilight,

I’m writing to you to inform you and your friends that Matthias and Brann will be staying in Canterlot for few more days. It is nothing to worry about - we simply had a lot to discuss, and Luna and I were hoping to hear their opinions in regards of ‘Project Eclipse’. I hope this isn’t going to cause any problems for anypony.

Your mentor,

Princess Celestia

“Oh, that’s just great.” she thought, annoyed (with Matt, not the Princess). “How a pony is going to have a serious talk around here?”

But her reaction wasn’t as nearly bad as Pinkie’s. Twilight glanced at her friend as was startled to see her normally ridiculously happy friend burst into anger.

“Nopony breaks Pinkie Promise!”

“I almost forgot to ask:” Princess Celestia said after she sent the letter: “Do you know why that titan artifact that Brann found let him come to Equestria?”

Luna took the opportunity to take a sip of tea. She couldn’t understand why Matthias was so insistent on paladins having almost completely different armors, but she decided that not to argue too much on this matter. After all, he was the one with experience here.

“Well, Brann and I discussed it on our way here.” Matthias replied to her sister’s question, rolling his eyes. “He thought that this must be one of the first worlds that titans shaped, and that it was their masterpiece.”

“You disagree with that theory?” Luna asked, raising an eyebrow over her cup.

“While I would gladly agree that your world is a paradise compared to Azeroth, I find it hard to believe that it was shaped by titans. It doesn’t have any guardians like the ones on Azeroth; the dragons are, besides Spike, a greedy ruffians. And, as I told him repeatedly, the earth ponies aren’t made of earth, and Diamond Dogs aren’t made of diamonds, and there wasn’t any trace of the Old Gods earlier that a thousand years ago, so it can’t be ‘the Curse of Flesh’. Of course, that only convinced him that this must be a very old world, so all titans creations lost their original stone or metallic forms in the process of natural evolution.” he paused to roll his eyes again. “Now that you mentioned those ‘crystal ponies’, Brann’s going to be convinced that they were made of crystals, and that they are the missing piece of this evolution or something.”

Luna eyes went wide. “This actually made sense kind of, surprisingly.” She was about to voice her thoughts, when she noticed her sister shake her head slightly. Luna quickly understood what Celestia meant. Considering how little they knew about Crystal Empire and crystal ponies - thanks mostly to a certain insane draconequus, who changed most of the books and scrolls in the Archives into origami swans - it would be pointless to try to find if that was true or not.

“Hmm...” Celestia hummed. “It would seem, however, that our worlds are at least connected. If that is the case... I might know how it came to that that you were brought back to life here.”

Luna watched amused as it was Matthias turn to have his eyes go wide. She already knew what her sister was getting at, having discussed it few times.

“Near the border of Equestria, there is a gate called the Gate of Tartarus.” Celestia explained, not waiting for the earth pony to recover. “Nopony is certain what exactly sure to what is on the other side, but most ponies believe that Tartarus is a separate space, a sub-dimension if you will, that contains all manner of imprisoned evil creatures within. Some time before you arrived, the guardian of the gate, a huge three headed-dog called Cerberus took off from his post, for some reason, for almost a day.”

“So you think that my soul escaped from there.” Matthias said, trying to better grasp the idea.

“I think more appropriate would be to say that somepony grabbed your soul from there and then brought you back to life.” Celestia corrected him. “Although, why still remains a mystery. I could guess however, why it could be your soul that was grabbed from there. ”

“Why?”

“This is not all of your soul in front of me, isn’t it?” her sister asked, gazing closely at him. ”Part of you is within that Bolvar’s head, along with Ner’zhul’s, right?” when Matthias nodded, she continued: “It could be that taking out just a part of one soul would be easier than a whole soul, although it’s just a theory.”

Luna observed Matthias closely, curious to his reaction. For a moment, he was lost in thoughts, but he surprisingly quickly recovered.

“Even if it just the theory, it would be still the most likely possibility.” he said, shaking his head. “However, it doesn’t really matter right now. Let’s get back to discussing this new order.”

The Princess of the Night couldn’t help but admire decisiveness on the matter. If it would be her, she would be more curious as to who brought her back to life. Then again, she never died, so she couldn’t put herself in his horseshoes.

Luna shook her head and returned to the discussion.

Matthias sighed as he trotted after the guard, following him towards the Canterlot Archives. He felt tired from all the planning together with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and his day was far from over. He still had to visit the forge were blacksmiths prepared the armors for The Royal Guard, so that he could explain to them personally what he expected.

“This is actually kind of exciting.” he mused.

He wasn’t exactly thrilled with the thought of him creating a whole new paladin order, but that would gave him finally something to do besides hanging out with his friends. While he loved to do that, those past three months, save for few incidents, were extremely boring to him.

“It would be a nice change of pace.” he summed up as he entered the Archives, dismissing the guard and searching for Brann.

He quickly found him, surrounded by various books. Most of them were history-related, but from what Matthias saw, few were about biology, flora, fauna, and such, and some were magic books.

“So, how’did it go?” Brann asked him when he noticed him approaching.

“”I agreed.” Matthias sighed. “In about a month or so, it will be official.”

“An order of paladins made out of ponies, led by ye.” the dwarf shook his head and Matthias couldn’t tell if he was more amused, surprised, or annoyed. “What’s next? A Burnin Legion ‘runnin’ an orphanage?”

“I am deeply thankful for your constant support.” Matthias muttered.

“What the name of this new order, Order of the Silver Hoof?”

“The name hasn’t been decided yet. And that name sounds just dumb.” the earth pony glared at him, but soon gave up, knowing that the dwarf was joking. “In other news, I will be staying here for few days...”

“... and so will I.” Brann said, pointing on all the books.

“... and Princess Celestia had a theory as to how was I brought here to be revived.” Matthias finished, earning the dwarfs interest.

He was surprised at this piece of news the Princess gave him. It did sound logical, and her brief description of Tartarus matched what he remembered from his time of being dead. But who would have taken his soul out of there? The only suspect that came to his mind was Medivh, but that seemed unlikely... or maybe not.

Matthias shook his head and was about to tell Brann what he learned, but suddenly, the doors to the Archives bursted open, and before he could react, something incredibly fast and Pink run into him and pinned him to the nearby wall.

“Matthias!” a face which, as he realized with a jolt, belonged to Pinkie Pie appeared in front of him and screamed at him. ”You Pinkie Promised!”

Both Matthias and Brann were startled by the change in the ever-happy pony. She was now a big mass of rage, and Matt could swear he saw a fire in her eyes. He cursed at himself for forgetting about the Pinkie Promise earlier, although, he didn’t knew that her reaction could be so drastic.

“I can’t believe you, of all ponies, would dare to break a Pinkie Promise!” the pink pony went on. “Apologize!”

Matthias, thinking fast, said:

“But Pinkie, I didn’t break Pinkie Promise.”

Pinkie Pie draw back a bit from him, confused.

“Huh?”

“If you would be kind to recall,” Matthias explained, moving away a bit to put some more distance between them in case she wouldn’t bought his explanation, “I promised that me and Brann would be back in time for the party, but I didn’t say which party.”

As Pinkie thought on what he said, he quickly went through the protection prayer in his head, but the pink pony proved faster than him. However, instead of hurting him, she hugged him extremely tight.

“Well this does kind of still hurts.”

“This is sooo great!” Pinkie Pie screamed, excited. “Now I can throw two parties!!!” she stopped hugging him, and instead jumped around him few times, while yelling: “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” for some time, until she hugged him one last time…

…and kissed.

Matthias was too surprised by that to react to the strange taste of her tongue before the pink pony broke the kiss and practically flew through the exit, calling behind her:

“See you in Ponyville!”

The earth pony and the dwarf stared for a long at the doors she disappeared behind, trying to comprehend what the hell just happen.

“Did that really just happen?” Brann finally asked.

Matthias wondered for a moment before he answered.

“I... guess?” glancing at him, he added: “You know, this shouldn’t probably be the first question I ask, but... why did her mouth tasted exactly like a cotton-candy?”

Author's Note

I was surprised by how many people got angry with the idea. I came up with this because as the season 3 went on, I realized that Arthas needed to have something to do, otherwise, things would have happened like, "episode 5, Arthas bitch-slaps Trixie; episode 3: "Brann, gimme' your rifle!" and stuff... okay, maybe it wouldn't be like this, but you get the picture.
PS: Those of you who like this idea, or everybody who want's to pinch in: do you have any ideas for the name of the order? I would also appreciate ideas for Arthas official rank.

48. In the wonders of Night

As the sun had set, Matthias made his way out of the forge, rubbing his eyes. Getting tired of describing over and over again how did the armor he wanted looked like, he finally assumed his alicorn form. The armor that appeared on him whenever he took this form was what he based the idea for this new order’s armor, so all he had to do was stand still for a moment as the blacksmiths took notes. The problem, it was taxing.

The earth pony strode towards the castle inner gate, when he stopped. He didn’t want to go to sleep yet, despite being slightly tired out by this day, and visiting Brann in the Archives while he studied everything he could about this world didn’t seemed to be an ideal way of spending time. Pondering what to do, Matthias finally decided take a walk through the city.

With that thought in mind, he turned around and was about to set off to the city, when he noticed small, blue shine coming from one of tallest tower of the castle. Glancing at that direction, he saw Princess Luna, her shining horn pointed towards the sky, standing on the balcony.

“She’s raising the moon.” Matthias realized, and soon, the huge celestial body arisen from the edge of horizon.

Seeing this for the first time, he continued to gaze at the moon, and then at Princess Luna. She continued to raise it, until it ‘stood’ firmly above Equestria. Luna then lowered her now not-shining horn, and while the moon stopped moving, she turned around, having the intent of going back inside the tower, but stopped when her gaze accidentally locked with Matthias’.

She spread her wings and took to the sky. Matthias watched as the Princess of the Night flew towards him, and bowed when she landed.

“Hello again, Princess Luna.” he greeted her. “What reason do I owe the pleasure?”

A smile crossed her lips as she answered:

“I wanted to ask how the talk with the blacksmiths went.”

“I believe it went well.” Matthias answered. ”Of course, I had to assume my alicorn form so they could see the armor that I had in mind, but overall, I think they have now a clear picture of what I want.”

“It’s good to hear that. But why do you sound as if you would prefer to not transform?” Luna asked him with puzzled expression. ”Most ponies would have paid to be able to do that.”

“It is because in that form my body is made of the Light itself, not of flesh and bones. It’s taxing for a mortal mind to stay for an extended period of time in such state. My limit, for an example, is about two minutes, but even if I change back quicker, like today, it’s still tiresome.”

“I see...” the Princess said, and asked: “Since you’re tired, I assume you are going to rest now?”

“Actually, no, I decided to take a stroll through the city.” the earth pony replied. “I figured that maybe a little walk under your beautiful night’s sky may calm my mind and I will finally be able to think of a good name for the order.”

Princess Luna blushed slightly at the compliment.

“You still haven’t thought of it, then?” Princess Luna asked, to which Matthias shook his head, she added: “Why not give it a name it related to the sun? From what I heard, when you use your Light...” noticing the look he gave her, she corrected herself: “... I mean, The Light, it often seems as if you shone like the sun. And there are few similarities between nature of The Light and that of the sun, with the former granting others the ability of to heal, and the latter being the source of life for all that lives.”

Matthias didn’t miss the brief feeling reflected in her eyes, the feeling of neglectance and jealousy. Luna quickly recovered her composure, but it was there. Matthias guessed that she wasn’t exactly happy with that there’s (what seemed to her) a highly possible prospect of this brand new order having name that made it more closely related to her sister’s attribute, and felt a pang of sympathy for her. In his short time in Equestria, he noticed that Celestia had much more adoration from ponies that Luna. It must had been hard for her, to feel treated like second-best, and it even more so because this led to her becoming Nightmare Moon thousand years ago.

Matthias briefly wonder if, in a way, she wasn’t the more harmed by the fate out of the two of them.

“I can understand your train of thoughts, Princess Luna.” he told her. ”And there are many others who consider the Light to be related to sun in some way. Back on Azeroth, one of the orders of paladins is even named ‘The Sunwalkers’. But I happen to think otherwise.” Matthias said, and he meant it.

“Really?” Luna asked, surprised, and slightly pleased. “How so?”

“How should I explain this...” the paladin pondered, wanting to explain to her so that she would understand completely. He suddenly figured out a perfect way for that. “What do you feel when you look at the sun, Your Highness?”

The change of subject caused the Princess to stare at him as if he grew a second head.

“What? I guess...” she stopped to think of an answer. “... pain? It hurts to look at it, and prolonged staring at it can cause a pony to go blind.”

Matthias nodded.

“Yes, and that is what The Light is to all that is evil - it’s a source of pain to them.” he said, and immediately added: “Of course, it also heals all that is good, like you said. Now, what do you feel when you look at the moon?”

To better indicate his question, he glanced at the moon, and saw in the corner of his eye that Luna did the same. Matthias waited patiently for her answer, enjoying the gentle light of the celestial body she rose every night, and where she was once imprisoned.

“I feel...” the Princess answered slowly.”... at peace. Calm.” she shook her head, annoyed. “It’s difficult to describe this feeling.”

“Just like the feeling The Light leaves when it touches pony’s soul.” Matthias told her and asked The Light to bless her with this feeling now. As the glow appeared around both of them, he continued: “It’s difficult to describe, but fills you with calmness, warm, peace...”

He trailed off, knowing too well that trying to put in the words was impossible. The glow lingered on for few moments on Luna, granting him a weird sight of the Princess of the Night shining like the sun, before it dispelled itself.

“It... does kind of feels like staring at the moon.” Luna said after a while, and looked once again at it. ”You know, Matthias, I think it’s the first time I’m looking at the moon and actually see it in a very long time.” glancing at him, she asked: “Isn’t that ridiculous?”

“It’s sometimes easy to forget what’s important.” Matthias replied.

Luna, looking thoughtful, shifted her gaze back at the moon.

“You’re wise beyond your years, Matthias Lehner.” she said after a while.

He bowed in response.

“Thank you, Princess Luna, but I acquired this wisdom during the last three months. Before that, I was the biggest fool there can be.”

His harsh comment about himself made Luna glance back at him. For a moment he thought she was going to say something, but soon, she began to turn around instead.

“While I find this conversation to be the source of great pleasure, I’m afraid I need to go and take care of the state affairs.”

“Of course Princess.” Matthias replied, bowing once again.

“I hope you will have a pleasant walk.” Luna said as she trotted toward the castle.

Spottedleaf began to like this world more and more.

She spent the rest of the day helping Fluttershy with taking care of few wounded animals. It was a lot like helping her Clanmates back when she was alive and their medicine cat, only instead of cobwebs, poppy seeds, dandelions, and all the herbs she learned to use over the seasons, she was asked by the pony with wings to give the them some weird small rock-like things, some weird-smelling liquid, and use some strange white thing to cover the wounds, which, surprisingly, happened to be least common. Considering how often she had to heal her Clanmates wounds after battles, she was a bit... confused.

“Not to mention how weird it is to help get mouses, birds, and one fox better.” she thought as she finished putting the ‘bandage’ on fox’s paw, to which the red animal barked in appreciation.

“Great job Spottedleaf.” Fluttershy commented as she glanced at her. “Thank you for the help; I can’t believe you’re so good with helping other animals!”

“Well, I’m surprised at that too.” the cat murmured to herself, amused, and no longer surprised that every animal in this world seemed to understand ponies, but not the other way around.

“Now, now, you shouldn’t be so modest.” Fluttershy scolded her, and added: “You deserve some rest know, I made you something to eat and left in the living room.”

“Thanks.” Spottedleaf replied, and padded away from the kitchen.

“You’re welcome.” she heard the pony reply.

As she sat on pillow by the bowl with fish in it, something suddenly hit her.

“Wait, what?!?” she thought, glancing back. “She understood me?”

And then, something actually hit her.

She looked at her side to see the only reason so far that made this day unpleasant.

A rabbit called Angel.

“What do you want now?” she asked, praying to StarClan for patience.

Normally, she wouldn’t get so easily ruffled up by such behavior, even if she was used to cats showing her respect, except for few crankier elders and queens during kitting, but those were cats. This was a rabbit; a prey.

Spottedleaf watched as Angel made some irritating noises, waved his paws around and pointed at the pillow she was sitting on.

“Listen to me, you rat with big ears.” the cat, being fed up with him, said looming over him. “If it wasn’t for it that Matthias asked me to not eat any other animal besides those ponies give me, you would be within my stomach since sunhigh. Everything and everyone I ever cared about was taken from me, and I was nearly killed for the third time yesterday. I will not put up with your behavior for much longer.”

Spottedleaf knew Angel didn’t understand a thing she said - she spared a moment to regret that she never learned from Midnight how to speak to rabbits, or even foxes, at least - but her gaze and outstretched claws told him what he needed to know.

The medicine cat watched as the rabbit backed away, and disappeared around the corner. She sighed, wondering when Matthias was going to come back. Twilight came earlier and told Fluttershy that her ‘fourleg’ (as the cat jokingly began to call ponies), or housefolk, as kittypets called them; was going to be away for few more days, and asked the winged pony if she could take care of Spottedleaf for that time.

“As if I need to be taken care of.” she thought as she bit her teeth into fish.

Matthias wandered through the streets of Canterlot, going nowhere in particular, his mind busy with thoughts about the future.

“I will have to write down all the prayers they made me remember before the initiation. As well as all about the three virtues, and...” he shook his head. “No, before that, I will have to discuss the cathedral with some architects. I hope Brann will help me with that. I will also need to think of the name. It has to be something that sounds dignifying, a name that speaks of strength, but not like the Blood Knights... maybe...”

“If it isn’t Matthias.” some familiar voice called from his left side. “How have you been?”

Matthias broke from his thoughts and glanced at the blue stallion who called him, and the grey mare standing next to him, both unicorns.

“Oh, hello, Night Light, Twilight Velvet.” he responded with a greeting, recognizing Twilight’s and Shining Armor’s parents. “It’s a pleasure to see you again. I’ve been fine lately. How have you been?”

“Just fine, too, thanks for asking.” Twilight Velvet replied. “And it’s a pleasure to see you too. How’s our daughter doing?”

“She’s doing magnificent, as always, both in life and her studies.” Matthias said, and added: “Shining Armor and Cadence are also staying in Ponyville since yesterday, enjoying the last few days of their honeymoon with their friends.”

“What are you doing in Canterlot, then?” Night Light asked. “Aren’t you also one of their friends?”

“Princess Celestia summoned me and an old acquaintance of mine that also arrived in Ponyville yesterday.” Matthias replied, smiling both due to the other pony's words and because of what he was going to say. “Surely you’ve heard rumors about strange bipedal creature with ridiculously long beard.”

“Oh, yes, we’ve heard. So you were the ‘weird pony’ walking alongside of him through the streets. Where did you meet this...”

“His name is Brann, and I met him back in the land where I came from, which is rather far from Equestria.” he told them, knowing he probably shouldn’t mention about the whole 'other world’ thing. ”Princess Celestia was curious about him, and wanted to meet him, so I brought him into Canterlot.”

“I see.” Night Light said, and then asked: “Say, would you like to come for a cup of tea with us? We would love to chat a bit with a friend of our daughter.”

“Sure, I don’t see why not.” Matthias replied politely, despite feeling slightly worried, for some reason.

“You have a very beautiful house.” he commented as he glanced around the specious living room.

Its walls were painted blue, which kind of went well in Matthias’ mind with the color theme of this family coats. There were furnitures with many framed pictures on them, and few armchairs and a sofa next to the low table.

“Thank you kindly.” Twilight Velvet replied, pleased by his comment, as she trotted towards the kitchen. “You drink tea with one cube of sugar, or two?”

“Either way is fine.” Matthias answered as he followed Night Light’s example and sat at the armchair by the table.

“So you say Shining and Cadence are in Ponyville?” the unicorn asked. “How are they after their honeymoon?”

“Happy, relaxed... They also seemed glad to be coming back, despite that they would have to return to their respective duties.”

“Yes, my son takes his duty as the Captain of the Royal Guard very seriously.” Night Light stated, with pride in his voice.

“You sound very proud of him. I guess you must be as much proud of your daughter as well.”

“Of course, not every father can brag that his daughter is the personal student of Princess Celestia, right?”

“I suppose not.” Matthias chuckled.

“Although for a time, she used to worry me and my wife.” Night Light confessed, surprising him. “Twilight was always reading her books, always studying. She never made any friends, like a normal pony, until she came to Ponyville.”

“Really?” the earth pony asked, astonished beyond believe. He would have never guessed that the first pony that tried to befriend him could have no friends at all at some point of the time. Sure, she mentioned that she used to think of her brother and Spike as her only friends, but he thought she was exaggerating. ”I must say, I’m surprised to hear that. I mean, I know she loves to read and study and all, but she always places her friends first.”

“Yes, and we have those five friends she made in Ponyville the first day she came there to thank for that. And while we’re a little sad that because of that, Twilight decided to stay in Ponyville and we’ve seen her even less than before, but we’re happy she’s happy.”

“Spoken like a true parent.” Matthias commented.

At that moment Twilight Velvet entered, levitating a tray with three cups of tea. As she put the two of them in front of her husband and Matthias and taking the last one for herself as she sat next to him, Matthias picked his and took a sip.

“So Matthias, would you care to tell something about yourself?” the unicorn mare asked. ”We know much less about you than about our daughter's other friends.”

A weird thought crossed his mind, that they were interrogating him. He quickly brushed it off as he replied:

“There’s not much to say, really. I was born and raised in far away land, and I came to Equestria about three months ago.

“Do all ponies in this land learn this weird magic like yours?”

“Not all of them, but some; yes. Ponies like me are called paladins, and we use The Light - or, if you will, a ‘weird magic’ - to help and protect others from evil.”

“That’s very noble, but what have you been doing since you came to Equestria? I can’t imagine much to do for a pony like you, safe for what happened during our son wedding.”

“There is always something to do for a paladin.” Matthias retorted with a chuckle. “I was occasionally helping the hospital in Ponyville with few cases, not to mention the feather flu epidemic from three months back. But, to say the truth, you’re right; I didn’t have much to do.”

“Then how do you make a living for yourself?”

“Well, I was offered by the princesses a job today, so to speak. I’m afraid I can’t tell you what it is exactly, because I was asked to keep it a secret for some time.”

His friends' parents looked surprised by his words, but in a pleased way.

“You were personally offered a job by the both princesses? That must be something really important.”

“Oh, it is. I’m sure you will hear about it in a month or so.”

“But what have you been doing until now? You must have had some kind of job in Ponyville, that isn’t classified to speak off.”

“Uh...” Matthias murmured, feeling a bit uncomfortable. “Actually, I didn’t have any, and before you asked how I managed to pay a rent or something... I happened to save three fillies that your daughter knows well the day I arrived in Ponyville. I also got slightly wounded, and didn’t have a place to go, so Twilight offered to let me sleep at her place, and... I’ve been living there since.”

“Oh really?” they both said in unison.

“You’re beginning to make me nervous.” Matthias told them, taking a sip of the tea. “I’m going to assume that your train of thoughts went the same way that Shining Armor’s did when he heard about it, and correct you: Twilight and I are just friends. She’s been very generous to me by allowing me to stay at her house for so long, but... why do you look disappointed?”

Indeed, the moment he said the he and their daughter were nothing more than friends, they both frowned in disappointment.

“It’s nothing, just...” Twilight Velvet sighed. “We really hoped she would have met some nice stallion by now, and you seem like a perfect match for her. A bit older, but that matters little.”

Matthias found himself at a loss for words. Slightly blushing, he carefully chose his next words:

“I appreciate the compliment, but I would prefer not to endanger mine and Twilight's friendship. And I don’t think you should worry about her: she’s a beautiful, smart young mare. I’m sure she will catch an eye of some stallion.”

“And I will kick his flank all the way to...” he began to think, before he noticed and stopped. “She’s not Jaina, she’s Twilight; stop thinking of her in that way!”

“But will he be as good as you?” Twilight’s mother didn’t let him get away that easily.

“I’m not as good as I appear to be.”

“I beg to differ.” Night Light cut in. “From what I can tell so far about you, you’re a kind, compassionate stallion, who’s not afraid of speaking his mind, as we’ve seen at the wedding, nor of terrifying creatures such as a Changeling’s Queen, and have many talents. Not to mention that you were given some important job.”

“That may be true, but I still think that Twilight and I are better off as friends.”

“Oh very well, if you think so.” Twilight Velvet said, sighing. “A shame, really. I’m sometimes worried about her. She still never had a coltfriend, until recently she didn’t have any friends... have you heard about that?”

“Yes, your husband told me about it, and I still find it hard to believe. Twilight that I know is one of the friendliest ponies there are.”

“Well, I admit, sometimes it’s hard to recognize her, after all those years she spend with her nose in the books.” her mother said, chuckling. “She wasn’t that bad when she was a little filly, though... perhaps you would like to see some old pictures of her, and of Shining Armor?”

“With pleasure.” Matthias replied, smiling.

Twilight thrashed around in her bed, unable to fall asleep. She tried counting sheep, breathing, she even got up and drank some milk. Nothing worked.

Sighting out of irritation, she finally got up again and turned the lamp on her nightstand on. She knew that some ponies could also fall asleep by reading a boring book, but there was no such thing for Twilight Sparkle as ‘boring book’. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to read something.

Carefully, to not wake up Spike, or Shining Armor and Cadence in the next room, she walked up to the bookshelves.

“Who?” Owlowiscious asked her.

“You mind fetching me book about... let’s see...” Twilight glanced across her library, wondering what she should read. “Perhaps ‘The Art of the To-Do List’?”

The owl hooted and flew towards the mentioned book; the lavender unicorn went to the kitchen and made herself comfortable by the kitchen table. As she poured herself some more milk, Owlowiscious returned with the book.

“Thanks.” she told him.

“Who.” the owl hooted in response and flew back to the main room of the library.

Twilight opened the book and began to read it, but her mind wandered somewhere elsewhere. She thought about what could have prevented her from falling asleep. Maybe it was because today wasn’t as exciting as yesterday? What was different tonight?

She rolled her eyes as she realized what was different. Matt wasn’t here.

Twilight didn’t even realized how she gotten used to his presence over the last three months. Apart from the unfortunate day before her brother wedding, they always slept in the same room. Almost all the time he was somewhere nearby, and because of that, she felt... safe. Twilight knew that Matt would never let anything to harm her, just like yesterday.

“Yesterday...”

As the memories of that moment beneath the rubble came back to her, the closeness of Matt’s body contrasted itself with his lack of presence now, and the lavender unicorn began to wonder, as her heart began to beat faster, if her friends weren’t perhaps right.

Maybe she was in love with him.

Matthias walked into the castle, paying no attention to the royal guards that he passed. He spent long time watching some old photo albums together with Twilight’s parents. He smiled at the memory - little Twilight looked so cute! Matthias was glad that he managed to keep that to himself, however. He didn’t need her parents to think that he thought of her as anything more than friend. That conversation earlier was really embarrassing.

He entered the suite he’s been given by the Princess, when he thought about what Night Light and Twilight Velvet told him, that he would make a perfect match for her. Matthias recalled how he and Twilight almost kissed in the heat of the moment. As much as he tried to, he couldn’t deny this anymore.

To him, Twilight was more than friend.

Sighing, he walked up to his bed and climbed atop of it. He wasn’t sure anymore if it was due to her reminding him of Jaina, or for some other reason, but he was sure he was in love with Twilight. But even as he realized this, and even if he decided to look past whenever this feeling was an echo of his love for Jaina or not, they couldn’t be together.

“Because,” Matthias thought as his mind began to wander off into dream, “no matter how much do her parents think that I would be a perfect stallion for their daughter, I know that all I would do is make Twilight unhappy.”

Matthias watched, terrified. Everywhere he looked around Ponyville, there were dead ponies. But that wasn’t the worst part.

The worst part was the corpses were rising.

He mind whirled as he saw the small army of undead; composed of ponies he saw everyday on the streets approached him.

“Gaze upon them now.” he heard a voice, cold as winter, speak behind. “See how pathetic they are.”

Matthias turned around and saw a sight that he hoped he would never see again.

The Lich King, in all his power and dreadful glory, stood and pointed the Frostmourne at the approaching ponies, which all stopped in bowed before him. The Lich King laughed.

“In the end, all will bow before their king.”

“I won’t!” Matthias replied, as he stood defiantly before his nemesis, summoning the Light to his aid.

What replied him was more laughter. The earth pony readied himself for charge, when suddenly, he heard another voice.

“Matt? What’s going on here?”

Matthias glanced to his side and saw Twilight approaching them.

“Twilight! Stay back!”

But she wasn’t looking at him.

“Matt, what are you doing?” the unicorn asked the Lich King with puzzled expression as she crept closer until she stood in front of him. “What happened to everypony?”

“No...”

Instead of answering, the Lich King lifted his runeblade.

“No!”

“Frostmourne hungers!” his nightmare yelled as his blade descended.

“Noo!!!”

“That’s enough.” a familiar voice, that sounded like it came from everywhere at once, said.

Matthias blinked, and everything was gone. Not only the Lich King, Twilight, and the undead ponies, but Ponyville as well. He was now standing atop some hill, with forest outstretched before him and moon above.

“Where am I?” Matthias muttered, glancing around.

“Somewhere safe.” the same voice from before replied, however this time it’s coming from above him.

The earth pony looked up and saw the moon again, but after he blinked, he noticed a pony to fly off from the celestial body.

“Princess Luna?!” he asked when she landed before him. “What are you...” Matthias began, but he cut himself off when he realized what was going on. ”This is a dream, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Luna answered, nodding. “It is my duty as the Princess of the Night, to come to my subjects dreams.”

Matthias tried his best not to show any emotion as Princess Luna revealed that she had powers like Ysera.

“This could mean...”

“And how often do you come into mine, Your Highness?” he asked, fearing the answer.

He was surprised when he saw the sympathy in her eyes.

“Often enough to know that this wasn’t the first time you had a nightmare like this.” Luna told him, coming closer. ”Those nightmares... they are related to your past life, aren’t they?”

Matthias looked down at the ground, enough for an answer.

“Those dreams of yours...” Luna said as he remained silent. “They didn’t tell me of what happened to you, if that is what you fear right now. Almost all of them were about you hurting your friends... mostly Twilight.”

The tone she said the two last words made him glance up at her and blush when he saw that the Princess smirked.

“She’s just a friend.” Matthias answered automatically, despite knowing that it was a lie.

In response, Luna lifted her horn, which shone with blue light, and the scene around him changed into:

“It’s so beautiful here.” Twilight hummed as she brushed his mane, both of them lying by the edge of the lake under the starry sky. “And peaceful.”

Blushing even more, Matthias glanced back at Luna, who raised an eyebrow.

“Is there a specific reason you’re doing this?” he asked her, annoyed and embarrassed.

Luna responded with a chuckle and returned them to the previous setting.

“Sorry.” she apologized, and immediately grew serious once more. “Matthias, I have no idea what you’ve been through, but I can see that it haunts you to this day. In that at least, we are similar. I said ‘at least’, because I cannot compare what happened to me, what I did, with your story. Not without knowing your past.”

Matthias wasn’t surprised by her last sentence. He was expecting to hear this since he agreed to create and order of paladins for Equestria. His honor would forbid him to lie to her or her sister now that they would officially be his rulers. The only thing that surprised him was that it happened in a dream.

He was about to say that he understood, and he would tell her everything, but then, he was surprised by something else.

“But, the reverse is also true. You can’t compare what happened to you and what you done to my past, without hearing this story. How about this, Matthias Lehner: I will tell you how I became Nightmare Moon, and in return, after hearing me, you will tell me your story?”

Matthias stared at her, unsure if she was serious.

“Your Highness...” he started, and coughed to clear his throat. “Your Highness, why would you tell me about what happened to you? Since I am to become a part of your military, all you have to do is ask me, and I would tell you mine. There is no need for you to do something in return.”

But Luna shook her head.

“It would have been wrong of me, to ask that you confess your past without me telling mine, even if I am your Princess. And besides...” she added and hesitated, before she went on: “... it would be nice to confine in somepony.”

“What about Princess Celestia?” Matthias asked her, confused.

“I do not wish to cause my sister pain.” Princess Luna shook her head. “She suffered enough because of my foolishness, and there are some things that I kept hidden from her.”

“I see.” the earth pony said slowly, and bowed. “Your concern for your sister, despite your personal pain, speaks well of you, Your Highness. It is a great honor that you chose to confine in such low-life like me, Princess.”

“‘Low-life’?” Luna asked, slightly angered by his description of himself. “Matthias, I thought my sister was clear when she told you of what we think of you. Your virtues make you equal to us... and besides,” she added with a smirk, “you’re also of royal blood, aren’t you?”

Matthias could do nothing better than stare at her as she laughed.

“How...” he tried to ask, only to lose his voice again.

“You really thought we wouldn’t have realized?” Luna asked, still amused. “We can see how you act, how courteous you are, and how you carry yourself, especially when you think nopony is watching. Not to mention that, according to my sister’s student’s letters you know at least two kings on personal level, and you were taught how to fight by a prince.”

“And Twilight was foalsitted by a Princess, does that mean she’s a royalty?” he asked her as she continued to chuckle, feeling embarrassed that it was so easy to figure this out.

“Well, she is now.” she reminded him.

“Technicalities.” Matthias rolled his eyes.

Luna continued to chuckle for a while, before she finally managed to calm herself.

“Don’t worry, neither me nor my sister have an intention to revealing this to anypony, especially you friends.” she said, waving his hoof. “In addition, I also promise that I won’t tell anypony, even my sister, of what you tell me.”

‘Thank you, Prin...”

“Luna.” the alicorn interrupted him, smiling. “Like I said, we’re equal. When it is just us, I wish that you will call me by just my name, and so will Celestia.”

“Very well, then, Luna.” Matthias replied, slightly smiling. ”Thank you and I promise I will as well keep to myself your next words.”

Luna smiled, and sat down, beckoning him to sit next to her.

“This is a dream.” she reminded him. ”There is no need for telling you this story with words.”

As Matthias gave her a puzzling look, she lifted her horn again and once more, the scenery around them shifted.

Author's Note

Before I tell you the important part, I want to make something clear: I do not think that Elune is a naaru. I know I practically said that the sun and the moon are both sources of the Light, and I actually think so, but Elune can not be a naaru. Why? Because she's the mother of Cenarius. While it still is kind of hard to picture her mating with Malorne (a gigantic white stag), I don't think that naaru are capable of mating and giving birth.

Now, the important message: I'm afraid that the 'season of studying' is upon me, and it won't end until about the mid February. As such, I will be dramatically slowing down with the releases of other chapters, and before I will write the next one, I wanted to concentrate a bit on the others. Not only because they deserve some attention as well, but also because the next chapter is going the be a tad difficult to write, as you can imagine. Knowing how many magnificant stories are out there to read, I trust that you will all have plenty of other stuff to read. Heck, you might even read my other stories! I would especially like if the Shadow of the Past had more viewers (although, that second chatper turned out so twisted... eh, you will read my explanation there).

I will still appreciate ideas for the name of the order. Also, I sorry, those of you that wrote the ideas about the priest order, but this can't happen, for several reason:
1. Arthas doesn't know how to train priest; while it is true, that paladins and priest have a lot in common, and I myself wrote that paladins are a combination of priests and warriors, but priest have many unique abilities. I mean mostly all the shadow stuff.
2. Arthas wouldn't be able to be both head of paladins and priest, those two to much contradict each other. For example, while Tyrande is both and excellent warrior and High Priestess of Elune, she left the position as the leader of the Sentinels to her foster daughter, General Shandris Feathermoon. And Arthas couln't just appoint somepony to lead the priest, because that would made that pony above Arthas, since he or she would be the head of the Church of Light, essentially. This would eventually make that pony as much important as Celestia and Luna. Like Archbishop Alonsus Faol, he was considered equal to the kings (or other leaders) of seven human kingdoms ("Wacracft: Tides of Darkness"). I do, however, plan to introduce eventually a pony that would be more fitted to become a priest rather than paladin, and few others that will have problems fitting in for various reasons. This is, after all, something completaly new to Equestria.
3. Priest happen to be the only class that I never played ;p. I plan to put the list of my characters on my blog, soon, if anyone is interested.

Okay, wish me luck with studying. See ya'll!

50. Birth of the Nightmare - part II

Princess Luna chuckled to herself as she landed on the ground, few minutes of flying away from the castle.

“This was easier than I thought it would be.” she reflected on her escape from the castle under the cover of darkness. None of the guards saw her as she flew off.

Granted, Luna doubted she had more than an hour before somepony would have noticed she was gone, but still, a whole hour outside the boring castle!

“This is going to be the greatest day ever! Uh, night!” the alicorn princess corrected herself, but then the night again turned into day. “Oh whatever...”

She looked at the forest surrounding her. Luna knew that the Everfree Forest was dangerous, but she was a princess. She wouldn’t be scared of some nasty old woods.

With that thought in mind, she trotted into between the trees.

“Wow!” Luna sighed, gazing at the entrance to a very dark cave.

It was just like in one of the books her sister read her before going to sleep when she was younger. Luna remembered how there always in such caves, that there were treasures, and...

… and dragons.

Recalling that part of the bedtime stories made the alicorn princess quake in fear, but she quickly got a hold of herself.

“What are the odds of a dragon living so close to the castle?” Luna thought, annoyed by her moment of fear. “Still though, perhaps it’s not such a good idea to go inside...”

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Hearing a voice behind her, all of a sudden and without a warning, caused the Princess to scream and jump into air... only to realize that the one standing behind her was none other than Shadow Bolt.

“What are you doing here?!?” she asked the pegasus, angry that he scared her.

“I saw you leave the castle, and I thought ‘Gee, I bet she’s not supposed to do that’, so I followed you.” the colt replied, his voice dripping with amusement. “I would have caught up with you sooner, but I figured that I shouldn’t let the alarm off as well.”

“Well, that’s just...” Luna started but trailed off as she processed his last words.”... Wait, what alarm?”

“Duh, the alarm spell that sets off whenever somepony leaves or enters the castle through other way than the main gate.”

Luna’s eyes went wide.

“But... that’s just... how do you know about that?!” she asked shocked.

“Hellooo, a royal guard in-training, remember?” Bolt asked, pointing a hoof at himself. “Now come on, let’s go back before anypony realizes it’s you that is missing.”

“No.” Luna said, stomping.

Shadow Bolt, who has turned back, expecting her to follow him, glanced at her, surprised.

“What?”

“I said, ‘no’!” she repeated, this time louder. “I’m sick of that boring castle! I wanted to go for a little walk in the forest, what’s wrong with that?!”

“You mean, aside from the fact that this forest is crawling with dangerous animals?”

“Well then, it’s a good thing I have a royal guard with me, right?” Luna asked, as she walked into the cave. “Or are you...” the Princess added, turning back. “... a chicken?”

She knew that there were few worse insults for a pegasus pony than being compared to a bird, that aside from its name being an Equestria-wide synonym for ‘coward’, who couldn’t fly. Now he would have to go with her. Not that she was especially fond of his company, but it was either that, or he would probably go fetch some other ponies. It was bad enough that they were most likely searching for her right now.

“Just few more minutes.” she promised in her mind. “I will explore this cave, and I will go back to the castle, like a good filly.”

Luna returned her attention to the offended pegasus.

“I am not a chicken!”

“Then you will have no problem walking into this cave, and then escorting me back to the castle.” she told him, lightening up her horn. “I want to do something exciting, before I get back to that boring place, and have to...” Luna would continue to talk for few more moments, but she just then noticed that Shadow Bolt was gazing somewhere above her, his eyes wide as plates.

She turned around... and found herself face to face with a huge dragon.

Luna mind was blank. She continued to stare at the dragon, paralyzed with fear, not even realizing she should probably turn off the light, which was visibly infuriating the dragon even further. The Princess watch as the huge jaw opened, and noticed a flash of light in the depths of its throat, before she felt somepony grabbed her and threw her away.

As Luna felt the wall of the cave collide with her body, she managed to get a hold of herself, and fired a magical beam at where she last saw the dragon’s head.

The problem was that it was no longer there. The dragon lowered its head as it breathed fire where she stood moments earlier, so her attack hit the cave’s ceiling... and send a stalactite down upon the dragon, crushing onto its head entirely.

Luna averted her gaze, not wanting to see the horrific sigh of a dying dragon, and covered her ears to shield them from the loud shriek it ushered, but she soon found something even more terrifying…

…The burnt body of Shadow Bolt.

“Bolt!” Luna screamed as she run to his side.

He gave a weak sound, confirming that he was alive and conscious, which put the Princess a bit on ease, but that momentary feeling of relief vanished as soon as she got a better look at his injuries. While his body bore burn marks everywhere, the worst was his back, which was turned to crisp, and his wings, reduce to some barely recognizable appendages.

Luna stared at the barely living colt in despair, not knowing what to do.

“Somepony, help!” she finally cried.

“What were you thinking!?” Celestia screamed at her.

The royal guards found them quickly - they followed the sound of the dying dragon, which was heard even from the castle, apparently - and brought Luna and, more importantly, Shadow Bolt back. The colt was currently tended to by few of the ponies that were taught medicine by Dr Horn. Luna on the other hoof, was in hers and Celestia’s bedchamber, getting scolded at.

“How could you just leave the castle like that, or trot into a cave with a dragon in it!?” her older sister continued.

Normally, Luna would try to somehow defend herself, or say something along the lines of ‘I’m sorry’, ‘I didn’t mean it’, or ‘I won’t do it again’. I always seemed to work when she set accidentally book on fire on something. This time, however, Luna didn’t bother with any of that. Not only because she knows this was all her fault, but also because Shadow Bolt was so terribly hurt.

So she sat there, on her bed, crying silently as her sister went on with the scolding. After few more minutes Celestia finally noticed Luna wasn’t paying attention at all, and was enough crestfallen as it was.

The younger princess felt her sister wing wrap around her, and she looked up to see Celestia gazing down at her with sympathy instead of anger.

With tears in eyes, Luna hugged her tightly.

“We don’t know if he’ll survive.” those words, spoken by the guard, awakened Luna.

She didn’t know when she had fallen asleep. In fact, Luna couldn’t recall even planning to go to sleep.

“I must have cried myself unconscious.” she thought as she perked her ears to listen better.

“What does thou mean?” she heard Celestia ask. “We know that thou skills aren’t as good as Dr Horn’s, but...”

“I doubt even the Royal Physician could be of much help, Princess.” the guard interrupted her. “We cleaned his wounds, casted few healing spells, appointed healing lotions and bandaged him up, but... his back was burned to the bones, Your Highness. I’m surprised he’s alive as it is. He might still pull off, but it’s unlikely, and even if he lives, he would be unable to move. The amount of damage to his spine...”

“Hush.” Celestia suddenly hissed, and Luna felt her move on the bed to gaze at her. She kept her eyes closed, and after few moments she heard her sister sigh in relief. “For a moment I thought she awoken. We shall continue this discussion outside.”

Luna waited to hear the sound of the doors being closed before she opened her eyes as sat up.

“Bolt is... dying?” she asked herself, before bursting into tears. “This is all my fault! If I haven’t left the castle, he wouldn’t have followed me, and if I wasn’t too scared to move away from the dragon...”

She continued to cry for several moments, before she decided:

“I have to do something about it!”

Luna whipped her eyes of the tears and started to think.

“There must be some way to save him!” she thought as she began to trot around. “I wish Dr Horn was back, he could probably find something in one of his... books...”

The little Princess was about to burst with excitement, but then she realized that if there was something to be found in those books, the other ponies would have already found it.

“Still, though, it’s not like I have a better plan...”

Luna sighed as she concentrated. She imagined the Royal Physician’s office, and how far away it was from her, and focused her magic through her horn, expended it around her whole body, and reached towards her destination.

There was a sudden ‘shish’ noise as Luna casted the teleportation spell. She shook her head, feeling dizzy after teleporting for such a long distance for the first time, and looked around at the books in the office.

At the many books in the office.

“Well, this will take a while...”

Luna growled as threw away another book.

“This is going to take forever!” she said to herself as she sat behind Dr Horn’s desk, annoyed and worried.

If this would take too long, Shadow Bolt would...

She stomped the floor angrily, trying to desperately push that thought away, and only partially succeeding. Luna was about to reach for another book, when she felt her left hoof... sinking? She glanced down and saw that part of the floor on which her hoof was pressed deeper into the ground.

“What the...” she was about to ask when she was startled by a rusty sound behind her.

Luna quickly turned around and saw one of the cabinets move, revealing a small, hidden room behind it.

“Huh?” the alicorn princess stared at the hidden doors. “Why would Dr Horn have a secret room like this? Wait... if nopony knows about this room, then maybe there are some books that they don’t know about, and maybe in one of them there could be something that could save Bolt!”

Having thought of that, Luna jumped up and flew over through the small entrance. There wasn’t much to see inside, just some strange ingredients and barely two books. Wondering if this was actually worth the effort, the Princess picked one and began to skim it over, searching for some healing stuff.

“This is it!”

Luna’s heart began beating faster as she finally found something. There is a recipe for a potion that is supposed to cure every possible wound.

‘But be warned:’ it was written under that: ‘this potion can be only applied to a pony that is on a verge of death. If drunk by any other, it will result in death.’

“How is that supposed to make sense?” she paused to reflect on that, but quickly brushed it off; Shadow Bolt was on the verge of death. “Let’s see the ingredients... perfect, everything is here! Now all I have to do is... wait...” Luna paused again as she noticed the last thing mentioned at the very end.

Her eyes went wide.

“An...” Luna gulped, horrified. “... an unhatched baby dragon?”

‘After mixing everything else, and have casted all the required spell, the potion will need one last thing: the content of the fertilized dragon egg. Just add it to the mix as if you were making an omelette. No further action is required. The substance produced so far will do the rest. The potion would be ready to be drunk by the pony. Warning: depending on the cause of near-death, one of the various side effects might appear.’

“I would have to... kill a... a baby?!” Luna asked herself. “No, I can’t...”

“But this is the only way to save Bolt!” another side of her consciousness interrupted her with a whisper. “Surely, it would be alright, right?”

“No, it wouldn’t!” she argued with herself. “It’s bad enough that I killed that... dragon... I can believe I did that to it...”

“It tried to kill me, and caused Bolt to suffer, he deserved that! And this one wouldn’t be even aware of what is happening... It’s either a life of my fellow pony, and a friend for that matter; or some half-formed lizard, that if it were to would grow up, would be a nuisance at best for ponies.”

Luna realized (albeit reluctantly) that the second voice had more of a point than the first one.

“Shadow Bolt is dying because of me.” she said out loud. “If saving him means I have... to do this... then so it shall be. But... where would I find a dragon egg?”

“If I get caught this time, I will be confided to my room for all eternity.”

That was what Luna thought an hour later, after she finished making the potion - right up to the part when she was supposed to throw in an unhatched baby dragon, that is. The few spells she had to cast was really difficult to pull off, and at some point, she considered to ask her sister for help, but decided against it.

“This is all my fault. I will not burden my sister with an act of taking the life of a baby.”

Despite how hard it seemed, Luna did managed to cast those spells in the end. She was, after all, and alicorn. Even if she was still seven, she had a higher magical potential than a regular unicorn, so it wasn’t that much of a stretch.

This, however, would be.

Luna planned to go back to that cave. She figured that her best bet of finding the dragon egg was laid within a small hope that this dragon she accidentally killed was a female, and had just laid eggs.

It was so unlikely, she wanted to cry.

But even putting aside the fact that she would have to find the egg, the priority was getting away from the castle. Bolt mentioned that the only way to not set off the alarm spell while leaving was to go or fly by the main gate. Luna knew it would be useless to try and teleport - other protection spells, caster by her father, prevented to teleport in or out the castle. It was possible to teleport inside of the castle though, and for Yellow Flash to completely ignore it; although Luna wasn’t sure if it was because he casted that spell, or was it that he was so skilled in the use of the teleportation spell he couldn’t be affected by any magical ward. So somepony like Luna would have to try to go through the main gate, and that would mean passing by few guards, which would be certainly impossible to do in the daylight.

So she decided to do so in the cover of night. But unfortunately, nopony could count on Discord to make the day or night right when the pony needed them most. And because of that, Luna would have to force the night.

The Princess of the Night was about to rise the moon for the very first time.

She took a deep breath. Luna was told many times before to not try to move the moon until she was ten. It was the same age her sister moved the sun for the first time and earned her cutie mark, although by accident. Everypony then assumed that since Luna, born a month or so earlier, was an alicorn and had dark colored coat as well, was destined to move the moon, and was supposed to do so when she reached the same age as Celestia. Not only because it would seem appropriate, but also because moving something as large as the celestial body required a lot of magical energy, even if it happened to be pony's special talent. Luna recalled how her sister mentioned how she was exhausted after the first time she brought about the day. Trying to do essentially the same feat being three years younger than Celestia... didn't seem to be the best idea Luna ever head.

Then again, none of the ideas she had today seemed to be good.

She glanced around for the last time, making sure there was nopony near her hiding place in the gardens near the gate, took another deep breath, and concentrated. Luna focused all her magic in her horn and reached out to the moon. It was... very far away, further than she expected, but she managed to reach it. The small princess then carefully expended the magical energies, from the small touch, to a grasp.

“It's more taxing than I expected.” she realized as she felt a drop of sweat run down her cheek. “And I haven't even begun to move it yet!”

Luna brushed of the sweat and, feeling that she had now the moon within her grasp, she began to move the celestial body. At first, nothing was happening. Despite the energies she was sending, Luna's magic wasn't strong enough to even budge the moon, let alone move it to change the day into night.

“I have to move it!” Luna screeched at herself in her mind. “If I don't, I won't be able to sneak out of the castle, and Bolt will...”

The moment the small alicorn thought about the dying colt, she felt... something...

“Wha... Is it... Yes!” she thought as she realized the moon began to move.

Now knowing how more or less this worked, Luna send through her horn not only magic, but her desire to save her friend and concern for him.

“I'm doing this for my friend... to save his life... for my friend...”

She continued her mantra for few more moments, as the moon, slowly, very slowly even, began to hover over Equestria. As soon as Luna felt it right above her, she opened her eyes – having only now realized that she kept them closed – and was welcomed by the dark of the night.

“Yes! It worked!”

If it was during any other circumstances, Princess would have spared a moment to gloat on accomplish similar feat to her sister being three years younger, but now time was of the essence. Not paying attention to how tired she was, Luna jumped to the air and flew over to the main gate. She flew between two royal guards, both of who were starring at the sky, discussing how odd it was for Discord to change the time of day at this hour, and not paying attention to her. It was past nine pm., and apparently, the insane draconequus slept at this time – which meant the night would stay for few more hours.

Luna beat her wings fast as soon as she was out of earshot of the guards, wanting to get back to the cave as soon as possible. It took less time than she expected, and soon she found herself near the same place Shadow Bolt saved her from the dragon's flame, a feat that he could still pay with his life for.

Princess Luna landed on the ground, and did her best to ignore the sigh of the dead dragon... or the smell it was producing. She spared few moments to take few deep breaths and glanced at the moon she just raised.

It was beautiful. She and her sister tried to look at it and the stars few times – which was never easy with Discord as a neighbor – but it never struck Luna just how beautiful, how magnificent and regal the moon looked. There was something... soothing in its light. Gazing at it now made her feel confident that her poorly planned plan would work.

“Hey, wait a second!” she thought as she averted her gaze from the moon to her flank.

There it was! Her cutie mark! A crescent moon on a dark purple background! Luna was about to start jump up in the air happily, until she remembered why she raised the moon in the first place and what she was doing here.

“I can celebrate later.” she decided as she steeled herself and trotted over to the cave.

The Princess of the Night spared a moment to look at the dead dragon. The stalactite had pierced right through its skull and the end of it was sticking out from its throat. Luna barely stopped herself from vomiting after taking good look at this sigh, which was so horrific that she began to feel sorry for the dragon.

“No!” the thought in her head immediately put an end to this feeling. “It burned Bolt and tried to kill me! It deserved this!”

Luna shook her head and trotted past the corpse, deeper into the cave, lightening her horn as she looked around. It didn't took many steps until the light created by her magic reflect from something. Knowing that dragons had usually kept jewels in their caves, Luna wasn't surprised when she saw mountains of them. She made a mental note to return some other time her and take a better look at them. Right now she was searching for...

“An egg!” the small alicorn exclaimed as she run up to it.

Luna couldn't believe her luck – although, considering how little of it she had today, it seemed fair – as she regarded it. The egg was a bit smaller than a dragon egg should be. Luna could easily pick it up with her hooves.

“Maybe this dragon was sick or something?” she thought as she continued to gaze at it. Luna began to doubt in what she was planning to do. “Can I really do this? This is a living being I'm holding; a small, unhatched, defenseless baby dragon. Can I really... kill it? Isn't it bad enough I killed its mother?”

“She tried to kill me. And Bolt could still die. It only fair that this egg should pay for its parent crime.”

“But it was my fault to begin with.”

“It would die anyway, without its mother to take care of it when it hatches.”

Luna sighed. She had come this far with this plan – if it meant saving Shadow, she would do this.

Getting back to the castle was surprisingly easy, even with this egg. As soon as Luna was within its borders, she teleported back to Dr Horn's office. It was still empty, for which she was thankful. The small alicorn spared a moment to worry for the Royal Physician and her father, but quickly stopped, knowing there wasn't anypony that could possess much of a threat to him. She focused on the potion instead.

Luna crept closer with the dragon egg to the cauldron she prepared earlier. Now that she was about to actually do it – actually killing an innocent baby dragon – she found herself lacking the resolve to go through with it again.

“This is for the best.” she told herself as she closed her eyes and took few deep breaths. “This dragon has no future anyway, but Bolt can.”

When Princess opened her eyes, there was no longer doubt in them. She lifted the egg with her magic over the cauldron, and… cracked it open.

Despite all that she told herself, how she was sure that this was right thing to do. Princess Luna still immediately averted her gaze the other way, so she wouldn't see it. She would not see what would haunt her forever anyway. As she heard the... contents of the egg drop into the cauldron, she covered it with a lid. Luna glanced at it, while strange hissing noises began to build up inside of it. For a moment, she could swear she heard... a cry.

Luna vomited in the middle of the room.

The chambers in which the bandaged form of Shadow Bolt laid were empty, which suited Luna just fine. She panted slightly as she appeared next to him; between all that she did today, she was dead tired.

“I will rest in a moment.” she promised herself as she noticed that the doors were slightly opened. “Makes sense that they would keep an eye on him.”

She moved closer to the pegasus. Even she, a foal, could tell that he was close to death – his shallow, weak breaths made that clear. Knowing that the time was of the essence, she lifted the bottle to which she poured the potion up to his mouth. Luna carefully tilted back his head a little and, praying this would work, let the black liquid drop into Bolt's throat.

Princess knew it had some effect as soon as she poured the entire bottle. Shadow began to shake violently, and there was some dim light emanating from him. Luna backed away, not knowing if this was supposed to happen.

“What is going on in here?!?” A voice boomed behind her suddenly.

Startled, the alicorn princess quickly turned around and saw Dr Horn standing in the doorway. She found herself at the loss of words as the unicorn passed her and tried to hold down Shadow Bolt.

“What did you do?!?” he asked. “What was in this bottle?!?”

Luna was about to answer this question – although she wasn't sure how exactly – when as sudden as he began, the pegasus colt stopped shaking.

“What... what happened?” Luna heard him ask.

“Did... did it work?” she asked, wondering if the shocked expression on the Royal Physician's face was a good sign, as she moved closer to him and the colt she tried to save.

What she saw almost made her back away.

Shadow Bolt was sitting and removing his bandages. That wasn't, however, what made her react that way. In fact, that was a good thing. No, it was what he looked like under those bandages that caused that. His skin and coat grew back, and had a darker shine to them than she recalled. His wings not only did not regain their feathers, but... changed completely, resembling bat's more than pegasus', or...

... or dragon's.

“'... some of the various side effects might appear'.” Luna recalled as she looked at somewhat different pony that she remembered.

Shadow Bolt brushed his shadowy mane and gazed at the two other ponies. Luna almost cringed at the sight of the yellow eyes with iris like a cat's. She calmed herself and spoke:

“Bolt? How... do you feel?”

The pegasus tilted his head and after a moment replied:

“Fine, I guess? What happened? The last thing I remember is that... dragon...”

“He's fine!” Luna thought as she felt tears begin to form in her eyes. “He's fine, he's fine, he's fine, he's fine!”

She briefly noticed Shadow Bolt's confused glance... before she realized that Dr Horn was practically piercing her with his gaze.

“I want to talk with you in private, Princess.” he hissed.

“What in Tartarus were you thinking?!”

Luna cringed as the Royal Physician screamed at her inside his office. The doctor spared few minutes to examine the formerly dying pegasus, and confirm that he was indeed fine, before he discharged him and then he almost shoved Luna back to his office.

“Do you have the slightest idea of how much what you have done goes against the very nature of this world?!? Putting aside the law of Equestria, of course!”

“I know it was a...” Luna paused as she searched for the right term. “... a bad thing to do, but...”

“'A bad thing to do'?!?,” Dr Horn interrupted her. “You took the life on an innocent!”

“... but Bolt was dying; Because of me!”

Hearing that, and seeing the tears in her eyes, finally calmed the unicorn down. He panted as he shifted his gaze from Luna to the cauldron that she used to prepare the potion that saved Shadow's life.

“Is... Is Bolt going to be alright?” the alicorn princess asked him, still concerned for her friend.

Dr Horn sighed as looked back at her. It hit Luna then just how... old he was; Old and tired.

“Yes, yes he will.” he said in a surprisingly gentle tone. “He will look like the lovechild of pony and dragon for the rest of his days, but other than that, I suspect he will feel better than ever.” suddenly growing more serious, doctor moved closer to her. “Now listen to me, Princess. Never, ever mention to anypony what you did; I will tell everypony you just used some rare plant or something for this. Secondly, never go and do something like this ever again. Got it?!?”

Luna immediately nodded, but in case of the second part, she was lying. She knew that what she did was right to do, and she knew that if she ever found herself in such situation, she would always chose to follow what her heart told her was right to do.

Author's Note

Well, part two of Luna story. Some of you might be angry with the lack of Arthas in this mini-arc, but it won't take long now. I expect the next parts to be shorter, since I plan to cover more years with them.

Those of you who read my blog know how my brother reacted, if not: "My brother is being a baby about this whole pony thing. Not that I didn't found his "This is for F'n little girls!" routine amusing as hell. And I've got prime example of how much of the world's boonies my country is: my brother, despite being well-versed in the use of the internet, never heard of a term "bronies", not to mention others such as "brohoof". But still, I consider getting back at him for all those things he said. Walk with me on that one: I will write a short story, in which I will send HIM to Equestria, and have him do some things connected to his interests and profession. Sounds funny? Cruel?" Putting aside my plans for vengance, do you know which episode would be best to show to a non-brony, hater even, that would make him change the view on this show?

51. Birth of the Nightmare - part III

Luna angrily brushed away the pie off her face and stared at the laughing draconequus.

“That annoying little...” she thought as she casted a spell that caused a lightning came down on him.

“Oh, please.” Discord replied, whipping out of nowhere an umbrella, from which the lightning bounced off. “Is this the best the ‘Oh So Powerful Princess’ can do?”

Growling, this time Luna fired a concentrated beam of magic at him, which left a whole in his stomach. The Princess of the Night was about to proclaim her victory, but she noticed the smirk on Discord face as he lifted his paw up to his face, stick a thumb in his mouth then blew, which caused the whole in his stomach to be filled with flesh again.

“How did he... what!?!” was all that she could think off at this bizarre sight.

Discord, for his part, laughed.

“If this is all there is to the power of alicorns, it’s no small wonder they disappeared.” he said between the burst of laughter. “They were all probably ashamed that...”

Whatever else the draconequus was going to say was cut off as from the ground ropes made out of pure diamond burst through and tied him up. Luna glanced where she knew her sister was hiding. Celestia, knowing from their father tales that most of Discord’s more potent magic worked by him first snapping his fingers, had devised this plan, that while Luna had him distracted, she would cast a spell that would gather minerals from the ground and form chains that would bound him and unable him to move..

“We did it!” Celestia said excited as she joined Luna near the laying form of bounded Discord.

Luna was about to say the same when she noticed that Discord was rolling his eyes. At the same moment he simply got up, his flesh going through his bounds as if they were air.

“Honestly, that was your plan?” the Spirit of Chaos said, addressing Celestia. “I thought that since you were hiding yourself while your sister fought me - or rather, tried to fight me - you had some real trick prepared. But I guess such uselessness should be expected from Equestria’s royal family. Considering that your mother never bothered to defend her kingdom and such.”

Luna thought that she was angry. But as she glanced at Celestia she realized what the word ‘angry’ meant. Her horn shone brighter than Luna ever recalled seeing, and her four-colored mane flowed more fiercely.

“Don’t you dare insult our mother!” she screamed as she fired a whole wave of magic at him, burning everything around Discord.

“Okay, I admit, that might have been a little too low.” he replied in a bored tone as he snapped his fingers and caused everything to bloom around him. “On a side note, this grim look doesn’t suit you, Celestia.”

“This is hopeless.” Luna has realized as the draconequus sit down on a throne made out of vines and flowers. “Why?!? Why can’t we beat him?!?”

“Now then...” Discord said, holding his paws together and looking at them with a sadistic grin. “What should we do next? Oh, I know! How do you feel about dancing in pink skirts, Princesses?”

“How about no?” asked the new voice, interrupting Discord as he was about to snap his fingers again.

Luna and Celestia looked behind them and saw a pony, whose appearance made both of them wish that they had to dance instead.

“Oh, Yellow!” Discord exclaimed as the two alicorns’ father approached them. “How are you, haven’t seen you in a while! Is age catching up with you already? I mean, it must be, since it took you so long to notice your daughters left that peaceful castle of yours to have some fun.”

“We are so screwed.” Luna thought, not bothering to find more princess-like description of their situation.

Despite being almost of age now, and knowing how much Yellow Flash loved both of them, she was still scared of her father at times like this. The Princess of the Night remembered very clearly the scolding she received that day all those years ago when, after returning to the castle with Doctor Horn he learned that Luna had gone to the forest not once, but twice; and everything else that happened that night.

And while Yellow Flash was now glaring at Discord, Luna knew that the moment of reckoning would soon come for her and Celestia.

“I don’t have time for your over-the-top antics and bad jokes, Discord.” the unicorn told the draconequus, in a tone that neither of his daughters heard him use before: it was a calm, quiet tone, that spoke of as much danger as only the most fiercest of animals could possess.

“Oh, you...” Discord replied, sniggering. “Now that you are here, the fun might finally begin.” he added, and was about to snap his fingers.

He didn’t get the chance. The moment he finished talking, Yellow Flash appeared next to his paw and slapped it with his hoof, preventing him from using his magic. In the next split second, the father of the two alicorns was right next to the draconequus’ head, and bucked Discord with all his strength, causing him to... fall on the ground.

“Auu!” Discord’s head yowled, but sounded more offended than to be actually in pain. His body crossed his paws on his chest. “You almost broke my nose, you nasty sneaky little...”

“We’re going home, now.” Yellow Flash told Luna and Celestia as he teleported right between the two of them, completely ignoring Discord. The next thing Luna knew, they were not within the castle’s gardens as she expected, but in the forest’s clearing nearby the castle.

“So,” Luna heard her father say as she and Celestia turned around to look at him. His face still bore the serious expression. “…will one of you explain to me what in the name of Equestria were you doing?”

Luna briefly wondered if it was better or worse that he never screamed at them.

“We were trying to defeat Discord, Father.” Celestia replied, although she looked reluctant to do so.

“I could see that.” Yellow Flash said. “But what I want to know is what made you think you could actually beat him. Whose idea was it?”

“Fine, it was me!” Luna exclaimed before her sister could try to take the blame for her. “Father, I can now see the dreams of ponies from all around Equestria, not just the castle. Discord’s rule is driving them all insane! If somepony doesn’t do something, they will be beyond any help!”

The Princess of the Night has realized that she was screaming and quickly presses her hoof to her mouth to silence herself. Luna has never raised her voice on neither on her parents. She expected Yellow Flash to grow even angrier that he was already, or to simply punish them in some fashion, but to her surprise, he simply sighed, and dropped the serious expression.

“He looks so... old.” Luna thought with a jolt.

She knew, of course, that their father was in his fifties, but he always seemed so full of energy. He even managed to cause Discord more damage in one second than both she and Celestia within ten minutes, and they were alicorns, with powers to move celestial bodies!

“Maybe everything that has happened is finally taking its toll on him.”

“I know.” Yellow Flash murmured. “I have seen many times the chaos and unhappiness that has spread over Equestria during those... how long has it been, forty-something years ago? When I was younger - long before Celestia was born, of even I began to court your mother - I tried several times to fight Discord, to stop this misery he was causing. I came up with many different plans, strategies, scenarios... No matter what I did, the final result stayed the same. I couldn’t beat him. I might be a powerful unicorn, strong magically, physically and mentally; and possibly the fastest pony there ever was, but Discord is an incarnation of chaos. He cannot be hurt physically, none of the spells I know about - and I know of more than the two of you - works on him, and his power reserves are without limit. I suppose we should be thankful that he prefers to spend all of that power on making lame jokes instead on actually hurting others.”

“But ponies still suffer, Father.” Celestia interjected. “We cannot forsake them, just because we are safe.”

“Spoken like a true princess.” Yellow Flash said, smiling weakly. “Your grandfather would have been proud of both of you, if he had lived longer. Although, one might have called him fortunate, to die before all of this mess happened. When King Brom died, your mother was six years old.” he reminded them, his voice regaining strength. “Before she had time to finish mourning over him, she was about to be crowned Queen with her mother acting as Regent, but then Discord came and started spreading his chaos. Your mother lost her father, her foalhood, and her kingdom, all within the matter of days. While I’m sure she will tell you how proud she is of your actions, she is actually terrified of losing you as well. Think about your sick mother before you try to challenge Discord again.” Having said that, Yellow Flash had turn around and begin to trot back to the castle. “Now, let’s go home. I could use a walk.”

Celestia started following immediately, but Luna hesitated for few seconds, thinking over everything her father said.

“Father?” Luna asked as she flew over to them. “When did you stop fighting with Discord?”

Before replying, Yellow Flash glanced at her and smiled.

“The same day I learned that I was going to be a father.” he said, nodding at Celestia.

“Sister, may I speak with you?” Luna asked as she knocked at Celestia’s door few hours later.

“Of course, come in.” a voice replied, and so she entered.

Luna glanced around her sister bedchamber. They used to sleep in the same room once, but as she grew up, she started to be more self-depended - and learned to better deal with the dreams of other ponies she entered from time to time - and both of them agreed that they could use some more privacy. Celestia new bedchamber had, aside from bed, few bookshelves and one desk near window, by which she was now seating with a book.

“I was curious about the Crystal Empire.” she told Luna, no doubt noticing that her gaze lay on the book. “Its magic is said to be very powerful, and seeing as it protects crystal ponies from Discord’s magic... although, he might be simply lazy and doesn’t want to bother with another kingdom, but still, it’s a possibility.”

“Have you found anything?” Luna asked, immediately taking interested in the subject, and momentary forgetting why she came here.

“No.” Celestia replied, regret in her voice. “The books we have are mostly about the interactions between the Crystal Empire and Equestria; nothing about its history or its power. Anyway, what did you wanted to talk about, little sister?”

Brushing off the matter of the Empire’s magic, Luna gazed at Celestia.

“Why did you react so violently, when Discord mentioned our mother?”

For a brief moment the older alicorn’s eyes widen, but she quickly calmed herself. If it wasn’t for the fact that Luna grew up with a father who could be on the other side of the hallway within less than a split second, she would have missed that.

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked, pretending to be confused. “Isn’t it normal for a foal to get angry when its mother is badmouthed in front of it?”

“It would be, if that foal was me.” Luna replied. “I am the one who gets angry easily, sister. You stay calm in most dire situations. Discord comments shouldn’t have affected you so... unless there was some reason. Don’t think I didn’t notice that everypony speaks of Mother in hushed voice whenever I’m around.” more quietly, she added: “What’s wrong with her? This sickness she has... where did it come from?”

Celestia sighed, and put her book away.

“I would have preferred if you didn’t know this, but... I guess you’re not a little filly anymore, huh?” she smile weakly, but grew more sober as she carried on. “Mother has been sick as long as you can remember, correct?”

Luna nodded, recalling how always she was tired and stayed in her bed for most of the time. She has almost never left the castle, except in really sunny days (but not hot days), when she would go for small walk around the castle’s gardens.

“Well, she wasn’t always like that.” Celestia’s voice pulled her from memories. “Although, most of mine early memories of her are same as yours, she had gotten better within few years. It wasn’t until... you were born, that Mother once again grew sick.”

Luna tilted her head in confusion as her sister continued.

“I kept pestering Father, Aunt Twinklestar, Grandmother Sundancer, Dr. Horn, and anypony who could shed some light on this. So, eventually, I learned the reason for her sickness.” the white alicorn paused here, and whispered: “It’s us.”

Luna jaw slightly dropped as her eyes widen in horror.

“W-What?!” she asked, her mind blank.

“Luna, you and I are alicorns. You think that an average pony could carry not one, but two alicorns in her belly for twelve months each and give birth to them without it having an effect on her body?”

“Mother is not an average pony!” Luna screamed, feeling tears start forming in her eyes.

“I know, Little Sister.” Celestia replied sadly, forcibly pulling her into a hug.

Being pressed into her body, Luna started to sob.

“Why isn’t she getting better yet?” she asked in between sobs. “You said that she recovered after few years of your birth.”

“Doctor Horn said that giving birth to another alicorn have... depleted her strength.”

“So... this is my fault.” Luna whispered as the realization came upon her. She felt the same feeling she felt when Bolt was dying; the feeling of guilt. “If I haven’t been born...”

“Now listen!” Celestia interrupted her sharply, pulling them slightly apart. “Don’t ever try thinking that again. It’s not your fault, nor is it anypony’s else.”

“But...” Luna tried to protest, but her sister’s hoof stopped her.

“Luna,” the older princess said more gently, smiling. “...our mother was always sad, unless she was with me or with our father. She still is, and since Grandmother died, she has become even sadder when alone. But since you were born, she had gotten a new pony to make her happy. Trust me when I say that even when she was full of energy and could trot everywhere within the castle, I haven’t seen her anywhere near as happy when she hold the little you in her hooves.”

Hearing her sister words, words that she knew in her heart to be true, caused Luna to smile. But still, she promised herself to find some cure for Mother, just like she did for Shadow Bolt, and a way to defeat Discord and return her mother to the her throne.

Luna trotted over the castle’s wall, her mind still locked on the conversation she had with Celestia an hour ago. She wanted to go to her mother, to hug her, talk with her, beg her forgiveness for being born, or something, but she knew that whenever Father wasn’t out of the castle on some business, he was with Mother. While taking Princess Platina condition into account Luna doubted she would see something that would scar her mentally if she went there, she decided it would be best to leave them some privacy.

“Hi Luna.” a familiar and uncharacteristically sad voice sounded right next her.

Princess almost jumped into the air, so surprised she was by that.

“Is scaring me your hobby or something?” she scowled at the one of a kind pony.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Shadow Bolt murmured, flexing his featherless wings. “But it’s not exactly my fault this time; you were simply lost in thoughts.”

Ever since his appearance was changed due to the potion Luna made to save his life, most of the ponies living in the castle tried to distance themselves from him. Luna was one of the few who treated him the same as she did before the incident. In fact, she was much friendlier to him, taking into account that he saved her life almost at cost of his own. Thankfully, overtime Bolt dropped his annoying tries to win Celestia affection, which made being friends with him much easier, although he still harbored a crush for her.

They soon discovered that the potion caused more that change of Bolt’s appearance. He could fly without making sound, see in the darkest night, and was stronger that most colts his age were. All of that made ponies to be more unease around him, but Shadow Bolt on the other hoof, found his new body to be - as he phrased it - awesome. Luna was thankful for that as well - she was afraid that he would hate her. But she soon began to curse his contentment, as Bolt few times sneaked up on her and scaring her. He even got his cutie mark for this. The most disturbing cutie mark anypony ever saw, but a cutie mark nonetheless.

“Maybe,” Luna replied, “but I still think that you should wear a bell. I will mention that to the Captain once you become officially a royal guard.”

For some reason, her joke made Bolt cringe.

“Yeah, you do that. Not that I’m going to become one, anyway...”

“What?” Luna said, gazing at him in confusion. “What do you mean? Last time I heard, you were doing great with your training.”

“Well...” he replied uncomfortably. “You know how the armor the royal guards wear makes them all look the same, right?”

The dark blue alicorn nodded. She knows that from her history lessons. When the royal guards were first formed, some more shady ponies tried to get to them through their relatives, so that they could get away with various things. To prevent that from happening, the armors of royal guards were enchanted so that ponies wearing them looked the same, with the exception of coat being either white or gray, depending on the natural shade of pony.

“Well, it would appear that this body of mine is resistant to it.” Bolt finished.

“Wait, seriously?” Luna asked.

“So, that would mean he has some level of natural magical resistance...” she pondered as the other pony nodded.

“But why would that prevent you from becoming a royal guard?” Princess asked aloud. “It was more of a traditional thing by the time of my grandfather reign, anyway.”

“The Captain said they could try to think of something, but assuming Discord would be beaten one day, ponies would find a guard like me to be more scary than trustworthy.” Shadow replied sounding, for the first time, saddened by his appearance. “Becoming royal guard was my dream, ever since I was brought here as a foal, but now...”

It was hard for Luna to listen to this and not burst into tears. It was, after all, her fault. She never shaken off the feeling of guilt for what Shadow Bolt had to go through because of her, but she didn’t expect that his new body would have made it impossible for him to achieve his dream.

“There must be something I could do!” Luna thought. “If I want to find solutions to beating Discord and curing Mother, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to help my friend...“

Suddenly, the Princess of the Night had a brilliant idea.

“Shadow Bolt.” she said straightening up. “Dost thou promise to serve and protect thy Princess and the Kingdom of Equestria?”

The colt stared at her in confusion for few heartbeats, before he pulled himself together, straightened up and replied:

“I do.”

Luna smiled before she continued:

“Then by our right as the Princess of the Night, We welcome thou to our... Night Guard.”

Luna sighed few days later as she trotted through the forest.

“You know, had I know you would follow me almost all the time...”

“But it is my duty as thou night guard, Princess, to protect thee from all danger.” Shadow Bolt replied grinning as he followed her in his new shining purple armor.

“Pity you use this duty most of the time as an excuse to get closer to my sister.” Luna bit back. “And don't talk like that, this way of speaking is reserved for royalty... Plus, you’re doing it wrong.”

Her idea for making him her part of her night guard, as well as the idea of forming it in the first place, was met by everypony with approval; maybe aside from the Captain of The Royal Guards, who had some reservation due to fact that night guards would be beyond his command. They would report directly to Luna as their job that’s unlike the royal guards, would not be standing all day and guarding peace (although they would be expected to do so if need arises), would be seeking out those that would bring danger to Equestria. They would act as spies, infiltrators, and detectives; looking for ponies and other creatures who would try to wrong others. Yellow Flash has mentioned few times that crime has increased steadily during Discord’s rule. If Luna and Celestia were ever going to beat him, they would still need to bring peace back to Equestria.

“It’s a pity that there’s only one so far.” she commented in her thoughts, recalling that the armorer said he would need to work some more on changing the enchantment on the armors, so ponies wearing them would look like Shadow Bolt. “But at least he managed to make an armor that was lighter than the regular one and made no sound.”

“Anyway, why did you leave the castle, Princess?” her guard asked her as he flew next to her.

“I needed to take a break from all that researching about spell to defeat Discord.”

“So your idea of a break is going on a walk through a dangerous forest? Because I’m pretty sure both of us almost died here few years ago.”

“Very funny.” Luna replied, rolling her eyes at his dark sense of humor. “If any dragon would try to jump on us now, I would send it packing, so there is no reason for you to be afraid, my brave night guard.”

Now it was Shadow Bolt’s turn to roll his eyes. Luna chuckled as she brushed her ethereal starry mane. Her and Celestia manes changed as they grew in power... but her sister’s changed when she was three years older than Luna was when her mane changed, meaning that she could have higher magical potential than Celestia..

“Thank you, Your Highness, it’s really comforting.” he murmured. “How’s that search of spells going, by the way?”

“Not good.” Princess admitted bitterly. “There is no way that conventional spells could work on Discord, and my sister objects on using any unconventional ones.”

“‘Unconventional’?”

“The kind of spells that could rip a soul into pieces; not that there are much of those in the books we have here, mind you...”

“Rip a soul into pieces?” Bolt asked with a shrug. “Isn’t that a bit... harsh? I mean, I know Discord is evil, but he hasn’t caused a direct harm to anypony, hasn’t he?”

“Just like my sister...” Luna thought bitterly as she turned around to regard him.

“You’re not the one who goes into dreams of other ponies and sees what affect his chaos has on them. You don’t spend every moment when you are asleep trying to help them deal with the insanity of their nightmares, nor does my sister.” she added angrily as she turned back and resumed trotting. “By what right she can decide, the way which we will take to save the ponies of Equestria, when all she does for them is merely read books!?!”

She didn’t expect to say that out loud, but this was what she was thinking over for some time. If there was a way to save their subject from insanity that was approaching them, surely soul shattering of the individual that was causing this was worth it. But Luna’s oh-so-perfect sister refused to do that, on grounds that such an act is unforgivable.

Her dark thoughts were interrupted by a sudden feeling of something brushing her wing gently. She looked surprised and saw Bolt looking at her concerned.

“Are you okay?”

Luna sighed, calming herself down.

“Sorry, I did not intend to take out my anger at you like that. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately. I just wish there was a way to defeat that freak of nature once and for all.” she paused to look around their surroundings. “Wow, we walked a bit longer that I intended.”

Indeed, they were in the part of the forest neither of them was ever before. They were near that weird mountain that could be seen from the castle’s walls, which meant that they must have been at least an hour away. Granted, they flew some of the distance, but still...

“We will better go back, Princess.” the night guard said, looking at the mountain suspiciously. “This mountain... I don’t know why, but there is something I don’t like about it.”

Luna had to admit, there was something... unsettling in the air around them, although she couldn’t put her hoof on what that something was. Curious, she casted a quick-scanning spell and gasped. There was some magical residue somewhere on the mountain, but there was a much stronger source of magic nearby.

“What is this?” she wondered as she began to trot in its direction. “It seems... dormant, but so powerful, and... pure?”

“Luna?” Bolt called after her, noticing she was going somewhere. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for something.” Princess replied, feeling that she was getting closer to the source.

“For what?”

Instead of answering right away, Luna pushed away some bushes and stood in awe.

“For these.” she finally said few heartbeats later.

“You again, Princesses?” Discord said as he appeared in front of them as they stood near the ruins of Eastin. He sounded bored. “While I appreciate your efforts to amuse me, you should have realized that you don’t stand a chance against me. Still,” he added, stretching. “I am sort of curious of what you came up this time, so go ahead and start.”

Luna smiled to Celestia. His arrogance made this soo much easier.

“Why, thank you, Discord.” Celestia told him with a smirk, and glanced at the younger princess. “Little sister, shall we?”

Princess of the Night nodded, and both of them charged their magic.

“Wait... what are those?” Discord asked, as confusion in his voice and a slight hint of fear as five stones started to flow around him.

Luna smirked and replied:

“The Elements of Harmony.”

It took them weeks to figure out what they were, exactly, and how to use them. Each of the stones, or The Elements as they called them, was tied to a different aspect of friendship: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. Through channeling their magic, and mixing it with their feelings and bond their shared, they caused another Element to appear. One that acted as controller, letting the gathered magic to be used in desired fashion, so long as it served to preserve Harmony.

“But it couldn’t cure Mother...” Luna thought bitterly for a moment, before she grabbed a hold of herself; regretting that Celestia’s and her birth were natural things, and there for the Elements couldn’t cure the affects they had on their mother would not help them now.

She watched as Discord snapped his fingers... and nothing happened.

“Your magic has no affect on them, Discord.” Celestia said, this time not smirking and being serious. “It is over.”

Discord continued to look around confused, as lines of rainbows started to connect each Element, and... burst into laughter.

“Well, this is something new.” he said after a while as both Princesses stared at him, wondering if he had a slight hint of a sane mind within his skull. “Oh, don’t look so surprised. I love chaos and despise order. Sure, I am pissed that you prissy little Princesses managed to beat me, but if I stayed unbeaten for an eternity it would go against my belief, see? Now then,” Discord added, looking slightly more serious, “what are going to do with me? Since you beat me and all?”

Sisters shared a confused look. They expected him to be infuriated or something, not... something like this. Discord behaviour put them slightly off-track. Celestia cleared her throat as she regained her composure.

“Discord, for your crimes against Equestria and all the ponies who life here, we, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, daughters of Princess Platina, the rightful ruler of Equestria, sentence you to be imprisoned in stone.”

“And here I hoped it would be something original. Oh well.” Discord sighed, as if he didn’t cared. “You do know I will eventually break free, right?”

“You’re about to be surprised, then.” Luna said, as both sisters prepared to cast the final spell. “You will never bring unhappiness to anypony again. We will see to that.”

“Oh, Luna, so full of yourself...” Discord chuckled. “Pity I won’t be around to see that confidence of yours to be turned against you.”

Luna eyes widen slightly, now even more confused.

“What was that supposed to mean?”

“That you are stupid.” he replied, sticking out his tongue.

“Let’s turn him to stone, little sister.” Celestia told her, not amused by this.

“Agreed.” Luna replied, brushing off the thought and concentrating.

“Wait wait wait! Let me pick some pose!” Discord shouted as he flexed his muscles. “How about this or maybe thinker?” he asked as he took a pose that made him look like he was deep in thoughts. “Joker?” he sticks out his tongue while making a silly face. “Cheerful?”

A beam of rainbow hit him before he could propose something else, and as the light dimmed, Luna and Celestia saw the Spirit of Chaos that ruled and terrorized Equestria for almost half century, turned into stone.

“We…” Luna said, glancing at her big sister. “...we did it!”

Author's Note

Does this chapter seems rushed? Well, in all honesty, I also want to put Arthas back in story as soon as possible.

52. Birth of the Nightmare - part IV

Luna looked at the long line of petitioners that were attending in her night court, where they could present to her their problems.

“One would think that there would be more petitioners during day than night.” she thought as she prepared to listen to the first pony’s plea.

That, along with many other things, was Discord’s fault. Half of a century of day and night switching randomly really messed with ponies’ inner clocks. Even after two years since her and Celestia victory over him, everypony found it hard to adjust.

Both of them were very busy ever since. They had grown up believing that there would come a day when their mother would be sitting on the throne of Equestria as Queen, so they were really surprised when she decided to stay within the old castle.

“It is you two that are destined to rule Equestria, my dear daughters, not Me.” she told them after everypony celebrated the fall of Discord. “Besides, I’m too old and frail to do much, let alone rule a nation. I will be far more content to stay here. Just... promise me that you will visit me from time to time.”

Father stayed there as well, as so did some of the staff; and so, Luna and Celestia had to deal with the disorder left by Discord mostly by themselves. They spend over a month trying to convince ponies that the Spirit of Chaos was defeated alone; not to mention repairing the economy, hospital care, and decreasing the crime, which putted off their official coronations as Princesses of Equestria for four months. Both Celestia and Luna agreed that their grandparents will be remembered as the last King and Queen of Equestria: from now on, this country will be ruled by Princesses, regardless of lineage.

Their problems weren’t done by the time of the coronation, though. They still had a lot of work, especially Luna, who also had to comfort ponies in their dreams.

“Speaking of...” she thought as she sensed somepony having a nightmare.

Unnoticed by everypony, her mind shifted to the realm of dreams, and soon she found herself in some bizarrely colored landscape. Luna immediately stopped paying attention to it as she realized that she could hear a cry of a foal. She quickly rushed towards it, and found a small filly that couldn’t be older than one, with a familiar shape that was hovering over her.

“Discord.” Luna named him in her mind as she banished this nightmare into nothingness. “Will Equestria be ever free of you? Even ponies that were born after you were defeated fear of you within their minds.”

Princess of the Night then trotted over to still crying filly, and picked it up from the ground, holding her in the embrace of the forelegs.

“There there, little one...” she whispered as she tried her best to calm the small unicorn.

She didn’t have much experience with such small ponies, but the filly stopped crying and looked at her with her big eyes and giggled adorably.

“See? There is nothing to be afraid of.” Luna smiled at her as she lulled her back into peaceful dream. “Go back to dreaming, little one, and remember that I will always look after you.”

The filly’s eyes slowly closed, as she phases into another phase of dream. Luna kissed her on forehead near her horn and put her comfortably on the ground, feeling very happy, and not just because she helped another of her subjects. For a moment she wondered if this was what her mother have felt when she hold her so many years ago, and Celestia before. This warm feeling she had as she had that filly in her embrace... Luna found herself at loss of words as she tried to describe it.

“Is this what mothers feel? Will I ever feel that, but because of my own foal?”

That thought crossed her mind unexpectedly. She never really thought about such things before. She hadn’t even been courted by anypony, and here she was, fantasizing about having foals.

Shaking her head, Luna returned with her senses to her surroundings, knowing that she didn’t miss anything, due to the relativity of time in dreams. Princess managed to learn how to manipulate the time within them for her benefit, so she could help those around here as well as those dreaming, and there was a lot to help with, and only just five months ago their lives started to be more calm.

“We would still had the crime problem, if it wasn’t for night guard and Shadow Bolt.” Luna thought with pride as she spared a glance at her two guards as the pony continued to complain about the insurance company that tried to, as he put it, ‘screw with him’.

Her night guard have expended over the time, and now, it counted over fifty pegasi in its ranks. Still pitifully small compared to royal guard, but their numbers proved their worth hundred times over. They arrested plenty of robbers, and broke the gangs that ‘ruled’ Manehatten... At the memory of that, Luna had to stop herself from shaking. Shadow Bolt had been stabbed that day twice in his chest and barely made it. The thought of losing her friend, the first of her night guards (that earned himself a nickname ‘Champion of the Night’), was painful. Even more so as it caused the return of memories she hoped to bury in the corners of her mind, of how Bolt almost died... and what she did to save him.

As if thinking about him summoned him, Luna spotted Shadow Bolt making his way slowly through the crow. She frowned, and some other ponies that noticed him looked confused or even shocked. The night guards took great pride in their secrecy, so it was unusual, to say the least, to see one at night court.

“Something important must have happened.” Princess concluded as she raised her hoof, interrupting the pony.

“WE THANK THEE FOR BRINGING TO OUR ATTENTION THE UNFAITHFULNESS OF THIS INSURANCE COMPANY.” she told him, using the ‘Canterlot voice’. “WE PROMISE THEE TO LOOK INTO THIS MATTER, BUT FOR NOW WE ARE AFRAID THAT THE NIGHT COURT HAS TO BE POSTPONED UNTIL NEXT NIGHT.”

The disappointed ponies started leaving the throne room, most of them plainly unhappy with this twist of events. Luna, however, had her attention only for Bolt.

“What is it?” she asked, returning to her normal voice.

Since night guard reported directly to her, she never used the ‘Canterlot voice’ or the ‘Royal We’ when addressing them, aside from their initiation ceremonies.

“Bad news.” Bolt replied, bowing his head slightly.

“How bad?”

“Bad enough to wake up a Princess.”

“Wake up my sister and tell her to join us.” Luna ordered one of her current guards, understanding Shadow Bolt’s message.

Princess Luna looked around in confusion. She and her sister were flying towards the Crystal Empire, having received news from Bolt about some tyrant taking over it. He called himself ‘King Sombra’ and he was used dark magic to enslave all crystal ponies, while his minions, the ‘Six Shadows of the King’, beat those that tried to oppose him. The royal sisters decided to go there at once to save them, but as they neared it, they were both surrounded by a black fog, and now... Luna was back in Canterlot.

…Alone in Canterlot

“Where is everypony!” she asked, galloping from one house to another, and finding nopony.

“What happened? What’s going on?! Why... Why am I all alone?”

“Tia! Bolt!” Luna called for her sister and best friend.

Nopony answered.

Luna sat down on the ground, feeling tears forming in her eyes, when suddenly, she felt a familiar laughter.

“No... he couldn’t have escaped!” Princess thought as she looked around, but she could not deny the truth any longer as she spotted the shape of the enemy of her family and country.

Not putting much thought into it, she blasted Discord with her magic, destroying him and the house in which he was hiding in. Furious for whatever it was that he did to everypony she ever loved, cared and knew; Luna trotted over to the debris, getting ready to beat the information about their whereabouts of them, but then she saw something that stopped her dead in her track.

Under the debris laid Shadow Bolt.

The dark blue alicorn stared at him in horror as he stirred and opened one eye.

“Luna... why?”

“Luna, wake up!”

The Princess of the Night opened her eyes and saw that she was shielded by her sister magic, as she herself battled the unicorn Shadow Bolt showed them in the seer crystal, which was part of night guard equipment.

“King Sombra.”

“Luna, are you alright?” Celestia asked her without turning around. “He casted some sort of illusion spell on us when we flew through that smog.”

“I’m... fine, sister.” Luna replied, shaking slightly.

“It was just an illusion.” she thought as she breathed deeply.

She shrugged off the affects of that nightmare and joined her sister in battle.

Luna sighed as she glance around the empty throne room, save for her and two night guards.

“To think that not so long ago I would have given much for a less ponies attending night court...”

It has been five years since the memorable fight with King Sombra. As soon as she joined Celestia, they quickly gained upper hoof. He was apparently unaware as to how powerful the two of them were as he brings in his minions to fight them, and the two sisters were able to defeat him, turning him to shadow and banishing him to the ice of arctic north. Luna and Celestia did not saved the Crystal Empire, however – for before he was defeated, King Sombra managed to cast one last spell: a curse that caused the entire Empire to vanish.

Both of them tried everything they could to bring it back, but to no avail. Resigned, they returned to Canterlot, but posted several guards within the area, in case the curse have been lifted over time by itself.

“Princess Luna,” a voice came from one of her guard's as it pulled her from recalling past, “maybe we should wrap up for tonight? It’s the fourth night in a row when nopony showed up.”

“Not yet.” Luna replied, shaking her head. “It is my duty to listen to ponies’ pleas. Even if only one will come in every few days, I will still have to hear him out.”

She looked at the doors, not to wait for them to be opened, but to not see the looks her night guards would give her.

“King Sombra didn’t show me a nightmare.” a soft whisper spoke in her head. “He showed me the future.”

“What do you mean: they are dying?!” Luna screamed at Royal Physician.

“This cannot be true.” she protested in her thoughts, desperately wanting to be right. “Mother has gotten better enough to travel to Canterlot and Father was always strong. They cannot...”

It has been four years ago, on the tenth year of her and Celestia’s reign. Their parents came to live in Canterlot with them, to joy of everypony, mostly their daughters. Mother looked more healthy than Luna had ever saw her, and for the time being, she and her sister hoped that she had finally regained her health, like before. They even visited few other cities of Equestria, and went on moth long vacation to griffin’s lands. But just few days ago, both of them suddenly started to feel weak, loose strength, and now...

“This better be some sort of joke!” Princess told the Royal Physician angrily, wishing that this was Doctor Horn; he wouldn’t be cowering in fear right now.

“Y-Your Highness, t-this is no joke.” the nervous unicorn replied, shaking. “I don’t know why, but Princess Platina and Prince Yellow Flash are growing weaker and weaker.”

“No...” Luna thought as tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. “Why...”

“How...” she asked as fought them off. “... how long until...”

“It... won’t be long now, Princess.” the Royal Physician told her. “They asked for you and Princess Celestia...”

Luna didn’t hear anything else, because she ran down the corridor to the chamber where her parents laid.

“Damn it Tia, why aren’t you back yet?!”

Celestia had traveled to Los Pegasus over week ago, to preside over court in which accused of lobbying were many high class ponies. Luna had sent her letters as soon as their parents became ill, asking her to come back, but so far she hadn’t responded.

“Swift Wing!” she turned her head towards one of her night guards. “Fly as fast as you can to Los Pegasus and get my sister here. I don’t care how, drag her if necessary.”

Swift Wing bowed and flew through the window, as Luna continued to run towards her destination. Once she reached, she stopped to take few deep breaths, and walked in.

“Mommy? Daddy?” she asked as she stepped in.

Both of them lied on their bed. As they turned their head towards her, Luna saw how sick they looked. They were both unhealthily thin, and their coats lacked the shine most ponies had, aside from those very old. Their bloodshed eyes with wrinkles under them searched hers as her parents smiled at her.

“I guess that doctor told you.” Father said.

“Yes, but I don’t understand... you were both so healthy not long ago, especially Mom...”

“It’s because of a spell.” Yellow Flash interrupted her.

“A spell?” Luna asked, not understanding what he meant.

“Few years ago, you mother started to get worse, just like now.” her father sighed as he went on. “I... I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t imagine living without her. I searched Horn’s old office for some sort of medicine, and in one of his books, I found a spell that could prolong her life... by sharing my remaining lifespan with her.”

Princess Luna eyes widen. She had never heard of such spell before.

“The spell worked better than I had expected.” Father continued. “Your mother was revitalized by me life-force, and made her feel better than she felt in years. I thought we would still be around with you for at least twenty years or so, but... I didn’t take into the account the possibility that Platina was born with much longer lifespan than me. It seems the years I had left were sucked away swiftly.”

“You say that as if you were fascinated by it.” Platina noticed with a weak chuckle.

“My fascination with magic was what led me to becoming your father apprentice... and meeting you.” Yellow Flash replied, kissing her on the cheek.

“So you’re really... dying?” Luna asked them, looking from one to another, tears streaming down her face.

“Luna, come here.” Mother beckoned to her, and Luna trotted over to her and hugged her mother as she hugged her. “Everypony has to die at some point. I also used to think that my parents would stay with me forever, but they are both long gone.”

“I know, but...”

“Shhh...” her mother cut her off, and patted her on her head. “It’s okay, sweetie. I had a good life, despite everything. I was blessed with loving husband and two beautiful daughters, and saw them grow up to become great princesses.”

What she said - that she had two daughters - made Luna remember what she heard so long ago from Celestia.

“I’m sorry...” she whispered.

“About what, dear?”

“For being born! Tia told me about how you’ve gotten so weak after...”

“Luna,” Princess Platina cut her off again, “you being born was one of the two happiest moments of my life. I don’t care if that made me sick or not.”

“But...”

“No ‘buts’, young filly.” she said with threatening tone.

Luna stared at her for several seconds, astonished by what she said; and to her surprised, she chuckled, followed by her parents. The three of them continue to laugh for few more moments, until Luna felt that she needed to ask something.

“Mommy, why... why don’t you hate me? You’ve gotten so much worse after I was born, so soon after you recovered after giving birth to Tia... I just don’t understand it.”

“You will, once you become a mother yourself.” Princess Platina replied, chuckling. “I wish I would have lived long to meet my grandchildren...”

“I... I wish so, too.” Luna said, beginning to cry again. “I wish that you weren’t... weren’t...”

“We know, Little Princess.” Father interrupted her. “Please, don’t be so sad. You know how I hate seeing you sad.”

“Luna, I know it seems unlikely, but over the time, you will feel better. Trust me on this one. I was so young when your grandfather died that I barely remember him anymore, and while I never stopped missing him, I no longer cry every night.”

“I should have been more sensitive to you those days...” Yellow Flash murmured, nuzzling her cheek. “We might have been together for longer time if I wasn’t such a jerk.”

“Well, I certainly didn’t make your life easier, didn’t I?”

“What?” Luna asked, confused. “You two didn’t like each other?”

“Hated each other guts, would be more appropriate.” Father replied, chuckling. “When I became King Brom’s apprentice, your mom was jealous of the time he was spending with me instead with her, and I was an arrogant narcissus, although I turned down a bit after Discord took over.”

“But then one day, many years later, he came back to the castle after another fight with Discord.” her mother continued. “Nopony knew then about those fights, so I teased him for coming back so exhausted and dirty. Your father then told me that he was fighting Discord, and I realized how close he came to not returning. The thought of loosing somepony else... it hurt. I became much nicer to him, tried to convince him to not fight Discord again... one thing led to another...” she finished with smile at Yellow Flash. Turning back to Luna, she added: “Take your mother’s advice, and listen to your heart. You will find that it takes less time to do things right when you do, instead of wasting years on hating somepony.”

“I will, Mommy, I promise.” Princess Luna replied, saddened that she never before took much interest in her parents past, and now she would lose the chance to ask them ever again.

Yellow Flash coughed weakly, and turned to his daughter.

“Our time is ending. Where is your sister? We wanted to say goodbye to her as well.”

“Tia...” Luna said, suddenly reminded of her sister’s absence. “She’s still in Los Pegasus. She will be here shortly, just... just hang on...”

“To think that there would come a day when I would have to wait for somepony...” Father chuckled, although both his eyes and Mother’s spoke of sadness. “I’m afraid we won’t make it this long. Tell your sister that we love her as much as you...”

“You can tell her that yourself...” Luna tried to say, but he just smiled at her and continued.

“... and that we’re proud of both of you. We are very, very sorry that we have to leave you. Make sure she knows we don’t blame her for not being here - she has her duties, and we are very proud of her for her diligence.”

“Luna...” her mother cut in. “... you must be there for Tia. Don’t let her blame herself for any of this. You two have each other, and I don’t want either of you forgetting that.”

“Yes, Mommy, I will.” the dark blue alicorn replied, her tears falling down the floor.

“Hey, Little Princess?” Father asked, hugging Mother. “Do you remember that song you used to sing when you were a little filly?” when Luna nodded, he added: “Could you please sing it now? We always liked your singing.”

“Of-of course.” Luna smiled sadly, taking deep breath, and she song:

Ask not the sun why she sets

Why she shrouds her light away

Or why she hides her glowing gaze

When night turns crimson gold to grey.

For her sister moon then rises

Her soft silver light brings calm to all

She guards the night from nightmares

Until her sister wakes up again.

Luna finished singing and looked at her parents, who were smiling, had they eyes closed and were pressed against each other in tight embrace.

They were not breathing.

She didn’t know how long she sat there, with her tears streaming down without stop. Time had seemed to pause to her, as if it cased to move with the death of her parents.

When Luna finally managed to pull herself out of her mourning, she realized that there was somepony else with her in the room, crying as much as she did. Once she recognised her sister, she felt something she didn’t expected: rage.

“Why weren’t you here?!” she asked Celestia, almost shouting. Tia paused her sobbing and looked at her, her eyes full of tears. That did not stop Luna from lashing her sadness and anger at her. “They were asking for you! They wanted to see you!”

“They wanted to see...”

“They wanted to see...”

“... the one daughter...”

“... the one daughter...”

“... that wasn’t responsible for their deaths!”

“... that wasn’t responsible for their deaths!”

“What?!?” Celestia shouted, shocked. “Luna...”

But Luna didn’t want to hear any of this. She teleported back to her own bedchambers, and continued to cry there.

The Princess of the Night trotted through the dark streets of Canterlot, hoping that the stroll would help her with the foul mood she had been those last couple of days, but the opposite happened as she noticed that there was nopony here besides her.

She managed to return to her senses before the funeral, and apologized to Tia for her words. Celestia replied that there was nothing to apologize, and they had a long talk, remembering their parents and all the moments they shared. They both cried when Luna repeated their last words, laughed when they remembered happy moments, Tia burst into tears and Luna had to cheer her up, reminding her that Mother and Father didn’t wanted her to blame herself for not being there, and the Luna cried and Celestia had to remind her that this wasn’t her fault that they died.

The funeral was beautiful, and many ponies attended it to pay their final respects to the daughter of last King of Equestria, as well as her husband, who helped many ponies throughout Discord’s reign. Their bodies had been encased in crystal coffins, as per tradition, so that they would not decay, and buried in the royal graveyard. Throughout the entire ceremony, Luna and Celestia didn’t stop crying.

It has been few days since then. Still feeling sad, Luna listened this time to Bolt suggestion and didn’t open the night court, going on a walk instead to clear her mind.

“Why is there nopony enjoying the nigh?” she couldn’t help but wonder as she passed another street. She couldn’t understand it. “Do they not like my moon?”

“Do they not like me?”

She shook her head to clear it of those thoughts off. Luna knew that she was being paranoid. Sure, it’s saddening that nopony enjoys the night, but they didn’t do it to spite her, but simply because they had jobs to do during day.

“They like the day more than the night...”

Luna once again shook her head. She still conversed with few ponies that needed her help with their nightmares, and they were all in awe that she personally came to them. That was good enough.

“Mammy, don’t blow off the candles.” came a foalish voice from an opened window of one of the houses Luna just passed. The Princess stopped to listen. “I’m scared of dark.”

Luna chuckled to herself, remembering that she used to be scared of darkness as foal too.

“Honey, there is nothing o be scared of dark.” a warm voice, most likely foal’s mother’s, replied.

“But why it has to be so dark?”

“Because it’s night, darling.”

“Why? Day should last forever, night is stupid.”

“What?” Luna listened to the conversation in the house, shocked.

“Don’t worry, honey. In few hours, Princess Celestia will raise the sun and it will be day again.”

“She will scare off the night?”

“Yes, she will.”

Luna didn’t want to listen to what next they said next. Heartbroken, she had teleported back into her bedchambers, and cried.

“Don’t worry; I’m sure she will agree.” Luna thought to herself the next morning as she approached her sister, who had just finished raising the sun.

Once she finished crying, feeling more hurt that she could imagine by the little foal’s words, she began to think about ways to change the ponies view on the night. She figured that if the night lasted longer, ponies would have to spend some time outside their houses then, and could see how beautiful it was compared to day.

Confident that Celestia would see her line of reasoning, she coughed to gain her sister attention.

“Good morning, Luna.” Celestia said, smiling at her. “Anything of interest happened?”

“Not really.” Luna replied, not wanting to mention her walk through the streets of Canterlot. “But sister, there is something I would like to discuss with you. I wanted to extend the time of the night...”

About an hour later Luna once again found herself within her bedchambers crying.

Celestia at first thought that this was some sort of joke, and when she realized that Luna was serious, she dismissed the idea, firstly by calmly explaining what effect could have the longer night for the climate, like the decrease in temperature or in growth of plants, which would lead to food shortage. When Luna continued the discussion, however, Celestia had lost her patience, called her a stubborn kid with silly ideas, and left.

“Even Tia hates me.” Luna thought over and over again as she cried to her pillow.

Eventually, she stopped, but she was sure that was because she exhausted her supply of tears, not because she felt better. Luna got up from bed and laid next to the window, glancing at the streets of Canterlot, that were now full of ponies.

“Full of ponies that hate me.”

She didn’t know when, but she heard the sound of her doors opening and closing.

“Luna?” the voice of Shadow Bolt asked her, as its owner trotted over to her. “Are you okay? The servants told me you had some fight with Celestia.”

“They did, didn’t they?” Luna replied sarcastically. “Did they also tell you about what? Or even better, whose fault was it that we argued?”

“Well...” Bolt said uncomfortably, but she didn’t give him a chance to reply.

“Don’t bother; I know they said it was my fault. After all, Celestia is always right, she is the wisest one. That’s must be the reason why everypony love her so much more than me. Me, who helped them with their nightmares, as my sister was busy reading her books! Me, who had found the very Elements of Harmony, which freed them from Discord!”

“Luna,” Bolt cut in, despite being in shock, “that’s not true! Ponies don’t love Celestia any more than they love you!”

“You’re one to talk.” Luna snorted and looked away. “Had any luck trying to seduce my perfect sister?”

There was a long pause, as if Shadow Bolt didn’t know what to say. She didn’t care that she had probably hurt his feelings; all she wanted right now was to be left alone with her dark thoughts.

“Princess...” Bolt finally said, as Luna began to wonder had he left. “... I apologize in advance for what I’m about to do.”

“What are you...?” Luna began to ask indifferently, but stopped as she felt his hoof grab her chin, turn her head to face him...

…as his lips were on hers.

Luna’s eyes went wide as Shadow Bolt continued to kiss her with his eyes closed. His lips were surprisingly warm; and his tongue, which she could feel move on her lips, felt weird as it reminded her of cat’s tongues. Finally, he pulled back, and opened his eyes. Luna stared into them, not afraid of their narrow pupils, or their strange yellow color.

“My eyes stopped looking at the sun long ago.” Bolt said as they both looked at each other, barely inches away from one another. “The light of the moon is much more soothing to them.” after he said that, he lingered on for few seconds, before moving even further back and standing in attention before her. “What will be my punishment for such lack of respect towards Your Highness?”

“Punishment...” Luna repeated, still a bit dazed by the kiss and his confession.

Take your mother’s advice, and listen to your heart. You will find that it takes less time to do things right when you do, instead of wasting years on hating somepony.

“For your punishment...” she finally said as she leaned closer to him. “... I want you to become my consort.”

Luna glanced around the empty throne room, wondering why she bothered to open the night court at all these days. She couldn’t even remember when the last time somepony attended it.

Her relationship with Shadow Bolt was one of the two sources of happiness this past year. Her sister, while expressed her joy at the news, never apologized to her from the talk before. The nobles were dismayed with her being courted by a low-born pony, even if he did practically grew up with her and Celestia, while the common folks were scared of him, and further distanced themselves from Princess Luna.

“Ungrateful bunch of fools!” she thought whenever she recalled that, but was usually calmed down quickly by Bolt. But he wasn’t here tonight. “Pity he had to fly all the way to the griffin’s land. With him, this wouldn’t be so boring!”

She pushed the thought away as she concentrated on the other source of happiness.

Such as her round belly, heavy with hers and Bolt’s foal.

When the doctor told her five months ago that her recent unexplainable fatigue, nausea and food aversion was due to being pregnant, she couldn’t be more happy. Actually, she could, if her parents were alive long enough to meet her or him, but she refused to think about it as she waited impatiently for the foal to be born.

“We really should start thinking about names.” Luna thought, dismayed that she still had no idea how to call her daughter or son. “And Bolt should show some guts and ask me to marry him. I mean, seriously...”

Whatever she wanted to think was stopped as she felt somepony being plagued by nightmare. Despite her growing disappointment with her subjects, she immediately shifted her mind to that pony’s dream, knowing that this was her duty.

What she saw shocked her.

A small foal was being chased by some dark, almost black alicorn, with scary looking blue mane made out of flames.

“What is this?” she thought, but brushed it off; fear of ponies manifested themselves in their nightmares in strangest of ways. That this one took the shape of alicorn wasn’t that weird.

Luna quickly put an end to the chasing foal monster, causing it to disappear in flash of light. Smiling, she crept closer to the small pony, which is currently lying on the ground.

“There is nothing to be afraid of anymore, little one.” she said gently as she placed her hoof on his shoulder.

The colt opened his eyes and looked at her.

In a heartbeat, there was fear in them again.

Luna watched, horrified, as the foal shook of her hoof and run away, as his words ringed in her head:

“Get away from me, monster!”

“Princess, are you alright?” she heard one of her guards ask her with concern. She pulled herself back fully to the throne room and looked at him, but still saw the face of that foal. “You’re crying.”

Luna teleported back to her bedchamber without a reply.

“Luna!” she heard her sister open her doors and walk in. “It’s already morning. Why didn’t you lower the moon yet?”

Luna didn’t respond. She continued to sit in the dark, reflecting on everything, and rubbing her pregnant belly.

“Take your mother’s advice, and listen to your heart. You will find that it takes less time to do things right when you do.”

“Luna! Lower the moon, so...”

“No.”

Author's Note

Soon...
PS: You can thank my editor, Lazygamer313 for the idea of Luna being pregnant. Still can't believe I haven't thought of that myself... Anyway, thanks buddy!

53. Birth of the Nightmare - part V

“What do you mean, ‘no’?” Celestia asked, shocked. “And what happened to your voice?”

“I will not lower the moon.” Luna replied, coming out of the corner of her room, which was covered in shadows. “I will not let the day come, never again!”

“Luna...” Celestia said, with her eyes wide at the sight of the Princess of the Night as she backed away. ”... Wha-what happened to you?!”

Some part of the younger alicorn’s mind noticed the fact that she stood much taller above the floor then she was used to, as well as the fact that her mane was different and her voice changed, but since she could feel that her foal was fine, she didn’t care about it.

“The night will last forever, and all ponies will have no choice but to love me!”

“Luna! You cannot make night last forever!” her sister said, trying to appeal to her senses. “It would be the end of Equestria!”

“Of course you would say that.” Luna snorted, her eyes blazing with hatred. “Everypony loves you and your sun, and you don’t want them to stop loving you!”

“Luna...”

“ENOUGH!”

As soon as she had said that, the younger of the two Princesses casted a powerful spell, which hit unprepared Celestia right in the chest and hurled her across the hall and through the wall, and after that 4 more walls; causing the surprised ponies, be it guards, servants or visitors, to run away in fear as they saw they beloved Princess fly by.

She finally lost her momentum as she hit another wall. Luna teleported and now stood next to her, as Celestia tried to pick herself up and failed, falling back to on the floor.

“Since you love your sun so much...” the Princess of the Night started as she lowered her head and pointed her horn at her sister. “... I think it will be only just that you will spend some time sealed within the heart of it. Maybe, once you learned some humility, I will bring you back.”

“Luna...” Celestia tried to speak some sense into her once more as small stream of blood dribbled from her mouth. “Don’t...”

Luna casted her spell, and in a flash of light, her sister was gone. There wasn’t even her blood left on the floor.

“I was right...” she thought to herself, surprised that she managed that spell so easily. “When I spoke to myself earlier: by acting as my heart tells me, I am stronger!”

“W-what have you done to Princess Celestia!?” one of the royal guards asked, staring at the space where her sister laid few seconds ago. ”W-why...?”

“Equestria doesn’t need two Princesses.” Luna cut him off, and magically caused her voice to be heard all across Canterlot, but spoke in her normal speech: she had always disliked the Canterlot Voice and the royal ‘we’. “From this night forward, all ponies will answer only to me, Princess Luna, sole ruler of Equestria and Princess of the Night!”

“You did what?!” asked her Shadow Bolt with terror on his face.

Luna glared at him through her reflection in the mirror. They were both inside her bedchambers. Bolt had just returned from his mission, night after the night when she banished her sister for trying to control her, and he was, to say at least, a bit surprised at the time of night and Luna’s new appearance. Her increased powers caused her body to change, making her not only taller, but also more regal; her coat was much darker, almost black, which was befitting the Princess of the Night, and her mane and tail were much longer and ethereal. But there was one thing that she liked the most in her new look.

Her eyes, while still cyan, and also catlike irises, like her love.

Who was currently getting on her nerves.

“I thought you said you don’t care about Celestia, and only love me.” she reminded Bolt, with a hint of threat in her voice.

“I love you, but she’s still my friend. And your sister! The aunt of our foal! How could you, sending her to the sun?!?”

“I didn’t send her there, I sealed her there, which means no harm will come to her.” Luna replied with a bored tone as she returned to admiring her new regalia. “As soon as she had enough time to consider her behaviour towards me through all those years, I will ring her back. I still love Tia, even if she hates me.”

“She doesn’t...” Bolt started, but she had enough.

“ENOUGH!” Luna screamed at him, and the strength of her voice almost knocked him over. “I will not hear anymore about my sister, not from you or anypony!” she continued, in quieter voice. “Speaking of other ponies, a group of royal guards has disappeared soon after I made sure that everypony knew who are now their one and only ruler. They’re probably planning a coup d’etat.”

At least, that was what her other voice told her.

“You want me to find them?” Shadow Bolt asked, unsure.

“Don’t be silly.” Luna replied, and chuckled, amused by his dedication to his duty. “I just want you to pass the order of finding them to your subordinates.”

“Subordinates? I don’t have any subordinates. Night guards perform solo missions, and answer only to you.”

“Not anymore.” Luna told him, beaming up. “I’m making you officially the Champion of the Night, which means you are my second-in-command among not only night guards, but royal guards as well.”

“I’m... honored.” Bolt said after a moment, bowing.

“I thought he would be happy.” Princess thought, and for a second, a suspicion arose in her, but she brushed it off; Bolt would never, ever hate her, or betray her like the Tia or the rest of her subjects. “He’s probably tired from the fly back, and scared of the new responsibilities.”

“After you made sure the other guards know you are in charge, give them the order of apprehending those traitors. The castle quartermaster has the list with all the missing guards. Once you’ve done that, return here.” she lowered her head and kissed him on the nose. “I missed you.” feeling her foal kicking, she corrected: “We missed you.”

“The crops are dying, Princess.” the messenger said, bowing. “And the temperature...”

“I’ve ordered the seeds of harvestable plants that can survive with the light of the moon to be delivered to all cities and villages in Equestria, and ordered royal guards to cast heating spell on ponies, animals, plants, and cities and villages.” Luna replied in bored tone, twitching on her throne to be more comfortable; she had discussion like this more times that she cared to count.

“As if they expected me to believe that things could get this badly within month.” she snorted in her thoughts.

Luna knew what was really going on - they were all lying to her, in hopes that she would reconsider lowering the moon and brought her sister back.

“Not going to happen.” she thought, and as she felt her little one kicking, she quickly tried to sooth him mentally: “Shhh, Mommy is not angry at you.”

“Yes, and we are eternally grateful for that.” the messenger quickly replied, as if scared that she would smite him. ”But those spells wear off after some time; and as for crops, it will take time for them to grow. And the last delivery didn’t make it...”

“What?!?” Luna asked, paying attention.

Until now, she didn’t hear about any seeds delivery not arriving on time.

“They never arrived, Your Highness.” the pegasus from Manehatten repeated.

“But that’s impossible.” Princess said. “My guards said that they delivered it to ponies of Manehatten... unless... those were those cursed traitors!”

“Yes! Finally, a lead!”

“Don’t worry, my little pony.” she told the messenger in sweet voice, noticing that he almost jumped when she screamed. “You will make sure the next delivery will be reach to your city.”

“And I’ll deal with those traitors.”

“THEY GOT AWAY?!?”

Shadow Bolt had to cover his ears to avoid becoming deaf. As per orders, he came to delivered her the news of his recent mission, even if it meant waking her up.

“How could they get away from Bolt?!? That doesn’t make sense...”

“Unless he’s with them...”

“No! He isn’t! He loves me!”

“You’re fooling yourself! Nopony loves you...”

“Luna, why are you crying?” the voice of her lover pulled her back from her inner arguing.

“Why?” Luna asked Bolt, subbing. “Why all ponies hate me? I did so much for them, and all I ever wanted in return was to be loved. Why do they hate me?”

“They don’t hate you.” her consort replied, pulling her into hug. “They’re just... scared of everything that has happened. If you were to bring back Celestia and day...”

“No!” Princess of the Night cut him off, backing away. “They had the chance to love me! Now they shall fear me!”

“Luna...”

“SILENCE!” the alicorn shouted, as she raised her hoof and swiped it towards Bolt,

…and slapped him across face.

That shocked both of them. Shadow Bolt looked her, pressing his hoof to the red on his cheek which marked the spot where she hit him. Luna stared at him, with her hoof still in the air, as her mind tried to comprehend what she just did.

“I’m sorry!!!” she half-screamed, half-sobbed and hugged him quickly, almost too quickly given her state as realization came upon her, before he could leave her. “I didn’t mean to do that! Please don’t hate me! I’m sorry!”

She continued to beg, sob and cry for few more minutes. Luna couldn’t bear the thought of Shadow Bolt, the only pony beside her yet unborn foal that loved her, hating her. She would do anything that it would take to make him forgive her.

“Luna...” she realized that for some time Bolt has been saying her name. With eyes full of tears, she stopped her begging and looked into his, full of love and worry. “I could never, ever, hate you.”

“He doesn’t hate me!” was all that Luna could think of as she leaned closer to Shadow Bolt for a kiss.

Luna couldn’t be happier.

So what if everypony hated her? So what if Equestria and all that lived in it was slowly dying? They deserved it. None of this mattered, because she had Bolt.

Her Champion. Her consort.

Her love.

She still shivered at the thought of him rejecting her for that slap. Luckily for her, Bolt was far more caring for something like this to influence his view of her. After few days of staying together, he even promised to find those traitors, just to make her happy.

And soon, she would also have her own foal that will love her.

“I am so lucky!” Luna suppressed a giggle as she now awaited his return after barely three days of search within the throne room. “Once I get a hold of this traitors, and deal with the appropriately, everything is going to be just fine.”

She didn’t have to wait too long. Shadow Bolt entered the throne room, escorted by two other night guards. They stopped before the throne and kneeled.

“My Princess, I’ve done as I promised.” Bolt said in calm voice. ”I’ve located the hideout of traitors.”

“I knew you wouldn’t let me down, my consort.” Luna told him warmly, barely containing her excitement on both the sight of him and the information he brought, as she urged him and the others to rise. “Where are they hiding?”

Bolt raised his head and looked her in the eyes. For some reason, there was uncertainty in his eyes.

“At... at the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.”

“WHAT?!?” Luna yelled, exploding into anger. “THEY DARE HIDE THEMSELVES WITHIN THE CASTLE OF MY PARENTS?!?”

She stopped screaming and took few deep breaths to regain her composure.

“There will be reckoning for this insult!”

Luna, Princess of the Night and ruler of Equestria, flew towards the castle where she was born in. Donned in battle armor and surrounded by her elite night guards, her Champion among them.

Upon hearing of traitors hiding there, she insisted on coming there personally. She had confidence that she could protect herself and her foal, but gave in to Bolt’s plea and kept a force field around her at all time, which was nothing. Here power kept growing. What she was going to do with those powers to those traitors once she had them in her grasp, she did not know.

But she was sure it would be something gruesome.

The group landed at the entrance to the castle. Luna registered with small interested that the abandonment didn’t serve it well: her first home was falling into ruin.

“Spread out and search every room.” she told her loyal guards. “Find them.”

They all bowed and flew into castle, leaving her alone with Shadow Bolt as they trotted inside.

“Soon, all opposition will be annihilated.” she thought, glancing around for any signs of traitors. “All ponies will love and worship me, as it was supposed to be all along!”

That, however, proved to be harder than she thought. They walked around all corridors and rooms, chambers and secret passages, but the traitors seemed determine to not be found.

“Maybe Bolt was wrong? Maybe they aren’t here?”

“No, it’s impossible. Bolt wouldn’t make that kind of mistake.”

“True... unless he was...”

“SHUT UP!”

“Luna?” Shadow Bolt asked her, and she realized she said that out loud.

“Where are they?!?” she asked him now, determine to show her other voice that he would never betray her. “Didn’t you say they are here?!? Did you... lie to me?”

Bolt was about to reply, but somepony beat him to it.

“He didn’t lied to you monster. We’re here.”

“See?” Luna gloated to her other self as she turned to regard the owner of that voice, but then her mind registered how the traitor called her. “I AM NOT A MONSTER!!!”

“Make him pay...”

“Ah there you are!” Princess told calmly about twenty ponies of all kind, all wearing pieces of royal guard’s armor. “Have you come to beg for forgiveness?”

“There will be none...”

“No, we’re here to defeat you.”

Luna couldn’t help but burst into laughter after this declaration, but her laugh soon died out as she found herself unable to move.

“What is this?!” she asked as whirling beams of energy formed around her, limiting not only her movements, but her magic as well.

“A cage we’ve prepared specially for you.” the leader of the traitors, a unicorn, spoke. “You will not escape from it.”

Luna growled in frustration, but she soon relaxed as she noticed that her night guards have gathered around her.

“Well then. I was hoping to deal with you myself, but in this case, I guess I will leave you to my loyal subjects. Night guards, attack the traitors!”

It took her several seconds to realize that nopony has budged.

“What?” Luna asked, shocked, looking at her guards. “Why aren’t you attacking?”

None of them looked her in the eyes.

“No... this can’t be... they hate me too...” Luna thought, almost tearful, as she glanced at the one she knew that would stay loyal to her.

“Why aren’t they attacking?” she asked him, hoping that he had some explanation.

“Luna...” Bolt replied, and as they eyes met, Princess saw in his something she did not expect: regret, and guilt. ”It’s over.”

“Told you...”

“No...” she tried to deny it.

It couldn’t be true...

“You are not yourself.” Shadow Bolt continued, ignorant to what was going on in her head right now. “I don’t know what caused this, but you’ve become insane.”

… her Champion, her first night guard...

“I’m sorry that I lied to you, but there was no other way.” she barely heard him anymore. “You will stay here, until those zebras won’t be finished with using their magic to bring back Celestia through her connection to the Elements of Harmony. She will then use their power to heal you.”

… her foalhood companion, her friend...

“Heal her!?” the voice of traitor unicorn cut in. “Have you lost your mind?! We trapped her so we could kill her!”

“What?!? That wasn’t part of agreement!”

…her consort, her love...

“Because it was obvious, she is a monster! She needs to be destroyed now, while we have the chance!”

“She’s still the Princess! And she’s pregnant, for pony sake!”

… the father of her foal...

“Royal guards, kill that monster!” The traitor commanded as the royal guards readied their weapons towards the trapped princess.

“Shit! Night guards, defend the Princess!” Shadow Bolt commanded to his night guards, as they prepared to defend the Night Princess.

…hated her.

Luna screamed. She screamed her pain, her rage, her hatred, all in one; blasting away her prison. Blind with fury, she blasted everypony that she could see, one by one. To her, they were all dead.

Everything is dead to her.

“Luna!” she noticed the voice of the pony that seconds ago, caused her more pain that she could had ever imagine to feel. She turned her head towards him. “Luna, stop, I beg of you-”

Whatever else he wanted to say was cut off as Luna gripped him by his throat with her mane.

“I should have known...” she whispered as Bolt struggled for air. “That nopony, besides my foal, will ever love me.”

“Ghh... Luna...” he once again tried to speak, to spread his lies, to hurt her even more.

She would not allow it.

Luna casted him aside, hurling him into the wall. She returned her attention to the battlefield, when she felt something grab her by her wing. The Princess turned her head and saw that most of the night guards were laid in defeat, either by her or by royal guards, as her wing was being held by magical tendril conjured by some unicorn. Snorting, she was about to blast him away, when her other wing was caught in similar manner, causing her to lose balance and miss. Two more tendrils caught her by her neck and brought her head down, making her unable to aim properly.

“Now! Quickly!” somepony screamed.

What Luna saw in the corner of her eye made her blood froze.

A pegasus royal guard was hovering above the ground few meter away from her, and was about to throw at her spear, which was covered in identical runic symbols. She recognized the runes, it had one purpose.

Negating magic…

“It will cut through my force field...” Luna thought, dreaded. ”... through me... and through my foal!”

“NO!!!” she screamed as the pegasus throws his spear.

She raised her forelegs in what she now was a futile gesture. Her flesh could not protect her foal. Soon, she would lose everything she had left.

“I’m so sorry, my foal.” she said goodbye to her or him as she closed her eyes, preparing to the cold feeling of steel that would kill both of them. “I’m sorry...”

The feeling that she dreaded so much didn’t come. Instead, she felt something very warm press itself against her, hugging her. Surprised, Luna opened her eyes and looked.

It was Bolt... and the spear was stuck in his chest.

“W-wha...” Luna mumbled, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. “W-why? Yo-you hate me...”

“Luna...” Bolt interrupted her, coughing some blood in the process. “I could never hate you.” another cough. “I loved you since the day we met... but I thought you disliked me, so I wanted to make you jealous by pretending to be in love in Celestia...” once again, he coughed, this time weaker, but his eyes remained locked with hers. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you from your sadness... please, forgive-”

Luna watched in shock as his body slide down and fell on the floor, dead.

He was dead.

Her love, Champion, consort, guard, father of her foal, was dead.

Shadow Bolt was dead.

The roar that Luna gave this time as she proceeded to slaughter Bolt’s murderers could be heard all over Equestria.

“HOW DARED YOU?!?” she shouted as let loose her rage on them, tears streaming down her face. “HOW COULD YOU MURDER HIM?!? I WILL REAP YOU ALL TO PIECES! ALL I EVER WANTED WAS TO BE LOVED! WHY DO YOU TAKE EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME?!? WHY?!?”

“Luna, stop this at once!” some voice called.

“Another traitor to be slaughtered!” she thought as she attacked with a powerful magic beam, and was surprised once it bounced off from... “What are those? They look familiar...”

“Those are the Elements of Harmony! Destroy them and the monster that controls them, quickly!”

The dark mare has casted another powerful spell, and aimed it at the white, shining monster. It stood, surrounded by the five hovering stones, with the sixth one directly above it. The sixth stone shone as her spell collided with it, and, to her shock, deflected it at her.

She teleported herself some distance away, mindful that she still had foal inside her, the only pony left that will love her now, and all that she had to remember Bolt. The dark alicorn proceeded to attack again, but she found herself unable to.

She was surrounded by light, which almost felt like real bonds. She tried to break them, but to no avail. Whatever it was, it was something much stronger than her that was holding her in place.

“Trying to rob me of everything, aren’t you?!” she roared at the monster. “I will not let you harm my foal!!!”

“Luna, I would never want to harm you or your foal.” the monster replied with a voice that seemed to be... crying?

“It’s lying.”

“Stand still and I will make everything alright, I promise. It will only hurt for a little while, and won’t harm your foal.”

An incredible pain shook the dark alicorn to her very bones. She screamed, as if her body was on fire.

“My foal! It’s trying to burn it alive!”

“It wants to eat it...”

“No! It isn’t working!” she heard the monster utter as the pain disappeared. “Luna, please listen to me.” the voice of the monster, while traiterous, was almost soothing, as it leaned closer and continued: “You need to let go of your hatred! I know it’s hard, but you have to! I can’t control the Elements by myself well enough to save you! Please, try and remember how much everypony loves you, how I love you, how our parents loved you, how Bolt loved you! Do this for your foal!!!”

“Let go of my hatred!?” the dark alicorn growled at the monster that tried to harm her foal. “I will once you’ll give me my subjects love back! I will once you’ll bring my parents back! I will once you’ll bring Bolt back! I will once you bring me my sister back!”

“I’m here! Luna, it’s me, Tia, your big sister!”

“That monster has the impudence to pretend to be my sister?!”

“No, you’re not! My sister is the most kind, loving sister a pony could ask for! You are a monster that wants to take everything from me!!!”

“No, Luna, I love you!”

“Don’t make me laugh! If you love me, then why did you did all of those things?!? Why did you take my subject’s love away from me?! Why did you did do nothing as they shunned me away!? I was so lonely, and I only had Bolt, and now you took him too!”

“Sister, please! Fight it! I cannot help you if you don’t fight! Don’t make me...” the monster that ruined her live pretended to choke on her fake tears. “I cannot allow you to harm other ponies! Luna, please, don’t make me...”

“There is no Luna!” the dark alicorn interrupted, screaming in rage as she continued to fight her bonds. “She died! There is only Nightmare! I am Nightmare Moon! And I will not let you harm my foal!”

“... Luna... I’m so sorry...”

Nightmare Moon’s eyes narrowed as the surrounding light got brighter.

“What are you doing?!”

The monster looked her in the eyes and spoke:

“Goodbye, little sister. I’m so sorry...”

The light enveloped her.

When Nightmare Moon opened her eyes, she was all alone.

“My foal!” she screamed as she checked if everything was alright with it.

Once she made sure, she sighed in relieve, thanking the fate that at least her foal was not taken by the white monster.

“Where... where am I?” she asked aloud, glancing around.

She was at some barren wasteland, for all that she could see. Everywhere where her sight stopped, there were only rocks.

Nightmare Moon decided to look up and try to figure out where she was by the position of the stars, but as she found her mind blank as instead of stars scattered across night’s sky she saw a giant blue-green globe.

The realization of where she and her unborn foal were came down on her.

Nightmare Moon roared in anger and rage, but a small part of her was rejoiced.

“Now we won’t be bothered.”

The pain was far greater than she ever heard it would be.

“Even then they lied to me...” Nightmare Moon thought begrudgingly as she lay on her side giving birth to her foal.

“Come on, little one...” she managed to whisper in pauses between pushes. “... Mommy wants to see you.”

With the last yowl of pain, Nightmare Moon finally pushed away the foal she was carrying inside of herself for twelve months to give birth to it on the surface of the moon.

“Yes... I-We did it, little one!” Nightmare Moon whispered as she pulled her foal gently with her magic to her face so that she could wash it with her tongue, due to the lack of everything that could be used as tissues. She took the opportunity to take a better look at it... her!

She was beautiful. She was an alicorn, had her father black coat, and her old blue mane.

“Your father would be so happy to meet you.” Nightmare Moon told her daughter as she washed her face from her own body’s liquids. “And so would be my sister, my parents...”

She finished cleaning her face and pulled her into embrace, wanting to see her little daughter smile as she in turn looked at her mother.

Her eyes were closed.

“Little one?” Nightmare Moon asked, with the cold claws of fear gripping her heart. “Come now, wake up for Mommy.”

The filly didn’t react, and as the dark alicorn pressed her head closer to her, she knew why.

She was dead.

“NO!!!” Nightmare Moon screamed in pain as she tried to massage her small foal’s heart, to cause it to beat, tried to make her warm. She tried everything, but after hours, she finally gave up.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Nightmare Moon screamed once more to the empty space on the moon that she is trapped in; crying to herself, for she is now left to lonesomeness with her dead precious foal in her hooves, as no pony will hear agony for the coming months that will turn to decades.

The monster won. Nightmare Moon... had nothing left.

Author's Note

Well, that's the end of Luna mini-arc, hoped you enjoyed it. Arthas comes next chapter... and tells his entire story in this one chapter. We all now his past, so I won't have to write another mini-arc for it. Plus, I would like to finish this arc before the end March.

54. Past of the Damned

Matthias patted Luna’s mane in an effort to calm her down as she cried into his chest. He was... horrified. When three months ago he read about Luna becoming Nightmare Moon, he didn’t know there was so much sadness behind this story. Even when he realized that the Old Gods were somehow related to this incident, it didn’t cross his head that she had to suffer so much. Even he, the man who became the Lich King and betrayed everyone and everything he ever loved, wondered which one of them was more harshly experienced by fate.

He wasn’t sure what made him think it: was it the fact that she lost her foal and love of her life, all due having her perception of world around her twisted by the whispers of the Old Gods, or because she was a pony, born in a world that Matthias came to think of as paradise.

“I-I don’t remember... what happened next.” Luna sobbing stopped his musing. “It’s all... foggy. All I can recall is agony, hatred... I... don’t even know how I managed to return, or what I was doing before Twilight and the others healed me with the Elements. As for those whispers... I didn’t even realized those thoughts weren’t mine until you pointed it out.”

As she spoke, Luna began to regain her composure. She pulled away from Matthias and wiped tears from her eyes.

“I’m sorry... I always cry when I recall my...” she choked on her own words.

“It’s alright.” he said gently. “I actually expected you to start crying long before that happened.”

Luna gave him a sad smile, but it disappeared as she asked:

“Why did she had to die? Was it because I murdered that baby dragon? Why did this all...”

“I cannot answer those questions, Luna. Bad things happen, whatever we like it or not, and not even the Light can protect everyone from darkness. But know this:” Matthias added as he grew more serious, “as long as I am here, I won’t let you or anypony else, suffer like this again. I swear it.”

The Princess of the Night brightened up a bit at his promise, which he knew despite his fear regarding the future, he would keep it.

“No matter the cost.” he thought darkly, wondering if he himself one day won’t cause greater suffering in Equestria.

He shook his head as he glanced around the meadow under the stars where they returned after they were pulled from Luna’s memory. Matthias knew what would come next, and he was still not excited about this.

“Your past...” he told the Princess, and hesitated. “Luna, in my opinion, it was more tragic than mine... To you, and Celestia. But...”

“Matthias.” Luna interrupted him with a sad smile. “I did not show you my story so that we could hold a contest as to who had it worse. I did it because I wanted you to feel more comfortable showing me yours, and because I wanted to confine in you. I suspected that your story might be more...” she paused as she searched for an appropriate word.

“Evil?” Matthias hinted.

“For the lack of better term, let’s go with that.” she nodded. “As I said, I suspected that your story might be more evil, due to how violent your world is compared to ours. But, I believe that it won’t change how I see you now, as I see you as a figure of good.”

Matthias perked his ears, surprised by those words.

“I’m... honored that you think so, Luna.” he said, bowing. After that he sighed and looked around: “This is my dream, right? So all I have to do is remember what I want to show you?”

“Correct.” Luna replied, nodding.

“A dream of remembrance...” Matthias muttered, shaking his head. “I suppose we should start, then. Even if you can manipulate time in dreams, it must have taken some time outside to show me your past, right?”

“Yes, I think...” the Princess of the Night closed her eyes for a second. “…it has been about fifteen minutes. Good thing there is nopony in the court at the moment; it would be embarrassing to sit on that throne with eyes closed for so long.”

“Fifteen minutes?” the earth pony repeated, surprised. “You’re really good at this. It used to take me whole days to remember everything in my life.”

“You’ve done this before?”

“More or less, you should soon see. Now then,” Matthias paused “let’s see… when was the first moment that darkness brushed my world... I guess...”

Luna watched as the scene around them shifted, still feeling her renewed pain, but overall better now that she confided in Matthias. Now she had to bear his story, to help him ease his suffering.

The scene she and Matthias found themselves seemed as peaceful as her first memories she showed him. But Luna quickly realized that something was wrong as she saw a small... human, as she recalled, that came out of barn, his rather expensive looking clothes all covered in straw and spit, followed by youth of his own age and adult one, possibly father of the other boy. The first youth said in a familiar voice:

“Sir Uther, these people have been kind to me. I pray, don’t go trampling their poultry.”

“Or their snapdragons bed.” she heard him think as he spared a glance at the snow-covered piles of raised earth were, before he returned his attention to a tall, powerfully built man that was sitting on...

“What is that?!?” Luna gasped, staring at something seemed to her be some grotesque than that of a pony.

“Oh, I forgot.” Matthias said uncomfortably, as he pause the memory. “On Azeroth, ponies and horses... look like this.”

“Like this?!? But they’re so...” Princess stopped herself before she said ‘hideous’.

“Well, I doubt they care.” the earth pony replied, chuckling. “They are not as intelligent as Equestrian’s ponies, as they can’t talk... Humans used them mostly as means of transportation. So, as you can figure, I was really, really surprised when I found myself here.”

Luna nodded absently as she stared at the ugly horse, and the one riding him. As the memory began to play again before her, she realized that both of them fully clad in-

“Armor!” the little human, that as Luna have realized must have been a young Matthias, gasped. “What’s happened?”

“I’ll explain on the way.” the knight, Uther, said grimly. “I’ll send someone back for your horse, Prince Arthas.”

“Prince Arthas.” Luna mused, not at all surprised that he gave ponies different name once he woke up in the hospital.

“Steadfast can travel faster even with two.” Uther continued as he reached down and grabbed Arthas arm and swung him up on the back of the animal. Noticing a woman that came out from the house, the knight nodded politely to her.

“We’ll discuss this later, Ma’am.” he said, touching his forehead with a mailed hand, then kicked his horse and rode away, holding Arthas around his midsection.

“I know how to ride.” the boy said, obviously annoyed. “Tell me what is going on.”

“A rider from Southshore has come and gone. He brings ill news. A few days ago, hundreds of small boats filled with refugees from Stormwind landed on our shores.” Uther said, without removing his arm. His face was grim as he spoke the next words: “Stormwind has fallen.”

...

“Prince Arthas, the undead forces have arrived!”

Luna watched, terrified, as the young prince whirled on the sound of Captain Falric’s voice and regarded the approaching army of undead. She had just bore witness to the horrific fate of Hearthglen’s defenders, their lives taken away and their bodies transformed into abominations of nature, all due the bread baked from grain plagued by the one called Kel’Thuzad.

“So many...” Luna thought, and heard Arthas’s thoughts echo hers. “How can they...”

She paused as she saw the Prince thrust his hammer into the air. It flared to glowing life.

“Hold your ground!” he cried out, his voice no longer weak and shaking or was harsh and angry. “We are the chosen of the Light! We shall not fall!”

Luna watched in awe as the brave human charged at the monstrosities, leading his men.

...

“This entire city must be purged.”

Arthas’s statement was blunt and brutal. Luna blinked. Surely he hadn’t meant that

...

“Now, I call out to the spirits of this place,” Arhtas said, his breath frosting in the cold, still air.

“Please, don’t do it.” Luna whispered, despite knowing this was just a memory.

She could feel the evil emanating from the blade that was just beyond his reach, Frostmourne hung, suspended, awaiting him.

“Whatever you be, good or ill or neither or both. I can feel you here. I know you are listening. I’m ready. I understand. And I tell you now—I will give anything, or pay any price, if only you will help me save my people.”

...

Princess Luna dreaded what was about to come next. She knew what it was; she heard the whispers of Frostmourne speaking to Arthas, telling him what to do, controlling him. Luna had witness him do terrible things, and yet she knew that the worst was yet to come.

Those who marched behind him were as silent as he, their faces as cowled. The crowd did not seem to require their response to wildly celebrate their return. The mighty drawbridge was lowered and Arthas strode across it. The cheering throngs were here too, no longer comprised of commoners, but of diplomats, lesser nobility, visiting dignitaries from the elves, dwarves, and gnomes kingdoms. They stood not just in the courtyard but also above it in viewing boxes. Rose petals, pink and white and red, rained down upon the land’s returning hero.

“Jaina…” the thought appeared in Arthas head as he remembered that once, he had thought to see Jaina standing before him on their wedding day, the petals falling upon a face lit with a smile, turned up to kiss him.

Moved by the image, he caught one of the red petals in a gloved hand. He thumbed it thoughtfully, and then frowned as a stain appeared. It grew before his eyes, desiccating and destroying the petal, until it was more brown than red in his palm. With a quick, dismissive gesture, he tossed the dead thing away and continued.

He pushed open the huge doors to the throne room he knew so well, strode forward, glanced at King Terenas briefly, and threw his father a smile that was mostly hidden by the cowl. Arthas knelt in obeisance, Frostmourne held before him, its tip touching the seal carved into the stone floor.

“Ah, my son. Glad I am to see you safely home,” Terenas said, rising somewhat unsteadily. Terenas looked unwell. The incidents of the last several months had aged the monarch. His hair was grayer now, his eyes tired.

But it was all going to be all right now.

“You no longer need to sacrifice for your people.” Arthas said out-loud the whispers from Frostmourne. “You no longer need to bear the weight of your crown. I’ve taken care of everything.”

Arthas rose, his armor clattering with the movement. He lifted a hand and drew back the hood from his face, watching for his father’s reaction. Terenas’s eyes widened as he took in the change that had come over his only son.

Arthas’s hair, which was once golden as the wheat that had given sustenance to his people, was now bone white. He knew his face was pale as well, as if the blood had been drained from it.

“It is time.” Frostmourne whispered in his mind. Arthas moved toward his father, who had halted on the dais, staring, uncertain. There were several guards positioned about the room, but they would be no match against him, Frostmourne, and the two who had accompanied him. Arthas strode boldly up the carpeted steps and seized his father by the arm.

Arthas drew back his blade. Frostmourne’s runes brightened in anticipation. And then a whisper, not from the runeblade, but a memory from a friend—

—the voice of a dark- haired prince, seemingly from another lifetime ago—

“He was assassinated. A trusted friend…she killed him. Stabbed him right in the heart…”

Arthas shook his head and the voice was silenced.

“What is this? What are you doing, my son?”

“Succeeding you…Father.”

Luna could barely believe what happened next, despite knowing it would come to pass. She watched in shock, as the son slew his father, letting his crown to fall off and bounce down the floor.

...

The Princess of the Night watched as Arthas moved almost as if in a daze, down the lengths of twining tunnels that led ever deeper into the bowels of the earth, feeling sick. She almost wished that she had never proposed to see these... horrors. Only the knowledge that this nightmare had eventually ended and her resolve to help Matthias kept her here.

Arthas feet seemed guided, and while there was no noise, certainly no one to challenge his right to be here. He felt, and through him, Luna, rather than heard, a deep thrum of power. He continued to descend, feeling that call of power drawing him ever closer to his destiny.

Up ahead was a cold, blue-white light. Arthas moved toward it, almost breaking into a run, and the tunnel opened up into what Luna could only think of as a throne chamber. For just ahead was a structure that made Arthas’s breath catch in his throat.

The Lich King’s prison sat atop of this twining tower, this spire of blue- green, shimmering ice that-was-not-ice that rose up as if to pierce the very roof of the cavern. A narrow walkway wound, serpentine, about the spire, leading him upward. Still filled with the energy granted to him by the Lich King, Arthas did not tire, but unwelcome memories seemed to dart at him like flies as he ascended, putting one booted foot in front of the other. Words, phrases, images came back to him.

“Remember, Arthas. We are paladins. Vengeance cannot be a part of what we must do. If we allow our passions to turn to bloodlust, then we will become as vile as the orcs.”

“No one can seem to deny you anything, least of all me.”

“Don’t deny me, Jaina. Don’t ever deny me. Please.”

“I never would, Arthas. Never.”

He kept going, relentlessly moving upward.

“We know so little—we can’t just slaughter them like animals out of our own fear!”

“This is bad business, lad. Leave it be. Let it stay here, lost and forgotten…. We’ll find another way tae save yer people. Let’s leave now, go back, and find that way.”

One foot followed the other. Upward, ever upward. An image of black wings brushed his memory.

“I will leave you one final prediction. Just remember, the harder you strive to slay your enemies, the faster you’ll deliver your people into their hands.”

Even as these memories tugged at him, clutched at his heart, there was one image, one voice that was stronger and more compelling than all the others, whispering, encouraging him: “Closer you draw, my champion. My moment of freedom comes…and with it, your ascension to true power.”

Upward he climbed, as he gazed ever on the peak. On the huge chunk of deep blue ice that imprisoned the one who had first set Arthas’s feet on this path. Closer it drew, until Arthas came to a halt a few feet away. For a long moment, he regarded the figure trapped within, imperfectly glimpsed. Mist rolled off the huge chunk of ice, further obscuring the image.

Frostmourne glowed in his hand. From deep inside, Arthas saw the barest hint of an answering flare of two points of glowing blue light.

“RETURN THE BLADE,” came a deep, rasping voice in Arthas’s mind, almost unbearably loud. “COMPLETE THE CIRCLE. RELEASE ME FROM THIS PRISON!”

Arthas took a step forward, then another, lifting Frostmourne as he moved until he was running. This was the moment it had all been leading to, and without realizing it, a roar built in his throat and tore free as he swung the blade down with all of his strength.

A massive cracking resounded through the chamber as Frostmourne slammed down. The ice shattered, huge chunks flying in every direction. Arthas lifted his arms to shield himself, but the shards flew past him harmlessly. Pieces fell from the imprisoned body, and the Lich King cried out, lifting his armored arms to the sky. More groaning, cracking sounds came from the cavern and from the being himself, so loud that Arthas winced and covered his ears. It was as if the very world was tearing itself apart. Suddenly the armored figure that was the Lich King seemed to shatter as his prison did, falling apart before Arthas’s stunned gaze.

There was nothing — no one — inside.

Only the armor, which was icy black, clattering to lie in pieces. The helm, empty of its owner’s head, slid to a halt to lie at Arthas’s feet. He stared down at it for a long moment, a deep shiver passing through him.

“What’s going on?” Luna thought, confused. As much as she had wanted for Arthas to simply get the buck away from that place, she was now actually curious as to what was going to happen next.

All this time…he had been chasing a ghost. Had the Lich King ever really been here? If not—who had thrust Frostmourne from the ice? Who had demanded to be freed? Was Arthas Menethil supposed to have been the one encased in the Frozen Throne all along?

Had this ghost he’d been chasing…been himself?

Questions that would most likely will be answered. But one thing was clear to him. As Frostmourne had been for him, so was the armor. Gauntleted fingers closed over the spiked helm and he lifted it slowly, reverently, and then, closing his eyes, he lowered it onto his white head.

He was suddenly galvanized; his body tensing as he felt the essence of the Lich King entered him. It pierced his heart, stopped his breath, shivered along his veins, icy, powerful, crashing through him like a tidal wave. His eyes were closed, but he saw, he saw so much—all that Ner’zhul, the orc shaman, had known, all he had seen, had done. For a moment, Arthas feared he would be overwhelmed by it all, that in the end, the Lich King had tricked him into coming here so that he could place his essence in a fresh new body. He braced himself for a battle for control, with his body as the prize.

But there was no struggle, only blending, a melding. All around him, the cavern continued to collapse. Arthas was only barely aware of it. His eyes darted rapidly back and forth beneath his closed lids.

His lips moved. He spoke.

They…spoke.

“Now…we are one.”

...

Long years passed, and during that time, Luna witnessed more horrific events than she thought she ever could. She was glad that Matthias decided to keep the truth about his past to himself – as she doubted anypony other than herself, who had also been witness and used to such tragedy (albeit on much smaller scale), could see all of this and remain sane.

She watched him kill his innocence and the one that shaped him. She watched him cut out his own heart and cast it away, only to have it destroyed right in front of him months later. Luna bore witness to the war in Northrend, with countless dying and bolstering the armies of the Scourge over which Arthas ruled.

But now, when the moment came that she wanted so much to come by, the moment of what she thought to be the moment of his demise, she found herself disappointed.

The people of Azeroth failed.

They laid dead all around Arthas, who killed them all in one strike after a long battle, which was apparently a childish play to him. Luna knew this was his plan of course, she could hear his thoughts, but still she hoped he made some mistake or miscalculation.

But the Lich King’s power was simply too great.

“No questions remain unanswered.” Arthas spoke in his echoing voice. “No doubts linger. You ARE Azeroth's greatest champions! You overcame every challenge I laid before you. My mightiest servants have fallen before your relentless onslaught, your unbridled fury...” he paused for a moment before continuing: “Is it truly righteousness that drives you? I wonder.”

He turned and Luna followed his glance to Tirion Fordring, still imprisoned within the block of ice.

“You trained them well, Fordring. You delivered the greatest fighting force this world has ever known... right into my hands - exactly as I intended. You shall be rewarded for your unwitting sacrifice.” the Lich King turned his back on Tirion and raised his cursed blade into the air. “Watch now as I raise them from the dead to become masters of the Scourge. They will shroud this world in chaos and destruction. Azeroth's fall will come at their hands -- and you will be the first to die.” Arthas laughed as the dark energies of his sword grasped the bodies of fallen heroes. “I delight in the irony.”

“LIGHT, GRANT ME ONE FINAL BLESSING. GIVE ME THE STRENGTH... TO SHATTER THESE BONDS!” Tirion yelled within the block of ice. Suddenly, there was a sudden burst of Light that came from Tirion, shattering his icy prison. Luna’s eyes went wide as she gazed at the old paladin throw himself at the Lich King and swung Ashbringer at Frostmourne...

… and broke it.

“YES!” Luna thought in joy as Arthas stared at the sundered blade.

“Impossible...” he murmured as he dropped the hilt on the ground.

“No more, Arthas!” Tirion yelled. “No more lives will be consumed by your hatred!”

Unexpectedly, a purple energy burst from the shattered hilt. The souls trapped inside Frostmourne escaped and swirled around the Lich King. He yelled as they lift him into the air and immobilize him.

Next to him, the ghost of Terenas appeared.

“Free at last! It is over, my son. This is the moment of reckoning.” the last King of Lordaeron said as he raised his emanating with Light hand, while Tirion run towards the Lich King and attacked him, but Ashbringer bounced off from his plate armor. “Rise up, champions of the Light!”

Luna watched in awe as all the fallen heroes were showered in Light and stirred, to rise up moments later, and moved to finish the Lich King once and for all.

“Now I stand, the lion before the lambs...” she heard Arthas mutter despite the noise the blades and spells made as they all were repelled by his armor and the aura of his power, still fearsome, even when not focused. “...and they do not fear. They cannot fear.”

Finally, one hero, a night elf death knight, wielding the axe she knew to be named Shadowmourne, managed to break through his armor and cut into his flesh.

…Right in the spot where Matthias had scar.

“This is it... it’s finally over.” Luna thought, as the swirling maelstrom of souls stopped and the Lich King falls to the ground, grunting in pain and losing the Helm of Domination. He tried to reach for it but loses what little strength he had and collapsed.

The ghost of Terenas Menethil materialized over his dying son from the freed souls circling the area as the blue glow dissipates from Arthas eyes. Terenas kneeled down, and cradled his son's head, neck and shoulder, so they can properly look at each other.

“Father?” Arthas gasped, as with his last burst of energy he placed a hand on his father's chest. “Is it... over?”

The tone of voice he had when he spoke those words didn’t escape Luna’s notice.

He was begging for it to be over.

Terenas laid a comforting hand on Arthas' gauntlet as he answered:

“At long last. No king rules forever, my son.”

Arthas looked away from his father, taking some comfort in those words in his final moments.

“I see... only darkness... before me...” he said, as everything around him, Luna and Matthias, became engulfed in black.

Almost at once, the darkness disappeared, and Luna found herself and Matthias at the same meadow they were before they ventured into his memories. As the dark blue alicorn looked at him, she realized he had his eyes still locked on the spot where his father was moments ago, holding his dying self.

The Princess wondered what she should say, after witnessing all the events that he’s been through, which was something she was thinking for some time.

Only one thing came to her mind

“I was wrong when I said that it wouldn’t change how I see you now... Arthas.”

Arthas closed his eyes as Luna called him by his real name.

“No surprise there.” he thought, sadness gripping his heart. “Nopony could be friendly towards me knowing the truth.”

“Now I see you to be even more worthy of respect.”

He turned his head towards her so fast that he almost twisted his neck.

“Excuse me?” he asked, surely he misheard that.

“You’ve been through so much...” Luna said and paused, to better collect her thoughts. “You were transformed from the Prince that would do everything to protect his subject from harm, to the monster that killed and tortured thousands... And now, that you regained your true self, you are still sane, and able to live with yourself, despite the feeling of guilt you carry. That speaks of strength, Arthas.”

“It’s not really due to my strength, Luna.” Arthas sighed. “At first, I fought about killing myself after awakening in Equestria, but before I had a chance to even think this through, I heard those three fillies crying for help. Later, I remained alive to figure out why I was... well, alive, and now...”

“And now you live, because you want to be with your friends.” Luna finished for him. “You live for them, Arthas, and you try to fight the feeling of belonging with dead. That takes strength, and courage.”

The earth pony pondered on her words. Was she right? Was he actually showing strength and courage in wanting to live, instead of weakness and cowardice?

“Once again, I was proven that Equestria is a weird place.” he said finally. “To think that there would be somepony that could know about my past and-”

“-and not run away screaming?” the Princess chuckled. “I know something about this, trust me.”

“Imagine then, how would they react...”

“Arthas, I told you before, I won’t tell anypony what you’d tell me, didn’t I? I still stand by my word. I trust you, and think of you as friend. And if you ever want to talk about anything in regards to your past, I will listen.”

“Thank you, Luna.” Arthas said, bowing. “I am glad to call you friend, and... thank you... for listening. It really helps.”

He meant it. Some part of him felt great relief in revealing his past to somepony, after three month of trying desperately to hide it from everypony. The knowledge that there is one pony that knew about it and that he could talk to her about it was comforting.

“That being said,” Luna broke his thoughts as she stood up, stretching her wings, “I think it would be best for now for you to return to dreaming, and me to return to my body.”

“I almost forgot that this is all a dream, actually.” Arthas said, chuckling, as he watched Luna’s horn glow with magic.

“One more thing before I leave...” the Princess of the Night added as she paused. “Don’t repeat the mistake you made as you chased Mal’Ganis: think of the living, instead of the dead.”

Arthas eyes went wide and was about to ask what exactly she meant by that, but she disappeared, and the dream around him shifted, along with his consciousness.

Matthias smiled as he trotted through the meadow full of flowers, alongside Twilight.

Princess Luna yawned a few hours later as the night court was brought to an end. She actually had three attendants before she went to Arthas’s dream and two after she returned. Much had changed since she returned from her banishment.

“If only Bolt was here...” she thought bitterly as she trotted towards the bedchambers. “... And our little filly...”

She never named her. Neither her or Bolt have ever decided on names, and once she realized that her foal was born dead... she couldn’t think straight, and now... and now it was easier to deal with pain when she didn’t have a name.

…Even though it still hurt.

Luna finally reached the chambers she’s been seeking, and entered.

“Morning, Tia.” she greeted her sister as she saw Celestia sit on her bed, reading some magazine.

“Hello, Lun... what happened?” the older sister asked, noticing the mood she was in.

Not seeing point in hiding it, Luna said:

“I showed Matthias my past, and he showed me his.”

“... Are you okay?” Celestia had queried, showing her first concern for her sister.

“Yes, I’m fine...” seeing the look Tia gave her, she added: “... as fine as I’ll ever be.”

“And what about Matthias?”

“His past... is more gruesome that I ever imagined. But I still trust him.”

“And what about his chances on becoming evil again?”

“I...” Luna stopped herself before she said that would never happen. Instead, she told her sister: “I trust that he will do anything he can to prevent that.”

“That’s reassuring.” Celestia sighed, and took a better look at Luna. “Little sister...”

“I’m...” the younger alicorn was about to once again brush off her concern, but found that she is unable to do so. Instead, she came over to her to hug her. “Why did they all have to die?” she asked, sobbing.

“Shhhh, little sister, I am still here.” Celestia whispered, and soon, Luna heard her sing familiar lullaby:

Don’t you worry about a thing,

Luna, close your eyes.

I’ll be here for you,

‘till the end of time, that’s what I’ll do.

What the years to come may bring,

is a guessing game.

But I’ll always be here,

so don’t you worry about a thing.

Despite knowing she would have to get up in about an hour or so to lower the moon, Luna allowed herself to fall asleep.

Author's Note

In case any of you wants to complain that Arthas story was very short, know that I actually wanted to have only the beginning and ending. I decided to add few more important things, because... well, that's Arthas. Besides, we (mostly) all know this story, and Luna's reaction to almost everything after Stratholme would be most likely the same, and I didn't want to write ten times "Luna watched, terrified..."

So, this ends the retrospections. New chapter is on the way, should be up in about three days, and we return to the plot.

55. After wonders of Night...

“I wish I didn’t have to get up.” Matthias thought, stretching as he sat up on the bed. “I had such a pleasant dream. I guess talking to Luna really did help me. Hmm... what was that dream about...” he frowned as he tried to recall, only to facehoof himself once he remembered parts of it.

Once he remembered Twilight was there.

“I think I know what Luna meant by ‘think of the living, instead of the dead’.” he sighed. “But... I cannot be with Twilight. I would end up only causing her pain. Guess it’s a good thing that I will be soon busy with training new paladins, then. We won’t be seeing each other as much.”

The mere thought of seeing her less was painful, but Matthias shrugged it off as he stood up and walked out of the suit he was staying in. He went towards Brann’s wanting to eat some breakfast with him and hear what he found out during his research in archives, but the dwarf wasn’t in it.

“For somepony so used to field work, he spends incredible amount of time reading.” Matthias chuckled as he headed towards Canterlot Archives instead.

“Twilight.” somepony’s melodic voice song as she stirred from her sleep. “Wake up.”

Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes and saw Cadance looking down on her, half-amused, half-concerned. The unicorn wondered for a heartbeat why, until she realized that she wasn’t in her bed. Rather, she was sitting in front of her desk and her forelegs and head laying on it, as she was before she fallen asleep.

“Good morning, Cadance.” she said, trying to be nonchalant about it. “How did you sleep?”

“Better than you, I think.” the Princess giggled. “Do you often sleep like this?”

“No, of course not.” Twilight replied, also laughing. “I just couldn’t fall asleep at night, so I came here to read something. I must have dozed off at some point.”

“I’m glad to know that books can sometimes make even you fall asleep.” Cadance joked as the younger mare stretched after being so long in hardly comfortable position. “Although, it seemed you had quite a beautiful dream.”

“Really? Why do you think so?”

“You were smiling through sleep. Do you remember what was it about?” the princess asked curiously.

“Well...” Twilight paused as she concentrated. “I... think I was trotting through some meadow with...”

“... with Matt.” she realized with a jolt.

“... with somepony.” she finished, perhaps a little too fast.

The last thing she needed right now was to convince others further that she felt something for Matt... even if it was true.

“‘With somepony’...” Cadance repeated after her, smirking.”... You do know you are blushing, right?”

Matthias was surprised when the mare that worked as the Royal Archivist, Summer Mane, told him that the dwarf was reading through books without rest all night. He thanked her and went into the Archives, finding Brann in the same spot where he left him yesterday, although with different set of books and with a mug of coffee.

“I’m almost surprise you’re still here.” Matthias greeted the dwarf. “I half expected you to find something about some old ruins and run off there.”

“Ehh, no such luck, lad.” Brann replied, acknowledging his presence with a nod. “There seems to be little to nothin’ about anythin’ older than thousand years here. And definitely nothin’ about titans, either...”

Matthias rolled his eyes.

“... I thought that I might find somethin’ about them if I read about those poor crystal ponies, but there is little of that left. Apparently, that ‘Spirit of Chaos’ fellow ye mentioned didn’t like books and scrolls.”

“Is there even a point in trying to convince you that there is nothing in Equestria that suggest that titans were ever here?” the earth pony asked, sighing.

“Nope. So, what’ve ye been up to, lad?”

“Had a tea with Twiligth’s and Shining Armor’s parents, and shared stories of past with Princess Luna in my dream.” noticing Brann surprise at the latter (and before that, amusement by the former), Matthias explained: “She has the power to see into dreams of others, although she only does so when ponies are plagued with nightmares.”

“Boy, I would not like to see yer nightmares.” Brann said, shrugging. “Guessin’ by that yer not locked in chains, ye either didn’t tell her about the Lich Kin’ business or she’s very understandin’.”

“I did, and I’m glad. It was nice to get that off my chest.”

“Hmpf.” dwarf grunted. “Well, I guess it’s nice to know there will be someone around to keep an eye on ye once I get back to Azeroth.”

“When do you plan to head back?”

“I guess after that party of yer friend. Wouldn’t want to have her chasin’ me through worlds.”

They both laughed at the ridiculousness of the idea, although Matthias wasn’t entirely sure if that was impossible for Pinkie Pie. He shrugged that thought off as he focused on the topic he had in mind for some time now:

“Would you mind doing me - and, by extension, both Equestria and Azeroth - two small favors?”

“What’ye mean, lad?”

“I want you to not say a word about Equestria to anyone on Azeroth.” Matthias told him and continued, before Brann could interrupt him: “I don’t want those ponies to be dragged into the war between the Alliance and the Horde, which would be unavoidable as long as that warmonger is the warchief. He would come here for resources...”

“That’s a given, I guess.” Brann interrupted him. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t plannin’ on tellin’ a soul.” under his nose, Matthias heard him mutter: “Don’t know who would have believed me, anyway...”

The earth pony suppressed a chuckle at the thought of Brann Bronzebeard, a renowned explorer, telling people that he’s been in the land of magical talking ponies.

“Either way, thank you. As for the second favor...” he lowered his voice. “... It is connected to what Ysera told me.”

“Ye mean when she told ye that she saw ye fightin’ side by side in battle against Deathwin’?”

“Yes. Me, Bolvar and Ner’zhul have been putting some thoughts together so that I could go there to fight, and, after a while, we came up with... an idea.”

Luna yawned as she awakened to lower the moon, only to realize that it was day already.

“Morning, little sister.” the voice of her sister sounded behind her and as she turned, Luna saw Celestia preparing herself for many duties she would have to face today. “You looked so peaceful I didn’t want to wake you up. I hope you don’t mind...”

“Not at all, sister.” the younger Princess interrupted her, stretching. “I’m actually glad that you let me sleep a while longer, so that I could be refreshed once the guards we’ve sent to the facility that your student and Arthas discovered...”

“Twilight and who?” Celestia asked, confused.

“Oh, right. That’s Matthias real name.” Luna explained, giggling. “He was a Crown Prince of his homeland, and once he... became evil, even crowned himself, so you could say that technically, he’s a king right now.”

“It seems that our guess about him being of royal blood was a correct one.” the white alicorn also giggled. “Such a pity we cannot tell our ‘favorite’ nephew about it, I would love to see his reaction.”

Both sisters laughed.

“That’s... a surprisingly well thought-out plan.” Brann admitted. “Despite of how ridiculous it actually sounds.”

“So, will you help?” Matthias asked, not sure if he and the two others could pull it off themselves.

They probably could, but they would have better chances of success with the help that Brann could provide.

“Sure, it will help Azeroth after all, right?”

“Thank you.” Matthias said, sighing with relief. “So when do you think you could bring those here?”

“I guess...” Brann paused as he scratched his head, thinking. “... it would take me about a month to gather everythin’.”

“A month? Hmm...”

“If you wouldn’t mind, could you also bring me some books about the Light? It would be easier for those that I will teach to understand it if they read more... precise description of the Light.”

“Sure, no problem. But,” Brann said, pointing him with his finger, “in return, ye will have to look into if there’s anythin’ titan related in Equestria.”

“Fine.” Matthias agreed, rolling his eyes. “So, now that we have that out of the way, wanna grab something to eat?”

“No thanks, I’m busy.”

“With what? You said that there seems to be nothing about titans here.”

“True, but there is still a bunch of interestin’ things.” Brann explained. “This world is amazing. Everythin’ seems to follow completely different rules of nature and magic that those on Azeroth or Outland. Even those ponies alone are weird like that. For example, did’ye know that there are no recorded male alicorns?”

“Really?” Matthias asked curiously.

He knew that alicorns were rare, but it didn't cross his mind earlier that most of them were of the same gender.

“Yep, only four females since the founding of Equestria. Other than that, there are only legends.”

“Four?”

“There was this loose page about some alicorn givin’ birth to an unicorn filly.” Brann said, shrugging. “If I got it right, it was during reign of King Nobleheart, the father of later King Brom. Besides that, I’ve got nothin’.”

“Her daughter was a unicorn?” the earth pony asked, surprised.

“Correct. I guess alicorns must be really special, if their offspring can be a regular pony.”

“Luna daughter was an alicorn, though.” Matthias thought, saddened by recalling the memory. “What kind of life she would have, if fate would be different? I wonder...”

“I will ask either Luna or Celestia about this other alicorn if you want, maybe they know something.” he offered Brann, taking his thoughts away from the sad subject.

“I doubt even they could explain what alicorns exactly are, considering there is nothin’ in these entire blasted Archives.” the dwarf said, sighing. “Ye know lad, once the whole Cataclysm business is over, I might drop here for longer. What kind of world doesn’t know its own history beyond the limit of last thousand and few hundred years?!” Brann shook his head. “Anyway, gettin’ back on the topic... after readin’ somethin’ else, I might have a theory...”

“Really? Do tell.” Matthias pleaded, preparing to hear that alicorns were some sort of titan failsafe or something.

“Well, there was this book about those timberwolves that ye mentioned.” Brann started, pointing at the pile next to him. “It said that besides those that ye’ve beaten to a pulp, there is a second kind of those puppies, but instead of havin’ just their skin and fur made out of wood, those are entirely made out of branches and such.”

“What has that to do with...”

“I’m gettin’ to it, ye prissy little horse. Those other timberwolves can survive being smashed to pieces, and reassemble themselves from their branches, or from the surrounding branches, which I think, means that there are more spirits than actual livin’ beings. The researcher also wrote that once, she observed the pack of those creatures assemble into one huge wolf. So, I’ve been thinkin’ that this ‘huge wolf’ can actually be a demigod, and those puppies you’ve been acquainted to are maybe its sons and daughters? And, if there are demigods here in Equestria, then maybe alicorns are ones as well, considering how rare and powerful they are? Besides, the legends, as ye’ve mentioned, tell that sometimes alicorns were born normal ponies, but became alicorns later in life - isn’t it somethin’ along the lines of you becomin’ the Lich Kin’? I mean, you were technically a demigod then.”

“Thanks for reminding me.” Matthias shook slightly, recalling the unholy powers he had at his command. “And it was a bit more complicated... but maybe you’re onto something.”

“Considering the power I both felt in that short argument Celestia and I had, and the power I witnessed in Luna’s memories...” he recalled as he thought about Brann suggestion, when suddenly he realized something with a jolt. “Wait a second! If alicorns are demigods, then maybe...”

“Excuse me.” a new voice interrupted his train of thoughts.

Annoyed, Matthias looked to its source, which turned out to be a royal guard.

“Yes, what is it?” Matthias, who wasn’t in the mood for interruptions, replied.

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna requested you to join them within the office of Royal Physician, Doctor Angelic Touch.”

“They could at least give me chance to eat something.” Matthias sighed as he wondered why the Princesses wanted to see him, exactly.

“Very well then, can you lead me to them?” he asked the royal guard, who nodded and turned around. “See you later, I will need your help with the architects.” he told Brann.

The dwarf waved hand in response, as he once again turned his attention to the books.

Spottedleaf yawned as she woke up, wishing she didn’t.

She dreamed about Firestar.

In that dream, they were together, and had three beautiful kits, just like she always wanted.

“I really should stop thinking about this.” Spottedleaf thought, feeling deep sadness well up in her heart. “It has always been impossible for me to be with him, and now that I’m in different world...” she sighed at the hopelessness of her situation. “He is happy with Sandstorm, and once she joins him in StarClan, they will be together for many seasons. That’s enough for me.”

The cat got up and stretched her back, shaking off the unpleasant thoughts as she padded towards the kitchen, wondering if there would be something to eat.

Inside, Angel bunny was munching some leaves.

“Well, there is something to eat alright.” Spottedleaf chuckled in her thoughts as the bunny continued to remain oblivious of her presence. “I wonder how many cats would have called me insane for wasting such opportunity.”

Angel was annoying as fleas, but Spottedleaf remembered what Matthias told her, about how peaceful this place was that even animals that normally haunted each other lived side by side. She wasn’t going to ruin this just because the rabbit got on her nerves.

Now that she thought about it, she actually felt bad about scaring him day before. Wanting to apologize, Spottedleaf crept closer to him and once she stood right behind him, she purred at him to get his attention.

The bunny, as soon as he turned around and saw her, tried to escape, as she expected. The formed medicine cat quickly pinned him to the ground, as gently as she could.

“Sorry about this, but I figured it would be hard to talk otherwise.” she meowed at him, wondering how much would he understand. As Angel continued to try finding a way out, she sighed. “Look, I wanted to apologize about snapping at you like that the day before.” to her mild surprise, the bunny stopped his tries. “I’ve just been through a lot lately, and I guess I’ve taken some of it on you. I hope you will forgive me that.”

Spottedleaf bended down and licked Angel on top of his head, to be sure he understood she had no wrong intentions towards him, and lifted his paw of him. The cat then purred her goodbye to the bunny, and walked away, looking for Fluttershy.

Had she looked back, she would have seen Angel following her with his eyes, which were now in a shape resembling hearts.

Author's Note

So... SpottedleafxAngel shipping. Thoughts? I personally think it would be hilarious if Arthas' pet cat got laid before he did, but I'm still not sure where to go with this...

56. ... comes suprises of Day

Matthias thanked the guard for leading him towards the office of Royal Physician, and knocked on the door.

“Come in.” the voice of Princess Celestia replied.

Once he opened the door and entered, Matthias saw a room resembling the one he saw in Luna’s memories within the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, belonging to doctor Horn. It too had a lot of shelves containing books about medicine, as well as some weird plants and stuff. However, at the moment, what took his attention almost immediately, was neither of the Princesses, or the unicorn mare that he didn’t had yet the pleasure of meeting, but rather, what was in the center of the room between all of them.

“The guards you’ve send to that facility have reported back, I take?” Matthias asked, staring at the green crystal/amber-like block that scared the life out of Twilight...

… and the barely visible pony inside.

“Yes, they did.” Celestia answered his question. “Matthias, may I introduce to you doctor Angelic Touch, the Royal Physician, and one of most talented ones we ever had.”

Matthias looked to his right, averting his gaze from the block, and regarded the unicorn. She had a coat blue as the sky, and her mane and tail were white as clouds. Her hair covered one of her eyes, but the one he could see was violet. Her cutie mark was a symbol of a pole, which had wings near the top ended with a sphere, and had two snakes wrapped around it’s length.

“Pleasure meeting you, doctor.” he told her, bowing his head in respect.

“Likewise... despite slight concern you will bump me out of my job.” the mare replied jokingly.

Matthias smiled at the comment, but returned his attention to the matter at hoof.

“Pleasantries aside, might I ask, Princesses, what did your guards found?”

“Of course.” Luna told him, and levitated in from of her a small file, and, glancing at it, continued: “The facility is a deep underground complex, the precise amount of floors is unknown, due to many of them being caved in. One of the rooms, the one who had the second biggest residue of magical energy left, even had a huge hole in it, which opened to the side of the cliff. The guards suspect that the tunnels you and your friends have discovered also used to be part of the facility, as well as that cave in which Ursa Major now lives in. However, they were unable to find out much about it, other than it appears to be swept clean.”

“‘Swept clean’?” Matthias, shocked, asked. “Why do they think so?”

“Who could have done it?” he wondered. “Nopony should know about this place.”

“They couldn’t find anything that wasn’t destroyed. No notes, no books, no runes that weren’t broken, no sign of experiments other than broken pieces of vials... and, despite the lingering stench of decay, there were no corpses.”

“Did they found any leads as to who took all of this?” Matthias asked, wondering why did they left this trapped corpse behind.

“No.” Celestia said, shaking her head. “ Other than magical residue here and there, there are no signs of anypony alive being there within last thousand years. Whoever it was that took everything must have been skilled in magic, to be able to hide it from those guards. One of them specialises in using her magic to detect any form of disturbance, magical or otherwise, and yet she found close to nothing... other than in two rooms, the one with the hole in it, and another one on the same floor, some type of powerful spells were performed... and in the latter, recently.”

“How ‘recently’?”

“She couldn’t tell. There is too much magical residue, both in the facility and the forest itself, and it causes her spell to be less accurate. Also, there is a matter of how powerful spell it was, to leave such strong imprint.”

“Hmm...” Matthias bit his lip, wondering what could possibly tell them more. “How did that other room looked like?”

“It seemed to be a bedroom of some sort.” Luna replied. “There was a bed in it, and some other furnitures, but other than that, there was nothing. The guards did mention one more thing... they said that the feeling of uneasiness they could feel radiating from that place was different in that room... and, in a way, much more intense and worse.”

“This seems to lead to nowhere.” Matthias sighed, shaking head. “And what about this?”

“Well, for one thing,” Angelic Touch answered, “the pony within is still alive.”

Matthias eyes went wide as they darted towards her.

“But...” he stuttered in shock.”... that’s impossible!

“We thoughts so to, but we’ve been proven otherwise.” Celestia said. “We’re lucky that Radar Sense - that royal guard - checked few times to be sure. This block...”

“We’re not sure until we’ll have test results of samples confirmed,” the Royal Physician cut in and continued, “but if they resemble the amber in which Changeling Queen captured you in more things than just the general look, then it is entirely possible.”

“How so?” the paladin asked.

“Well, we’ve picked up some leftovers of that amber before the real wedding took place, and ran some test on it.” now the mare had his full attention. “This substance had very peculiar magical properties. Once captured inside a block of it, the victim has his strength, be it physical or magical, or ‘holy’, suppressed, and slows down it’s metabolism, while sustaining it at the same time. It also is unable to sense magically, and shields it’s victim from being sensed as well. If you scan it with magic, it shows no sign of presence, no a single sign of life, no magical residue...”

“Then how did this Radar Sense...”

“Do you know how nervous system works?”

Now Matthias got it.

“Ah, so Radar Sense checked if there was any sign of electrons ‘movement’ inside? Impressive.”

“Not as much that you figured it out so quickly.” replied the slightly shocked unicorn.

“Let’s just say that due to some circumstances, I know next to everything about bodies.” the earth pony explained, with a hint of both discomfort and pride in his voice.

“Oh, really?” amused Celestia asked. “If that’s so, then how many ribs do ponies have?”

Matthias opened his mouth to give her an answer, when he realized that he had no idea.

“One would think that I would have checked after I had all of them shattered.” he thought
annoyed as he cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Angelic Touch, ignoring the chuckle that both Princesses gave:

“But how could that pony be still alive after more than thousand years?” Matthias asked, at the same time hoping that this would give the Royal Physician the impression that this was just some form of jest.

The Royal Physician glanced at Celestia and Luna, not understanding the why they were chuckling, before she answered:

“As I said, the changelings’ amber slows down metabolism of ponies, as well as all of their life function, and can do so to the point of them being on level barely sustaining life. All life functions, including aging.”

“That... shouldn’t make sense.” Matthias thought, unsure.

“But if this is the case, then this pony would need something to keep himself alive.” he pointed out. “There should be a limit of how long the amber can sustain pony, even if his life functions would be halted so drastically.”

“That is correct.” Angelic Touch replied, biting her lower lip as she thought about this for few heartbeats. “I suppose... that this pony was supplied with some sort of... energy, before he was sealed off. However...”

“... you cannot prove if this is right or wrong, with this amber blocking your scanning.” the
stallion finished. “You want to release this unfortunate pony.”

“Yes, Matthias, but this could prove... problematic.” Luna replied. “Since we don’t know how this amber exactly works, we don’t know how releasing the pony inside will affect him or her. It could even kill him. With both you and doctor Angelic Touch here, this should be much safer.”

“Hmm...” the paladins hummed, trying to foresee any possible problems. “This plan is based almost entirely on assumption of this amber being similar to the one changelings can create. How long until those test results will come?”

“At best, it will take two weeks.” Angelic touch replied, pouting. “It took us three to study that one from changelings, and this one is much more... condensed.”

“Condensed? Why do you think so?”

“The amber in which you were trapped was made out of the same substance that Princess Celestia was imprisoned at the time, and that was much more condensed, probably because that bug didn’t know what to make out of your powers, so she made sure you would stay unconscious... which, for some reason, didn’t work, while it should.”

“That actually raises a good question: how did you woken up, Matthias?” Celestia asked him. “I had trouble staying concentrated, and, as the doctor said, I was in weaker form of prison.”

“I...” Matthias said as he frowned, trying to recall. “I was having another nightmare, and then I heard...”

“... I heard Twilight calling out for my help.” he realized. “But... how? Based on what Angelic Touch just said, it should be impossible. I might have some telepathic powers left in me, from my time as the Lich King, but I haven’t tried using them, and even overlooking that, I shouldn’t be able to use them during such circumstances.” his frown deepened as he recalled something else. “Now that I think about it, during few times this past month I had a feeling that I knew what Twilight thought at the moment, but I just assumed it was because I know her so well... Could there be some sort of... connection between the two of us?”

“We would have noticed that.” Ner’zhul reminded him within the Helm of Dominance on Azeroth .

“Then how would you explain that?” Arthas asked.

“... Who can explain love?” Bolvar joked in response.

Back on Equestria, Matthias shook his head to as the other piece of him continued to argue with human and orc.

“I cannot remember.” he said, hoping that they would believe him.

He did not want to bring Twilight into this. Unfortunately, Luna and Celestia must have somehow guessed, because they were smirking.

“Well, anyway...” Angelic Touch started, sparing a glance at Princesses. “... considering that this block of amber contained this pony for at least a thousand years, it must be much more condensed than the one you were trapped in. We don’t know for sure if this amber is similar to the ones changeling use, but... even so, I believe that it would be best if this pony would be released as soon as possible. In case that supply I mentioned earlier... could run out.”

“I suppose you’re right, doctor.” Matthias sighed. “It would be very ironic if he died in there while we wait for test results.”

“It’s settled, then.” Celestia said, gaining attention from everypony. “Luna and I will cast a spell that will brake the pony inside free. Dr Angelic Touch, Matthias, be ready to heal him or her, if need arises.”

Matthias shifted his position to stand next to the unicorn as the two royal sisters stood on either side of the block, their horns shining. He run over prayers for healing, and at the same time, prayed that he would not need them:

“Light, make it so that the unfortunate soul inside is safe from harm once we free it. None of us here wishes to inflict pain or bring danger to it by our actions.”

As he prayed, the lights from Celestia’s and Luna’s horns now encircled the block of amber, causing it to shine bright as both sun and moon at the same time.

“Celestials’ Lights..”

With a loud crack, the amber prison was shattered to pieces.

Matthias stared at the pony which was inside of it, now being gently held by magical grip of both alicorns. It was an unicorn stallion, appearing to be slightly out of teen years of his life, but Matthias couldn’t be sure of that, since he, like everypony else, was momentarily blinded by the intensity of the Princesses magic. Before his eyes managed to adjust, the pony moaned and spoke:

“Where... where am I?”

“You’re in Canterlot.” Celestia replied gently, no less surprised by how quickly he regained senses that everypony else in the room. “Don’t worry, you are safe here.”

The unicorn glanced at her, and asked tiredly:

“And... who am I?”

“He has amnesia?” Matthias wondered, exchanging a glance with Angelic Touch, and both of them crept closer to take a better look at him.

Before either he or the doctor made a step, the unicorn colt’s eyes wided as he regarded Celestia.

“Wait, are you an alicorn?!"

The Princess smiled as she said:

“Yes, I...”

“‘Cause I always wanted to bone one!”

57. The moment that surprises...

Everypony stared at the mysterious unicorn, bewildered by his words, and after a second or two he too must have realized just what he said, for his eyes went wide and he covered his mouth.

“Why did I say that?” he asked, surprised. “And what’s... what’s an alicorn, by the way?”

“Is he bluffing, or does he really have amnesia?” Matthias wondered, shocked, to say the least. “And perhaps some sort of mental illness?”

The unicorn, at whom the paladin managed to get a better look now, had an aqua coat, and a black mane and tail. His body was sleek, but had well-toned muscles, especially on his forelegs, which for some reason, were covered in a green slime-like thing. The unicorn’s cutie mark... looked like some sort of two strange blue swords.

“Anyway...” the newly freed pony recovered from his confusion and gazed at Celestia again who still looked at him with pure shock on her face, with a smirk on his face. “What would you say, hottie, if we-”

Matthias, unable to listen any longer how this stallion insults his liege, cleared his throat.

“You happen to be addressing Princess Celestia, one of Equestria’s two rulers, with the other one, Princess Luna, being present here as well.” he informed him, getting a yelp of surprise out of the unicorn as he glanced around. “I suggest that you’ cease your babbling, and apologise for your uncouth behaviour.”

“Ow...” the unicorn stuttered, appearing to be more serious (or sane) for the moment. “Please, excuse my behaviour, Your Highnesses.” he said, bowing. “But not everyday you see such hot pieces of...”

“One more disrespectful word out of you...” Matthias interrupted him with a threat, but he stopped as he saw that Celestia, who finally regained her composure, raised her hoof.

“Enough, Matthias. This pony has been through a lot; don’t be too hard on him.”

Before she finished her sentence, the unicorn started chuckling.

“You said ‘hard on’!” he laughed at Celestia. “Bow-chicka-bow-wow!”

…

“Okay, that’s it.” Matthias, having never before witness such rude behaviour in the presence of ladies, let alone Princesses, was fed up. He summoned theHoly Avenger and presses the edge of the blade to the unicorn’s chin. “Stop. Talking. At once.”

The unicorn, whose eyes were wide as plates now, nodded (almost too eagerly, considering the blade near his throat). Ignoring the stares the mares gave him, the paladin began interrogating the pony.

“What is your name?”

“I... don’t know.” the aqua unicorn replied, for a moment appearing to be more confused than scared. “I don’t remember anything.”

“He... appears to be speaking truth.” Matthias thought, not taking his gaze away from his eyes. “But it wouldn’t hurt to make certain...”

He dispelled the light’s blade as he closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, reaching for the quiet, still pool deep inside him. The center, where no matter what was raging inside his head or heart, he is at peace. From that place of calmness, he asked for aid, for the Light. He felt a tingling along his skin as the Light responded, granting him its power and its unspeakable grace. Matthias and inhaled deeply, opening his eyes to see the familiar shimmering along his hoofs, his forelegs. Celestia, Luna and Angelic Touch stared at him, their eyes wide in shock. And as for the unicorn, he was trembling now, probably terrified of what was going to happen next. When he spoke, Matthias' voice was completely calm and controlled. There was no place here for hate or the heat of anger.

Not when one stood fully in the Light.

"Now, by the Holy Light, you will answer our questions and do so truly," the earth pony intoned, reaching out and resting the base of his hoof against the unicorn's forehead, below the horn. There was a sudden, blinding flash of light. He felt a spark leap from flesh to flesh.

The unicorn had a slightly blank expression, but at least he wasn’t afraid anymore... or speaking in that way he did before, which was also good.

“Now, do you really not remember anything?”

“Yes.” the unicorn replied almost at once.

Matthias sighed, disappointed, and broke his connection with the Light, freeing the mysterious pony in the process.

“He speaks the truth.” the paladin told the mares, while the aqua pony shook his head in confusion. “He wouldn’t be able to lie with the Light upon him. But, if he would be under an effect of some spell, it would’ve been dispelled. Is it possible that the imprisonment caused some sort of mental trauma?” he asked the Royal Physician.

“Well, he was locked away for more than a thousand years.” Angelic Touch replied. “I guess...”

“Wait, a thousand years?!?” the unicorn interrupted, shocked. “Is the ponykind extinct? Do we have to repopulate Equestria? Did you fine ladies woke me up me because this guy plays for the other team?”

Matthias, who was about to silence him again, found himself stopped dead in his tracks as he stared in shock at the aqua pony, completely astonished by the comment. That the Princesses giggled quietly didn’t help.

“I’m... not... Light damnit.” he stuttered, before he sighed and glanced at Celestia. “Can’t you send him to the moon or something?”

“Now now, Matthias, ponies shouldn’t be punished simply because they say something others don’t like.” Celestia soothed his anger calmly, but then looked at the nameless unicorn sternly. “However, as much as refreshing your behaviour is, if you continue to act this way, I’m afraid I will have to gag you-”

“Kinky.” the unicorn replied, smirking.

A beam flashed from Celestia’s horn and hit him in the mouth, causing him to be muzzled. The pony with amnesia made some indignant muffled noises as he tried to take it off, but to no avail.

“Thank the Light.” Matthias sighed. “Now that he won’t... talk, what were you going to say, doctor?”

“I was about to say that I should start examining him-”

“Hmf-muhu-hmf-hunk!”

“-which hopefully will be as painful as possible.” she finished, looking at the unicorn, annoyed.

“Doctor Angelic Touch, please.” the white alicorn told her sternly.

“I know, Your Highness, I will try to be professional.” she said, and Matthias heard her mutter: “The key word try.”

“Might I advise to have some guards assist her, in case this stallion gets aggressive?” the paladin suggested.

“I suppose that should be in order.” Luna butted in. “Guessing by his behaviour, they might need to protect the doctor from him.”

“More like protect him from me.” the Royal Physician smirked. “Anyway, Your Highnesses, Sir Matthias, you can leave now. I will give you my report later as to what I found out about this pony.”

“Very well, then. We shall leave this in your capable hooves.” Celestia said and trotted out of her office, followed by Luna and Matthias.

“Well, that was...” Luna paused, looking for the right word. “Enlightening.”

“Indeed, little sister.” the older Princess replied as she signaled for two guards that stood nearby to come closer. “Go inside Royal Physician’s office and assist her in whichever manner she asks of you.” when two guard nodded and went to help doctor Angelic Touch, closing the door behind them, she turned to Matthias. “I didn’t expect you to be such quick to anger over something like this... King Arthas.”

Matthias threw Luna annoyed look, not surprised she told her sister his real name, but a little uncomfortable that the Princess of the Night mentioned his title as well.

“If you really have to tease me, Celestia, at least call me ‘Prince’.” he told her, sighing. “I do not deserve to be called ‘King’. And as for what happened back there: a gentlecolt should not allow for such behaviour in the presence of ladies.”

“And a gentlecolt should not threaten other like this, as well.” Luna smirked. “But I digress. Either way, it seems we won’t get any information about this ‘Project Eclipse’ out of him. What do we do now, sister?”

“I’m not sure.” Celestia answered, thoughtful. “Unless Angelic Touch will find something while examining him, then we are in dead end.”

“Perhaps in time, more information will come.” Matthias said. “You posted some guards around this place, just in case, right?” when she nodded, he continued: “Then maybe whoever it was that cleaned the facility will go back there. Or maybe one of the guards will finds something the others missed. Either way, it is important to not give up hope. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Your Highnesses,” the earth pony added, bowing, “I was planning to meet up with Brann and the architects.”

“Of course, Matthias, you can go.” Celestia replied, and he trotted away.

Celestia watched Matthias trot away, wondering how could he, of all ponies, remain optimistic. Luna said he was once incredibly evil, even if she refused to mention anything else, and now he knew that this could all repeat itself, and yet...

“That unicorn was really strange.” the voice of her sister pulled her thoughts out of subject of the paladin.

“Strange isn’t exactly the word I would use.” she joked to Luna as they headed towards Luna’s chambers. “But I will admit, it was interesting to hear somepony address me in such manner. Over those years, I’ve been asked to be courted few times, but none of those ponies have been as honest about his intentions as he, not to mention that they were interested mostly in political power.”

“Oh?” Luna tilted her head in amusement. “That’s the first time I hear about you having any consorts, sister. How many managed their way into your bedchambers?”

Celestia blushed, not expecting that kind of question, as she frantically began thinking about some answer, but her sister managed to see the truth through the shade of red on her cheeks.

“Tia...” she said as she stopped, shocked, and once she made sure there was nopony in sight, asked: “You’re a thousand year old virgin?!”

“Light, why are you doing this to me?” Celestia though, adapting to Matthias’ way of thinking in her embarrassment as she watched her sister giggle. “I am trying to spread your love in my world, and that’s how you repay me?”

“I would like to point out that due to all the changes your body has gone through two years ago, you are biologically a virgin again as well.” she told Luna in her defense, as Luna continued to laugh at her expense.

The other alicorn shook off the comment, but cased her laughing.

“I’m sorry, sister, but it just so...” Luna tried to say, but gave up and bursted into laughter again.

Celestia shook her fiercely red head, wondering how long it was going to last.

Matthias sighed as he walked through the halls of the castle.

“I’m already tired, and I have so much to do.”

Discussing all the details with the architects took hours, many hours. Even with Brann help, it was hard to explain to them how cathedrals, chapels and abbeys looked like on Azeroth. And it most certainly didn’t help that at some point, Matthias started by accident explaining nerubian’s architecture instead of human’s.

But in the end, they were done. By tomorrow, the architects should finish their projects and show them to him, and if they will be acceptable, he would be back in Ponyville in two days.

“Before that, however, I have one more important thing to do.” he thought as he trotted over to the three chattering maids he spotted few seconds ago.

“Hey, Pixie, wanna go to ‘Equestria’s End Club’ after work?” Matthias heard one of them ask, and as he got a better look at them, he realized that indeed one of them was the familiar unicorn.

“Sorry girls, but I have something important to do.” the brown maid replied, much to her friends’ discomfort.

“Aww, you always say that. You never hang out with us or the rest of the staff.”

“You wouldn’t be ditching us to meet with some hunk of a stallion, wouldn’t you?” the other one joked.

Deciding to give the mare a breather, Matthias spoke up.

“Excuse me ladies,” he said as the three maids jumped up, scared, and turned around, “would any of you happen to know where I could find some naturally crystal clear water and some incense at this hour?”

“Err,” stuttered by one of the two mares he hadn’t got the pleasure meeting yet, blushing. “...there are stores at the Bazaar, one at Smart Cookie’s Street, and the other at Brave Mailmare’s.”

“Thank you.” Matthias replied, smiling. “If you wouldn’t mind, I have one more favor to ask. Could you bring to my chambers three small bowl’s, about this size, and a saddlebag?” he pleaded as he gesticulated the size of plate’s he was talking about.

“Sure!” the other maid answered, also blushing, very eagerly. “Anything for you, Mister Matthias!”

“Once again, thank you.” the paladin said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. “If you’ll excuse me, then...”

He bowed his head and resumed his trotting, heading towards the castle gates.

“He’s soo dreamy!” he managed to hear one of the maids whisper. “Do you think he’s got a marefriend?”

Matthias shook his head, hoping that none of those mares would try to ambush him when he’d return to his chambers.

“Hey, lad, wait for me!” the voice of Brann reached him and as he glanced back, he saw the dwarf run towards him.

“Going back to the Archives?” the paladin asked, amused.

“Yep. Where ye off to?” the explored asked in turn as he reached him.

“Oh, nowhere in particular,” Matthias replied, resuming trotting. “To buy some water, some incense...”

“Very funny.”

“I happen to be serious.”

“Don’t ye have more important things to do, like, I dunno, creatin’ a paladin order, plannin’ how to get to yer old world...”

“I’ve got the other part of my soul, Bolvar and Ner’zhul working on the latter.” the paladin stopped his count.

“Hmpf. Guess the three of’ye don’t hav’ny better things to do, huh? Ye think about this all the time in that blasted Helm?”

Matthias hesitated.

“Well...”

Meanwhile In the frozen lands of Northrend, atop Icecrown Citadel lies a being sitting on a throne that has encased him in ice as his head dons The Helm of Dominance, which gives the wearer mental command over The Undead Scourge. Within The Helm lies a room that contains 3 souls of the current and former Rulers of The Damned, as they surround a table with materials at hand and on the table. Surely, they are preparing a diabolical plan of sorts? Ones which would bring Azeroth to its very knees…

“Got any tens?” Bolvar asked casually as he, Arthas and Ner’zhul sit at the table, each one of them holding five cards. It was game night for the three spirits, as they kept the restless undead in place with ease, which surprisingly enough resulted a lot of free time for them as it doesn’t take much effort to simply watch over them.

Ner’zhul simply shakes his head to comply the former human. “You know, I might be willing to let the purple one back in here.” the old orc said. “We would get a fourth to bridge!”

“... mostly.”

Spottedleaf yawned, tired after the long day.

After she made sure Fluttershy was fine with that (the former medicine cat still couldn’t believe the pony understood her somehow) she went to the stream, trying to catch some fish. While she wasn’t either trained in hunting that kind of prey or wasn’t even fond of its taste, this was about the only prey she could hunt and eat, so she did both of those. After many trials and errors, she finally caught one. It tasted magnificent, probably because she got it by herself, instead of being fed.

After that, she went for a walk through the ‘town’, curious about how those ponies lived. For what she could see so far, their lifestyle mostly resembled that of Twolegs, and even kept other animals as pets like them too. Like Opal, who she met today, wasn’t exactly friendly. She’s a kittypet to the bone, helped her nonetheless by explaining few things from a cat point of view.

“It was a long day.” she summed up in her thoughts.

Suddenly, she felt something gently tapping her on her neck, and when twisted her head, she saw Angel bunny, smiling shyly.

“How did he sneak up on me so easily? I must be more tired than I thought...” crossed her mind as the rabbit pressed his paws to her back and began moving them up and down.

Spottedleaf realized that what Angel was doing right now resembled what Opal mentioned about her Fourleg, Rarity, who often went to some nest called ‘Spa’ to get massages, which ponies apparently did with their hooves instead than with their tongues.

“Even if this isn’tsharing tongues, it still feels nice.” she commented in her thought as she purred while Angel continued to massage her back.

Twilight waited until she was sure that Spike was asleep, before she got up from her bed and trotted over silently towards about the only one shelf within her library she almost never took books off, aside from reshelving days, of course.

While she loved spending time today with her friends and family, she longed for the night all day, knowing that only then (or rather, now) she could read those books safely. She looked at the titles of few of them now, feeling very anxious:

‘How to date somepony’, ‘Is it love?’ ‘The Truth about Dating, Love, and Just Being Friends’, and the one she most dreaded: ‘What could go wrong and what to do about it”?

Matthias sighed with relief once he made sure there was not a lustful female assassin of sorts waiting for him.

“The fact that I am pleased that there is no pretty maid mare waiting in my chambers could be used to question my sanity.” he thought amused as he laid his shoppings on the floor. “Although, I don’t have time for that either way...”

Not wanting to waste anymore time, he took one of the bottles of pure, clean water he bought from the bags, and pressing his hooves against it, intoned a prayer:

“Light, bless those waters. Fill them with your purity, so they may bring your love to others.”

A beam of Light appeared around the bottle as he prayed, and soon, the inside of it glowed.

“It worked.” Matthias thought as the glow slowly dispersed, and picked up another bottle. “I hope the rest of the night will go as smoothly...”

Author's Note

I decited to change the name of Arthas weapon from Light's Blade to Holy Avenger, sorry for confusing you, it's just... as I slowly raised my paladin to lv 86, i realized how much cooler this sounds. And since Arthas often hangs out with Rainbow Dash, I imagined that she would tell him how lame "Light's Blade" sounded.

58. ... become miracles

Matthias hoped that despite the late hour, Princess Celestia was still awake, as he asked the guards if she could see him in her private chambers. To his surprise, however, he was informed that the royal guards have been told to let him do pretty much as he pleased around the castle. And so Matthias knocked on the door and once he heard the Princess invitation, he trotted inside.

“Ah, Matthias.” she greeted him looking over from his desk, where she was reading some scroll. “I was reading Doctor Angelic Touch’s report... why are you carrying a saddlebag?”

“I will explain in a moment.” the paladin said, shifting his body under its weight. “What did she find out?”

Celestia raised her eyebrow, confused, but returned her attention to the scroll.

“As the doctor suspected,” the Princess began reading out-loud, “the unicorn has some sort of energy source within his body, but she’s unable to identify how it got there, or what it is. Angelic Touch wants to extract a sample of it through surgery. She also reported that the goo on his forelegs is an unknown substance, which she suspects might be the same one he has inside his body, due to its high magical residue and apparent healing properties. The bones in his forelegs were broken, most likely shortly before he was imprisoned within that amber, but because of that goo, they have mended.”

“Interesting...” Matthias commented as Celestia paused. “So whoever trapped him inside wanted him to live, and applied that substance on his forelegs and to his body.”

“The doctor also scanned his brain with few spells, and found out that almost every memory he has is being suppressed by his mind, due to the trauma. She could force him to remember, but it would cause him a mental breakdown, and for about ninety percent chance result in this pony becoming, and I quote, ‘a vegetable’.”

“If that would make him stop talking...” Matthias muttered, but noticing the gaze the alicorn gave him, he quickly assured her: “I’m joking. So there is no way for him to regain his memories?”

“Angelic hopes that if he will be slowly introduced to the society, some of his memories will return over time.” the Princess sighed, worried for the pony, despite how much annoying he was. “Either way, that’s not all that the doctor discovered. She also checked his vitals, and found out that his body has an incredible amount of stamina and strength, able to compete with that of royal guards, and even maybe yours. He has good reflexes, despite being trapped in that amber thing for over thousand years. But, there was one...” Celestia paused for a moment, as if noticing a mistake in her use of words. “... actually, there is a bunch of things weird with his body.”

“How so?”

“He can materialise his life-energy, not magic, in a form of two energy blades sprouting from his hoof.”

“E-excuse me?” Matthias asked with wide eyes. “His life-energy?”

“In other words, stamina, but in this case the term ‘life-energy’ seems to be more appropriate. Doctor Angelic Touch found out about it-” she checked the scroll “- as it appeared when she turned around for a moment, and that pony got a better look at her... well, you can figure out what.”

Matthias rolled his eyes, wondering what the hell is that pony.

“Did she found out anything else?”

“Not for a moment, but she’s still checking him. It will be awhile before he will be let out to from the castle which, as much as is it is reassuring to every mare in Equestria, makes me feel bad. He’s basically a prisoner, and I never thought I would ever try to keep another pony... locked away.”

Celestia sighed as she slumped down, and Matthias found himself unsure what to do. He hadn’t seen her so... depressed, aside from Luna’s memories, which seemed exactly to be the problem right now.

“Tell me something, Arthas.” she spoke unexpectedly, immediately getting his attention. “You’ve seen Luna’s memories. How horrible of a sister am I?”

The white alicorn looked up as she said that. She was on the verge of tears.

“I suppose I should have expected this.” Matthias sighed mentally as he trotted closer to the Princess and sat down.

“Celestia, I have no right to judge others, especially in terms of past.” he told her, closing his eyes. “I don’t know how much Luna told you about me, but I had sister too, and I was heir to my father, so you could say that we are quite similar. Celestia,” he opened his eyes, and looked straight at hers, “you did what you had to do to protect your subjects. There was no other choice.”

“But what about how I ignored her, and...” the Princess tried to cut him off, but Matthias stopped her by raising hoof.

“You couldn’t have known how Luna had felt all those years as ponies kept ignoring her. She only came to talk to you about that once, but all she said then was about extending the nighttime, and she didn’t mention as to why.”

“I should have listened to her.” Celestia whispered. “She came to me, but I brushed it all off as some foalish cravings.”

“Yes, you did.” Matthias told her, putting his hoof on her shoulder. “Everypony makes mistakes sometimes. Those of rulers or that of powerful beings tends to be a lot bigger. But sometimes, you get a chance to fix them, even if it happens after a thousand years.” she smiled at the poor joke as he continued. “Look Celestia, I am most likely the last pony to ever say this, but you cannot dwell on the past.”

“I know that, but... I ruined my little sister’s life. Because of me, she lost both the stallion she loved and her foal... if I paid more attention, if I hadn’t banished her to the moon, if I found a different solution...”

“The foal would still die.” the paladin told her firmly. “She died because of Nightmare Moon’s dark powers. Do not blame yourself on that one.”

“Besides...”

“And as for that unicorn...” Matthias said, dispelling the thought, and not believing what he was about to say now. “... I know I will regret it, but let me try to make a paladin out of him.”

His suggestion managed to completely snap Celestia out of her depression, and now she stared at him with eyes wide with shock.

“A paladin?!? Out of him?” she asked, surprised.

“He’s probably going to be one of the most annoying paladins ever, but based on what you told me so far, he has great predispositions to become one. He’s strong, sturdy, and even has some strange sword, which basically means this is one of few ‘jobs’ he can take on. And who knows?” Matthias asked, shrugging his forelegs and hoping to convince himself as much as her. “Maybe the paladin training will temper that personality out of him?”

“The conviction in your voice is really encouraging.” Celestia chuckled to herself. “Are you sure about this?”

“No, but as much as I hate the mere thought of him being in a hundred mile radius of my friends, I prefer to keep an eye on him personally, so it’s the only way.”

“I suppose. Very well then.” the Princess said, and then added: “Oh, I almost forgot, he chose a name for himself.”

“Do tell.” the paladin replied, not at all enthusiastic about it.

“Tucker Out.”

“Tucker...”

“Because ‘when ladies spend a night with him, he tuckers them out’.” Celestia explain with a displeased grimace on her face.

“... That doesn’t even make sense!” Arthas could only reply after thinking about the reasoning for such a name.

“Well, it’s still better than the other names that he wanted to be known as.” the alicorn said, moving the scroll so that Matthias could read it.

“The Love Doctor, General Harasstitioner, Sexicologist, Looovelogist, Doctor Fu...” Matthias read few of them out of unhealthy curiosity, before he averted his eyes off it.

“Just to be sure, if I kill him...”

“I will be mad.” Celestia replied, smirking. “Anyway, Arthas,” she said with a warmer and gentler expression. “...thank you; for listening to me, I mean, and your comforting words.”

“Always a pleasure, Your Highness.” Matthias told her, kneeling.

Celestia chuckled at this display, before she gestured him to get up.

“Now that we’ve got all of that out of the way, why did you come here with this equipment of yours?”

“Well...” the earth pony started, not sure how exactly he should say it, and in the end, decided to be blunt. “I kinda wanted you to send me to the moon.”

He was rewarded with a sight of Celestia jaw almost hitting the floor.

“W-What?!? Why?” she shouted a few seconds later, still shocked by the request.

“Here it goes...”

“When Luna showed me her memories, I noticed something.” he explained. “I cannot be sure, since Luna was almost completely insane by that point, so I want to check it out myself.”

“And what that ‘something’ would be?” Celestia asked, regaining her composure.

“I would prefer to not tell you or Luna until I’m sure. And I would also prefer to go there alone, in case you wanted to tag along, Your Majesty.”

That answer most certainly wasn’t the one the Princess wanted to hear. She stared into Matthias eyes for a long time, searching for truth, but finally gave and sighed.

“Very well, then.” she said, standing up. “I will cast a spell that will send you to the moon, and one more, that will allow you to return back once you’ve checked whatever it is that you seek. All you’ll have to do is concentrate on somepony, and you will appear next to her or him. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes, thank you.” Matthias replied, also standing up. “Also, might I ask that you will not mention this to Luna? I don’t see a reason to disturb her now.”

“Neither I, nor my sister enjoy hearing about anything related to Nightmare Moon.” Celestia told him, nodding. “Do not worry, I won’t say anything to Luna. When do you hope to come back?”

“In about few hours, maybe a little longer.” the paladin said as the Princess concentrated her magic in her horn.

“I see. Good luck, then.”

A light flashed in front of his eyes.

Celestia stared for a long moment at the spot in which Matthias stood before she send him to the moon, the very same on which she imprisoned her own little sister so long ago.

“What could he have noticed in Luna’s memories?” she wondered aloud. “Was it something connected to the Old Gods?”

The Princess sighed and shook her head. She trusted him, and after the talk they had, she considered him to be a good friend; and because of that, she was that much worried. Why couldn’t she come with him, did he always wanted to deal with problems by himself?

“I’m beginning to understand more and more why my student likes you so much, Arthas Menethil.” she smiled in her thoughts. “And, even more so, why she gets mad at you so easily.”

Matthias didn’t know what was more amazing: the sight of world and stars above him, or the shining ground beneath him.

“It’s so beautiful out here.” he thought as he gazed on the globe on which all his friends were on, admiring its beauty.

The world of Equestria was a lot like Azeroth used to be. Prior to Cataclysm, prior to Sundering, when for the first time since the titans left it that almost faced extinction. For one thing, the Equestria didn’t have a giant maelstrom in the middle of it. From where Matthias was, he could see a single continent, but since it was the one he lived on, it was enough for him.

He then turned his gaze towards the many stars, which he never before saw so clearly as now. Somewhere out there, among them was Azeroth, his homeworld. Where his old life had ended, leaving a whole mountain of death, pain and misery in its wake.

Finally, he looked at the ground.

The entire moon shone with the same gentle light everypony could see from the planet below. Except that here, it was much stronger. The very soil and dirt that Matthias picked with his hoof was emitting it.

“Amazing.” the earth pony thought as he tried to take a deep breath.

But he couldn’t.

“As in Luna memories, there is no air here...” he said out-loud... only to realize that he couldn’t hear himself.

“... and moon’s magic keeps me alive without the need to breath.” he concluded in his mind instead, wondering how come Luna didn’t notice she couldn’t speak here. “I guess I will have to intone those prayers in my thoughts... and now that I think about it, the lack of air makes the incense pretty much useless.”

Matthias rolled his eyes as he realized it. Still, he hoped it would work.

It had to.

“No distinctive landmarks.” the earth pony thought as he glanced around at the horizon. He sighed mentally as he picked a random direction and started trotting. “This is going to take a while.”

Fluttershy yawned as she was about to reach her cottage, coming back from Carousel Boutique; where Rarity and Applejack proposed the plan Cadance came up with to get Twilight and Matt together to her, Rainbow and Pinkie.

“Oh my, it must be later than I thought.” she realised, feeling tired. “I wish we didn’t have to keep this plan a secret from Twilight. It doesn’t seem right, and we wouldn’t have to meet up so late at night.”

The pegasus pony yawned as she opened her door.

“Angel, I’m ho-” Fluttershy began to say as she was about to apologise to the bunny for returning so late, but immediately stopped as she registered what she was seeing.

Angel and Spottedleaf were curled up together, cuddling as they slept on the pillow in her living room.

“Aawww! They look so cute!”

After many hours of reading, Twilight Sparkle sighed in despair as she put away the book. She had skimmed it, of course, as she did the others. Only interested in certain aspects of them, and wanting to find the answer this night, so that she could relax and be calmer about the upcoming talk she would have with Matt.

What she did find, though, made her anything but relaxed and calm.

According to the book, the relationships between mare and stallion which started as a friendship, becomes much more serious as a couple, if it advances to that level. Apparently, over one third of all couples broke up every year in Equestria, and the chances of that were much higher in cases where ponies were young. And if it was their first relationship, to which for Twilight it was, was both the issue.

But that wasn’t what made this particular situation so dreadful.

When a couple, that were friends, broke up, they very often couldn’t return to being friends, and their other friends often sided with only one side, abandoning the other.

“I cannot lose Matt’s friendship!” Twilight wanted to cry out-loud. “It’s too important to me! And ...my friends are his friends. I wouldn’t want them to chose, or abandon him... or me.”

The lavender pony had no doubt that there was a chance that her friends could choose Matt over her. Rainbow, for one, spend a lot of time with him, learning his fighting moves, and he helped Applejack at the farm every few days.

“Not to mention that he lives in my house.” Twilight fought bitterly as she looked through the window. “I don’t want to throw him out... Argh! How the hay am I supposed to talk to him now?!”

The young unicorn stared at the moon as she continued to think about every possible option she had. The most encouraging one was asking Cadance for advice, but...

Twilight blinked.

“Huh, I must be really tired.” she concluded as she rubbed her eyes. “I could have sworn that I saw a gold light flashing from the moon.”

“While I am glad that there are so many ponies that don’t go to sleep as the night falls, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy having to work until almost morning!”

Unfortunately for Luna, such was the case at least once a month, which was too often for her taste. Ponies were under the impression that the night court will be much less crowded than the day court, and as such, they tried to present their problems to the Princess of the Night. She didn’t mind, it was her duty as the Princess after all. The problem was, when the problems of ponies stockpiled into the amount of when she didn’t have any break.

“If I didn’t have to lower the moon in, like two minutes, the court would still be in session.” Luna thought as she rolled her eyes, watching the last of the petitioners leave the throne room. “Oh well, now they’re Tia’s problem... or mine in the next night.”

Either way, she had a whole day to rest. Being an alicorn, she didn’t exactly need to sleep as often as other ponies do. Which lets her accompany her sister during the day, simply enjoy the castle’s gardens, company the castle’s staff, and many other, but she still needed to rest.

“Long night?” came the voice of her sister as Celestia trotted into the throne room.

“Indeed, Sister.” Luna replied, smiling at her only close family; the other royals, even Cadance, being descendents of their cousins. “I might actually consider shortening the night if this continues.”

For some reason, Tia didn’t laugh at the joke, only smiled.

“Is something wrong?” the Princess of the Night immediately asked, coming closer to Celestia, so that the guards couldn’t overhear them, as she suspected what could bother her sister. “Tia, if this is about... everything, then the only one that is to be blamed is me.”

She saw her sister open her mouth to object, as she knew she would, but before she could do that, both of them felt a sudden magical surge behind them.

A one that was very familiar to Luna.

She looked to behind her and saw, to her surprise, Matthias who for some reason had a saddleback strapped to his back. Luna didn’t need to look at his shining dust-covered hooves to know where he was.

But what she needed to know was why he was holding some kind of bundle in his hooves. Only one answer could come to her mind and surely he didn’t...

“Matthias...” Luna started, barely keeping the fury out of her voice. “I suggest that you have some very good explanation for...”

A soft yawn coming from the bundle interrupted her.

“What?” the Princess of the Night whispered, her eyes wide.

“It can’t… can’t be... it’s impossible...”

Luna took few shaken steps towards Matthias, as he then kneeled and presented the bundle to her. She carefully picked it up with and looked at it.

The bundle was, as she suspected, a foal wrapped in blanket. But, what she didn’t expect was for the foal to yawn. The little pony twisted her head and opened her eyes, looking at Luna.

With the same eyes that Shadow Bolt had.

“My... my little baby daughter...” was all that Luna could stutter in her shock, on the verge of tears, as she holds onto a long-lost forgotten joy that she only experienced for a few seconds over a millennium ago.

The little filly giggled happily.

Celestia stared wide-eyed at her sister holding up her daughter, which was born dead over a thousand years ago on the moon.

“So this was what he meant... but I thought it was supposed to be impossible to bring somepony to life if he or she stayed dead too long.”

“How is this possible?” she asked, turning to Matthias who was, like her, watching the mother and daughter with a calm and happy expression on his face.

The earth pony looked at her, and Celestia was shocked to see how tired he was. He had bags under his eyes, and his gaze was a bit unfocused.

“When Princess Luna showed me her memories, I noticed she didn’t need to breathe on the moon to stay alive.” he started, smiling. “I assumed that the moon magic itself was sustaining her, and if that was the issue, it would mean that it should also perfectly preserve the body of this filly. Also, Brann pointed out to me that you alicorns resemble demigods of my world, which means normal rules don’t apply to you. And so-”

Whatever else the paladin was about to say, it was cut off as he was suddenly pulled by Luna into a bone-crushing hug.

Author's Note

... What? I felt sorry for Luna for writing the death of her daughter, so I decided to write this (seriously, I thought up this chapter like a day after I posted the part V of Luna's past).

As you can probably guess, the fact that filly has no name means you can write down your propostions. While I have few ideas, I would like to know what you think.

Hm... Looks like Equestria has four alicorn princesses, huh?

59. Revelations

“Do you think something happened to Matt?” Rarity asked with concern in her voice.

“I don’t think so.” Twilight answered, despite how worried she was.

As the train to Canterlot shook slightly, the lavender unicorn once again went in her mind through the letter she got from the Princess just about an hour ago:

My dearest Twilight,

I would like for you, Cadance and Shining Armor, as well as your friends, to come to Canterlot for few moments. Don’t worry, you will all be able to return to Ponyville the same day, if you so choose to, of course.

Your mentor,

Princess Celestia

“I mean, if something did happen to him, Princess Celestia would have mentioned it and wouldn’t add ‘don’t worry’.” Twilight told everypony besides Spike, who opted to stay in Ponyville and sleep, as the train neared their destination.

“I wonder what it could be, though.” Princess Cadance said thoughtfully. “I know my aunt well enough to know she wouldn’t call us from our honeymoon, even if it ends in two days, anyway.”

“You’re still coming back to Ponyville with us, right?!?” Pinkie asked, jumping up to her and Shining Armor. “You have to come to the party I’m throwing for Brann!”

“Of course, Pinkie, we wouldn’t dream of trying to miss any of your parties.” Cadance smiled, still remembering the party she had thrown for them yesterday.

Twilight chuckled, feeling heartened by the memory as well, but she was still worried. Not for Matt’s well-being, convinced that he was fine (well, almost), but for what to say to him if they met.

“And I cannot ask Cadance or anypony else for advice while my brother is here.” she thought angrily.

The unicorn loved her brother dearly, but right now, she was more annoyed at him that she could ever remember in her live.

The guards told them that Princess Celestia was awaiting them in Princess Luna’s private chambers. Everypony was surprised by the choice of meeting place to say the least, but nonetheless, they followed Cadance and Shining Armor, the only ones that knew the way. While in the past, Twilight often visited Celestia in her chambers, once she gotten her permission; she never got a chance to see Luna’s. From what she knew, Celestia leaved her old chambers undisturbed for over a thousand years, but other than that, she knew surprisingly little.

“It’s really been a while since I moved to Ponyville, I guess.” Twilight thought as they neared their destination, which was placed in one of the higher towers of the castle. “If I had still lived in Canterlot, I would probably have learned the location of Princess Luna’s chambers right away.”

The two guards that were standing by the entrance saluted at the sight of Cadance and Shining Armor.

“Greetings, Your Highness, Captain.” they both said. “The Princesses and The Grand Master are expecting all of you.”

“Grand Master?” Twilight thought, and could hear her friends mutter between themselves, clearly confused by the title as well; while the guard opened the doors for them. “I’ve never heard of any ‘Grand Master’!”

She quickly pushed the thought away as they entered the room, jumping to the front of her friends.

“Princess Celestia, we came as fast as we could, what...” she began, but stopped as she noticed three things.

One, Celestia was standing nearby, motioning for them to be quiet.

Two, Matthias was lying on a sofa on the left side of the room as he was sleeping, and his hooves slightly shone with an odd, but familiar, light.

Third, Princess Luna was lying on a very luxurious bed, holding and feeding a bottle with a...

“A foal!” Twilight realized, and felt her jaw drop.

And it wasn’t just a foal. Even from where she and the others stood, she could see that the little pony had both wings and horn.

“Ah, looks like our guest have arrived!” Luna said as she noticed them. “Look, Moonlight,” she turned her attention back to the foal, “those six ponies over there are the ones that saved your mommy!”

“Mommy?!?” everypony, except the Princesses and one sleeping Matt, asked, clearly astonished.

“And those two over there are your cousins!” Luna continued, not paying a slightest attention to their reaction. “Do you want to say hello to all of them?”

The small alicorn giggled happily, so Luna picked her up with her magic and moved her closer to them. As Twilight got a better look at the little pony, she realized that she was looking at almost perfect miniature of Princess Luna, except for two details: her mane, which was not ethereal, and eyes, which...

… which looked almost liked those of a dragon.

“Everypony, I would very much like to introduce to you my daughter, Princess Moonlight Shadow.” Luna said, her voice beaming with pride and joy. “Moonlight say hello.”

The little filly once again giggled happily, throwing her forelegs as if to embrace all of them.

“Aw, she’s so cute!” Cadance was the first one to recover from the shock, and she trotted closer to the filly. “Auntie, do you mind if I hold her?”

“Why of course not Cadence.” Luna replied as she moved her daughter to the embrace of the pink alicorn.

“Hello there little one,” Cadance said to Moonlight. “you’re a beautiful little filly, you know that?”

Twilight simply continued to stare, with her jaw still dropped, and so were her friends and her brother, if the next comment, that came after sound of Celestia and Luna’s giggling, was of any indication.

“You were right, my sister.” Princess of the Night remarked, while covering her mouth with hoof. “We should have made a picture, their faces are priceless!”

Twilight, blushing out of embarrassment, shook her head to clear her thoughts and cleared her throat.

“Princess Luna, pardon us from not reacting... properly, but... would you or Celestia be kind enough to enlighten us as to where did Moonlight came from?”

The two older Princesses exchanged glances.

“Well, you see, Twilight...” Celestia began, uncertain. “When a mare and stallion love each other very much-”

“Not that.” the unicorn barely kept herself from shouting, while both Celestia and Luna laughed almost too loud, causing the baby to look at their direction.

“I’m sorry, my faithful student, I couldn’t help myself.” the white alicorn explained apologetically, despite not looking sorry at all. “But as to answer your question completely, we would need to wake up Matthias, since this is his doing.”

Twilight’s mind went blank.

“I think you broke them, sister.” Luna noticed with a smirk.

“Your Highness...” Shining Armor began, unsure. “... does this mean that... you and Matthias... are...?”

“Please no!” Twilight thought, barely conscious.

To everypony’s confusion, both Princesses began to laugh again.

“Would you care to explain, Shining Armor, how exactly would it be possible for this filly to be born after two days?” Celestia asked when she managed to caught her breath.

“While Matthias is a dear friend of mine and the godfather of my filly, he is neither her father, nor my consort.” Luna said, looking happier than Twilight could ever remember seeing her. “Does this answer your question?”

The lavender mare breathed more deeply as she calmed down. She was surprised at her reaction, since she didn’t yet know if she wanted her and Matt to be more than friends.

“I guess I don’t want to lose him before I even got a chance to talk to him about it...”

In the meantime, Pinkie Pie, who managed recover from her shock (which spoke something about the unusuality of the situation) trotted over to Cadance and began to make faces to Moonlight.

“Aw, I wish you would have told us!” she exclaimed to Luna and Celestia, while the filly laughed because of her. “I could have brought a cake, and my Party Cannon! We need to throw... oh wait, newborns don’t like parties yet, right?” Pinkie realized as she probably recalled the time she wanted to do that with The Cake’s foals.

“Princess Celestia...” Twilight began again, completely ignoring Pinkie as she once more tried to get an answer.

“I know, Twilight, no more jokes.” Celestia replied. Turning to her sister, she asked: “Do you mind if I explain it to them, little sister?”

“Not at all.” Luna replied as she rose up and trotted toward her baby, taking it back from Cadance.

Everypony’s attention was now focused on Celestia, sparing few glances in the direction of Luna and Moonlight, especially from staying close to them Princess Cadance.

“Nopony knows about this those days,” the white alicorn began, her tone growing sad all of a sudden, “but when Luna became Nightmare Moon and was later imprisoned on the moon by me, she was pregnant at the time.”

Twilight gasped, as so did everypony else.

“But... who is the father?” she asked, in her shock forgetting that it was a bit intrusive question.

“Surely, during your studies, you came upon the name of Shadow Bolt, right?”

“Of course!” Twilight exclaimed, as now it made sense to her, barely registering Rainbow mutter ‘Shadow Bolt?’ under her nose. “He was called ‘The Champion of the Night’, and was the first of the night guard!”

“Yes, he was.” Luna spoke up, her eyes locked on her filly. “He was also mine and Celestia’s foalhood friend, and my consort much later. He fathered this little pony, but not lived long enough to meet her.” looking up, she continued in even more sad tone than before, and Twilight shocked to see the incredible amount of pain in her eyes. “He died protecting me and our foal, despite that the last words he heard from me were insane accusation that he didn’t love me…”

“Princess...” Twilight stopped, looking for some words to comfort her, as Cadance covered her aunt with one wing, but Luna smiled.

“It’s alright. I have grown accustomed to this pain, and now that I have my daughter back, I am truly happy!”

“Princess, if you don’t mind me asking: What do you mean by having her back?” Twilight asked before she could help herself.

It was clearly wrong question to ask, because the Princess once again grew sad.

“Because of Nightmare Moon’s dark powers,” Celestia answered for her sister, “the filly was born dead.”

“W-What?

“But...”

“How then...”

“Her body stayed on the moon, for over a thousand years, preserved by the magic of the very moon.” the oldest alicorn continued, putting an end to the avalanche of questions. “Once Matthias heard this, he realised that there was a chance for him to bring her back. And so, he asked me to send him to the moon, but didn’t explain anything as he didn’t want to give anypony a false hope.”

Twilight, like everypony else, looked at Matthias, who was still sleeping.

“I cannot believe it... he had actually brought somepony back to life, and not just anypony, but Princess Luna’s daughter!” she thought, feeling her heart swell with pride and happiness.

At the same time, she noticed that Matt seldom looked as peaceful, even in his sleep, as he did now. While she wondered about it, she glanced at his hooves, which, as she realised, were covered in moon’s dust, which explained why they shone with familiar light.

“Wow!” Rainbow exclaimed, first to voice what all of them thought. “I didn’t believe he could actually bring ponies back to life!”

“But he can, and he did.” Luna replied, giving her daughter to be once again to be hold by Cadance. “And I couldn’t be more thankful!” she added, at the same time picking him up with a spell and pulling him close to her, embracing him in a giant hug.

Twilight could have sworn she heard something break.

“Luna, for the love of Light, please stop doing that.” Matt exclaimed in a tired voice as he barely opened his eyes, but he snapped himself to better attention as he noticed that there were more ponies here. “Oh, hi everypony.”

“‘Hi’? You can only say ‘hi’ to us after being away for two days and bringing a Princess’ daughter back to life?” Rainbow Dash asked, although there was a good-humored tone to it.

“Sorry, too tired to think about something more witty.” Matt smirked, as Luna put him on the ground, while the smirk turned into yawn. “I had to trot around the moon for almost half a night, and then I spend the other half performing a ritual and channeling the power of Light into Moonlight’s tiny body; doing either of those weren’t easy while being unable to speak.”

Matt yawned again and made a step towards them... only to fall on the floor.

“Light da-” he was about to curse, but stopped himself. “How long is this going to last?”

“What do you mean by ‘going to last’?” Twilight asked as she picked him up with her magic.

“The side effects that are befall to ponies, other than alicorns, if they are to walk on the moon for some time.” Luna explained, barely containing her amusement. “Due to the much lesser gravity, and being under constant influence of moon’s magic, the pony can have problems moving around once he gets back, as well as... thinking straight.”

“‘Thinkin’ straight’?” Applejack asked, confused. “Whad’dya mean, Princess?”

“Well...” she started with devilish smile and cleared her throat. “Matthias, according to you, who is prettier: me or Celestia?”

Twilight’s eyes went wide at the question, but even wider once she heard Matt answer:

“You, and could you please stop doing that?” he asked, his eyes still dizzy.

The dark blue alicorn smirked at the white one, who then rolled her eyes.

“Wait, so he has to answer every question?” Rainbow asked with a glee.

“Maybe not every question, but he thinks more slowly than he speaks, so he will speak and act before thinking.” Luna explained.

“Ha, this is sweet!” the pegasus exclaimed. “Let’s ask him something!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight lashed at her friend. “You cannot do something like this to a friend!”

“I must agree with Twilight...” Rarity began, but the cyan mare was no longer listening.

“Hey Matt, what annoys you in Twilight the most?”

“That she overreacts to everything… STOP THAT!!!” he shouted, as he begins to become frustrated with being asked with such personal questions in such a fizzy state, which caused the filly to cry.

“Sshhh, little one.” Luna and Cadance both uttered, trying to calm Moonlight down. The younger Princess handed over the filly to her mother, and looked sternly at the two ponies. “See what you’ve done?!” Cadence hissed at them.

“Sorry.” both Rainbow and Matt replied, bowing shamefully.

“I think it would be a good idea to leave the mother and daughter alone for some time.” Celestia said, rising up. “Sister, I want you to take at least a week off from you duties.”

“Thanks, Tia.” Luna replied, smiling, while Moonlight began to calm down. “And thank you everypony, for coming to see her.”

“The pleasure was ours, auntie.”

“Yeah, she’s great!”

“It was nice meetin’ her.”

“I agree. I cannot believe how adorable she is!”

All of them said similar goodbyes as they retreated from Luna’s chambers, with Matt being supported by Shining Armor.

“As for our Grand Master here, I think it would be best if he was escorted to his room.” Celestia told the others, nodding at Matthias.

“Grand Master?” Twilight asked, confused, as she recalled the title the guards mentioned when they were about to enter the room. “Matt is a ‘Grand Master’ of what?”

“Oh, right, I forgot to mention.” the Princess explained. “Matthias had agreed to train paladins for Equestria, as the Grand Master of newly created Order of The Celestial Lights!”

“Wow, really!?!” everypony exclaimed, astonished.

“Because both the sun and the moon are sources of The Light...” Matt muttered to himself, before snapping. “Yeah, really, I will start by training three ponies in about month.”

“Hey, you said you couldn’t teach me those Light tricks of yours!” Rainbow said, sounding offended.

“Yes, because you do not have the patience, or diligence, to become a paladin.”

“What!?!”

“Everypony, please, cease your discussion.” Celestia interrupted them. “Matthias, as well as Brann, should return to Ponyville by tomorrow. You can question him them, but for now, I must implore you to stop.”

“Okay, fine.” the cyan mare muttered.

“He sleeps in one of the suites in West Wing of the castle.” the Princess told Shining Armor, who nodded. “If you’ll excuse me, I really need to see to royal duties, especially since Luna will be busy. Thank you all for coming to greet Moonlight to Equestria, it means a lot to both Luna and me.”

“It was an honor, Princess.” Twilight replied, bowing, and so did everypony else, and Celestia’s horn flashed, teleporting her most likely to the throne room.

“Well, let’s get trotting.” Shining Armor said as he steer the half-awake Matt.

As they escorted him, they were all discussing about the filly princess.

“Really, she was just adorable,” Rarity exclaimed. “even if those eyes of hers were a bit... creepy.”

“Yeah, what’s up with that?”

“I guess she must have gotten them after her father.” Twilight explained. “I read that the enchantment on armor that causes the night guard to look like they look is based on how Shadow Bolt really looked like.”

“He-he really looked like a dragon?” Fluttershy asked, slightly scared.

“Yes, although I’m not really sure why.”

“But still, lil’ Moonlight is a cutie, and I don’t see what the hay her eyes should be a problem.”

“Yes, and she and Luna looks really happy together.” Twilight observed.

“We can all agree on that, I’m sure.” Cadance added, smiling. “Right Shining?”

“Yes, of course.” Twilight heard her brother reply, a bit absently, and when she glanced at him, she saw that he was glaring at Matthias.

“Shining Armor-”

“Are you and Twilight really just friends?” he asked Matt, stopping to better regard him, before she could finish.

“SHINING!” both she and Cadance shouted at the stallion, while the other one continued to walk without support, soon he fell on his face and lost consciousness.

“I hope you’re happy!” Princess Cadance scolded her husband as they laid Matt on his bed.

“Well, it was funny...” Twilight heard Rainbow mutter, so she glared at her. “What? I mean, it’s not like anything serious happened, right?”

“Shining Armor, for the last time.” the lavender unicorn told him, ignoring her friend. “I love you, you are my B.B.B.F.F.; but I swear, if you ever try to pry about my personal life, I will not hesitate to turn you into a frog or something! And, I can mention to Cadance...”

“Don’t!” he quickly shouted and fell on his knees, not wanting his wife to know how old he was when he stopped wetting the bed. “I’m sorry, Twily. I know I am overprotective of you, but... I just don’t want you to be hurt.”

“I knew holding off to that would prove useful.” she gleed in her mind, but her brother’s words calmed her.

“I know, Shining Armor. Don’t worry, I do not plan to get myself married to some bug like somepony almost did.” she joked at his expense, but grew more serious after few shared giggles. “Okay, everypony, let’s get back to Ponyville. I’ll just write Matt a short note, explaining what happened, as well as how sorry my big brother is, and catch up with you.”

The others nodded and trotted away from the room, as the Twilight picked up some notebook and began to write a short letter. When she was about to finish, however, she heard some moaning.

“Oh, you’re awake.” she told Matt as she trotted over to him. “How do you feel?”

“As if I had an urge to hit somepony and say ‘no’… for some reason.” he replied, confused, and shook his head. “What exactly happened?”

“Well...” Twilight stuttered. “You... fell.”

“Oh right.” Matthias said, rubbing his temples. “You and the others are going back to Ponyville, yes?”

“Uhuh.”

“Great, Brann and I will be back tomorrow, I am starting to miss you all.” he said, yawning. “Sorry, I’m really tired, so...”

“Of course, sweet dreams Matt.” Twilight replied, and was about to leave, when she felt his hooves grab her, pull him closer to her, and before she knew it, she felt his lips on hers.

Before she got any chance to react, Matt broke the short kiss, and pointed his hoof at her.

“We’re even.”

“Wh-what?” Twilight asked, barely conscious.

“You told your brother I kissed you after the reception.” he reminded her, beginning to doze off again. “Now we’re even.”

“Oh...”

“Goodnight, Twilight...” he muttered, falling asleep again.

Twilight began feel numb, quickly moved away and closing the door behind her, as she made her way towards the station. He mind raced with what just happened, feeling more excited by the short peck on her lips than she could ever recall being before. With fast beating heart, mused over what question was asked to Matt before and what he said at the bedroom, the question was with Shining Armor asking him:

“Are you and Twilight really just friends?

“As if I had an urge to hit somepony and say ‘no’, for some reason.”

“…no…”

60. Departures

“Ye’hav got ta be kiddin’ me!”

“For the last time,” Matthias sighed, tired, as he pointed at the flying chariot, to which two pegasi guards were strapped on, “it’s perfectly safe. Now get on!”

“As if I didn’t have enough problems as it is.” he grumbled in his thoughts.

Just this morning, he had the displeasure of talking with Tucker Out again, explaining to him his situation of how the Princesses couldn’t just let him go free unless he would be supervised by somepony who could handle him. After that, Matthias had to hit him as the unicorn began to joke - and that with his predispositions, he could either become a paladin or the royal guard, with the latter requiring him to stay still and quiet. The earth pony had to explain to him who exactly paladins are and what they do. Matthias was pleased to see that Tucker was actually listening to him while he told him about the Light, and finally, agreed to the idea. As much as he disliked the uncouth unicorn, there was a chance, albeit small, that he would make a good paladin.

Much more pleasing was saying his farewells to the Princesses, during which he was officially named the Grand Master of the Order of The Celestial Lights, and was forced to promise to visit his goddaughter from time to time.

But, those weren’t his problems he recalled making. What plagued his mind was what happened yesterday.

Matthias didn’t expect the side effects from his trip to the moon, so he was that much less prepared for them when they struck. He had trouble now remembering everything that he did or said, but one act was burned to his mind.

He kissed Twilight.

The earth pony couldn’t believe himself. Even if it was just a little peck on the lips, it was still a kiss. And just after he narrowly avoided kissing her when they were trapped in the debris!

“I guess she and I will have to talk about it.” he thought unenthusiastically.

Matthias shook his head and returned to the present moment. Even if he wanted to avoid it, he wouldn’t get the chance to talk to her (and mess things up as usual) if they couldn’t get to Ponyville.

“Don’t cha boss me around just because ye’r a prince now.” Brann replied to his earlier command.

“No, I’m not.” Matthias said, already feeling tired. “Being the godfather of the Princess doesn’t make you a prince.”

When Luna asked him to be her filly’s godfather, he was shocked, but honored, so he gladly agreed. He still didn’t regret this, even if it cost him few of Brann’s jokes at his expense. The paladin was glad he reunited the Princess with her daughter; he liked the foal with mutual affection, and was proud to call himself her godfather.

“Can you please get on the carriage?” he asked the dwarf, shaking his thoughts away from Moonlight. ”I promise, it’s safe.”

“But the damn thin’ doesn’t even have any safeties!” Brann objected, testing the stability of it with his hands. “Even goblins put safeties on their constructions!”

“Yes, but goblins’ safeties usually explode on touch.” Matthias reminded him. “Just get on it already, I would like to be on the way.”

As the dwarf, muttering something under his nose, jumped on the carriage and began to settle down, the paladin trotted over to the two pegasi.

“It IS safe, right?” he whispered so that Brann couldn’t overhear him.

The two guards chuckled at his question.

The fly was much swifter than ride by the train, and within about ten minutes they arrived in Ponyville.

“Thank you, sirs.” Matthias told the pegasi politely as he and Brann stepped off from the carriage, which was parked near the Twilight’s library.

The two guards nodded in response and flew away.

“Let’s go get this over with.” the paladin said, trotting towards the library’s entrance.

“What’ye mean?” Brann asked, following.

Instead of answering, Matthias just opened the door.

“SURPRISE!!!”

The party that Pinkie Pie just knew when to throw was to celebrate three occasions: Brann arriving in Ponyville, Matthias becoming the Grand Master of a paladin order, and the resurrection of Princess Moonlight Shadow. Most ponies of Equestria knew about the last two due to the Princess announcing it yesterday, which caused most of the party guests to be in awe of his power to bring somebody back to life after a thousand years.

“Had I know that the news would have spread so quickly, I would have stayed inside the safety of the castle.” Matthias joked many hours later, once it was only him and his friends (the girls, Crusaders, Princess and Prince, the Dragon, Big Mac and the dwarf) left.

“Right, because ponies admiring you all the time is the most horrible thing ever.” Rainbow Dash retorted, causing everypony to laugh.

“So anyway, what’s this about the order and all?” Applejack asked once they calmed down a bit.

“Well, as you know, Celestia and Luna asked me to train ponies to become paladins.” he explained, as he stroke the fur of the napping Spottedleaf next to him. “I’m first gonna start with three ponies, and later once they are full-fledged paladins, they will help me with the new ones.”

“Interesting.” Shining Armor said thoughtfully. “When do you start?”

“In about a month or so, once they finish building the abbey.”

“The what?”

“The Everfree Abbey, construction should begin at the next week. It will be build by the edge of Ponyville, so I figured the name ‘Everfree’ will be just.”

“Ah hope it won’t budge my family’s farm borders?” Applejack asked, with a barely detectable hint of worry in her voice.

“Don’t worry, it won’t.” Matthias chuckled, and added: “That reminds me, would you have anything against me sending some paladins to do some chores on your farm as a form of punishment at some point, from time to time? Because I’m pretty sure there is a limit as to how many times the floors in the chapel and barracks could be polished.”

“Well...” Applejack stuttered, confused at the idea. “Ah suppose it would be nice to have some ponies help out. Sometimes Big Macintosh and I can barely keep up sometimes. Right Big Mac?”

“Eeyup.”

“You expect to have that many disobedient paladins?” the Captain of the Royal Guard asked, surprised. “You will start with only three, right?”

“Yes, but I had the displeasure of already meeting one.” the paladin explained, shaking at the memory of Tucker. “Trust me, he will earn a punishment on the first second he arrives, and nopony will complain.”

“Do I know him?” the other stallion inquired. “I would’ve expected the first paladins to be guards, so that you wouldn’t have to teach them how to fight as well, but I do not recall any stallion like that.”

“Well, you don’t know him, but your sister does.” Matthias chuckled, pointing at Twilight, who had been awfully quiet since all the guest had left.

“I do?” the surprised unicorn asked.

“It’s that pony that you saw trapped in the amber back in that facility.” the earth pony said, growing more serious. “He was actually alive, and unfortunately, Celestia and Luna decided to free him.”

“He’s alive?!?” Twilight practically screamed in excitement. “How long was he in there? Did he say anything about Project Eclipse? Why are you going to train him to become a paladin; wait, what do you mean by ‘unfortunately’?!”

“I would say ‘you’ll understand once you meet him’, but I’m going to personally make sure neither you, nor any other of my female friends meets him, until some discipline will purge him of that attitude of his.”

“What d’ya mean by that?”

“Nevermind.” Matthias replied, not wanting to dwell into the subject. “Let’s just say that if I ever send him to your farm to do some chores, make sure that it’s only Big Mac nearby. Light forbid Apple Bloom should be anywhere... although, to be fair, I have no idea yet if he acts that way near little fillies as well.”

“Err... what?” Apple Bloom asked, with the other Cutie Mark Crusaders exchanging confused glances.

“Forget I said anything, I will keep him locked in a dungeon.” noticing the stares they gave him, he added: “Um... I’ll have a dungeon, too? Anyway, to answer your question, Twilight,” Matthias said, hoping to divert their attention away, “he has almost a complete amnesia, and doesn’t remember a thing from his past. And I’m training him, because for one he has the potential, and for two, because I would prefer to keep my eyes on him.”

“Okay, seriously, what is up with that pony? Cadance asked. “You speak of him as he was some sort of monster, or other threat.”

“Oh, for the love of...” Matthias sighed as he covered his eyes. “Twilight, do you mind casting some spell so that the little ones won’t hear it?”

“Hey! We want to-” Sweetie Belle started, but was cut off as the purple bubble appeared around her, Spike, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

Everypony watched for few moments as the fillies began pounding on the barrier from the inside, only to stop after three seconds, discuss something between themselves, after which they started to pretend they are mimes, to which Spike faceclawed himself.

“Matt?” Rarity’s voice pulled them all away. “That pony you mentioned?”

“Oh, right. Well, to be blunt, he tries to flirt with every mare that is in his sight.”

...

“Gee, Matt’s even worse that you bother.” Rainbow rolled her eyes as she looked at Twilight, making the unicorn snap at her angrily.

“Matthias, I don’t see if that is such a big problem...” Cadance began, but Matthias cut her off.

“Let me tell you one of the first things he said once Celestia and Luna released him. He looked at Celestia, and asked: ‘Wait, are you an alicorn?!? Because I always wanted to bone one!’.” as his friends (safe for Brann) stared at him, he cleared his throat and added: “Pardon my words. After that, it only got worse, trust me.”

“I wish I was there to see it, sounds really funny.” Brann said quietly to himself, chuckling.

“Eh... just to be sure:” Pinkie Pie raised her hoof: “does ‘bone’ somepony means that ‘turtles and bees’ thing?”

“Yes, Pi- wait, ‘turtles’?” the paladin asked, but shook his head: “You know what, never mind that.”

The others have started to come out of their shock.

“Well, I can understand why that was irritating...” the Princess stuttered, astonished that somepony could talk that way to her aunts.

“So...” Twilight coughed, getting everypony’s attention. “... the Princesses didn’t found out anything about this ‘Project Eclipse’?”

“Actually, there were... few things.” Matthias said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. While Celestia has given him the clearance to tell them about it, he was still unsure if that was a good idea. He sighed, knowing he had no choice. “You might want to sit comfortable, it will take a while.”

And so he told them. About what that rune that they found showed them, about Eastin that once stood where Ponyville was, about the similarities between the amber in which Tucker was trapped with the one that changelings made, and about that unicorn unusual ability. He skipped that part about Crystal Empire, not wanting to dwell on the subject of those so called ‘crystal ponies’ with titan-obsessed dwarf and crystal-obsessed unicorn around. But, he did mention to them about what he and the Princesses really talked about after the wedding.

“Why didn’t you tell us about it!?!” Twilight asked accusingly.

“Hmm, let me think about it.” Matthias hummed, being well prepared for THIS part. “Maybe because I didn’t want to disrupt the reception? Or maybe due to the fact that Celestia asked me not to until we had more information?”

“Okay, I get-”

“Or simply because the next day I had some other problems on my head?” the paladin finished, hoping to irritated Twilight, but instead she looked the other way.

“She’s been like this almost all day.” he noticed, blaming himself. “See what you’ve done, idiot!?”

Matthias made a mental note to talk with her, once her brother left, and as soon as they were alone. He didn’t want to lose a friend in her just because he couldn’t control his urges.

“So, you think that maybe this Project Eclipse had something to do with the changelings somehow originating from those silithid or aqir?” Shining Armor asked.

“I don’t know what to think, to be honest.” the white earth pony sighed. “But, I do now when kids fall asleep.” he added jokingly pointing at the sleeping Crusaders and Spike.

They kept them within the bubble Twilight conjured, mostly because the fillies didn’t know yet about Matthias being from a different world. Big Mac knew about it for a while, due to Applejack accidentally mentioning that when the paladin once came to help with the farm. Everypony agreed that it would be best to keep that a secret from younger ponies, which, as Spike repeatedly showed, sometimes didn’t know how to keep quiet.

“Well, Ah guess we’ll be goin’ then.” Applejack said, raising up from her spot. “It’s gettin’ late, anyhow.”

“Eeyup.”

Everypony had agreed on that and soon, Matthias found himself saying goodbyes and goodnight to most of them, save the ones that were sleeping in the library as well.

“Oh, and Fluttershy, thanks for taking care of Spottedleaf for me.” the paladin told the shy pony. “I hope it wasn’t too much of a problem.”

“Not at all.” the pegasus assured him. “In fact, she was quite helpful with other animals, and she and Angel had become such good friends!”

“They... did?”

“Yes, they even slept cuddled up together. They looked soo cute!”

Matthias did his best to not let it show how much disappointed and disturbed he was. Once it was they were all gone, however, he looked sternly at the sleeping form of Spottedleaf.

“You useless cat.” he muttered, annoyed.

“What’s yer beef with this Angel guy?” Brann asked.

“It’s Fluttershy pet bunny, and the most annoying critter there ever was.” was all Matthias was going to say, not wanting to dwell on how Angel tried to whack him with a carrot every time Fluttershy looked the other way.

He glanced absently as Twilight put Spike to bed, wondering how to best handle this situation tomorrow.

“Something on your mind?” Cadance asked, trotting up to him, while Shining Armor and Brann started to chat on the other end of the room.

“Not really, Your Highness.” Matthias replied, immediately looking the other way, concentrating on the picture of Twilight and the other five mares that was hanging on the wall.

“Matthias, now that we are technically a family, you really should stop addressing me that way.” the Princess sighed.

“Maybe, but as a part of Equestria’s military, I am now going to be much more formal.” the paladin smirked. “And besides: being a godfather of your - minus tens of generations - cousin...”

“I'm adopted.” Cadance corrected him.

“Oh. That explains a couple of things. So, you two are returning to Canterlot tomorrow?” Matthias asked, as he once again glanced at the picture, when something hit him.

“She... looks different on this one from the ones her parents showed me.” he realized, frowning. “But I cannot put my hoof on what it is... Maybe the fact that she’s surrounded by friends here, instead by books? No, it’s not that... It’s as if... something changed about her...”

“Matthias, is something wrong?” Cadance asked him when she noticed he stared weirdly at Twilight’s picture.

The earth pony shook his head and turned to regarded her.

“Forgive me, Princess, I must have dozed off.”

“Well, considering the time and the party earlier, I’m not surprised.” she replied, figuring it would be pointless to ask him what it was really about.

Instead, she decided to get to better know him. After all if the plan would work, he would become Twilight special somepony or maybe even husband right away, judging by the way he acted, so it would be appropriate to be more acquainted

“You know, Matthias, I - and, to be honest, everypony else - know very little about you. I know you have your reason, but you could at least tell some things, right?”

“I suppose.” the paladin answered, surprised. “What would you like to know, Princess?”

Cadance noticed by the corner of her eye that the other ponies began to pay better attention as to what they were talking about.

“Well, for example, how old are you?”

Matthias opened his mouth to reply, but it quickly closed as his eyes widen.

“I’m... err... I honestly don’t know how to answer that.” he stuttered, and then he frowned, deep in thoughts. “I mean, I died and was brought back in another body, and while I’m not biologically three months old... Hmm, I guess this body is about the same age that I was in when I died, which would mean... oh, for Light sake... let’s say I’m around twenty-fourish, and drop it at that.”

“Twenty-four?” Twilight asked in surprise. “I thought you were at least ten years older than me!”

Cadance looked at her, amused. She noticed that Twilight was acting strangely when she caught up with them as they trotted towards train station, and now she continued to not look directly at Matt as often as possible.

“I wonder what happened in Matt’s room... maybe he woke up and she asked him something? Or, maybe just another embarrassing situation like the one after wedding?”

“Why did you thought of that?” the paladin asked, pretending to be offended. “Do I look that old to you?”

“No, I- it’s just...” Twilight stuttered, suddenly unable to look at him. “You just have this... air around you.”

“Air?” Brann butted in, amused. “Lad, ye’r not decayin’, ar’ye?”

Everypony laughed, knowing the dwarf was referring to the fact that Matthias had died, to his expense of course.

“So, skipping all the jokes Brann could make about the dead people...”

“Hah, wait until-”

“Brann, I can use the power of Light to put you in a state of meditation to silence you.” Matthias reminded him, annoyed about being interrupted. Once the dwarf rolled his eyes, he turned back to Cadance. “As I was saying, skipping all the jokes, you wanted to know something else?”

“Yes, I do, I wanted to ask you about your sister, if that’s okay.” Cadance said, unsure if that was safe subject.

A shadow passed Matthias features, but he shrugged and replied.

“There is no much to tell, honestly. We weren’t nearly as close siblings as those two are.” he pointed at Twilight and Shining Armor. “Calia was two years older than me, had blonde hair and blue eyes, and was really beautiful by human standards. She was also a bit like Rarity, I guess, as she really loved beautiful dresses, although not as obsessively as our fashionista. Still, I do remember how she reacted when I accidentally spilled tea or something on one of her favorite gowns, way back when we were kids, Calia was really furious then.”

The memory forced some laugh out of him, but he quickly calmed down.

“You spoke of her in past tense.” Shining Armor noticed.

“I already told you that she is most likely dead, didn’t I?” Matthias answered, his ears dropping. “I’m sorry Princess, but recalling all this made me feel a bit... tired. If you’ll excuse me...”

“Of course, I’m sorry that my curiosity caused you pain.” Cadance immediately replied.

She was actually only half-sorry. While it didn’t bring her any joy to make him recall that, she hoped that if he would get emotional sooner, the plan would go more smoothly.

“Don’t worry, it was actually kind of nice to talk about Calia.” the paladin replied, bowing, and made his way to his bed.

Twilight tossed and turned around in her bed, once again unable to sleep.

“Tomorrow. I will have to talk to him tomorrow, and I still have no idea what to say! Even if he does feel that way, what if it won’t work out?! All books I read so far point out that it won’t!”

She was freaking out.

“Well, I’ll be goin’ then.” Brann said as everypony from the late-night part of the party (minus Big Mac, who stayed back at Sweet Apple Acers) stood in front of the library early in the morning.

Matthias had to admit that it was fun to have somepo-body from Azeroth here to talk to, but understood Brann’s desire to go back, as much as interesting Equestria was.

The dwarf wasn’t the only one who was leaving. Near them, a carriage stood, with two guards who would pull it back to Canterlot, with Cadance and Shining Armor. Everything seemed to return soon to its usually routine.

Except it wasn’t going to; In a week, the construction of the Abbey would begin and the workers will build it fast enough to have it done in less than month, after which Matthias would began training the new paladins.

“And have less time for my friends.” he thought unhappily.

“Good bye, Brann Bronzebeard, it was a pleasure meeting you.” Cadance said.

The others also said their farewells, and once they were done, the dwarf turned to Matthias.

“So, lad, ye’r sure ye don’t want me to say a word to anybody?” he asked.

“I already told you, I don’t want either Horde or Alliance anywhere near Equestria.” the paladin reminded him, after which he facehoofed himself. “The entire world breaks apart around them, and they go around fighting each other.”

“Well, okay, but what about my brother, or Varian... or Jaina?”

Matthias shook at the mention of her name, and for few seconds, he hesitated.

…she hates you.

“Anything that could be said could only bring pain to them.” he answered, almost coldly, but then forced a smirk. “Besides, I would prefer if there was no chance of the information of me being alive leaked out. Can you imagine how would Sylvanas react?”

“Who’s Sylvanas?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously, but then smirked as well. “Some other girlfriend you had?”

“…”

Matthias managed to keep a straight face until he exchanged look with Brann, but after awhile they both burst into laughter, much to confusion of other ponies. The paladin was thankful that Twilight was in a half-awaken state, probably due to a lack of sleep, and didn’t manage to pick up on that information.

“Sweet Light...” he said as he barely kept himself from falling on the ground. “... it would be almost worth to have her here just to see her reaction to hearing that!”

It took them few more minutes to calm down, much to annoyance of other, who didn’t understood why it was so funny. Finally, Brann stood up straight, and took the necklace out of his pocket.

“It’s been fun here, but I really need to get goin’. See ye back in a month.”

As he said that, he gripped the medallion tighter, and, within a flash of light, he was gone.

Meanwhile, on the snowy mountains of Dun Morogh in Azeroth…

“Hey.” one of the two dwarven mountaineers that stood in front of gates of Ironforge asked the other.

“Yeah?”

“Ye ever wonder why-”

Whatever else the mountaineer was about to say was cut off, as they both suddenly heard a very loud scream coming from above. They looked up and saw a dwarf shaped form falling down, and ultimately landing on its face right in front of them.

“Ow, that gotta hurt.” the first mountaineer said, shocked, until they both recognized Brann.

As soon as they did, they burst into laughter.

“Why on the face again...” he muttered, staying on the ground.

“Go tell the Council that Brann ‘dropped in’!” commanded the second guard, grinning as he moved to help the explorer up.

“What did he mean by ‘see ye back in a month’?” Applejack asked.

“I asked him to bring me some things.” Matthias replied nonchalantly.

“Oh, like candies? And cookies?” Pinkie asked hopefully.

The paladin was about to shoot her a glare, but reminded himself that she wouldn’t get it.

“No, Pinkie Pie, he’s not bringing any candies.”

“Cookies?”

“No.”

“Chocolate?”

“No snacks of any kind!” he snapped.

“As much as it is fun to watch Matt get brain aneurysm,” Shining Armor chuckled, “I’m afraid we need to get going as well.”

“Well, goodbye then.” Twilight said, hugging her brother, and then Cadance. “You should drop again sometime.”

The rest also said their goodbyes, thanking them for visiting, and for helping with Apple Bloom’s problem.

“That was no problem, really.” Cadance replied to filly’s thanks, smiling.

“If going into dangerous forest in search for a cure is ‘no problem’...” Matthias thought jokingly.

“Say hello to my goddaughter for me. Oh, and I almost forgot:” he added, pointing at Shining Armor: “Your parents wanted me to tell you two to visit them for a dinner soon.”

“Wait, what?” the Captain asked, surprised. “When the hay did you meet them?”

“I bumped into them few days ago, when I stayed in Canterlot?” the paladin replied with raised eyebrow. “They invited me over for a tea. I must say, they are really nice, no wonder you two grew up so well.” he told him and Twilight.

“Thanks.” Shining Armor said. “I guess we could make a detour on the way back to the castle, right dear?”

“Absolutely.” the Princess replied, smiling. “I missed mom’s cooking.”

“I guess we should go then. See you again soon everypony.”

They entered the carriage and waved to them through the window as the two guards began to pull them towards Canterlot. The ponies and one dragon, who also waved, continued to follow them with their eyes until they disappeared on the route.

“Now that everypony is gone...” Spike began, turning to Matthias and Twilight, while crossing his arms on his chest. “Can somepony please explain to me why you all freaked out when I said you slept together?”

Everypony looked at him, shocked that he brought it up for a second time, while the Cutie Mark Crusaders exchanged surprised glances, not understanding their reaction. Twilight was snapped out of her half-asleep trance with wide eyes by that question, as it focuses on her and Matt’s… incident back on Canterlot

“Oh joy.” Matthias commented as he noticed that fillies were just as clueless.

“W-well... ah... you see...” Twilight stuttered, red on her face, as she tried to think of a good answer, but failing. Clearly her mind is not fully awakened yet to make a proper explanation.

“Ah don’t git it.” Apple Bloom said, walking up to them. “What’s so shockin’ that you two slept together?”

“Yeah! Why are you ALL freaking out about it?” Scootaloo inquired.

Matthias cleared his throat and spoke up:

“You see, Spike, girls, sleeping with somepony else, who happens to be of the opposite gender, is considered very... rude, if you do it before you are after twenty-second year of life.”

“Really?” Sweetie Belle asked confused. “Why?”

“It’s just how it is. So remember, girls: no sleeping or dating with colts until you are older!”

“Okay.” Scootaloo shrugged, not caring. “No idea why, but if that’s how it is... hey, I have a great idea!” she beamed up. “Why don’t we try to get our cutie marks for sleeping?!?”

“Yeah!”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders, having picked their next activity, run off. Spike, on the other hoof, yawned.

“Sleeping... hmm...” he murmured as he walked back to the library.

As soon as the doors closed, Matthias decided it was about time he addressed the dirty looks the mares were giving him.

“What?!? I haven’t seen you coming up with any better explanation.” he tried to defend himself.

“That wasn’t an explanation, that was tellin’ them to not date any colt!” Applejack stomped the ground to back up her words.

“Firstly, it’s a good thing, now at least you’ve got good ten years before Big Mac starts traumatizing every colt that would try to date Apple Bloom,” noticing that she was about to protest, he added: “Trust me, I know him well enough to know he would not only be much more unpleasant than Shining Armor, but probably he would back it up with his hooves, get a date and wait if you don’t believe me. Secondly, I can just picture all of you while talking about ‘birds-

“‘Turtles’!”

“- and bees.” Matthias finished, not minding Pinkie Pie, after which he switched to much gentler tone. “Although, to be fair, you should talk to them about things like that soon, they are growing up. And since Spike does this on monthly basis, he should have this talk as well.”

“Spike happens to be still a baby dragon, so I do not think that will be necessary anytime soon.” Rarity replied uncomfortably, but brightened up. “Speaking of talks, however, there is something I would like to discuss with all of you.”

“Hmm? What d’ya mean, Rarity?” Applejack asked, tilting her head in confusion.

The fashionista almost screaming in excitement as she said her next words:

“How about we all go on vacation together?!?”

Author's Note

Well, here it is. The last part of the third arc: "Nightmares of Past, Dreams of Future". Those of you who missed seeing Arthas in action will surely welcome what comes next.

61. The pieces have been moved

“‘Vacation’?” Matthias asked, surprised.

He wasn’t the only one. For her suggestion, Rarity was rewarded with five more surprised stares, although only his and Twilight’s were genuine. The others have all rehearsed this with her previously, so it wouldn’t look like a set up. Hoping that nopony would fell out of their roles (especially Pinkie Pie), the white unicorn explained.

“Yes, a vacation. I’ve been thinking about it since the wedding, figuring we deserved some relaxation after all that changeling’s business, but I had too much work with my new designs.”

Luckily, that part actually was true. After the wedding in Canterlot, she was swarmed with new clients. Not surprisingly, making the dress for Princess’s wedding was really good for her business.

“However, thanks to the delay, I was able to make reservation in a very pleasant resort in Altomare.”

“Altomare?” Twilight questioned. “That’s all way to the West Coast, past the San Palomino Desert!”

“Yes, and I already made a reservation for four days and three nights starting tomorrow, so we’d better pack!” Rarity finished, and was about to go back to her boutique, when...

“Hold on there for a minute, sugarcube!” Applejack said, stopping her. “Ya can’t just com’out and say ‘let’s go!’”

“I know, but because of Princess’ and Prince’ visit, I’ve completely forgotten about it.” Rarity replied, faking embarrassment. “I remembered about the reservation just this morning when I checked my calendar.”

“Oh, I can understand that!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “I always forget about stuff I write down in my calendar, too!”

Fighting off the urge to laugh at the sight of Matt’s frown, directed at her pink friend, Rarity continued:

“I’m very sorry about coming out with this like that, but it would be really nice if we could all go. And I went through so much trouble to reserve a beach house big enough for eleven ponies...”

“Wait, eleven?” Rainbow Dash and Twilight asked at the same time.

“Wow, Cadance really knows her well...” Rarity thought, seeing the reaction from Twilight.

“Well, I counted Spike, of course, and I figured that my sister and the other two would probably try to tag along, and we would find them in our bags on the train or something, so I just thought that we would go ahead and invite them.” Rarity explained.

That part of the plan confused her when Cadance proposed it, until the Princess told her the reason behind.

“Both Twilight and Matthias are really smart and perceptive, seeing as they manage to see through the Changeling Queen charade.” Rarity recalling what Cadance said from before. “They are bound to start suspecting something, but, if you will take the little ones with you, then both of them will be more inclined to believe you honestly just wanted for all of you to relax. I mean, who would try to set up the mood for two ponies to fall in love with fillies and baby dragons around?”

Returning to the present moment, Rarity finally asked:

“So, what do you all think?”

Everypony glanced around, uncertain, until one of them spoke up. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Fluttershy, as they practiced, but Matt.

“Personally, I think this is a great idea.” he said, giving Rarity his charming smile. “The construction of the abbey won’t begin until next week, so I wouldn’t mind spending some time with everypony simply relaxing, seeing as I will be busy later. And, once I’ll start training paladins, I’m afraid I won’t have so much free time left to hang around with you all for few next months. It would be nice to use this time to its fullness.”

“Well, I’m pleased that you think so.” Rarity replied a bit nervously, unable to not blush slightly after receiving his smile.

“I, um, also think this is a good idea.” Fluttershy said with uncertain voice, although, it was probably effect of Matthias interjecting rather than her following her ‘script’. “I would need to leave Angel with somepony else, but I don’t think this should be a problem. Do you think you could leave Spottedleaf to that pony as well, Matt?” she asked, much more lively, turning to him. “They really like each other. I don’t think I ever seen Angel so kind to any animal before.”

“I don’t see any problem, but, Fluttershy, do not hold me responsible if there will be bunnies with claws running around Ponyville later, okay?” the paladin replied, winking, causing the shy pegasus to blush on her pet’s behalf once she realized what he was suggesting, and the other mare to giggle.

“Well, I guess Cloudchaser and Flitter, or maybe Thunderlane, should have no problems with filling the weather jobs for me.” Rainbow Dash said, scratching her head.

“Ah will need to talk with Big Mac an’ Granny.” Applejack told them, while pretending to be uncertain.

Rarity was surprised how well the farm pony could act. She knew that Applejack wasn’t pleased with this whole deception, but like everypony, she agreed that they were doing it for the good of their friends. Once Rarity explained to her that it wasn’t exactly lying, Applejack was won over.

The next one that was supposed to speak up was Pinkie Pie, but instead it was Twilight.

“I think it would be nice to spend some time on the beach.” she said, and for a moment, there was some nostalgia flashing in front of her eyes. “I haven’t seen the sea since my parents took me and Shining Armor on a trip there when I was a little filly.”

“Great.” Rarity told her. “I’m pretty sure this time it will be much more memorable, though.” she thought, barely keeping herself from giggling happily for her friends.

“Pinkie Pie, what about you, dear?” the white unicorn turned to the last pony.

The party pony, for some reason, instead of bouncing around happily as they all expected and rehearsed, was deep in thoughts. On the sound of Rarity’s voice, however, she quickly lived up.

“Oops, sorry, I was just thinking how to smuggle in my Party Cannon, since resorts doesn’t look too kindly at that sort of objects.”

“How do you know that?” Rainbow asked, confused.

“Shhh!” the pink pony replied in hushed voice, looking around. “It’s a secret!” she said and quickly run off, moving from house to house as to not be spotted by somepony.

“I guess some things never change.” Twilight thought in amusement as her friend run covertly back to Sugarcube Corner.

She was really, really grateful for Rarity’s suggestion. Not only because thanks to it, she would be busy packing for the trip, and wouldn’t have time to be worried about her and Matt and possible relationship between them and the future of said relationship; but also for this would buy her more time to figure out what to say to him, and find a way for them to be alone for few moments.

Twilight just hoped that she wouldn’t mess her chance up.

“The train is here!” shouted the three fillies, excited about the trip, as the train rolled into the station.

Matthias watched this in amusement, pleased to see them happy, especially Apple Bloom, who not so long ago was in such grave danger. However, like all kids do, she shook it off very quickly, and was back to her usual Crusading-self.

The hour was late, as the setting sun was indicating. The ride to Altomare would take a half of day, so it was most common for ponies to take the night train, sleep in it, and wake up shortly before arriving in the port city. Of course, Matthias seriously doubted that the excited fillies would fall asleep quickly.

He, like everypony else, spend the rest of the day preparing for the trip. Although to be fair, it wasn’t as much as spending ‘the rest of the day’, but rather the matter of few minutes, seeing as he practically owned nothing. The few things he did had, like the toothbrush, was bought for him by Twilight, as if to remind how much he owed her. Other than those few things, he also packed some books, with the first book of ‘Daring Do’ among them, that Twilight recommended him over time, but he never got around to read any. Unlike her or Jaina, he didn’t read for pleasure, but to learn (although, that too he did only when he had to).

“I might get a chance to read them once they will go visit a spa or something.” he thought as the train finally stopped and they trotted into it.

However, as soon as he put his hoof on it, something happened that caused him to glance behind.

“What was that just now?!?” he wondered, alarmed.

For a second, Matthias thought he felt some kind of... presence observing them. This feeling passed almost as instantly as it appeared, so the paladin pony was inclined to think that it was just his paranoia, but there was one thing about it that unnerved him.

He didn’t sense it by neither by hearing or sight nor through the telepathic powers, like he could as the Lich King. I was more like... a strong feeling of malice coming from some being.

“Hey, do you mind?!” somepony behind him asked, after few seconds of Matthias not moving.

“Oh right, sorry.” he replied, snapping out of his trance and walked inside.

“I must be still shaking off the effects of my trip to the moon.” he decided, despite still thinking uneasy, as he followed his friends to the sleeping cart.

“I can’t believe we’re going to see the West Sea!” Sweetie Belle was saying as Matthias have entered, while jumping up and down on one of the beds.

“Sweetie Belle, behave yourself.” Rarity scolded her.

“Sorry.” the filly said, as she stopped her bouncing with ears dropped, but brightened up almost at once. “But I’m just so excited!”

“Yea, me too!” Apple Bloom added. “We might even get’ur cutie marks while we’re there!”

“Perhaps, but remember, girls, there will be plenty of excitement without you getting into some trouble, so do try to take a break from your Crusading.” Rarity told them. “We’re here on vacation, and I intend to relax.”

“Okay, we promise to not get into any trouble!” the three fillies responded, but they didn’t fool anyone.

Matthias simply rolled his eyes, not wanting to comment on that, as he sat on one of the beds and put his saddlebag down. He wasn’t especially looking forward to this part of the trip. When there was nothing to do, like during the train ride, ponies usually talked; and with the majority of present here happened to be of the opposite gender, which meant they would talk about girl stuff, leaving Matthias out of the conversation to himself (save for one dragon, of course).

“Hey, Matt?” Scootaloo asked him as he was about to reach for one of the books. “Are the seas and beaches at your home are the same as Equestria’s?”

“Huh, maybe this won’t be as boring.” he thought.

“I would assume so.” Matthias replied. “It definitely seems like it, judging by what I heard.”

“So did you spend some time on the beach when you were a colt?” Sweetie Belle asked as she crept closer.

Matthias chuckled.

“What’s with this sudden interest in my ch... foalhood?” the paladin replied with a question, correcting himself at the last moment.

“We were just wondering what kind of things we could try to do while we’re there to get our cutie marks.”

“Well, I’m afraid you wouldn’t get much of me, then.” he told them. “I’ve never been to the sea as a colt, so I’ve never had a chance to play there any games.”

“Really?” Rainbow Dash asked him, surprised. “How come, couldn’t your parents take you there?”

“Let’s just say they were both very busy throughout my foalhood.”

“Well, ruling the land is pretty time-absorbing activity.” Matthias thought with a pang of sadness and nostalgia.

“Were their busy with war?” Scootaloo asked, excited. “You do mention that the land you are from is often plagued with wars, so it must be it, right?!”

The paladin looked at the filly sternly as he replied her in a serious voice:

“War isn’t something to be excited about, Scootaloo.” which caused the small pegasus to immediately look down. Next, Matthias spoke in his usual tone: “And no, I happened to mostly grew up during the time of peace, at least for the kingdom where I lived. It wasn’t until I was nine that the Second War happened.”

“‘Second’? Didn ch’ya tell us that there are wars almost all the time?” Applejack asked, confused. “How come this one was the ‘Second’?”

“It’s a long story, which I would prefer not to dwell on.” he told them, regretting mentioning the name of the war. “Whenever Twilight asked me about the history of my w... homeland, I didn’t go into the subject of wars as well, not wanting to ‘pollute’ you Equestrian ponies.” Matthias added, smiling at Twilight.

“Umh, right.” the lavender unicorn replied, quickly glancing through the window, much to Matthias dismay, but she then coughed and recovered. “So, seeing as we have a long way ahead of us, anypony would like to play chess?”

“Chess?” Rainbow Dash, who just received popcorn from Spike asked with a raised eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“I would like to play.” Matthias told her, hoping that a little game would make her more at ease around him.

“Oh… um, okay.” Twilight replied, somewhat surprised, but nonetheless she picked up a small foldable chessboard with her magic and moved to sit on the bed next to him, placing the chess board in the air between them with all the chess pieces already in position. “Black or white?”

“Lady decides.” the paladin responded.

Twilight chose black, which meant that Matthias would be starting.

“Curious choice.” he commented while moving his pawn to the center.

He wasn’t exactly very familiar with this game. He knew the rules, of course, and played it few times as a kid. He recalled how people always said, to his frustration, how it helps to develop strategic abilities.

“In chess, it is necessary to sacrifice your pieces to win.” he commented, observing Twilight’s move. “I always put the lives of others before everything, and would fight to protect them... until I became the Lich King.” he snorted as he moved his knight next to the pawn. “As Lich King, I would be great at this game.”

He was much better at card games, like bridge, as well as dices, the favorite game of dwarves, thought to him by Muradin, but since Twilight proposed chess...

“Ah, this is boring!” Rainbow Dash accused them, turning her back on them. “I’m gonna read ‘Dearing Do’, call me when it’s over. I’m betting on Twilight, by the way!”

Matthias rolled his eyes, as the other mares, fillies and Spike talked about Altomare, occasionally glancing in their direction.

“So, why choose black?” he asked Twilight after some time as she was about to move her rook and take out his bishop.

“I figured it would be safer to let you move first and then decide how to react.” she replied, returning to the analytic tone she used whenever she talked about some tough spell.

…Unless she was excited about the said spell.

“Oops, didn’t notice that your rook was free.” Matthias commented as he moved his knight out of harm’s way. “You often play chess?”

“From time to time.” the unicorn replied, looking at the board. “I usually have nopony to play it with. I would have probably didn’t remember to bring it if I hadn’t played few times with Shining Armor when you were in Canterlot, which was about the first time in months. Do you like it?” she asked, bringing out her bishop.

“Not really.” Matthias replied casually, and seeing the look she gave him, he explained: “Everypony always said to me that playing this sharpens the skill that the leader needs when leading others into battle, but... I just lost a bishop. If this was a real battlefield, I would charge in trying to protect him, or heal him, or revive him. In this game, however, it is necessary to sacrifice others, while in real battle, I would fight triple hard to make sure none of my comrades dies. Like your pawn.”

“That was... deep.” Twilight said, watching him take her pawn out of the board. “But, aren’t there always casualties at battles and wars?”

“Yes, they are. Which would make me fight even harder.” he told her, winking, and then asked: “If this battle we are having would be real, can you guess which of this figures I would be?”

Matthias question surprised Twilight, causing her stop her hoof in mid-air over her bishop.

“Is this some kind of even deeper over-thinking of the game?” she asked with one eyebrow raised.

“You could say that.” Matthias chuckled. “However, I am more interested in how well you understand this game and how well you know me. For example, you,” he said, pointing with his hoof, “would be most likely a knight.”

“A knight?!” Rainbow Dash spouted as Matthias glanced at her, who is apparently started paying attention at some point. “Twilight? You’ve got to be kiddin’.”

“Well, there isn’t a mage on the board. A knight can jump all around, like Twilight with her teleportation spell; however a bishop, like you, cannot even move in straight line, and hits everything.”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, while everypony else laughed, safe for Scootaloo; although Matthias noticed that she covered her mouth briefly.

“So...” Twilight said when she calmed down. “I’m a knight, Rainbow is a bishop,” few more laughs were uttered, “but I have no idea what are you... unless you’re saying you’re a queen!”

Everypony laughed again, even Matthias, despite that the joke was at his expense. He had no doubt that most of them were trying to imagining him in a crown and dress. The paladin was simply happy that Twilight started to act like her old self around him.

“Actually, I believe the answer is quite opposite.” he replied, moving one of his pawn.

“Are you saying that you’re a pawn?” Twilight asked, hesitating to take the pawn Matthias has just moved, but eventually she took it with her queen. “Check.”

“In more sense than one...” the earth pony thought about her comment, moving his remaining bishop to block Twilight’s queen.

“I have no objections as to sacrificing myself save the lives of others. Check.”

Twilight glanced surprised at the board, only now noticing that her king was exposed. She bit her lower lip as she thought what was best to do.

“So you sacrificed that pawn just now to get a shot at my king?” she asked, castling.

“Yes... as well as that bishop earlier.” Matthias replied, as he takes out the rook that took his bishop few moves ago with his queen. “Checkmate.”

“What? Ho-”

“You cannot move your king to the right because of my rook, nor forward where he would be in sight of my knight. Checkmate.”

“... You talked to me to make me less concentrated!” Twilight accused him, but without anger.

“During war, advantage can save the lives of ponies.” Matthias replied, sticking out his tongue playfully.

Twilight grumbled something to herself, annoyed at him.

Rarity was impressed.

Princess Cadance mentioned that she had encouraged Twilight to play chess with Shining Armor, hoping that she would take them with her, but to predict that it would help the other unicorn break off from the attitude she had for days now...

“It was as much due to our meddling, as well as Matthias.” she thought. “Those two will be great together!”

She had to admit to herself that she was slightly jealous of Twilight. She longed to meet somepony like Matthias, a stallion so brave and strong, but also kind and gentle, who would be able to make her feel better by doing something trivial, like playing a game. There was Spike, of course, but as much as she liked the dragon, he was a baby dragon. Not only he was too young to involve himself in a relationship, but Rarity was also afraid that someday he might simply grow up from this crush.

The fashionista wondered if she would meet the stallion of her dreams soon, would she be able to bring herself to breaking Spike’s heart.

“The paladin almost noticed me.”

The unicorn that was studying the book they stole from Ponyville glanced at the shadowed figure that had appeared within the depths beneath Canterlot.

“Are you sure?” he asked, tilting his head. Once his minion nodded, he ordered: “Tell me everything.”

The leader listened to his spy’s report, analyzing every word carefully.

“It shouldn’t be among his abilities to sense you through those spells.” he finally said, thoughtfully. “They are leaving for few days; this should give us time to modify them...”

“You don’t intend to spy on them in Altomare?”

“I would prefer to know about their day-to-day life, and learning that will be a bit more difficult to know with this ‘order’ being created there. I want to milk as much information as we can before that happens.”

The shadowy pony nodded, and then, hesitating for a bit, added:

“There’s one more thing, actually.”

The leader gestured for him to continue.

“Those two past days that I observed them, I had this strange... feeling, that I was being watched as well by somepony else.” he confessed. “I wouldn’t have brought this up, but you told us to report everything.”

For the first time, a surprise flashed in the eyes of the leader. He knew what this could mean.

“I didn’t expect her to make her move so quickly.” the unicorn murmured, as he glanced at the dark shape chained in the corner of the cave that he shaped into his study room. His gaze lingered for few moments, until it returned to regard his minion. “Inform the others that we will no longer spy on them. We have enough information as it is.”

“What are we supposed to do now, then?”

The leader once again looked at the dark shape, his eyes gleaming in the dark.

“Wait.” was all he said.

Author's Note

For the record, I thought about naming this city Altomare before I started writing "The Hero of Altomare". If any of you wants to know where it is, I'm mostly following this map, and Altomare would be on that peninsula south-west of Los Pegasus.

62. The Prince and the sea

Twilight woke up, yawning, and glanced around, wondering why her bed was shaking. When she saw that she was sleeping in the train’s sleeping car, the unicorn remembered that she and her friends were going to Altomare for a little vacation.

“Hmm, I slept surprisingly well this night.” Twilight thought as she stretched in her bed. “Matt managed to make me relax so easily...”

The lavender mare glanced at the bed next to hers, where she saw that the paladin has already woken up, and was currently reading ‘Daring Do and the Quest for Sapphire Statue’. Twilight suppressed a giggle as she noticed that he finally gotten into the book.

She continued to look at him for few moments before she had realized that she was fantasizing about lying next to Matthias, snuggling to his chest. Twilight shook her head, chasing those thoughts away, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before they would return.

“I really need to talk to him.” the unicorn thought, gazing at Matthias. She was much calmer now, thanks to the stallion in question, so she was no longer freaking out as she analyzed the situation. “I would now, but the others might wake up soon. I suppose that I should be able to ask for a private talk without arousing suspicion from the rest, but... what then? He did say that we weren’t just friends, but even if that is true, would we be able to switch from being friends to being a couple? And what’s more, could our relationship survive? After all, we do argue quite often...”

Her further pondering was interrupted by a very loud yawn, followed by:

“Mornin’, ya’ll.”

“I would have thought that a farmpony would be first to wake up.” Matthias chuckled, glancing at Applejack, noticing by then that Twilight was also awake. “And yet both librarian and a jobless pony beat you to it.”

“'Jobless'?” Twilight asked, amused. “You do recall that you are the Grand Master of the Order of The Celestial Lights, right?”

“Well, until this order consists only me, and I’m living under somepony else’s roof, I figure I have no right to say that I am employed.” Matthias replied, winking at her. “Anyway, we passed Los Pegasus about twenty minutes ago, so we should arrive in Altomare within two hours. You can see the sea from the windows on this side, and the desert on the other.”

Twilight twisted her head to look on the latter, watching the San Palomino Desert for the first time. As she knew from her books, it was a sand desert, and as the name suggested, it was composed of huge sand dunes. Twilight could barely see the outline of the mountains in the distance, which served as the border between Equestria and Saddle Arabia, the horse’s country.

“How can you work on a farm if you sleep so long?” the unicorn heard Matt’s amused question, directed to Applejack.

“Har har, smart boy. Ah’m on vacation, remember?”

Having enough of admiring the empty desert, Twilight looked stood up and trotted over to the other window. Like the San Palomino Desert, she had also never seen the West Sea; however, it was pretty much alike to the East Sea, which was between Equestria and griffin’s land. The lavender recalled that in the depths of West Sea was Aquastria, the city of sea ponies, who sometimes visited Altomare and she briefly wondered if they would see one of them.

But, despite all her wondering, she couldn’t take one stallion out of her thoughts.

Matthias had to admit, the city of Altomare was beautiful.

He has been to a few port cities on Azeroth, but none of them could compare to how the Altomare used the water in architecture. The city itself was actually built on small islands, which are separated by canals, much bigger than the ones in Stormwind, and was linked together by bridges. To get from one part of the town to another, the most common way was to hire a small boat called gondola and travel by it, which was what they were doing now. Except for the small thing...

At the station, a pony from the resort has been waiting for them, to lead them to the house they reserved. Luckily, it was a rather strong stallion, so he helped Matthias and Spike carry the bags, which in majority, belonged to Rarity and Sweetie Belle.

“I really hope they are not going to buy some souvenirs.” Matthias prayed, despite knowing that even Light couldn’t do everything.

The boat carried them near the city’s limits, where they disembarked and traveled by taxi the rest of the way. For much of Matthias irritation, Altomare didn’t have any walls or other protection. While he could understood that in case of Ponyville and Canterlot, both of which were deep in the middle of the country, this city was right on the border, and was a very important strategically. Its location would make it the first target of anyone trying to invade, so that they had a safe port for ships to launch the attack on the rest of the West Coast. However, Matthias decided to keep such observation to himself, while making a mental note to mention this to Celestia later.

The houses of the resort were outside of Altomare, right next to the beach, so that the vacationists could enjoy the peace and quiet. The one Rarity reserved was quite a distance away from the others, so it took them a good ten minutes to get there. When the taxi finally stopped, Matthias saw that it was rather luxurious house.

“Damn, I knew that Rarity made quite a lot of bits from her dressmaking business, but this...”

The house was pure white storey house with terrace. Not only that, but it was spacious, too. It must had at least twenty rooms, aside from the living room, kitchen, and some bathrooms.

“What?” he heard Rarity asked, most likely due to her friends staring at the house she had rented. “I did say that I managed to find one big enough for eleven ponies, right?”

As the others have trotted to the house, Rarity stayed behind to talk with the resort’s pony.

“Thank you very much for your help.” she told the earth pony, who blushed slightly.

“It wasn’t a problem, Miss Rarity.” he replied. “Princess Cadance had sent us a letter requesting rebuilding this house to accommodate all of you and paid us handsomely for that. And while I don’t understand why she later asked us to pretend that it was you who made the reservation, we take pride in our discretion. Anyway, Miss, here are the keys.”

Rarity took the few sets of keys the pony gave him, thanked him once again, and trotted into the house, wondering how to arrange the next part of Princess’ plan. Luckily, she received help from the most unexpected source.

“Hey, can we go to the beach now?” Sweetie Belle asked, looking at Rarity pleadingly with poppy-eyes. “Pleeeeeasee?”

Matthias jumped to the air, twisting his foreleg for a better strike...

… and bounced the ball back to the other side of the self-made court.

“Aand Matt serves the ball to the opposite side, will their opponents- Rainbow Dash saves her team!” Spike exclaimed, while holding up a stick to his mouth. “Oh, it looks like...

Almost as soon as they set hooves in the beach house over an hour ago, which looked as presentable inside as outside, but still comfortable, the fillies practically dragged them to the beach. Why they couldn’t trot those five hoofsteps by themselves was a mystery, but Matthias and the mares quickly gave in. Only Rarity excused herself for a moment to put on some bathing suit, much to the paladin amusement, until the white unicorn explained that if she went swimming in the sea (which everypony doubted) she didn’t want to get the soil directly on her coat if she could help it, and that the suit also served protect coat from the sunburns.

“How is it exactly possible to get sunburns on coat?!?”

As soon as they started placing folding beds and chairs, as well as umbrellas, the little ones tried to go into water; only to be coughed by Twilight spell, and they had to wait for her to finish her lecture about safety. Luckily for them, it wasn’t really long, so they were soon ready to join Rainbow, Pinkie and Applejack in the sea.

“You’re not going?” Rarity asked him in a surprised tone, as they, Twilight and Fluttershy opted to stay on the shore, laying on the beds.

“I’m not in the mood for swimming right now.” he explained back them and, reaching to his saddlebag, he added: “Besides, I’ve just gotten to a really good part.”

Reading the ‘Daring Do’ book, instead of just listening about it from Rainbow, was quite entertaining. Matthias always figured that to somepony like him, who used to face death (and undeath) on daily basis, the book about just treasure hunting would seem boring, but he was wrong. Daring Do was fun to read, as well as entertaining, and imparted some knowledge onto the reader (like not going to the ancient temples, which was something a lot of people back on Azeroth should learn). Matthias even began to understand why Brann was so interested in exploring and discovering the past.

However, he didn’t managed to read the book for long for the others soon asked him to join their volleyball match, to even the odds between three adult mares and three fillies. Spike, instead of playing, chose to be a commentator. And so, Matthias was in the team with Pinkie Pie and Sweetie Belle, and played against Applejack, Apple Bloom, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. They had to occasionally remind Rainbow that this was a friendly game, so she wouldn’t hit the ball too hard for any of the Crusaders to bounce back.

Matthias found the entire game to be really fun. While he did played few games with Jarim, and later with Varian, he never had an occasion to play this volleyball. It took great deal of self control from him to not take an example from Rainbow Dash and lose himself in the game.

He received the ball from Sweetie Belle and passes it to Pinkie Pie, who shoots it at the other part of the field, making both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo jump for it to intercept it, which resulted in them running into each other, and the lost of the ball.

“Are you two alright?” Matthias asked them, breathing a bit deeper. They were playing for some time now, and it showed the most on the fillies. Once the two in question nodded, panting, he added: “I think we should make a break for now.”

Everypony agreed to his suggestion, barring Rainbow, who was slightly angry at the loss of the ball in the last moment, but they all lay down on the folded beds. They stayed like this, chatting and resting and eating, for about an hour, before Rarity rose up.

“Well, it looks like its past noon.” she said. “What would you say that we would go for some sight-seeing in Altomare? The city looks simply divine!”

“I think it’s a wonderful idea!” Twilight exclaimed, also rising.

“But we want to play some more!” said Scootaloo, with the other Crusaders supporting her by viciously nodding.

It seemed, however, that everypony else, including Spike, wanted to go. Not wanting to see the moment ruined, Matthias quickly acted.

“You can go, I’ll stay and keep an eye on them.” he assured them, not moving from his bed.

“Are you sure about this?” Rarity asked.

“Don’t worry, they won’t be much of a problem.” Matthias said, and smirking, he added: “I’m afraid you will have to find somepony else to carry all your shoppings.”

“Well, since ya’r sure, we’ll leave them in yar care.” Applejack chuckled, amused like everypony else by the earlier comment. Turning to her sister and the others, she said: “Don’t cha get yarself and Matt in any problems, ya hear?”

After the Crusaders assured them, the six mares and one dragon said their farewells, and left for the city. The fillies tried to get into the water as soon as they were out of sight, but Matthias stopped them, reminding them that they’ve just eaten, and had to wait an hour.

“Cant’ya speed it up with the Light?” Apple Bloom asked him hopefully.

“I’m afraid I can’t.” the paladin replied, amused, but seeing the disappointment on their faces, he quickly added: “How about this? You could go around the shoreline collecting shells, until the hour passes.”

The three of them quickly beamed up at that, and trotted over to the line on the beach where small waves constantly hit. Luckily, it was full of shells (Matthias wondered if they were placed there by the resort’s workers) so they didn’t have to wander off anyway far from paladin sight.

Matthias stretched happily on his folded bed, enjoying the warmth of the sun, the company of fillies, who run up to him every now and then showing him a shell they found which they deemed really beautiful, and simply enjoying life.

“I will have to watch out to not doze off.” he chuckled to himself. “Why they say those girls are nothing but a problem is beyond me, I cannot think of anything that could cause me any trouble.”

Twilight watched in awe as the gondolier showed them the most interesting parts of the city. Altomare was simply beautiful. The canals, the bridges, the buildings... everything about it was beautiful.

At one moment, they stopped and disembarked, so that they could see the town hall, the gift shops (Twilight pitied Spike for carrying all those things Rarity bought) and the square, with its magnificent fountain.

It was an image of the city’s founders, Prince Alto and the sea pony mare he fallen in love with, Misty. The prince, who happened to be one of the thousands unfortunate passengers of the luxurious ship S.S Alicorn, which was supposed to sail around the world from Manehatten to Vanhoover, but when it was just few days away from its destination, a tragedy happened. The ship hit a drifting iceberg, which caused it to sink, taking away the lives of so many ponies. There were only a handful of survivors who managed to get into the lifeboats the gigantic ship had, and the few pegasi who were on the ship flew for the land, searching for help.

The prince himself, however, was not on any lifeboat. He chose to give his place to some mare with a little filly, saving their lives and sacrificing his.

Or so he thought.

As the ship sank, and the Prince Alto with him, he lost consciousness, so he couldn't remember exactly what happened, but he recalled drifting on the sea for some time, holding onto some piece of wood, until, one day, when he opened his eyes and found himself not in water, but cave instead.

Not knowing what happened, he rose and staggered into the light. The cave opened up towards the beach, but it wasn’t the sea that got his attention, rather, it was the strange tracks on the sand, leading first to the cave, and then towards the hills. Alto, while knowing it wasn’t the best thing to do in his condition, followed the trail, curious who saved him. He climbed the side of the cliff... and saw Misty.

The sea ponies, contrary to what someponies believe, can move actually pretty well on the land. They long, ended with a fin tails allowed them slither like snakes on land, keeping their chest and head straight up with ease. That was how Misty managed to drag Prince Alto into the cave, after finding him drifting on the surface of the sea, and how she went into the land to find something to eat for him.

Twilight recalled all that as she admired the fountain, thinking how beautiful this story was, about to ponies that were joined by a tragedy as they fallen in love despite the obvious differences. How the Prince (with Celestia’s blessing and his fortune) founded this city, which instead of streets had canals, so that he and Misty could live in it.

“If I remember correctly, there was also a shrine built in the place where Prince Alto first saw Misty.” Twilight mused, still gazing at the memorial. “Where was it? West of the city... about...”

The lavender unicorn’s jaw dropped, which, fortunately, none of her friends saw.

The shrine was located on the hill outside of their beach house!

Many hours later Rarity could barely keep herself from bouncing like Pinkie Pie as they made their way back, being happy despite the very late hour, which had nothing to do with the few things she bought today.

She saw how Twilight looked at the fountain, and she knew that Princess Cadance was right again. As soon as their lavender friend saw it, she realized that the shrine memorizing the spot where Prince Alto and the sea pony, Misty, fell in love was practically around the corner.

“Now, they are bound to go talk by that shrine!” Rarity fought triumphantly. “And then, they will finally realize what they fill for each other is love, and will confess, and then they will start their courtship, and soon they will get married. I will make us all dresses, and it will be the greatest day ever!”

She returned to reality as they finally neared the beach house, so that she could later remember those moments clearly. After a few second however, the door to it opened and they all saw Matt, running up to them, with... anger on his face?

“Where the hell have you all been so long?!?” he hissed as he stopped in front of them. “Do you have any idea what have happened?!?”

63. Night of terror

Couple Hours Earlier…

Matthias looked at three fillies amused, as they began discussing how to get a sailing cutie mark.

“You do realized that you would need to be on a ship for that one, right?” he decided to point out for them a big flaw in their plan them after Scootaloo suggested that they could just stir a boat around and see what'll happen.

“Oh, right.” Apple Bloom said, crestfallen, but in the very next second she jumped up in the air and exclaimed: “Ah have even better idea! Let’s get a cutie mark in boat buildin’!”

The paladin facehoofed himself, not too sure if to think any this is still amusing, or just plain annoying.

“Yeah, that’s a great idea!” Sweetie Belle replied to the suggestion, also jumping in excitement.

“And even if it turns out that it’s not our special talent, we will have a boat to try sailing on.”

“As much as I admire your enthusiasm, I’m afraid I have to put an end to your plans.” Matthias said, deciding enough was enough.

“Why?” the trio asked him sadly in unison.

“Well, for one thing, it’s about time we ate some dinner.”

“But we’re not hung-” Scootaloo began to say, only to have her stomach betray her at this precise moment with a growl, much to the other two amusement.

“And besides, it’s getting late.” he pointed out, continuing as if nothing happened. “It will be night soon.”

“When you put it like that...” Sweetie Belle muttered unhappily.

“Don’t worry; you can go back to your Crusading tomorrow.”

The four of them rose up and picked up all the folded furniture’s, which meant that Matthias did most of the work, and carried them back to the beach house. Inside, Matthias went to the kitchen and within few short moments, he came back to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, carrying plate with few daisy sandwiches. The paladin found them up on a terrace, gazing at the sunset.

“Wow, it’s really beautiful!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed as he walked in on them.

Matthias found it hard to argue. The setting in which the sun’s light reflecting on the surface of the sea, creating a magnificent scenery, and made the stallion regret not having a camera.

“Indeed.” he said, gaining their attention as he put the plate on the table.

“Are we out of pizza?” Scootaloo asked as the three fillies sat down to eat.

“No, there is plenty of it in the icebox.” Matthias replied, recalling how well supplied house’s kitchen was. “But you can’t eat such heavy meals before going to sleep, it’s unhealthy. So,” he added, saying that they were about to protest, “how do you like it here so far?”

At once, the Cutie Mark Crusaders beamed up and started going on about how great this place is. They liked everything about it: the sea, the beach, the house, the sunset, the games they played with everypony... the list went on for a while, so Matthias, a tad tired from the whole day of watching them, allowed himself to doze off with his thoughts.

“I wonder when the others are gonna get back.” he mused, gazing into the distance. “It is getting rather late... and I wanted to talk with Twilight. She’s back to her old self now, but I need to explain to her why I kissed her. But... what should I say; that I love her, but only because she’s exactly like Jaina? I cannot... And is it really the only reason? If not, what then? I cannot be with her. I made everyone who I ever cared about suffer. And even if I won’t fall to the darkness, I would mess this relationship up. I would lose her friendship...”

“The twilight sure is beautiful out here.”

“Yes, she is.” he replied absentmindedly.

When Matthias noticed that the three fillies were staring at him, who then started giggling, he realized what he said, while Scootaloo was commenting the sky.

“Ya don’t say...” Apple Blood told him when she stopped giggling.

“So, are you two very special someponies?” Sweetie Belle asked him, with a grin on her face.

“This is exactly what I need, little fillies discussing this.”

“No, we’re not.” Matthias replied, rolling his eyes.

“But why?” Sweetie Belle inquired, and started counting: “I mean, you live together, really like each other, and you think she’s beautiful...”

Matthias didn’t miss that smirk on her face when she mentioned the last part.

“Girls, I am pretty sure somepony must have mentioned to you that it’s not nice to pray in the relationships between two ponies.” he told them, which surprisingly enough, seemed to have an effect; for the three fillies looked at each other, ashamed all of a sudden. “Now that we have that out of the way, I would appreciate if you wouldn’t mention what I said earlier? Because, you know, you kinda owe me one, since thanks to me staying behind you three got to play on the beach on day.”

“Uh, fine, we won’t tell anypony.” Scootaloo grunted, annoyed.

“Pinkie Promise?”

The three fillies rolled their eyes, but complied and gesticulated with their forelegs, while saying:

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

“Good.” Matthias nodded, pleased; he knew they wouldn’t dare to break Pinkie Promise. “Now then, finish eating and go take a shower before you go to sleep, you need to clean the salt out of your coats.”

Matthias yawned an hour after he put the fillies to bed they chose to sleep in all together, as he laid stretched on the bed, reading the last chapter of the ‘Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Statue’. However, despite wanting to know how would Daring Do manage to escape from the temple (which he know she would, otherwise there wouldn’t be any more books of this series), he found it even hard to concentrate, and finally gave up after realizing that he was reading the same page for about twenty minutes.

The paladin yawned and looked at the clock. The mares and Spike haven’t returned yet, and it was only two hours until midnight. A thought that something might have happened to them crossed Matthias’ mind, but he quickly dismissed it. He had no doubt that if any harm came to them, he would know - either thanks to the Light, or through the weird connection he and Twilight seemed to have.

The thought of Twilight caused him to sigh. The stallion had already decided that once she would return, he would ask her for a private talk, provided she wasn’t too tired from sightseeing. What would happen after that, he had no idea.

“Maybe I should...”

His thoughts were interrupted by a terrified shriek coming up from upstairs. Matthias blood froze as he at once sprung up and galloped towards the room in which the fillies slept together, dreading what had happened.

The scream continued, but in those two seconds that it took him to reach their room, it was joined by two more. Hearing it, the paladin did not bother with wasting one more for opening door, and instead simply bursted through them.

“What happened?” he asked, radiating Light from his body and glancing around, trying to find whatever fiend was foolish enough to dare harm those three. “Are you okay?”

Seeing him seemed to calm them down a bit, as they stopped screaming, but their faces were pale while they looked at him.

“T-t-there’s...” Applebloom stuttered.

“....T-t-t-there’s...” Scootaloo tried to say.

“Calm down, you are safe.” Matthias told them gently as he trotted to their bed, confused, and wondering if they all just had a nightmare, but that was rather unlikely. “Tell me what-”

Their sheets were soaking with blood.

“Where are you hurt?!?” he quickly ask them, barely able to remain calm now that he knew something had happened to the three fillies, as his mind tried to analyze whatever that ‘something’ could be. “Which one of you is hurt?”

“There isn’t enough blood to come from all three of them... or two, in fact...”

“I-I think I am.” Sweetie Belle said in broken voice, her coat whiter than it should be.

“Alright, calm down, everything will be fine.” Matthias told her gently, as he delicately whiped her tears. “Now, tell me where you are hurt, so that I might heal you, and then tell me what happened.”

“W-well...” Sweetie Belle stuttered, plainly unsure as what to say. “... I...”

“Sweetie, just tell me where it hurts.” the paladin pleaded, hoping that she would calm down.

“I-it hurts...” the little unicorn tried to tell him, looking weirdly at the other two, who, like Matthias, were looking at her with concern. “... in my...” she blushed as the next words were said. “...private area.”

The paladin, Grand Master of the Order of Celestial Lights, King of the Fallen Lordaeron, former Lich King of the Scourge, felt his jaw drop.

“Oh...” he said in shock, as the apprehension of what had happened dawned on him. “I mean... don’t worry, this... is normal.”

“Normal!?” Scootaloo exclaimed in fear. “How is it normal that she bleeds from down there?!”

“Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic...”

“I will explain to you in a moment, right now... we need to wash Sweetie Belle... down there.” Matthias told them, having no idea what to say about that. “Come on.”

He gently picked up the little unicorn, and carried her to the bathroom, which, thankfully, had a really huge bathtub. Matthias put Sweetie Belle there, and turned on the water.

“You two help her.” he asked Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, who followed them. “Wash... that place, with just water, gently, I will be right back.”

Matthias passed the two of them and entered the hallway. He wanted to go outside and start hitting the sand with his head, but he couldn’t. Nopony was here now, so he had to take care of the three fillies, all by himself.

He just hoped the mares would get back really soon.

The earth pony did not bother to ask Bolvar and Ner’zhul for suggestions, doubting that either of them would have anything useful for him. So instead, Matthias headed for the rooms were girls slept, and started searching through their bags, hoping that at least one of them brought...

“Wait, what the hell do ponies use when they have a period?” he thought, as he looked at Fluttershy’s belongings. “They don’t wear clothes normally, so the menstrual pads are out...”

After searching through two more bags, he finally found a box of tampons in one of Rarity’s bags. The description on the small box told him it was supposed to be used for this exact situation, but instead of putting them into the underwear, they were going into...

Shaking his head, Matthias picked up the box and hurried back to the girls, who were just helping Sweetie Belle get out of the tub.

“Great, now listen to me, Sweetie.” he said, somehow managing to maintain his voice in natural intensity. “This may sound strange, but I need you to put this...” he passed them the opened box, so that they would know he meant the contents. “...in your... private area… the bleeding one.”

“What?!?” the three of them shouted, disgusted.

“You want me to stick it in...”

“Yes, Sweetie, so that it could absorb the blood.”

“Why can’t you just heal me?”

“I can’t.” Matthias said, shaking his head. “I will explain all of this as best I can, but first you need to... do this.”

“I think I’m gonna faint.”

The paladin stood there, watching the fillies as they took the box and, after checking the instruction on it, then proceeded to put the tampon into Sweetie Belle, but he managed to snap himself back into lucidness and turn away at the last moment.

“I would like them all to see me now.” he thought bitterly as he heard the little ones behind him reading the box’ instructions aloud. “The once terrifying Lich King, helping a small filly with her first period.”

“Okay, we’re done.” Scootaloo informed him, uncertainly.

“Feels... funny.” Sweetie Belle said when Matthias turned his head around,

“Alright, now then... let’s go find you three a new room. I’m afraid that your previous one is kind of... messy.”

He led the Cutie Mark Crusaders to one of the unused rooms, and waited for them to sit on their bed.

“What happened to me?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Well...” Matthias began, rubbing the back of his head. “...it’s hard to explain. This is usually something fillies should hear from their mothers and older sisters. Do you think you could wait until tomorrow, so that Rarity could explain it to you?”

“But how can I sleep?!?” the small unicorn panicked. “What if I bleed out?!? Why has it happened to me?!? Why-”

“Sweetie, please be calm.” the paladin asked, embracing her and patting on her head. Once she stopped screaming, and breathed more steadily, he continued: “Listen, what had just happened to you is something that every mare goes through when they are fillies. You will be fine, trust me. Do you trust me?”

“A-aha.” Sweetie Belle said through her tears as he pulled slightly back.

“Then please, go to sleep. I’m sure Rarity will explain everything to you way better than I could, as soon as you wake up tomorrow.” turning to the other two, he added: “This goes for you two as well. Go to sleep, and in the morning you will know what exactly had happened.”

“Matt... does this... bleedin’, will happen to us, too?” Apple Bloom asked nervously as they crawled under quilt.

“At some point of time, yes.” he answered, not seeing the point of lying to them. “But I promise you, this is not something you should be afraid of. Do you want me to sign you a lullaby to help you fall asleep?”

The three fillies nodded.

“And could you also lay with us for a while?” Sweetie Belle pleaded. “Until we’ll be sleeping?”

“Of course.” Matthias told them gently, as he climbed up next to them and soon found himself hugged by all three of them.

He pulled the quilt over them, and started singing:

Dormite liberi,

Dulci pueri dormite, caloria et,

Comodus Vester lecti boni.

Osservo te, semper te,

Latus tui costa te, autem solus, mitite,

Latus tui hic sum.

In Somninum plati

Floridus plena, dormite liberi

Dulci mei dormite

Mitite liberi,

Sine pater autem, mitite, liberi,

Visi te tua mater.

Osservo te, semper te,

Latus tui costa te, liberi sine sentite,

Momentum dormite.

In conclave sine mater.

Conclave dum dies saperis...

By the time he finished the song, they were all asleep. Carefully, Matthias rose up and made his way back downstairs, not knowing if he did the right thing by telling them to go to sleep and wait for Rarity and the rest to explain it to them.

He sat down on the sofa, looking through the window, and waiting for girls and Spike to come back. As he waited, Matthias began to feel angry at them for taking their time, and leaving in the first place, even if it was his suggestion that he would stay behind to look after the fillies.

After about an hour (or hour and a half, he forgot to check the time), the paladin saw finally saw them trotting back, and rushed to meet them. He halted when he was in front of them, and noticing that Spike was carrying rather a lot of baggage, he hissed angrily:

“Where the hell have you all been so long?!? Do you have any idea what had happened?!?”

The all looked at him with fear at their eyes, and almost at once he regretted erupting like that. It really wasn’t their fault that he had to go through that, and besides, it was more traumatic for the fillies.

“Matt, what happened?!?” Twilight quickly asked, alarmed. “Are the girls alright?!?”

Matthias took a deep breath, and answered in much quieter tone.

“Yes, they are fine.” turning to Spike, he added: “Spike, I need to talk with them alone. Please, go inside.”

“Why, what happened?!?” the dragon asked, worry in his voice.

“I will tell you later, right now I need to discuss this with girls.”

“Okay...” Spike said, clearly not happy at being dismissed like this, but walked into the beach house anyway.

“So, what happened?” Twilight asked again as soon as Spike disappeared inside.

Instead of answering her, Matthias turned to Rarity.

“Your sister just had her first period.”

The six mares stared at him with eyes wide as plates and jaws dropped to the ground.

“W-what?!?” Rarity finally managed to exclaim after ten seconds have passed.

She attempted to run to the house, but Matthias stopped her.

“They’re asleep. I told them that you and the rest will explain exactly what had happened tomorrow morning, and I've also given her some tampons that I found in your bags after snooping through all of your belongings, sorry. Now, if you’ll excuse me...” he said before he passed out, out of sheer stress he just went through.

His day to talk about Twilight about his feelings to her would have to wait another day.

Author's Note

I hope nobody is gonna hate me...

And yes, I think ponies have menstruation cycles, not that estrous thing. As I said before, the show seems to portray them to have many human like traits

64. Decision

As he woke up, there was this beautiful sense of not remembering what had happened the previous day...

… until it was shattered as Mattias recalled everything.

The girls must have brought him back to his room, seeing as he was here instead of on the beach where he fainted. Like every other room, it was quite spacious, and at least half of its exterior was taken by the bed.

“Why do they need to have such big beds in a beach houses that is supposed to host around twenty ponies?” he wondered, trying to forget the last night’s events.

However, much to his dismay, it proved difficult. While Matthias was glad he was able to help Sweetie Belle and calm her down, he would be much more content with Rarity or one of the other mares handle it.

“Good morning!” a cheerful voice of Twilight came from the door, while the paladin continued to stare at the ceiling. He almost instantly turned his head to look at her. She was alone and brought with her a plate with breakfast on it. “Or rather, good afternoon. You slept rather long, although, given the shock you must have gone through...”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Matthias whined as he covered his eyes.

His foul mood lifted somewhat as he heard her giggle.

“Oh, come on, it wasn’t that bad.” Twilight said, trying to make him feel better. “Based on what the fillies told us, you handled things pretty well... for a stallion.”

Matthias uncovered one of his eyes to see her smirking at him. Taking off the hoof from the other, he sighed.

“It would have really been better if one of you was here.” he told her, straightening up. “So, how did the... talking go?”

“Me, Rarity and Applejack took care of it.” the unicorn replied, putting the plate near him. “Now the only one who doesn’t understand what happened is Spike... although, if Pinkie-”

“Please tell me she’s not going to throw a party because of that!” Matthias exclaimed; there had to be some limits when it came to Pinkie Pie... right?

“Well, she’s just considering it... so far.” Twilight said, uncomfortably. “Anyway, the others are out on the beach, I stayed behind to wait for you to wake up.”

“You didn’t have to, I’m a big colt.” the paladin smirked, although he was heartened by her gesture.

“‘A big colt’ who fainted after seeing some blood?” Twilight replied, grinning, although it didn’t escape Matthias’ notice that her cheeks were few shades more red. “I’ll leave you to eat at peace.”

Having said that, she turned around and headed towards the door. Matthias, not wanting to let the opportunity go to waste, had called after her.

“Twilight, wait.” she turned around, as the earth pony rose from bed and trotted to her. “Could you go by the nightfall for a walk with me?” seeing her eyes widen slightly, he quickly added: “I wanted to talk with you about something in private, and it seems that every time I am going to, something comes up; like what happened yesterday or this whole trip.”

“Funny you should say that.” Twilight replied, the blush on her face now more evident. “I also wanted to talk with you for some time. But why wait until nightfall?”

“Well, we could now, but I’m pretty sure that somepony is going to come in h-”

“Twilight, is Matt up yet?” Rarity’s melodic voice rang up as she glanced through the gap in the door. At the sight of him, the white unicorn smiled and trotted into room. “Matt, I wanted to thank you for taking care of Sweetie Belle and others so well.”

“It was nothing, really.” the paladin replied, uncomfortable, a feeling he would undoubtedly feel whenever this subject was touched.

“Oh, it was most certainly not ‘nothing’!” the fashionista protested. “Most stallions would have run away, but you remained calm and collected. I must say, one day you’re going to become an excellent father!”

“Um... thanks.” was all Matthias, feeling even more uncomfortable, could say.

“Is it just me, or did she just glanced at Twilight?”

Rarity didn’t feel good about interrupting them at noon, but she was certain that it would be better if things would go with like the original plan dictated.

“If only Sweetie Belle’s...” she began to think as they all came back from the tour around the city by the evening, but quickly shook her head.

It wasn’t anypony’s fault that her little sister had her first period at such unfortunate moment. If anything, Rarity was angry at herself for not being there for her. She hoped she made up for it by having a long talk in the morning, starting with her apologizing for both herself and their mother not discussing this with her earlier.

Since now all three fillies knew about menstruation, Rarity’s thoughts didn’t linger on the subject, and her mind quickly returned to the first problem. Because of that, her ears perked up when she heard Matt’s voice from behind her once they reached the house.

“If you ponies don’t mind, we’re going for a little walk.” he said, nodding to Twilight, who stood next to him, and both of them wandered off...

…Towards the shrine.

“So why exactly you want to talk on that hill?” asked Matthias once they were out of earshot of the rest.

The rest of the day was rather pleasant. After waking up completely, he decided to go see Altomare, and the others (mostly fillies, who also missed out yesterday in favor of playing some more) agreed. The city was, as he noticed yesterday, very beautiful and unique, proven by the fact that, unlike Canterlot which was the only other city he’s been to so far, where unicorns were dominant kind of ponies, in Altomare lived all kinds of them, like in Ponyville. They even saw today two sea ponies, although they just swam past them while they traveled on gondola. They reminded Matthias a lot of the naga or at least, a pony version of naga; having scales instead of coat, gill on their necks, and fins for forelegs... However, the few nagas he has seen by his own eyes most certainly haven’t batted their eyelashes at him, like one of the sea ponies did.

All throughout the trip, Matthias was wondering what to say to Twilight. He was determined to finally be done with this and, after hours of careful thinking, he knew what he was going to say to her.

His only concern was her reply.

“I wanted to see you the shrine that was built atop of it.” Twilight replied, returning his attention to the present. “I figured it’s a place good as any other for talking.”

Matthias, who read about Altomare’s history, knew very well what this shrine could be; which caused him to wonder what was it exactly that Twilight hoped to gain today.

They reached the top within few short minutes. Like Matthias guessed, the shrine was a statue dedicated to Prince Alto and his wife Misty, and was basically a different version of the fountain that stood at the center of Altomare.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Twilight asked, and for the moment both of them had their attention focused on the memento of two lovers from the past.

Twilight took a deep breath, and, with some effort, looked at Matt.

“Matt, I wanted to tell you...” she paused, unsure for the moment, despite going over and over this moment in her head since yesterday. Seeing the other pony nod his head encouraging, letting her know that she could continue when she wanted, she spared few more second on collecting her thoughts. “... you see, for some time, I’ve... began to think different about you. Ever since the moment we’ve almost kissed... no, that’s just when I started to realize that. I don’t know when, but, at some point, you’ve became to me more than just a friend. I know that now, and yet, I’m conflicted.”

“I don’t know if you remember, but when you were under the effect of the moon, you said that what I annoy you the most is that when I overreact to everything. And you are right, I do. As soon as began to suspect that I might have deeper feelings for you, I became afraid; afraid that something would go wrong, and I would lose you. You mean to me so much, I cannot imagine living without your friendship. And, what’s even worse, the possibility of losing my other friends as well.” she paused to take a deep breath, and summed up. “For now, all I wanted to say to you that I... love you.”

As Twilight said that, she felt almost... lighter. As if just saying that lifted a huge burden from her shoulders. Now, whatever happened next, Matt would know how she felt about him.

All that remained was to hear his response to her confession.

Matt stood barely a meter away from her, looking into her eyes, before he closed his and took a deep breath.

“What you just said filled me with both great joy and great worry.” he said, opening them. “It must have taken a lot of courage to do so... courage that I didn’t have for a long time. You see, Twilight... all the things you said apply to me as well. I also realized some time ago how I feel about you, and you’ve always been in my thought more often than anypony else since I’ve awakened in Equestria. And, like you, I’m worried; worried about us, our friendship. “

“Twilight...” he paused, shifting his sight to look at the ground instead. “I mess things up, always. I’ve been in a relationship once; and it ended because of me. She was also my friend, and after that night, she and I never even met until few years later... And after barely a few days; I’ve messed up again. This is not the only example of my failings; but I don’t want to talk about them now. What matters now, Twilight, is that I also fear losing your friendship as I say those words,” he lifted his head, and their eyes met again. “I love you.”

Silence fell upon them as those words were uttered. For a long time none of them spoke, as they simply looked into the eyes of one another, going over in their head about what both of them said.

Twilight never before thought that she could be both so happy and worried at the same time. She knew that Matt said that they weren’t just friends; but to hear him say that he loved her made her heart beat like crazy. However, the rational part of her mind processed what else he said, and looked for the best possible outcome for their situation.

“So...” Twilight said, breaking the silence, as she assumed her analytic tone of voice. “We both love each other, but are convinced that engaging in a relationship would ruin our friendship. The question is: What are we going to do about it?”

Matt’s ears flickered, but otherwise he hasn’t budged.

“As I said, I’m terrible at this. You decide. Whatever you chose, it will be fine with me.”

Twilight eyes widen, surprise at his response. She expected him to tell her what to do now, not the other way around. He did have much more experience that her in relationships, even if it things ended poorly because of him. Regardless, Twilight closed her eyes, fighting off the urge to panic, and trying her best to figure out what to do now.

“We are both convinced that this would end with a disaster. We both love each other. We both value our friendship...”

“We’ll remain friends.” she finally said, once she found which answer she was most comfortable with. “Friends that love and care for each other more dearly, but nothing more than that.”

Twilight opened her eyes to see Matt smiling at her with relief.

“I hoped you would say that.”

“Why, did you fear that I would throw you out of my house?” she asked, smirking.

Both of them laughed, feeling a great joy in their hearts. They knew they loved each other, and yet, they lost nothing.

Meanwhile, at Canterlot…

Luna, who had been observing the whole scene thanks to her ‘moon reflection’ spell, facehoofed herself.

“Your godfather is the stupidest stallion ever.” she told her daughter, with whom she was having a tickling session as she watched the two ponies. “However, Twilight Sparkle isn’t much better.”

Moonlight just giggled, demanding more attention.

The paladin finished laughing, honestly happy.

Matthias spoke true when he said he would be fine with whatever Twilight chose. If she thought that they should try courting, he would probably kissed her without a moment of hesitation, but after that his fears would come back. Matthias knew very well how this could all end; and he wasn’t going to risk losing a friend this time.

“So, Twilight,” he asked once they calmed down, offering her his hoof “will you accompany your friend back to the beach house?”

She smiled, squeezing his hoof.

“I would love to.”

“Oh, come on!”

“Did you hear something?” Matthias asked, looking around for the source of the sound, but dismissed it as wind.

“Oh, come on!” Rarity shouted in outrage.

“Calm down, sugarcube.” Applejack told her, while Rainbow Dash quickly gagged her with hoof.

The three of them were spying on Matt and Twilight through binoculars, and while they couldn’t hear what they were saying, their body language was clear enough.

They decided to remain friends.

“Ah guess this means that’s it, then.” the cowpony said, although she too looked disappointed.

“No.” Rarity told her through clenched teeth. “Those two are meant to be together, and refuse to accept what just happened!” after she said that, Rarity calmed down, and grinned evilly.

“Time for plan B.”

Author's Note

Nope.

In case you think that their decision makes no sense... they are both idiots when it comes to relationships. Although, to be fair, if the others haven't come up with this trip, they stayed in Ponyville, I imagine things would go differently somehow.

65. Closure

“A 'love potion'?!”

“Can you be quiet?” Rarity coaxed her friend angrily. “They're stupid, not deaf!”

The five of them - Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie - were in Rarity’s room. It was the morning of next day after Twilight and Matt made the most ridiculous decision imaginable. They had gathered here before breakfast, so that the white unicorn could fill in the others about what ‘Plan B’ was about.

“But, Rarity, if they want to be just friends...” Fluttershy started, but cringed and fell silent once the other pony shoots her glare.

Seeing how she caused her timid friend to get scarred, Rarity took a deep breath.

“Fluttershy, dear, we have all agreed that they would be perfect together.” she told her and others more calmly. “Even Princess Cadance thinks so, and proposed this whole plan.”

“But she didn’t mention any love potions!” Applejack once again accented that part. “How do ya even plan on makin’ one, exactly?”

“With this,” Rarity replied, using her magic to pull a book out of one of her bags. “I snatched it from Twilight’s library before we left. This is a book about ‘Hearts and Hooves Day’ and, as Twilight once mentioned to me, it has a love potion recipe in it.”

She opened it to the page that contained the said recipe, and then twisted the book so that the rest can read it for themselves.

“See? All we need is a tuft of cloud, a bright rainbow’s glow, stir it fast with a pegasus’ feather, and it will be ready!” Rarity told them, excited. “After that we’ll just have to serve it them, and it’s done.”

“Sound fun!” Pinkie Pie said. “I just hope it won’t terribly backfire somehow.”

Rarity, while grateful for her support, ignored her comment completely. Her plan was perfect! Noticing that the other four wasn’t convinced, she spoke once again.

“I know this kind of forcing them into relationship, but I still think they should be together. All they need is a little nudge.”

The others shared a look, and finally, they all nodded.

“Fine,” Applejack sighed, resigned. “Ah just hope this’ll work this time, and not blow all over our faces.”

“Yeah, what she said.” Rainbow added, yawning. “This whole thing started to become a little boring.”

Once again, they spend half of day playing in the sea, and the other half by seeing more of what Altomare had to offer. Matthias found himself being a lot more comfortable around everypony, now that he didn’t have to worry about losing Twilight’s friendship. He pitied the fact that they had to go back to Ponyville tomorrow, but he suspected that few more days and he would start missing it anyways. As much as beautiful Altomare was, Ponyville was his home. There was this feeling of simplicity and peace, which was the reason why he wanted to form the new order there.

“Speaking of the Order, the workers will come to the sight in just four days.” he thought at the evening as they all sat at the terrace, watching the sunset and chatting about Altomare or complaining about going back home. “I will need to meet them and discuss some things... and sanctify the ground on which the abbey will be built.”

He rolled his eyes. The whole idea, why it became more and more appealing to him over time, was going to take a lot of effort from him.

“Something’s wrong?” Twilight asked him, no doubt noticing his unhappy mood.

“Just thinking about the stuff I will have to take care of soon after we’ll return to Ponyville.” Matthias replied, smiling at his friend. “I haven’t worked for a while, and I guess I’m not looking forward to starting again.”

“Lazy bump.” the unicorn smirked.

They both chuckled, and so few of their friends. Matthias really regretted that the chance to spend time together like this won’t happen soon.

“What is taking Rarity so long with those drinks?” Rainbow Dash, always impatient one, asked in frustration suddenly.

“I can go and see if she needs any help!” Sweetie Belle offered, and before anypony could say anything, she run downstairs to the kitchen.

Rarity very careful picked up the plate with eleven glasses on it, nine of which contained a simply berry juice, and the other two the love potion that she and other mares prepared.

“Those two for Twilight and Matt, those two for Twilight and Matt...” she kept repeating in her head, until she was one hundred percent certain she remembered which was which.

Satisfied, Rarity turned around, levitating the plate, and was about leave the kitchen, when suddenly, something run out from around the corner and bumped into her.

Something white...

“Sweetie Belle!” the older unicorn shouted, angry, as she fought to regain her balance and to keep the plate straight. “Watch out, you could have made me spill! Honestly, now that you are a mare, you could at least try and act the part.”

“Oh, sorry.” her little sister said, being crestfallen. “I just wanted to see if you need any help...”

Rarity sighed and hugged her tightly.

“Thank you for your concern, Sweetie. Sorry I shouted at you. Now, let’s go, everypony must be thirsty.”

Sweetie Belle nodded, and went jumping, as she took the lead as they trotted upstairs. Rarity looked at her amused, despite what she said earlier, she hoped her little sister wouldn’t change yet for few years at least. For her, she would always be a little filly.

“Finally!” Rainbow exclaimed as they entered the terrace. “What took you so long?”

The white unicorn spared her glance. While she knew that they all planned to act natural, Dash could at least spare the comments.

“I’m terribly sorry, everypony.” Rarity said as she placed before everypony a single glass.

“That’s okay, Rarity, you know Rainbow is just impatient.” Twilight told her, while picking up her glass.

The other unicorn glanced at Matt, who did the same.

“They’re about to be in for a big surprise.” she thought, barely stopping herself from giggling, as the two of them began drinking.

Matthias took few sips of the juice, glad to relieve the thirst after long day. He put the glass on the table.

…and noticed that Rarity, as well as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, were staring at him and Twilight, who also finished.

“What?” he asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable under their gaze. “Is something wrong?”

Rarity eyes widen, but she quickly recovered.

“No, there is nothing wrong, right gir-” she asked, turning to the others, but then she froze in place, with her eyes even wider than before and jaw on the table.

Matthias, who followed her gaze, found his face stuck in similar expression.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were kissing, and not just that, but also making out... While being sober, in front of their friends, and four kids.

“What ar they doin’?!” Apple Bloom was first to ask, looking confused at her sister, who paid the sound of her voice no mind and continued to brush Rainbow’s coat, while their tongues wrestled in their mouths.

“Oh no!” Rarity exclaimed all of the sudden. “I must have mixed up the glasses!”

“Wait, what?” Matthias asked, turning his gaze away from the two kissing mares. “What did you mean by that?”

“We wanted you two to drink a love potion from the recipe I found in the book about Hearts and Hooves Day, but Sweetie Belle bumped into me, and the ones you and Twilight were supposed to drink got switched with Applejack’s and Rainbow’s.”

“Wait, what?!” Twilight asked this time.

“That recipe isn’t for a ‘love potion’, but for a ‘love poison’!” Sweetie Belle said unexpectedly.

“Wait, what?!” Rarity asked, glancing at her sister with fear. “How do you know about that?!”

“QUIET!” Twilight shouted, beating Matthias to it, and causing everypony to stop talking at once. Now the only sound that could be heard was the moaning of Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The lavender unicorn put an end to it as well, by using her magic to separate them and keep them apart. They levitated few meters away from each other, trying to reach the other with forelegs. Matthias noticed that their eyes seemed to have a strange purple pattern. Twilight turned to Rarity, her eyelid slightly twitching. “Before anything else, give me that book so I might make an antidote, so those two won’t do something they’ll soon regret.”

“We don’t need the book.” Scootaloo said.

“Yeah, all we need to do is keep them apart for an hour.” Sweetie Belle added.

“How do you know about this?” Rarity asked.

The three fillies looked ashamed, but before they could reply, Twilight answered for them.

“I once lent them that book, they must have read it. This will be a long hour...”

“Not necessarily.” Matthias said, trotting towards the two suspended in the air ponies. “Since this is a love ‘poison’, and every effect of potions is basically a poison, I should be able to...” instead of finishing the sentence, he raised his forelegs and prayed.

The Light answered and soon its glow, radiating from Matthias, spread at Applejack and Rainbow. Within few second, the glow dispersed, and so did the effect of love poison.

“What happened?” Dash asked, looking around. “Why am I... floating?”

“Yeah, Twi, what gives?!”

“You...” Rarity said, looking at them with embarrassment. “I mean... I accidentally gave you the potion, instead of Twilight and Matt. And…” she added, as the other two’s eyes widen. “you kinda started...”

“Please don’t say it!” both of them shouted, making an attempt to be further apart from each other.

“Now that’s over with...” Twilight said angrily as she put them both down. “Would somepony mind explaining why exactly you were trying to give me and Matt a love poison?!”

“I would also like to know that.” Matthias added, calmer than she, but not less angry.

The other five mares looked at each, before Rarity stepped forward.

“I’m sorry, it was my idea... we just all thought that you two would be perfect together, and we saw you two yesterday talk by the shrine and see that you decide to remain friends, so I thought if you were given a little nudge...”

“Matt, do you mind taking fillies and Spike someplace else?” Twilight interrupted her friend. “I think I need to talk with them for a while.”

“Of course.” the paladin replied, knowing it would be best to leave her to handle the issue. “Just remember to not scream much, those walls aren’t exactly soundproof. Come on, you four.”

He beckoned the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike, and they left the terrace.

“What was that supposed to be about?” Spike asked him as they made their way downstairs. “Why did they do that?”

“And why did the love poison worked different this time?” Apple Bloom wondered aloud, before the other two gagged her mouth.

“What did you say?” Matthias asked, becoming interested immediately.

“Well...” Sweetie Belle stuttered.

“Sweetie...” the paladin said, however his look were enough for more words.

“We... kinda gave that potion to two ponies we thought would be perfect together.” she confessed, dropping her head, with the other two following suit. “But they only stared into each other eyes, not... doing that. Bleh.”

Matthias couldn’t help not to chuckle. He was amused by both her reaction, as well as thought of them doing the same thing Rarity tried.

“You fixed everything, I hope?” when the fillies nodded, he continued: “Well, then let’s not talk about it. As for the different effect, I guess this might have something to do with Applejack and Rainbow both being mares, potions often work like that. And,” he added, glancing at Spike, “going back to your question, Spike... sometimes, when ponies are confident about something, they do... weird things.”

Twilight waited for the noised of hoofsteps to quiet down, before she faced her friends.

“I cannot believe you!” she accused them, and remembered herself to keep her voice down. “You are the opposite of my brother, and even worse than that!”

“Twilight, but...” Rarity began, but she cut her off.

“Look, I know what you are going to say, that you want me and Matt to be happy; I get that, and I’m glad, but that does not give you the right to do something like this! What would have happened if we would have drunk that potion?” she asked, glancing at each and every one of them. “Yesterday, Matt and I finally admitted that we love each other, but because this relationship would most likely never work, we decided that we would be much better off as friends. And you come up with this! You could have ruined everything!”

“Twi?” Applejack asked, and when the unicorn, who needed to catch her breath and nodded. She continued: “What’dya mean by ‘most likely never work’?”

“Well...” Twilight started; she wasn’t exactly comfortable discussing this. However, no matter how mad she was at them, they were her friends. “You know how I always overreact to things, and how often I start fights with Matt - because, let’s be honest, it’s me who starts them - and I was afraid that if we would start dating, one day we would have a fight so big that we would broke up. I would lose him as a friend, and maybe... maybe some of you would blame me for it, and I would lose you too...”

“Twilight, you would never lose us.” Fluttershy interrupted Twilight as her voice began to break. “We are you’re always going to be there for you.”

“I know.” the lavender unicorn replied, smiling at the shy pegasus, and then at the rest of her friends. “See? This is what I meant, I overreact things. And Matt… he said that he always messes things up, that his previous relationship ended from his fault and that he and that girlfriend stopped being friends because of this. So we decided that we would be better as friends.”

“Even if you love each other?” Rarity asked, unconvinced.

“Because of that, we could actually become even better friends.” Twilight replied. “And that’s why I do not wish any of you trying to play matchmaker, do I make myself clear?!”

“Of course, darling, and I’m sorry - it was my idea to try this whole love potion, or poison, the others wanted to leave you two be.”

“That’s okay, Rarity, nothing bad happened.” the unicorn said, smiling.

“Speak for yourself.” Applejack grumbled. “Ah will have to talk with mah sister, and make her promise not to tell the family that Ah kissed a mare.”

“Sorry.” Rarity said weakly, as she realized how much her obsession to make Twilight and Matt a couple could damage all of their friendships.

“That’s okay, sugarcube, Ah shouldn’t agree to the plan in the first place.” the farmpony replied, shaking. “And dont’chya worry, Twi, we won’t try to mix ya up with Matt, Ah promise.”

The other mares nodded their agreements, and Twilight sighed, being relieved.

“I’m glad to hear that.” she told them, smiling, and the others smiled in return

“So, um...” Rainbow Dash said and paused to scratch the back of her head. “does this mean that Matt’s a free game?”

Twilight eyes widen as he looked at her cyan friend in shock, and she wasn’t the only one.

“W-wait, Rainbow.” she said, not sure if she understood her right. “You’re also in love in Matt?”

“No, I am not in love with him.” the pegasus replied, rolling her eyes in annoyance. “And heavens forbid that, I have no desire to mope around like you did for the past couple of days.”

“Then what did’ya mean?”

“Well...” she said, once again scratching the back of her head. “... I just... you know, during those few sparring matches he and I had, I often caught myself... fantasizing about him...”

“Rainbow!” Rarity exclaimed as she and the others understood what she meant. “That is very... unladylike!”

The pegasus snorted.

“Oh, please, as if you didn’t have those kind of thoughts yourself.”

“Wha- I would never...”

“Then what about that ‘staring’ after the reception?”

“Oh, brother...” Twilight thought as this erupted into completely different fight.

“Oh, I’m sorry, you mean that time you and Applejack made out on his back?” Rarity asked, as she and Fluttershy blushed.

“Hey!” Applejack shouted, angry at being dragged into it.

“ENOUGH!” Twilight once again interrupted them all. Taking a deep breath, she told Rarity: “We are all friends, and when one of us does something about her own life the others don’t approve of, we don’t judge them.” once Rarity nodded, slightly ashamed, Twilight turned to Rainbow. “And... yes, Matt is a ‘free game’.”

“Are you sure?” the question, which surprisingly, came from Dash. “I mean, I don’t care that much about him, if you’re not okay with this...”

“Rainbow, its fine, really.” the lavender unicorn said, and to her astonishment, she was speaking true; she might be in love in Matt, but he was just her friend. If Rainbow wanted to try and turn her fantasies into life, why should she stop her? “You can go and have... um, fun, with him.”

She did blush slightly as she said that. Twilight know some mares behaved like that - bah, even much, much worse - but she never expect one of her friends to be interested in somepony just for... physical activities.

“Thanks, Twi.” Rainbow said. “And I promise, I’m not going to fall in love in him.”

Rarity could not believe how... immature Twilight could be. Granted, she did acted the most mature of them all today, but her motives and reasoning behind them were just... all wrong!

“But I already promised not to try to meddle...” the fashionista thought, regretfully. “Their fate is now their own.”

66. New developments

“And once again, we’re very sorry.” Rarity finished, speaking for the whole group, as it was her idea.

“Rarity, for the last time, it’s fine.” Matthias told her. “Just don’t do that again... unless it’s going to backfire again, then by all means...” he added with a grin, as Applejack and Rainbow shoot him a glare.

It was the morning of their last day in Altomare. By evening, they would all go back on the station to return into Ponyville. Neither Matthias, nor the young ones, were not to waste any more time on listening apologies.

“Are ya done?” Apple Bloom asked, emphasizing his thoughts. “We wan’to go play some more, not listen to y’all sayin’ sorry a dozen times.”

“I agree.” the paladin said, and addressing the rest, he continued. “Look, these are our last hours here, let’s spend them relaxing.”

“Sounds good to me.” Rainbow supported him, and with a matter of seconds, they all went outside to the beach.

Matthias, despite all that he told the mares, was not exactly fine with what almost happened. He was grateful, of course, that their friends had his and Twilights well being at heart, but that was a bit too far. The earth pony could accept subtle remarks, or even discussing the subject openly, but trying to poison them...

He shook his head. He knew the reason why he felt uneasy. It wasn’t because of what they tried to do. Rather, it was because it didn’t work.

Some part of him was curious what would happen if they would drink the love poison.

“And they say that after drinking ale you can wake up in awkward situation.” he chuckled mentally as he dove into the sea.

Ever since they arrived here, he found the West Sea to be... intriguing. Matthias was much more used to the Frozen Sea around Northrend, despite never actually trying to swim in it. He never thought before that diving into the water and looking at small fishes swim away from him could be so fun.

“Since the beginning, my life wasn’t my own.” Matthias thought bitterly as swam up to the surface to take breath and then dived again. “As future king, I had many duties, even if I tried to escape from castle to play with Jarim whenever I could. And later...” the memories of everything he did since Stratholme flashed in front of his eyes.“Now I don’t even deserve to live.”

He thought of Twilight, the friend that he loved. He thought of his other friends he loved too, in a different way. He thought of his goddaughter, and smiled, despite all the grim thoughts he had earlier.

“My life belongs to them all.”

“So how exactly do you plan on going on about it?” Twilight asked Rainbow, who was reading ‘Daring Do’ next to her. While all their other friends were either swimming in the sea, or playing in the sand.

“About what?” Rainbow asked, confused.

“You know, about Matt.”

“Oh... I donno, I’ll just try to kiss him the next time we’ll have a sparring fight, and then we’ll see.”

“That’s... it?” Twilight asked, surprised. “You don’t have a plan other than that?”

“Hey, I just want him to rut me, not go on a date with me.” Rainbow replied, and seeing as Twilight shook dismayed at her choice of words, she elaborated: “Look, you know I’m not into mushy stuff, so is this really a surprise to you?”

“I guess...” the lavender unicorn said. “You know, I think some part of me actually envies you.”

“What do you mean? Oh, wait,” she added as she realized “if you aren’t okay with this...”

“No, it’s not that. I just... I tried to prepare myself for a serious talk with Matt, and was really nervous about it, despite having many days for that. And now you...”

“Twi, listen.” cyan mare interrupted her. “All I want from Matt is a bit of fun. He’s the first stallion that I ever considered to have fun with - pity he doesn’t have wings - because, let’s face it, all the others are lame compared to him and none of them could ever keep up with me. What you wanted was... to be with him, and stuff.”

Twilight chuckled at her friend’s poorly finished explanation.

“I suppose you’re right.” she said finally. “But... are you really going to try to have relationship like that?”

“It’s not a relationship.” Rainbow replied, rolling her eyes. “It’s two friends bucking each other.”

“Yes, but you know how some ponies like Rarity would call that.”

Dash snorted.

“I am not like all those mares in Los Pegasus. If I were to be like that, I would buck with every stallion, not just those I think are good enough.”

“Hm... fair enough. But don’t you want something more? I mean, you know, find the perfect stallion, settle down, and have foals?” Twilight asked curiously.

It just hit here that the six of them never before talked about stuff like that. And, since they were already talking about abashing things...

“I never actually thought about that.” Rainbow said, shrugging her shoulders. “I guess at some point, maybe, but for now, the idea of having foal in my stomach slowing me down seems ridiculous. Got any more personal questions about some sappy stuff?”

“Oh, no, sorry.” Twilight quickly said, blushing with shame.

Rainbow nodded and was about to resume reading, but she glanced again at the unicorn.

“Twilight, I really mean it. If you have the slightest problem with me and Matt bucking, just say so. Because, you know:” she waved of her try to interrupt and pointed at herself, smiling. “loyalty, and all that”.

Twilight smiled at that, but her smile turned into another blush as her pegasus friend grinned.

“Although, if you’d ask me, if you were someday planning on getting together, it would be better if he would have some experience, right?”

Matthias once again submerged, and this time he was further away from the shoreline, which meant that underneath him was pretty deep. Nonetheless, he wasn’t particularly worried. He might not be and undead human anymore, but the sturdy earth pony could still hold his breath for a long time.

The bottom was at least five meters under the surface of the water. Unlike the area in which the fillies were swimming with his friends were laying on water mattresses, here Matthias could see patches of seagrass growing here and there and as well as many tiny creatures hiding there, although he couldn’t tell what they were exactly within the water.

“Perhaps I should tell Fluttershy about it.” he thought, looking from the safe distance at the jellyfish, and wondered how the shy pony would react.

“I had no idea you non-seas could hold your breath for so long.”

Shaken to the core, Matthias whirled around as soon as the first word was uttered, and was about to summon the Holy Avenger; but stopped himself in time as he regarded the one that spoke to him.

It was one of the sea ponies from two days before, the one that winked at him. She was rather beautiful up close he had to admit, further detaching in his head from naga, although their females had some traces of elven beauty which is seen more clearly when they weren’t trying to kill you. That wasn’t the case with this mare. Her scales were in enchanting shade of red, like her short, wavy mane. Eyes, hidden beneath the third eyelid, were strangely blue like ice.

“Sorry for sneaking up on you like that,” she continued. “I was just swimming by, I saw you and figured I come and say hi.”

Matthias was about to reply, before he remembered that they were underwater. Sea ponies could speak normally here thanks to their inner magic, but his try would result in few bubbles of air escaping his mouth.

“Oh, right, non-seas cannot talk undersea.” she giggled, which looked weird with her slightly deformed snout. “Pity,” the sea pony mare said once she calmed down a bit, “I would love to know how you got those scars.”

As she finished that sentence, the sea pony swam closer to him and brushed his chest with her right fin, causing him to shake. By then, Matthias had realized that she was hitting on him, which caused him to become uneasy. He knew that among sea ponies such matters’ customs were much more... lenient, and such behaviour like the one he was currently experiencing was far from uncommon. In all honesty, Matthias was enjoying the attention, but after few brief seconds his upbringing and the manners he was thought made him search for the first accessible excuse to get away.

Luckily, the earth pony didn’t have to look far, as he was running out of air.

Matthias mimed his need to resurface to the mare and was about to swum up, when he suddenly felt something smooth grab him, and pull him down. Before he got the chance to react, his lips touched the sea pony’s, and were forced open by her. However, instead of her tongue, what came was air.

The paladin, although confused, breathed in, and soon the sea mare moved back... right after her tongue quickly licked him in the palate.

“Better?” she asked sweetly, and Matthias soon found out that he was unable to not nod. The sea pony smiled and added sensually: “Say, do you think your friends would start looking for you if you would not go up in... ten minutes?”

His eyes widen, despite expecting that sort of question. Matthias nodded, knowing that they would, as he wondered how Twilight would react if he accepted sea pony’s offer. Since they were just friends, he wouldn’t be cheating on her, even if they loved each other. But still…

“Hm.” the mare said unhappily, as some of his thoughts must have reflected in Matthias’ eyes, because she hugged him tighter with her surprisingly sturdy fins and whispered: “Guess we will have to be quick then.”

Before the paladin knew what was going on, he felt her tail gently wrap itself around one of his hind legs.

The train ride back was mostly uneventful. Everypony was tired from the long day on the beach, even Rarity, who did not once step into the water. They all went to sleep pretty quickly, starting with Matthias surprisingly, but Twilight assumed that diving into the sea for so long and holding his breath took its toll on him. However, when the next day they all arrived in Ponyville, everybody was well rested, as Pinkie Pie and the fillies were jumping around happily to be back at home. The others would have followed suit, if it wasn’t for how silly that looked. Besides Matthias and Spike, of course, who were carrying the heavier luggage’s; specifically Rarity’s and Sweetie Belle’s luggage’s.

“Why on the wide world of Equestria does this filly needs to bring so many things with her?” Twilight wondered, watching in amusement how Matthias was being slowly crushed to death under the sheer amount of weight on his shoulders; obviously having taken more than Spike and refusing Twilight’s help.

Both the stallion and the dragon welcomed their destination, the Carousel Boutique, where they unloaded their ‘cargo’; and as everypony was about to go their separate ways.

“Hey Matt?” Rainbow Dash asked once few ponies began to go back home. “Do you mind if we could have another training session soon? I mean, our last one got kinda interrupted.”

“Of course.” Matt replied, unsuspecting anything. Twilight had to hide her smirk as she realized that she understood part of the reason why her friends tried to force them her and him into relationship: it was simply fun to watch them ‘squirm’. “We could actually go this afternoon if you want.”

“Great! See you then, I need to catch-up with Cloudchaser.” she said and disappeared, leaving a trail or rainbow in her wake.

“Well, let’s get back to the library.” the lavender unicorn told Matt, who nodded, and together with Spike went back home.

“It’s good to be home.” Twilight thought as she opened her door and entered, followed by the other two. Even if it was barely five days, she missed the comfort of knowing that there were hundreds of books nearby.

She looked absentmindedly at all the shelves, noticing that they needed a good dusting, as her mind drifted off to the subject of Rainbow and Matt. As much as the unicorn would like to deny it, she was slightly bothered by the thought of the stallion she loved ‘rutting’ - as Dash so eloquently put it – with another mare. But... both of them were her friends, so she should not stop them from having fun... right?

Twilight shook her head as she realized that Matt was asking her about something.

“Sorry, could you repeat that?” she asked, being annoyed with herself.

“I asked if I could look some of your old photos.” the earth pony, who had long since got used to having to repeat his questions, although usually she had some book in front of her. “I was curious how things looked around Ponyville before I got here.”

“Oh, sure, I’ll bring it in a moment.” she replied, slightly surprised.

Few minutes later, Matthias was looking at many different photos of Twilight, while the mare in question began reading some science book, and Spike started dusting off. The few minutes he shared (repeatedly) with Ripple - the sea pony - while... entertaining, were in the past, and he putted that behind. Not to mention that it felt really weird, although Mattias didn’t know why: was it that he was now a pony, maybe that she was a sea pony and hence had a bit different anatomy than ‘non-seas’, or that it happened underwater? That it was the first time he had a fling, or that it was his first time in about eight years?

The earth pony shook his head to dispel those thoughts; as well as picture of Ripple’s cutie mark, a wave, as he concentrated on the pictures. As he previously noticed, Twilight looked differently on them, but he couldn’t put his hoof on why that was.

“It’s almost as if she grew in the time she spent in Ponyville.” he thought as he turned page as saw a photo that made his jaw drop.

All six of his close female friends were in it, each in a different gown, which as he looked closer, matched each pony personality. They all looked... astonishing in them.

“Those are some nice dresses.” he commented aloud and waved the picturebook at Twilight as she glanced to his direction. “What was the occasion?”

He learned quite quickly that ponies wore clothes, especially such as this, on special occasions.

“Oh, those are the dresses we wore at that year Grand Galloping Gala.” the unicorn replied, smiling.

“Was it fun?”

“Not really.” she chuckled.

Matthias, who recalled few high society events he had to bear with, could imagine what those poor girls must have suffered.

“Hey Matt?” Spike called for his attention. When Matthias looked at him, he was surprised to see the baby dragon ginning. “Look at the folded picture under that.”

“Wh-” the earth pony was about to ask, but Twilight shout interrupted him.

“SPIKE!!!”

As she closed his mouth with her magic, Matthias quickly pulled the hidden photo, right before the picturebook was snatched by Twilight. As she was distracted, he glanced at...

“By the Light, what are those supposed to be!?”

“I’m kinda in a hurry, Rare, so do you mind saying what you want?” Rainbow asked, despite figuring what the prissy unicorn could say to her.

Back on the train, Rarity asked her to drop by her boutique by noon to talk about some stuff. While Dash didn’t fancy the thought of listening to her friend scolding her for something that wasn’t her business, she came, mostly because she was curious the unicorn’s expression afterwards.

“Very well then.” Rarity said, and after taking a deep breath, she asked: “What are you thinking about trying to... ugh, with Matt?”

“What, you can’t say... rut?” Rainbow smirked, and then laughed at the face the unicorn made.

“Such word usage is beneath a lady like me.” she snorted.

“Well, I guess some ponies like different positions...” Dash giggled, but stopped and grows serious. “Look Rarity, first of: this is my business, not yours how I chose to, shall we say, interact with stallions...”

“But-”

“... Second of:” the pegasus carried on: “Matt is one of the coolest ponies around. Third of: after your ‘brilliant plan’ backfired, I would like to remind myself that, despite those few rumors around town, I do prefer stallions; and fourth of:” she added, winking, shaking of the blush of shame that appeared on her cheeks once she mentioned the second time she started to make out with AJ: “don’t you think that little jealousy would help put those two together?”

Rarity, who also blushed, although for different reason, gasped, as the realization struck her.

“Wow, Rainbow! I’m... astonished! But, are you really sure you want to do that? I mean to lose...”

“Who said this was my primary objective?” Dash asked innocently, smirking.

Later…

“You’re late.” Matthias said in amusement, as Rainbow landed next to him in the Ghastly Gorge. “One would think that the ‘fastest flier in Equestria’...”

“Very funny.” the pegasus interrupted, stretching. “If you must know, Rarity wanted to talk with me about something, I got hold up.”

“Was it another shenanigan to have me and Twilight be together?”

For some reason, that caused her to giggle.

“Nope,” said Rainbow Dash. “Anyways, can we fight now?”

“Sure.” he said, shrugging.

They dropped to their usual stance on the opposite sides of the small, imaginary field.

“Oh, and before I forget,” Rainbow asked, slightly straightening, “could you also try to teach me how to fight with weapons?”

“Hmm...” Matthias pondered the thought. “I’m not sure. You see somepony with your build and speed should be using something along the sides of daggers. I, on the other hoof was trained to fight with two-ha- I mean, two-hoofed weapons, or one-hoofed weapons and shields, so...”

Before he got the chance to finish his sentence, Rainbow slammed at him, taking advantage of is distraction; Matthias made a mental note to congratulate her later. He quickly grabbed her tossed her away, trying to regain the lost balance. Dash didn’t give him chance to do that; she bounced off the side of the cliff and, using her wings, once again shoot at him. This time he was expecting that, so he quickly rolled on the ground and stood up, as Rainbow had readied herself for another attack.

“Is that all?” he asked, trying to enrage her, and see how she reacts. “Maybe if AJ was here, you would be more motivated...”

He let the words hung in the air as Dash attacked again. Instead of trying to shoot at him with her body, however, she landed next to the paladin trying to buck him. Matthias dodged it and was about strike her wings, but her hoof blocked him. Rainbow did the barrel and tried to hit him three times, but each strike was blocked by Matthias. When she was about to deliver another on, instead of blocking it, the earth pony grabbed the hoof, and was about to strike her when...

…he slipped.

Matthias slipped on the ground and landed on his back, all while pulling Rainbow with him, causing them to find themselves in… a strange position.

“Well,” Matthias said as he looked at Rainbow’s eyes, which were right in front of him, “I suppose since you landed on top of me, you won, but-”

He was interrupted by a pair of surprisingly sensual lips. His eyes widen as Rainbow Dash, whose own eyes were closed, kissed him. Once he felt her tongue trying to force its way into his mouth, he parted his own lips without much thinking, or even realizing it. They continued to kiss for several moments, while the cyan pegasus gave out few sound Matthias already heard her utter while under the effects of love poison.

Once she drew back, Dash opened her eyes and looked at with, to earth pony’s further confusion, shyness.

“Um...” Matthias stuttered. “While I appreciate the gesture... what was that about?”

“I guess I surprised you, huh?” she asked, giggling.

“... Yeah, that’s one way of putting it.”

“Okay, look, for some time I... thought about you in... positions like this.” Rainbow said, with the attitude that Matthias associated with Fluttershy.

“Rainbow...”

“Before you start,” she interrupted him, her usual tone of voice returned. “Let me make myself clear: I am not interesting in dating. I am not going to act like you and Twilight did, which, if I have to be honest, was kinda pathetic. I do not want to be ‘more than friend’. All I want,” she said, once again coming closer, “is to buck with you from time to time.”

Being cornered in such fashion by his friend was even more both uncomfortable and arousing than when Ripple did it. He could deal with having a fling with a mare he never met and would probably never see again. After all, a lot of humans even those of royal blood, did that at times; but with a friend...

“So?” Dash asked him curiously, raising an eyebrow. “Do you also want to, or should we go home?”

…

“Eh, screw it.”

Instead of answering, Matthias rolled over so that he was now pinning the surprised Rainbow Dash to the ground, as he kissed her passionately.

Author's Note

... Well, this it the last chapter of arc three.

67. End of peacefulness

“Where are all my quills? Brbrbr.” Twilight stuttered nervously as she run around her library, until she found them and throws them at Spike, who was ready with a bag and caught it; although the quills pierced it. Twilight then moved to the bookshelves. “No, no, no, no, no...ugh! I need the Magical Compendium volumes one through thirty six! Where is it?”

“Oh, for the love of...” Matthias thought irritated as she found the humongous book she was looking for and then dropped it on the little dragon.

He decided to talk to Celestia later about stopping the streak of peaceful days. It was barely a second morning since they returned from Altomare, and despite that journey being their vacation, Matthias went through some seriously stressful situations. He was looking forward to resting some more before the builders would arrive. But, the ruler of Equestria decided now to give Twilight some kind of test.

And so, he, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack watched; some worried, some amused, and some irritated, as their nearly hysteric by now friend was preparing herself for the test before she would go to the train station.

“Flash cards!” she suddenly exclaimed, and run towards her desk “I should make some flash cards. Spike, I'm gonna need you to quiz me.” the unicorn said, throwing the dragon that just now managed to crawl back from under the book ridiculous amount of paper cards. “On everything, everything I've ever learned. Ever-” Twilight paused and scratched her chin. “That isn't going to be enough cards.”

“I’m surprised that you haven’t tried to calm her down yet.” Rainbow whispered to Matthias, loud enough for the other three mares to hear.

“I already died once, I don’t look forward to reliving the experience anytime soon.” the paladin replied automatically, before he snapped. “And I’m still not talking to you for telling the rest about Ripple.”

Dash snickered as she heard his offended tone. Once they were done with their... prolonged exercises, which made her unable to flight straight later that evening, Matthias accidently mentioned to the cyan pegasus about the sea pony when she asked him did he rutted a pony before; the very next day he learned in a rather unpleasant way that mares talked about everything.

Not that any of them made a big deal out of it, but each of them frowned when talked to him, or smirked, or laughed... it was simply irritating. However, despite his refusal to talk to Rainbow, they still bucked at the same place later.

Matthias wasn’t sure what to think of this. Never before he has been in that sort of relationship, or even heard much of it, but he did know that some did this. The paladin couldn’t tell that he personally know anyone or anypony who had a ‘bang-buddy’, as Dash called it, other than the two of them. It felt... wrong to Matthias, to be still just friends and yet be intimate, but perhaps that was why he was somehow attracted to this sort of deal with Rainbow.

Not to mention how good it felt.

He was surprised that the other mares seemed to be okay with this; especially Twilight who, as he learned from Dash, even given the pegasus permission. Matthias himself was pretty sure that if it was the other way around, he would buck the stallion’s teeth out, and it made him very uneasy.

He put those thoughts away as Twilight started to look for more cards, and Spike came up to her.

“Twilight, calm down. It's just a test.”

“Oh, no...” Matthias thought with dread, amazed by Spike’s stupidity.

“Just a test?” Twilight asked quietly, glancing at her assistant, before she lunged at him and shouted: “Just a test!? Princess Celestia wants to give me some kind of exam and you're trying to tell me to calm down because it's just a test?!”

As she continued to scream at the baby dragon, she advanced at him, causing Spike to back away. Once Twilight stopped, demanding an answer; Spike grabbed a nearby cushions and a helmet, trying to soften the blow everypony knew was coming to him.

“Uh...Yes.” Spike said.

“Oh, for the love of Light...” Matthias facehoofed as Twilight’s horn began to shine with power.

“Ah'd say she's handling things pretty well,” Applejack concluded, both she and Rarity smirking, “considerin'.”

Matthias just rolled his eyes in response, as he calmly asked the Light for protection for them all.

“Uuuurgh!”

Twenty minutes later, after Twilight finished packing and library was back to normal, they all went to the train station.

“Are you sure you don’t want us to go as well?” Rarity asked their nervously pacing friend.

“Oh, yes, I’m sure.” Twilight replied, as she stopped murmuring something, most likely magic-related. “The Princess isn’t expecting me for four hours, so Spike and I will first drop by my parent’s first, and then go to the castle. You can come by the next train, after I...” she was about to say ‘either fail or pass’, but being so nervous, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Instead of trying to calm her with words, which could only end in a disaster, Matthias reached for the Light. When he could feel it gather within him, he pressed his hoof to Twilight’s shoulder and poured it into her, blessing her and granting her mind peace.

“Better?” Matthias asked, her, and she nodded.

“Yes, thanks...” Twilight began, far more calm and collected than she was since the moment Celestia’s letter appeared, but then looked thoughtful. “This is going to wear off soon, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes, and while normally such blessing last around hour, you are most likely going to start worrying within the next ten minutes.” the paladin replied with a smirk.

“Very funny.” the unicorn scowled, although Matthias caught a glimpse of amusement in her eye.

“Anyway, you are going to do great.” he told her.

“Yeah, ya’re obviously gonna pass.” Applejack agreed.

“Duh,” Pinkie Pie said. “And once you do, we’re gonna have a party to Celebrate!”

“Just do your best, Twilight.” said Rarity

“Of course she’s going to do her best; this is Twilight we’re talking about.” Rainbow Dash stated.

“Thanks everypony.” Twilight smiled hearing all of them cheer her. “See you soon.”

With that said, she and Spike stepped on the train. The others stood at the station, and as the train soon moved, they started waving after her even though they were going to see each other in few hours.

“The next train for Canterlot leaves in two hours.” Rarity said once the one with Twilight and Spike disappeared into the distance. “See you all then.”

Matthias, like everypony else, nodded, and trotted towards the library. To his mild surprise, one pony followed him.

“So, we’ve got two hours for ourselves.” Rainbow told him seductively once the others were all out of earshot. “And Twilight’s not home...”

The paladin remained silent.

“Oh, come on!” Dash exclaimed, annoyed. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t think you would make such a big deal out of it. Nopony else did...”

“Maybe, but I dislike the way the others looked at me.”

“Ha, you talked!”

Matthias rolled his eyes and continued, while still walking:

“As a paladin, I’m supposed to be seen as a beacon of righteousness, and I’m kind off failing with it when everypony starts thinking that I’m mating with random mares.”

“Then why did you do it?” Rainbow smirked. “Or, for that matter, how does bucking with your friend helps with this image?”

“I never said I was the role model of paladins.” Matthias replied with a half-hearted grin.

The cyan pegasus chuckled, and at the same moment, they reached the library. Once Matthias opened the door and they both went inside, Rainbow immediately brushed his side with wings and kissed him on the neck.

“So?” she asked. “It would be nice to actually do it in bed.”

“And who is so insecure that she won’t invite me to her place?” the earth pony asked with a raised eyebrow.

“For the last time, you would fell through my floor!”

“Sure...” Matthias laughed in response, despite knowing she was right.

“Why you-”

Her further words were cut off as the stallion kissed her, causing her to moan instead of talk. Matthias would love this kiss to be just a warm up, but unfortunately, he knew they didn’t have the time.

“While I think it would be lovely to completely disrespect Twilight by bucking in her home,” he said, breaking the kiss, “knowing my Iuck, I’m pretty sure that both she and Spike would somehow appear here because she forgot something. And while Twilight may have no problems with this, I’d prefer not to think how she’d react if she saw us, not to mention Spike as well. Besides, don’t you need to find somepony to take care of Tank?”

“Oh, right.” Rainbow said regretfully. “Who are you leaving Spottedleaf and Owlowiscious with?”

“With Daisy, she’s also taking care of Angel.”

“So, you think that he and Spottedleaf are really...”

“I hope not.” he sighed. “The last thing Ponyville needs is Junior Angels running around with big sharp claws and fangs.”

They both chuckled at the thought, despite Matthias being quite serious. He wasn’t certain it was possible, but considering everything that happened, he wouldn’t be surprised.

“Sure you don’t want a quicky?” Rainbow asked one last time as she began heading towards the door, flicking at him with tail.

“Go home, you lust-driven mare.” Matthias replied, chuckling.

She threw him a scorn look, but shrugged it off as she left the library. The paladin shook his head and called out the pets.

“Alright you two, get up!” he commanded, trotting over to Spottedleaf basket. “I will be leaving soon too, so somepony needs to watch you.”

While Twilight’s owl almost at once landed on his shoulder, his cat took her time to unroll from the ball she was when she slept.

“Angel will be there.” Matthias told her, curious about her reaction.

“Dammit.” he thought as she quickly jumped out of her basket and padded over.

“What in Light’s name do you even see in him?”

Spottedleaf sniffed him, glanced at the door, and then back at him. Matthias could swear she was smirking.

“And don’t worry, just do your best.” Twilight Velvet told her daughter as she hugged her.

“Thanks, Mom, Dad.” Twilight replied nervously, the effects of Matthias’ blessing gone. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come later?”

“Yes, go celebrate with your friends.” Night Light said, smiling as if he was certain she was going to pass. “We will both be at work until evening, anyway.”

“Okay.” the lavender unicorn muttered, now even more nervous, seeing how much faith her parents had in her. “Bye, I’ll try to come home more often.”

“Bye.”

She and Spike waved back as they began trotting through the streets of Canterlot, armed with a saddlebag full of quills, books and scrolls.

Towards the castle.

Towards the test.

The train ride, while not nearly as long as the one they all previously took seemed to lengthen as they wanted to hear how their friend passed. Matthias spend most of it meditating, much to the Rainbow’s frustration.

Still, however, the Light’s voice was out of his reach.

“It spoke to me when I needed It.” he thought, more than a bit disheartened at the lack of progress. “Is it too much to ask for Light’s advice?”

He shook his heads. The path that lay behind those thoughts was dark, which he knew better than anyone else. Matthias sighed, and knowing that they would arrive in Canterlot soon, opened eyes.

“Oh, looks who’s awake.” Rainbow snorted.

“How long until we’ll be in Canterlot?” he asked, ignoring the remark.

“We’re...” Pinkie Pie, who sat closest to the window, said. “HERE!”

The moment she said that, the train slowed down and then stopped. Matthias and everypony else rose up from their seats and marched toward exit, besides Pinkie, who for some reason headed towards the one on the other side of cart.

“I’m not happy.” Dash hissed at him quietly at the end of the line.

“Why, you wanted to do it in the train’s bathroom?” Matthias asked, amused.

“Well, it would made the ride more interesting.” she replied with a smirk, and he had no idea if she was joking or being serious.

“Twilight!” Applejack suddenly exclaimed from outside of the train. “Did you pass?”

“That was fast.” Matthias thought as he and Dash quickly joined the rest of the group in congratulating the lavender unicorn.

However, before he could voice his praise of her, he noticed the expression she bore once Applejack released her from hug.

“What happened?” he wondered, alarmed at the sight of uncertainty and slight fear on her face. “She couldn’t possibly fail...”

“Are we gonna celebrate your awesomeness with Princess Celestia?” Pinkie Pie interrupted his thoughts as she strolled into the station with her Party Cannon, aiming it at the sky and firing the confetti while she bounced up.

“Not quite.”

Twilight voice, which returned to her usual tone, had a strange effect on both Pinkie and the Cannon, as they both receded to their previous positions.

“If I didn’t know better, I would swear she’s a bronze dragon.” the paladin thought, before turning back to listen to what Twilight was going to say.

“We're going to the Crystal Empire!”

Matthias’ eyes went wide as their friends murmured between themselves in confusion.

“The Crystal Empire?!” he exclaimed, shocked. “It’s back?”

Now it was Twilight who stared at him with astonishment.

“How do you know about the Empire?!” she asked, while the others’ eyes switched back and forth between them.

“The Princesses mentioned it to me.” he started to explain, but stopped as he noticed a royal guard marching towards them.

“Twilight Sparkle?” the guards asked, and once Twilight nodded, he continued: “We’ve arranged a train to carry you, Grand Master Matthias and everypony accompanying you back to Ponyville and then to the old station up north, near Crystal Empire’s borders. If you all would follow me, please...”

“Of course.” Twilight replied. “Come on, everypony, I will explain everything on the way.”

As Matthias and everypony else followed the guard, his mind whirled with thought. For starters, why did the Empire return now? And what it had to do with Twilight’s test?

“And,” the paladin thought with a slight feeling of dread. “did something else return with it?”

Author's Note

This chapter starts fourth arc, "The Crystal Empire" arc! I've been putting it together in my head since November, hope it will turn out as well as I think it will.

68. First contact

Twilight thought she was nervous before, when Celestia asked her through the letter to come to Canterlot for an important test. She thought she was nervous when everypony expressed their faith that she would pass.

She was wrong.

Nothing could compare to the nervousness at the thought of being responsible of finding a way to protect an entire empire.

The unicorn took few more deep breaths as she sat in the express train with her friends. Now that they knew what this was about, they were all serious, and tried to discuss what exactly was Twilight supposed to do in Crystal Empire. Matthias, after he explained how he came to know about it, stayed mostly quiet, deep in thoughts. The rest wasn’t that much helpful; since most of their suggestions resolved around her casting some spell that would protect the empire.

“That wouldn’t make any sense.” Twilight told them repeatedly. “Shining Armor’s protection spell is the strongest one there is, and Princess Cadance is an alicorn; if this was about casting spells, she could do that.”

“Then what could it be?” asked Rarity.

She didn’t know, and that scared her.

“Ar’ya okay, sugarcube?” Applejack asked her, most likely alarmed by the breaths she took.

“I just don’t understand why Princess Celestia trusts that I will succeed!” Twilight exclaimed. “I expected about a thousand different things that could be on my test, but not this! What if I failed?!”

“You won’t,” Matthias said unexpectedly.

Everypony turned their head to look at him. The paladin pony was staring blankly through the window; as he did ever since they’ve ridden into the arctic north of Equestria.

“How can you be sure?” Twilight asked, annoyed that he too seemed to have this confidence in her.

“It is a mistake to underestimate yourself as it is to overestimate yourself.” Matt told her, his eyes still on the window. “False modesty is as bad as false pride. Know exactly what you are capable of at any moment, and act accordingly, as any other path is folly—and could be deadly in battle.” he finally turned to them, and smiled at Twilight. “The Princess trusts you for she knows you are capable of figuring this out. This test is as much about proving it to yourself as it is about proving this to Celestia and everypony else.”

As Twilight listened to his words; she had found herself... calming down. She quickly thought about what Matt exactly said, about underestimating your own capabilities, and knowing what she could do and acting accordingly. The lavender unicorn went over in her head about what she was able off: she knew tons of spell, some easy and funny, other complicated and dangerous. She was smart, very smart, being able to come up with plan and answer for almost every trouble she encountered. Most importantly, however, she had...

“Besides, you’re not alone,” Matt carried on, as if reading her mind. “All of us will help you, as well as Shining Armor and Cadance. ‘If you have your friends with you, they can tell you when what you're about to do is wrong. Being surrounded by ponies you trust and have them advising you will always make you take the right course of action’.” he winked once Twilight jaw slightly dropped as he recited the exact words she said to him over three months ago.

“Thanks.” she said, smiling.

“Most of what I just said isn’t even my words, so there’s no real need to thank me.”

Having said that, his expression once again turned blank and his eyes returned to look through the window, as if being lost in his thoughts once more.

Twilight, now far more sane and mindful of her surroundings, exchanged a worried glance with everypony; mostly with Rainbow Dash, who was his sort of marefriend (she still thought a term ‘bang buddy’ to be too vulgar to use, even in her thoughts), all of them a bit concerned with his behaviour. Dash shrugged, but seeing the glares the others gave her - except for Spike, who didn’t know about her and Matthias and was probably wondering right now why the other five were shooting daggers at her - she rolled her eyes and then cleared her throat.

“Hey, Matt?” she asked, uncertain. “Is there something wrong? You’ve been staring at that window for a while now.”

For a long time, the earth pony remained silent. Twilight began to think that Matt was either too lost in thoughts to hear them, or just ignoring them, when finally he answered:

“I hate snow.” the paladin said in voice as empty as his eyes. “And ice, cold, frost... winter altogether while we’re at it, too. Everything bad always happens in winter.”

Twilight backed away a step; confused at this statement. Others were, too, if the puzzled expression were any indication.

“What do you mean?” the unicorn asked, most interested in the last part.

“Everything bad always happens in winter.”

Matthias sighed and replied

“It would take too long too-” his words hanged in the aid as he unexpectedly sprung into the air and looked in the opposite direction, his eyes darting for side to side, as if looking for something.

However, what shocked Twilight the most was not the sudden change in behaviour, or that he was on alert for no apparent reason, but what she saw in his eyes.

Fear.

“What is this thing?!” Matthias wondered alarmed as he finally managed to point his eyes in the right direction.

When he felt something similar in Ponyville not so long ago, he dismissed it as just his own mind playing with him, on account of it disappearing almost instantly. But there was no way that he was imagining this.

A huge, deprived of any sympathy or mercy, vortex of malice.

Matthias stared at the direction he could somehow sense it coming, despite feeling whatever the hell it was to be far away, for which he was glad. Even he, as the Lich King, never before had known such hatred, such bloodlust, the power-hungry feeling of complete and utter domination...

“No.” he realized with dread. “I’ve faced it before.”

The paladin shook as he recalled those words:

It cannot be...A Forgotten One. Look to your defenses, death knight! Fight as you've never fought before!

Most people, even those among the Argent Dawn and the Ebon Blade who witnesses his retreat at Light’s Hope thought of him as a being without fear, ever since the day he claimed Frostmourne.

They were dead wrong.

He felt fear the day his powers begun leaving him, when his ‘loyal subjects’ turned against him, when Sylvanas was about to kill him... but it was all momentary, fleeing emotions. They couldn’t compare with the terror he felt as he heard the terrifying crypt lord spoken with fear, and the sight of the avatar of the Old God Yogg-Saron.

The death knight Arthas at that day could almost taste its fury to all that lived; the sentiment he shared, but much deeper, unhindered by any remnants of humanity. He heard the whispers in his head as they fought, words that would tear a sane mind asunder; as the cursed being, if it could be even called that, spoke to him the only thing it could to hurt him.

The truth…

Deep down you know... that you deserve to die.

It was with great effort that the earth pony put those memories aside as he tried to figure out why the hell he and his friends were about to face this walking nightmare.

“Matt, what’s wrong?!” he heard them all ask, and as he turned his head to look at them, he realized he must have stood like that for a while now.

“We need to rendezvous with the Princess and Shining Armor soon.” Matthias said, glancing one last time in the direction of yet unseen enemy. “Or else, we might find pretty quick as to from what the Crystal Empire has to be protected.”

He didn’t say anything else on the matter, despite them asking. Not then, when the danger was far away, and he had yet to figure out how was he able to tell that. There was no sense in scaring them anymore than it was necessary - which basically meant that they would only know when they had to run.

The train stopped shortly after that, and all of them went into the blinding blizzard.

“Ha! And you all made fun of me for packing so many scarves.” Rarity said triumphantly as the other mares tried to shield themselves from the snow and wind, while she was less affected by it thanks to the pink scarf she was wearing.

“I didn't say a word.” Spike grunted, carrying her luggage out of the train. When he lost his footing and slipped, it caused the suitcase to fall on the ground and open, letting a few scarves to be carried off by the wind. “Whoa! Hey! C'mere...”

Matthias knew that he should help him - actually, he should have carried the bags instead of baby dragon - but at the moment, he was busy keeping tabs on the threat.

“Would you drop this ‘tough guy’ routine and tell us what’s wrong?” Twilight asked him, and he could tell easily that she was both worried and annoyed.

“I will tell you when you need to know.” he replied like before, glancing around the empty station in the middle of seemingly nowhere, while his mind paid attention to that thing’s position.

Twilight rolled her eyes and also looked around, probably searching for her brother who was supposed to meet them here.

“How come you’re not shivering with cold?” Rainbow asked as she trotted closer to him. “It’s freezing, and you’re not even twitching.”

Matthias snorted, and for once, he didn’t care about revealing anything about his past to them.

“This little breeze is nothing compared to the cold of the Frozen Throne.” he said, now also looking for Shining Armor.

The others glanced at him confused, but before any of them could ask anything, they all heard a familiar voice calling:

“Twilight!”

“Shining Armor?” the lavender unicorn asked who gazed into the snowstorm.

From within the blizzard, a big white figure appeared, whose face was hidden beneath the cold protecting gear he was wearing; but the unicorn took it off as his sister and their friends came into view.

“Twily! You made it!” Shining Armor exclaimed happily, and soon, the two siblings were hugging each other. It didn’t last long, however, and once they stood apart, the stallion became serious. “We better get moving. There are things out here we really don't want to run into after dark.”

“So you’ve noticed it, then.” Matthias said as he continued to observe the said ‘thing’ through whatever this sense was he had.

He could see his friends share uncertain looks, now even more startled.

“What kind of things?” Fluttershy asked quietly, barely being hearable in the blizzard.

“Let's just say the empire...” Shining Armor began, and glanced back to put more pressure on his next words. “Isn’t the only thing that's returned.”

“He means King Sombra?” Matthias wondered, as the other stallion lead them to the Crystal Empire. “But... if this is true, and it is him that I’m sensing... what the hell is he?”

All his thoughts on the matter were put on hold the very next second, as he felt a change.

“It is nearing…” Matthias thought.

“Something keeps trying to get in!” her brother said as Twilight and her friends followed him. “We think it's the unicorn king who originally cursed the place.”

“But Princess Celestia said I was being sent here to find a way to protect the empire!” she pointed out, confused. “If King Sombra can't get in, then it must already be protected.”

“How far away is the Crystal Empire, Captain?” Matt asked all of the sudden, causing few ponies including Twilight, to glance at him.

The earth pony was trotting at the very end of the group, the only one to completely ignore the effects of the bad weather, and despite looking straight ahead, he seemed to her that Matthias was keeping an eye on what was behind them somehow. Ever since he unexpectedly sprung on the train, he’s been acting weird, which worried Twilight. She didn’t miss what he said at the station, and wondered what unnerved her more: the fact that he could tell there was some threat nearby and decided not to tell them, which meant it must be really dangerous...

… or that she was so occupied that he mentioned something about his past.

Matt wasn’t the only one with good memory. Just as he remembered what Twilight said to him, she also memorized the victories he claimed when he fought those jerky dragons way back, and recalled one in particular.

I dueled the demon hunter Illidan Stormrage, the Lord of Outland, in front of the doors of the Frozen Throne and was victorious!

“What is this ‘Frozen Throne’?” she wondered briefly, forgetting for few heartbeats that they were in danger. “Is it a name of some fortress?”

Twilight decided to ask him later as she listened to her brother reply:

“It’s not far now.” the tone in which he said that sounded surprised, most likely wondering how come the other stallion called him by his rank. “Why do you ask?”

“Make sure they all get there.” Matthias said, not replying to his question. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll follow shortly.”

“Wha-” Shining Armor asked, not the only one confused here, but the paladin cut him off.

“He’s coming.”

The very next second after he said that; a terrifying roar sounded all around them.

“Not bothering with a sneak attack, huh?” Twilight heard Matthias mutter sarcastically as she frantically looked around.

She spared him a glance, curious as to where he was looking, and did so at the exact same moment as his eyes began to widen. Before she had a chance to ask what happened, he jumped to the front, with his Holy Avenger in hoof and charged at...

Words could not describe what Twilight saw, the best what came to her mind was that it was some kind of shadow-like smoke thing, with glowing red-green eyes that burned with purple flames.

“King Sombra...” the unicorn realised with a jolt, fighting off the urge to run away in the opposite direction.

And Matt just jumped straight to those eyes.

Everypony watched as he swung his sword. Twilight wondered if something that didn’t have a body could be actually wounded, by the crack in the smoke and pain-filled scream that followed confirmed it.

King Sombra moved out of the way, and was about to lunge at Matthias, who just landed back on the snow. In response to that, the paladin lifted his forelegs, and slammed his hooves into the snow. A surge of Light’s energy erupted from the ground around him, doing no harm to ponies and baby dragon, but plainly painful to the huge shadow as he further backed away.

“GO!” Matt shouted to them, and prepared to once again face this monstrosity.

Everypony, Twilight included, snapped out of their dazes and listened to what the paladin told them. While she hated that they were leaving him like this - and suspected that Rainbow must be feeling even worse, on account of the ‘never leaving pony behind’ policy - she knew that Matthias had the best chance of coming out of that unharmed, and that he would soon follow them.

Matthias had to admit, he was surprise how quickly the fallen unicorn king managed to pass them underground and emerge right in front of them. However his theory of Light being really harmful to him seemed to be right.

He had no doubt that it was the self-styled king, Sombra. He saw in Luna memories how the Princesses’ powers ripped his body to shreds, which in truth, happened only because of the heat of battle, he doubted that either of them could actually go this far knowingly. His spirit somehow survived, although weakened, and then the two alicorn sisters proceeded to imprison him within the ice of north. While Matthias had no idea as to how he returned, or what he was, he recognised his hate-filled eyes.

Sparing a glance to see his friends run towards the empire; he addressed the shadow.

“You shall not pass, Sombra.” he told him, pointing the Light’s sword at him.

The huge shadow laughed in response and looked into Matthias’ eyes.

The paladin blinked. All of the sudden, he was in Ponyville, but...

… the dead were everywhere.

Each and every pony that he knew laid dead, their corpses being now feasts for maggots and crows. Daisy (whom he and Fluttershy left their pets with), Mister and Misses Cakes and their foals, Cheerilee, Mayor Mare, Cloudchaser, Flitter, Thunderlane, Blossomforth, Big Mac, the Cutie Mark Crusaders... they were all dead.

And soon, they started to move.

One by one, pony after pony the dead began to rise, and the worst part was not that.

The worst part was seeing hatred in the eyes of the one that was still alive.

Twilight stood in the middle of Ponyville, surrounded by bodies of her friends; looking at one another, as if expecting them to wake up. They did so, but not in the way she wanted. As Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie rose, it was clear what they were going to do to the last of the group that was alive.

The lavender unicorn gaze shifted from her friends to Matthias.

“How could you do that?!” said Twilight, in such a sad and angry state.

The paladin pony remained silent, despite the anger that rose in his heart.

“You’ll regret this, Sombra.” he thought as he bit his lip and concentrated on the pain.

Matthias opened his eyes in the exact moment as the evil unicorn was about to descend upon him. The paladin once again asked for Light’s help and it answered, this time in the form Light’s storm that swirled with bright make-shift hammers around him, making the self-styled king scream in pain and fall back.

The earth pony wasn’t about to do the same quite yet. Before Sombra had a chance to recover, he unleashed a wave of Light at his enemy, causing him to back away even more. The shadow’s eyes flashed with rage as it changed shape, forming a sort of like head, with a twisted, red horn on it.

The paladin readied himself as the horn shone, and before he knew it, the blizzard seemed to focus solely on him. While Matthias could once again felt the cold, he was much more resilient to its effects thanks to the long years he spend as wielder of Frostmourne, but even his durability had its limits. So in a heartbeat, the Light’s shield formed around him, protecting him from the attack.

“By the Light, be purged!” Matthias shouted, while pointing a hoof at the gigantic smoke in front of him.

The Light struck Sombra directly, hurting him and dispelling his control over the blizzard at the same time. Almost a second later, a magical beam hit the fallen unicorn, making him back away even more.

“Shining Armor!” he realized, grateful that the other stallion didn’t listen to him.

Matthias took the opportunity and run towards the empire. While he seemed to hold the upperhoof, he wasn’t going to repeat the mistake he made in Canterlot not so long ago; he would resume the fight with Sombra once he had more information about him, no sooner.

As he run, a familiar purple barrier appeared over him while the Light’s disappeared, granting him safe passage to the...

…giant blue bubble shield!

“Cadance.” he thought, amused and impressed as he realised what stopped Sombra so far from attacking the empire. “So you aren’t that far behind your aunts in terms of power, huh?”

To be able to spread love around all of the Crystal Empire, and use it as protection against evil... like Brann said, alicorns were basically demigods.

Despite seemingly out of danger, Matthias speeded up towards Shining Armor, still able to sense Sombra he could tell that he was about to unleash his magic at the barrier.

“Watch out, he plans to attack!” he shouted as he neared the other stallion.

Shining Armor nodded, but a second after Matthias passed him a large explosion shattered the shield, and forced the Captain to his knees.

The paladin halted, which wasn’t easy in the snow, and rushed back for Shining Armor; and at the same time, King Sombra attacked.

Twilight panted as they stopped on the other side of the barrier, her run hardened by the weight of the baby dragon on her back.

“Everypony okay?” she asked her friends, and listened to their confirmation.

All of them were out of breath, but none of the hurt. Twilight was about sigh with relief, but then the sound of crossing barrier sounded twice more, and she turned around to see Matt and...

“Oh no, Shining Armor, your horn!” she exclaimed as she run up to her brother, who was surrounded by Light.

Shining Armor’s horn was covered in something resembling small crystals at the end. Twilight tried to touch it, but the shield Matt’s summoned wouldn’t let her. Instead she watched as her brother tried to cast a spell, only to fail.

“Oh no, it must be blocking his ability to use magic!” Twilight realised, panicking. To her, magic was almost like air, to be deprived of it... “Wait, maybe Matt could heal it...” she thought and turned to the other stallion, but the question she wanted to ask froze in her throat as Twilight got a better look at him.

Matt barely holding himself on his hooves, and his face was twisted in pain. He coughed few times, as Rainbow and Pinkie patted him on the back to.

“You should have put one on yourself, too.” Shining Armor said as he got up to from the ground.

Matthias, who appeared to feel better, smirked.

“It was safer to concentrate on just one shield than two.” he rasped, coughed again and continued: “And besides, compared to what the Forsaken put me through at Angrathar, this was merely a fart. Give me a second, and I will see about your horn.”

Twilight didn’t bother thinking about whoever ‘Forsaken’ were or whatever ‘Angrathar’ was. Instead, she looked with admiration at stallions, both of which she loved. Her brother, who disregarded Matt’s words and came to help him; and her friend, who selflessly risked his life to save Shining Armor’s instead. She longed to embrace both of them, but she knew her brother would frown at that and since he was right about her and Matt all along, Twilight had no doubt that it would end poorly.

She hugged her brother after the shield disappeared on its own, while Matt finally shaken off whatever it was that King Sombra did to him. The earth pony trotted to her and Shining Armor, and pressing hoof to his horn, murmured something.

The Light quickly enveloped the black crystal-covered end of horn, but at the same time, her brother screamed in pain. Twilight was about to tell Matt to stop, but he was faster than her.

“They’re harder to remove than I thought they would be...” he said thoughtfully one he stopped his earlier efforts, much Shining Armor’s relief. “And it seems that they go all the way to the nerve...”

“Can you remove them?” Twilight asked.

“Not without inflicting him great deal of pain.” Matt replied. “And even then it would take a long time. The fact that most paladins can heal the effects of poisons and diseases doesn’t actually help with this. It seems more on the lines of curse.”

“Well, time is one of the luxuries we cannot afford.” Shining Armor said. “I’ll be fine for now. Let’s go to the crystal castle.”

Twilight nodded, and it just then hit her to look around.

Unlike the surroundings from few minutes back, this place was warm and completely without snow. Everywhere were meadows, and right in front of them that’s far behind the two crystal pillars marking the entrance, was the Crystal Empire. Twilight gasped as she saw the sparkling buildings and the huge, rightly named crystal castle, towering above everything else. There were no words to describe-

“Sparklerific!” Pinkie Pie shouted.

Despite the ordeal they’ve just been through, Twilight giggled at Pinkie’s word.

70. Rising Storm

Matthias stood in the snow, pondering on what to do now.

It has been about few hours since he came back to the arctic to observe the fallen unicorn. Since that time, he used what tracking and hunting skills he possessed to remain hidden from him, while at the same time being close enough to discover as much as he could about Sombra.

Number one, he could turn invisible.

It was rather annoying to keep an eye on somepony, who not only was made out of smoke and shadows, but also couldn’t be seen to boot. Thankfully, Matthias could easily tell where Sombra was thanks to his new-found sense.

Number two, the unicorn was clearly insane.

Matthias could hear him muttering to himself, and what the blizzard didn’t hush out, sounded like: ‘Crystal... need crystals... my slaves, they will be again... all of them... my kingdom...everything will burn... I’ll break them... my crystals... need the crystal heart... be complete...’, which overall, didn’t make much sense, other than Sombra’s state of mind wasn’t great, and that he was clearly evil.

And most importantly: he was really powerful.

Matthias had other senses that the five normal and the sixth new at his disposal. His time as Lich King, while overall tragic to him now and to everyone back on Azeroth, helped him develop awareness of energies around him; to the point that even now, while being just a paladin, he could compete with mages in terms of sensing power. He had not resorted to it until now, not wanting to have anything in common with his previous self, but for the good of the Crystal Empire and safety of his friends, he concentrated, and found out that if they fought again, he could lose if he wasn’t careful; even if he was better prepared and had the advantage thanks to the Light.

He also discovered that Sombra was still alive.

Despite not possessing a body, and being quite clearly a ghost, Sombra wasn’t dead, nor undead. This further convinced Matthias that the unicorn was in some way connected to the Old Gods, who were outside the cycle of life and death. How is that possible, he absolutely had no idea.

Matthias, needing to sort this information out, moved away from the evil unicorn and thought about his next move. As he felt King Sombra distance himself from his location, he continued to contemplate within the blizzard. There was part of him that urged to attack now, taking advantage of the element of surprise, and make him pay for all the misery he caused thousand years ago. But, having made once the mistake of following path of revenge, he decided against it. Matthias knew that that as paladin he could not have anger in his heart during fight. This wasn’t about making Sombra pay, but the safety of everypony. And because of that, he would not risk his life foolishly, not when there was still a chance that he wouldn’t have to.

Finally, Matthias made his decision. He rose and headed back for the empire. The paladin was curious as to what his friends managed to discover, and feeling that for the moment he learned all that he could have about Sombra through observation. Matthias wondered as he trotted about how he could possibly defeat him if he had to; it wouldn’t be easy, that’s for sure, and that’s even when overlooking his powers. He hoped that whatever the Crystal Empire used to protect itself could do something about him but...

So engrossed in his thoughts he was, that he almost didn’t noticed the dark shape some distance ahead of him, lying in the snow. Once Matthias realized that he was not alone, he quickly confirmed that Sombra was nowhere near, before he quickly advanced. He had a bad feeling that this dark shape was one of his friends that came looking for him.

The reality proved much more dreadful.

“I-Invincible?!” he gasped, looking at the too familiar steed, in all too familiar situation.

It was like in a nightmare; the Invincible was churning up the bloodied snow with two powerful, unharmed rear legs and two shattered forelegs. Matthias felt his stomach heave at the sight of the limbs, once so long and straight and lean and powerful, hanging at odd angles as Invincible kept trying and failing to stand. Then the image was mercifully blurred by the snow and the rush of hot tears that spilled down his cheeks.

“Hold on!” Matthias cried, immediately at his side, his forehooves, surrounded by Light, near the shattered legs. “I can’-”

The almost instant return of Sombra’s presence was the only warning he got.

Matthias jumped to the left, while from Invincible’s chest emerged black crystal pillar, which was intended to go right through the paladin. Despite moving out of the way in just a nick of time, the speed of the crystal was enough to wound him. Matthias cursed as it cut his shoulder, but had more important things to worry about.

Namely, an insane unicorn king.

Sombra was hovering above him, his horn again formed and charged for an attack. Matthias was well aware that if it managed to break Shining Armor’s protection spell in one shot, he was as good as dead if he lingered.

Not bothering to heal his shoulder, the paladin began to run, while at the same time Light formed it’s shield around him. It also hastened his movement, giving him chance to reach Cadance barrier before...

Sombra’s horn fired.

The magical missile hit a good distance behind Matthias, but he was still within the blast’s range. The empire’s border was barely ten meters away. Not having time to think, he jumped. The Light protected him from most of the damage as the blast hit him, and threw him straight into the Crystal Empire. Before he went through it, Matthias felt satisfaction at the sound of Sombra’s angry roar.

He landed on his side on the grass, a bit ungracefully, but in one peace and that’s all what mattered. The paladin got up to his hooves and asked the Light to heal him, while he tried to decide what was worse: the fact that he got almost killed by such obvious trap...

… or that the fallen unicorn could also show his enemies their memories.

“The last page of the book mentioned a crystal heart as the faire centerpiece, so I used my magic to cut one out of a crystal block.” Twilight replied to Applejack’s question, looking proudly at her work.

“Nice work, Twi. Think we're ready to get this faire up and runnin',” said Applejack.

Twilight nodded and, just to be sure, she took another glance at the book they found in the library and compared with the tents and booths they just finished setting up, each featuring a traditional product or event. Everything looked fine.

“Okay then, Pinkie Pie and I will go to Cadance and Shining Armor, and then I’ll announce the beginning of the Faire.” she told everypony. “The rest of you, make sure the crystal ponies have a good time, so-”

“What is all of this?” asked a surprised voice, and everypony turned around to see the owner of it.

Matt was looking around at everything that’s set up, confused, which couldn’t be said about Twilight.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to fight King Sombra.” she accused him sternly, seeing that he his snow-white coat was covered in dirt here and there, and that there was blood on his shoulder.

His eyes widen in surprise at her words, but they quickly snapped back to the traces of the red liquid.

“I forgot to wipe it...” Matt muttered, and then shook his head. “I fell into Sombra’s trap; I truly had no desire to confront him. But let’s get back to my question, shall we?”

Twilight wasn’t entirely convinced that the stallion was speaking truth, but she decided that either way she had no control over it. She should probably just be glad that he was okay.

“Well, all the ponies here had some sort of amnesia, but we found out in the book from the library about 'Crystal Fair' that was held every year to renew the spirit of love and unity in the empire so they could protect it from harm.”

Again, he looked at her confused, but then Matt just facehoofed himself and muttered something that sounded like: ‘of course’; which seemed to be said in tone that was both amused and annoyed. Rolling her eyes, Twilight continued:

“Since you are back, you’ll be on the jousting demonstration with Rainbow.”

“Wait, ponies can joust?” he asked, once more surprised.

“Err, of course we can?” Dash asked, confused.

“Oh… okay, never mind then.”

“Rainbow, show him quickly to the arena, so he can pick the armor of his size.” Twilight told the pegasus, and then she nodded at the rest. “All right, you all know what to do, the show starts in ten minutes!”

“So how did ‘Samba’ manage to land a hit on you?” Rainbow asked him as they made their way towards the arena.

Matthias hesitated, not sure how much he should reveal.

“He showed me... a memory.” he finally told her. “It was so realistic, that I forgot that it was impossible to happen again; and on top of all, Sombra was far away.” the paladin snorted, angry that he fell for it, and infuriated that the unicorn king dared to use that memory against him.

He shook his head as he once again reminded himself that paladins should not act with hatred in their hearts. Not to mention that it was exactly the opposite of what this ‘Crystal Faire’ was about. While Matthias still had no idea as to how renewing the spirit of love and all that could protect the empire, but he reminded himself the phrase he used whenever something didn’t make sense: ‘It’s a world of talking colorful magical ponies, don’t bother understanding.’

Once they reached the arena, Rainbow led him to one of the tents next to it. Inside, they found couple sets of armor, as well as long pinnacles for jousting, some shooting targets, stocks of hay... which Matthias has found himself violently pushed into it.

He turned around to see Rainbow land on him, her face twisted in a grin both terrifying and lustful.

“You heard Twilight, we’ve got ten minutes.” she told him.

The paladin was about to protest on account of the danger waiting outside of the empire, but then recalled what this Fair was about.

“Love and unity, huh?” he chuckled.

Due to the short time they had, their usual ‘battle’ for dominance lasted only few seconds, and resulted in Matt’s win. Surprisingly, Rainbow didn’t actually mind that. Over those few days, she found out that it actually turned her on more when she wasn’t in control, in contrast to her usual attitude.

So she quite happily rolled over on her stomach, and arched her back, while Matt mounted her and bit her hair. Despite him being really gentle their first time, the earth pony was fast to realize what Dash liked, and was happy to oblige.

They were still in the process of cleaning themselves up - which wasn’t easy due to one trying to ‘help’ the other now and then - when they hear the ever-irritating sound of Pinkie’s flugelhorn.

“What in Light’s name was that?” Matt asked her.

“It’s Pinkie’s-” she paused once it sounded again for some reason. “-flugelhorn. Apparently, crystal ponies loved to play on it.”

“Hear ye, hear ye.” they both heard the voice of Twilight announce. “Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor do cordially invite you to attend the Crystal Fair!”

They hastened up and emerged from the tent, free of the hay and their bodily fluids. Outside, there were many crystal ponies, looking around the Fair with the usual sad faces Rainbow saw as she asked around the empire, until few of them smiled happily, which had an outstanding effect: not only their faces brightened up, but their coats and manes as well.

“Huh, I guess this is some sort of side effects of the Sombra’s reign.” Matt commented, mildly curious. “That, and the amnesia from earlier. Either way, it seems that the Crystal Faire is working.”

“Of course it is what did you expect? Anyway, for now, let’s mingle between them and see to it that they have fun with the rest of activities, before we’ll show them main event.”

Having said that, Rainbow flew up, feeling better with her earlier tension and crankiness gone after the few minutes of their fun. On the way to join the rest of their friends, she spotted the first crystal pony she asked for information, and headed towards her.

“We totally nailed it, right?” Dash asked her happily.

The crystal pony moved on, probably wanting to see more of the activities. Rainbow followed her, eager for some conversation.

“Must be feeling a lot of love and unity about now!”

She flew for a while, before she realized that the other pony stopped by the food stand.

“Gonna have some grub, huh?” Rainbow asked once she caught up. ”What are you thinking? Crystal Empire berry pie? Maybe some crystal corn-on-the-cob!”

She turned back with the cob, only to see that the crystal pony was gone.

“What is with these ponies?!” the cyan mare asked aloud, confused.

Matthias trotted through the fair, observing how the crystal ponies here and there changed colors from sad and darkish to happy and lightish as the curse the Sombra put on them began to disappear thanks to the spirit of love and unity.

“And yet, they’re still not made of crystal.” he noticed, glad he would be able to prove Brann wrong once he would get back.

He joined Applejack as she was looking at Rainbow, who in her excitement was besetting somepony, unaware of her discomfort, which resulted in the other mare escaping.

“What is with these ponies?!” the cyan pegasus asked in her confusion out-loud, but brushed that thought off and began to eat the cob she was holding.

“Ya two did it just now, didn’chya?” Applejack whispered to Matthias, glancing at him sternly.

In reply, the paladin coughed and looked around. He’s gaze rested on two mares passing them by, who were talking between themselves.

“Seeing all of this, I feel like I'm starting to remember.” said the one holding balloon. “Remember things from before the king.”

“Me too.” replied the other, who was eating cob, before she tossed it off as they both regained their true colors and gasped: “The Crystal Heart!”

“The Crystal Heart?” Matthias wondered in confusion.

“Do you think they really have it?” the crystal ponies continued to their talk, when Rainbow moved to them to.

As the pegasus joined their discussion, Matthias turned to Applejack.

“What are they all talking about?” he asked her quietly.

“The book said that the Crystal Heart was the center of Fair or somethin’, so Twi cut out one-”

“Of course you can't.” a new voice interrupted her, as well as Rainbow, to which the remark seemed to be directed to.

They all glanced at the pony who said it. She was an elderly mare with a hat on and a scroll for a cutie mark, and she was also holding a bunch of balloons.

“The whole purpose of the Crystal Fair is to lift the spirits of the crystal ponies,” she continued, concentrating on her words, “so the light within them can power the Crystal Heart, so that the empire can be protected!” she gasped as she too regained her colors, and added happily. “I do work at the library!”

Matthias, however, wasn’t happy at the moment, nor were Rainbow and Applejack.

“W-what's that about 'powering the heart'?” Dash asked the apparent librarian as he and AJ joined her.

“I just can't believe you found it!” the older mare said, unaware of what reaction her earlier words had on them. “King Sombra said he'd hidden it away, where we would never see it again! I only hope it will still be as powerful after all these years...! Mm, funnel cake!”

As the librarian trotted away, the trio exchanged worried glances.

“You didn’t realize it was an artifact, didn’t you?” Matthias asked, and the looks the mares given him confirmed his suspicions.

Few moments later, he, Twilight and Rainbow joined Cadance and Shining Armor up on the royal balcony, while Applejack was left with the fake Heart to make sure none of the Crystal Ponies discovered it wasn’t the authentic one.

“I didn't know it was an actual relic!” the lavender unicorn said as she frantically turned the pages of the book. “The book didn't mention anything about the crystal ponies powering the heart!”

She stopped at the end, where, to everypony’s shock, there were few scraps of paper, marking the spot where a page once was.

“There was a page missing...” Twilight voiced what each of them thought, “how did I not notice?!”

“It's alright, Twilight.” Princess Cadance told her, in attempt to comfort her, but what happened next did the opposite.

Cadance fell.

Shining Armor was quick to grab her before she hit the ground, exhausted after the long time of keeping the shield around town, which now was disappearing. Matthias immediately felt the presence he fought with not so long ago surround the town.

“Twily...” Shining Armor said, worried, but was cut off by the sound of familiar roar.

The paladin muttered curse under his breath and prepared to extend his will across the empire, in effort to bath in Light’s protection. The prayer was almost on his tongue when he stopped, realizing how futile it would have been. Matthias might be the champion of Light and possess imaginable willpower and concentration, but in the end, he was just a mortal. Whatever shield he might have put forth, he would lack the mental strength to keep it up longer than a few seconds. Shining Armor was a different matter, for it was his special talent, and Matthias long ago had realized that in such cases limits had a little matter, and Cadance was an alicorn.

Once again he cursed as he looked in the direction where King’s Sombra main presence was located, now able to see and hear him, as he considered his options. If he would assume his Light form, he should be able to protect the empire like the Princess just did, but his limit for staying in that state was two minutes, and it would leave him weakened. If he were to fight Sombra after that…

“The empire is under attack.” Shining Armor said, and Matthias turned to regard him as he trotted back to his wife.

He helped Cadance get back to her hooves and recover. After looking at her husband lovingly, determination returned to her features as she once again cast her spell. Cadance’s magic enveloped the empie, and Matthias felt Sombra’s presence retreat...

“No.” he realized, concentrating. “There is something... a piece of him managed to get through. It’s weakening Cadance’s spell!”

He knew they had to do something about it, and he knew that it with the fair going and this Crystal Heart needing to be found, it would be best if he did it alone.

“I can sense some of Sombra’s presence on this side.” he told the rest, who all looked back at him, worried. “It’s not too strong, but it will make the spell fail faster if I don’t deal with it.”

Matthias gaze rested on Cadance, who struggled to keep her spell going. At this rate, it would break once again, and then...

An idea came to Matthias. He wasn’t certain it would work, but it was safer to try now.

“Before I’ll go, I need to check something.” the paladin told them as he trotted towards the Princess. Ignoring their puzzled gazes, he sat in front of her. “Your Highness, I need you to take my hooves.”

Cadance, no less confused than the rest, on top of being almost exhausted, listened and grabbed his hooves with her own.

“What are you doing?” Twilight asked as he closed his eyes. “I thought you said you couldn’t refresh somepony with Light after overusing magic.”

“I can’t.” Matthias replied. “But there is more to me than just the Light, although I pray to it now that this will work.”

After saying that, he concentrated. Matthias reached deep down into himself. As the Lich King, he commended vast powers, and even though most of them came from Frostmourne, he had power of his own. It wasn’t magic, not exactly, but here he was a pony; and ponies, even those that didn’t have horns and therefore couldn’t use magic at will, were all magical beings.

With great effort, Matthias reached his inner magic, that which granted earth ponies their connection with earth, as well as increased strength and stamina. The paladin was delighted to realize how strong he was, and briefly wondered how he would fare if he was returned to life in a body of a unicorn, but he pushed back the thought as he began to channel his supply of magic to Cadance.

At first, the process was slow, due to Matthias never doing something like this without Frostmourne. It was much different than channeling the power of the Light, in which he now once again excelled at. But finally he got the knack of it, and poured almost half of what he had to offer into the Princess. He would have given everything, but he was unsure if it wouldn’t have any side effects.

He stumbled back, slightly shaking, feeling the sense of loss; but earth pony’s magic, which granted the strength and stamina, was easily replaced by him with Light. In a matter of seconds, he was back to normal.

“What did you do?” Cadance asked, rejuvenated, but not quite to full power, which was to be expected since she was an alicorn, while he was a regular pony, and also still tired.

“I channeled my magical energy, which all ponies have, into you.” Matthias replied, shrugging. Seeing Twilight gaze, he added: “It’s a nifty little trick that I’ll show you later. Anyway, the Light will grant me it’s strength once I need it, so I figured I might as well give some of my energy to Cadance.” he bowed, and moved to the edge of balcony. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have something to do. It shouldn’t take long. May the Light protect us all.”

Granting them blessing before he departed, he jumped down once again, and landed painlessly thanks to the Light. Ignoring the gazed from crystal ponies and some of his friends, he run to where he could feel Sombra’s presence.

He stopped just by the border, to see the two crystal pillars, now black as the one the fallen unicorn tried to kill him with. Realizing that Sombra must have put some of his essence into them in that short time the empire was defenseless, Matthias extended his hooves and began the exorcism ritual that he would have trying on Shining Armor’s horn if it wouldn’t be so painful.

The presence within the pillars grew bigger.

The paladin quickly jumped back as all around him huge black pillars emerged from the ground, each the size of a tree.

…and a few of them contained evil presences as well.

“So this is what happened to them.” Matthias thought as some of the pillars broke, revealing the shapes hidden within. “All this time, they were with him.”

The Six Shadows of the King surrounded him.

71. Six Shadows of the King

Being able to sense them, Matthias could afford to stand in the middle of them while he regarded them without the fear of being attacked unaware.

The Six Shadows composed of three pegasi, two earth ponies and one unicorn. Each one of them had the same eyes Sombra had which, added with the evil king’s presence he could feel coming from them, made Matthias guess that he gave some of his powers to them like he did as Lich King for some of his minions.

His further thoughts were interrupted by the large pegasus male that charged at him without warning, unarmed like the rest of them. He wasn’t just large, but muscular as well, had a white coat and orange mane. His cutie mark was similar to that of Snowflake’s, who he met briefly in Ponyville: two big weights. The paladin quickly moved out of the way as the pegasus’ hoof hit the crystal behind him, causing it to shatter into small pieces, much to Matthias’ shock.

He recovered quickly and, taking advantage of the fact that the Shadow wasn’t looking at him right now, brought his hoof that is surrounded by Light’s glow, down on the back of his first opponent’s head, intending to knock him out.

The pegasus dodged the attack without seeing it.

Matthias had no time to be surprised by it, as he sensed two other pegasi come at him from above. Asking the Light for aid, he caused the Light’s storm around him, pushing all three of his enemies away and inflicting some damage to them. The paladin then jumped between the crystal pillars as one of the earth ponies, a stallion with tan coat and brown mane attacked him, while the unicorn mare with coat violet and mane gold tried to go around him to flank him.

As Matthias tried to use the pillars to his advantage, he noticed that one of the pegasi - a mare whose coat was dark blue, her mane purple and seemed to be the youngest of the group - was already up and flew in his direction. The paladin was so surprised by how she almost instantly returned to battle that he almost missed seeing what the other pursuing earth pony did.

He phased through the crystal.

Only due to the fact that it was far from the only unusual thing he ever saw, did Matthias not continued to stare at the earth pony. Deciding that he would try to figure out how was it possible for that Shadow to use magic later, the paladin charged at him, but the blow intended for his jaw went right through him.

Just as Matthias intended.

He quickly took the advantage of Shadow’s body’s state to pass almost completely through him, which hid him from the sight of the of approaching pegasus mare that was right behind him. Matthias channeled the power of Light into his hooves and bucked, expecting to break several bones of the enemy, but instead, he hit air.

The flying foe somehow knew what he was going to do and pulled up in the last moment. The paladin had no time to react, because in front of him now stood the unicorn. Matthias was just about to point hoof at her and force her into a trance, but two pairs of strong forelegs grabbed him and pinned to the ground.

He cursed, and watched as the unicorn brought her head back. Expecting her to cast a spell, Matthias asked the Light to weaken its effects. Then to his shock and horror, she spit a green liquid at him, which he quickly realized was acid.

He didn’t want to see how deadly it was, but judging by the fact that the earth pony once again turned intangible when the wave of acid was two seconds away from them, it would most likely be not very pleasant.

Matthias apologized in his mind to Celestia for breaking the law of Equestria as he shifted his body, now not being held from his left side and twisted, so that the pegasus mare was between him and the acid.

She didn’t even scream as half of her body melted. Matthias jumped away from her and prepared for the next attack when he suddenly saw something that made his jaw drop.

The other pony’s body regenerated in a matter of seconds.

“So that’s why her cutie mark is a leaf...” he thought grimly. “It’s supposed to symbolize her regenerative abilities...”

He casted shield around himself and backed away, needing to think about this whole fight. The Six Shadows seemed content to let him leave from the black crystal which contained portion of Sombra’s will and did not follow him.

“What is going on here?” he wondered, breathing heavily from the ordeal. “They dodge strikes they can’t see, which should be impossible even if each of them had the similar sense to mine given the short distance, one is ridiculously strong, the other can heal her own injuries almost instantly, next one can phase through everything, and the other spits acid!”

Still protected by the Light, Matthias glanced at two remaining ponies, an earth pony stallion with light grey coat and black mane with a twisted clock for a cutie mark, and the pegasus mare with white coat, blue mane and two ponies’ reflection for a cutie mark. He hoped that he could win this fight before they had a chance to show what kind of tricks they had in store.

His mind returned to analysing the situation, concentrating on how they were able to see his hits without looking. If Matthias could figure this out, then maybe he would be able to do something about.

“Does it have something to do with their eyes?” he pondered as he glanced at the red and green eyes with purple flames coming from them, momentarily reminded of Illidan. “They all have the same eyes as Sombra, maybe...”

Matthias’ eyes went wide as the sick realization hit him.

“No wonder they don’t need to look at my attacks to see them.” he realized, disgusted. “And no wonder that each of them emits the same malice as Sombra.”

All six of them were dead.

The paladin became momentarily furious at the thought of using the dead as puppets by Sombra, feeling the memories of his previous life resurface within his mind. It was with great effort that he calmed himself, and began planning his next attack.

“First of all, I need to do something about this shared vision.” he decided, not considering them separated entities but extensions of Sombra’s will, as he felt his shield begin to fade. “He has too big advantage among those pillars, so...”

As his protection disappeared, a giant force of Light shaped like a hammer descended in the middle of the ‘forest’.

Like Matthias expected, the Shadows had been blown away, safe for the tan one - who he began to call Phaser in his mind - who simply again turned intangible and was ready to attack him, and the young pegasus - Blue Freak - who was also casted away, but quickly recovered and flew back. The pillars, on the other hoof, were destroyed, safe for the two with Sombra’s presence in them.

Matthias dodged the Blue Freak‘s initial attack, but later found himself pressed back as he pulled few punches and kicks at him, most of which he had to block, all while the Phaser tried to get behind him. When he did, the tan pony was fast to charge at him. The paladin swung his hoof at him, despite the fact that Phaser’s face was about few inches away from the tip of his foreleg.

However, that was not the case once Matthias summoned Holy Avenger.

The blade cut through Phaser’s material head instantly, causing the undead body to turn to ash. If this was a living pony, the paladin would never have done something like this, but since whomever it was dead for at least a thousand years...

He put the thought off for later as he turned around, with the sword in his hoof, and attempted to cut through Blue Freak as well. Ne managed to do so, but only partially. The Holy Avenger did cut off half of her wing and foreleg, as well as both hind legs. However, she didn’t turn to ash, and regenerated her lost limbs within the matter of seconds.

“I will need to cut her head off.” Matthias thought darkly, and gripped his sword tighter as the other four joined the fray...

Applejack facehoofed as Rainbow scared away crystal pony from the fake Crystal Heart, knowing that this would most likely cause them to be more suspicious. She grabbed her friend’s multi-colored tail and pulled her closer.

“Uh, Rainbow Dash?” she whispered. “We're supposed to be actin' like nothin's wrong.”

“Exactly.” the pegasus replied, care-free. Before Applejack got a chance on correcting her perception of the matter, Dash spotted two more approaching crystal ponies, and growled at them menacingly.

Deciding to change her tactic, Applejack put a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder.

“What Ah mean is, maybe ya should let me keep the Crystal Ponies away from the fake heart, while ya show off yar joustin' skills.”
The idea seemed to appeal to the cyan pegasus, who replied with her usual attitude:

“Huh, seeing my awesomeness does have a way of putting ponies into a pretty good mood.”

“Well, Ah’d hav’ta be Matt to know about that.” the farm pony commented in her mind, slightly amused.

“I’ll go see if Matt finished his thing.” Dash said for leaving as she flew off, much to Applejack relief, in the direction she saw earlier Matt run.

Matthias cursed as he jumped away from Tauren-pony (the huge pegasus), surprised that he could move so fast with so many muscles, even if he wasn’t so muscle-bound as Snowflake was. The strike that was intended for him hit the ground instead, creating many fissures.

The paladin pointed hoof at him and blasted it with Light’s fury, magnified even further thanks to Matthias fighting in for some time with the help of Holy Power, which showed by the blueish glow around his fronthooves. Tauren-pony staggered back, but as the paladin moved up for finishing blow, he was intercepted by Blue Freak. Who, despite having the Holy Avenger impaled into her chest, managed to move quite well and kick him in the wrist; which caused him to let go of the blade and jump back. The blade, having lost physical contact with him, disappeared within a few seconds; while Matthias dodged another attack of the Spitter this time, oddly, in the form of crystal shards flung at him with magic. Matthias pushed her, Blue Freak and Tauren-pony with wave of Light, and then concentrated on the last pegasus. She came at him from above, and when he prepared to cut her down with reappeared Holy Avenger, she changed course, and avoided his strike by flying left... as well as right. There were now two of her and Matt, not having time to think about it, instinctively chose the one closer. His blade went right through her and the illusion, for now Matthias know it to be that, disappeared. He jumped to dodge Double’s retaliation, but Phaser waited for him, and bucked him before he could react.

Matthias cursed again as he was about to rise from the ground, but Blue Freak swiftly landed hard right on his stomach. The paladin spit some blood, and readied himself to block the incoming hoof from reaching his face, and then suddenly, a rainbow colored smug hit his enemy and threw her away from him.

“Take that!” Rainbow shouted as she kicked the undead pegasus for good measure, and then landed next to Matthias and asked, worried: “Are you okay?”

The paladin tried to reply as he got up to his hooves, which wasn’t easy since that last hit really took an air out of him. However, he didn’t get a chance to recover properly as the Six Shadows attacked again, this time with the Spitter leading the assault with her acid spit. Only Light’s shield that Matthias summoned around them saved them.

“What the hay?!” Dash asked, shocked, as the acid swam down the barrier. “Who are those ponies?!”

“They are the Six Shadows of the King.” replied Matthias, feeling better thanks to the Light. “Sombra summoned them once I tried to purify those pillars back there. They were with him this whole time.”

“Huh?” Rainbow said in confused tone. “They hold up pretty well for a thousands then.”

The paladin shook his head as he continued to maintain their protection.

“They are dead.” he told her and, ignoring her now shocked expression, carried on: “They are nothing but corpses, controlled by Sombra in a manner like puppets. Thanks to that, ‘they’ share their eye vision, meaning it’s impossible to land a hit on them from blind spot; not to mention that each one of them posses some freaky abilities.”

Matthias glances at the light grey pony, the only one so far that didn’t reveal whatever his special power was. The paladin wondered briefly if it had something to do with the fact that whenever he came close to killing one of the Six, they seemed to know exactly what he was going to do and retaliated accordingly.

“You said that it’s impossible to hit them from blind side.” Dash voice pulled him away from those thoughts. “What if you only had to fight three of them?”

The earth pony was about to protest, but she pressed hoof against his lips.

“Look, I can deal with those three zombie pegasi, and then all you have to worry about is the other three.”

Matthias searched for an answer that would explain to her just how wrong this plan was, but he found none. He cursed under his breath. As much as he hated to put a friend of his in danger, it was almost impossible for him to win with the present odds; if their numbers were cut in half, however...

“... Fine.” he finally said, much to her enthusiasm, for which he chasten her. “This isn’t a game! Now listen: the big one is the most dangerous so far, he has an enormous strength - one hit from him would crush most of your bones, at best - and is also sturdy and surprisingly speedy for a pony his size; the dark blue one can regenerate all her wounds within seconds - so the only way to be done with her would be to cut her head off - and she’s also quite good in hoof-to-hoof combat; the last one can create an illusionary duplicate of herself, which can be a perfect diversion, it even managed to fool me.”

Matthias was observing closely Rainbow as he spoke. He notices that she became slightly nervous as he mentioned each of the undead ponies’ powers she would face, but remained confident.

“Ha, don’t worry, those slackers won’t even come close to hitting me!” she boasted, but the paladin knew her well enough to tell that she was serious, and wouldn’t make any mistakes.

“If they do manage to hit you - especially the big one - try to make sure that it won’t be anywhere near your head or neck.” warned Matthias.

“Why?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“So that way, I would be able to resurrect you if the worst happens.” replied Matthias.

Dash was about to snicker, but she caught his gaze and realized he wasn’t kidding.

“What about the other three?” asked Rainbow, most likely trying to avoid thinking about the possibility of dying.

“The unicorn can spit acid, as you saw, and the tan earth pony can turn intangible... makes everything phase right through him.” the paladin explained, noticing her puzzled expression. “As for the last one, I have no idea.”

Rainbow nodded, slightly absentmindedly, as she appeared to be less confident when confronted with reality. Acting on impulse, Matthias pulled her for a kiss. He tasted his friend’s mouth as she tasted his, while praying to Light that it wasn’t going to be the last time.

They pulled away after few moments, the pegasus confidence returned.

“May the Light grant you strength.” Matthias blessed her as he dropped the shield.

At the same moment, they charged: Matthias forward and Rainbow Dash upward. Sombra wasn’t sitting idle as they prepared plan; his puppets positioned themselves so that he could use their abilities and shared vision to the most of their advantages.

However, they did not expect Rainbow to be so fast.

She flew and hit hard where she knew it would hurt. Sombra’s attention through the corpses of Six Shadows shifted at her, despite the futility of that; six pair of eyes allowed him to see her, maybe, but she was still too fast for him.

So it was with little worry that Matthias stepped forward and charged at the unicorn, Holy Avenger in his hooves and the blue light once again emanating from them, and cut her down across the skull.

The wind carried the ashes that she became...

Rainbow cursed as he noticed with the corner of her eye that the unicorn, despite looking like the rest of them zombies at her, dodged at the last moment Matt’s sword, but the pegasus mare quickly concentrated on her own battle as she flew up, making the three pegasi chase her.

She still could hardly believe that they were all dead: they looked and moved like ponies she saw every day. The only thing odd that she could tell about them was their eyes, as creepy as Samba’s, and that they didn’t speak, occasional grunts of pain aside. However, Rainbow knew Matt had much more experience in such matters, so she didn’t argue, and instead tried to be of as much help she could.

Dash swiftly made a barrel and hit the huge pegasus who’s chasing her at the back, and then turned around and kicked the blue one in the jaw. Since they were dead anyway, she wasn’t going to pull any punches, and so the jaw of other mare snapped and dislocated... only to pop back in place.

“Oh, right, totally forgot about that.” Rainbow recalled as she dodged her retaliation.

Keeping in mind now what Matt said, she paid extra attention to the huge stallion. Fortunately, he wasn’t nearly as fast as her in the air or as mobile, so she could easily dodge him.

Unless she had a better idea.

Rainbow Dash waited until the last moment, pretending to be solely concerned with the blue one she was trading blows (she made a mental note to thank Matt for teaching her the trick with breaking bone in her opponent foreleg, even if it healed right after that). She had to admit, but the zombie was about good as her; she got hit rather painfully few times, but luckily, nothing serious happened to her other than that. The blue one suddenly attempted to grab her, but at that exact moment, Rainbow stopped flapping her wings and fell down... and her opponent was hit by the huge pegasus.

Rainbow watched in horror how his hoof went right through the other Shadow’s chest. Matt wasn’t kidding when he said that he had an enormous strength. Even now when she knew them all to be nothing but puppets of and evil king, she felt sorry for them, and angry at Sombra for using bodies of dead ponies to his own agenda.

She was snapped from her thoughts by incoming white pegasus. Now that the other two were stuck for few moments, Rainbow turned her attention to her... and her. There were two of them now, but, if what Matt said was true, then only one of them was real… But which one?

Dash got her answer as her hoof went through the first one, but she herself received well placed kick from the second. Cursing, she flew after that one, easily catching up to her; but when she was about to dive and hit her in the back, the white pegasus ‘splitted’ again, and tried to outmaneuver her by flying up from both her left and right.

This time, Rainbow twisted, and hit both of them at one. The one on her left blocked it, so Dash proceeded to present her with few of Matt’s moves, but then the blue one joined in. Not wanting to fight directly both of them at once, she decided to outfly them.

“Wait!” she suddenly snapped. “Where’s the big one?”

The ground, sanctified by Matthias with the power of Light, made the two Shadows stumble; even the earth pony that kept in the back away went further. The paladin was eager to eliminate that one first, before he had a chance to use his ability, but the other two kept intruding.

“Not anymore.” he thought grimly as he prepared to cut them down.

Something strange happened then. Matthias felt as if he was kicked several times, and the two ponies disappeared. As he glanced around the next split second, all three of them were some distance away.

“Did that Shadow do that?” Matthias wondered, healing the injury he somehow received. “Was that teleportation? But to hit me and rescue them at the same moment... that would make him faster than even Yellow Flash was!”

He began to wonder why then he hasn’t use this ability earlier, but then suddenly something heavy fell on him and pinned him to the ground. Occupied with this three, he stopped paying most of attention to the ones Rainbow was fighting, and now it came back to hit him, quite literally. Tauren-pony arched back, and Matthias expected him to bring hoof upon his head, but then... he bit him.

The paladin grunted in pain as the teeth of his enemy tore into his flesh, and he felt not only his blood leave his body, but something else too. And not just leave, but rather being stolen. Not sure what was happening, but knowing it couldn’t possibly be anything good, Matthias increased the Light’s power within himself to the point when it began to radiate from his body. The pegasus released him in a snarl, as his mouth, oozing with blood that wasn’t his, was burned by the Light. This time, Tauren-pony did bring his hoof down onto Matthias.

The paladin asked for protection, and so the hoof struck at the shield of Light, but Matthias cringed at the force he could feel behind the strike. He prepared to purge this undead filth off from him, but he was yet again saved by Rainbow who must have noticed that Tauren-pony came after him. She slammed into him and threw him away, right into one of the broken crystals.

Matthias watched if mixed satisfaction and pity as he was impaled on the crystal, glad that at least one of them was down and sorry that it had to come to this.

…The Tauren-pony, who was impaled by crystals before, had his strike bounced off from his Light’s protection. As if the moments that happened before were replaying.

The paladin’s eyes went wide, but apprehension of what just happened to dawned on him when Rainbow once again flew straight into his opponent. However this time, Tauren-pony was ready; for instead of being thrown away, he grabbed her and turned around, so that she was the one that would get impaled now.

With great effort Matthias asked Light to protect her as well and soon, another shield appeared around the cyan mare, which was the only thing that saved her life; as the sharp crystal smashed to pieces as it hit the Light’s barrier. The paladin then put the Tauren-pony in state of meditation, so that Dash would be free.

“Dash, regroup, now!” he ordered her as he backed away from the Shadows, his mind already working on strategy, as Rainbow dashed to his side.

“What’s up?” she asked, panting, her eyes darting to the undead ponies and the crystal that almost killed her couple seconds ago.

Noticing few bruises on her, Matthias healed her as he explained: “That last Shadow can loop us back through little segments of time.” he immediately rolled his eyes and elaborated: “He can reverse time to what happened few seconds ago, and make things go different. Now, you just killed the huge pegasus, but then he used his ability and this time Sombra-”

“Would have killed me.” she finished for him, a hint of fear in her voice. “Thanks. But... how do you know this? I don’t remember anything.”

“I think it’s because this time I had Light’s protection on me.” Matthias answered.

“This time?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I’m willing to bet that he used this ability at least few times, whenever I ‘killed’ one of them.” he replied bitterly. “That’s why they seemed to know what I was going to do.”

“What now?” Rainbow Dash asked in confusion.

That’s what Matthias also wondered. They would need to take out that Timeless One first, but no doubt Sombra have realized that the paladin knew now his ability, so he would take extra precaution now and protect him even more.

“And even if we did manage to break through to him, if it wouldn’t be a clean hit, he would be able to reverse time... On top of all, he also seems to be able to stop time for everypony but himself. What a problematic foe!” Matthias cursed in his mind. “How the hell...”

“Hey guys!”

They both jumped at the sound of Pinkie Pie’s voice, who somehow managed to stand behind them now, in a jester costume.

“How did you do that?” he asked her as he put Light’s protection on her as well.

“Did what?” wondered Pinkie.

The stallion looked annoyed at Rainbow, who was chuckling.

“Well, Pinkie Pie is being Pinkie Pie.” she explained. “What are you doing here, Pinkie?”

“Applejack told me you came near the border, so I got worried and wanted to check if you were alright! But you were had a party without inviting me!”

“Pinkie, this isn’t a party!” Dash shouted at her.

As the two mares argued, Matthias mind worked hard on idea that began to form in his head. It was an insane plan, but...

“Sorry, Pinkie, for not inviting you.” he quickly interrupted them, knowing it to be the only chance they got.

“Oh, that’s okay; I was busy with the Crystal Faire anyway.” Pinkie Pie replied happily, as Dash shoot him a confused glance, which he ignored for now.

“Would you mind doing that light grey pony a favor?”

They attacked once again, leaving Pinkie Pie behind. This time, however, they fought together, with Matthias channeling the power of Holy Light to aid both of them.

The Tauren-pony was hit by another blast, while the Phaser and Double tried to get passed them to attack Pinkie; but this time, Matthias unleashed a powerful blast of Light. Now the shared vision came back to bite them, as all six of them were blinded. Matthias and Rainbow Dash rushed towards the Timeless One, who was still hanging in the back, determined to end this-

They attacked once again, leaving Pinkie Pie... right next to the Timeless One?

“You should have said that you wanted to be fired from my Party Cannon, silly!” she exclaimed happily as she quickly pulled out from somewhere her signature weapon (Matthias suspected the Twisting Nether), and pushed the light grey pony into it.

For few split seconds, Matthias could have sworn that he ‘teleported’ half an inch here and there, but Pinkie’s hooves were relentless; he couldn’t get away, and she fired. The Timeless One was shot right at them with an outstanding speed, but on the way hit Tauren-pony, and now both of them flew towards them.

“Perfect!” Matthias commented, as his blade reappeared, and slashed both of them, starting with the earth pony, making them turn to ash in one clean strike.

“Huh?” Pinkie said, surprised. “Where did they go?”

Matthias had no time to bother explaining to her what just happened. He quickly asked the Light to protect her once again, and nodded to Rainbow.

Now their chances were much higher as they dove into them. Matthias cut the Blue Freak, however, due to her regenerative powers, stayed ‘alive’. Same couldn’t be said for Double who, after making the illusionary one disappear, Dash threw the real one right onto Holy Avenger. She then had to fly up as the Spitter attacked, but Matthias formed Light into a hammer that he threw right at her. She was sent flying, and finally landed some distance back, the spot marked by small lightning of arcing Light as she slowly became ash.

Suddenly, an unimaginable and unbearable pain shoots through him, one of which would crumble that of lesser men.

Blue Freak had kicked him right in the balls, the bane of mortal stallions.

Angrily, he summoned the power of Light to smite her, and could see that it had an effect. The Light burned her from within, but she somehow managed to dodge his sword and flew away so that she could recover completely.

“With the loss of four Shadows, Sombra must be able to concentrate better on the remaining two.” Matthias realized, surprise by how faster her reactions were now.

He summoned Light’s chains to stop her in her track for few moments, as he jumped to the Phaser, who Dash just punched into the ground. As he tried to get up, Matthias sanctified the area surrounding them. But this time, he concentrated to do it properly, resulting in Phaser burning (albeit slowly) to ashes.

Rainbow either didn’t want to see that, or just wanted to be done with all of this, as she flew over to where Matthias left Blue Freak. The paladin heard her surprised grunt moments later as he glanced back, and saw Rainbow being hurled to the ground, the last Shadow in pursuit. He quickly jumped to her aid, and now the hostile pegasus concentrated on him.

He slashed but she dodged, and hit him in the stomach. He attempted to purge her again like before, but before he finished the prayer, she kicked him in the balls again and then in the back of the head. The overwhelming pain returned, as it broke his concentration and almost made him pass out.

The Blue Freak attempted to hit him again, but Dash made her stop as the Blue Freak needed to worry about her now. The cyan mare intended to slam into her. But the Blue Freak simply caught her by hooves, turned around in a piruett, and with kick to the stomach sends her flying. It took only seconds, but it was enough for Matthias to recover. Once again, he attempted to cut her, but she blocked his foreleg before the blade came close. With a swift motion, she broke his foreleg.

Matthias cried in pain as he was punched away. He tried to get up, trying to balance his body so that his broken limb would hurt too much, as he prepared for the slowly approaching pony. He didn’t expect this Shadow to be this good in hoof-to-hoof combat once Sombra was solely concentrating on her. The paladin cursed as the Blue Freak was about to lunge at him... only to get his by a bunch of confetti and balloons that made her stumble off several paces.

“Hey!” Pinkie Pie shouted, angry. “Stop being a meanie pants to my friends, you... meanie!” she finished, and readied her Party Cannon for another shot.

Before Matthias got a chance to stop her, the undead pegasus shot at her and while Pinkie Pie wasn’t hurt, her weapon was smashed.

“M-my Party Cannon!” she said, in a state of disbelief, and stared with teary eyes at what was left of it.

She would have probably stayed like this for a long time, if it wasn’t for the hit to the face she received from the Blue Freak. It caused her fall several meters back, and their foe slowly trotted towards her. Fear and anger surged through Matthias as he staggered up to his hooves, not bothering to waste time with healing, knowing that time was short. He ran towards the two, praying to the Light-

The Blue Freak was sent flying.

Matthias watched, terrified, as Pinkie Pie rose. There was a small stream of blood coming from her nose, but that wasn’t what worried him. The pink pony’s mane was hanging flat, instead of being puffy like always, and she had this savage angry grim on her face, like the one that the paladin saw after she thought he didn’t keep his Pinkie Promise.

“My name, is Pinkamena Diane Pie!” she informed the raising from the ground Blue Freak in a deep, aggressive tone. “And I, hate, bad references!”

The paladin didn’t even bother to understand what was that supposed to mean, or what was happening. All he knew was that in the next second Pinkie Pie, the happiest pony he had ever met, massacred the undead pegasus. Of course, all the wounds Blue Freak received healed instantly, but that only made things worse for her. Matthias continued to stare at her unsuccessful tries to block any of the hits. Soon he was joined by Rainbow Dash, also shocked at the scene before her.

“Should we... stop her?” Dash asked, unsure, her eyes still on them.

“Can we stop her?” Matthias replied with a question of his own. “Remind me to never break Pinkie Promise.”

He quaked at the thought of what would have happened if he hadn’t thought fast back then.

“Your toast has been burned, and no amount of scraping will remove the black parts!” Pinkie Pie shouted as with the last punch, she slammed the Blue Freak into one of the two black pillars, which somehow withstood the impact.

Matthias quickly snapped and hurled his Holy Avenger at her, aiming for the neck. The blade swung to where he intended to strike, and the undead head rolled on the ground, while the rest of the body turned to ash.

The head stopped almost at his hooves. To his mild surprise, it blinked, and spoke:

“This... isn’t... over!”

Matthias frowned, hearing the familiar words said by King Sombra, and raised his hoof. The Light shined down on the head, leaving only ash.

“Ohh, my head...” he and Dash heard Pinkie murmur, and once they glanced at her, they were rejoiced to see their friend was back to normal (for her, of course). “What happened?”

“Long story,” Matthias quickly said, not wanting to explain what he didn’t even understood. And if Pinkie didn’t remember, it was fine with him.

Pain in a broken limb made him recall his injuries, as well as Rainbow’s and Pinkie’s. Opening his heart to the Light, he healed all of them, which took few seconds. After he made sure that all of them were fine, Matthias concentrated, checking Cadance’s spell power.

“It’s this weak!?” he realized with dread.

“I need to perform an exorcism on those pillars, to cleanse them out of Sombra’s presence.” he informed them as he trotted towards it. “You two can head back for the fair. Thank you for help, though, I’m truly grateful. I’m sorry about your Party Cannon, Pinkie...”

“Oh, that’s no big deal; I have spare ones back home.” Pinkie replied, as she bounced back in the direction of the empire.

“How long will it take?” Rainbow asked. “I wanted to get the jousting demonstration going, to distract crystal ponies.”

Matthias hesitated before he answered.

“It will take me some time.” he finally replied. “I’m sorry, but you will have to find somepony else.”

The look of disappointment on her face didn’t last long, but it was still hurtful.

“Pity.” she answered, smirking at him. “It would be nice to slam my pinnacle into you for a change.”

Matthias chuckled uncomfortably.

“Pardon me saying such, but I doubt this would ever happen.” he told her, putting an accent on ‘ever’ part. Dash sticks her tongue at him, amused. “Now, off you go, I’ll be quite busy.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and began to fly back. She glanced at him before she left, “It was nice to fight together like that.” she said, smiling, but it was soon dulled. “Even if we had to...”

“They were already dead.” Matthias told her, not wanting her to think too much about it. “The ponies whose souls once inhabited those bodies were long gone. If anything, we granted their corpses peace.”

The cyan mare brightened at that again, and headed towards the fair. He continued to follow her with his eyes.

“I’m sorry for lying...”

Matthias presses his hoof to one of the pillars, purifying them in a matter of seconds in a powerful beam of Light.

“... but only I can fight this opponent.”

The paladin marched towards the barrier. While Sombra could no longer weaken Cadance’s barrier, her spell’s power was severely lowered while Matthias was stalled by the Six Shadows of the King. As it was now, it would break in not so long enough, and the fallen unicorn king would attack the empire.

…Unless somepony would take care of him first.

“The empire strikes back.” Matthias said out-loud as he stepped into the arctic.

King Sombra was here, of course, in his usual form of huge smoke. He towered over him, thinking probably that this would intimidate him.

“You came...” Sombra rasped, then bursted to laughter. “You’ll die here!”

“You puppets have fallen.” the paladin replied coldly. “And now it’s your turn.”

“How can you win… against what you fear?” Sombra said in a intimating tone.

“I already pulled myself away from your nightmarish spell, in case you’ve forgotten.” Matthias reminded him, feeling tired of this barter of words. “You will not trap me again, and soon, the Light shall burn you away.”

King Sombra laughed even louder at that, and his horn glowed. Matthias braced himself, but he quickly realized that the spell wasn’t directed at him. Instead, it seemed to focus on the snow and ice, and the black crystals that appeared around the fallen unicorn. They broke, as their shards started to whirl in the air along with the snow and ice, and soon they began to form some shape. Sombra, still laughing maniacally, minimised himself and slipped into the still unfinished figure. But soon, it began to resemble something...

“No...” Matthias thought, taking a step back when he realized the shape that formed in front of him.

He knew this shape that stood before him on two legs. He knew the armor it bore. He knew the white hair that danced on the wind. He knew this face.

But, most of all, he knew the blade it hold…a certain cursed runeblade.

King Sombra didn’t put him through another nightmare. Instead, he became his nightmare.

“Frostmourne hungers!” Arthas the death knight said, the all too familiar cruel smile on his lips as he pointed the cursed runeblade at Matthias.

Author's Note

End boss phase 1 over. Continuing to phase 2...

72. Battle of Light and Shadow

It was only by power of sheer will alone that Matthias didn’t back away any further; instead he gazed at his enemy on the spot.

“Calm yourself.” he thought, unnerved by the sight of his own body: a body that is made out of ice, snow and black crystals. The being that stood right in front of him now with the dreaded blade in his grasp. “He might have assumed your old form, but there’s no way he is as powerful as you were. This cannot be the real Frostmourne.”

“While I’ll commend you that you stopped using illusions or puppets, and appear to be ready to fight yourself, but I must ask: do you actually think that assuming my old look will give you any advantage?” Matthias asked his twisted reflection, as he reached to his heart for Light’s calmness. “Because that’s all you have; the blade you hold is fake, for the original one was shattered by the sword which essence is shared by this.”

As he said those words, the paladin summoned Holy Avenger, and readied himself for battle.

However, it seemed that all of this made King Sombra... laugh.

“Is this really what I've become?” he said in Athas’ voice, as he drove Frostmourne into the ground, and leaning on it nonchalantly. “A small, talking horse, who so pitiably clings to the ways of the Light? What a... disgrace.”

Matthias had his eyes squinted. Sombra not only mimicked his look, but also his attitude and personality. He knew what the unicorn king’s game was: he tried to unnerve him to gain psychological advantage. However, in Sombra’s mistake, he made this ‘Arthas’ share some other things as well.

“Is that jealousy I smell?” the paladin asked innocently in response.

Anger flashed in the sea-green eyes, same as his, even though it disappeared quickly just as how tit appeared.

“I’m surprised that you’d maintain such attitude.” he hissed with cold hatred, despite still smirking at him. “One would think that all the failures in your life would have made you a hollow shell of your former self.”

That remark... hurt, as the words reached deeply into his heart, ones that would have made Matthias lost in thoughts. He shook his head, trying to get his bearings together, and deciding that it would be dangerous for him to continue this discussion.

Not wanting to give his double the chance to speak again, the paladin concentrated the power of Light to emit a dazzling light in all directions, blinding the death knight as he charged at him. Sombra shielded his eyes, but somehow managed to lift Frostmourne, just in time to block the attack. Undaunted, Matthias attempted to slash him then from left, right, and then stab him, all from below, as he was much dwarfed in high by the tall human that he once looked like.

Arthas had quickly recovered from the flash of light and perfectly deflected all the blows before he went on offensive himself. Matthias was pressed back, but was unharmed, as the strikes that were aimed at him were all too known to him. He easily dodged the first two, and then prepared to block the next swing, as he wondered how they would compete in strength.

As the two blades clashed by the next strike, Holy Avenger has hold, along with his foreleg as well. The earth pony smiled, as he realized that he and his reflection shared the same strength, despite size difference. That, and as well as the Light and knowledge of his old fighting moves, gave him a huge advantage.

“You think that because you were me that you’ll win?” Arthas asked as they parted, and after a second, charged again.

Matthias jumped out of the blade’s way, turned around and bucked him right in the chestplate, his hooves glowing with Light.

“No, I know I’ll win because you're not me!” the paladin replied to the thrown away shape.

To Sombra’s credit, he rose quickly, and proceeded to lift Frostmourne to the air. The blizzard once more concentrated onto Matthias, but instead of shielding himself like the last time, he counters it with a wave of Light. As both forces collided, it created chaos between the two fighting foes, from which they had both to turn their eyes away.

Once it was safe to look again, the paladin saw to his horror that the death knight shoved his blade into the ground, as the runes on it glared in a familiar glow.

“It can’ be...” he thought in shock before the reality of the situation brushed off his assumption.

First he heard some cracking noise. Then, a second later, from the frozen ground a hoof has emerged. A hoof that is covered in armor similar to the one he saw back at the fair. Then came another hoof has arisen, and followed by another one after that; followed closely by muzzles, torsos, shapes that bore axes and spears...

In a matter of seconds, an army of undead ponies was in front of him.

“You didn’t think that this so called ‘empire’ was without its guards, right?” Sombra said in mocking voice of Arthas, as Matthias continued to stare at them all. “Granted, they put up even worse fight than that of those pathetic elves...”

The earth pony wasn’t listening anymore. This atrocity brought too many memories: the memory of how he first encountered the Scourge, how he fought against them, followed by what happened in Stratholme, how later on he himself later raised such armies...

With eyes literally burning with Light’s vengeance, Matthias uttered an angry shout, as he charged at them all.

“For the Light!” he cried as he slashed the first one, who became ash as did the Shadows, and was followed closely by two more of the undead.

The paladin cursed in his mind that they would be deprived of such proper burials, but it was better than becoming unwilling slaves to Sombra, as the weapons that they was used against him to harm were those they all swore in life to protect.

He blocked the axe that was aimed at him; and then swirled around to strike the two that tried to flank him. Deflecting the three next attacks proved harder, so he summoned the Guardian of Ancient Kings to give him some space, as it charged at the undead. At Matthias’ plea, the Light took the shape of a giant hammer as it laid waste to the raised ponies... but there was still many left of them. Gnashing his teeth, the paladin lifted Holy Avenger, as he prepared to deliver another barrages of swings.

Matthias could never tell later how many of them were there. He knew that if he were to asked Shining Armor or Cadance; that they would find somewhere in the records of total number of guards that died in the arctic. But the paladin could never bring himself to ask, afraid of having the burden to know how many he had cut, slashed, stabbed, exorcised, consecrated, and burned when he faced their desecrated bodies by the whim of the malevolent and insane unicorn king, all while hearing his own laughter uttered by Sombra. What he could tell is that by the time his double finally decided to join the fray; the snow on the ground around them soon became covered in ashes.

The Light refreshed him as he thought when he concentrated to heal himself, so he was still as strong as at the beginning of the fight, despite what he’s been through. As such, the blows they exchanged were evenly matched. However, Matthias was still outnumbered by the remaining undead guards, and earned himself few more wounds. As the paladin focused on the undead forces; the Light’s spirit disappeared in one swift slash of the devastating Frostmourne by his double.

Feeling that enough was enough, he opened himself to the Light, becoming a living beacon of it to the eyes of anypony that could see him now, and the sun of retribution to those around him. Those of the remaining undead ponies that stood closest to him became ashes, while the death knight and the others stumbled back, becoming dazed.

“This end here!” Matthias cried as he jumped at Sombra. “For the Light’s justice!”

His powerful attack has forced Arthas to his knees; as he barely managed to block Holy Avenger. Yet somehow, as Matthias put even more strength into it and pushed the death knight’s blade closer to his face, he realized that his old face was looking at him not with fear as he expected, but with amusement.

“To think you would utter the same words Uther said before you killed him...”

As he heard those words, Matthias felt his breath leave him as he realized they were true.

“Uther...”

His blade began to quiver in his hooves as the paladin recalled how he killed the same man that mentored him, the greatest champion of Light, his father’s friend and almost part of family. Matthias recalled the very last words he spoke to him while alive, before he delivered the final blow:

I dearly hope that there’s a special place in hell waiting for you, Arthas.

His thoughts were interrupted, as two spears that were shoved threw his back by the remaining undead ponies brought him back to his senses, but it was too late. Arthas' double seized the opportunity, with him pushing Holy Avenger away, and then slamming his fist into the earth pony’s stomach. Matthias went sprawling as his blade flied from his grip, agony shooting through him as he struggled to breathe, struggled to rise.

I didn’t want to believe it.

“You are weak.” Arthas told him, as he approached Matthias that was lying on the snow and ash.

When you were younger and selfish, I called it a child’s failing.

The paladin tried to shake the distracting and painful memory away, but he couldn’t. Nor could he stand up perfectly. The resolve he had few moments ago had been shattered, and the strength Light gave him disappeared. He was weak.

When you pushed on stubbornly, I dismissed it as a youth’s need to move out from under his father’s shadow.

He spat blood as Arthas stomped on his chest heavily with the armored boot.

And Stratholme—aye, Light forgive me, even that—I prayed you would find your own path to see the error of your judgment. I could not stand against my liege’s son.

He felt like scum, and the thoughts of killing himself has resurfaced into his mind once more, which is causing him his will to fight.

“You and all those ‘ponies’ are pitiful.” the death knight snarled, as he lifted Frostmourne into the air with both hands, preparing to shove it into Matthias’ throat. “They will be hardly worthy of being raised in death, but I will need and army...”

Matthias eyes snapped as he heard those words. The images of crystal ponies, of his friends, of Twilight, stood before him as he imagined them being killed by the imposter...

“Goodbye.” Arthas said almost gently as Frostmourne descended.

By safeguarding those around him, a paladin aids in his own defense.

The paladin lifted his foreleg.

Arthas looked down in astonishment as the runeblade he held was stopped few inches above his victim; by a glow with light from the Holy Avenger that blocked it. But it wasn’t the only thing that glowed. Matthias whole body once again shone like the sun. His wounds healed, and the last of the undead shared the fate of others he already brought down, giving the bodies of the fallen ponies peace.

“I have committed many sins, for which I will have to atone,” the earth pony said in voice that was neither weak or scared, nor resigned and broken or angry and harsh. “But I will not allow myself to die and leave my friends at your mercy!”

With the strength given him by the Light, Matthias pushed Frostmourne away, and then swiftly cut the leg on his chest. The screams of pain that Sombra uttered would probably scare any living being that would have been unfortunate enough to find its way anywhere close to the site of their battle.

As Arthas fell, the paladin that he once was has whirled around and brought the blade down. The death knight tried to block it, but the Frostmourne’s replica shattered, and Holy Avenger bit into his chest.

Immediately cracks appeared around the wound, and as the sculpture began to crumble, soon Sombra started pouring from them. For the moment, however, Matthias paid no attention to his real enemy as he stared into his own mirrored eyes.

“Stay where you belong;” he told his old self, while the cracks reached his face. “in my memories.”

The death knight smirked; as if he knew something the other did not.

“I will... never be… a memory.” Arthas whispered.

And with that, he was no more. The sculpture completely shattered and the remains were added to the ashes and snow surrounding them.

“He was right.” Matthias thought darkly as he glanced back at the one who cast this spell that gave ‘life’ to his past, a voice to his memory. “I will never be free of what I did.”

But that was altogether a different battle, for another day. Right now; the paladin would finish the one he partook today.

“I grow weary of these distractions.” he told Sombra, glaring at the smoke-unicorn that hovered above the ground. “Are you finally ready to fight me head on?”

In reply,King Sombra growled furiously as his horn glowed. Matthias quickly broke his concentration by using Light to silence him; knowing how dangerous his magic could be. The paladin then moved away from the field of ashes and led the angry cloud of smoke away with him.

The guards that once defended the empire might not have a proper burial now; but Matthias wanted at least what remained of them to be treated with some reverence. He was sure that once he mentioned about this to Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, they would see to that, forgetting the fear of how many he slain for the sake of paying final respects.

Matthias stopped galloping as soon as he was satisfied with the distance and saw that the fallen king that was chasing him. Sombra growled angrily: as he summoned the blizzards again to strike at the paladin. In reply, Matthias moved out of the way and hurled a hammer made out of Light at him, causing Sombra to yowl in pain.

“Is this all?” the paladin asked teasingly, knowing that control was the key to using magic.

“You... impudent... insect!” the fallen unicorn shouted, his rage alone caused the grounds to shake violently. “You bug! Lower life-form! Die!”

Huge pillar of black crystals emerges from the ground, one by one, each one attempting to hit the constantly moving earth pony. Matthias jumped from place to place and finally, used one those pillars as hoofhold to launch himself at Sombra, with Holy Avenger in his grasp.

While Sombra’s ‘face’ moved out of the way as Matthias cut into his cloud which, as painful as the scream that followed indicated, didn’t seem to have any effect on the former unicorn. A bit agitated by that, the paladin prayed to the Light as he landed back on the ground, as he tried performing exorcism on Sombra.

The screech he heard as he did that was unbelievable. It was only by the sheer willpower that Matthias didn’t attempt to cover his ears, and continued, believing that-

He stopped and moved out of harm’s way as five crystal shards raised to the sky; which then changed course and flew to his location. Cursing, the earth pony deflected them with few swift slashes of his blade and then once again jumped away as Sombra lunged at him, similar to what he did when facing Shining Armor.

“I’m surprised that it took both Celestia and Luna to defeat you previous time.” Matthias shouted, still taunting at him. “Did the fact that I won against my own nightmare had crushed your resolve to fight me?”

Sombra angrily fired a magical beam at him, much weaker and much faster, but still slow enough for Matthias to easily dodge. He jumped at the crystal pillar, waiting for the opportunity to exorcise him, when...

An incredible pain, not a physical one, but an emotional shoot through his heart. It is so piercing in fact, that he actually had to stumble back.

“What the-” he thought, trying to understand why he felt as if something terrible has happened.

I... you didn't say anything about no longer being your student if I failed!

“Twilight?!” Matthias thought, recognizing her voice he heard somehow, but couldn’t pinpoint the source of the whisper.

Didn't I?

“Now it’s Celestia...” the paladin thought, as he barely dodged another of Sombra’s attacks, noticing with some part of his mind that Celestia’s voice sounded strangely cold. “What is going on here? Is it another nightmare?”

But... what do I do now!?

“No.” he finally realized, as he heard Twilight’s pain-filled cry. “This isn’t a nightmare... or rather, this is not my nightmare, its Twilight’s.”

If he had time, he would wonder how was it possible for him to hear her, or how in the hay did she managed to get herself into Sombra’s illusion. However, he did not, and instead focused on quickly solving the issue. Matthias pushed the dark unicorn with a wave of Light, as he prayed to the Light for protection, and sat down concentrating.

He searches with his mind for Twilight, hoping that he would be able to somehow help her. Hearing her to be in such a distress, no matter if it was just an illusion, was tearing him apart. He would do anything to save her; even if it cost him precious seconds that could end his life while fighting such powerful opponent.

To his slight concern, it proved quite easy to reach out to her. Determined to not dwell on it why they were connected by such strong bond, Matthias entered her mind, and what he saw disturbed him. Twilight was lying on the floor within the Canterlot’s royal castle, crying. In front of her was a stained glass like the one he saw some time earlier, where it depicts important moments in history of Equestria, like his friends cleansing Princess Luna of Nightmare Moon. This one, however, seemed to show King Sombra, who was about to devour Twilight and what Matthias assumed was Crystal Heart.

Anger burned within paladin’s own heart, but he pushed it away as he willed his own consciousness closer to Twilight’s.

“Twilight?” he asked, but it didn’t seem to have effect as she continued to cry to her hooves. “Twilight, this is a nightmare, you have to wake up.” there was still no sign that she hear him, so Matthias leaned closer to her and brushed her cheek with his muzzle. “Wake up… please.”

She finally snapped, which caused Sombra’s spell to fail, as Matthias quickly pulled his mind back to his body before Twilight would notice what happened. It wouldn’t do any good if she knew about this connection.

Back in his body, Matthias opened his eyes... to see that his barrier fading, and an angry unicorn lunging at him in his smoke form from all sides.

“Twilight? Twilight! Twiliiiight!” she heard Spike shout her name as he came closer, but didn’t react, trying to figure what just happened and why was she in Canterlot a moment ago...

... all while brushing her cheek for some reason.

“That was close.” Matthias commented, looking down on King Sombra.

He had no time to try praying for protection again, nor did he have a way to escape his opponent last attack, as he surrounded him from all sides...

... besides the above, that is.

The paladin regarded at the angry unicorn showed no signs of fear when he assumed his alicorn form, with Light emanated from every part of his body and armor. He slowly spread his wings, not feeling any effort from it, but feeling something else... from Sombra.

His transformation must have enhanced his senses as well; to be able to notice that under the cover of darkness where the dark unicorn is. And the knowledge of what it meant made Matthias’ next action that much heavier. But nonetheless, he did it, knowing that there was nothing he could do about it.

He proceeded to finish this once and for all.

Remembering too well that he couldn’t stay in this form forever, paladin pointed at the shadowy form of Sombra both of his forehooves. Three hammers, made out of Light as he was at the present, and appeared around them, before they were hurled down, all three around the fallen unicorn, forming a triangle. At once, arching lines of Light came out of them and connected to each other, trapping Sombra inside of them.

“Know that I am sorry for the necessity of this.” Matthias told Sombra, while he looked around for an escape route, he pulled his right foreleg back and have Holy Avenger within the grasp of his hoof. “Goodbye.”

With great strength, he threw his blade down, right in the middle of the triangle.

“Now don't y'all worry your pretty little crystal heads!” Applejack said as she and the rest stood on the royal balcony above the sea of crystal ponies that, in the contrary to what she said, were quite worried. While behind Shining Armor was hugging Princess Cadance who somehow still supporting her spell, despite her clear exhaustion. “The real Crystal Heart will be here any second!”

“I don't know if they believe you...” Rarity, who stood next to her near the balcony edge, told her in hushed tone.

“No buck!” crossed Applejack’s mind.

“Don't know if Ah believe me...” she whispered politely instead, mindful of manners.

They both heard ponies gasp behind them suddenly and once they turned their head, they witnessed to their terror as Cadance’s horn stopped glowing, and she herself passed out.

“Oh no...” somepony whispered as they looked around the barrier that protected them from an evil unicorn king disappeared, revealing yellow skies instead of blue.

However, what got their attention immediately was a huge pillar of Light, looking as if somepony dropped the sun in that spot.

“Matt?!” everypony asked, surprised.

Matthias staggered a bit as he returned to his real form and landed on the ground, feeling tired but satisfied. He ended the threat to the empire just before Cadance spell broke again, and even if he regretted that-

Sombra’s hatred was approaching rapidly from below.

“That cunning bastard!” Matthias commented as he moved away, realizing what happened. “He must have slipped deep underground before Holy Avenger struck him!”

Indeed it had for within seconds, the smoke-shadow that was once a unicorn reappeared with pure hatred in his gaze as he locked his eyes with Matthias’, only to immediately switch them to now unprotected empire. The paladin watched in fear as his horn began to glow again, gathering swirling magical energy for one powerful strike.

“He’s aiming for the castle!” he realized in shock, but then understood at once why he tried to destroy his old seat of power as Sombra glanced at him.

He was waiting for him, knowing what paladin would do next.

Cursing, Matthias clad himself in Light’s protection as he jumped at the same moment that King Sombra fired, intercepting the attack.

Twilight sighed as she and Spike began climbing the absurdly long staircase, all while being surrounded by white walls that separated the inner spire from the rest of the crystal castle.

“You know, Matt might have had a good idea about elevators-” she started jokingly right before the whole castle shook violently, and they both heard a loud blast in the distance.

“What the hay was that!?” Twilight and Spike asked at the same time.

“What the hay was that!?”

Applejack, like everypony else, was gazing at the place where not so long ago there was a pillar of Light. Only to be replaced by the wall of shadow a few second later and now where a huge explosion was taking place.

Everypony grabbed something as the very castle shook, despite the distance, even if it was just for few moments. Sighing with relief, Applejack let go of the railing, and looked around the empire to see if everypony was okay...

And saw, to her shock, a small figure was approaching in the sky at rapid speed towards the castle. Eventually it hit the ground and rolled around at a the same pace until it started to slow down, and as such it stopped few meters ahead from the crowd of crystal ponies, who also looked at the figure in fear.

Just then it finally registered in Applejack’s mind who that figure is.

“Matt!” she shouted, scared for her friend, and was soon joined by others by the railing.

“Well, the Light was able to minimize the damage... somewhat.” Matthias thought as he stood up with great effort.

His body was sore all over, he was certain about half of his bones were broken or at least fractured and there were a few places where his skin was grazed, due to hitting the crystal road few times. That the explosion threw him all the way to the center of the empire spoke something about the strength of Sombra’s magic.

Matthias shook his head delicately, trying to get his bearings, when suddenly he felt Sombra approaching again.

And this time, he moved much faster than he should.

Matthias looked up, searching for the giant smoke in the sky, but instead saw a shadow on the ground, moving with an outstanding speed, that covered the distance between them and the next thing paladin knew, the shadow was under him.

“Oh no...” he thought as he glanced down, before he tried to jump away.

Four crystal spikes pierced his body, and lifted him up towards the sky.

Author's Note

Phases 2 and 3 over, proceeding to phase 4...
I changed timing a bit of some moments of the episode, so that they would better fit.

73. Two Kings

Everypony, Shining Armor included, gasped in terror as dark crystal spikes pierced Matthias chest and forelegs, and lifted up his body several meters into the air, so now they almost were on the same level.

“No... it can’t be...” was all Shining Armor could think off as he continued to stare at paladin’s limp body. “Matt...”

His mind whirled as he recalled how many times he was unpleasant to the other stallion out of suspicion that he felt something for his little sister; while both of them repeatedly assured him that they were just friends. Shining Armor remembered how he helped him during his and Cadance’s wedding, how he saved Twilight’s life back at that strange facility, how he brought back to life Princess Luna’s daughter, how he saved his own life just few hours ago...

And now, he was dead.

The Captain could hear sobs of the mares around him, besides his wife who was still unconscious, as well as many more from below; along gasps of terror, coming from the crystal ponies. And he found that there were no words that could be possibly said now. The only thing he could do was grieve along them.

Before however he allowed any tears to appear in his eyes, Shining Armor heard something he didn’t expect: laughter. And at once he realized to whom it belong to.

He was here. His head formed from the smoke and shadow that approached the castle, turning most of the crystals in his wake into dark, twisted versions of them. Shining Armor gnashed his teeth in anger at the sight of one responsible for everything - starting with exhaustion of his wife, and ending with the death of his friend - but before he could name him, somepony else did.

“King Sombra...” stuttered a mare among the crowd, who stood the closest to him, maybe trying earlier to see if she could help Matthias in any way or see if he was alive.

Shining Armor burned with rage at the sound of this... murderer chuckling arrogantly at the sound of terror in her voice. By then, he made his decision. The Captain of the Royal Guard did not care that he couldn’t use magic, or that Sombra bested Matthias. If that paladin fought to the end; then so would he.

“My crystal slaves...” that monster said as he gazed the crow of ponies, while Shining Armor was about to turn around to make his way downstairs, when...

“They are not your slaves!” another voice, cold with fury unmatched by even the ice of frozen north, answered the fallen king.

The pain and blood loss almost made Matthias pass out. He somehow managed to bear through it, but was momentary unaware of anything happening in the area, enclosed within his hurt body. When he finally came to, what he heard made his blood burn, and the familiar wrath awakened in his heart.

“My crystal slaves...”

“They are not your slaves!” Matthias Lehner shouted in outrage and disregarding pain, he twisted his right foreleg, breaking the crystal that pierced it.

The other spikes - one that went through his other foreleg, two through lung - were shattered in similar manner as he flexed his muscles, using only his own strength, such strong was the fury that overtook him in that moment. Free of the black crystals, he fell down and landed heavily on the ground below, the adrenaline rush making it feel like small hop.

“They are not your slaves!” paladin repeated to Sombra, who stared at him unfazed by any of this, while Light began to shine through Matthias as it healed his wounds. “And you’re not a king!”

Either he spoke with so much passion and volume; or maybe the Light was in work there. Whatever the reason, his voice carried across the whole empire, and everypony that heard it had it spirit raised at words that Matthias said in defiance of the monster that spread fear everywhere.

“You are nothing but a usurper, thief, tyrant, and butcherer! You delight in causing pain and misery to others and don’t care how much destruction you cause! King is somepony who cares for his subjects, fights to protect them until his last breath is drawn, and leads them with love, not fear!”

While his words stirred the hearts of his friends and crystal ponies, the one to whom they were directed laughed at them in response.

“Your words mean nothing...” Sombra said in his booming voice. “There is no point in fighting for others. Give them time, and they shall turn on themselves, lie, steal, and rip each other to pieces...”

“Looks like I was right...”

“You’re wrong! All ponies, all living beings, when joined together by love and friendship will live free from shadows such as you!”

“Hope is an illusion...” the former unicorn muttered, and while his words were still heard by everypony, it appeared as if he spoke to himself. “It’s better to be alone... Give in to your fear.” his eyes flashed as he directed his attention at the earth pony that stood defiantly before him. “Its cold claws will soon hold you within their grasp!”

“No, they won’t.” Matthias, not about to back down, replied, still emitting Light despite being fully healed. “My heart burns with eternal flame that will never be extinguished, nor will it give in to fear!”

“Then, I shall destroy your heart!” Sombra said, chuckling, as he increased in size.

That was too much for Matthias.

Shining Armor rubbed his ear, for certain that he misheard.

He was amazed like everypony, when Matt spoke, as he was certain that the paladin was dead. He was even more astonished when he broke the spires without anypony’s help, and while the Shining Armor began to be familiar with Light, it now shone through Matt with intensity he only witnessed when the other stallion assumed his alicorn form and saved them from the Queen of Changelings. And like everypony, he was heartened by his speech, which began with outrage and ended with passion that would be expected of paladin.

But Shining Armor must have something in his ear now, for surely, Matthias couldn’t be laughing now. And yet despite rubbing his ear, he still heard him laugh as if what Sombra just said was finest joke he heard.

“You don’t understand, don’t you?” he heard the paladin ask as he still chuckled, and while this question was directed to Sombra, everypony else did not understand as well. “Let me explain to you, then.” the chuckling cased as earth pony grew serious. “You may tore pony’s body apart and destroy it, you may break pony’s mind and bend it to your will, you might even commit unspeakable atrocities upon one’s soul, but heart... heart is something you will never be able to destroy!”

“It might be silenced, diminished, even physically cut out, but it will still be with pony!” Matthias continued, his voice no longer amused, but dead serious as he spoke from experience. “It will always struggle against darkness; and indicate what is good and what’s wrong. Even if it’ll be nothing more than a whisper, its voice will still reach the pony, and no matter how thick the shadows that surrounds him, it will shine like beacon of Light!”

He paused to catch his breath, and decided to bring this war of words to an end.

“Can you figure out what my heart is telling me?” he asked Sombra, and let the Light envelop him completely, changing his very body. When Matthias answered his own question, he did so as gold alicorn, clad in plate armor: “It tells me to protect everypony from you!”

He was not surprised in the least at Sombra’s reaction. Grow, hiss, and charging his horn for an attack. Matthias flew into the air, and spread his forelegs, extending Light’s protection around him. He didn’t spread it as far as the border of the empire, though. Having already assumed this form once today, he had even less time than usually, and while he would strain himself to remain longer in it, Matthias knew it would be easier to protect only as little area as possible when doing so. Still, Sombra was pushed back, and the black crystals he created vanished.

With slight amusement, Matthias noticed that he now hovered more or less in the same spot where he was earlier when impaled on crystal spikes. The shield he created covered most of the area around crystal castle; except for highest part of it. Sombra hissed angrily, but the paladin was unfazed by it as he glanced at those hate-filled eyes. He could not harm him or anypony else now, and Matthias did not care how much pressure it would put on his mind to maintain this form as long as needed.

“Come on, Twilight.” he prayed. “Hurry up and find the Crystal Heart.”

After few seconds, the paladin noticed that Sombra opened his mouth. He wondered what kind of hiss would come out of them now-

“Can you feel it, my son?”

Matthias felt his jaw drop at the sound of the voice.

“Father?”

“What if this is just more of his magic?” Spike asked as they climbed the staircase in the break between panting. “He makes a door that leads to your worst nightmare... why not a staircase that goes on forever?”

Twilight rolled her eyes, but she knew that her assistant had a point in one thing: this staircase was really long. They weren’t even halfway there, and Spike was even a whole level below her. The lavender unicorn glanced up, wondering...

“Can you feel it, my son?”

Twilight stopped as they heard another voice speak. Both of them heard earlier conversation between Matt and King Sombra, which made the unicorn that much determined to reach the Crystal Heart in time as they realized how close the evil king was. This time, however, a new pony was talking, and despite the hurry they were in, Twilight and Spike listened to it.

“Closing in, all around you? The Light's justice has been awakened. The sins of the past have finally caught up to you.”

Twilight jaw dropped as she realized that whoever it was, the voice was speaking to Matt; and apparently, it was his father! But... how was this possible?

“You will be called to account! For all the atrocities you've committed, the unspeakable horrors you've let loose upon this world, and the dark, ancient powers you've enslaved.”

The lavender unicorn felt like vomiting as she heard what she finally figured to be some sort of Sombra’s trick use the voice of her friend’s father to break his resolve. But part of her couldn’t help but wonder, whenever it was truly a trick, or was there some truth behind it? After all, Matt did admit to being evil...

“Though my soul was one of the first to be devoured by your evil-”

“What?!”

“- there are thousands more bound within this blade, and they cry out for release.”

Twilight head spin as the meaning behind those words hit her.

“Thousands... his own father...”

Face it, lad, you are a monster.

“Look now to your defenses, my son, for the champions of justice gathers at your gates!”

“Are you deaf?”

Her ear perked at the sound of Matt’s voice.

“I already told you as we fought: guilt over my past sins won’t prevent me from protecting my friends or everypony else. I will see them survive what happens today, even if it means I’ll be shunned by them tomorrow. Continue to reveal nightmares of my past to them if you want, it won’t make me drop this barrier any faster.”

“Matt...” Twilight thought as she hesitated, but only for a moment. “You will not be shunned! I’ve known you only as the pony you are now; not that monster you were. I do not care about your past.”

With her resolve to keep true to that statement, as strong as Matt’s to protect all of them could be heard earlier in his voice; Twilight grabbed Spike with her magic, preparing to put the idea she had moments earlier to use.

“Hold on to me.” she told the baby dragon as she put him on her back. “We cannot let Matt have all the glory to himself, right?”

To her delight, Spike grinned happily, also not bothered by what Sombra’s spell had revealed.

His concentration and will faltered for a moment, however, Matthias quickly recovered from hearing once again the words the spirit of his father said to him while he was the Lich King. His reply shut Sombra up, but the damage was done.

“They know enough now...” he thought, heartbroken. “They... they will all hate and fear me.”

He spared another second to wail in self-pity at the thought of his friends abandoning him, especially Twilight, but Matthias shook it off. Right now, what mattered now the most is keeping the current evil from harming anypony. He would worry about what’s later after this issue was solved...

If there was going to be any later.

Shining Armor listened to another conversation between Matt and King Sombra; and he could not believe what he heard. He knew that the paladin was once evil, of course, but...

Technically, she's not a monster...

“No wonder he said that. Compared to him, Changeling Queen is an angel.” Shining Armor concluded, wondering if he should...

“Matt, don’t give in to him!”

The Captain look surprised at the mares, which are all looking at the glowing pony with determination, faith...

... and friendship.

“We don’t care about any of this!” Rarity continued. “You kept saving everypony from all sorts of trouble ever since you came to Equestria!”

“Exactly! You are still our best friend!” Rainbow Dash added.

“That’s right, partner!” Applejack exclaimed.

“Yeah, go Mattie!” Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy both shouted.

Shining Armor smiled at the display of such strong friendship.

“They are right.” he realized as he glanced at Matt. “Whoever you were back on Azeroth, it doesn’t matter here... friend.”

Matthias was certain that he was crying, despite it being technically impossible.

He could not believe that they all thought of him as friend. Once again, this world proved to be something completely else from what he knew from Azeroth-

Just then, Matthias reached the limit of how long he could stay safely in this form.

He quivered as he felt seizure attacks, first sign that his mind could not cope with remaining in the body made out of Light any longer. They were durable, but the longer he would stay like this, the worse they would get.

Matt, don’t give in to him!

“No!” he shouted in his head in defiance to his own limits. “I will not fail! I won’t let down the faith they have in me!”

As he concentrated, Matthias managed to notice that Sombra head turned for a moment to look at the top of the crystal castle and his horn flashed, but was too busy to think what that was about.

Twilight glanced down at the golden dome below them once she and Spike arrived at the top of the castle and she nullified her gravity spell. The shadow of King Sombra was surrounding it from all around

“Matt...” she thought as she realized how much effort this must take from him, but then a glint in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and the lavender unicorn turned around to find what she was searching for: the Crystal Heart. “Hang on just a little longer, Matt!” she pleaded as she trotted to it.

“Oh, no...” Rainbow whispered as they all saw Matt quiver for a moment before he regained his balance.

“What?” Shining Armor asked. “He seems to be doing fine for now.”

The cyan pegasus shook her head. Having spent hours training with him; she knew very well what that quivering could mean.

“Matt can stay in this alicorn form only for about two minutes.” she informed him and other ponies. “Any longer and...”

“And what?” Rarity asked her with fear in her voice.

“Well, I didn’t understand his explanation exactly, but Matt told me that he starts getting terrible headaches, as his mind cannot deal with this body or somethin’.” Rainbow told them scratching her head as she tried to remember. “And it gets worse the longer he stays like that...”

Everypony gulped as they looked at the paladin who, despite the pain he was in, somehow still protected them.

The agony he was in was unbearable.

It felt as if his mind was torn asunder, just as Azeroth was few months ago. He recalled the pain he experienced that day thanks to Ner’zhul, and while so far the pain of a whole world was much worse, it only lasted for a short time, while this what he was going through right now lasted for about whole minute, and it is getting more painful with every passing second.

And yet; Matthias hanged on. He was the paladin of the Holy Light, Knight of the Silver Hand, Grand Master of the Order of the Celestial Lights, and once he held the power of a demigod. He refused to acknowledge limits that his mind put on him.

“Even if this is going to break me, I will hold!” he managed to think before another spasm of pain shook him.

Few second later, he lost track of time. A moment longer and he could barely think. His mind unraveled as he fought mortal limitations; threatening to destroy himself.

Finally, even his powerful will could not hold on any longer.

His form of alicorn was shattered and he fell down, barely conscious, as an earth pony.

Something grabbed him; but his nearly broken mind registered at the same time that something was crushing his lungs. With great effort, Matthias opened his eyes...

... and stared into Sombra’s.

Rainbow Dash had enough.

She, like everypony else, couldn’t do anything to help Matt keep up his shield around the castle. She was forced to watch him suffer and finally fall, but now, as he was being crushed by the evil king, Rainbow could sit idle no longer.

She soared into the air and rushed towards Sombra, hoping that if she could distract him long enough, he would let go of Matt. The fallen unicorn looked at her, and Rainbow gazed without fear into his eyes...

Rainbow Dash has fallen.

The sight of the friend that was second closest to his heart right after Twilight be struck by Sombra’s dark magic as she came to save him was more than enough to snap Matthias back into his senses. And while his mind was too broken to ask the Light to give him strength; his rage gave him what he needed.

He lifted his right foreleg, which seemed to be heavier than an ogre, summoned Holy Avenger with last shred of concentration he had left, and shoved it into Sombra’s left eye.

Shout of pain and anger that came from the evil unicorn almost made him drop the blade. It was so loud that most of the crystals he created around him - black and twisted as he – shattered, and everypony who could cover their ears.

Matthias gnashed his teeth as he retreat Holy Avenger for another strike; which never happened.

Sombra turned his ethereal head to gaze at him with his good eye as he increased the power of the magical grip Matthias was in, and extended it to the neck, too. Paladin tried to resist, but the lack of air and sheer pressure, which caused his throat to be caved in, soon took away the last remains of his strength.

His foreleg fell, and Holy Avenger slipped from his grasp, disappearing before it hit the ground.

“So... this is it?” crossed Matthias’ head as Sombra eye, burning with hatred, locked with his. His vision began to fade. “Am I really going to die, and fail everypony... again?”

Soon, he was almost completely surrounded by darkness; and he knew that he would soon find himself among it once again. With his last breath, he summoned an image of Twilight, wishing he could have...

“Hey!”

“Huh?” Matthias thought, feeling a slight pressure being taken off from his neck.

“Up here! I got the Crystal Heart!”

“Spike!” he realized, delighted that his sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain, as he noticed another sound: and angry roar.

“That is mine!” Sombra growled.

The force that was about to kill him disappeared and Matthias gasped for air as he hit the ground. Realizing that the fallen unicorn probably went after the Heart, but knowing he was in no condition to do anything about it, the earth pony crawled towards nearby Rainbow. With a basic pray, he released her from her nightmare, even if he was too weak to do much more.

“It’s going to be alright.” he thought, feeling his consciousness slip away. “Spike’s got the Crystal Heart, and they can use it to...” Matthias trailed off as he realized what he just thought, and felt himself steered back awake. “Why does Spike have it? Twilight was the one who was supposed to do that. She wouldn’t risk failing Celestia’s test, unless... unless... she was...”

Fear, much stronger that he ever felt, gripped his heart as he imagined Twilight dead. From it, hatred, compared to the one he had for Mal’Ganis, was born.

“I WILL KILL YOU!!!”

That was all what was in his mind as he got up from the ground and chased after Sombra.

He didn’t need to look for him: he could clearly sense him from such small distance. That bastard was atop a giant black crystal that was rising crosswise towards something glittering, but Matthias paid no attention to what it was as he jumped on the crystal block and run up to Sombra, mindless of his exhaustion. There was only one thing that he could see right now: the monster that took the life of the one that mattered to him the most. The paladin managed to notice, however, that his enemy became corporeal. Matt realized that the glittering thing must be the Crystal Heart, who by just being at this distance restored his body. He speeded up.

Paying no heed to the high they were on right now, Matthias slammed into King Sombra just when he was about to catch the Crystal Heart,knocking them both down.

The unicorn only eye snapped in surprise as they both fell towards the ground, which quickly turned into anger as he tried to punch Matthias, while making his horn glow. The paladin, mindless that something pink flew next to them seconds ago, easily deflected the blow as he climbed down on his body while they were in the air. The paladin got a better shot at Sombra, and delivered his hoof into his face, knocking out that stupid crown off his head. He was about to punch him again, but the evil unicorn twisted his body and now it was he who was on top. Unfazed, Matthias hit him again, and then he felt that they both landed in something hard, much too soon than he anticipated.

Matthias felt his spine break.

The shock caused by the injury rendered him stunned for a few heartbeats. He watched as King Sombra, who along with him was atop the crystal pillar which was getting higher, while realizing that he could no longer feel half of his body. But he paid it no thoughts as he noticed that the fallen unicorn, foolishly thinking him to be done, had his head turned, so that Matthias was on his blind side, and was gathering enormous magical energy in his horn.

Pulling himself away from the stunned state with sheer willpower; the earth pony rose on his forelegs, and slammed his head into Sombra’s, near the base of his horn.

The horn broke, and the magical energies gathered within him exploded, throwing them both away.

As Matthias once again was falling towards the ground, this time much more wounded. He passed out, but right before that, he saw a flash of bright blue light enveloped everything.

Twilight gasped as strange magical surge went through her body, not causing her any harm, but destroying her prison. Also, as she noticed once she glanced at her hoof, crystallizing her.

The unicorn quickly turned around to see what was happening outside, and saw to her amazement, that everything that was dark about the empire with the black crystals and the sky was replaced by light, vibrant colors. The Crystal Empire and its citizens returned to their former look and glory.

Twilight sighed with relief; but then she witnessed one thing about the scene below that could freeze her blood.

Matt was falling.

He kept his eyes closed as he slowly came to, wondering what just happened.

“Am I dead?”

Matthias couldn’t feel any pain, but then again, his spine was broken... But no, now that he concentrated, his back was whole as if somepony healed him. His mind also seemed as clear as it was before he nearly let it fall apart.

He could hear some murmuring around him, but he couldn’t open his eyes, afraid of what awaited him once he woke up.

Afraid to see Twilight was dead.

“Matt?” as if thinking about her summoned her to him, he heard her worried voice speak to him. “Are you okay?”

A hoof touched him gently, and Matthias knew it to be hers, but that would mean...

“Am I in heaven?” he asked in confusion, still refusing to open his eyes.

For his question he was awarded with amused giggles and chuckles, and a faint, annoyed sigh.

“No.” Twilight’s voice answered, also amused.

Matthias snarled, realizing what it meant.

“Figures they would start torturing me in hell with Twilight’s nagging.”

If it wasn’t for the fact that he became closely familiar with this feeling, he would have assumed that pain in his ear was some kind of torture. But as it so happened, only one unicorn could pull his ear in such manner whenever he annoyed her.

“You’re alive, genius.” she finally said, and was barely heard through the wave of laughter that arose after his earlier comment.

Inexplicably enormous joy erupted within his heart, not only because he was alive, but because that meant she was too.

“Thank the Light!” he prayed, happy, and fought hard to not jump up and embrace her.

Instead, Matthias calmly stood up, and asked as he finally opened his eyes:

“So what happen-”

He blinked. In front of him stood Twilight and the rest of his friends, but they...

... they were made out of crystals.

All of them, while retained their colors, became more... vivid, shining and sparkly. Their manestyles also slightly changed. Matthias glanced sideways and saw the crystal ponies, which are now really made out of crystal.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” he exclaimed after few seconds as, realizing that Brann was right all along he slammed his head into the ground, which almost didn’t hurt at all.

Twilight glanced at her friends, confused by Matt’s reaction, and saw that everypony was too. They were standing near the small crater that he created when he hit the ground. The only reason why he was still alive after fall from such high was because his body too became crystal.

She shifted her gaze back to Matt, whose pure white coat was now shimmering, as his golden mane that instead of simply falling down his head like it normally did was now neatly kept.

“He looks like a prince...” Twilight daydreamed for a moment; before she reminded herself that they were in company of not only her brother, sister-in-law, friends, but also of the entire population of crystal empire. “It wouldn’t be good if I started blushing for no reason.”

It was bad enough that everypony laughed at what Matt said, and while she could appreciate that first comment, the other one pissed her off.

Twilight shook those thoughts off her head and decided to focus at issue at hoof, just as Matt lifted his head from the ground.

“I’m crystal too, aren’t I?” he asked as he rubbed his head.

“Yeah, but why...” the unicorn was about to ask, but wasn’t sure how to exactly finish that question, other than that: ‘... are you acting as if you lost your mind?’

“You’ll understand once Brann will get back.” Matt replied, getting back on his hooves and glancing at himself. “His going to be all up in my face about it...”

Twilight, who also looked at him, felt her heart sank as he stood up. The Crystal Heart hasn’t changed one detail on his body: his scars. She noticed in the corner of her eye few crystal ponies back slightly away, and while Twilight herself long since gotten used to their sight, she could understand that.

Before she could make any comment about this, however, Cadance stepped up to Matt.

“How are you feeling?” she asked concernedly, although Twilight suspected that since she herself was completely healed by magic of the Crystal Heart and so was Matt, despite the ordeal he went through.

“Well, since before I passed out,” he started, “I’m pretty certain my spine was broken, most of my ribs crushed, my throat was caved in, and my head felt as if there was a legion of crypt lords roaming around in it. However, all of that seems to be healed, so I have to say that I’m pretty good now.”

Twilight jaw dropped as she heard him describe the extent of his injuries as casually as if they were talking about the weather; and heard several ponies gasp.

“Thank you for your concern, Your Highness.” Matthias finished, bowing.

“Thank you, sir Matthias, for holding off King Sombra for so long.” the Princess replied, emphasising ‘sir’, probably as revenge for his insistence on using her title.

The lavender mare saw with amusement Matt frown a little, but to her confusion, his frown soon transformed into pure horror. Before she or anypony else could ask or react; he jumped forward to Cadance and violently pushed her away. Twilight, despite her shock, managed to support her sister-in-law before she fell, and then turned to Matt...

She gasped as she saw him standing on his hind legs, and looking as if holding something in front of him, while his face was twisted in pain... And, to Twilight terror, there was blood coming out of his mouth.

The answer to everypony unspoken question was revealed the very next second.

It was first only a shimmer of the light, but soon became darker, like a shadow. Then the shape of a pony registered, and all realized what, or rather who, this was.

King Sombra.

He was standing in the form Princess Celestia showed her; instead of the smoke form she saw today. There were few differences however, like the fact that he was missing his crown and few pieces of armor, the left side of his face (which was the side that she could see) looked as if it was burned, along with his eye, and he had many wound and gasp covering his body from which blood and purple gas were pouring from.

But none of that, or the question how did he survive both the explosion that Matt caused when they fought and the power of the Crystal Heart, matter to Twilight, as she registered one thing that caused even greater fear in her heart than that the nightmare she saw earlier.

King Sombra’s horn, pulsing with his dark magic, was thrusted through Matt’s chest.

“Matt!” Twilight screamed as she prepared to cast a spell that would separate the two, but then a storm of shadows appeared around them, blasting everypony away.

She gnashed her teeth as she attempted to move closer, regardless of pain, all her thoughts centered on the stallion she loved, but could not reach or help.

“Matt!” she screamed again, along with her friends and family.

He turned his head to her with great effort; opening one eye to regard her.

“Stay back!” Matt told them, his eye red with green iris, and purple smoke coming from it.

Matthias had no idea how the hell Sombra survived, but by the time the paladin realized he could still sense him, all he could do was to push Cadance out of the way as the fallen king attacked her.

The reason why he attempted to attack her became obvious to Matthias as he felt powerful force assaulting his mind. The essence of Sombra entered him through the horn that pierced his chest. He must have wanted to transfer himself into Cadance, an alicorn, seeing as his body was grievously wounded and his power diminished.

With all his will; Matthias fought back. He could see it: a wave after wave of shadows, all crashing into him, attempting to wound him, to defeat him. Matthias felt his mind being once again torn, while the fallen king assaulted him, wanting to break him.

Give in!

“Never!”

For all his strength; Matthias realised that their odds were even. Had he been not restored by the Crystal Heart, it would have been over in a second, but even so he was taxed by the long day.

A memory of how he became corrupted by the Lich King, and later how he merged with him, awakened in his mind.

“I will not let this happen again!”

You will.

“No!”

Why fight it? Think how much you could gain.

Matthias ignored the whispers as best he could. With his mind becoming the battlefield, they gained in power and number; and soon, there were a thousand of them, surrounding him with allures of power.

... You could have everything...

... There is nothing we couldn’t do together...

... Just imagine the power we would have

... All would fall before us...

... Everypony would bow down before you...

... You could rule the world...

... Your reign would be absolute and eternal, and so the peace it would bring...

... You could have anypony...

... Twilight, Rainbow, Luna, Celestia, Cadance...

... You would rule over everything...

“Everything?” his thoughts finally responded.

Everything...

Twilight had no idea what was going on; but she knew it couldn’t be anything good.

She tried spell after spell to either pull Matt away or, in her fear and rage, kill Sombra; but not a single one of them reached their targets within those shadows. Nor did the spells of Cadance or Shining Armor, or Rainbow and Applejack attempts to push through the storm of darkness that surrounded their friend and Sombra, had no effect.

And now...

Everypony watched in horror, how Matt’s shimmering coat, pure white as snow, became sickly... bone-white, and lost its crystal hue. Twilight recalled how she and her friends all turned gray while under Discord’s influence, as he turned them all into opposite of their true selves, and realized that this must be what’s happening here now.

“No!” she protested in her thoughts. “Matt couldn’t fall so easily! There must be something other...”

For all the atrocities you've committed...

Before Twilight had a chance to shake that thought away angrily, another change came about Matt, which caused her to stare in terror at him.

A bulge appeared over his right scapular blade that quickly became bigger, and soon everypony screamed as a long bone pierced Matt’s skin, emerging from his body. The bone quickly sprouted three more at its end, which violently slammed into the ground, creating claw marks-like cracks in the crystal-made road.

“Is that a... wing?” Twilight thought, fearing what was happening to her friend.

... You will have everything you ever wanted...

... We will be unstoppable...

“We shall rule over everything! Our power unimaginable! I shall be-”

- King!

Just when Matthias was about to say in unison with the other being what he would be, something stopped him.

A memory…

He, barely five years old at that time, was sitting on his father lap. Both of them were sitting on one of the balconies of the royal castle that overlooked Tirisfal Glades. Young Arthas watched as the sun was setting over his father kingdom, while King Terenas spoke:

“My son, the day you were born, the very forests of Lordaeron whispered the name: Arthas.”

He perked up at that, and glanced at the direction of Silverpine Forest, wondering how the trees could whisper or knew his name. Terenas, noticing that, chuckled before continued talking:

“My child, I know I will watch with pride as you grow into a weapon of righteousness.”

That gained him Arthas full attention back; as he began to hope this meant that his father would finally let him learn how to fight with a sword and other weapons. Seeing his son enthusiasm; Terenas warned him gently:

“Remember, our line has always ruled with wisdom and strength. I know you will show restraint when exercising your great power.”

Arthas nodded, remembering from his history lessons how some kings abused their power, not of their line, of course. He intended to keep it that way.

“But the truest victory, my son, is stirring the hearts of your people.” Terenas told him, and smiled. “I tell you this, for when my days have come to an end, you shall be King.”

Arthas eyes went wide at the thought of his father being dead; and tears formed in his eyes. He quickly hid them, not wanting Terenas to see him crying like a girl, when he stated something that young prince knew for a while now: that someday, he would have to replace him on the throne.

“I just hope this day won’t come for a long time.” Arthas thought as he hugged his father.

It all came back to Matthias in less than second.

“Father...” he sobbed in his mind, not being able to put how much he was sorry, ashamed, how much he failed him.

Never again.

Matthias stated into the shadow that invaded his body and tried to corrupt his mind, shaking it away.

“I already am a King!” the paladin told him, his soul becoming alicorn as it began to shine. “I am the King of the Fallen Lordaeron, and it is my duty to uphold the ideals for what it’s people stood, and keep their memories alive!” gazing into the void, he added. “Look into them! Face the memories of my subjects!”

And with that, he unleashed everything.

Every memory he stored within the depths of his mind, every human he killed, every man, woman and child, were seen now by Sombra. Every moment of their lives, their hopes and dreams, that Matthias would use to give strength to his spirit; and their deaths, which he attacked the shadow with.

It was too much.

Twilight gasped as she heard a scream of pure pain, worried that the worst have happened; but to her surprise and delight, the one that utter such noise was King Sombra.

In the same heartbeat; Matthias was enveloped in the Light. His coat returned to its true color; and the strange bone-limb was destroyed, leaving no trace that it ever existed, as the Light pushed away the shadows.

When King Sombra tried to escape, however, Matt did something nopony expected him to do.

He grabbed him.

The golden chains appeared around them, which further limited Sombra's chance to escape, all while his horn was still within Matt’s chest.

“This works both ways!” he told the fallen king, his eyes burning like suns. “Just as you tried to invade my mind, I can do the same!” hardening his grip on Sombra, Matt glared down on him. “Let’s see what you hide in the depths of your soul!”

There was darkness everywhere.

Whenever Matthias looked, the maelstrom of shadows expended in every direction, threatening to destroy him should he come close.

And yet, despite that, projecting his spirit as an alicorn; he steeled himself...

And dove into madness...

Everything seemed to erupt.

Ponies backed away from the two ponies who dueled inside their minds while their powers clashed outside. Light and shadows surrounded Matt and Sombra, clashing with each other violently, and threatening to strike anypony close.

Twilight and the rest of Matt friends couldn’t do anything.

Only pray.

The forces with which Sombra defended himself sought to rip him apart. Matthias spirit was assaulted from every side, and he was in incredible pain, but he refused to give up now.

Not when he was so close.

After what seemed like eternity; Matthias finally reached him.

A small colt, thin as if he hasn’t eaten anything in years, was there. His coat might have been once orange, and mane yellow, but they were now dulled. The colt was clearly sick. Matthias felt his heart break at the sight of just his look, not to mention that he was crying too his hooves, not having anypony to comfort him.

“Hey!” he shouted to him.

Matthias would prefer to call out in gentle voice; but the constant tries of shadows to rip him asunder made him a bit hasty.

The colt stopped crying and looked up. Surprise and a flicker of hope appeared on his read from tears face as their eyes met.

“Come here!” Matthias called out, motioning with his hoof. “I can save you, if you let me!”

Slowly, the small pony rose up and trotted over to him, stumbling all the way. Hope was in his orange eyes as he reached for paladin’s extended hoof, grabbed it...

Scream of pain was torn from his throat as his hoof disintegrated into shadows.

“No!” Matthias yelled in horror and defiance. “It cannot be too late!”

The colt looked away from his injured limb, and replied:

“But it is.” his voice was weak, sad and resigned, barely a whisper. “It’s too late to save me.”

“No! I will not let that happen! I can still save you, I swear, just give me a chance!”

“It cannot repeat! I won’t let somepony suffer as I did!” Matthias thought frantically as he tried to reach the colt.

“I’m so tired...” he said, looking at Matthias with plea. “All I want is for this to end. I want to rest. Please...”

Tears were streaming now from both of them, the colt crying from all that King Sombra did, and Matthias for what he knew in his heart that he had to do.

“I’m sorry.” the paladin finally whispered, agreeing.

“Thank you.” the small colt replied, as his sick face brightened up by smile.

“I’m so sorry...”

Twilight glanced in surprise at Matt who finally spoke, as the chains surrounding him and Sombra disappeared, and the fight between Light and shadows have calmed down. The unicorn mare continued to look at her friend, who shoved the evil king away, freeing himself from his horn; although now his blood flowed out of it and pulled his right foreleg back. His intention became clear to all as Holy Avenger appeared in his grasp.

In front of an entire Crystal Empire, Matt thrusted his sword through King Sombra’s chest.

What happened next was beyond her ability to understand.

The sky was darkened; even though the ribbons of light still shone from the central tower. Out of nowhere, wind blew, strong enough to make everypony brace itself. Screams pierced the air, but they did not come from crystal ponies, or her friends.

It didn’t come from Sombra either.

A huge smoke, similar to the one that Sombra himself was not so long ago, flowed away from the fallen king wound but seem to be even darker. Somehow, the screams came from it, as it rose into the sky. As the dark cloud formed into the sky, a thousand eyes opened within in; each red, green with purple flames coming out of them, and all looking down on ponies.

Twilight stared at the bizarre sight, when the screams stopped, and became replaced with whispers that were loud enough to hurt her mind.

There is no escape! Not in this life, not in the next!

Gaze into the heart of DARKNESS!

A black goat with seven eyes that watches from the outside...

Your friends will abandon you.

She threw a side glance at her friends as she grabbed her head, aching from all the whispers that all seemed to erupt at the same time, and saw them and everypony else do the same.

You are weak...

Your heart will explode...

Tell yourself again that these are not truly your friends...

The DARKNESS devours ALL!

Your soul will know ENDLESS TORMENT!

Give in to your fears, and you shall be-

“Begone.”

The calm voice cut off all the whispers, and Twilight felt the pain that erupted in her head disappear. She looked up.

Matt stood up and gazed into the dark cloud without fear. He was in his alicorn form, but it was different. His coat was still gold, as his mane that looked like flames, but he stood now as tall as Celestia. Gone was his armor, for which he seemed to have no longer need; such was the power that emanated from him, and instead, something was placed upon his head.

A crown.

“This world has no place for one such as you.” Matt continued, his horn brightening. “Turn into nothingness. Begone!”

With last word, a beam of Light was shot from his horn, and hit the cloud. All its eyes closed in pain as it gave one last scream... and then, in a flash of light that made everypony turn away, it fallen silent.

Whatever it was, it was no more.

Twilight opened her eyes as soon as the light dimmed to tolerable level, and searched for Matt. He was in the same place he was a moment ago, once again in his real form and glancing down at...

... King Sombra?

Matthias watched the dying pony as he stood at his side, knowing that he could do nothing to save his life, even if he saved him from his torment. He observed the movement of his chest that continued to slow down. The one good eye the fallen pony had soon lost its flames, as well as green hue, and became orange instead of red.

His horn turned to ash.

“He wasn’t even a unicorn...” Matthias realized with sadness. “That thing must have sprouted it so he could use magic...”

As he contemplated about that; the pony slowly turned his head towards him.

“Is it... over?” he asked, spouting blood.

Painfully aware how eerily similar this situation was to his own death, Matthias put his hoof on the other stallion shoulder in comforting manner.

“No king rules forever.” he repeated the final words his father’s spirit told him, and then gave a weak smile: “I guess that’s why Equestria is ruled by Princesses.”

The dying pony also smiled weakly at the poor joke, before his eye widened slightly.

“Princesses...” he murmured, as if recalling something. “Princess... That’s right.” he finally said as he turned his sight to look into the sky, which was now bright blue, with ribbons of light in many colors coming from the tower of Crystal Castle. “That’s why I returned there... why I agreed to this...”

He paused as an attack of coughing seized him that made him lose even more blood. Knowing that this pony wanted to finish telling his thought before death took him, Matthias pressed his hooves against his chest, limiting the bleeding. He was aware that ponies surrounded them now; but paid them no mind.

“I wanted to see her...” he finally continued. “... My heart’s princess, one last time... and tell her... that I understand... why she did what she did... I just wish she hadn't... I wish she could've... learned to let things go...” the pony eye half closed, as he was about to finally rest. “I guess... I should... too...”

With those being his last words; the pony known as King Sombra passed away.

Matthias closed for him his eye completely and whispered:

“May you find peace in death.”

He could hear some sobbing in the background and recognised among few Fluttershy’s voice. Matthias wished they didn’t have to see this; but there was no helping that.

“Matt...” Cadance finally broke the silence. “What was this all about?”

The paladin sighed; feeling extremely tired.

“I could feel it as we fought.” he started. “A small part of him, almost gone, that cried from pain and loneliness, as great Darkness that transformed him into monster known as King Sombra continued to devour him.” Matthias sighed again, feeling the familiar sense of failure. “I tried to help him when the chance presented itself, but when I ventured into his mind, he was too far gone to be saved. All I could do was grant him rest.”

“That monster...” Twilight asked him, uncertain. “What was it?”

“Something that should never had existed.” Which was all he going to say in this matter. “It is gone now.” Matthias took a deep breath, knowing that there was one more thing he had to do for the dead pony. Or rather, ponies. “Princess Cadance,” he started, turning to her. “the ponies who were guards of the Crystal Empire fell in battle against King Sombra thousand years ago.” There were few more gasp from crystal ponies, and Matthias guessed that they had no idea about it. “He raised their corpses and used them as soldiers during out fight. I had to reduce their bodies to ashes, which are now scattered outside the empire. Please, see to it that those remains will be treated with reverence, Your Highness.”

Cadance, to her credit, quickly recovered from hearing his news.

“Of course, you’ve got my word on that.”

Matthias bowed to her, and then turned to the body of pony that was as much cause of this as another victim.

“I will bury him somewhere in the arctic.” he said as he trotted over to the dead stallion. “I trust that it’s not a problem?”

“Of course it isn’t.” the Princess replied gently.

The paladin bent down, and lifted the fallen earth pony up, putting him on his back. As he trotted towards the border of the empire, escorted by eyes of his friends and crystal ponies, he opened his mouth and started singing:

An Karanir Thanagor

Mor Ok Angalor...

Author's Note

Well, I hope you liked it.

Don't expect new chapter to pop up anytime soon, the last three really took a lot out of me. I need to rest a bit from writting (and, oh irony, I have to write few presentation for studies this week). And after I rest, I'm afraid that Rebirth of the Damned is going on break. I want to write a new arc of Project Eclipse, which is getting more attention as of late. I also feel that few explanations would be appropriate, for those who read both of those stories, and while the arc will be short and that story will be far from over when it's done, it will still be closer. And, I haven't wrote a chapter there in five months, so it's about damn time.

Don't worry, though, I plan to finish Rebirth of the Damned Arc Four: "The Crystal Empire" before the end of April. Yes, it's not over. While the poor pony who was known as King Sombra is dead, there should be two or three chapters left.

Stay pony my friends!

75. Return from the Crystal Empire

“I’m not going back to Ponyville today.” Matthias announced once the train started to move, much to surprise of everypony.

“What?” they all asked. Soon Rarity added: “But why?”

Matthias didn’t missed the subtle shake of head at the direction of the still-sulking Twilight she gave him, meaning no doubt that they were all going to throw ‘cheer up’ party once they arrive in Ponyville, courtesy of Pinkie Pie.

“I need to give the Princesses my field report.” he answered, barely stopping himself from rolling his eyes. “And I also want to discuss few matters with them regarding the abbey and the order, with the idea to allow crystal ponies to it being chief among them.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, her head perking up a bit at this news.

“Yes, I already found one candidate that seemed promising.”

“Hold on!” Rainbow Dash cut in, looking offended. “You said I cannot become a paladin, but some random pony catches your eye?”

“Rainbow, becoming paladin takes conviction and devotion.” replied tired Matthias. “Last time I checked, you wanted to join Wonderbolts, and if you became a paladin, you would have to give up that dream.”

“I can do both!” she proclaimed with confident smirk.

Matthias just glared at her, making it clear that she couldn’t.

“What’sa ‘field report’?” Applejack asked, taking advantage of the quiet moment.

“A military report from battles and such, given to superiors.” Twilight explained for him, and then turned to Matthias. “Is it really necessary? I mean, the Princess will learn everything from me...” her voice trailed off as she realized that she was going to hear from Celestia that she failed.

“You don’t know how the whole battle went. I will need to discuss some aspects of it with Princesses.”

Twilight nodded, and she went silent for a while, looking as if thinking about something.

“Will you... um... mention about your... what Sombra said?” she finally asked uncomfortably.

“They already know about it.” he replied after a second, looking away as he lied. While Luna did know, Celestia probably didn’t. “Why are you all... okay with this?” he asked all of them, being hesitant for a bit, but needing to know.

“Because you’re our friend, duh!” Dash told him, rolling her eyes.

“Matt, you told us that you were possessed by dark powers, so it wasn’t your fault. At least not all of it.” Twilight added, seeing that he was about to protest.

“Yeah, and we all saw how often ya mope around.” Applejack said. “We can see that ya feel really terrible about it.”

Matthias sighed. He was heartened by their words, but... had they knew all of it...

“So, that thing... it was all true, wasn’t it?” Twilight asked, once again uncomfortably. When he nodded, she added: “I’m sorry about your father...”

“He was a great man.” the stallion sighed. “He did not deserve to die like that.”

His dark thoughts were interrupted by the massive yawn he gave.

“I must be more tired than I thought.” Matthias murmured, a bit ashamed that he yawned after talking about his father.

“Maybe you should take a nap?” Fluttershy suggested. “It will be awhile before we reach Canterlot.”

The idea was tempting, and was already thought over by Matthias, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep, despite his exhaustion.

“I have too much going in my head to fall asleep. Aside from a serious matter, I am even wondering should crystal ponies need to wear armor or not.” he shook his head, surprise that he had to think about something ridiculous like this. “I will rest later. For now meditation will be enough to collect myself.”

Few hours later, when they were still far away from Canterlot, Twilight was still sulking and Matt was still meditating. Rainbow frowned at him, despite the fact he had his eyes closed. She would have expected him to join them in trying to cheer Twilight up. Tartarus, he was in love in her, wasn’t he?!

The cyan mare shook her head. Thinking like that this was a bit unfair. Matt has been through much harsher ordeal than the rest of them, not to mention that he was forced to relive some of his past. Recalling what Sombra said, Rainbow briefly wondered what did that past include, and what kind of pony - “Man.” she corrected herself - Matthias’ father was. What the paladin said seemed to point out that he was a swell guy. She didn’t want to imagine what Matt must have felt. While Dash has barely visited her parents since she moved to Ponyville, she loved them dearly, and just couldn’t believe going through what her friend had to.

“Special friend.” she once again corrected herself, making a mental note to stop making fun of him whenever he was down while thinking about his past.

Rainbow didn’t actually mind that he was resting or whatever. Even if he was fully awake - because she suspected that he was just pretending and actually napping the whole time - Dash wouldn’t try to get some alone time with him. Twilight needs everypony’s attention now, and that took priority, even if she just kept staring at the floor of the compartment.

Just as Rainbow was about to say something, she hear Matt gasp.

“Sorry, I must have... dozed off, despite what I said.” he replied awkwardly to their confused stares.

Rainbow Dash snorted at that, and Matthias shoot her an angry glare, but inwardly, his concentration was on the other side of his soul.

“Was that your doing?” he accused Ner’zhul, but to his surprise, the old orc shook his head.

“No. What we saw came from you.”

“I think that with passing the third step, your connection with the Holy Light has deepened.” Bolvar told him. “That must be why you received this vision.”

Arthas rubbed his temples, not sure what to think of it.

“The Light doesn’t give me the answer of what am I doing here, but sends me vision about that instead?” he asked out loud, despite not expecting any answers from the other two.

“Should we... rethink our plan?” Bolvar asked him, and it did not escape Arthas’ notice as to what tone he used.

“You think I would turn my back on this because of some vision?” the pony asked the man who is shaped-like flame. “There is nothing that will stop me, not after everything I’ve done.”

Bolvar Fordragon, paladin in life and the current Lich King, smiled approvingly.

Matthias yawned, looking half interested at his friends, especially at the pacing Spike.

“Keep it together, buddy...” the baby dragon mutters to himself for about tenth time already, “gotta stay strong... for Twilight...”

They are all currently in front of the castle in Canterlot, waiting for Twilight to finish telling Princess Celestia what have happened in the Crystal Empire. Save for Matthias, everypony was anxious. Aside from Spike, the ones who were taking it worst is Rarity, who was laying on the ground - which spoke something about the seriousness of the situation - and Pinkie Pie, who was biting her hooves and had to be comforted by Applejack, while both of them followed Spike pacing back and forth with their eyes.

An exasperated sigh accidentally escaped his lips, and Rainbow Dash glared at him.

“Okay, seriously, what is the matter with you?” she asked him, angry. “I get it that you might feel down after killing Sombra and think of Twilight’s test and her worries to be unimportant, but you could at least try to be more considerate of her situation!”

The rest of them stopped their... whatever each of them were doing, and looked at Matthias, who noted to himself to remind them this situation at some point.

“I don’t think this to be of little matter.” he told them for now, being calm despite his slight irritation. “In fact, I think that Twilight’s concern about her future is more important that mine about past.”

“So what aren’t you showing it more?” Dash asked him, tilting her head to one side in confusion.

“You’ll see soon enough.” Matthias reply ambiguously, and turns his gaze to the doors.

Five mares and one dragon quickly shrugged that off and returned to their activities.

“She's totally gonna lose it!” Spike said, breathing heavily from his approaching panic attack. “Keep it together buddy... gotta stay strong... for Twilight-”

He is cut off by one side of door hitting him in the face, opened by a familiar lavender hoof.

Twilight jumps from the shadows of entrance to the daylight, unable to keep the joy in her heart to herself any longer.

“I passed!” she screamed in delight, pacing in place from the excitement.

Her friends all erupted, cheering for her and looking relieved... save for Matt who, to her utter amazement, had his cocky smile on face. It took her a split second to recall that of everypony, he was the only one who did not offer her any words of support of comfort, and something clicked in her head.

“That little... thickhead!” Twilight screamed in her mind, unable to think of worse insult. “He knew I would pass all along!”

She was about to do something drastic to him, but that had to wait for later as Spike jumped to her and hugged her.

You were prepared to do your best; Twilight heard Rarity sing, when she looked up and being released from Spike’s embrace, she saw the other unicorn approach.

Had what it takes to pass the test; Rarity continued, coming closer, and the lavender
mare blushed from being praised like this.

All those doubts you can dismiss; the white unicorn lifted Twilight’s head, not letting her
not enjoy this moment, and lead her away towards the train station;

Turns out you were

Prepared for this! And then the others joined in

Matthias watched this getting further away as his friends perform an improvised musical. He barely stopped himself from laughing, as out of nowhere an image appeared in his head of a certain individual from his past rolling in his grave.

He wished he could just simply join in with, but he had his duties. Even if Princess would be lenient enough to let him come at later date - which wouldn’t surprise him in the least - his sense of duty prevented him.

“Besides, Twilight would most likely frown at me all the way to Ponyville for not telling her that she was going to pass.” Matthias chuckled, as he walked into the castle, searching for the Princess.

On the way, he couldn’t help but notice two new additions to the collection of stained glasses: one commemorating Spike bringing the Crystal Heart to Cadance so she could inspire the Crystal Ponies, the other of two ponies facing each other in battle, one basked in Light, the other drowned in darkness.

Doing his best to not frown at the undeserved homage, Matthias continued his search, when his ears caught some discussion coming from the balcony, recognizing the two voices to belong to Celestia and Luna. Being curious, he kept closer, trying his best to not alert the Princesses with his presence.

“I told you, little sister, she would succeed.” Celestia said, as he reached the barely opened doors.

“I did not doubt it.” Luna replied, although she sounded a bit defensive. Matthias, to his confusion, saw through the cracks between the doors that her horn glowed. Nearby her head there was an aura of magic, meaning she was holding something. “I merely suggested that I should accompany them as well. And before you ask, yes, I agree that she’s almost ready to fulfill her destiny.”

“Wait, what?” Matthias thought, intrigued, as he tried to see more through the crack in the doors.

Unfortunately, he accidently moved one and it creaked, making both of the Princess turn their heads. Realizing that it would be better to not get caught spying on them, the paladin opened the doors, making it appear as if he just came. However, he managed to get a glimpse of an object that was held by Luna’s magic before it disappeared.

It was a book, with a symbol of two stars and swirly pattern.

Prepared... for this! everypony finished singing as the train rode towards Ponyville.

Twilight wished that Matt was here to sing along, but she understood that he had his duty.

“Besides, I would probably be mad at him for not telling me that he figured I would pass.” she realized, amused.

“Yeah,” Spike’s nervous laugh interrupted her train of thoughts, “I knew everything was going to be fine.”

And he passed out.

Giggling, the unicorn levitated the small dragon to one of the beds. As she did so, she noticed that Pinkie was looking around the compartment, seeming... confused?

“Um, girls?” she asked glancing at them. “How did we get here so fast?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. Pinkie Pie was always being a Pinkie Pie.

Many hours later, Matthias was finally allowed some moments of real relaxation (even if he was certain that Twilight would pass, knowing how she felt made the trip back much more stressful). He lay down on Luna’s sofa, watching little Moonlight play on her mother’s bed with Celestia’s pet ‘bird’.

“You seem to look at Philomena strangely.” noticed amused Luna, who lay nearby two smaller figures.

“Well, you’ll have to excuse me, but my past experience with phoenixes hasn’t been pleasant.” he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

“Ah, right... Al’ar, correct?” Luna recalled Keal’thas’s pet that she saw in Matt’s memories, watching her daughter giggle as she tried to reach for the circling Philomena above her with her hooves. “Very curious how similar Azeroth’s and Equestria’s phoenixes are, even if Azeroth’s seems to be more creatures of flames than of flesh.”

Matthias nodded absentmindedly, too tired to bother pondering on that matter. The discussion with Celestia and Luna about Sombra, that dark being, the six undead ponies, the crystal ponies, the order... it took a huge toll on him. He preferred to just enjoy watching cute princess being a foal.

As if the little thing could read minds, she lost interest in Philomena and turned to him, making that adorable sound again. Luna quickly picked her up and levitated her to Matthias, placing her on his back, much to Moonlight’s amusement.

“You two cannot be serious.” the paladin thought, looking at Luna who bore a grin.

To make this situation even more embarrassing to him, Philomena landed on Moonlight’s cradle, and Matthias could swear the damned bird was smirking. Sighing inwardly, he rose, being careful to not drop little alicorn off his back.

“Does the princess wish to ride on her knight?” he asked in a foalish voice, as Moonlight hugged his mane and giggled. “Very well then, we shall ride!”

And he proceeded to do one of the most embarrassing things he had ever done: prance around the room while having a small foal in his back.

Surprisingly, after the first lap Matthias realized it wasn’t that much embarrassing, although Luna’s laugh wasn’t helping with that matter. Even so, he began to jump higher and higher, much to the little princess’ delight. They would probably continue to do so for a long time, but soon her small body demanded rest, as she began giggle less vigorously.

“Looks like it’s time for bed.” Luna said as Matthias stopped, a bit winded.

The Princess of the Night took her daughter off his back and put her inside her cradle, kissing her at the base of her horn as she whispered: “Goodnight”. Moonlight yawned in reply and almost instantly, she was asleep.

“You know, Luna...” Matthias whispered as they moved away, wondering if what he was going to say made any sense. “I think... that for the first time, I’m almost... happy that my life turned out like it did. Had it not, this wouldn’t take place.”

Luna glanced at him, and smiled sadly, understanding what he felt too well.

“I’m happy that you think so.” she replied. “But I know you well enough to know that you will regret everything till the end of time, even if personally I am glad things turned out as they did.”

Matthias sighed, knowing that she’s right. His sigh turned into yawn as his exhaustion reminded him of the sleeping foal, making Luna grin with amusement.

“Well, seems that not only my daughter needs to be put to bed.” she chuckled.

“I will agree with some of that statement.” Matthias said, not liking that last part. “It is really late, after all. But I think it will be enough if you’ll just assign a guard to lead me to my quarters.”

“Quarters?” Luna replied with a mild surprise. “I was going to send you to Ponyville.”

“Huh?” he asked, confused, before he realized what she meant. “Oh! Magic, forgot that. I must be more exhausted than I thought.”

“I figure that sleeping in Twilight’s home would be more relaxing for you than in the castle.” Luna continued, and then allowed herself to grin once again. “Or, if you want, I can cast a spell that will allow you to walk on clouds and send you to Rainbow Dash’s house instead.”

It took him a couple of second to realize what she said, but when he did, he looked at her sharply.

“You were spying on us.”

“Not exactly.” she replied, and although she pretended to sound ashamed, it was clear to Matthias that the Princess was highly amused. “I was just curious how would thing go between you and Twilight after you decided to be friends, so I kept checking on you until I saw... few things.”

The last words were said with a blush, to Luna’s credit.

“So you weren’t spying on me and Twilight, but on me and Dash you were peeping.” he corrected his earlier statement.

“Sorry.” Luna apologized. “I just wanted to know how would Cadance’s plan go-”

“Wait, Cadance’s?! I thought it was Rarity’s!”

“Look at the time! Bye!”

Matthias interrupted her spell with a flash of Light before she could send his to Ponyville. But as he was about to ask any more questions, he sighed, realizing he didn’t care that much about any of that.

“Nevermind.” he said, but recalled one thing that mattered to him. “What was it that about Twilight’s destiny you were talking about?”

Luna’s jaw dropped, but she quickly pulled herself together.

“You were spying on us.” she repeated his own words from earlier.

“Should be more careful how loud you speak. So?”

For some reason, Luna again giggled.

“Oh, Arthas... why tell you this, when it will be more amusing to wait a few months for everypony to find out?” she asked him, winking. “Trust me, it is nothing to worry about... and you will find this matter highly amusing.”

Matthias was about to object, since it was his friends destiny that this ‘matter’ was, but he stopped himself. Luna said it was nothing to worry about... right? And he was patient, to some extent. A few months won’t be that long.

“Very well, I shall trust you on this. Good night, Princess Luna.”

“Good night, Prince-”

“King.” he interrupted her. “I am the King of Fallen Lordaeron.”

Luna’s expression turned from mildly surprised to a sadly understanding, knowing what this title meant.

“Good night, King Arthas.”

Her horn flashed, and when Matthias blinked, he was in front of familiar tree with a library in it.

76. Cleansing of body and soul

Matthias took in the sight of Twilight’s house, feeling... as if he was at home. Even if he lived here only for barely more than three months, the library, and, more important, it’s owner, became an important part of his heart.

“Home is where your heart is.” he thought to himself, amused.

Absentmindedly, his hoof reached to his scarred chest, as if to make sure that last few months weren’t a dream. That it wasn’t just some hallucination, caused by his enemies, many of whom he would’ve hugged and thanked to no end now. But no, his heart was back, as it’s slightly increased at the sight of library beating proved.

Returning to reality, Matthias trot closer to the door. He could see that the lights were turned off inside, which did not surprise him. It’s really late after all, and even if everypony wanted to celebrate Twilight passing the test, parties couldn’t go on forever, not after stopping an evil force from taking over an empire. They were bound to be tired - aside from Pinkie Pie, of course - and go to sleep.

Personally, he couldn’t think of anything more pleasant than that. It was a long, exhausting day for him. Now that he did his duty to the country that he became part of, and spend some time with his goddaughter, he wanted to take a good night’s rest. So when Matthias carefully twisted the knob on the door and entered the library, his first steps (quiet so he wouldn’t wake up Twilight and Spike) were directed towards the bedroom, but midway there he stopped himself.

Sure, nice long sleep was pleasant, but after the ordeal he went through with that possessed pony, Matthias decided to treat himself to something even better. So he turned, and walked into the bathroom, planning to take a long, warm bubble bath.

Luna walked into Celestia’s chambers, with Philomena on her shoulder. She left one of her maids looking after sleeping Moonlight, and came to return her sister’s pet and talk about few matters.

“Tia?” she asked, not seeing the older alicorn, which was strange, considering that she should have finished all her duties by now.

“In here.” a reply came from bathroom’s concealed door, dispersing all of Luna’s thoughts about some emergency that happened. “Come in.”

The door at the side of the wall appeared, and the Princess of the Night trotted through them, entering purple colored room, illuminated by few aroma candles. Celestia was sitting in a large boat-like shaped bathtub, filled with bubbles. Luna felt Philomena leave her shoulder and land next to her owners head, nuzzling Celestia’s cheek affectionately.

“Philomena proves to be an excellent playmate for little Moonlight.” the younger alicorn told her sister. “I hope you won’t mind if I continue to borrow her from time to time.”

“Not at all.” the Princess of the Sun replied, returning phoenix's affection, before she glanced back at Luna. “Would you care to join me, little sister?”

Luna smiled, two towels at the wall catching her eye: one embroidered with big letter ‘C’ and a symbol of a sun, belonging to Celestia, and the other with letter ‘L’ and crest of the moon, property of Luna. Similar towels were hanged in her own bathroom, as the two sisters liked to take baths together from time to time.

“I would love that.” the younger Princess said, and quickly used her magic to take of her regalia and horseshoes, which she put next to Celestia’s.

Luna stepped carefully into the hot water, while her sister closed the door and moved a bit to make more room for her. The younger alicorn sighed once she was fully submerged, already feeling relaxed. While during the past week Celestia took on herself all royal duties, being a mother was almost equally hard, the only reason for adding ‘almost’ being the fact that she could always ask her maids for help.

“I will need to look for a nanny for her.” she thought regretfully, knowing that she would have to return to her duties.

“I assume you’ve sent Arthas back to Ponyville?” Celestia’s question brought her attention back to the present.

“Oh, yes.” Luna answered absentmindedly, and the one of the things she and Arthas talked about returned to her. “He overheard us talking at the balcony, Tia.”

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by that.” the white alicorn sighed, sinking deeper into the tub. “What did you tell him?”

“Only that it was nothing to worry about,” Luna replied, and grinned when she added: “and that he would find this amusing.”

Celestia’s eyes widened for a moment, before she erupted with laughter, to which Luna joined in. They continued to laugh for a while, causing Philomena to fly away some distance and look at the two alicorns with concern, as despite her huge intelligence she couldn’t figure out why this was so funny to them.

“I cannot wait to see the look on his face when it happens.” Celestia said through her laughter, covering her mouth with hoof as she began to calm down. “I hope by then he and Twilight will reconsider their current relationship. They would make such a cute couple.”

“Perhaps.” Luna chuckled, not understanding why Twilight chose things between her and Arthas to be this way. He at least had an excuse of extremely traumatic past. “It would be nice to have another wedding sometime soon. But, despite Twilight’s poor grasp of how relationships should work, you must be real proud of her for how she turned out.”

“I am.” Celestia replied, and her face spoke so as well - except for a small frown that anypony but Luna wouldn’t notice that appeared on her brow.

“What’s the matter?” the younger alicorn asked, not bothering to explain what she meant.

Celestia sighed, being annoyed probably that she spotted that frown, and leaned back in the tub.

“I had one other promising student like Twilight, over two hundred years ago.” the Princess said after a while, her eyes clouded as she recalled past. “Her name was Sunset Shimmer, and you could tell she had a great future ahead of her by just looking at her. Sunset might not had the rough talent with magic that Twilight has, but she was powerful in her own right. She was also... kind to everypony, much more confident that Twilight, and more than few times even argued with me.”

Luna watched as her sister spoke, and wasn’t surprise to see tears form in her eyes. She didn’t miss about her usage of past tense, which unfortunately wasn’t surprising as Sunset Shimmer lived two hundred years ago. Luna spared a second to blame herself for leaving her sister for the whole thousand years, when she noticed that something was off with her sister. Celestia became... sadder than she should be. Even if it was former student of hers and was obviously close to her, Luna knew that Celestia, while always saddened by the death of others, grow to accept the fact that everypony had to pass away at some point.

Instead of asking, she moved closer to her sister and just looked at Celestia.

“She died to disease before she even reached the end of the second decade of her life.” the older alicorn finally said. “She developed this Zebola after her visit with me to the zebra tribes, and was the first and only pony to die to it. Once Sunset fallen ill, I myself and few others searched for cure, and we finally discovered... few weeks after her death.”

Luna, not knowing what else she could do, hugged Celestia. She has seldom seen her be so... defeated.

“We’ve managed to cure other ponies that caught it from her.” she continued, somehow managing not to weep. “It takes time for Zebola to reach its final stage... time that was too short for Sunset.” she sighed and finally looked back at Luna. “Other than what happened with you, that is the biggest failure of my life. I had long pondered whenever if I threw myself fully into searching for cure, would I manage to save her. But I had my duties, which Sunset was the first one to point it out to me. Even despite the pain she was in and delusions, she thought of others, asking for few of her friends that caught it from her, and telling me to not be sad if she would...”

She was then silenced by a tighter hug.

It was a warm night, as most of nights in Ponyville were during those last days of summer. Twilight made her way back to her home, returning from the party Pinkie Pie threw for her back in Sugarcube Corner - after the lavender unicorn cast a spell that prevented noises they would undoubtedly made to be heard by the sleeping Cakes upstairs - which involved dancing, talking, eating and drinking.

“I wonder if we might have overdid it a bit.” Twilight thought tiredly as she trotted, wobbling slightly.

Not that she’s drunk too much. Twilight learned her lesson back at the reception, and the last thing she needed right now was to get drunk and wake up next to Matt.

“Then again, that would have been quite impossible this time.” she thought regretfully as she opened the door to her library.

Trotting carefully to not wake up Spike, who she send off back home an hour or two earlier when he nearly fallen asleep standing up, Twilight reflected on how drunk Rainbow got again. Thankfully, she wasn’t nearly as bad as back that memorable night, and did not made out with anypony again. She was escorted back to her home by Fluttershy, who didn’t drink more than toast for Twilight at the beginning, and Applejack, who had her rope with her in case Rainbow would try to fly off. They were debating on not letting Dash go back home at all, as pegasi flying drunk was the perfect recipe for a disaster, laws aside, but the cyan pegasus was too stubborn.

“I hope that Rainbow Dash won’t try to make out with either of them.” Twilight chuckled to herself, but quickly stopped when halfway to the bedroom she noticed light coming from the bathroom. “Spike’s still awake? Or did he fallen asleep during his bubble bath... again?”

Confused, she walked towards Spike’s bed, and saw the sleeping baby dragon in it.

“I... guess he forgot to turn off the lights?” she came to a conclusion, and fixed his blanket, which partially slipped off from him. “I better go turn it off... although...” thought came to her as she recalled how tired she was from both the party and the whole day. “... it would be nice to take a bath.”

With that thought and mind, she headed to the bathroom, but there awaited her is a pleasant surprise. When she opened the door to it: the whole room was full of steam, and she could see, albeit barely, water in her bathtub.

“How nice of Spike to prepare a bath for me!” she thought, being pleased with her assistant’s thoughtfulness.

Making a mental note to give the baby dragon some gems tomorrow, Twilight trotted half blind through the bathroom, wondering how hot Spike must have set the water up to make the warmth stay this long. She checked it with her hoof, and decided that it is perfect and slowly crawled into the tub.

With eyes closed, she let a relaxed sigh escape her lips, when suddenly she felt her hind hooves touch something. Confused, Twilight opened her eyes.

Matthias was dozing off when he felt something touch his hind hooves, but he returned to his senses at once, his eyes snapping open...

... to see Twilight doing the same.

Both of their eyes widened, and the lavender mare also screamed and tried to move back; which, due to her back already pressed against the side of the bathtub, was impossible.

“Seriously?” he asked her once she stopped, rubbing his temples. “This one is on you.”

That seemed to calm her down, although there visible traces of red on her cheeks while she pressed her hind legs closer to her chest.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” she began to stammer. “I-I didn’t know you were back, I saw the light turned on and the steam, and I thought Spike prepared it for me, and...”

“Twilight,” Matthias interrupted her, raising one hoof, while rearranging his position and tail so that he was sure she wouldn’t see his privates, “I am way too tired to make any sense of that.”

“Oh, right, sorry.” the unicorn said, now even more red. “I... I will go now...”

“Stay.” Matthias told her before she could get up, and as she turned to him shocked, he explained: “We find ourselves in these situations so often that we might as well not be bothered by this... besides, we are friends, right? There is no reason for tension.”

Twilight looked at him suspiciously and embarrassed, before she nodded and tried to make herself more comfortable, without any part of their bodies touching. Matthias guessed by her movement that she moved her tail between her legs, although with all those bubbles the risk of him seeing anything was close to zero.

“Weren’t you supposed to stay in Canterlot?” she asked, with her cheeks still red as she tried to not look at him.

“I had forgotten that the Princesses could just send me here after we were done.” Matthias replied, a bit ashamed of that. He was also not entirely comfortable with Twilight and him sharing a bath, the only reason for him making stay being his extreme exhaustion and not wanting to deal with this in the morning. “Where were you? I thought you were sleeping by now.”

“Pinkie threw a party for me. You know, cause I passed and... all.” her eyes sharpened and she looked straight at him. “You knew I was going to pass all along!”

Matthias nodded, picking up a weak scent of alcohol from her breath.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” Twilight shouted, leaning closer to him. “Do you have any idea how awful the ride back to Canterlot was for me?! How I felt knowing I failed when everypony told me I was going to do great?!”

“Yes, but tell me: if had I said anything, would you believed me?” he asked her, raising one eyebrow.

It was clearly wrong thing to say, as after brief second of staring at him in shock, Twilight’s eyes began twitching and her horn glowed. However, before he could react in any way, something happened that made him wish she had carried on whatever her intent was.

“What are you two doing?” a sleepy voice of Spike, coming through the doorway, asked.

Twilight looked away from Matt’s face which, she just now realized, she was dangerously close to. She shifted her gaze to regard the baby dragon.

“Oh, no...” was all she managed to think as, while Spike looked at them both, rubbing his eyes.

The unicorn could not believe that in her slightly tipsy state she forgot to close the door to the bathroom, that she shouted so loud as to wake him up, or that she would have such bad luck today. If Twilight was presented with choice whenever she would want to take another test or deal with this she would gladly take the first one.

Before she could respond in any way to Spike, she felt a pair of strong hooves grab her, twist her around, and then - to her utter shock - some water was poured on her mane.

“I’m just helping Twilight wash her mane.” Matt said, a bit too normal sounding, as the unicorn realized one of his hooves was currently applying a shampoo on her head. “Nothing interesting to see here, Spike, sorry we woke you up.”

Twilight did her best to smile at the little dragon, trying to look convincing, and apparently he bought in, as he shrugged and went back to his bed. She sighed, and leaned back, forgetting for a moment about her discomfort as she laid against Matt’s chest.

“This won’t end well.” she muttered as the stallion continued to massage her head, washing her mane.

“Let’s just make sure he doesn’t meet your brother any time soon.” Matt replied in a low voice. “I’m sure if we manage that, everything will be fine.”

Twilight nodded absentmindedly and chuckled, but her bliss state didn’t last long, as she soon realized what was happening.

“I’m... this close to Matt...” she thought and she stiffed, clenching her hind legs automatically, glad that her back was pressed against his chest and not... something else.

“What’s the matter?” he asked her, no doubt noticing change in her behaviour, while continuing what he was doing.

“I... don’t think we should...” Twilight stuttered, not able to form full sentence in this situation, felling hot with shame and embarrassment.

It was one thing to accept what they felt for each other, and still be friends. This closeness... is something completely different, and Twilight did not know what do. Before she could do anything, Matt embraced her chest with one foreleg gently, not in intimate manner, but as one would hug a friend... provided that in some bizarre way another two friends other than them would end up in this situation.

“Twilight,” he whispered directly to her ear, “I would never, ever, do something to you that would hurt you in any way. Don’t you trust me?”

The lavender unicorn, hearing that, has gulped and nodded, feeling a bit guilty. Of course she trusted Matt, she should have known he would stay... sane, in this situation. As the stallion, who returned to washing her mane, let go of her chest, Twilight began to relax under her friend’s tender care.

Her thoughts wandered, as the events of this day began to take toll on her. Twilight breathed deeply, abandoning herself to Matt’s treatment, fully trusting him to not do anything that could harm her or their friendship. It didn’t took long for her to enjoy the feeling of his hooves going through her mane, his touch on her coat, few occasional rubs on her horn...

All of a sudden, Twilight was experiencing a new emotion: arousal.

It wasn’t completely different; she already felt it back when they were trapped under the debris a while ago. But this time it was much more intense, and now Twilight was able to set it apart from love she felt in her heart. This new feeling was burning like fire in her loins, as she thought about his body being so close to hers, his stallionhood just within her reach, and her...

The water Matt poured on her head to clean it from the shampoo, while warm, worked on her like a cold shower, snapping her back to her senses.

“No!” she thought, desperately trying to make this burning sensation to go away. “Bad Twilight! He’s your friend!”

“How was Canterlot?” Twilight asked, hoping that if her mind would concentrate on something else, her body would give up.

“Fine, I suppose.” Matt replied, still keeping her close to himself despite being done with her mane. “I discussed a lot of things with the Princesses, and later spent some time with Moonlight. I even pranced around with her on my back, much to her delight.” he added, with a hint of both amusement and embarrassment.

“Even the image of him having a foal on his back isn’t helping...” Twilight realized to her despair, finding it harder to not press her hoof against her marehood. “In fact, I think it’s getting worse... what is wrong with me?!”

She almost said then that she wanted to leave, but doing so could alarm Matt as to why, and possible make things uncomfortable between them. Not to mention that it would be embarrassing to her, not only due to obvious reasons, but also because she would prove herself weak to such primal urges, while Matt was clearly not bothered by them. So Twilight’s rational part of mind fought with her primitive one, as she went over every possible thing they could talk about that could maybe make her body stop.

“What were those places you mentioned?” she asked out loud, hoping her voice wasn’t going to quiver. “The Frozen Throne?” Even before those words left her lips, she felt Matt’s tense, as if she poured cold water onto him. Hoping this conversation would have similar effect on her, she continued: “You know… this is the second time that you mentioned it; the first when those three jerky dragons fought with you, you said you defeated a demon hunter – whatever that is - called Illidan Stormrage there.”

“You… have a great memory.” Twilight heard him whisper to her ear.

“Well, you also managed to surprise me in that term, when you recited my own words.” she said, finding some calmness in her long sentences. “Now that I think about it, you did so before; after your fight with Mighty Shot, when I mentioned my worries about wedding.”

He his hooves gently pressed harder against her shoulders, which is probably his way of saying ‘okay, I’m impressed’, but only served to fuel the sensation in her loins.

“The Frozen Throne...” Matt whispered, his voice sounding as if coming from far away. “I guess it could be best described as the place where I became the monster that Brann saw in me once he arrived.”

This confession, which also reminded her that Matt was once an evil being, somewhat eased her body, but not enough to be comfortable.

“And this Angrathar?” she asked, while wondering if he would notice if she put one hoof between her hind legs; she had never done so before, but this feeling was unbearable.

“It... was a sight of great and terrible battle.” he replied, almost mechanically. Some rational part of Twilight’s mind guessed that if she saw his eyes right then, they would be clouded in mist, like they were so long ago when she first met him. “No, not battle - it was a mass murder.”

“And the... Forsaken?” she asked unsure, remembering that they were apparently responsible for that.

That name had an unexpected result: Matt shook, and gasped, as if recalling something terrible. When he finally answered, his voice quivered:

“They... they were people that I harmed... a lot.”

“How?”

Twilight waited long for an answer to that question. So long, that she decided to glance behind her, for she worried that it angered him with all these snooping around.

What she saw made her heart skip a beat.

Matt, the most tough pony she knew, who practically laughed in the face of death just few hours earlier... was weeping like a foal.

“Please...” he gasped finally, his voice completely broken. “don’t ask me... please... I’m so sorry... I didn’t want any of that... don’t ask me...”

So shocked that Twilight was, that it took him few more seconds of mumbling, before she finally did what a friend was supposed to do.

She hugged him.

Matt hugged her back almost immediately, and wept openly into her shoulder. Twilight didn’t say a word. She didn’t know what to say, nor even if something could be said, but fully understanding that just being for him now was what mattered.

She patted him on the back, as the time passed.

Matthias sniffed for the last time, not sure how long he was crying or how it came to that. There hasn’t been a moment that he had not felt guilty, ashamed, sorry, and many other things about what he did, but he never before showed it like this. But the moment Twilight asked him about his former subjects; it was as if a dam broke in his heart.

The paladin was dimly aware that the water was now cold, meaning they had to sit like this in embrace for a long time. He now felt guilty and embarrassed for this, and figured he had to explain some of it to Twilight.

“Thanks, Twilight.” he started, not pulling back just yet. “For... being here. And I’m sorry for it.”

He stopped then, giving her a chance to react, to release him from her embrace, but nothing happened.

“Twilight?” he asked, worried, but his worry soon turned into mild irritation as he recalled how long ago she stopped patting his back. “You’re asleep, aren’t you?”

Matthias pulled back as much as he could - which wasn’t far, as Twilight’s grip was tight and would probably prove unbreakable, unless he woke her up - and was proven right: Twilight is asleep, her head resting on his shoulder.

Sighing, the earth pony wondered what to do. The sensible thing would be to wake her up, but... she looked so peaceful...

“I am the most pathetic creature there is.” Matthias thought bitterly as he carefully walked towards the bedroom, holding Twilight to his chest, not letting her go.

It took both of them a whole hour to dry off naturally, as he was afraid to awaken her by using any towels. That alone spoke something about his patheticness, even if some part of his mind recognized it as romanticism. Still, he was pathetic while doing so.

He almost reached their beds, not sure at that point on which one should he - and her - lay, when something that he feared happened.

Somepony woke up.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t Twilight.

Spike rose from his sleeping place, rubbing his eyes as he looked at Matthias, who was holding up a sleeping Twilight, as she was still clenched to him. Not sure what else he could do, the earth pony pointed a hoof at the baby dragon.

“This is a dream.” he told him in mystical-like voice.

To his surprise, it seemed to work; as Spike nodded and laid back, rolling his head away from the two of them. Matthias sighed, and headed to his bed, not wanting to risk waking up Spike again.

Once they are lying comfortably on his bed under blankets, he looked at Twilight, amazed how beautiful she was to him. Gently, he lifted one hoof to her face, brushing away lock of hair, wondering if it would be okay to kiss her right now as he breathed in her sweet scent. In the end, he decided not to. Not because it would be wrong, or out of fear what she might do to him, or what would Rainbow do - although he wasn’t sure if she’d do anything - but because of one, simple thing.

Twilight was innocent, unspoiled.

She could do better than him, and she most certainly did not need his shadow covering her.

“Goodnight, my love.” Matthias thought as he snuggled to her, not caring if she would murder him in return once she woke up.

Twilight was quick to realise this as she woke up.

She slept with Matt... again!

For a heartbeat, her mind was filled with panic, just like the first time. But unlike then, she had the memory of everything that happened prior... aside from how they ended up in bed, as she was certain she fallen asleep in the bathtub. Overall, she couldn’t complain about that.

Besides, she trusted Matt. Twilight knew that he wouldn’t do anything to her. She doubted he even kissed her, although to her mild surprise, she found that she wouldn’t mind.

She shaked her head a bit as she pulled back, being careful not to wake him. Twilight thought about the events of the night. How, because of her own shortcomings, she brought painful memories to Matt. Fighting off tears of shame, she thought about a way to make it up to him.

Matthias waken up to stare into a set of purple eyes... of a much brighter shade than he expected. The scent also didn’t match...

“Rainbow?” he finally asked, surprised, as his head backed away slightly.

“Who else did you expect?” she asked back, smirking, no doubt knowing the answer. “Twilight came to me about an hour ago, and said you might need some cheering up once you wake up. She also took Spike off to do some errands around town, saying they would be back by evening.”

Many confusing thoughts went through his head at that statement - relief, wonder, shame, amusement, excitement, amazement and arousal... - most of them steaming from a simple fact that Twilight basically gave them her blessing to buck in her own house.

“I’m afraid that for next few hours I won’t be of much use.” he said to her regretfully, still feeling tired from yesterday, both physically and emotionally.

“Okay, we can snuggle a bit.”

The carefree reply put him off track for a moment.

“Since when do you like ‘mushy’ stuff?”

“Look,” Rainbow had said, sighing and rolling her eyes, “I know I’m not good at this, but you’re obviously feeling down because of something, and you’re not just somepony I rut with when I’m bored. You’re my friend, so I will help you. Besides,” she added, smiling weekly, “I have a bit of hangover...”

Matthias chuckled quietly and pulled her closer to him, and Rainbow in return wrapped her wing around him as they both snuggled.

Author's Note

And this ends arc four, "the Crystal Empire".

I will be, unfortunately, taking another break for studying. Trust me, I would rather write new chapters, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do. I will write more details on my user's blog sometime soon, but know this: while I plan to write one chapter per week, or maybe two weeks, I will try to focus on my other stories: Project Eclipse, Hero of Altomare, and Shadow of the Past. So, I will probably take turns, and it might be a while before I will start arc five.

To make it up to you, I thougt about making a blog post, in which, in the comments, you could ask me questions, and I would try to answer them, while trying to not revail much of this or other stories' futures. Sound fun? I suppose I would post it on... Wednesday, provided you will mention in the comments that you like the idea. I mention specific date, because I figure you won't bother watching my user page just for this.

So, I guess this about sums everything up. Until next time (possible Wednesday) stay pony.

PS: Yes, I know Ebola, on which I based Zebola, is a virus, not disease.

77. Meeting the initiaties

Twilight sighed as she ate her breakfast and read some books, wondering why she felt so down this morning. The answer came to her as her gaze shifted from her book to an empty seat on the other side of the table.

This was the day Matt would move out.

“It came sooner than I expected.” Twilight thought, pushing her cereal away. She lost her appetite.

Only a few days after they’d returned from the Crystal Empire, the construction of the Everfree Abbey began. Asked by Matthias, she and their other friends didn’t go to the site, as he wanted to show it to them in its full glory once it was finished, which happens to be today. Of course, due to the Abbey being located between Ponyville and Everfree Forest, Applejack and Fluttershy had to look the other way whenever they went in or out of town. As for Matt, he spend majority of his time at the construction site, overseeing everything. Coupled with Twilight’s increased level of studies, this meant that they saw each other mostly twice a day. The longest they talked was when Matt asked her to hold on for him books he had ordered from Canterlot for the chapel’s library (until the workers finished said part of the construction). Twilight did so happily, as those were in majority history books, and even included few notes from the time of the only war Equestria have ever been part of: the Equestrian-Griffonian War that erupted barely few years after the founding of both countries.

For all her lust for knowledge, Twilight knew little about it, as most documents about it were lost - like many others - during Discord’s reign. And supposedly, even before his origami involving prank they were lacking, as their contents ‘left out’ the last year of the war almost completely. It was only known that in the final battle over New Griffenburg (which served as the capital of Griffonia by then), Commander Hurricane defeated and captured King Friedrich the First, resulting in Equestria’s victory.

Returning her mind to the present moment, Twilight pondered how often she would see Matt now.

“Likely even less than now, as he will be busy with training paladins...” the unicorn mused unhappily, shifting pages of ‘Nature of changing matter’ absentmindedly. “But maybe it’s for the best? That way, we might finally stop being in love, and finally be one hundred percent friends. I most certainly don’t need a repeat of events of that night.”

Twilight twitched uncomfortably as she recalled how the two of them found themselves in a bathtub, not to mention that they were seen by Spike. Thankfully her assistant, who just now entered the kitchen, kept that to himself.

For now, anyways. Only Light knows when he’ll accidently blab it up.

“I finished cleaning the basement and the bathroom.” the baby dragon reported. “Was there anything else I am supposed to do today?”

“Well, we were going to pick up few things for the last evening with Matt...”

Spike cheerful expression turned to sadness: like her, he forgot that the paladin would move out today. And even though he would still be in Ponyville, it wouldn’t be the same. Twilight, despite her own mood about this matter, couldn’t help but feel sorry for her young assistant. While Spike never complained about it, he was spending most of his time hanging around with mares and fillies, which he must have found a little bit annoying at times. Having Matt here, a stallion he could talk to and look up to on daily basis was great for his growth and generally state of being. Twilight even suspect he started to think of him as a big brother figure.

“You know, Spike.” she started, trying to cheer him up, “I’m sure if you would ask, Matt would let you sleep at the Abbey from time to time.”

To her surprise, the dragon shook his head.

“Why would I want to do that? Matt is great to hang around with, but I like living with you a lot more.” Spike said, making her smile fondly. The dragon, on the other hoof, smirked, in oddly familiar fashion. “Besides, without me, you won’t be able to keep this place clean.”

Making a mental note to pull Matt by his ear for letting Spike learn that from him, she coughed.

“Anyway, as I was saying... we will need to pick up few things for last evening with Matt, and then for slumber party with girls.”

“Wow, girly stuff five seconds after Matt leaves.” Spike rolled his eyes, but once he caught Twilight stare, he chuckled. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself.”

“But before any of that,” Twilight continued, “we are supposed to welcome with everypony else to the four ponies that Matt will train to become paladins once they arrive in Ponyville, and then finally see the Everfree Abbey.”

“Right, I totally forgot about it.” the dragon exclaimed, excited by both ideas. “What do you think it looks like? And what kind of ponies are those guys?”

“Guess we will have to wait and see.” she replied, although personally, she was as curious as he; after all, one of those four was supposed to be the pony she saw trapped in a block of amber-like-crystal for over a thousand years. “In the meantime, let’s go and find Matt.”

As she busted the last cloud for today, Rainbow Dash spotted Twilight and Spike leaving the library. Having nothing better to do for a moment, she flew down to them.

“Hey guys.” Dash greeted them. “Where are you off to?”

“We wanted to get Matt before we would all go welcome the paladin candidates. Do you want to tag along?”

“Uh, sure.” the cyan mare replied, slightly nervous.

Ever since she and Matt did that in Twilight’s house, she felt a bit uncomfortable around her friend whenever the stallion was mentioned. While Dash didn’t thought so back then, and even had unicorn’s permission for that, it seemed to her now... as if she betrayed her.

“Good thing he will now have his own place.” she thought as the three of them set off.

Dash recalled how she pondered the idea of having Matt spend night at her house, but decided against it, as it would require asking Twilight to cast spell at him enabling him to walk on clouds. While her friend never showed having any problem with their ‘activities’, Rainbow considered that to be pushing it.

Not to say that doing it on the ground was bad or anything, but it did require of them to go further away from Ponyville, and with Matt being busy with the construction...

“Hey, wait a minute!” Dash exclaimed, stopping. “Weren’t the workers supposed to pack it up today? Why is Matt there?”

“Probably, he isn’t.” Twilight replied, continuing to trot.

“Then where-” the cyan mare began, but stopped as it hit her. Facehoofing, she muttered: “For Pete’s sake...”

And indeed, they found Matt at his pondering place beside the river by the edge of Ponyville. Dash, Twilight and Spike assumed he came here to meditate, and it appeared that they were right, but what exactly they saw made them stare in silence for few heartbeats.

Encased in golden light, Matt was hovering few inches above the ground.

“Hi everypony.” he greeted them as he swirled around, despite his body not showing any sign of movement.

“Are you... flying?” Rainbow asked him, dumbfounded.

“No, but I am levitating.” Matt replied, amused.

Rainbow shook her head, and was about to ask him to explain how exactly it worked, but Twilight beat her to it.

“Are you using the Light to do it?” the unicorn looked at him with wonder in her eyes.

“More or less; it’s more on the lines of being in permanent state of deeper connection with Light than actually using it... although, truth be told, it’s pretty much useless. Anyway, what’s up?”

“We were supposed to go welcome your new paladin wannabes, remember?” Rainbow Dash said, still a bit put off by Matt continuing to levitate.

“Paladin initiates.” he corrected her. “Or rather, they will be initiates, starting tomorrow. And yes, I do remember. The train with the one from Crystal Empire is due in half an hour; the three from Canterlot should be ten minutes later.”

“Let’s go get the others then.” Twilight suggested. “I’m sure Pinkie Pie is dying to meet them.”

Rainbow suppressed a snicker at the sight of Matt’s pouting. He spend a lot of time past this month talking to Pinkie, trying to explain to her that the four ponies were coming to Ponyville on an official business. They are to learn the ways of the Light, so that they might protect Equestria from evil. As such, throwing them a party would be rather inappropriate, and they wouldn’t have time for it anyway. After a while, he succeeded, but in exchange Pinkie demanded that they would go welcome them.

Which brought about this moment.

“Let’s go, then.” Matt replied Twilight, and began to move... still hovering over ground.

“... Matt?” Dash asked, pointing hoof at the ground beneath him; this was starting to irritate her.

The earth pony chuckled, and the glow disappeared, making him drop and stand on his hooves.

“Better?” he asked, visibly amused that he irritated her.

Finding everypony didn’t prove much of a challenge - especially since they had Ponyville’s fastest pony on their side - and soon, all eight of them waited at the station. Twilight couldn’t help but enjoy what she knew what it’s likely be one of the last moments they would all hang out together in a long time. She could see others were probably thinking along the same lines, as every now and then somepony would frown for few seconds. That didn’t stop them though from chattering about the ponies they were going to meet.

“Speaking of...” Twilight thought as the train from the Crystal Empire rolled into the station.

Ponies began pouring out of it, both crystal and non alike. The first group consisted mostly of tourist, who wanted to see how Equestria had changed during the thousand years they missed out on, while in the other were the opposite ponies - the ones who just returned from sightseeing the Empire that was lost for the millennium. Shining Armor and Cadance wrote to her in one of the letters that their kingdom was practically getting swarmed with tourist, which proved to be good for economy once they invested in tourism, by rebuilding the old train station, building a lot of gift shops, enabling the crystal castle for tours, and other things like that.

Suppressing a chuckle at the thought of her brother dealing with budgeting for an Empire, Twilight glanced around to see if there was anypony coming in their direction. And soon, she spotted-

“A mare?” she mused, slightly surprised.

Indeed, walking up to them was mare, appearing to be their age. “Then again, she is technically a thousand years old.” Twilight recalled. She had bright yellow coat, with mane of slightly brighter shade. Her cutie mark appeared to be a lily, at least from the angle Twilight could see.

“Greetings, Serenity.” Matt spoke up once the crystal pony reached them. “I trust you had a pleasant ride.”

“Yes, quite-” the pony called Serenity began as she put her luggage on the ground, but was cut off by a large explosion of confetti and, as one could expect, Pinkie Pie appeared immediately beside her.

“WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!!!” she exclaimed to the very confused mare.

“Umh, thank you.” Serenity replied, while the pink pony receded back to her original place between Fluttershy and Rarity.

“Okay, I’m done.” Pinkie Pie told Matt with a wide smile.

The stallion visibly put some effort to not dwell on the matter, as Twilight did to not ask where did the confetti came from, and turned to regard all of them.

“Everypony, may I introduce to you Serenity. Her curiosity and interest in the Light, as well as the compassion I sensed in her, made me offer her a place in the Order.”

“Hello everypony.” Serenity greeted them, smiling a bit shyly. “It’s a pleasure to see those that my homeland owes so much.”

She bowed her head a little, making Twilight feel a bit uncomfortable. Granted, they did helped to save the Empire, but that didn’t mean they should be treated like anypony special.

“The pleasure is all ours, Serenity. But please, you don’t have to treat us like some sort of important figures.” she told her, hoping to make her more comfortable.

“Beg your pardon, Lady Sparkle, but you are the sister of the Prince...” Serenity began, but Twilight stopped her (not missing the amused smirk on Matt’s face).

“Perhaps, but I do not wish to be treated like royalty because of that, nor either of us wishes any reverence for helping the Crystal Empire.” Twilight added. “We just did what anypony else would do: helped ponies in need.”

Her friends all nodded in agreement. Even if they went there because of Celestia’s test, they all agreed that helping Crystal Ponies was most important.

“I see.” Serenity said thoughtfully. “I will try to bear that in mind, then.”

A quiet ‘ahem’ from Matt made them all turn their head to regard him.

“The three other recruits will arrive here shortly.” he told them. “Once they’re here, I will explain few things to you and them, and then we will proceed to the Everfree Abbey. Until the train arrives, feel free to continue socializing with everypony.”

“So, Serenity, tell us something about yourself.” Rarity encouraged the crystal pony, genuinely curious.

She was excited about a prospect of getting to know a crystal pony; they were all simply magnificent! Their shining coats, their crystallized manes, sparkling eyes... Oh, how she envied her!

“There’s nothing much to say, I’m afraid.” Serenity replied as the other mares and Spike huddled around her. Matt, on the other hoof, continued to observe the platform, but Rarity’s sharp eye spotted his ear twitching in their direction. “Before King Sombra came to power, I lived with my older brother, Sentinel. Our parents died in accident when I was little, so he took care of me.”

“Oh my, I’m so sorry.” Twilight said, and everypony else offered her sympathies as well. “It must have been hard for you.”

“It was, but Sentinel was there for me.” Serenity replied, but her voice then broke, and she looked on the ground. “I’m sorry, I’m just...” she mumbled, trying to explain to them her sudden change of mood. “He was one of the crystal guards...”

Serenity cut off, but she didn’t need to finish. Rarity shared a sad look with Twilight, as they and their friends recalled Matt’s words:

… the ponies who were guards of the Crystal Empire fell in battle against King Sombra thousand years ago.

Before any of them could say or do anything, Pinkie Pie immediately crept to Serenity and hugged her. The crystal pony glanced at her, a bit surprised that she would just hug a pony she just met, but then smiled shyly and returned the hug.

“Thanks, but I am over it... mostly.” Serenity said, pulling away. “I... knew he was dead when Sombra enslaved us, anyways. My brother would never have allowed him to harm anypony otherwise. Sentinel was really compassionate towards ponies in need. He even earned his cutie mark for that, similar to mine.” she added, pointing at her flank. “A Lily of the Valley, symbolizing purity and sweetness of heart, that would not stand to see misfortune of others.” A smile crossed her lips: “I remember how other colts teased him for having flower for a cutie mark...”

“Yar brother sounds like he was a great fellow.” Applejack told her sympathetically as others murmured their agreements. “Ah wish we could’ave met him.”

“He was. Sentinel inspired me to join the crystal guard so that I could protect ponies too. But before I could sign for training, that thing-possessing King Sombra came and, well, you probably know the rest.” Serenity finished, obviously not wanting to recall those days. “I still wish to help ponies, to uphold memory of my brother, so when Sir Lightbringer offered me to join his order...”

“Excuse me, who?” Rarity butted in, confused.

“Oh, sorry, I meant Matthias, that is, Sir Matthias.” Serenity corrected herself, glancing in the direction of the said stallion, as if fearing she offended him. “We began to call him ‘Lightbringer’ in Crystal Empire after witnessing his powers.”

“I see.” Twilight said, smirking at Matt. “That name actually suits him. You know, I think it was also the title of his mentor.”

“Yes, Sir Matthias mentioned that to me back in the Crystal Empire. He... seemed a bit displeased when I called him that. I hope that name isn’t offending him in any way. I heard that Princess Cadance was pondering the thought of building him a statue and signing it ‘Lightbringer’, in honor of his battle with Sombra.”

“Of course she would think of something like that.” Matt said with slight annoyance, for the first time speaking up and making Serenity and few others jump up a bit, as they didn’t think he was paying attention. Turning to the crystal pony, he continued, “Her Highness is a bit displeased with me addressing her by her title even during more casual situations, so I suppose it’s to be expected that she would try to get back at me, as I too don’t really like this. While we’re at it, when you are off-duty, like now, you don’t have to address me per ‘sir’.”

“I’ll try to remember, Si-, I mean, Lightbr-, I mean-”

“You can call me Lightbringer, if you find it easier.” Matt told, her, smiling reassuringly. “It doesn’t really bother me that much.”

Despite his words, Rarity spotted a shadow cross his features.

“I wonder why being called by his mentor’s title upsets him so.” she pondered, but at the same time, the train from Canterlot arrived. All of her thoughts were put aside at the prospect of meeting the other three paladin candidates who, as she knew from Matt’s comments, are all stallions. “I wonder if they are like him...” Rarity thought wistfully.

While she would never try to approach Matt in similar manner as Rainbow Dash - both due to her belief that he and Twilight were meant for each other, as well as firm stand on that lady shouldn’t... offer herself so hastily, even for a stallion like him - there was no denying in her mind that he was the most charming stallion she had met. Only few came close to his bar. Rarity, while after the disappointment that was Blueblood realized how far dreams could be different from reality, still harbored hope of falling in love with a dashing stallion; one that would protect her damsel from everything that would seek to harm her...

“Mother shouldn’t have read me so many bedtime stories.” she thought, suppressing an embarrassing chuckle, as she glanced at one of the doors of the train.

From the inside, an aqua unicorn stepped out, and once he spotted them, immediately brightened and trotted towards them. Rarity winced as she recognized him from Matt’s description. That was the pony that he, Twilight, Shining Armor and Brann found within that horrible ruined facility in the Everfree Forest, trapped in some sort of crystal prison. She’s been told that he’s a compulsive flirter who constantly used such uncouth words.

Rarity made a mental note to not let Sweetie Belle anywhere near him.

“Why, hello there, ladies.” he - Rarity believed his name was Tucker Out - said as he approached them.

Deciding to not pay much attention to him, the white unicorn glanced at the door he came through, and saw a sturdy looking brown earth pony follow him. Unlike Tucker, who’s younger than she and the rest of her friends, this one was much older. Close to his forties by her evaluation. That did not made him displeasing to eye, of course; he was quite charming, his body lined with firm muscles, mane gray (Rarity could easily tell that it was his natural color, not the mark of aging), and stood tall and proud.

“If you all came to greet me, please, take a number, and I’ll-” Tucker continued, but was abruptly cut off.

“I thought we agreed that you would behave yourself.” Matt told him sternly, and Rarity glanced at him. His face was that of pure displeasure, bordering on disgust. “That’s one of the conditions for letting you be part of society after only a month.”

Rarity returned her gaze to the train, spotting the last paladin candidate coming out of it.

“Oh, sorry, dude, I didn’t know they were all yours. Congrats, guess I was wrong about you being-”

This time his words were cut off by Matt’s hoof, making everypony relieved that they didn’t need to hear him for a moment. In the meantime, Rarity was extremely glad that they attention was concentrated on Tucker.

Thanks to that, they missed her quiet shriek of fear.

The pony that followed his companions is a pegasus. His coat dark gray, almost black, and his short mane are purple. Overall, there wasn’t anything in his appearance that would make Rarity or anypony else react like she did, he was even quite handsome, save for one part of his body.

His jaw was crooked.

The moment Rarity spotted the pegasus face, with his jaw slightly leaning towards the right, making his otherwise handsome features become disharmonies. She couldn’t help but instinctively yelp in fear, at the thought of him coming closer to her.

Ashamed at her reaction, the white unicorn quickly glanced at her friends. Thankfully, their eyes were still at Tucker, who was getting lectured by Matt on staying quiet in the presence of the ladies. Rarity sighed with relief. She didn’t want ponies to think she was judging others solely by appearance. She knew that it was highly unfair from her to react like she did, it was just... instinct.

Happy that nopony witnessed reaction, she glanced up... and saw the pegasus looking straight at her. He quickly shifted his eyes to regard Matt, but for that split second that their eyes were locked, Rarity could easily read what was in his.

Hurt.

“Well, you’ve already met Tucker Out.” the earth pony, clearly annoyed, said to the surrounding him mares and one dragon baby. “The other two are members of the royal guard, recommended by Princess Celestia herself: Guard Shield and Storm Clash.”

Storm Clash stood in attention at the mention of his name, doing his best to ignore the white unicorn. Her reaction, while not really new to him, was still hurtful. The other ponies, while glancing at his jaw either curiously or uncomfortably, at least refrained from shrieking.

“I believed we haven’t met face to face before.” his new commanding officer and mentor (easily recognizable by the two crossing scars on his chest) continued, look at him and Guard. “I am Matthias Lehner, Grand Master of the Celestial Light, which you agreed to become part on upon being offered to do so by Princess Celestia. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“Likewise,” Guard replied, bowing his head respectfully to the younger pony.

Storm wasn’t surprised. Pleasantries and protocols aside, Sir Matthias emanated respect. He reminded him of Shining Armor in that manner: the calm, decisive determination and passion that made ponies follow you even into the heart of battle.

“I’m sure I’ll speak both for myself and Storm when I say that we were deeply honored when Her Majesty presented this offer to us.” Guard continued.

“We hope we won’t fail yours or Her Majesty expectations.” Storm quickly said, not wanting them to think that he was mute to boot.

Although, he did felt uncomfortable speaking to his superiors.

“I’m sure you won’t.” Sir Matthias replied with reassuring smile. Glancing towards Tucker, he continued: “I trust that on your way here you’ve become acquainted with Tucker Out.”

“That’s an understatement.” Storm mused, having mixed feeling about the younger stallion.

While he proved to be annoying beyond belief, on rare occasions that he wasn’t speaking about sex (a subject Storm found a bit unnerving), he was actually pleasant to talk to. The pegasus also knew that Tucker had an amnesia, and that he was trapped in some changeling-like prison for about a thousand years, making him feel sympathy for the unicorn.

“The other pony that will train beside you three to become paladins is Serenity.” the Grand Master Matthias finished, nodding his head at the yellow crystal pony mare, who smiled shyly at him and Guard (Storm doubted she did so for Tucker as well). “As for the other ponies here-”

“We came to WELCOME YOU TO PONYVILLE!!!” suddenly somepony shouted.

This proclamation was followed by an explosion of confetti, courtesy of the pink mare, apparently, who smiled widely at them.

Sir Matthias sighed and carried on before Storm had a chance to ask what that was about.

“The other ponies here are - from left to right - Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle. The young dragon over here is Spike.”

The names finally clicked in Storm’s head, making him realize why he felt that they looked familiar, even before Grand Master said it.

“As you probably know, those ponies are responsible for saving Equestria over three times, and are Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. As such, in an event of emergency or danger, they have the same priority status as the Princesses.”

He paused, noticing the look the mares were giving him; Twilight Sparkle’s being the most annoyed one. Storm did his best not to chuckle.

“Don’t pay attention to that.” the lavender unicorn spoke up, although her sight didn’t leave Grand Master’s face. “Please, treat us as if we were normal ponies.”

“First: that is just in case of an emergency.” Sir Matthias replied, visibly annoyed as well. “Second: you are Bearers of Elements of Harmony, the most powerful mean of defense for Equestria...”

“You sound like a broken record.”

“... Third: you are a sister of a prince. Four: You are Celestia’s student...”

“Geez, get a room already.” Tucked interrupted them, rolling his eyes out.

That made few of the mares chuckle: Storm assumed that this must be an often joke about those two, although he wasn’t certain. The baby dragon, on the other hoof, looked at Tucker, confused.

“Why would they-” Spike began, but was cut off as Twilight Sparkle grabbed him with magic and put him beside herself.

“You do realize that you’ve just been assigned to be training dummy for tomorrow’s fight practice, right?” sir Matthias asked Tucker.

“Well, if this is Serenity who will do the fighting, then I can be her ‘training’ dummy.” Tucker replied, winking at the crystal pony. “All night long, even. Bow-chicka-bow-wow.”

Looking at Serenity’s face, Storm guessed that she wasn’t exactly thrilled with his proposition, but refused to react to it in any way. Sir Matthias glanced at her quickly, then once more at Tucker - and this time the unicorn shrinked under paladin's gaze - before he returned to addressing them all.

“Now then, why don’t we go see your new home, the Everfree Abbey?”

Author's Note

My exams are over, I passed everything (weird), so it's back to writing... or not. As you might recall from my previous break for studies, after I was done I started playing WoW. Well, same thing happened again. So you can expect updates in very slow pace (and most certainly not in the next few days).

Those of you who read "Project Eclipse" already know, but I am thinking about making another prequel to "Rebirth of the Damned". And by saying 'thinking about it', I mean I already have two chapters. However, I plan to post it much later on, after I have prepared more, and after there will be more references to it in RotD. Let me make one thing clear: it will have nothing to do with Project Eclipse. It will be centered about events even further in the past. Have fun trying to guess what it will be.

In other news, there is a fan fiction reading of Rebirth of the Damned on youtube. Fallow the link if you're to lazy to re-read first chapters ;p

How should the symbol of the Order look like?

78. Everfree Abbey

Storm Clash glanced around curiously as they trotted through Ponyville. Despite the small town being so close to Canterlot, he never visited it before. The few times he was assigned to guard the Princess on some delegation it was usually headed to one of the bigger cities. Even when he was on a leave, he opted to hang around with few guys from the Royal Guard, or visit his family in Manehatten.

Ponyville was quite peaceful looking. There weren’t any stuck up ponies in sight, everypony was polite to another, and all were visibly happy. It became clear as to why the Princesses and Sir Matthias felt it would be the best location for teaching ponies about the Holy Light... if what little he understood about it is true. Storm recalled hearing about how Sir Matthias was able to fight off the Changeling Queen and King Sombra, both powerful magic users, on even grounds; and at the same time heal those wounded at Sacred Heart Hospital, all thanks to its power.

For a moment the pegasus stopped paying attention to his surroundings, as he began to feel panic gripping his heart. Was he really a pony that could learn to control such powers? What if he would just humiliate himself during training, or worse, waste everypony’s time? What if-

“While it’s understandable to admire this beautiful town, you seem to stopped paying attention to what I’m saying, Storm Clash.”

At the remark, said by Sir Matthias, Storm snapped himself out of his brooding. Few ponies were glancing his way, some sympathetic, others - like Rainbow Dash - snickering, for getting reprimanded like that. Sir Matthias, however, didn’t even flick his ear at him, continuing to stare ahead as they trotted towards the Abbey.

“Sorry, Sir.” Storm said, wondering how he knew he wasn’t listening.

“No need to apologize, you didn’t miss much.” Sir Matthias replied with a warm tone. “As I was saying, all four of you will have to divide duties, such as cooking and cleaning, between yourselves. Don’t worry though, after you complete your training, we will have many new initiates, so there will be more ponies to pinch in.”

“Wish I could pinch somepony...” Tucker murmured, barely hearable. “Bow-chicka-bow-wow!”

The other sentence he said much louder, making the Grand Master glance back at him sharply.

“Um, sorry, sir.” the unicorn apologized, no doubt feeling a bit intimidated by the paladin’s stern gaze.

Sir Matthias rolled his eyes and turned his head back, to which Tucker sighed with relief. He then almost immediately looked to the left. Storm, following his gaze, spotted two mares sitting by a table in a restaurant nearby eating brunch. One was a unicorn with similar Tucker’s coat, but brighter, and mane pale cyan; while the other was an earth pony whose coat was pale yellowish, and mane blue pink. Storm Clash had to admit that they were quite pretty, but instead of gawking at them like Tucker, had redirected his attention back to Serenity, who’s just about to ask Sir Matthias a question.

“Lightbringer, sir,” Storm raised an eyebrow upon hearing this name, but decided to ask about it later, “how long does training initiates to paladins usually last?”

“It depends on many factors.” Sir Matthias replied. “Weapon training, prayers, discipline... but if you are wondering how long your training will last in particular, then know that I was hoping to have you became paladins in a matter of weeks.”

“Weeks?!” Storm thought, his doubts about himself again rising.

“However, after the ceremony that will grant you connection to the Light, you will still have to learn how to work with it, how to use its powers to heal others and fight your foes. I don’t expect you to be able to do such feats right away. It will take some time for you to understand how to channel the Light. I also plan for you to have a sort of ‘field practice’ at some point.”

Hearing that, Storm sighed quietly. It was huge relief for him, to know that it would still take time to learn everything after the ceremony... whatever would happen during it.

“Is it necessary for a paladin to go through ceremony to work with the Light?” Serenity still inquired.

“No, some can learn to open their hearts to the Light without it. However, where I came from, Light is much more... present, in the life of others, than it is in Equestria; so those that manage to find connection to the Light on their own have encountered with it before. For example, when I was young, I usually went with my family for praying session in a chapel to receive Light’s blessing. I am hoping that eventually, ponies will similarly start coming to Everfree Abbey for that, but all in due time, as they say. For now, we need to focus on your training.”

“You know, you never actually mentioned that before.” Twilight broke in to the talk. “Was the rest of your family also part of the Silver Hand?”

“No, I was the only one.” Matthias replied. “But the Light was an important part of everyday life to my family, so to speak, and many others.”

“Um, what’s a silver ‘hand’, Sir?” Serenity asked, confused.

“Hands are those things minotaurs have in their upper-legs instead of hooves.” Guard Shield told her.

“Yes and Silver Hand was the name of the order of paladins I was part of before I came to Equestria. My cutie mark is its symbol. And before you ask, the order was composed solely of humans and dwarves, creatures who also have hands.”

“But...” Storm said before he could stop himself. Sir Matthias glanced his way, so he had no choice to finish the question. “... if that’s true, then how come you were part of it?”

He remembered how Brann, the dwarf that was in Canterlot for few days, looked, and assumed that humans weren’t much different. Meaning completely different from ponies. How come a pony became a member of their order, then?

“Well,” Sir Matthias told him, smirking, “let’s just say that I’m a very special case.”

To Storm Clash’s confusion, as well as other initiates, judging by their expressions, Matthias comment made the six mares and one baby dragon all giggle.

“Well...” Sound Wave commented after a long moment of silence, “this is not much different.”

“Oh, quit whining.” Cherry Bomb replied, already feeling annoyed. “And besides, I think this is better than standing uselessly in some corridor of the castle.”

“So, standing uselessly at the entrance to an abbey uselessly is better? How do you figure?”

Cherry had to admit that his friend is right at that point. Both of them were now at the newly-built Everfree Abbey, and were supposed to stay and guard it for as long as there wouldn’t be more paladins wannabes training here. That could take months, for all they knew.

“Well, obviously, this part is as boring as that.” he finally said to his fellow unicorn. “However, you clearly weren’t paying attention when we went through this town. If you did, you would have noticed.”

“Noticed what?” Sound inquired, now curious.

Cherry grinned as he told him.

“Notice how much mare-stallion ratio is in our favor.”

After a second to comprehend that, and possibly also recall how many of the ponies they passed a few days earlier when they went through Ponyville were mostly mares, Sound Wave also grinned.

“Heh, I guess you’re right. We will have to discuss with Matt how often could we go on a leave. Damn, now that I think about it, isn’t that hot DJ from Shining Armor’s wedding living here?”

“Why do you assume I remember the wedding?” Cherry asked, shifting the spear he held to stand more comfortable. “I don’t know if I ever drink so much as that night.”

“Hmm, I do recall two mares joining us and Matt... with one beating you!”

“And you were the first to go, as always.” Bomb retorted, once again feeling a bit ashamed that a mare proved to have stronger head than him.

“Not ‘always’, Shining Armor gets down before me most of the time... provided he stays until the end. Damn, when was the last time we went drinking with him?”

“Dunno, must have been last... May? Damn, that’s long.”

“Hmm, maybe we should ask for transfer to crystal guard?” Sound Wave pondered. “It would be nice to drink with him again.”

“Because then you wouldn’t be first to find himself under the table?” Bomb smirked at him, and noticing the offended look Sound gave him, he chuckled. “Anyway, as amusing as the sight of Shining Armor getting drunk is, I don’t think we would get to see that anytime soon, with him being Prince and all.”

“Yeah, he’ll probably never get to party like we used to ever again... poor bastard. So, do you think Matt will become our new drinking buddy?”

“The Grand Master of the Holy Order. Yeah, I can just see it.”

“Well, we need to get somepony new; it’s boring to just look at your muzzle across the table... maybe those new initiates? Hey, while we’re at it; who was it from the Royal Guard that is supposed to be trained here?”

“Storm Clash and Guard Shield,” Bomb reminded him.

“Oh, right. Hmm, I suppose Guard is a bit too old to fancy going out with us... and Storm, sadly, might scare away all the ladies-”

“Dude!”

“What? You know I don’t have problem with that jaw of his, but that is a fact.”

Cherry sighed, recalling the few times they took Storm Clash and few others for drinking (with the first time needing to drag him). Almost all mares were glancing away from their table whenever the pegasus with a crooked jaw was with them.

“Well, they were all prissy unicorns...” he tried to say.

“You do realize that we are also unicorns, right?” Sound asked, smirking.

“Yeah, but I’m from Dodge Junction, and you’re from Fillydelphia. We might have both moved to Canterlot when we were young and later went to on to join the royal guard, but we are not like those so called ‘elites’ of Canterlot.”

“You got that ri-” Sound began to say, but paused for some reason. “Hey, look at that, the Grand Master himself… with company.”

Cherry Bomb looked immediately the direction Sound Wave was nodding at. Indeed, he could see in the distance that Matt is approaching, along with ten other ponies (and one dragon), most of which were mares.

“Well, this will be pleasant.” Sound grinned, no doubt already planning to be better acquainted with one of them.

Sighing, Bomb found himself in sad duty of bringing his friend back down to earth.

“First of all, we’re on duty-”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean I cannot get a better look at them, right?”

“-and second of all, one of those mares is Shining Armor little sister.” Cherry Bomb finished. “Remember how back when we were teens you told him that she was a cutie and he-”

“Don’t even remind me.” Sound cut him off, his voice having lost all humor.

Bomb couldn’t blame him. Shining Armor gave them that day very precise description of what he would do to either of them if they would even try to date Twilight. Heck, both unicorns almost got nightmares from that.

Twilight gasped as she finally got a good look at the Abbey.

It was huge; easily double the size of Ponyville’s market. A small wall, big enough for ponies to jump over it, made of white stone covered the area outside of town. The big building inside of it, no doubt the ‘chapel’ Matt mentioned, was one of the most beautiful buildings she saw. While it lacked the size and sheer magnificence of Canterlot Castle or Crystal Castle, it was as elegant and captivating as the buildings in Altomare were. Twilight looked in awe at the white and gold walls of the chapel, and five spires, the central one being the highest, sprouting from the roof. She couldn’t wait to get a better look at it, and more importantly, what was inside.

The other building, while also quite spacious, was less impressive. It looked a lot like the Royal Guards’ barracks in Canterlot which, as she figured, made sense. After all, paladins needed some place to sleep, and considering Matt’s plan to have many more ponies training in the future, shelter such as this was the best option. Twilight could also spot a smaller building attached to it, right next to the huge empty space, but couldn’t tell what it was from this angle.

On the other end of the Abbey there were many trees, and the lavender unicorn assumed that Matt had some sort of gardens placed there, or a small park. She could also spot some fountain, and a weird looking statue...

“Eh, it’s not that big as I thought it would be.” Rainbow Dash remark, said in usual for her tone she used whenever she pretended to not be impressed, made Twilight concentrate on others.

“Well, it is only roughly a third the size of your ego.” Matt replied to Dash’s comment, making their friends giggle at the cyan mare expense. Glancing at others, the stallion asked: “So, what the rest of you think?”

“It looks amazing!”

“Gorgeous!”

“Mighty spectacular!”

“We should celebrate!”

“It’s very... big.”

Fluttershy’s comment, not by any means disrespecting, made Matt chuckle and glance at the chapel. “Well, I might have gone a bit too far with it. It actually looks more like a cathedral than chapel.”

Twilight was about to ask how exactly those two types of building were different, when she spotted that the break in the wall, with a road going through it, had two royal guards standing there. It didn’t take a genius to figure out this was the entrance to the Abbey, but why were there guards here?

“Due to our numbers being so small, I requested presence of the Royal Guard to help protect the Everfree Abbey.” Matt said as they neared them, as if reading her thoughts. “While I have nothing against ponies coming here - far from it, in fact - it would be bad if some of the weapons or armor pieces went missing.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” Twilight realized, wondering how she could miss that.

“Sound Wave, Cherry Bomb, how’s the first day on the job?” the paladin asked the two guards when they finally reached the entrance.

Twilight smiled to them as she realized those were her brother’s friends. She knew them, of course, but it was impossible to tell it was them with those armors on them.

“They look terrible in white.”

“Pleasant, and it surely beats what the last ponies that got relocated ended up with.” the one on the right – Sound Wave, by the voice of it - spoke. “They’re all the way on the border with Saddle Arabia, the poor idiots.”

“Idiots?” Matt inquired, seeming a bit displeased with the word.

“You would understand if you’d met those three. They were originally posted near where Crystal Empire was - you know, before it appeared again, so it was right in the middle of nowhere - for years. The seclusion must have affected them somehow.”

“Hmm, anyways, you remember those six ponies and dragon, and probably know Guard Shield and Storm Clash. The other two are Serenity and Tucker Out.”

“Sup?” Tucker greeted the two guards.

“Hi there, to all of you,” Cherry Bomb replied, both nodding their head. “So, is there any chance of going drink someday?”

The question was obviously directed to Rainbow and Applejack, who shifted a bit uncomfortably. Apparently, they still remembered how the reception ended.

“You do realise you’re on duty, right?” Matt asked the two, annoyed.

“We are allowed to take some time off though.”

“Eventually.” the paladin told them, but sighed as he ended the discussion. “Let’s go and see everything up close, shall we?”

Twilight was the first to march into the Abbey, right after the Storm and Guard. She got a good glimpse of their cutie marks while at it: Guard was, unsurprisingly, a shield, while Storm’s... a smiling face?

Putting the thoughts about cutie marks away, she looked around. The chapel’s entrance looks majestic, having short stairs in front of it, making the main floor of the building being about a meter over the ground. The frame of doors was lined with gold and silver, which reflected beams of sun, making Twilight turn away for a moment.

“This is the Lightbringer’s Chapel.” Matt announced, pride in his voice. “We will conduct prayers and philosophical part of your training here. Over there are barracks.” he added, pointing at the direction of other building. “This is where we will sleep and eat. Due to your status as initiates, you will be staying for the time being in the lower rooms, with multiple bunks in each, until you’ll rise up in the rank. They’re not co-ed.” the paladin told clearly disappointed Tucker.

Twilight chuckled quietly as she regarded the barracks. Now that they were closer, she realised that it had banners attached to it, which were now flapping on the wind. Most of them had the familiar symbol of Equestria, two alicorns flying in a circle with sun and moon, few had Crystal Empire’s, white snow petal with wines on violet background, but others...had a half of a sun on one side, ending of moon’s crescent with stars, and a single hoof above them, all on black background.

“This must be the symbol of Celestial Light!” she realized with a jolt, amazed that it took her so long to figure out.

“The building next to it is the armory.” Matt continued. “You will pick up an armor suiting your size, as well as weapons you will feel most comfortable with. Paladins traditionally fight with warhammers and maces, but swords are also popular, as well as spears, halberds and axes. Since paladins’ main duty is to protect, it goes without saying that we also carry shields, as well as sometimes librams, to aid our allies with incantations of the Light. We will practice fighting at this training yard.” he pointed at the big empty space near. After that he turned around. “This small park will serve as place where you can relax in peace, whenever you’ll find the Chapel to be too crowded for your liking.”

“Sir,” Storm Clash asked, a bit hesitantly, no doubt curious about one detail as everypony else, “this fountain... I mean, the statue...”

Matt chuckled warmly at the pegasus discomfort, before he glanced at the direction of the fountain.

It was a small pedestal, with water coming from its sides. On the pedestal stood big, massive being, reminding Twilight a bit of Bolvar, at least from shape. Like Brann, it - or rather, he, judging by the beard the portrayed being had - was bipedal, but much taller. He was clad in heavy-looking plate armor, in one hand holding a book, in other wielding huge hammer.

“This is a human, a man that trained me in the ways of Light, Uther the Lightbringer.” Matt said, and Twilight, knowing him well, detected a hint of sadness in his voice.

The unicorn glanced back the statue, and noticed a small plaque, that read:

Uther the Lightbringer

First Paladin and Grand Master of the Silver Hand

"The third and most important of the Light's virtues is compassion."

Twilight smiled at the tribute Matthias made for his old mentor, but before she could address that-

“My tail is twitching!” Pinkie’s scream pierced the air, and almost at once, everypony ducked for cover...

Except for the four paladin initiates, who looked at the strange behaviour in confusion; the two Royal Guards, glancing from the entrance to see what the commotion was about; and Matt, who continued to stare at the statue. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but then:

“AAAAA-!” another quite familiar scream, erupted and was silenced, when the owner of it first appeared out of nowhere in the air, and then met violently with the ground few seconds later.

“Hi Brann.” Matt said nonchalantly, his eyes still on the statue.

Author's Note

The symbol of the Order was made by Alchemo Arrow, give him big bravo everybody!

Also, in regards to people commenting that Tucker Out is Tucker from Red vs Blue, I wish to inform you that he isn't. He is a pony, who has its character based on him. Read Project Eclipse (which was featured today by the way) if you want to know more. I am currently wrapping up second arc there.

80. Shadows from the past

“All I’m saying is that Kael swore allegiance to the Burning Legion.” Matthias told Brann as the two of them followed a different corridor of the chapel. “That makes him a bit worse than me in my book.”

“Right, cause exterminatin’ all life and raisin’ dead as yer soldiers is soo much better.” the dwarf replied as he shoot sidelong glances at the walls.

Brann was well aware that continuing further this conversation, which visibly upset and annoyed the one who was considered to be the one of most terrifying entities in the history of Azeroth, was probably not the wisest thing to do. Especially now, as they descended into the catacombs under that chapel all alone. But Brann was curious. About what exactly he wasn’t sure: how long would it take for Matt to lose patience; what would happen if he cracked?

Inwardly, dwarf cursed his curiosity.

“As much as I wish it wasn’t truth, at least Scourge was about the only major force on Azeroth that didn’t have anypon- anybody working for Burning Legion, which sadly cannot be said about either Alliance or Horde.”

“Nay, ye just ushered their leaders to our world, and made us clean up.” Brann commented, pointing out at the spellbook he held in his hand.

That finally had gotten a reaction out of him. The pony glanced back, anger at his eyes, at both him and the book.

“Do not start this argument with me, Brann, not after bringing that into this world. How did Kirin Tor even get that? And for Light’s sake, couldn’t you at least wipe out Antonidas’ blood from its cover?!”

“What?!?” Brann exclaimed, shocked and surprised. He quickly looked at the book, which had nothing on its cover aside from exquisitely tooled black raven, and then back at Arthas. His eyes had no anger in them, but anguish and fear, just like his voice just had. “There’s no blood on it!”

He brought up the spellbook closer to him. The pony that was once a human looked at it attentively, then blinked and shook his head.

“I wondered why none of them screamed...” he murmured, more to himself than to Brann, and resumed walking.

The dwarf was so confused by those sudden mood swings than it took him good few seconds to snap out and catch up to him. Brann opened his mouth, but Arthas answered his question before he even asked it.

“I... sometimes have this... flashes.” he spoke uncomfortably. “They usually come when something happens that is similar to certain memories of mine. But before this, they always lasted less than a second.”

Neither of them said anything after that. The pony was clearly contemplating about his past, while Brann had simply no idea what to say. What could one say to someone, who was once a prince loved by his people and a paladin of the Silver Hand, and later slaughtered nearly everybody he knew, only to become truly himself after being brought back to live as a pony?

“How did Kirin Tor came into possession of this book, anyway?”Matthias asked, breaking the silence, as he turned left after leaving stairs.

“After yer death, the Alliance ordered High Captain Justin Bartlett to shoot down Naxxramas with Skybreaker’s cannons.” Brann replied, glad that they had something more practical to talk about. ”A sorta victory lap, if ye ask me. The book was in the rubble.”

“Besides you and Rhonin, who else on Azeroth knows the spellbook is here?”

“Khadgar. The other four from the Six will be simply told that it was moved.”

Matthias nodded to that, and stopped in the middle of the corridor. He turned to the right wall, and pressed his hoof against it. Before Brann had a chance to wonder what he was doing, an outline of doors appeared on the wall, and they opened, revealing a small chamber with nothing in it.

“The Vault is about as well-protected as Dalaran’s Arcane Vault.” the pony said, a hint of pride in his voice. “Only those touched by the Light, which means paladins, can open it. Had you tried that, you would be knocked out and woke up in the dungeon beneath the barracks. The dungeons themselves could also compete with Dalaran’s Violet Hold in term of security.”

“A bit paranoid, aren’t ye?”

“It pays to be prepared.” he replied with a shrug. “This reminds me: you said you caught Rhonin’s attention after trying to get some of the things I asked for. Do you have them?”

“Aye.” Brann said, reaching to his backpack.

“That was so boring!” Rainbow exclaimed as they left the chapel. “I would’ve thought that this chapel will be place of pure coolness, but the first thing we did here was organize few books in order.”

“Rainbow-”

“Without being able to read about a half of them!”

“Yes, we know, we were there.” Twilight interrupted her friend complains.

Twilight herself also wasn’t exactly in the best of moods, but for an entirely different reason than Dash. As the cyan mare said, they couldn’t understand symbols on nearly half of those books. Other than Thalassian, Twilight trained eye spotted three other main languages that she didn’t know about in which those tomes were written in. Besides them, there were also few singular books like that one in Zandali, each in a different language. Twilight wondered if Matt could teach her at least some of them. She was curious beyond words at the context of those books. Even though she knew that they all were about the Light, the unicorn wondered as to how all those different species saw it.

“Ah wonder as to what that old book that made Matt freak out as worm on a cider makin’ day is about.” Applejack said, looking back at the chapel.

“He said that it contained knowledge about dark powers.” Twilight reminded her with a shrug. “I don’t think I want to know what exactly those powers are. Trust me, the bit I know about King Sombra’s spells is enough to make a pony disgusted with that kind of magic.”

She shook slightly at the memory of a sensation of wrongness in her very horn while she used the dark magic. Twilight hoped she would never be in a situation that required of her to use those spells ever again.

“But why would a book like that have a picture of raven on it?” Fluttershy wondered. “They’re such smart birds, I doubt they would have anything to do with anything evil.”

“Oh, I don’t think this was supposed to be something literal.” Twilight explained. “Ravens were once perceived as guardians of mystical secrets in times before Equestria. I guess that’s also how they were or are seen on Azeroth. That picture is probably there as a symbol of the secrets it contains, or to warn anypony that would try to read it.”

Something has twinged at the back of her mind, but Twilight dismissed the strange sensation as she thought once again about another book. The one in Thalassian she picked up shortly before Celestia reply arrived, one that came from a place called ‘Tempest Keep’. She didn’t notice it at first, but the dust the book was covered in had some strange residual magic in it. Twilight couldn’t exactly put her hoof as to what the feeling she got from it was, but despite how alien it felt, it was also... familiar. Strange was also the symbol on the cover: fire. What had a fire to do with the Light? Granted, it could be interpreted as source of light and warmth, but...

“Twilight? Ya spaced out there, sugarcube.”

The lavender unicorn shook her head and looked at the others, noticing that Rainbow Dash was missing.

“Sorry. What happened?”

“RD just went there.” Applejack explained, pointing at the armory on the other side of the training field. “Ah figure Matt wouldn’t be happy about this.”

“Probably not. Let’s go before she breaks something.”

As they raced to the armory, Twilight put her thoughts about the book on hold. She could ask Matt about it later. Right now, she could spend her time better planning the last evening the three of them (Matt, Spike and herself) would spend together. Spike had already planned to make some grass pancakes for supper, so she could scratch that one out of her list. Being as organized as ever, Twilight also prepared several conversation topics, putting much effort to avoid subjects that could upset him, like those Forsaken. And she had a farewell gift for him.

“I hope he’ll like it. I wouldn’t want to upset him... Nah, he will be happy with it... right?”

Shaking her head, Twilight and the others entered the armory.

It reminded her about what she knew about royal guard’s armory. It was lined with weapons on the walls, had sets of armors on stands near them. There was also an anvil and a forge on the side of the building, to repair those pieces of equipment that were damaged, even though there was no trained blacksmith here.

Being sister of the Captain of the Royal Guard, and a pony that liked to know everything there was to be learned, Twilight knew that at least part of those weapons was only for training purposes. However, even if that gear was more expendable, she doubted that Matt would appreciate Rainbow playing with them as she was now.

“Rainbow, you shouldn’t touch those.” the unicorn said sternly while the rainbow-colored pegasus swung around a short sword.

“Oh, lighten up, would ya?” Dash replied, smirking. “Get it? Lighten up?”

Twilight wasn’t amused by it - unlike Pinkie, who giggled - but was happy that at least Dash put the sword back where she found it. Her joy was short lived, though, as the pegasus then reached out for a huge two-hooved one.

“Rainbow...”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I will put it back in a sec.” she cut her protest of as she raised the weapon over her head. “Anyway, is the slumber party still on this night?”

Twilight watched her carefully, preparing to use her magic if she needed to.

“Yes. Point eleven p.m., half an hour after Matt will leave.” she replied, a pang of sadness in her voice.

“How are ya holdin’ up?” Applejack asked, and seeing the annoyed gaze Twilight replied with, she added: “Ah mean, after livin’ together for so long, ya two are probably feelin’ a little down on the whole thin’.”

“True, both Spike and I are going to miss him, even if he only moves to the other side of Ponyville. But at least now we won’t bother each other. Remember, my studies have stepped up a notch.” she reminded them with pride. “I have to learn a spell that allows me to change one thing to another permanently by next Wednesday, and I still need to read that book with it few times before I actually try. We wouldn’t want any accidents.”

“I think I will try changing apple into an orange first.” Twilight thought to herself, and an idea of making a prank (even as it would be unlikely she went with it) on Applejack popped up in her head. With great effort she stopped from laughing as her mind was filled with images of Sweet Apple Acres having oranges instead of apples.

“Sound fun! Could you change me into something else?” Pinkie Pie asked jumping up and down in her excitement.

Twilight turned to answer her, when a sudden clang made her realize she stopped paying attention to Rainbow. The sword slipped out from her grasp, but thankfully landed on the floor harmlessly, instead of hitting one of them. The unicorn looked sternly at the mare responsible, who scratched her head in embarrassment.

“Oops.”

“You know, in some places, unapproved usage of a military property is a punishable offense.” Matt voice sounded from behind them.

Turning around, Twilight saw him and Brann at the entrance of the armory. They must have seen them going in here, and followed.

“The book is safely hidden within the Chapel’s Vault.” Matt continued to speak as he made his way to the sword that Rainbow dropped. “I would like to ask all of you to not mention that to anypony; the last thing we need right now is some power-hungry pony searching for it.”

“Sure, sugarcube.”

“Of course.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“What book?”

“I’ve already forgotten about it.”

“Naturally.”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

It seemed to be enough to Matt, who just picked up the sword with his hooves. He glanced at Rainbow, looking more annoyed than angry. The cyan pegasus chuckled uncomfortably and flew back to stand besides other mares.

The paladin’s attention shifted to the weapon he held, which was about the same size as his Holy Avenger. He pointed it the nearby stand with suit of armor, and swifter than a pony’s eye could follow, he brought the blade near the neck area, then with great speed he backed away, slashing right in front of the chest. Matt then backed away, seeming satisfied as he once again regarded the sword.

“Wow.” Spike exclaimed, and Twilight had to admit that it was impressive. She had never saw before how Matt was skilled with swords.

Matt accepted Spike’s remark with a nod, and then, swinging the sword in his hoof, placed it back from where Rainbow Dash took it.

“I have no idea how ye did that just now.” Brann commented.

“I have enough reasons to become insane as it is; don’t make me question how my body works.” Matt replied before ponies could voice their confusion at Brann’s words. No doubt noticing it, the paladin explained: “Back on Azeroth, hooves aren’t exactly... good for grabbing things.”

Twilight was puzzled by his explanations, but she once again reminded herself that Azeroth was a different world; it was bound to function strangely to her. Heck, maybe even such things as gravity or time could be different there. The lavender unicorn briefly wondered how she would fare if she was in Matt’s horseshoes.

“Anyway, if th’ is all, then I need to get back home.” Brann said, clearly not wanting to go further into that discussion. “Oh, and just one more thing I thought I should mention: did’ye know there are various shops in Dalaran with things that supposedly belonged to ye?”

“What?” Matt asked, confused.

“Ye know, trinkets, prayer beads, rings, and so on. All of them fake by the looks of it.”

“People are making money out of my death? That’s just... degrading. And how exactly they expect others to believe that they’re selling the real stuff?” he asked, exasperated.

Twilight felt for him. Dying was one thing - one that he was happy for, in fact - but being treated after death as a source of profit was another.

“Well, the sellers are all Forsaken, so when they claim they found it in-”

“Wait, back up. The Forsaken, the ones that hated me the most, save maybe for Knights of the Ebon Blade, are making profit out of my death?” when Brann nodded, Matt sighed and began pacing back and forth. “Light damn it. I know I don’t deserve much after everything that happened, but this...”

“Hey, if it helps, know that not all Forsaken hate ye.” Brann interrupted him. “The Dragonslayer, for example, spoke of ye with sympathy when-”

“What?” Spike asked, scared. “D-did you just said ‘Dragons-slayer’?”

“Ow.” the dwarf exclaimed, probably only now realising that there was a dragon nearby. “Look, lad, Azeroth has dragons that aren’t always comin up tae mind when yer thinkin’ about a tea party.”

“Right, I get it.” Spike replied, but he was clearly still scared at the thought of somepony being called ‘Dragonslayer’, as he moved closer to Twilight.

“So, who did that one Forsaken that doesn’t hate me killed to get such title?” Matt asked the dwarf, glancing briefly at Spike to make sure he was okay.

“Sinestra, former prime consort of Deathwing.”

“Prime consort?” Twilight repeated the weird title in her head. “Do dragons of Azeroth have multiple consorts, like sultans of Saddle Arabia? Strange... wait, she was Deathwing’s consort? How in the hay did she survived mating with that giant living volcano?!”

And then the uncomfortable image followed her thought, making her shake with disgust.

“Wasn’t she already dead?” she heard Matt inquired further.

“So were Nefarian and Onyxia, and they too were seen, within Blackrock Mountain.”

“Undead. How cute.” the paladin replied with a disdain in his voice. “So, that Forsaken killed Sinestra, huh? Not many weapons can give mortal wounds to a dragon old as she, although strangely the number of people eager to swing those weapons in the direction of dragons is even less impressive.”

“True, but I figure that weapon that left that is powerful enough to do the trick.” Brann replied, pointing his finger at...

“... at Matt’s chest.” Twilight thought with dread.

Matt looked down on his two scars, brushing the one that she knew was from a mortal wound.

“Shadowmourne?” he finally asked, puzzled. “It belonged to a night elf... Oso Ragerunner. How did it fell into the hands of a Forsaken?”

“Durin’ the conflict within the Ashenvale Forest, those two fought. Jarim won and took the weapon, but later admitted to me that it was a fluke.”

“Such waste...” Matt muttered, but quickly his ears perked up. “Wait! What did you say his name was?”

“Jarim.” Brann replied. “Jarim Balnir.”

The sound of this name had a strange effect on Matt. His face went through many different expressions, starting with confusion and shock, to a mild joy and puzzlement...

“But... that’s impossible!” he murmured. “He was...”

.. to pure-hearted.

“That elven bitch!” he shouted, bucking the wall behind him in his rage.

Twilight jaw dropped. Not only Matt was now even angrier than before, but also cursed!

“I... take ye dinna know about those val’kyr, dinna ye?” Brann asked, taking a step back.

She wondered if she should do the same.

“I know about them, alright, as well as what happened in Andorhal, but I hoped there were just rumors!” Matt sneered, and began once again pacing back and forth. “I hoped she had some semblance of morality left in that carcass of hers! She thinks she tasted pain and suffering at my hoof before!? Let her come here and find out how terrifying paladin’s retribution can be!!!”

“Stop!”

That shout, which was so out of place given the source, made Matt stop and look at the pony who said it.

“Please stop screaming.” Fluttershy continued, returning to her normal voice, but still shaking. “And cursing. You’re so... scary when you do that.”

And like that, all of Matt’s hatred evaporated, leaving only horror in its wake.

“Oh Light, I’m so sorry.” he immediately began, looking at Fluttershy and the rest. Twilight was not surprised to see panic in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to... I just...”

“Matt, its okay.” Twilight said, understanding that he truly didn’t mean to get so angry right in front of them. “We know you have troubled past. Just... try to not curse like that next time.”

Understanding at once what she meant, he shoots an apologetic glance at Spike, before he once more turned to Brann.

“You better leave. I fear how else I might react upon hearing anything else.”

The dwarf nodded. He reached to his pockets, and took out the medallion that allowed him to travel between Equestria and Azeroth.

“Lasses, Spike, it’s been a pleasure.” Brann said. “I hope I will have a chance to drop by again in few months.”

They murmured their own goodbyes, but, still shaken after witnessing Matt’s outburst, they were half-hearted. If Brann minded, Twilight couldn’t see it. He grabbed the amulet tighter and vanished.

“Everypony...” Matt said once he was gone, and his voice was laced with pain. “I’m truly sorry you had to hear me... say that. And in such manner.” he added, eyeing Fluttershy, who stopped shaking. “Twilight, if I ever start going on like this, please, blast me with some spell, okay?”

“Um... sure.” she replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the strange request, but seeing the pained expression of his, he would even preferred to be bucked right in the face by Applejack.

“Fluttershy, are you going to be alright?” he asked, once again regarding the pony that was most affected by his outburst.

“Yes, don’t worry about me.” she replied, now completely back to her normal self. “No hard feelings.”

Relief was evident of Matt’s face, and he even gave them a half-smile.

“Great. Now that’s settled... what time is it? I told the initiates that they had two hours.”

“It’s been only half an hour.” Twilight replied, but as much as she wanted to stay and comfort him, maybe even question him about why did he react like he did, she know that he would prefer to be left alone for now. And besides, she had things to do. “Sadly, I need to leave; I have to finish reading ‘Nature of changing matter’, and then re-read it few times.”

She quickly cast a meaningful look to the rest, and suddenly it turned out that everypony had something to do.

“And Ah need to lend Applebloom a hoof with repearin’ their clubhouse. Oh, and Pinkie,” Applejack added, looking at the pink pony, “the girls kinda... destroyed yar party cannon.”

“That’s okay; I’ve gotten a newer model few days ago.” Pinkie Pie waved her apology away. ”The Z&R model! Wanna see it?”

“Err, maybe later, sugarcube. And... try not to borrow them any power tools when they start makin’ that float for Summer Harvest Parade, okay?”

Twilight shook her head, amused at her friends’ antics. She was a bit curious as to how would the work of those three fillies turn out. The Summer Harvest Parade was only three weeks away, and yet that seemed too long for her to wait to see their float.

They were leaving the Abbey, making few jokes along the way and once again voicing their admiration of the entire complex. Twilight stayed at the back of the group, so when they began saying their goodbyes she was the last one to leave. Glancing back to make sure others weren’t paying attention, she looked at Matt.

“Don’t be too upset about this.” she quietly told him. “Everypony gets mad from time to time.”

“Maybe, but I’m not ‘everypony’.” he replied with slight amusement.

“True.” Twilight chuckled. “I will see you tonight, then?”

There was suddenly a strange gasping noise from both royal guards at the entrance, but once she glance their way everything seemed normal.

“Yeah, I should be wrapped up here by eight.” Matt replied, also shooting glance their way.

“Great-” she said as she was about to follow the rest, but paused as she remembered that she wanted to ask him about that tome that got her attention earlier. “Oh, wait, I almost forgot, what’s the name of that book from this ‘Tempest Keep’?”

Matt raised an eyebrow in surprise. “‘Tome of Fiery-’”

“Wait, wait.” Sound interrupted him, leaving his post and coming closer to them. “Are you two dating?”

Twilight looked at him in shock, blushing in embarrassment.

“No, why would you think that?” Matt asked him calmly, although her ear caught a slight hint of discomfort in his voice.

“Well, you were just talking about meeting around eight-”

Matt sighed loudly and facehoofed, motioning at Sound Wave to stop.

“You can go, Twilight, I will sort this out.” he told her, and as he switched to regard the royal guard, the gentleness in his eyes was replaced by what she knew to be a pretended fury. “Right after I’ll make sure they will never eavesdrop again.”

Nodding and waving goodbye, Twilight turned around, so that Sound and Bomb couldn’t see how amused she was by sight of terror on their faces.

Author's Note

Friendly advice: don't travel by bus for two days, it's really uncomfortable. Other than that, everything is great. A bit hot, but nothing unusual for Greece.

Yes, there's still a reason as to why Shadowmourne was originally in night elf's hands. Don't expect it to be clear anytime soon, though.

Anyway, I have a strange question. Recently, I grow curious about the age of those who read this story, so I would mind writing your age while writing a comment? I would be grateful for that. Don't just write your age and nothing else, though, I enjoy your comments much more than satysfing my curiosity. I would just like to know which age demographic is dominant here, if you don't want me or others know that, that's fine, I won't mind.

81. Flames from the past

Deep in meditation, Matthias pondered at all the new developments that steamed off from Brann’s visit.

He was still outraged about what he had learned about Sylvanas recent actions. Even if the rumors about how the Battle for Andorhal ended reached him through Bolvar, it was another thing to have it confirmed by another. Because Jarim Balnir, Arthas’ childhood friend, had died; killed on the same day the Prince murdered his own father, but was never raised as undead soldier of the Scourge. Was it because his corpse was overlooked, or remnants of Arthas’ humanity stopped him, Matthias could not tell now. But the fact that Jarim walked the world again meant one thing: he was raised by the val’kyr, one of the Lich King’s creations.

“It comes down to me being responsible for this, then.” Matthias mused. Even though he was still more than angry, meditation purged the fury from his heart and now he contemplated that matter calmly. “Not to mention that I am responsible for Sylvanas current state to begin with. But still... her choices are her own.”

His brow furrowed slightly as he recalled one of Uther’s most important lesson to paladins, the one Matthias deemed important enough to have it embedded on the plaque under his statue:

The third and most important of the Light's virtues is compassion.

It took him committing unforgivable crimes and dying, but Matthias understood now fully what Uther meant.

“If Sylvanas Windrunner ever sets one step within Equestria, I will end her existence permanently.”

Pushing the thoughts about Sylvanas away, his mind turned to Jarim, for what Brann said about his old friend unsettled him a bit. Matthias didn’t recall Jarim to be a skilled warrior, but from the looks of it, he have fought with the Alliance during Garrosh attack on Ashenvale. He even managed to kill Oso Ragerunner, one of the champions that killed him as the Lich King, the one that made the finishing blow at that (even if Matthias himself considered Tirion to be the one that truly defeated him). Since the night elf was a death knight, he was a bit more known to Matthias, and he knew the extent of his abilities. That Jarim defeated him, even while saying that it was a fluke, amazed him. Normally, he would thought that it made by due to exhaustion of the more experienced fighter that made him lose, but Oso was a death knight, an undead. He could fight days without the need to rest. Death knights didn’t even need to sleep; they did that out of luxury or habit, although while being under control of the Scourge it was forbidden for them to do so.

And not only that, but he also slew Sinestra, too. Who, if she was really ‘alive’, would be somewhere within Grim Batol or even Bastion of Twilight... and that would mean getting through Cho’gall, the monstrous, two-headed ogre-mage, leader of the Twilight’s Hammer. While undoubtedly Jarim wasn’t alone (as Matthias heard through Bolvar that forces of both the Horde and the Alliance stormed the fortress), it was still impressive.

But what probably unsettled him the most was what Brann mentioned briefly before Matthias cut him off:

The Dragonslayer, for example, spoke of ye with sympathy when-

“I wonder what he said about me...” the paladin pondered. “I was responsible for his death, and his entire family, and yet... he has a sympathy for me?”

Sighing, Matthias wished he hadn’t sent off Brann so hastily. It would have been nice to know what exactly Jarim had said. However, as soon as that thought appeared, so did the memory of what exactly drove him to tell the dwarf to leave.

His body shivered slightly as the faces of his friends being frozen in shock, or terror in Fluttershy’s case, appeared in his mind. He could not forgive himself easily for causing that. He wasn’t sure what was worse: that he made Fluttershy quiver in fear (a deed that made him regret not having those tools that Scarlet Crusade used for self-punishing within the Abbey), or that they got to see him truly angry at something.

“I will not permit my fury to overtake me ever again.” he vowed in his head. “I have lost too much because of that.”

For a brief moment, the Light felt stronger, more brighter, within his heart, as if reassuring him. Smiling to himself, Matthias turned his thoughts over to the next subject: what Sound Wave and Cherry Bomb told him.

While initially angry at them for assuming he and Twilight were on a date, once they explained their reason for being curious he forgave them, to some degree. It turned out that a couple years ago, once they began to see Twilight as a mare instead of Shining Armor little sister, the said stallion threatened them with very described tortures if they would try as much as glance as at her.

Hearing that, Matthias realized what was the reason that Twilight never before tried to have a relationship with anypony, or why she seemed so surprised when he told her that she is beautiful. That reason was her own brother. Matthias had mixed feeling to that, but was mostly angry, so he decided to write a letter to Princess Cadance about it. He knew her to be wise enough to deal with this appropriately... and could make the prince sleep on a couch, which was purely hilarious to Matthias.

Wondering when he would have an opportunity to let Cadance know that her husband’s over-protectiveness essentially caused Twilight to never hear the words ‘you’re beautiful’, his thoughts found a new source of worry: the Book of Medivh.

It was an intriguing twist of fate, to have this book practically within his hooves. Arthas had been warned by Medivh in life as to what would the future hold, but he ignored it; and now here, on a world so different from Azeroth, the same Medivh gave him advices that this time were listened. In undeath, Arthas took his book by storming into Dalaran and slaying Antonidas, and now the current leader of the Kirin Tor, Rhonin, send it to him. What’s more, Medivh was possessed by Sargeras since before birth and under his influence opened the Dark Portal, which resulted in First War and destruction of Stormwind and King Llane’s death , but retained enough of his own personality to surround himself with people such as Khadgar, Lothar, and even Garona Halforcen, to end him before Sargeras’ final plans could be realized. Arthas was slowly corrupted by the Lich King and lost his soul to the Frostmourne, killed his father, King Terenas, destroyed Lordaeron, Quel’Thalas, and Dalaran throughout the Third War, and helped usher Archimonde to the world of Azeroth, starting the Second Invasion of the Burning Legion, and ultimately became the Lich King himself. But a tiny spark of his humanity remained, preventing him from using Scourge to annihilate everything that lived on Azeroth.

“Those similarities are disturbing.” he concluded calmly.

As for the book, now that he calmed down, he wasn’t too worried about it. What he told Brann was true: the Chapel’s Vault was protected by some of the most powerful spell, similar to that one that stored the Elements of Harmony in Canterlot. Since Discord stole them briefly, the Elements were further protected by a spell that made it impossible for the Spirit of Chaos to affect them in any fashion, and now (through the magic rune Celestia prepared for him just in case) so was the Book of Medivh.

“Only those touched by the Light can enter the Vault, which means that if - Light forbid - I will once again walk the path of darkness, I will be unable to take the spellbook. However, even those that walk in the light might seek to bring danger to others. Those fanatics from Scarlet Crusade proved that much. I will have to be careful as I explain the Holy Light to those initiates...”

“Um, sir Lightbringer?” a voice spoke up.

“Ah, speak of the demon.” Matthias thought with amusement as he opened his eyes, sparing a moment to berate himself for being so lost in thoughts as to not sense their approach.

He glanced back the four ponies, each looking at him with wonder in their eyes. At first, that confused Matthias, but a heartbeat later he realized the cause for this.

He was levitating.

Rolling his eyes at the slight annoyance, he dropped himself to the floor, making a mental note to not get so engrossed in the meditation as to not pay attention how the Light was affecting him.

“I trust that the short rest helped you clear your minds, as that will help you understand better what I’m about to say.” he told them motioning for them to sit down. “Let’s start off by saying that nopony can explain what exactly the Holy Light is. Scholars would refer to it as a force that exist within the universe, but that doesn’t quite give the proper depiction.”

Matthias paused to catch his breath and regard the four ponies. He could tell easily that each of them was puzzled in some degree by his explanation. Storm observed him attentively, his face not betraying the uncertainty that Matthias sensed in him - directed not at his words, but at the pegasus himself - while Guard had the stoic demeanor of an elder soldier. Tucker seemed to be most confused, but at least he was paying attention to him rather than Serenity’s flank. As for the mare, she was probably the one who was absorbing Matthias words the most.

“However, you do not need to understand the Light to believe in it, or its love for you. As what my old mentor once said to me; the Light is grace, pure and simple. We, ponies, and all other creatures are flawed, some more than others.” he added with a hint of amusement as he glanced at Tucker. “But the Light loves us anyway. It loves us for what we sometimes can rise to in rare moments. It loves us for what we can do to help others. And it loves us because we can help it share its message by striving daily to be worthy; even though we understand that we can't ever truly become so.”

“As paladins, our duty is to protect others, heal wounded and vanquish evil.” he went on, slightly changing the subject. “By doing so we both use our martial prowess, and the Light. Paladins can, through prayer and willpower, ask the Holy Light to aid them. Notice that I said ‘ask’, and not ‘use’. While I will not hide from you that it is possible to bend the powers of the Light to your whim, I want to make it clear that such acts are blasphemous, and anypony who would attempt to do so will be punished.

“How could anypony do such thing?” Serenity asked, seeming shocked. “I don’t just mean ‘how’ how, but why, too. I could feel the Light when you protected everypony from King Sombra, sir, and it made me feel so safe and peaceful, despite the danger we were all in. Why would anypony tried to force the Light to do things?”

“There are many answers to that question, Serenity. There is one particular order of paladins that once used to force the Light for their own bidding instead of working with it. Their people used to believe in the Light and could use its powers, but after destruction of their homeland, they began to think that the Light abandoned them, and their faith quivered. If paladin’s faith quiver, hearts lose resolve, willpower crumbles, then you cannot use the power of the Light. Remember that once you are full-fledged paladins.”

“Does that mean that...” Serenity began, but paused, uncertain. Matthias motioned for her to continue. “Sir, you said that a paladin cannot use the power of the Light once he loses her or his resolve, will or faith. But if the paladin has those, if he believes that what he is doing is good and therefore serves the Light, can that paladin commit evil acts?”

“Unfortunately, yes. An organisation called Scarlet Crusade committed many evil acts, and continues to do so to this day, all while believing they are serving the Light. What is truly saddening is that many of its members were originally Knights of the Silver Hand, like me.”

He did not add that it was because of his actions that they became so. One day he might, but not today.

“Getting back to the original subject, the philosophy of the Holy Light boils down to the three teachings, called the Three Virtues. These virtues are respect, tenacity, and compassion. As paladins, you must know them, even if it might take you years to fully understand them.”

“The first virtue is respect. While the Holy Light teaches that awareness of the self and the universe is a goal, one must also see the connection between others and the universe. Destroying other's happiness and severing other's connections with the universe is not serving the world's well being, and therefore not your own. You cannot be naive, however, as while Equestria hasn’t know war in two thousand years, such things - wars, suffering, and conflicts – can happen, but you must strive to make the universe a better place in spite of these hindrances.”

"The second virtue is tenacity. It takes a lifetime to serve the Light. The world is much bigger than one lone soul; and while the world can change a soul in a day, it takes much more time to change the world. Only through tenacity can a servant of the Holy Light hope to affect the universe. Take heart in the realization that if you truly believe there is a connection between the self and the universe, one cannot help but affect the other, no matter the size. Affecting the world can include anything from teaching and instilling hope in others to joining with other like-minded individuals to work together to create a bigger change.”

“Compassion, the third virtue, is perhaps the most powerful — and yet most dangerous — of them all. The connection between the self and the universe is strong, but it still is only one connection. If a follower of the Light serves another to increase his happiness, his bond with the universe grows stronger. The happiness he receives by helping somepony also strengthens him and the universe, and he is able to affect the universe even more. If somepony is too compassionate, he can give help where none is needed — or wanted. This oversight can hinder one's growth and happiness. For example, one may help another with a seemingly impossible quest, when such a quest is not actually out of the abilities of the one making the attempt. Thus, compassion (However well intentioned) has resulted in that pony's inability to grow as the quest was essentially "done for them", hindering their growth and happiness. Some helpers can be awkward and do more harm than good with their actions, increasing the suffering and unhappiness in the world.”

“You mean like with Sombra?” Serenity once again asked him.

Matthias nodded, both amazed that she managed to listen get everything he said, as well as saddened by the memory of that pony he couldn’t help. Noticing questioning glances from other three, he explained: “King Sombra, the pony who took over the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago and tried to do so again recently, was actually corrupted by dark powers. By the time we fought, there was too little of the pony he once was to be saved. Part of following the virtue of compassion is to know what is compassionate to do. In this case, it was killing King Sombra.”

He rose up as he said that, gesturing for the four other ponies to do so.

“Um, sir, if you don’t mind me asking...” the crystal pony began as she and the others followed him to the library, “... about those things King Sombra said...”

Sighing, he stopped and turned to look at with the sadness in his eyes that he didn’t even try to hide.

“You’re referring to him repeating words said to me by my father.” he stated. Matthias expected her to bring it up at some point. Glancing at others, he explained: “Those words were: ‘Can you feel it, my son? Closing in all around you? The Light's justice has been awakened. The sins of the past have finally caught up to you. You will be called to account! For all the atrocities you've committed, the unspeakable horrors you've let loose upon this world, and the dark, ancient powers you've enslaved. Though my soul was one of the first to be devoured by your evil, there are thousands more bound within this blade, and they cry out for release. Look now to your defenses, my son, for the champions of justice gather at your gates!’” he took a heartbeat to shake the feeling of dread at the memory, and noticed nothing but a pure shock at the faces of other three initiates. “I had once fallen to the darkness, too, and committed many unforgivable sins. Similar to King Sombra and Princess Luna, I was too corrupted by dark powers, and forgot who I truly was. I became myself shortly before coming to Equestria, and later found out that even despite all that I did the Light forgave me, granting me its powers once more.”

“You might wonder why I am admitting it almost casually to you.” he went on, resuming walking towards the library. “I am doing that because I want you to understand that it is possible for anypony to become evil. Never be arrogant as to assume that you can’t, for arrogance is the shortest path to downfall. I know that better than anypony. And just in case you are wondering - yes, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna know about my past, and trust me to teach you and lead the Order of the Celestial Light regardless. I hope that clears most of your doubts about me.”

“I didn’t have doubts about you, sir!” Serenity immediately replied, and when Matthias looked at her, she blushed and explained. “I mean, everypony in the Crystal Empire knows that if it weren’t for you, King Sombra would have taken us over before Spike brought Princess Cadance the Crystal Heart. And we all heard what your friends said, that they don’t care about your past, sir. Crystal Ponies don’t care as well.”

Seeing that she was bit nervous after her outburst, but still serious, Matthias shoot her a reassuring smile as they entered the library. While the four ponies looked all around the small room curiously, his attention shifted to the shelves with books Twilight and the rest categorized after he and Brann left. Nodding with approval, he once again turned to the initiates.

“Most of those books here are about the Holy Light. Some of them are unfortunately in different languages, but I will translate them as best I can when I have more free time on my hooves. It would serve you good to read some of them, to deepen your knowledge about the Light. Other books here are mostly about Equestria’s history, laws, and few are about medicine, biology and such. In case there was something you wanted to read but you couldn’t find it here, Twilight runs Ponyville’s library. Now, these,” he paused as he reached to one of the shelves, and took out four identical books, “are yours. Those librams have a full list of all sorts of prayers, as well as precise explanation of each virtue. I don’t expect you to memorize all of them, although that would be nice. The reason for that is that beginning paladins, even when they have already learned how to call upon the powers of Light, can have difficulties with concentration. Reciting the prayer in mind or out loud, which is even better, helps with that, and makes it easier to ask the Holy Light for healing or protection.”

Each of them took one book. Matthias could tell than Tucker in particular wasn’t happy with the idea, but whatever thoughts he had, he kept them to himself.

“So those books came from your homeland, sir?” Serenity asked, her gaze no longer on the libram in her hoof but on the ones on shelves.

“Yes, that’s why Brann was here earlier, I asked him to deliver them here.”

Serenity’s hoof brushed few books, until it stopped on one particularly adorned in flames, Matthias could read the title on the spine ‘Tome of Fiery Redemption’, the one Twilight asked him about for some reason.

“Geesh, this one is so covered in dust...” Serenity murmured as she took it out from the shelf, with the intent to clean it up.

Something stirred at the back of Matthias mind at that sight. Confused, he extended his senses to the book, wondering what made him worried. To his surprise, he found a source of magical residue emanating from not the book, but rather...

This copy yer holding was actually recovered from Tempest Keep.

As Brann’s words echoed through his head, Matthias has realised that what he could sense wasn't a residue, but a presence.

A presence that had been stirred.

Forcing himself to remain calm, the paladin quickly calculated all his options as to what he could do. There weren’t many, but the plan he so hastily put together could work, provided they would hurry.

“Tucker.” he said, remembering from his medical record the extent of his magical abilities. “Teleport yourself and this book, along with all this dust, into the training field quickly.”

“What? Wh-”

“Just do it, now!” Matthias snapped, realising the time was short.

The unicorn was still uncertain, but he took the book from a very confused Serenity and began to cast a teleportation spell.

“Rest of you, follow me!” he told them, racing to the exit. “Storm,” he looked at the pegasus that was within a heartbeat at his side, “there’s a cottage between here and the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy lives there. Tell her that it’s an emergency, and I need her help. Fly fast!”

Storm Clash looked even more uncertain as to what was going on that Tucker. Thankfully, he obeyed the order regardless, and flew ahead of them, exiting the chapel and heading for Fluttershy’s cottage.

“I hope she will be able to stop him.” Matthias thought as he and the remaining two also left the chapel and raced for the training field.

The sight that welcomed them was exactly what he expected. Tucker was backing away, his confusion transformed into fear, for which Matthias couldn’t really blame him. The book lay on the ground, but what has caused such reaction from the unicorn hovered above it.

The dust - which wasn’t actually dust - swirled around in the air, becoming flames in a matter of seconds. The fire erupted as Mathias placed himself between them and his initiates, growing bigger and gaining more colors, ranging from yellow through red to violet. But the flames didn’t just grow bigger; they also took on a shape. Wings outstretched themselves wide as the rest of creatures flaming body became more recognizable.

Within a heartbeat, before Matthias stood a much bigger than him a being more of fire than flesh, the Phoenix God, Al’ar.

Author's Note

For the record, I've been hinting this was going to happen for good two chapters now.

PS: Thank you all for answering my question from the previous chapter.

82. Burning

As Al’ar ruby eyes scanned his surroundings, in what Matthias recognized to be a confusion, the paladin took a cautious step back. A memory of this humongous bird of fire assisting that cowardly elven prince in their battle resurfaced, making him wonder whatever he could buy enough time for Storm Clash to get Fluttershy if things would go south. While back then he managed to be victorious, Arthas was empowered by the Lich King at that moment, and even though he was now stronger in Light than ever in his previous life, he had his doubts.

He also wondered as to how exactly this could all had happen. Phoenixes normally rose from their ashes rather quickly, but Al’ar remained dormant for about two years. Matthias suspected that champions send by A’dal, the naaru that lead Sha’tar and the city of Shattrath, must have killed him multiple times during their raid on Tempest Keep up to the point of exhaustion his powers. How after his final defeat that Al’ar’s ashes got all over that book, the paladin didn’t know, but he cursed the fate that made Brann pick this copy to bring here. Equestria’s all-present magic must have revitalized the phoenix’s remains, allowing him to raise again.

There was no way to check how much his guess was true though, and even if there was, Matthias had other concerns on his hooves, as Al’ar finally glanced their way.

“He might not recognize me.” he thought, hoping to avoid the confrontation. “If we remain quiet, he will probably not think of us as a threat...” Matthias paused as the realization came upon him, making him facehoof himself mentally, “... but as a snack.”

“The buck is that thing?” Tucker asked from behind him, making Al’ar immediately turn his gaze at him.

“Is that... a phoenix?” Serenity asked, her voice mixture of awe and fear.

“It’s not a phoenix I ever saw.” Guard commented. “It’s several times bigger than Princess Celestia’s, and looks more like a shaped fire.”

“It’s Al’ar, the Phoenix God.” Matthias explained shortly.

Al’ar, hearing his name being said, turned to regard him. Even though Matthias knew that this would probably enable the giant bird to recognize him, he looked into his eyes without fear. He opened his mouth to speak, at the same time asking the Light to extend its calming aura all around him, in hope that Al’ar would be inclined to not go on a rampage.

“Greetings, Al’ar. I am, while surprised, pleased to see that your ashes regained their powers to give birth to you once again. However, I am afraid I have for you some bad news: your master, Kael’thas, is dead.” he paused as the phoenix gave out a sad caw. “And while I would prefer to not spoil your memories of him, I feel obligated to urge you to now mourn his death, as he allied himself with the Burning Legion, and sought the destruction of Azeroth.”

Matthias assumed that the look Al’ar was now giving him was now one of disbelief, but with such creature like him he could not be certain. Phoenixes were something between an animal and elemental, and Al’ar himself was more akin to demigods than animals. Matthias doubted even Kael knew what exactly he was.

He paid no mind for the confusion of the other three ponies (or five, seeing as Sound and Bomb, hearing the commotion joined them), focusing all his senses on the phoenix, waiting to detect even the slightest sign of aggression from him. Matthias had a feeling that Al’ar was also observing him closely, probably detecting that there was something he recognized about the pony in front of him.

“Al’ar...” Matthias began again, but he stopped.

The air around the phoenix cracked from his suddenly increased heat.

He recognized him.

Storm Clash had no idea why sir Matthias became so worried, but sensing the seriousness in his voice, he flew as fast as he could in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the fastest flier, so it would take him some time. Concerned that he might get back too late, Storm sighed with relief when he spotted the mare he has been sent to look for on a meadow not so far from the Abbey.

“Is she... having a tea with a bunny?” he thought surprised as he neared her.

“Miss Fluttershy!” he called out, suspecting it would be best to give her some warning. His assumption proved to be correct, as she jumped up, frightened. He could guess how she would react if he just landed next to her unannounced. “Sir Matthias asked me to take you to the Everfree Abbey.”

“W-what?” she asked, still in a shock from his unexpected visit. “Why would Matt want me to-”

“I have no idea, but he said it is an emergency.” Storm cut her off, knowing that time was of the essence. “Please, Miss, you need to come with me.”

Thankfully, the yellow pegasus didn’t need further coaxing. Fluttershy nodded her head, her earlier shock conceding in favor of determination. “Okay, I’ll go.” her eyes widened slightly, and she glanced back at the white bunny that was with her. “Angel, we will have to have our tea party some other day. You don’t mind, do you?”

Not waiting for reply, she took air. Storm moved to follow her, but looked at the bunny out of curiosity.

It had its front paws crossed, and a mixture of anger and annoyance on its face.

Matthias’ quick prayer was all that saved him, and the other five ponies, from being burned to crisps as the world around them erupted in flames. Cursing the perceptivity of the phoenix, he asked the Light to interrupt him. Within a second, the chaos around him disappeared, but despite that he maintained the aura that protected everypony from fire.

“Al’ar, I do not wish to fight you!” Matthias called out to the rebuked and for a moment stunned bird. “My conflict with your old master is of no importance anymore. Please, if you could just...”

He trailed off as Al’ar shook his head, clearing it out of momentary confusion, and cawed angrily. His wings outstretched once more, and the bird of fire took flight. For a moment Matthias worried that Al’ar had intended to fly away (and having a giant phoenix on a loose would’ve probably ended badly), but then, with a wave of his wings, several small fiery missiles were launched at everypony.

“Get back, all of you!” the paladin shouted, realizing those were not fires, but Al’ar’s quills, and were physical enough to get past his aura that protected the others from magical attacks.

He swiftly dodged those quills that were aimed at him, but from the few gasps of pain that reached his ears, it was clear that not everypony managed to do that. If he had time, he would ask the Light for additional protection or healed them, but as it were, he couldn’t even spare to look at them to make sure they were safe. Al’ar once again concentrated solely at him, preparing to charge at him. Matthias took a deep breath, readying himself for the upcoming exertion. The phoenix launched, attempting to hit him with the full power his flaming body could muster. But a heartbeat before they would collide, golden chains appeared around Al’ar, suspending the great bird in the air.

Al’ar cawed furiously as he attempted to free himself. Had it been another paladin that bound him, he would break those chains in a matter of seconds. However, Matthias willpower was far greater than that of a usual paladin. The golden chains held... for now.

“Stop it!” he once again called out. “Al’ar, in your rage, you harmed innocent! Doesn’t that matter to you!?”

But either it didn’t in a slightest, or Al’ar’s hatred of the one that destroyed its master’s live was so great that he wasn’t even listening, for his attempts to break free increased.

“Okay, that’s it, enough of talking.” the voice of Tucker sounded behind Matthias, making him glance back. The unicorn had two non-threatening burn marks, one on his shoulder and the other on flank, but instead of hurt he looked mostly angry. “I’m pissed!”

A blue energy shoot from his right hoof, forming a two-bladed sword. Tucker, balancing perfectly on three legs, was about to jump at Al’ar, and from his stance Matthias could tell that he was going to aim at his throat. He realized that, beside how futile it would be, it would also make it harder to calm the Phoenix God if they’d kill him. Not wanting to let that happen, Matthias summoned another set of golden chains, binding Tucker before he could do anything. The unicorn looked at him, shocked, but before the paladin got a chance to explain, a stab of pain in his mind told him that Al’ar broke free, no doubt taking advantage of the momentary distraction.

Cursing, Matthias prepared to use a bit more drastic measures to keep the bird away from inflicting further harm on ponies, but then a yellow-and-pink blur appeared between them.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING, MISTER?!” Fluttershy shouted, making Al’ar to whirl back in surprise. “HOW DARE YOU ATTACK OTHERS?! JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE BIGGER DOESN’T MEAN YOU GET TO BE A BULLY!!!”

Al’ar’s confusion deepened, as this small creature looked with fury into his eyes, and suddenly his own rage gave way to fear. Matthias sighed with relief, and looked back to assert the damage the phoenix has done. Aside from Tucker, the other’s also had burn marks, although in Serenity’s case they seemed to be more smudges on her crystal coat than real wounds. The only one free of them was Storm Clash, who just arrived with Fluttershy, and now was staring at her with his crooked jaw dropped, similar to others.

Matthias would have chuckled if it wasn’t for that he was also a bit put off by this. Concentrating, he prayed to the Light, and it shone down on them, healing their wounds.

“What do you have to say for yourself?!” the yellow mare continued to berate the Phoenix God as if it was a puppy that wet itself in the house.

Al’ar cawed something in reply uncomfortably.

“I know Mattie did a lot of bad things before he came to Ponyville.” Fluttershy replied gently, somehow understanding what he said. Matthias spared a second to wonder what did he told her exactly. “But he is truly sorry for all of that, and works hard every day to make it up by helping everypony he can. He deserves a second chance, and you should apologize to him and the others for harming them.”

That was clearly too much for the huge phoenix, who cawed in outrage.

“I said ‘YOU SHOULD APOLOGIZE’!” the animal caretaker cut him off.

Al’ar shrinks inwardly from the sound of her voice. Deciding it wasn’t worth risking her wrath, he twisted his head to regard other ponies, mostly Matthias, and cawed what the paladin guessed to be an apology.

“That’s better.” Fluttershy commented, reaching with her hoof to pet him under his beak. “Who’s a cute widdle flaming bird?”

“Did... she just...” Sound asked, or rather tried to ask, as dumbfounded at the sight of the Phoenix God calming himself as he was treated like a normal pet by Fluttershy as anypony else.

“Fluttershy, your skills with animals will never cease to amaze me.” Matthias told her as he trotted closer to her and Al’ar.

The bird quickly snapped at him angrily, but under Fluttershy stern gaze he looked away.

“Thank you.” the paladin continued, not bothering with Al’ar, as he no longer could sense an evil intent within him.

“No problem, I am happy to help. But how did this cute bird got here?”

“One of the books Brann brought was covered in his ashes.” Matthias explained, and seeing her confusion, he added: “Al’ar is a phoenix, like Philomena, except that he’s a Phoenix God. So he is naturally a bit... bigger.”

“‘A bit’?!” Sound, Bomb, Guard and Storm exclaimed, all whom have seen Celestia’s pet before.

“Oh my, no wonder you look so magnificent.” Fluttershy told Al’ar as she resumed petting him, both she and Matthias ignoring the four stallions. “But... what are we going to do with you now?”

That was a question that Matthias would prefer to avoid, as there was only one possible answer to it. But he knew it couldn’t be helped.

“I guess he will have to stay here.” he said. Everypony, besides Fluttershy, looked at him as if had lost his mind, Al’ar included. “There are only few places where you could live in Equestria, and I hope you understand that I cannot just allow you to fly around unsupervised. Brann’s medallion only allows him to go between Equestria and Azeroth, so we can’t send you there, plus I have no way of contacting him. I also have no idea how to banish you into the elemental plane, where you could be more at home, so letting you stay in here is the only option.”

Utterly ignoring the surprise and confusion of others at some part of his statement, Matthias continued to observe Al’ar. He could tell that, while he still didn’t like him, the phoenix was considering what he said.

“If it is of any consolation, know that I am truly sorry for what I did to your master, as well as everything, like Fluttershy just said.” Matthias told him, bowing his head in apology. “Please, forgive me, and allow me to make up for my deeds by providing you with a home.”

He glanced up to look into his eyes. The two of them stared long into each other: one with a pair of eyes like fire, the other with pair of sea-colored. Just where Matthias began to tear up from staring into something so bright, Al’ar cawed quietly, and nodded in agreement. He then lunged into the air and flew over to the Lightbringer Chapel’s roof.

“Are we really gonna live with that living torch?” Tucker asked while Matthias sighed with relief, watching the Phoenix God land and planning to build a nest for himself.

“Tucker Out, do you know why I stopped you when you tried to attack Al’ar?” the paladin asked instead, ignoring for the moment the initiate’s question. When he saw a confused look on Tucker’s face, he continued: “As paladins, it is our duty to protect others, however we don’t resolve to violence if there are other ways to deal with a threat. I had faith that Fluttershy would be able to calm Al’ar, and that’s why I held both myself and you back. Furthermore, a paladin cannot act with anger in his heart. Do you understand?”

His question was directed to all four initiates, who quickly nodded. Satisfied, Matthias glanced again at Tucker, and added gentler: “Despite that, however, you deserve to be commended by how quickly you wanted to step into the fight, regardless of the size and power of your opponent.”

“Um... Thank you, sir.” the unicorn replied after he realised he had just been praised, and saluted.

Matthias nodded to him, and then looked at the two royal guards.

“Hay, our contract doesn’t mention giant flaming god-like creatures!” Sound immediately tried to defend himself and his partner.

The paladin just shook his head in annoyance. “Go and wash yourselves.” he told all of them. “Once you’re done, get back into the chapel, I still have some things to tell you. And you two will get back to your post.”

“Yes, sir!” all six of them replied, and then headed towards the barrack to clean the marks that fire left on them. Storm, the one that wasn’t present during the fight, flew straight to the Chapel.

“Once again, Fluttershy, thank you.” Matthias turned to the yellow pegasus, beckoning her to him, and both of them headed for the gate. “I prefer not to think how this all would end if it weren’t for you.”

“I didn’t do that much.” Fluttershy replied, blushing in embarrassment for being praised.

“Fluttershy, look at that.” the paladin stopped her, and pointed at the lines Al’ar’s fire left on the training field. “Most of the Abbey, or even Ponyville, would had look like that, even if I was able to defeat Al’ar eventually. You fully deserve to be praised, and I won’t let you get away that easily.”

“Um, okay then. Thanks.” the pegasus said, smiling. Her cheeks were still red, making the smile even cuter looking. “You will take care of Al’ar, right?”

“Sure, although I doubt he needs that.” Matthias chuckled. “Being a Phoenix God, he doesn’t exactly need to eat... although I will probably have to order some bird food... a fireproof bird food.”

Fluttershy joined him, giggling at his comment. The paladin felt relief spread through him at the realization that their friendship didn’t suffer from his earlier outburst. However, as that memory resurfaced in his mind, the day seemed darker.

“Fluttershy...” he started and paused, gathering thoughts. He felt the need to explain himself better to her, for the fear that she briefly experienced because of him. “That thing earlier... I’m really sorry for scaring you.”

“Oh, don’t be.” Fluttershy immediately replied. “I get scared of everything, and I’m sure you had your reason for being so angry.”

“Perhaps, but that doesn’t justify my behaviour.” Matthias told her, refusing to be forgiven so easily. Not being able to look into those innocent eyes of hers, he turned his head away as he continued: “I shouldn’t explode like that, not in front of you all, especially Spike, who shouldn’t hear older ponies curse. And I shouldn’t let anger get the better of me at all. I...” the earth pony stammered, his words failing him “Fluttershy, I became evil because I let my anger and hatred blind me to everything. I... I can’t... I can’t let this happen again, I...”

“Mattie...” he heard the yellow pegasus say as he began to feel panic arise within him. He turned his head...

… and Fluttershy kissed him.

His eyes snapped wide in shock, but his reaction was nowhere near Fluttershy’s level. She almost immediately pulled back, shock plain on her face as she covered her face.

“I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed from behind her hooves, red as tomato as she burned with shame. “I meant to kiss you on the cheek, because I thought that would make you feel better, but... I-”

Matthias wouldn’t know what else Fluttershy planned to say, because at that moment Fluttershy embarrassment passed its level of tolerance’s limit. Faster than he ever saw her, she took the air and rapidly flew in the direction of her cottage. The paladin, too shock to do anything, only now had realized that he should have probably called out after her.

“This won’t end well.” Matthias murmured, although Fluttershy’s unexpected kiss at least did what she intended - he felt better.

83. Home is where your heart is

“Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness...” Fluttershy continued to repeat those words over and over like a mantra, as she flew in circle around her living room. She paid no mind to her animal friends’ worried gaze. She was too deep in panic for that.

The shy pegasus couldn’t remember if she ever was this embarrassed before in her life. What she meant to be a comforting gesture for her friend turned into something that should happen only between special someponies, all because of her klutziness.

“What is Matt going to think now about me?!” the thought crossed her mind again. “How will I explain it to Rainbow, or Twilight?!”

With that, she had remembered that they were supposed to have a slumber party this night. Fluttershy gulped nervously, wondering if she could somehow get out of this. But no, that would make her friends worried, and they would also try to find out what’s wrong...

“What am I going to do?”

Twilight sighed as she closed the ‘Nature of changing matter’. The book was very interesting, but with the upcoming supper she found herself unable to concentrate properly on it. The unicorn put it away, and decided to check up on Spike. She slowly rose, stretching her body that stood still for good few hours, and trotted over to the kitchen, from where a delicious smell was coming from.

“Spike, how are pancakes coming along?” Twilight asked her assistant.

“Almost ready.” the dragon replied, his eyes not leaving the oven.

The lavender mare glanced at the plate near him, where there already was quite the number of grass pancakes. Satisfied, she left Spike to continue his work. Entering library’s main room, she looked at the clock. There was still over an hour before Matt would get here, so...

At the sound of the door opening, Twilight didn’t know if she should be happy or annoyed.

“Hi.” she said to Matt as he closed the door behind him. “Done already?”

“More or less.” the stallion replied, smiling to her. “It’s amazing how a giant flaming bird can affect ponies’ concentration. Since they couldn’t focus on my words, I figured-”

“Wait, what?” Twilight stopped him, confused at the phrase ‘giant flaming bird’.

She listened as Matt explained what happened in the Abbey after they left. In short time, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as the paladin tale took an unimaginable turn. Had anypony else tried to convince her that a gigantic phoenix rose from ashes that were all around a book (the very one that caught her attention) Twilight would think them mad.

“Wow... a Phoenix God...” she murmured, shocked to hear that such being even existed. Then again, Azeroth is such a strange place... “It’s a good thing that Fluttershy was able to calm him down... and that you were smart enough to realize what was going to happen. If he would rose inside that library...”

She cut off, unable to express her horror at the thought of so many books being reduced to dust and ashes, and before she even got a chance to read them no less.

“Will you inform Princess Celestia about Al’ar?” Twilight asked, wanting to get the images of all those books ruined out of her head.

“Yes, although it can wait, I wouldn’t want to interrupt Spike now. It’s not really urgent. Al’ar seems... content, at least, and if he would start making trouble, I had given Storm Clash an order to fetch Fluttershy again.”

There was a strange... uncertainty in his voice and eyes as he said their shy friend’s name.

“He must be still feeling guilty for scaring her back then.” Twilight concluded, and even though she herself was certain that Fluttershy had already forgotten about it, she felt for him.

“So, what do you think of your initiates so far?” she changed the subject, figuring that would be best.

“Hmm?” he asked confused, as he clearly had his head stuck in clouds for a moment there. “Oh, they all show great promise. Serenity so far proved to be most understanding of the ways of the paladin, as she got everything I told them. However, a paladin’s life isn’t only about praying and meditating. I am most curious to see how well she’ll fare in tomorrow training.”

“Serenity said that she wanted to join her brother in the crystal guard.” Twilight remembered. “Perhaps he showed her a thing or two?”

“Maybe, but just knowing ‘a thing or two’ doesn’t make one a good fighter. I will probably have to spend more time with her on that. As for the others, Guard Shield seemed to grasp my words well, and what I know from his service record fills me confidence he will do fine tomorrow. Tucker, on the other hoof...” Matt paused, as disdain for the stallion’s behaviour crossed his face. “He has good battle instincts, and based on his medical report, he was no stranger to combat before he got captured in that amber. And he can focus on other things besides mares. However, when he is not concentrating on anything else... well, let’s just say that I’m glad that the only mare within the Abbey chooses to ignore him all the time.”

“And Storm Clash?” the unicorn asked, the image of the pegasus in question appearing in her mind. She wondered how he had his jaw crooked.

“Hmm...” Matt pondered before he answered. “I can tell that he has doubts about himself. I would guess that he might be afraid of failing, which is something I can relate to. But it’s nothing to worry about; he will find his confidence... at some point.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.”

“Hi Matt!” Spike, who suddenly came out of the kitchen, exclaimed in greeting.

“Hi, Spike.”

“How was the first day? Also, the pancakes are ready. So come in, let’s eat!” the baby dragon added with great enthusiasm.

“If their taste is as good as their smell, I fear I won’t bother to pause eating to talk.” Matt replied to that, chuckling, as all three of them made their way towards the kitchen.

“Spike, you’ve really outdone yourself this time.” he said to the baby dragon as he leaned back, sighing with content.

“No argument here.” Twilight added.

Despite Matthias’ ‘worries’, they talked plenty during the supper, as Spike prepared enough grass pancakes for everypony to not worry about the others eating his or her share. Of course, the first few moments were spent in utter silence, while each one of them was savoring the heaven their mouths became with bites of the delicious meal in them.

Once they were able to speak, Matthias shortly described Spike what happened within the Abbey; minus, of course, that incident with Fluttershy. He didn’t tell Twilight about it either, preferring first to discuss this with the pegasus pony. The stallion had a feeling that she truly didn’t mean to kiss him, and a bad luck that he turned his head at that moment was to blame, but knowing Fluttershy, she was probably in deep panic right now nonetheless.

Instead of dwelling on that, he began telling Twilight and Spike how Al’ar looks like, and how different phoenixes from Azeroth are from Equestria’s. It was easier to explain it to Twilight; to the young dragon, the whole concept of ‘elements’ was hard to grasp. But he tried to, probably due to that in the past; he had once tried to take care of a phoenix hatchling. Matthias didn’t know the details, but apparently Spike saved him as an egg from those three idiotic dragons he had beaten shortly after coming to Equestria, and brought it back home. But shortly after it hatched, it became quite clear that it would be best to return it to its parents.

Matthias would’ve liked to know more than that about this matter, but he figured it would be impolite to ask.

The topic of phoenixes, as exciting it was, was expended around the time they were half done with the meal. So instead, they began to talk about all the things that happened since Matthias began living here. They avoided subjects such as the ‘changling invasion’ or the ‘Crystal Empire’, (and, of course, ‘Twilight and Matt in a bathtub together’), instead focusing on their day-to-day life together. Like the time Twilight thought they were missing one book, until they found it next to her bed, where she dropped it after falling asleep while trying to read it. Or how Spike wanted to check if baking a fire ruby makes it more delicious, which it doesn’t, however it does make the oven explode sometimes. And the time Twilight was out and Matthias decided to help Spike reshelving, and instead of using the ladder he stupidly tried to jump up to the highest shelf. Suffice to say that if it weren’t for Light’s protection, there would be a pancake of him splattered across the floor.

Lost in recalling all that happened, the trio didn’t even noticed when they’ve eaten everything.

“Honestly, Spike,” Matthias continue to praise the cook, “if you ever decide to quit being Twilight’s assistant-”

“Fat chances.” Twilight interrupted him sternly, but the stallion noticed the playful gleam in her eye.

The three friends laughed at that, everypony happy that the others were happy. Matthias shot a passing glance at the clock. They had still about two hours left.

“So...” he spoke up, wanting to use that time as best they could. “Board games?”

“In a minute, I need to check something.” Twilight replied, rising from the table. “And you have a message to write to the Princess, remember?”

Had it been anypony besides Twilight or one of his other friends, Matthias would have gotten slightly offended at suggestion that he forgot about his duties. But as such, he nodded, and turned to Spike, while Twilight left to do whatever it was she wanted to do.

The letter he dictated was short, containing mostly information about what happened and Al’ar’s brief history. Once Spike send it, Matthias expected that they would need to wait for their unicorn friend, but almost immediately she stepped back into the kitchen.

“What were you doing?” he asked her, curious.

Whatever it was, it made her really happy.

“Just checking if my surprise gift for you is all set up.” she replied, smiling from ear to ear.

“Oh, you didn’t have too...” Matthias, while pleased, began to say, but she cut him off.

“Maybe, but don’t say so before you see it.” Twilight told him, and something in her voice made him wonder what exactly she wanted to give him. “And don’t worry; I’m not expecting any gift from you.”

“Then you are in for a surprise.” the stallion mused, already having prepared a gift for her over a week ago.

“Now, would you mind closing your eyes?” the lavender mare asked.

Having complete trust in her, Matthias closed them without a moment of hesitation. He didn’t need to see to know she cast a teleportation spell for all three of them however, as the sound was quite familiar to him, not to mention the sensation of magic associated with it.

“Now, open them.”

The sight that welcomed him was a confusing one. In front of him was Twilight’s telescope.

“Go on, take a look.” the unicorn encouraged him, her voice beaming with excitement.

Now intrigued, Matthias pressed his eye into the eyelid. As he did so, he noticed that the telescope was set on a maximum.

“I wonder what she wants me to see...” he pondered as his eye gazed into the space. “Probably some very beautiful constella-”

In that moment, he realized what he was seeing, and all thoughts evaporated from his mind. It was small, very small, even despite how powerful Twilight’s telescope was (and it was enchanted with magic to pass its technical limits), so small that Matthias wouldn’t have recognized it, if it weren’t for the humongous whirlpool right in the middle of it.

Maelstrom.

He was looking at Azeroth.

“So... do you like it?” Twilight asked him, uncertain.

She had no idea how he would react to the sight of what she was certain was Azeroth. How does one react to the sight of their homeworld? Twilight was prepared for anything, from happiness to melancholy, and even anger.

Despite actually trying to find it, it was mostly pure luck that she stumbled upon Azeroth. Matt once described to her some of the constellations that were visible from his old world to the best of his abilities, and she had realized that she recognized some of them. However, basing a search on only that proved really difficult, even more so because of a possibility that the sight of Azeroth could be simply obscured by some other celestial body. But Twilight did not give up and finally, just two days ago, she found it.

The sheer distance between the two worlds amazed her. If it weren’t for Princess Celestia’s theory that Matt’s soul was in Tartarus, a gate to which was on Equestria, Twilight would have no idea how in hay was he brought back here. She recalled how Matt told her about the Dark Portal, which linked Azeroth with a fairly close world once called Draenor. How much more powerful would have a portal to be that could allow ponies to cross between Equestria and Azeroth was beyond her imagination.

Twilight snapped back to the present moment once she had realized that Matt finally pulled back. Before she got a chance to ask him again what he thought about her gift, she found herself in a tight hug.

“I love it.” Matt simply said into her ear.

Matthias watched as Spike rolled the dices, and then moved his figure accordingly.

It took him some time to get over the sight of Azeroth. Even if it was small from here, it was good to see it once more. However, it didn’t make him feel homesick, much to his surprise. Was it because everything that he could call ‘home’ back there was destroyed by his own hands, or simply he thought now Equestria to be his home? He was not sure, but he currently knew one thing.

He was going to buy a Canterlot Castle.

“Come on, four, come on, four...” he chanted over the Monopoly board as it was his turn to roll the dices. His figure was staying on Canterlot’s Station, one that belonged to Twilight along with two others, which made him pay her a lot of game’s bits during the previous turn. But if he could buy Canterlot Castle, the most expensive ‘street’ of the game, then he could start building residences on it and Platina’s District, the second most expensive one that he already owned. Should either Twilight or Spike step on them... “... come on, four...”

“Can you just throw them already?” Spike asked, clearly impatient.

Matthias glanced at him, but his gaze softened once he saw the baby dragon yawn. He threw the dices, in his mind still going: “Come on, four, come on, four...”

Ten.

“Buck” Matthias cursed, and prepared to pay Twilight again.

“That was fun.” Twilight commented as they putted Spike to bed.

“Said the winner.” Matthias countered, winking at her playfully.

Either he had bad luck today, or Lordaeron would’ve gone bankrupt had he not fallen into darkness. Matthias lost as the first, and later observed Twilight and Spike continued playing, until Spike had finally stepped on Platina’s District that was now owned by Twilight. However, Spike’s bitterness over losing was short-lived, as he had fallen asleep almost instantly.

“We should’ve done this more often.” Twilight continued, once the dragon was safely sleeping in his basket. Smirking, she added: “Maybe then you wouldn’t be so bad at it.”

“Har-har, my friend.” Matthias replied, pretending to be offended.

Both of them looked into each other’s eyes, and burst with laughter, muffled by their hooves so that they wouldn’t wake up Spike. It felt good to spend an evening like this, even though it would have to end soon. However, once they’ve stopped laughing, they fell silent, both thinking the same thing.

It was time to say goodbye.

“This is ridiculous.” the stallion exclaimed out loud. As confused Twilight glanced at him, he continued: “I am just moving to the other side of town, which isn’t even that big.”

“I know, I’ve been thinking the same thing.” Twilight said, smiling. It did not surprised Matthias that she understood perfectly what he meant. “You know, you haven’t showed us exactly where you will sleep.”

“I have a bedroom connected to an office within the barracks.” the paladin replied, shrugging. “Both are pretty modest, although... Princess Luna insisted that I’ll accept this weird chair as a gift from her.”

“Weird chair?”

“Yeah, it’s on wheels, and can spin around... It’s actually rather distracting, to sit in it.”

“Oh, I know those!” Twilight exclaimed. “They’re called ‘swivel chairs’, and they are mostly bought by those big companies. I wonder why Luna insisted that you’ll accept it...”

Meanwhile, in Canterlot Castle…

“Whee!!!!” Luna exclaimed in excitement as she and her baby daughter, both sitting in her swivel chair with the mother holding Moonlight, swirled around it even faster.

“So, I guess this is it, then.” Twilight said instead, abandoning her earlier trail of thoughts. “You have all your things?”

Instead of answering, Matt pointed at the saddlebag near him, where there was also Spottedleaf and her pillow and bowls.

“There wasn’t much of it.” he said with a chuckle. He then turned to her, and his face took on more serious matter. “Twilight, I wanted to thank you for letting me stay here for over... four months. That long, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s been a while.” Twilight replied, giggling. “I’ve kinda gotten used to you being here by now. It will be weird without you.” she added in sadder tone.

“And it will be weird for me to not be surrounded by books.” Matt countered with a smirk. “But we will get over it. You have to focus on your studies, right?”

“Yeah, and you on training paladins. Guess we won’t see each other that often, then...”

“Hey, come on.” Matt interrupted her right when her ears were about to fall down. “We’re friends: we will always find some free time to spend together.”

Twilight looked up to see him smile, and the only thing she could do was smile in reply. She hoped he was right.

“I’ll best be going, then...” Matt said after a while, but as he was about to turn around, he stopped. “Oh, and Twilight, thanks for showing me Azeroth; it really meant a lot to me.”

“No problem. I’m glad that I could show you it.”

“And this might be a funny coincidence, but I actually prepared a little something for you.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, surprised and pleased.

“Of course. Now, close your eyes.”

The unicorn did as he asked without a moment of hesitation, curious as to what Matt wanted to give her. Judging by his behaviour, he did not have doubts that she would like her gift, unlike her when she showed him Azeroth. She waited impatiently.

“Maybe Brann also brought back a book about magic?” she thought, and the idea of learning magic from another world almost made her squeal with excitement.

She continued to wait a bit longer, but it then hit her that it was becoming rather long. She lifted one eyelid...

Matt and his things disappeared.

At first all that Twilight could do was look in disbelief at nothing in particular, but she quickly took a hold of herself. This was Matt she was dealing with; the guy that just loved to tease her. She was sure that he truly had some gift for her, but instead of simply giving it to her; he hid it somewhere, and left.

“You better hope this gift is really amazing.” she muttered to herself, more annoyed than angry. “Or else Al’ar won’t be the only being on fire around here.”

Matthias stopped himself from laughing only because he didn’t want to disturb anypony at this late hour. Of course, the tavern and a club were still open, but they were on the other side of town.

He was certain that Twilight was now searching for his gift for her around the shelves of the library, in the kitchen, an in bedroom, but was fairly sure she wouldn’t find it until she gave up. After all, he hid it in such obvious place that nopony, especially Twilight, would think about looking for it there.

As Spottedleaf attempted to make his back more comfortable to lie on, Matthias recalled the great lengths he went to find this gift, and then to even greater lengths to get it.

His hoof still ached.

“I give up.”

That was all Twilight could think off after good twenty minutes of searching. She would have liked to spend more time on it, but her friends would be here shortly, so she needed her library to not look as if a hurricane came through it.

Resigned, Twilight used a spell to put her books back on the shelves (thankfully, she was careful as to from which shelf the books she put where, so she had no problem putting them back), and the dishes in the kitchen back in their place. Then, wanting to at least catch some rest, she teleported to right above her bed and landed on it softly. She stretched out, put her head on the pillow...

And then abruptly rose.

“What are we waiting for?” Matthias replied to Spottedleaf’s curious meow.

They were standing not so far from Twilight’s library. Or rather, he was standing, and Spottedleaf was standing on his back.

“I need to speak with Fluttershy, and I know she will be coming this way.” he explained.

As he wondered how this talk would go, he massaged his right hoof, an act that while in company of others he was careful not to do, so that nopony would figure out what happened.

“I should have never agreed to hoof wrestling.” he thought with regret.

As Twilight lifted her pillow, a very familiar shape had registered in her mind. Tears appeared in her eyes by themselves, and the unicorn felt that even if Matt gave her hundred of books, she wouldn’t be as nearly as touched as she was now.

On her bed laid Smarty Pants, holding a small card that said:

I’m home!

Author's Note

Before anybody starts nitpicking: I didn't state that Matthias won that hoof wrestle.

84. Girls night

As Fluttershy marched towards Twilight’s library, she did so with the face of a pony that was about to be hanged. She was certain that her friends would quickly figure out what was wrong with her, but that couldn’t be helped.

“I just hope Rainbow and Twilight won’t be too angry with me...” the shy pegasus thought, and the images of her two friends’ faces distorted in anger almost made her cry.

However, all those dark thought evaporated from her mind once she felt something warm brush her legs. Startled, Fluttershy looked down, and calmed down once she saw a familiar cat.

“Oh, hello, Spottedleaf.” the pegasus greeted the cat, patting her on the head. “Where is your-”

“Right next to you.” she heard Matt’s voice reply from her side, making her squeak and jump into air.

Shaking, Fluttershy looked down to see Matt regarding her with worried and mildly annoyed expression.

“Fluttershy, I wanted to talk with you.” he said. “Would you mind coming down from there?”

She knew what he wanted to talk about. It’s about what happened back at the Abbey. Fluttershy had hoped to avoid discussing that, but now there was nothing she could do. A brief thought appeared in her head about trying to escape, but she felt that despite her having wings Matt would caught up to her without much problem. And so, resigned, she landed beside him, her head low and cheeks red.

She heard the stallion sigh before he spoke: “Fluttershy, you shouldn’t be so... embarrassed over what happened. Can you please look at me?”

Fluttershy gulped nervously and did as he asked. As she raised her head to meet his, she saw Matt smiling at her encouragingly.

“Back then, you meant to make me feel better, but did not expect me to turn my head at that moment, correct?” he asked, and Fluttershy nodded sheepishly. “Then you really shouldn’t be so embarrassed. If anyone should, it should be me.”

“But it was my-” she tried to protest, but he cut her off.

“It was nopony’s fault; it was simply an accident. Do you remember the morning after the reception?”

She remembered. The memory of opening Twilight’s room’s door, and seeing the two of them arguing while still in Twilight’s bed would probably stay with her for a long time. Fluttershy also recalled how her unicorn friend explained that by accident she had kissed Matt.

“See?” Matt asked after a while. “It’s basically the same thing, only that this is much less embarrassing... well, for me.”

“Well... yes, okay, but you and Twilight... and Rainbow Dash...”

She paused, unsure of what she was actually going to say, and saw Matt roll his eyes.

“Twilight and I are, most importantly, friends. It shouldn’t really matter to one who the other kisses or get kissed.”

Fluttershy, despite her own embarrassment clouding her mind, didn’t miss that he said ‘shouldn’t’.

“And I am sure that she would look at it as I did, if you truly think that you should tell her about it. As for Rainbow Dash, though...” he paused, and an uneasy smile crossed his face. “Fluttershy, you know her longer than I. Just try to imagine how she would react to you telling her.”

Despite not wanting to do it, the shy pegasus nodded, and closed her eyes, concentrating...

“Umm, Rainbow Dash...” she mumbled, uncertain. “I kinda... kissed Mattie... by accident.”

Rainbow’s eyes grow wide, and for a brief moment, her jaw dropped. But before Fluttershy could say anything else, the cyan pegasus burst into laughter, holding her sides.

She opened her eyes to see Matt regard her with the same unease smile as before.

“She would probably laugh about it and tease us, mostly me as you’re so sensitive and all.” he said, without any ill-meaning behind his words.

Hearing that, Fluttershy slowly realized that she’s really overreacted on the whole thing. If anypony was going to ‘suffer’ from it, it would be Matt, and while she hated to cause a discomfort for her friend or anypony in general, she knew that he could bear with it.

“You’re right, that is what she would do.” Fluttershy replied, finally allowing herself to smile. “And since you also don’t mind what had happened... then I guess I don’t have to worry about it.”

“I’m glad that you see it this way.” Matt said, sighing with relief. “I would hate to have a repeat of what happened after the reception, when all of you were too ashamed to talk to me...”

As Matt continued, Fluttershy played the memories of that night. Of how uncouth the five of them behaved. What she and Rarity-

“Oh, for Light’s sake.” Matt interrupted both himself and her train of thoughts.

“Um, sorry.” the pegasus replied, smiling with embarrassment, but she bravely shook it off. “So, you are going back to the Everfree Abbey, right?”

“Yes, I need to properly settle in there.” he said, shaking the saddlebag. “And I kinda have a thing to do, so I’ll better get going. Have a good time on that slumber party.”

“Thank you, and sorry that you had to wait for me here...” she began to apologize, but at the annoyed look Matt gave he she stopped.

Chuckling, they both said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

“So, yer sayin this is Matt’s world?” Applejack asked when it was her turn to look through the telescope.

“Yes, I found it by searching for the constellations he told me about. When I located the-” Twilight began to explain in that nerdy way of her, but at that moment all of them heard her door opening. “That must be Fluttershy, excuse me.” she said and casted a teleportation spell.

“Whew, that was close.” Rainbow thought as she continued to scan the shelves with books. “If I would hear that astro mambo-jumbo one more...”

“RD, mind tellin us what exactly are ya looking fer?” Applejack, her attention apparently no longer on the telescope, asked.

“Um, I emm...” the cyan mare stuttered, hoping that her face wasn’t showing her embarrassment. “I was looking for “Daring Do” books, of course.”

“They’re downstairs, and Ah know ya know it.” the earth pony replied simply, lifting one eyebrow.

Rainbow gulped nervously, but she was spared further questioning by the arrival of Twilight and Fluttershy. Applejack shot her one more suspecting look, and turned back to greet Fluttershy. Dash sighed with relief and, making sure that none of the others was observing her (Twilight was now telling Fluttershy about Azeroth, and Rarity continued to stylize Pinkie Pie’s mane), she returned to her search.

“It’s impossible for you to not have books about that subject, Twilight!” she thought angrily.

“Everypony’s comfortable?” Twilight asked about ten minutes later, when they were all sitting in a circle on their sleeping bags, surrounded by various snacks, drinks (from which they took occasional sips) and games in case they would run out of topics to talk about.

In the corner of her eye, she spotted Rainbow Dash once again glance around the library, as she did so when Twilight let her in this night. The unicorn couldn’t understand what she was searching for, and why wouldn’t she simply ask her about it, but for now she let that be.

“We are, sugarcube, but what about ya?” Applejack asked, and immediately Twilight got annoyed, as she knew exactly what her friend meant. Again. “How are ye holdin’ up with Matt leavin’?”

“I am-” Twilight snapped, but was at that very second interrupted by Pinkie.

“Yeah, I mean, if I had a roomy that I had a crush on leave to live on the other side of town, I would got super-duper sad, and I would had to eat boxes of ice cream with a huge spoon, and watch some sappy-” Twilight, not being able to bear it, pressed her hoof against the pink pony mouth, but unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to silence her properly. “-hhmfhmhr hhjfmg hfhfmgh, hfhhgmg, hhghmgm! Hmmffhgh, ghtm? Hmgmg...”

Finally Pinkie Pie trailed off, noticing the hoof and the stare Twilight was giving her. Satisfied, the unicorn sighed and released her.

“I am feeling fine, thanks for your concern, but it’s really unnecessary. It’s not like Matt moved to the other side of Equestria, for pony sake. And besides, he and I are just friends, remember? I admit, I once thought of him as more than friend, but since then this feeling had toned down.”

Inwardly, she winced, knowing that it wasn’t really the truth.

“Umh, you expect us to believe it?” Rarity, as if reading her thoughts, asked.

“I thought we agreed that you won’t try to play a match-maker.” Twilight reminded her, looking at her threateningly.

“Just because we agreed that we won’t try to get you two together, it doesn’t mean we’ve stopped thinking you two belong with each other.” Rarity replied, and the others nodded.

“Why the hay are you nodding?” the lavender mare asked Rainbow Dash, now even more annoyed.

“Hey, Matt and I actually are just friends.” Dash replied, sounding offended. “If you two would decide to be together, I would happily found another stallion to ‘play’ with, alright.”

“I thought you said all the other stallions in this town are... beyond your level limit of awesomeness, or something.” Twilight snorted, though privately she was... amazed that Dash was ready to stop her ‘activities’ with Matt.

“I’m signing up for the Wonderbolt Academy this year, remember?”

“How could I forget?” the unicorn thought sarcastically, recalling how on her last birthday Rainbow celebrated mostly the fact that she now reached the required age to apply for getting accepted there.

“I might meet some cool guys there.” the cyan pegasus continued. “So if I would quit bucking Matt, I could find somepony else, and if not, hey, mare doesn’t live just by rutting.”

“One could have doubts by your recent behaviour...” Rarity muttered quietly.

“Excuse me?!” Rainbow Dash immediately shouted, glaring at the fashionista. “Care to repeat that?!”

“Oh, boy, here we go at last.” Twilight, who expected this sort of argument between the two for a while now, thought.

“Well, excuse me, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity replied coolly, while the other four ponies glanced uncertainly between the two, “but I just think that a mare should have more... moderation.”

“‘Moderation, as in staying a virgin until you meet ‘Prince Charming’?” Dash mocked. “How has that worked for you?”

Flames of hatred ignited in Rarity’s eyes as the pegasus reminded her (and everypony present in the room, for that matter) how she used to dream about marrying prince Blueblood.

“No, ‘moderation’ as in waiting to have a relationship with a pony before-”

“Are you seriously going to give me a relationship’s advices?” Rainbow interrupted her. “What do you know about them? Have you even kissed a colt?”

Rarity begins to reply in spat: “Yes! For your information, Mat-!”

As the white unicorn clasped her mouth, everypony stared at her, all astonished. Despite Rarity’s quick stop, there was no way they could unheard what she let slip.

“Did you just said...” Twilight slowly recovered from shock. “that you... kissed Matt?”

“Please don’t hate me!” Rarity exclaimed as she fell to, not Rainbow’s, but Twilight’s hooves; much to the latter irritation at the fact. “It was few days after we returned from Canterlot after the wedding, when we all had troubles talking to him due to events after reception, and he was going from one to another of us trying to bring things back to normal, and he asked me what could he do. And I drunk a bit wine that day while discussing a business matter with a pony all the way from Trottingham, and Matt just looks like a prince from a fairy tale, and so I asked him-”

“Oh, come on, Rarity!” Pinkie Pie interrupted their by now almost crying friend, as her words became nearly incoherent. “Nopony is going to make a big deal out of it! Nopony did when I kissed Mattie, too, right?”

“Wha- Pinkie?!” Twilight asked with her jaw hanging. “When I did you kissed Matt?!”

The pink pony looked at her and blinked, as if not understanding question. Finally, she waved her hoof and brushed the back of her head. “Ups, I didn’t mention that?”

“No, you did not.”

“Well, it was back when he and Brannie were stuck in Canterlot, and I was really mad at them for not coming to my party, but then Mattie told me that this meant that I would get to threw two parties, and I was soo happy that I just had to kiss him.” Pinkie explained without any trace of embarrassment or shame whatsoever. However, the next moment she facial expression changed into thoughtful one instead of happy. “Although, I still don’t get why his mouth tasted like cotton candy...”

Twilight was at the loss for words. To think that not only Pinkie (from who she expected everything anyway), but Rarity, who kept telling her that she and Matt were meant for each other...

“Um...” Fluttershy’s quiet attempt to say something pulled her out from her thoughts. “Since everypony is saying, I, um... I too...”

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.” Twilight stated, now annoyed.

“Please don’t be mad at me, it was an accident.” Fluttershy quickly explained. “After I came over to the Abbey today to help them with Al’ar-”

“Al’who? Is there new pony around here?” Pinkie Pie interrupted.

“- Mattie began apologizing to me for his earlier outburst, and he just seemed so sad, that I wanted to cheer him up, and I just wanted to hug him and kiss him on the cheek, but he then turned his head-”

Her further words were obscured by a burst of laughter, coming from a rainbow-mane mare.

“No wonder Matt seemed troubled when he mentioned Fluttershy earlier.” Twilight thought, wondering how Rainbow Dash could react only with laughter. Granted, she herself wasn’t too much bothered by it, either, and it was just kisses, but still...

“Now, wait a darn minute!” Applejack suddenly exclaimed. “Ya mean to tell me that I’m the only one to not kiss Matt?!”

“And you are so enraged by it because?” Twilight asked, making the cowpony blush and look away. “You are all a bunch of hypocrites.” the unicorn informed the rest. “You keep saying that Matt and I should be together, and you all kissed him or want to kiss him! Or buck with him!” she added, glancing at still laughing Rainbow.

“Oh, relax, Twi.” the cyan mare replied, wiping away tears of laughter. “Just because all of us think Matt is hot, it doesn’t mean we have any deeper feelings for him like you do. Right ladies?” she asked, looking at the other four, who all nodded. “I mean, have you seen any of us mooning around him like you did?”

Twilight growled inwardly, feeling more uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was taking.

“Perhaps, but... Okay, what are you looking for, Rainbow?” the lavender unicorn finally asked when she spotted Dash taking again a quick glance around the library, and she hoped that this might change the subject.

“I’m not looking for anything!” the pegasus quickly defended herself.

“Yes, you are, I saw you few times scanning all my books.”

“Me too.” added Applejack.

For a moment, it looked as if Rainbow was going to deny it again, but she then slumped down and gave up.

“Okay, fine, I was... looking for...” she hesitated, before she finished quieter: “a book about sex.”

As the others looked at her, confused, she explained, blushing: “I want to get better at it, okay?! Those jokes Matt makes from time to time about me ‘really being the fastest pony’ can get really annoying sometimes.”

“What d’ya mean?” Applejack asked.

Now more red than cyan, the pegasus rolled her eyes. “I... usually finish twice before Matt does. Or more…”

…

“Well...” Twilight stammered, trying to fill the void after Dash’s words. “that’s... an earth pony stamina for you, I guess.”

“Don’t patronize me.” the pegasus replied. “So, do you have any books about it or don’t you?”

“Nope, sorry. Although... the library record shows that there are supposed to be here. I guess that somepony must have taken them before Spike and I moved in from Canterlot, along with...” she hesitated, as it suddenly became quite clear to her. “... some... romance novels.”

Five pair of eyes slowly moved on the perpetrator, who, realizing that they all must have thought the same thing, blushed.

“What?” Rarity asked weakly, as if hoping that she could fool them.

“Well, putting aside that you either stole library property or prolong keeping those books,” Twilight replied with annoyance, “I would guess that all of us are shocked that you took those kinds of books.”

“Yeah, that makes you hypocritical in lights of our previous argument.” Dash added.

“Well, excuse me.” Rarity told them with mild tone of offence in her voice. “Just because I see value in keeping your virginity until you meet the one, does not mean I am not interested in intercourses. I read plenty on the subject, so that my first time will be memorable for both me and whoever my, as you put, ‘prince charming’ turns out to be.”

“Based on the knowledge taken from books?” the cyan mare asked, smirking. “Who are you, Twilight?”

The unicorn in question glared at her angrily, but the next thing they all heard made them all forget about this.

“Actually, Rainbow Dash, I wouldn’t mind to hear some first-hoof experience on the matter.”

And again, all eyes pointed at Rarity.

“Are you... seriously asking me to tell you all about my ‘inter-whatsitnow’ with Matt?” Dash asked to be certain.

“Well I for one am a bit curious, and since you’re the only one that had sex so far out of all of us...” Rarity trailed off, as it wasn’t necessary to explain more.

“What the rest of you think?”

“I guess...” Twilight started uncertainly. “I am bit curious as well.”

“Me, too.” Applejack stated. “Although, I wonder exactly what Pinkie added to those drinks that made us talk about all of this.”

“Oh, relax, Applejack.” Pinkie Pie replied to the accusation. “There’s nothing wrong with mares discussing smoshy times, right?”

“Smoshy times?” Twilight repeated in her head, wondering where she got that from.

“Well, since nopony seems to mind...” Rainbow Dash, a bit red on her cheeks again, began.

Half an hour later, the six mares, all of them tipsy from their drinks, giggled with excitement as Dash finished telling them about another one of the more passionate moments she spent with Matt, with all the juicy details.

“Seems ye two got a lot of fun together.” Applejack commented.

“Yeah, you might consider finding a stallion and trying it out yourself.” Dash replied with a wink. “After all, you have this big ol’ barn...”

“Are ya kiddin’? Ya suppose I’d rut in the same barn that my sister and her friends play in sometimes?”

“Oh... you might consider cleaning it, then.”

“RD...” Applejack asked, with her eyes wide. “Ya two didn’t-”

She stopped once the pegasus erupted with laughter.

“I can’t believe you fell for it!” she exclaimed, as she rolled on the floor.

“Oh, ya little...” the farm pony muttered angrily, and grabbed her pillow, which then she used to throw to the laughing pegasus.

The blow caught Dash right on the cheek, and sends her rolling away. She quickly recovered, though, and reached for her own pillow.

“Yay! Pillow fight!” Pinkie Pie shouted happily, as she threw hers at Rarity.

The white unicorn’s eyes widened in shock, but then quickly squinted on Pinkie threateningly. “Oh, it is ON!” she whispered as she joined the fray, pulling in Twilight and Fluttershy into it somehow as well.

Storm Clash, who was about half-way done with the libram that Sir Matthias gave him, looked startled as Tucker Out jumped up from his bunk unexpectedly. Unlike him or Guard Shield, the unicorn chose to go to sleep instead of doing any reading, and for the last few hours all they could hear from him was the sound of breathing.

“What is it?” Guard asked, echoing Storm’s thoughts.

“I... I don’t know.” Tucker replied, confused. “But it feels like... something wonderful has happened.”

The other two stallions exchanged annoyed glances, and returned to their lectures.

Author's Note

No, I had this idea of Arthas and Rarity having kissed offscreen for some time now, before you started making comments about everypony kissing him. Although, I will admit that it came good few months after chapter with reception's ending. And hay, it's fun to throw things out of the blue from time to time, in contrast to hinting something to happen.

85. It's the only way

Matthias smiled as he glanced back to see Fluttershy disappear behind library’s doors.

“This went better than I expected it to go.” he muttered with relief, turning towards Ponyville limits. “I thought we were going to spend here half of night trying to calm her down.” he continued to explain Spottedleaf, who walked beside him. “Although, it still wouldn’t be as bad as before...”

He trailed off, still annoyed at how all of his friends (besides Pinkie Pie) were embarrassed around him for how they acted after the reception. His musing, however, was momentarily interrupted by a curious meow.

“About a month before you came around, Fluttershy and the rest all were embarrassed around me for... well, doing some stupid things, I guess. It took me few weeks to bring things between the six of us to a normal level.” seeing Spottedleaf confused gaze, he added: “Pinkie Pie was, strangely, the only one who acted normally that night, although even if she didn’t, I doubt she would care.”

As he recalled how the pink pony kissed him back at Canterlot and later seemed not to care at the slightest, Matthias chuckled despite himself. Pinkie Pie never even brought it up, and that kiss was much more intimate than that little peck on the lips Fluttershy gave him by accident. And that one with Rarity...

He shook his head, preferring not to think about that. In some roundabout way, that kiss brought things back to normal between him and Rarity, and that’s all he cared about.

“Today was a bit tiring.” he mused, holding back a yawn while he and Spottedleaf had finally reached the small river that marked the border of the town, and were about to cross the bridge. “And I still have to-”

A meow interrupted his thoughts. Matthias glanced to his side, and saw that the tortoiseshell cat had stopped right before the crossing. Her ears were perked up and jaw slightly parted, and before he could react, she padded to the side, going under the bridge.

“What’s that cat on about now?” the stallion thought as he followed her.

This wouldn’t be the first time she acted strangely. The whole matter of her enjoying Angel’s company aside, now they apparently were mad at each other because of something. He hoped Spottedleaf had a good reason for dragging him after her.

The reason became apparent to him as soon as he took a glance at the small cavity under the bridge. For a second all Matthias could do was stare, but he soon snapped himself.

“Scootaloo, what the hay are you doing under the bridge at this hour?” he asked the small orange filly sternly, but then he mentally facehoofed himself noticing the sleeping bag. “Let me rephrase that: why are you sleeping under the bridge?!”

Scootaloo looked back at him with a face of a foal caught on breaking something.

“I... umm, I eeh...” she muttered incoherently, her eyes looking around for a possible way of escape.

Before she had a chance to do anything stupid, Matthias took a quick look at the surroundings. He already had a cold feeling in his gut at what possible reason could the filly had for sleeping here, and what he saw didn’t fill him with optimism: there was her scooter, her cask, school books in a carton (no doubt to protect them from water), and several other belongings.

As he expected, Scootaloo jumped for the scooter. Matthias hesitated to tackle her, in fear of harming her; a fear that was not shared by his cat. Spottedleaf leaped and threw the pegasus filly off her balance, resulting in both of them landing on the ground, with the cat pinning Scootaloo down.

“Scootaloo, what is going on?” Matthias asked, no longer with any stern, but with concern. “Why are you sleeping here and what are your things doing here?”

“Please tell me I’m wrong.” he prayed, as the filly began squirming under Spottedleaf and didn’t reply.

Matthias, knowing that despite being only slightly bigger than the cat Scootaloo could easily shake her off, summoned the golden chains, suspending her movements.

“Scootaloo,” the stallion tried again, this time being more direct, “where are your parents?”

As his question made her stop, everything he knew about her parents flooded through his mind: they moved to Ponyville from Cloudsdale a little over two years ago, but worked in some other city; they were extremely busy, which was why they weren’t seen around and didn’t attend any parent-teachers meetings; and they let their only daughter go on sleepovers with her friends very often.

And all those information, while heard from other ponies (Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight, who all in turn heard that from Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Cheerilee, respectively) steamed off from one pony - the same one that Spottedleaf was currently pinning down into the ground under the bridge in the middle of the night, while immobilized by Light’s chains.

Scootaloo looked up from under the tortoiseshell cat. “They’re dead.” she said in emotionless, empty voice. “They died few years ago.”

Matthias did his best to not let it show how much this news shocked and saddened him, despite already expecting it. He motioned for Spottedleaf to let her go and dispelled the chains.

“You have some explaining to do.” he told her as gently as possible.

“No I don’t!” Scootaloo replied instantly, rising up. Her wings buzzed as her face quickly converted from it resigned and empty look into that of pure anger. “I managed to survive by myself for this long, without anypony’s help. I do not need to explain to you anything!”

The paladin was slightly taken back by her sudden burst of anger. He had never heard her speak to anypony like this. However, beneath that all anger there was sadness, both in her voice and herself. Matthias, never foreseeing to find himself in such situation, decided to do what his heart was telling him to: he didn’t reply, and simply looked into Scootaloo’s eyes.

At first, nothing changed. She continued to stare at him angrily, not backing down or even attempting to escape. But slowly, very slowly, her gaze wavered. Matthias could see it in her eyes: the chaos of emotions that was raging within her, all triggered by one pony finding out her secret. The corners of her eyes became moist.

Finally, she gave up.

“They...” Scootaloo muttered, looking down. “They died about three years ago... some accident at the Weather Factory...”

“I am sorry to hear that, Scootaloo.” Matthias replied truthfully, taking a step closer to the filly. “But that doesn’t explain how you ended up here.”

Scootaloo poked the ground with her hoof and didn’t reply. Once again choosing to listen to his heart, the stallion delicately lifted her chin up, so that she would look at him.

“Scootaloo, if you don’t want to talk to me about this, its okay, I won’t press you on that.” as the relief washed over her face, he added: “But I cannot let you sleep here”

“No!” she immediately retorted, slapping his hoof away. “I am not going back to that orphanage in Cloudsdale, forget about it!”

“Who said anything about that?” Matthias said. His tone would be nonchalant if it wasn’t filled with compassion right now. “I was going to offer you a room at the Everfree Abbey, which was just finished today.”

Scootaloo’s expression changed from enraged and scared to dumbfounded, only to return to the angry one again.

“I don’t need pity!” she exclaimed, stomping the ground.

“I’m not making this offer out of pity, but because I am your friend, Scootaloo.” he replied soothingly. “That friends help each other is something I shouldn’t explain to you.”

“I don’t need help...” she muttered, although Matthias could see that she was hesitating.

“Scootaloo, how long do you expect this to last?” he asked, deciding to push the issue. “Sooner or later another pony would stumble upon you as I did, and they could be much pushier with questions.”

“I’ve been doing fine for two years now.” Scootaloo replied, a mix of defiance and sad pride in her voice. “Nopony noticed anything-”

“Including Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle?” Matthias cut her. “How come you haven’t told your two best friends about it?”

That finally made the pegasus filly look down in shame. As he had guessed, she didn’t even told those two truth - if she had, than they would undoubtedly made her live with one of them.

“I... I wanted to tell them, but...” she mumbled again.

“Scootaloo, you can’t live your life in a lie.” Matthias told her, putting his hoof on her shoulder. “One of these days you will have to tell them. But for now, you are coming with me.”

The small pony continued to stare at the ground for several moments, before she finally responded: “Okay...”

Few minutes later, Matthias, Scootaloo and Spottedleaf, having taken all of filly’s things, set out for the Abbey. The paladin, despite still not understanding how the filly ended up in Ponyville, stopped himself from asking any questions. It was good enough that he managed to convince her to come with him. She would tell him when she was ready...

“When my parents died...”

Matthias turned his head to regard her as she unexpectedly began to open up. She was riding on her scooter, using her wings to propel herself, but she wasn’t paying too much attention on steering it. Her eyes, clouded with memories, were looking down.

“... I was put in an orphanage in Cloudsdale. I didn’t have any relatives that could take care of me, and ponies in Cloudsdale aren’t as close with each other as in Ponyville. Here a close friend or a neighbour would’ve taken me in, but...”

He nodded as she paused. He heard already that’s how such things were handled in Ponyville, and that was why this town didn’t have an orphanage.

“I lived there for some time, but I... couldn’t stand it. All those other orphans, always making fun of me for not having a cutie mark, or... or not being able to fly...” she paused again as her voice broke. Matthias continued to be quiet, letting her go through this at her own pace. “I... my parents told me that I was... born with a weaker wing’s muscle structure or something... I can still learn how to fly, but... that would require some kind of professional, rigorous training, like the one pegasus go on a rehabilitations after serious accidents. They wanted to sign me up for that when I was a bit older, but then...”

Her wings stopped moving the scooter as she pressed her head against the handle, crying. Matthias took a step to her and wrapped hooves around her. Scootaloo almost immediately let go of the scooter and pulled herself into his hug, letting the tears that she hadn’t ushered in Light knows how long fall on his chest.

“I... I couldn’t stand all their teasing...” she continued to talk, almost incoherent by now. Matthias didn’t do anything to stop her from it, understanding that she needed to do this. “... they were just too cruel, and that... old hag that run the orphanage... she didn’t do anything! So... I run away, I had some money, and I bought a balloon trip to Ponyville. They didn’t even try to look for me...”

Scootaloo, who was calming down as Matthias patted her gently on the head, stopped talking then. They stayed like this for few minutes, in a hug, while the filly was trying to stop crying. When she finally did, she pushed herself away gently. Matthias, taking a clue, released her.

“What happened when you came to Ponyville?” he asked as Spottedleaf wrapped herself around the filly in attempt to comfort her.

“I... didn’t want ponies to know that I run away from an orphanage.” Scootaloo replied, petting the cat. “I was afraid they would send me back. So I told everypony that my parents were just too busy to be seen around. I signed myself to school. It was really easy; Miss Cheerilee didn’t ask many questions once I said that my parents were working in another town, and did most of the paperwork for me. I just gave her faked signature of my parents, and that was all.”

“I guess I can see how that worked.” Matthias muttered. “But... what did you eat?”

“Oh, I... took some minor jobs. You know, mowing the lawn, cleaning windows... and later, once I became friends with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, I got often invited for their family’s dinner.”

“And personal hygiene?”

Again, Scootaloo wouldn’t meet his eyes. She looked to the side, and mumbled quietly: “Nopony ever locks their doors around here...”

Matthias suppressed a thought upon hearing that. Considering everything that she’s been through, he couldn’t bring himself to berate her for this, and he doubted that citizens of Ponyville would, either.

“Let’s get back to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, then. Why didn’t you tell them?”

“I...” the pegasus began, still not avoiding his gaze. “I wanted to, but... I’ve been lying to everypony for so long back then; I just... couldn’t bring myself to tell them.”

“Scootaloo, look at me.” Matthias told her, and waited for her to lift her head. When she did so, he noticed that her eyes were still teary, and that now there was fear in them, too. He smiled warmly, hoping to dismiss her fear. “I won’t tell you what you have to do now. It’s your choice if you want to tell them and everypony else the truth. But, Scootaloo, I will not let you sleep under that bridge any longer. From this day, you will live at the Everfree Abbey.” seeing that she was about to protest, he added: “I am your friend, Scootaloo, but I am also bound to abide by the Equestria’s law. Either you will accept my offer, or I will have no other choice than to send you to Cloudsdale.”

Scootaloo looked down, and her ears flattened. “I guess I prefer the first option.” she sighed.

“So, you accept my offer?” Matthias asked. “Because, it will mean that you will have to tell everypony truth, sooner or later. And I will have to talk with Cheerilee, regardless of when you plan to do that.” seeing her puzzled and fearful gaze, he explained: “If you stay at the Abbey, it will make me your legal guardian. I will have to inform Cheerilee about it. I’m sorry, Scootaloo, but-”

“You think they will be mad at me?” Scootaloo cut him off.

“Who?”

“Everypony. My friends, Miss Cheerilee, Rainbow Dash...” she trailed off, as she no doubt began to fear what her idol would now think about it.

Matthias could not help but smile as he said: “Where did you come up with that? They wouldn’t be mad at you; if anything, they would be mad at themselves for not realising the truth and not helping you. And as for Rainbow Dash - I bet she will be pretty impressed how you managed to live by yourself for two years.”

“You... really think so?” Scootaloo asked as hope rose within her.

“I know so.” Matthias replied with honest smile. “Now, come on, let’s get you to your new home.”

“This is really my own room?” Scootaloo asked ten minutes later.

Matthias smiled to the filly. They were within the Abbey’s barracks, one of the rooms that were prepared for higher ranking paladins in the future, to be exact. Due to the late hour, Scootaloo agreed to wait with sightseeing the Abbey until tomorrow after school (although she was curious as to what that orange glow above Chapel’s roof was), and let herself to be led to through the barracks. The only pony they met was Cherry Bomb, who was standing guard at the entrance to the Abbey, and thankfully quit asking questions once Matthias told him that Scootaloo would be staying here for some time.

The room he decided to give to her wasn’t exactly big, as paladins, even high ranking, were still soldiers, not some prissy nobles. It had a simple bed, a drawer for personal items, a desk, and some free space for a pony to do whatever she or he wanted. It was actually a tad bigger than Matthias’ own room, which was one of the reasons he gave it to Scootaloo. There was also a small bathroom attached to it, letting her have more privacy.

“Yep, it’s all yours.” he replied, happy at seeing excitement that he was so used to when it came to Scootaloo return on her face. “You have a school tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah...” she said, and immediately doubt once again crept into her.

“I will talk with Cheerilee after your class is over.” he told her. “I will ask her to keep this a secret, and let you tell everypony else when you are ready.”

“Thanks.” she muttered weakly, not looking forward to that.

“Once you wake up, you will find breakfast under your door. Don’t bother looking for me - by the time you will have to go to school, I will be already busy for few hours with the fighting practice.

“Fighting practice?” she asked, curious and excited again.

“I will not give you any lessons in that matter, young lady.” he cut off any ideas she might had at once. “And bear in mind that armory is off-limits to you, unless an older pony is accompanying you. Do you understand that?”

“Yeah, okay...” Scootaloo muttered, annoyed.

“Well then, good night.” Matthias told her, and prepared to leave.

As he was about to turn around, he felt something small throw herself at him and give him a strong hug. Smiling, Matthias hugged Scootaloo back.

“Thanks, Matt.” the small filly said, and he could sense that she meant it.

“Think nothing of it; any of your friends would do the same if you’d have let them.” the paladin replied, kissing her on the forehead. “Now, off to bed with you.” he added with pretended sternness. “A filly of your age not sleeping at this hour?”

Scootaloo stifled a giggle, and wished him a good night. As she was closing the door, Spottedleaf quickly slipped through the gap. Smiling at the cat’s decision, Matthias headed for his own quarters.

“How is one supposed to work while sitting on such chair?” Matthias wondered out loud as he tried to get more comfortable, but every time he moved, so did the chair, resulting in him getting further from the desk.

Sighing, he pulled himself closer to it, and pulled out a pouch from one of the lockers. Matthias opened it and took all the loose pages, scrolls, notes and notebooks from it, letting them all fall on the desk.

“Brann could have at least sorted them out.” Matthias thought wistfully, glancing through all of them. “‘Experiment 25463-D’... ‘Experiment 12-B’... Ah, here it is: “By the hand of Rhonin, Kirin Tor’s findings on the-’”

“Okay, now pay attention.” Arthas told Bolvar and Ner'zhul. “For everything to go as we planned, we must all concentrate. One mistake and this will all be for nought.”

As the other two spirits nodded, Arthas - while the other part of his soul was reading through the notes - began singing:

It's time for us to come together

It's the only way that things will-

“What the hell are you doing?” Bolvar asked him glancing his way with his scorching eyes.

“Um, sorry.” Arthas mumbled, as he just now realized what he did.

Blush of embarrassment crossed his cheeks as he briefly pondered how much Equestria affected him.

Author's Note

If any of you saw this coming - congratulations, you are psychic!

86. Tough mornings

A yawn escaped Spike as he made his way downstairs. He would much more prefer to sleep through the rest of the morning, but he had to make a breakfast for six mares. He was actually kind of surprised that Twilight didn’t wake him up sooner, but...

That question was answered for him when he reached the main room of the library. All six of his friends were deep in sleep.

“Gee, what they were doing all night?” Spike wondered, as he headed quietly towards the kitchen, careful to not disturb them.

A hollow pain in the head and scorching light of the day were the first things Rainbow Dash recorded when she opened her eyes, after which she immediately closed them.

“Seriously, what did Pinkie add to those drinks!?” she wondered as she grabbed her head, in a futile attempt to case this pounding. However, in doing so, her hoof punched something warm and furred, causing it to yelp in surprise. “Wha...?”

The pegasus opened her eyes again, and to her shock she realised that she was staring at uncomfortably close eyes of equally shocked Applejack.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.” Rainbow Dash murmured as she realized that they were in the same sleeping bag, and the memories of last night began to resurface.

“Wait... what is that taste?!” she wondered suddenly, only now noticing the strange taste that she had in her mouth. It kinda reminded her a scent of...

Her eyes widened as she looked down.

“Once again.” Sir Lightbringer ordered, without any hint of sympathy in his voice.

Serenity rose from the ground again, picking up her mace and shield. She tried not to show how much pain the strikes from last bound caused her. Being a crystal pony, it was rare for her to experience any kind of physical pain, as their crystal coats protected them, while at the same time allowing them to still feel warmth and pleasure as other ponies’ coats did. Only when King Sombra came to the Crystal Empire and used his dark magic to strip them off their crystal forms did they get to know pain.

Sir Lightbringer, however, somehow managed to cause her hurt, despite him using a wooden sword, and while she was wearing a training gear no less. Each of his strikes was aimed at strategic spots such as joints or head. And it wasn’t just that, he also put a lot of strength into them, and as such that she felt pain regardless of all her protection.

“Pain is part of battle training, Serenity.” he told her as if reading her mind. “That’s why, due to your crystal coat, I need to be a bit tougher with you than with the rest.”

A snort escaped from one of the stallions that stood nearby. Tucker, as well as Storm and Guard, had already went through their battle training. All three of them performed much better than Serenity, which was to be expected, but it still sting her a little.

As for why Tucker had snorted, it was due to Sir Lightbringer’s comment about being ‘a bit tougher’ with her than with the rest. Earlier, after having finished with Storm and Guard - both of them, despite being well versed in combat, couldn’t overpower him - came turn for the unicorn. Lightbringer attacked him almost immediately, and with much more fervor than the he did the other two. Despite Tucker’s valiant efforts, it didn’t take too long for him to be disarmed and shoved head-first into the ground. And after that, his comment about him usually shoving others into ground (‘others’ defaultly being females) didn’t do much to make Sir Lightbringer’s ease his strikes.

At one point, Tucker, again disarmed, decided that he had enough and used that strange ability of his to create this... energy sword, and cut effortlessly through the other stallion’s wooden sword. Lightbringer, however, quickly summoned his own sword she saw when he battled King Sombra, the Holy Avenger, and shoved Tucker’s away, giving him chance to punch him in the face. Which he did.

Telling the unicorn to do ten laps around the Abbey for destroying the training gear, the paladin then called for Serenity... and here she was, trying for the fourth time to not get beaten too easily.

Recalling some of the tricks her brother showed her, the crystal pony jumped at sir Lightbringer. Instead of using her mace, however, she charged at him with the shield. He proved too fast for that to work, and swiftly moved out of the way.

Serenity saw him approached her from the right, his sword raised and ready to strike. She lifted up her mace hoping to deflect it, but at the last moment sir Lightbringer changed the course of the sword to hit her on the hoof, causing her to drop her weapon. The paladin caught it with his free hoof and bashed her chest with it, sending her flying once again.

A blunt weapon had much bigger effect on her than cutting weapon like sword had. The strike caused the air to escape from her lungs. As she gasped, lying on the ground, she noticed after few deep breaths an extended hoof. Looking up, Serenity saw Sir Lightbringer, not gazing at her with disappointment as she expected, but smiling with encouragement instead.

“You did better than I did during my first weapon training.” he told her as she accepted his help. “Although,” he added, smirking, “I was but a foal back then. Still, give it time of intense practice, and you should be fine.”

Serenity winced inwardly at the words ‘intense practice’, but she nodded nonetheless. She wanted to help and protect other ponies, so she would bear with it.

“Thank you, sir.” she said, saluting.

“As for the rest of you,” Lightbringer told the others, “I hope you paid attention as to how I fought her. While the Crystal Empire are very close allies of Equestria, there are beings other than crystal ponies with extremely hard coat or skin, that could be less... friendly.”

“Actually, sir...” Serenity spoke before she could help herself. As the stallion looked her way, she continued: “I think Diamond Dogs were once... well, made out of diamonds.” seeing the confused stairs, she explained: “There are stories about them in Crystal Empire. You would have to ask one of the ponies that work in the Imperial Library, but I think somewhere around.... two thou- um, sorry, I meant three thousand years ago. The Diamond Dogs, who by then lived in an underground Diamond Empire - under today’s Equestria - lost their diamond forms and became what they are today.”

“I do recall hearing about Diamond Dogs having an Empire once.” Sir Lightbringer said. “But this is the first time I hear about them being ‘made out of diamonds’. How do you know that?”

“The Crystal Empire is much older than Equestria, sir. And while we didn’t pay much attention to what was happening outside our borders, even trying to ignore the Equestrian-Griffonian War until griffons pulled us into it, our historians make records of them. And the Diamond Empire was supposedly our ally at some point, before they turned into those barely intelligent beasts.”

“Considering what I read about Diamond Dogs, I find it hard to believe that they were anything else.” Sir Lightbringer commented humorously, and indicated that this discussion was over. “Anyway, when I mentioned beings of extremely hard exterior, I was referring to the elementals.”

“Ele-what?” Tucker asked, and he wasn’t the only one confused.

“Elementals are potent and volatile beings of pure elemental energies of earth, water, wind, or fire.” the paladin explained. “Zebra’s shamans can tap into the powers of those elements, and even usher those beings that I just told you about into Equestria. Also, during the Equestrian-Griffonian War, the griffons somehow managed to include the help of earth elementals, to counter Equestria’s spellcasters, although how they did that remains a mystery. The secret behind that was lost with the Sundering of Griffonia.”

Serenity shrugged as she recalled how back in school she heard about it. A violent and mysterious cataclysm had struck the continent on the other side of East Sea, home to the griffon kingdom. It struck them barely two decades after the birth of their nation, and killed nearly ninety percent of their population. The continent sundered, creating cracks in earth that were filled by sea, in some cases creating new islands, and in others - causing landmasses to disappear beneath the waves.

Some said it was a natural disaster, some that it was a righteous punishment for starting the war. Serenity was inclined to believe the former, as the cataclysm also harmed Equestria in the aftermath: a good southern portion of the East Coast, now called Horseshoe Bay, was destroyed by a hurricane, and within Macintosh Hills, where once was a proud unicorn city of New Unicolt, a barren waste named Badlands was now.

But, like out of every tragedy, something good came out of it. The griffons, nearly extinct, were accepted with open hooves by ponies of Equestria, and Queen Platinum, despite her personal loss in the aftermath of the cataclysm (the death of her husbands, Prince Gembold), went into great efforts to help griffons. It was even further astonishing, considering the rather - as history books stated - ‘gruesome’ death of one of her close friends and fellow Founder of Equestria, Private Pansy, during the war. Some historians wondered how would Commander Hurricane react to her helping griffons, if he had not died some time prior to the Sundering of Griffonia during what was known as Dragon Hunt. But nonetheless, Platinum’s efforts enabled her country’s old enemies to survive, slowly repopulate their home, and build new capital, Griffenhalla (as New Griffenburg was completely destroyed, and Friedrich’s Fall Lake was now in its place). The relationships between two nations were further warmed by friendship that began in Canterlot Castle of Adolf, last surviving legitimate heir of King Friedrich, and Platinum’s son, Comet Wind, born two months after the Sundering.

“So... are the phoenixes elementals, too?” Storm Clash question pulled Serenity back into reality. She glanced at the roof of the Chapel, where they could all see Al’ar, watching them intensively.

“Phoenixes are... something in between.” sir Lightbringer replied somewhat uncomfortably. “But let’s leave that matter - for now, let’s return to practice-”

“Hey, what’s that kid doing there?” Tucker Out asked, pointing at the direction of the barracks.

Following his gaze, Serenity saw a small, orange filly, that had just came out of the barracks’ doors and was heading towards the Abbey’s entrance, traveling by scooter instead of trotting or flying - as Serenity noticed two small wings propelling her.

“Going to school, I presume.” Sir Lightbringer replied with a shrug, as if it was obvious.

“Well, it kinda is...” crossed Serenity’s mind, as a saddleback was visible on the filly and it was around the time classes normally started. “... but, what was she doing in the Abbey in the first place?”

“Um, sir, I believe Tucker was asking as to what she was specifically doing here.” Guard Shield told their mentor.

“Oh.” the paladin exclaimed in shock; now Serenity knew he was pretending. “Scootaloo is going to live in the Abbey for the time being.”

Serenity looked at him in confusion, and in the corner of the eye saw that the other did so as well.

“Um, sir, why-” Storm began, but was cut off.

“It’s not my place to answer that question.” Lightbringer told him, and the tone of his voice made it clear that he wished this discussion to end.

“What’s going on?” Serenity wondered. “She can’t be a relative of his; he lived far away from Equestria. And why doesn’t he explain this to us? Why would the parents of-” as that thought appeared in her head, a suspicion came to her as to what could be a reason for her living her - a suspicion that created more questions. “Why would Sir Lightbringer say that ‘it’s not his place to answer that’? And how come he didn't mention to us about this... Scootaloo, yesterday?”

As compassionate as she was, the crystal pony planned to approach the filly later and have a little talk with her...

“Let’s get back to training, shall we?” Sir Lightbringer returned to what he wanted to say earlier. “Serenity, Storm Clash, I would like you two to have a practice fight now.”

… provided she survives that long.

“Ah am not speakin’ to ya!” Applejack said angrily as she stomped the floor.

“Why are you acting as if this is all my fault?!” Rainbow Dash replied, equally angry.

Twilight was thankful that before they really went on it, she sent Spike away on an errand. She didn’t like this argument between her friends one bit. The others also appeared troubled by it, and the pounding in their heads - a reminiscence of the previous night - wasn’t helping.

“You’ve heard what the others said.” Dash continued, rather oblivious to the fact that her argument wasn’t going to help here. “We were both going at each other; I didn’t make you do anything.”

“Well, Ah am not the one that has rumors about ‘er being a dyke!”

If she had struck her, she would have caused a lesser reaction out of her.

“What did you say?!” Rainbow screeched, her face now of pure fury instead of annoyance.

“Girls!” Twilight shouted, hoping to interrupt them before this would get ugly.

“Are you suggesting I enjoyed licking a cunt of a smelly, country bumpkin cowmare?!”

“Ya filthy little-” Applejack growled, raising up from across the table and preparing to leap at the pegasus.

Twilight didn’t give her a chance to do that. She lifted both of them into the air (a rather straining thing considering her state), and kept them away from each other’s reach.

“Enough, both of you!” she told both of them. “Friends do not talk like that to each other!”

“Friends also don’t take advantage of ya when ya’r drunk!” Applejack retorted, waving her hooves angrily in a feeble attempt of escaping her magic. “Or let them be used when they just watch and laugh!” she added with venom in voice and ice in eyes.

“We were all very drunk,” Twilight said calmly; although she made a mental note to never let Pinkie Pie (who was currently pounding her head against the table for accidentally causing all of this) add anything to any drink. “you included, Applejack, and at the time both of you enjoyed it.”

Twilight hoped her face didn’t show how she would currently reacted if she saw that scene again. Things were as uncomfortable as it were. Granted, she had nothing against fillyfoolers, so if one of her friends turned out to be one (while sober), she would be okay with it, but it didn’t mean she wanted to watch that (again, while sober).

“Rainbow Dash didn’t take advantage of you, so-”

“Easy for ya to say that, Twilight!” the angry mare interrupted her. “How would ya feel if ya lose yar virginity to a mare?!”

Twilight blinked. “This is what all of this is about?”

“Applejack,” she said, rolling her eyes, “you can’t lose your virginity-”

“-from a tongue moving up your twat!” Rainbow Dash, equally surprised as everypony that this was the reason Applejack was so angry.

“-from an oral intercourse.” Twilight finished, dismayed at Rainbow’s choice of words.

“What?” Applejack asked, now calm and dumbfounded. She blinked. “Ya can’t?”

“Do you remember feeling any pain?” Dash asked, a bit more gentler. “Because trust me, this hurts like a bitch.”

Twilight glared at the pegasus, deciding to turn her mouth into a zipper if she cursed again.

“Well...” the earth pony mare mumbled as she searched her memories. “No...”

“Then your hymen is not broken, and you’re still a virgin.” Twilight told her.

She dropped both of them on the ground, sensing that the storm was averted. Neither of them was angry anymore: rather, both were ashamed and sorry for the things they said, and avoided looking at each other.

“Ah... guess Ah might have overreacted a bit...” Applejack murmured. “Especially since Ah enjoyed it... But it still not okay!” she added more sharply.

“Ditto on that.” Dash said. “While I might have enjoyed it also, I do not like mares that way.”

“Ah, now, sorry about-”

“That’s okay.” the pegasus interrupted her. “Let’s not make it sappier that it should be.”

Applejack smiled shyly hearing that, but next second her sight turned to Pinkie Pie.

“Now, what about-”

“I’m sorryyy!!!” Pinkie exclaimed, rivers of tears pouring from her eyes as she jumped to her and Rainbow Dash and pulled both of them into a hug. “I didn’t know this would happen, I swear! I wouldn’t want you two to be so angry, I’m...”

As Pinkie Pie’s next words turned into incoherent cry, Twilight noticed that the two mares being crushed in the hug exchanged uncomfortable look and sighed.

“Its alright, sugarcube.” Applejack said, panting the pink pony on the back. “We’re not angry at each other or you.”

“R-really?” Pinkie Pie asked, and stopped crying.

“Yeah.” Rainbow replied, cheerfully. “Who could be angry with you, Pinkie?”

“Well, that’s true.” Twilight thought with amusement.

Author's Note

I... think I might have gone too far with this joke this time. Oh well, I'm sure you will let me know what you think.

Also, yes, I know that this whole thing near the end depends on what one understands by 'losing virginity', as a word 'virgin' means a 'person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse', as my editor said. Thankfully, Twilight came to this matter from technical side, and Rainbow and Applejack are just a bit dumb.

87. Secrets

Matthias glanced up at the sun and assessed what time it was.

“It must be around noon.” he thought after a second. “I should get going if I want to talk with Cheerilee.”

He winced inwardly at how awkward this discussion would be. He didn’t expect to be ever put in such situation. Granted, there were often orphanages within abbeys, and paladins often helped to look after those poor kids, but...

Matthias shook his head. It didn’t matter that this was an unusual and uncomfortable situation: he had to take care of Scootaloo, and informing her teacher about this was one of his newfound responsibilities.

“Okay, everypony, that’s enough for today.” he told his initiates, and all of them sighed with relief, even Guard Shield. Matthias guesses he might have pushed them a bit too fat on the first day. “Except for you, Serenity. I’m afraid you will need to practice those moves I showed you for another hour.”

“Of course, sir.” the crystal pony replied almost at once, although there was a hint of tiredness in her voice. “Do you want me to continue practicing on Tucker?”

Matthias glanced at Tucker, pondering. As he began to instruct the ponies as to how to fight, he used the unicorn as a life-training dummy, as he warned he would yesterday. Most of that part of this exercise was for Serenity’s sake, but he also had few more advanced moves for Storm and Guard.

“Oh, come on!” Tucker Out exclaimed, seeing that he was considering it. “Not even my ex-marefriends felt so exhausted from constant pounding!”

Matthias’ brow furrowed hearing that. “First of all, you have amnesia; you don’t know if you had any marefriends, and I personally doubt that, as well that you’ll ever have one to begin with.”

“That was uncalled for...” Tucker muttered nonchalantly, although didn’t sound offended; all comments like those bounced off him.

“Second of all,” Matthias continued, and glanced back at Serenity, “no, use one of the actual training dummies; they’re stashed at the back of armory. I fear to think how he might act if he gets hit in the head too many times. And third of all,” he turned back to Tucker, “a hundred squats.”

“Wha-” Tucker began, before Matthias interrupted him.

“For making that comment.”

Tucker looked at him for a second doubtfully, before he began to do squats, uttering resigned: “This is bullshit.”

Smiling with almost sadistic satisfaction at that, Matthias glanced at the others. “I need to do something in Ponyville.” he said. “Guard, make sure he makes those squats.”

“Yes, sir.” the older pony replied.

“Storm, help Serenity with that training dummy. Once you’re all done, close the armory, take a shower, eat something and rest until... four pm. After that we will have a meditation session.”

Having said that, he nodded in good-bye to them, and headed towards the Ponyville Schoolhouse, while going over today’s training. To his slight irritation, Tucker proved to be the most adept in combat, although Guard and Storm weren’t that far behind. He was able to deflect few of Matthias’ attacks, and gave him a few of his own, all while the paladin was pressing him harder than the rest. He did so because he was more curious about his abilities than others’, although undoubtedly everypony thought it was due to his personal displeasure with the colt (which was partly true).

“That room in which we found him had many marks of vicious battle. What could have trapped such skilled fighter?”

Matthias paused at the exit to speak with Sound Wave: “Remember to keep an eye on the armory in case some ponies come in for sightseeing.”

“Sure. Do you expect any today?”

“Well, the word about the Abbey being finished had undoubtedly spread already, and as a construction side it was one of the main topics of conversation past month. Also, in case Al’ar plans to stretch his wings, they might come here, concerned as to what a giant burning bird is doing flying around Ponyville. And even disregarding all of that, I expect a group of three fillies to come today.”

“Speaking off...” Sound said and hesitated. “What is it with that orange filly living here?”

“Does anything in your contract mentions about questioning who lives in the Abbey?” Matthias replied with a question, and he left, dismissing Sound Wave.

He disliked speaking like this to his men- or rather, stall-... ponies, but he gave Scootaloo a word that she could tell everypony herself, and that included even the ponies who never met her.

“I do hope that she will explain this before somebody will come up with a rumor that-” he began to think, but paused as he noticed a familiar pony approaching.

“Had a lot of fun last night?” Matthias asked Applejack smirking, who only now - at noon - was getting back to her home.

Hearing his question, the mare almost jumped into the air, and began sweating as she looked around. “No! I mean- um, yes, kinda...”

“Applejack?” he asked, puzzled; he didn’t expect such weird reaction out of her. “Is something the matter?”

“Nope. Gotta go, bye, see you later!” she exclaimed as she all but run past him.

“Gee, and here I thought Rainbow was a pathetic liar with her: ‘Did... not!’ while panting.” Matthias thought in deep confusion, and pondered if he should follow Applejack and question her further, but decided against it. “I have discovered enough secrets as it is for a moment.”

Serenity - not really being into the idea of further practice - lingered at the training field, watching Sir Lightbringer leave the Abbey, wondering briefly where he was going. A gentle tap on her shoulder brought her attention back to her surroundings.

“Let’s go get that training dummy.” Storm told her, smiling, at least on the left side of his face; he kept his head in such way that his jaw blocked the view of his right side of mouth.

The crystal pony sighed and followed the pegasus. She tried to think of a way to start off a conversation. They didn’t have too much time to get to know each other too well, and Serenity was curious about her fellow initiates. Well, besides Tucker; as much as he was interesting as the colt that got trapped for thousand years in some sort of prison, she wouldn’t get much out of him other than very suggesting comments.

“So...” she started, unsure, as there was only one thing that came to her mind at the moment, “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to you jaw?”

“I hit a wall.” he replied shortly.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me...” Serenity said, her ears dropping; clearly, he didn’t want to open up.

“Hm?” the pegasus looked back at her. “Oh, no, I told you the truth; I hit a wall.” at Serenity’s confused gaze, he elaborated: “I was nine, and I was showing off like an idiot before my friends. One failed flying trick later, and bam! A jaw broken, and here I am.”

“I see...” Serenity smiled weakly at Storm’s attempt at joking. “But how come your jaw healed so badly? I mean, even back thousand years ago, Equestria’s medical care was better than Crystal Empire.”

“My family didn’t exactly had bits to spare at the moment.” Storm replied, and this time there was a hint in his voice for her to drop the issue. “So, miss ‘I remember Equestria from over a thousand years ago’,” he smirked at her, “how about now you say something about yourself?”

Serenity snorted with laughter upon hearing the odd nickname.

“Okay, class, see you tomorrow!” Miss Cheerilee said cheerfully as the bell rang, signaling the end of today’s classes.

For Scootaloo, it might’ve as well signalled the end of her life.

She trembled a bit as she packed her notebooks into her saddleback. As she rose from her seat, she wondered if she should tell Miss Cheerilee herself about everything, but she quickly dismissed such notion. Despite Matt’s assurances, Scootaloo was almost certain that her teacher would yell at her for lying and making a fool out of her.

“Hey, Scoots, what’s the holdup?” Apple Bloom asked, looking back from school’s door where she stood with Sweetie Belle.

The pegasus filly quickly hurried after the two ponies. With a pang, she realized that she needed to tell them the truth now. Without a doubt, rumors about her living in the Abbey would spread soon, and ponies would put things together. Her best friends deserved to learn about this from her.

But it didn’t mean it was going to be easy.

“So, since you said Big Mac promised to fix our clubhouse,” Sweetie Belle was telling Apple Bloom when Scootaloo joined them, “how about we get start building that float for Summer Harvest Parade?”

“Yeah, we can do that, but ‘ow about seein’ the Everfree Abbey first?” Apple Bloom suggested instead, and almost made the pegasus gasp. “Applejack said they’ve finished buildin’ it yesterday.”

“Sure, that sounds fun!” Sweetie Belle replied. “What do you think, Scootaloo?”

Before Scootaloo could answer that in any fashion, a shadow fell on them, and a familiar and kind voice said: “I, for one, think that pony in charge of that place will be pleased with your interest.”

“Oh, hi Matt!” Apple Bloom greeted him, no doubt surprised that he managed to sneak up on them. “What’chya doin’ here?”

Scootaloo gulped hearing the big stallions answer: “I need to talk with Cheerilee about something; you three go have fun. Just don’t try to wreck anything there.”

“When had we ever ‘wrecked’ anythin’?”

“I could swear I heard something about a cannon and your clubhouse being repaired.” Matt replied with amusement.

“Okay, maybe that wasn’t such a good idea...” Sweetie Belle mumbled, recalling their latest attempt at getting her cutie mark.

Scootaloo felt even worse, since it was mostly her idea. And the side effects (namely a giant hole in the roof of their clubhouse) made her return to her old sleeping place under the bridge, where was she was found out by Matt, who practically turned her life upside down. While she felt odd warmth inside when he made her sleep in his Abbey, and was reminded how comfortable beds were, she would have preferred for things to stay as they were.

“Don’t feel bad. Part of being young is making not very good ideas.” Matt replied, smiling at the trio. “Light knows how many bad ideas I had when I was your age or older. Anyway, have fun.”

“Sure. Bye, Matt!” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom replied as the stallion passed them, but all that Scootaloo managed to do was to look at him uncertainly.

Matt glanced back and winked at her sympathetically and reassuringly.

“Hey Scootaloo, is everything alright?” Sweetie Belle asked once the stallion was out of earshot. “You seem kind of distracted all day.”

“Well...” Scootaloo said, unsure what to tell them; or rather, how to tell them. “Can we go someplace more private? I... need to tell you something.”

“I cannot believe this.” Cheerilee said.

Matthias could only nod as he took a sip of the tea Cheerilee made for him. He’d just finished telling her about last night’s events, and she reacted as he told Scootaloo.

“How could I not figure this out?” she asked nopony in particular. Both of them were alone in the classroom, and the only other soul on the school grounds was a filly that went to do something in the basement. “What kind of teacher am I?”

“It’s not your fault.” Matthias tried to calm her. “She kept this from everypony, including her two best friends.”

“But-” Cheerilee said, trying again to blame herself, but Matthias wasn’t about to let her do that.

“Cheerilee, you’re a wonderful teacher; all of your students love you, and everypony in town is glad that it is you who teaches their foals.” pausing for a moment (and registering that the mare blushed slightly hearing his compliments), the paladin decided to tell her something else. “When I told Scootaloo that I would tell you about this, and she herself would need to explain the truth to others eventually, her first question was if you would be angry.”

“Oh, heavens forbid it!” the teacher replied, almost horrified. “How could I be angry at her? The poor little thing...”

Matthias nodded and took another sip of the tea.

“So, are you adopting her?”

And like that, the contents of his mouth were spitted out into the air.

“Well, no.” Matthias replied, looking at Cheerilee apologetically for his reaction. “I am her legal guardian, and that’s it. I doubt she would’ve agreed to that, anyway.”

“I guess you’re right at that one.” the fuchsia pony replied, and he noticed a spark of amusement in her eyes. “Knowing Scootaloo, I’m amazed you’ve managed to convince her to all of that anyway. But is this Abbey a proper place for a filly to live in? I mean, you are supposed to train ponies to fight there, and there are all those weapons...”

“There’s more to that, but you are right; it’s not exactly an ideal place for here. However, it’s still better than sending her back to Cloudsdale.”

“I cannot believe they never searched for her.” the school teacher replied, disgust clear in her voice.

“I will ask Princess Luna to have her night guard check this orphanage.” Matthias replied with a shrug. “But enough about that, let’s return to Scootaloo.”

“Right. So in the future, I should contact you about matters concerning her?”

“Exactly, although I will, sadly, not always be available. I plan to have my four initiates became full-fledged paladins soon, and do some ‘work in the field’.”

“What about Scootaloo?”

“I will leave those two royal guards here, so there’s no worry about her starving. Or, I could ask one of her friend’s families to take her in for a few days.”

As Cheerilee nodded, a movement outside of the window caught his eye. The filly that stayed back at school for something was now standing by another, older one. She was vaguely familiar to him; her name was Derpy Hooves, a local mailmare, easily recognisable by her crossed-eyes. Judging by how the filly - a pale purple unicorn with blonde mane - was hugging her in the greeting, Matthias assumed those two were sisters, as strange as it was for a pegasus and a unicorn pair. Then again, Cake’s babies were an even odder case.

“I didn’t know Derpy had a sister.” he told Cheerilee while still looking at them.

Cheerilee, following his case, replied: “Oh, that’s not her sister, but daughter, Dinky.”

Matthias turned to her, shocked. “What?! But she’s... just a few years older than you! How can she have a daughter this old?!”

“Well...” Cheerilee said uncomfortably. “I’m not one for gossip, but from what I heard, she was, ugh... got pregnant back at this dance in Cloudsdale Academy, a year before she graduated.”

“It must have been hard for her.” Matthias said, feeling sympathy for the mare that he barely spoke with. “I don’t believe I had the pleasure of meeting her husband.”

“Um, she doesn’t have one.”

Matthias only blinked in confusion.

“Again, I’m not one for gossip...” the school teacher repeated, although by now the stallion had his doubts about the truth behind that statement. “But... I heard that this was... a one night stand kind of thing.”

“And she never told the father?”

“Judging by how she shrieks whenever somepony tries to ask...” she trailed off, as this was enough of an explanation.

“What a pitiful excuse of a male!” Matthias growled quietly. “If I’d ever got my hooves on him...”

He too, trailed off, as he had enough hard time getting over his yesterday’s outburst. It was unthinkable to him, that a stallion would knowingly abandon mare that carried his foal.

“I must agree that such a scumbag would deserve whatever you would do to him.” Cheerilee said with an uncharacteristic for her grimace. “But alas, since Derpy never mentions him, his identity will remain a secret.”

“Soo... that’s it.” Scootaloo finished telling them her biggest secret.

They were sitting in her new room that Matt had given her without any second thoughts. All the way from school she was avoiding explaining why exactly she was now staying here, until they were safe within those four walls.

Safe... It seemed strange for Scootaloo, to feel that. She didn’t feel truly safe ever since her parents’ death, except maybe when she and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders were having a sleepover, or when they were staying at that beach house at Altomare. But now, here she was, in a completely new to her place that was supposed to serve as sleeping place for soldiers, feeling safe.

Now when the cat was out of the bag (and on the bed, as Spottedleaf seemed content with spending time with her instead of her master), her friends were looking at her with jaws low and teary eyes.

“Why didn’tja tell us?!” Apple Bloom was first to break the silence. “We’re yar friends, we would’ve helped ya!”

“I know, I wanted to tell you, just...” Scootaloo trailed off and looked on the ground, unable to meet their gaze. “By the time we’ve became friends, I was living this lie for so long that... it felt strangely to me. To just come out and say the truth... and the longer I waited, the more was I afraid that you would be mad at me for-”

“For what?” Sweetie Belle interrupted her. She jumped closer to her, nearly tackling her off her bed, and hugged her. “Scootaloo, you should be mad at us! We been hanging out for almost every day past those two years, and we’ve never realized that you were all alone!” the unicorn sniffled as she began crying. “You were so sad, and we-”

“Aaaand that’s another reason.” Scootaloo tried to reply lightly, which wasn’t easy, as she herself was also on a verge of tears. Pointing as Sweetie Belle, she continued: “You know I hate all this sappy stuff, and you-”

“Oh, hush!” Apple Bloom cut her off as she hugged her from the other side. “We’re gonna give you a sappy hug, and you’ll love it!”

“So... were still friends?” Scootaloo asked to be sure, smiling at her friend’s comment.

“Of course, ya silly pony!”

“Crusaders until the end!”

The pegasus filly smiled, overcome with emotion, and put her hooves around the other two.

“Can you do me one favor?” she asked them.

“Name it!” both of her friends immediately answered.

“Please don’t start singing.”

If anypony was strolling through the corridor at this moment, he or she would get startled by a sudden burst of laughter of the three friends.

Matthias kicked a pebble on the road angrily as he made his way back to the Abbey.

“How could anypony still call himself a stallion after doing something like this?!” he once again though, still unable to understand that. Granted, on Azeroth, he witnesses (and unfortunately, caused much more) many horrific acts; but here, in Equestria... of course, he was aware of ponies that were nothing more than a bunch of low-lives, but still...

“If only I’d get my hooves on whoever it is...” Matthias thought, trying to imagine what fate he could cook up for a pony that used Derpy and then refused to help her raise thei- her foal. He didn’t deserve any claim to Dinky. From what Cheerilee had told him, she was very intelligent and sweet filly, although a bit shy when it came to playing with others, and sometimes smart-mouthed when talking to adults. And Derpy herself didn’t deserve what she had to endure while raising her daughter. Matthias spoke to her only few times, but he knew that she was a kind mare, not stupid as some ponies would assume at the first glance of her and not really that klutzy (although, Twilight told him that she once accidentally dropped a piano on her, as bizarre as it sounded). Whoever abandoned her, deserved a... “Oh, crap!” Matthias thought as the realization struck him. “The best I could do would be putting him on trial! I’m a paladin; I can’t inflict harm on others.”

He sighed, knowing that this would be what he would do, even if every fiber of his being told him to put that sorry excuse of a stallion through an unimaginable pain. It was almost funny, really: he, who once committed unspeakable atrocities upon thousands of souls of noble beings, now practically couldn’t do anything to one that by standards of nearly every sentient race and civilization deserved it.

“Ugh, why does life have to be so ironic?!” he exclaimed in rage as he was approaching the Abbey’s limits.

“Ditto on that question.” sounded a familiar voice from above him, and the next second Rainbow Dash landed beside him.

“Hi.” Matthias greeted her and pushed his earlier thoughts away, confused at her statement. “What did you mean?”

“Well...” Dash began, but stuttered uncomfortably, in a fashion that reminded him of somepony else he saw today.

“Would it have anything to do with the sleepover?”

“Kinda... how did you know?”

“Well, when I asked Applejack about it earlier, she practically started blabbering and run... away...” Matthias trailed off as he put the two together. “You two kissed again, haven’t you?”

“If only...” Rainbow muttered, heat in her cheek, and seeing Matthias’ surprised gaze, she sighed. “You see...”

“Wait!”

Both ponies looked at each other hearing the distant shout, and then at the direction of the Abbey, from where it came from. The very next second, however, a sound of teleportation spell came from their side, and Tucker appeared, panting slightly from jumping such distance.

“Go on.” he said, waving at Rainbow.

“How did you even hear that?!” both of them asked, shocked beyond belief.

“Pfft, I know when I’m needed.” Tucker replied, then again turned to Rainbow. “Well, go on.”

“You must have hit something with your head repeatedly.” Dash replied, glaring at him threateningly.

“Oh, come on baby, you can’t tell me but you can tell that dude?”

“That ‘dude’ happens to be your commanding officer.” Matthias reminded the unicorn, growing anger with every heartbeat. “And you could spend your time more productively by reading your libram.”

“Eh, I already read it.” Tucker replied, shrugging.

“Oh, really?” Matthias said, not believing him even for a second. “What’s the Order’s motto?”

“‘When in doubt, rub one out.”

Matthias’ facial expression remained unchanged, although he would have very much liked to release his anger on this colt. “In which second of this conversation you had thought this would work?”

“I hoped to wing it.”

“Go read that libram, now, or I will throw you into a dungeon with nothing else but that book!” he told him, looking at him so sternly that the unicorn finally took a step back, nodded, and (with a last quick glance at Rainbow’s flank, for which he got struck in a head by a stone) he trotted towards the Abbey.

“Tch, freak.” Dash muttered. “What is the Order’s motto, anyway?”

“Oh, there isn’t one.” Matthias replied nonchalantly, earning a chuckle from her. “But, more importantly; what were you saying?”

“You have an imagination, use it.” Rainbow told him poking his head, again blushing. “But maybe...” she added in sultry tone, “if you could wait until tonight, I could...” Dash paused as she put her hooves around his neck, “give you all... details?”

Even the strongest will can crumble at times.

“I think I would like to know those details.” Matthias murmured as their noses touched.

Just as he was expecting her to kiss him, she pulled back, and sprung into the air.

“See you tonight, then.” she smirked as and flew for Ponyville.

Matthias shook his head to regain his senses, unable to believe that he let her get him like this.

88. Rainbow, pink, orange, and pink

Matthias, in a feeble attempt to deny that he was awake, buried his muzzle in Rainbow’s mane.

“Why cannot I just stay here like this?” he pondered weakly, hugging the still-sleeping mare a bit tighter.

Those few hours of sleep weren’t enough for him to completely recover his strength after their night-time’s activities, which coupled with yesterday’s training and the short time he spent asleep the previous one really did a number on him.

“Where the heck this she learn those new tricks?” Matthias thought, as he backed his head a bit to yawn. “Ugh, who cares...” he rested his head against hers again for a couple more seconds, before he decided it was enough. “I better get moving...”

Despite preferring to stay in bed, he would never shrink down from his duties. Careful to not wake up Rainbow Dash, he rose from under the covers and proceeded to go to the bathroom.

“Why are you up at such hour?” sounded half-exasperated, half-sleepy voice of Rainbow Dash.

“My initiates’ training starts soon.” Matthias answered with amusement, although he felt a little disappointed in his sneaking skills.

Looking behind him, he saw the cyan mare regard him from beneath the covers with one eye opened while the other was still closed. Her eye quickly turned to regard the clock on the wall, and then she proceeded to turn around and return to sleep.

“You were right; I would have made a poor paladin.”

Matthias chuckled as he returned to the bed, deciding to have a bit more pleasant morning.

“Last night was great.” he said as he crawled back under covers and grabbed Rainbow Dash, resting his chest against her back. “Where did you learn all those tricks?”

“Oh, Rarity lent me this interesting book...” Dash purred in reply as Matthias licked her behind ear.

“Rarity has a book about sex?” crossed Matthias’ mind. “Huh, wouldn’t have guessed that.”

“And here I thought Applejack had taught you them.” he smirked as he moved to her neck, only to stop as his joke earned him an elbow to the stomach.

“Don’t try to joke about this!” Dash hissed threateningly, dropping all hints of sleepiness. “Applejack was seriously mad at me and everypony there.”

“Quit drinking, then.” Matthias replied, massaging the place she hit. “But you’re right, I shouldn’t have joked. I am sorry, fair maiden. How can I repay thee such-”

His next words were muffled by the pillow Rainbow Dash smacked him in the face.

“Are you always this annoying in the morning?” she asked as she raised, her eyes sparkling playfully despite her words. “Or are you just snarky because I made you finish first?”

“Why would I be snarky because of that?” he told her, smiling. “Although, I’ll admit, it was strange to not hear you try deny that- auc!” he paused as she again smacked him. “Okay, no more jokes.”

“Good.” Dash said with a smirk, but soon her expression turned sadder and more serious. “I bumped into Scoots yesterday, you know.”

Matthias nodded. Before Dash came into Abbey at night looking for him, he went to check up on the filly. He heard from her whom she told so far, and Rainbow Dash was among those names.

“Judging by Scootaloo’s happy face when she mentioned that to me, I guess you took it well?”

“Well, I was really surprised.” Dash confessed, looking down at her hooves uncomfortably. “I mean, now it all seems so obvious, but that filly managed to make a fool out of the entire town for two years. Horse apples, we all were even on vacations not so long ago. If I didn’t feel bad for her, I would have been pissed.”

He rolled his eyes. He could’ve expected that Rainbow would find blame with anypony but herself, in contrast to what he told Scootaloo.

“But I was also impressed with her, in this weird way.” Dash continued. “So I told her that she’s really tough and all.”

“I’m glad that you did; she certainly feels now a lot more confident about telling other ponies.”

“It was really kind of you to take her in here.” Rainbow commented, brushing his cheek.

“What else could I have done?” Matthias replied. “Not to mention that I have this place prepared to host more than hundred ponies at the time with ease, and now there are currently eight staying here, counting Scootaloo.”

“And there will be also one frequent visitor.” Dash told him while looking at him with bedroom eyes, before she unexpectedly pushed him out of the bed. “Now go and do your paladin stuff.”

“You sending me away?” the stallion asked from the floor, more amused than upset. “What is it, the opposite day?”

“I kinda feel superior after last night.” the pegasus said with a nonchalant yawn. “By the way, I know I said that yesterday, but I’d really like to see this armor on you.”

He glanced at the suit of armor she was referring to, resting in the corner of his room. Unlike those that royal guards wore - which were reminiscences of Pegasi Armada’s armors, and therefore were designed with the mind of allowing soldiers to still be swift and maneuverable in the air - the armors of the order’s paladins covered ponies from heads to hooves. Matthias’ in particular was adorned with crests of both Equestria and the Order on each of his legs, and had shoulderplates shaped into heads of ponies, under them there were clasps with Order’s symbol, which were holding a silver cape made by Rarity, with golden lines wavered into it. Matthias didn’t really feel like adding all those adornments, but he was the head of the Order, and as such, his armor had to reflect it.

“After introduction of those four into the Order, which will also mark its official beginning, I will have to wear this practically all the time.” Matthias replied. “I would like to enjoy the feeling of air on my coat until such time.” smiling back at Rainbow, he said. “I need to get going now; you can see yourself out once you get up, right?”

“Yeah, have fun.” the pegasus told him dismissively, turning to the other side.

About three hours later, Matthias was overseeing the four initiates practicing their strikes against training dummies. They were all doing very well; even Serenity, although she was on a much lower level than the rest.

“Remember to keep your eyes on the enemy at all time.” he told her when he noticed she closed them as a small drop of sweat got into one of them. “If the dummy was a real pony, you would have given it an opening for attack right now.”

“Yes, sir. Sorry.” Serenity replied, quickly brushing her eyes.

“You must also be aware of your surroundings.” Matthias continued to coach her, although raised his voice so that the others would hear him. “For example, if you were fighting in a forest, you or your opponent could trip over a root. Depending on your awareness, you can use your surroundings to your advantage, or die because of klutziness.”

Serenity gulped nervously, but Matthias, observing her carefully, saw that she quickly regained her composure.

“You must also be aware of enemies around you, too.” he added. “In the midst of battle, your enemies can sometimes separate you from your comrades and surround you.”

“So this is your idea of working?” a sarcastic voice from above interrupted him. “Just standing and talking while the others train?”

Matthias sighed as he signaled the others to return to their training before looking up. “I expected you to sleep for few more hours.” he told Rainbow as he trotted to the side.

“Well, some of us got jobs.” Dash replied with a smirk as she landed beside him. “I have to do some cloudbusting on the edge of Ponyville until the afternoon. Will you be busy?”

She winked suggestively as she asked the question.

“Unfortunately, yes.” he said with bit of regret, although he quickly brightened up. “We’re going to have a praying session! Wanna join?”

“Err...” Dash stammered uncomfortably. “Thanks, but uh, no offense, but-”

She stopped once she realized that Matthias was barely containing laughter.

“None taken.” he told her, winking. “I wasn’t exactly fond of those, either.”

“Tch.” Rainbow Dash snorted, hitting him with her tail as if it was a whip. “You’re lucky you’re cute.” she added and took the air, flying off towards a cluster of clouds.

Matthias turned back to his initiates and found out, much to his irritation, that they were all glancing his way, three discretely and one openly.

“No wonder she wasn’t paying any attention to me.” Tucker commented with a smirk.

“Name one mare that did.” Matthias retorted, looking at all of them threateningly.

“You think I would bother remembering all those names?”

He decided to stop paying attention to the unicorn. Clearly, out-talking him was impossible.

“Sorry for eavesdropping, sir.” Guard said, a bit uncomfortably even though his face remained as stoic as ever. “We were just curious as to why there is another pegasus-”

Matthias stopped him with a wave of hoof. Aside from not wanting to discuss his strange relationship with Rainbow Dash, he also didn’t want to talk about Scootaloo.

“Let’s return to practice, shall we?” he said, and smiled with grim satisfaction at the idea that came to him. “Before Rainbow interrupted me, I was telling you about fighting when surrounded by enemies. But... why tell you, when I can demonstrate? I want all four of you to attack me.”

The four initiates looked at him with wide, shocked eyes, but before they had a chance to question his idea, Matthias turned his back on them. “I will go fetch myself a training gear. You can use this time to decide how you will coordinate your attacks.”

He took his time putting the armor on and picking up the two-hoofed sword for a weapon. All the while thinking how fun this was going to be.

When he returned to the training field, he saw the four ponies clustered in a circle, deep in discussion. As he came nearer, they spotted him, and all nodded. Matthias tried to read from their expression how they felt about whatever plan they came up with. Serenity was obviously nervous, but he attributed it to her not wanting to fight him. Tucker was as confident as always. Storm and Guard however, had the stoic, almost blank expression all royal guards bore.

“You can begin.” Matthias told them, waving his sword in salute.

As he expected, they started by trying to surround him, with Serenity taking the left, Guard front, Tucker right, and Storm hovered above. Matthias, deciding to wait and see instead of preventing their plan, waited.

Tucker and Serenity was first to attack. As they jumped at him, Matthias raised his sword to deflect their weapons... only to have the unicorn disappear in a flash of magic.

“Nice.” the paladin thought. “But that won’t be enough.”

Extending the swing he took planning to deflect the first attack, Matthias whirled around, dodging Serenity, just in time for Tucker to appear behind him. Matthias’ sword brushed away Tucker’s, making the colt lose his balance and stumble. The paladin grabbed him with free hoof by mane and threw him and Serenity, knocking both of them over.

He then quickly raised his sword to block attack from above, but as he was about to take offensive action, Guard came from behind. Matthias jumped away and fought both of them off. After exchanging few strikes, he let Storm’s sword to hit his protected foreleg, and pushed his blade away, giving him an opening for an attack. His sword, however, was stopped by Guard Shield’s shield.

“Commendable. But there are other ways to attack.”

He shifted his weight on the sword, forcing Guard to concentrate more of his strength on his shield, and while he was busy, Matthias slammed his head against Storm’s. As the pegasus (with crossed eyes) fell down, the paladin (hearing a commotion from behind) circled around Guard, dodging an attack from Serenity, and then blocked Tucker’s.

As the older pony tried to bash him with his shield, Matthias let the attack hit its mark, but he used it to grab the shield, wrestle it away from Guard, and slam Tucker with it. Not expecting that the unicorn had no time to dodge, and fell to the ground.

The two ponies that still stood attacked him, but they didn’t last long after that. Matthias dispatched Guard with a swift strike, then later disarmed Serenity and pressed the tip of his blade to her chest.

“Guess that’s it, then.” Matthias told them with a smug on his face. “You could use a little more-”

“Hey!” and excited voice came from nearby. “What’chya doing?”

Matthias glanced around and spotted Pinkie Pie, bouncing up and down as usual and breathing heavily.

“We were trying to beat Sir Mathias...” Storm replied automatically, before Matthias had a chance to stop him.

“Sound fun!” the pink pony exclaimed. “Can I try?”

“Oh, crap.” Matthias thought as Pinkie didn’t wait for an answer and shot right at him.

He attempted to move away, but Pinkie Pie was too fast to give him any time. She slammed against him and pinned him to the ground.

“That was fun!” she shouted happily. “Next time, you’ll pin me! Yay!”

And then she disappeared, leaving behind her a pink blur. As Matthias rose up, he manages to see her heading towards Sweet Apple Acres.

“What in Light name has gotten into her today?” he muttered as he swept off some dirt from the training gear.

“Sadly not me, sir, but she totally kicked your flank.” Tucker smirked.

Matthias glared at him, but before he could come up with any idea how to punish him, a movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He looked to his side, and in a distance, flying by the Chapel, saw...

“Is that...” he asked aloud as he squinted his eyes. “... a flying orange?”

“The heck?” Storm Clash said, confirming his guess.

“That’s... oh.” Matthias exclaimed as he realised what must have happened. “Twilight Sparkle was supposed to practice a new spell today. I guess something must have gone wrong.” turning to Storm, he said. “Storm Clash, go and grab that... whatever it was before, and bring it back to Lady Twilight.” he suppressed a chuckle of amusement at the thought how would she react to him calling her by the title she should be using as a sister of a prince.

“Yes, sir.” the pegasus replied with a short salute, and took the air.

“Now, then.” Matthias said as he looked at the remaining initiates. “How about we see what you have learned from my demonstration? Guard, Serenity, attack Tucker.”

“Maybe I should have taken off this training armor before I chased after it.” Storm Clash thought as he chased the strange lying fruit.

He was never the fastest flyer - having lost his interest in speed after his stupidity caused that accident - and with the armor - so much heavier than the one of royal guards - weighing him down, it was not easy to catch.

But it looked as if luck was on his side - or maybe he should think that Light looked down on him with favor? - because the orange flew down into Ponyville, letting Storm simply fold his wings like a falcon and swoop down, catching his ‘prey’ and stopping his fall almost right above the ground.

“I say, that’s one way to make an entrance.” sounded a female voice very close him.

“Sorry, Miss, I-” Storm began to apologise, cursing himself for not paying attention to his surroundings (right after hearing about it from sir Matthias no less), but he found that he could speak no words once he took a look at his interlocutor.

It was a mare of unworldly beauty. She wore a pink gown that somehow went perfectly with the white of her coat. The part of it on her chest was darker shade of pink, from which a laced flange came out, bringing attention to mare’s neckline. Her forelegs bore long leg weavers, and her hindlegs were hidden within the skirt that ended with lacing, but a single hoof with slipper on it was visible.

So captivating was this sight that it took Storm Clash few seconds to realise that he knew this mare.

“I apologize, Lady Rarity.” he said, his voice a one degree cooler than before. “Sir Matthias sent me after this... orange, and asked me to bring it to Lady Twilight Sparkle.” as he told her that, he pointed at the winged orange that was now safely tucked in his wing. “Do you happen to know where I can find her?”

“Why, yes, I just saw her by the cafe.” Rarity told him in reply, and judging by how she winced, she was either repulsed by his jaw, or noticed the change of tone in his voice. Storm didn’t really care. “I can lead you there if you want.”

The pegasus was about to decline the offer and ask her to just tell him the directions. It would be faster if he flew there, and he didn’t really want to spend more time with this pony, as beautiful as she was. However, it would be really unkind to do so, and even if Rarity wasn’t exactly a role model when it came to interacting with ponies, he was still a gentlecolt.

“Thank you.” he told her with a nod.

“Oh, no need to thank me, it’s my pleasure.” Rarity replied as she turned back the way she came through the park. Storm quickly caught up to her. She sounded... sincere, to his mild confusion. “I owe you an apology.”

Storm Clash blinked as she said that out of the blue. Had he misjudged her?

“I know you’ve noticed how I reacted when I first saw you back at the station.” the unicorn mare continued, her ears dropped and overall expression not fitting a pony in such gown. “I just wanted to tell you that I didn’t mean to... squeak like that. It wasn’t out of disgust or anything like that, I assure you. I value pony’s inner beauty, and as a fashion designer, it is my duty to help others bring out this beauty. My reaction to your appearance came out of shock and fear, which quickly passed, but I still hurt you. And I am sorry for that.”

“Wow.” Storm exclaimed when she finished. “Either you thought about this apology for a while, or you’re really good at thinking on spot, Lady Rarity.”

“I thought about it ever since I saw the hurt in your eyes.” Rarity replied with a blush after hearing his complement. “If that wasn’t enough for you to forgive me, I have close to an hour more of it. And please, just call me Rarity.”

“Very well then, Rarity.” Storm said with a smile. “And as for me forgiving you, you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Are you sure?” she asked teasingly. “The part in the middle is really good.”

“I’ll take your word for it. And it wasn’t that big of a deal, honestly.” he told her, now regretting what he earlier thought of her. “I’m used to ponies reacting far much worse, and seldom apologizing.”

“Well, I think that- WHAT ARE YOU THREE DOING?!”

The question - asked with rage and fear that didn’t suit her - was directed at the three fillies (with one of them being Scootaloo) that somehow got up on one of the highest branch of the huge tree that they were just passing, next to which stood a ladder.

“Oh... hi sis.” one of the fillies, a unicorn, waved at Rarity. It was clear that upon being discovered, she came to realise that what she and the other two were doing wasn’t exactly what they should be doing.

“Don’t ‘hi sis’ me, Sweetie Belle!” Rarity replied, stomping the ground. “What are you doing up on that tree?!”

Storm had to admit that he was curious about it as well. If they would fall...

“We were tryin’ to get cutie marks in bungee jumping...” the filly with a bow - and the same accent he heard Applejack speak with - confessed, showing off the bungee cord that they had up on the brunch.

“Out of the question!” Rarity immediately told them. “Get down this instant!”

“Can you hold this?” Storm interrupted her, giving her the strange orange.

She nodded after a second in understanding and grabbed it with her magic. Now that both of his wings were free, the pegasus fly up to the fillies, and not waiting for any voices of protests grabbed all of them and put them down back on the ground.

“Hey!” Scootaloo was about to complain, but Rarity apparently wasn’t in a mood for that.

“I know you three want to get your cutie marks, but there are some things you cannot do without a grown up supervising you.” she told them, calmer now that they were safe, but still really angry.

“Well...” Scootaloo began.

“Kid, that was dangerous.” Storm cut in before she got a chance to start her argument. “I don’t know why Sir Matthias let you live in the Abbey, but I’m pretty sure he would have been very angry if he saw you right now.”

“Wait, what?” Rarity asked, confused. “Why would you be living in the Abbey, Scootaloo?”

“Ow...” the orange filly muttered, scratching behind her head. The other two looked at her encouragingly, and she took a deep breath. “Because I’m an orphan.” Rarity gasped as Scootaloo continued. “I run away from Cloudsdale’s orphanage. Matt found me sleeping under the bridge and, well, made me come to the Abbey. I’ve been living there for two days now.”

“Oh, you poor little thing!” Rarity exclaimed as she grabbed Scootaloo before she could get away and hugged her, not caring about the gown she was wearing. “Why didn’t you say a word to anypony? Did you know about this?!” she almost hissed at her sister and the other filly, while Scootaloo tried to escape her hug.

Storm, seeing that she was distracted, grabbed the flying orange. He didn’t want to chase it again.

“Scootaloo told us just yesterday.” Sweetie Belle explained, as the pegasus in question was finally released.

“And we had a discussion about not tellin’ us.” the earth pony filly added, glancing at Scootaloo.

“I said I was sorry.” she replied with a roll of her eyes. “Anyway, you two mind not telling anypony?” she asked Rarity and Storm. “I want to tell everypony myself.

“So that’s what Sir Matthias meant yesterday.” the stallion thought as he nodded.

“Of course, dear.” Rarity told her. “And if you’ll need anything, please-”

“Thanks, see ya!” Scootaloo quickly said and run off somewhere, followed soon by her two friends.

Sweetie Belle lingered a moment to explain: “She doesn’t want ponies acting different because of the whole thing.”

“I see. Well, go along now.” Rarity said, and as her sister chased after the two, she called out: “But no more bungee jumping!”

Sweetie Belle waved to show that she heard her. Rarity took a deep breath and muttered: “Those three... Oh, whatever. Poor Scootaloo! How did she manage to keep it all to herself?! She’s been living in Ponyville for good two years now!”

“That long?” Storm asked as they resumed their walk. “That must be one sneaky and tough filly.”

“Perhaps, but she still should have tell somepony.” Rarity replied. “For a pony her age, to fend off for herself... oh, I don’t even want to imagine what it must have been like for her. Thank heavens that Matt stumbled upon her! Please, once you get back to him, let him know how thankful I am that he is now taking care of her. And that my opinion of him from our vacation hasn’t changed.” seeing Storm’s confused look, she giggled and added: “He will know what it means.”

“I will pass that to him, then.” the stallion told her, despite the strange feeling he just had. Something about the way she said that... upset him. Deciding not to dwell on the matter, he tried to change the subject. “So... bungee jumping?”

“Ugh, don’t even get me started.” Rarity snorted. “I swear, the ideas those three come up with are becoming more and more ridiculous. Oh!” she said as if something hit her just now. “I’m sorry you had to see me yell at them like this.”

“Don’t worry about it, I understand it perfectly.” Storm replied with a smile. “I have a brother about the same age, also without a cutie mark.

“Really?” Rarity asked with interest. “Then you must know how it is, with a troublesome sibling.”

“Trust me; bungee jumping would be the least of my worries when it comes to him.”

“Perhaps, but I assure you, my sister and her friends are much worse.”

“... Wanna bet?” the stallion smirked.

Twilight groaned from exhaustion and frustration. The spell to perfectly and permanently change one thing to another was still being difficult.

“Maybe you should take a short break?” Spike suggested, seeing how she struggled. “Do you want me to order you something to drink?”

“That would be lovely, thanks Spike.” the unicorn smiled at her assistant.

As the baby dragon went to the cafe, Twilight massaged her head. Thankfully the spell, despite being difficult to perform, didn’t demand too much magic from the user. If it weren’t for that, she would’ve been unable to continue her tries hours ago.

While she sat waiting for Spike to get back, Twilight spotted two familiar figures approaching. Rarity, still wearing the gown she showed her that now had dirt on it here and there, and one of Matt’s initiates, Storm Clash, who wore a training gear she saw back in the Abbey’s armory.

“... and that’s why we’re not allowed to climb up the Statue of Liberty ever again.” Storm finished telling Rarity, and both of them laughed. The stallion stopped once he saw her. “Ah, Lady Twilight!”

He paused when he noticed her gaze. “Please, notify Sir Lightbringer that I am currently studying magic that would allow me to change ponies to, let’s say, frogs.”

She had no doubt that it was his doing that Storm addressed her like that.

The stallion gulped nervously while Rarity giggled. “That’s probably part of the reason why I’m here.” he said, reaching under his wing and bringing out an orange. “Sir Matthias send me to deliver you this.”

Upon closer inspection, Twilight saw two wings on the side of the orange, and realized that it must be the bird her spell accidently hit, but due to Pinkie’s antics she completely forgot about.

“Thank you, I would be in real trouble with Fluttershy.” she said with a chuckle as she took the poor creature with her magic. “I will change it back soon.”

“It’s great to hear that.” Storm replied. “I’m afraid I need to get back to the Abbey, then.” he nodded to her in good-bye, and then turned to Rarity. “Rarity, it’s been a pleasure talking with you.”

“Likewise, Storm.” Rarity said, and Twilight, to her mild surprise, spotted heat arising in her cheeks.

Storm Clash nodded to her as well and - moving slightly back so that they wouldn’t be hit by any dirt or sand that was bound to be rise when pegasus flapped his wings - flew in the direction of the Abbey.

“You two looked soo cute together!” Twilight immediately exclaimed once the stallion was out of earshot.

“What?” Rarity looked back at her, startled and - to Twilight satisfaction - embarrassed. “Whatever do you mean?”

“It’s payback time.” Twilight thought with glee.

“Where did I left that recipe for love poison?” she wondered out loud.

“Twilight!”

Hearing her friend shout out her name in fear was too much. Twilight hold her sides as she erupted with laughter.

“Oh, relax, I was just kidding.” she told her embarrassed friend. “Although...” she paused for the dramatic effect, “I would watch out for what I drink if I were you.”

“Oh, this is going to be so fun!” Twilight thought in her head, as she continued on teasing her friend, whose reactions make it all worthwhile for the lavender unicorn. How the table have turned!

Author's Note

Gee, I wonder what is going to happen next...

89. Too much pink energy is dangerous

“Well, that was certainly entertaining.” Matthias thought as he continued to heal Tucker’s injuries.

Despite the unicorn being the most adapt in combat, the two other initiates gave him a good thrashing. Matthias’ favorite part was when Serenity smashed his face with her mace, although that marked the end of the fight.

“I still feel sore.” Tucker complained as the paladin finally took his hooves from him, their glow dispersing.

“The Light melded your bones and healed other serious injuries. As for the bruises, pain is a part of the learning.”

“Whatever.” the unicorn said, shrugging as he rose.

Matthias rolled his eyes, and at the same time a sound of flapping wings reached his ears. Turning around, he saw Storm Clash returning. The paladin trotted to meet him, leaving the other three to discuss the training.

“Lady Twilight said she would fix it, sir.” the pegasus reported as he landed. “And... also told me to notify you, sir, that the magic she’s currently learning will allow her to change ponies into frogs and stuff.” he added uncomfortably.

“That sounds about right.” Matthias chuckled. “You seem quite cheerful.” he said, taking a better look at him. He was far more relaxed than Matthias ever saw him, and there was almost spring in his step as they walked back to the training field.

“Oh, I had a pleasant conversation with Lady Rarity, sir.” the other stallion explained. “I almost bumped into her while chasing this orange, and then she offered to lead me to Lady Twilight.”

“‘Lady Rarity’?”

“Well, sir, using a title ‘lady’ is common while addressing celebrities as much as royalties.” Storm explained. “And as I’m sure you know, Lady Rarity is quite famous fashion designer.”

“Yes, I am aware of my friend’s success in that field. Although, I am surprised you know about it; you don’t strike me a stallion that is interested in fashion.”

“Well, no sir, I’m not. But my mother is. Last time I visited my family in Manehatten, she practically raved about Rarity’s latest designs.” he explained, and then paused. “Oh, I almost forgot. Lady Rarity asked me to tell you that she is thankful that you’re now talking care of Scootaloo, sir.”

“Guess that means they’ve stumbled upon Scootaloo.” Matthias thought as he nodded.

“And...” Storm continued, now a bit uncomfortably. “She also said that her opinion of you from your vacation hasn’t changed.”

Matthias facehoofed himself, not caring how silly that looked. He remembered Rarity’s comment clearly, about him one day becoming an excellent father. It would have seemed that, despite promising not to try again to make him and Twilight be together, she still wanted to point out some aspects of a ‘perfect relationship’ for them. He hoped that after Storm left them, she didn’t start telling Twilight any of this.

“Good to hear that.” he said somewhat bitterly, but quickly shook it off as they joined the other initiates. “You didn’t miss much. Unless you would find pleasure in breaking Tucker’s face-”

“I said I was sorry.” Serenity murmured.

“Don’t be, that was part of the training.” Matthias told her.

“But if you are sorry-” Tucker immediately began to say suggestively, reaching to her with his foreleg, but he pulled it back with a yowl of pain as a bright light smitten him in the hoof.

“Let’s do some more practice.” Matthias said, as if nothing had happened.

“May the Light bless you in your training, so that you may become true defenders of the it.” he intoned few hour later as they stood in the Chapel, with the four ponies facing him while he prayed.

They repeated after him, all having their heads bowed in respect as they also prayed.

“May the Holy Light shine brightly upon Equestria, as ponies live their lives, thriving in their affairs. May its blessing be upon the Crystal Empire and the crystal ponies that had just returned after a thousand years. May-”

“Sir!” a voice interrupted him, a voice that belonged to Sound Wave and seemed to come out of nowhere. “We have a problem!”

Matthias glanced at the other four ponies, and they at once rose and raced with him to the doors. He tried to think what could have happened, but decided to first see what it was instead of blindly suspecting. Sound Wave’s magic allowed him to modulate the sounds he made, from using it as weapon to subtly communicating like now over a distance, although his limit was two hundred meters. Whatever the problem was, it was probably still at the entrance, not within the Abbey.

When they reached the doors, he saw that he was wrong.

“W-what the-” he asked nopony in particular as he continued to stare, and almost hearing gears in his head trying to process this sight.

In front of him, bouncing, jumping, running, dancing and laughing on the Abbey’s grounds was a herd of Pinkie Pies.

The world had shrunk for Matthias to his own body. He could still see what was happening, but it was darkened. He could still hear, but it was obscured, mostly by Pinkies’ shouts.

“Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!”

He desperately tried to understand what was going of, what sort of madness was this, what kind of evil sorcery could wrought that, but to no avail. So Matthias just stared blankly, as he heard his initiates voice their own confusion.

“What the hey-”

“Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!”

“They’re everywhere! How is that even possible!?”

“Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!”

“Tucker! What in Celestia name are you doing?!”

“Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!”

“Sir!” somepony close to Matthias said, at the same time grabbing him by shoulder and shaking him. He slowly turned his head to regard Guard Shield “Sir! Their heading for the armory!”

That finally managed to snap Matthias back into reality. He shook his head, and without much thought, summoned the Light to shine upon the Abbey, causing all the Pinkie Pies to stand still, all of them dazed.

“Bar all the doors!” he ordered the four ponies. He noticed that some Pinkies were up on the roof of the Chapel, causing Al’ar to caw in anger as they began to bother him and made him fly off. “Storm, Serenity, you’re coming with me to Ponyville to search for a reason behind this madness. Guard, you and Tucker-” he turned around to glance at unicorn, and found himself speechless again.

Tucker was laying on one of the Pinkies, his tongue buried deep in her muzzle, apparently oblivious to the fact that the mare beneath him was stunned. Another Pinkie was on his back, and still had his ear in her half-open mouth.

As if sensing that their attention was on him, Tucker stopped the kiss with a loud squelch and asked: “What?”

One concussion later...

“... and keep an eye on him as well once he wakes up.” Matthias told Guard, massaging his right fronthoof. “If he starts doing that again, you have my permission to throw him into dungeon, or lock him in the armory or something.”

“Yes, sir.” Guard replied nonchalantly, as if his commanding officer didn’t just knock out his fellow initiate.

Matthias nodded to him, leaving things in the Abbey in his charge, and lead Storm and Serenity towards Ponyville, trying to do his best to ignore all the Pinkies that by now had recovered and were again bouncing around. Luckily, with doors to the Chapel, armory and barracks closed, the amount of damage they could cause has been minimized.

“So...” Sound Wave asked Matt as they passed him and Cherry Bomb and the entrance. “... any idea as to what in Tartarus is going on?”

“It’s the end of the world.”

“I intend to find out.” he told them instead. “Go assist Guard Shield. We should be back shortly.”

The stroll through Ponyville, usually very pleasant even when the weather broke down, was now filled with confusion and near fear. Everywhere around them they saw more Pinkie Pies, who continued to bounce around saying: “Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!” without any indication of stopping.

Matthias knew that he was most likely to get some answers from Twilight, so that’s where they headed. It turned out he wasn’t the only one to thoughts so, as the library was surrounded by an angry mob, all of Ponyville complaining to Twilight about the Pinkies.

“Please, everypony, hang on while I try to figure something out!” Twilight told them, and then sighed with relief when she saw Matt and two of his initiates making their way through the crowd to join her.

“You heard her, everypony.” he said in commending, but at the same time soothing voice, as the Light shone through him, calming ponies around him. “I’m sure Twilight will find a solution to this pink problem, but not with you making such uproar.”

Twilight shoot him a quick smile, and opened the door to her library, inviting him in with a subtle nod.

“Come on, Spike.” she told her dragon assistant, and all three of them entered, leaving the crowd and the two initiates (whom, as Twilight noticed, Matt ordered with a wave of his hoof to stand guard at the entrance) behind. She immediately began searching through titles of her books. “I've gotta try to remember the name of that legend she mentioned.”

“Who mentioned?” Matt asked curiously as he and Spike too began scanning the shelves.

“Pinkie Pie.” Twilight replied, her attention still on the books. “She wanted to hang out with both Rainbow Dash and Applejack at the same time, but they were too far away, so after hearing that she would need to be in two places at the same time for this to work, she run off, screaming that name of the legend... ‘Of the Mirror Pool’!” she shouted in triumph as she finally recalled.

“‘Need to be in two places at the same time’?” Matt repeated after her with a snort. “What genius told her that?”

“Um...” the unicorn hesitated uncomfortably. “This one?”

The paladin shot her an annoyed look, then returned to searching through the books.

“Are there any ways you know of for something like this happening on Azeroth?” Twilight asked. If there was, then maybe she could figure out how to stop it here.

She glanced at Matt, who appeared to think about her question for a moment.

“No, I don’t think so.” he finally said. “Our magic users can create mirror reflections and project themselves from afar, but... There are some very advance and ancient spells that allow to split person into two or more, but that divides its personality between the copies. There is also a variation of that spell that lets to bypass this ‘personality issue’, but it in turn divides the power of the person.”

Twilight wanted to ask him some more question, but a commotion on the opposite side of the room. Glancing that way, they saw Spike laying on a pile of books, with one she never saw before on his head. Intrigued, she picked up with her magic, and aloud read the title of it.

“‘Folktales of Eastin’?” she glanced at Matt in confusion.

“It was in some sort of hidden stash behind this shelf.” Spike explained.

The unicorn shook her head and began to skim through it, hoping that maybe the Light smiled down on her. The titles of each chapter were all puzzling to her, like: ‘The Tale of the Forest’; ‘The Heart of the Forest’; ‘The Battle of the Wind and the Forest’; but the cryptic descriptions under them indicated that whatever legends the author wrote down in this book, he did so long after they were first told. Finally, she found a chapter she searched for.

“Aha, here it is!” she exclaimed. "’The legend of the Mirror Pond’...” she paused as she quickly read through it.

There was some short tale about ‘Spirit of the Everfree’ or what not telling ponies of Eastin (apparently, with ‘smirk on her muzzle and mischief in heart’) about the magical pond that, when a pony recited a specific chant, creates a duplicate of the pony.

“Gee, I wonder why the author added that part about ‘mischief’.” Twilight thought with annoyance, the havoc all the Pinkies were wrecking around Ponyville flashing before her eyes, before she returned to the book.

“It describes a spell I can use to send them back where they came from!” Twilight said after few short seconds, reaching the part of the legend she hoped to find.

“That's perfect! Let's go!” Spike immediately replied, heading for the door.

Twilight, however, who was still reading the exact formula of the spell, realized that things weren’t that simple.

“But there's a catch.” she said, stopping Spike. “If I can't figure out which one's the real Pinkie, I might send her back by mistake!”

She exchanged look with Matt, and saw that he shared her worry.

“Well, we'll just have to figure out who the real one is then.” Spike said, oblivious to the how problematic this would be. “It shouldn't be too hard.”

“Telling our least sensible friend from a bunch of her copies?” Matt asked with borderline sarcasm. “Yeah, I can see that being really easy.”

Twilight quickly pulled him by his ear with magic, annoyed by his comment, even if he was right. He looked at her with apology, but she just shook her head in indifference and led him and Spike back to face the crowd.

“Does anypony here know how we can tell the real Pinkie Pie from all the rest of them?” she asked, hoping that maybe somepony had any fast ideas.

But it looked that she was going to think one on her own. The citizens of Ponyville all looked around them in confusion, hoping to see another pony come up with an answer, muttering things like ‘I dunno’.

Twilight sighed and looked at Matt. He was rubbing his chin, deep in thoughts, and not paying any attention to what surrounding crowd was saying. Twilight’s heart lifted a bit. Maybe he-

“Twilight!” she heard a voice say, voice that under normal circumstances would have cause a smile (even if a little annoyed one) on her face. Now Twilight merely glanced the way of one of the Pinkies that now tried to get her attention. “I have to talk to you, I need your help!”

“Excuse me, whoever you are,” Twilight told her, “but I'm not talking to any of you Pinkies unless you're the real Pinkie.”

“Oh, but, but I am the real Pinkie!” she replied just like she expected her to do.

“No, you're not!” another Pinkie joined the discussion. “I'm the real Pinkie!”

And in the next heartbeat, all Pinkies present in this part of the town began saying: “(No,) I'm the real Pinkie!” as well as ever present ‘Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!’ chant that was irritating her even more now.

“How in tarnation are we supposed to tell which is the real Pinkie?” Applejack asked, trotting over to her.

“I have no idea.” Twilight confessed, watching in despair all the Pinkies bounce around Ponyville.

“I think we should split up and try to come up with something.” Matt spoke up, joining her. Turning to address the crowd, he raised his voice. “Attention, everypony. Due to the current situation, I’m declaring a martial law. Please, return to your homes until further notice.” as the crowd began to disperse, Matt turned to her again. “This should minimise the damage Pinkies will cause to the citizens. Storm, Serenity,” he said to the two initiates that accompanied him, “do a sweep through the town, ensure that everypony knows to stay in their homes, try to prevent as much havoc as you can, and report back to me or Twilight if you find the real Pinkie or have any idea that could help us. Understand?”

“Yes, sir!” the two replied and raced into the city.

“I will try to search for her through my own methods.” Matt told Twilight as he also prepared to leave. “I’ll let you know if I’ll have something.”

“Same here.” Twilight replied, knowing very well after the time in Crystal Empire that there was more to Matt that just paladin’s powers.

After finding a relatively calm place in Ponyville, Matthias sat down and concentrated. He expended his senses throughout the town, trying to check if the real Pinkie Pie was distinctive enough from her clones to be recognized this way, but to no avail. All Pinkies (and there was a lot of them) bore the same magical essence, by no means affected by this Mirror Pond.

“A Pond that can create a copy of a living being.” he mused as he still tried to search for any clue he could find. “Every day I find something weirder here... Or does it only work this way if you say this ‘chant’? Maybe if could be used for other things? I wonder...”

Aside from Pinkies, he kept his senses alert for others. Such as his friends, who were either trying to look for the real Pinkie, or were trying to hide. A strange presence he noticed a short time after returning from the Crystal Empire, where he began to trust himself enough to use some of his other abilities. Like the first time, he ignored this presence once again, as he could sense no evil from it. He would deal with it, eventually, but when the time was right.

As he extended his search even further, to the borders of the Everfree Forest, he sensed the chaotic evil he was by now familiar with. The Forest has been tainted; by what, he could not tell, nor for how long. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the corrupted Felwood, or the ‘deaded’ forests of Lordaeron, but it was... twisted.

“If only the Light could-”

“Sir!” Storm’s call interrupted his thoughts. He opened his eyes and glanced up, spotting the pegasus fly his way. “Everypony is safe in their houses.”

“Good.” Matthias told him. “Matter of their safety aside, civilians often gets in the way.”

Both of them looked around, as a group of five Pinkies headed over somewhere. “Where is Hemet Nesingwary when you need him?” he thought sarcastically.

Matthias turned his head again on the sound of the hooves approaching. Spotting Twilight and Spike, he smiled; maybe they’ve came up with something?

He and Storm listened as they said they had an idea and explained it. They would gather all the Pinkies and gave them a test, one that would be really hard for Pinkie to do and not fun at all. Those that would fail would go back to the Pond. The plan was based on an assumption that the real Pinkie would want to stay the most.

“I’m not sure if this is a good idea.” Storm voiced his doubt, a doubt that, for a moment, Matthias also shared, before the remembered what really mattered to Pinkie the most.

It wasn’t ‘fun’. Friends mattered to her the most, and she would never leave them.

“You say that because you don’t know Pinkie Pie as well as we do.” he told the other stallion. “She won’t fail this test, not when it means she would have to leave her friends. However, there might be a problem with gathering all of them.”

“I thought that maybe we could ask the Apple family to round them up.”

“This could work. I will have my initiates help out, as well. Storm,” he addressed the pegasus again, “fly back to the Abbey and tell them help out the Apple family.”

“Yes, sir.” Storm replied.

“I will go fetch Applejack and Serenity, and tell them about the plan.” Matthias told Twilight as the initiate flew away. “I think the others are somewhere around Fluttershy’s cottage.”

“We’ll get them, then, and prepare the town hall.” Twilight replied, and with the nod, they went their separate ways.

“I hope I didn’t offend them.” Storm wondered as he flew towards the Abbey.

Sir Matthias didn’t appear to be angry, though, as he explained to him why they were certain that the real Pinkie would be the one to pass this test. Storm shook his head as the Abbey came into his sight, purging it of any doubts like those. He had his orders, and that’s what he would concentrate on. As he spotted the three stallions and landed next to them, he saw that most of the Pinkies had left, but there were still a couple of them bouncing around.

“I’ve got new orders from sir Matthias.” he told Guard, Sound and Bomb. “Wait, where’s Tucker?” he asked, glancing around.

Without saying anything, all three ponies at once pointed at the armory.

“Well, I suppose we should let him out.” Storm sighed with annoyance. “Even Tucker wouldn’t stop doing what he was ordered to do for-”

“Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!” said one of the Pinkies as she bounced nearby.

“- yeah, that. Anyway,” he said as he and three others made their way to the armory, “we’re supposed to rendezvous with the Apple family and assist them with rounding all those Pinkies up.”

“So Matt has a plan?” Sound asked while Guard opened the doors of armory.

“Actually, it was Lady Twilight that came up with it-” Storm began to reply, but stopped once the doors were opened to reveal a pile of bodies.

“Hey, close the door, will you?”

“Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!”

Matthias sighed with relief as the last of the Pinkies disappeared within the town hall.

“Sound, Bomb, stay here and make sure those doors stay close until there’s only one pink pony inside.” he told the two royal guards, who saluted and took their places at the sides of Big Mac and Apple Bloom. “The rest of you, inside.”

He lead them inside, and watched Twilight try to calm down all the Pinkies and Rainbow Dash bring in one more that they’ve somehow missed, wondering what sort of punishment he should cook up for Tucker once this is over. When they met up earlier, Storm told him what was happening in the armory that Pinkies somehow managed to slip into it, and while those Pinkies weren’t his friends (at least he hoped so, although he really doubted that Pinkie Pie would do such things with Tucker), such behaviour, taking advantage of magically created clones that apparently had a mental dysfunction, was beneath a paladin initiate.

“Would cleaning of the whole Abbey for a week be enough?” he wondered, but stopped as he began to pay better attention to what Twilight was saying.

“Don't worry, it's a simple test, about as simple as they come, and whoever passes gets to stay.” she told them, which seemed to calm the Pinkies, that were all displeased with the idea of taking a test.

“Curtain, please.” she told Spike, who on the signal pulled a rope, revealing a wall that Rarity and Fluttershy were painting. Seeing that the curtain was lifted, they stopped and pushed the wall closer to the crowd. “The test... will be watching paint dry!”

All the Pinkies gasped.

“On your mark,” Twilight said, “get set, go!”

As the Pinkies attention concentrated on the pain, Spike, who sat down on a small chair, exclaimed: “Ooh, this is so exciting!”

Matthias looked at him with a mix of compassion and annoyance. Watching ponies who watch the paint dry would be about as boring as the sole watching of the paint dry.

“Although...” he thought with mischief, “There are some ways to keep one amused...”

“Actually, this will be a perfect training for you.” he told his initiates as he turned to them, hoping his face stayed expressionless. “A paladin must know a virtue of patience, so I want you to join the Pinkies in observing the paint dry.”

“Um, sir, with all due respect...” Storm tried to voice his objection.

“This sounds like insubordination.” Matthias cut him off before he could finish.

“But this is really boring!” Tucker exclaimed.

“And that sounds like it’s not my problem.”

“But, sir, we could always proof our patience by meditating.” Serenity tried to help her fellow initiates, apparently not pleased with the idea as they.

“So, you all think that, huh?” Matthias asked all four, and he got four nods in confirmation, even from Guard. “Too bad, I sign your paychecks.” he said dismissively, pointing at them to sit besides Pinkies.

As the four ponies, some muttering, trotted to take their places, Matthias took a quick glance at his friends. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Spike were smirking, amused by his idea; but Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity were looking at him in displeasure. Shrugging, and shooting them his own smirk, he rose and took a place besides his initiates, much to their surprise.

He kept his eyes open on the paint, but chose to ponder some other stuff in the meantime. Matthias was dimly aware of Twilight shooting a spell at Pinkies that looked away, which caused the copies to cease to exist and the magical essence that created them returned back into the Pond. He was also aware that at one point Tucker screamed, as if he saw something horrific. And before he knew it, it was over. There was only one Pinkie Pie left, who like him was still watching the paint, while out of his four initiates one was sleeping, one was dozing off, and two were also watching the paint, although they had to rub their eyes every few moments.

Chuckling to himself, he went to join his friends in congratulating their friend for passing the test.

“So, it’s down there, huh?” Twilight asked.

“Yep, deep down there.” Pinkie Pie confirmed with a nod.

They were inside the Everfree Forest, where Pinkie Pie had led them shortly after the crisis was over. Asked by Twilight, Pinkie brought them to the entrance to the underground cave that had hidden this Mirror Pond from the rest of Equestria. Despite both her and Matthias’ curiosity, they’ve agreed that the best thing would be to make sure nopony will ever use its powers ever again. For this purpose, he and Big Mac brought a huge boulder that they planned to use as a cork, to jam the entrance. He would have brought along one of his initiates, but he had to assign them to help repair the damage the Pinkies had done to the town.

As Twilight lifted it with her magic from the cart, Matthias took the opportunity to take a quick peek at the Pond. He reached for it with his senses...

… and after several seconds, he retreated, frowning. Despite this Pond's strange powers, he couldn't pick upon anything/

“Matt, is something wrong?” Twilight asked him, pulling him from his thoughts. “You seemed spaced out.”

“No, I was just thinking...” he said, telling her the first thing that came to his mind. “... maybe it would be safer if you’d also put on some protective wards around here, so that nopony could find it by magical scanning?”

“Hmm, I would say that’s an overkill...” Twilight replied thoughtfully. “But if you think it’s for the best, then okay. Just give me few minutes...”

Matthias nodded and let her do her thing. Even if he couldn't sense anything from the Pond, it was better to be safe than sorry.

“You wanna know exactly what I feel like doing right now?” Pinkie Pie asked them much later, as their friends, standing in front of her home, gave her many propositions as to how to celebrate.

Twilight, like everypony, waited for her to make her decision. She was curious as to what sort of party madness her pink friend would come up with... but to her utter amazement, Pinkie Pie simply laid on her back and had fallen asleep, right on the floor.

“That looks like fun.” Fluttershy commented, which caused them to laugh.

“I’ll say.” sounded from behind them, and was followed shortly by a sound of smacking and a short yowl of pain.

Turning around, they saw Matt, Tucker and Storm, trotting in a direction of a marketplace. It was easy to guess who said the comment, as the perpetrator was massaging his head that Matt had obviously hit just now.

“Keep walking.” he ordered him with a hint of threat in his voice. He then glanced at them and called out: “Hey Spike, do you mind showing me where you usually buy that good detergent? This one here has a lot of cleaning to do.”

“Sure, no problem.” the dragon replied and hastened to join them.

As Twilight used her magic to close the door to Sugarcube Corner, she saw that, while all three of the stallions nodded their heads in greeting to them, Storm also shot a quick smile at Rarity. The unicorn, in turn, also gave him a smile, and blushed a little.

And the best part of it was that Twilight wasn’t the only one that noticed it.

“Rarity?” Fluttershy asked with puzzlement as the boys had left. “Are you... blushing?”

Applejack glanced at their momentarily speechless friends to confirm what Fluttershy had said was true, and then took a look at getting further away form of Storm.

“Oooh!” she finally exclaimed with amusement. “Somepony's got a crush on the new guy!”

“No!” Rarity immediately replied, and then added in a more calm manner. “No, I don’t.”

“She does!” Twilight said with satisfaction. “She absolutely does!”

“D-don’t be ridiculous.” Rarity tried to say, but her four friends were too busy laughing and giggling to hear her.

Author's Note

Well, three episodes of season three down, ten more to go...

I'll be offline for two days, as I'm returning to Poland. You can read about my time in Greece here.

90. Parent-teacher meeting

“So, how do you feel about having somepony go for the parent-teacher meeting?” Sweetie Belle asked Scootaloo as they entered the Abbey.

“Um... okay, I guess?” she replied, a bit nervously. “I mean, this is just the meeting for the start of the school year, right? It’s not like Miss Cheerilee will tell Matt how many points I scored on a test or something...”

Scootaloo trailed off, uncertainly. It’s been years since she actually had to care about stuff like that. And while she was fairly certain that Matt won’t be happy with her once her teacher actually will show him her scores, she felt... oddly warm at the thought of that.

And yet still, she was twitching nervously from time to time, experiencing for... actually, the first time - as her grades before her parents’ death weren’t bad - a fear nearly every filly and colt felt whenever those cursed meetings came around.

“Hey, c’mon, Scoots.” Apple Bloom tried to cheer her up, no longer angry at the pegasus for telling them the truth about her living conditions only few days ago. “It’s not like yar grades are that bad. Besides, what would Matt possibly do?”

She had no idea. At one hoof, he fought timberwolves and dragons with ease, the latter with such fury that made the entire town shake in fear, and at the other he was a pony so gentle that he could give Fluttershy a run for her bits.

“So, do you think we might get our cutie marks by learning about the Light from Chapel’s books?” Scootaloo asked, changing the subject.

“Well, it was yar idea.” Apple Bloom replied with a roll of her eyes, but didn’t press the point.

The three of them knew the way to the small library, as they already had explored the Lightbringer’s Chapel, along with the rest of the Everfree Abbey. The only places they haven’t seen so far were the ones they weren’t allowed to see, the armory and the dungeon complex under the Abbey. Everywhere else they were free to move around, so they didn’t need anypony’s permission to enter the library, which would be hard to get, since everypony here seemed always busy. So it was to their mild surprise that, as they drew closer to the corridor leading to it, they saw the light was lit in it.

Scootaloo, leading the other two, was first to enter the library. She instantly recognized the pony inside.

“Oh, hi, Miss Serenity.” she greeted her.

The crystal pony turned her head away from the book she’s been reading and smiled to her and her two friends, who also quickly said their greetings.

“I don’t believe we had been properly introduced, haven’t we?” she asked them. Indeed, as Scootaloo recalled, she never got a chance to even speak to Miss Serenity - or most of the Abbey’s initiates, for that matter - but she knew her name from Matt. And Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle probably didn’t even know that.

“Well, yeah, I guess.” Scootaloo replied with a slight embarrassment. “I’m Scootaloo, and these are my friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.”

Miss Serenity nodded to them in greeting, and then turned again to Scootaloo. “As you knew my name, I knew yours. I’ve seen you around the Abbey, although our paths haven’t crossed before.” Scootaloo, hearing such an odd way of speaking, shoot her a questioning look, which made the crystal pony chuckle with amusement. “Sorry, I’ve been reading these books too often, it seems.”

“Miss-” Sweetie Belle started to ask, but the older pony stopped her.

“Just Serenity is fine, Sweetie Belle. I am not that much older than you three, you know.”

Despite the lightness of her voice, Scootaloo thought she spotted a weird expression on her face, as if she thought of something unpleasant.

“I should tell her as well.” the filly pegasus reminded herself; by now, most of Ponyville knew about her living in the Abbey, and out of them only a few she hadn’t explained to the reason for it yet. Having told the truth about her parents to so many ponies that she lied to for years, it became easier to her, so Scootaloo now only waited patiently for Sweetie Belle to finish asking whatever she wanted from Serenity.

“Serenity...” the filly unicorn started again, but stopped, this time out of her own accord, as if ashamed. “Um, would you mind if I touch you? I mean, I’m curious-”

“-about how my coat feels like?” Serenity finished for her, seeing that the by now panicking filly was having problems describing what she wanted. Extending one foreleg for them, she said: “Sure, go ahead.”

Scootaloo, also curious as to how a pony whose coat was made out of crystal felt like when touched, put her hoof on the foreleg, as well as her friends. To her surprise, it felt... normal. Other than she couldn’t feel any singular hairs, she would have sworn she was touching any other pony. Serenity’s forelegs were warm, and her skin rippled when the three fillies pressed their hooves against it. The coat didn’t even feel more solid that other ponies’.

“Crystal ponies’ coats prevent us from getting hurt and wounded.” Serenity said, no doubt seeing (or even expecting) their confusion. “But despite that, when touched, it seems to you not different from your coats, and I also feel your touch as you would feel another pony’s.”

“That’s... weird.” Apple Bloom commented as the trio took a step back, letting the crystal pony take back her foreleg.

“I suppose so.” Serenity replied with a smile.

“So you can’t feel pain at all?” Scootaloo asked her.

“Well... mostly. Sir Lightbringer still found ways to inflict pain and bruises upon me during combat training.”

“Who?”

“Sorry, I meant Sir Matthias. That’s what we call him in the Crystal Empire.”

“Huh, Lightbringer...” Apple Bloom repeated, tasting the name. “Ah think it fits him.”

Scootaloo had to admit that to her it also seemed as such, but she pushed such distracting thoughts away as she prepared to do what she had to.

“Hey, Serenity...” she began. “You had probably wondered why I live here...”

She quickly explained it to her, as she had a lot of practice during those few past days. To her confusion, Serenity almost appeared as if she was expecting such story, but a familiar gasp of shock escaped her when she mentioned that part about living in Ponyville for two years.

“Oh, dear...” she whispered, and then took a hold of herself. “I must admit: I expected something along those lines, seeing that Sir Lightbringer didn’t want to tell us anything himself, but... two years? You’re way tougher than I was.” Scootaloo, upon hearing that, looked at her in confusion. “I had also lost my parents, around the same age as you. But, I had my older brother Sentinel to look after me.”

“That’s kinda like me.” Apple Bloom cut in, and as Scootaloo glanced at her, she saw her friend’s ears drop, as she always did whenever she mentioned this. “Mah Ma and Pa died shortly after Ah was born, but Ah had my sister, brother and granny looking after me.”

Scootaloo exchanged look with Sweetie Belle and saw her be as uncomfortable as her. Apple Bloom seldom shown any sign of sadness over the loss of her parents that she didn’t even have a chance to meet, and she still had a big family. It was very easy for even her best friends to forget this.

“I am sorry to hear that,” Serenity told her gently, “as well as your story, Scootaloo. Now, then!” she said, brightening up. “Since you are here, I assume you wanted to read some of those books?”

The three Cutie Mark Crusaders immediately nodded, all brightening up - wherever it was because they would get a chance to try something new to get their cutie marks, or because they could use this as a distraction from thinking about deaths of kins, Scootaloo didn’t care.

Matthias sighed, wondering how one’s life could change so dramatically over the course of just few months, as he entered the Ponyville Schoolhouse.

Apparently, despite being few minutes early, he was the last one to get there; as Cheerilee, seeing him from the end of the classroom, smiled and said: “Alright, now that Matthias is here, we can start.”

Her words caused more than few heads to turn back and regard him. Matthias smiled and bowed his head in greeting, then trotted over to where Applejack was sitting, ignoring the curious stares. By now, most of the town knew about Scootaloo living in the Abbey and him being her legal guardian now, so at least he wouldn’t need to explain this here.

“Well, look what the cat dragg’ in.” Applejack whispered teasingly while he sat next to her. “Haven’t seen ya in awhile, partner.”

“Sorry, I’ve been busy.” Matthias replied honestly.

During the course of the days after the ‘Pinkies incident’, he practically buried himself into work. If he wasn’t training the initiates, whatever be in fighting, praying, meditating or contemplating the Light’s nature with them; then he would be doing other stuffs for the Abbey, starting with translating the librams Brann had brought, and ending with paperwork. On top of it all, he also had to make sure that Scootaloo was eating properly, that Tucker was serving his punishment as he was supposed to, give an extra hour of battle training for Serenity every day, rotate the cooking duties, and work with Bolvar and Ner’zhul on their ‘project’.

He was a bit surprised that he somehow always managed to finish all those duties before Rainbow would come in.

Returning his attention to the present moment, he scanned the area. He recognised most of the parents, like Sweetie Belle’s and Rarity’s mom and dad, and Derpy. There were only few that he didn't have the pleasure of meeting, but knew that from sight.

Cheerilee glanced at some notes on her desk before she began. “Let’s get to the first order of business- yes?” she asked, noticing that one of the ponies cleared her throat.

“Perhaps we should start asking why this poor orphan wasn’t sent back to her orphanage, instead of living with Mister Matthias?” the middle-aged mare, whose name Matthias didn’t know, asked. She then looked to the back of the class, along with the rest of the parents. “I’m sure you are taking great care of Scootaloo, but that Abbey of your is hardly a place for a little filly to grow up in, with all those weapons and that scary bird flying around.”

Matthias stopped himself from showing his frustration over her words. While he could tell that this mare took some pleasure in voicing her discontent over things, she did raise a good point, and she seemed to be genuinely concerned. No doubt, her opinion was also affected by Al’ar flying around above Ponyville from time to time, a sight that not only almost caused panic in just this small town, but also in Canterlot. He was visible from there, although as a small, bright dot.

“Your concerns over Scootaloo are validated, Ma’am.” he told the mare, although he addressed everypony present. “However, trust me when I say that there is no need to worry. Abbey’s armory is locked up whenever we’re not training, and Scootaloo knows that she is not allowed there. And as for Al’ar; while I can understand that he can unnerve most ponies, even those of the bravest of hearts, he himself is a noble creature, and would never try to inflict harm on younglings.”

He pushed away the memory of the angry phoenix attacking him after he raised from his ashes. While it was true that in his rage he caused harm to his initiates, his rage for Matthias was blinding him at the time, and he also must have felt disoriented after years of slumber.

“You spoke of sending her back to her orphanage,” he continued, “but that it’s impossible at the time. The administration of it is currently under investigation of the night guard, and some were even arrested, under charges of negligence for not informing any authorities when Scootaloo run away. The fact that the senior caretaker of the orphanage was drunk at the time of the inspection isn’t going to help their case, and gives me more reason as to not sending that little filly back there.”

Several ponies gasped hearing the news he shared with them, and muttered words between themselves. Some bore angry faces as they did so, but Matthias was willing to bet that their rage paled in comparison with fury that must have took hold of Luna once she got her night guards report of this.

“What about orphanages in other towns, then?” the older mare continued, choosing to not givieup.

“I could have agreed to send her to Cloudsdale, as it is a relatively close town, but all the other towns are too far away, and I think that sending a pony so young so far away from a town that she grew to call her home is cruel.”

“And Canterlot? That’s pretty close, too.”

“Is there a specific reason why you don’t think my Abbey is a good place for Scootaloo to grow up in?” Matthias asked, deciding that he had enough of this discussion. He also didn’t want to explain that he didn’t want to send the filly to any orphanage because he feared she would once again be made fun of for not being able to fly.

“Well, to be perfectly honest, it’s not the Abbey I have problem with, but you, Mister Matthias.” the mare replied, shocking not only him, but almost everypony, as they all knew him. “I don’t think such lewd pony should be taking care of a filly.”

Matthias brow furrowed, hearing those words. He knew that it was a public knowledge by now that he and Rainbow Dash were ‘friends with benefits’, but it was a first time he heard anypony make such opinion. While relationships like theirs were looked down on in higher circles of cities like Canterlot, nopony in Ponyville made any fuss about them. Even now, ponies looked shocked and dismayed at the older mare on his behalf.

“First of all, its Sir Matthias to you.” he told her coldly, reminding her of his title. “And if you think either I or Miss Rainbow Dash would try to project some of our habits on the filly, know that you are wrong. And,” he added mist a cruel amusement, spotting that she was a pegasus as well, “I must say I don’t understand why would such practices offend you that much, given you’re a pegasus.”

“What was that suppose to mean?!” the older mare asked, offended, although other pegasi present looked more curious than anything else at the remark.

“As everypony present here knows, prior to the founding of Equestria two thousand years ago, ponies lived in three tribes, all being separate nations into themselves and with different customs.” Matthias explained, and saw that Cheerilee and few other ponies, who must have knew the history better, blushed slightly as they realized where he was going with it. “The Pegasi Armada, after whom Equestria inherited equal rights for mares and stallions by the way, had a completely different view on matters of intercourses that today’s ponies. One could say that they were even more perverted that sea ponies of Aquastria, but they’re another thing altogether in my opinion. Anyway, according to history notes I’ve stumbled about, the pegasi had an average lifespan of thirty years, due to their constant war with the griffon’s tribe that used to live in the north. As such, they enjoyed pleasures of flesh as often as they could, with many different ponies (often at the same time), even if their hearts belonged to one pony in particular and or they had a foal.”

One he finished, he saw that old mare that was complaining about his relationship with Rainbow look at him with disgust and disbelief in her eyes, which was now directed at her ancestors. As for other ponies, they also looked appealed.

“Now that we had this history lesson,” the paladin told them, happy that he managed to shot that mare up, “I believe you wanted to start the meeting, Cheerilee.”

She nodded and shot him a quick smile, and then cleared her throat as she checked her notes.

“Did’ya make that up, or was that all true?” Applejack asked him in a whisper.

“All true, apparently.” he replied, also whispering. “Those customs began to tone down after founding of Equestria, as Pegasi, no longer being in a state of constant war with griffons, began to live longer.”

“As I was saying,” Cheerilee began, so they stopped talking and turned to her. “The first order of business will be the premiums for the insurance all parents have to pay.”

Some parents were unhappy with the sum that followed, but to Matthias, who had the budget of the Order at his disposition (and the fact that Scootaloo was living ‘in the Abbey’, and not ‘with him’, allowed him to use those funds for this), it seemed almost non-existent.

“Next are the holidays and free days.” Cheerilee continued. “As you all know, the Summer Harvest Parade is due in two weeks. Because Summer Harvest day is on Tuesday, it means your kids will have a long weekend, which I’m sure they’re going to be happy about.”

Several ponies chuckled, as Cheerilee went on.

“And then there is the Hearth’s Warming Eve break, starting on a December twentieth, and ending on the second day of January.” Cheerilee said eventually, and then paused, seeming distraught. “While we’re at it, I’m afraid I have some bad news. It turns out that this year we won’t be able to hold a pageant.”

Her statement caused more than few ponies to exclaim their disappointment and asked why. Matthias, who knew that the school every year performs the re-enactment of the Founding of Equestria for the foals’ families in the town hall (as the Schoolhouse was too small), also wanted to know the answer to it as well.

“The Mayor informed me a few days ago that, due to unexpected expenses the town had to pay for during this year, there simply aren’t enough funds to spare for the school’s play.” Cheerilee informed them, and seemed as disappointed as everypony, if not more.

Hearing that, Matthias quickly thought what he could do about this. There wasn’t even a moment of hesitation in his mind whatever the pageant should happen or not. Hearth’s Warming Eve was a celebration of not only founding of Equestria, but also of friendship triumphing over hatred, of ponies looking behind their differences. How could Matthias spread the Light among ponies, if he wouldn’t do what he could about this problem?

“If the funds are the problem, I think I might have a solution.” he spoke as the plan was still forming in his head. Naturally, he couldn’t use the Order’s funds for this, even if he doubted that Celestia and Luna would care. But, there’s more than one way to solve a problem; sometimes you can find better solutions if you looked around the case instead just at it. “I will have to discuss it with the Mayor first, though.”

“I see.” Cheerilee replied, looking relieved and hopeful. “Will you be ready to share this idea with us by the time of the next meeting?”

“Provided that Mayor agrees to it, I think there shouldn’t be any reason for me to tell you later.” Matthias told her and everypony else.

“What’s on yar mind?” Applejack asked him with hushed voice.

“Well, let’s just say that... I believe the Hearth’s Warming Eve is a time of year when ponies should all come together.” he replied with a smirk.

91. Evening in the Abbey

“I must admit, it wasn’t as bad as I feared.” Matthias told Applejack about an hour later as they left the Ponyville Schoolhouse behind.

“Why, did’ya think ponies were gonna eat ya?” she asked him with a smirk.

“Well, that annoying mare seemed prepared to.” he retorted, but his own smirk was ruined by the enormous yawn that escaped him.

“Think ya might be workin’ yarself too hard?” Applejack asked with concern, noticing the signs of overworking.

“Probably,” Matthias replied, shrugging, “but I can cope with it.’

“Matt-”

“Let me stop you right here.” he told her, already guessing what she was going to say. “Yes, I know that working too hard for too long is bad, but it can’t be helped. I need those four to become full-fledged paladins soon, as I plan to have many more new initiates by the end of October at least. And I can hardly ask anypony for help with the other things I have to deal with.”

“What’s the hurry?” Applejack asked as the Abbey’s limits became visible.

“I have my reasons.” Matthias replied, not wanting to go into that now, if ever. “So, how are things between you and Rainbow?”

Instead of replying, she gave him the look that could kill.

“I meant if you are okay with each other after what happened.” he quickly explained, not wanting her to think that he was joking at her expense, which would probably result with him getting bucked into face.

“Okay, Ah guess.” she replied, then sighed. “Honestly, Ah don’t know what to think of this anymore. Why do we always do things like that when we’re drunk or somethin’?”

“I have no idea. Such... acts, or overall attraction-”

“Ah am not attracted to Rainbow Dash!” she hissed.

“-between two beings of the same gender is rare on Azeroth.” Matthias continued, although he moved slightly away from her. “It’s mostly common amongst pirates and such.”

“Ya still have those?” Applejack asked more calmly, with a hint of superiority in her voice.

“I will tell you though that when you’re drunk often do a lot of stupid things.” he told her, not taking the bait. “Things you would never do if you were sober.”

“So... ya don’t think all of that means Ah’m a fillyfooler?”

“You seem unhappy, perhaps even borderline disgusted when you recall those things, so I would assume that you’re not. And I figure that the Element of Honesty wouldn’t lie to herself.”

Applejack chuckled in amusement hearing that.

“Ah guess so... still though, Ah can’t be really certain that Ah like boys if Ah haven’t even kissed one, don’t Ah?” she asked, and Matthias noticed heat arising on her cheeks.

“... Is this is going where I think it is?” he asked, growing uncomfortable.

“Well, ya did kiss everypony else from our friends.” Applejack replied in defense, now definitely blushing.

“Um...” the stallion stammered, unsure what to say.

“Heck, ya even kissed the Changelin’ Queen!”

“That was-”

“Ah bet ya’ve kissed Princess Luna, too-”

“Thank the Light, no.” he replied, then, as he realized how that sounded, immediately looked up to the sky. To his misfortune, the night has already begun, and the moon was already high above them. “Damn, I hope she hadn't heard that.”

“Wait, what?”

“Luna has the ability to observe Equestria through the moon.” Matthias told her. “But let's return to the subject. Applejack, are you... offended?”

“Well... kinda.” the mare replied with embarrassment. “Ah mean, do ya think Ah’m... ugly or som-”

“Applejack, if you weren’t a mare, I would’ve slapped you right now.” Matthias interrupted her, his annoyance overcoming his discomfort over the topic of conversation. “For both thinking that I could think about you like that, as well as thinking anypony would think you’re ugly.” heat rising again on her cheeks, Applejack looked away, while Matthias continued. “As for why I haven’t kissed you, it’s because I’m really not that type of guy. With Twilight and Fluttershy it was an accident, with Rarity it was her being tipsy and insisting that she this would fix things between us after the wedding, and with Pinkie Pie it was Pinkie Pie.”

“And with Rainbow?”

“I... I dunno.” he hesitated, knowing that she didn’t mean just the kiss. “I suppose I found this sort of relationship intriguing, since I’ve never tried it.”

“So if Ah or anypony else from our friends tried to offer this to ya before Rainbow ya would’ve agreed?”

“We both know you’re not that kind of a mare, Applejack.” he told her in quieter voice, as they were approaching the entrance to the Abbey.

“And ya just said that yar not that kind of a guy.” she reminded him in an amused tone, but still bearing blush of embarrassment. Applejack then looked at the ground for a second, then back to him: “Matt... Ah wanna think about this, but... if after a few days Ah would ask ya again...”

“Sure.” Matthias replied, despite the foreboding feeling he had. “What’s a little kiss between friends?”

“Well, this whole darn thin’ started from two friends kissin’.” Applejack reminded him with a half-smile.

“Speaking of, will you want me to get Rainbow drunk so you can compare?” he asked, smirking, which then earned him a punch upside the head.

They ceased their discussion at that point, as they approached Storm Crash standing guards at the entrance. Normally, it was a duty of Sound Wave and Cherry Bomb, but Matthias had given them both a free night, which they not surprisingly were planning to spend by usual night-time activities soldiers have while on a leave.

“Good evening, sir, miss.” Storm greeted them as they approached. Turning to Applejack, he added: “Your sister had already headed back home.”

“Thanks. And ya don’t hav’ta call me miss, partner.” she told him, her voice returning to her usual tone. “Just Applejack is fine.”

“I will try to remember that.”

“Ah guess Ah better get goin’, then.” Applejack added, turning to leave. “Good night, y’all.”

“Good night- oh wait, I forgot!” Matthias quickly stopped her. “Do you mind if I would send my initiates to work on your farm? I want them to increase their strength and stamina.”

As he said it, Applejack looked at him puzzled, and was about to ask him a question, but then he winked in a way so that Storm wouldn’t see it.

“Sure!” Applejack replied enthusiastically, understanding what he was getting at. “Ah can always use free hooves.”

“Great, you can expect them shortly after dawn, then. Good night.”

As she walked away, heading to her home, Matthias’ gaze continued to follow her until he was sure she was out of earshot. When she was, he sighed and slumped down.

“Is everything alright, sir?” Storm asked him in concern.

“You mean besides the fact that I had probably made my life somehow even more complicated just a few minutes ago? Everything is just fine then, I guess.” he replied sarcastically, but seeing the pegasus’ puzzled expression, he shook his head. “Forget about it. Had Sound and Bomb already left?”

“No, they’re still in their bunks. Um, sir, maybe you should go with them?” Storm suggested. “Since you seem so troubled, you could use some relaxation.”

“As tempting as it may be, I fear that the form of relaxation that those two are planning - namely getting drunk - would definitely make my life more complicated.” Matthias told him, although there was a trace of wistfulness in his voice. “Your concern is appreciated, but I would rather meditate, if I had a time for it.”

“Of course, sir.” Storm replied, but one didn’t need to be a Grand Master of a paladin order to see that the pegasus wanted to say something.

“Storm, if you want to say something, just say it.” Matthias said, rubbing his eyes. “And you can stop calling me ‘sir’, I am far too tired at the moment to care about ceremonies and what not.”

“Well, okay then... Lightbringer.” the other stallion said shyly, making Matthias immediately regret his words. But he did his best to not show it, as he didn’t want to stress Storm Clash. “I was wondering if your reluctance to leaving the Abbey for the night wouldn’t have anything to do with... well, with Rainbow Dash.”

“How many times one subject can be touched during one day?” the paladin wondered, looking at Storm with annoyance.

“Before I answer your question, let me answer the one that would follow shortly: Rainbow and I are, as they call it, ‘friends with benefits’. And as for my reluctance and all, it has little to do with it, although I’ll admit that spending nights with her seems about my only form of true relaxation I have left these days.”

“Ow, I see.” Storm said, blinking. “I must say, Lightbringer, you didn’t strike me as a pony who...”

“Bucks with a friend without any commitment?” Matthias hinted, seeing the other stallion was having a problem. “Honestly, I’m not like that, and this situation continues to... surprise me...” he paused, glancing around as it suddenly hit him that something weird was going on. “Where is Tucker?” he asked Storm. “Usually, whenever such subjects are brought up, he comes running or teleporting out of nowhere.”

“Tartarus, he should have appeared when Applejack and I were talking!” Matthias thought, not sure if he should be relieved or concerned.

“Oh, he’s at the park, reading his libram.” Storm said, and noticing his superior disbelieving gaze, he shrugged. “You’ve set the deadline for tomorrow.”

“So he’s now trying to learn everything?” Matthias asked, not really expecting an answer. He wondered how the unicorn would fare at this ‘test’. “Although, I must admit I’m impressed with him... as much as one can be impressed when it comes to him, anyway.” shaking his head, he sighed and decided to go have a talk with Tucker. “Carry on, Storm.”

“Of course.” the pegasus replied with a bow of his head.

Matthias entered the Abbey and headed straight for the park area. However, as he was about to pass the barracks, Guard Shield exited the building, and spotting Matthias he trotted towards him.

“Yes?”

“Sir, some new documents came in for you to sign.” Guard informed him.

“More paperwork!?” Matthias thought in annoyance. “Light damn it, there’s only seven of us here! I bet Uther didn’t need to deal with such bureaucracy... and he had fingers!”

“I took the liberty of putting them on your desk in your office, sir.” Guard continued, oblivious to his superior’s inner raging.

“Thank you, Guard, and you can skip the formalities. I am too tired of hearing ‘sir’ over and over for a while.” he told him, as if his body wanted to punctuate the message, he yawned. “Since we’re already talking, mind if I ask you few things?”

“Sure, si- I mean, Matthias.” Guard Shield replied.

“Why did you become a royal guard?”

“Well... when I a young colt, I once saw Princess Celestia during the Summer Sun Celebration.” the other earth pony said, looking surprised that he wanted to know this. “I remember that Her Majesty emanated with such... power, beauty and charisma, that I decided that I wanted to protect her once I grow up.”

“And yet, now you are here.” Matthias pointed out.

“Because now that I grow up, I want to protect not only the Princess, but the whole Equestria. And also, Matthias... I’ve seen you as back in Canterlot once. You also posses this... presence, inspire such loyalty as Princess Celestia, although on a smaller scale.”

Matthias smiled to him, hearing the complement, then looked to the sky, musing. He would not argue that Celestia inspired such feelings in others, as he himself felt that way as Guard described. If he had not, he wouldn’t have treated her and Luna with so much respect upon their first meeting or afterwards, despite their wisdom and power.

Celestia wasn’t just an alicorn pony, whose special talent was moving the sun. She - after a fashion - was the sun.

“The tauren managed to become paladins, not by worshipping the Holy Light, but by worship of An’she, the sun in their mythology.” Matthias mused. “By that logic, it’s no wonder why Celestia seems so divine. And Luna... she is the moon, but also a dream...”

After few seconds, he decided to stop him attempts at contemplating what alicorns were (before he would add Cadance into the mix). He had long since figured it was not worth trying to understand how Equestria worked; it was a world unlike the Azeroth or the Draenor, or even the Argus that he knew only from memories of the Lich King’s draenei death knights.

“I couldn’t help but notice that you try to keep yourself... isolated.” he broke the silence unexpectedly.

“Isolated?” Guard asked, not understanding.

“You spend your free time either studying your libram or the books in the library, polishing your skills with weapons... seldom you speak with other initiates, and even when you do it’s something that have to do with your training. And I won’t even bother mentioning about talking with ponies outside of the Abbey.”

“My duty is all that matters to me.” Guard replied.

“I figured.” Matthias spoke before he had a chance to say anything more. “I’ve seen your record of service. Taking your duties seriously is something you can be justly proud of. On a unrelated note, I wish some ponies shared your view.” he added with a glance where Tucker was supposed to be. “But... there is more to being a paladin- nay, being a pony, than duty. What vices do I have?”

“Sir?” Guards asked in confusion, surprised at the change of subject to the point that he forgot that he wasn’t supposed to address him such. “I don’t think you have any.”

“Well then, know that you’re wrong.” Matthias told him with a smile. “While I am slow to anger - and let me add that it’s only as of recently - when I fall into it I often find myself prepared to do horrible things, things that as a paladin I shouldn’t do. I am also arrogant, although that aspect of mine also took a step down since I came to Equestria. Once in my life I had thought that I was always right. I fear failing; be it at accomplishing goals or other ponies. And I am a sore loser.”

Some part of his brain pondered how he often thought of his fight with Illidan to be his greatest battle, and not the one that he lost life in, simply because at some level, he considered Tirion’s attack to be a cheap shot.

“However, thanks to the Light, and more importantly, my friends, I am overcoming all of those vices.” he continued. “That’s why I seem almost all the time so calm, collected, and ‘inspiring loyalty’ in others. But I’m still not perfect. Today, just about an hour ago or more, when some mare began to annoy me and calling me lewd for my relation with Rainbow Dash, I immediately went all ‘high and might’ on her, and told her a certain history lesson that caused her to shut up. That’s rather contrasting with how you said I appear, right?”

“I suppose...” Guard replied uncertainly.

“I had many more vices, shortcomings, or rather, those that I have today where even worse in the past. Because of them I had fallen into evil, and committed terrible sins. Once I came back to my senses, I became... wiser and humbler. Was I as before my fall to evil, well, suffices to say that I doubt I would have been trusted by the Princesses to train you all.” Matthias finished, and glanced back at Guard. “You’re probably wondering where this is all going.”

“A bit, yes.” the older stallion admitted.

“If you want to learn how to open yourself to the Light, to become a paladin, you cannot just hide behind your duty. Light connects everything that lives - if you cut yourself from other ponies, you won’t be able to help them. So,” he said, grinning “I’m ordering you to go with Sound Wave and Cherry Bomb to have some fun in Ponyville.”

“Err, sir, are you serious?” Guard Shield asked, bewildered.

“Yes. But you still have to get up in the morning, hangover or not. Now move, initiate.”

Guard looked as if he was going to protest, but after a heartbeat he merely sighed and muttering: “Yes, sir.” he went back into the barrack, searching for the two royal guards.

Matthias smirked with satisfaction and returned to his search for Tucker.

He found him not far away from Uther’s memorial. The light of his horn that he used to as a light source for reading purposes was a big help in that.

“I must say I’m impressed.” Matthias said as he draws closer.

“Well, sir, I had to get around reading it at some point.” the unicorn replied, giving him a short salute.

“Why are you reading it out here, though?”

“Hm...” Tucker pondered, rubbing his chin. “I’m not sure. I think that maybe after being in that crystal thingy for so long I became a subconscious claustrophobic. Which is worrisome, as I like tight places. Bow-chicka-bow-wow.”

“Are you determined to have your punishment extended?” Matthias asked calmly, despite a slight tick of his eyelid. “Anyway, how are doing?”

“Err, doing, sir?” Tucker asked, puzzled.

“With living among ponies, in the society.” he explained. “As your mentor and commanding officer, I wish to know if you have any problems.”

“With so many mares around, how could I have any problems?” Tucker replied with a smirk.

“Well, for starters, by your inability to get any of those mares.”

“I think Serenity is warming up to me. I felt an emotional connection between us the last time she hit me during training.”

“... Adorable.” Matthias said, realizing that the unicorn’s ego was as big as Rainbow Dash’s and that he might be slightly delusional. As such, attempts of getting anything out of him other than things like ‘I’m doing great’ were doomed to fail. He decided to ask about something else: “How about your memories, then? Had anything came up to you?”

“No.” Tucker replied, his voice losing his usual optimism and his ears dropping. “Every time I try to think back, all I see is greenish black. I... have this.... feeling, as if...” he paused, searching for words. “... I don’t know, sir.”

“I understand.” Matthias told him gently, rising. “If you do remember something, or you will just want to talk about it, you know where to look for me. But do try to spare me the usual things you talk about.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

“Scootaloo, may I come in?” Matthias asked as he knocked on the door.

“Sure.” a reply came, almost immediately, even if the voice that uttered it was a little surprised.

Once he opened the door, Matthias was pleasantly surprised to see the young pegasus in his care reading ‘The Light and How to Swing It’ while laying in her bed.

“We tried to get our cutie marks by learning about the Light.” Scootaloo explained, seeing where his gaze travelled.

“How did it go?” he asked, although Scootaloo’s unhappy expression already told him.

“Well, we understood close to nothing from Chapel’s books, and we didn’t get our cutie marks, so not great.” she replied, putting the book away. Scootaloo then looked at him nervously. “How was the meeting?”

“It was interesting.” Matthias told her with a smirk. “There was one older mare that was inquiring why you were living here. She seemed dismayed, and her opinion was that you should have been sent back to the orphanage.”

“Hmf.” she snorted. “Must have been Featherweight’s mom. What was her problem this time?”

“Well...” he started slowly. As uncomfortable as it was, the talk with that mare prompted him to explain this to Scootaloo. “You know how Rainbow Dash is... sleeping here?”

“Yeah, I saw her once leaving in the morning.” Scootaloo replied, cocking her head to the side. “So those rumors about you two being special someponies are true?”

“Not exactly. Do you remember how once I told you that colts and fillies shouldn’t sleep with each other?”

“Oh, that.” she exclaimed, rolling her eyes. “Twilight, Rarity and Applejack explained to us this back at Altomare.”

“Seriously?” he asked, confused. While he himself didn’t plan on telling her exactly what was it that he and Rainbow were doing, he most certainly didn’t expect the girls to have explained everything back then.

“Sweetie Belle kept asking why there was something like period.” Scootaloo said, slightly blushing due to the embarrassing topic of the conversation. “So we ended up having the ‘the birds and bees’ talk as well.”

“I see...” Matthias muttered. “Going back to me and Rainbow; yeah, we do all those things that special ponies are doing, but we’re not... serious.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, confused.

“Plainly, that we are still just friends.”

“Okay, I don’t follow. Why do you do it, then?”

“It’s difficult to explain. In short, we do it because it’s fun.” Matthias sighed with annoyance; he knew it was best to explain such things to her now, but that did not make it easier. “I’m telling you this because-

“- you don’t want to me to learn about it from some rumor or lie to me?” she asked, smirking. “I’m smart, you know.”

“I never doubted that you weren’t, kid.” he replied, brushing her head affectionately. “But you do realize that-”

“- it’s not something I should try to emulate?”

“Is there a mind reading trick in there?” Matthias asked with a pretended pout, pointing at Uther’s book and causing the filly to snort with laughter.

“Like I said...” Scootaloo said once she got a hold of herself, “they told as a lot back at Altomare. And they repeated the part about ‘not doing that until you’re older’ quite often at that.”

“I am so glad I slept through it, then.” he said, as it was easy for him to imagine how they would try to pull him into this conversation.

“They mentioned that some ponies do it just for fun, as well. Rarity didn’t have a high opinion of such ponies, especially mares...”

“Now listen here.” he stopped her, knowing how much she looked up to Rainbow. “Rarity’s opinion has its justifications, and I myself think rather lowly of some of those ponies, but this... thing between me and Rainbow is different. For one thing, we’re friends, and we care about each other. And,” he added with a smirk, “we’re both awesome. Ponies like-”

“-certain mares from Los Pegasus?”

“And now I believe that told you too much.” he replied sternly. “But yes, like those. You do realise that what I mean, right?”

“Yes, and that I have to wait for a special pony.” Scootaloo said, somewhat annoyed. “It’s not like I think about those things, anyway. Not to mention that there are no cool colts in our class.”

“For which I am relieved.” he retorted. “But since we’re done talking about this-”

“‘We’? I did the most of-” Scootaloo started, but stopped in favor of laughing at the annoyed face Matthias made.

“- how about we talk about school?” he finished, and the laughter immediately cased. “Miss Cheerilee told me that you had some serious problems in the past year with math.”

“Um, yeah...” the filly stammered, scratching her head and not meeting his eyes.

“So, since I’m free until afternoon, how about I give you some tutoring tomorrow and help you with homework?”

“Really?” she asked, looking up, and Matthias noticed in her eyes a mixture of both longing and resentment (the latter probably at math in general).

“Yeah, I’m sending the initiates off to work at Sweet Apple Acres, they don’t need me there to tell them what to do.” he replied to her question.

“Super.” Scootaloo said, but her smile was only half-heartened.

“Scootaloo...” Matthias, sensing what was troubling her, paused to pull her into a hug. “I’m not trying to replace your parents. Because besides how awful I would be at the job,” he paused to make a grimace, “I know that they will always be in your heart. But I am going to take care of you from now as long as you want, and that includes doing things you had done in the past with your parents, like helping you with your schoolwork.”

“I know, I understand that, but...” Scootaloo murmured, as her voice breaking. “I just... I miss them. And since I live here, I miss them more!”

“That’s because you feel guilty.” he explained to her as hugged him tighter. “You feel that because you life under somepony’s else care, even in such strange environment as this, you betray them. But Scoots...” he lifted her chin so that she would look him into eyes. There were tears in hers. “You’re parents aren’t feeling this way. Because you keep them here.” he pressed a hoof over her heart. “And that’s makes them more important than even Celestia.”

The filly smiled hearing that, but she stayed in a hug for few more moments. When they finally parted, Matthias said: “If you do well tomorrow, I will buy you some ice cream later.”

“Thanks.” Scootaloo replied, wiping her eyes from what was left of her tears. “Hey, um... you don’t think Rainbow Dash would stick around tomorrow?”

“So that she could distract you with her tales of awesomeness?” Matthias asked with a smirk. “I’m afraid that it’s impossible, sorry. She and the rest of the weather patrol are scheduled to make a storm tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, I see... wait, didn’t you say that you’re sending the initiates to Sweet Apple Acres?”

“Yes.” Matthias asked, not batting an eyelid. “Your point?”

It took the filly good few heartbeats to understand, but when she did, she burst with laughter, followed by Matthias.

92. Dawn of the Initiation Day

Storm Clash stood before the altar, his chest swelling with pride. The day of his and the others initiates’ introduction into the Order was nigh, and they had just gone through almost the whole ceremony. Now all that was left was to be illuminated by the glorious radiance of the Holy Light, in a blessing and benediction.

The Light shone down on the four ponies. Storm could almost feel its love filling him, and it was as pure as sir Matthias described, and-

-and it began to burn him alive.

“The Light deems you unworthy.” he heard Sir Matthias voice speak to him coldly as he toppled down in agony, his fellow initiates observing him without sympathy. “Begone.”

“Well, that’s something new!” a new voice, both amused and kind, shot through the air, deafening everything

Even, as Storm realised after few heartbeats, the pain.

He rose, blinking. He was still within the Lightbringer’s Chapel, but there was nopony here now. Sir Matthias, Guard, Serenity, Tucker, the crowd sitting on the benches as they bore witness to the ceremony... they were all gone.

Recalling the voice he hear, he looked around... and saw Princess Luna approach him.

“Your Majesty!” he exclaimed, and stumbled, not sure if he should bow or stand in attention, as he wasn’t wearing his armor.

“Please, Initiate Storm Clash, stay comfortable.” Princess Luna said calmingly, waving her hoof. Storm did as she bade him. As he nervously watched her approach him, he spotted that her lips curved into smirk. “I hope you don’t mind my amusement; it was the first time that I saw a pony have nightmare about light instead of darkness.”

“Wait, this is a dream?!” Storm exclaimed, and then remembered who he was talking to. “Um, Your Majesty?”

“Was this not a big giveaway?” the alicorn asked, lifting his chin gently.

Storm looked at her, confused (and a little bit afraid), until he noticed that something was off with his jaw. Or rather, than it wasn’t. As Princess Luna took her hoof, he brought his to examine his face, and realized that his jaw was straight!

“In dreams, we often see ourselves... undamaged.” the Princess explained as he continued to feel his face. “Although, that sometimes depends on what one sees as damage. But that’s not the reason why I came here. Judging by your nightmare, I assume that you fear the tomorrow’s ceremony?”

Storm gulped and backed a step away nervously. “Yes, Princess.” he confessed, looking down in shame, with his ears flat. “It has been a little more than a week since we’ve all started our training. I’ve learned about the Light as much as I could from books, memorised most of the prayers, and I know sir Matthias said we are ready, but... I don’t feel ready.”

His shame deepened as he realized that he had just blurted out all his fears to the Princess, whom he was sworn to protect, like a little colt to his mother. As Storm sat down, expecting Her Highness to address this matter, it suddenly hit him, that it was really strange. Normally, he kept all such thoughts to himself, and yet...

The pegasus looked up, puzzled, and the Princess smiled. “You are sharp, Initiate. Yes, I affected you through this dream to be more open. I sometimes do it, to better help my subjects with facing their fears.”

“I see...” Storm trailed off, a small part of him wondering if he should feel concerned about this, but quickly stopped. This was Princess Luna, the Princess of the Night - she could have done much more that just ‘affect’ him if she wished to.

“I will confess, I am, too, a bit surprised at Sir Matthias’ decision.” Luna said, returning to his problem. “Both me and my sister felt that your training should have lasted longer. However, even though I don’t understand the reason behind his... rushness, I trust Matthias completely. If he deems you four to be ready, then you are.”

“But...” the pegasus tried to protest, but stopped himself when he realized that by doing so he would imply that the Princess was wrong.

Princess Luna smiled, as if knowing exactly was going through his head. “If you still have doubts about whenever you are ready or not, talk to Matthias. You might fear his response, but knowing is always better than wondering.”

As she spoke, her voice wavered. In fact, everything around Storm Clash seemed to wave, including his mind...

Once Storm Clash had awakened from his sleep, it was still early in the morning. He looked at the alarm clock, wondering how long ago it was when Princess Luna visited him in his dream.

Of course, he remembered what she told him at the end. That if had doubts about being ready; he should talk about them with Sir Matthias. It would be a simple thing... and yet, the implications of it made him question Her Highness’ wisdom.

“What if Sir Matthias, hearing that I might be not ready, will postpone the ceremony? Or simply exclude me from it?” he thought as he landed back on his bed, covering his face with hooves.

He continued to lie like this, plagued by his doubts, for some time. He felt as if his fears began to choke him.

“I guess I will have to ignore your advice, Princess.” he finally thought, regret and shame filling him. “I know that you said it’s better to know than wonder, but-”

He stopped in mid-thought, his eyes wide. That was exactly what he has been doing all this time lying in his bed! He didn’t know for sure what Sir Matthias would say to him. Who he was, to assume what the Grand Master of the Order would say? Especially when the Princess said that she trusts him.

Even though he understood that, it still didn’t make the prospect of going to Sir Matthias easier. But it made it possible for him. So, albeit reluctantly, he rose and went to the bathroom, figuring that since he was going to speak with the Grand Master he should make himself more presentable.

Twenty minutes later, Storm was taking deep breaths as he stood before the doors to Grand Master’s office. There was a part of him that hoped that he was still asleep in his room, which would delay this conversation for an hour or so. But that would mean his mental torture would last longer...

Before his courage would leave him again, Storm knocked on the door, holding his breath.

He waited, the moment stretching out due to his fears.

“Looks like he’s still sleeping...” he thought with relief.

“Come in.” came a reply.

“Light damn it!”

Knowing that now there was no turning back, the pegasus pressed the door handle, entering Sir Matthias’ office.

“Permission to enter, sir.” he asked from the doorway.

Sir Matthias was sitting behind a desk on a swivel chair. He looked at him surprised, his hoof holding some note that he quickly put into a drawer.

“Storm Clash?” he asked, puzzled. “What are you doing up so early? I’ve given you all free morning, so that you could rest before the ceremony.”

“It’s... actually part of the reason why I am up.” Storm confesses. “Can I come in, sir?”

“Sure, son.” Sir Matthias replied, summoning him with a way of hoof. Storm, who was ready to enter, paused upon hearing ‘son’ and looked at his with raised eyebrow. Matthias grinned. “Stop calling me ‘sir’ over and over, and I won’t call you ‘son’.”

“Aren’t we roughly the same age?” the pegasus asked trotting over to his desk.

“More or less.” the Grand Master replied, and for some reason he appeared to be amused by what he said. “But let’s move on. What is it that brought you here?”

“Well, I...” Storm paused, unsure how to tell his superior officer that he wasn’t sure if he was ready to become a paladin. “I’m... not sure...”

“You’re nervous about the ceremony, aren’t you?” Sir Matthias hinted gently.

“Yes... and no.” he said, looking down. “I... I don’t think I’m ready, or, to be honest, if I deserve this honor at all.”

“I see...” Sir Matthias spoke thoughtfully. “And why do you think so?”

“Well, I...” Storm Clash began then paused, glancing at the earth pony. He was resting his chin on his hooves as he looked at him, his expression unreadable. “The Light... it’s just so...” he paused again, looking for the right word to describe the feeling he had when the Holy Light touched him during one of the praying sessions. “So good,” he finally said awkwardly, “and I’m-”

“Lad, listen.” sir Matthias interrupted him. “Nopony feels ready.” Storm’s eyes widened hearing that. “Nopony feels he deserves it. And you know why? Because nopony does. Like you said, it’s good. It’s grace, pure and simple. We are inherently unworthy, simply because we’re ponies, and all pony beings—aye, and... griffons, and minotaurs, and all the other beings—are flawed.”

Storm listened to his words, letting them sunk in. It... never occurred to him that... well, sure, he thought himself to be unworthy, but... to think that everypony...

“Even the Princesses?” he asked, confused.

“The Princesses would be first to tell you that they are, most importantly, ponies.” sir Matthias said, raising from his chair and walking around his desk. “I will admit, they are the being most close to perfection than anypony I ever met, but they, too, have their flaws.”

Storm opened his jaw to protest, but Sir Matthias silenced him with a raised hoof.

“I am not badmouthing them by saying it. I, too, have flaws, and they are far worse than the Princesses have. Everypony has them. But,” he raised his voice and smiled, “the Light loves us anyway. It loves us for what we sometimes can rise to in rare moments. It loves us for what we can do to help others. And it loves us because we can help it share its message by striving daily to be worthy; even though we understand that we can’t ever truly become so.”

Storm Clash wasn’t sure why, but... somehow, what Sir Matthias just said, made sense. He felt the Light’s love - a pure love, given for no reason, like a mother loving her foal - so he had this concept earlier, but it didn’t occur to him earlier to be this... simple.

Some of those thoughts must have reflected on his face, for the earth pony smiled approvingly and clapped a hoof on Storm’s shoulder. “So stand there today, among your fellow initiates. Stand there as I once did, feeling that you can’t possibly deserve it or ever be worthy, and know that you’re in the same place every single paladin has ever stood.”

“Yes, sir, I will.” the pegasus responded.

He was still nervous, and still felt unworthy, but Matthias’ words comforted him. After all, he was unworthy to begin with, and he still would be even if his training would last for a year.

“I know you will.” Sir Matthias replied, returning to his chair. “I’m glad that you came to talk to me about your fears; it must have taken a lot of courage.”

“Well... I wouldn’t say ‘courage’-”

“I would.” the earth pony interrupted him with a voice that did not allow any objections.

“And I can’t say that I decided this on my own.” Storm confessed. “Princess Luna came to me in a dream, and-”

“Aah, I see. Well, I’m sure Her Highness will be glad to see you have more confidence today.”

“Ye- wait, what?” Storm exclaimed.

“Oh, didn’t I mention it to you when I first mentioned to you that you’re ready two days ago, or when I was instructing you all how the ceremony will go?” Sir Matthias asked, and the pegasus couldn’t tell if he was being sincere or joking. “The Princesses will be here today, to witness the initiation of the first paladins. Aside from Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, present will be also Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor from Crystal Empire. There will be also few nobles, few citizens of Ponyville...” he paused, probably noticing that Storm was on a brink of having a panic attack. “Storm, the Princesses will be here only to bear witness to what will happen; they won’t be asking any of you to do anything. They will probably congratulate you afterwards, though. The horror!”

“I’m glad you find this so amusing, sir.”

“Don’t give me reasons to be so, then.”

“You seem to be perfectly capable of finding those reasons yourself, sir.” Storm hesitated, realizing that he was arguing with his superior officer, but Sir Matthias smiled at him encouragingly. “Like that time few days ago, when you’ve sent us to work on the field when you knew a storm was planned.”

“And how do you figure I know about it?”

“Well, sir, to put it plainly, because you sleep with the mare in charge of the weather around Ponyville.”

“And my attempt to help you build more confidence comes back to bite me.” Sir Matthias said, rolling his eyes. “On the side note, that mare is still sleeping behind those doors, so you might tone it down.”

Storm gasped quietly as he looked at the door Sir Matthias was pointing at. They were closed shut, thankfully. The pegasus sighed with relief. He preferred the earlier conversation to remain just between him and Sir Matthias.

“Don’t worry, the walls around my room are soundproof.” he heard Sir Matthias say as he took a look around the office quickly. It was surprisingly small; aside from the desk and the chair, there was only a small cabinet, a globe, and a trash basket. And there was a spiderweb in the corner.

“There’s a spider there, sir.”

“Yes, that’s my pet spider Anub’arak.” Sir Matthias said offhoofedly. “Anyway, since you are awake, you can join Serenity and go to the station. Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor will be arriving soon.”

“Soon? I mean, the ceremony is scheduled for noon, sir.”

“Yes, but they wanted to catch up with Lady Twilight. I’m sending Serenity - and now you as well - to officially welcome them on behalf of the Order. I would go as well, but I am a bit too busy.”

Storm nodded. While he didn’t fancy representing the Order like that, at least he wasn’t going to do it alone. And Princess Cadance had always seemed easier to approach than the Royal Sisters; probably because she was a lot younger. Plus, Shining Armor was still the Captain of the Royal Guard, and even though he exchanged words with him only few times, he was friendly to his subordinates. Outside of drills.

“You will find Serenity at the mess hall.” Sir Matthias said dismissively.

The pegasus saluted, and was just about to leave, when he paused. Was it just him, or was there a smirk on the paladin’s face for a moment? As if he was hiding something...

After a second, Storm shook of such ridiculous thoughts, and left the office.

“I’m sorry, little one.” Luna pleaded with her daughter to stop staring at her with an offended look. “But your auntie and I will need to talk about several important matters at breakfast, so you have to stay here.”

Normally, after Luna had lowered the moon, they would all eat at breakfast - or in her case, supper - and any other kind of meal together. However, both she and Celestia had quickly found out that neither of them could focus on anything else besides how cute Moonlight was. As such, when they knew they would have to discuss matters of state over the table, Luna would leave her precious little daughter behind, in a tender care of her most trusted maids.

Although, this time, Luna would have almost preferred to have Moonlight with her. She was fairly certain she knew what her sister wanted to talk about, and while the subject of today’s ceremony in the Everfree Abbey was one she was looking forward to - especially after she had helped Initiate Storm Clash with his nightmare - such couldn’t be said about the other one.

“Don’t be mad at me, Moonlight.” she asked once again, taking her daughter from her cradle with her magic and placing her in her forelegs. “I will be back soon, and we will have a little nap together. And maybe-”

“Oh, for the love of... Princess, you will spoil her rotten!”

Luna glanced at one of the few ponies that were allowed to speak so without any repercussion... to some point, at least. Angelic Heart, a middle-aged mare, looked a lot like her daughter Angelic Touch, the current Royal Physician. Like her, she had coat blue as the sky and a white mane. They would have been hard to tell apart, despite the age difference, if it wasn’t for her cutie mark (a smiling flower, bathing in the rays of sun), and that unlike her unicorn daughter, she was a pegasus.

The other mare present, however, was a unicorn. Caring Star was a lot younger than Angelic Heart, had a light gray coat and dark mane. Her cutie mark was a five-pointed star, also with smiling face in the middle of it.

“What Angelic Heart is trying to say is that you should be a bit more assertive with Princess Moonlight.” she said more gently than her college.

“‘A bit’?” the pegasus asked with a raised eyebrow, then sighed and returned to look at Luna. “Your Majesty, everypony is aware of yours and Princess Moonlight’s history, and that you spoil her so much is more than understandable in light of it, but-”

“- I cannot be such a putty in her hooves every time she frowns?” Luna finished, recalling fondly what she heard Doctor Horn tell her father once... or twice. Seriously, he and Angelic Heart would... probably murder each other in a day or so, they were that similar. “I am aware of that, but I cannot help it; she’s so cute!”

“That she is, Princess.” Caring Star agreed joyfully, while Angelic facehoofed. The unicorn then trotted closer and took the small unicorn from her forelegs. “Now, of you go. If you want to catch some sleep before you and Princess Celestia leave for Ponyville later, that is.”

Moonlight twisted her tiny head to regard the maid, as if she understood what she had said.

“Oh, don’t worry, little one.” Luna quickly said, taking a step towards her. “Mommy will-”

“Continue to annoy her servants?!” Angelic Heart interrupted her loudly enough to snap her out of her ‘motherly mode’. As Luna shook her head, the pegasus cleared her throat and continued in a more professional manner. “Since we are on the subject of your trip to Ponyville; do you wish us to prepare your royal attire?”

“No, both my sister and I shall go as we appear every day.” Luna replied, telling her what she and Celestia had both agreed on. “While it is going to be one of the most important events in the history of Equestria, we will be there only as witnesses. The ‘show’ will belong to Sir Matthias.”

A quickly masked wistful sigh escaped Caring Star at the mention of stallion’s name, causing Luna to chuckle at Arthas’ expense.

“Send a messenger to me if something happens.” she told them as she prepared to leave, causing Angelic Heart to stop looking at the younger mare with annoyance. “And during my trip to Ponyville, I will instruct the night guard to leave their fastest member outside the doors, so-”

“You know, Princess,” Caring Star interrupted her, grinning, “I hope I’ll remain in your service long enough to see your reaction when Moonlight will ask if she can sleepover at her friend’s house.”

“Bah!” Angelic Heart snorted before Luna could reply. “I hope I’ll live long enough to see her have a separate room!”

“Both hopes could be crushed very easily...” Luna replied, and although she let her voice sound threateningly, the two maids knew she was just jesting.

She had grown to like and trust them since her return, to the point of freely exchanging jokes like those. The two of them were among her most trusted servants; if they weren’t, she wouldn’t have let them take care of Moonlight - which was an honor craved by practically every female (and few male) member of the castle’s staff, including even one of the most devoted of Celestia’s own maids, Pixie.

“Alright you two; take care of my little Moonlight.” she instructed them as she left through the doors. She waved at her daughter. “Be right back, little one. Bye!” the small alicorn waved back. “Mummy loves you! Bye-”

She stopped once the doors were closed right in front of her nose. Sighing, Luna turned around before she could change her mind, and headed towards her and Celestia’s dining room.

As she contemplated how at the beginning Moonlight would cry every time she would leave her side, two night guards silently appeared, escorting her. Lune glanced at them, looking fondly at their enchanted looks that so reminded her of Shadow Bolt, her Champion of the Night. When she first saw them after her return, she nearly broke down into tears. But now she knew that those were only enchantments, and Luna no longer grew sad. Her Shadow Bolt was one of a kind.

“Despite even recent developments...” she mused.

“Good morning, little sister.” Celestia had greeted her as she sat down at the table next to her. “How was the night?”

“Uneventful, unless you count the nightmare from one of Sir Matthias’ initiates.” Luna replied, deciding it would be best to try and steer the conversation onto this tracks.

“Nothing too serious, I hope?” her sister asked, and took a pause to take a bite of a salad. “Today is an important day, after all.”

“I believe he will be fine.” she said, pouring milk on her cereal.

“Speaking off; do you know why sir Matthias decided the ceremony to take place so soon?”

“I have honestly no idea, sister. My best guess would be that they’re really ready, and that he feels that it should happen. I wouldn’t be surprised if he, too, is confused.”

“The Light works in mysterious ways.” Celestia summed up, following her thought perfectly.

They sit and eat in silence, broken only by occasional clang of spoons or forks against the plates.

“How’s your project coming along?”

“There it is.” Luna thought in annoyance.

“I believe I told you that if anything bad would happen, I would inform you immediately.” she told her, leaving an edge at the end of her voice.

“Yes, I remember, just-” Celestia replied, clearly not taking the hint.

“Leave us.” Luna ordered the servants and the guards, interrupting her sister.

Her night guards and few others listened at once, the others first glanced at Celestia before they would move.

“Once, such things would have infuriated me.” Luna mused as she waited for them to be alone.

“Tia,” she started once the door closed after the last pony, “you cannot treat me like a little filly.”

“I know-”

“A! I talk now, wait for your turn.” she scolded her. “Tia, you said it yourself: ‘we were meant to rule together’. But how can this be true, if you constantly try to control me?”

“I’m not-”

“Observe, then. Monitor, double check my decisions... should I go on?”

“No, you don’t have to.” Celestia replied, sad. “Luna, I just... I worry that I might fail you again, and-”

“I know, sister.” Luna told her, rising from her seat and hugging her. “I know that you still blame yourself for what happened a thousand years ago, just like I blame myself as well. And I love you for how much you care about me. But you must understand that I am not a little filly. I have my own plans and ploys. Haven’t I taken care of that situation with Aquestria half a year ago on my own?”

Celestia smiled as Luna reminded her of the tremendous success of her first ‘bout’ on the stage of international politics. Not only did Luna managed to avert the crisis between the sea ponies and the trading guilds, but also warmed the relations between two countries and created few thousands free job sites.

“Yes, you did, and did so better than I would.” the older alicorn finally said, nuzzling her head affectionately.

“Thank you, sister, but I’m sure you would have found a similar solution.” Luna replied, grateful for the complement. “So?”

“I will trust you on this matter.” Celestia said after a second, sighing.

“Hazah!” Luna exclaimed, but then grunted and returned to her normal demeanor. “Now that that’s over, let’s return to breakfast - I will still need to catch some sleep later.”

Twilight looked at the train station in anticipation. The train in which her brother and his wife would come to Ponyville was supposed to be here any minute now!

“Darling, calm down.” Rarity told her. “You act like a filly at Hearth’s Warming Eve.”

There were only the two of them, as it was really early, and Twilight didn’t want to drag her half-asleep friends across the town, not when they would all meet later again. She didn’t even plan to bring Rarity alone, but the mare had to get up early today to send her new line of dresses to a boutique in Canterlot, and after she was done she didn’t feel like falling asleep.

“And what is wrong with being excited to see your family?” Twilight asked.

“Nothing, but you could act more... reserved.”

Twilight snorted, but then she grinned as she spotted something over Rarity’s shoulder.

“Oh look, your fiancé is coming.” she whispered with joy.

To her credit, Rarity merely sighed, rolled her eyes, and looked behind her. Storm Clash and Serenity were still some distance away, but they quickly made their way to them once they saw them.

“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked once they’ve exchanged pleasantries.

“Sir Lightbringer sent us to welcome the Princess and the Prince to Ponyville on behalf of the Order.” Serenity explained.

Twilight wanted to ask why Matt himself hadn’t come, but at that exact moment the train appeared, approaching swiftly. It wasn’t like the usual ones that stopped in Ponyville. It was all crystallize and marked by Crystal Empire’s crest, which made sense, considering that this train served as the means of transportation for the rulers of the Crystal Empire.

The train stopped, and from the inside few clad in armor crystal guards emerged, followed closely by-

“Cadance!” Twilight exclaimed happily as she jumped over to her sister. Cadance smiled on her end as well and moved closer to her, too. “Sunshine, sunshine,” they both started, not caring at they were in the middle of the station, “ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!”

They laughed as they parted, fond memories of their foalhood (well, Twilight’s foalhood at least) resurfacing, and Twilight turned to her brother.

“Hello Shining Armor!” she greeted him, hugging. “Did you have a nice journey?”

“Yes, we did.” Shining Armor replied as the train moved to make room for the one arriving from Manehatten soon.

“We can talk about it later, as well as about other things. We have a lot of catching up to.” Cadance added, and then looked at the small group of ponies. “Hello Rarity, and you, Serenity. And-”

“Initiate Storm Clash, Your Highness.” the pegasus replied with salute. “Sir Matthias send us to greet you on behalf of the Order.

“Well, that’s certainly nice of Sir Lightbringer.” Cadance replied, causing Twilight to giggle. She wondered how much this would annoy Matt. “I must say that I am anticipating the today’s ceremony... and so is the whole Crystal Empire.” she added, glancing warmly at Serenity.

The crystal pony tried to say something in reply, but her words were deafened by the arrival of the train.

“Perhaps we should leave the station.” Rarity suggested.

“I agree, though I am unsure if we should follow the royal couple as well.” Storm said, glancing at Serenity. “Sir Matthias asked us to only welcome you, and while I don’t not mind in the slightest at the prospect of guarding you, I believe you are well protected already.”

Twilight, glancing at the four crystal guards, had to admit that he was right. Despite being reformed only a month ago, the guards of the Crystal Empire looked formidable, which she knew was the merit of her brother’s training.

“You are correct, but I would like you two to accompany us for a while.” Cadance replied. “I would like to know more about you and the training Sir Lightbringer put you through.”

Both initiates nodded, and together they began making their way through the crowd, who quickly parted, due to both the presence of Princess Cadance, who radiated with beauty and love, and as well as four crystal guards and two paladin’s initiates. However, they didn’t get far, when they’ve heard:

“Storm Clash!”

Surprised, Twilight turned around, trying to locate the source of the shout. She found it. A group of three ponies, one foal and two adults, stood nearby. The one who shouted was a mare that was now making her way to them.

“Mom?!” she heard Storm Clash exclaim in shock.

Author's Note

And with that, I am going on a three-weeks long break.

I am terribly sorry to leave you on such humorous cliffhanger, but it couldn't be helped. I wanted to have the whole ceremony finished in one chapter, but it proved longer than I expected. I merely managed to get to this point around 3 am my time, and while I probably could write another chapter today, I would have to sacrifice my time for packing, and I would still need to send it to my editor... long story short, the chapter would probably not make it before I will leave.

For those of you who are curious as to where and why I am going, check my blog.

See ya all in September!

93. Before the ceremony

Matthias slumped down beside Rainbow Dash. Shortly after he had send Storm off, chuckling to himself quietly for the uncomfortable situation he was bound to find himself in, he finished up checking the notes Brann brought him (or rather, found himself unable to focus on them), and went back to his room. He gently woke up Rainbow Dash, seeking her company.

Now that Matthias laid down on the bed, making sure to not crush Rainbow's outstretched wing, he looked into Rainbow's eyes. He smiled to her, and they hold their eye contact for a long time. They both saw in the other's playfulness, content, friendship, and yes – even love. Not the kind one can have for a life mate, but a love two friends shared.

As Matthias continued to smile at her, Dash, realizing that he caught her on being 'sappy', had quickly blushed. The stallion chuckled and leaned over to her before she could pull away, kissing her.

“So, what's bothering you?” Rainbow asked once they parted.

Matthias sighed and rolled over, so that now he rested on his back.

“The ceremony today...” he began. “I know that they are all ready. Serenity, who until she first came here, never had a weapon in her hoof; her brother only showed her some self-defense moves. Tucker, who by the measure of every organization of paladins on Azeroth, should be the worst possible candidate. Guard, in contrast, would be considered a perfect paladin, but seems to know close to nothing about friendship; which, after hanging out with all of you, I came to value much more. And then there’s Storm, who is full of doubts about himself. They all are ready.”

“So?” Rainbow Dash asked, confused.

“Even if I think they are ready, I should prepare them for at least another week.” Matthias continued. “They should know more. But... for some reason, I feel as though they need to become paladins today, not a week from now.”

“Why? Do you think something is going to happen?”

“I... don't know.” he confessed. “The Light... Rainbow Dash, even before my fall to evil, I wasn't as connected to the Light as I am now. The Light speaks to me now, not literally, but in a subtle way. I wasn't prepared for such things. And now, I feel as if...” he paused, searching for a way to make her understand. “... it's like this: you could be preparing yourself for some flying competition, but... you wouldn't know what sort of challenges this competition would include... or when it would happen.” he finished his explanation.

“Hmm,” Dash hummed, rubbing her head. “Sound freaky to me. So you don't have any idea as to what this will be?”

“None what so over,” Matthias said thoughtfully, “But... I don't think that this will be entirely 'bad' thing that's about to happen. If it were, and the Light would want to warn me about it, I would have a bigger sense of urgency than just 'I should make them paladins a week earlier'.”

“Maybe the Light wants you to have paladins build your own float for the Summer Harvest Parade?” Rainbow suggested with a smirk.

“If that would turn out to be the case, I will be happy.”

Storm Clash had thought that this day couldn’t get any weirder. First, he had a nightmare about the Light rejecting him, only to be saved by Princess Luna herself. Then, he talked to Sir Matthias about his doubts and fears, and later even exchanged jokes with him. And just a few minutes ago he saw Princess Cadance, ruler of the Crystal Empire, bounce on her hooves and clap them with Lady Twilight, while reciting some foalish chant.

But the sight of his mother approaching as she called his name, followed closely by his father and brother, made him reconsider his earlier perception of how the world worked.

“E-excuse me.” he managed to stammer to the nearby ponies.

There was no way he was going to greet his family while in the presence of the royal couple, the Prince's sister and Celestia's pupil, one of the best fashion designers in Equestria, and his fellow initiate in the order. He made his way towards his mother, hoping to intercept her.

Lily Stem, his mom, was trotting to him with energy of a mare half her age. Years have been gentle on the earth pony mare, and her pale gray coat and red mane didn't show any sign that she was in her early forties. She wore a white-and-pink traveling vest, concealing her cutie mark.

“Hi sweetie!” she greeted him cheerfully and immediately pulled him in a hug. “Long time no see! I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am that you're about to become the member of the Order of Celestial Light!”

“Um...” Storm tried to say something, despite his mom's efforts to crush his chest. “Thanks, but... how do you know about that?”

“Why, Sir Matthias send us a letter with an invitation to the ceremony.” a pegasus, his father Wind Clash, answered as he came closer.

As he greeted his equally darkly colored pony to his father, Storm Clash couldn't help but curse at his Grand Master for not telling him that, as well as sending him here.

“Looking at your reaction, I guess you had no idea about this, huh?” Serenity's voice sounded behind him as he was about to welcome his younger brother, also a pegasus.

“You knew?!” he asked, whirling around.

What he saw made his heart skip a beat.

It wasn't just Serenity that trotted after him (which was terrifying to him enough), but also the others. Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor, Lady Twilight and Lady Rarity were just a step behind the crystal pony.

“Oh Light, why?” he thought miserably.

“Sir Lightbringer asked both me and Tucker how would we feel if he invited yours and Guards families.” Serenity replied, glancing curiously at his parents and brother. But Storm, who got to know her quite well during the time in the Abbey, noticed a hint of sorrow in her eyes.

A deep feeling of shame and self-loathing consumed him as he recalled what she told him about her family, her parents and brother. And he was momentarily feeling ashamed of his?

“You Majesty, everypony...” he started. While his kin, staring curiously at Serenity a second ago, and now bowing in shock to the Princess. “Please allow me to introduce to you my family: my father, Wind Clash; my mother, Lily Stem; and my brother, Oak Heart.” he pointed at his younger brother, who inherited their mother's color scheme. “This is Princess Cadance; her husband, Prince Shining Armor; his sister, Lady Twilight Sparkle; their friend, Lady Rarity; and my fellow initiate in the Order, Serenity.”

“Hello.” Princess Cadance said, smiling. “It is nice to meet you. Please, accept my congratulations for how well you raised Storm Clash.” she added, concentrating on his parents. “Surely, for him being chosen by Princess Celestia to train under Sir Matthias was in some part due to you.”

“T-thank you for your words, Your Highness.” Storm's father managed to say.

His mother, however, while also replied with respect, was already concentrated on somepony else.

“So you're the Rarity?” she asked the white unicorn. When the mare failed to respond immediately, due to shock at the sudden attention, Lily Stem continued. “I'm a big fan of your designs, but we don't get many of them in Manehatten. Could I please buy few of your beautiful dresses?”

“Oh, mother...” Storm Clash thought, barely resisting an urge to facehoof.

“W-why, of course!” Rarity replied, her shock being replaced by cheerfulness. “Why won't you come to my boutique right now, so I can take your measurements? We have few hours before the ceremony starts.”

“Oh, what a wonderful idea! Thank you so much, Miss Rarity!” turning back to others, she said: “Storm Clash, I will be back for your ceremony. See you later. Goodbye, Your Highness, everypony!” Lily Stem then looked expectantly at Rarity, who also said their goodbyes and they went away.

Storm's father sighed uncomfortably. “I hope my wife's enthusiasm hadn't offended you, Princess, or anypony else. She just loves fashion, and-”

“Don't worry, Mister Wind Clash, no offense was taken.” Princess Cadance replied. “I assume you would like now to catch up with your son now.” when he nodded, she continued: “Then we won't trouble you anymore. Enjoy your time in Ponyville.”

Both Storm and his father bowed to her and the others as they turned to leave. Storm Clash could have sworn that Lady Twilight was smirking in a strange manner, but before he could have put too much thought on that, he felt his brother land rather heavily on his shoulders.

“Hey, am I being ignored?” he asked in annoyed voice. “Nopony said anything to me!”

“Well, you were unusually quiet for yourself.” Storm replied with affection. “How much damage did he do since my last visit?” he asked their father.

“Why do you assume-” Oak began, but quickly stopped as two older ponies looked at him sternly. “Oh, whatever.”

“Hey, Matt?”

“Mm?”

They were again resting on his bed. Now she was lying on his chest, her wings brushing his sides. She lifted her head as she spoke up.

“I need to talk to you about something.” she said uncomfortably. “You mentioned to me that Applejack asked you if she could kiss you, once she think this over again.”

“Yeah.” Matthias confirmed, uncertain as to where this was going.

“As I said, I won't have problems with that, but... do you remember what I told you about how Twilight and I managed to calm Applejack?” she waited for him to nod. “Well... Rarity talked to us few days later and told us that Applejack still lost her virginity to me, hymen broken or not.”

Matthias again nodded, not wanting to tell her that he kinda thought so, and he was only not sure because of the possible differences as to how communities of Equestria and Lordaeron could look upon such things.

“Twilight was just looking at it from the 'technical' point of view, and I am dumb. So, we've talked about it; me, Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy...” Rainbow trailed off, not meeting his gaze. “And... we kinda thought that it would be best if you would buck with her.”

Matthias stared at her, aghast.

“I...” he stuttered, unable to think clearly. “I can even begin to tell you on how many levels it's wrong for you to ask me to do this.”

“Why?” the cyan mare asked, although the hit on her cheeks betrayed that she understood what he meant. “You're already bucking with one friend, and-”

“First of all, there is a difference between you and Applejack.” Matthias stopped her. “You two look at such matters in different way; for you, it can be just fun, but Applejack was raised in a family-”

“Are you gonna say that my folks were worse parents that AJ's?” Rainbow asked, her tone of voice playful despite the words.

“Of course not.” Matthias replied calmly. “But what I meant was that hers is a different kind of family, one with many traditions-”

“Okay, I know what you mean.” she interrupted him again. “But the damage was already done...” she trailed off, and Matthias, to his surprise and sadness, saw that there were tear in her eyes. “Matt, I... I know she and I were both drunk that night, but I shouldn't do something like this! Losing virginity should be something special, not a result of a drunken night! What kind of friend am I?!”

“Shh.” Matthias told her gently as he hugged her tighter, one hoof patting her head gently.

“I- I just... I want to make it up to her.” Rainbow mumbled, her face pressed against his chest. “AJ's bound to realize this if she thinks about it, and... and I don't know what to do.”

“But why do you think that if I would sleep with her would somehow make everything better?”

“You would understand if you were me,” she replied playfully, “but... we think it would be better is she could have a proper first time with you. I'm not telling you to just do it the next time you see her, but... maybe you could talk about it with her, or something?”

She looked at him, wanting his assurance. Matthias realized that she was afraid: afraid that she was going to lose Applejack's friendship, afraid how the farm pony might feel once she comes to the conclusion her friends came to. And, despite not wanting to have his life even more complicated, he wanted to help. Both Applejack, with however she was going to react; and Rainbow Dash, who was looking at him pleadingly.

“I will talk with Applejack.” he finally said. “That's all I can promise.”

“Thanks.” she smiled at him nonetheless, and then smirked. “Wow, you're really a sucker for seeing a mare crying, huh?”

“Oh, hush.” he told her, kissing her and making the last bits of her sadness disappear.

“So tell me a little bit about yourself, Miss-” Rarity begin to ask as she levitated a measuring tape around Storm's mother, but she was quickly cut off.

“Just Lily Stem is fine, Miss Rarity.”

“Then you'll have to just call me Rarity.” the white unicorn replied, smiling.

After the initial surprise has passed, Rarity was very pleased at Lily Stem's near adoration of her. So far, Manehatten was one of the towns her designs earned a little attention; so far, at least. To hear how much a pony from there loved her work brightened up Rarity's day. Because of that, she had offered to make a completely new dress for Lily Stem, on a huge discount no less. When the older mare began to protest, Rarity told her that she can tell everybody in Manehatten where she got her dress, and they would be even.

“So, Lily Stem,” Rarity began again from where she left off, “tell me a little bit about yourself. I do enjoy talking with my clients as I prepare dresses for them.” she added, pulling out some materials from one of the drawers.

“Oh, there's not much to tell, I'm afraid.” Lily Stem replied. “I own a small gardening shop at Manehatten. It doesn't earn much bits, but my husband earns a lot since he came to be in charge of the weather team in the city, so I run it mostly for pleasure.”

“I see...” Rarity murmured, navigating her needle. “Well, it's important to do what you love.”

“I couldn't agree more.”

“I have one more question, if you don't mind...” she trailed off, unsure if it was proper for her to ask about that, but Lily Stem nodded happily, so she took a deep breath and asked: “Would you mind telling me what happened to Storm?”

The older mare flinched a bit. “Oh, you must mean his jaw... my poor son...” Lily Stem paused, and Rarity could almost see the unpleasant memory being played in front of her eyes. “He was showing off to his friends, but one of his flying tricks went wrong and he crashed into the school wall. He broke his jaw, and while healing it wouldn't be too much of a problem, we... didn't have bits for it.” she lifted her head to look at Rarity. “You see, I used to be part of wealthy family, until my father disowned me after I married Wind Clash. So he had to provide for both of us and later our son, as I knew close to nothing about how real life worked, and-”

“Hush.” Rarity interrupted her gently. “You don't have to explain yourself to me, Lily Stem. I know that you've done what you could for Storm.”

“You say that as if you hadn't noticed how crooked his jaw is.” the mare replied, on a verge of tears.

“Oh, I've noticed.” the white unicorn told her, shame filling her once again at the memory. “I was scared of him the first time I saw him, to be honest. I quickly apologized, of course, and found him to a good pony to talk to.”

“Most ponies didn't want to talk with him after his accident. The other colts laughed at him, while fillies run away.” Lily Stem said, shaking with regret for not being able to protect her son. “But,” she shook, smiling honestly, “that's all in the past. He grew up so well, first becoming a royal guard, and now this... paladin of the Order of the Celestial Light, whatever that means.”

“It means he will be able to use the power of the Holy Light.” Rarity explained, happy to further prove to her how well her son turned out to be. “Storm's mentor and head of the Order, Matthias Lehner, is a dear friend of mine, and I've seen him work with that mysterious force before. It gives him abilities to heal wounded, protect the innocent, and fight the evil. And even allows him to bring the dead back to life.”

Lily Stem's eye has gone widened in surprise. “I've heard about Princess Luna daughter, of course, but I found it hard to believe... and my Storm is now going to be able to do such things as well?”

“With further training, I'm sure he will.” the white unicorn replied, honestly believing that.

“My little Storm...” the older mare murmured, her gaze growing distant for a moment. “I'm glad to hear about his accomplishments. And,” she added, smiling, “glad to see he managed to befriend a mare such as you.”

Hearing Storm's mother said that, Rarity couldn't help, but blush. She was right; despite talking to him just a few times, they already considered themselves to be friends.

“Twilight and the others be damned.” she thought angrily, returning to her sewing, as the memories of her friends teasing her because she spoke to Storm few times flashed before her. “It's true that he is a handsome stallion, despite his jaw, and good-mannered, kind and funny, caring for his little brother, and so strong, but that doesn't mean I'll have automatically a crush on him... Wait, what?” she paused, realizing how many of Storm's virtues she listed.

“So...” she said, desperate for new topic, to distract her thoughts. “Storm told me that Oak Heart is a bit of a trouble maker.”

“Ugh, yes, he kind off is.” Lily Stem murmured, blushing with embarrassment.

“Oh, don't worry, I can understand perfectly.” Rarity explained. “My own sister and her friends are also unpredictable and destructive. Although, what Storm told me about the Statue of Liberty...”

“I know!” Lily Stem replied, both angry at the memory and confused. “I don't even understand how that happened. I mean... where the heck did he find all that roil paper? Or oil, for Celestia's sake?”

“I will go help Spike wash the dishes.” Shining Armor said as he rose, helping Spike with picking them up as well.

Cadance smiled to him, and then glanced back at Twilight. While the breakfast at her home was great, as well as it was to hear how well she was doing with her studies under her aunt, Cadance was a bit disappointed to see that she still was just friends with Matt.

She sighed, wondering how the ceremony will go today. From what she learned from Serenity, before they reached Twilight's library and the initiate had returned to the Abbey, all four of them were prepared for what was about to come. Cadance did pick up a small sense of worry from her, but it was always normal to be nervous at things like those. Much more worrying was the brief feeling of sadness when Serenity saw Storm's family.

As much as Princess Cadance wished she could do something about it, there was nothing. Only Serenity herself could find a way to fill the void her brother's death left in her heart. Maybe the Light would prove enough?

“I've noticed you were smirking back at the station.” Cadance spoke up, wanting to both distract herself and talk with her sister in-law. “Any particular reason?”

“Oh, I was just thinking how much I'm going to tease Rarity.” Twilight replied with a grin the Princess hardly ever saw on her muzzle. “You see, I think she might have a little crush on Storm Clash... so her running off with his mother was utterly hilarious to me.”

“Twilight!” Cadance exclaimed, surprised at her old charge. “If Rarity really has a crush on some stallion, you shouldn't tease her about it.”

“Well, she deserves it.” Twilight replied. “For all those comments of her about me and Matt being destined for each other...”

“She was doing that out of care for you.”

“Oh, I know I know...” Twilight murmured, and then sighed. “Okay, just few more jokes, and that will be it, okay?”

“Sound reasonable.” Cadance replied, happy to hear that the Twilight could come to such conclusion almost by herself. “Now, since your brother is still busy in the kitchen... how about you tell me everything you know about Rarity and Storm Clash?” she asked with a grin.

Twilight smirked in reply.

94. The Ceremony

“I must admit, this is impressive.” Princess Cadance said as she took a good look of the Everfree Abbey.

Aside from the presence of her husband, Twilight and Spike (and the members of the Crystal Guard, of course), the rest of their friends were there as well. They all agreed to meet up an hour before the ceremony would take place, wanting to admire the sight and just catch up with what they've been all up to.

Cadance and Shining Armor shared with the rest what they told Twilight and Spike about how Crystal Empire had fared, and how they found themselves in their new roles. They didn't tell them everything, of course, not wanting to bother them with their hardships. Not that anything went particularly bad or something, but leading and introducing a nation back into the world after a thousand years of absence wasn't easy.

However, everyday life seemed almost equally not easy. Cadance was shocked to hear from Scootaloo, when she and her two friends passed them on the way to the Abbey, the truth about her life. She hadn't spent much time in her company, but she still felt that she should have noticed something was off with her. The only reason why the Princess hadn't broke into tears while hearing the news was because Scootaloo quickly explained how Matthias had dealt with the situation (becoming even more impressive in Cadance's eyes) and then quickly run off, followed shortly by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

Other ponies had problems of they own, as it seemed. While nopony said anything, Cadance noticed that Rainbow Dash and Applejack tried to not look at each other as much as possible, even while talking. Nothing in them otherwise indicated that something had happened. Cadance knew, however, that both of them were... sad over something, but in different ways. Being the Princess of Love, she had ability to pick up such things, but it was still difficult for her to be precise. Cadance made a mental note to ask Twilight later in private if she knew anything about it.

Rarity also seemed to be troubled. When Shining Armor walked away for few minutes to talk with Sound Wave and Cherry Bomb, Twilight almost at once began teasing Rarity about Lily Stem, and asking where her mother in-law was. Rarity managed to remain calm (aside from one angry hiss), and explain that Storm's mother joined his father and brother in sightseeing Ponyville shortly after they both left the Carousel Boutique. But again, Cadance noticed that the she was troubled by something. Recalling what Twilight told her, about Rarity blushing slightly when Storm talked to her, it was obvious to the Princess of Love that the fashion designer truly had a crush on the pegasus Initiate, and was coming to realize so.

As the group drew very slowly closer to the Chapel, an idea appeared in Cadance head. It could be a risky one, but if she got the timing just right...

Cadance paused her musing to shift her glance from the Al'ar circling above their heads (whose size and sheer magnificence was beyond any words that could be written in a letter) to the imposing statue of Matt's mentor. It wasn't the statue itself that caught her eye, though – despite the strange shape of it – but rather the four Initiates that sat by its base, meditating. She knew from her aunt’s letters the names of all four ponies. Back at the station, she only paused for Storm Clash to introduce himself out of pleasantries. She would have liked to approach them and speak with them, but Sound warned them at the entrance to not disturb them. Apparently, the ceremony demanded from the Initiates to spend an hour meditating. So now they sat there, in full-body armor.

“You know,” Rainbow spoke up, “I bet Matt just made that up just to mess with them.”

“You are partially true.”

Cadance turned her head to the source of the voice and gasped, just like everypony else. Matthias was standing at the entrance of the Lightbringer's Chapel, but it wasn't just a sight of him that made the Princess gasp. It was the armor he wore. He looked... magnificent in it. Shining plate armor covered him from hooves to neck, leaving only his head bare. The sunlight reflected from it, adding to the glory Matthias emanated. He bore a cape, which danced at the sudden rush of wind, along with his golden wheat-like hair.

Despite the obvious weight of it, nothing in his attire seemed to hinder him at all, as he trotted to them with ease. He had an open libram in one hoof, which he closed and placed on golden chains at his side.

“This wasn't part of the initiation that I myself went through.” Matthias continued as he reached them. “I added it into the Order of the Celestial Light's initiation though, because I want the ponies to reflect on what they are, on who they are, before they will become paladins.” he then paused and looked at them, amused. “I look good in this armor, I take it?”

“One would say that you look too shiny.” Shining Armor remarked, looking him up and down. “Isn't it a bit too decorative?”

“Is Shining Armor... jealous?” Cadance thought. With a quick glance at her husband, she spotted that he was more concentrated on the attention that she, as well as the rest of mares, were giving Matthias more that the paladin itself. Promising herself to later make fun of him in private, Cadance immediately shook off the effects of Matthias' look. It wasn't too hard, despite how handsome he was. Shining Armor is, and forever will be, her one true love. “I will have to remind it to my clueless hunk.”

“As the head of the Order, I need my look to reflect that.” Matthias responded to Shining Armor comment. “But if you think this armor isn't practical, I would be more than welcome to have a little bout with you later, Prince Shining Armor.”

“I'm afraid that will be impossible.” Princess Cadance put it. “We will have to return to the Crystal Empire shortly after the ceremony.”

“Pity.” Matthias said, bowing his head to her. “Although, considering how busy both of you must be, I should have expected that. I am honored that you found the time to come here today, Your Highness.”

“The honor is ours... Sir Lightbringer.” Cadance replied, and was delighted to see his brow furrow slightly.

“How about I escort you to your seats?” Matthias said, his voice not showing any signs of frustration. “It's a bit early, and some of you…” he looked at Rainbow Dash suggestively “might find the wait irritating, but considering your seats are all up front, it will be easier to now sit by them.”

“We would be delighted if you could escort us, Sir Lightbringer, if nopony minds that is.” Cadance replied, glancing at the ponies around her.

They all shook their head, although Rainbow was visibly annoyed at the prospect.

“Excellent.” Matthias exclaimed, and turned around. “You can tell you guards to stay outside; no harm is going to come to you within the Abbey.”

As Shining Armor ordered the crystal guards to stand down and go take a rest, the small group followed the paladin into the Chapel.

“It's a good thing the ceremony won't take too much time.” Luna told her sister, as they rode in a specious flying chariot, pulled by both pegasi royal guards and night guards. “As much as I want to see it, I don't like leaving Moonlight for too long.”

“I suppose it's understandable.” Celestia muttered uncomfortably.

“And I will need to return to my duties at night.” Luna continued, suppressing a yawn. “Being both a ruler and a mother – a single mother, mind you – starts taking it's toll on me. As much as I always wished to be born a unicorn, so out mother wouldn't grow sick, I am glad for being an alicorn now. Otherwise, I would be too tired to do anything.”

“Perhaps you should take another break?” the older sister suggested. “Everypony would understand, and I-”

“You had to deal with the burdens of leaderships by yourself for far too long, my sister.” the Princess of the Night immediately cut her off. “I will not take another break anytime soon.”

“Luna, it wouldn't be that much of a bother...” Celestia began, and then trailed off.

As much as Celestia would have wanted to tell her sister that she didn't need to worry about her, she couldn't lie to her. Since her return, the white alicorn had realized that many of her duties were indeed burdensome, and now her life was far easier with somepony sharing her reign.

“I can't believe you hadn't taken a husband or at least a consort over those thousands of years.” Luna said, as if knowing what she was thinking about. “Private moments aside, life is much easier when there is a pony that shares it with you.”

Celestia sighed. Ever since she let it slip that she was still a virgin, her sister nagged her from time to time as to why she had never taken on a mate. And Celestia could even properly argue with her, out of fear that she would awaken memories of Shadow Bolt in her sister.

“It's not like I've never...” she began to think, but then shook that thought off. She didn't want to recall that day...

... the single best day of her foalhood, at least before Luna's birth.

“I explained to you that I had my reasons.” Celestia said, and made sure that her sister understood that she did not wish to discuss this matter now.

“Of course, sister.” Luna replied, rolling her eyes. “But anyway, if you want to help me, there is something that you could do for me.”

Celestia nodded to her to continue, curious as to what the younger alicorn had on her mind. Whatever it was, if she could ease her sister's burdens, she would do her best to be of help.

“Could you spend some time with Moonlight while I take over at nightfall?” Celestia eyes widened, which was unseen by Luna, who continued. “While I trust my maids to take a good care of her, it would take a load out of my mind to know that my daughter is being looked by my sister. And it would be good for you, as well. I know you're busy, sister, but-”

“I can't.” Celestia said once she finally managed to find her voice.

“What?!” she heard Luna gasp. Despite sitting so close to each other, it seemed to Celestia that her sister's voice came from far away. “What do you mean?”

“How can I?” she replied, staring blankly in front of herself, feeling cold. “Luna, I... killed her. I kil-”

She was interrupted by a strong slap across her muzzle.

“Don't you even dare to say something like this!” Luna hissed at her angrily, as Celestia looked at her, massaging the place she hit. There was pure fury in her eyes. “What killed my daughter and my consort was Nightmare! You would never harm your family, so stop spouting such nonsense! And you are going to spend some time with your niece, you got that?!”

Celestia continued to stare at her little sister, who began inhaling air deeply in anger that overtook her. Then slowly, very slowly, the Princess of the Sun felt her mouth curl into a smile.

“Of course.” she said, and at once, the atmosphere around the two sisters loosened. “Nice strike, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Luna replied, smiling, as if the argument is forgotten.

“You could have removed your horseshoe, thought.” Celestia remarked, massaging her cheek. “You must have left a bruise.”

“Well, somepony needed to snap you out of that.” her sister told her, half amused.

“You won't mind if I heal it?” Celestia asked, as Ponyville came in sight. “It could cause a small panic, if ponies would see my cheek in such a state.”

“Of course I won't mind it.” Luna replied. She then glanced at her and asked: “You won't need a bruise to remember what I told you, right?”

“Of course.” Celestia told her, and she meant it.

As the chariot began to slowly descend, the two sisters hugged each other.

A loud caw sounded above them, signaling that it was the time.

Storm opened his eyes and rose slowly from the ground. He saw the other Initiates doing the same, and just as they've been told to, they turned around and proceeded to walk into the Chapel. There was a small crow surrounding their path. Ponies of Ponyville, having heard about them becoming paladins just like Sir Matthias, gathered in front of the Chapel. Strom presumed that it meant that the Chapel itself must be filled with ponies already, and that made him even more nervous.

Walking between the standing in attention members of the royal guard, the night guard and those who he assumed were members of the crystal guard, the pegasus glanced up at the still circling Al'ar. As he pondered how Sir Matthias managed to convince him to help with the ceremony, despite the hatred the phoenix displayed to have for him during their first meeting, Storm wished for a moment that he could fly beside him. But, as much as uncomfortable this situation was, he knew he had to bear through it. Besides, he still hadn't gotten used to the weight of this new armor, so flying would be awkward for him for a few more days.

Slowly, he and the others moved up the carpeted carved stair. Storm inhaled deeply the familiar, ever-present fragrance of incense, which helped to calm him down. He looked at the silent, respectful rows of ponies, some of them being very prominent personages; the Princesses being the most prominent. Storm spotted his parents, and shot them a smile, at the same time wondering where his brother was.

“Did Oak managed to get himself into some trouble already?” crossed his minds, but then shook the thought away. Even his brother wasn't that silly. Storm had probably just missed the small colt in the crowd.

He did spot an earth pony, though, that beard such resemblance to Guard Shield that Storm guessed must be his younger brother. The pegasus also recognized some of the Ponyville's mares, some nobles he had seen in Canterlot Castle, and, of course, the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. He saw them smiling to him and the others, and his heart lifted a little.

Grand Master Lightbringer – as this name seemed more appropriate to him at this moment – awaited them at the altar. Despite the armor he wore, he radiated calmness, warmth and kindness. Lightbringer waited until the Initiates approached him and knelt before him respectfully before opening a large book and speaking:

“In the Light, we gather to empower our brothers and sister. In its grace, they will be made anew. In its power, they shall educate the masses. In its strength, they shall combat the shadow. In its wisdom, they shall lead their brethren to the eternal rewards of paradise.”

He took a step back, on from behind him, several small shapes emerged. Storm Clash nearly led his jaw drop as he saw his brother and the trio that he came to know as the Cutie Mark Crusaders approach him and others, dressed in flowing white robes. He recalled Sir Lightbringer mention to them that some ponies would take part in the ceremony, but he didn't expect them to be foals.

As Sweetie Belle came closer to him (and Oak Heart to Serenity, Apple Bloom to Tucker, and Scootaloo to Guard) he realized the reason behind this. The girls were practically every day present in the Abbey, even if the two of them only for few moments due to coming to get Scootaloo. And Oak Heart was his brother, his flesh and blood. They were, in a sense, part of this. Furthermore, the Light was pure, just like foals. And by arranging them this way (pegasi to earth and crystal ponies, unicorn to pegasus and earth pony to unicorn), Sir Lightbringer emphasized that they were all ponies, despite external differences.

He quickly quite his musing about the symbolism of the moment as Sweetie Belle (with and utmost focus on her muzzle) anointing his brow with holy oil.

“By the grace of the Light, may your brethren be healed.” she and the other three said, all stepping back.

Storm shot quick glance at his brother, and was surprised to see how serious he was. Sir Lightbringer must have spoke to the young colt a great deal before the ceremony.

As he thought that, Storm had suddenly realized in what company Oak Heart was in. An image of Ponyville lying in ruins appeared in his mind if he would have joined the Cutie Mark Crusaders in their quest. Managing to stay calm, he made a mental note to separate them once the ceremony was over.

He returned his attention to Sir Lightbringer, as he took a step forward. “I had trained you all, and I deem you all worthy.”

The Grand Master then turned to Storm, who was the first from the small group on the right. He placed ceremonial shoulder plates on his shoulders, shaped like his own but smaller – into the likeness of a pony’s head, with small enchanted crystals in place of eyes, which shone with both golden and white light.

“By the strength of the Light, may your enemies be undone.” he said, and lingered a moment to looking into his eyes, so that Storm could see the approval and pride in his eyes.

Sir Lightbringer repeated this with three other Initiates, each time lingering, for he was proud of each one of them; even Tucker, much to surprise of the unicorn when he told them that.

The paladin moved back to the place in front of everypony, at the heart of the altar. He smiled at them kindly, and Storm has found himself no longer worried.

“Arise and be recognized.” Lightbringer bade them. Storm, Serenity, Guard and Tucker did so.

“Do you, Storm Clash, vow to uphold the honor and codes of the Order of the Celestial Light?”

“I do.” Storm replied, meaning those words with his whole heart.

“Do you, Serenity, vow to uphold the honor and codes of the Order of the Celestial Light?”

“I do.” the crystal pony and the only mare in the company replied solemnly.

“Do you, Guard Shield, vow to uphold the honor and codes of the Order of the Celestial Light?”

“I do.” the oldest pony of the five said with respect.

“Do you, Tucker Out, vow to uphold the honor and codes of the Order of the Celestial Light?”

“I do.” the unicorn replied, for once not thinking about mares.

Storm could swear that there was shock in Sir Lightbringer's eyes, but once he turned to address all of them, there was no sign of it.

“Do you vow to walk in the grace of the Light and spread its wisdom to your fellow ponies?”

“I do.” they all replied in unison.

“Do you vow to vanquish evil wherever it can be found, and protect the innocent with your very lives?”

“I d– by my blood and honor, I do.” that was close, he'd almost messed up.

Lightbringer gave Storm a quick wink of reassurance, and then turned to address everypony in the Chapel. “Brothers and sisters – you who have gathered here to bear witness – gaze upon those ponies, as the Light illuminates them.”

He then lifted his front hooves, which were now suffused by a soft, golden glow. Sir Lightbringer pointed at the four Initiates, directing the radiance towards them. Storm's eyes were wide with wonder, and he waited for the glorious glow to envelop him.

Nothing happened.

The moment stretched out.

Sweat broke out on Storm’s brow. “What's going wrong? Why isn’t the Light wrapping itself around us in blessing and benediction? Is it... me?”

And then the pillar of Light erupted around them, and Storm exhaled in relief. This had to be what Sir Lightbringer had spoken of. The feeling of unworthiness that Lightbringer assured him all paladins felt simply seemed to drag out the moment. The words he had spoken came back to him: Nopony feels he deserves it…its grace, pure and simple…but the Light loves us anyway.

Now it shone down on him, in him, through him, and he was forced to shut his eyes against the almost blinding radiance. It warmed at first, then seared, and he winced slightly. He felt - scoured. Emptied, scrubbed clean, then filled again, and he felt the Light swell inside him and then fade away to a tolerable level. He blinked opening his eyes, and looked up at Grand Master Lightbringer, whose benign smile widened.

“Arise, paladins of the Holy Light. Welcome to the Order of the Celestial Light.”

The Chapel suddenly began to ring with the sound of cheers and applause. Storm found himself sharing smiles and congratulations with his new brothers and sister, and bowing respectfully before the Princesses, who nodded their heads in respect to the new paladins. And then all remnants of formality were torn away as Pinkie Pie gave all of them a 'congratulation hug', with confetti being thrown around her somehow, and then many other ponies came to them as well. Much laughter was had as Oak Heart tried to punch him Storm in the foreleg, only to have his hoof sting when he struck the hard metal of his armor. And then somehow Storm was turned around and stared into the blue-eyed, smiling face of Lady Rarity.

They were mere inches apart, jostled and pressed together by the throng that had somehow sprung up around the newest members of the Order of Celestial Light. Storm immediately began feeling nervous at how close they were, but then his mind was filled with those few memories of how the two of them talked, how she apologized to him for her reaction at their initial meeting, and how she was visibly pained for her behavior. Then, as the nervousness quickly faded, Storm's foreleg slipped around Rarity and pulled her to him. She looked startled, but not displeased, as he hugged her. She returned the hug, laughing against his chest for a moment, then pulled back, still smiling.

“That should do it for now.” Cadance thought with satisfaction, observing the effects of her subtle spell.

If she wanted, she could have done more than just make both Rarity and Storm recall most pleasant memories of the times they've spent together. What she told Rarity and Applejack not so long ago at the boutique was not entirely true, for if she wished too, she could use her powers for far more than just that. But Auntie Celestia long since warned her to not tell ponies the extent of her powers; after all, the alicorn herself had to grow into them, and she still had not fully grasped them. But she would never use her magic to such extent, even if it would make ponies happy, nor would she ever do it for the opposite reason; make two ponies miserable.

“Love is a dangerous thing.” Cadance recalled what her aunt had said, glancing at Spike, who was congratulating Serenity.

Her heart ached at the thought of how much the little dragon would be hurt if Rarity would start dating Storm, but it couldn't be helped. What Spike felt for the white unicorn wasn't a true love, no – it was merely a foalish crush, nothing more. Cadance suspected so when she first spot the baby dragon gaze at Rarity lovingly, but grow certain once she heard from Twilight about what King Sombra's dark magic showed him.

If he truly loved Rarity, his nightmare wouldn’t be being sent away by Twilight.

“I hope you will find shortly somepony who will heal the wound in your heart.” Cadance though, looking at Spike laughing blissfully, unaware of the pain that he might experience in the near future.

96. First mission

Matt was kneeling at the altar, in the middle of a deep prayer, when he was pulled from it by the sound of hoofsteps approaching. He turned around, and saw Applejack coming up to him, with a really angry face.

“Applejack, what-” Matt tried to ask, but the mare cut him off.

“Ah'm pregnant, yar the father, and Ah'm gonna kill all three of us!” Applejack screeched, pulling out an explosive device from her mane.

“Calm down.” he told her, doing his best to remain calm as well, although he took a step back. “Have some dip.”

“Yes, I can see myself saying something like this in that situation.” Matt said sarcastically, interrupting Rainbow's story.

Rainbow Dash chuckled, amused by his reaction. He didn't appear to be too angry, as he was still going over some document on his desk and still had his back turned to her, but the cyan mare knew she got under his skin with that little scenario. And he couldn't blame her, really; he asked for it, when he told her he slept with AJ two days ago.

“Oh, come on, that was funny.” she told, wrapping her hooves around his neck and hugging him.

“How exactly do you find the thought of me fathering a bastard foal with our friend to be 'funny'?” Matt asked her, glaring at her with the eye she could see from this angle.

“Okay… you have a point.” Rainbow said, realizing (under his stern gaze) that maybe this really wasn't that funny. However, she quickly recovered, and found a new way to annoy him. “So, who was the better lay: me or AJ?”

“Remind me why I keep telling you things like that?” the stallion sighed, still not taking his eyes from the document.

“You know, that's a good question...” Dash trailed off, pondering, before she added, grinning. “I think you just like to be miserable all the time.”

“Would that be enough of a punishment...” Matt muttered, barely hearable.

Rainbow Dash winced. She knew, of course, all about that dark past of his, and heard – thanks to King Sombra – what his father told him, but... she just could barely fathom it. Dash knew Matt, and the thought of him doing anything evil just seemed ridiculous.

“How are things between you and Applejack, by the way?” he asked, pulling her out of her musing.

“Hmm? Oh, everything is great.” the pegasus replied, glad for it. “We've talked the other day, and everything is back to normal between us. We even had a little competition: We tried to see who can throw rock the highest.”

“I hope that you didn't try the game where you throw a rock up, then count to five, and try to get away before it hits you?” Matt asked, sternly.

“Do we look like idiots to you?” Dash answered, offended. But she then brightened when she noticed that he finally signed the document, put a stamp on it as well, and then leaving the symbol of the Order next to his signature. She quickly then jumped at him, twisting around so she would land on his lap. “So, about my question: Who was the better lay?”

She would have grinned seeing his expression, as he no doubt was seeking a diplomatic response, but Rainbow was busy keeping the 'bedroom eyes' look turned on. However, she found her attention immediately turn to what she was in the corner of her eye.

Turning her head that way, she asked: “Err... why is your cabinet... glowing?”

It wasn't exactly the cabinet that was glowing. It looked more as if what was inside of it that was emitting the gentle golden light. Matt glanced at it, and stood up, making Rainbow nearly fall. She managed to flap her wings before she hit the floor, and landed next to the chair. She look puzzled, as Matt walked to the still glowing cabinet, opened it, and then immediately he knelt. Now to make things even more confusing, Rainbow Dash looked at what it was that was inside of the cabinet.

It was a mirror.

“My liege.” Matt spoke up from where he knelt on the floor.

Rainbow Dash's attention shifted to him, but as she was about to ask him why the hay he was talking to the mirror, but then...

“Haven't I told you to stop replying like this?” the voice of Princess Celestia sounded from inside the cabinet, and when Rainbow look at the mirror again, the glow disappeared, and was replaced by an image of the Princess. The image continued to speak: “You make me feel like some sort of an evil villain from a fantasy book that it's about to address her minion... oh, hello, Rainbow Dash.”

The pegasus mare who was staring at her Princess with eyes wide open and jaw dropped until now, quickly pulled herself together and bowed. She recalled at the same time how Matt had mentioned to all of them that he was 'preparing an alternative method of communicating to Canterlot'.

“So that's what he was talking about... a magical mirror?”

“Rise, both of you.” Princess Celestia told them, and when they did as she bade them, she continued: “While I always find talking to you, Sir Lightbringer-”

Matt sighed in annoyance, as Dash snickered. She then shoots a quick glance at Celestia, and saw her to be as much amused as she was.

“- to be a highly pleasant experience, I'm afraid I have contacted you due to grim matters.” the Princess finished, growing more serious. “Are you familiar with the village of Northville?”

“What-ville?” Rainbow Dash repeated in her head, puzzled.

“Northville.” Matt repeated as well, but unlike her, he wasn't confused, and spoke with certainty. “A small village north of Vanhoover, founded close to one thousand and three hundred years ago, under a name of Golden Slide, as it served as a home to miners of the nearby gold mine and their families. Since the deployment of the mine had stopped four hundred years ago, the village began to fall down. Currently, it is inhabited by five small families, total population-”

“It would appear that living with my student left a mark on you.” Princess Celestia interrupted him, smiling.

“I will take that as a complement, Your Majesty.” Matt replied.

“But going back to the matter... you are correct, this small village is located north of Vanhoover. I've just received report form there that a strong blizzard was spotted over Northville.”

“Hmm...” Matt mused. “Snowstorms that stir on their own so far up north are not unheard of, but the summer hasn't even ended...”

“And it's not just a snowstorm, but a blizzard.” Celestia finished, nodding. “There was also one more thing that was in the report; the citizens of Vanhoover could swear to hear a loud shriek.”

Something stirred in Rainbow's mind, but before she could remind herself why did it sound so familiar, Matt said one word:

“Windigos.”

Then Rainbow Dash remembered. She heard about them every time she watched a Hearth's Warming Eve pageant. Especially fresh in her mind was from a year ago, when she and her friends played it in Canterlot. Windigos were spirits of winter that fed on hatred.

“It would seem so.” Princess Celestia said. “Lightbringer, I want you and your paladins to investigate, and if Northville was indeed attacked by windigos, you will deal with them. Do you understand your orders?”

“Yes I do, Princess.” Matt replied, bowing, and then turned to Rainbow Dash. “Can you go and tell all four of my knights to gather in my office in ten minutes?”

“Sure, no problem.” Dash said, thankful to have something to do to help.

She quickly bowed before the Princess, and flew through the door.

“Have I interrupted something?” Celestia asked, faking innocence.

“Not exactly.” Matthias replied, a bit annoyed at how close to truth her guess was. Changing the topic, he said: “So that's why I had the feeling that I needed to make them paladins so quickly; the Light knew we would be given this task.”

“I would have preferred to have a more precise warning to prevent this happening in the first place.” Celestia told him, shaking her head. “But I suppose that would be asking for too much, wouldn't it, Arthas?”

“The Light loves everypony and everything, but even it cannot help everywhere.”

“I'm just glad that we've finished enchanting those mirrors as per your instructions. Otherwise, it would have taken longer to take a hold of you.”

“Speaking off; you do know that spell is considered to be quite easy on Azeroth?” Matthias asked, smirking.

“You do know that I and my sister have a lot of duties on our head?” Celestia replied, being amused instead of angry. “Negotiations with the sea ponies about the build of the underwater tunnel from East to West Sea have taken a lot of our time, and then we had to deal with the Summer Harvest... I'm sure you understand.”

“Of course.” Matthias said, recalling how he used to help his father with various matters. “Does it mean you didn't have the time to search about anything related to the 'Mirror Pond'?”

“We did, in fact; but similarly to Project Eclipse, we haven't found anything.” Celestia told him, sighing tiredly. “It would seem that the book Twilight found, the 'Folktales of Eastin', is the only source of information we can get.”

“That isn't a good source, if you ask me. Last time I asked Twilight about it, she said that there wasn't anything she could say for certain from all that the author wrote there in this 'fairy-tale' style. Well, aside from the fact that since this 'Spirit of the Everfree' must have been real, given that she's mentioned in almost every tale.”

“Yes, I received a letter from Twilight about her findings.” Princess Celestia paused, musing. “Do you think this 'Spirit of the Everfree' could be some sort of a demigod, similar to those on Azeroth?”

“I suppose it would make sense, but... according to all those tales, she – because it's referred every time as female – was once rather friendly towards ponies, and she even tried to play a prank on them with this Mirror Pond. That's very unlike demigods of Azeroth.”

“Ah, but isn't it you who keeps saying how different our two worlds are?”

“True, but I would have expected that spirits of nature share the same characteristics. Speaking of the Everfree Forest; did you have any idea since the last time we spoke as to why it became so twisted?”

“I'm afraid my answer is again: no.” Celestia replied, rolling her eyes. “I would have assumed it was Discord's doing, seeing as according to what I remember what my father tell me, the forest grow dark at the same time Discord took over Equestria. But if that would be the case, the Everfree Forest would have returned to normal when Luna and I defeated him.”

“Everything that happened that thousand years ago is more confusing the more I think about it.” Matthias murmured, shaking his head. He then recalled one more thing: “Princess, when Brann and I stayed in Canterlot over a month ago, he found in some notes that there was one more alicorn in the history of Equestria-”

“Ah, you're referring to Chrona.” Celestia interrupted him, growing somber. “I doubt she had anything to do with all that had happened, though, since she died good few decades before the citizens of Eastin had disappeared.”

“But you can't deny it's weird that the first recorded alicorn in Equestria's history was born at the beginning of such unusual century.”

“You are correct, I can't deny that.” Celestia replied, sighing. “I will send you notes regarding everything I know about her; perhaps you will be able to figure something out. They should wait on your desk by the time you'll return from Vanhoover.”

“Thank you very much, Celestia. Speaking of Vanhoover; I need to make some preparations.”

“Of course.” Celestia said, nodding. “I wish you good luck, Arthas.”

“Thank you.” Matthias repeated, as her image disappeared from the mirror.

Within the next blink of an eye, the mirror showed nothing but his reflection. Sighing, Matthias closed the cabinet. He purged his mind of all the thoughts about Project Eclipse, concentrating on the mission at hoof.

A knock on the door signaled that he didn't have any time left for pondering, anyway.

“Come in.” Matthias said, jumping into his chair.

The four knights entered, looking at them with a mix of worry and confusion on their faces.

“I guess Rainbow Dash hasn’t told them.”

“At ease.” he said, and waited until the stopped standing in attention before he continued: “I received orders from Princess Celestia. We are to go to the village of Northville, investigate the rumors about windigos presence, and or take care of them.” seeing further confusion on some faces, he added: “I will brief you on our way there. The train leaves in an hour: go prepare. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!” the all replied, saluting.

As they turned to leave, Matthias couldn't help but feel his heart swell with pride.

When Rainbow Dash seemingly disappeared from the Abbey, Matthias knew they would have a small group of ponies see them off to the station, and he wasn't disappointed.

“Hello.” he greeted his seven friends casually.

Twilight frowned hearing his tone, but she quickly recovered.

“Rainbow Dash told us you were tasked by Celestia with a mission.” she said, addressing all five paladins. “We came here to wish you good luck.”

The others added their own wishes as well, and the paladins replied with thanks. Of course, Tucker was about to suggest something, but a harsh glare from Matthias shut him up.

“Rarity,” Matthias said, turning to the white unicorn, “would you mind asking your parents if they couldn't take Scootaloo for few days? I already spoken to them some time before, and they agreed for taking her whenever we would be away.” turning to Applejack, whom he also asked for this before, he added: “Of course, the Apple family would also be very capable of taking care of her, but you've mentioned that a cousin of yours would be coming tomorrow, correct?”

“That's right, sugarcube.” Applejack replied, not feeling anything at the slightest for him choosing to send Scootaloo to Rarity's parents at all. “Speakin' off, when are y'all gonna come back? I would've liked to introduce Babs Seed to ya’ll.”

“I expect we will be back before the Summer Harvest Parade. Or at least, we will do our best to get back by then” Matthias said. Glancing meaningfully at his subordinates, he motioned with his head towards the train. “We need to get going; the sooner we get there, the sooner we can help the ponies of Northville, and the sooner we will get back.”

“Mind explaining to me why we aren't taking our never-ending giant torch with us?” Tucker asked, who’s a bit grumpy about the whole mission ever since Guard explained to him what a windigo is. The unicorn didn't fancy trotting around in a blizzard

“Because this will be the perfect test of your abilities.” Matthias replied seriously. “Plus, if you think its easy getting Al'ar to do something, let alone travel such a long way, you clearly should spend some more time with him.”

Tucker followed Serenity into the train, muttering under his nose. Storm entered after him, waving at the small group.

“You will be careful, right?” Twilight whispered to Matthias quietly. “Windigos are highly dangerous, and what happened to the Founders in that cavern was mostly due to a struck of luck, as Clover the Clever wrote in her collection of findings about the windigoes.”

“I know, I've read them.” the paladin replied, although in truth it was more accurate to say that he skimmed them. “And I also have a copy in my saddlebag. Besides, it's me, remember?” he added with a smirk.

“That's what makes me so worried.” Twilight retorted. “So far, you've been impaled, suffered a nightmare, stuck in the amber-”

“kissed a bug...”

“-kissed a b- Rainbow!” Twilight hissed angrily at her cyan friend, who snickered in response. “You could at least pretend to be worried.”

“I am, but Matt's right.” the pegasus replied. “It's him. So, I kinda feel more sorry for those windigos.”

“As much as I would love to stay and chat,” Matthias said, and then quickly added: “and further annoy Twilight; I need to get going. See you in few days. Spike, keep them out of trouble, you hear?”

“Sure.” Spike replied, chuckling.

“Have a safe journey.” Twilight said when she stopped rolling her eyes.

With more wishes ringing in his ears, Matthias entered the train, feeling confident that with them. With the blessing of the Light along the way, he and his paladins would solve the situation in Northville quickly, and upon their return to Ponyville, everything would return to normal.

97. Notes from the past

WINDIGOS

Documented by: Clover the Clever

Before everything else, I would like to thank two ponies who made it possible for me to write this work. First is my old mentor, Star Swirl the Bearded, the former Archmage of Unicolt. Not only because he was the first one to properly research the old legends of ponykind, but also because if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be the pony that I am today. The second pony is my friend and fellow Founder of Equestria, Commander Hurricane. The tales of the windigos he heard during his time as a griffon’s slave shed a lot of light on what they really are.

I suppose I should be also thankful to the Commander for his insistence during our firsts couple of Council meetings, where we tried to unify the laws of the three tribes into one, that the mares need to hold the same rights as stallions. Without those rights, I wouldn’t be able to publish this work. He even went as far as threatening my king and few unicorn nobles when they began to openly ignore his arguments and tried to move on to a different subject.

Star Swirl the Bearded once told me that all tales of the past, be it myths or legends, have at the very least a small seed of truth in them. This had been proven time and time again during this last couple of years, as not only I’ve seen the windigos myself, but north of our new country lies the Crystal Empire, home of the crystal ponies; and deep in the seas of our west shore lies Aquastria, the kingdom of the sea ponies. I wouldn’t be surprised if next would show up alicorns or draconequuses, but let’s leave those for another time.

In most of those old legends, windigos are portrayed simply as parasitic, pony-like spirits that feed on the hatred from living beings, and multiply it. They also bring about snowstorms and blizzards, destroying the land around those whose hatred they consume. Those legends used to be fairly known, but in the thousands of years since the three tribes last saw a single windigo, they became forgotten. That’s why, when they returned, nopony had realised it was them. As to what exactly they were, Star Swirl assumed they could be a some sort of manifestation of our world’s magic, or a side effect of a spell somepony once cast, that now made windigos appear whenever there was hatred. However, my old mentor told me that if the latter was the case, then the spellcaster would have to be somepony extremely powerful, as creating a magical construct alone is really difficult when it’s intended. To have them appear by themselves, around the world no less, and due to a side effect…

I recall I once asked, if his assumption was true, then what would the pony that cast the spell tried to attempt. Star Swirl replied that we could never be sure, but his best guess was that he might have tried to rid himself or herself of hatred. He then proceeded to theorise that maybe windigos are apparition of that pony’s hatred.

In light of what I myself experienced, I would have to say that Star Swirl’s theory was right. Back when we, the Founders, were trapped in a cave and windigos were about to freeze me, Private Pansy and Smart Cookie (having already frozen Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane and Chancellor Puddinghead), our three’s inner magic reacted to our friendship, and accumulatedin my horn, banishing the windigos, and gradually healing our new-found land. However, the sudden magic surge allowed me for a brief moment the sense windigos’ residue of sentience, which theoretically should be possible in the event of them being remains of somepony’s emotions. So I began to think that my old mentor was right… until I talked with Commander Hurricane.

He told me the legends of griffons about them. Apparently, before the Snowfeather tribe came to live near the Pegasi Armada’s territory, they and the other tribes of griffons all lived in one land far away in the south. But then the windigos came, and did to them what they did to us: changed their land into a snow covered wasteland. The griffons run away, each tribe to their own. This story wouldn’t bring much into my findings, if it weren’t for one little fact.

In the stories Commander Hurricane heard, the windigos had shapes of griffons, not ponies.

At first, I had assumed that he must have misheard the griffons, or had simply confused some facts. But he stood by what he said. One of the things I quickly came to learn about Commander Hurricane was that if he wasn’t certain of something, he was not afraid of admitting it. So then I began to think that maybe it was the other way around - that the griffons made a mistake. After all, those events in the legends must have taken place a good thousand years ago. It would be easy to imagine that the story had changed over time. It would be also possible that the griffons deliberately passed on a changed version of the legend, simply because of their griffon pride. When I asked Hurricane what he thought about the latter - as he has, without a doubt, much more experience with them and with how they think than me - he pondered for a moment, and admitted that it could be possible. He told me that the griffons might not have wanted their descendants to think that something pony-shaped made them abandon their old home. I interrupted him then, curious if it wouldn’t make more sense for them to keep the windigos with ponies’ shape, to justify their constant attacks on Pegasi Armada. The Commander, however, chuckled warmly, and replied that for all my knowledge and wisdom, I know little of how warriors think.

For the moment, the mystery behind why the legends of ponies and griffons differ seemed solved. But it wasn’t long after the Commander and I had this discussion that I something begun to puzzle me.

The windigos came once the relationships between our three tribes grew worse, which happened gradually over the last decades. However, it wasn’t until a generation ago that we began to openly hate each other, and the temperature in our land began to fall. But, in contrast to this… the pegasi and griffons hated each other’s guts ever since the griffons arrived, and with much more passionate hatred than there ever was between the tribes.

Why, then, did the windigos hadn’t struck them?

All of Star Swirl’s research on the old legends, all his hypothesis about the windigos, all his theories about their nature… all of this lead to my assumption that they should had wrought a terrible blizzard across Pegasi Armada’s and Snowfeather’s territory over nine hundred years ago.

But that didn’t happen. The mystery behind, the differences between ponies’ and griffons’ version of the legends… I needed to solve them.

Which wasn’t easy, remember, we had to move to another land for all three of our tribes. There was a limit as to how many things we could bring, and as such, a lot of old books, scroll and documents were left behind. This includes, much to my dismay, some of my old mentors’ belongings that I somehow overlooked. And the other two tribes brought even less old documents than the unicorns. So I couldn’t simply shut myself in a library and read everything I could. Luckily, I more or less had already read every legend known to the unicorns. As for the legends of the two other tribes, I had to search for ponies that know them.

It wasn’t easy. At the point when I began my research it was only two years after Equestria was founded, and while relations between our three kinds grew gradually better, the old ones (who would know the most about what I was searching for) had problems letting go of old grudges.

Pegasi don’t have much elders amongst their ranks, as they usually die on a battlefield. Those few that were lucky to survive various battles in their life to the point when they could retire were rather… cranky, and stubborn. They didn’t want to talk to me at the beginning, and the fact that I was friends with their Commander wasn’t going to help me. Hurricane wasn’t their leader before they retired, and they continued to see him as an upstart, due to his young for a Commander age. But over time, they warmed up to me, and shared with me what little they know. Of course, pegasi prefer to tell the legends of their warriors’ heroics, but they kept in their memories some stories about windigos.

Earth ponies’ elders weren’t much easier to get along with. Ever since that unfortunate incident with the love poison six hundred years ago, which made them dethrone their last king and invent democracy (for which I will make no comments here, out of fear of offending anypony), all earth ponies began to perceive unicorns as snob. The Battle of Eastin, for which King Golden was the one most responsible, didn’t help to ease those assumptions. Luckily, Chancellor Puddinghead was very respected among the elderly, so when he helped me with gathering information, my research moved on. And unexpectedly, thanks to one tale, I finally found my answers.

It a sad tale of a pony that had everything… a loving family, wealth and fortune… and it was all taken from him by a cruel twist of fate. His wife and kids died to a disease, and his house burned to the ground. He survived, but was now without anything. And nopony would help him. He built a shack in the nearby woods, spending the rest of his life there, hating everypony. For having more luck, for having all that he had lost, for not helping him… his heart grow cold. And when death finally came for him, after many years, with his last breath he cursed everypony that wronged him, whatever they really did or he had just imagined it. His ghost was full of hatred, and it embraced the coldness of vengeance. He buried the small town where he was born beneath the snow and ice.

When I heard this story, it all started to make sense to me. I realized that my old mentor’s assumption was wrong, although if he had access to the other tribe’s legends, he would no doubt come to the same conclusion as I had.

Windigos are ghosts of those who died hating their own kind, and by feeding upon the hatred of others, their cold hearts manifest their power in the land around them.

I guess those windigos that brought that blizzard over on our old homes must have been ponies that especially hated other tribes, or perhaps even died due to our petty quarrels. Their souls, unable in life to escape their hatred were trapped in the mortal plane, bounded forever to feed upon hatred of others. Fortunately, the Fire of Friendship must have freed them, seeing as they left for good.

I know that I have no real proof to justify my theory, but that would require capturing at least one windigo to examine it, but this would be highly dangerous and borderline impossible. But, based on what I know about necromancy, the darkest of magic that Star Swirl told me about, I do think that if I had a chance. I could probably bind a windigo to my will if there ever appeared again, although I don’t think I would take the risk. While Star Swirl researched necromancy for a while, he quickly dropped all of his research in that area of magic, and urged the king to forbid every unicorn from practicing it. I only saw him once use his knowledge, when trying to help solve a murder case, but that’s another story…

Matthias yawned, deciding to stop reading Clover’s notes. It was a dangerous subject for him to read further, and even if it weren’t, he knew everything there was to necromancy.

He hid the documents in his saddlebag and glanced around. His knights had all gone to sleep. Matthias advised them to take some rest before they would arrive in Vanhoover in the morning after he finished explaining to them the situation. Serenity and Storm had a bit of trouble with falling asleep due to their nervousness, but in the end, all four ponies we breathing steadily.

Matthias pulled his thoughts away from them as he gazed through the window. Outside of the train was a field of wheat, barely visible in the weak moonlight.

“Again, I go north, to fight the cold death.” he mused, not happy with another twist of fate.

Knowing tomorrow will be taxing for him, he turned off the lights in the compartment.

Celestia hummed as she searched through the documents that she kept hidden away in her private study. While almost every important document was kept in the Canterlot Archives, there were some that her father instructed to always keep hidden. Those regarding alicorns were among them.

The white alicorn prepared to make a copy of another piece of information about Chrona, as she promised Arthas she would, when her sight accidentally rested on a book she knew well. Dropping her quill, she picked the book up and opened it to a random page.

And by pure coincidence, she opened it right on the page she had remembered in this moment.

“I guess I will send it to Arthas as well.” Celestia mused, curious what he would think about it.

98. Through the blizzard

As the train began slowing down, Storm in turn slowed down his breathing, as an effort to calm down.

“In through the nose… and out through the mouth… slowly, so the others won’t notice…”

It wasn’t helping.

Storm couldn’t help but feel nervous. He had heard about windigos, of course, but he had never imagined that he would end up fighting one someday. Sir Lightbringer’s explanation that they are, according to Clover the Clever’s research, ghost of ponies, served to add to the fear Storm Clash began to experience.

During their training, they were once told about what are undead, and how it was a paladin’s duty to vanquish such abominations against nature. Sir Lightbringer paused after saying those words, and further explained that there are cases of free-minded undead, and those should be treated the same way living should, but didn’t want to elaborate.

“The point is,” he said then, cutting of their questions, “generally, the undead are unholy creatures, and as such the Light is like fire to them.”

Which would be comforting, given the situation Storm was apparently going to find himself… if he was able to call upon the Holy Light just as his brothers and sister could.

He couldn’t understand why it wasn’t listening to his pleas. Storm believed in the Light; after all, he had seen it help others already, and how could one not believe in something he saw? He also understood how it… worked, for the lack of a better term: paladins could call upon the Light by using their faith and willpower, and often through prayer. But he…

Storm shook his head, as if to get rid of those thoughts. True, he might not be able yet to use the Light’s powers, but he was still a paladin, and he had a duty to fulfill. He would not let his fear to stop him from helping ponies of Northville.

The pegasus took a last deep breath, checked if his armor was properly equipped, with his sword and shield strapped so that he would have no problems drawing them and that they would not make flying impossible. Happy that everything was fine, he followed the others out of the train.

“I just hope that we won’t be too late…” he thought darkly as his gaze rested on the visible from the station blizzard north from the city.

Just like his subordinates, Matthias also glanced at the snowstorm that stretched out beyond Vanhoover’s limits. He cursed as he sensed an unholy power bending the elements to its will, but reminded himself what happened the last time when he acted hastily, and forced himself to focus. While the citizens of Northville needed help, nothing good would come if he would just rush there.

Knowing that, but also that time was of the essence, Matthias was relieved when he spotted a group of three royal guards trotting towards them.

“We’ve been awaiting you, sir.” said the unicorn guard in command, stopping before him and saluting. “Sergeant Arcane Blade, in charge of Their Majesties’ forces in north-western Equestria, at your service.”

“At ease, Sergeant.” Matthias replied. “What’s the situation?”

“Bad.” Arcane Blade said, turning partially, with a clear intent of taking it elsewhere. Matthias nodded and stepped beside him. As the group began moving again, the unicorn continued: “The blizzard is gaining on strength. The local weather team estimated that at this rate, it will reach the city in three days.”

“Has there been any news from Northville?” Matthias asked, although he didn’t expect the answer to lift his heart.

“None.” the royal guard replied, confirming his thoughts. “I’ve tried sending scouts, but pegasi couldn’t fly in this weather, and it those conditions, it would take too long to travel by hoof.”

“How long does it take to get into Northville normally?”

“About half a day. And in this weather-”

“We won’t reach it by nightfall.” Matthias finished for him.

“You are correct, sir.”

“It would be too dangerous to arrive there during night time, especially if we will have to fight a windigo...” Matthias said as the royal guard’s post, which they headed towards to, came into sight. “Are there any good places to make a camp between here and Northville?”

“Yes, I will show you on a map.” Arcane Blade told him as he opened the doors and moved to allow Matthias enter first.

Matthias walked through the doors, followed closely by the others. There were few royal guards, and all of them quickly stood up in attention before him and their commanding officer. As Arcane Blade told them to return to their duties, Matthias glanced at the huge map that was hanged by the wall, showing the surrounding area.

“Sir, didn’t you say that there are only like twenty ponies in Northville?” he heard Tucker ask him as the unicorn stood beside him. He was also looking at the map, puzzled. “If so, then this map wasn’t made on scale. Northville is too big on it.”

“Before the gold vein in the mine was depleted,” the sergeant answered for Matthias, standing by his other side, “the city of Northville, known as Golden Slide at the time, was a rather large settlement. Now, though, almost all that is marked on this map turned into ruins.”

“Well, at least there will be a lot of things to burn up when we get our half-frozen flanks over there.” Tucker commented. “Why do ponies bother living there?”

“There might be no more gold in there, but there some other ores in the mines.” Matthias answered him. “Mostly coal, iron and occasionally silver.”

He turned back to the sergeant, hearing him clear his throat, and nodded to him that he could speak. “Here’s a good place for a camp.” Arcane Blade said, using his magic to point out on a map a small hollow close to Northville. “Ponies often go camping there during the summer; I myself have been there with my family few weeks ago. The terrain should allow a good protection against the wind and snow.”

“Tucker, mark this place on our map.” Matthias said to the unicorn paladin, who sighed and used his magic to pick up a map from his saddlebag. “Have there been more shrieks of windigo heard?” he asked, turning again to Arcane Blade.

“Yes, three more after the one that was reported to the Princess.” the guards replied, and it was plainly visible that he had to suppress shivers at the memory.

“Have there been any signs of… disagreements between the ponies that live there?” Matthias asked, curious as to why a windigo would attack.

“I’ve questioned few traders that been there few days. They did mention that there has been some sort of argument between them. Apparently, something was stolen from somepony, and he accused a pony from a neighbor family.”

“Did the traders talked with them about it?”

“No, the ponies of Northville pretended to act like there was nothing wrong. But the old mare that lived on the outskirts - well, off the center of the village, at least - explained it to them, ‘rolling her eyes at the stupidity of her neighbors’, as the traders said.”

Matthias hummed thoughtfully, knowing that after the windigo would be dealt with, he would have to talk some sense to the ponies of Northville. Otherwise, another one would show up. Hopefully, this ‘old mare’ will be of help.

“We will need supplies for a couple of days, as well as some protective gear for the snow.” he told Arcane Blade, who nodded and passed his orders to one of his subordinates. “Knights,” Matthias said, turning to the paladins, “if you want to drink or eat something warm, I advise you to do that in the next twenty minutes.”

He looked at the Northville on the map. He pondered how long it should take for the windigo to freeze its citizens completely, and how long would those ponies survive.

“We will save them.” he muttered quietly, grinding his teeth.

“This is-” Tucker began again, but Sir Lightbringer cut him off.

“One more comment about the cold, and I will have you on court-martial.”

Storm glanced at the unicorn just at the moment he was rolling his eyes. While he privately agreed that it was really cold out here, and that it was difficult walking through this blizzard with the wind continuing to hit them right in their muzzles, the pegasus got about as fast as Sir Lightbringer annoyed at the continued comments from Tucker.

He turned his head back to watch what was in front of him. There wasn’t much to see. Everything around them was white. The fact that it began getting dark wasn’t helping. He wouldn’t be able to see at all if it weren't for the protective goggles that spared his eyes from the snow and ice that the wind carried.

They’ve been walking for what felt to be hours, although Storm couldn’t be sure, as the his only mean of measuring time was how tired and cold he felt. Of course, Sir Lightbringer helped them with a prayer to the Light, but there was a limit as to how often he could do that.

Storm heard a pony beside him stop, and he glanced, worried. Serenity paused and pressed a hoof to her head, before she shook and resumed trotting. This was about third time she did that. Storm opened his mouth with an intent of asking her if anything was wrong, when he noticed that Tucker, who was taking occasional glances at the map - which wasn’t easy, as he had to shield himself from the snow at the same time so that he could see anything on it - came up to Sir Lightbringer. The pegasus watched as the younger paladin pointed at something on the parchment, then at the rock formation at the side and a big, oddly shaped tree next to it. Sir Lightbringer nodded, and looked at the others.

“The hollow that the sergeant had mentioned is nearby. We will rest soon.”

Storm sighed with relief at that, because even though he immediately felt a new surge of strength and warmth flood through him after Sir Lightbringer’s words, he was exhausted. The pegasus forced himself to put hoof after hoof as they changed slightly the direction they were walking. Storm kept on focusing on reciting few prayers in his mind so that he could take away its attention from his fatigue.

The hollow turned out to be only about ten minutes away, as well as it was far much better place for a camp that they’ve expected. Like Sergeant Arcane Blade had said, the terrain of the area protected them from the winds, and there was far less snow down here than everywhere else they’ve been for the last few hours.

“Storm, Guard: help me set up a camp.” Sir Lightbringer turned to them. “First, we need to clear some space from the snow if we want to have a campfire.”

The two of them nodded and began digging away the snow from a spot near the wall of the hollow, as the Grand Master addresses the other two. “Tucker and Serenity: search the area for something dry enough to be of use. We might have brought a few pieces of timber, but it will barely last enough for the night.”

“Sir, about Serenity…” Storm said quietly when Sir Lightbringer joined him and Guard, while the crystal pony and the unicorn went away. “I’ve noticed that she few times grabbed her head, as if she was having a migraine attack.”

Sir Lightbringer’s eyebrows furrowed with worry, but he quickly returned to his normal stoic demeanor. “I will ask her about it.” the earth pony said, returning to work. “If there is something ailing her, it would not only be bad for her, but for the mission as well.”

Storm, relieved that it was now in his Grand Master’s head, resumed his efforts. They quickly dug up a spot for a campfire and lined it with stones, then placed sleeping bags around it just when Serenity and Tucker returned with each bringing a hoofful of twigs. They are not particularly dry, but by the time they would need them, they should be ready to use.

Soon, thanks to Tucker’s magic - which he used after he stopped complaining about being used for everything - the fire was lit in the small hollow, much to the happiness and appreciation of everypony.

“Serenity, Storm had noticed that you kept reaching for you head.” Sir Lightbringer spoke up as soon as they settled around the fire and were about to eat their rations. “Is there something wrong?”

Storm half expected the mare took at him angry, but instead she seemed puzzled as she responded: “I… don’t know what exactly what’s wrong with me, sir. I keep feeling… as if everything around me was choking me. It feels… a lot like when I was under King Sombra spell, but-”

“Ah… now I understand.” Sir Lightbringer interrupted her. Storm was surprised that he looked relieved. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Serenity. You’re just sensing the evil around us. It is within paladin’s abilities to do that, although I hadn't expected any of you to develop this kind of sense so soon.”

“But what… why does this come from everywhere?” Serenity asked after she took a hold of herself. The pegasus guessed that the knowledge that she had now such ability was shocking. Now, though, she was puzzled again. “Why don’t I sense the windigo?”

“It’s because this blizzard is as much as a product of its power bending the elements, as well as manifestation of its hatred.” the Grand Master replied. “I also cannot tell where precise the windigo is. You could say that it is using the blizzard to hide itself from us, although I doubt that it’s doing it on purpose.”

“So how are we going to find it?” Guard asked. “By waiting for it to wail again?”

Few of them shook at the memory of a terrifying shriek they heard on their way.

“And what’s the plan when we find it?” Storm added.

“Once we reach Northville, we will split up.” Sir Lightbringer answered. “We will have two primary objectives: finding the windigo, and finding the villagers. I hope that they would turn out to be okay, and in that case we would gather them all around in a relatively safe place. Realistically, though, they will be frozen solid. They should be fine for a few days in such state, but we will have to free them quickly. The best way to do that would be dealing with the windigo first.”

“Why, sir?” Serenity asked. “With your connection to the Light, it should be easy for you to free the villagers with a prayer.”

“Yes, this is true. But remember: it was their hatred that brought the windigo. They might become frozen again, or what’s worse, they will power it further. And while I understand perfectly your desire to help them, we mustn’t walk into this blindly.”

“Yes, sir.” Serenity replied, although Storm could tell that she would have preferred to help the ponies of Northville first. “I understand.”

“As for how we will deal with it; I taught you during your training about how to deal with the undead.”

He did. Storm recalled those hypothetical scenarios he guided them through, during which he first presented each one of them with a certain situation, then asked them what they would do. After their answer - often incorrect, especially during few first days of their training - he would tell them what was the best course of action, as well as few others possibilities.

With the undead, it depended on what kind of it was. If it was be a simple ‘zombie’ or as Sir Lightbringer has phrased it, ‘a reanimated remains of somepony’, then the best course of action was to inflict enough damage on its body, which could be accomplished simply by their weapons. However, a windigo was a ghost, and as such it was more complicated. While their weapons were enchanted with a few spells that should make it possible for them to harm such beings, the easiest way was to attack it with magic, or - even better - the Light. There were a few prayers that Storm now recalled that should be able to free the spirit from its shackles… but that required a lot of concentration and willpower, so probably the only one that could do it was Sir Lightbringer.

“Enough of the chit-chat.” the Grand Master’s voice cut through his musing. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us. We’re leaving at dawn; I’ll take the last watch.”

“I guess I will take the first.” Serenity said, shaking her head. “I won’t fall asleep easily with this new-found sense.”

“You will get used to it, eventually.” Sir Lightbringer told her warmly, before he yawned. “Good night.”

As he turned around in his sleeping bag, Storm and the other two stallions quickly decided between themselves the order on which they would be taking watch. Storm’s was right before Sir Lightbringer’s. Satisfied with it, the pegasus yawned, stretching out his crooked jaw uncomfortably far, and tucked into sleep.

Matthias had problems falling asleep. Not only because he was worried about the villagers of Northville, but also due to this mission bringing back the memories of his quest for Mal’Ganis in Northrend.

“Again, I’m going to fight something with hooves, too.” he thought, amused slightly at comparing the dreadlord he hated so much to a windigo, before he realized that it was insulting to the pony it once was. “Damn it, I wish I could at least be able to tell what’s happening in there.”

He tried few times scanning the area ahead with his senses. The blizzard was not only manifesting the evil of the windigo, but also due to the magic in it, it was creating a disruption in the magic field around everything.

“Calm yourself.” Matthias reminded himself before he started to really worry. “Have faith in the Light; it will always shine through, no matter how dark it is.”

99. The Windigo of Northville

“And now we're officially in Ghost Town!” Tucker proclaimed with faked cheerfulness, so well in fact that Storm almost believed his act.

Annoyed at his brother, he said: “You know-”

But he was interrupted by the same blood-chilling shriek they heard on their way here. Except this time it was unbelievably loud. Storm fell to his knees and covered his ears, while he noticed that Serenity and Tucker were doing the same as well. Sir Lightbringer and Guard however, stood their ground somehow, as the windigo continued its wail.

It stopped after a while, and although Storm knew it probably lasted only a couple of heartbeats, it seemed to him to him that he froze to the ground in the meantime.

“Good timing.” Tucker murmured as they rose.

They’ve just reached Northville’s limits, after having been awakened only an hour ago. It was both due to the hollow their camped in being close to the village, as well as to the blizzard growing weaker through the night.

“The windigo must have lost the strength it gained from the hatred of Northville’s ponies.” Sir Lightbringer stated, and then said. “And with the royal guard keeping an eye on any sign of conflict between the citizens of Vanhoover and stopping them, it cannot feed further.”

As the pegasus recalled the orders that Sir Lightbringer gave sergeant Arcane Blade before they left the city, he suddenly realised what the fact that this meant the ponies of Northville must be frozen.

So now, they were stepping further into the snow-covered town, passing by many ruins of homes, being on a lookout for both the windigo that caused all of this, as well as his victims. Storm had asked Sir Lightbringer if he should scout ahead, seeing how the wind had weakened, but the Grand Master objected, saying that he preferred to not have anypony take unnecessary risks.

It didn’t take them long to reach the center of the city. The buildings in it, which was all in better state than the rest of the town, has been hit by the blizzard the most. Storm was surprised that none of the roofs had caved in with all that snow and ice covering them.

“Still no signs of the windigo…” he heard Sir Lightbringer murmur, before he turned to address them. “Spread out. Search the houses, one by one if you have too. If you encounter any of the ponies that live here, attempt to free them.”

“But you said-” Serenity began, confused.

“I know what I said, Serenity, but that was when I still hoped that they weren’t frozen. Now the priority is to make sure they are safe. If you find the windigo, leave it alone; we will deal with it after everypony is safe. Do not attempt fighting it, unless there’s no other option. Serenity, Guard, take the western part of the town. Storm, Tucker, check the eastern.”

“And you, sir?” Guard asked.

“I will check the town hall; according to what the Sergeant told me, there’s a hidden shelter built under it by the royal guards when they hid from Nightmare Moon. If the citizens know about it, some of them might have gone there.”

“Might have?”

“Anything could happen.” Sir Lightbringer replied with a shrug. “The windigo’s magic causes the ponies hatred to grow cold, so much that they won’t even notice what’s around them.” becoming more serious, he added. “Remember, hatred and vengeance cannot be parts of what paladins do. This could not be truer in this situation. Do not seek revenge on behalf of ponies that live here.”

“Yes, sir.” Storm and the others replied, but one voice did so with a hint of hesitation.

The pegasus glanced discreetly at Tucker, as he was sure he was the only one who heard the unicorn. Storm didn’t suspect that the other paladin could care enough about ponies he never met to want seek vengeance for what was done to them. But then he reminded himself that Tucker went through almost the same as the citizens of Northville, for he too was trapped in a prison, even if not of ice and for much longer. The unicorn would seek not to extract revenge on behalf of others, but on behalf of himself.

Storm had a feeling that he will need to keep an eye on him.

The two paladins were doing their best to stay quiet as they exited their third house. So far, there was no sign of anypony (neither the villagers’, nor the windigo’s) and the tension was beginning to get to them. When they were outside, Tucker started complaining that he would prefer to have some action.

“I mean, the sooner we find them, the sooner we can get out of here, right?”

“Well, we would still have to make sure that the ponies of Northville are okay.” Storm replied as they crept towards the next house.

Tucker opened his mouth, but whatever he was going to say he kept to himself, for when they approached the doors, a sudden torrent of ice-cold wind hit them.

“Guess we found where the windigo is hiding.” the pegasus said when they stopped trembling.

“So, what are we waiting for?” Tucker asked, as he trot closer to the doors.

Storm Clash almost immediately blocked his path. “Our orders say that we must concentrate on finding the villagers first.” he reminded him.

“But they don’t prevent us from investigating.” the unicorn retorted. “Besides, there might be some ponies trapped there.”

Storm had to admit that he was right. If the windigo really was there, then also might be ponies.

“Okay, but we will not engage it.” he said after a second of hesitation. “We will do a recon of the house, and then report back to sir Lightbringer.” Storm turned around and added: “I’m going in first.”

“Hey, you can go first to the buildings, but leave the mares to me and we’re fine, dude.” Tucker replied as he trotted after him.

He really didn’t like this, but Storm didn’t want Tucker to do anything stupid. So, even though the pegasus knew he would be in the front line of windigo’s attack if things would go south, he entered the house.

At first, it seemed that they encountered another empty house after all. There was nothing on the ground floor, as well as on the one above. They were about to leave (with Tucker visibly disappointed, and Storm somewhat relieved) just after they checked the cellar. They opened the door to it…

And after few steps down, the path was blocked by a wall of ice.

It took a second for them to realise that this meant that the windigo was inside.

“Think we can break it?” Tucker asked nonchalantly, taking a step closer.

Storm again found himself in between the other pony and the entrance. “We’re going to report this.”

“Who died and put you in charge?” the unicorn replied, gazing at him with threat in his eyes. “‘We can’t go in there’, ‘we can’t go there’...”

“I will not see both of us getting killed because you’re looking for a fight!” Storm said, outstretching his wings. He was beginning to get angry.

“Oh?” Tucker snickered. “Am I supposed to be scared of you, Crooked Jaw?”

For a split second, Storm just gawked at him, shocked to hear the same cruel nickname he heard from many colts as he was growing up. And then right before he know it, he charged at Tucker, tackling him to the ground with a full force his legs and wings could give him. And as they both hit the floor…

... the floor collapsed, and they went down.

Somehow, Storm Clash managed to clear his mind of out the bloody haze that overtook it (as well as shake of the fear and shock he felt when the floor gave) a heartbeat before both of them hit the ground below. He flapped his wings just in time, and stopped himself and Tucker clinging to him a mere inches from the floor.

Storm sighed with relief… and then shook as shivers overtook him, due to both the cold and a horrifying, evil chuckling.

Gulping, both ponies looked up.

There it was, in all its unholy glory. Cerulean coated and translucent, its mane (colored as the rest of its body) flowed on the freezing wind that was somehow present in the cellar.

“Because it creates this wind.” Storm realized nervously.

The windigo gazed at them from where he laid with a pair of eyes that glowed with a light, but unlike the one that they saw in Sir Lightbringer’s eyes before, there was nothing of the Holy Light with them. Instead, what Storm and Tucker saw was filled with ice… and death.

In the dim, unholy light its body (if it could be called as such) emanated, they saw two pillars of ice in between which the windigo laid. Inside of them, there were ponies trapped, each looking at the other with anger.

“Motherbucker!’ Tucker hissed as he released himself from Storm’s hold. Almost immediately, as he gazed at the windigo with hatred, two lances of energy emerged from his hoof and formed a blade that now, besides its usual blue glow, also had an aura of golden light around it. “You’ll pay for this.”

Storm wanted to facehoof himself when Tucker charged at the windigo. He realized what must have happened. The windigo used his powers to raise the hatred in Tucker and even Storm, and fed on it.

Tucker was clearly not thinking too much about why he wanted to cleave this thing so badly, as he brought his sword at the windigo. Much to the shock of both ponies, the windigo blocked it… with a sword of its own that suddenly appeared in its hoof.

The huge, clearly two-hoofed sword, like its owner, was clearly not of the world of the living. It emanated eerie light, and by just looking at its slightly-curved form, Storm immediately thought of fangs. The blade, which connected to the grip by a cross-guard shaped like a skull, and was covered in strange markings. But before he could begin to ponder on their meaning, the windigo shoved away Tucker with a force so great, that it send the unicorn crashing into the wall, head first.

“Tucker!” Storm shouted as he jumped to him, drawing his sword and shield. Just in time, too. The windigo neighed in Tucker’s directions, sending several arrow-lie icicles at him.

Storm barely managed to block them all with his shield. He swayed a bit from the recoil damage, but stood his ground. “Tucker, are you alright?!” he asked the unicorn, who was moaning on the floor as he attempted to get up.

“Y-yeah…” he managed to grunt, as he pressed a hoof to his head, beginning a prayer.

“This is bad!” Storm thought, observing the windigo. It appeared to be awaiting their next move, and it was even crouching a bit like a cat before it springs after a mouse. “If it is so strong to just fling Tucker with one hoof… we need to get out of here!”

“Tucker, throw a random spell at it to distract it, and I will fly us up…” the pegasus began to say quietly, but as he did, he looked up, and his heart sank.

The hole that was left from their fall was blocked by ice.

An evil chuckle, which could freeze a pony’s blood in his veins, told Storm that the windigo took great amusement in his distress.

“Tucker…” the pegasus paladin said, trying desperately to think of something, anything. “Are you good?”

“Not… really.” the unicorn replied as the weak glow of Light shone from his hoof and around his head. “My head is spinning… I can’t concentrate.”

“This is my fault. If only I haven’t started that fight, if only I could connect with the Light-” Storm Clash began reproaching himself, but then he reminded himself that this wouldn’t do them any good. Nor would he be able to just turn away from the windigo and heal the unicorn. “The unicorn!” he realised suddenly in a moment of genius.

“Can you still teleport?” he asked, hoping that his head wasn’t that damage. After all, he did manage to concentrate enough to begin healing himself…

“Maybe?” Tucker replied, puzzled, as he took a quick glance at the icy ceiling. “But it won’t do us any good; I won’t be able to teleport both of us-”

“Then don’t.” Storm cut him off. Not paying attention to the gasp Tucker uttered, “Just yourself. Go get help. I will be fine.”

“But… Storm…” Tucker stammered, for the first time since Storm had met him at the loss of words.

“Go, now!” the pegasus shouted, as the windigo finally got bored with just observing them and now was approaching.

After a second, there was a flash of blue light and sound of teleportation. Storm was now alone with a hatred-hungry winter ghost, as well as two frozen citizens of Northville.

And he was probably going to join them in a moment.

“Well, at least Tucker got out.” he thought, relieved at least that he would need to feel guilty if something more serious had happened to the unicorn. “And when he’ll get Sir Lightbringer, everything will be fine.”

The windigo’s gaze went up and to a side, as if following Tucker through the walls. It then returned back to Storm, and the ghost snorted angrily. Despite having faith that Sir Lightbringer and the others would save him from an icy prison, Storm has prepared himself to attack, for he didn’t want to sell his coat cheaply.

He dashed to a side, trying to circle the windigo around. He hoped that, since he didn’t have any sort of extraordinary powers and definitely won’t be able to match with the windigo’s strength, he could out-speed it.

But the swiftness in which the undead closed the distance between them made him realize that he was in a much worse position than he thought. Storm quickly raised his shield to deflect the blow from windigo’s unholy weapon. The strength behind the strike made him drop down to the floor. Grinding his teeth, Storm slashed with his sword, but the windigo blocked it with relative ease, as well as his next two blows.

Recalling the trick he learned from Guard, he charged at it with his shield, but the speed which the windigo possessed could almost match that of Sir Lightbringer. It moved away to the side, and brought it blade down on his waist. Had Storm not been re-trained in combat just a week ago, he would now laid dead in two pieces in the floor of the cellar in a residential house in Northville. He managed to roll in the air, pushing the blade away with a shield and slashed again, this time managing to leave and ethereal cut on the windigo’s muzzle, from which a small trail blue smoke began to emerge.

The windigo’s eyes glowed brighter, and just when Storm began to have hoped that maybe he could last until the others would get here, he was blown away by a strong gust of freezing wind. He grunted as he hit the wall…

And felt searing pain in several places of his body.

When Storm looked down, he saw that it was because of several icicles that impaled him to the wall, having even pierced his armor. The pegasus was aghast as he noticed small streams of blood dripping on the floor. Thankfully, he hadn’t suffered a mortal wound, as the icicles missed his organs, but it still hurt a lot… and made immobilized him as the windigo approached slowly, his blade raised.

As he stared at the ghost in shock, a small part of his mind wondered why it wasn’t freezing him like those two ponies behind it. As if the windigo could read his mind, its lips parted.

“No hate… left...” it spoke in a deep, echoing voice that sent shivers down Storm’s spine. “Nothing to eat… The light... it hurts…”

“It… is it saying that it’s going to kill me because I’m a paladin?” Storm Clash thought dimly as he could do nothing else, besides staring at the ghost and its blade. “But… Clover the Clever never wrote anything about it!”

And as he recalled what Sir Lightbringer shared with them on the train regarding the windigos, the pegasus also answered his own question.

Clover the Clever never mentioned anything about paladins, because there weren’t any in her time.

The windigo now stood in front of him.

“I guess… this is it.” Storm thought, resigned in the face of the situation's despair. “I’m sorry, everypony. I’m sorry for all the sadness I’m going to cause you. Have I been a better paladin... I’m truly pathetic.”

It gripped its sword, tightened in its hoof.

“I’m sorry, mom and dad. I wish I could have lived up to the pride you had in me. I’m sorry, Oak. I won’t take you to Los Pegasus to celebrate when you will get your cutie mark. I’m sorry...”

“... Lady Rarity...”

The thought of the mare that he met barely two weeks ago made him pause. Why did she appear in his mind when he was saying his farewells to his closest ones? And why… why did the thought of her face when she would heard the news of his demise was the hardest to imagine?

Why did he assume she would be devastated?

The eerie blade ascended.

Storm no longer paid much attention to what was going to happen to him as he thought back to his initiation into the order, where after the ceremony he suddenly felt an urge to hug her. How he liked to simply talk with her, how he enjoyed her laughter.

An image of her crying once again popped up in his head.

“No.”

Just like that, Storm Clash had decided that this won’t happen, not until he could still draw breath and do something about it.

The blade descended…but stopped before it hit the pegasus, blocked by the shield of Light.

Storm no longer felt the cold and pain. Instead, a surge of warmth went through his body, releasing him from his bindings and healing the wounds. He recognized this warmth immediately. He felt it back during his initiation, he saw his fellow paladins work with it…

And now, the holy light was a part of him.

The paladin thrust his hoof forward, uttering a very short prayer. White light shot from it, hitting the ghost straight in the chest and sending it a few paces away. The attack didn’t do as much damage as Storm would have hoped, but it gave him enough time to jump for his sword. He grabbed it and as the Light’s aura that covered him extended to the blade, the pegasus whirled around, crossing his weapon with windigo’s.

He held his ground.

Now it was Storm who’s on the offensive. He slashed and cut, attacking the undead creature before him and forcing it back. Most of those strikes didn’t reach their targets, but some got past windigo’s defense, wounding it.

The windigo reared on its hind legs, sending a wave of frost around it. Storm shielded himself from the onslaught of the cold element, quickly recalling and reciting a prayer Sir Lightbringer taught them for such magical attacks.

As he prayed, however, the windigo recovered. It stroke Storm with such force, that when he blocked it, his blade was thrown out of his grasp.

Disarmed, the paladin found himself needing to use one of the tricks that Sir Lightbringer showed him… a trick that wasn’t meant for fighting, but for fighting.

With a yell, he head-butted the windigo.

When he later thought back to this moment, Storm had realized how lucky he was that the Light’s aura was still around him, for without it he would have probably phased through the incorporeal being. But as such, his attack not only worked, but also stunned the windigo, giving him an opportunity to end this.

He grabbed the blade the windigo held, ripped it away from the undead’s grasp, and thrust it through the ghost’s chest.

“Be cleansed with Light, pony!” Storm shouted, intoning the prayer meant for an exorcism. The windigo, already shrieking in pain, raised its voice even higher now as the Light enveloped it. “Let not the hatred overwhelm you! In the name of the Light, be cleansed!”

He continued the rite as the windigo continued to resist. Storm had no idea how long it lasted. Maybe hours, probably seconds. The ghost grow weaker, but only when the pegasus thought he heard another voice praying besides him that it was a change of any significance. The Light around the windigo magnified, and before Storm could tell… it disappeared.

Thank you.

Storm blinked. “Who said that?!”

“I told you will find your faith in your own time, didn’t I?” a cheerful voice of Sir Lightbringer sounded by his side, startling Storm.

“S-sir…” he exclaimed, surprised, but then he realized why he heard a voice helping him with the rite. Glancing at the frozen hole in the ceiling, he noticed that it was no longer there, and he could see Guard and Serenity looking down from the floor above.

“Tucker is resting in the town hall.” Sir Lightbringer spoke up, gaining his attention again. “After he told us where to look for you, he passed out due to a concussion. The villagers are looking after him…” the Grand Master trailed off, his eyes widening in a strange expression Storm has never seen on him before. “Storm… what is that sword!?”

The pegasus followed his gaze to the sword he took from the windigo, which was still in his grasp. Storm had completely forgotten about it, mostly because he assumed it would disappear along with its owner. But now… it was different.

It shaped changed slightly, not much, but enough to no longer look so menacing. The cross-guard was no longer shaped like a skull, but rather like a head of an eagle. But the biggest change was in the light it emanated. It was no longer eerie, pale blue, but golden.

“I… don’t know.” Storm confessed. “The windigo held it, it appeared in its hoof when it attacked me and Tucker, but it looks different now. Why didn’t it-”

Two moans of pain interrupted him. Both he and Sir Lightbringer glanced at the two ponies that must have been released from their icy prisons when the windigo was defeated.

“We will discuss this later.” Sir Lightbringer told him, as he shook his head. “Right now, helping those ponies takes priority.”

Storm Clash nodded and, strapping the blade to his back for now, he followed his Grand Master to the villagers.

Several hours later, Storm wiped the sweat from his forehead. He pondered how come not so long ago he was shivering with cold.

Once they returned to the town hall, Sir Lightbringer began talking with the villagers, explaining to them what happened to their village… or rather, what they brought upon themselves. When the topic of the alleged thievery was brought upon, three ponies began to argue, only to be quickly stopped by a flash of light that made them disoriented. Sir Lightbringer then (a bit angrily) reprimanded them for it, and was joined in his effort by the very old-looking unicorn mare called Granny Rags, who apparently, while reclusive, know a lot about everypony living in Northville. She clearly stated that none of the ponies living here was a thief, and that the doll - Storm snickered hearing what was it that was stolen, and he wasn’t the only one - was probably taken away by the stray dog that started to hang around the abandoned parts of the village after one of the colts began feeding it.

In short, the doll was found, the dog - cold and hungry - adopted by the family of the colt, and the paladins and the much healthier villagers began rebuilding the damage windigo had caused. The snow began melting already, but there were few almost collapsed roofs left, and a hole in the floor that is well-known to Storm.

They managed to finish by nightfall. Now everypony - besides Guard, Serenity and Tucker, who went to look for more wood to the chimney - was in the town hall. Sir Lightbringer decided that since the temperature was still below the average, it will be safer for them to spend the night together. Besides that he was right, nopony wanted to try and disagree with him… except one.

“Where is Granny Rags?” Sir Lightbringer frowned after he finished counting ponies.

“She went home, sir.” one of the villagers replied, shrugging. “She doesn’t like the company of others. No point going after her, sir; the old hag is more stubborn than a mule.”

“You should speak about your elders with respect.”Sir Lightbringer replied in a tone that made the other pony cringe.

The Grand Master sighed, as he decided to not go after the mare in the end and sit beside the pegasus paladin.

“And here I thought of her to be the smartest around.” he muttered, rubbing his temples. “The others haven’t returned yet?”

“No, although they should be soon.” the pegasus replied, and Sir Lightbringer nodded.

“Good. Anyway, Storm… I think I know what this sword is.”

Storm’s ears perked hearing that, and he glanced at the mentioned blade, which rested against the wall.

“This sword…” sir Lightbringer started, “since you said how it appeared, I think it’s similar to my Holy Avenger.”

As he said it, he extended his hoof, making the strange blade appeared. Storm had seen it before, but now that he looked at it… there was something between it and the one he took from the windigo.

“I thought about it for a while.” the earth pony continued. “And now with this blade of yours, I am almost certain that this sword is… a piece, or rather, an extension of my soul, that takes this shape. I originally thought it to be the Light’s doing, but during my fight with Sombra, I managed to summon it without any sort of plea to the Holy Light. This blade of yours…” he said, glancing at it, “I believe it’s the extension of the soul from the windigo. When it was in its hooves, it was… corrupted; but when you grabbed it, and more importantly, the soul of the windigo was released from its hatred, the blade was purified.”

“But… why hadn’t it disappeared?” Storm asked, trying to understand it.

“I can’t be certain, but I think the pony was grateful for what you did, so it left this blade for you when it moved on.”

Storm didn’t reply to that, instead picking up the sword and looked it. He recalled what he heard when the windigo disappeared.

“Is it true? Were you grateful?”

“Sir, I’ve been thinking…” he said as he went through the battle in his mind. “You said that the Light would heed my call when I will find my faith, but… I don’t know if I found it.”

Sir Lightbringer looked at him puzzled, so he explained.

“I was about to die, and I imagined R- I mean,” he quickly corrected himself, not wanting his commanding officer to know that he might have some sort of feelings for his friend, “my family, and how would they react if I was dead. And I just… didn’t want them to be sad.”

“It’s not that you didn’t want them to be sad.” Sir Lightbringer objected, smirking. “It’s that you decided that they won’t be sad. Storm, when I said about finding your faith… I didn’t mean about faith in the Light, but in yourself.”

Storm’s eyes widened, but then he chuckled, wondering how come he hadn’t realized it himself.

“I don’t know what made you constantly doubt yourself.” sir Lightbringer continued. “But I am happy and proud that you managed to overcome this.” smirking, he added: “Since you had an eventful day, I advise you to rest now. We will have a long way back if you want to chat with a certain mare during the Summer Harvest Parade.”

Having said that, sir Lightbringer rose and trotted away… leaving Storm Clash red all over face.

The next morning, Storm yawned beside the other knights outside the village, waiting for Sir Lightbringer to join them so that they could go back to Vanhoover… and then to Ponyville.

After what the Grand Master told him, the pegasus couldn’t stop thinking about the beautiful white mare, and what she meant to him. He had a suspicion as to why in the moment of death she was in his thoughts, but… was he right? And if so, then what were Lady Rarity’s thoughts of him?

He would need to figure this out, preferably after another pleasant conversation with the unicorn mare… maybe over tea?

“Wait, am I thinking about asking her on a date?!”

He was spared answering his own question, as the Grand Master finally approached them.

“I’m not going back yet.”

Storm and the other three looked at him, confused.

“You four will go back to Ponyville and present Princess Celestia with a field report.” Sir Lightbringer continued, not reacting to their shock. “After that, you can do whatever you want. Enjoy the Summer Harvest Parade. But do me a favor and mention to my friends that everything’s fine.”

“Of course, sir, but why are you staying?” Storm asked.

“For reasons.” Sir Lightbringer replied with amusement. “Don’t worry; I will probably be back in Ponyville by tomorrow’s evening or the dawn next day.”

Storm had no idea what he was talking about, and by the looks of it, neither had the others. But he wasn’t going to argue with him.

“Very well, sir.” Guard said, also coming to the same conclusion.

“We will await your return.” Storm added.

Matthias watched the four turn around and begin their journey back, and then he himself turned and went back into the village.

He was terrified when he first spotted the weird blade in Storm’s possession. It took every ounce of his willpower to not buck it away from him, despite the aura of Light it was now giving. And those symbols on it… it looked oddly familiar. But where…

“Sir?” the sound of Serenity’s voice came from behind him, which made him glancing back.

The crystal pony had returned with a less puzzled expression.

“Does your staying here would have anything to do with Granny Rags?”

“She’s becoming sharp.” Matthias thought, proud of her instead of annoyed.

“You’ve noticed, huh?” he asked her, his voice dulled by sadness.

“Yes, but I don’t understand.” Serenity said. “Why the Light-”

“The Light can’t do everything, Serenity.” Matthias told her, knowing only too well how true that was. “It cannot stop aging. From what I heard from other villagers, she’s really old. And the stress caused from that windigo aged her during those few days faster.” he sighed, suddenly feeling really tired. “She’s going to die today. That’s why I’m staying; nopony should be alone when they die.”

Serenity had sorrow all over her muzzle when she nodded, despite never even speaking with the old mare.

Storm wondered what made Serenity suddenly stop. She said that she needed to ask Sir Lightbringer something; but he guessed it must have something to do with the villagers.

“Hey, Storm?” Tucker said, as he looked at him. The unicorn seemed awfully quiet since yesterday, even though Serenity healed him and he made a full recovery in half a day. “I… I wanted to apologize for… you know, calling you Crooked Jaw. That was…”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, I already forgot about it.” Storm interrupted him, feeling creeped out by his sudden change in character. “What’s a little name calling between brothers, right?”

The unicorn blinked, and then grinned. “You’re right. But I still need to make it up to you-”

“Tucker-”

“-so I’m officially making you my wingpony.” he finished.

Storm looked at him, speechless, before both of them started snickering and laughed.

Author's Note

Who said this mini-arc would be about Arthas?

You know, when back in chapter 96 you all started commenting that it would turn out to be a frostwyrm that caused all of this, I pondered if I could make some changes, but in the end I decided to stick to my original idea, for many reasons.

100. The Return

“This is a borderline burglary!” Granny Rags all but spat those words as Matthias followed her to her living room.

Matthias, in turn, did his best to not chuckle as he replied with the most serious tone he could muster: “Well, I am sure that when you inform the closest representative of the law, I will be arrested immediately.”

The elderly mare with a gray coat and hoary mane twisted her head to glare at him sternly, but her attempt was stopped as her muscles protested against the sudden movement. Matthias quickly run up to her and helped her up, ignoring Granny Rags protests. She finally gave up few heartbeats later, when she realized that her rather loud words were bouncing off from his ears, letting him lead her to her couch. Matthias was grateful she at least had enough of a common sense to not start punching him. He still wore his armor.

“Do you need anything?” the stallion asked once she was safe and comfy under her blanket. “Some tea, or maybe soup?”

Granny Rags once again glared at him, but then she let out a tired sigh.

“I would say I need you to leave, but I can see it’s not going to happen.” she said. “Make me some tea, then.”

Matthias nodded and headed towards the kitchen. The home of the elderly mare wasn’t big, like most of the houses in Northville. It consisted of a kitchen and the living room, with a bedroom upstairs and a cellar downstairs. The earth pony passed a few paintings on his way, as well as some pictures on shelves. Most of them portrayed a beautiful unicorn mare with a gray coat and brown mane, with her family that consisted of an earth pony stallion and a colt.

He poured water into the pot and placed it on a heater. As Matthias waited for it to start boiling, he began undressing from the armor. It was difficult for him to help Granny Rags while in it, and he knew that there wasn’t any danger around the village.

Once the pot began whistling, signaling that the water started boiling, Matthias has made two teas and carefully brought both of them to the living room. He placed one in front of the old mare, and the other next to himself as he sit on a pillow.

Matthias watched as Granny Rags tried to use her magic to pick her cup up, but once it started shaking, she grabbed it with her hooves instead. He also noticed that she, in turn, was glancing at the scars on his chest as she was taking a sip of the tea.

“Why are you here?” she asked after a moment of silence.

“You need care-” Matthias began, but the mare cut him off.

“Don’t sugarcoat your words, youngster, I know I’m dying.” as if to confirm her words, she started coughing violently. Matthias quickly jumped to her, to prevent her from spilling her still hot tea all over herself. Once the attack stopped, she grunted and continued. “Why are you here?”

The paladin sighed uncomfortably and explained: “I heard from the villagers that you live alone. And I know you would prefer to be left alone, but you shouldn’t be. Not now.”

Granny Rags rolled her eyes, but didn’t object; probably realizing that she wouldn’t convince him.

“Let me ask you this, then: why are you here?” she asked instead. “You are in charge of those… pala-what’s their names. Shouldn’t you make a report to the Princess or something?”

Matthias was impressed by the insight of the mare.

“You could have left that crystal mare here; she seemed just the sappy type.” Granny Rags added, and then snorted. “Crystal ponies. What odd times had come…”

He let her ramble on as he looked into his soul, seeking the answer to her question. She deserved to hear it… and he wanted to know what made him decide to stay as well.

“I wanted… to rest from everything.” he finally spoke slowly. “I have some things to think through, and if I had returned with my knights, I would have to get back to my everyday life.”

“Training paladins, reading old books, working with Bolvar and Ner’zhul, researching that alicorn Chrona, attending the parade… oh crap, Twilight and the rest will get pissed at me for not returning in time…”

“After what happened here, I needed a break.” he continued, shaking his head from those thoughts. “I need to reflect on some things.”

“Like what? What happened here?”

“You’ve seen that blade Storm, the pegasus, had on him. It used to be an unholy weapon in the hooves of the windigo, but after it was defeated, the sword was purified. It reminds me of a blade from my homeland… except that the blade I seen had began as a holy weapon, then was corrupted, and then holy again.” he paused to scratch his head, comparing the Ashbringer with Storm’s sword. “And there’s another thing. The blade has strange markings on it. Markings that I could swear I’ve seen somewhere, know from somewhere, but I can’t tell from where… but it’s impossible.”

Granny Rags, who was listening intently, glanced at his scars again, and then back at his troubled face. She took a sip from her tea, and stated: “You’re not from Equestria.”

Matthias nodded, the end of his mouth curving into smile. This mare was really perceptive.

“The question is, then - where are you from?” she asked.

The paladin closed his eyes, wondering what he should tell her.

“The truth.”

She asked, after all, and she deserved to have her answer, for being an elder if nothing else. And besides… Matthias needed to confine in somepony now. Everything that he recently had to go through, all those near-five months, the two months in Tartarus, his old life… all that threatened to rip his sanity to pieces if he wouldn’t let it all out.

“What happened to you husband and son?” he asked to get more time to prepare himself.

“They died.” Granny Rags replied, a bit of pain barely visible in her eyes and hearable in her voice. “A part of the mine collapsed forty years ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” he said, and he meant that. “Death…” he murmured, tasting the disgusting word. “My story is full of it.”

And then he told her.

If it weren’t for everything that happened in Equestria during those last years of her life, Granny Rags would have thought that this “human”-turned-pony Lightbringer, or Arthas as he said his true name was, was insane. But after all she heard about: the return of Princess Luna; that Discord thing; those bugs that attacked Canterlot; the resurrection of Princess Luna’s daughter; that Crystal Empire and crystal ponies (and the lights that appeared on the sky); the windigo and those paladins…

One thing Granny Rags knew for certain: Equestria was changing. For the better or the worse, she didn’t know, and would never find out. But she had a feeling - maybe due to her long life and being naturally smart, or because she was on the verge of death she could sense in some degree what future held - that the resurrection of a being from another world, from the depths of Tartarus, was just the beginning.

She could tell that he was speaking truth. The pain in his face, the dead, empty eyes with which he looked at nothing as he spoke about his past… everything could be read from him as if he was an open book.

“Listening to your story makes me feel the younger of us two.” Granny Rags finally broke the long silence that dominated her living room after the hours of Arthas talking.

Finally some life returned to the former prince as he chuckled. “I’m glad for that.”

“Dying seems a lot better that continuing to live…” she mused out loud, trying and failing to understand how he could still carry on. “How are you doing this?”

He looked at her puzzled, still recovering from the effects of reciting his tale.

“How are you able to get up every morning?” Granny Rags explained. “After my husband and son died, I had lost the will to live. I just stayed here, basically not doing anything for forty years, waiting for death to come for me. But you… you’ve lost much more than me, and yet you’re still standing.”

The stallion thought about his answer before he gave it to her. He glanced through the window, musing, until he was ready to look back at her.

“It’s because of my friends.” he finally said, and for the first time since he asked her about her family, a true smile appeared on his face. “They are the light that shines in my heart, despite all the darkness that surrounds it. All my doubts and fears… my friends are the ones that give me strength to live through them. They make me a better being. Thanks to them, I can believe that someday, I will be truly free of my past.”

Granny Rags returned the smile, musing. She knew what he was speaking of; for she had once known that. Since she first met Coal Digger, her husband, she had that ‘light in her heart’... until it was taken from her by fate. After it happened, she lost everything, and retreated to her house to wait for the end. She hated her life. But now… hearing Arthas story, she felt ashamed. He lost much more than her (even if only because he had more to begin with) including himself, but after he was given a second chance somehow, he took it, and made friends.

The old unicorn recalled how her friends, who after the collapse of mine decided to move out of Northville, asked her to come with them, but she refused. How would her life look if she took the chance?

“Tell me about them,” Arthas asked. Granny Rags chuckled. Was she that easy to read through, too? “About your husband and son, about your friends, about yourself.”

“Why do want to know that?” she replied with a question, not understanding why he cared.

“Everypony deserve to be remembered. I will forever be known on Azeroth as the Lich King, but the true me will be forgotten. It hurts me, even though I know that I deserve it.”

Granny Rags looked at him, wondering in just how much pain such a noble pony like him must be for all that he did, before she began telling him how she met Coal.

About two hours later, a more violent attack of coughing interrupted her story about how her son, Ragged Digger, broke a very ugly vase her mother-in-law gave her and Coal. When it ended, she felt even weaker. She grew weaker throughout this day, but now…

Arthas must have sensed it too, for he looked at her with sorrow.

“Does it hurt?” she asked weakly. She always thought that she would be happy when the death will finally move her flank over to her, but as the mare felt it approach, she suddenly realized she was a bit afraid.

“I died slightly different.” he reminded her, his voice warm despite the topic, as he pointed at the scar over his heart. “But even if in your case there will be pain, it will only last a second.”

“And what about after that second?” Granny Rags asked again, curious to hear what a pony who was dead could tell her.

“You will see Coal Digger and Ragged Digger.” Arthas replied. “I believe in that.”

She understood what he meant. He didn’t know for sure, but it didn’t matter at the present moment, neither to him or her. She also believed that, and once she reminded herself of that, the last remnants of fear, a natural reaction to all living beings in the face of death, despite their age, has disappeared.

“But there are two more things…” she reminded herself. “I have two favors to ask of you.” she said, and coughed again. The world around her wavered.

“Ask.” he replied gently.

“My husband and son are buried in the garden at the back of the house . Bury me next to them.”

“Of course. And the second favor?”

Before she said it, she used what little strength she had to cast her magic. She reached out to one of the paintings and moved it, revealing a small hiding place. From the inside, she levitated a small box, and brought it over to Arthas.

“I want you to have this.” Granny Rags told him, taking deep breaths after the exertion. Again, everything wavered, and when it stopped, her sight was blurred. “It’s an old family heirloom, my couple of times great-grandfather found it buried in the mine.”

She heard Arthas gasp, as he no doubt opened the small box.

“I cannot take this.”

“There’s no point in burying it with me, so that it may rot in earth.” she replied angrily, annoyed at the typical for stallions sense of honor. “And I don’t have any family to give it to. Keep it, or give to somepony you care about.”

“If it means so much to you…” he finally said after a second, “then I will take it. Thank you.”

“Hmph.” Granny Rags snorted.

Was it getting darker here? And why was it getting so hard to draw breaths?

“Hey youngster?” she said.

“Yes?”

“You should really hook up with that Twilight mare.” Granny Rags told him with a smirk.

And it stayed on her face.

“Are you sure you want to stay?” Serenity asked Guard, as they all (minus the older paladin) were preparing to leave the Abbey. They wanted to join Ponyville in admiring all the floats that were made for Summer Harvest Parade.

The four of them arrived in Ponyville shortly before Princess Celestia raised the sun, which was probably for the best. That way, they didn’t encounter anypony, which spared them answering questions about where was Sir Lightbringer, why there are holes in Storm’s armor, or what is that sword he’s carrying.

During the train ride, they wrote down everything that happened since they arrived in Vanhoover up until they left Northville, explaining as well as why Sir Lightbringer wasn’t the one to write it all. After arriving in the Abbey (and telling Sound Wave and Cherry Bomb some of what was in the report) they used the seal that was on the Grand Master’s desk, so that they could properly send it to the Princess. However, the fastest way to do that would be to ask Spike to breathe his fire on it, and it was still early. Deciding that they could most likely find him during the parade, they all took naps for few hours.

Now they were all ready and disarmed, and where even accompanied by the two royal guards and Al’ar. The only one who was staying behind was Guard.

“I’m pretty sure Matt will be pissed if he finds out you bailed out on a chance to spend some time with friends.” Sound said, smirking, as he came up to Serenity and Guard Shield.

“I’m not doing that because I don’t want to spend some time with all of you.” the earth pony replied seriously, although Serenity could tell that it wasn’t hurting him too much, either. “Somepony need to stay behind and watch the Abbey. And since I’m the oldest one here-”

“I’m over thousand.” Tucker interrupted him, and then with a grin added: “Serenity, too. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, mature mares can be-”

His next words were stopped by a strong strike from a crystal hoof that punched him in the face. Serenity glanced at the retreating and healing Tucker with a mixture of anger, resentment and sorrow for hitting him like that.

“- and as such,” Guard continued, sparing the aqua unicorn a mere glance, “I’ve seen more Summer Harvest Parades than any of you. You youngster can go have fun.” he added in a much warmer tone.

Serenity exchanged glances with Storm and Sound, who both shrugged, as if saying that it was pointless to try and persuade him. The crystal pony wasn’t happy with that. She would have preferred to see the parade with everypony, not without both Guard and Sir Lightbringer. Of course, she understood that the Abbey needed to be looked after.

“Okay then, we will see you soon.” Storm said, waving to him in good bye, as he and the others began to move out.

However, Serenity lingered.

“Are you sure you won’t be lonely?” she asked. “I could stay with you.”

Guard raised an eyebrow in surprise, before he chuckled warmly. “No wonder Sir Lightbringer chose you to be a paladin. Your sympathy could last for ten ponies. I will be fine, you go have some fun.”

Serenity blushed a bit from hearing the compliment, then sighed, disappointed a bit that she couldn’t convince him into anything. She said her goodbye before joining the rest.

Twilight yawned, as she and Spike exited the town hall. She slept badly last night. How could she not? Not only she worried about Matt, but yesterday she received a letter from the Princess to boot. At first, she thought that it would be something about the paladins, but while Celestia mentioned to her to stop worrying (Spike chuckled after he read that line) the message was about something else entirely. Tomorrow, the Princess would be leaving for a diplomatic mission to Saddle Arabia, and will return few days later, along with two delegates from the horse country. Before coming to Canterlot, however, they would arrive in Ponyville, and Princess Celestia wanted Twilight to put on a little magic show to impress them.

So now she not only had to worry about Matt, but also plan out what she was going to prepare for the delegates. She visited the Mayor Mare to discuss with her about the stage and the talk somehow prolonged. Twilight barely made it in time to go join her friends in admiring the parade.

“There ya are, sugarcubes!” Applejack greeted both of them, as they approached the group. “What took’ya so long?”

Twilight quickly informed her friends about Celestia’s letter. All of them congratulated her for being chosen by the Princess to amaze her guests, as well as assured her that they know she will do great as always. The unicorn smiled, recalling how confident she was - or rather, wasn’t - just a month and half ago.

“Although, I can’t understand how Princess Celestia can bear going to Saddle Arabia.” Rarity added after she finished praising Twilight. “I know that their cities and clothes are magnificent, but that really isn’t a place for a mare to go to, even if she is a Princess.”

Twilight could only nod in agreement. Compared to Equestria, where both sexes were equal, Saddle Arabia was a strongly patriarchal country. Mares didn’t have much rights there; they were even forbidden from showing their faces or leaving their houses without husband, father or brother accompanying them. Twilight recalled seeing a delegate from Saddle Arabia in Canterlot few years back. He spoke to the Princess without any hint of respect, and two or three times he borderline insulted her. All the royal guards’ grips on their weapons tightened, and Twilight could see the way they itched to silence the horse. Princess Celestia, however, showed no signs on taking offence, and continued to talk to the delegate as civil as to everypony else. She later explained to Twilight that until he would offend her outright, nothing could be done to the diplomat that wouldn’t cause any sort of repercussions... although, Celestia did admit that it took a lot to not blast him all the way back to his sultan.

Equestria never had a very good relationship with Saddle Arabia. Discounting trading deals, both countries ignored each other. However, once, about a decade after Equestria was founded, the ponies and horses nearly came to a war. It began with a number of mares seemingly disappearing from towns and cities. The investigations, led by Smart Cookie, after a couple of months, finally pointed out at Saddle Arabia as the culprit. They were kidnapping mares and selling them as “wives”, which practically meant “slaves”. Once the word of that reached Commander Hurricane, he didn’t even wait for the Council’s decision on the matter. He assembled half of Equestria’s flying forces and stormed into the capital of Saddle Arabia, Neighyadh. Without almost any resistance, he entered the throne room of the palace, slew all the guards by himself, and beat the sultan until he told him everything he knew about those abductions. The sultan confesses to know about them, but he swore that he had nothing to do with them, and gave him the name and the location of the abductor.

Commander Hurricane haunted him down in Equestria, and without anything resembling a trial, he beheaded him with his sword, Windtear. The pegasi leader then left his body to rot - which probably later gave rise to the stories about the Headless Horse - while he took the head back to Neighyadh, and threw the head at the throne of Saddle Arabia with such strength that both the skull and the chair shattered to pieces. He then threatened the sultan that if his country ever tries to do something like this again, he would return, and the horses would suffered the same fate griffons had. Commander Hurricane then took all the mares back to Equestria, where he got into an argument with the Council, especially Queen Platinum (whose father died recently, leaving her as the ruler of the unicorns). They were all not happy with the methods he used, but they all could see that it brought results, so their argument didn’t last long. Then, however, came the reports from the medics who checked if the kidnapped mares were alright.

That way, Equestria learned what in Saddle Arabia the horses do to mares’ genitals when they are of age.

Commander Hurricane was so disgusted and enraged that he wanted to declare war on Saddle Arabia upon hearing that, and it was only thanks to Platinum’s and Clover the Clever spells that he didn’t just storm out from the meeting.

Twilight shook her head off from the disgusting images, just in time to notice a giant flaming bird landing right next to them, which caused most ponies around them to jump in shock. Fluttershy had done quite the opposite; she walked up to him and began petting the Phoenix God.

“Told’ya we will make our way through the crowd.” the voice of Cherry Bomb proclaimed, as he and the group of four other ponies that included the three paladins, used the gap in the wave of ponies to trot over to them.

“Hello, everypony.” Twilight greeted them, relieved. But then she noticed that Matt was nowhere in sight. “Wait, where’s Matt?”

“Sir Lightbringer had to stay in Northville for a couple of hours.” Serenity explained. “He will probably arrive by the evening.”

Twilight fumed inwardly hearing that. Back that night he moved out from her house, he said that they would always make time to see each other and their other friends. And now…

“So, what happened in Northville?” Rarity asked, and once Twilight recalled why they were sent there, she immediately began paying attention.

Storm Clash blinked when the white unicorn’s gaze rested on him. Twilight had to fight hard not to giggle seeing that. The winged stallion opened his mouth to reply, but Tucker beat him to it as he began explaining, while extending his foreleg over the pegasus’ shoulders.

“Why, you’re speaking over here to the Slayer of the Windigo!” he proclaimed, pointing at Storm, and did so loud enough that he gained attention of everypony around them

“I didn’t slay it.” Storm quickly corrected his fellow paladin, escaping Tucker’s embrace. “And Sir Lightbringer helped me at the end.”

“Oh, don’t be so modest, Savior of Northville!” Tucker said, continuing to speak in a loud voice. Quieter, he added with a snicker to the mares around them: “Just wait until he shows you his sword.”

While Storm Clash facehoofed, blushing from the embarrassment, Twilight took a quick glance at Rarity’s face. She saw, as she predicted, her friend looking at the pegasus with admiration, although she was probably not aware of that. Twilight then turned around so nopony would see her snickering.

“While we’re on the topic of Northville,” Serenity spoke up, and when Twilight looked her way she saw the other mare holding a letter in her hoof directed to Spike, “would you mind sending this to Princess Celestia, Spike? It’s our field report.”

“Sure, no problem.” the dragon replied, taking the letter and breathing fire on it, sending it to the Princess. “There, all…” he began to say, but then raised his head and started sniffing.

Twilight looked around at the source of the delicious smell she could also sense, and saw a vendor pony selling carrot crêpes. She was about to suggest buying some for the dragon, but she then heard a thud. Apparently, Spike was so lost in the scent that he fell. Fortunately, he quickly got up and followed Pinkie Pie, who went after the carrot crêpes. Knowing that her friend would buy the baby dragon some, Twilight returned to questioning the paladins about what happened in Northville, while waiting for the parade to start.

Matthias looked at the seemingly empty Abbey, puzzled. Not even Al’ar was present, as with the sun slowly setting, the phoenix should be as visible as a devilsaur in the middle of a living room.

Yesterday, once he buried Granny Rags as per requested, he journeyed back to Vanhoover, ignoring the fact that the night had already began. Matthias arrived there by dawn, and from there traveled by train to Ponyville. He went through the town, saying hello to a few ponies, but none of them were from the his group of closest friends… or subordinates.

“Where in Tartarus did everypony go?” he mused as he entered the Abbey, growing worried.

As if to dissolve those worries, he spotted Guard galloping to him from the park. The older stallion quickly explained that everypony went to the parade, and he volunteered to stay behind. Matthias’ brow furrowed slightly that it was taking them so long to get back, as well as due to Guard of all ponies staying behind. But once he explained his reasoning behind it, the Grand Master relaxed. He told him to carry on with his duties, and he himself headed towards the barracks, intending to unpack.

His quarters never looked more comfortable. He was tired physically and emotionally. While he felt a bit relieved after his talk with Granny Rags, that she was impressed with him instead of afraid, and his head seemed clearer when he began thinking about everything that happened, he was saddened by her death. He wished he had more time to spend with her.

“Since we are on the subject…”

He put his saddlebag on the floor, and took from it the gift from the elderly mare. Matthias stared at the box for a while, knowing what was inside, before he sighed and put it into a hidden safe.

Doing his best to not think about it, he began to take off his armor. Matthias also did his best to ignore the documents that laid on his desk, which he knew must be about Chrona, the only alicorn in the history of Equestria other than Celestia, Luna and Cadance.

He would check them tomorrow.

“So, do you think Matt has returned by now?” Twilight asked, as they group left Sweet Apple Acres, where Applejack invited them for a picnic slash party shortly after the parade had ended.

Of course, the parade ended a bit earlier that it was planned, due to the Cutie Mark Crusaders shenanigans. Applejack didn’t tell them any details, other that now her cousin that was visiting, Babs Seed, was an official Cutie Mark Crusader.

“Well, Ah hope so.” Applejack said, answering Twilight’s question. “Babs’ returning to Manehatten tomorrow and it would be a pity if she couldn’t meet ‘im.”

“Wait, Manehatten!?” Storm Clash, who most of the day spent quiet, spoke up now.

“Yeah, why?” Applejack asked puzzled.

“Err…” the pegasus replied, looking as if… fearing something. “You wouldn’t happen to know what school she’s attending, do you?”

“Um…” Applejack hummed, lifting her eyes up while trying to remember. “Ah think it’s called ‘Smart Cookies’ Elementary’.”

“Oh, thank the Light.” Storm relaxed hearing that, much to the confusion of everypony.

“But her parents are gonna send her to another school once she gets back.” Applejack continued as they finally reached the Abbey. “To ‘Manehatten Public School’.”

“Oh, Light, no!” Storm shouted with something that sounded like despair.

“What’s all the ruckus about?” Applejack asked while Twilight began to wonder if she should give the pegasus an address of a good therapist, to help him with his mood swings.

Storm, who pressed his hooves against his eyes, looked at them. “My brother goes to that school.” he said, as if that explained everything.

Twilight confusion deepened once Rarity burst into laughter.

“Hey, Matt’s back!” Rainbow shouted, who was as usual hovering above them, but this time in a company of Al’ar and Fluttershy. She pointed at the mentioned earth pony, which stood with along with Guard Shield next to the barracks’ wall.

All thoughts about what the heck was going on evaporated from Twilight’s mind as everypony galloped towards Matt. She was too happy to see him again to even get mad at him for taking his time to get back.

“Hi, everypony.” he greeted them once they were close. He must have arrived some time ago, as he managed to remove his armor. His expression darkened a bit as his gaze rested for a moment on his knights and assigned guards, but either he decided to forget the issue of them practically going AWOL, or he planned on punishing them later. “How was the parade?”

The group told him about what happened during the day, from the incident with the float, to their time in Sweet Apple Acres. The paladins also mentioned that they sent the report to the Princess, which made him raise an eyebrow, before he chuckled for an unknown reason.

“So, where is the - now even bigger - biggest threat to Ponyville?” he asked warmly.

“The girls went playing around their clubhouse.” Rarity replied. Smirking, she added: “And before you asked, no, they don’t have any kind of artillery or power tools.”

“That’s a relief.” Matt replied.

“Speaking of, sir,” Storm began, “would you mind sending a message to the Princess to increase the number of guards in Manehatten?”

Rarity once again giggled, but everypony else looked at the pegasus as if he grow a second head.

“What?” Matt asked, confused.

“You see, Miss Applejack’s cousin, Babs Seed, was just made a Cutie Mark Crusader,” Storm began explaining, clearly uncomfortable, and the fact that Rarity kept giggling probably wasn’t helping him, “and she’s going to attend the same school as my brother, who also doesn’t have a cutie mark. Sir, you might find it hard to believe, but I am certain that if my brother becomes a Cutie Mark Crusader, it will be a disaster.”

“Wait, that’s it?” Twilight thought, surprised that he was taking it so seriously.

“I spoke with Oak Heart prior to your initiation.” Matt said, now less confused that they know what all of that was about. “He did strike me as a troublemaker, but surely you overreact.”

“I don’t think so, sir.” Storm replied. “For example, few years back, we went to the Statue of Liberty, and-”

“Excuse me,” a familiar voice behind them cut in, “can I interrupt you just for a tiny moment?”

Twilight along with everypony else looked back to see Scootaloo standing behind them.

“Sure, Scootaloo, what’s the matter?” Matt asked her, trotting closer.

“Nothing, I just have a message…” she said, and then she paused, her expression changing from an innocent one to nearly malicious, “... from the lady that you’ve finished with together.”

Twilight was confused at the odd word choice of the filly, and even more so by her face. But that was nothing compared to the shock that engulfed her once she saw Matt jump up to Scootaloo, grab her, and throw her back into the wall of the barracks with all his strength.

“Matt, what the buck!?” Rainbow was the only one to voice her shock, as everypony else was too stunned from what they saw to react.

Matt didn’t answer her, instead advancing on the lying on the ground Scootaloo with pure rage written all over him.

“You’ve… reacted exactly…” the small pegasus managed to say despite the pain she was clearly in as she attempted to raise.

Green flames erupted around her.

“... as my queen predicted you would.” said the black, bug-like creature in a slightly distorted voice.

A changeling.

Author's Note

Wow, 100 chapters, in less than year. Thank you for sticking with this story for so long!

101. The best laid plans of changelings and ponies

A changeling.

Looking aghast at it was all that Twilight could do. As the black creature’s wings buzzed, time stopped for her. That sound pulled her mind back to the day of her brother’s wedding, when hundreds or even thousands of those monsters attacked Canterlot. Twilight recalled how she and her friends fought them while making their way for the Elements of Harmony, so that they could beat the evil queen that defeated Princess Celestia, who put Shining Armor under her spell, and kidnapped Princess Cadance. The constant buzzing when they surrounded them, the emotionless, horrifying blue eyes without irises or pupils...

The golden chains appeared around the changeling, preventing it from moving. The buzzing stopped, and with great effort Twilight pushed her memories away, concentrating on what was happening now.

“Where is Scootaloo?” Matt growled, standing just few steps away from the changeling.

As Twilight’s mind began once again registering what was going on around her, she noticed that the other paladins and two guards surrounded the backed to the wall creature, and her friends weren’t far behind them… Although only two of her friends, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, looked as pissed as Matt was, at least until he mentioned the pegasus filly. Once he did, everypony had realized that if the bug-like creature took the shape of Scootaloo, then that could mean…

Anger rising within her for those monsters and what they kept on doing to ponies, Twilight teleported to Matt’s side to help him interrogate the changeling. She did it in time to see it give the stallion its response:

“Calm down.” it said, and the sound of its voice seemed to indicate that it was a male, but Twilight neither was sure about that nor interested in changeling’s gender. But she was able to tell by its facial expression (as alien as it was) that despite the situation it was in, it was calm. “The pegasus and those three other fillies are fine… Well, for now, anyways.”

Twilight gasped, and heard several others behind her. The ‘three other’ the changeling was talking about could be only Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed. Judging by its comment; all four Crusaders were in the changelings’ captivity. Matt undoubtedly reached the same conclusion much faster, for he pushed the changeling against the wall before Twilight had a chance to think about using King Sombra’s dark magic on the fiend.

“You’ve got about ten seconds to tell me where they are,” Matt told it, the Holy Avenger in his hoof and pressed against changeling’s neck, “after that I will have a head to mount over my fireplace!”

“Oh, I don’t think it will come to that.” the bug replied casually.

Despite her utter disgust with those monsters, Twilight couldn’t help but stare at it in shock. “Does it have some sort of a death wish?!”

“And why is that?” Matt asked, not moving by inch.

“Because no harm came to the foals.” the changeling told him. “But my queen plans to inflict on them all the eventual damage that will come to me from this point as a payback.”

“She’s keeping them hostage?!” Twilight thought, terrified. Then her fear turned into hatred as she recalled what kind of monster the Changeling Queen was.

The unicorn could see Matt grind his teeth, but with the girls’ life being in danger, he knew like her that there was nothing he could do. With his eyes burning with rage, he took a step back from the changeling, releasing it. But he still kept the Holy Avenger within his grasp and the bug thing in his reach.

“Fine, then.” he said, although anypony could see how much he loathed saying those words. “What does Chrysalis want?”

Twilight bristled hearing him use the name of the Changeling Queen. In her mind, all that she deserved to be called was Monster.

But when the short answer left changeling's mouth, all thoughts evaporated from her mind out of sheer shock.

“To talk.”

The lavender unicorn stared at the changeling as if it lost whatever in Tartarus it had for a mind, and she knew that she wasn’t the only one. All around her, her friends looked at the bug aghast at his response.

“Can you elaborate?” Matt asked, somehow managing to keep his cool.

“My queen wishes to speak with you.” the changeling replied, paying nopony else any attention. “Her Majesty would have preferred to avoid using those fillies, but she felt that she wouldn’t be… welcomed if she just came here.”

“You’re damn right she wouldn’t be!” Twilight screamed mentally, but allowed Matt to continue questioning it. For now...

“And what exactly she wants to talk about?”

“I’m afraid you will have to learn that from my queen.” the changeling told him.

Matt stared at the bug in silence, with an expression that Twilight knew only too well. It was on his face whenever he planning what to do next… and usually, the course he took was the last one she would pick.

“You don’t actually think about going to meet with her?!” she asked him, stomping angrily. “Have you forgotten what that monster did to me, my brother, Cadance, Princess Celestia, and the whole Canterlot?!”

“No, I haven’t forgotten.” Matt said calmly. “But I don’t see any way to rescue the girls other than accepting Chrysalis invitation.” glancing at the changeling and dispelling his blade, he added: “He obviously isn’t going to tell me where they are-”

Twilight didn’t know what annoyed her more: the fact that he was actually going to do this, or that he referred to it as ‘he’.

“So make it tell you!” she yelled. “Interrogate it, make it talk, torture-”

“That’s not how paladins do things!” he interrupted her in turn. She backed away, but not due to how loudly he shouted. Instead, she did it because of what she saw.

For a split second, Twilight saw him as she had never before. He wasn’t a handsome, heroic stallion, always confident in himself, nor was he the charming pony that kept on teasing her whenever he got the chance and they weren’t in any kind of peril. He wasn’t even the colt that cried over everything he did in his past life.

What Twilight saw, was a creature of raw pain.

Matt turned his head back to the changeling, but his eyes lingered for a moment locked with hers long enough for her to understand that the stallion knew what she saw.

“Where is your queen?” he asked the bug-like creature.

But the changeling shook its head.

“First, you will have to give me your word of honor, as the paladin and the Grand Master of the Celestial Light that you won’t try to attack my queen or any of my brothers and sisters.”

“What could changelings possibly know about honor?” Guard Shield snorted.

“You would be surprised, old geezer.” the changeling replied, glaring his way, before he returned his attention to Matt. “Only then I will tell you where my queen is. But that’s not all. You will have to go there with only one pony accompanying you, one who will take the fillies back here or wherever you choose, while you have a chat with Her Majesty.”

“Matt, you aren’t actually buying any of that?” Rainbow Dash asked, hovering next to him. “This is obviously a trap! She will-”

Matt raised a hoof to silence her.

“Perhaps.” he admitted. “But even if it so, then it is still the only way to rescue Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Babs Seed. I will not allow condoning torture on this changeling, which means that the only one that can point us in the direction of the fillies is him.”

Twilight listened to him, her despair growing. He was going to do it. He was actually going to place his fate in the hooves of that monster.

“Wait!” she said suddenly as the idea came to her. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it earlier. “We can use the spell I cast on you when you were unconscious shortly after coming to Ponyville!”

“That won’t work.” said two voices at the same time, Matt’s and the changeling’s. Both glanced at each other, the changeling in surprise and Matt with annoyance. “I suppose this means my guess is correct.” Matt added.

“What guess?” Twilight asked, puzzled and annoyed; how did he know that spell wouldn’t work?

“I will explain it to you later.” Matt said, and then turned to the changeling. “Fine, I-”

“No!”

“Matt, you can’t do that!” Twilight protested once again. She couldn’t let him do that. “She will try to kidnap you, brainwash you, and-”

“Twilight, as much as I think you are the wiser of the two of us, I won’t be listening to your advices on this matter.” Matt cut her off. Twilight winced hearing that. It hurt. Maybe something of her pain reflected on her face, because the stallion added more gently: “The changelings and their queen almost destroyed the lives of those closest to you, your hometown aside. I understand that, but I also understand that this will cloud your judgement.” leaning closer, he whispered: “I can’t watch you repeat my mistakes.”

Twilight recalled when she heard him use similar words. It was back before Shining Armor’s and Cadance’s wedding, when she began believing that the wedding should not happen at all. She was right, after a fashion, but Matt (or anypony else for that matter) didn’t believe her at the time. He did, however, tell her to think about this calmly and carefully, because he didn’t want to see her suffer as he did.

But it wasn’t the same… was it?

“My judgement isn’t clouded.” she said once the stallion had retreated.

“Then you can prove it to me by teleporting with the fillies back to the Abbey.” Matt told her, making her gape at him. “Once we get to Chrysalis, that is.” he said, and then to changeling: “I give you my word of honor, as the paladin of the Holy Light, Grand Master of the Celestial Light, knight defender of Equestria, that no harm will come to Chrysalis this evening. Provided, of course, that the fillies haven’t and won’t be hurt.” he added with a hint of a threat. “I will go there to talk, not to fight.”

The changeling nodded, accepting his words.

“This is going to end up badly.” Twilight thought miserably. “I suppose it’s a good thing he takes me, though. I will make him see by the time we will get to her, and make him realize that this is a trap.”

“Now, lead us to your queen.” Matt told the bug-like creature.

But the changeling shook his head. “I’m not going.” he said, much to the surprise of everypony. “My queen wishes to assure you that it is not a trick. Because of that, I was ordered to stay within the Everfree Abbey, as your hostage.”

Twilight once again found herself looking at the changeling as if he grew a second head… no. This time, she looked at him as if he grew a second head, put some makeup on it, cut it off, lit it on fire, jumped over it several times, followed by mounting what was left of it on a wall… and then did it all twelve more times just to be safe!

She calmed down and mentally facehoofed when after a heartbeat she realized she began thinking of it as ‘he’.

“Your queen is taking a big risk.” Matt told the changeling, and then squinted his eyes and added: “Or she simply doesn’t care about what will happen to you.”

The changeling glared at him, but other than buzzing his wings, he refrained from reacting in a manner that could betray what he (“It!” Twilight corrected herself) felt.

“I volunteered.” the changeling said, but in reply to the disbelieving glances he pretended to yawn - demonstrating his sharp fangs - as if he was bored with the conversation, and looked the other way. “If you’re curious why I did that, you will have to ask my queen. She awaits you, along with the fillies, by the lake on the edge of Ponyville.”

Matt continued to look at the bug-like creature for several more seconds, before he addressed his subordinates. “Keep an eye on our guest. Also arm yourselves, we need to be on the safe side. Al’ar,” the paladin added, glancing at the phoenix with a mixture of respect and plea, “I would like you to circle around Ponyville, and intervene if you notice any trouble. Will you do it?”

The Phoenix God didn’t give any reply at first, just glared at Matt with his ruby eyes. He then turned his head to Fluttershy, who was trembling behind Rainbow Dash, casting frightened glances at the changeling. Making up his mind, Al’ar nodded to Matt, and flew off into the sky.

Sighing with relief, he turned to Twilight and the rest. “While Twilight and I are gone, I want you to stay within the Abbey. I know you are worried about the girls, but if this changeling tells the truth, they will be safe soon.” he said, ignoring the disbelieving snorts. “I would also like you to write a letter to Princess Celestia, informing her about what happened.”

“This wasn’t a part of the deal!” the changeling immediately hissed, his - “ITS!!!” - wings buzzing angrily. “My queen won’t agree to anything if your princess is going to be here!”

“I only want to inform Her Majesty about the situation, and the potential danger.” Matt told the changeling, looking at it without a flinch. “While I hope that I am not making a fool out of myself for believing you are speaking the truth, I won’t put Ponyville’s safety in jeopardy.”

The changeling grimaced, but hesitated a moment before it spoke again, pondering what Matt told it. “My queen… can understand that logic, and even respect it. But what guarantees do we have that your princesses won’t attack us? Or that their guards won’t try to have a payback for the invasion?”

“About the same that I have that this isn’t any trick either.” Matt replied sternly, but then added: “The Princesses trust my judgement, and they themselves would also prefer to solve this matter peacefully. As for their guards, I gave you my word that no harm will come to your queen this evening.”

Twilight eyes went wide as she took in the meaning behind the statement. Matt was prepared to fight the royal guards, and maybe even the Princesses themselves, if they chose to attack the Changeling Queen!

“You… are serious?” the changeling asked, as much surprised as everypony else.

“Matt, ar’ya crazy?!” Applejack was first to voice her opinion, and she did so loudly. “Those things kidnapped mah sister and cousin!”

“I broke my word once before.” Matt said. In contrast to Applejack, his voice was quiet, and yet everypony heard him clearly. The tone of it, for some reason, made them all stop further comments. “And I will not do so again.” shaking his head, he added: “Furthermore, if Chrysalis keeps true to her word - or rather true to what this changeling said - then as a paladin it will be my duty to protect her.”

Twilight could see that the other paladins looked uneasily at each other. Clearly, none of them thought before that protecting innocents might refer to changelings in the future. Twilight, despite her firm believe that it was all a trick, had to admit that if the Changeling Queen honestly just wanted to talk, then Matt was right.

“Twilight, are you good to go?” he asked her, pulling her out of her musing.

“Sure.” she said, for that much at least was true. They were going to bring back those fillies, one way or another. “But what about you?” she frowned. “Shouldn’t you put on you armor? That wouldn’t break your word.”

“I am still giving Chrysalis the benefit of the doubt.” he replied, then grinned. “Besides, when I fought with her before, I did so without any armor, remember?”

Twilight just sighed in annoyance, too frustrated and worried about the girls to point out to Matt how the fight had ended. They nodded to the others as they prepared to leave, but then Matt stopped and turned back to the changeling.

“What is your name, by the way?”

“Is he for real?” Twilight asked - either herself or the Light - while suppressing the urge to facehoof.

The changeling seemed also slightly taken aback by the question, but he just shrugged and, buzzing his wings briefly, replied: “Wind Reaver.”

There was a weird hint of pride in his voice that almost made Twilight quake.

Wind Reaver watched as the two ponies left to meet with his queen. He paid little mind to the ones stayed to watch over him. The changeling could sense all of their emotions without any concentration, the mares especially. The ones he knew by the names of Applejack and Rainbow Dash were boiling with rage. Rarity was mostly worried about her sister instead of being angry with him. Fluttershy was terrified, but was taking comfort from the other mares’ company. The pink one… okay, he had no idea what she was feeling. It would take a changeling with a better sense than him to figure her out.

His attention shifted for the two pony ‘paladins’ that were guarding him while the rest of them had went to arm themselves. Not that he thought them to be a threat; he was confident he could take both of them with ease. Probably in about ten seconds.

“According to our Intel, those are Guard Shield, an experienced former royal guard, and ‘Tucker Out’.” he mused, recalling what the Swarm knew about the unicorn. “A pony that seemingly appeared out of nowhere in Canterlot, under care of the Royal Physician... shortly after Matthias Lehner, also known as Lightbringer, and a group of others had ventured into the Everfree Forest…”

Wind Reaver was stopped from further analyzing Tucker… by the unicorn in question who turned to speak to him..

“Hey, mind if I ask you something?” he asked, emanating curiosity… and something else?

“Sure...” the changeling replied, puzzled as to what that ‘something’ was…

“Is that queen of yours hot?”

Wing Reaver’s jaw dropped upon hearing the question. He could see the mares, which were currently busy with telling the baby dragon what to write in the letter, pause to look at Tucker, disgusted.

He glared at the pony angrily, buzzing his wings out of irritation. “This is my queen you are speaking about!” he hissed, but after a moment, he grinned slightly. “And yeah, she’s totally hot.”

“Excuse me?” asked the voice in his head.

“Oh, great, now there’s two of them.” one of the mares commented, while he tried his best to not show how terrified he was now.

“Your Majesty, I-” he quickly began to reply to her, but stopped once he felt her amusement rather than anger. “My queen, you were observing everything, right?”

He could feel the connection between them - the same bond every changeling shared with their queen - being strengthened since he entered this Everfree Abbey, even if Her Majesty haven’t contacted him directly. It lasted for so long that by the time he made that comment, he got used to the feeling and forgot that the Queen was probably listening.

“Yes, my brave soldier.” the Queen replied, and the sound of her voice lifted his heart. “You have fulfilled your duty admirably.”

“Aren’t you worried about Celestia, Your Majesty?” he had to ask, pushing away the pride that swelled within him hearing her praise. Gaining his queen’s favor, while an always present goal, wasn’t on the top of his agenda at the moment.

Wind Reaver asked the question about the same time the mares began arguing about something. Turning his attention to them, he heard Applejack say: “No, Rainbow, we can’t do that.”

“Look, I trust Matt as much as the rest of us, but you can seriously believe that the changelings are going to keep their word.” the rainbow-mane mare retorted.

Wind Reaver wished he was wearing a shape of the pony at the moment. He wanted to roll eyes so much…

“We should write to the Princess to bring half of the royal guard and attack them as soon as Twilight gets back with the girls.” Rainbow Dash finished.

“It’s a good thing Matthias Lehner didn’t tell them about our connection… Although, I don’t understand how he could possibly know about it...” the Queen murmured in his mind.

“Maybe he doesn’t?” Wind Reaver offered, although he knew it to be unlikely. If Matthias hadn’t, he wouldn’t have stopped Twilight Sparkle from casting the spell that would let her enter his mind, which would only result with her bouncing off from the wall formed by the bond of the changeling and the queen. But why, then, did he not tell his friends?

“Matt trusted us to write what he asked.” Applejack replied to Rainbow’s suggestion. “And we must in turn trust that the Princess will know best.”

“AJ, they kidnapped your sister, for pony sake!” the pegasus wasn’t letting go. “They cannot be trusted!”

“Don’t you think Ah know that?” the cow mare said, and Wind Reaver could feel a great pain emanating from her. However, whatever sympathy he might have felt for her, evaporated when she glanced in his direction. “Trust me, if Apple Bloom as much as crooked her ribbon, I will buck this bug in the face so hard-”

“Bow-chicka-bow-” Tucker muttered quietly.

“-that even its momma won’t be able t’ tell which end was the head!”

“-yew.” the unicorn finished uncomfortably.

“But Ah won’t let what we promised Matt to do become a lie.” Applejack added, her gaze returning to the mares. “Besides, if the Princess will think that she should bring half of the royal guard, she will do so without our advices.”

“Gee, that’s soo comforting.” Wind Reaver thought.

“I will have to divert my concentration to the talk with Matthias Lehner.” his queen informed him. “He and Twilight Sparkle are approaching. If it would start looking as if the princesses plan to attack us, inform me immediately, then rendezvous with the Wing-Lord and his squadron.”

“Yes, my Queen.”

“Matt, I don’t-” as he expected, Twilight began trying to talk him out of it as soon as they left the Abbey behind.

“-think this is a good idea?” Matthias asked her, smirking when she looked at him annoyed.

“Yes.”

“Twilight, you can let your hatred guide you-” he started, but she cut him off.

“I am not trying to talk you out of it because of what happened during the wedding! I’m doing that because what you are doing is beyond idiotic!”

Matthias stopped. “Twilight, look me into eyes.” he said, and despite her anger, she listened. “Look me into eyes, and tell me that again.”

As much as he loved the sight of her beautiful eyes, he found this moment to be painful. At the first second, Twilight gazed into his without any doubt, and opened her mouth, but then she hesitated. She hesitated because she knew that if he was right, then she would be lying to him. So Twilight pondered the answer for long heartbeats, and then looked down.

“I… guess you’re right.” she said quietly.

Matt trotted closer to her and lifted her chin so that she would look into his eyes once more. “Twilight, you cannot let your anger control your actions.”

“Why not?” she asked, a bit annoyed.

“Because if you let it happen… what chances do I have?” he asked her, slumping down.

The memories of the times his rage and hatred made him do decide what to do have resurfaced, and it was all he could do to not start crying. His father, his mentor, his subjects… all of that happened because he couldn’t control himself!

Earlier in the Abbey, he had purposely used similar words to the ones Medivh used when he came with the warning to his father.

I failed humanity once before...and I will not do so again.

Just as the Last Guardian failed humanity by allowing Sargeras to control him, so did Arthas vow to protect his people, and he broke the word he gave.

He shook his head to clear his mind when Twilight hugged him.

“Sorry.” she whispered. “I… should have realized how you feel about me acting like that.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Matthias replied, breaking the hug. They were going to go save the four fillies, and they wouldn’t be able to do so if the lingered there.

“I still don’t trust the Changeling Queen.” Twilight warned him as both of them continued to walk towards the lake.

“What made you think that I do?”

“The fact that you keep referring to her by her name?” she asked, somehow managing to both smirk and frown as the same time.

Matthias rolled his eyes, but before the conversation could go down that track, she asked: “How do you know my spell wouldn’t work?”

“You recall how I told you what I think about the origin of the changelings?” he asked her in lowered voice.

He couldn’t sense Wind Reaver. Not just his evil intention, but his presence at all, even when he stood right in front of him. Somehow, the changelings could hide from being sensed. He doubted that even the guard Celestia mentioned to him, Radar Sense, could. While she could tell that Tucker was alive within the…

“Of course.” he mentally facehoofed.

Doctor Angelic Touch told him that the amber of the changelings is unable to be sensed. It should be expected that this unique characteristic applied to more than just their sap.

“The nerubians, one of the relatives of the changelings - at least according to my guess - are highly resistant to telepathy.” he told Twilight, his voice barely a whisper. He couldn’t be sure if there weren’t any changelings nearby, although his normal senses were telling him that they were alone. “Furthermore, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some sort of mental telepathy link between him and Chrysalis.”

“A Hivemind?” Twilight asked skeptically. “It was in one of those books written by changelings while they pretended to be ponies.”

“The best lie is the one that holds a seed of truth.” Matthias said, shrugging. “Either way, it would be safer to not try anything funny, not when they have the girls.” turning to her, he added: “Once we get them, you will teleport the five of you right back to the Abbey. But not immediately, first check if they are alright; if they’re not, then the ‘talk’ will never happen.”

“And if they are alright, you will honor your end of the deal, right?” she asked, and even before he nodded she sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know if I should be amazed by your stupidity, or impressed by your sense of honor.”

Despite what they were facing, Matthias couldn't help but grin.

Author's Note

Those of you who read this story but don't necessarily follow my blog, would you mind taking a look at this one and help me decide on something?

102. Revelation II

“Remember,” Matt warned her again as they approached the lake, “don’t do anything rash. Just-”

“Check if the fillies are okay and teleport them away, I know.” Twilight cut him off, annoyed. Looking at him sharply, she added: “You know, you are awfully determined to be alone with the Changeling Queen.”

Now, it was his turn to be annoyed. “Are we still on that issue?” Matt asked, exasperated.

“Well, you’re kinda asking for this.” she teased him. Even if she was still angry with him for kissing the Changeling Queen, and hated the mentioned bug, Twilight found his discomfort to be highly amusing. “There will be just the two of you-”

“Do you really think that she hadn’t brought any guards with her?” the paladin interrupted her. “Even if she really came here just to talk with me, Chrysalis isn’t a fool. She probably has a few fallback plans in case things went south for her.”

“I guess you’re right.” the unicorn admitted.

The Changeling Queen managed to plan an attack on Canterlot, slipped into it either before Shining Armor cast his protection spell or she found a way around it somehow, kidnapped Princess Cadance (an alicorn) and trapped both her and Twilight in the forgotten caves beneath Canterlot. She also - according to Matt - had the control of the entire battle as those two fought; and was she able to overpower Celestia, although that came to her surprise as well, and sent a lot of her minions to guard the Elements of Harmony just in case.

“By now, most of the power she gained by feeding off my brother - ugh - must had spent.” Twilight concluded, shaking with disgust. “So she will be weaker… but based upon everything we know about her, that could make her more dangerous.”

As much as she hated changelings, she knew that what Matt told her some time ago was true: they were pulling their punches. Nopony was gravely wounded during the invasion; the queen had Princess Celestia on the platter, as well as Matt, and them… Twilight even suspected that when she started choking them, she might have planned on releasing them as soon as they passed out.

The curious Twilight was beginning to push away the vengeful Twilight out of her mind. I she could just talk with a changeling for a bit, try to understand them-

“No!” she quickly stopped. “My job is to take the fillies back to the Abbey. I am the only one that can take them out of the danger almost instantly. I will have to trust Matt with the rest.”

It was a good thing that they were meeting in the open area like this. Should the Changeling Queen have pointed the place along the lines of the Castle or the Royal Pony Sisters, then she could have placed wards against teleporting from there, trapping them.

Twilight thought back to the changeling left in the Abbey, Wind Reaver. He said that his queen wished to show that this wasn’t a trap. Was her choosing the lakeside as the meeting place also a part of that?

“It will probably be pointless…” Matt began after few seconds of silence. The lake was already in their sight, and so was the oddly gentle green shine that emanated from the shore, creating weird reflections in the water as the nightfall descended. “But I might be good if you could hide your emotions from them.”

“Hide my emotions?” Twilight whispered.

She knew that the changelings could sense them, Matt mentioned that much of his fight, but how does one hide their emotions?”

“Try to focus on something.” he advised her quietly; not they could see that there were several sources of the green light. “It would be best if it could be a few lines of a prayer, a mantra, or a poem. One of your books about magic should probably do it as well.”

“Oh, I see…wait, why do you say it would be pointless?”

“Because they probably expect you to be pissed at them.”

There it was again; the smirk that she hated so much. Despite the gravity of the situation, Twilight quickly used her magic to pull him by his ear, making him jerk his head to the side. She released him before he managed to wail, more due to the surprise than pain; although by now he should have expected that kind of reaction from her. Twilight would have liked to punish him longer, but by now they could see the source of the green light… and what was around it.

Suspended in the air were several small orbs, which were spread around the small clearing that during warmed days served as a picnic side for many ponies of Ponyville. How could they just… float by themselves, without the support of magic? It baffled Twilight’s mind greatly. She saw crystals doing practically the same within the Crystal Empire, but… they were doing that due to Empire’s magic. Those orbs…

“Maybe talking with changelings won’t be that bad…” Twilight thought, wondering what ponies could learn from them-

“Ah, hello my guests.”

“... Forget what I thought.” the unicorn immediately reacted at the sound of the strange and unforgettable voice, or rather voices that were out of sync. “Burn them all.”

By the lakeshore sit the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis. She looked as creepy as Twilight remembered: vaguely pony-shaped, bigger than other changelings or most of ponies, with only Celestia matching her in size. Black chitin covered her body, two bug-like wings sprung from her back, as did a twisted horn from her head. Visible were also two characteristics that marked her different that the rest of her kind other than size: instead of frills she had an almost normal mane, and her eyes were green with oval pupils.

She was flanked by two changelings who, unlike Wind Reaver, bore strange armor. Twilight remembered seeing few of their kind wore similar one back on the day they invaded Canterlot. However, her attention shifted from them to something else when she noticed what exactly the Changeling Queen was sitting on.

It was… Twilight had no idea what it was. The best way to describe it would be to say that it was a mix between a plant, like a fern, and a sofa. Chrysalis wasn’t as much sitting on it as laying, her long body fitting perfectly into the strange couch as if it was made specifically for her, which was probably the case. Its long leaves that sprout around the Changeling Queen weaved at the wind, adding more to the surreal furniture.

And while she couldn’t be sure, maybe it was the light that made it so, Twilight could swear that it was of the same shade of green as the orbs, cocoon and amber in which Celestia and Matt were trapped in.

Twilight didn’t have much time to ponder on that, because Chrysalis spoke, raising from her… seat.

“Greetings, Sir Matthias Lehner, Grand Master of the Celestial Light… or do you go by Lightbringer now?” she asked, leaning her head to the side as if in question. The queen than turned to Twilight. “And Lady Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia. How… cute.”

The unicorn had no idea what in Tartarus was that comment at the end supposed to mean. But she knew it pissed her. She grinded her teeth as she was about to bark back a reply, but Matt beat her to it.

“Where are they?” he asked the Changeling Queen, a threat at the back of his throat.

If she detected it, she was unmoved by it.

“Amusing.” Chrysalis said, smirking and turned to Twilight. “Those are the same words he used when he stopped the ceremony. I hope you thanked him for that; otherwise, you brother would have to go through rather embarrassing divorce procedures.”

Twilight grinded her teeth as her blood boiled with anger. The thought of Shining Armor being married, even for a few seconds, to this oversized bug threatened to send her mind into frenzy. And that she was lecturing her was even more infuriating!

“We didn’t come here to exchange pleasantries, Chrysalis.” Matt spoke, as Twilight fought hard to calm herself. “Where are the fillies?”

Chrysalis again smirked. “And I thought Matt’s smirk was irritating!” Twilight thought. After a second, she nodded her head to the left. Twilight glanced in that direction and almost at once from behind the bushes emerged Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Babs Seed… and a black unicorn filly?

“Girls!” she shouted as she ran to meet them halfway. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“Nah, Twilight, they didn’t.” Apple Bloom replied, smiling. “In fact, Queen Chrysalis apologised to us when we were brought ‘ere, and told Nymph to keep us company.”

Twilight looked puzzled at the black filly Apple Bloom pointed at, but her confusion ended when she noticed that the filly had the exact same eyes as the Changeling Queen. The filly, who smiled shyly at her, cringed and took few steps back when the unicorn’s gaze pierced her.

“Hey, Twilight, knock it off!” Scootaloo exclaimed, placing herself between Twilight and the changeling in disguise. “She was nice to us the entire time we played together!”

The lavender unicorn blinked. Did Scootaloo just defended a changeling?!

“Yeah, she even showed us how she really looks when we asked her.” Babs Seed added as she stood besides Scootaloo.

“Then again, we could have just looked at another changeling; they all look the same…” Sweetie Belle murmured, but after receiving a nudge into the ribs from Apple Bloom she quickly glanced at… Nymph. “Wait, I didn’t mean it as… um…”

“Don’t worry, I know ponies can’t tell us apart.” the black filly replied smirking, but as she looked at Twilight for a moment her smile disappeared. Turning to the fillies again she said: “It’s been fun playing with you, but you now need to get back, so… bye.”

“Aw, can’t you come with us?” Sweetie Belle asked with round eyes.

“Yeah, you could join the Cutie Mark Crusader!” Scootaloo added.

Twilight, who was watching this whole scene with her jaw dropped, looked at Matt, hoping to see… some sort of explanation of what the hay was going on. Matt, however, who was also surprised by this, merely raised an eyebrow and just shrugged.

“How can you just shrug with them being friends with a changeling?!” Twilight wanted to scream at him.

“You… do realize that I am a changeling, right?” Nymph asked, as if following the same train of thoughts as her. “We don’t have cutie marks… and while we’re at it, I’m not your age.”

“So?” Babs Seed asked. “We can make ya an… honorary Cutie Mark Crusader!”

“Yeah, that it!” Apple Bloom added.

“Oookay, they’re under a spell.” Twilight concluded. “It’s the only explanation.”

A cough from behind catch her attention before she could address that.

“I hate to interrupt, but I would like to remind you that you are supposed to be going now.” the Changeling Queen pointed out. “I have some business to do with Sir Lightbringer over here, and I prefer to do that in private… minus all my guards.” she added to Matt, squinting her eyes.

Twilight didn’t even vouchsafe her with a glare. Instead, she proceeded to scan the four fillies for any signs that her minds were under a spell, so that she could free them from…

She gasped. There was no trace of any spell. That meant that either the changelings found some way to mask them… or that there was no spell at all.

“Um… Twilight?” Apple Bloom asked, confused. “Whatch’ya doin’?”

The unicorn shook her head. She would have to figure this out later. Now she needed to take them away from the changelings. But still…

“I’m taking you back to the Abbey. Say goodbye to… Nymph.” she told them.

She waited patiently for them to finish parting with the changelings in disguise. As she did so, she caught Matt looking at her with an approving smile. She shrugged and smiled back. What else was she supposed to do? Just take them away from a friend they probably would never see again?

“Okay, Twilight, we can go.” Apple Bloom said.

Twilight nodded, and began concentrating. Teleporting five ponies all the way to the Everfree Abbey at once is going to be a bit taxing, but she knew she could manage. Before she cast the spell, however, she looked one more time at Matt.

Stay safe.

I will.

A lavender light enveloped them, and they were no longer by the lake. As Twilight looked around, she saw that the Abbey was just as she and Matt left it.

“Girls!” Applejack shouted with relief as she raced towards them, with other ponies right beside her.

Twilight however, as much as she was glad that they were safe, was too busy worrying about Matt to just rest and wait. She needed to do something.

“And I know just what this something will be.” she mused as she looked at guarded by two paladins Wind Reaver.

“Now that we are all alone,” Chrysalis chided, “why don’t you come over here so we can begin talking?”

Matthias moved his gaze from the spot where Twilight and the girls were standing just a second ago to the Changeling Queen, to see her point at the spot next to her seat. Instead of replying right away, he made a show of looking around at all changelings… at least those he could see.

“‘All alone’?” he asked sarcastically.

Chrysalis rolled her eyes before she addressed her subjects: “Leave us.” much to Matthias surprise. As the two guards and Nymph flew away, she looked at him a mocking concern. “Better?”

Matthias took a deep, calming breath, and trotted to sit next to her. He wasn’t going to believe that they were completely alone. There were probably at least tens of changelings somewhere nearby, waiting for him to do something that would put their queen at risk… or, in case this was all a farce, for Chrysalis’ signal to attack him.

The Changeling Queen took a sip from a cup that lay on a table next to her that Matthias only now had noticed. It was build from the same substance that the seat was, and in the same style. It was green, and looked as if it was a mix between a furniture and plant.

“I would have offered you something to drink, but you would probably expect it to be a poison.” she noted casually once he joined her. “Also, ponies react strangely to love in this form.”

“This… is love?” Matthias asked, confused. From this angle he could see that the contents of the cup (also green) looked like a tea… a green tea, to be specific.

“Well, its bit complicated.” Chrysalis replied, putting the cup back at the table. “And I hadn’t invited you here to talk about my kind’s feeding systems.”

“Then why did you invite me?” Matthias decided to go right to the point; while he would have liked to learn more about changelings, there was time and place for everything.

The Changeling Queen didn’t reply at first, instead looked at the lake. She opened her mouth for a second, and then closed it again. Chrysalis gave a tired sigh and finally turned back to him.

“I want to make a deal with Equestria.”

“What are ponies to changelings?”

Wind Reaver blinked hearing her question. Her friends all looked at her in confusion. After she assured them that everything was alright, and that Matt was currently talking with the Changeling Queen, she trotted up to the changeling. She figured that this was as good moment as ever to ask some questions.

“My queen forbade me from telling you anything.”

Pity it looked as if she wasn’t going to get any answers.

“Why?” Twilight asked, surprised. She then cursed in her head. He just said that he wasn’t going to tell her anything.

“Why are you asking it anything?” Rainbow Dash questioned.

“Because…” that was a good question: why did she want to know? Wasn’t she content with just hating them? “I am confused. I thought them to be evil after Canterlot, and now they kidnapped the girls, but… listen to them. They sound like they had a great time.”

“‘Cause we did.” Apple Bloom said.

“Ya hush.” Applejack pressed her hoof to her mouth. “Those changelings must ‘ave did somethin’ to yar brain…”

“No they didn’t.” Twilight interrupted her, almost wistfully; how simple the life would be if that was the case. “I checked all four of them for any spells that could manipulate them.”

“Hey, how do we know this is a real-” Rainbow Dash began suspiciously, but Twilight was really not in the mood for that.

“Do you want me to tell you about what each of us did after the reception?” she hissed. “Because we all know there were no changelings at that time in Canterlot.”

Rainbow Dash’s cheeks reddened as she backed away.

“Also, something that Matt kept pointing out for me is true; the changelings didn’t harm anypony too seriously during the invasion.”

“Because we were forbidden from doing so unless it’s in self-defense.”

All sixteen pairs of eyes looked at Wind Reaver. He continued to stand calmly, as if he hadn’t just broken his silence.

“Didn’t you say that Chrysalis forbid you telling us anything?” Twilight asked. “Like a minute ago?”

“I am allowed to tell that.” he replied with a shrug. “We feed on the love you have; it makes no sense for us to harm you.”

“They why would you attack Canterlot?”

“Because our queen ordered us to so.” he answered, and then grinned: “Also, that was fun.”

“Fun?!” Applejack exclaimed. “Ya think attacking others is fun?!”

“If by ‘ya’ you mean me in specific, then yes.” Wind Reaver explained, mocking her accent at the same time. “I like fighting.”

“So you were at Canterlot.” Twilight stated, wondering how she should react. Should she be angry? Annoyed? Horrified?

“In the group that captured you, I might add.”

“Phgf, big deal.” Rainbow Dash snorted. “You outnumbered us like ten to one. We fought our way through a smaller group before we reached you.

“Oh, how brave of you to beat a bunch of six year olds.” the changeling mocked, and then his eyes widened. “Oh, crap.”

“Wait, six year olds?!” Twilight asked in shock.

For a moment, it looked as if the changeling wasn’t going to answer. Clearly, it was something he wasn’t supposed to tell them.

“Yeah, kinda.” he finally replied, cringing. “Although, that would be by how you ponies measure age: the group that intercepted you was composed of the changelings in ages between six and eight years from the day they hatched from eggs… Oh, crap, I wasn’t supposed to say that, either.”

“So you hatch from eggs?” Twilight repeated, processing that information. Clearly, they shared with bugs more things. However, she wasn’t expecting him to explain more, so instead she asked: “How old are you?”

“Sixteen.”

“Geesh, a teenager.” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No wonder he was stupid enough to volunteer for this.”

The changeling wings buzzed, betraying his anger at the comment, but when he spoke, he did so mockingly: “Maybe, but strong and fast enough to punch you through a wall few months back.”

“Oh, for the love of…” Twilight commented mentally as her hot-heated friend took offense to the remark (which, considering how bad she was hit during their capture, was not surprising), but her thoughts were interrupted by a flash of green… flame, thankfully.

She quickly took the letter that the Princess sent and read it.

“The Princesses are coming here.” she said to the others when she was done. She quickly turned to the changelings before he could interpret it the wrong way: “Here, as in to this Abbey, not were Matt and your queen is. They won’t do anything unless she gives them a reason to.”

“So you say…” Wind Reaver replied, as he squint his eyes.

Twilight sighed mentally. Matt wasn’t going to be happy about this.

“I… didn’t expect that.” was all Matthias could reply after hearing Chrysalis. “What would that deal be, exactly?”

“The attack on Canterlot… it was a mistake.” the Queen replied. “Since that day, it became harder for my subjects to gather love without being caught. Surely, you must have heard about few changelings being discovered in cities around Equestria?”

He had. But every time the changelings had escaped, and they were all away from Ponyville, so he didn’t pay them much mind.

“The ponies became more alert to us.” Chrysalis continued. “They put on more and more warding spells. And while my kind has mastered the art of stealth… things cannot go on like this. The way I see it, making a deal with Equestria is one of two ways for my subjects to prosper.”

“And the other way is…” Matthias asked, even though he didn’t have to.

“War.” she replied, looking dismayed at the word. “But even though I don’t particularly care for ponies, I know that in a war we both would suffer.” looking at Matthias, she added: “I would spare every single one of my subjects any form of suffering. Believe that if nothing else.”

Matthias could certainly believe that. There was something in her tone when she said in those last two sentences that she was speaking truth, maybe because she did so without any sign of sarcasm or mocking?

“Let’s assume that I believe that you honestly want to make… a deal with Equestria.” he said slowly. “What would that deal be, exactly?”

“We would work together to find a way for my kind to feed on love from you without resorting to… how we usually do that.” Chrysalis said. “In return, I am prepared to share all our secrets about ourselves with Equestria… but only after your country is willing to give peace a chance. That’s why I came here to talk with you, to ask you to vouch for me before your Princesses.”

It was tempting. Matthias knew that ponies had practically no information about the changelings, and he had his own questions for them.

“Can’t you feed on love from beings other than ponies?” Matthias asked. As much as he was willing to believe that Chrysalis was honest with the proposition, he had to be sure before he would vouch for her.

“We can, but compared to ponies’ love, zebras’, griffons’ and all the others are… not fulfilling. It’s like for a pony to choose between a huge loaf of bread and just a slice of it.”

“Okay, then… why did you come to me?” he tried from a different angle.

“Isn’t it obvious?” she snorted, pointing at her horn. “You healed my horn, despite knowing that I could heal it myself, despite that I was your enemy. I have never heard of a pony like you… so I had you observed. I know about most things you did since our previous meeting. And… I think that you are the first pony that I could honestly believe when you would tell me that you and your Princesses want peace. With anypony else I would not trust them, not even Celestia herself. But you… who came from a faraway land that would appear to not exist…” she commented, letting him know that what he usually told everypony about being from a faraway land was a clear lie to her.

“You do realize that the Princesses will have a hard time convincing everypony to give you a chance, right?” Matthias asked her; not caring if she knew that he lied to everypony. If she knew that he was from another world, she would have probably said so.

“So you think they two of them would be all over the idea?” she asked sarcastically. “I would have assumed that they would be inclined to disbelief someling that trapped their niece in the cave and all that.”

“Some… ling?” Matthias repeated, puzzled. “Nevermind… But yes, you are correct; they might resent you for that. But they will try to do what is best.”

“Hmph.” Chrysalis snorted, clearly less trustful of Celestia’s and Luna’s intentions than he was. “If they hesitated, you might convince them by telling them about uniting against a common enemy.”

“A common… what?!” Matthias asked in surprise and alarm. “What do you mean by that?!”

“The attack on Canterlot.” the Changeling Queen explained ominously. “I had a reason for it other than gaining more love for my subjects. But… the more I think about it… the more I feel certain I was manipulated by something.”

103. Terms of engagement

Matthias felt his mind spin around at the complications that could be behind Chrysalis statement. He suspected that the changelings were related to the aqir, the servants of the Old Gods… and Sombra-

“No.” he interrupted his own train of thoughts. “If they were, by some chance, under the control of an Old God, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. If they wanted to spy among ponies they would have a lot of better options that this. And besides… with that spirit that possessed him being gone… I’m not even sure that was an Old God.”

Matthias frowned. The more he knew, the more questions he had.

“Why do you think that?” he asked Chrysalis, but she shook her head.

“I have my reasons to believe that. I won’t reveal to you what made me attack Canterlot so easily, Lightbringer.”

He fought to not cringe or sight. Now even changelings were calling him by this name.

“That information, along with others, will be known to you when Equestria agree to this truce.” Chrysalis continued, with a scowl appearing on her face. “I don’t find it easy to admit I’ve been manipulated, in such an odd manner at that. But whoever did that underestimated how infuriated I will be for this!” she stomped the ground with one of her hooves, leaving a deep mark. “I will not let such offense remain unanswered!”

“I can understand that.” Matthias told her, trying to speak soothingly; the last thing he needed right now was for her to lose her temperament. “But if I am to convince the Princesses that you speak truly, I will need something more.”

“Hmph… I suppose I can tell you this:” she replied after a second of hesitation. Leaning closer, Chrysalis said: “You were being watched.”

Matthias raised his brow in now even deeper confusion and tried to ask about details, but the Changeling Queen continued on her own accord, answering his unasked questions.

“My spies noticed something else observing you as well. However, they were unable to discover their identities, as they had to watch out for both them and you to not be discovered.” she paused as a frown crossed her chitin-covered face. “Unfortunately, whoever they were, they finally took notice of my spies. Taking to the account that since then they left Ponyville, it’s safe to assume that this was the same unknown third party that manipulated me and my Swarm into attacking Canterlot.” the frown turned into a scowl, but this time Chrysalis took a blink of an eye to return her face into a neutral expression.

“When was that?” Matthias asked her, trying to take the news in. “When they left Ponyville, I mean. Was that during the time I and my friends traveled to Altomare?” he asked, precisely recalling the evil intent he briefly felt before they left.

“I should have looked into it.” he reproached himself. But he wasn’t sure what this sense he acquired was until the Crystal Empire. Matthias had every intention to find out what was this malice he noticed few days earlier, but after he failed to help Sombra it slipped his mind. “I let my feeling of guilt endanger us.”

“Exactly.” Chrysalis replied to his question; not entirely unexpectedly, she was not surprised that he was right. “Also… they did a bit more than just ‘observe you’... provided that they were observing you, of course. Ponyville has so many ponies worth watching living here, after all.”

The paladin had grinded his teeth. If she was right and the ones targeted were his friends and not him…

“What did you mean when you said that they did a bit more?” Matthias asked.

He was surprised to see her genuinely angry over what those unknown characters did. “I meant that they did something unforgivable.” she hissed. “They used a certain filly as a diversion to get you all out of Ponyville.”

Matthias felt his eyes grow wide while his jaw dropped for a second, and only a second. The next one it was clenched so tightly that some ponies would fear for his teeth. Matthias was bristling with fury he had felt a while ago when he had realized that a changeling was personating Scootaloo.

“Those fiends nearly killed Apple Bloom?!” he hissed. “For what?! Why did they want me away from Ponyville?!”

Why hadn’t he thought about it earlier? Why had everypony assumed the fillies lied to them and went playing into the Everfree Forest? Why hadn’t they brought this subject up again?!

“I honestly have no idea.” Chrysalis replied calmly, taking a sip from her cup of liquid love. “My spy hadn’t actually witnessed this mysterious person infecting little Apple Bloom with spores from the deadly strain of Poison Joke.”

“Then what did that spy of yours witnessed?!”

Chrysalis looked at him coldly before she answered: “Your rage is perfectly understandable, Sir Lightbringer, but I do not like the tone or the volume your voice has taken.” the Changeling Queen said nonchalantly, as she set a lock of her hair behind her ear, giving Matthias time to take the hint and take a few calming breaths. “And as for what my spy had witnessed, he can tell you himself.”

As if on cue, a soft sound of buzzing that could be from changeling’s wings came out from the direction where Chrysalis guards and Nymph flew off to. A changeling, no different from the ones he saw today (although Matthias, thanks to his familiarity with nerubians, could tell them apart by subtle differences, such as size of body, size of muzzle, tone of voice, and so on) landed beside his queen and the pony.

“Lightbringer, this is Ghost Step, one of my Swarm’s best… information gatherers.” Chrysalis introduced the changeling. Matthias gave him a brief nod in greeting. “Ghost, tell him what you reported to me over a month and a half ago.”

“As you wish, my Queen.” Ghost step replied with a bow, and then turned to Matthias. “The night before Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor arrived in Ponyville, I was observing the library where you, Lady Twilight Sparkle and her assistant dragon Spike were sleeping. The two other changelings assigned to Ponyville were located in key points of the town, so they witnessed the figure, cloaked in some magic that made it not only resemble a shadow rather than living being, but also shielded it from our sensing ability. The figure then traveled towards Sweet Apple Acres, and either stayed there until the next day you and your friends came there rushing, or teleported in and out of the location.”

“And what did that ‘figure’ do afterwards?” Matthias asked, recalling what Chrysalis told him.

“When you all split up, some of you going into the Everfree Forest and some staying either at Sweet Apple Acres or moving between it and Ponyville, this unknown character hastened back to town, but we quickly lost sight of him.” Matthias frowned and opened his mouth, but Ghost Step explained: “Our standing orders were to observe you and your friends. Only if we had a direct order from our queen would we concentrated on the shadowed figure and at the time Her Highness was preoccupied and we couldn’t reach her.”

Matthias massaged his temples, trying to somehow put everything together in his head. For some reason, they were being observed, and at one point, they needed them out of town for… what? Logic would indicate that they needed to accomplish something in Ponyville without raising suspicions, but… what could that be? Matthias hadn’t noticed anything different…

“I will need to ask Luna to have her night guards to investigate.” he concluded finally. As much as he wanted to deal with everything personally, he understood that he was still just one pony, and for all his abilities and knowledge, some assignments were best left for specialists.

“I appreciate you sharing this with me…” Matthias started, speaking both to Ghost Step and Chrysalis, but he paused when he glanced at the Changeling Queen.

Her eyes were closed.

“So this sword used to belong to the windigo?” Twilight asked, holding Storm’s blade in her magic’s embrace.

Despite her attempts at questioning Wind Reaver further, the changeling ignored her. Either because he wanted to avoid letting his tongue slipping again and reveal something else, or he was bothered by the fact that the Princesses were going to arrive any minute now. Twilight was a bit bitter about that. She would have loved to learn more about changelings, in contrast to what she thought earlier.

“Those changelings were six years old?” Twilight repeated in her head what Wind Reaver told them about the group that tried to intercept them in Canterlot. “They didn’t seem any different… and if they hatch from eggs, are they also going through metamorphosis? Larva stage? How long do they live?”

But, to her frustration, Wind Reaver remained deaf, at least to her. He was currently in the middle of an argument with Rainbow Dash for some time now. Twilight, who long since lost interest in their boasts and insults, had turned her attention to the sword Storm Clash brought back from Northville.

“Yes, but it was different.” the pegasus replied, his attention shifting from her (with Rarity, Applejack, Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders who were also curious) to the changeling and back, although with the other three paladins keeping a close eye on him Storm could leisurely allow himself to entertain everypony. “It was more curved, and instead of the golden glow it was pale blue.” after a second of hesitation, he added: “Also, the cross-guard was different.”

Twilight nodded absentmindedly, her attention much more focused on the runes engraved on the blade instead of anything else. There wasn’t any magic in them, they’ve seemed to be nothing more than just… words. But she had no idea how to read this writing.

“I thought about giving it a name.” Storm Clash’s voice pulled her out of her musing. “Spring Binder. What do you think?”

“I think that’s a lovely name.” Rarity replied, and Twilight had to look the other way. Not because of Rarity reaction (the lavender unicorn no longer found it that amusing), but due to Storm’s cheek getting redder.

“If we had a rematch, I would have beaten you in ten seconds flat!”

Unfortunately, by doing so Twilight found her attention shifted to the other discussion.

The changeling snorted. “I will have you know that I am considered to be one of the best fighters in entire Swarm.”

“Okay, maybe there is something to be gained from listening to their argument.” Twilight thought, wondering what else was Wind Reaver going to reveal.

“So?” Rainbow Dash countered, not backing down. “And I am the best flyer in whole of Equestria.”

Twilight exchanged glances with Applejack. They both thought the same, but they felt that bringing their pegasi friend back to earth wouldn’t be appropriate, given the company.

“You are faster than me and probably better in the air, I will give you that.” Wind Reaver admitted. “But I am speaking about fighting, not flying around in circles doing stunts.” he snorted again. “Although, your inferiority to me in that term comes less from you lack of skills, and more from your stupidity to not use them.”

“What?!”

“You can do the Sonic Rainboom.” the changeling replied, as if talking to an infant. “If you could figure out how to ‘weaponize’ it, you would have been probably able to stop our attack on Canterlot.”

“Yeah, but to do that, I would have needed to leave my friends to get enough distance!” Rainbow Dash replied, now borderline furious. “I would never leave them surrounded by a bunch of oversized bugs!”

“Um, Rainbow…” Twilight tried to interrupt the argument. Not only because the Princesses could be near, or because Fluttershy was getting scared of their raised voices, or that the ponies guarding Wind Reaver were abashed by this. Twilight just… even though she still found herself hating Chrysalis for what she had done to her, her family and friends, after meeting Wind Reaver and Nymph she found herself… unwilling to think of changeling as ‘oversized bugs’.

But her friend wasn’t listening.

“Of course, I wouldn’t expect a thing that feeds on love to understand this.” she sneered. “Heck, you probably bail on other changelings at the first sign of trouble, abandoning them-”

Buzzing of the changeling’s wings, a black blur and Rainbow Dash’s groan was all that Twilight managed to register in the next second. After it passed, she saw Wind Reaver pinning her cyan friend into the ground several meters away, his right foreleg raised.

Everypony yelled in alarm, and Twilight had a spell at the back of her mind, when the hoof descended… and stopped an inch away Rainbow Dash’s head.

“I suppose I should apologize for Wind Reaver’s outburst.” came from changeling’s lips… but it didn’t sound like it was his voice. Or rather, it was, but he wasn’t the one using it. The distortion in his voice deepened, and now it sounded as if there was a second person... speaking out of sync. “Although, I would like to point out that you ponies are terrible hosts.”

He turned his head away from Rainbow, who was currently gazing at him in shock- and glared at everypony.

With eyes green and pupils oval.

“Chrysalis.” Twilight stated. There were a lot of emotions going through her right now: anger, confusion, fear, curiosity. But she managed to keep her voice calm. “You supposedly send Wind Reaver here to prove that you have no evil intentions. Care to explain what just happened?”

“There is nothing to explain.” Chrysalis spoke through Wind Reaver while she guided his body away from Rainbow Dash. “My subject reacted to an insult and he lost control over himself. He will be punished for disobeying his orders and nearly breaking the word I gave through him, rest assured.”

“That’s all you have to say?” she asked.

“Should I also apologize for those paladins inability to stop him?” Chrysalis replied, Wind Reaver’s face twisting into a smirk. Turning to them, she added: “Don’t feel bad, knights. I wouldn’t have sent here a someling that wouldn’t be able to escape if things would have gone badly.”

“And how exactly are things going right now?” Twilight just about had it with her attitude. Had Matthias were been anywhere but right next to the actual Changeling Queen, she would have some difficulties to not blast her in the face.

“Wait, did she just say ‘someling’? Huh...”

“I would say they are coming along nicely.” she replied. “I think Lightbringer and I will soon wrap up our business over here and he will be on his way back before your Princesses will arrive. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

The green eyes disappeared, and once again Twilight saw blue without pupils ones. Wind Reaver shook his head, looking confused for a moment, and then stood still, with paladins and royal guards now all but surrounding him, their weapons in hooves.

Twilight sighed and went along with the rest to help Rainbow up and see if she wasn’t hurt. Soon this whole thing would be over.

Matthias waited patiently for Chrysalis to open her eyes. If Ghost Step was surprised by his understanding of what was going on, he did not show it.

“Contacting Wind Reaver?” the earth pony asked once Chrysalis was fully there again.

“Something along those lines.” she replied with a strange note in her voice, as if mixing smugness with disappointment and… embarrassment?

“‘Along those lines’?”

“More like stopping him from crushing your rainbow-maned friend’s head, to be honest.”

Matthias could have sworn his jaw hit the ground. Beside him, Ghost Step facehoofed.

“Come again?” Matthias asked after a moment of awkward silence.

“You friend provoked him.” Chrysalis explained, now even more embarrassed… and at the same time, somehow still managing to be nonchalant about it. “In hindsight, I will admit that perhaps sending a changeling with a personality so alike to Rainbow Dash and with such issues to your Abbey might have been not the best idea.”

“My Queen, if you would allow me…” Ghost Step began, and when Chrysalis nodded, he continued: “This is exactly why I and the others disagreed with your decision to send Wind Reaver with this mission. His psychologic profile-”

“Are you suggesting I am not aware of a mental state of a changeling?” Chrysalis hissed, making Ghost Step stop at once. “I, of all changelings?”

“I did not mean that.” the male changeling replied, dropping to a knee. “If you took my words as an offense, please forgive me. I just speak out of concern for the Swarm.”

Matthias listened to the exchange with a great interest. Based on it, he could deduct that Ghost Step’s function in the ‘Swarm’ was more important than just ‘information gatherer’; and that while changelings seemed very obedient to Chrysalis, they were not mindless, and had their own ideas. Also, the Changeling Queen had a bit of trust in him to allow the paladin to bear witness to this discussion.

And most importantly, he deducted that there was a psychopath within his Abbey, in close proximity to his friends.

“I know and your opinion is, as always, appreciated.” Chrysalis told Ghost Step. “But I already took decision regarding this matter.”

“Excuse me?” Matthias interrupted. “Mind going back to the part when your messenger attacked one of my friends?”

“Don’t worry; this is not going to repeat.” Chrysalis assured him. Turning to Ghost Step, she said: “You are dismissed.”

The changelings once again bowed to her, then nodded to Matthias and flew off.

“So, an information gatherer?”

“I did not lie, although I admit that he has other duties.” the Changeling Queen replied. “Suffice to say that he is one of my… advisors. On the side note, he was among those who supported the idea of coming here and asking for your help, and through you, trying to make peace with Equestria.”

“I’ll make a mental note.” Matthias said, inwardly feeling a bit impatient about getting to know all the details of a changeling’s social life. “But let’s get back to Wind Reaver; I thought he volunteered for this mission?”

“He did… due to a certain reason.” Chrysalis answered uncomfortably. “I suppose you could say that he has a lot of interest in forming an alliance with Equestria.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have one more condition Equestria will need to fulfill before I will agree to an alliance.” she replied instead. “Other than just having all ponies with authority to be willing to give this a chance, I want prove that you ponies can treat us changelings with compassion, and not as some…” she grimaced, “parasites.”

“I have a feeling that you have something concrete in mind.” Matthias noticed.

“One of my subject…” she hesitated, and Matthias, to his surprise, saw genuine pain in her eyes. “She’s been missing ever since attack on Canterlot. I cannot contact her, cannot feel her… no.” Chrysalis corrected herself. “When I struggle to reach her, I can feel… her terror.” she looked Matthias into eyes. “And absolute fear unlike anything I have known during a millennium. We’ve been searching for her… I think she’s somewhere in Equestria, but it’s been over two months and we haven’t found any trace of her.”

“Perhaps she’s…” Matthias said uncomfortably.

“I would have felt if she died.” Chrysalis cut him off.

“So this is what you want Equestria to do.” he said instead. “Find your missing subject.”

“Yes. I have hope that you, with your resources, will be able to locate her. Especially since she was most likely taken by whoever is working against all of us.”

“They manipulated changelings to attack Canterlot, imprisoned one of them, spied on us, and poisoned Apple Bloom to do something in Ponyville.” Matthias summed up. “Who could be responsible for all of this?”

Unable to find an answer, he asked instead: “This changeling… she’s some- someling important to Wind Reaver, isn’t she.”

“Yes. She was his intended mate.” Chrysalis replied, and once again pain slashed across her face. “Because I let myself be manipulated, one of my subjects became imprisoned, and another is suffering as well.” the pain turned then to scowl. “When I get my hooves on them…”

“I won’t envy them.” Matthias said diplomatically, inwardly thinking that if they were really on somewhere on Equestria’s soil, they would have to stand on trial first. “I suppose I’ve heard everything I need to hear.” he told her instead. Frowning, he added: “Bear in mind, I must still consider the chance that this is all some rouse.”

“Of course.” she replied, smirking. “My kind’s secrecy works against us now. And you should bear in mind that I must suspect you will tell us that Equestria will welcome us with open hooves, only to backstab us later.”

“Considering that, I’m surprised that there isn’t something like an ‘Element of Trust’.” Matthias snorted, earning a chuckle out of her. “For all it’s worth, know that I believe you, and I will do my best to convince the Princesses and everypony else.”

Chrysalis closed her eyes for a moment. “Thank you.” was all she said, and then rose from her seat. Her horn flashed, and the seat, as well as the small table, cup, and the glowing orbs dissolved into the air, becoming a green mist that soon also disappeared… or rather, was absorbed by Chrysalis magic.

A buzz of changelings’ wings once again sounded, and soon a group of nine changelings joined Chrysalis. One Matthias recognized as Ghost Step, and two others as the guards that were with her when Twilight and he came here. Four others also wore the same strange armor as they. Suddenly, green flames surrounded one of the changelings the moment she touched the ground, transforming her into a black unicorn mare with green mane.

“Nymph will be staying with you along with Wind Reaver, as a means of contact with me.” Chrysalis explained. “Also, she will be able to give you information regarding changelings biology and social life.”

Matthias glanced at Nymph, who upon seeing his gaze, looked the other way. She still had green eyes, although now her pupils were normal ones instead of oval, and unlike the filly version of the shape she bore, she now had a cutie mark.

A green amber, shaped into a form of heart.

“Lightbringer.” Chrysalis said, leaning closer. “All of my subjects are dear to me. Do you understand?”

Oh yes, he understood. Because of that, he ignored the pang of pride and bowed before Chrysalis: “I give you my word that I will see to their safety.”

The Changeling Queen rewarded him with a smile, an honest one, for a change. “I’m glad to see I wasn’t mistaken to trust you.” She flexed her wings. “And I’m glad as well that we managed to finish our business before your Princesses arrived.” Chrysalis looked at Nymph, and a strange expression crossed her features. Glancing back at Matthias, she added: “I leave the rest to you.”

Matthias nodded and watched as the group of changelings soared into the sky, quickly disappearing from sight in the darkness of night.

Author's Note

Got the new story right here if you're interested. But don't worry, Rebirth is still my major concern when it comes to writing,

104. Controversial

Twilight’s heart had lifted when the carriages of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna landed within the Abbey. The sight of her mentor being here, when they were in trouble, was by far more calming than the knowledge that Matt was handling it. “With his previous track record of it, who can blame me?” she thought, half-sarcastic and half-worried. Despite not seeing him being blown away through the entire Crystal Empire or getting impaled, she knew more or less about how his fight with King Sombra proceeded, and she dreaded something like that could happen again.

Strangely, much less comforting was the sight of the guards the Princesses brought with them. Aside from the four pulling the carriages (two royal guards and night guards respectively), there was also six more pegasi royal guards and two more night guards. Twilight knew Princess Celestia well enough to know that Matt was right and she would also try to find a peaceful solution, but the unicorn also understood the need for increased security. If this would all turn out to be some sort of plot cooked up by the changelings, they would be in great trouble. It was for that reason why Matt asked Al’ar to keep an eye on Ponyville and their friends to write to the Princess.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna!” Twilight greeted them as she bowed, along with her friends. The paladins, Sound and Bomb saluted; but briefly, as they still had to watch Wind Reaver. “It’s so good you’re here!”

“Hello, my student, and hello to your friends.” Celestia replied warmly. “It’s always a pleasure to see you all… if only the circumstances weren’t so troubling.”

Her gaze turned to Wind Reaver. Twilight followed it and bit her lip. Since the changeling attacked Rainbow Dash, was stopped by the Changeling Queen, and forced to back away from them, he stayed silent and practically hasn’t moved. Twilight wasn’t even sure if he was breathing; then again, she had no idea if changelings needed to breathe at all. He seemed determined to not get himself provoked again, for which she was grateful. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash stayed calm as well, except for muttering “sucker punch” under her nose a few times. The lavender unicorn had guessed that she was mostly shocked by what happened. If not, she would’ve probably taken the excuse to hit Wind Reaver.

The paladins were less understanding on that event. Storm and Tucker both had their unique swords ready for the slightest sign of aggression from the changeling. Guard, Sound and Bomb were standing between them and the everypony else with Serenity, who was the best of the four paladins when it came to healing, slightly behind them.

If Wind Reaver was intimidated by their increased diligence, he did not show it. Nor did he acknowledge in any way the presence of the Princesses or their guards. In case of the latter that could be unwise, seeing how the royal guards glared at him. Night guards, on the other hoof…

Twilight forgot for a moment about everything as she studied them. Ponies seldom saw night guards; they were elusive and secretive, protecting the ponies of Equestria from the shadows. Usually the only time when they were seen was when they came to arrest you, or like now, when they were accompanying Princess Luna. Twilight herself actually only saw them that one night on Nightmare Night last year. And yet… she had this odd feeling that something was different about those night guards. But she couldn’t put her hoof on it…

“I see that the fillies were safely returned.” Princess Luna’s words interrupted Twilight’s train of thoughts. The Princess of the Night was looking at the four younger ponies with relief. “That is good to know.” the fillies looked a bit spooked by the Princess smiling at them, especially Babs Seed, who never met her until now. Luna turned to Twilight: “Has there been a word about Sir Lightbringer?”

“No, Your Majesty.” Twilight replied, and then corrected herself. “Well, actually… a few minutes ago the Changeling Queen said… um, through Wind Reaver...that her ‘business’ with Matt was about to be ‘wrapped up’.” The Princess and few royal guards looked at her with confusion. Twilight groaned quietly as she facehoofed in annoyance. “It doesn’t make much sense, doesn’t it?”

“I’m sure you’re going to explain everything clearly to us, my faithful student.” Princess Celestia said with a smile. “Now, when you say ‘Wind Reaver’, you are referring to this changeling over here, am I right?” Twilight nodded as the white alicorn regarded Wind Reaver, a slight frown crossing her face when her gaze slipped to the ponies guarding him. “Is such attention really necessary?”

“Beg your pardon, Your Majesty,” Guard Shield quickly said, “but we would prefer to prevent any more accidents from happening.”

“Accidents’?”

“You say that as if you are able to stop me.” Wind Reaver snorted almost at the exact same time as the Princess asked her question, breaking his ‘vow of silence’.

“Oh look, somepony started talking again.” Rainbow snickered, much to Twilight’s irritation, with hostility in her eyes as she looked at the changeling.

“Oh look, someling is being a bitch again.” Wind Reaver hissed in reply, making more than one pony scowl at the display.

Rarity and Applejack jumped to cover the ears of their sisters and their friends, but Twilight had already had it covered. The moment Rainbow Dash started their argument again; she cast a spell that created a soundproof barrier around the four fillies and Spike.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened, but the changeling lost interest in her and turned to address the princesses: “My Queen has already left.” Everypony gasped in surprise, save for the Royal Sisters, who merely raised eyebrows and made a quick eye contact. “Your paladin is on his way back. They should be here in about few moments.”

A great wave of relief washed over Twilight, but it was quickly mingled with confusion.

“Who’s they?”

But Wind Reaver returned to his previous posture of being silent, and remained frozen to the ground like he was some sculpture in the Canterlot’s garden.

As Twilight groaned in irritation, a familiar crow sound was made from above them. Al’ar returned from patrolling Ponyville, somehow sensing that the town no longer needed his protection. The flaming bird shone like a beacon in the night.

“Why can’t this crazy day just end?” Twilight thought weakly. “I just want to go to bed already…”

Matthias shook his head once he ended his contact with Al’ar. Reaching out with mind to a being that wasn’t exactly keen on having you in his head wasn’t easy, but the paladin didn’t want the Phoenix God to continue circling around Ponyville when it was no longer needed.

He returned his attention the changeling that trotted next to him in disguise of a unicorn. “So, Nymph,” Matthias started, pondering how it would be best to interact with her, “is there a specific reason why you are wearing this shape?”

His question seemed to startle her. She jumped into the air for few inches and moved away. “Um… no, I- I mean… not exactly…” Nymph replied, not looking at him.

Matthias raised an eyebrow. “Either what Chrysalis sent here is a changeling version of Fluttershy for some reason, which wouldn’t make much sense, or she’s acting. Then again, Wind Reaver is apparently borderline psychotic…”

“Nymph, I gave your queen a word that I will look to your safety. If you continue to act as if I am going to eat you or something, this will only raise suspicion. Nopony is going to believe that the Changeling Queen is honest if she sends some...ling that is scared of her own shadow.”

The black mare gave him an awkward smile. “I… I think that’s part of the reason why my Queen has sent me. She guessed that you would have begun suspecting that I am acting… and since you would eventually figure out you are wrong, you would feel annoyance at yourself.”

“Is your Queen willing to risk all of that what she told me for a chance of making a joke on me?” Matthias asked with a sigh of annoyance. Annoyance because she was right; that would be what would happen…

Once again provided that she wasn’t acting.

“Oh, no, that’s just a bonus for her.” Nymph replied with an apologetic smile. “Other than my nervousness, I am well prepared for this mission. And the few others that could be here instead of me… my Queen wasn’t sure if they truly believed this peace between our two races could work.”

“And you do?”

“I… hope it works.”

Matthias could not detect a single note of dishonesty in her voice or facial expression… and he wasn’t sure if it was putting him more on ease or rather quite the opposite.

“What do you do exactly in the… Swarm, correct?” he asked her, hoping to either gain some information on the changelings or to understand her better.

“Yes, that’s how we call ourselves, and… I suppose I could tell you that I am something along the lines of a scholar.” she replied nervously and looked at him apologetically. “I’m sorry; I can’t tell you anything else at the moment.”

The paladin waved off her apology. He was by far more annoyed by her line about a scholar. It reminded him how often he used to tell everypony how he wasn’t one, despite his vast knowledge on Azeroth. “It’s almost as if it is a running gag of fate or something.”

“It seemed that you got along nicely with the girls.” Matthias tried to move the conversation into the topic that shouldn’t cross into the area of ‘not telling’.

“Oh, yes, they were lovely.” Nymph replied beaming up. “I enjoy spending time with the young ones… although changelings’ and ponies’ young ones are quite different. And I hardly ever had gotten a chance to watch over small ponies.”

“Well, I suppose that means you have something to look forward to once we get to the Abbey.” he told her with a smile, but it soon dwindled when he tried to imagine Applejack’s and Rarity’s reaction to a changeling playing with their kin. “Although-”

“Their families might not be so taken by the thought.” Nymph said, sighing sadly. “Even if Equestria and the Swarm should form an alliance, it will take time for prejudices to disappear. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that it would be ponies fault; a lot of changelings view ponies as nothing more than food. I mean food source!” she quickly corrected herself, then covered her face when she’d realised that didn’t exactly sound any better.

Matthias chuckled warmly, amused by her character. Even if she was just pretending, he found her charming.

“How are you doing this?” Nymph interrupted his laughter. He looked at her, puzzled. “I mean, looking at me, talking to me, as if I’m a pony? You should be thinking that this is all a rouse, a plot; that I’m just trying to win you sympathy to gain some love. And besides…” she trailed off, looking away from Matthias. “... ponies think we are disgusting.” Nymph whispered in a hurt voice.

So there it was. Why she was acting so timidly. Matthias wasn’t sure how to react to that. He didn’t expect a changeling to care deeply about what ponies thought about them. Nerubians and all aqir offshoots view themselves as superior to other races. But changelings… at least some, did not.

“If we had met ten years ago, I would have probably thought so.” Matthias admitted. Now he was gazing down in shame. “I often used my eyes instead of my soul and heart to see things for what they were. But now I know better, and probably because of that the Light seems to favor me so much.” An idea came to his mind, and he immediately observed Nymph’s reaction. “And changelings aren’t the first sentient insectoid race I encountered.”

The black mare’s eyes snapped wide open as she gazed at him. “What?!”

“So, they don’t even know after all…”

“In the land where I came from, there were others… not like you, though, they didn’t feed on love or changed shapes. Due to certain circumstances, I got to know them quite well, including one of their leaders, Anub’arak.”

“I… see…” she replied, thinking this over. Matthias was disappointed. He expects her to bombard him with questions. Instead, she chose - no doubt on Chrysalis’ orders - to now give away what they know or don’t know about their own race’s kin. “This Anub’arak… was he your friend?”

Sadly, Matthias knew that wasn’t the case. “No, we were… forced allies, I’m afraid.” When Ner’zhul was the Lich King, he raised the deceased Nerubian King into undeath and crushed his will, making him a loyal servant. And once he was defeated years after that, he was once again called into service just a few months later, this time by Arthas’ hand. “Honestly, if we’d ever meet again, he would probably try to rend me to pieces.” he told Nymph with an uncomfortable smile.

Her jaw slightly dropped, but seeing his own awkwardness, she managed to recover somewhat. “It would seems that prior to coming to Equestria you led an interesting life.”

“That’s one way of putting it, I suppose.”

She didn’t ask him to elaborate, which took him by surprise. Could that mean that the changelings knew more about him than Chrysalis let out? “No.” he decided. “Chrysalis is playing with her cards hidden. She won’t reveal something that could give us an advantage… and I am a big unknown, so she tries to reveal as little as possible. The only reason why she agreed to explain how changelings live is probably because she is certain we won’t be able to use that information against her.”

Lightbringer’s Chapel’s spires came into sight, illuminated by Al’ar glow as the phoenix descended to land. Matthias sighed. Now would come the really complicated part. He could sense Luna’s and Celestia’s presences, so at least he could talk to them in person instead of through mirror or letters.

“Are you hoping to affect us through your personal charm?” an unexpected snicker in his head almost made Matthias jump.

“How long have you been listening in on my thoughts, Luna?” he asked the Princess of the Night, feeling a bit annoyed that he hadn’t noticed her earlier.

“Only long enough to know that you have something to explain to me and my sister.” she replied sincerely. “Would you prefer to tell everypony in person, or do you want to share it with me first?”

Matthias considered it, but decided against it. While it might be easier to first ‘talk’ to Luna to gain her support in this, it kind of made him feel as if he was going behind Celestia’s back, even though Luna would probably share everything with her sister before she made her decision.

“Thank you for your offer, but I’m just outside of the Abbey.” he told her mentally. “I will fill you in along with everypony else all at once.”

“Oh well, I do love surprises.” Luna replied with a smirk.

Once she spots Matthias trotting towards them, Twilight could barely stop herself from galloping to him. She was so relieved to see him return to them safely that at first she hadn’t noticed the black unicorn with a green mane following him. Once she did, however, she quickly recognized her. Even though this time she wore a shape of a grown mare - and probably a closer one to her actual age - there was no way this wasn’t Nymph.

“Nymph!” the quartet of fillies also came to the same conclusion, as they waved from behind Rarity and Applejack, greeting her cheerfully. If the two older ponies weren’t stopping them, they would have probably moved in to tackle the changeling in disguise.

“Um…” the changeling’s uncertain eyes darted between the fillies, Matt and the Princesses and her guards. Matt, who appeared to be amused by the girls welcoming her, as well as her awkwardness, gave her a nod and continued to head towards the Princesses, leaving Nymph alone. She smiled and looked at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Hi! It’s great to see you again, girls!”

Twilight had no idea what to think of that. This changeling seemed to be really happy to see them again, and the fillies weren’t under any spell… but she was a changeling. Applejack and Rarity must have thought the same, as they recognized the name from the younger ponies’ tale, and were glaring daggers at the changeling.

“Hold on ‘ere, missy!” Applejack told her, making Nymph cringe and back away.

“Applejack!” Apple Bloom shouted, glaring at her sister.

“It’s alright, Apple Bloom.” the changelings quickly interjected before anypony would start arguing. “Don’t argue with your sister, please.”

For some reason, this scene was so bizarre that everypony else (even Wind Reaver) stopped doing what they were doing and looked at them, much to Nymph clearly visible discomfort.

“Well, alright ‘en.” Apple Bloom muttered, sending another angry glare at her sister, before she turned to Nymph with bright face. “So whatch ya doin’ ‘ere?”

“Are you going to stay here?!” Scootaloo asked, flapping her wings so fast in her excitement that they lifted her above the ground for a second.

“That would be so cool!” Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed both said at the same time.

“Well…” Nymph trailed off, glancing at Matt.

Matthias stopped before the Princesses as he bowed his head. “Your Majesties.”

“You can bother yourself with the ceremonies later, Sir Lightbringer.” Luna quickly told him. “Right now, we would like to know what happened. What did the Changeling Queen want? And why have you returned with another changeling?”

You didn’t need a genius to figure out that everypony would’ve liked to hear answers to those questions. Matthias could easily read the curiosity from everypony’s eyes, starting with Celestia and ending with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Even Al’ar and Spottedleaf, which he spotted them sitting on the roof of the barracks, seemed interested.

He took a deep, relaxing breath, as he knew he was going to need it for what he was about to say. However, before he spoke, Matthias took a quick glance at the night guards accompanying Princess Luna. Despite how often he asked the Princess of the Night for their services, this was the first time he met them face to face. But… he had seen them in the memories Luna had shared with him, and… there was something different about them that those. He could sense it, too. It was almost as if… no… although…

Matthias mentally shook his head. He would ask Luna about it later.

“As you wish, Princess.” Matthias said. He contemplated on his way back how to best explain what Chrysalis wanted, but in the end decided to just say it and watch everypony’s reaction. “The Changeling Queen wants to make peace with Equestria, and create a lasting alliance.”

He was rewarded with the sight of both Princesses’ jaws dropping. True, about everypony reacted that way, but there was something in the alicorns that spoke of near impossibility of such an event. Some humorous part of Matthias’ mind conjured an image of a certain being encased in stone giving him a high five for accomplishing such feat.

Princess Celestia was first to recover. Even though, when her eyes shifted from Matthias to Nymph and them Wind Reaver, the paladin could see disbelieve in them. “That something I hadn’t expected.” she admitted, looking at Matthias again. “Sir Lightbringer, could you please give us some more details? In your office, perhaps?”

“If that is what you wish, Your Majesty.” Matthias replied, preparing to lead them to the more appropriate place for discussing such matters.

Celestia and Luna both rose, but Celestia hesitated. “Regarding those two changelings…”

She trailed off, giving him a hint to explain. “Their Queen sent them here as a means of contacting her and for providing information. I had also guaranteed their safety.”

“Of course you had.” Princess Celestia said, smiling, her voice having no hint of snide. She then turned to the two changelings and came closer to them, much to the royal guards worry. “And I support your decision. Wind Reaver, Nymph, for the moment you can consider yourselves guests of Equestria.” she said, much to the shock of everypony, excluding her sister and Matthias. “I hope that the idea of peace and alliance will become reality and we will be able to call ourselves friends. If not, then you have my word as the Princess of Equestria that you will be safely escorted outside of our borders.”

Both Nymph and Wind Reaver were taken aback by Celestia’s declaration. They exchanged a quick looks, and both bowed their heads.

“We’re… thankful for your hospitality, Princess.” Nymph managed to say. “We also hope that there will be peace between our kinds.”

“I am glad to hear that.” Princess Celestia replied, smiling. “I don’t see a reason to keep you waiting for us here to finish our discussion, so if you’d like, you can be escorted to the rooms that would serve you as living quarters for the time being. I hope you will understand, though, that there will be guards posted by them, for a time at least.”

“Of course.” Nymph said. “We actually expected that until the Hivespeaker convinced you that our Queen’s intentions are true, we would be waiting in the dungeon.”

“Who?” Celestia asked in confusions, about as much as Matthias.

“Oh, um…” Nymph stammered, looking from Matthias to Princess Celestia. She sighed after a heartbeat and explained: “That’s… what Queen Chrysalis told us to call Sir Lightbringer if he had agreed to vouch for us.”

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.” Matthias thought, facehoofing.

“Serves you right for siding with changelings.” a familiar hiss sounded from above him, half-angry and half-amused. Matthias opened his eyes to look at Rainbow Dash while Princess Celestia continued to address Nymph and Wind Reaver.

“I am not siding with them, I am working for a peace between ponies and changelings.” he told her, as Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy joined them, all keeping one ear in the direction of Celestia. He could feel Luna’s gaze on him and knew that he had her attention as well. Rarity and Applejack remained with the fillies.

“I suppose such title fits Sir Lightbringer, given how he is speaking on your queen’s behalf.” Celestia commented. “Now, before we part, I have to ask you two questions.”

“‘Peace’?!” Rainbow Dash whispered in disbelief. “Matt, those things feed on love! And that freak you left here-”

“Will such incidents as the one Knight Guard Shield mentioned happen again?”

“Yeah, that!” the cyan mare said, pointing at Celestia. “That creep-”

“What did you say to him?” Matthias asked her calmly.

“I… What?”

“No, Princess Celestia.” Wind Reaver spoke. “That won’t happen again. And know that I am sorry; not for attacking Rainbow Dash, but for spoiling your and other ponies impression of us.”

“I am not trying to justify that he attacked you, but I know that it must have been triggered by something you said.” Matthias quickly told Rainbow Dash. Quickly so it wouldn't earn him a hoof to the face. “Based on what Chrysalis told me, I could probably guess what that was, but I am a tad busy. But know this: ever since the attack on Canterlot, a female changeling that was supposed to become his mate has been missing.”

Twilight and Fluttershy covered their mouths as they stared at him with wide eyes. Pinkie Pie’s mane deflated and dropped down, moist gathering at the edges of her eyes. But the biggest change came upon Rainbow Dash. Her wings stopped beating, making her fall on the ground into a sitting position. She opened her mouth, as if trying to say something, but all she could do was staring at Matthias.

Princess Celestia, either not aware of the small drama behind her or simply not wanting anypony’s attention to turn to them, spoke to the changelings again. “I would also like to know why you are wearing a form of a unicorn; everypony here knows you are a changeling.”

“Oh, I… um…” Nymph, to whom this question was directed to, stuttered again, from what Matthias knew to be not shyness but fear. “T-that is…”

“When we are in our true form, our ability to sense emotions is magnified.” Wind Reaver interrupted her. He glanced at the black female for a heartbeat, and then continued as he turned again to Princess Celestia. “I can sense a disgust from those two,” he pointed at Applejack and Rarity, “and hatred from your royal guards, simply over the fact that we are, in their eyes, some oversized parasites.” He shrugged. “Some changelings deal with such emotions worse than others.” he finished with another glance at Nymph.

Matthias once again had to thought that if this was an act, as it was really good one. Nymph was all but shivering, and she was still in pony form. Matthias wondered if such strong emotions could even cause a physical pain to her.

“I am sorry to hear that.” Celestia said, with her voice full of compassion. “But as much as I want, I can’t make ponies stop feeling hatred or disgust. And changelings gave them very good reasons for such emotions.”

“I-I know… Princess.” Nymph replied, smiling shyly. “I will be okay… eventually…”

“Don’tcha ya worry, Nymph!” Apple Bloom, who finally managed to get past her sister (probably due to shock Wind Reaver’s words caused in both Applejack and Rarity) and jumped at the changeling, she gave Nymph a loving hug. She was then followed a second later by the three other CutIe Mark Crusaders. “We still love ya!”

“Ught, sappy-” Scootaloo tried to say, but was silenced by Apple Bloom, who angrily pulled her pegasi friend into the group hug.

Princess Celestia smiled and took a step back as the changeling was being crushed alive while smiling. Glancing at Storm Clash, Guard Shield, Tucker Out and Serenity, she said: “Escort them to their temporary quarters and keep an eye on them. If Applejack and Rarity will allow it, the fillies can spend some time with Nymph.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Matthias, seeing the Princess to head towards them, turned to look at Rainbow. She was still shocked from how what she (had probably) said must have hurt the changeling. “I… I didn’t know…” she muttered weakly.

He put a hoof on her shoulder and smiled. “I know.” That was all he said. Matthias knew Rainbow Dash well enough to know that she would do the right thing.

“We haven’t yet decided on a course of action, and you already make friends with them.” Luna observed neutrally as her sister joined her.

“Don’t you trust our Hivespeaker’s judgement?” Celestia replied with a smirk, making Matthias almost bash his head against the wall of the barracks. “Speaking off, weren’t you leading us to your office, Sir Lightbringer?”

Matthias nodded, wondering if he would start calling himself that would they leave out this newest title of his. He rose to his hooves again and, trying to decide which name was better, took a few steps towards the doors of the barracks.

“Twilight, I would like you to join us for this meeting.” Celestia’s voice made him look back. He saw an equally surprised, but nonetheless nodding lavender unicorn stand straighter and turned to him.

“This is going to be a long night.” Matthias thought, and was certain, as he stared into her eyes, that Twilight thought the same.

106. Exploring Time and Darkness

Matthias stared at the notebook on his desk, trying to come up with an explanation to where had he saw those runes, and why he couldn’t read them (he, who thanks to some of the nerubians’ memories could read even titan), and yet Yellow Flash could.

The paladin had some suspicion as to where did Yellow Flash learned all of this. He vaguely recalled hearing within Luna’s memories that her father traveled all over the world and did a lot of research for trying to come up with a way for defeating Discord; it wasn’t hard to imagine him stumbling upon some ancient scroll or something. That would probably be also when he wrote down all the prophecies Chrona made in this notebook. But… why did this writing look familiar to Matthias?

Matthias hid his face in his hooves. It was surreal to him that just the previous day he was keeping company to a dying mare and then buried her. “Mystery after mystery…” he mused, rubbing his eyes, “Would it hurt the fate to just once give me something clear? Honestly, at this point I would take anything!”

Sighing, he opened the notebook on the first page, accepting the fact that he wasn’t going to sleep tonight. Matthias began reading a text that looked like an intro:

My daughters, or whoever it is you trusted enough to show this book, read my words carefully. Those prophecies that Chrona made… I believe they were all true. The fact that she used those runes for writing them proves that much. I won’t tell you where I learned to read them; it wouldn’t be of much use for anypony anyway, as that place is destroyed and abandoned. I would prefer if it stayed forgotten along with some other secrets that I discovered.

Chrona was the only recorded alicorn in the history of Equestria other than you, my daughters. I’m sure you will accept when I say that just as your special talents bond you with the sun and the moon, so did her with the time. But, if she was like any of you, then I must say that it proved too much for her. Time, eternity… it isn’t something a pony’s mind can comprehend. Those bits of information I found about her point out that she was at times having problems telling apart the past from the future or even the present. As such, I have no idea if the prophecies I managed to recover are actually prophecies, as some might concern the past. I know for sure one was about the future, though, for it had come to pass.

I will not be as bold as to say that I managed to discover every prophecy Chrona made; with Discord causing random chaos everywhere, and Eastin’s Asylum slowly falling apart along with the rest of the city, I must have missed quite the number. I also couldn’t find the trace of Chrona’s husband and daughter, not to mention her father, who could possibly fill in some gasps.

I know as I write these words that I and my wife won’t have much time left in this world. I leave this notebook for my daughters and future generations, so that they might use the knowledge gathered by me for good. But… don’t fret over them too much. The past is the past, and what is to come will come, you will just have to deal with it.

Remember, present is the most important.

Celestia, Luna, I love you.

“Yellow Flash…” Matthias mused once he finished reading. “Pity we could never meet. It would be an honor to speak with somepony who cared about his family and their kingdom so much.”

He looked at the next page.

Every prophecy was first written in the runes Chrona used, and then Yellow Flash inserted next to it the translation. Oddly, other than that he didn’t add anything else, not even comments or his insights on the matter. Had he done so because he had so much faith in the next generations to deal with it themselves, or because he didn’t want them to spend too much time thinking about them?

Either way, after reading them, Matthias managed to assign them into two groups. The first one contained the prophecies he was sure that already had come to pass such as:

The power of the stars shall be passed,

Through two treasures into the Day and the Night.

United in Harmony, and fighting as one,

They will bring peace back to all;

He assumed this was foretelling the birth of Celestia and Luna, them being Day and Night respectively, and their parents’ two treasures. Princess Platina either due to her being the rightful ruler of Equestria, for being their mother, or simply for her name, and Yellow Flash for his determination to save this land or love for his family. Or a hundred of other reasons anypony can be considered to be somepony’s treasure.

Love will bloom once she meets her knight,

Bringing happiness across the land.

But beware: on the happiest day of their life,

A threat shall rise for their home;

Matthias rolled his eyes while reading that one; now he knew from where Equestria was warned about the threat against Canterlot at the day of the changeling attack.

The Empire of old, long standing guard,

Consumed by the shadow of the void,

Gone will be from Equestria for long.

The centuries lasting day will come to pass,

Ending with the beginning of non-crystal ponies rule,

The Crystal Princess’ cutie mark being the sign of that.

“And that explains what the crystal ponies said about the prophecy of Cadance and Shining Armor coming to rule their land.” the paladin thought. “Yellow Flash must have passed this to them… probably hoping that they would let them use their library, or something along those lines…”

The millennia of Eagless’ and Lion’s union will end,

With their children suffering from snow and ice.

But such is the consequence,

Of ferocity turning into bloodlust.

Matthias can only assumed this was concerning the legend of griffons’ first homeland being destroyed by the windigoes, but his hunch was based solely on the reference to the Eagless and Lion.

And finally:

Neglected, forgotten, and feared,

Her despise, jealousy and hatred will rise,

Beckoning darkness from beyond the stars.

Suffering in the depths of nightmare for a thousand winters,

One in her prison, the other in mind, heart and soul,

Until They will aid nightmare once more.

But even the deepest darkness cannot survive,

In the face of friendships true power,

Bringing the two back together.

“She foretold Luna becoming Nightmare Moon.”

At first Matthias felt rage for Yellow Flash and Celestia, “Why couldn’t they have stopped this?! They had this prophecy, and yet they allowed Luna to go through it all?!” But after a minute, he calmed down and looked at it clearly. True, this prophecy did make it clear that Luna was going to become Nightmare Moon… but he only saw it like that because it had already happen. If he was in Celestia’s place, would he suspects her sister be consumed by the darkness?

Did his father suspected Arthas would kill him?

Whatever was left from his anger evaporated when he tried to imagine how Celestia must have felt for those ‘thousand winters’, knowing she could have, should have, stopped this all before it had even happened.

Those prophecies, however depressing and frustrating, were somewhat easier to swallow than those he plainly did not understand. Was it foretelling the future or something from the past that he did not know about? Or maybe he just couldn’t figure out their meanings?

There was a few of those prophecies, the ones that caught his attention being:

On the island hidden by the storms,

Where flames will rule above and rock below,

Two shall face under Equestria’s stormy sky.

With honor and respect despite all they’ve done,

One will fight for the future, the other for the past,

And their battle shall become a legend, no matter the outcome.

Broke into seven, then melded poorly,

His empathy shall be his undoing.

Great powers will be born out of his struggle,

But he will lose all that mattered the most.

Bound by the promise he made and his pride,

He will become blind to the truth,

Seeing hatred in the face of whom he loves.

Cast out by none other than himself,

He will find the answer he thought he sought,

Among the secrets long forgotten.

Powers befitting his name at his back, he shall slaughter his enemies,

And challenge his home, bent on revenge

And doing what he believes to be right.

A pony who had once betrayed all,

Will be presented with a difficult choice.

Through his decision, the fate of Equestria will be decided,

And so will the mark of his destiny.

The one that could not be tamed

Will fall into the clutches of her inner darkness.

Her domain twisted and darkened,

As its heart she will lose it all.

She shall roam her old home until the day,

When the light from past’s memory will shine.

The progenitor of all, the one that was before,

creator of all, the destructor of more.

Punished for its actions, split into fragments,

Shall rise once more over Equestria’s sky when the time is right.

And lastly, the one that bothered him the most:

The Well of Screams, terrifying as it may be, will only herald

The beginning of the Time of Flame, the Hour of Eclipse.

It shall start when the fours signs will be named:

Death, the despair of the living;

Conquest, that never birthed victory;

War, the shaper of fate;

And Disease, that may yet bring cure

“The Hour of Eclipse.” Matthias repeated out loud.

“Does this concern Project Eclipse?” he thought. “Then… it must mean this had already happened, right? The site where it was located is long since destroyed, deep in the middle of the Everfree Forest…”

Matthias would have given much to know what exactly happened to Project Eclipse, so that he could be certain this prophecy was already fulfilled. But just like Yellow Flash wrote, past was the past, and future was yet to come. He couldn’t do anything about it.

He could, however, try to deal with another matter.

The runes.

Ever since he saw them on Storm’s sword two days ago, he felt as if he had seen them somewhere. Now he learned that an alicorn who lived over a thousand years ago used them to write down the prophecies that came to her. And just as Yellow Flash learned how to read them...

Matthias was about to remember where he saw them.

The paladin knocked on the doors of the hut in the forest again, hoping that she was home. If not, then the mystery of those cursed runes would haunt him for a couple more days.

“Who could it be to come here at such time?” he sighed with relief when he heard a sleepy voice from inside the hut. The lights shone through the windows. “Waking up a zebra in the middle of the night is a crime!”

“Does she sound grumpy?” Matthias wondered. It was difficult to tell with her rhyming all the time… and why was she doing it even after being just stirred from sleep?!

A scraping on the other side of the doors informed him that he was about to face a possibly pissed off zebra, who may or may not be more deadly than anything else in this entire forest. He doubted she would attack him, of course, but it didn’t hurt to be careful.

The doors opened slightly, letting a stream of light shine through the crack. Inside of it an eye peered, belonging to a black-and-white frowning face. The expression quickly disappeared, however, once her owner took a good look at Matthias. “An unusual time for a visit for an unusual guest.” Zecora said, opening her door fully. Despite being almost literally pulled from her bed, she didn’t look bad; her mane, due to the style in which she kept it, showed only few streaks here and there of not being brushed. The only difference was that she was missing the golden rings she always wore on her neck and forehoof; gone were also her earrings. “Hello, Matthias, for you to be here you must be on quite a quest.”

“I would have asked why you think I need a special reason for visiting you, but it is the middle of the night after all.” Matthias chuckled.

“Indeed, that part ruins the joke.” Zecora replied, amused. “Do you wish to stand there like an oak?” she asked, moving back and inviting him in.

Matthias took the invitation and stepped inside. He took in the look of Zecora’s hut; he had been here only once before, few months back when he was still getting used to Equestria. The zebra’s house was decorated with various heirlooms from her homeland, and between them were shelves full of ceramic vases, bowls and vials, most of them filled with alchemical ingredients or ready mixtures. A few of them were also hanging from the ceiling.

“Make yourself comfortable by the table while I make some tea. You can then tell me why for waking me up I shouldn’t charge a fee.”

Despite the serious frown on her face, her tone carried no malice. Matthias let himself relax and further admire her hut’s decor. He paid intensive attention to the masks and other heirlooms; unlike when he was before, now he had some knowledge regarding zebra’s culture. Oddly, it resembled a lot of a certain aspects of trolls’, orcs’ and taurens’ ones. They lived in tribes, and they honored the elements and worshipped the spirits. There was also a pantheon of the greatest spirits, which were more revered above any other. Ponies did not know their specific names, due to the majority of them believing that there was no such thing as spirits. However, it was relatively a common knowledge than all the tribes, despite their many differences, held those spirits in great regard, as well as their high priests. Matthias also learned through Twilight’s books about a special caste of warriors that was equally treated, called the “shadow hunters”, which not only shared the name with trolls’ shadow hunters, but also, much to the paladin’s confusion, their traditions and from what he could gather similar abilities as well.

“And let’s not forget their shamans and witch doctors… although the latter is a pony’s name for them.” Matthias recalled, still looking at Zecora’s heirlooms. “I wonder how they call themselves… Odd. I don’t recognize the symbols on those masks to belong to any of the tribes I read about…”

“They way you look at my treasures have changed since you were last here.” Zecora’s voice came from his side, almost making him jump. She put two drilled coconut’s halves on the table and took a seat on the opposite end. “This time you don’t just admire, your eyes are clear.”

“I tried to figure out from which tribe you hail.” Matthias replied honestly, accepting the tea. “But either my knowledge regarding zebra hadn’t improved as much as I thought, or there are more facts missing from Equestria’s books.”

“That is not fault of pony folk, but of my people.” Zecora said nonchalantly as she took a sip of tea. “The Aaztai tribe was never socially agile. They ignore not just ponies, but other zebra too. Their arrogant ways were part of the reason why I left when I grew.”

There was a bit of resentment in her voice. “I did not mean to pry into you secrets, Zecora, or to awaken unwanted memories.” He sighed when he realized the irony of the situation. “I did hope though that you would be able to help me with something similar.”

Zecora’s eyebrow rise by an inch, “That is a very interesting and ironic prospect, especially if what Rarity told me yesterday in a flower shop wasn’t a jest... Weren’t you and your warriors sent into cold snow, to deal with an unholy foe?”

Matthias nodded and began recounting everything that happened since they arrived in Northville, describing the sword that caused him so much worry in every detail.

“I just know that I have seen those runes somewhere before, but I cannot remember where.” he finished, looking down on his now empty coconut. “That’s why I came to you. I figured that if you should be able to help me somehow.”

He left out the part about Yellow Flash’s notebook and Chrona’s prophecies. Not because he did not trust Zecora, but because he felt he would need to first discuss with the Princesses about with whom he would share their father’s foundings.

“Remembering something one cannot recall is easy enough.” Zecora admitted after a few moments. His heart leaped hearing those words. But then, the zebra said something that made him cringe: “It’s curious though that Twilight wasn’t the first whose help you sought.”

He suspected that Twilight could help him, of course. With all the books in her library she must had some memory spell that should work, even in his unusual case. Matthias even at first wanted to seek her out, but then almost immediately he remembered what happened the last time she helped him with his mind.

“I’m… afraid of what she might see.” he finally answered the unasked question, knowing he would be unable to mask his emotions from the wise zebra.

Zecora eyed him for the longest time. When she spoke, her words had taken Matthias by surprise: “If you want my help and think of me as a friend, then you will tell me all. I want to know why your soul is in shreds and you’re in your shadow’s thrall.” seeing his shock and confusion, she explained: “I can see the dark cloud above you, made of your fears and doubts. It’s smaller than it was when first we’ve met, perhaps your friends are to it like a drought.”

Matthias opened his mouth to ask something more, but he stopped himself. Out of the two of them she had a greater right to hear an answer first.

“You want the short version or the long version?” he asked instead.

Matthias didn’t really felt like confiding in another, so soon after he spoke with Granny Rags, but-

“I only wish to know the reasons for what I asked, nothing more.” Zecora reply made him pause. She smiled and added: “I and everypony trust you, and I don’t want to be unable to sleep due to tales of gore.”

“I suppose telling a tale like that of my life in the middle of the night is a rather scary thought. Although technically when I showed it to Luna...” the thought trailed off as Matthias shook his head. The last thing he needed to do right now was comparing talking with… dream-talking.

Since Zecora didn’t want to know the details, he had told her the same what he told his friends when he came back to life. “It seems so long ago now…” Since she had already met Brann, Zecora accepted the fact that he was from another world with just a nod. Neither was she shocked to hear that he had died. Much more surprising to her, however, was that he used to be a human.

The equine hermit explained her shock with that his soul was that of a pony. When in turn Matthias expressed his confusion, Zecora said that all zebra were in-tune with the spirits of this world, similar how the earth ponies had strong bond with earth and pegasi could control the weather. It made sense to Matthias, as it explained why shamans, shadow hunters and witch doctors were common among them.

As for him being “evil”, as he so drastically had simplified, she said that the guilt he carried was more than enough for her to trust him and not ask any more questions.

In the end, telling Zecora all this was easier than he expected. In fact, the zebra’s wisdom and insight -not to mention her kindness and compassion- made the experience much more relaxing than when he had first told it to everypony else. “If only this whole conversation could have gone without the rhyming.”

“Now, for the trouble that ails you.” she said, raising from her seat and going over to the table that stood next to the wall, “I know what will help, a memory brew.” Zecora began adding several petals and berries into a small cauldron (under which until now Matthias was sure there was no fire) as she continued to speak: “It’s an old recipe which helps the elderly to recall their past. Of course, some memory loss can be due to evil mojo’s blast.”

“Does it work on somepony suffering amnesia?” Matthias asked, thinking about Tucker.

“For the brew to work, one must have an inkling to what he seeks. It might be a bit unfair, but the recipe is deaf to all critiques.”

The paladin sighed hearing her answer, but he should have expected that. Celestia would have probably thought about seeking a solution within zebra’s medicine if it was possible.

Zecora needed more time to finish making the brew, so Matthias found himself once again admiring her treasures from her homeland. The masks reminded him somewhat of the rush’kah, the ceremonial masks of the troll shadow hunters. He doubted though that those had the similar meaning here. For one, Zecora wasn’t a shadow hunter… at least Matthias was fairly certain of it. And if she were, she wouldn’t need so many.

“If I remember what Twilight had said, one of them is supposed to say ‘hello’, another ‘welcome’...” he mused, trying to ignore the both nauseating and enticing smell coming from the other side of the hut.

His attention was drawn towards the mask that, strangely, was placed on one of the shelves with her front towards the wall. Matthias picked it up and turned around. It bore a visage of a lion’s features mixed with a bit of an equine, probably made this way so that it would be easier for the zebra to wear. The mask was white, save for the gold around the eyes and black lines here and there to accent the nose and such.

“That’s the mask bearing resemblance to Caesar, the Great Lion.” Zecora’s voice once again sounded right next to him; Matthias made a mental note to ask her sometime later how was she doing that. “It’s the only spirit that’s barbaric; even by his mate he was shun.”

“So that’s why you had this mask turned around,” Matthias concluded, placing it back as it was before facing the zebra, “But why do you have it at all?”

In reply Zecora gave him a sad smile, her eyes growing empty. “It’s my tribe’s patron.” she said in a quiet voice that sounded nothing like her, lifting a small bowl. Matthias opened his mouth to say something - ask a question or try to comfort her - but then the aroma of a dozen flavors and spices hit him with its full force. He recoiled back, causing Zecora to laugh. “Drink this and calm you breath, thinking about what you want to find. But take care; you will relive the experience, and not just in mind.”

The paladin, feeling slightly stunned by the smell of the brew, could only nod and accept the bowl. He shook his head, trying to clear it, and looked at Zecora. Whatever change in both her voice and her eyes he saw was gone, replaced by her usual cheerfulness.

But Matthias knew what it was. It was the same thing he often saw when he looked into his reflection, especially during his first days in Equestria; guilt and shame.

The paladin glanced down at the brew in the bowl he held, that could bring an answer to the question that was nagging him since Northville. Then back at the friend that had made it for him.

“I do not wish to recall my old life, friend.” Zecora said with a smirk, seeing his hesitation. “You go on and fulfill your journey’s here intent.”

Matthias did not detect a lie in her voice. Whatever had happened in her past, she was over it - only shadows of memories were left, barely visible in the light of her soul.

The paladin smiled and nodded. He then closed his eyes and sit down, relaxing as if he was about to meditate. An image of the runes began floating before his eyes.

“Cheers.” he said as he lifted the bowl to his mouth.

An unbearable agony wrecked him.

The darkness surrounded him from everywhere. He knew it, despite not having the eyes to see. He knew that there was no sound here, not having his ears. He had no body, but he felt being torn to shreds by others, the claws ripping into his consciousness, delighting in his torment.

He would have screamed if he had a mouth do so.

How long has it been... a century or an hour? Maybe a whole eternity had passed… or just one second? Time had no meaning here. There was only anguish and fear.

And the darkness.

But then, as if to make his thoughts false, a beam of light shone right at him, enveloping him and stopping the pain. The darkness disappeared. The light took it all away… and pulled him towards the center of it.

He did not care what was happening. All he known was that for the first time in a long time he was allowed a momentary respite, and whatever force born on this place saw fit to make so, he was grateful to it.

Before fatigue overtook him, he managed to catch a glimpse of something, something that was neither darkness or light. It was… a structure.

A structure which had columns on both side, each covered in series of runes.

Arthas Menethil passed through the space between them, and then knew nothing more.

Matthias awoke with start, gasping heavily after the horrific memory.

“It… it was…” he thought, trying to find calmness in his paladin training and to push away the panic state he was in. He could feel the darkness enveloping him once more…

“Matthias!” Zecora shouted right into his ear, finally managing to snap him out of his fright. He looked at her and saw her sight. “Thank the spirits, I was growing worried! In getting your attention I could not succeed.”

“Sorry, I was… in shock,” the paladin replied, still shaken after what he had experienced. Taking steady breaths, he began to talk; after the memory of the silent darkness, it would take him a while to get used to not hearing anything. “I was in Tartarus… that’s where I saw them, on the inner side of the gate, when something pulled me out…”

Zecora’s eyes grow wide and she muttered something in a strange but pleasant-to-hear language. He listened to her - Chanting? Cursing? - and kept his eyes open and fixed on a floor. He tried to reach the Light within his heart, to reassure himself that it was over, but he was in too much turmoil right now to concentrate.

“Reliving a stressful memory would be a great way for losing from worry some curves.” Zecoras finally said in Common. “No wonder you’re shaken, do you want a mixture to calm your nerves?”

“No… I will be fine.” Matthias managed to say; he wanted to take something, but such mixtures usually made left the one that took them slightly… muzzy. He had to go on a meeting with the mayor in just a few hours… enough time to leave the forest, take a shower, eat something and give orders. Not for sleep, though.

“Thank you for your help, Zecora, truly. But now I need to get going, I have a hard day tomorrow.” seeing she was about to protest, Matthias quickly changed a subject. “Two changelings are going to live in Ponyville.” Zecora brows rose on their own, “The Princesses want me to make an announcement to Ponyville about them. Oh, and we’re trying to make peace with them, so I’m taking them to the Crystal Empire later. So, you know, busy.”

Zecora snickered. “And you pony folk wonder why I live so close to you. I can watch your antics without getting caught too.” frowning in concert she looked Matthias over once more. “If you want to go, then let me at least give you a gift; so that in the darkness, you will stay swift.”

Matthias opened his mouth to protest, but the zebra was already trotting back deeper into her hut, searching for something among her drawers and shelves. She had quickly returned, carrying a golden feather necklace.

“Whenever your shadow will begin to win, this will remind you of the love others have for you. It was made from the feathers of Marahute, the Eagle Mother, so don’t argue.”

His eyes widened when he extended his senses. Whatever Zecora spoke truth - and he had no reason to believe otherwise, as ludicrous as this sounded - the golden feathers on the necklace shone with power, but one he had no clue how to access.

“I cannot accept this…” he started.

“Either you take this, or I’ll knock you out,” Zecora cut him off, “And I can do this, don’t have a doubt.”

Being given only that as another options, Matthias nodded and stood as the zebra strapped it around his neck. When she had finished, the paladin felt strange warmth enter him, not the Holy Light, but something different… and at the same time familiar. Like a mother’s love.

“Thank you for this gift, Zecora, and your help.” he said as they both headed for the doors, already feeling better. “If there’s anything you need help with let me know, and…” he hesitated as he stopped outside of her hut, unsure how to phrase it, “If… you’ll ever want to talk… I mean, I know how it is to have it bottled up inside, and…”

He was interrupted by something he had expected the least at this moment; a pair of lips pressed against his own.

Matthias was so shocked that he didn’t respond in any way. He just waited for Zecora to move away with a strange smile on her face, and by then he only found enough strength to ask:

“What was that about?”

“According to the gossip I heard, the mares are quite taken with your cuss.” she replied with a smirk. “I was curious as to what was all the fuss.”

“... And?”

“I’ve had better.” Zecora said before she shut the door.

Matthias felt his jaw drop by several inches more than he felt it was possible. Then, after a couple of heartbeats he spend in silence, he threw his head back and erupted with laughter.

Author's Note

Well, lets get to the point. After discussing it with my editor, I decided to give in to you complains about the grammar mistakes, and suggestions to get more help with the story. As such, I would like to ask some of you to give that help, if you are willing.

I would like to find two proofreaders to check my chapters as they come. I'm searching for somebody who will have the time to do so (preferably withing the two days or less after I send you the chapter), and is better at English than me... boy, that narrowed it down, huh? Well, anyway, you get what I mean. If you feel confident that you are capable of doing it, and wish to help me, send me a PM, we will talk it out.

107. Dealing With Budgets and Prejudices

Half an hour later, Matthias was still laughing as he approached the exit from the forest. He didn’t give Zecora enough credit when it came to her wisdom. Her joke - for he read from her face that it was meant as such - managed to completely snap him out of the memory he relived after consuming her brew.

“‘I’ve had better’...” he repeated once again, chuckling. He wasn’t as arrogant as to assume that she was lying in that regard, of course, but her words continued to amuse him.

He finally managed to calm himself and glanced at the sky. It was still night, but if the position of the moon was of any indication, it would soon end. Matthias sighed, knowing he had too much to prepare for to go now to sleep, as much as he wanted to.

“Light, give me strength.” he prayed as he prepared to head off to the Abbey, but then he stopped.

He looked around. The entrance of the Everfree Forest was, as usual, completely open and unguarded. No warning signs prevent ponies from entering it and putting themselves in danger.

The paladin closed his eyes, the feeling of wrongness coming from the forest magnified. When he opened them, he knew what to do.

The filly laughed as she crouched on her chamber’s floor. He wasn’t under the bed, either. “That sneaky colt,” she thought, not angry at all, but simply happy. “Where did he hide?”

Her eyes, which darted across the room, stopped at the closet, where she kept all her dresses. Grinning, the filly crept closer to it, trying her best to not make any sound. Finally, when she stood just a step away from it, she gripped the handle of it and swung it open.

“HA-” she shouted, but her proclamation of victory was cut short when something slammed into her, tackling her unto the carpeted floor.

The filly gave an ‘eek’ of surprise, but once she looked at her assailant, she burst into laughter. The colt she was playing hide-and-seek with was standing over her, his lips curved in a grin that matched the one she had a moment ago.

“Found you!” she told her friend in the pauses between giggles.

“Na-ah!” the colt replied, smirking. “I found you!”

“Silly, I was the one searching, remember?”

“Um… nope, not ringing a bell.”

The filly frowned. “We made it clear before we started and why would you hid if you were supposed to…” she stopped once she’d realized that he was still chuckling. She giggled and said: “You’re so silly.”

“No, you are.”

“You are.”

“You are.”

“You are!”

“You are!”

They continued this exchange for a bit longer, both realizing how stupid they both sounded and not caring in the slightest. The colt continued to stand over her through this whole “argument”, and after a moment, the filly came to realize that his face was just a few inches away.

She felt her body go stiff. It was like in all those fairy tale… kinda. She didn’t recall a part about hide-and-seek there… or about how fast one’s heart can bit while looking into deep, ruby eyes, or when feeling a warm breath of a colt on your cheek…

“You’re a silly pony,” the filly whispered weakly, feeling strangely hot. Her body quivered in anticipation at what was going to happen.

For a moment, the colt’s expression changed from playful into… a worried one? The filly couldn’t tell, for in the next second it changed into the sunny face he bore when he wasn’t brooding.

“Yeah,” he said, also lowering his voice. He leaned a bit closer, “but so are you, silly pony.”

The filly wouldn’t be surprised if her heart would have popped out at this point. She was surprised the colt couldn’t feel it; he was practically lying on her. And… his lips were… so close to hers… Surrendering to the magic of the moment, she moved those few inches closer…

“Tia?”

Celestia woke up with a start. She raised her head and found herself looking straight into her sister’s eyes.

“Oh, hi Luna,” the Princess said, wiping the sleep out on her own. “I didn’t oversleep, did I?”

“No Sister, we have a few more minutes before the day will have to begin,” Luna told her, sitting down on one of the pillows next to her bed, as she readied herself to stand up. “It’s not like you to sleep for so long, though. Had a pleasant dream?”

“You didn’t look?” Celestia asked her sister.

She waited for her answer in… what, fear? No, it wasn’t that… what was it, this odd feeling of shame, as if she was a little filly and eaten the last cookie or something? It wasn’t as if she wanted to keep this away from her own sister, it was just… she never got a chance to bring it up, and…

Celestia stopped her inner monolog just in time to her Luna say: “Of course not, my sister, I respect your privacy. But, you had such a beautiful smile on your face while you slept, that I didn’t want to wake you up. I came in here a while ago, you know.”

“I see… Well, thank you for letting me enjoy that dream some more, but I need to prepare.” Celestia told the younger alicorn, as she rose from her bed and strode towards her bathroom. Luna, like a shadow, followed her, either planning on filling her in on the night’s developments, or simply to help her out with her morning ritual.

“What was it about?”

Or pester her about her dream, which was an option too.

“About simpler times,” she told her truthfully, not planning on revealing anything else, especially if Luna planned to continue questioning her.

“It’s been a while since I dreamed about you,” she thought as looked at her reflection in the mirror, grabbing her toothbrush in with a magical grip. The bathtub was already filled with hot water, prepared by her maids, so she didn’t need to worry about that. “I wonder… did seeing Arthas and Twilight awaken these old memories, these old feelings?”

Celestia rolled her eyes. She should have been more adamant when she spoke with Twilight. Not outright convince her to court Arthas, of course, she was a free mare, but to at least admit to herself how she felt.

“I at least had an excuse of being so young. But I cannot help but wonder… if I knew back then what I was feeling, and said it to you, would that make a difference?

Could I have stopped you?”

“I am terribly sorry that we couldn’t have this meeting earlier, Sir Lightbringer,” Mayor Mare said, as her secretary brought both of them coffee. For good or bad, she was concentrating on adding sugar to hers, so she didn’t see Matthias roll his eyes. “Between the Summer Harvest Parade, preparing for Nightmare Night and not to mention the ‘Pink Incident’, I’ve been extremely busy.”

“That’s alright, I was prepared for such possibility,” Matthias replied, drinking his coffee in hopes of clearing his mind out of the bits of sleepiness.

He was in the town hall, the mayor’s office, to be precise. When he got back to the Everfree Abbey he was left with enough time to wake up everypony, remind them of their orders, wash up, and don his armor. The changelings weren’t exactly thrilled with the idea of revealing their presence to Ponyville (Nymph in particular). They were even less thrilled, however, with the idea of traveling to the Crystal Empire, though they didn’t voice any protest once Matthias told them to disguise themselves as ponies for now (unlike Nymph, Wind Reaver had opted for the form of a dark green pegasus). Al’ar, on the other hoof, didn’t want to listen to his plea of guarding the Abbey while they were away. Matthias tried to reason with him, but by then he was starting to run a bit late, so he asked Storm Clash to get Fluttershy and have her talk with him. It didn’t escape his notice as he did so that the pegasus stallion seemed as unhappy as the changelings with the new assignment, but he didn’t have time to question him.

He managed to get into the town hall just three minutes before the scheduled meeting was supposed to start, letting him go over his plan for the last time before he would propose it to the mayor during this talk.

“But isn’t it a bit early to start preparing for Nightmare Night?” he asked, both to have some semblance of a casual conversation, as well as being genuinely curious. “It’s still over a month away.”

“Indeed, but I preferred to avoid another… surprise, like the last year. I spend many days sending letters to Princess Luna in regards to how her visit will go this time.”

“Ah, I see. Did you manage to plan everything?”

“No, there are still some details left. I think once this new event - Princess Celestia arriving with two delegates from Saddle Arabia, in case you haven’t heard, sir - is over, I might need to request an audience with Princess Luna. But enough about that, I’m on a busy schedule, and I’d imagine you are as well, Sir Lightbringer.”

“I couldn’t agree more, ma’am,” Matthias sighed. “I need to travel to Crystal Empire today… also, the Princesses asked me to inform the citizens of Ponyville about a certain matter. Would it be okay if I’d do that after your speech today?”

“Um… right, of course,” Mayor stammered, a bit taken back. “What would this matter be about, if I might ask?”

“In short, the Princesses wanted me to introduce a two… new residents of Ponyville to town,” he said. He could mention they were changelings, of course, but the paladin didn’t want the mayor to be distracted with a vision of two love-eating parasites attacking the townsfolk by the time of her speech.

“Oh, I wasn’t aware of any new residents!” she brightened up. “But why did the Princesses asked you to introduce them? Usually, such things are dealt with by Pinkie Pie,” the mayor added with a chuckle.

“Yes, and I suspect that we might expect one of her parties to be around the corner… not literally, I hope, we really don’t have the time for it today.”

Mayor Mare opened her mouth to speak, but she trailed off as they both heard a strange cacophony of sounds from somewhere within the town hall, some of them squeaky, some wheezy, and all noisy, as if somepony was moving around many objects at once.

The two ponies exchanged a glance, both recalling Matthias words, before they simultaneously shook their heads and said. “No,” That was just too random, even for Pinkie Pie, to be true.

“So,” Mayor Mare cleared her throat, probably wanting to return to the purpose of this meeting, “If I understood correctly, you wanted to talk with me about lending the town hall for the school play about Hearth’s Warming Season, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Now, as I already told Cheerilee, the town hall doesn’t have the funds for allowing the foals to have their play here. I know, I know, just lending the space for a few hours doesn’t sound costly, but all the extra bills we had over the years had started to pile up.”

“Extra bills?” Matthias asked, now feeling a bit curious. He had a good grasp on certain events that transpired in Ponyville prior to his arrival here (and personally he found that a lot of what the citizens perceived as ‘the horror’ to be worlds better than what he was dealing with at the time), but somehow he never thought about how it all must have damaged the town’s budget.

“Yes,” the mayor said, pulling out a clipboard from a drawer under her desk. “A repair of town hall’s windows, broken by Nightmare Moon; the whole town stopping doing their jobs for a full hour to run around apparently that created a massive hole in the income; treatment of eleven ponies suffering from food poisoning; a sanitary inspection on the market due to one of the senior citizens claiming she saw a rat among the merchants’ food; a restock of water supply; cleaning of the dragon’s smoke; the repair of the whole town after the parasprite attack; Discord; another whole hour of everypony going ‘AWOL’; a dragon’s rampage; the repair of the town hall; moving back a house - no idea how that happened by the way, you would think it’s impossible to drag a house over fifty meters away without any reliable witnesses - to its place; placing Ponyville in the state of emergency after Twilight Sparkle had received a warning from the future about something bad that was going to happen; and of course the newest one, the Pink Incident.” Mayor Mare took her eyes of her list and corrected her glasses while looking at Matthias with a raised eyebrow. “You know, sir, practically all those events are related to your close friends in one way or another.” she added, giving him the clipboard

“And I’m sure they all feel awfully sorry about any problems they may have caused,” the paladin replied, a bit unsettled as he looked over those numbers.

“To be honest, most of the towns’ mayors I know would try to charge them with the payments, despite them saving Equestria multiple times,” she sighed. “But considering everything they’ve done for this town it would be just unfair. I am especially thankful for Twilight’s assistance with Winter Wrap up; ever since she came to live here we’ve been able to get everything done on time - which, of course, saved a lot of our funds. But still, taken into the account everything else, we had some losses. In order to balance the budget this year, I had to cut the most trivial expense; the school’s play.”

“I will admit, that is the best course of action,” Matthias said, giving her back her list. “But I think I might have a better solution, if you would allow me to explain.”

“Of course, Sir Lightbringer, I’m all ears,” Mayor Mare replied, leaning back in her chair.

“As I understand, every year fillies and colts from Ponyville Schoolhouse would present a play for their families here in the town hall.”

“That’s right.”

“Now, humor me on this one, ma’am,” Matthias said, leaning closer and tapping his hooves under his chin. “Why not have the town hall opened for everypony else as well, while having those outside of the foals’ families pay a minimal fee, and use the profit to fill the hole in the budget?”

Mayor Mare’s eyes widened in surprise, “Well, yes, that would be a perfect solution, but slightly unrealistic. While I am sure Ponyville School’s students would make their play quite… adorable, but most of the town’s citizens wouldn’t pay to see a foal’s play. Canterlot isn’t that far away, and the pageant there is always of the best class.”

“Oh, I think there would be quite the number of ponies that would want to watch it. Do you remember, Miss Mayor, that I expect to have more initiates in the Abbey within few weeks?”

“Well, yes, of course,” she stuttered, a bit put off by the change of subject. “How do you plan to recruit them, though? I heard that misters Guard Shield and Storm Clash were royal guards that the Princess picked, while Mister Tucker and Miss Serenity were chosen by you.”

“Princess Celestia had the royal guard’s recruitment center to provide information about the possibility of learning the ways of the paladin instead. Similarly, the medicine academies have pamphlets about the Light’s powers to heal the wounded, although they also warn about the Orders more strength-requiring duties.”

“Ah, I see. But what does it have to do with the pageant?”

“To put it bluntly; I will order everypony from the Order to go,” Matthias said with a corner of his mouth curving in half-smile.

This time, Mayor Mare reacted with her jaw dropping. “Um… isn’t that… abuse of power?”

“Oh, not at all,” the paladin assured her. “You see, the Hearths Warming Eve pageant proves how harmony and friendship are better than discord and hatred, which is something every paladin must know by heart. In light of that, it’s perfectly understandable for me to make them go to the local play, even if it is a school play.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” the mayor admitted with a sage nod.

“Also, bear in mind that when the citizens of Ponyville will see - let’s say - about forty ponies coming to the pageant, they would get curious and also come.”

“Yes, that would be what would happen. But I’m still concerned with the quality of the acting…”

“I’m sure Miss Cheerilee will make sure they will practice extra hard. Also… I may have a good acting tutor for them…”

“Although, I somehow doubt it that the colts’ and fillies’ parents would be thrilled with the idea of a changeling teaching their foals. Also, I’m not really sure if this would work… I would have to ask Nymph, I guess.”

As he pondered that, Mayor Mare was also deep in thought. She checked her list of expenses one more time before she turned to Matthias, her face a bit brighter. “I suppose it’s worth the shot,” she said, smiling, “I’ll admit that I felt bad informing Cheerilee that their pageant wouldn’t happen this year. If there is even the slightest possibility that we can avoid canceling it, I will gladly take it. Please tell Cheerilee that they will have the town hall available this year like always, and inform her about your plan.”

“Thank you, Miss Mayor,” Matthias replied, bowing. “I will inform Miss Cheerilee about your decision as soon as I can. The students should start practicing already.”

“Oh, yes, certainly. I do hope it would be a great show.” Mayor Mare agreed. “Now then, if that’s all, I must go over today’s speech, so…”

“Of course,” The paladin rose and started backing towards the exit. “I’m sure the citizens of Ponyville will be grateful to know about Princess’ visit.”

“But about their new neighbors, probably not.” he added in his mind.

“Hi girls,” Twilight greeted her friends as she and Spike joined them in front of the town’s hall, where the mayor was supposed to make her announcement about Princess Celestia and Saddle Arabia’s delegates… after which it would be followed up by Matt introducing the changelings into Ponyville.

“What could possibly go wrong?” the lavender unicorn thought, glancing around if there weren’t any tomatoes within crowd’s reach. “No tomatoes… but there are always rocks. Oh great…”

“Good morning,” Rarity replied, turning away from her conversation with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie.

“Where’s Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, wondering if one of her critters was hurt; that was usually the only reason for her running late.

“Ah saw her flyin’ from ‘er cottage with Storm Clash,” Applejack replied. “Ah reckon Matt wanted ‘er to talk some sense with that flamin’ bird or somethin’. Ah would have checked the Abbey, but Ah didn’t want mah sister and cous’ follow me there.” she added with a glance at Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were sitting near the edge of the crowd.

“Applejack, are you trying to limit their interactions with Nymph?” Twilight asked, as she squinted her eyes.

“Limit their interactions with a love-eatin’ bug? Gee, let me think about that one, Twi…”

The unicorn rolled eyes hearing her friend’s sarcastic reply, “I thought you would be more open-minded to them. Spike told me you went to talk with them yesterday when Matt and I were with the Princesses.”

“Well, yes, those little demons wouldn’t stop pestering us until we let them speak with Nymph,” Rarity explained. Despite her annoyed tone of voice, her eyes sparkled with affection when she looked at her sister and her friends. “And, I must admit, that perhaps we were too judgemental at the beginning of our acquaintanceship. Nymph seemed to me to be honest in her enthusiasm with the girls. When we entered, she changed into that younger form of her pony look they told us about. She was a bit shy when talking to us, though, especially Applejack.”

“Well, if what Wind Reaver said was true, then her sensitivity is on a whole other level than even Fluttershy’s.” Twilight said, thinking back to what the male changeling told them.

I can sense a disgust from those two, and hatred from your royal guards, simply over the fact that we are, in their eyes, some oversized parasites. Some changelings deal with such emotions worse than others.

“That’s what we needed: another Fluttershy,” Rainbow snorted. Everypony looked at her sternly, making her cough and say: “Anyway, Pinkie and I went to Wind Reaver to apologize for what I said, so we’re cool.”

“That’s good to hear. So, what do you think of him?”

“He basically told me he’s crazy,” when Twilight again glared at her, Rainbow exclaimed: “He did!”

“I suppose that’s understandable, given his situation,” Rarity said. “I feel such pity for his love! And to think, he risked his life coming here for her sake, it’s so romantic!”

“Foalnapped four foals.” Applejack snorted. “Eeyup, romantic.”

“All's fair in love and war, Applejack.”

“Come on, AJ, the girls had fun being kidnapped!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “And you heard Princess Celestia, they are our guests now! We have to love and tolerate them!”

“More like just tolerate them, ‘cause they’ll steal all that love…”

Twilight was about to chastise her, but she had noticed a group of ponies approaching. Storm Clash, Serenity, Sound Wave and Cherry Bomb, wearing their respective armors, escorting a unicorn which she recognized as Nymph and a greenish pegasus she guessed to be Wind Reaver. Fluttershy trotted along with them, talking with Nymph but keeping her distance. The pegasus noticed Twilight and the others, said something to the group, and flew towards them.

“Sorry for being late. Mattie had a problem asking Al’ar to guard the Abbey, so he sent for me to do it.”

“That’s okay, Fluttershy, the mayor hadn’t started her speech yet,” Twilight calmed her. She glanced at the changelings, then looked back at Fluttershy and asked: “So what do you think about them?”

“Oh, I, um… I think Nymph is a nice po- um, changeling,” the shy pegasus confessed, glancing uncomfortably at Applejack as she said so. “Wind Reaver, thought, seems a bit… scary, even when he looks like a pony. He… kind of reminds me of Mattie when we first met him.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Well, it was hard to tell when he was a changeling, but as a pony he has this empty eyes staring ahead, even when he is smiling.”

It took a moment for Twilight to recall that was how more or less Matt was when he came to Equestria. “Heh, we really had helped you, huh?” she thought, not being able to even remember when was the last time when he looked at her with anything but happiness.

Although, the way he now looked at them all was definitely off. As Twilight buried herself momentarily in memories, her gaze traveled through crowd, and by accident she spotted Matt, deep in a conversation with Cheerilee. As if sensing her gaze, he turned his head after a second. He looked at her with tired eyes, and had dark bags under them. In his hoof he held a plastic cup, probably with coffee.

“I told him to get some sleep!” Twilight groaned in her head. “Stupid stallion!”

It seemed that his conversation with Cheerilee was nearing its end by that time, as soon Matt began to make his way towards them.

“Did you sleep well?” the unicorn asked him with a hint of venom in her voice.

“Why, yes I did,” Matt replied, pausing to throw the plastic cup into the trash can. “I mean, not yesterday, but the three days ago I had a wonderful sleep in Northville.”

“Why didn’tya go sleep?”

“I had some documents to read,” the stallion yawned.

Twilight noticed something strange when he did that. There was some sort of lace around his neck, most of it hidden beneath his armor, that she was certain she had never seen before. Out of curiosity -and still a bit ticked off at the stallion for not listening to her advice- she reached out to it with her magic and pulled it out.

She gasped when she saw what it was, and heard a few of her friends do the same. It was a necklace adorned with beautiful golden feathers, and a few strange beads between them that looked to be zebra-made.

“What is that?” she asked, staring at it.

“A breach of personal space?” Matt asked in return, making her blush and take a step back. The paladin sighed and said: “It’s a necklace Zecora gave me.”

“Why would she… wait a minute. Zecora? When did you see her?” Twilight asked sternly.

“Um… a few hours ago?” Matt replied, now he taking a step back. “I needed her help with something, and since it was already late I figured I might as well give up on sleeping.”

“... You’re nuts.” Twilight finally told him after a brief silence.

“Everypony, can I get your attention?”

Twilight turned towards the source of the sound. Mayor Mare was at the podium, talking to the crowd. She hadn’t even noticed when the mayor had go up there. The unicorn turned back to Matt, but to her irritation, he had used this chance to get away.

“I had a few more insults for you, mister.” Twilight fought, briefly watching him as he talked to the changelings and their escort, before the all moved a bit closer to the podium.

“You were probably wondering why I wanted to see you all here.” Mayor Mare began speaking when everypony finally had calmed down. Twilight (a bit reluctantly) shifted her attention to her. “Well, everypony, the reason for that is that I wanted to inform you all that Princess Celestia will grace our town with a visit in just two days!” Her words caused more than a few ponies to shout out happily or stomp. Once the crowd was again silent, the mayor continued: “Her Majesty will be coming back from Saddle Arabia, in the company of two delegates, and they will stop her on their way to Canterlot. And since it never hurt to amaze our south neighbors even further, Princess Celestia had asked her student, our town’s Twilight Sparkle, to perform a magic act in honor of their visit.”

Twilight did her best to look dignified and not at all embarrassed when those from the crowd around them looked her way. She somewhat succeeded - she felt herself blush a bit.

“So we can be sure this will be an eventful evening.” Mayor Mare had finished. “Now, though, Sir Lightbringer had also wanted to inform Ponyville of something, so I give the stage to him.”

She stepped back as Matt jumped atop the podium from the side and began to trot to the center. He was followed by his paladins and the changelings in disguise. At the sight of him, a lot of ponies began cheering, and Twilight was amazed to see how unfazed her friend was by their attention. Same definitely couldn’t be said about his companions; only Wind Reaver looked as much indifferent. Serenity and Storm appeared nervous, although the stallion a bit less, no doubt due to his past as the royal guard, and poor Nymph looked as if she wished the ground would swallow her.

Twilight gazed at the crowd, then back at them. She caught Matt gaze for a brief moment, and saw the same worry in his eyes that she felt; ponies of Ponyville could react badly to what they would soon see. And while Twilight could understand that perfectly, she had already gotten past her hatred (although if it was Chrysalis up there, she would have probably joined the crowd), and was beginning to like those two.

She nodded to Matt, letting him know that if things went south he would have her help. Twilight was well aware that he would probably be able to deal with whatever Ponyville would throw at him (possibly quite literally), but that didn’t mean she would just stand by.

Matt winked at her and turned to address the crowd. A few of them were still cheering, so he held up a hoof for silence

“My fellow citizens of Ponyville,” he started, giving them a relaxed smile, “I’m happy to see you welcome me here on this speech stand so warmly, especially after our Order’s mission in Northville. To those of you who are glad to just have us around, I’m afraid I have some bad news. By the order of our beloved Princesses, we’re leaving today again, but hopefully we should be back by the time Princess Celestia will arrive, to see Lady Twilight’s magic act.”

He paused, although Twilight wasn’t sure why he did that: because he needed to catch his breath; to let those few disappointed ponies (mostly mares, as she’d noticed with a pang of hostility) voice whine quietly; or because he was startled by the angry glare Twilight had gave him.

The unicorn rolled her eyes. “‘Startled’? Who am I kidding; he’s more likely to be amused… especially given the distance between us…”

“The reason for us leaving is tied with the news the Princesses had asked me to share with you. My fellow ponies, I am pleased to inform you that Equestria might be on a brink of a great change, a change that, if everypony gives it a chance, will make all our lives better.”

“He’s good,” Twilight thought, a bit surprised how quickly he managed to put together this speech. She made a few of them herself, and she couldn’t remember ponies paying her this much attention as they did to Matt, even if they were all confused.

“Although, such as with all changes; it won’t come easy for us. In such times more than ever we will need to have faith in the Light’s love and forgiveness, and show it ourselves to those who once harmed us, as the Princesses did, or me and Twilight Sparkle.” he looked at the two changelings and nodded.

Both of them exchanged a glance, before they took a step forward. Even from where she stood, Twilight could see a sweat on Nymph’s forehead. With a protection spell at the back of her head in case the mass of ponies would turn violent, she watched as green flames flashed around the changelings, dispelling their disguise.

As she predicted, everypony began screeching and trying to back away, while a few more braver ones began to shout with outrage and point angrily at Nymph - whom had her ears dropped and she cringed - and Wind Reaver - who in contrast stood motionlessly, studying the crowd - demanding to chase them out of town or have them thrown in jail.

“What are those things doing in Ponyville!?”

“Why have you brought them here?! Are you mad?!”

“Oh, no… He’s a changeling!!!”

“Lock them up somewhere and throw away the key!”

“Banish them to Everfree Forest!”

“Break their wings!”

“Ya should all be ashamed of yarself!!!”

The chastising voice that managed to shush all that yapping wasn’t Matt’s, but Apple Bloom’s. She and the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders jumped into the podium, and stood between the changelings and everypony, shooting daggers with their eyes.

“How can y’all say such horrible things just because they’re different?” Apple Bloom asked them, and somehow being scolded by a small filly made everypony calm down. “Haven’t we’ve gotten over this already with Zecora?!”

“They came here trying to make peace with ponies, and this is how you welcome them?!” Sweetie Belle added in a high-pitched voice.

“Princess Celestia herself welcomed them as guests of Equestria,” Scootaloo said, pointing her hoof at the two changelings, then at the ponies. “What would she think if she saw you behaving like this?!”

“If that’s how all ponies react at the sight of ‘em, it’s no wonder changelings never came to us in peace before!” Babs Seed said with her Manehatten accent, making the ponies that recognized it to take her words more seriously.

Twilight wasn’t sure if she should chuckle at the sight or be impressed; the four fillies’ words made everypony exchange confused, and more importantly, ashamed looks the more they talked.

Matt, on the other hoof, had no such problems in deciding how to react; he chuckled warmly, gazing at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “The young ones are blessed to not have the grudges of their elders,” he said, raising his voice. “I am happy for your support, for myself, our guests, and Their Majesties’ wishes; however, I will ask you to remember that those ponies do have their reasons to mistrust the changelings.” Turning to the crowd, he continued: “I had my reservations as well before I agreed to trust them, but I honestly believe they stride for peace, and the Light teaches us that all beings that seek peace are even in Its eyes,” Matt paused, and Twilight saw how his eyes darted from pony to pony, losing their sternness. “A couple of months back, you all saw me quite brutally deal with a bunch of dragon punks soon after I came to Ponyville. Despite what I said then, you still gave me a chance. All I ask for you now is to do the same for them.”

Reminding Ponyville that he threatened to kill those three dragons maybe wasn’t the best move, but Twilight had to admit that it made ponies think. The Light would only know if they would think in the direction Matt hoped though.

“You will have two days to think about it,” Matt said, a tune of good humor adding flavor to his words. “As I mentioned, we will be leaving Ponyville for now. I hope you will think differently of our guest by the time we’ll return. During their stay in Ponyville, they will be either in their true shapes you see now, or the ones you saw before.”

He nodded to the changelings once more, and Nymph changed back into her unicorn form, sighing with relief.

“Poor Nymph.” Twilight thought, her mistrust of the changelings from the yesterday all but forgotten. “I can’t imagine what she must have felt when she sensed all those ponies’ emotions.”

“‘The young ones are blessed to not have the grudges of the elders’,” Rainbow Dash mocked five minutes later, as they joined Matt’s group as they headed towards the train station. “Do you have any idea how cheesy that sounded?”

“Not really, as I grew up listening to something similar from a bishop once a week,” Matt replied, shrugging, then in a lower voice so that just the six mares around him would hear him he added: “And on that note, I’m pretty sure that a lot of paladins of the Silver Hand were probably rolling in their graves, given everything.”

Twilight gave a tired sigh detecting the hint of self-loathing. Perhaps one day in the future, her friend would stop living in his past, but for now there was nothing more to do. In fact, given his character and what little she knew about Matt’s previous life, she was actually amazed that he hadn’t gone insane.

She shifted her attention to Apple Bloom, who was glaring at her sister as if daring her to say something about their display earlier. When Applejack finally looked at her and opened her mouth, Apple Bloom said:

“So? Let’s hear it. ‘It was wrong to defend the changelings from ponies’, right?”

Applejack, however, after making a surprised pause, just sighed and rolled her eyes. “Nope. Ah just wanted to say that Ah am mighty proud of y’all for stickin’ up for ya friend like that.”

“Oh…” her sister replied, shocked but pleased.

“Even if Ah do kinda wish ya were a bit more selective…” Applejack muttered quietly, again gaining glares from the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Suppressing a giggle, Twilight turned her attention to Matt again.

“Say hello to Shining Armor and Cadance from me,” Twilight told him. “If it wasn’t for the fact that I need to prepare, I wouldn’t mind joining you. After all, you might need some help with my brother.”

“I’m sure I will manage to talk things out with him and Cadance,” Matt dismissed her worry. “How are you preparations, by the way?” he asked in a lowered voice, so that the others, busy talking between themselves, wouldn’t notice.

“I have an idea on what I am going to show them,” Twilight said, not planning to reveal anything else. Changing the subject, she noticed: “Rainbow’s painful jabs aside, you did a great job out there on the stand. You spoke like a true leader.”

“Well, you would know something about that, wouldn’t you?”

Matt’s comment made her raise an eyebrow in confusion. “What do you mean? I’m not a leader or anything…”

“Leading ponies into the Everfree Forest to confront an evil spirit, uniting them against the spirit of chaos,” he began counting quietly, “organising Winter Wrap Up two years straight - looking forward to this year’s, by the way, I hate winter - ‘disaster-proofing Equestria’... the list goes on. Face it Twilight, you’re a leader,” he winked at her, making the blush that already started to cover her face grow even redder. “One that I would happily follow.”

Author's Note

You know, I was really amused that you all concentrated in your comments about Zecora's line instead of guessing what all those prophecies could be about.

As you can see, I plan to make a Hearth's Warming Eve happen in my story soon, but, sadly, I don't think I will managed to reach this point by the time of Christmas. I would be awesome if I did, but I have a few other plot points to introduce and or conclude before that. It's a pity to me, because it would be so fitting, but writing have ways of surprising like that. Truthfully, I hoped to reach the end of season 3 by now, so that I could start my own version of what happens next, and avoid being influenced by season 4.

On that note, while I'm hyped about it, season 4 won't be continued in Rebirth of the Damned. Remember that, so you in tern can remind me about that if you see me try to add those new episodes. I am allowed to maybe make some references, but nothing more. My story line is ready, and adding even more sub-plots will only hurt it.

Not sure yet about Warlord of Draenor, though...

Special thanks to Zaleros and Defias for proofreading!

108. Princess' Love

A brown stallion watched as the group of paladins and royal guards set off from Ponyville’s marketplace together with the changelings and the group of their friends. He was going over the events that transpired a few moments ago, especially the emotional, yet clearly well-thought out speech of the one called Sir Lightbringer, and the even more passionate appearance of the little fillies.

“Must be interesting to see things change,” a voice spoke from behind him. Turning around, he spotted a familiar zebra standing wearing a cloak and covering her head with a hood. “For one that has seen so much, it must be strange.”

A smile crossed his lips. This was one of the reason why he stopped observing zebras so long ago. Their natural ability for seeing the spirits of everything had always made things difficult for him.

“Not entirely, Zecora,” the stallion replied warmly, as he considered her his friend. He allowed himself to have one or two every now and then, to avoid growing completely insensitive. Of course, he never told them who he really was, although a few learned that by themselves. The two of them began to trot further away from the dispersing crowd as he spoke. “It was within my calculations that this would happen after the events of the last few months. What was surprising, though, were those fillies speaking up as they did. It didn’t occur to me that they might be quicker to accept those looking so alien to what they’re used to that the grownups. Then again, I was never really good at figuring what foals think.”

A pain he never gotten used to filled him for a moment, along with regret. He couldn’t help it; his ability to feel those emotions was an inseparable part of himself.

“It’s good to know that some things might evade you. Otherwise, your life would be quite dull, true?”

“My life isn’t about being interesting,” he objected. “I was handed down the mission to observe as much as I can.”

“You spoke of your quest, and I know you don’t want to do a coup,” Zecora waved off his words. “But you might need to reconsider, as I am sure Lightbringer is on to you.”

“Really?” he asked. He had a suspicion that the one being a stranger to this world might be able to spot him, but since after so many months Sir Lightbringer hadn’t approached him, the brown stallion hadn’t thought of that possibility much. After all, he had escaped the notice of both the changelings and those shady ponies when they were skulking around Ponyville. “What makes you think that?”

“His experiences make him unique, and he’s not the one to miss a being such as you. And once he decides to talk, he will want answers from you.”

His experiences…

“You know that he’s not of this world,” the brown stallion stated.

“He told me, yes, and it’s clear you must have seen him come from beyond that gate,” Zecora replied, looking at him intensively. “But even though we are friends, when I ask you won’t answer me straight.”

“I cannot interfere. Never have, never will.”

It sometimes amazed him that he could keep a neutral expression while lying through his teeth. He had broken that rule once, after all… but suffered by doing so more than he ever thought he could.

“But… it depends on what you ask. I cannot tell you or anypony what I know… but I can tell you what I don’t know,” He glanced at the puzzled and intrigued zebra. “I don’t know why he’s here.”

Nymph was still on the verge of hyperventilating by the time they got settled on the train car. The reaction from the crowd, while expectable, upset her greatly. She was grateful for the fillies’ support and warm words. Thanks to that she managed to get through the painful experience without crying.

“You could avoid that by staying in your true form,” a voice that was even more familiar to her than her own filled her mind.

She took a quick look around to see if anypony was paying attention to her. The Hivespeaker sat opposite to her, but his eyes were closed; probably due to the last night events he hadn’t slept much, and was now planning to rest now. The other stallions were discussing something; from what Nymph overheard, Storm Clash murmured that he had plans for today, and now the other two began to tease him. “What plans could the mighty Slayer of the Windigo possibly have in a small town like Ponyville?” Judging by his emotions and the data the changelings gathered about him, it was probably related to his feelings towards Rarity… although that surprised Nymph a bit. His personality profile made her thinking that he wouldn’t have the courage to do anything about that for awhile.

Serenity, on the other hoof, tried to establish conversation with Wind Reaver who, while answering quite politely, was not interested in conversation at the moment. Despite not knowing him on a personal level prior to the mission they were both on (herself being assigned, Wind Reaver volunteering), Nymph knew that he was not himself right now. In fact noling, even their Queen, knew what had to be going on in his head. There was never a case quite like his, to have his loved one lost and in a constant state of danger of losing their life.

Pulling her mind away from her companion’s terrible situation, Nymph concentrated on the voice of her Queen as the train began to move. She looked at the window, so that if anyling noticed her lost in thoughts gaze, they would think she was simply admiring the scenery. “If I had changed back, I would have felt even worse.”

For a few heartbeats the voice stayed silent, and she felt a warm rush of love and concern. “You know I didn’t send you there out of resentment, right?”

“Of course I know,” Nymph replied; such thoughts had never crossed her mind… well, maybe for just a tiny little second. “You sent me here because I was the only changeling you trusted this mission with, and to help me.”

“I am glad to know you understand that,” Chrysalis spoke, then her voice lost most of it’s motherly tone as the conversation turned to more important matters. “What do you think of ponies’ attitude so far?”

“I… think they will give us a chance. The Cutie Mark Crusaders-” she paused when she detected a mental sigh, “-I mean those fillies of course - they came to our defense when the mob nearly attacked us. And after hearing their words they all calmed down, and felt ashamed. I wonder if the Hivespeaker had counted on that happening?”

“He is a great unknown in this equation,” Chrysalis murmured. “I do think that he has the best interest of everyling in his mind - if I had thought otherwise, I wouldn’t have sought his aid. But where did he come from? Where did he learn to use this ‘Light’? And what are those other ‘insectoid races’ he spoke of?”

Nymph could perfectly understand her Queens’s irritation. The mystery of their race’s origin could be within a hoof’s reach, but they couldn’t take the chance and risk revealing to an uncertain ally how little they knew about themselves.

“Do you think…” Nymph began to ask, but her courage quickly left her.

“Finish your question.” Chrysalis told her patiently.

“I was wondering… that dream you had… do you think the Hivespeaker will recognize that colt?”

Her Queen stayed silent for a moment before she answered, long enough for Nymph to begin pondering if she was mad at her. “I honestly don’t know. Given how strange that colt was, I should doubt it… but everything has been strange as of late. There’s a change in the air; the pony princesses must have realized this as well, otherwise why would they create this paladin order?”

“Do you think something bad is going to happen?”

“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst,” she reminded her one of her first lessons. “Speaking off; had you prepared for a failsafe plan?”

“Um… yes,” she admitted uncomfortably. She knew she had to have it in case Equestria would betray them, but she didn’t like that she had to assume such a possibility. Not only because it was hurtful to think that the hope for peace might be nothing but a dream, but also that made her abuse the ponies’ trust… although given her plan, she doubted they would mind or figure it out if Equestria will stay true to their word. “I will have it ready by the end of the day.”

“Excellent,” Chrysalis complimented her. “Is there anything else?”

“Yes. We are now going to the Crystal Empire, to convince those two to support the idea of the alliance…” Nymph had to chose her next words carefully. While she herself didn’t take part in the attack on Canterlot, she knew what the actions of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor had costed them. A lot of changelings resented the pair, even though they accepted that their Queen tried to make peace with them. “And I’ve been thinking… while we are not going to apologize for the Invasion of Canterlot, as we’ve been manipulated into doing that… perhaps I could, in your name of course… apologize to Cadance and Shining Armor for… their wedding? I mean,” she quickly added, as even she had no idea how did the Queen felt about that, “even if it would be a dishonest apology, it would help our case.”

She held her breath as she awaited Queen’s answer. “I’m proud to see that even though you are not of my flesh you inherited my ways of thinking,” she finally heard, causing her to swell with relief and pride. “Very well then, when you meet Cadance and Shining Armor, pass to them these words:...”

Matthias tried and failed to hide his irritation at the sight that greeted them at the station. Of course, he wasn’t upset by the view of the Crystal Empire. In fact, seeing how they restaurated the old train station, proving how they were prospecting, filled him with joy. What he was irritated with, though, was the presence of another sign of said prospect.

The crystal guards.

He wasn’t entirely surprised by them being here. He knew Princess Celestia must have sent a message to Cadance to expect them - one does not simply walk into the Crystal Empire with changelings unannounced - but what he didn’t expect was their numbers. Eighteen guards were a bit too many to just escort them.

“Greetings, Sir Lightbringer.” said the leader of the division. The crystal guards, all ponies trained by Shining Armor, eyed the two changelings (although Nymph stayed in her unicorn form). “We’ve been sent to relieve you of your prisoners-”

“I have no idea what the message Princess Celestia had sent to Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor said,” Matthias interrupted him, “but clearly, there has been some mistake. Those aren’t prisoners, but guests, with a diplomatic status I might add.”

His words caused the officer to back off slightly in confusion. “Eee… yes, well, I still have my orders, and they say that-”

“Let me put it bluntly:” the paladin stopped him, getting even more irritated; he didn’t get much sleep on the train, and his lack of rest aside, he wanted to talk with Cadance and Shining Armor as quick as possible: “if you want to take them anywhere, you will have to get past me first.”

As he said that, he opened himself to the Light, so when the last words escaped his lips, his eyes shone with white radiance. The effect was immediate; all guards stepped back and cleared the way for them. Nodding, Matthias looked back at his subordinates and his charges and signaled them to follow him. He did not object when the crystal guards surrounded his group and began escorting them to the castle.

“Um, sir?” Serenity stepped up beside him, whispering. “Did you just… threatened the members of the Crystal Guard?”

“No, I informed them that we are bound to protect Nymph and Wind Reaver.” Matthias replied calmly, also quietly. Glancing at her, he added: “I knew that for you such scenario would is unthinkable, but our oath of loyalty is to Celestia and Luna, and we must follow the ways of the Holy Light.”

“But… you don’t actually think we would have to fight them, right?”

“Oh goodness, no. We are all good friends with each other, not to mention how dire the political repercussion for attacking us would be.” He paused, and pretended to be confused. “Also, didn’t I get impaled over there by an evil king that enslaved you all and walked it off?”

Serenity glared at him with unamused expression.

“Remind me not to let you hang out with Twilight anymore,” Matthias said, unhappy by the fact that his subordinate picked that off from everything she could from his friends.

“Sorry, sir, I didn’t mean to offend you…”

“No, it’s okay; you are allowed for more formality when talking with me,” smirking, he added: “That being said, leave the talking with the royal pair to me. Trust me, I won’t allow things to get violent.”

“Okay, I might have a problem with that,” Matthias admitted to himself, gazing into Shining Armor’s face and seeing no sign of friendship there.

He was granted a private audience almost immediately after he reached the castle. The changelings waited outside the throne room, with his ponies guarding them. Thankfully, the crystal ponies, being away for a thousand years, didn't have many reasons to hate the changelings as much as their Equestrians counterparts, so Matthias wasn’t worried about them being harassed… although the hungry looks they gave to Crystal Heart when they passed certainly didn’t earn them any fans. “I could swear I saw Nymph drool.”

“Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor,” he greeted them, getting back to the present moment, “it’s a pleasure to see you again.”

“Under normal circumstances, we would be thrilled to have you here,” Princess Cadance replied, looking a bit friendlier than her husband. “Sadly, the presence of those two changelings sours the mood, as well as your threat to our guards.”

“I did not threaten them; I just made it clear that Nymph and Wind Reaver are under my direct protection, and Princess Celestia’s indirect protection.”

“Yes, the message I received from her clearly stated that,” Cadance said. “We merely wanted them to be contained until we’ve made our decision.”

“But instead, we have them right outside of our doors, thanks to you,” Shining Armor added. “Can you please tell me there is a reason for you taking their side?”

“I’m not taking anypony’s side…” Matthias started to explain, but the Prince of the Crystal Empire hadn’t finished yet.

“Other than you getting with the Changeling Queen to second base, of course.” he smirked.

Matthias jaw dropped upon hearing the accusation, which even Rainbow Dash hadn’t thought to make. Glaring at Shining Armor, he turned to Cadance. “Did you know that every stallion that showed interest in Twilight was threatened by him with the promise of severe beating?”

“Wait, what?” the Princess asked in confusion.

“How did you- um, I mean, what?” he tried to correct himself. “That’s the first time I heard about it.”

His wife glared at him for a couple of seconds, making him chuckle nervously. Finally, she sighed and turned back to Matthias. “I will deal with this later. Right now, could you please give us the full details as to why my aunts are prepared to form an alliance with a nation that, while wasn’t an outright enemy, was definitely not friendly to us?”

Matthias nodded and began to tell them all the events that transpired in Ponyville since yesterday’s evening, when he returned to the Abbey and was informed shortly after that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were kidnapped and were being held hostage. That part didn’t warm them up to the idea. However, when he went on to his meeting with Chrysalis, her proposition and information she provided, the reason for Wind Reaver volunteering, the walk back with Nymph, and ended with the discussion with the Princesses and Twilight. Hearing that Twilight in particular admitted, despite her personal dislike of the Changeling Queen, that they just had to try and reach for peace, made a big impression on them.

“I would have thought that Twilight would be the last one to agree to this,” Cadance admitted once he finished. “That young mare can really hold a grudge.”

“Yeah, I know something about it.”

“I’m happy to know she can see past what the Changeling Queen did to her,” Cadance continued. “I, however… am not sure I can do that,” she looked down. “She imprisoned me for days, Matthias. If I wasn’t an alicorn, I would have died in those caves. And all the time I was there, I was thinking that she was stealing Shining Armor from me, my wedding, and would soon take over my home,” Her husband moved to nudge her, and when she looked up, nuzzled her gently.

“I’ll have no right to judge you if you chose to deny Crystal Empire’s part in this alliance, and by extension, the existence of the alliance at all.” Matthias said slowly. Who better than him knew how far vengeance could carry somepony? “But, as a paladin of the Light, sworn defender of Equestria, and, more importantly, as your friend, I will have to remind you of your duties. You are a Princess, Cadance, a leader of this kingdom. The fate of your subjects depends on your decisions. You cannot allow them to be influenced by your personal feelings, especially not the ones born from hate. A leader has to put the good of her people first.”

Cadance eye were locked with Matthias’ as he spoke, gazing into them intently. When he finished, she looked over to her husband next to her. “What do you think?”

“You know me, beloved,” Shining Armor replied with a smile that contradicted his next words. “I would like nothing more than to beat those two bugs outside senseless and send them back to their queen, having planted bombs in their chests. But we both know that what Matt said is true. This is something you have to think about calmly and carefully.”

“When did you became so smart?” she sighed.

“I learned from the best,” he answered, nuzzling her affectionately.

Matthias coughed, reminding them that he was still here. They both parted slowly from another, their concentration once again on him.

“I want to speak with those changelings,” Cadance said, her voice no longer having any sight of the tiredness and uncertainly it held a moment ago. “Send them in!”

The doors to the throne room opened, and in walked the group that left the station. The changelings seemed to return to their usual selves since their meeting with the Crystal Heart; Nymph was still a unicorn, once more a nervous one, while Wind Reaver stood indifferent. Serenity, on the other hoof, looked in awe on the inside of the throne room. Matthias assumed that this was her first visit to the place which her brother stood guard so long ago.

“You can leave us,” Shining Armor told the crystal guards.

Matthias, following his example, nodded to his paladins and the two royal guards he had under his command.

Once the doors were closed again, Princess Cadance addressed the changelings: “If my husband and I were informed correctly, your names are Wind Reaver and Nymph, correct?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” they both replied in unison, bowing their heads a little.

“And what are your reasons for being here?”

“Our Queen understood that, given how little ponies know about us, forming an alliance would be impossible,” Nymph answered. Matthias frowned; there was something different about her… did seeing the Crystal Heart affect her in more ways than he assumed? It was an artifact that utilised love, which was probably why they looked at it so hungrily. Could it somehow change her personality? “That is why she needed to send a changeling that would be able to answer your question in regards to our society and biology, and out of those that could, I was one of the few that honestly wanted peace.”

“Why?” Cadance asked, raising an eyebrow.

Her question seemed to take Nymph aback, but she merely took a deep breath and replied: “Because that way, everyling… and everypony… can be happy. You might not view us as such creatures, but we value happiness as much as ponies do. And… I would like to be able to walk around in my true form and not feel ponies’ disgust,” she added quieter.

Bits of sympathy appeared in Cadance’s face, and even Shining Armor’s. She nodded to her, satisfied with Nymph answer, and turned to Wind Reaver, signaling him that it was his turn.

“I’m sure the Hivespeaker had already told you; my intended mate was capture by whoever is screwing with us,” he blurted, making Matthias and Shining Armor to glare at him and Nymph to shake and look at him in alarm. “All I want is to save her; and allying with you is the only way we have left to accomplish that,” A somewhat amused smirk crossed his features when he added: “I’m sure you can relate to that.”

“Yes; and the irony of this doesn’t escape me,” Cadance replied, but her tone held no amusement. She glanced at Shining Armor, and as if an unspoken agreement fell between them, they both nodded and Cadance addressed the changelings once again. “Thank you both. You have given us a lot to think about,” Turning to Matthias, she said: “The castle’s staff will show you to your rooms. I trust that your guards will be sufficient?” when he nodded, she continued: “We will inform you once we reach a decision. You can leave now.”

“If I may…” Nymph spoke up unexpectedly. “I would like to speak with the two of you alone.” Seeing the glares of suspicion she received from the royal couple, she explained: “I have words of… apology from out Queen, but I can only pass them to you in private.”

That information surprised everypony, even - at least Matthias thought so - Wind Reaver. He didn’t expect Chrysalis to apologize to Cadance and Shining Armor, even if she would be lying.

“I suppose in that case we will grant your request,” Cadance replied after a few heartbeats. “I am really interested in hearing your Queen words.”

Nymph waited for the doors to close behind her, ignoring the confusion of her Queen.

“Why did you want to be alone with them?” she inquired.

“I will explain later,” Nymph replied, concentrating on the couple.

Once the doors were closed, she transformed back to her real form, causing Princess Cadance and Shining Armor a little worry. Only a little; she was still just one changeling, nothing the two of them couldn’t deal with.

Nymph winced inwardly. While they weren’t outright hating her like the mob in Ponyville did, she could still feel that Shining Armor would’ve gladly kicked her out of their kingdom. Cadance, on the other hoof, remained calm, and she could only sense a slight discomfort at the sight seeping through the barriers she placed around her mind and heart.

She bowed once more and spoke: “These are the words of my Queen: ‘Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor. I will not apologize for the attack on Canterlot. Saying that I’m sorry would be a lie, as we were manipulated into it, and my Swarm had lost much more than Equestria. But… I will apologize for your wedding, even though you will probably not believe me.’”

The changeling paused to take a breath. She could taste the couple’s disbelief and confusion; she hoped that by the end of the speech they would believe Chrysalis’ words.

“‘We changelings don’t have weddings, at least not in the same sense as you, but I understand that it is an event in pony’s lives of great importance. While taking your place, Cadance, for a few days, was the best way to for my invasion plan to succeed, I did feel bad even then. While being you, I got to experience first-hoof how you mares’ prepare for that special day, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued by the concept. I honestly hope that after our loss you had a happy wedding - and that you weren’t gloating. And before I forget; I didn’t do anything more intimate than kissing with your husband, so if you had any doubts about him you can rest easy. Really, he’s not my type.’”

Nymph wasn’t sure if that was a smart thing for her Queen to say. The embarrassed and somewhat offended look on Shining Armor face definitely didn’t point at that. But she dispersed such thoughts as she took a deep breath, preparing for the real reason why she wanted to talk with them.

The peace needed to happen. She was more certain of that than everything else she ever was. And if she could make it possible by her next words, then she would gladly say them.

“Those were the words of my Queen,” Nymph said. “And these are mine: I can tell that you hate her for what she did to you. You want to hurt her, not make peace. That hate is the main reason stopping you from forming an alliance.” Not giving them a chance to object, she took a step forward and declared: “I am Queen Chrysalis’ foster daughter and her heir. Kill me, and you will inflict her greater pain than you could have hoped for and you’ll be even.”

“No!!!” her Mother’s scream resonated in her head as the realisation of her plan came upon her.

Blocking Chrysalis attempt at controlling her - with difficulty - she quickly said: “Don’t worry, my Mother won’t place the Swarm’s future in jeopardy over my loss, I’m expendable. Do it quickly-”

She was stopped. Not by her Mother. Not by her own fear over her death or by her sorrow for the pain she would cause her. Nymph was stopped by a slap across her cheek from a golden-slippered hoof.

“How dare you?!” Princess Cadance asked, looking down on her lying form sternly; Nymph didn’t even notice she fell down. The Princess, while bristling with fury, kept her voice quiet. “How dare you think I would have slain a foal in a petty revenge against her mother!?”

“I- I-” Nymph stammered. This wasn’t a reaction she had expected; nor did Chrysalis, as she felt her shock over their link. Ashvattha, even Shining Armor was shocked. What was this anger? Why was she… angry at her, but at the same time… not?

“I know from Matt that your Mother can speak through you changelings,” Cadance cut her off. “I want to talk to her, now!”

Nymph wasn’t even sure what exactly is going on right now, so it didn’t come as as surprise that Mother took over her body easily. She felt her consciousness enter and fill her, pushing her gently into a position of a spectator.

No doubt Mother’s eyes appeared over her own, for Cadance realised Chrysalis was now present. “Did you put her up to this, you fucking bitch!?”

Over her shoulder, Nymph saw Shining Armor’s jaw hit the floor.

“Watch your mouth, Princess!” Chrysalis sneered with anger. “I would have never asked any of my subjects, let alone her, to do something like this!”

Both females bristled at one another (Mother using her body) and continued to glare at each other for while, before Cadance took a step back. “And if I had accepted her proposition and killed her, what would you do?”

Chrysalis also took a step back and said: “I would have continued pursuing peace, and I would search for a new Successor. Once she would reach maturity, I would pass her my powers and make her a Queen. So in about twenty-thirty years I would kill you with my bare hooves.”

Mother’s statement, that she would honor her wish while at the same time she would still avenge her made Nymph more happy that she remembered being in a while. “Don’t celebrate yet!” a mental hiss interrupted her. “I am really angry at you right now!”

Wincing, Nymph returned her attention to what was happening outside of her body. Princess Cadance sighed and rubbed her eyes. “What does it say about my character that I find your threat heartening?”

“That you will be an excellent mother one day,” Chrysalis commented. “Now, I don’t like taking over my subject bodies for so long, so if you’re done...”

“Yes, you can go; I’m sure Nymph will inform you of our answer,” Cadance replied, and then looked at her sternly. “But for goodness sake, talk with your daughter! She said she’s expendable!”

“Oh, I intend to…” Mother said ominously, returning her consciousness to her own body.

Nymph shook; it always felt odd to regain control of herself. Of course, Mother didn’t do that too often-

“I might start.”

Gulping nervously, Nymph looked up to see Shining Armor trot up to Cadance.

“Are you… alright?” he asked with concern.

“Yes, I just got so mad when I thought that the Changeling Queen might have made her say that.”

“I’ll say. Never thought I will hear you curse,” he said teasingly.

“Oh, don’t start with me, mister. We still have something to talk about,” Cadance told him threateningly. Turning back to Nymph, she asked in a more gentler tone that she had expected to be addressed by her. “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” the changeling replied, confused to no end about the last five minutes of her life.

“I am sorry for hitting you, but, as I said, I was just mad,” She paused to smile. “You really love her, don’t you? And your people?”

Not feeling confident to speak, Nymph just nodded, smiling in turn. She could feel the Princess radiate with compassion and love, no lesser than Crystal Heart’s. Nymph took a few “bites” of it, so small that she wouldn’t feel the loss. It was delicious.

“I’m glad to know that. Perhaps ponies and changelings aren’t much different after all,” Cadance replied. “Now, you and your mother have some things to talk about, so you can go.”

“Yes…” she nodded again, not looking forward to the mental scolding. “Thank you for your time, Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor. And could you… not tell anypony that I’m Queen’s heir? For a while, at least; I wasn’t supposed to reveal that.”

“I don’t see why not. Have a good rest, Princess Nymph.”

“I’m not exactly…” she began to object, but continuing would require explaining the changeling’s society, and Nymph didn’t really feel up to that right now. “Oh, forget it,” she gave up, bowing and flying toward the door.

She landed next to them and transformed back to unicorn. When she was about to open the doors (and already feeling Mother’s presence on the edge of her mind), she managed to hear from the couple: “Now, what was it that Matt said?”

If looks could swallow, then Matthias would have eaten the bed in the chamber he was given. Finally, he would get some well-deserved sleep.

He quickly took off his armor and put it in the corner. Matthias had already made sure that his subordinates were guarding the changelings fairly, so now he could just relax and await Cadance’s and Shining Armor’s decision.

He took a step towards the bed, its size, warmth and comfort summoning him… when it happened. A stab of pain so great as if he had… seen his home cast him away. Matthias pressed a hoof to his heart, panting heavily as he looked around for a source of this. But the chamber held no strange secrets.

The paladin continued to ponder it for minutes after the pain had completely gone away. In the end, he gave up. Whatever it was, it apparently could wait.

Twilight growled in frustration. She could not believe what just happened; she had been quite literally thrown out of Ponyville, and now was powerless to stop the one responsible for that from taking over the small town.

She glanced in irritation at the flower buds. Twilight could also not believe that she, Trixie, of all ponies, could perform such a complicated spell so easily. She remembered how months back Apple Bloom grew old, and she had tried to fix her up with a spell. That was a limit of her skill in the field of the age spells - canceling their effects. She couldn’t just change the age of a pony.

“Without Spike, I can't get a message to the Princess in Saddle Arabia,” she mused. “So who else do I know who understands strange and powerful magic? Ugh, of all the time for Matt to be away…” Twilight said out loud in annoyance, when it suddenly hit her. By thinking about Matt, she recalled clearly the one of their conversation’s today. It regarded a necklace, given him by- “Zecora!”

Yes, the wise zebra could help her. Knowing that time was of the essence, Twilight hastened to her hut. However, when she reached the forest’s entrance, she just had to stop.

Outside of the forest laid a warming sight, which said:

By the order of Grand Master of the Celestial Light, Sir Matthias Lehner, also known as Lightbringer, entering the Everfree Forest without a paladin accompanying you is strictly forbidden for the citizens of Ponyville.

Twilight really tried to hold it in, but it was just too funny to her. Laughing her flank off, she entered the forest, her mood already improved.

Nymph finally relaxed in her chamber after the two hour long discussion with her Mother. Chrysalis had spent all this time for being in turns angry at her and expanding her mental reach to give her a feeling of a warm hug. Nymph quickly grew tired of apologizing over and over again, so she laid silently in her bed while her Mother scolded her; for thinking of herself as expendable, for trying to get herself killed…

In hindsight, she should have thought clearly how it would make Chrysalis feel. Nymph knew very well that she wasn’t her only heir; she had many foster daughters over the centuries, but she outlived them all, and every time they died the Queen felt great pain.

Finally, she was allowed more privacy after swearing solemnly that she would never say that she was expendable. Feeling her Mother’s presence retreat, Nymph had decided to put her failsafe plan to life; even though she hoped she would never have to use it.

“Still, enjoy the moment, right?” she mused.

Clearing her throat, she called out: “Guards?”

Nymph, still in her unicorn form, waited patiently for an answer while lying on the large bed. She didn’t have to wait long; merely seconds later the door opened, and in came the two royal guards: Sound Wave and Cherry Bomb.

“Perfect. It would have been problematic if they were paladins…”

She still didn’t like the idea of using them, but if she never planned to resort to this, nopony would get hurt. And it’s not like they are going to complain.

“Hi, um, would you mind helping me out with something?” she asked them, feeling a bit nervous.

“Sure, what’ya need?” Cherry Bomb asked.

The doors closed behind them.

“You see…” Nymph began. “I’m hungry, so… do one of you want to have sex?”

She was awarded with the sight of the royal guards’ jaws hitting floor and their eyes getting wider with panic. “Odd, based on their psychological profiles, I thought they would be quite excited with such a proposition… oh no...”

“Wait, I don’t mean it in a way that I am going to eat you or something!” Nymph quickly tried to explain.

“Yeah, um…” Cherry Bomb muttered.

“Maybe you could explain what you actually meant,” Sound Wave offered.

“Well, it’s like this, “she began once more, this time picking her words more carefully: “Prior to being sent on this mission, Wind Reaver and I were provided with an amount of love sufficient enough to sustain us for a few months. But we didn’t expect to be within the Crystal Empire; by just being close to the Crystal Heart, we were affected by it and grew hungry for it. I, unlike Wind Reaver, am not used to not feeding for such a long time. To remain sated, I would need to absorb some love, and I cannot go around impersonating ponies, as I think it would be a breach of trust. But we changelings can feed during sex, as it is the primal, physical act of love, and it’s not nearly as invasive to ponies as our usual way of gathering love. Although, compared to true love, it’s a bit like… your fast foods,” Nymph trailed off to think, but then she noticed the confused stares the two stallions were giving her, so she stopped.

The funny thing was she was speaking the truth; she felt hungry after passing by the Crystal Heart. She would have been alright after some time, of course. When changelings preserved their energies, they could go on without eating for a long time. But the sight of such concentrated love made her almost drool.

“Wait, let me get this straight,” Sound Wave interjected, “you’re offering to have sex with one of us in exchange for love?”

“Yes, and I promise you won’t feel odd after that.”

“Aand… you can take on the form of anypony, right?”

For a second, Nymph felt hurt by the question. She thought her current form was pretty. But she quickly pushed that feeling away; even if it did, Nymph couldn’t expect them to pass on the chance to have sex with a pony they fantasized about for Ashvattha knows how long. Besides, she would be able to siphon more love from them that way.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Even… I don’t know, uh…” Cherry Bomb tried and failed to convince her that he was actually pondering his question. “Princess Celestia?”

“Yes, although transforming into her takes more energy, as she is twice as big as me,” Nymph admitted, then pretended (far more convincingly) that she just had this idea. “If you want me to change into her, then it has to be two of you.”

They blinked, not understanding.

“At the same time,” she specified.

Their eyes widened. For the next few seconds Nymph had quite the fun watching them glance at each other, then at her, then back at each other. Dealing with Sound Wave and Cherry Bomb was quite different than with the crowd earlier, to say the least, or even the royal guards yesterday. Then again, she couldn’t sense much hatred from them since the night before, and after Princess Celestia welcomed them, they had none at all.

Finally, they both shrugged and said “Sure, why not.”

Matthias yawned, waking up in the middle of the night, all rested up. He stretched and pondered what to do until the sunrise as he drunk a glass of water that stood at the nightstand.

“Wish I had some books from Twilight,” he thought. He regretted not taking anything like that, but he was in a hurry in the morning. Putting the glass down, he mused: “What to do…”

It seemed that fate has chosen an answer for him, for his hoof somehow slipped, causing the nightstand to fall down. Cursing, Matthias bent over to lift it up…

… and stared in surprise at the secret hiding place behind it.

Nymph stretched as the two stallions left her room. The last few hours were certainly productive; she managed to acquire quite a lot of love from them.

“I wonder how Prince Shining Armor would react to his friends rutting the look-alike of his wife, mother and sister? The Hivespeaker would’ve certainly beaten them up for the latter,” she mused; those two had a lot of fantasies. “I should have prepared a camera; between the Princesses, Wonderbolts, the griffon princess - how in Tartarus do they even know how she looks? - it would’ve piled up for quite a scandal.”

Still, her main objective had been accomplished - a subtle spell had been placed on their minds. Now, if Equestria ever betrayed her, she could easily take control over their minds and make them obey her every order. The effect would be short lived, but it would prove enough of a distraction to let her and Wind Reaver escape.

A yawn interrupted her thoughts; her body reminded her how much she needed sleep. She pulled her covers over her, preparing to drift off into a dream, but before that, her hooves absentmindedly reached for the opposite end of the bed in an embrace. They found nothing there.

“I guess that’s another plus of impersonating a pony,” she thought, saddened. “it’s warmer to sleep with another.”

109. Crystals and chitins

The next morning Serenity had problems keeping her eyes on her charge, but she couldn’t help it.

She and Nymph were on a stroll through the streets of Crystal Empire. It has been only a few weeks since she left it, but it felt like forever to her. Serenity’s gaze continued to slip from the changeling in disguise to the familiar corners of her hometown, admiring their beauty she missed so much. Not that Ponyville was ugly, far from it, for there was this simplicity to it that made the small town a very good place to live in.

Serenity had never imagined that she would leave Crystal Empire. Back when she was a filly, she had always assumed that she would join the Crystal Guard and help other ponies, along with her brother…

A familiar pain in her heart awakened at the thought of the Sentinel, which didn’t escape the notice of Nymph. “Is everything alright?” she asked, glancing at her with concern. “You were so happy a moment ago, and now you’re sad.”

“Oh, it’s nothing, I was just thinking about my brother,” Serenity replied; being a crystal pony, she had no specific grudges against her kind. In fact, the paladin wasn’t even sure if the changelings had ever been within the Empire, as they first heard of them from Equestria just months before King Sombra took over. “He was a crystal guard, and he was killed by Sombra a thousand years ago.”

“I am sorry to hear that,” Nymph said sympathetically.

“Thanks,” The paladin could read from her face nothing, but sincerity. “Do you have any siblings?”

“No, I was the onl-” the changelings paused, looking troubled.

“Oh right, Sir Lightbringer had mentioned you cannot speak about your kind yet,” Serenity remembered. “Sorry, then, I won’t pry.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

Serenity stayed silent for a while, nodding greetings to the few passersby who recognized her armor and pondering what it could be that Nymph was going to say. “Since she clearly isn’t allowed to say it, it couldn’t be something like foal. ‘A single egg’? ‘A single larva’?”

“So, how are you dealing with everything?” she asked, deciding that it didn’t really matter.

“Well, I’m not surrounded by an angry mob, so… that’s an improvement,” Nymph replied with an uneasy smile. “But it is mostly due to the fact that majority of the Empire is unaware of what I am. The second I drop my disguise it will be yesterday morning all over again.”

“You don’t know that,” Serenity objected. “Crystal ponies never had much of an issue with changelings, so they wouldn’t turn hostile on you. Beside, you’re with me, remember?”

Nymph’s eyes widened as she had realized what she was suggesting her to do. The changeling glanced at the few ponies around them, who paid more attention to Serenity than her, then looked back at her, uncertain. The paladin nodded to her encouragingly. She honestly believed what she said, and thought that it would be good for her to walk a bit in her own form.

“Um… okay,” she finally said, closing their eyes. Opening them sharply, she added: “But if we cause a panic throughout the Empire it’s on you, deal?”

“Deal,” Serenity giggled, watching with interest how green flames erupted around her charge, returning her to her own look.

The crystal ponies around them all gasped as they stared at Nymph, making her cringed and Serenity prepared a prayer for protection in her mind. But after a moment she relaxed; none of the ponies began shouting, nor did they look angry. If anything, they were startled as they took a step back from them, and continued to eye the changeling with suspicion and curiosity.

“They’re not happy,” Nymph observed, and Serenity detected a hint of hurt in her odd voice.

“True, but they’re not angry, either,” the paladin pointed out. “I cannot sense anypony bearing any malicious intentions towards you.”

“Wait, you can do that? I don’t recall such ability being mentioned in our records about crystal ponies.”

“Oh, no, that’s an ability granted me by the Holy Light,” Serenity corrected. “Paladins can sense evil, from dark magic to evil intentions.”

“I... see…” Nymph murmured, her face losing all of her earlier fright and awkwardness; now her brow was frowned in a deep concentration. “But how would you define ‘evil intentions’? If they attacked me because I am a changeling, then it wouldn’t be evil from their point of view.”

“True,” she replied, recalling all the ethical and psychological aspects of working with the Light. “But if the intent is born of hate, then it can never be ‘good’ in the eyes of the Holy Light.”

“You speak of it as it was… conscious. Aware.”

“Well, it is. Kind off...” Serenity paused; it became much easier for her to understand it once she had passed the Initiation and was touched by the Light. How was she going to explain it to the changeling?

“You know what?” Nymph said sympathetically; could she sense her discomposure? “Since I cannot speak about changelings, you don’t have to tell me about your ‘Light’. It’s only fair.”

“Sorry. I’m sure Sir Lightbringer will be able to explain it to you in better details later. Or you could read through the books in Chapel’s library,” Serenity suggested before she decided to change the subject. “So, back to you and ponies - surely, it’s not just different ponies that treat you better. I mean, Sound Wave and Cherry Bomb both smiled when they saw you this morning.”

“Yeah, I suppose having sex with them had unexpected side effects of improving our relations,” Nymph’s voice was almost nonchalant, especially given what she said.

Serenity’s jaw dropped hearing the calm information. For a second the changeling stayed oblivious to her companion’s utter shock, but in the next she noticed the change in her emotions. She glanced to the side and looked at her puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?!” Serenity gasped, and then quickly, in a lowered voice, she added: “You just said that you had sex as if it was nothing!”

“Err… because it was? Oh! Sorry, I forgot that we changelings view sex a bit differently from ponies.”

“‘A bit differently’? What do you mean?” the paladin asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

“You know how we need to feed on love to survive. To do that, we usually impersonate a pony and hang around their loved ones, which usually mean that we have to have sex with their mates, spouses, and so on,” Nymph explained casually, as it was a scientific debate. “If we thought about it as most ponies do, as something that should be only between those in love, we would have died of starvation centuries ago.”

“But…” Serenity stuttered; this all made sense, but it was so wrong! “What about Wind Reaver?! He has an… an intended mate!”

“Yes. We still fall in love in each other, although we cannot feed off ourselves… and if we could, it would be technically cannibalism...” Nymph trailed off, thinking about the thought, then shook her head. “Anyway, just because a changeling has a mate it doesn’t mean they’re exclusive. Mated pairs often work together to gather love. And they also have sex with other changelings from time; like to you ponies, it’s also highly enjoyable to us too.”

“But that’s just…” Serenity was too shocked to form a proper sentence. “... it’s just so…”

“Should I be worried that you now find my whole kind disgusting?” Nymph asked, her face a mix of amusement and confusion, and the paladin detected a hint of sadness in her question.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean…it’s just so weird to me. I mean, I read somewhere once that pegasi had somewhat similar habits prior to Founding of Equestria, and that the sea ponies often have casual sex, but…” Serenity trailed off, not wanting to offend her. She shook her head. “So, um… did Sound and Bomb had… I mean, where you…?”

“Myself?” Nymph hinted. “Of course not. They didn’t even want to do it with me in that unicorn shape I wear usually. I asked them if they wanted to have sex because I was hungry, so when they asked me to change my shape into someling else, I didn’t object, it only seemed fair.”

“That’s so- wait, they didn’t ask to change into me, did they?” she asked, blushing. “Please tell me they didn’t ask you to change into me!”

“... They didn’t ask me to change-”

“Oh, for Light’s sake!” Serenity exclaimed in outrage and embarrassment. “I can’t believe them!”

“Wait, they asked me to change into a lot of ponies!” Nymphs tried to calm her down. “You were- wait, would telling you which number on their list of fantasies you are in will make these things worse?”

“I…” the paladin trailed off, for a split second actually thinking about it, then stomped angrily, startling a few crystal ponies and causing them to give them even a wider breadth. “Nevermind. Let’s just forget about this conversation. For Light’s sake, I thought that Tucker hitting on me was bad enough…”

Serenity paused. If Tucker had been here, would he have also slept with Nymph? “He would,” she thought angrily. “You cannot put anything past that unicorn, not after what he did with all those Pinkie clones. He wouldn’t even wait for Nymph to suggest anything. And those holes in her legs…”

The paladin stopped her mental rant when she noticed that her charge was giggling. “What’s so funny?”

“That you complain about Tucker hitting on you when you like him so much,” Nymph replied, flashing her fangs in an awkward grin.

“What? I don’t… I don’t like him! I mean, he’s a fellow paladin, so I like him, but not like him like him, just… why are you laughing?!” she stomped once again in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. “Weren’t you all socially awkward like half a day ago?”

“Yes, it’s um… a common side effect of overeating love,” Nymph answered, now she a bit embarrassed. “And that Crystal Heart of yours isn’t helping, either… anyway, overeating causes changelings to have a slight personality change, so for a while I’ll be more… cocky. And going back to Tucker - I can sense your emotions. Do you want me to change into him and start feeding off you to prove my point?”

“No, you don’t need to, because you’re wrong!” Serenity said. She was certain that there were red spots on her cheeks. “Why would I like like a pony who thinks only about sex all the time?”

“Um, let me think…” the changeling crossed her forelegs and hovered above the crystal sidewalk, now gaining even more attention; thankfully, the buzzing of her wings managed to hide her next words, which she uttered after a few moments: “Well, based on most common psychological reasons for why there are such couples out there, and what I know about you… I would say you are subconsciously attracted to him…”

“Which I’m not!”

“... Because you… um…” she paused and lowered her voice while glancing at her, puzzled. “... you’re a virgin?”

Serenity uttered an ‘eep’ as she blushed even fiercer, gazing at the changeling with shock.

“Seriously?” Nymph asked (Serenity sent a mental thanks to the Holy Light for her speaking so quietly). “I know I just said that changelings look at those matters differently, but isn’t that a bit… weird, considering you age?”

“I’m nineteen!” she protested. “There’s nothing weird about me being a nineteen year old virgin.”

“No, you’re a thousand and nineteen year old virgin.” Nymph corrected her, and for an emotion-sensing creature she had a surprising difficulty in catching up how rapidly Serenity grew angry.

“It’s not like I was aware of the last thousand years.” Serenity hissed; “How did I get into this conversation?!” “King Sombra’s spell put us all into some sort of time-distortion… or something.”

“Oh, really? That must have been some powerful magic. Did you see what kind of shape the spell took once he was done with the incantation? I mean, he was fighting the two Princesses at the time so he must have-” Nymph trailed off, realizing how excited she had gotten. “Sorry, it’s just… my Queen was very interested as to how King Sombra made the Crystal Empire vanished, and how it returned. We had assumed he put you all in a sort of sub-dimension, but if what you said is true…” The changeling nibbled on her hoof, staying quiet for a couple of seconds, much to Serenity’s relief. “Hmm, I will need to think about it later. So, um… do you want to talk about it?”

The relief was short-lived.

“What’s there to talk about? I just never met a pony I would want to date.”

“And Tucker…”

“I am not attracted to him!” she hissed. “Why in Tartarus did you even think that me being a virgin would be the reason for that?!”

“Well, mares who didn’t have sex, despite their advanced-”

“Say ‘age’,” Serenity hissed, “and I will check which one is harder: my coat or your chitin. And how long will you stay in this state?”

“Until the extra energy I have will run out,” Nymph replied. “Sorry, I cannot help it; it’s more or less the same how ponies react to alcohol poisoning. And sorry for what I thought. I assumed you were aware of the last thousand years under King Sombra’s curse, which made you that old, despite your lack of aging.”

“Don’t worry, it’s okay. I already got a few snickers from other ponies about my ‘age’,” Serenity sighed and then, after a brief hesitation, she asked: “So why did you think I was attracted to Tucker?”

“Because you are so different, and while you seem to be not interested in sex, or at least not actively seeking it, you would feel drawn to a pony who… well, rather actively looks out for a chance to have intercourse. Oh, and who also is a virgin.”

“Wait, what?” the paladin glanced sharply. “He had sex with a-”

“- a bunch of Pinkie Pie’s clones, yes,” Nymph finished. “Except he hadn’t gotten around to putting anything anywhere other than his tongue into their mouths.”

“How do you-”

“One of those Pinkies in the armory was our… uh, spy,” she explained uncomfortably. “Sorry for that.”

“Oh, don’t be,” Serenity replied. “Thanks to that at least I will have something to make fun of Tucker if I’ll ever need to make him shut up.”

She giggled at the thought, and Nymph joined in. Serenity wondered if she knew what really make it funny for her; that Tucker, like her, is a thousand year old virgin. But then she recalled what Nymph had said and immediately stopped being amused. It would be better to now have something as bizarre like this in common with that unicorn.

“So how come you never had a coltfriend?” Nymph asked after a while.

“I don’t know. My parents died when I was young, so I suppose it ruined for me the whole concept of ‘happily ever after’.”

Serenity’s mind wondered for a moment to those dark years of her life; how her brother dropped from high school to go earn bits for their living, how he took care of her… It reminded her that since she was here, she might as well do something.

“Hey, you mind going with me to a certain place?”

Whatever due to her ability she figured out what she planned, or she was just being sympathetic after what Serenity said, either way Nymph smiled at her and nodded.

“Sure. Where to?”

“First, to the store. I need to buy something.”

“Do you want me to change back into a unicorn?” Nymph asked with concern. “The shopkeeper might react oddly…”

“Oh, no way in Tartarus!” she replied with a grin. Seeing confusion on changeling’s face, she explained: “A changeling and a crystal pony walking into a store? All we need is a dragon and we can stage a skit.”

Matthias parried the strike from the crystal guard trainee and counter hit him, resulting in the colt getting disarmed.

“Better, but you need to remember to have a good hold on your weapon at all time,” he told him, then turned to the rest; “Practice those movements I showed you in pairs. I want you to be ready to show them to me in ten minutes. Move it!”

He watched as the group of ponies scrambled to begin their training. At dawn he began trotting throughout the halls of the castle, pondering what meaning his night-time finding could have. At some point he bumped into Shining Armor, who was hurrying to the training field to oversee the training of recruits. After being questioned about whether he and his wife reached a decision yet he replied negatively, so Matthias volunteered to carry his duties to let him return to Cadance. The stallion agreed - although he did complain on how the paladin’s comment from yesterday caused them to have a little fight - and left him to it.

Matthias left the training area, so that they would have enough space.

“I will give it to Shining Armor; he made a good work out of them,” Sound Wave’s comment came from behind Matthias.

Turning around, he saw him and Wind Reaver approach from the direction of the castle. A few trainees stopped their practice battles to look at the changeling, which usually earned them a hit from their partners.

“I agree. To be honest, I don’t particularly look forward to training the new initiates from scratch when it comes to fighting,” Matthias admitted.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. You can dump the basics to Guard; he’s quite good as instructor.”

“I will keep that in mind,” the paladin replied. He turned his attention to the changeling. “If I were paranoid-”

“Which according to our Intel you are,” Wind Reaver blurted, his eyes on the ponies training.

Matthias took a step back, speechless. After a second he recovers and rolled his eyes. “- I would have said that you are spying on their training.”

“Nah, I’m pretty sure we already have a guy on that job,” the changeling replied casually, then looked at Matthias with a smirk. “Want to have some fun?”

The paladin recalled what he heard about what his friends talked about with Wind Reaver when he was dealing with Chrysalis: that he likes to fight. Matthias grinned, taking the training sword into his hoof.

“Take one and we can have a little sparring match.”

“Do those look able to maneuver such weapons?” the changeling asked, extending his forelegs.

Matthias glanced at point were ponies’ hooves met the rest of their legs, and saw no visible joint separating the two, which would have allowed the changeling to move it despite the chitin.

“So how do you plan to fight? By… having them in those holes?”

“Yeah, why do you have holes in your legs, anyway?” Sound Wave asked, glancing at his legs as well.

“A few reasons… like this one,” Wind Reaver replied, taking a step back.

Matthias was about to ask what he was talking about when from the holes in his leg a green substances shot out, enveloping the limb and extending forward, forming a claw-like blade.

“We don’t use them against ponies, so you are probably the first to see changelings’ claws,” Wind Reaver said, a second one emerging from his other forelegs as he used his wings to propel his body to stand on his hind legs. Crossing the two blades in front of himself, he added with a smirk: “Don’t worry, Hivespeaker, I made them blunt.”

Matthias took a moment to examine the changeling claws carefully. Their shape was different, and they were made out of substance, but there was no doubt in his mind. Wind Reaver’s horn did not glow when they emerged.

Just like Tucker’s didn’t when he made his sword appear.

“Sound, we need some space,” he told the royal guard, focusing on the duel.

The unicorn nodded, taking his eyes off from Wind Reaver’s claws. His face showed that he hadn’t made the same connection as Matthias did as he trotted away.

“Okay, show me what you changelings got,” he told him, preparing for his attack.

Wind Reaver grinned and flew... up. Matthias watched in confusion as he quickly became a spot in the sky, and even faster grow bigger when the changeling dived…

… straight at him.

Matthias had read the report of how during the attack on Canterlot the changelings often applied a tactic of wrapping themselves in magic barrier while falling down on the city to maximize the damage to the defenders. Wind Reaver, on the other hoof, applied a completely different approached.

He didn’t do use his magic. He just swung both of his claws at Matthias, propelling his body up at the last second to avoid crashing into him.

Matthias watched as Wind Reaver flew a few meters further and landed, glancing behind at the paladin at the effects of his attack. He had managed to block the hit with both the training sword and his left foreleg, but he wasn’t undamaged. The sword had cracks across it and there was a dent on his armor.

“Our claws are so durable that they should be able to even cut through crystal ponies’ coats,” Wind Reaver told him with a smirk. “If you hadn’t used the blade to direct my attack around you but to parry it, all you’d have been splinters, even if they are blunt.”

“Interesting,” was all Matthias said before he performed his own attack.

110. Broken and punctured

Serenity wondered what her brother would think about her bringing a changeling here with her. Then again, she doubted he would have ever thought that he would be…

Shaking her head, she looked at the monument. True to the word she gave Sir Lightbringer, Princess Cadance made every effort to make sure the remains of the crystal guards would be honored. Their ashes were laid in a small area outside of the main city, in a segregated part of the gardens. Above the resting place of her brother and his comrades stood a pyramidal monument, with a plaque containing all the names of every guard that fell in battle with King Sombra listed and a dedication above it:

In honor of those who gave their lives protecting us from the shadow of Sombra. May the memory of their sacrifice never fade.

The paladin was glad that other than the two of them there was nopony here. It would have looked odd to see a pony in a full body plate armor to shed tears while placing flowers and a grave lantern in front of the monument. Not that there weren’t any; there were a lot of other bouquets and wreaths, and at least twenty more grave candles (with more than half still lit).

“Can you...?” Serenity asked Nymph, pointing at the candle.

The changeling nodded and flashed her horn, kindling the wick. While Serenity wouldn’t exchange being a crystal pony for any other kind, she did think that an ability to use magic was very useful. Lighting a fire using matches with hooves and mouth was difficult, not to mention painful if somepony wasn’t careful.

“Thanks,” she told Nymph.

With the grave lantern now burning, she moved it closer to the others and took a step back. Both of them stood for a while in silence, paying their respects. While doing so, Serenity gazed ceaselessly at one name engraved on the monument: Sentinel.

“That’s my brother’s name. Over there,” Serenity said after a minute more or less had passed. “He had the best scores at the Imperial Academy for Guards. He probably would have been promoted to the rank of Captain of the Crystal Guard within a few months. If Sombra hadn’t…” she trailed off, not wanting to say that out loud.

“‘Sentinel’…” Nymph read the name she pointed at and frowned. “Odd.”

“What is it?”

“Your brother’s name… it rings a bell,” she said, rubbing her chin. “What was it… didn’t he have an affair with the daughter of the last Queen of the Crystal Empire?”

“S-Sentinel?!” Serenity stuttered. “And… Princess Blue Hope!? That’s... just… no! I mean, sure, my brother was a great guy, but we were commoners! Why would a Princess be...”

“As a creature that feeds on love, trust me, such things can happen,” Nymph told her, slightly confused by her reaction. “And I’m pretty sure Princess Cadance would find your words amusing.”

Serenity felt as if her head was spinning. This was ridiculous. Granted, the two current rulers of the crystal ponies were also of different social status prior to their marriage, but the idea of her brother… and Princess Blue Hope…

“How do you even know that?” she finally asked, sitting down.

“We had a few changelings within the Crystal Empire. Luckily, they all managed to get out when King Sombra came…” Nymph replied, looking a bit ashamed for her kind escaping instead of helping the crystal ponies. Serenity gave her a reassuring smile and she went on. “One of them once impersonated one of Princess Blue Hope’s maids, and she, well, saw them.”

The paladin couldn’t believe it. Sentinel would have told her that he was courting… wait, no, he wasn’t courting her, so they had an affair… which was a codename for dating a royalty unofficially to avoid scandals. “Okay, maybe he wouldn't tell me in that case,” Her brother might have loved her dearly, but if he really cared about the Princess - and she knew he would have never be together with somepony for just… fun - then he wouldn't risk her reputation, even if it meant keeping his sister in the dark

“Wow… my big brother conquering the Princess’ heart,” She wondered what would have happened if Sombra had never come; would Sentinel have married Princess Blue Hope? Would they have foals? Would Serenity be an aunt?

“What happened to Princess Blue Hope?” Nymph asked her.

“Everypony assumed King Sombra had killed her,” Serenity answered, saddened. “If she had been somewhere within the Empire, she would have surely shown up by now.”

“Hmm… you know, if we were seriously planning on doing something nefarious - as a lot of ponies of Equestria think - we would have simply sent in here a look alike of the Princess and stirred things up,” the changeling told her, sighing. “Why do ponies find it so hard to believe that changelings aren’t evil?”

“I don’t think so. But, well…”

“Yes, I know. The whole ‘love eating’, our secrecy… how we look…” Nymph paused to look at her hoof, at the chitin that covered it and the holes that pierced it. She sighed and carried on: “Hopefully, it will soon change. I’m beginning to really like you all more and more.” Coughing to hide her embarrassment over what she said, Nymph changed the subject: “Why are they buried in a single grave?”

“Oh…” Serenity hesitated; the reason behind that utterly horrific, and the mere thought that it had happened to her brother was still disgusting for her. “When Sir Lightbringer fought King Sombra in the arctic, the evil king… he... raised the corpses of all the guards he slew a thousand years ago,” Nymph’s jaw dropped. “Sir Lightbringer used the power of the Holy Light to reduce their bodies to ashes; the Light is extremely potent to the undead like them.”

“I’m glad I wasn’t there,” Serenity thought as the changeling processed the information. “I couldn’t bear to see you like that, Sentinel.”

“That’s… horrifying,” Nymph had finally said, echoing her own thoughts. “And, forgive me, incredible. To be able to raise so many… I guess we changelings had underestimated King Sombra by far. If you ponies hadn’t defeated him, he would have grown to be a great threat to even us,” Her eyes suddenly grew wide as she stuttered: “I-I didn’t mean it like… I wish he hadn’t come to the Crystal Empire… I… I’ll be quiet now…” the changeling trailed off, poking the ground with her hoof.

Contrary to Nymph’s apparent worries that she had offended her, Serenity giggled. “Oh, I wish those ponies from Ponyville could see you now; you’re just so adorable,” She waited a few moments for her reaction, and when Nymph had just looked at her puzzled, she frowned. “Really? Not even a blush?”

The changeling eyes widened with a comprehension and tapped her cheek. There was an odd, empty-like sound. “It’s chitin, not coat.”

“Oh, right,” Serenity said, embarrassed.

A silence fell upon them, as neither was sure what to talk about now. They just stared at the memorial stone, wondering what to say and reading the names engraved on it. After a few seconds, right when Serenity was about to suggest that perhaps they should head back to the castle, she heard the sound of hoofsteps behind them.

At the same time she noticed Nymph shake and transform back to her unicorn look. “She must have also just now notice somepony is approaching us and got scared,” Serenity rolled her eyes at her companion’s timidness and glanced behind her.

The mare approaching them was older than her only by a couple of years. The clothing she wore contradicted with her white coat and mane; it was all black. Not unusual, given the location. Her eyes were teary with sadness, but when she lifted her head to look at them a spark of curiosity and something… else.

Serenity and Nymph stood silently in respect as the mare, similarly to Serenity, placed a wreath and a grave lantern by the monument and stared at the plaque for a long moment, a curl of her mane hiding her face from the side-glances the paladin and the changeling shot her.

“You’re that paladin,” the unknown mare spoke up unexpectedly. “Serenity, right?”

“Um…” Serenity stammered, being surprised that she knew her name, but then she recalled how a lot of ponies they passed on their way here recognized her by her armor. But there was something that shocked her even more; it was the mare’s voice. It was strangely monotone. “Yes, that’s right. And you-”

“I heard that Sir Lightbringer had brought back Princess Luna of Equestria’s daughter to life,” the mare interrupted her before she got to ask her name. “Can you do the same for my husband?”

She looked at her as she asked the question. Tears were falling down on her cheeks, and the mare made no effort to stop them. In her eyes Serenity saw what she had seen in the eyes of everypony when King Sombra was in power: resignation. There was only a glimmer of hope left in them.

And Serenity had to take this glimmer away.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a broken voice. “I cannot.”

She wanted to explain it to her, that there were certain conditions for reviving somepony. That in most cases it was only possible shortly after death. That even Sir Lightbringer wouldn’t be able to do it. That she was so, so sorry. But she couldn’t. Those excuses stuck in her throat.

The mare’s eyes traveled down at the ground, as she turned around and began to trot back. Serenity rose and was about to follow after her, to catch her, to offer some words of sympathy, but Nymph’s hoof stopped her.

“There’s nothing that you’ll say that will ease her pain,” she said, and Serenity saw, to her shock, that on the unicorn face of Nymph there were tears as well. “She’s too swallowed up in grief and despair.”

And then the paladin understood why her companion had changed shape.

“You couldn’t deal with her emotions when you were in your real form.”

Nymph nodded, looking away from the disappearing mare and wiping the tears. Serenity did the opposite; she gazed at the widow, wondering how many like her were out there in the Empire. She had lost a brother, so she understood what the mare had felt. But she managed to avoid the despair over his death, knowing that he wouldn’t have wanted it.

“But how am I going to help her? And everypony else?”

Blinking the sweat out of his eyes, Matthias ducked his head to avoid the strike from Wind Reaver’s right claw, moved slightly to his right and redirected a stab from his left one with his left hoof, and brought his training sword at the changeling. His opponent, in turn, quickly used his momentum to turn around, block it, and took a step back. Finishing the spin, the changeling swung with his left claw. Matthias, barely managing to regain his balance, brought down his blade at the claw, making the strike miss.

Wind Reaver’s eyes widened as he had realized that the paladin had a clear hit on his neck. Matthias slashed, but by using his wings to retreat, the changeling was able to raise his right limb in time to block it, as the strike wasn’t strong.

Being apart for a few moments gave both of them a time to catch much needed breaths. Matthias eyed his opponent warily. The changeling was good, really good; nopony had given him such a workout since his duel with Illidan. His fighting style was even a lot like his was, especially during their first encounter. Like Illidan back then, he relied on speed and agility when it came to using weapons.

“Although, granted, back then my strength and speed was magnified,” he thought to himself. “And if the Light was aiding me, this fight would be over.”

Not that he intended to. This was a warriors’ battle, with no place for dishonorable tricks. Wind Reaver wasn’t using magic, so Matthias wouldn’t ask the Light for help.

Smirking over thinking that using the Light would be dishonorable, he charged, slashing with the training blade across Wind Reaver’s torso. He dodged it by moving a step back, and then attacked him with both claws. Or rather, he tried to. Matthias deflected both of them with the sword, and shoved him, unbalancing him. Once again he slashed, but the changeling flew into the air and tried to kick him in the head with both of his hindhooves.

Matthias gave it as good as he almost got. Dropping on all fours, he dodged Wind Reaver attack, and bucked into the air. However, the changeling also managed to evade the strike. Doing a barrel roll while landing back on the ground, he used it as a leverage to bounce of it and lunge at Matthias.

As they clashed again, Matthias saw on the changeling’s face a grin that matched his own.

When Cadance had finished signing the last document from the small pile her chancellor brought her, she found herself in a desperate need for a break. She had so many things to do today… with the changelings’ issue being the foremost in her thoughts.

The Princess glanced around where her husband had wandered off; they were supposed to go over the pros and cons of the idea of allying with the changelings along with Equestria once she was done with the paperwork. Cadance was thankful to Matthias for helping Shining Armor with the training of the recruits, which let her enjoy his company for a few more hours than usually in the morning.

She spotted her husband over by the balcony, watching the courtyard where the crystal guard usually trained. Interested as he was to how Matthias was doing she joined him, and saw something she didn’t expect.

“They’ve been on this for about ten minutes now,” Shining Armor informed her once he had realized she was there. He sounded a little...pouty. “Matthias is better with a blade than me. And so is the changeling.”

“Oh great, the stallion’s pride,” the Princess rolled her eyes.

“Perhaps, but neither is a Prince, or a unicorn powerful enough to protect an entire city,” she paused to envelop him with her wing and kiss him gently on the cheek, “or my husband.”

That caused him to brighten up almost at once. He nuzzled her and said: “I am especially grateful to fate for that one.”

They stood there for a while, observing the fight - with mild interest in Cadance’s case - before Shining Armor asked her the question she knew he would ask: “So, have you come to the decision?”

Cadance sighed. “More or less,” she admitted. “I went over everything, and… the worst downside to the idea is that it may all be a rouse. But… you heard what Nymph had said. What she was prepared to do. And I believe Chrysalis when she said that she would have never asked any of her subjects to sacrifice themselves.”

“And I believe what she said about killing you with her bare hooves,” Shining Armor said, probably still snarky about the Changeling Queen words that Nymph had passed.

She snorted. “Her feelings for her daughter are what speak to me the most,” she admitted, choosing to not tease her husband over Chrysalis ‘apology’. “I’m pretty sure I would have done the same to anypony who would have wished to harm our foal… when we will have one, of course.”

There was a spark of panic in Shining Armor’s eyes that made her giggle. Oh, how she loved to tease him about that. She knew, of course, that this panic wasn’t due to not wanting a foal. It’s out of a simple, natural fear over how he would fare in the role of a parent.

“So, does this mean you will agree to the peace and the alliance?” he asked, purposely changing the subject.

Giggling for the last time, she said. “I think so. I will admit I still have my reservations, but it’s the right thing to do. And it’s us who will agree,” she corrected his earlier words.

“Dragging me down with you?”

“You bet your hot flank,” Cadance told him in a lowered voice, making his ears perk up.

“So, since you made your decision, and you’re done with the paperwork…” he trailed off, moving his hoof down her spine as far as he could.

“And you don’t have a bunch of guards to train with…” she added, brushing her free wing against him. She then unexpectedly draw back and pressed a hoof against his chest. “I am still mad about Twilight, thought.”

Disbelief and sorrow crossed his features. “I am going to kill Matt…” he muttered under his nose, then sighed and looked at her pleadingly. “I’m sorry, I know that I shouldn’t have done that, but I thought I needed to protect her. You know how Sound and Bomb are - do you think it would do Twilight good if she had one of those two as her first very special somepony? And the others… well; I suppose some of them were okay… But if you think I’m going to apologize for threatening Blueblood you must be crazy.”

Cadance rolled her eyes at the memorable incident that almost got Shining Armor thrown out of the royal guard a few years back. She had always wondered what it was about…

“Your intentions do not justify your deeds, Prince Shining Armor,” Cadance told him sternly. “You’ve been a bad colt. A very, very bad colt,” He perked up hearing the unexpectedly sultry tone her voice switched to. “And you know what happens to bad colts, don’t you?” The Princess, leaning closer to his ear, whispered: “They get… punished.”

Every hair on Shining Armor’s coat bristled as if an electric current went through him.

Serenity was puzzled when Nymph insisted that they should go see why the courtyard where the Crystal Guards trained seemed to be buzzing with activity, but she hadn’t paid much thought to that and just agreed. Her mind was still on the idea that began forming in her head.

“It’s the best way for me to help the ponies here,” she thought as she and Nymph made their way around the crowd. “I hope Sir Lightbringer will agree…”

Her train of thoughts was stopped when she had finally caught the sight of what everypony was so excited about: in the middle of the courtyard, Sir Lightbringer was fighting Wind Reaver!

Nymph, very likely sensing her confusion and worry, quickly explained: “It’s just a sparring fight; Wind Reaver’s claws are blunt,” Only when the changeling had said it did Serenity noticed that around her male counterpart’s forelegs where a pair of strange weapons that looked a lot like claws. “I sensed him overstraining himself and grew worried,” Nymph continued, and to the paladin’s surprise she heard a note of frustration. “The Queen won’t be happy to know that almost immediately after her attention drifted away from us he spends his time frittering the love he was given on this, not to mention he had given away one of our secrets, even if so insignificant.”

“‘Frittering love’?” Serenity asked, trying her best to not pay attention to the few stares the Crystal Guard’s trainees gave them and focusing on the fight instead; not once during their training did she see such a display of skills with blade. Sir Lightbringer was just as swift, but his strikes were more vicious and fast, and not without a reason, as Wind Reaver were pressing him hard to his limits.

“Yes, and although a physical activities deploy less of our love reserves than magic, he should have been more careful. It wouldn’t be wise for either one of us to feed during those insecure days.”

“You mean like last night?”

Nymph looked at her, her unicorn face making her puzzlement much more evident. “Well… not really. I mean, it’s not like Sound and Bomb are going to complain, right?”

“Did somepony say my name?” a familiar and joyful voice - too joyful for Serenity’s liking - came from their side, belonging to Sound Wave.

The said unicorn made his way to them smiling smugly. His face quickly changed its expression once he had noticed the look Serenity gave him. “Oh…” he mumbled, smiling awkwardly. His eyes traveled to Nymph and back to her, then once again to Nymph. “You two talked, huh?”

Not going to even address that with a response, Serenity turned her attention to the fight. She didn’t miss much; neither Sir Lightbringer nor Wind Reaver had gained the upperhoof.

“You aren’t planning on telling anypony else, right?” she heard Sound Wave continued to question Nymph, now nervously. “I mean, ‘lady never kisses and tells’, right?”

“We changelings have a different set of values than you, but I did grow to like the two of you, so I won’t tell anything that would get you killed.”

Hearing the changeling’s response made Serenity snap back. “For the love of Light, who else did you fuck?!”

Considering how embarrassed she had gotten immediately after cursing, it was probably a good thing that everypony’s attention was on the fight.

Matthias was growing tired. He had gotten used to being supported by the Light in those few months. Even though as an earth pony he was naturally durable, everything had its limits. And the dents in his armor weren’t helping; he couldn’t lift his left foreleg as high as he normally could, and his coat under the dent ached from rubbing against it.

To his frustration, Wind Reaver was for a better wear. Neither his chitin, nor his claws showed any damage from his attacks, nor was he showing any signs of getting tired.

“It’s a good thing I was such a keen student, huh, Muradin?” he thought with a pang of nostalgia, deciding to end this fight.

Wind Reaver attacked him once again, with his left claw leading and right following. Matthias moved as if he planned to strike both of them from below, but then at the last moment he changed his grip on the training sword, practically placing it in his left hoof. While he wasn’t exactly ambidextrous like Varian, he was still skilled in using both ar-, well, forelegs now, in a fight. Thanks to that, and swiftly moving the blade upwards, he managed to hit Wind Reaver’s left claw from the side and push it against his right, leaving him defenseless.

With his right hoof virtually free, Matthias took it from the weapon and, using all his strength, punched the changeling right in his cheek.

The force of the impact sent him flying.

Nymph looked in a slight alarm as she watched Wind Reaver hit the ground. The Hivespeaker’s punch had thrown him about four meters away. She sensed that he wasn’t too wounded, so she relaxed the next second, but nevertheless decided to quickly check up on him.

As she teleported to his side, she wasn’t surprised to hear cheers uttered by the crystal ponies in honor of the Hivespeaker’s victory. It wasn’t caused solely by the fact that the pony won; Nymph could tell they were simply congratulating the better warrior. Not that everyling was happy; she noticed a few trainees passing bits with unhappy faces to their friends.

She turned her attention to Wind Reaver and gasped. He had already dispersed his claws so that he could haul himself up more easily, so now she had gotten a good view on the damage the punch that the Hivespeaker had delivered had done.

The green blood of a changeling was oozing from a small crack in his chitin where the armored hoof had struck. Also, one of Wind Reaver’s fangs was moving.

“Are you alright?” a voice came from behind her. Nymph had almost jumped, so shocked she was that she didn’t notice the paladin approach her from behind.

“Yeah, it’s just a scratch,” the wounded changeling replied, pressing a hoof to his cheek. He grinned. “That was an awesome battle; we need do it again sometime.”

“Agreed,” the pony nodded. “Do you require healing?”

“I will deal with that, Hivespeaker,” Nymph cut in respectfully; she had to pass him some of the love she had acquired yesterday, anyway. Her voice trembled a bit, so she added: “I just can’t believe… I mean, you punctured his chitin… with a punch.”

“Yeah, awesome, huh?” Wind Reaver said, grinning despite his injuries.

“One has to wonder how you and Rainbow Dash had gone off to such a bad start,” the Hivespeaker commented, shaking his head.

As Nymph waited for Wind Reaver to get up completely so that they could go to a more secluded place for healing, she noticed Serenity approaching the Hivespeaker. “Lightbringer, sir, there is something I would like to talk with you about,” she said. Nymph wondered what it was about; ever since they stumbled upon that mare she had stayed in her unicorn form, but she could sense that there was some sort of conflict within the female paladin. “In private, if possible.”

“Of course. Come with me to my quarters - need to take off this armor, anyway. Oh, and find Sound Wave for me, will you? I have a small favor to ask him, it won’t take long.”

Giggling inwardly at the discomfort of Serenity - which was so clear that even the Hivespeaker glanced at her puzzled as she turned around to get the unicorn - Nymph had motioned Wind Reaver forward.

Author's Note

I made a little change in the story. Sorry for confusion, but this matter has been bugging me for some time - four to six months to be precise. Namely: Princess Cadance's origin. I had mentioned previously that she was second cousin of Blueblood, which by extension meant that she was a descendant of Celestia's and Luna's cousin. Well, not anymore. Now her back story is: she was adopted. Yep, she is an adopted niece of Princess Celestia. Sounds familiar? Well...

Small changes were made in chapters 21 and 60; the matter of her origin will be properly addressed in one of the future chapters, so that you won't have to re-read everything.

111. Mending the wounded hearts

Serenity did her best to not look at Sound Wave during their walk back to Sir Lightbringer’s quarters. She was too disgusted with him. He seemed to get the clue as he tried to keep as far away as possible. Even now, as they stood at attention in the chamber where Sir Lightbringer slept and waited for him to take off his armor, they did so about a meter or so further than soldiers should.

If Sir Lightbringer took notice of their behaviour, he did not show it, other than that surprised look he gave Serenity when he told her to gather Sound. She hoped he wasn’t thinking they were acting like this because she slept with him, not Nymph. Serenity didn’t want the Grand Master of the Order to think that she would be like that.

Finally, Sir Lightbringer removed all of his armor and trotted back to them, with his right front plated horseshoe… and a vial?

“Sound, can you use your magic to scrape this from the bottom and place it in the vial?” he asked the unicorn, showing him and Serenity the base of the horseshoe.

Serenity frowned. There was some dirt there… it seemed to be a dried up green substance-

“Wind Reaver’s blood!” she realised with a jolt.

“Umm…” Sound Wave, coming to the same conclusion as her, stuttered before he answered. “Yeah, sure, I can do that. What for?” he asked, the blue aura of his magic already grabbing the plated horseshoe.

“I figured Doctor Angelic Touch would like to take a look at changeling’s blood. And since it doesn’t seem we will get answers from them for a while, we could do research on our own.”

“Um, sir, I don’t mean to criticize,” Serenity spoke up, “but isn’t this… an abuse of trust?”

“Hmm…” sir Lightbringer hummed thoughtfully as he watched Sound Wave separate the dried up blood from the metal. “This whole thing is a delicate matter. Remember, in the end, this could all turn out to be some sort of ploy. The changelings might be just leading us by our noses. If we are to be made fools, I want to be a fool with a new bit of information on them.”

“Sir, I spent some time with Nymph today,” she said, recalling everything the two of them talked about. Throughout the day, it never had once crossed Serenity’s mind that the changeling was plotting something nefarious. “With all due respect, I don’t think they’re lying.”

“I share this sentiment,” Sir Lightbringer retorted. “But you won’t be responsible for any damage that would come to Equestria if you’re wrong in putting your trust in them. The Princesses will, and so will I, for I vouched for the changelings. This,” he pointed out at the vial, within which was now the green sediment, “is sort of my failsafe plan. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Queen Chrysalis ordered Nymph and Wind Reaver to think of one on their own in case we would have tried to backstab them. Mistrust works both ways,” Sir Lightbringer took the vial that the royal guard offered him. “Thank you, Sound Wave.”

“No prob,” the unicorn replied. “Anything else?”

The tone of formality with which he spoke to Sir Lightbringer made Serenity both dismayed and envious. She knew that the head paladin met both him and Cherry Bomb at the Princess’ and Prince’s wedding prior to being named the Grand Master of Celestial Light, but she couldn’t understand how the two unicorns found it so easy to speak casually with him.

“Yes, could you take my armor to the blacksmith and see if he can repair that dent?” Sir Lightbringer asked, pointing at the spot under his left front shoulder. Serenity couldn’t recall seeing him getting hit there, which must have meant that Wind Reaver did this before she and Nymph joined the crowd on the courtyard.

Sound Wave nodded and took the piece of armor with his magic and left, leaving them alone within the room. Serenity made use from the breathing technique Sir Lightbringer taught her, which made it easier for her to calm herself.

“Now then, what did you want to talk about?” the older paladin asked.

“I…” she paused. Could she really say it? It was a big responsibility she wanted to take on her shoulders. But at the same moment doubt had crept into her mind, the image of the broken mare standing in front of the memorial stone, and Serenity knew that the hardship she was about to take on herself was nothing compared to the widow’s pain. “I want to stay in the Empire.”

Sir Lightbringer’s eyes widened in surprise. “This… seems sudden.”

“Not for long, of course,” she quickly added, before he could ask anything. “I would return by the time the new initiates would arrive, to help with their training. I remember my oath to the Order, and I would never leave it.”

“I had no doubt about your loyalty. But why do you want to stay here all of a sudden? And what brought it up? I didn’t notice anything that would make you homesick.”

“It’s not that I am homesick, it’s…” Serenity trailed of, wondering how it would be best to explain it. She decided to just tell him what happened. “Nymph and I went to the memorial stone the Princess erected in honor of the crystal guards to pay our respects.”

Shame flickered through Sir Lightbringer’s eyes. “I should have gone there as well. It is partially my fault that they had to be all placed in the same grave.”

“Sir, but it was Sombra who…” Serenity started to protest, but he waved her words aside. There was… something odd with the guilt that she now could see on his face. It quickly disappeared, though, and he motioned for her to continue with her story. “While we stood there, a mare approached the monument, and after a while she asked me if I could resurrect her husband.”

Comprehension of what must have transpired between them appeared on Sir Lightbringer’s face, so Serenity decided to get to her point. “Sir, that mare… she was completely broken. When she came to us, Nymph had to change into a unicorn form, because in her natural one she couldn’t deal with her emotions. After the mare had left, I couldn’t stop thinking about her, about how many other ponies had to suffer like her, and what I could do to help them.”

Sir Lightbringer nodded with understanding as she continued: “I thought back to how I felt when you told us about the crystal guards fate, how… distraught I was when I learned that my brother was dead. And I realized that what kept me from plunging so deep into despair as that mare was the Holy Light. Your teachings helped me to understand that although Sentinel may be gone, his soul had joined the Light, and one day I will meet him again. The love of the Holy Light reminded me that my life wasn’t just dependant on my brother, and because of that, I found the strength to turn away from grief. But I’m not the only one that suffered, and unlike me, those ponies didn’t have you to help them. That’s why I want to stay for some time. I hope that maybe, if I spread the Light’s teachings, the holes in their hearts will be filled with Its love.”

She waited as Sir Lightbringer regarded her thoughtfully, wondering what he was going to say. Serenity knew that he might reject her idea, on account of her not being qualified for this. But when he finally averted his eyes, she was surprised to hear him sight. “I keep forgetting how different Equestria… and Crystal Empire, are from the land I came from,” Sir Lightbringer said, trotting to the window and gazing through it at the city below. “Back there, war, death and destruction are almost common sights. And there are a lot of things worse than those that can happen to a pony. I guess it had completely slipped my mind that you might not be able to deal with your losses,” He looked back at Serenity. “It should be my responsibility to help them, not yours.”

She wasn’t sure if she should object or agree with him, but she knew that he couldn’t do that. “Sir, unlike me, you must return to Equestria. You need to help the Princesses with the changeling’s situation.”

“Yes, I know,” he sighed, trotting towards her. “It does not excuse me from not helping them sooner, but there is nothing that can be accomplished by wishful thinking. Serenity, I am both pleased and proud of you for stepping up to the responsibility,” He put a hoof on her shoulder, smiling. “You can pursue this noble goal with my permission and blessing.”

Serenity fought hard not to blush. While she had no romantic interest in Sir Lightbringer - indeed, she thought of him more of a sort of fatherly figure, despite the small age difference - she would not deny that he was handsome, and being touched by him caused her to itch in odd places.

“I would have warned you about the difficulties of your future endeavours, but I feel you already understand that,” he continued, taking a step back. “I will speak with Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor to offer you what aid you will require.”

“Thank you, sir. I hope I won’t fail your expectations,” If she would get help from the royal couple, then things weren’t going to be as hard as she feared. “If I may ask, when are you going back to Ponyville?”

“Well, firstly, we will stop by Canterlot,” he said, pointing at the vial with sample of Wind Reaver’s blood. “Besides that matter, though… it’s been a while since I paid a visit to my goddaughter,” Sir Lightbringer smiled uncomfortably. “As Princess Luna points out every time we meet.”

A snort escaped Serenity.

“And as to answer your question,” the older paladin continued, not offended in the slightest, “I hope to leave tomorrow morning. I think that by then the Princess and the Prince will come to the decision regarding changelings, and my armor will be fixed.”

“It’s a pity that the Crystal Forge is lost to us,” Serenity said wistfully. “Not only would your armor be fixed in no time, but they could-”

“Wait, wait, back up,” Sir Lightbringer interrupted her. “‘Crystal-what’ this time?”

“Oh!” she exclaimed, feeling really stupid. “Sorry, sir, I keep forgetting you’re not familiar with our legends. The Crystal Forge was… well, basically, a magical forge, located somewhere here in the Empire. The weapons and armor crafted within it were unmatched by the works of any blacksmith. Some versions of the legend even claim that the Crystal Heart was created there, although I personally doubt that. The most famous of the Forge’s works was Windtear, the blade Queen Serendipity bestowed upon Commander Hurricane to seal the alliance between the Empire and Equestria during the Equestrian-Griffonian War.”

“Yes, I heard about that part,” Sir Lightbringer nodded with interest. “What did you mean about the Forge being ‘lost’, though?”

“The Crystal Forge could be opened only by those of the Empire’s Royal House. With the death of both Queen Azure Crest and Princess Blue Hope, the line had ended,” Serenity said with sadness. She thought back to what Nymph told her, that her brother supposedly had an affair with the Princess. If things were different… “The ponies of the Royal House were also the only ones who knew the exact location of the Forge, as the last time it was opened was during the war with the griffons. Now, like I said, it’s mostly considered to be nothing more than a legend.”

“Hmm…” Sir Lightbringer hummed. “Well, it’s not like there is a need for it now. Hopefully, there won’t be another war for-”

A knock on the door interrupted him.

“Enter.”

A pony of the castle’s staff opened the doors. “Sir, the Princess would like to see you.”

Serenity’s heart beat faster. “Has the Princess and her husband came to a decision?”

“Thank you, I will go to her immediately,” Sir Lightbringer dismissed the servant, and once the door had closed he turned to Serenity, “Thank you for this history lesson, but I’m afraid it will have to continue some other time. I would like to speak with you later, though, on the subject of spreading Light’s teaching among the crystal ponies.”

“Of course, sir,” she replied, taking the cue and trotting to the doors.

“Oh, and one more thing,” sounded behind her.

Serenity looked back. “Yes?”

“Please don’t mention this legend around Brann next time he comes here.”

Matthias had no idea if the Crystal Forge was real or, if it were, had something to do with the titans. However, considering how smug the dwarf was the last time they met, Matthias would probably deny that there was anything connecting Equestria to the titans even if Aman’Thul, the Highfather of the titan Pantheon, would appear in the middle of Ponyville.

He pushed those thoughts away from his head as he cleaned up and hastened to the throne room. If Cadance and Shining Armor had finally decided whether they would support the idea of alliance or not, he needed to hear it. In the case of the latter, he’ll try to and convince them otherwise, not that Matthias expected such an outcome. As much as Cadance had suffered due to Chrysalis’ plot, he knew that she was too good of a ruler and a caring pony to let that stop her from doing what was right.

Indeed it looked so. Shortly after he entered the throne room - and to his mild surprise he found himself alone with the Princess - she informed him that after thinking about it for a long time, she and Shining Armor had decided to support the idea of an alliance.

“I’m happy to hear that, Your Highness,” Matthias said, bowing. The frown with which Cadance looked at him did not escape his notice. “When word of this reaches Equestria’s court, not even the nobles will try to oppose for long.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they still prolonged the process, though. They don’t like changes. When Luna returned, some of them tried to disregard her having the same power over them as Celestia.”

“How did that work for them?”

“Well, lese majeste is considered to be a crime, despite not a single case of it in…” Cadance paused to think. “I think in eleven hundred years. Back then, they would have ended up being sentenced to forfeiture and or banished, but taking into the consideration the unusual case… aside from the few more bold ones, they ended up with fines. Their bits paid up for a new wing of a hospital.”

Matthias could easily imagine that Celestia and Luna would have preferred the original option. Truthfully, every ruler in existence would have preferred it. “Another reason why back then my twisted mind thought the dead to be better…”

“You will be leaving tomorrow, I take?” Cadance question pulled him from his dark thoughts.

“Yes, I will. I will have to inform Princess Luna about this development, and besides, I fear that if I don’t spend some time with my goddaughter, she will start sending me nightmares.”

“Quite frankly, I expected her to already have done that,” the Princess giggled. “Please, tell little Moonlight I say hi.”

“I will. Now, on a different matter…”

He told her about Serenity’s day and the idea it gave birth to. Cadance listened with great interest. “It came to my attention that some of the crystal ponies still grieve over the loved ones they lost,” she said once Matthias finished. “I had even talked with a few and I was able to lift their hearts a bit, but there are much more of them. I’m happy to know that Serenity wants to do this, but won’t that be too much for her?”

“She understands the trials that will lie ahead of her, but she wants to do this nonetheless. I trust that she will manage to help everypony,”

Matthias was worried about her, though. She might not have the ability like changelings, but she was still a very compassionate pony. Dealing with those locked in their pains could break her.

“I guess it won’t hurt to let her try.” The Princess rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “I think I recall somepony informing me of a small, unused warehouse. It should be relatively cheap to convert it to a chapel - of course, smaller than the one in Ponyville.”

“That would be perfect, Princess. May I assume that if there will be other matters Serenity will need your help with she will be granted an audience?”

“Do you really need to speak to me that way?” Cadance asked with a frown. “You could just say: ‘can Serenity ask for your help?’. I swear, of all my friends you are the only one that insist on doing that.”

“Well, excuse me, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” Matthias retorted, somehow managing to keep his face locked in dead serious expression instead of smirking, “But, as a knight defender of Equestria I feel obligated to speak to thee in such manner,” Despite his efforts, a snicker escaped him when he saw the look Cadance shoot his way. “Hey, you’re the one sitting on a throne here.”

That had made the Princess giggle. “I suppose that’s fair. But I noticed that you don’t treat Shining Armor the same way.”

“Really?” Matthias asked, thinking back. “I honestly hadn’t notice it by now…” He mentally winced as he came to realize the reason behind it. He spoke with more familiarity with Shining Armor because, as a former prince, he subconsciously thought of himself as his equal if not better. The Princesses, though, he treated with a respective distance due to the protocols for pleasantries between the royalties he was taught back in Lordaeron in the better days. “Where is Shining Armor, anyway?” he asked, as he tried to distract himself. “I’d have expected him to join us at some point.”

“You’ll have to excuse my husband’s absence,” Princess Cadance replied, the corners of her mouth curling up in a weird smile. “I fear that his other duties have left him… tied up.”

112. Eyes of the beholder

“I cannot believe you actually did that,” Shining Armor murmured when they both tucked in for a sleep.

Hearing the pretense and hurt in his voice, Cadance giggled as she placed her… accessories, in a part of the closet hidden by her magic. Truth to be told, she herself was surprised that she had gone that far with fallowing that book’s advice. When she had first read this particular part, she had thought it to be too perverted for her.

“Not that it wasn’t fun. I must give it to whoever wrote it, she was right; a Princess has to be a queen in her own bed.”

“I told you needed to be punished,” she told her husband, stroking him under his chin. “‘Step one; deny the stallion’,” Cadance recited, although from where it would be probably forever unknown to Shining Armor. “‘Step two; tie him up and don’t release. Step three’,” she trailed off, smirking, “well, I’m sure I don’t have to say it again so soon,” Seeing him cringe, she frowned and added: “You can expect this to repeat the next time I'll hear about you trying to control Twilight’s life. Is that clear?”

“Yes dear,” he replied in a broken voice. The stallion took a few moments to recover. “Since you did that, could I… you know, some other time...”

“Hmm…” Cadance pondered, knowing well what he wanted. “That depends,” Leaning closer, she whispered: “Can you be a good colt?”

As it did a few hours ago, Shining Armor’s coat once again shook as if an electricity wave went through it. Cadance giggled and snuggled closer to him.

Nymph was surprised when she heard a knock on her door, and even more when Serenity explained that she came to speak with her.

“Sure,” Nymph said, inviting her guest to come in.

“Thanks. How’s Wind Reaver?”

“Oh, he’s fine. It was merely as scratch, after all. I just needed to get him out of the courtyard to concentrate better,” Nymph said. “Our skin is extremely delicate under our chitin. Because of that, it breaks whenever something damages the chitin above it to that extent as today. But even if I didn’t treat his wound, it would have mended eventually.”

“Weren’t you supposed to keep quiet about such information?” Serenity asked with a raised eyebrow.

“The Hivespeaker came to both Wind Reaver and I, and informed us that the Princess had decided to support the idea of peace and alliance,” Nymph explained. “As such, my Queen feels that there is no need with us watching everything we say. And besides, Wind Reaver had kept on letting little things slip,” Feeling the need to excuse her fellow changeling, she added: “He never qualified for any kind of covert operation, so it’s not really surprising.”

“I hope he didn’t get into trouble because of it,” Serenity said, worried. “I am pleased to hear, however, that ponies and changelings are one step closer to becoming friend. That is… well, the reason why I came here.”

Nymph looked at her, puzzled, as the crystal pony explained: “You see, I’m not sure how you felt about today, but after it, I came to think of you as a friend.” The changeling knew. She could feel it… even if it still amazed her that a pony could come to like one of her kind so easily. Then again, she was a crystal pony… “So I thought that you might feel sad when I won’t come back to Ponyville.”

She had to give the mare this one: she was right. Nymph did feel saddened about Serenity staying in Crystal Empire. While she wouldn’t have exactly gone as far as to call Serenity her friend - mostly due to the reason that she wasn’t exactly certain if she understood the concept behind friendship - she did feel at ease while talking with her. However, once she explained to her the reason behind her decision, Nymph had immediately agreed with the correctness of it.

“I hope you will succeed in your task,” she told her sincerely. The mare they met today had lost a husband, which was a fate that’s both terrifying and alien to a changeling. Only Wind Reaver had inkling as to what she must be feeling. And if there were more ponies like her... “I like to see ponies happy... n-not because we can feed off them!” she quickly added, fearing that she gave Serenity a wrong idea by accident. “W-well, I mean, yes, most changelings do prefer when ponies are happy for that reason, as it is a lot easier for us to gather love, but it’s not why I…”

She trailed off, realizing that the only thing that she could sense from Serenity was amusement. “Nymph, relax,” the paladin told her, chuckling. “Honestly, you overreact when it comes to what you say.”

“Sorry,” Nymph said in embarrassment. “I hope I will find this easier over time.”

“I’m sure you will,” Serenity said, then looked at her uncomfortably. “Listen, can I… ask you for a favor?”

“Huh? Oh, sure. What is it?”

“Could you not mention to anypony about my brother and Princess Blue Hope? I know that they are both dead, but Sentinel wouldn’t want her memory to be dishonored.”

“I understand. Don’t worry, I won’t say a word to anyling,” she promised. Of course, if Mother ordered her to say something… Nymph couldn’t see anything that Chrysalis would benefit by doing so, though.

“Do you want to ask me anything besides that?” she asked Serenity, and, seeing as she saw her as a friend, she risked and teased her: “Any messages for Tucker?”

Serenity frowned at her in annoyance, but after a second a grin appeared on her muzzle. “Well, maybe not a message, but… could you promise me something?”

Matthias frowned at the one before him. In the past, many had quailed under his gaze, were he a Lich King, or just a human paladin, although of an imposing posture. Surely, as a pony he was equally scary, to other ponies at least?

Moonlight Shadow was of a different opinion. His eyelid twitched as he watched the little filly continue to giggle while pointing at his face.

About an hour ago he and the others had arrived in Canterlot, and made their way to the castle. The two changelings took the forms of ponies per his requests; considering the circumstances of the last time their kind was seen within the city, Matthias felt that it wouldn’t be wise to let them stroll through the streets in their true shapes until the Princesses had made an official statement about the negotiations.

Inside the castle he was informed that Princess Luna was in the middle of an important meeting with a griffon diplomat and couldn’t see him right now. Unfazed, Matthias told the guard to inform her about their arrival once she was free. He then told Storm, Sound and Bomb to take Nymph and Wind Reaver to one of the suits and guard them for their own safety.

Matthias himself went to Luna’s private chambers - after making a detour to the Royal Physician's office to drop the blood sample - where he found two maids taking care of Princess Moonlight. Both of them appeared tired when he came. The older one, who looked strangely familiar to Dr Angelic Touch, told him that due to Princess Luna taking over additional duties during her sister’s absence, they too had to work overtime.

“You should have told Princess Luna that you will need some additional help,” Matthias told them, his voice kind, not stern. “Your devotion to her and Princess Moonlight deserves a commendation, but surely Her Majesty wouldn’t want the two she trusts her daughter with to work themselves to death. Take some rest; I will watch Moonlight until Luna will return.”

His offer was met with a relieved sigh from the elder mare and - to his discomfort - a blush and infatuated look from the younger one. She seemed to want to say something, but to Matthias relief the other mare dragged her out of the room before she could find her voice.

He glanced apologetically at the small filly, but thankfully the Princess wasn’t paying him attention at the moment. While when he entered that she launched herself at the air and landed on his head (mostly due to him jumping in time to catch her), after making sure that his mane was a mess, the young alicorn had decided that her playing blocks were more important.

Matthias quickly took off his armor and hid it in a corner and joined her in building a castle around her - at least, he thought it was supposed to be a castle - to the best of his abilities. He did a fairly good job: when the “castle” toppled and Moonlight started crying, Matthias took her into his forelegs and cradled her until she had calmed down; they played peek-a-boo until she lost interest and began trotting around the room; he had a moment of terror when she began noticed his armor, and had to distract her with a doll.

An hour had passed without any unexpected events. Matthias found it strangely relaxing, despite the few stressful moments. He saw her yawn and wondered if she would fall asleep if he put her in her cradle… but then she sneezed.

And from her horn a magic beam shot straight into his face, causing an… unexpected result.

“Moonlight, this is not funny,” he told her, gazing at giggling filly from above the bushy mustache that had grown from under his nose. “You made it appear, you can make it disappear.”

But Moonlight, if she could understand him, ignored him and continued to laugh. Matthias sighed in defeat, wondering what he could do. There was no way he could deal with it himself; he doubted Luna allowed anything sharp to be kept in this room, and even if there was a pair of scissors here or something along those lines, there was no way he was going to try and grabbed them with his hooves to cut something on his face while near a filly with unpredictable magic bursts. And he felt rather uncomfortable with asking the guards outside for assistance… unless he would find a paper bag…

Like shadows at dawn, his hopes to escape this with his dignity intact were dispersed when with a sudden flash of light that Luna appeared in her chambers.

“Ma-Ma!” Moonlight managed to exclaim as she threw herself at her mother, who caught her with magic in the air.

“Yes, little one, Mama is here,” the dark blue alicorn told her daughter, nuzzling her affectionately. “Hello, Matthias, how-” she started, but when she raised her head to look at him she found herself unable to speak.

When she burst into laughter, Matthias could only sight and tap his hoof against the floor.

When Sound Wave and Cherry Bomb went to catch some rest, Storm Clash didn’t object. The changelings didn’t need three ponies to guard them. Storm, from what he could see so far, had grown to believe that the Princesses and Sir Lightbringer were right to trust them. In fact, the elder paladin had probably ordered them to stand guard before the suit in which they were out of concern of their safety rather than out of suspicion.

Not suspecting any real danger, the paladin spent his time wondering about the matter that occupied his mind for days now - Rarity. He needed to find some way to tell her how he feels about her, but… was he supposed to just come out and blur it out? Well, definitely not. It would be best if he would just ask her out somewhere.

“But would she want to show somewhere publicly with me?” Storm thought, his hoof massaging his crooked jaw. “She might not have a problem with how I look, but that’s a different matter. And besides, where would I take her? A mare like her deserves to be taken to restaurants such as Doingi Tright au Plaza, and I don’t have that many bits…”

As he contemplated his misfortune, he heard a noise of approaching hoofsteps. That alone wasn’t enough to alarm him, though; it wasn’t unusual for ponies to pass those halls. Usually they were royal guards on a patrol or heading towards their stations, the castle’s staff going on with their work, or various other ponies who for different reason found themselves in this wing of the castle.

What did surprise him was the number of steps.

“... Six to eight,” he gauged, straightening up and making sure his he could grab Spring Binder easily.

The sight that greeted him once the approaching him came from behind a corner did little to put him at ease. On the front was none other than Prince Blueblood, carrying himself with his typical arrogance. Behind him were two other nobles Storm knew from sight, but his names escaped him, and four ponies he had never met before. They were definitely not from the same class as their companions: their clothes were ragged and dirty, their teeth were yellow, and they had this odd look in their eyes that befitted Horseshoe Bay docks rather than Canterlot Castle.

“You there!” Prince Blueblood called out as they neared. “Are those disgusting creatures behind those doors?”

Storm Clash knew that he had to reply to a member of the royal family truthfully. So, he did.

“No, Prince Blueblood,” the pegasus said, fighting off the urge to spat his name; like most of the ponies that had the displeasure of meeting him, he despised the unicorn. “No disgusting creatures in there.”

“Only in front of me…”

“What?!” Blueblood exclaimed in shock. “I know those two changelings are in there! You dare to lie to royalty?!”

“Then why in Tartarus are you asking?”

“Please forgive me, Prince, I was not aware that you were referring to Princess Celestia’s guests.”

“Well, I will overlook it this time. Now, go away. These gentlecolts will look into it that they receive a proper care.”

Storm glanced with one eye at the four ponies that he was now certain were mercenaries. He also noticed knifes hidden within their bardings.

“I’m sorry, I’m afraid my orders prohibit me from doing that,” he said calmly, despite the urgent need to beat them all up and place those ‘nobles’ under arrest. “I must ask you all to leave.”

“What?!” Blueblood once again exclaimed in shock. “I think you misunderstood me; I told you to leave, not asked.”

“And?” Storm asked, growing more annoyed with every exchange.

“And, as your prince, I demand you listen to the order, guard!”

“Paladin,” he hissed.

“Excuse me?”

“In case the different armor didn’t throw you off, I am not a royal guard, but a paladin. But that doesn’t really matter, I suppose; you can’t command guards, either.”

“I think you have forgotten yourself, you commoner!” Blueblood exclaimed, his eyes burning with rage. “I have the highest authority here-”

“No, you don’t,” Storm cut him off; his despise for the prissy unicorn grew. “You are nothing but a joke.”

“How-”

“But please, prove me wrong,” he interrupted him again, barely hiding a grin. “My orders came from Sir Lightbringer; perhaps you remember him as Matthias Lehner. Take this matter up with him.”

Like everypony in the royal guard, he had heard about the “duel” between his mentor and this pathetic unicorn in front of him. Thanks to that, he was now able to enjoy the sight of Blueblood’s eyes widening with fear and embarrassment.

Perhaps, though, it wasn’t the smartest things to do. With his pride wounded, he turned to look at the four mercenaries: “Gentlecolts, please teach him some manners.”

“I bet Tucker and Guard don’t have to deal with this shit…” Storm thought as they approached with grins on their faces.

Meanwhile, in Saddle Arabia...

“So, wait, explain this to me,” Tucker started, dodging the strike from the humongous horse and kicking him in the chest, sending him flying. “We are beating up the guards of the sultan and there won’t be any repercussions?”

“That’s right,” Guard replied, knocking out another one.

The two of them were facing back to back in one of the larger corridors of Neighyadh’s palace. It had all started innocently - they were given a few hours of leave from the Princess herself to see the city before they would have to travel back to Equestria. When they were about to exit the palace, they stumbled upon a few of the palace’s guards.

Guard had grown used to hearing nothing but disrespect from horses’ mouth when talking about the Princess - or, truthfully, every mare - so he managed to remain calm and collected during yesterday meeting between Celestia and the sultan, Akhal the Fourth, contrary to Tucker. The younger paladin had a hard time staying quiet, if the outrage on his face was of any indication. When later they talked, Guard Shield had learned - to his mild surprise - that Tucker had nothing but disgust for the way they treated mares in Saddle Arabia. “They treat mares like dirt, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t put my-”

“He might not be a poet, but at least he has some morals,” the earth pony thought with amusement, blocking off the rest of the sentence.

But this day, as they were passing those four guards, and hearing them call them: “The sun whore’s bastards,” he refused to not act.

So, he hit them until they stopped moving. He was fairly certain one of them had a broken leg.

“After Commander Hurricane had dealt with the Saddle Arabian Kidnappings, he demanded that certain rules would be added to the treaty between them and Equestria,” Guard gave him a quick history lesson, taking the advantage from the momentary break. “Like you, he was disgusted with the way they treat mares in here. He demanded that it would be allowed for Equestria ponies to defend any mares honor if she was offended in their presence, without any repercussions whatsoever.”

“And Saddle Arabia had agreed? I knew they must be stupid, but that’s fucking retarded shit right there. Not that I’m going to complain!” Tucker shouted, kicking another one.

“Their sultan had to make those agreements while Commander Hurricane had his blade pointed at his forehead. And it was written in the old scrolls that when he was in a deep fury, not even dragons could bare to look into his eyes. But the sultan did manage to convince him to add one rule: the ponies were going to be allowed to only fight with their hooves. No magic or flying.”

“Huh, so that’s why you told me to just punch them,” Tucker nodded. “So, do those things happen often?”

“Only every few decades,” Guard admitted, taking a glance at the pile of unconscious bodies. “That’s how long it takes for those bastards to forget their manners around the Princess. Anyway, let’s wrap this up; we have only an hour left before we are leaving this Light forsaken country.”

Back in Equestria...

Storm Clash wasn’t happy. Somehow, in the middle of fighting (despite how brief the struggle was) Prince Blueblood had run away.

The paladin glanced at the emancipated mercenaries, making sure they were down for good, and turned his attention back to the two nobles he had cornered. “So, mind to explaining me what in Light’s name what this is about?”

“Do you even need to ask?!” the one of the left asked, his fear mixed with outrage. “Those wretches had wrecked my mansion, and damaged a lot of others of the Canterlot’s elite! The Princess must have gone as mad as her sister if-”

Storm, really not in a mood to hear any of this, pressed his Spring Binder to his neck. The noble shut up and pissed himself. “You are both under arrest,” he told them, wrinkling his nose as the stench of urine hit his nostrils.

“Hey now, come on, we can make a deal, right?” the other pony mumbled, giving him a fake smile. “I’m sure a… gentlecolt such as you could use some extra bits, right?”

He didn’t know what infuriated him more: the fact that he was right, or that he thought he could bribe him.

“Light’s teaching forbids me from harming unarmed ponies,” he told them, hearing a pair of hoofsteps behind him. “But if you two don’t stay quiet, I’m sure the Holy Light will forgive me for knocking you out.”

Storm had glanced back to see both Sound and Bomb looking surprised at the unconscious bodies. “Sound, mind reporting this to the royal guard; or to the Princess, given that the ‘brain’ behind this is Blueblood? Bomb, keep an eye on those two, I need to check on Nymph and Wind Reaver.”

Both nodded and scurried to follow his orders. Storm sheathed his blade and trotted into the room he was guarding, wondering come they didn’t hear the commotion.

His eyes grew wide as he saw the changelings playing a game of cards.

“Are you alright?” Nymph asked in a worried tone.

“Yeah…” Storm managed to mumble. “How come you…”

“I thought about joining in,” Wind Reaver confessed, glancing up from his hoof. “But it wouldn’t be nice of me to beat you up,” Grinning, he added: “I mean, I would have to join them. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair, right?”

The news of Blueblood’s idiotic and treasonous attempt at jeopardizing the forming of an alliance between Equestria and the changelings over some petty vengeance had reached Matthias and Luna during a small meal, not long after the paladin had finished recounting his stay in the Crystal Empire.

“That arrogant little snot!” Luna bellowed, her eyes burning with moonlight. She stomped the floor next to the table, and Matthias looked in slight concern as a lightning bolt shoot outside. “I cannot believe I am related to that piece of-”

For bad or good, her screams had awakened Moonlight, who began crying just in time to stop her mother from cursing. Anguish flashed across Luna’s face as she quickly took her daughter into her forelegs and started to cradle her.

“Hush, little one, Mommy didn’t mean to wake you up,” she told her as the small alicorn slowly calmed down. “Don’t you worry about a thing, baby close your eyes,” the Princess began to lullaby her with the very same song Matthias’ in Luna’s memories’ had witnessed Celestia sing to her. “I’ll be here for you, till the end of time, that’s what I’ll… do…”

She trailed off as Moonlight had closed her eyes and fallen asleep once more. Luna sighed with relief and placed her in her crib, then returned to the table she shared with Matthias. Once she sat down, the paladin saw that her eyes were almost literally on fire.

“Why did Queen Platinum have to ban the death penalty…” she hissed, no doubt now even more furious with Blueblood. “The unicorn kings of old had sentenced ponies to it for less than causing a royal foal to cry.”

“He will still pay for this stunt,” Matthias said diplomatically. “Once your night guards find him, that is. On that note, I don’t know if I should be surprised or not that he can run so fast.”

While Luna clearly wasn’t in a laughing mood, his joke did make her crack a smile. “This is still a troubling matter. On one hoof, Celestia and I will finally be able to remove him from court; on the other, it’s a disgrace to the royal family,” The Princess of the Night gave a tired sigh. “And that aside, the fact that he had the support of the other nobles is worrying. Once Celestia returns this evening, we will need to speed up the talks regarding the changelings,” she picked up a teacup and muttered angrily: “They wouldn’t have tried to pull that off if my sister was here…”

“The nobles are a pain in the flank of every ruler of every race on every world,” Matthias told her, as offended on her behalf as she. “My father always complained how greedy Lord Alexei Barov was; no wonder Kel’Thuzad had fooled him so easily. Poor bastard...”

“Well, I am glad there are no power-hungry necromancers in Equestria serving an evil lord of the dead to corrupt anypony,” Luna told him seriously. She sighed once more. “But let’s leave this unpleasant matter; with Cadance’s support, the more stubborn officials will be swayed, and the stuck up nobles will be shut.”

“And then Nymph will finally tell us changeling secrets,” Matthias said. “Maybe we will finally have some answers.”

“Hmm, are you certain that there is a connection between them and Tucker Out’s unusual ability?”

“I had long since learned that you cannot be certain of anything regarding such matters. But I have a hunch that it cannot be a coincidence that he was stuck in an amber-crystal prison, and that he can form a blade out of energy.”

“Do you plan to tell him that?”

“I don’t think I should for now, not until I will have more information,” Matthias replied, taking a sip of tea. “This reminds me, Princess Celestia will arrive in Ponyville in few hours, right?”

“Yes. I hope that Twilight Sparkle had enough time to prepare the entertainment for the delegates.”

“Why wouldn’t she?” Matthias asked, detecting a note of worry in Luna’s voice. “Surely, two days should be plenty for her to plan everything.”

“Yes, but until this morning, Ponyville was trapped under a strange magic dome,” the Princess of the Night said in puzzlement. “I would have sent somepony to check if everything was alright, but if it wasn’t, they would have informed us through the mirror we gave you.”

“Oh…” Matthias mouthed, worried. “I wonder what happened... Oh, this won’t be good for Ponyville’s budget,” he groaned, wondering if he would have to talk with Mayor Mare again.

“Yes, I have the feeling that my sister should have increased donations to the poor city when she sends her student to live there,” Luna smirked, rising from the table. “I suppose you should prepare to leave if you want to make it in time. I am thankful that you visited me and Moonlight,” she said, ringing a bell.

“The pleasure was all mine,” Matthias said, rising as well.

The side doors of the chamber had opened and one of the maids had entered. “Yes, Princess?”

“Please send for Caring Star, if she has rested enough,” The maid bowed and left to carry her order.

Either Moonlight had sensed that Matthias was leaving, or the commotion had simply waked her up, but a second later both grown up ponies heard a quiet wail come from the crib.

“Oh, Moonlight, do you want to say goodbye to you godfather?” Luna asked in a gentle tone, levitating the small filly from her crib and moving her towards Matthias. “Bye bye!”

Matthias smiled warmly and waved at the alicorn filly in front of him. “Bye, Moonlight!”

Moonlight Shadow made a cute, unintelligible sound. The paladin took a step forward to hug her gently-

“Ar-thias!”

-and backed away with his jaw dropped.

Luna was no less surprised than him. “Moonlight, where did you hear this name?” she asked her daughter, but all she received in return was more giggles and cute noises.

Deciding to worry about this in a minute, Matthias shook off his surprise and gave his goddaughter a goodbye hug, just a moment before the maid Luna had sent for - the very same that that he met earlier and that blushed while talking with him - had came. Leaving the baby alicorn in her care, the Princess and the paladin headed off from the chambers.

“You daughter is developing well,” Matthias commented when they were alone.

“Yes, although I honestly have no idea where she could have heard me say your name,” Luna confessed. “I’m sure I haven’t called you by it with her in the room… then again, she is an alicorn foal,” she said with an annoyed sigh. “When I was her age, I phased through two floors into the kitchen because I was hungry.”

“And to think I panicked when Jaina had spoken about children,” Matthias shook. Sighing, he said: “I guess in a matter of months my friends will learn that I lied to them about my name, huh?”

“Not necessarily… but why did you choose to give Twilight this name when she asked you so long ago?”

He pondered her words for a while. “Because I panicked,” he finally confessed. “I didn’t want to be myself, not after everything that I did. My humanity, the part of myself I had casted off, took the name of Matthias Lehner when adventurers stumbled upon my heart; I chose to take the name of the best part of me, rather than the name of the whole me; I didn’t want to be a failure.”

Matthias had trailed off, hearing a pony coming through the corridor next to the one he and Luna were trotting through. A group of maids were heading towards the kitchen.

“Pixie?” Luna had called after one of them. The brown mare stopped and bowed respectfully. “Please see to it that my sister’s chambers are prepared for her return.”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” the maid replied.

“If those are your reasons,” Luna said once they were alone again, “then I am sure your friends will understand… the part about the heart aside, though.”

“Yeah… even on Azeroth this would cause some confusion,” Matthias replied with an uneasy chuckle. “I cannot help but wonder how Tirion must have reacted when they told him about it.”

“I cannot help but wonder how he would have reacted if he knew what you’ve been up to those past few months,” Luna retorted.

The journey back home didn’t take long, although it wasn’t as fast as Matthias would have liked it to be. They barely made it in time to greet Princess Celestia and the two delegates, Bashire and his wife Sahra. As Matthias had learned, Bashire, due to his often dealings with Equestria on behalf of his sultan, had adopted a lot of ponies customs. He had only Sahra as his wife, and didn’t think himself to be her better. What’s more, due to his position, she was also treated with respect by other horses (as much as it was possible in that culture), and helped her husband with his work.

Matthias would have like to speak with them for a longer time, but there was something that he desired a lot more: not missing Twilight’s show.

The magic entertainment wasn’t something overwhelming as one might have expected, but nonetheless breathtaking. Matthias admired the control Twilight had displayed over her levitation spell to maneuver so many small critters with such precision and not harming them. The fireworks that ended the show were also nice, but Matthias felt that they weren’t Twilight’s doing.

But nothing was as captivating as her eyes when their looks met briefly, or the smile she gave him.

113. When the paladin broods the changelings play

What is happiness?

It was a question Matthias pondered as he watched the snoring form of Rainbow Dash. Despite having caught up with his friends, despite falling asleep after a moment of passion with a very beautiful mare, he woke up and found himself… worrying.

Because the melancholy mood that overtook him didn’t fit into any of this.

As he dreamed, he had a vision. That vision, again. And coupled with what he had learned from his friends about what had transpired in Ponyville during his absence…

“‘The Alicorn Amulet’, which grants its wearer great powers at the price of corruption…”

He raised his hoof and held it above himself. Even though it wasn’t the hand it once was, Matthias still remembered the cold that took over his body the moment it grabbed the handle of Frostmourne and never left.

“... and what’s worse,” he thought, sighing and letting the hoof fall on the bed, “I wasn’t here to protect them.”

“I wasn’t here to protect her.”

Matthias looked at Rainbow once more. While he would not deny that he enjoyed their “fun”, there was always a little something at the back of his mind, that only now, when he found himself in deep rumination, was he able to admit to himself.

The true reason while he became a friend with benefits with Rainbow was because he wanted to get Twilight out of his mind.

But, like with everything else he had ever tried to do, he was doomed to fail. Twilight had taken place in his heart and thoughts for good. The very friend that was the first to befriend him, to make him open himself to others, thanks to which he became able to commune with the Light one more. She even told him that she loves him, despite the darkness that she knew once held him. The mare that time and time again proved to be his better in every way…

Light, how he wished she was here now. Matthias knew that it wasn’t fair toward Rainbow, but he couldn’t help it. His heart ached for Twilight… and for that exact reason he had to keep her away. His heart, while filled with the Holy Light, was forever branded with the atrocities he committed, to his father, his family, his country, his subjects… even to himself.

“Twilight deserves a pony better than I am. Tartarus, I don’t even deserve to be her friend,” Matthias pressed his hooves to his eyes, feeling a moist gathering around their corners. “I don’t deserve to be anypony’s friend,” he thought in panic as he began wonder what in Light’s name was he doing, listening to Rainbow’s snoring as if it was normal while he wasn’t worthy of even touching her…

He began to shake, and the Light knows what would have happen next, what dark thoughts would come to him, if it weren’t for one thing; the necklace. His forelegs brushed against it by accident, causing a strange wave of warmth surge through him. Matthias stopped his train of thoughts to glance at it.

Whenever your shadow will begin to win, this will remind you of the love others have for you.

His breathing gradually calmed down while in his mind, by its own accord, memories of the times he spent with his friends began to resurface. He felt the friendly hugs and laughs they shared, their sympathy and understanding, their words whenever something from his past became known to them, their… their...

Forgiveness.

“It is not their place to forgive me,” Matthias thought back to Marahute’s Necklace. “And even if it were… how could I forgive myself?”

But despite this question remaining unanswered, when his hoof closed around the necklace, his heart was much lighter.

Even if what the vision had showed him...

When after walking up and taking a quick shower Matt told her that he had to deal with some things, Rainbow Dash took it as her cue to leave. Not that the paladin wanted her out, he just knew that she would be bored to death with about everything he was doing when inside his office.

“I wonder, though, what has gotten into him,” she thought, as she made her way out of the barracks. “He seemed… out of it this morning. Come to think of it, he’s been in a strange mood ever since we brought him the Alicorn Amulet yesterday to hide in his vault… is he worried about that? Ugh, why can’t a smart pony deal with that?!”

She answered her own question almost immediately. “Because the smart pony thinks it would ruin their friendship,” Rainbow rolled her eyes at the stupidity of her friends.

The sun hit her in the eyes as she exited through barrack’s doors. Whoever on Ponyville’s weather team had the shift this morning must have already cleared the sky. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and was supposed to stay so until evening, when Rainbow had to bring in some rainclouds.

Thinking about work made the pegasus yawn, and she wondered if she should look for a good place for a nap, when she spotted one of the changelings standing in the Abbey’s courtyard. And since she could see it as a changeling…

“Hey Wind!” she called, flying up to him.

Wind Reaver turned his head to regard her as she hovered above him. “Someling got laid tonight.”

His blunt comment almost made her lose her balance and fall down. Somehow managing to stay in the air, Rainbow ignored the slight feeling of heat on her cheeks. “What are you up to? And where’s your friend?”

For some reason, her question made him furrow his brow. “Do you assume Nymph and I are friends because we are both changelings, or because we were sent here?”

“Umm…” Rainbow stammered, surprised and confused.

Wind Reaver sighed. “Nymph and I aren’t friends. Prior to this mission, I’ve only met her twice or thrice.”

“Oh-kay…” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Geez, no need to get so touchy. So anyway, what are you up to?”

“The Hivespeaker gave the both of us permission to move around Ponyville unsupervised, provided we won’t cause any trouble and all,” he said, shrugging. “I thought about stretching my wings a bit.”

Rainbow grinned almost immediately.

“Wanna stretch your wings, huh?” she asked. “How about a race, then? Ghastly Gorge sounds good?”

It took only a heartbeat for Wind Reaver to twist his mouth into a similar grin, flashing his fangs. “You’re on!”

“How, in all that is holy, could he have over twenty witnesses say that he was in Los Pegasus for three days at all time?!” Matthias shouted, directing his question to the magic mirror.

“By bribes, most likely,” Luna replied from her side; it was clear from the image his mirror showed him that she was as much annoyed as he was, if not more.

Matthias didn’t plan to discuss the matter of Prince Blueblood when he contacted Luna, but when she had mentioned what became of the situation, he couldn’t help to not get wrapped up into the subject.

“I think I liked Blueblood more when I thought him to be just an arrogant, narcissistic snob. Now that I know that he is well-versed in the art of the politics and a tad cunning, though…”

“Hopefully, the night guard will find something on him,” Princess Luna tried to reassure both of them. “But let’s leave this unpleasant matter aside. Why did you contact me? It cannot be about the sample you gave Doctor Angelic Touch; you know she hadn’t got enough time to examine it properly.”

“While I would like to know what she would be able to make out of Wind Reaver’s blood, you speak truth, I know it’s been too soon. No, I contacted you because I would like to ask you for a favor,” Matthias told her, then sighed and prepared to roll his eyes. “You see, yesterday Twilight had asked me-”

“One would like to make fun of how you are eager to do whatever it is Twilight wants,” Luna smirked.

Taking the pause for the predicted rolling of the eyes moment, he continued.

“This was a bad idea,” Nymph thought in panic. “This was a horrible, horrible idea…”

When the Hivespeaker told her that she and Wind Reaver could go to Ponyville unsupervised, she almost immediately headed out into the town.

She had thought about what Serenity told her for some time, that she considers her a friend. Truth to be told, when Nymph looked back at her life, she had realized that she didn’t really have any friends. Unlike most changelings, her status as Mother’s heir required her to spend most of her time perfecting herself and growing far sooner than others, thus being depraved from occasions to befriend other changelings.

Now, though, while on this mission, she had plenty of time to make some friends. Well, she already made five, but Serenity was now in Crystal Empire, Babs was in Manehatten, and the remaining three fillies had school today, so if she wanted to have fun with a friend, she needed to make a new one. Nymph first thought was Wind Reaver, of course, but with his mental state being as unpredictable as it is, she wasn’t sure if her attempt would be welcomed by him.

Her next thought about a potential friend was Twilight Sparkle. Definitely an odd choice, considering her role in the failure of changelings’ invasion, but the idea of a changeling trying to befriend a pony was already weird to begin with, so Nymph didn’t let such matters to sway her. She knew a lot about Twilight, how she liked to study in general and magic in particular, to which she could relate to. Nymph also knew that prior to coming to Ponyville the unicorn didn’t have friends like her.

Hoping that when she would explain this to her Twilight would give her a chance, the changeling had set out for her library.

What she didn’t expect, however, was that the entire town would remember her unicorn form.

Every pony that she passed was glancing her way, some discretely and some openly. Nymph tried to pay them no mind, but thanks to picking up the emotions that hid behind every stare. Thankfully, noling felt hatred towards her, nor any strong feelings as that day the Hivespeaker introduced Ponyville to her and Wind Reaver. But the others weren’t any easier to take: the suspicion, the distrust…

The disgust.

It hurt her. She had never thought of ponies in that way, despite how strange they were compared to changelings; why did they have to see her as something… ugly?

Nymph was so caught up in the pain the feelings of ponies around her were causing her that she had somehow lost her way. She was in Ponyville a few times before, but now for all the love in Equestria she couldn’t remember how to get to the library.

“I suppose I could just shapeshift and take a look from the sky,” she mused, and was about to do it when she had suddenly realized: “No! Then all those ponies will see my true body, and I will feel their… disgust…”

Fighting off the panic attack and the urge to just call it a day and head back, Nymph took a few, steady breaths to regain her composure. “Okay, stay calm. I’m sure… if I ask someling politely; they will tell me which way I have to go…”

She took one more deep breath and approached a pony at the market that was selling some fruits. “Um… excuse me…” she started hesitantly.

“What?” the seller asked her sharply, making her flinch at both his tone and contempt.

“Nothing!” Nymph replied immediately, backing away.

“Okay, maybe I could find a pony that is a bit nicer…” Nymph decided, looking around if she could spot a pony that was more likely to not bite her head off.

It would seem her wish has been granted, for after a few moments Nymph saw Applejack on the other end of the market, selling apples. While Nymph knew that this particular of the Hivespeaker’s friends wasn’t exactly keen on the idea of befriending changelings, she was certain that farmer pony won’t lash out on her, for the reason of her little sister liking her if nothing else.

She was about to go to her. But then…

A pony grunted as he bumped into her from behind. “Hey…”

Nymph didn’t hear what else he said. The moment he she felt the light impact, panic seized her body. She wanted to flee.

Her magic and horn responded to her need.

Storm Clash blinked as Nymph disappeared in a flash of a green light.

“Guess I must have startled her,” he thought with a pang of regret. “Damnit, I should have been more careful while walking in this armor, I might hurt somepony!”

But then he glanced at the pony he was escorting to the Abbey. “Then again, can somepony blame me for not paying attention to my surrounding while trotting around with such a weird-looking pony?”

When in the heartbeat after her teleportation spell had taken her away from Ponyville Nymph opened her eyes, she managed to see that she was surrounded by trees… just before something fell on her head.

The hit wasn’t too strong, but coupled with her panic attack and having just teleported here - wherever this “here” was, because for the moment Nymph had no idea - caused her to see stars dancing before her eyes and her legs to buckle under her.

Her stunned state was a blessing in disguise, though. Because of it, Nymph didn’t begin to panic again, and after shaking her head a few times she noticed that she no longer laid on the grass, but instead in the forelegs of… of…

The eyes of the stallion that held her were of a beautiful shade of green, almost exact as her blood was.

“Y’al right, miss?” he asked her gently in a deep voice.

“Um… yes,” Nymph replied slowly, still feeling light headed from whatever hit her, and also a bit… odd. Shaking her head for the last time, she pulled herself away from the stallion and stood on her own. “Yes, I’m fine, thank you.”

Nymph took a better look at him, and with a jolt she realized she knew him. “You’re Big Macintosh, right? Apple Bloom’s and Applejack’s older brother,” she asked the red stallion, who nodded in reply, smiling somewhat timidly. “I’m Nymph, a…” her voice broke. Could she admit to this stallion that she’s a changeling after what she went through just a couple of moments ago? He was being so nice to her. “Um, you know, a…”

“Yup,” Big Macintosh finished for her, still smiling.

The changeling in disguise blinked in surprise. “Oh, right, your sisters must have told you about me,” she concluded. Judging by the fact that he was still kind towards her, he must have listened to Apple Bloom view on her more keenly than Applejack’s. “And… you don’t have a problem with me?” Nymph asked, a little surprised by it.

“Nope,” the stallion replied, giving her a nod and turning back to what he must have been doing before she had teleported here.

As Nymph watched him bending down and picking up apples from the ground, she quickly realized what must have happened; she teleported next to him just when he bucked the tree under which they both stood, causing the apples to fall down, and she was just unfortunate enough to get hit by one.

“The heir of Queen Chrysalis, struck down by a falling apple,” Nymph thought bitterly. “It’s official; I am the most pathetic of her daughters,” Shaking the dark mood off, she looked around. As she had already guessed, she was on Sweet Apple Acres, the Apple family’s farm. “It must be because I was thinking about Applejack when that pony bumped into me…”

“Sorry for coming like that,” she quickly told Big Macintosh as he put all the apples into one of the nearby baskets. “Something startled me and I teleported here by accident.”

The big red stallion looked at her in puzzlement as he bucked the next tree. “Startled?”

“It’s… complicated…” Nymph said, poking the ground with her hoof in abashment.

She looked at Big Macintosh. He didn’t say anything, just looked back at her calmly. Nymph could sense his curiosity and worry, but all she could read from his green eyes was: Wanna talk about it?

Taking a deep breath, Nymph decided that she might as well tell him. “You see, this morning…”

The quarry eels shot from their nest again, as Rainbow and Wind passed this segment of their race track, causing both of them to slow down and maneuver around their heads… and as the four times before, Wind Reaver again had taken the lead.

Rainbow ground her teeth. Over the previous laps, she had learned that while she was undeniably (even if not by a huge margin) faster than the changeling, he was more agile and quicker when it came to maneuvering like this.

Normally, it wouldn’t bother her. In fact, she was happy that he proven to be a challenging opponent, but this was the final lap.

And the finishing line was not too far away from this point.

Dodging the last two quarry eels’ heads, Rainbow beat her wings furiously, ignoring the aching in her joints and the fire in her lungs as they protested. She had to beat him! Slowly, she began to catch up with him, but the damned changeling also began to beat his wings faster. Even with all the noise the air flow made Rainbow could hear their buzzing.

“Come on, come on, come on!” she thought as if just willing the victory would grant it to her. “Just a little more…”

Her forehooves passed his hind legs… his torso, his head… leveled with his forehooves…

“I won!” both of them shouted as they passed the finish line.

Hearing the other say it, they slowed down as swiftly as they could and landed on the ground, both breathing heavily. “No, I won!” they shouted in unison.

They stared at each other angrily for a while. Finally, Wind Reaver broke the silence: “Think we should have had an arbiter?”

“Yeah, maybe...” Rainbow muttered, sitting down. She couldn’t remember when was the last time she exerted herself to such extent while flying.

“Perhaps the next time we will remember that,” Wind Reaver said, following her example and sitting. After a moment, thought, he just flipped and lied on his back. “Damn it, I don’t think I ever was out of breath like this.”

“Oh, you’re that good, huh?” Rainbow mocked, pressing her back against a rock.

“Not exactly,” he replied, rolling his hoof around. “You know how oxygen is necessary for having energy to move around and stuff, right?”

“Duh,” she said, although pulling out the exact information how that worked from her memories of school days wasn’t something she wanted to do.

“Well, we changelings can… switch… from using the oxygen to relying solely on love we absorbed.”

Rainbow wasn’t sure if she understood that. “Um… what?”

“Relying on oxygen can be… tiresome,” Wind Reaver said, then sighed. “Look, I’m not a smart changeling; you would need Nymph to explain it to you. All I know is that when we’re using oxygen to give our muscles the energy they need to move, and then when performing something really taxing - such as racing - sometimes the oxygen… doesn’t make it, and so the muscles… do something… and it’s bad...”

“Okay, you are making less sense than my biology teacher at Cloudsdale Academy, and yet you're somehow even more boring,” Rainbow Dash stopped him, feeling a headache from this explanation of his. “Make it simple, okay?”

“Fine. We changelings can switch into relying solely on love, which basically allows us to fly, fight and whatever without tiring.”

“Wait!” Now that he used simple words, Rainbow understood him, and grew offended. “Are you saying that you went easy on me?”

Wind Reaver shook his head. “Doing that causes us to deploy our reserves of love much quicker. And as it would seem unlikely I will feed any time soon, I need to spare what I have.”

“I suppose that makes sense. How would you go about ‘feeding’, anyway?”

“Well, our Queen forbids us from impersonating anyling from Ponyville, so I would be left with trying to pull off what Nymph did in Crystal Empire.”

“Which would be...?” Rainbow asked, now a bit curious.

“She offered to have sex with those two royal guards while taking forms of few of their fantasies,” Wind told her with grin.

He then proceeded to chuckle as Rainbow, due to the mental image that appeared in her head, began to blush. “Wow… didn’t expect her to be so… kinky.”

“She’s not being kinky, she’s just a changeling; we don’t have problems with casual sex. Kinda like you and the Hivespeaker.”

Now Rainbow was definitely blushing. “That’s none of your business,” she told the changeling, getting back on her hooves.

“Ooh, did I offend you?” Wind Reaver mocked her. “Sorry. But you have to admit, it’s rather unusual for ponies, especially in small towns like this, to have sex with someling that you don’t love,” There was a smirk on his face when he stood up as well. “Of course, in your case, having sex with the one you love the most would be difficult, wouldn’t it?”

“The buck is that supposed to mean!?” Rainbow asked, growing angrier and angrier.

“If he thinks I will let him offend me like this, he’s got another thing coming his way,” she thought, stomping the ground.

“Nothing offensive, I assure you,” Wind Reaver told her quietly, taking a step her way. “I actually pity you a bit. It must be hard-”

Green flames flashed around him.

“- to love yourself the most,” Rainbow Dash told her.

Rainbow felt her jaw drop as she took a step back from what was her reflection, perfect save from the smirk that Wind Reaver still had on his muzzle. She then recovered and snorted. “You must have bees in you bug-brain if you think I have the hots for myself.”

“You don’t? Could have fooled me,” The other Rainbow chuckled, as she closed the distance between them; has she always moved with such confidence? “You are so self-obsessed that you use one of your friends, despite knowing how another one feels about him.”

“I’m not using anypony!” Rainbow protested, backing away. Why was she explaining herself to him? “Matt is free to break this thing up! And Twilight told me she’s fine with this-”

“And you believed her?” her twin told her, her voice growing more quiet and sweet. “Or did you just choose to believe her, because it suited you?”

Rainbow took one more step back and felt her flank bump into a tree. “I… I didn’t…” she stuttered. Was he right? Had Twilight lied to her, and she simply didn’t care because she wanted Matt? “Stay back!” she told him.

Her own purple eyes gazed into her. “Make me,” Rainbow Dash challenged her, before leaning forward and pressing her lips against hers.

Rainbow stood as if paralyzed. She was kissing herself! “Oh gosh, oh gosh, I’m kissing myself!!!” she shouted in her head in alarm. She wanted to push Wind Reaver away, to kick him for this, to drop a mountain on him, but… but for some reason, as he continued to kiss her and pushed her against the tree she did nothing to stop him.

“This is wrong…” Rainbow thought as her own hooves massaged her sides. Then her actual hooves grabbed the other head. “But it feels so good…”

114. Tricks and Treats

“I am not saying that you shouldn’t have done that,” Matthias told Guard and Tucker while rubbing his eyes; he was already tired of this discussion, “but as paladins, you should have more restraint. Violence should never be used to solving problems before trying other options.”

He was mildly surprised when he heard from Princess Celestia about the brawl in Neighyadh his two paladins had sort of started. Matthias, of course, knew about this odd agreement Commander Hurricane had made with the Saddle Arabia's sultan of that time. However, he hadn’t expected… okay, maybe he expected Tucker to start something, but not Guard Shield. The older stallion always seemed calm and collected.

“Sir, with all due respect, you weren’t there,” Tucker replied. “This delegate Celestia brought with us is cool - which is funny, considering how hot his wife is, bow-chicka-bow-wow - but everypony there must have inverted dicks to treat mares like this! And you have to be an idiot to call a pony that can drop a sun on them a-”

“Yes, I understand,” Matthias interrupted him, not wanting to hear such an insult of his liege and friend. “Trust me when I say that I share your sentiments, and that I will request from the Princess to allow me to accompany her next time to see Neighyadh for myself. But regardless of the horses’… different customs-”

“And complete idiocy of those…”

“-by beating them up nothing will ever be changed,” he continued, ignoring Tucker. “Once the bruising you gave them disappears, so will the lesson they learned vanish from their minds.”

“And how would you have wished us to change a nation which has been stuck in this mindset for longer than Equestria existed, sir?” Guard asked, with his voice as controlled as ever.

Not having an answer to this question, Matthias could only sight. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “And I suspect I would have done pretty much the same, but we must stride to do better in our service to the Light.” He tapped his desk, wondering if there was something else he should tell them. Nothing came to his mind. “That’s all; you may go.”

He waited for the two paladins to leave before he leaned back into his chair and whirled around. “‘I would have done pretty much the same’,” he snorted in his thoughts. “I would have ripped them to pieces for offending Celestia like that.”

Matthias couldn’t help but wonder how would his father deal with a country that had such strange customs, that treated females as a second category of populace… there wasn’t even a civilized land on Azeroth like that.

“It’s no wonder Commander Hurricane wanted to wage war on them,” Matthias thought bitterly. “The pegasi were the only one of the three tribes to have mares and stallions fully equal at the time, but even the earth ponies and the unicorns weren’t as nearly awful to females as Saddle Arabia.”

Finally, the knock on his door gave Matthias an excuse to stop thinking about Equestria’s southern neighbour. He knew who that was, for he himself had sent one of them to get the other this morning.

“Come in,” Matthias said, preparing himself.

Two ponies entered through the door; one was Storm Clash, who Matthias himself had asked earlier today to escort the pony beside him. The other was a unicorn mare, dressed in attire that had immediately reminded him of Dalaran… if the town of mages would be ruled by kids in ages from five to ten. Both her huge, pointy hat and cape were purple with silver and gold stars on them. The cape was tied under her neck with a blue gem. Her horn was covered by the hat, so Matthias wouldn’t even know she’s a unicorn if he hadn’t gotten her description from his friends.

“Hello, Miss Trixie,” Matthias greeted her. “Please, have a sit,” he added, pointing at the pillow on the opposite side of his desk.

The blue pony that enslaved the entire Ponyville recently had nothing of the boastfulness he’s been warned about. Trixie nodded meekly and sit at the pillow, trying to avoid his gaze. Matthias glanced at Storm, who stood in attention besides the door. The pegasus shrugged. Matthias guessed that the unicorn must fear that he asked for her to come to face some sort of punishment for her actions.

“If Twilight hadn’t talked with me first, she might have,” he thought before he cleared his throat.

“It has come to my attention that you had recently had in your possession an artifact known as the Alicorn Amulet, correct?” he asked her, despite knowing the answer.

“W-well, yes…” Trixie stuttered, taking off her hat and holding it in her forehooves. “but I didn’t know it would make me do such horrible things, I swear!”

Matthias watched at her shivering form and felt pity; he decided to disperse her worries.

“I think you are under the impression you were brought her to face the consequences of your actions,” he told her and Trixie glanced up in confusion. “Let me reassure you; your actions were pardoned by Princess Celestia per Twilight Sparkle’s request, sparing you from facing all possible charges.”

His words had a curious effect: Trixie both sighed with relief and looked down in shame.

“I suspect that even if you were put on trial, you would get a minimal punishment due to being under the influence of the Amulet,” Matthias continued. “In my opinion you should pay for you actions in some form, but it’s out of my hooves.”

“And if it weren’t, I’m willing to bet I would let Twilight talk me out of it.”

“B-but it was this Amulet-” Trixie tried to say.

“I know, but the fact that you put it on you with an intent to use it against Twilight remains,” he cut her off. “Magical artifacts that corrupt their users influence them through those dark parts of us: doubts, fears… or hatreds.”

“I’m not different from you. Frostmourne… Ner’zhul and Mal’Ganis led me a one hell of a merry dance.”

“But, as I had already mentioned, this is not why you are here,” he shook, as if physically wanting to shed those thoughts. “I send knight Storm Clash to get you for two reasons. The first being,” Matthias paused and joined his hooves before his face, “I want to know the location of the place where you acquired the Alicorn Amulet.”

“Oh, that…” Trixie exclaimed, a relief crossing her features. Her horn glowed with a pinkish light. From her right side, the purple star-spotted coat lifted, and from a shoulder pocket the unicorn levitated a flyer.

She gave it to Matthias, who read it in confusion. The flyer was advertising a curio shop somewhere in Canterlot. “Wait, let me get this straight:” the paladin asked, pressing his hoof against his forehead: “you bought a powerful artifact that slowly corrupted you… in a curio shop?!”

“Y-yes,” Trixie replied, probably taken aback by his disbelief. “I was too surprised when I noticed it a corner of that picture at the back.”

“That’s just…” Matthias tried to put it in words how ridiculous this concept seemed to him, but failed. The thought of an object that reminded him of Frostmourne being bought in a shop was just too ludicrous. “Ugh, whatever, this means I can dump this on Night Guard and wash my hooves of it. Where did you come upon this flyer, anyway?” he asked, placing the object in question in desk’s locker.

“It was in the room I had been sleeping in at the rock farm when I was working there. The owners mentioned that their older daughter must have left it the last time she was there.”

“Please tell me that daughter of theirs didn’t buy… I dunno, a Battle-Saddle of Doom or something from there,” Matthias exclaimed, hiding his face in his hooves.

He heard a snicker escape Storm’s mouth and could feel Trixie’s surprised gaze upon himself, but at the moment, Matthias didn’t care. That was what he just needed right now; another serious, but absurd problem. He still hadn’t recovered after the Pink Incident…

“Um, I believe they’ve mentioned something about… an Orb of Destiny?” Trixie pondered this matter for a moment. “Hmm, I think there was the word ‘fate’ somewhere in the middle…”

“Hopefully, the owner of the shop has a ledger of sorts,” Matthias told her, losing interest on this subject; the Night Guard could handle it by themselves. “Let’s deal with the other reason why I had asked you to come here; I can imagine you would like finish this matter and be free.”

Trixie gave him an awkward smile. Matthias had to admit that there was some charm to the mare, even though he should hate her for hurting Twilight.

“After you had mentioned to Twilight your… financial problems over the course of the last two years, she couldn’t let it continue with a clear conscience,” the paladin said, gaining a surprise-confused-ashamed look in return. “That is why she asked me if I have any idea how to help you. Are you free three weeks from now?”

“Huh?!” Trixie exclaimed in shock. “W-well, yes, I suppose… but I don’t-”

“Because that’s when you will be performing in Los Pegasus.”

Matthias hoped the jaw-dropping to the floor wasn’t a part of her act; otherwise quite a number of ponies would be rather disappointed. “Whudda- hud-d-duh- hud-d-duh- huh?!” was about the only thing the paladin caught from her stuttering, as she stared at him with both of her eyes wider than than a moon.

“You will perform your magic show in Los Pegasus’ Mirage Hotel, where you’ll also be staying,” he continued. “Everything has already been prepared. If ponies like your show, then the owner of Mirage Hotel will talk with you about a permanent contract.”

“But….” Trixie muttered, still unable to comprehend was what going on. “How? Why?”

“Hmm…” Matthias pondered which question to answer first. “As for ‘why?’; it’s because Twilight asked me to help you. And as for ‘how?’; it’s amazing what you can get when you are the godfather of the daughter of the Princess of the Night,” he told Trixie with a wink. “Speaking of Luna, she will be there in Los Pegasus for a couple of days on some royal duties, so you can expect her to be within the audience.”

That was too much for Trixie to take while sitting. With a ‘thump’, she lost her balance and fell on the floor. Matthias managed to hold in an amused smirk as he went to her to see if she was alright. He guessed she must be, because before he managed to make those few steps Trixie was already getting up with Storm’s help.

“I- I don’t know what to say…” she stammered weakly.

“Then don’t say anything,” Matthias replied warmly. “You’ve been only given a chance; whether you will turn it into a success is up to you. But if in the next hour or so you will figure out what you want to say, then I’m sure Twilight will like to hear it. She wanted to say goodbye to you on the train station.”

He glanced at Storm, who nodded. The pegasus unfolded his wing and from within he took a train ticket.

“I also paid for you ticket to Los Pegasus,” Matthias said as Trixie, still bewildered, took it from Storm. “I hope you don’t mind that it’s for a train leaving so soon; I was under the impression that, due to you recent actions, it might be best if you’d left Ponyville as soon as possible. If you would like to stay a bit, though, I’m sure it won’t be too much of a problem to exchange the ticket.”

“No no, it’s fine,” Trixie replied, hugging the ticket as if her life depended on it. “I got a few angry glances on my way here… and besides, I will have to start practicing for the show. Thank you so much, Sir Lightbringer! I… The Great and Powerful Trixie will be sure to bewilder the ponies of Los Pegasus, so that the voucher for her show she will give you one day will be highly desired by all of Equestria!” she proclaimed, her attitude returning to the one Matthias has been warned about.

“I will be looking forward to that day,” the paladin said, a bit amused by the way she spoke. “Light be with you, Miss Trixie.”

Storm smiled as he watched the happy mare leave Sir Lightbringer’s office; she was feeling pretty down all the way to the Abbey, so it heartened the young pegasus paladin to see her so brightened.

“That went well,” he commented out loud, glancing at Sir Lightbringer. The head paladin was sitting on his chair again. There was one thing that struck him as odd. “Sir, if I may… why did you say that you would prefer for her to pay for what she did? I mean, you yourself had once been…”

“Do you think I haven’t paid for my crimes?” Sir Lightbringer replied with a tired and sad smile. He sighed and looked once again at the flyer Trixie gave him. “Although, what I did was far worse than what Trixie did here in Ponyville… and as such, I think I should have been punished more severely,” He trailed off as his brow furrowed. “But I most certainly did not have that cursed thing bought in a curio shop. What kind of idiot gets such an artifact and sells it to somepony… whose source of income was working on a rock farm?!”

“I… huh?” Storm Clash asked, not sure if he was asking him.

He was spared further diving into this discussion by a knock on the door. “Come in,” Sir Lightbringer called, his face betraying that he didn’t expect anypony as he put the flyer down.

The door opened, revealing the mare who was occupying Storm’s mind more often than anypony else past those couple of days: Rarity. Her attention drifted from Sir Lightbringer to him as soon as she noticed him, and smiled brightly, making the pegasus feel as if his hearts got its own pair of wings and tried to soar up into the sky.

“Ah, perfect, Storm. You’re here as well,” Rarity said. She glanced at her saddlebag and lightened her horn, levitating two small pieces of paper.

Storm took the one Rarity moved to him with his hoof as the blue aura disappeared from it and read the stylistic word INVITATION written on it.

“Those are invitations to my birthday party this week,” Rarity explained. “I hope you don’t mind that I’m giving you them on such short notice; I’ve… kind of forgotten.”

“You forgot about your own birthday?” Storm asked in confusion.

Rarity blushed with embarrassment. “Well, with all the orders I had this past month, not to mention all the exciting things that happened in Ponyville - which you are partially responsible, Storm Clash,” she told him with a faked pretense, “unless you think that the Initiation the four of you went through wasn’t exciting - it had slipped my mind. I would have probably never remembered it if I hadn’t bumped into Pinkie this morning. You two will be able to make it, right?” Rarity asked with worry. “I already lost a chance to invite Serenity.”

“Unless there will be some evil spirit of some kind going on a rampage on the other side of Equestria, I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t make it,” Sir Lightbringer calmed her down.

“Now, Matt, don’t jinx it. It’s unwise to tempt fate like this,” Rarity chided. She then turned to Storm and asked: “You will come as well, won’t you?”

Storm Clash felt his cheek growing red. “Yes, of course!” he replied hastily.

He was rewarded with a sight of one of the most beautiful smiles that could exist in this world.

“Who else is coming?” Sir Lightbringer asked, making Rarity turn her head.

“Only our closest friends,” the white unicorn said. She then frowned thoughtfully. “Do you think I should invite Nymph as well? It might make the poor dear feel more welcome.”

“It would be really kind of you, Rarity. I’m sure Nymph would be happy; I got the feeling that she wants to become friendlier with ponies. She actually went this morning to see Twilight.”

“Then I will go look for her there,” Rarity said. “I would have invited Wind Reaver too, but I don’t know if he… well, he doesn’t seem as interested in changing ponies’ opinion about changelings as Nymph. And he might not want to attend, seeing how his marefriend is still missing.”

“Yes, I think so as well,” Sir Lightbringer replied. “But perhaps you should ask Nymph’s opinion… then again, this is your party. You will do what you think is best… as always, I might add,” the head paladin added with a strange gleam in his eye.

To Storm’s confusion, Rarity blushed a bit as she coughed. “Yes, well, I will think about it. It would be lovely to have everypony happy… which reminds me: since on my way here I was given a hug from smiling and bouncing Trixie, I assume you found some solution for her problems?”

“Luna managed to convince the owner of Mirage Hotel in Los Pegasus to let her perform once. What happens from here is up to Trixie.”

“Oh my, the Mirage Hotel!” Rarity exclaimed in recognition of the name. “That’s one of the most prestigious hotels in all of Equestria… well; it was, until one of its star performers had that nasty accident. Since then they had been slowly losing a lot of patrons.”

“Perhaps Miss Trixie will lure new ones, then?” Storm asked.

From the look Rarity gave him he learned that the white unicorn hadn’t completely forgiven her yet. “I guess that would be nice,” she said coldly, then shook and once again brightened. “Now, boys, if you will excuse me, I have a lot of things to do today.”

“Of course,” Sir Lightbringer said. “See you later.”

“Bye,” Storm added.

She flashed him one more smile that made him feel as if he was melting inside his armor and was gone. Storm took another look at the invitation, and by doing so caught a whiff of perfume Rarity had sprinkled it in.

“Maybe on her birthday party I will manage to ask her out…” he mused, drinking in the aroma. “It would be perfect; she would be happy after… after…” he trailed off as the dreadful realization came upon him. “... after receiving gifts from her friends...”

He groaned and grabbed his head. “What the hay am I suppose to give a pony like her?!”

“I’ve been there,” an amused chuckle came from Sir Lightbringer. Storm looked at him, both miserable and puzzled. “When I had realized that I became such close friends with Rarity and the others, I also realized that I will have to think of good gifts for them on their birthdays and such. Fortunately, I had it covered for a few weeks now.”

“Good for you, sir,” Storm murmured. He sighed and straightened up. “If you will excuse me, I have something to think about.”

“Sure,” Sir Lightbringer replied, dismissing him.

He exited the office and made his way out of the barracks, wondering what he could possibly give Rarity. It didn’t take a big of a mind stretch to figure that gifts such as jewelry would be most sought by the beautiful mare, but Storm needed something within his pay limit.

“Maybe I could ask one of her friends what she likes…” he pondered as he came outside. “But how should I ask them about it so I won’t tip them off that I plan to ask Rarity out?”

He stopped his musing when he noticed a dark shape in the air, incoming very fast. Storm began reaching for Spring Binder, but relaxed when the flyer was close enough to become recognisable; it was Wind Reaver. The changeling landed next to him and Storm was about to greet him when something struck him as odd.

“Um… why are you pressing your eye?” he asked Wind Reaver.

The changeling took his hoof off his left side of the face, revealing no visible changes, other than he kept his eyelid half-closed.

“No reason,” he replied, giving an awkward and somewhat painful smile.

“That stupid, arrogant, disgusting freak…” Rainbow murmured angrily, as she scrubbed her coat viciously under the shower, wanting to wash away the feeling of her own body caressing her.

It took her a few moments, but she had finally snapped once Wind Reaver’s hooves touched her flank. Immediately, she pushed him away and hit him - still appearing as her - right in the eye. As he changed back, Rainbow asked him what the hay was did he think he was doing.

“Well, I thought I was going to quite literally screw you over, but-” he had replied with a smirk.

Rainbow didn’t give him a chance to finish that thought. She threw herself at him and kicked him violently in the stomach. Her hooves ached from the contact with his chitin, but it was worth it to see him curl up on the ground. Once Rainbow was satisfied he got the message, she flew back to her house, and proceeded to clean her body. Washing both from this experience - which she started by pouring almost boiling water down her throat to forget the sensation of her own tongue caressing her adenoids - as well as sweat from their race.

Pity she couldn’t wash away the words he told her. They stuck to her mind, like some sort of parasite… which was amusing, considering their source.

You are so self-obsessed that you use one of your friends, despite knowing how another one feels about him.

“Is he right?” Rainbow thought, pressing her head against the wall of her bathroom as hot water poured on her. “Am I… a bad friend?”

No, she couldn’t be. Both Twilight and Matt were fine with how things were…

Rainbow thought back. Back to what Twilight said in Altomare, and during the slumber party. Back to the quite enjoyable then moments of their joined afterglow, when she and Matt simply laid next to each other.

Back to the few times he was asleep and she awake.

Twilight’s gaze scanned everypony on the train station, searching for Trixie. Matt sent her a message that the train towards her destination - which he didn’t reveal, cause that annoying colt just loved to keep her in suspense - would be leaving at first past noon, which was ten minutes from now. The lavender unicorn had finally located the mare she searched for by the trash can, throwing a wrapping from peanut butter crackers and a bottle of apple juice into it.

“Trixie!” Twilight called out as she approached. “I see you took Matt’s offer.”

“How couldn’t I?” the blue unicorn who just two days ago had thrown her out of town smiled in reply. “He and Princess Luna had managed to transact me a deal with Mirage Hotel in Los Pegasus!”

“Mirage Hotel? Wow, Trixie, I’m so happy for you!” Twilight exclaimed, and she truly meant it.

Even with her secluded lifestyle prior to coming to Ponyville Twilight had heard about Mirage Hotel; how couldn’t she, as few of the greatest illusionist of the modern era performed there? Contrary to what a lot of ponies thought, this school of magic was far more complicated than mere parlor tricks, although when used as such provided quite a lot of entertainment.

Which was why Twilight was here.

“I don’t know how to thank you, Twilight,” Trixie said, her voice broken from happiness and shame. “Sir Lightbringer told me you asked him to think of something… I just can’t believe that after all I did-”

“Hey, come on, I already said I forgive you, didn’t I?” Twilight interrupted her, feeling awkward from her praising. “I wish you the best of luck.”

“Yeah, I might need it. If I want to have a permanent contract with Mirage Hotel, I will have to give them quite a show,” the other mare said, and Twilight detected a hint of nervousness.

“Well, I have a gift for you that might help you,” she said, reaching with her magic to her saddlebag and grabbing the book she had only recently ordered. She didn’t even have the time to read it carefully. “This,” Twilight told Trixie, levitating it to her, “is ‘Labyrinth of Mirrors’ by Fata Morgana. It’s a spellbook with a lot of illusions spells in it; I figure you will have a natural talent for them.”

Trixie opened her mouth as she reached with her own magic for the book. “F-for me?” she asked, taking her eyes off the big letters on the front. “After everything…?”

“Of course!” Twilight smiled warmly. “Everypony deserve a second chance-”

The rest of what she was going to say was lost as Trixie’s forelegs wrapped themselves around her body and pressed her against the blue unicorn’s chest. But that wasn’t what made Twilight stop talking. Her silence was forced by a pair of lips pressed against her and the tongue that slipped into her mouth.

Twilight was so shocked that she didn’t even react. She just stood there as Trixie kissed her, Twilight’s eyes wide as she looked blankly at the other mare’s closed ones. When Trixie had finally pulled herself away from her, Twilight shook weakly.

“I just don’t know how to thank you!” Trixie gasped, oblivious to the torpor she put her in. “I will be forever grateful! If you’ll ever want to see my show you will have a free ticket waiting for you!”

A whistle signaling that the train was about to leave sounded across the station.

“I guess that’s my cue,” Trixie said cheerfully as she once again hugged Twilight and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you again, Twilight.”

Twilight mumbled something in reply, as Trixie let her go and made her way to the train. Once inside, she waved at her as the train began to leave the station. Unsure how to react to everything, Twilight waved back, smiling awkwardly.

Once Trixie’s face disappeared from her sight, she sighed and looked down at the ground. “Well, that was unexpected,” Twilight thought, looking at her shadow. “I hope I didn’t give Trixie the wrong idea; it would be really awkward if…” she trailed off when she noticed something wrong. “Wait. Since when does my shadow have… wings…”

A terrible realization came down upon her. Twilight gulped loudly as she slowly looked up, hoping that she was mistaken.

As if wanting to dash her hopes entirely, Rainbow, who hovered above her, grinned widely.

Author's Note

All of you who thought Rainbow would have sex with herself - shame on you.

115. Gossip with the pegasi

The buzzing of the fly slowly grew even louder. It managed to stir Spike from his nap, to the point that he opened his eyes to search for the irritating insect. He didn’t have to look far; the itching on the top of his nose told him its exact location. The baby dragon, still half asleep, grabbed what he held in his claw and tried hit the fly.

As the duster collided with his face - and the fly got away - Spike rose from the table with a yelp. Angry at the troublesome bug, he looked around the library. Twilight had asked him to clean the shelves, but he really didn’t feel up to it. All he wanted was to fall back to sleep…

Yawning, Spike lay back on the table… and immediately jumped into the air as the loud bang of the door slamming against the wall informed him that Twilight had just returned, and that she was angry.

“I’m cleaning!” he quickly said, dusting the closest shelf. “See?”

“Spike, I need you to buy me some new quills!”

Confused and startled by her tone, he looked at her. To his surprise, Spike saw that Twilight hadn’t come alone, as Rainbow Dash stood next to her. But what really puzzled him was the pegasus’ muzzle; or, quite frankly, the lack of it. For whatever reason, somepony had cast on Rainbow the same spell that Trixie cast on Pinkie Pie two days ago.

Strangely, however, she seemed unfazed by it. In fact, it seemed to Spike as if she was trying to hold back the laughter, if the grunts she was making as well as the fact that she was holding her sides were of any indication.

Twilight, on the other hoof… Spike didn’t remember her coat changing into such intense shade of red since that night after their return from Crystal Empire, when he had caught her and Matt sharing a bath. And her gaze looked a lot like the one she had when Spike had - quite stupidly, in retrospect - told her the memorable “It’s just a test”. One of her eyelids was even twitching. It looked that if Rainbow Dash was amused by something, then whatever it was; Twilight was clearly angry by it.

“What is going on?” he finally asked after a few seconds had passed.

He didn’t get a reply. “Go buy quills,” Twilight repeated instead.

“But we just bought a bunch yester-” Spike tried to say.

“NOW!” Twilight snapped, losing patience with him.

Since the last time the lavender unicorn looked at him that way it ended up with the library being shot into the sky, Spike decided that satisfying his curiosity wasn’t worth staying here. He run of the doors and closed them hastily behind him.

As he ran out of the door and into town, he made a mental note to spend about a half a day on shopping for those quills.

When Spike left, Twilight paused only to make sure the door was closed before she turned to address Rainbow.

“Okay, I’m going to cancel the spell now,” she told her warily. “Do you promise to control yourself?”

Her friend just looked at her and shook her head in contradiction. Twilight, still burning with embarrassment, undid the spell anyway; she couldn’t really discuss this matter with a pony without a mouth, couldn’t she?

“Now, Rainbow…” she started once her pegasus friend was given her muzzle back.

Unfortunately, the second after that Twilight found she couldn’t get a word in edgewise in the cacophony of laughter. Sighting, the unicorn facehoofed while she waited for Rainbow to calm down.

“You… you…” Rainbow stammered, trying to say something with great difficulty. Holding her sides, she pointed at Twilight. “You kissed a mare!”

“She kissed me!” Twilight snapped; she would have blushed in this moment, if her coat wasn’t already red. “I didn’t kiss back; I just stood there in shock!”

But for some reason, that still made this situation very funny to Rainbow.

“And do you really want to start talking about kissing mares?” Twilight asked her, hoping that reminding her of her drunken tongue’s escapades would bring her down back to ground.

As it turned out, bringing Rainbow down in any context wasn’t going to be easy. “Whatever; you kissed Trixie!” the pegasus snorted, still laughing at her expense. “The mare that kicked your flank out of Ponyville!”

Twilight was also aware of the irony of what had happened on the station, but she wasn’t going to admit it. Instead, seeing that for the moment her attempts at talking with Rainbow Dash were doomed to fail, she conjured chain and cuffs, binding the pegasus to her floor to ensure she wouldn’t try to get away from the library.

“I’m going to make some tea,” she said, trotting towards the kitchen. “In the meantime, try to calm down.”

Throughout the next ten minutes, Rainbow continued to laugh, putting a real strain on Twilight’s patience as she made them tea. The unicorn began to wonder if she should just search for a memory altering spell or something, but soon the noise from her living room had gradually grew quieter. It seemed that Rainbow began to calm down as Twilight had asked her. By the time the unicorn returned with the cups, she was quiet, with occasional grunts of laughter escaping her every few moments. Sighing, Twilight released her and motioned her to sit by the table, where she put the two cups of tea and sat herself.

“Sorry,” Rainbow Dash murmured when she joined her; she was still bearing a grin on her face, although she at least tried to change that, if her visibly strained face muscles were of any indication. “But I just kept imagining how Matt would react to that…”

“What does he have to do with it?!” Twilight snapped, growing red again, as a snicker escaped her friend. “It’s not his business who I- I mean, who’s kissing me, just as it isn’t mine who he kisses!”

And yet, despite her words, a small part of Twilight’s mind thought: “What would he think? Would he get angry? Wait, what do I care if he gets angry?!” the rational part of her snapped.

“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that,” Rainbow replied, grinning. “I mean, you know how most stallions react to the sight of mares kissing, right?”

“No, how?”

Strangely, her answer managed to calm down Rainbow Dash. The pegasus looked at Twilight as if wondering if she was kidding, but, seeing nothing but a sincerity, she sighed and said:

“They would be turned on?”

“... really?” the unicorn asked, not convinced. Rainbow, however, nodded. “That’s just… odd. Why would stallions like seeing mares kissing? Shouldn’t that worry them about the threat of losing potential marefriends?” Twilight tapped her hoof against the table, pondering. “Perhaps I have a book somewhere here about the study of-”

“Twilight, I think you’re about the only pony that could have made this conversation boring,” Rainbow interrupted her.

The unicorn stopped talking and rolled her eyes, trying to hide her embarrassment. At least she got Rainbow Dash to calm down again.

“So, you say that Trixie had kissed you, huh?” the cyan pegasus asked. “Why?”

Serenity gave the apartment a last once-over, checking is she had forgotten something important. The small building that Princess Cadance had ordered to be altered into a chapel was near the center of the Empire, while her old living quarters were almost at the edge of the perimeter. Because of that, Serenity had decided to move into it once it was finished. Of course, the Princess had offered her a suit in the castle, but she declined, and not only because it didn’t feel right for her to sleep there.

Ever since Nymph told her that Sentinel and Princess Blue Hope had an affair, her mind couldn’t stop conjuring images of them… doing things in whichever part of the castle she was in.

“To think that after all those years of my foalhood being spend on fearing the Headless Horse I wouldn’t be able to sleep due to that…” Serenity thought, shaking the thought off and continuing checking if she had left something. This was the last roo- “By the Light, how could I forget this?!”

She quickly jumped for the framed photograph standing on the nightstand. It was her most prized possession (which ironically made her leave it behind when she traveled to Ponyville, out of fear of losing it): the photograph of her entire family from when she was still a filly, before that accident. Serenity smiled as she watched her brother smiling awkwardly as their mother - who looked a lot like her - hugged him, and her little self as she stood on their father’s back, balancing between-

“What a beautiful moment.”

The sudden sound of a gentle voice behind her made Serenity jump in panic… and drop the photograph. The crystal pony for a moment forgot about the other pony as she watched as her most treasured memento slowly, as if the time had stopped, descended down. But before it hit the ground a blue aura enveloped.

Serenity sighed with relief as the photograph was returned to her hooves. She turned around to thank the other pony… and only now did she remember that she knew that voice.

“Your Highness!” she exclaimed, falling down on the floor in a bow.

“Please, Serenity, stand up,” Princess Cadance sighed uncomfortably. “I will not stand ceremony within your own home.”

She did her best to hide her discomfort as she rose from her hooves. The Princess, as marvelous as ever, was in her old, small house, and yet seemed not bothered with her surroundings. There was annoyance in her gaze, but it quickly disappeared once their eyes met, so Serenity had guess that it was caused by her bow. She wished she could be as relaxed as Cadance; not only she was in the presence of the ruler of the Crystal Empire - which was stressful enough - but also, for the first time, she wasn’t wearing her armor. And somehow, despite knowing that Princess Cadance wouldn’t attack her or anything, the loss of her protection bothered her.

“I hope you don’t mind that I barged in unannounced,” Cadance said once their eyes were more or less on the same level; as an alicorn, the Princess was naturally higher than most ponies, even if by just a little. “You left the door open.”

“Of course, Your High-” Serenity hastened to reply, but she was stopped.

“Cadance.”

“- Cadance,” the crystal pony corrected herself, recalling what the Princess had told her earlier. “Sorry. And of course I don’t mind.”

“I’m happy to hear that,” Cadance said, smiling.

Despite the situation, Serenity felt herself calm down at the sight. And as the nervousness ebbed away, she reminded herself how a good host should act.

“Would you like some tea?”

“I would love some,” Cadance replied, letting her pass her and exit the room.

Serenity put the photograph on the table in the living room and strode to the kitchen, quickly preparing tea for herself and the Princess. As the chapel was equipped with cookware, the paladin still had a kettle and some teacups.

When she returned to Cadance, she found her looking at the photograph. “You had such a lovely family,” she commented once Serenity sat next to her, placing the teacups on the table. “I’m so sorry for you loss.”

“Thank you, Cadance, but I’m alright,” the paladin said, smiling sadly. “And thank you for saving the photography earlier.”

“Think nothing of it,” Cadance replied, taking a sip of tea. “I must admit, I am a little bit surprised that your father was a pegasus.”

Serenity smirked. She had expected such reaction. “The Princess might be the ruler of the crystal ponies, but she still doesn’t know some bits of our history.”

“It’s not really that surprising. There was quite the number of ponies that came to the Crystal Empire during Discord’s reign over Equestria.”

“Yes, I know that, but I had thought that most of them had returned when my aunts had defeated him; after all, when the Empire had returned, I saw no sign of any kind of pony besides the crystal ponies… although I could swear that there was one earth pony, but I might be mistaken,” Cadance added thoughtfully.

“Yes, some of them returned, but a lot of those that came to the Empire stayed with their families until death. And since you are probably wondering, Cadance; their offspring were all crystal ponies, and it’s been like this for centuries,” Serenity said, and, seeing the Princess’ confused stare, she explained: “Whenever a crystal pony and a pony from Equestria had a foal, then when it was born here in the Empire it would always be a crystal pony; outside of it, the chances for the specific kind of a pony would be the same as from the mixed couples of Equestria.”

The Princess looked at her in thoughtfulness. “Hm… does the Crystal Heart’s magic have something to do with it?”

“That’s what most of ponies think,” Serenity replied. “In truth, though, nopony knows for sure. But thanks to that the most of the citizens of the Crystal Empire throughout the history were all crystal ponies, despite the occasional marriages through the past thousand years with equestrian ponies; there was even a few of our kings and queens who married a pony from Equestria, with the last one being our last queen’s father, King Halcyon, who married a pegasus.”

“Yes, I am aware of that. Queen Blue Dawn, correct?” Serenity nodded, feeling a strange sense of pleasure that the Princess had learned the names of her predecessors. “How do you know all of this, anyway?”

“Oh…” she muttered, a tad embarrassed. “I just… history was my favorite subject back at school; my parents were really surprised when my cutie mark didn’t turn out to be some sort of history book.”

“I see…” Cadance mused, savoring her tea. “I must admit that, sadly, most of my own knowledge about the Crystal Empire’s history and its Royal House is currently extended to the century prior to King Sombra’s takeover.”

“That’s understandable, Cadance, you and your husband had a lot on your shoulders this past two months,” Serenity replied. “If you want, I can tell you some stories.”

“I would love that. However, I’m afraid I we won’t have too much time today… perhaps you could tell me about other rulers of the Empire that married ponies from Equestria?”

Serenity happily obliged. There was quite a few queens and princes from Equestria, even if still the majority of royal couples were all crystal ponies.

“And there was also… a rumor,” she added uncomfortably after she listed all equestrian members of the royal family.

“A rumor?” Cadance asked, intrigued.

Serenity felt a bit odd, practically gossiping about the matter from over a thousand years prior - for her, in Cadance case it would be a two thousand years - with a Princess no less, but since she asked…

“Well… there was this rumor that Queen Serendipity had an… affair with Commander Hurricane, and that was the real reason why she gave him the Windtear, because she really liked his... ” she trailed off, blushing. Cadance, in contrast, had giggled, enjoying the gossip. “But I think it’s just a rumor, really. Probably born due that ‘bard’…” seeing the Princess’ eyes sparkling with interest, Serenity sighed inwardly. “During the Equestrian-Griffonian War, the griffons had attacked us and laid siege to prevent the possibility of the Crystal Empire joining Equestria.”

“Brilliant strategy,” Cadance commented.

“Yes, King Friedrich was maybe an excellent strategist, but he was also bloodthirsty and arrogant. He thought he would conquer the Empire quickly, given how small it was. However, thanks to the Crystal Heart we held them off, and Commander Hurricane led a charge that broke the siege. Afterwards, we agreed to join Equestria in the war, but the Commander and the relief force he led had spent a few days in the Empire recuperating. During their stay, one of the soldiers, who had a beautiful singing voice, was asked to perform some equestrian songs, and one of them… well…” she muttered, now more red than yellow. “It was praising Commanders achievements, and one of them was: ‘making a goddess moan’.”

“Oh my…” Cadance murmured, now also slightly flushed. “‘A goddess’?”

“Yes, I don’t know what that is supposed to mean,” Serenity quickly took the subject, glad to concentrate on something other than the private life of ponies long dead. “There was certainly no alicorn alive during that period of time.”

“Well… anyway, I can see why such a song would cause rumors like this. But you said that you don’t believe it to be true?”

“Yes. While Commander Hurricane was known to lead quite an… adventurous private life, like all pegasi back then, he was in a relationship with his adjutant Private Pansy since a few months prior to war. Even after her death at the talons of griffons, he was said to be… dispirited in that matter,” Serenity said, her voice growing sad. But then she remembered another bit of information she took from the history books: “Then again, his often visits to the unicorn castles in both New Unicolt and Canterlot led many to belief that he was close with an unknown number of Platinum’s maids. Some historians assume that a part of the old rivalry he had against her was awakened after Pansy’s death and he slept with her maids to spite her.”

“Ah yes, I recall reading about that,” Cadance giggled. “So you say that there is no chance at all that the successors of Queen Serendipity have this… adventurous pegasus’ blood in them?”

Knowing that this also referred to her brother’s love, Serenity felt slightly offended, but nonetheless she replied calmly: “The Queen’s only daughter and heir was born a good ten years prior to war, and before that she and Commander Hurricane had never met face to face.”

“Sorry if I offended you,” Cadance said with a giggle. “I just find it amusing how pegasi had once viewed those matters.” She took a last sip of her tea and placed it on the table. “Did you know that I used to be a pegasus?”

Serenity, a bit taken aback, nodded. She knew; as a crystal pony, she was naturally curious about the newest rulers of the Empire. “Yes, I asked Lady Twilight during my stay in Ponyville about you and your husband. She told me how you became and alicorn after you compassion had defeated a spell of an evil zebra witch doctor that hexed the entire village you were raised in, and that afterwards Princess Celestia had adopted you as her niece.”

“There’s a bit more to this story, but it’s mostly correct,” Cadance nodded, smiling. “Twilight didn’t tell you that I was found as a foal by the Everfree Forest, didn’t she?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Serenity said, shocked. “What do you mean; ‘found’?”

“Exactly that; ponies found me alone on the border of the forest. Their village is on the opposite side of the Everfree Forest from Ponyville. The earth ponies took me in and raised me for five years. I still visit them from time to time, even if I now barely remember those few first years,” Cadance added with warmth in her voice.

“But… who left you there?!”

The Princess shrugged, her eyes betraying only a hint of sadness. “I don’t know. I was too little to remember. Besides, does it matter?” she asked, smiling. “Wherever I came from, I am very happy with my life.”

“Being an alicorn princess, a ruler of an empire, having a loving husband… yeah, I can see that,” Serenity counted in her head, feeling just a tiny little bit of jealousy.

“You know,” Cadance added, “Princess Celestia had found it disturbingly amusing that I was found not far away from the spot another pegasus was found over a thousand years ago,” Serenity glanced at her in confusion. “Shadow Bolt, Princess Luna’s consort.”

Serenity’s eyes widened in apprehension. She knew that name, and now that Cadance had mentioned, she recalled how a guard had found him while patrolling the border for the forest during Discord’s reign, when the royal family of Equestria hid in the old, abandoned castle in the middle of the Everfree Forest. How he grew up to be the first night guard, the love of Princess Luna, and the father of Princess Moonlight Shadow.

“That’s… really odd when you think about it,” she commented, unsure what to say.

“Yes, Luna had the same opinion,” Cadance replied with a sad smile. “After she was rescued from Nightmare Moon by the Elements of Harmony and returned to Canterlot, we’ve spent quite some time together, bonding and getting to know each other better. I wish I could have met Shadow Bolt; Luna had nothing but endearments to say about him.”

“Yeah, me too…” Serenity said wistfully. “I would like to meet a lot of amazing ponies that are no longer here.”

“I would like to see my family one last time,” she added, glancing at the photograph.

Perhaps the Princess noticed her glance, or she had just realized how long they talked. “I think I took too much of your time for today,” she said, rising. “You were in the middle of moving out, after all.”

“Oh, no, I didn’t mind,” Serenity quickly retorted. “It was quite nice talking with you, Cadance.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Perhaps you would like to join me in the spa on Friday, around noon? You could tell me more interesting things about the Crystal Empire’s history.”

“I would love to,” Serenity replied, smiling.

Author's Note

So yeah, this is Cadance new backstory, which is more or less the one presented in Crystal Heart Spell - which other than this part I don't consider canon, I mean, Trixie and Gilda teaming up? Really? - with a few minor changes that made it have more sense, at least in my opinion.

116. What friends do

“I still don’t get why you helped her,” Rainbow finally said. “I mean, it’s bad enough that she got off the hook so easily…”

Twilight sighed, interrupting her. She had just finished explaining to Rainbow just why exactly Trixie felt the need to push her tongue into Twilight’s mouth. She was surprised that the pegasus actually listened to her, instead of making fun of her. Once Twilight was done, Rainbow didn’t just blurt out the first thing that came to her mind, but took a few moments to think about her words.

“Look, Rainbow,” Twilight said, hoping to try and dissipate some of the animosity she had towards Trixie, “I know that she did a lot of bad things recently, but it was that Amulet that made her do all of that.”

“Including coming here and challenging you?”

“Well, okay, yes, that was her own choice, but can you blame her? I mean, she was embarrassed by me, couldn’t perform anywhere-”

“Serves her right for bringing that Ursa into Ponyville…” Rainbow murmured, probably still remembering the shocking sight of the Ursa Minor roaming around the town as well as Twilight.

“Rainbow, it was Snips and Snails that brought it to Ponyville, not Trixie,” Twilight corrected her. “It’s not her fault that they are… naive.”

Rainbow Dash snorted, probably due to the soft word Twilight had decided to use after a brief hesitation.

“And besides, everypony deserves a second chance. You do recall that there are two changelings living across the town, right?”

For some reason, her words caused Rainbow to shake, as if she had struck her.

“Yeah, I noticed,” she said awkwardly, taking a sip of her tea.

“So…” Twilight trailed off, both to her puzzlement about her friend behaviour along with feeling uncomfortable with what she is going to ask. “... can you… not tell everypony we know about what you saw?” Whatever occupied Rainbow thoughts she shrugged off as she glanced at her with one eyebrow raised. “Look, I don’t want anypony to-”

“Laugh their flanks off?” Rainbow hinted.

Twilight deadpanned at her. “Yeah, that.”

“Hmm…” the pegasus made a thoughtful expression, as if she was considering it. Twilight winced mentally and wondered how exactly she was going explain this to M- “Well, you’re in luck.”

“Huh?” Twilight blinked. Was she actually going to keep that a secret?

“I won’t say a word to anypony about Trixie’s kiss, buuut…” Rainbow trailed off for dramatic effect. “In return, you will have to answer - honestly - to my question.”

“Um… okay,” Twilight replied, surprised. What was she going to ask her? How Trixie tasted? “What do you want to know?”

Strangely, Rainbow herself seemed unsure of that. The rainbow-maned mare looked down at her teacup with a weird expression on her face. Twilight, realizing that something bothered her, began to worry. Finally, Rainbow sighed, and looked her straight into the eyes, her own filled with determination.

“How do you really feel about me and Matt?”

Twilight eyes widened. “Why is she bringing this up?” “What do you mean?” she asked, confused. “I already told you that-”

Rainbow raised a hoof to stop her. “Twilight, listen; I don’t like this sappy sort of talk, you know that. I want to keep things blunt. Tell me, honestly, how you feel about me and Matt.”

Her mood switched slowly from confusion to a mix of annoyance and anger. “As I said, I already told you: I am fine with what are you doing. I admit, I had feelings for Matt, but now we are just friends.”

Rainbow examined her carefully, her eyes squeezed in suspicion. Twilight felt growing even more irritated as she realized that she didn’t believed her. “This is ridiculous! Does she think she knows better what I am feeling?!”

“Alright,” Rainbow finally said. Twilight sighed with relief- “You want to do this the hard way?” no longer relieved, Twilight raised her eyebrow, surprised. “We’ll do this the hard way.”

The pegasus lifted herself with her wing and flew to her, beginning to circle her around.

“Last night Matt and I started kissing even before we entered his bedroom.” Twilight’s jaw dropped; was she going to… “I pressed him against the door, my hooves wrapped around his body. He reached back and pressed the knob so we could move to his bed,” Rainbow continue to say in calm, quiet tone, as he flew around her. Twilight was too shocked by what was happening to do anything but follow her with her eyes. “I used my wings to just lunge us to it; he landed on his back, and I was on top. I bent down…”

“Why are you telling me this?!” Twilight finally found the strength to try and stop her. “I already heard plenty during the sleepover-”

But Rainbow wasn’t done. “I pressed my muzzle against his,” she raised her voice. “Matt’s hooves caressed my mane as we kissed, and we stayed like this for far longer than you and Trixie.”

Despite her reluctance to participate in… whatever this was, Twilight found her mind conjuring images, imagining what had happened the night before in Matt’s bedroom. She could see him and Rainbow, lying on his bed in embrace.

This wasn’t the first time she was hearing this, that she was seeing this. Rainbow had told them during the memorable sleepover some more heated moments… except… Whenever due to the punch or the atmosphere of hearing this along with her friends, all Twilight saw… was a mare and a stallion.

Now she saw Rainbow and Matt.

“I-” she stuttered; she didn’t want to think about this. She tried to push “I don’t-”

Rainbow grabbed her and looked her into eyes.

“Our hips rubbed against each other,” he told her, her muzzle an inch from Twilight’s. “I nibbled him on the ears as he kissed my neck, his hooves moving down my spine to my-”

“STOP IT!”

She didn’t even realize what she was doing. Didn’t even think about it, but in the moment she imagined Matt grabbing Rainbow flank she wanted to stop them. Her magic blast sent her friend across her library into the wall. Rainbow fell to the ground with a pained grunt.

Twilight glared at her as she rose from the ground, breathing heavily, and only when she saw the pegasus massage her side with visible pain did she realize what she had done.

“R-Rain-bow?” she asked weakly.

The pegasus looked at her and grinned. Twilight let out the breath she didn’t realised she’s been holding, relieved that Rainbow was fine… then fell down on her flank as she realized what she had just done.

She attacked Rainbow Dash. Her friend. Because she was doing something that she had allowed her to do.

Because Rainbow was touching Matt…

Twilight pressed her hooves against her eyes as she started to cry. Cry over her own stupidity. She had been a fool; she thought she had gotten over her feelings for Matt, but she hadn’t. She couldn’t have.

She felt a hoof touching her gently on her shoulder. Twilight looked up to see Rainbow looked at her with concern.

“I’m sorry!” Twilight cried, as she hugged. Rainbow didn’t back away as she feared; she just sat next to her and returned the hug, patting her back delicately. “I didn’t mean to! I-”

“I know,” Rainbow cut her off. “It’s okay, it was nothing-”

“It wasn’t ‘nothing’!” Twilight snapped, but then immediately remembered what she had just done. She calmed her voice down and continued. “Rainbow, I… I’m so sorry. I thought I was okay with… with this, but I’m not. When I pictured you two, I… I wanted to hit you. I’m so sorry…”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Rainbow told her, looking at her with sympathy. “I told you that I will let go if you’ll ever have a problem with it, and I meant it. Especially if you’re going to blast me around like that,” she smirked, but seeing that Twilight wasn’t laughing at the joke she sighed and hugged her tighter.

They stayed like that for a moment longer before they pulled away. Twilight wiped her tears and, seeing the mess she made when she attacked Rainbow (the turned over table and every book near the wall she hit) used her magic to clean up. She noticed that Owlowiscious was sitting on a nearby window still, probably woken up and disturbed by the noise Twilight made.

“So…” she hears Rainbow said. She glanced at her, still feeling ashamed for what she did. “This means Matt and you are going to get together, right?”

“Does it?” Twilight wondered, looking down at the floor. She knew she wanted to - a shiver went down her spine when she pictured herself in his hooves instead of Rainbow, held tightly. “But… Matt… he…”

“Hey, if you’re thinking whenever Matt wants it or not,” Rainbow cut in, somehow figuring out exactly what she was thinking, “the answer is: duh!”

Twilight looked at her, wanting to believe her, but the fact that he seemed satisfied with just what he had with Rainbow was still there. She opened her mouth to say that, but again Rainbow anticipated it.

“You don’t think he was actually really happy with what we were doing, don’t you?” Twilight just nodded weakly, too worried to wonder why she was so predictable today. “Look, I… might not be the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to all this… emotional stuff, but I could tell that there was something…” Rainbow paused, trying to think what words she wanted to use, “missing from him. Like he was… trying to force himself into liking this. Now, he did enjoy what we were doing, I don’t doubt it, but I think he was actually… regretting that he did. Does this make sense?” she asked uncertainly.

Twilight nodded again and glanced back at the floor. Despite what she had said, Rainbow wasn’t as impassive as she thought, or liked to think. She matured due to this “relationship”, even if it wasn’t supposed to go much deep.

“He mutters your name when he sleeps,” Twilight’s head rose up to meet Rainbow’s eyes so fast that she could swear she heard something snap. “He practically says something quietly every time when he sleeps,” the pegasus continued with a roll of her eyes. “Most of it is gibberish, or to quiet to make out, but I did recognize your name a few times.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. Twilight felt her cheeks flush as she thought about this. Matt’s feelings for her - apparently - hadn’t changed, just like hers for him. “Did we make a mistake at that shrine in Altomare?” she wondered. “Should we have taken the risk? Did we just waste these two months?”

Thinking back to that night, why did they decide to remain just friends? Because they were afraid that if they tried to become something more, they would just mess things up. Twilight now had realized just how stupid that sounded: life and love was about taking risks. You cannot win something without trying, and in this case reward would be… they.

Twilight tried to picture this now: she and Matt, going out together…

…she studying in her library; he mentoring paladins in his abbey.

“No,” she finally said with regret.

“Oh, for-” Rainbow exclaimed as she facehoofed.

Twilight opened her mouth to explain her reasoning, but a hoot from Owlowiscious made her glance to the side.

Owlowiscious was covering his face with wing.

Sighing with annoyance, Twilight rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile...

Caring Star smiled as she watched Princess Moonlight play with a doll quietly, for a foal at least. It still was quiet enough to not wake up Princess Luna, who slept on her bed next to the cradle. Caring Star wondered how long it would take for the Princess to realize the filly would need her own room at some point, when she saw something odd.

Little Moonlight’s eyes glowed for a few seconds - almost making Caring Star go and wake up the Princess of the Night - but then the light faded, and the filly pressed her tiny hoof to her face, making something between sigh and a foalish giggle.

“Did she just facehoofed?” the maid wondered with confusion. “Ugh, alicorn foals - never going to have one.”

A small black filly focused, with her concentration entirely on the five wooden playing blocks. Her horn glowed with magic, and the same light appeared around her toys. Carefully, very slowly, the playing blocks soared into the air. The filly’s forehead covered with sweat as she channeled her spell for ten more seconds, then she dropped them, panting from the exhaustion.

“Mommy, Daddy, did you see it?!” she cried out in happiness, looking back at her parents, a golden coated alicorn mare with a blue mane like hers and a stallion with coat as black as hers and white mane. “I managed to lift all five!”

“Yes we did, sweetie,” her mother replied. “If only you’d eat your vegetables as eagerly as you practice magic…”

“That was amazing,” her father added, smiling to her before his eyes returned to the clipboard he was levitating.

The little filly frowned. “Does Daddy have to do his work even during breakfast?” The filly turned to her mother, but the golden alicorn had her eyes closed. Her frown deepening, she trotted to her and tapped her shoulder.

Instead of responding, however, her mother slammed her hoof against her face very funnily.

“What is the world about to become…” the mare sighed quietly as the filly giggled. “You will be smarter than her, won’t you, Twilight?”

“Hm?” Twilight Star stopped laughing and looked at her. “What’ya mean, Mommy?”

“Oh, nothing, dear,” the alicorn Chrona replied, giggling.

The white unicorn mare with silvery mane stretched out on the pillow, in an attempt to make herself more comfortable. As heavenly as this place was, everypony could get cramps if they lay down for too long. Once she was better settled, she took a look around her surroundings; she lay in a gazebo of sorts, with stone blocks with shelves containing various items serving as walls. The ground within the arbor was covered with blooming roses and some other beautiful flowers. In the middle, next to which she laid, was a pool of water, which was currently reflecting the inside of a library in a small village, where two friends were discussing something.

The mare reached with her magic to bring the cup of tea from a small table to her as she continued to watch.

“No.”

Hearing to what decision the lavender mare had came to, the white unicorn sighed with annoyance and pressed her hoof against her face.

“Oh, for-” her friend exclaimed.

“I agree with thee,” the mare muttered. “I just cannot believe this…”

“Thou cannot believe what?” a familiar voice sounded from outside of her little arbor.

The white mare glanced at the approaching pony; a unicorn mare like her, whose coat was also white (albeit of a bit grayer shade) and a mane that was dark spring green colored.

“That there came to be a mare more oblivious than thou,” she replied to her friend’s question, smirking.

The other unicorn looked at her with confusion as she neared. Once besides her, she took a look at the pool and understood at once what she meant. Blushing with embarrassment, she turned to her.

“I’ve had a good reason-”

And at the same time, the lavender mare from within the pool spoke gaining their attention: “Rainbow, I know how this sounds, but this time I have a really good reason.”

The green-maned mare shook her head and continued: “- I’ve devoted myself to the study of arcane arts-”

“I need to concentrate on my studies.”

With her friend’s blush growing even redder, the silvery-maned unicorn snickered, watching as she touched the pool and dispelled the reflection.

“Why are thee spending so much of thy time watching over Equestria?” she asked once the water’s surface was clear. The silvery-maned mare sighed, having heard those words more times that she cared to count. “Thou have already given it everything, and don’t need to constantly look out for it.”

“Are thou honestly giving me the preaching?” she asked in return, touching the pool.

Her friend appeared as if ready to continue the argument, but she paused when she took a look at who she was observing now. A muscular earth pony appeared, with snow-white coat and golden mane, bearing heavy plate armor and sitting behind a desk on a funny-looking chair, writing something down.

“He reminds me of him,” the silvery-maned mare spoke softly; she knew she didn’t have to explain about who she was talking. No other pony could cause her to speak with such sadness. “Strong, decisive, determined… terrifying in fury and loveable in gentleness...”

Her friend leaned closer and pressed her hoof to her shoulder. Not really in a mood to discuss how ‘it wasn’t her fault’, the silverly-maned unicorn sighed one last time and smirked.

“I wonder if he is as good in the sack as him.”

The words she spoke brought the desired effect. Her companion backed away, once again red adorning her cheeks.

“I need to concentrate on my studies,” Twilight began explaining to Rainbow. From the look on her face, it wasn’t going to be easy to convince her. “Do you have any idea how busy I’ve been ever since we came back from the Crystal Empire? Princess Celestia sends me scrolls and books to read every week; I’ve got spells I need to master with a few days-long dead-lines. I spend most of my time studying, and I only got a few days of break now because I had to provide entertainment for those delegates.”

“Um… now that you say that, yeah, I haven’t been seeing you as often as I used to,” Rainbow muttered, rubbing the back of her head.

“And I have been seeing Matt even less,” Twilight continued. “He’s also been busy with all his new responsibilities. He’s even been away from Ponyville for almost a week.” Now her pegasus friends looked at her with understanding. “See? We would simply not have enough time for ourselves, or we would have ended up with him neglecting his duties and me getting behind with my studies.”

She shook with dread at the thought.

“Geez…” Rainbow exclaimed. “So you want me to break up this thing with Matt, but you won’t get together with him?”

Twilight winced; somehow putting it like that made it sound ridiculous. “Yes… Maybe Matt and I could try sometime later, but definitely not now.”

“You do realize that this makes things so much more difficult for me, right?”

“Err… it does?” Twilight asked, uncertain.

“Twilight, Matt might love you and be a really sweet guy and all, but come on, he’s a stallion! How do you think he’s gonna react whe-” Rainbow suddenly stopped and facehoofed. “Ugh, you’re both idiots…”

“Excuse me?” the unicorn asked her, completely not understanding her.

“If Matt realizes how you really felt inside about this whole thing, he’s going to feel all depressed and stuff; you know how he is,” Rainbow exclaimed as she began flying around in circles. “He will blame himself for making you feel this way, for having some good time while you were in pain-”

“But I wasn’t!” Twilight protested. “I just now realized this!”

“Yeah, but do you think he will think of it this way?”

“Well… probably not…” she sighed miserably and fell down on her rump. “You really got to know him… you would make a better marefriend that me-”

Rainbow sighed and landed next to her. “Maybe I got to know Matt a little bit better,” she said as she put her foreleg around Twilight, “but it’s only because I got to spend more time with him than you. And I wouldn’t make a good marefriend for him, you know why?” Twilight shook her head. “‘Cause I cannot make him happy.”

Twilight smiled weakly, but then she noticed that there was a hint of sadness in Rainbow’s voice. She looked at her questioningly, and when the pegasus tried to look away, sternly.

“Ugh…” she muttered, seeing that she wasn’t going to get away without explaining. “I guess I might have gotten used to having somepony like that, almost like in a real relationship… and also.. there’s this thing…”

“What thing?” Twilight asked her when she trailed off, concerned.

Rainbow sighed. “Can you make some tea first? This might take a while.”

“I just don’t understand this: why ponies think us to be disgusting?”

Big Mac could just shrug his shoulders. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for Nymph, as she asked him the question he had no idea how to answer in this sad, confused voice. Sometimes, ponies could be unintentionally quite cruel to others.

“Is it just because how we look?” Nymph continued, trotting next to him as both of them pulling a cart full with apples (Nymph, of course, using her magic). “Or because that we feed on love? It’s unfair, neither is our fault! I don’t see ponies yelling at griffons because they eat meat!”

The red stallion nodded, although privately thought to himself that it wasn’t quite the same. If he remembered from his school days correctly, the animals that lived in Griffonia were… well, dumb, about as much as most of the fishes. Even the cows and sheep were of a different kind than those of Equestria, as they couldn’t even talk.

“I know that I have no right to complain, not after what happened in Canterlot, but… it’s just unfair,” she finished with a sigh, as they reached the barn. Both of them placed the carts inside after they unloaded the apples into the cellar. “Oh goodness, it’s this late?” Nymph asked in shock as she looked up at the sun. “I’m so sorry; I didn’t mean to talk for so long. I must have bored you to death…”

Big Mac looked at her in confusion as her gaze traveled down. “Um… nope?”

Nymph ears perked up. “R-really?” she asked, taking her eyes off the ground and moving them at him.

Big Mac nodded. “Ah didn’t mind. Ah actually found it pleasant to listen to ya durin’ work,” pointing at the apples, he added: “Thanks for yar help.”

“Oh, it was nothing, really…” she quickly said, embarrassed. “So, um… you really didn’t mind?” He nodded again. “C-could I come tomorrow as well? I just… it’s been fun to talk with somepony and…” she trailed off when she noticed that he was yet again nodding. “Thank you.”

Then Nymph did something he didn’t expect. Quicker than a viper, she took a step forward and pecked him on his cheek. Big Mac’s eyes went wide as she pulled back, and either she took it as sign she shouldn’t have done that, or simply she realized how somepony could interpret that.

“W-Wait, I didn’t mean it as… you were just so nice to me, and I… it wasn’t supposed to mean anything, I just… I like you, so I, uh…” Nymph stammered, not even her shapeshifting skills saving her from the blush that appeared on her cheeks. “I… I will go now… bye…”

She turned around and began trotting towards the Abbey, going much faster than ponies normally would. Breaking out of his daze, Big Mac called after her: “See ya tomorrow!”

Nymph stopped to look back at him, first with surprise, then with relief and happiness as she waved. Big Mac waved back, thinking to himself. “Guess Ah better call in that favor…”

“... and then I started kissing him back!” Rainbow exclaimed, hiding her face in her hooves.

She really, really, really didn’t want to share this story with anypony, ever. But at the same time, she also needed to talk with somepony to help her figure out what the back happened back there. And considering with the topics she already had touched with Twilight, she was the best candidate for this.

That, and the fact that if she said a word to anypony, Rainbow could tell them about where Trixie’s tongue was.

“And what happened next?” Twilight asked with a mixture of disbelief, shock, disgust and compassion on her face. “Did you…”

“No. I mean, he tried to, but the moment Wind put his hooves on my flank I snapped and punched him in the face, kicked him a bunch of times and flew back home. Then I washed and began to think about all he said, and started searching for you,” Rainbow finished, hoping that she would never again have to say this story. “So… what do you think?” she asked Twilight. “Do I love myself the most?”

“Rainbow…” Twilight said with a tone one should use only on a filly when she did something stupid. “A few moments ago you said you would break up your relationship because of how I felt; does it sounds like something a pony that loves herself would do?”

“Well…” she stammered. “No, maybe, but…”

“And don’t forget about how when Spitfire congratulated you during tornado duty you put Fluttershy on the pedestal instead of yourself,” Twilight continued, “or how you are loyal to all of us. Now, you might be a bit too narcissistic at some times-” Rainbow shot her a confused stare. “- in love in yourself. But you care about others more than yourself. Wind Reaver is just crazy; he told that you himself, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, he did,” Rainbow replied; could it be that it was just him being crazy? “So I’m not a nutcase?”

“Nope, you were just confused,” Twilight stated.

“That’s good to hear… but I might have another problem,” she confessed.

“Uh? What do you mean?”

“Well…” Oh Light, was she really going to say it? “Twilight, I… he was a mare when I kissed him!”

“Yes, I know, you told me he was you, but what that has to do with anything... oh,” Twilight said once she caught on. “Oh! You think you… like mares too?”

“That would sure explain a lot of things I do when I’m drunk, wouldn’t it?” she tried to chuckle. “But I honestly don’t know; I never kissed a mare while sobe- oh, for Pete's sake,” Rainbow rolled her eyes when she noticed that Twilight looked at her in shock. “I’m not going to try to kiss you to see if I like it after all this talk about you loving Matt.”

“Um, sorry, I didn’t mean it as… I’m sure it would be nice…” Twilight stammered trying to explain why she looked as if she was ready to teleport out of here.

“Guess you would have something to compare, huh?” she asked, defusing the situation immediately.

Twilight blushed, but at the same time giggled. “Sorry, I’m just not attracted to mares… and most of the stallions, come to think of it, other than Matt,” she confessed. “I never thought about those things before he showed up.”

“Yeah, he has a way for shaking things up, I know,” Rainbow smirked, but then she remembered how Twilight blasted her across the library.

Twilight glared at her, before she cleared her throat and asked: “So, what are you going to do about it?”

“I have no idea what I can do. It’s not like I can just come up to a random mare and check. Besides, I would like to clear things up with Matt before trying to figure this out.”

“Just remember that if you do find out that you like mares as well, nothing will change between us,” Twilight told her. “We will always be your friends… even if you start looking at our flanks.”

“Is she trying to make a dirty joke?” Rainbow wondered in amusement. “It would have worked better if she wasn’t blushing from her own words.”

“So how are you going to deal with Matt?”

“I dunno…” Rainbow admitted. “I will have to dump him in a way that he won’t figure out that it’s because of you…” she sighed; she might not have an answer right now, but she wasn’t going to hurt her friend any longer. “I will keep my distance from him, though. I will tell him that I have to concentrate on preparing for the Wonderbolt Academy, he should buy it.”

“If you’ll need some help…” Twilight started.

Rainbow wasn’t going to let her do this. “Thanks, but this is something I brought on myself when I thought about bucking a stallion I knew my friend was in love with. I will deal with it myself as well.”

Nymph wanted to bounce around like Pinkie Pie as she returned to the Abbey. She found a friend! A pony that liked her despite the fact she was a changeling! And he was… quite handsome…

She quickly shook her head. Yes, he was handsome, and strong. But she was the heir of Queen Chrysalis; she couldn’t get that close to a pony, even if they were going to forge an alliance… wait, couldn’t she? Now that Nymph thought back, there wasn’t anything in their traditions that forbade the heir or any other changeling becoming mates with a pony. It just never happened because… it never happened.

Nymph hit her head lightly. “What am I thinking about?” she wondered. “I just met him, and I’m thinking about becoming mates with him? I must still have a too high level of love within me; otherwise I wouldn’t be considering such silly thoughts.”

Shaking her head for the last time, she made her way towards the barracks. As she passed the doors, Tucker Out came from the opposite side. Seeing her, he motioned for her to wait.

“Hey, Nymph - right? - I heard from Sound and Cherry that you-”

“Sorry, I can’t,” Nymph quickly replied, knowing what he was going to ask.

“Wait what?” Tucker asked; surprisingly, he seemed more disappointed than angry. “Why not?”

Nymph just smiled and walked past him. “Because a friend made me hoofie swear back in the Crystal Empire.”

117. Gifts from the Past

“Sir, you’ve been staring at the display for ten minutes now. Are you going to buy something or not?”

Reluctantly, Storm raised his eyes to meet the jeweller’s gaze long enough to shake his head. Every necklace, earring, ring, diamond, or any other piece of jewelry, even the cheapest one, was so above his pay it made the distance between Equestria and the Moon seem small.

Resigned, he said farewell to the jeweller and left his shop, wondering what to do. Rarity’s birthday was tomorrow, and he still didn’t have a gift for her.

“Why did I have to get a crush on a mare with such refined tastes?” Storm whined mentally, despite not really meaning it. He didn’t regret that Rarity had caught his heart. He just wished she would have left his wallet alone-

He mentally slapped himself for that stupid train of thoughts and tried to remember what he had learned from Rarity’s friends. The first one he asked was Sir Lightbringer, because, as much as he was uncomfortable with the idea of talking with his mentor and superior officer about the matter, it was still a better option than asking one of the mares. However…

“I, unlike some ponies, don’t try to meddle in the relationships of others,” Sir Lightbringer told him. “I’m afraid that this also includes giving advice regarding gifts.”

Storm had no idea what was that supposed to mean, but with such pressing matter at hoof, he had no interest in knowing. Resigned, he then asked Rarity’s other friends for advice. He tried to do it subtly, as if he just thought of her as a friend and was simply wondering about her tastes, and not a guy who had to nail a perfect gift for a girl he likes.

The key word being “tried”.

Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack snickered upon hearing the question, and told him that she would probably love a shiny gem.

Pinkie Pie blabbered for about ten minutes about what a “super-duper” Rarity’s party would be before she let him ask his question, and afterwards she began teasing him and said that he should just bring her a cake. Then she remembered that there was going to be a cake anyway, and so she might think that he was just copying, and should bring a pie instead… Storm just left when she turned into discussing with herself about whichever was better and whether the cake was a lie, or something.

Fluttershy just blushed and mumbled about not knowing if she should help or not…

But Twilight was the worst. She pulled him into her house and within a few seconds she presented him with a chart illustrating the items she liked the most, how much she would like to get them, and how much would she like him for getting one of them for her. She was also about to make a chart of all the stores in Ponyville which provided those items, but (luckily) Spike reminded her that she was supposed to practice a new spell near the swimming hole.

The chart was helpful, though, to some extent. It showed him clearly what Rarity would love for a birthday gift; a beautiful diamond, or ruby, or sapphire, or emerald… practically, any kind of gem, as long as it was beautiful. Scratch it; she would actually love anything that was beautiful, as there were some roses on the edge of the chart.

Whether for good or bad, Storm knew that he couldn’t give just flowers as a birthday gift, and so he visited all Ponyville jewelry shops - all two of them -,but, as he expected, everything there cost too much.

“What should I do?” he wondered as he staggered towards the Abbey, feeling too down to fly. “Rarity’s birthday is tomorrow, and I still have no gift for her. Diamonds are out, too costly; flowers are out, too cheap… dresses are out, she can make them herself much better than anypony in Equestria…”

“My, what have we here?” an odd, strangely sounding voice sounded from next to him. “A flying warrior of the Sun and Moon so out of cheer?”

Storm glanced to his side, surprised, and then a bit scared when he realized that the voice belonged to the cloaked figure. He relaxed, though, when his eyes pierced the shade of her hood and saw a striped, black and white muzzle twisted into a friendly smile.

“Oh, hi. You’re Zecora, right?” Storm asked, knowing that there was only one zebra living in Ponyville… or, well, near Ponyville. The zebra nodded in reply. “We haven’t met yet, haven’t we? I’m Storm Clash.”

“A pleasure meeting a new friend in this town,” Zecora said, trotting alongside of him. “May I inquire what caused such a frown?”

“It’s nothing, really,” Storm replied uncomfortably, not wanting to share his problems with the zebra mare, but seeing her curious and strangely cheerful gaze he felt that he needed to add: “A friend that I… really like has a birthday, and I have no idea what to give her that is good enough for her and within my bits’ range.”

“That should be enough,” he thought. “No need telling her who it is…”

“Ah, the troubles of young hearts,” she exclaimed, chuckling, as Storm blushed; she didn’t need to be so blunt. “So unnecessary, it’s not smart.” Storm opened his mouth to ask what she meant by that (as well as ask why she was speaking in rhyme), but she changed the subject. “Tell me, the mare whose attention you seek… that wouldn’t be Rarity, who I know has a birthday this week?”

Too late, for Storm remember that the one that told him about Zecora was Rarity. Cursing his stupidity, he abandoned his plan to hide his friend’s identity.

“Yeah…”

“Well then, you’re in luck!” Zecora said happily, her unexpected reply making his heart stir with hope. “I know of a gift that might get your hearts together stuck!”

“R-Really?!” the pegasus asked, his wings taking him into the air by their own accord. “Please, tell me, I will give you whatever you’ll want!”

“The payment won’t be needed, my friend’s bliss is a reward enough,” she replied, smiling as he hovered next to her. “But first come to my home; telling you this tale without a book will be a bit tough.”

Storm nodded, and offered to carry her saddlebags for her. She was going to tell him what he could give Rarity that would win her heart over. He was more than willing to brave the Everfree Forest for this!

Matthias tapped the ground with his hoof, growing worried and impatient as he stood near the Abbey’s training grounds.

“He should be here by now!”

Shaking his head, he returned to watching Tucker’s and Wind Reaver’s sparring fight. Having fought against both of them, it didn’t come to Matthias as a surprise that the changeling was winning. Tucker, however, managed to score a few hits and was growing gradually better.

Matthias sighed and closed his eyes. The sounds of the fight aside, the Abbey was quiet. Everything seemed emptier than usual today, other than a few ponies that came to the Chapel this morning.

Recently, much to his delight, some ponies grew curious about the Holy Light, what it was and what it could do. Matthias answered their questions and talked with the few who had family or existential problems, both happy to help and feeling slightly awkward at the same time. It bothered him. Uther never had a problem serving as a warrior in battle and as a priest during peace. Matthias, though, as much as he was in tune with the Light now, had some problems getting into the role as the head to Equestria’s newest religion.

A yawn interrupted his train of thoughts, making him once again ponder how peaceful things were at the moment. Storm was out in Ponyville (probably buying a gift for Rarity), and Guard was helping the hospital, while Nymph…

Given Applejack’s reluctance towards the changelings, Matthias found it utterly hilarious that she became friends with Big Mac. She’s spend most of her time during the last couple of days on Sweet Apple Acres, helping the big red stallion out with his chores until the noon, when her other friends, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, would be out of school. Nymph seemed not bothered at all to help them try to get their cutie marks, to play games with them... or to help them get their cutie marks.

As most of that was happening on her farm, Applejack had come to him at some point to complain and express her worry that she might be brainwashing them. Matthias doubted that, and assured her that Nymph had his trust. Scootaloo’s extolling of the changeling was good enough for him… and what he took out of the conversation he had recently with Big Mac (as uncomfortable as it was) made him think that something else was in the air.

“I just wonder how Applejack will take it…” Matthias pondered, hoping that her friend wouldn’t do anything stupid, when he heard a flutter of wings. He turned the way from where it was coming from, expecting to see Storm Clash or Rainbow Dash, but to his surprise it was Derpy Hooves, equipped with her mailmare’s bag. “Huh, didn’t expect that kind of mail today…”

He straightened up as she landed next to him, trying to not think why he was late or about Rainbow Dash. For a few days now she’s been away from the Abbey, spending most of her free time practicing “her stuff” for the Wonderbolt Academy - as she was as sure as Matthias that she would get in - and being too tired after that to “visit” him. He found himself… missing her, but at the same time he was kind of relieved.

Shaking his head with irritation about his mind not knowing what the hell was he supposed to feel, Matthias greeted Derpy. “Hello, Derpy; it’s good to see one of the parents that didn’t suggest that I should visit a doctor and have my head checked.” “Not that visiting a psychiatrist would help me…”

Derpy giggled, reminded of the yesterday’s parent-teacher meeting. The agreement he made with the Mayor was met with approval and appreciation of everypony. The idea he proposed of Nymph helping the foals prepare for the pageant was not. Most parents reacted with outrage, and even his words did little to endear them to the idea. Luckily, Cheerilee and Sweetie Belle’s parents, who heard from the Cutie Mark Crusaders about the female changeling, supported Matthias, and confirmed that he wasn’t insane as Featherweight’s mother had suggested. In the end, it came to that if Princess Celestia would promulgate that Equestria was in fact going to ally with changelings then Nymph could come to the school and help… with a paladin keeping an eye on her.

“Ah, don’t worry about that,” Derpy told him, smiling as she regarded him with her good eye; the other was looking to the side as usual. “Others will warm up to it eventually, I’m sure. Anyway, here’s your letter!” she added cheerfully, as she took a letter from her bag and gave to him.

Matthias glanced at the name of the sender, wondering who it could be. To his pleasant surprise, it was from Serenity. “She probably wanted to inform me how things are going with the crystal ponies...I hope she didn’t have too much problem…”

Deciding to read it later, Matthias put it next to the bag that lay beside him and turned to Derpy. He opened his mouth to ask her something, but what he saw over her shoulder made him pause for a second. While talking with the gray pegasus, he hadn’t realised that the sounds of the Tucker’s and Wind Reaver’s fight had ceased, and now the mentioned unicorn was approaching with a gleam in his eyes that Matthias had saw already every time he looked at a mare.

“So, how’s your daughter?” the paladin asked loudly enough for the unicorn to hear; behind her, Tucker speeded up. Realizing his mistake, Matthias added: “Is she excited about the school pageant?”

“Oh, you bet!” Derpy replied, while Tucker paused. “Dinky wanted to play in it so badly!” And he turned around. “She hopes she will play Princess Platina.”

“Well, whoever she will play, I’m sure she will be great in her role,” Matthias said, observing Tucker as he marched off with one eye.

“Funny, I think so too,” Derpy giggled. “Now, I would love to stay and chat, but I have a lot of mail to deliver. See you.”

“Of course. Fly safe.”

As Derpy flew away, Matthias attention turned to the two other stal- ugh, males. Tucker had returned to the sparring area, where Wind Reaver was sitting on his haunches, laughing his flank off. Cracking a smile as well, Matthias moved to join them, but just then, the thing that he was waiting for all this time the past half an hour finally happened.

A flash of light appeared briefly, and a few meters above the ground a large shape appeared, falling down rapidly… or not? Matthias blinked in surprise as a big metal chest landed beside him, while a bushy-bearded dwarf descended slowly, a parachute attached to his back.

Seeing Brann’s face twist in a grin of amusement made Matthias wonder if he should throw his Holy Avenger to cut the ropes holding him, as he was angered by his late arrival. For good or bad, before he came to a conclusion Brann had already landed next to the chest.

“Well, what’ye say, lad?” he asked with a smug expression. “Thought I would fall on me face again, didn’t ye?”

Instead of answering, Matthias pressed his hoof in between his lips and whistled. “And what will you say about that?” he asked as he pointed at the Chapel. From the edge of the roof the head of Al’ar peeked out, making Brann’s jaw drop. “I would appreciate if next time you could check if the things you bring me have the remains of anything that might hold a grudge against me.”

“Um… ups?” Brann stammered after a while. “I mean, no offence lad, but how was I supposed ’o figure out that this would ‘appen?”

“Luckily, Fluttershy was able to calm him down before things had gotten out of hoof,” Matthias replied, deliberately not answering his question, and nodded for Brann to look to their side, where Tucker and Wind Reaver were already waiting… with the latter hovering right next to the back of his head.

“Gah!” Brann exclaimed once he turned around, looking at the changeling with a fear mixed with curiosity. “Don’t sneak up on me like that, lad. Bad memories… um, ye’r a lad, right?”

“Brann, Wind Reaver the changeling. Wind Reaver, Brann Bronzebeard the dwarf,” Matthias introduced them to each other.

“I thought ye said Equestria and changelings weren’t friends.”

“We are trying to change it,” Wind Reaver replied before Matthias could. “The Swarm is fortunate that a pony like the Hivespeaker came from your land to come and help us break the ice.”

“‘The ‘Ivespeaker’?” Brann asked, glancing at Matthias.

“That’s what they call me,” Matthias sighed; he really didn’t want to go through this. “And that’s not all; ponies had started calling me ‘Lightbringer’ a while ago.”

“Not to mention that Moonlight knows my real name somehow…” he mused as Brann chuckled.

“They really nailed down that one, didn’t they?”

“Bow-chicka-bow-wow.”

“Ignore him, it’s something he does a lot,” Matthias told Brann when he looked at Tucker with confusion. “You remember Knight Tucker, right?”

“Aye, although I don’t recall hearin’ the ‘Knight’ bit there then. Congratulations, lad.”

“So,” the earth pony quickly cut into the discussion before Tucker could reply. “Do you mind explaining what this is?” he pointed at the metal chest that was bigger than him. “I asked you to bring some-”

“Aye, aye… you prissy little horse,” Brann replied, taking off the bag he carried on his back and throwing to him. “‘Ere. Now, how about-”

Matthias’s sigh was so loud that it silenced the dwarf, which amused him. “Here,” he told Brann reluctantly, throwing him the bag he brought with him; inside of it where notes made by him regarding everything in Equestria that could potentially have connection to the titans, starting with Cloudsdale’s Weather Factory and ending with the Crystal Empire.

As Brann became busy with glancing over the contents of his bag, Matthias quickly took a peek into his own. He sighed with relief when he saw that everything that he asked the dwarf to bring was there.

“I would be in a pinch if he hadn’t brought them,” he thought, closing the bag and putting it next to him.

“What’s in the bags?” Tucker asked, his eyes switching from Matthias to Brann and back. “It’s por-”

“So, what’s with the chest?” Matthias directed the question to Brann, loud enough to stifle the unicorn’s words and snap Brann out of his daze.

“Oh, right. Well, ye see, lad… when I was ‘ere last time and ye flipped out like a fish taken from the water at the sigh’ of that book, and saw clearly that ye weren’t over with… stuff. I thought to myself: ‘Brann, ye old badger, ye need to help the lad deal with his issues’,” Brann said, and tapped the chest. “Inside are a few items that are ought to help ye with that. And hell, consider this yer early gift for the Winter Vail!”

Matthias looked at him, puzzled. He didn’t expect such concern from Brann… nor did he have any idea as to what he brought, exactly. “Thank you, then. Although, you could have picked a better holiday, Brann; I actually hate winter,” he told him to hide his confusion.

Of course, saying that made him recall two particular Winter Veils, one worse than the other…

“I wouldn’t have guessed,” Brann replied, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, I must be off. There have been some strange things going on in Zul’Gurub and Zul’Aman, and Muradin asked me to check and see if our neighbouring ice trolls are up ta somethin’ as well.”

Matthias blinked in surprise. He had expected the dwarf to stick around for a bit longer, not go back to Azeroth even sooner than the previous time. But he understood; the dwarf had his duties, even if he spent most of his time away from his people’s home.

“Some of the Scourge’s leftovers in Ghostlands saw a taller kind of trolls talking with the forest ones,” he told him in dwarven, earning surprised glances from Tucker and Wind Reaver, as wells as from Brann, but in that case it was due to his words. “I believe they are Zandalari, but I cannot be sure.”

“Zandalari? What are they doing there…?” Brann wondered out loud, but Matthias could only shrug. With Scourge remnants getting torn to pieces by Argent Crusade - and yet still horrifically numerous - it slowly became more difficult for Bolvar to gather information from specific areas. “Guess we will have to find out. I’ll make sure it will get passed along to King Varian.”

“Of course,” Matthias replied, as the dwarf reached to his pocket and grasped the talisman he had hidden there. “Safe landing.”

Brann grinned in response and squeezed the talisman tighter. Within a heartbeat, he was gone.

“So… keeping secrets?” Wind Reaver asked, clearly referring to the previous moment.

“It wasn’t anything relevant,” Matthias sighed, not in a mood to search for an excuse for speaking in a different language; and besides, as the head of the order of the Holy Light, was he even allowed to lie? “Anyway, could either of you get this chest open?”

Instead of answering him, the two males glanced at each other, and after a second of staring they both grinned. Matthias understood what was it that they meant when, with their head once again in the direction of the chest, they both raised their forehooves and activating their respective weapons.

“I meant with your magics!” Matthias snapped, causing the other two to burst into laughter.

“Ss-sorry, sir,” Tucker managed to rasp a while later.

Matthias nodded to him and glanced at the changeling, but he could tell by the grin that still adorned his muzzle that he wasn’t going to get any apologies from him. Rolling his eyes, he waited patiently for Tucker and Wind Reaver to undo the locks on the chest and open it. Once the lid rose, Matthias couldn’t help but take a peek…

… and then he immediately backed away as he realized what Brann had meant by saying that this might help him “deal with his issues”.

“Whow!” Tucker exclaimed as he looked at the contents of the now-opened chest. “That’s a lot of weapons!”

Indeed, the contents of the chest composed of an assortment of many different weapons: swords, daggers, maces, staves, a fist weapon, a polearm, and a crossbow. But what caused Matthias to take a step back in shock was not the number of them.

It was that he recognized them all.

“Why did that… dwarf gave them to you?” Wind Reaver asked curiously, while looking at them in awe while he and Tucker levitated them out of the chest to take a better look at them.

“That’s because they all used to belong to me… sorta,” Matthias replied uneasily. “I took them from powerful opponents I defeated prior to coming to Equestria.”

Murdered.

“No wonder Brann went back to Azeroth so quickly,” he mused, examining the weapons with guilt as the memories of their previous owners’ last moments came back to him. “He wasn’t sure how I would react… Damn it!” Matthias closed his eyes, reaching to the Light for calm. “I had already accepted who I am. The next step is supposed to be ‘putting my past behind me’. If I hope to be able to do that, I will have to accept those weapons!”

Matthias let out the breath he'd been holding and opened his eyes. Now that he was calmer, he realized that those weapons looked a bit differently that when they were in his possession. Instead, they had their original looks back, missing the ornaments such as images of skulls and eerie glow that he carved upon them as the Lich King. “Brann… or somepony else must have restored them. I wonder how much it must have cost Brann to just gather them all again… I would have thought those adventurers to care for their trophies of our fight a little more.”

“Each of them has its own name and history,” he said out loud as he motioned his head towards them. “Heaven's Fall, Kryss of a Thousand Lies;Tel'thas, Dagger of the Blood King;Stormfury, Black Blade of the Betrayer,” Matthias said, pointing out at the daggers. He glanced at the polearm. “Oathbinder, Charge of the Ranger-General.Fal'inrush, Defender of Quel'thalas,” the crossbow. “I should have taken the bow from that elven bitch. How will I use a crossbow with hooves?”. Matthias glanced at the fist weapon… could he use that without fists?. “Pugius, Fist of Defiance.” His gaze turned to one of the maces, his guilt growing: “Mithrios, Bronzebeard's Legacy;” and next to it, the axe that made a pair with it: “Troggbane, Axe of the Frostborne King.” He would have paused for a longer than a second he spared, but the sight of the next weapon filled his heart with a grim satisfaction: “Bloodsurge, Kel'Thuzad's Blade of Agony,” he said, looking at the sword, one of the few weapons here which look hadn’t changed since the last time they were in his possession. Next he looked at the pair of staves, one which again had filled him with sadness and shame: “Tainted Twig of Nordrassil; and…Archus, Greatstaff of Antonidas.” Matthias wondered how come Jaina didn’t take the staff of her old mentor back.. but then again, he had many of those. If Matthias memory was serving him well, the staff that Jaina currently held had also belonged to Antonidas in the past. Shaking his head, he looked at another weapon that made a wicked smile cross his features. “Felo'melorn, Sunstrider’s Runeblade,” despite feeling guilt over his actions in Quel’thalas, including the death of Anasterian Sunstrider, he had no such emotion over his victory in the duel with Kael in Northrend, where he took this blade. Matthias glanced at Al’ar, who was observing from the room of the Chapel, wondering if the Phoenix God recognized it, but he didn’t gave any indication he did.

The last three weapons didn’t have any emotion resembling anything like pride attached to them. As Matthias looked at them, all he could feel was a vast ocean of guilt, sadness, and self-hate, quickly masked so that Wind Reaver wouldn’t sense them. “Glorenzelg, High-Blade of the Silver Hand,” the sword of Uther, which he didn’t use often, favoring his hammer instead. “Havoc's Call, Blade of Lordaeron Kings,” the axe of the first Lordaeron King, passed down his line. And finally: “Royal Scepter of Terenas II.”

He studied his father’s scepter, wondering what he would think about him having it again. Would he approve? Would he want his son to have it again now that he’s been cleansed of the shadow of death? That he was trying to move on, and continued to fail whenever he recalled his failures? Or…

“I will just like to point out that I have no idea how did you manage to remember all those names,” Tucker commented. His words made Matthias crack a smile. “Who thinks up names like those, anyway? Couldn’t they just go with: Decimator, Killer, Awesome-monster-killing thingy?”

“It’s called not being blunt,” Matthias chuckled.

“Why do you need so many weapons? You’ll still probably use your Holy Avenger, right?”

“Yes and… I suppose I like to collect trophies,” Matthias shrugged. Turning to address the both of them, he said: “Put them back into the chest, lock it up, and place it in the armory.”

“You do realize I am not your servant?” Wind Reaver asked while Tucker groaned and began placing the weapons in the chest.

“Please?” Matthias replied, raising eyebrows.

The changeling made a motion with his head as if he was rolling his eyes, and went to help Tucker. Satisfied, Matthias watched them go with the chest, wondering if it wouldn’t end up causing him to have an emotional breakdown, or the opposite - help him deal with his past.

Shaking his head, he turned towards the Chapel, when he had suddenly remembered about the letter Derpy delivered earlier. Quickly taking it out of the envelope, he read as he walked:

Sir,

I am happy to report that, after some initial troubles, I have nothing but success in introducing the crystal ponies to the Light’s teachings. I suppose it’s understandable, seeing everypony knows here how the Crystal Heart is powered by us through the love, happiness, friendship, and goodness inside us, and it’s basically the same way Light works.

More importantly, though, I was also able to help those ponies that lost their families and friends to King Sombra, although healing hearts takes time. But they were grateful to have a pony to talk to, and a shoulder to cry on, especially a pony that had also went through what they are going through. It causes them to think that they will also shake of the shackles of sadness off their hearts.

Princess Cadance was of great help in getting ponies to come to the chapel, and attended a meeting herself a few times. And she’s a great friend to have.

There were also a few ponies I spoke with that expressed an interest in learning the ways of the paladin. I will have them fill in the requisition forms and send them to the Abbey later.

May the Light keep you in good health,

Serenity

“Guess everything’s going well in the Crystal Empire,” Matthias mused, smiling. “It will be good to have a couple of initiates from there as well.”

Sighing, he settled down for a meditation.

“Make yourself at home, while I’ll search for the book,” Zecora told Storm Clash, as they walked into her hut. “Don’t worry, I gotten it recently, so I know where to look.”

As the pegasus sit down by her table, him gazing around her heirlooms, Zecora went over to the part of the hut where she slept. The book she sought was there, as she finished reading it late last night in her bed. The zebra smiled as she picked it up, scolding herself for forgetting to take it with her when she went to Ponyville to buy some ingredients. She hoped could return the book to Twilight… but then again, if she hadn’t forgotten it, she wouldn’t be able to help Storm.

“The Great Spirits must have made it slipped my mind. Or I am just getting old, good thing it’ll be a while before I’ll also start going blind,” she thought in amusement, returning with the book to the paladin.

“This book had sparked my interest last time I visited Twilight,” Zecora told him as she placed it next to him. “Inside, there are two tales that help you just might.”

“‘The Folktales of Eastin’?” Storm asked in confusion, looking at the title.

“A town of old that stood by the Everfree until it was abandoned, or so I heard,” the zebra replied with a shrugged, as she browsed through the book. Once she found what she looked for, she stopped. “Regardless, here’s the first tale you need, you have my word.”

Storm’s attention turned from her to the book. Zecora sit down on the opposite side of the table as he began to read out loud:

“The battle of Forest and Wind

“Among the oaks, maples, birches, pines and all the other, all within the depths of the deepest bushes was the Spirit of them all. She was the Nature, and Nature was it… or was she the Guardian? The Heart of the Forest? These are not the things that matters to ponykind, nor are they within its rights to ask. Not after what they’ve done.

“From the north, ponies had fled. Seeking a new home, one tribe chose the spot for their village next to the Forest, the Home of the Spirit. She watched them, having not seen critters other than wood animals for millennia long, but let them be. Even when a few trees were cut, She stayed away, understanding the need of those creatures for the wood for their homes.

“But one pony, the leader of one tribe, did not take only what was needed, but what he wanted, too. From Her Forest, he chose a spot on hill, to build one of his castle, for in his arrogance he wasn’t content with just one.

“As the trees fell, dying the needless death, it was the end of the line. An ancient fury awakened in the heart of the Nature’s Goddess. The fallen trees and timber swirled around her, giving her a physical form in which she could extract her vengeance. As the monstrous wolf of timber, She attacked the castle, and chased the ponies all the way to the village at the border of Her Home. But her fury drew her further. Blood for resin, death for death. With a howl that struck fear into the hearts of ponies, she leaped…

“But one which not cower in fear stood in her way. The Winged Warrior, a Hero to his people, would not back down.

“They fought, and what a battle it was! The Forest attacked with an ancient fury, Her claws and teeth stronger than steel, vines and branches shooting from the ground at her command. The Wind responded with the mastery of blades, the speed and strength which gave him His name, and the full force of the hatred his heart contained.

“As they fought, it soon became clear to both that they were equally strong, and neither would best the other. But the Hero knew his limitations, as well as understood soon what She was: that while he was a mortal, she was much more.

“So he stopped, knowing that eventually he would falter, and offered her a deal; She would take his life, but spare everypony else. The Spirit, taken aback by his offer, pondered on it. Never before, even amongst her kind, had she seen such ferocity in battle and concern for others in their care. Baffled and intrigued, she had soon felt a different need than that for blood.

“She offered to spare the village, but for a certain price: for seven days and seven nights, the Hero would become her mate, and stayed with her at the Heart of the Forest. Although now He in turn was baffled, he had agreed, knowing that he could not best her in battle.”

Storm paused at this moment, his face growing red and his wings visible stiffening. Zecora chuckled in amusement, knowing what was next:

“He had come with her to her den in the Heart of the Forest and mated with her for seven days and seven nights. The moans and howls of the Spirit were heard across the Forest, all the trees had bloomed and field nearby gave more food to harvest than ponies had time to gather.”

She wasn’t surprised when he skipped that part, although a bit disappointed that she didn’t get to see him try to suppress his wings from spreading a while longer.

“Once the week had passed, the Hero of the Wind left the Forest, parting with Her as friends. His fame among ponies grew even bigger; both to his heroism and his accomplishments, and the Spirit soon had a litter, born with the ferocity of their father. To this day timberwolves stalk around the Forest, chasing anypony who’ll wish to cut down the trees; and once one will catch you - for they always caught their mark - you will pray that it will be of the different gender than you.”

“W-well…” Storm murmured, looking up from her book and managing quite well to keep his face composed. “... that was certainly... interesting, but I don’t see what-”

“Turn the page, and you will,” Zecora told him, smirking. “This new tale isn’t so exciting, so you can chill.”

Her comment made the pegasus even more embarrassed, but nonetheless he did as she told. Turning the page, he began to read again:

“The Tears of the Forest

“Though there was no great love between the Forest and the Wind, there was still an affection left. So when Hero turned into a Hunter, a dark cloud was bound to hover above the Spirit.

“The news of His deed hit her harder than anything she had ever felt in the past. The Valley in which He hunted was a place as sacred to Nature as the Forest in which She dwells; and even though it wasn’t her own body that was struck down, she felt a greater pain than that of a body. Her Heart ached for what he did to the Valley, for she knew it to be lost. She could not feel hatred for Him, so she wailed.

“As her Heart ached, tears formed in her eyes, and they fell on the ground while she wept for the Valley and the Burned Tree. Sensing the Spirits pain, the ground replied, the very Nature trying to cheer up the one it loves so much.

“By their own accord, the flowers sprouted in front of her muzzle, shining with its own light in the den of the Spirit. The Eon Petals grew for her, and across the world it’s known to be the flower of endless love - the love of the Nature, of our World, for the Spirit.”

Storm trailed off, as his eyes shone with comprehension as to what Zecora had referred to be the perfect gift for Rarity.

“In my homeland, I heard tales of a Great Spirit living within these woods,” she told him, as he closed the book. “I can feel it within every tree and every bush, but given how strong this feeling is the deeper you go, her den will be in the center, in all likelihoods.”

“And that’s where those flowers will be!” Storm exclaimed, lounging across the table and hugging her. “Thank you, Zecora!”

The zebra opened her mouth to reply, but the pegasus did not gave her a chance. With the speed that could match Rainbow Dash, he stormed from her house, heading for the Forest’s Heart.

“Did he just fly towards the center of the Everfree Forest, unarmed?” Zecora thought, staring at her open door in shock. “Love made him act a fool, he'll return seriously harmed!”

Pressing a hoof to her forehead, she prepared to set off; she had to tell Matthias before it was too late.

Author's Note

Sorry it took a while to get this chapter done, but the latest chapter of "Fallout: Equestria - Project Horizons" hit me right in the feels and left me weeping, making it really hard to focus on writing.

Of course, with my exams approaching, don't be surprised if the next month will have even more breaks.

Happy Holidays! Hope you enjoy your presents as much as Arthas the ones he got... gee, I wonder what he would want for Hearts Warming Eve...

118. Daring to look

Matthias’ eyes darted from Tucker to Guard and to Wind Reaver, before finally resting on Cherry Bomb.

He said only two words: “Hit me.”

Cherry smirked in reply as his horn flashed… and a card from the top of the deck levitated itself to Matthias’ hooves.

“Ten…” he mused, keeping his face neutral. Inside, thought, he was smirking. With the nine he got earlier, he was safe to call next turn and expect to win.

“Hit me,” Tucker said as well. “You know, sir, I didn’t expect you to fancy blackjack… or whichever version of it we are playing,” he told him, while Cherry dealt him another card. “Or be cool with us playing it here, for that matter.”

“I have no problem with it, as long as you don’t gamble or try to teach it to Scootaloo,” Matthias replied, pretending to not notice the badly hidden chips. He was happy that at least they weren’t playing for real money when he entered. “I do hope that you haven’t been deciding the cleaning and cooking duties this way, though.”

“Nah, Serenity told us she would report it if we tried to do that,” Tucker replied while Guard surrendered. “She felt it would create between us an atmosphere of unease and distrust… or something.”

“Atta girl!” Matthias thought in amusement. Her letter, describing - among other things - how she managed to spread Light’s teachings among the crystal ponies, got him to thinking that maybe he should send the others away as well. If all of them would spend some time in some of Equestria’s biggest cities, they would not only earn them more recruits, but also promulgate the belief of the Holy Light. Storm could travel to Cloudsdale or his hometown of Manehatten, Guard could stay in Canterlot, Hoofington or Trottingham oversea, and Tucker…

… Tucker, being too unreliable to be send by himself, would stay here.

“I wonder where Storm is,” he said out loud as Wind Reaver also hit. “It’s rather late; I had thought that by this hour all shops would be closed…” Matthias started to wonder if he should go check on the station if Storm had left for Canterlot. Hearing Cherry’s grunt, he said absentmindedly: “Hit me.”

The moment he said it he remembered that he was supposed to call. Cursing, he looked at the card…

It was two.

Matthias could barely contain a smirk when he saw that. Now, in the next turn…

The door to the eatery opened unexpectedly. Everypony’s head turned around and saw a cloaked, black-and-white equine standing in the doorway.

Zecora run up to the table where they were sitting by, “Matthias, I fear I need you-

“Bow-chicka-bow-wow!”

“Tucker, be quiet, or you’ll never play again,” Matthias told him, knowing that in a moment he will be annoyed enough by the zebra’s rhyming.

He nodded to Zecora to continue, “-and just you, to come with me. And I’m afraid it won’t be just for tea.”

Matthias was about to ask for more details, but the urgency in Zecora’s voice made him reconsider. Sighing - and taking one last look at the cards he had - he said: “Let’s go; you can fill me in on our way out.”

“Bow-”

Matthias glared at Tucker, and the unicorn either had a sudden attack of coughing or he badly tried to cover up the rest of what he wanted to say.

It wasn’t until he couldn’t see the borders of the forest in the twilight did it hit Storm Clash that he just did probably the stupidest thing in his entire life. Here he was, without a weapon, above the deepest part of the Everfree Forest.

“Oh, come on!” he snapped (in his head, he wasn’t stupid enough to shout that at the moment). “Rarity and her friends had walked into this forest how many times without any means of defense?! I mean… granted, none of them had probably ever gone so deeply...”

Storm gulped nervously. It was already getting late, so he didn’t have enough time to fly back to the Abbey to take Spring Binder, anyway. And besides that, he might have stumbled upon Sir Lightbringer, who could forbid him from coming here.

“I cannot risk it,” the paladin mused as he soared above the treetops. He was currently searching for a place where he could land. This was, more or less, the heart of the forest. If those flowers were supposed to be in a den, then looking for them from the air would be pointless. “The Eon Petals will be a perfect gift for Rarity; a symbol of love, given freely by the earth to the nature,” he sighed and blushed as he remembered those two tales Zecora made him read, recalling the sudden stiffness in his wings. “I could have gone without those mental images of a pegasus taking a bunch of timber from be-”

A sudden roar from behind him made him abandon that train of thoughts entirely. Storm quickly did a barrel roll to avoid something big that tried to crush into him-

“No. No crush,” he thought, catching a glimpse of outstretched claws slashing through the space where a heartbeat ago was his shoulder.

He cursed inwardly. Out of all the creatures that lived in this forest (and was known to ponies), only one could be this big, clawed and winged: a manticore. And if not, then if Storm Clash knew his luck, it was probably something worse.

His guess that it was a manticore was confirmed when with a roar the beast whirled, hurling at him. Storm once again managed to dodge it, and dove in between trees. He winced as the branches scratched his wings, but he didn’t have much of a choice. Not only he wasn’t the best of fliers, but the manticore also had the advantage of being higher than him. Eventually, it would force him down anyway… provided that it wouldn’t just get him.

Pain erupted in his left wing as he hit a branch. Storm yelped, the feeling in the limb too intense for him to stay airborne. As he plummeted down, he quickly uttered a prayer and a barrier of Light formed around him, saving him for breaking his bones on the ground. Storm winced in pain, getting up carefully, when a roar sounded above him.

He looked up, preparing to run, but he realized he didn’t have too. The tree’s branches were too thick for the manticore to get through. The beast managed to land on them somehow and sticks one paw, but no more than that.

“Ha! Take that, you winged cat… scorpion thingy!” Storm exclaimed, gleeing over the fact that he escaped from it with just a minor injury, one that he could heal at that in a minute. “What’s the matter, too big to get through? You old… fat…”

His grin gradually vanished as the manticore began to tear and pull the branches from the trees.

“Okay, running time!” Storm yelped as he turned into the opposite direction, ignoring the pain in his wing for now.

“And I thought that Tucker was the dumbest of them,” Matthias groaned as he entered armory, Zecora close behind him. “You’re sure he flew straight into the heart of the forest?”

“Of that, I am quite sure,” the zebra said. “The need to find that flower in his eyes was pure.”

The paladin sighed. He would have preferred to hear that story without rhyming. Thankfully, Matthias recalled those two stories she had mentioned, as he also read once the “Folktales of Eastin”, so Zecora didn’t have to go into details. He could have known that zebra knew about a spirit similar to those they worship, so he hadn’t paid those tales much of a thought, but now…

“I guess he really didn’t come here,” Matthias said once he gave the armory a once-over. “Nothing is missing here, and his armor and Spring Binder are still in his quarters,” He facehoofed. “As much as I’m happy for Rarity that the stallion that is interested in her would go so far to give her something nice, I fear I will have to put him in a solitary confinement for going off on his own,” seeing Zecora raised eyebrow, he added: “Well, I can’t put ponies there for idiocy!”

The zebra chuckled as he wondered what he should do next. The sensible thing for a head of the order to do would be assemble everypony and set out to find him and bring him safe and sound…

… thereby ruining his chance for getting Rarity a gift he felt he deemed worthy of her, and embarrassing him in front of the whole order.

“Either I act as a leader, or act as a friend…”

“Having Light on his side so deep in the forest will be of little help for him if he won’t be able to defend himself,” Matthias finally said with a sigh as he trotted over to the sets of armors. His own plate armor wasn’t the best suited for forcing his way through a forest. However, having predicted that someday they might need to venture into it, he requested a few sets of leather armor - made out of synthetic leather - and mail that were more appropriate for the task. “I will go after him, make sure he’s alright, give him his blade and armor, and that’s all.”

The moment he said it, he felt a heavy weight leave his heart. Matthias knew what it meant; the Light approved his choice to trust Storm.

“Are you certain it will be wise?” Zecora asked him. “It might be better to help him more before he cries.”

“He’s the one that’s trying to impress a mare,” Matthias replied with a smirk. “That’s something a guy has to do without help.”

“Stallions!” the zebra snorted. Matthias chuckled as he put on the armor. “I imagine this discludes my help entirely, as I am a mare and you see us lowly?”

The comment made him look at her with shock, “What?! I don’t-” the paladin quickly started, but she stopped him.

“Sorry, I couldn’t find a better rhyming,” she said with a chuckle. “But to relieve some tension, it was a good timing.”

“Um.. yes, right…” Matthias muttered, checking once more if he had everything: armor for Storm in saddlebags… Spring Binder was still in his quarters. As much as Matthias knew a sword was a worse weapon in a forest than polearm or a spear, it was Storm’s blade. He would need it. “I am thankful, of course, that you came to tell me that, but it will be embarrassing enough for Storm to have me come to his rescue. It has nothing to do with the fact that you are a mare,” Glancing at her, he looked into her eyes and said honestly: “I wouldn’t wish to face you in battle, and that’s saying much.”

He really meant it. Matthias could tell that the zebra in front of him was extremely dangerous; the fact that nopony besides him seemed to realize it - now - spoke well of her reluctance to show that part of her.

Zecora raised an eyebrow, but accepted the compliment with a smile. “No, you would not, but that works both ways. And there wouldn’t be a reason for us to fight, anyways.”

“For which I am glad; fighting against a friend is something I wouldn’t wish to anypony…” Matthias mused, looking around and trying not to think about his past.

It seemed that his fate had different plans for him, for his gaze rested upon the chest with his “trophies”. Recalling what weapons were stored inside, Matthias felt a sudden need to take some with him - just in case. He quickly trotted over to the chest, opened, and looked inside. He didn’t want a crossbow - he would need some time to practice using it with hooves first - and he hoped to scare beast away rather than wound them; polearm was also out, as he was already going to carry too much stuff. But the daggers would do fine.

Placing Heaven’s Fall, Stormfury and Tel’thas in the sides of his armor, Matthias closed the chest and made his way out of the armory. Zecora followed him as he headed towards the barracks, needing to get the Spring Binder as well before he could set out.

“May I point out a certain flaw in you plan?” Zecora’s question stopped him in his tracks. Confused, he glanced back and nodded. “Storm Clash flies; do you plan to run?”

Disappointed that his wise friend had assumed he hadn’t thought of that earlier, Matthias rolled his eyes and pointed up. Zecora’s gaze followed in that direction, and as her eyes grew wide, apprehension dawning on her.

The Light spread from his hoof to his outstretched wing, causing Storm to sigh with relief as the pain disappeared. He stopped to heal himself once he was certain that the manticore had given up on chasing him, which meant that he’s been running for a while now.

Now as he looked around, Storm could see that he was in a different part of the forest. The trees were more… twisted, their bark was much darker that before, and when he touched it, it cracked. Gazing at them now in the gentle moonlight made Storm feel uneasy.

“Will the Eon Petals be like that?” he wondered, fearing that whatever had made the Everfree Forest to become so dark might have transformed the flowers into some… blackish thingy. But as soon as the thought appeared in his head, he shook it off; the moment he read this in the book Zecora gave him, he felt with his entire being that he had to get them for Rarity. Storm was going to find them… and if it would turn out that they were darkened, a prayer to the Holy Light should help him. “Enough loitering; I should get moving!”

He needed to get a better view of the woods around him, so he flew up through a hole in the branches above the treetops. Making sure that the manticore was nowhere in sight, the pegasus began taking in the all the landmarks. After a few seconds he spotted a small hill nearby, and decided it was as good a place as any to start.

Once he reached it, his eyes widened in excitement. It would seem that his choice was right; at the side of the hill was an entrance to a cave that run underground.

“If this doesn’t scream ‘This is the den of a forest’s spirit!’ I don’t know what does!”

Storm jumped in joy and began descending down into the cave… when he remembered what exactly the legend said about what the Spirit and the Hero did in there. Yucking with disgustment, he used his wings to stay about half a meter above the ground… and after a brief consideration, he rose another half a meter. Satisfied, he flew into the cave.

“So…” Matthias said slowly, looking at the trashed and broken tree branches, “... do you also get a feeling that somepony had crash landed through them?”

Underneath him, Al’ar cawed without enthusiasm. Matthias just rolled his eyes and directed him to go lower. The Phoenix God wasn’t too happy about serving as his mount, and it took some convincing (and threatening to tell Fluttershy on him) to have him agree to this. Apparently, their flight over the Everfree Forest didn’t do much to improve his mood.

Once Al’ar was close enough, Matthias jumped off his back and landed on one of the sturdier branches. “Fly over me and stay close; if I find Storm, I’ll want to get out of this forest as soon as possible,” “And there is also the fact that those three manticores we passed on our way here flew the other way at the mere sight of him,” “If you see Storm flying somewhere, let me know.”

Al’ar cawled reluctantly and took to the sky, while Matthias made his way carefully through that hole in the barricade of branches as leaves left by Storm. He wondered what caused the pegasus to land so poorly. “He isn’t as good flier as Rainbow Dash, but he wouldn’t crash through those trees if something hadn’t disturbed his flight,” Matthias mused as he jumped down from the lowest branches and landed on the ground. “Maybe he encountered some rogue winds? Or maybe-”

A sudden howl erupted from behind him.

“-or maybe a manticore attacked him,” Matthias rolled his eyes as he turned around.

By the time it took him to channel the power of the Light to compel the manticore to flee, its outstretched jaws were just inches away from his neck. Much too close for comfort, but it was a better option that dodging away and counterattacking, which would get him in trouble with Fluttershy if she ever found out.

“At least now I know that Storm managed to get away from it,” the paladin thought as he looked at the fleeing beast. “It wouldn’t be so eager to attack me if it had a full belly. Anyway, I’d better get tracking,” he added, searching for clues as the where Storm runoff to after landing.

His fondness of animals, which he had since he was a child, rebounded on him. Due to it he never had any particular joy for hunting, unlike other royalties he knew, like Varian. The only time he could now think off that he gladly had killed an animal - prior to… everything, that is - was when an old lady from a village outside of Lordaeron that he and Uther had visited told him that she lost a leg in a wolf attack. Arthas had gone into the wild, and came back with pelts of three to serve as her blankets. As such, he was still skilled enough to manage to now find the trail left behind by Storm.

As he set off after his paladin, Matthias once again cursed that he couldn’t just reach out with his senses to locate him. The Everfree Forest was too overflowing with magic, and probably was to begin with, but with whatever it was that tainted it, it became even worse, and it left his sensing abilities suppressed.

The cave had gone much deeper that Storm had expected. If he gauged everything correctly, was now trotting - as he gave up on flying once his head hit a stalactite one time too many - through the fourth sixth feet below the ground level. He was thankful that the cave didn’t have any separate corridors other than the one he was travelling; the thought of getting lost here was terrifying.

“Although, I suppose this makes it a bad place for a den,” the pegasus mused; throughout the entire way down, he was illuminating his surroundings with the Light that emanated from his right wing - although, there were cracks in the ceiling above here and there, letting in some of the moon’s light - and saw nothing other than rocks, stalagmites, rocks, stalactites, and more rocks. “Might as well go ba-aaa? What is that?”

His gaze was captivated by something greenish that lay under one of the bigger cracks. Excitement rushed through Storm as he rushed to it, but is soon waned once he got a better look at it. It was nothing but some moss with a strange small ugly petals on it. And while Storm had no idea how exactly the Eon Petals look - it somehow skipped his mind to ask Zecora for a better description - but one sentence from the book spoke clearly in his mind:

By their own accord, the flowers sprouted in front of her muzzle, shining with its own light in the den of the Spirit.

“So, I might as well just walk around here blindly, looking for anything shiny, huh?” he pondered as he leaned closer to the plant he found. “Then again, seeing how my luck went so far, it would probably be an Ursa Major,” he chuckled, but then something happened to immediately stop him.

The plant hissed, and sprayed some spore right into Storm’s face.

The pegasus began coughing and backed away, feeling suddenly light-headed. He rasped for air and tried to concentrate on a healing prayer, but he just.. couldn’t.

“D-damn it…” Storm thought, sitting down. Everything was spinning around him. “I… I need to… get out… fresh air…”

He raised his hindquarters from the ground and… “Where was the exit again?” the pegasus asked out loud, looking in daze at the cave. He noticed a small improvement with his surroundings; they stopped spinning, and instead were shaking.

Something flashed in the corner of his vision. Storm stopped turning around - which he didn’t even realized he was doing - and tried to focus. “It was.. there, right?” As if to answer his question, whatever it was, it flashed again. Having nothing better to do, Storm began trotting towards it.

It didn’t take him long to reach a dead end. Puzzled, he looked around for the source of those flashes, but it was nowhere in sight… that is, until he noticed it right above him. The ceiling was much higher than he remembered, but at this moment he wasn’t focused enough to think about it. He used his wings to propel himself up, trying to reach the light, but then another strange thing happened.

Something shifted, and Storm was no longer flying upwards, but in a straight line.

Confused, he landed on what was just a heartbeat ago a wall and now was the floor of the cave. Storm looked at it in consternation. Something didn’t seem right with what had happened…

Oh, another flash! But this time in the corridor on the left. His thoughts evaporating from the subject of… that thing that worried him, Storm began to follow it again. This time, he managed to go a bit further before something had again stopped him.

Except this distraction was far more welcome that the others.

“Storm?” Rarity’s voice sounded from behind him. Storm looked back at her, surprised. What was she doing here? “Storm, darling, please don’t go that way.”

“Huh but hah?” he thought incoherently.

“But…” he managed to say somehow. “The flowers… the Eon Petals… they’re right there…”

“No, darling, they aren’t,” Rarity shooked her head; was it Storm’s imagination, or was she looking gravely worried? “Please, come back here.”

Storm’s confusion was reaching new levels of what the hay, but as the mare he adored asked him to go that way, he turned to her without much thought…

“Yeah, listen to that harlot like a pathetic squirt you are.”

The snide comment from behind (which a split second ago was at his front) made Storm bristle in fury, which, when he looked at the one that uttered and recognized him. Brute Hoof, and at his side the ever-inseparable goons of his, Snide Smile and Mocking Tone, the three colts that once, in kindergarten, used to be his friends, but once he had his accident, they turned his life into a living Tartarus for years.

“You think she actually cares about you?” Brute Hoof continued mockingly, probably not realising that Storm could now easily turn all three into a paste. “Where did you ever come up with that idea? That slut just wants a good laugh at you!”

“Shut up…” Storm growled, advancing on him

He was pissed, and for the moment, all of Sir Lightbringer’s teachings were thrown out of a mental window. Storm was going to vent a lot of his rage on the three colts that made him miserable in school and now insulted Rarity.

“Storm, please, don’t go over there!” she called after him.

He wasn’t listening. Such was his fury that his vision began to shake.

Brute Hoof, unfazed, smirked and said: “Crooked Jaw!”

With a roar, Storm lunged at him…and passed right through him, jumping over a vast, dark chasm, and hitting a rock column on the other side with his head.

The last couple of things his mind managed to record before the darkness overtaken him were the colt’s laughter, the shaking of everything around him, the sensation of falling... and Rarity’s crying.

“Damnit!” Matthias shouted as he bucked the rubble of boulders, rocks and stones, but it did not bulge.

He managed to find the cave into which Storm had ventured very easily, despite the track cutting off at some point - Matthias assumed the pegasus had just taken into the air - but even with all that, he was too late to get to his paladin before the cave-in happened.

Seeing that there was no way to remove the boulders that blocked his way, Matthias took a step back and concentrated. If Storm was close, and Matthias knew more or less the direction where he was, then even with this forest dampening his senses he should be still able to reach him.

He did not add that for this to work Storm had to be alive. There was no such possibility in his mind that said anything otherwise.

It took him a while, even though below the ground the corruption of the Forest wasn’t as effective, but Matthias found him. The paladin was far, far below the surface, and passed out, but alive. Sighing with relief, Matthias concentrated harder to try and check if Storm was alright. He couldn’t detect anything life-threatening, so he returned to his mind and pondered what to do next.

Storm was alive, but underground. Very deep underground. Matthias mind went back to reading about diamond dogs’ empire, which was located underground Equestria, and how Azjol-Nerub, the nerubian empire, was spanned practically everywhere across Northrend below the ground.

“He must have fallen into some of their tunnels…” Matthias mused, trying to not think about anything bad that could happen to him down there. “I need to get to him.”

Matthias looked at the rubble in consternation. He knew of one other place that could probably lead him underground, as it didn’t look that he would get to use this one, but he really, really, really didn’t want to try and go there again.

But, of course, he didn’t have much of a choice.

“Alright…” he murmured unenthusiastically as he began exiting the cave. “Let’s go wake up the bear.”

Saying that everything was spinning when Storm woke up would be an understatement. He was certain there wasn’t a word in a dictionary for the things to… go around, then backward forward, turn left, through and throughout, all the while beating him everywhere.

He groaned in pain as he rose from the rubble of rocks, trying to concentrate hard enough to heal himself. The walls had slowly cased their movements as he focused, and the Light appeared around his hooves, spreading slowly through his body and mending his wounds.

Once he was good to go, he finally tried to figure out what happened. The last thing he remembered was… jumping at those old bullies while Rarity was crying for him not to? Groaning from his own stupidity, the pegasus realized why he saw that: the plant he found must have drugged him and caused all those hallucinations. And by the looks of the rubble around him, he must have caused a cave-in, and fallen down from the huge space above him.

He contemplated just flying up, but considering the cave-in, he deemed it too risky, and instead tried to find a way out from this tunnel he was in. Storm looked around, and something immediately caught his attention; it was certainly not natural. The walls were too regular, and as the Light illuminated them, he saw marking on them, meaning that they must have been carved.

“It’s probably some diamond dog’s tunnel,” he thought.

Storm recalled how he heard that Rarity was once captured by three of them and kept in their dungeons. “Was it somewhere here?” he wondered as he began trotting forward into the left side of the corridor. “No, this must be too far from Ponyville… probably. At this point, I’m not even sure…”

Storm had to pause once he reached the end of the corridor to take a few, steady breaths. He did not want to think about how lost he was. That he might never find his way out of here. That he might never see the sunlight again… or moonlight.

That he might never see Rarity again…

Taking the last deep breath, he took a step forward, and entered… a chamber. Storm’s eyes widened when he saw the corridor grow wider, to the point where he would be able to fly in circles without the fear of hitting anything… besides the statue that stood by the side of the wall.

Glancing at the rubble on the other side of the chamber, Storm guessed that there must have been another one there as well, but he pushed the thought away as he looked closer at the stoned figure. It seemed that he was right; it was a statue of a diamond dog, although it looked a bit differently that the ones he saw in pictures in his schoolbooks. It stood straight, held a spear in his upper paw, it had an armor over its lower legs and naked torso, and his face… there was no idiocy there, but an expression that spoke of calm, rational mind within.

Storm took as step forward to it, fascinated… and in that moment, the statue came to life.

At first, it was just its head. It moved from where the other statue was supposed to stand to look at Storm, while he cringed in shock. Then it took a step towards him, and the next thing he knew, Storm had to dodge the strike of its spear.

“Must be some sort of spell,” he thought as he tried to figure out what to do; he was without any weapon, and he doubted that his Light-given abilities were good enough to help him-

His train of thoughts was interrupted when his hoof tripped over some rocks causing him to fall to the ground. Cursing, he looked up, to see the spear raised and about to descend. Storm quickly began murmuring a prayer of protection - and trying to not think about what scolding he would receive from Sir Lightbringer for not paying attention to his surrounding during the fight - but then, to his confusion, he heard a thundering smack sound across the chamber.

Storm looked bewildered as something long wrapped around the statue’s raised arm, stopping it from delivering a blow, and jerked back so strongly that it pulled the whole diamond dog shaped thing. It fell on its back with a thud, breaking into pieces.

“You’re alright there, pal?” asked a feminine voice from behind it.

“Um…” Storm stuttered, not exactly expecting to stumble upon anypony down here. “Yes, thanks miss,” he said as the figure came closer, becoming slowly visible…

Storm gasped. That light gold coat. That dark olivine vest. That tan pith helmet. That grayscale rainbow mane. That whip under her wing. It… it couldn’t be…

“No problem, handsome,” his rescuer, Daring Do, replied with a smirk.

Author's Note

To be fair, in a crossover story with Warcraft, the idea of Daring Do being real works.

I'm going to concentrate on my Fallout: Equestria side-story for a while now, so coupled with studies might take a few weeks for me to return to Rebirth of the Damned. Hope you won't mind, considering the update rate I managed to keep since September.

Oh, and have a good New Year's Eve!

119. A Breakthrough

“Hon, if you don’t close your mouth, your jaw will fall off.”

Hearing that comment would’ve been hurtful if it weren’t for the jovial tone in which it was said. Not to mention that in the dim light of the flashlight she kept under her wing, Daring Do couldn’t see that his mouth was crooked. The comment did, however, made Storm finally realize that for a while he’s been staring at the mare in front of him with a wide-open mouth.

“Sorry, I just…” he stuttered. Swallowing, he tried to speak again: “I didn’t expect to find anypony here, let alone, well… Daring Do!”

The famous adventurer smiled - although Storm noticed that a shadow passed her face, as her attention shifted slightly from his eyes to his mouth once he closed it - and replied: “Well, I didn’t expect to see anypony down here, either, so I suppose it’s fair. So,” Daring Do continued, trotting up to where Storm laid and offered him a hoof to help his stand up, “you know my name; what’s yours?”

Storm tried to not think that he was touching the hoof of a legendary explorer and author as he accepted her help. While he wasn’t as big of a fan of her books as his brother (and, quite frankly, he thought that a pony that wrote down her accomplishments must be a bit narcissistic) he was close from losing his cool and starting to blabber like some dorky fancolt.

“Storm…” he started to introduce himself, then stopped and coughed. “I mean, Knight Storm Clash, paladin of the Celestial Light.”

Daring Do’s eyes flashed with surprise. “I’ve heard about this new order of yours… I didn’t expect to see one of you ‘paladins’ down here, though,” she added with a smirk. “What, did you plan to preach to the Diamond Dogs?”

“Um, no, I… ugh, it’s a long story,” he replied, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. “What are you doing here?”

“Exploring?” Daring Do asked with a raised eyebrow and a smile. Storm facehoofed, realising that this was about the only thing an explorer could be doing in a place like this. “Suffice to say that I am looking for something.”

“Yeah, well… I was also looking for something, but a cave-in happen and I fell down here,” Storm replied, while thinking ‘No need to mention ‘I caused the cave-in after getting drugged by a small plant’ part.’ Turning his attention back to the present situation, he asked: “Do you know the way back to the surface?”

“Of course I do,” the other pegasus replied with a shrug, much to his relief. “I can lead you out once I’m done with my thing, it shouldn’t take long.”

“Okay,” Storm said, trying to not sound disappointed that he would have to bear with those dungeons a while longer.

“In the meantime, I think it’s best that you will come with me,” Daring Do continued, glancing around. Storm couldn’t help but notice that there was a small frown on her face. “Those tunnels have a ridiculous amount of traps, as you saw a second ago. You’d better not tempt fate and stick with me. However, I will need you to stay behind me, and don’t touch anything unless I tell you, understand?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, ma’am!” Storm saluted, trying to hide his enthusiasm.

Finding the Eon Petal for Rarity was still his priority, but the opportunity to explore an ancient tunnel with the Daring Do was something no pony in his right mind could object. The famous explorer must have figured out what he was thinking, for she rolled her eyes with a smile before she began walking towards the passage on the opposite side of the chamber... Storm was about to follow her, when he remembered that he was still defenseless. While he knew that Daring Do was more than able of taking care of whatever trap-awakened statue they would possibly encounter further on, he didn’t want to be useless.

The spear of the statue was too big for him to use comfortably, but the blade of it was big enough to serve as a short sword once Storm had broken if off the rest. Nodding with satisfaction, he turned and flew back to Daring Do, who waited for him at the entrance to the passage.

“You know,” she started once he joined her and landed beside her, tucking the blade carefully under his wing, “this begs the question as to why are you here without any weapons. I heard that you paladins walk around in a fully body plate armors and all have some appearing-out-of-nowhere swords.”

“Oh, no, that’s just Sir Lightbringer, the Grand Master of the Order, that has a blade like that. The rest of us uses more mundane weapons,” Storm corrected her, deciding not to ponder if his Spring Binder should be considered a ‘mundane’ or not. “But yes, we do have such armors, and I just… ugh, I was off-duty when I decided to come to the Everfree Forest, so I didn’t have either it or my weapons.”

“We’re below the Everfree Forest?” Daring asked in surprise, making Storm glance at her sharply with alarm that she didn’t know that… only to see her smirking. “Anyway, we best get going,” she said, growing more serious as she took the lead. Storm, remembering her words, followed. “And if you feel like sharing why you did something so stupid, feel free.”

Embarrassment filled him as he walked behind her. Storm wanted to protest, but she was right and they both knew it. He sighed, and after uttering a short prayer to the Light so that the weapon he took would glow in the darkness - earning himself a curious glance from Daring Do that had quickly turned into a brief amazement before she returned her attention to the tunnel ahead - he figured that he might as well tell her how he had gotten into this mess. That is, after he asked a certain question first.

“This won’t get published in any of your books, right?”

“Oh, relax, hon, you think I write about everything that happens to me during my exploits? Heck, my books wouldn’t even get T-rated if I did!”

“I… wait, what?” Storm asked her, tilting his head. “What do you mean?”

Daring Do turned her head to him and winked. “Wait a couple hours until we’re out of those tunnels, and you might find out.”

The paladin stared at her, blinking. “Did she...mean…” Even before he got a chance to finish that that thought, his wings sprung open, causing the statue’s blade to fall down with a loud clank!

Daring chuckled as she resumed walking while Storm mumbled incoherently something that even he wasn’t sure what it was. He thought that he tried to say that he wasn’t interested, but he wasn’t sure how to explain why not, so he instead tried to apologize for his wings… all and all, it was a mess of a proper speech, that earned him nothing more that few more chuckles from Daring Do.

Resigning from touching that subject, Storm took a few deep breaths to compose himself before he started talking again. He didn’t mention Rarity by name, of course, and was rather vague as to how he got down here specifically, but he still told Daring most of the events that led him to those tunnels. The explorer listened with one ear attentively as they walked, her other along with her other senses working on making sure they wouldn’t trigger any more traps. Every now and then she would signal for him to stop as she checked the plates on the floor or in the walls, often telling him to fly through a part of the tunnel.

Speaking of, as Storm talked, he noticed that the passage has slowly become more ornamented as they went deeper. Not to the degree of the chamber with the statues, which, when he asked, Daring told him that served as a sort of a distance mark, but enough to become even more evident that those tunnels weren’t shaped by nature. Storm caught himself trailing off his tale a few times as he simply followed the curves on the walls with his eyes before he would snap out of it.

“Gotta give it to you, not many stallions would just rush off into the Everfree Forest to pick up some flowers mentioned in legends,” Daring Do commented once he finished. “Of course, that could be interpreted either as a compliment, or... not,” she added with a smirk as she glanced back. “Seriously, though, I think that mare is lucky to have a stallion willing to go this far just to find her a gift. But I wonder... how would she react if she could see you now?”

Storm didn’t have to ask what she meant by that; the vision of Rarity (or rather, a figment of his drugged mind that attempted to speak to him through the form of a pony that would immediately gain his attention) trying to make him turn back before he fell into the chasm was still fresh in his memory. He knew - well, hoped to be honest, but he was almost certain of it - that the beautiful mare cared for him enough that she would be mortified if she knew how often he came close to dying so far this night. But Storm also knew another thing; that he absolutely needed to give her the Eon Petals. He would need to give her something so beautiful if he hoped that she would want to be with somepony… looking like him…

He realized that Daring Do was waiting for some answer from him. “I need those flowers,” Storm said, not looking at the other pegasus and instead concentrating on the tunnel ahead.

The paladin could feel her gaze on him linger a moment longer, before she sighed and turned her attention back on looking out for traps. “Hey, it’s your thing, hon. So… I guess this means I won’t get to do any research once we leave those tunnels, hmm?”

Storm felt his wings twitch at the sound of her hum, and the sidelong glance she gave him wasn’t exactly helping him control his body’s reaction. Thankfully, after her earlier suggestive comment, he was a bit more prepared for it this time and smiled awkwardly. “Um, no, I’m afraid. That mare is really special to me. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry,” she chuckled. “No offense to your stallion ego, but this won’t exactly make me lose any sleep or something.”

“Err… I wasn’t…” Storm stuttered, embarrassed that she thought he thought so.

“Oh, relax, hon. Are all you paladins so serious all the time?”

“Not… exactly…” he replied, thinking about Tucker. Then again, he was serious with the things he talked about, so… “I suppose it depends on how you would look at it.”

“Well, I am glad that it’s somepony serious down there. Wouldn’t want you to try and impress me or something and triggering some trap that would cause the walls to try and crush as, wouldn’t we?”

Her almost cheerful tone had suddenly reminded Storm that they were in a deep underground tunnel that was abandoned for probably thousands of years and was filled with traps. He glanced nervously at the walls; there were several small holes in them. An ‘eek’ almost escaped his lips as he recalled some of the exploits of Daring Do he read, where those holes usually contained-

“We passed the trap that sets those arrows, relax,” Daring’s voice pulled him back to reality, just in time to notice that she had stopped and he was about to collide with her. He quickly backpedaled to give her more space and looked at what she was doing. Daring was brushing her chin as she stared into the floor; was there some sort of mechanism? “Hey, Storm?” she called out unexpectedly. “What was the name of that story you’d said? You know, the one from the book, the first one.”

“Oh…” he exclaimed, surprised, but then reminded himself who he was talking with. Of course Daring Do would be interested in that story. “It was ‘The battle of Forest and Wind’.”

“And the pony there was called the ‘Winged Warrior’ and the ‘Hero of the Wind’, right?” she asked, to which Storm nodded. Daring once again hummed thoughtfully. “I wonder… yes, it must have been him… especially with that second story...”

“‘Must have been’ who?” Storm asked, genuinely curious, but to his slight disappointment Daring shook her head.

“Nevermind. It’s a complicated, hard to believe story that would take a while to tell and would probably excite you to no end, you don’t want to hear it.”

“No, I… wait, what?” he asked, just now realising how she said that. She winked and stuck out her tongue, then resumed trotting. Storm quickly followed her, wondering if this was the reason why those few relationships in her books didn’t last too long. “You know, you didn’t say why you were here, Miss Do.”

“Just Daring, hon,” she corrected him. “And as for what I’m doing here… have you heard about the Diamond Empire?”

Storm’s mind went back to his first day of training, when Serenity had briefly mentioned that name. “That’s the Diamond Dogs’ Empire that ceased to exist about three thousand years ago, right?” His comment had both impressed Daring Do and surprised her. Feeling embarrassed, he explained: “One of the other paladins is from the Crystal Empire, she mentioned that.”

“Ah yes, the Crystal Empire,” Daring exclaimed. “Such a magnificent source of knowledge about the past, it would never be possible to acquire in Equestria. You see,” she explained, shaking off her daydream, “a lot of the Canterlot Archives’ collection was destroyed by Discord during his reign. Among those documents and scroll that were lost were the information regarding the Diamond Empire. As such, for the past thousand years, it was impossible to research that civilization, since we didn’t even know where it was exactly. Buuut…” Daring trailed off, smiling, “now, with the return of the Crystal Empire…” she paused to giggle. “You know, I was never too big on that part of archeological work, but the library in the Crystal Empire… just wow! I don’t think I had spent so much time in a library since I graduated… but I’m getting off topic here. The point is, among some other things, I found a few maps showing the Diamond Empire’s tunnels and outpost. Now, sadly, a lot of those had collapsed, and the Crystal Empire didn’t have the entirety of their neighbors’ domain showed on any map. It would be impossible to find a way through all those passages into the Diamond City, their capital… that is, unless I’m wrong about what I hope to find in here.”

“And what would that be?” Storm asked, holding his breath; he could see why her books earned such a success, Daring had a natural talent for storytelling.

“A stone tablet that shows the way into the Diamond City,” the other pegasus told him with excitement. “Granted, it will probably take me months to figure out how to read it, but it will be worth it!”

“I’m sure it will. So… no new books until then?”

“Oh come now, I would never disappoint my fans,” Daring replied with wink. “I am slowly writing about something that happened to me a few months back. Now, though…” she trailed off, signaling for him to stop. Storm looked ahead of them; the tunnel was ending, leading to a dark chamber, much bigger from the previous one by the looks of things. “Stay behind me,” Daring warned him as she went inside.

Gulping nervously, Storm followed her, and soon found to be speechless.

The chamber was big enough to fit about half of Everfree Abbey in it. Thanks to the light provided by his abilities and Daring’s flashlight, they saw that it was square-shaped and evenly cut. When they looked up they couldn’t see the ceiling, and Storm wondered if maybe they could try to find just fly they way out. But the most alluring sight was in the middle.

There, directly in the center, stood a small shrine on a dais, surrounded by several stone circles, each placed above the ground thanks to the columns, in between which stood… stone statues of Diamond Dogs.

“Those things are gonna come to life if we come near them, right?” Storm asked nervously, gulping.

Daring give him a sidelong glance and smiled. “Hey, I didn’t know you studied archeology!” she exclaimed, managing to disperse the dread that almost overtook him. Storm chuckled despite himself as Daring continued: “Within the shrine is a passage that leads further down into the chamber that contains the stone tablet. Now… how good you are in combat?”

“Not good enough to take on all those statues if that’s what you’re asking,” Storm replied honestly. He had no doubt that now that he had a weapon he could take a few, but…

“You won’t need to,” Daring interrupted his train of thoughts. “I will sneak in alone - good thing that Diamond Dogs had never thought somepony that can fly would try to come in here, should be easy - and take the tablet. However, then those statues will most certainly wake up. I should still make it out of there, but in case I won’t, you’re my backup plan. I’ll need you to stay above the shrine and wait; if it will look like there will be too many by the entrance for me to get out, you will have fend them off for a few seconds. Think you can do that?”

“Yeah… probably,” Storm muttered, then blinked. “Hey, wait a moment; what was your plan in case you haven’t stumbled upon a paladin down here?”

“To be honest, I didn’t expect so many of those statues,” the other pegasus shrugged. Looking around, she added: “If you weren’t in a hurry, we could also try to look around for a way to disable the trap, or-”

The rest of sentence was lost in the thundering noise that erupted from above them. Both Storm and Daring looked up in shock as large stones began falling down everywhere around them. The Light wrapped around the falling debris at Storm’s behest, protecting them from the smaller ones as they run back into the chamber’s entrance. They stayed inside of the tunnel, trembling from the adrenaline rush, while everything shook as more rocks fall down. Suddenly, both of them heard a noise that sounded like an animal’s roar, but not the one Storm had ever heard of. It was so loud that it pierced through the havoc of sounds and shook every bone in his body, and was followed by a deafening thump, as whatever it was hit the ground, creating a shockwave so massive that both Daring and he fell to their hooves.

Then things had calmed down as suddenly as they’d started. The two pegasi shared a look and quickly went back into the chamber, passing a few larger boulders to get a better look at the-

Their jaws dropped.

Daring was first to recover, but judging by how her voice shook she, like Storm, also had problems believing what she was seeing.

“-or, you know,” she said weakly, continuing her earlier sentence, “we can drop the Ursa freakin’ Major on top of them…”

Storm nodded absentmindedly as he also stared at the gigantic purple bear, visible despite the dust that rose from the impact with a transparent fur that looked like the night sky laid unconscious were the shrine and the statues used to be…

...cough, cough…

His eyes grow wide as he heard a pony’s cough, and he could see Daring having the similar reaction. They started into the direction where the noise came from, which happened to be upon the Ursa Major’s head. The dust had gradually cleared…

At the sight of Sir Lightbringer sitting on the Ursa Major’s neck, bearing two blades in his forehooves and leaning them against his shoulders, and, what’s more, with a relatively relaxed expression on his face, something broke in Storm’s head.

A few moments earlier…

Al’ar’s disapproving caw echoed Matthias’ thoughts perfectly as they stood near the entrance to the cave.

“Yeah, well, you’re not the one going in there,” he told the Phoenix God. “All you have to do is wait here while I’m very likely going to fight for my life in there.”

The phoenix did a motion as if he was rolling his eyes and turned to observe the forest around them. Matthias watched him for a moment, wondering what was going through his head, before he trotted over to him and touched his wing gently.

“I’m thankful for all that you did for me tonight,” the paladin said as Al’ar looked at him sharply. “I ask that you only wait here a little while; it’s not like something here poses a threat to you.”

The ruby eyes narrowed as Al’ar regarded him, before he nodded and looked back into the forest. Feeling some of the phoenix’s resentment dispersed, Matthias turned towards the cave and walked into it.

He definitely did not like the idea of going back there. Matthias still remembered how he, Twilight, Shining Armor and Bran had to run from there while Ursa Major was - thankfully - sleeping. The memory of what let them into those tunnels - the floor of the Project Eclipse’s facility collapsing under Twilight, almost killing her - was like a nail piercing his heart, but he shrugged it off as he marched into the cave. Matthias had read the reports regarding this place; while the guards sent there had mostly concentrated on the facility itself, they did explore the tunnels underneath it. They mentioned in their report that the spells they used to scan those tunnels had indicated that they went much deeper underground, but since they were part of the natural terrain formation and not pony-made, and there was an Ursa Major sleeping by the entrance to them, they didn’t explore them.

And now Matthias had to use them to find Storm Clash and bring him out of there… all because he was searching for flowers.

Putting the absurdity of this situation out of his head, the paladin concentrated on staying quiet. The glow emanating from the Ursa Major has been visible for some time now, and grew brighter the deeper he went.

A wonderful sound reached his ears: snoring. Matthias smiled as he crept closer. Hopefully he could go in and out with Storm without waking up the Ursa Major.

By now the body of the gigantic bear was clearly visible in the darkness of the cave. The Ursa Major curled up as it slept, but unfortunately his head was still turned to the path Matthias had to take to reach the lower tunnels. Swallowing nervously, the paladin began trotting quietly over. He glanced at the Ursa Major; the ursine head with a star on the forehead still had closed eyes, as air went in and out through the massive nostrils-

His hoof kicked a pebble.

Matthias snapped and jumped to catch the small rock before it made too much noise while the sound of it rolling away resonated throughout the cavern. The paladin pressed his hooves on it and glanced sharply at the Ursa Major… and found himself staring right into it wide-open eyes.

Luckily for him, the bear was probably too surprised to find a pony in its cave to react properly at the moment, which gave Matthias enough time to back away from within his reach. Unfortunately, as the Ursa Major, with his throat thundering with an angry roar, began to stand up, it blocked the way to the lower tunnels.

“Storm is going to clean the entire Abbey for months once this is over!” the paladin thought as he fought hard to not panic.

Swallowing, he looked the Ursa straight in the eyes, and opening himself to the Light, he tried to reach out and calm him. “I did not mean to awake you from your slumber, great one,” Matthias spoke in a calm and respectful voice; such powerful creature had to have a certain level of intelligence. Maybe he could talk his way out of this? “Please, forgive my intrusion-”

The Ursa roared with anger as it lunged towards Matthias.

“So much for talking…” the paladin thought bitterly as the beast struck faster than he could move away, forcing him to wrap himself in Light’s protection.

The Ursa Major’s paw hit him with such strength that it hurled him high across the cave through the air. The Light still protected him from taking damage, but it dispersed as he was about to collide with the cavern’s wall. Grunting, Matthias twisted in the air to turn around to ‘land’ - if such term was possible to use when clashing with an almost vertical surface - on his hooves, and took the split second before he bounced off it to look at the Ursa. The great animal was charging after him, with a clear intent to eat the pony that disturbed his sleep.

“If I weaken it enough, I should be able to use the Light to put it in a state of meditation,” Matthias thought as he jumped right back at it, the Holy Avenger appearing his right hoof and brandishing Spring Binder from its sheath that was strapped to his back with his left.

The Ursa opened his mouth with a roar, giving Matthias a rather interesting sight of a row of fangs which each was bigger than him. The paladin once again twisted his body in the air, passing by the lunging bear’s jaw and slashing with the swords. The Ursa Major howled in pain and anger as one of his fangs shot out of its mouth and a shallow - for a beast such as it - cut appeared under cheek.

Matthias didn’t plan to wait for the bear to retaliate. With a creature as big as it, he could practically cut it anywhere, and would not have to be afraid of killing it, so as he was still falling down, he plunged both swords into the Ursa’s shoulder. The momentum he gained let him leave a long, deep cut, before he slowed down, as the warm sticky blood poured on him from the wound. Seeing the right paw raised and ready to squash him, Matthias pulled out the blades and - wrinkling at the metallic smell of blood that assaulted his nose - fell down, dispelling the Holy Avenger and landing on three hooves.

Empowered by the Holy Light - and mentally promising that he was using its power to end this fight quickly to avoid inflicting too much harm on the animal - Matthias galloped under the beast and headed for its hind legs. He did so for two reasons; the first being that if he wanted to force the Ursa Major down then he would need to damage its legs, and the second to have the bear’s attention focused on what was under it rather than above.

For a second, he feared that the latter part was about to be foiled, as the beast pulled itself up on its hind legs and rose to an astonishing height, but Matthias relaxed slightly as he saw it attention was still on himself, its front paws, even the one with the wound on its shoulder, raised…

“Oh, shit!” Matthias screamed mentally as he realized what the Ursa was planning to do, and sped up.

As the gigantic bear put its entire strength to hit the cave’s floor, Matthias lunged in between its legs - and found out that it happened to be a male - and, Holy Avenger once again in his hoof, slashed both hind legs’ tendons just a heartbeat after everything started shaking around them.

The bears painted cry was followed by a loud thump as it rear end collapsed, while Matthias fought to keep his balance. The cave was still shaking from the Ursa’s bash, which caused a lot of cracks to appear on the floor and many stalactites to fall down from the ceiling, perfectly visible in the light of…

Not having expected the amount of damage the cavern had just received, Matthias eyes widened as he watched the giant hammer of pure Light that he had summoned descend on the Ursa Major’s head, wondering if the cave could withstand more.

It couldn’t.

The hammer hit the Ursa and the force of the impact hurled the beast against the cave’s floor as Matthias had planned, but the damaged cavern broke. With a loud noise, the ground beneath them gave in, collapsing.

Matthias turned around in the air as they fell down, wondering how far down was the next solid stone. He wrapped himself in the Light’s protection as he tried to land on the Ursa, who was thrashing around a little under him. He didn’t worry about the bear; being so big, such fall would merely knock him out, which would gave Matthias a perfect chance to put his mind into a stasis. He also didn’t worry about what would happen to the Ursa Major, as he read in one of Twilight’s books that they were excellent climbers; which he found odd at the time, seeing as they were practically the size of mountains and didn’t seem to use that skill much.

The paladin neared the creature’s back and began to use its fur to climb up to its neck. Once Matthias reached his destination, he sat down, leaned his swords against his shoulders as if sitting in a meditation pose, and opened himself to the Light further, reaching out the the Ursa once more, letting Its calmness fill them both.

In mere seconds before they collided with the ground, the bear had stopped its frantic movements.

Daring cleared her eyes, thinking that her mind was playing tricks on her, but no, once she looked again, the stallion was still there, still sitting on the neck of an Ursa Major with two long swords.

“S-sir!?” Storm shouted out in shock beside her.

She glanced at the other pegasus to see that he gotten a hold of himself much quicker that she. He unfolded his wings and flew over to the pony, which, at the sound of his voice, looked in their direction as Storm approached him.

“‘Sir’…” Daring Do repeated in her thoughts what Storm called him. “This must mean that this is this ‘Sir Lightbringer’ he mentioned, the Grand Master of the Order…”

Mentally kicking herself for not paying a precise attention to what was happening in Equestria the past couple of months, she rose to her hooves and trotted towards them. This stallion, as unbelievable as it sounded, had just hurled an Ursa Major through the cave’s ceiling. Daring had never thought something like that would be possible, let alone that she would see it with her own eyes. And on top of all that, he was an earth pony! He must have used just his strength… or this ‘Light’ she heard about, however it worked. It was… unthinkable!

As she drew closer to the two stallions, paying little attention to what they were talking about, Daring got a good look at him. Unlike what she had expected, he was clad in a light armor made mostly out of fake leather. It made sense, considering that above was the Everfree Forest, and this type of protection was better suited for it. Half of his body was splashed in blood, which, as she realized with a jolt, was the Ursa’s - he himself hadn’t even been wounded!

Where there was no blood, Daring saw a coat of white so pure as the snow, and mane bright golden. His voice, while he currently spoke sternly to Storm, had a pleasant note to it. Daring gaze lingered a moment on his broad shoulders before they moved to his eyes - as she was close enough by then to see them - and saw that they had a quite charming blue-green color, immediately linking them to the color of the sea.

As the two stallions neared the end of their discussion, Daring pondered how to approach this Sir Lightbringer, feeling a bit hot and weak in the hind legs. It wasn’t exactly everyday you meet a pony that blasts around Ursa Majors, who is also so handsome…

Suddenly, Daring Do had realized just what in Celestia’s name was happening to her. For the first time in years, she had a crush on somepony!

120. Break

Shaking off the effects of the impact, which were minimized by the Light’s protection, and coughing from the dust that it caused to raise into the air, Matthias looked around. While the majority of his field of view was taken by the Ursa’s still form, he noticed that he was in some sort gigantic chamber. The paladin didn’t have much time to take a look at his surroundings before he heard a familiar voice calling him.

“S-sir!?”

Sir Lightbringer turned his head to see Storm Clash staring at him from the edge of the chamber, stunned. Next to him was another pegasus, much to his surprise. For what possible reason would this pony be here in these Light forsaken tunnels? His concentration, however, quickly moved back from the stranger to his subordinate, who in those few seconds managed to recover from the shock (Matthias wondered just how exactly this must have looked, him sitting on the seemingly knocked-out Ursa Major) and was flying towards him.

Not wanting to sit on a giant bear as they’d talk, Matthias slid down from the great animal’s neck to stand on the ground, which, not surprisingly, was full of cracks (which were partially covered by debris and blood) in what he now had realized were ornamented tiles. He wasn’t given much time to look at stylish curves, for Storm had joined him in a matter of seconds.

“Sir?” the gray pegasus rasped even before he landed. “What are you doing here?”

Normally, Matthias tried to radiate calmness and wisdom when around his paladins, knowing that they’d look up to him during their training. But from time to time he liked to tone that down, whenever he wanted to make them feel more at ease, or when he was irritated.

This time, it was the latter case.

“Oh,” Matthias said sarcastically. “Well, I was just in the area, and I thought that this would be a perfect place for a wine cellar- What the buck do you think I am here for!?” he snapped, making Storm cringe and move back in fear.

“Zecora came to me and told me that you flew out into the Everfree Forest like an idiot to look for some flowers mentioned in a legend! It never occurred to you that you might stumble upon something that might want to eat you?” Matthias pointed at the Ursa Major behind him. “Or did it never cross your mind that Rarity would much rather have her friend to be alive?!”

Mentioning Rarity’s name made Storm recovered and look him in the eyes. And although shame flicked on his face at what Matthias had said, he was determined when he replied:

“Yes, I know, sir, but Rarity is a mare that deserves such a gift. While I admit that I was acting... unwisely-”

“Try ‘asininely’.”

“- I do know one thing for certain, sir: until I confront Lady Rarity about my…” he paused, feeling embarrassed, before he finished: “my feelings for her, I will not die. And with all due respect, sir, nothing you say or do will change my mind.”

It wasn’t hard to spot the unease in Storm’s voice as he spoke that last part, nor the quick glance at the incapacitated Ursa Major. The gray pegasus knew, despite what he said, that if Matthias would want to actually do something, his mind would be of little importance.

However, the head paladin fought down the urge to point that out, and suppressed his annoyance. It was the first time he heard Storm admit to have feelings for Rarity - a fact which was obvious to anypony who had seen those two talk with each other - and Matthias couldn’t help but feel heartened by it.

“I have no intention of changing your mind, Storm,” he replied in a steady voice, causing the other pony to blink in surprise. It was the truth; while he didn’t plan on meddling in other ponies’ affairs - like Rarity had done - Matthias had a feeling that this stallion would make his friend happy, and if Storm was convinced he would need those flowers for that, then the head paladin would give him his full support. He was about to say that, but then he noticed that the other pegasus was approaching them.

“We will talk about this further in a moment,” Matthias said, “right now I’d like to say hello to this pony. How did you stumble upon somepony down here is beyond me.”

“Yeah…” Storm muttered, as he also glanced at the pegasus. “About that…”

Matthias glanced at the other pony, meaning to ask what did he mean to say, but his eyes snapped back to the unknown pony the very next heartbeat as his brain realized that it wasn’t unknown at all. He had seen her visage whenever in one of the few precious moments of free time he’d grab one of her books and look at the cover.

Daring Do felt her heart leap in joy as Sir Lightbringer looked at her with eyes quickly growing wide. He recognized her!

“He knows who I am!” she thought.

She then quickly poured a mental bucket of cold water on herself. It was hardly a surprise that he'd known her; she was the author and the main hero of the bestselling series of books in Equestria, after all. All her archeological discoveries, degrees and commendations - which given his position he’d probably heard off - aside, Sir Lightbringer just had to know her.

Daring shook off the stupid glee and nervousness that overtook her for a moment. Yeah, he was hot as Tartarus, and had thrown an Ursa Major through the cave’s ceiling. That was no reason for her to start acting like a stupid, wet-behind-her-ears intern again.

“Focus, Daring!” she chided herself. “Remember how your last crush ended…” Except this was a knight, sworn to defend Equestria… “Ugh, whatever! You still have a job to do here; searching for a location of a long lost civilization first, getting laid later!” But with a stallion like him she could maybe seek more than just one-night… “Okay, fine, go ask him out after you get that stone tablet in the chamber underneath the… shrine…”

The shrine which had been crushed beneath the Ursa Major.

“Well, I hope you’re happy,” she snapped at the white stallion, making him close his mouth and look at her intently in surprise. Daring’s discomposure has evaporated as soon as she realized how badly he had hindered her in her quest. She strode towards him until she stood directly in front of him and poked his chest.

“You dropped probably the heaviest thing ever on top of the ancient shrine hiding an ancient passage to an ancient chamber hiding an ancient stone tablet that could hold a key to finding the capital of the ancient and practically unknown civilization!” she screeched as she continued to poke his chest sharply.

“How am I going to get it now!?” she asked, not really expecting any answer.

Daring finally stopped and took a step back. She realized that a part of her had enjoyed the brief physical contact, but with what had transpired the idea of rolling in the hay with him was pushed down on her agenda. The tan pegasus moved away from the two other ponies, biting her lip as she pondered how to exactly move the gigantic bear.

Sir Lightbringer, in the meantime, had seemed to recover his ability to speak. “I’m sorry, I’m still trying to process how this world’s most famous explored had just bumped into the only pegasus I know that could fall down a giant underground chasm.”

Despite her anger, Daring did chuckle as she heard Storm groan in embarrassment. Her mood somewhat lifted, she turned back to them and explained. “I had entered those dungeons from an entrance that I had discovered after studying some of the Crystal Empire’s scrolls, and purely by accident I stumbled upon Storm. Good thing I did, too, as he was about to be speared by one of the Diamond Dogs’ traps.”

“Well, in that case, thank you for saving the life of my paladin,” Sir Lightbringer said, completely ignoring the irritated sight Storm had uttered.

“Eh, don’t mention it,” Daring shrugged, before turning back to the Ursa. “Say, do you have any idea how to move it?”

“Hmm…” the stallion hummed as he joined her. Daring looked up and followed his gaze. Sir Lightbringer was looking at the wound on the Ursa’s shoulder that was bigger than all three of them, but on a creature as large as it, it seemed less than a scratch. “I… might,” he finally said, and something in the expression he bore as he said those words told Daring that she wasn’t going to like that idea. “But before I help you out, I need to take care of something.”

Daring looked curiously as he turned back to Storm. “Storm-”

But the pegasus paladin cut him off. “Sir, I’m sorry, but I’m not going back until I find some Eon Petals for Rarity.”

While she couldn’t help but feel impressed at her companion’s refusal to listen to a pony that just flattened an Ursa Major, Daring had silently uttered a prayed for his soul.

To her surprise, however, Sir Lightbringer had merely raised his eyebrows. “I wasn’t going to order you to stop your search,” he said, making both Daring and Storm stare at him. “I can see that it’s important for you to get those flowers for Rarity. Why it’s beyond me, as it’s obvious to everypony with eyes that she already likes you,” he added, and Daring had to suppress a giggle as she saw Storm’s features brighten. “But as such, then as your friend, not superior, I will not stop you… although, given what I had to go through tonight to find you and that backtalk a minute ago, I might do something horrible to you in the future.”

“Err… well, thank you, sir,” Storm said carefully, as if wondering if he should be happy or worried. Gazing at the Ursa, Daring assumed the latter. “But how did you find me?”

“Al’ar flew me in the direction Zecora told me, then landed where I saw the signs that the manticore forced you to land-”

“How did you knew it was a manticore?”

“Because it tried to eat me next,” Sir Lightbringer replied nonchalantly. “Afterwards, I tracked you by ground until I lost your trail. I then looked for a place you might’ve went to look for the Eon Petals. If I’d been a minute faster, I could’ve reached you before the cave-in,” he added as he began unstrapping the sword from his back. “I had a feeling that you might’ve fallen down into some tunnels of the Diamond Dogs’ empire and I came to the place that could have tunnels going as deep. Here you go.”

Storm caught the glowing with golden light blade that the other stallion threw him. “My Spring Binder!”

“If you plan to continue your quest, then you’ll need your weapon,” Sir Lightbringer explained as he pulled out another set of armor from his saddlebag. “And some protection. Also, seeing how you might need something to fight in close quarters, I’m lending you this.”

The oddly crooked and curved dagger with a gleaming blue-white gem that Sir Lightbringer gave the pegasus stallion caught Daring’s eye. She looked at it fascinated as Storm lifted it to admire it’s blade. Even from where she stood, her trained eyes noticed that it was really old, ancient maybe.

“It must be at least a few thousand years old…” she thought as she mused where did the white paladin got it.

“It’s not Pegasi Armada’s, Crystal Empire’s, Saddle Arabia’s… definitely not Aquestria’s… and it’s also not the work of either of zebra’s tribes, or the griffons’, minotaurs’, and judging by those spears the statues I saw so far were holding, neither Diamond Dogs’…”

“It’s a memento from the fight that left my chest with that wide scar,” Sir Lightbringer explained, seeing Storm’s interest in the dagger. “Brann dropped by today and brought it, along with some other mementos of mine.”

“Are they all daggers?” Daring asked, wondering where this Brann came from.

The white paladin chuckled. “No, but they are all weapons I took from powerful opponents I defeated before I came to Equestria.”

Daring’s ears perked up. “So he’s not from Equestria…” Sir Lightbringer’s face took on a thoughtful expression, and he glanced at the Ursa.

“In the cave above us should be a large fang of it I cut off; do you think I should take it?” He shook his head as Daring and Storm exchanged looks outside of his vision before he turned back to them. “Anyway, that blade name is Stormfury; I figure having a weapon like that with you might bring you extra luck.”

“Thank you, sir,” Storm said, as he quickly put on the armor and placed the dagger in a strap, then the big sword over his back. “I’ll give it back to you soon.”

“You should be able to find an exit from the cave somewhere up above,” Sir Lightbringer continued. “Outside will be Al’ar; please, tell him to wait a bit longer, and be ready to come here when I call him,” he paused to scratch his chin. “Actually, maybe it’ll be better if you beg him, not tell.”

“I’ll… keep that in mind, sir. Does this mean you’ll be staying here with Daring?”

“Seeing as I owe her for saving you and so far I haven’t exactly helped her, it’s only right that I’ll lend her a hoof with getting that… stone tablet, correct?”

Daring nodded, trying to not show how much the prospect of staying with him alone appealed to her. She did her best to kick out of her head all the images that came to her mind at the thought; she wasn’t about to jump on him down here, not with all the traps and the unconscious Ursa Major… which they still had to move somehow.

“As for you, Storm...” the white stallion turned back to the gray one. “Bear in mind that even with those weapons, the forest above will be still dangerous. Don’t let your guard down for a minute.”

“Don’t worry, sir, I’ll be fine.”

“Right…” Sir Lightbringer looked around, clearly contemplating how well he had done so far. Judging by the slight flush Daring noticed on Storm’s cheeks, he must have realized it too. “If you’re not back by the dawn after Rarity’s birthday, I’ll lead a search party to find you, got it?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good, now, one more thing…” he said as he stepped closer to him. “As you know, Rarity’s a dear friend of mine, and while I don’t plan to try to affect her private life in any way, I think you’ll be a good stallion for her. However,” he trailed off, and Daring barely saw the movement as a hoof quickly seized Storm and pulled him right in front of Lightbringer’s face, “if you cause her pain - which will happen if you die out there - I’ll make your life a living Tartarus.”

Perhaps it was the calm, cold tone in which he said it, but something in his voice told Daring that he would follow up this threat. She sympathized with Storm as the poor stallion shook. For his sake, he’d better prove to be the best coltfriend Equestria had ever seen.

“Umm… s-sir?” Storm tried to speak, while at the same time attempting to backpedal, which, with Sir Lightbringer still holding him wasn’t going to work. “I-if I would die… I don’t think I would have to worry… he he…”

“Oh, you would be surprised…” the white stallion said ominously, narrowing his eyes, before he took a step back, released Storm, and patted him heavily on the back. “Well, off you go!” he said cheerfully.

Even from where she stood Daring could hear the other pegasus swallowing. She fought hard to not chuckle at the poor stallion’s experience. While Sir Lightbringer was speaking truth, that there would be a way for him to torment Storm even if he laid in grave (after all the crazy things that happened to her, the idea wasn’t anything new to her), she wondered how exactly he wanted to do that, if at all.

In the meantime, Storm shook off the effect Sir Lightbringer's words had on him, and with a quick nod to his superior, he jumped into the air. He paused briefly to look at Daring Do.

“It’s been a pleasure, Daring,” he said, his voice betraying that he was still a bit shaken. “Thanks again for saving my life.”

“Heh, no problem, hon,” she replied, smiling. “Best of luck with finding those flowers.”

“Thanks!” he said as he soared up high.

As soon as Storm was a little more than a spackle of light that both his wing and his sword emanated, Daring looked at the stallion that was still with her (not that she complained).

“So, do you always control your subordinates with fear?”

“Only when they try to date one of my friends,” Sir Lightbringer replied casually as he turned back to the bear. “Now then, are you ready to take care of that?”

“Hm? Oh, right…” she said as she looked at him trotting over to the wound of Ursa’s shoulder.

“Where’d you and Storm come from?” he asked as he pressed his hoof near it - as near as he could be, with the creature being so big. “Was it some kind of dungeon?”

“Yeah, it’s over there where we stood when you… fell…”

Her words trailed off as she watched the spectacle before her. A golden light had appeared around Sir Lightbringer’s hoof, and before Daring’s mind could even properly register that, it spread to the Ursa Major, enveloping it surprisingly quickly. And as she watched, she saw how the great wound began closing.

“Is the entrance to the tunnel big enough for the the Ursa Major to reach there with a paw?” Sir Lightbringer continued to ask her as he somehow healed the great animal.

“Um…” Daring hummed and looked at its paw after giving her head a good shake. “No, it’s way too big… wait,” she paused. Something in that line of questioning stroke her as odd. “Why do you ask?”

“Have anypony ever told you that you’re crazy?!” Daring screamed as both of them headed towards the tunnel’s entrance she had mentioned earlier.

The sound of a very angry Ursa Major waking up erupted from behind them much faster than Matthias had anticipated, as if to add her question a justification. When he reached out the great animal to cancel the effect of Light’s touch invoke on its mind, the paladin had assumed that it would take longer for it to recover.

As they ran, Matthias contemplated her question. He was about to answer “yes”, but then he paused mentally. Many people called him a “mad prince” but technically that was a different term. And then there was Twilight, although she meant it in more endearing sorta way…

“I don’t know. Maybe?” Matthias asked as they dove into the tunnel.

Daring shoot him an irritated look and opened her mouth to probably comment on that, but within those few seconds it took her to come up with a reply the Ursa Major had reached the tunnel’s entrance. They both lost their hoofing as they felt as if the entire mountain shook when the Ursa Major bashed against the chamber’s wall. An angry roar resounded as the great bear tried to reach them with its paw, but the passage was too narrow.

“Okay, that part worked…” Matthias gaged, but seeing the look Daring gave him, he amended: “After a fashion. Now we just have to wait until it realizes that it can’t reach us and climbs out of here.”

“Might take a couple hours,” Daring shouted so that he could hear her over the sound of claws slashing against the stone. She sat down and leaned against the tunnel’s wall. “So… given how I didn’t have to introduce myself, I take it you know me?”

“Oh, yes,” he replied, also raising his voice. Matthias wondered how long it would take for the Ursa to get bored.

“Friends of mine are huge fans of your books, and they had practically forced me to read the first one. After that I also got into them.” he answered.

“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed them.”

“Although, if I might ask: why did you start writing about your adventures?” he asked, trying to not sound as if he was accusing her of being hungry for attention.

Daring Do sighed and rubbed her temples. “Oh, that… believe it or not, it all started from losing a bet.”

“Losing a bet?” Matthias repeated, now even more curious.

“Ugh, don’t ask… let’s just say that my college years weren’t my proudest days. Anyway, after the first book, everypony begged for a sequel, so I wrote it, then another, and so on. But!” she stopped and looked at him sharply with a weird smile.

“Enough about me. Who exactly are you, where did you come from if you’re not from Equestria, and where did you get that dagger? It doesn’t look like anything I had ever seen, and in that case it means it’s not from… pretty much everywhere, I suppose.”

Matthias blinked. That was a lot of questions.

“Oh, well…” he trailed off for a few seconds, trying to recall what exactly he used to tell everypony. “I came from the land on the other side of the planet. It’s called Azeroth.”

Seeing her confused gaze, he continued: “I’m not surprised you haven’t hear about it; our continent isn’t as big as Equestria or Griffonia, and due to the strong water currents we never tried to bother exploring the world.”

The long, studious gaze Daring gave him was beginning to make him uncomfortable. He was about to say something to change the subject, but then she said: “Yeah, I don’t buy it.”

“Oh, crap…”

“Aside from the matter of how you got there - which you would probably try explain with some magic experiment going awry - there is also the fact that I happen to know for certain that there are no more continents other than Equestria and Griffonia.”

“Really?” he asked, surprised. “How so?”

“Considering that will be in my newest book, I don’t think it will be fair from me to give you any spoilers,” Daring replied, winking.

“But let’s just say that there was a spell that projected a globe, which also included the modern day Griffonia,” she shrugged. “So, where are you really from?”

To buy himself time, Matthias looked at the entrance to the chamber. Judging by the growls and sounds of scratching, the Ursa was still trying to get them. The paladin pondered if it wouldn’t be better for him to go over there…

“It’s… complicated,” Matthias finally sighed. He doubted he would be as lucky as earlier. But before he could go further… “You’re not going to publish this, right?”

Daring sighed in annoyance. “Why does everypony ask that?” Daring turned her head towards Matthias, looking at him sharply. “Look, first, I don’t write about other ponies’ life stories, and second: I think I’m going to skip a lot of what happened this night. I mean, I wrote about a lot of crazy stuff, but nopony is going to believe that a pony can knock off an Ursa Major! The same reason why everypony believes the story of how the Neighagra Falls was created is just a legend.”

Matthias gave her a confused gaze and she explained: “It says that Commander Hurricane fought an Ursa Major there, destroying half of the mountain range and making the river just drop where it does instead of slowly descending… you know, seeing how you handled that one, it might be true after all…” she mused while Matthias tried to comprehend just how Commander Hurricane did that, before Daring Do shrugged. “So, you were saying?”

Perhaps Matthias shouldn’t discount such small facts that he died and was brought back to life, that he was evil or wasn’t always a pony, but when he told Daring that he was from a whole other world that she almost immediately became excited and began asking him how it was in comparison to Equestria. She also asked him what sentient creatures lived there, how advanced their civilizations was, and so on.

“You know…” she stopped him about an hour after they’ve gotten into the subject. Matthias ceased explaining her how only recently did the tauren made permanent settlements after generations of nomadic existence.

“I find it really odd that a world so distant from ours could have two races so similar to each other,” the pegasus said, meaning obviously the tauren and the minotaurs, “or having such similar traditions, like the zebra and those trolls.”

Matthias very slowly nodded. Indeed, now that he thought about it, it was weird. Especially in regards to tauren and minotaurs. As far as Matthias knew, the tauren race was one of the “native” races of Azeroth. The humans, dwarves and gnomes, for example, were all descendants from titans’ creations. Could it be possible that two such different worlds could give birth to such similar races by themselves?

“And what about dragons?!” Matthias wondered. They were both on Azeroth and Equestria, and yet where in the former case they were guardians, in the latter most of those dragons was a little more than bullies. “How come-”

“Oh, and don’t think for a second that I haven’t noticed that you didn’t say a single word about ponies,” Daring’s voice interrupted his musing.

Matthias deadpanned, but when he looked at the explorer, he saw her ear perking and glancing at the exit. “Although, I guess it can wait.”

Only now did Matthias realize that at some point while they talked, the sounds of the angry Ursa Major trying to dig through the stone to get them had cased, and the noise they now heard was of scraping stone was coming from somewhere further in the chamber.

Sharing an uncertain glance, the two ponies quietly made their way towards the exit from the tunnel. They stopped right before it, and, standing besides the opposite walls, they took a peek. It was fairly easy to spot the Ursa, with its fur glowing softly in the darkness. It was high up on the chamber’s walls, climbing its way out.

Without making a sound, Matthias and Daring glanced at each other, nodded, and set out slowly. They took great care to not draw the Ursa’s attention; for a being as big as it, he could still drop from the wall without much risk to itself and attack them. Neither of them spoke as they passed many boulders, which used to be part of the ceiling that was above the chamber - or pulverized remains of the the statues and stone columns.

The place where the shrine stood was easy to locate. Apart from the remains of it still being somewhat recognizable, the passage downstairs - which was, thankfully, still usable - was a big clue.

Matthias stood by as Daring entered first, then followed her. He feared they would have go down those stairs for hours, seeing that the floor must have been thick enough to survive under the Ursa, but inside, just a few steps lower, awaited them a pleasant surprise.

“A teleport platform?” Daring mused in a slightly surprised and impressed tone as they looked at the small white circles that glowed as they neared it. “I didn’t know diamond dogs could use magic in the past… or at least understand it enough to create a rune working for teleportation.”

Having said that, she jumped on the platform, and disappeared with a white flash. Matthias, who’s been staring at it for a few seconds, was thankful for the small miracle, followed her. The sensation he felt for a heartbeat was familiar to him - it was no different than a normal teleportation. Matthias waited for his eyes to adjust back again to the low light of Daring’s flashlight as he joined her.

As his sight slowly returned after the flash of teleportation, Matthias saw that the chamber they were in was basically a much, much smaller version of the one above them. Around them were statues of diamond dogs, except where a shrine stood was a small pedestal… with a giant, three muzzled and six-armed statue directly behind it.

“Huh, that’s new…” the tan pegasus mused as she looked at the strange depiction of a diamond dog.

Matthias was about to agree with her, but then, something that they had both thought of at the first sign of the statues just happened. The big one twitched, and with a loud, resonating crunching noise it began to rise.

“Interlopers!” much to their surprise, a voice came from its three mouths. “You shall pay for your intrusion!”

An odd zapping sound came from behind them. As all the other statues around them began moving, Matthias had the strangest feeling that their escape route has been sealed off.

“Well, that escalated quickly,” Daring noticed as she looked around and moved slightly to the back. “Aside from the big one, there’s about… twenty.”

Matthias couldn’t help himself. Hearing the nonchalant tone of Daring’s voice, he snorted with laughter. Daring also smirked as they both rose on their hind legs and stood pressing their backs to each other.

“So, how about you take care of the big fellow, while I do something about the others?” Daring suggested as the guardians slowly advanced.

“Should be easy enough,” Matthias noted as his designated target equipped a weapon into each of the six arms. “I might even lend you a hoof once I’m done… wait, do you have any weapons?”

“A combat knife, although I don’t think it will be of much use.”

“Here,” Matthias said as his hooves took out the two other daggers he brought, Heaven’s Fall and Tel’thas, and presented them to Daring over their shoulders, “take these.”

He felt her shiver as she took the blades, no doubt impressed with the weapons.

“Nice,” she said, admiring them.

“Do you know how to turn the teleportation platform back on?” Matthias asked, raising his only concern as he summoned the Holy Avenger.

“Hm? Oh, don’t worry, a trap by itself cannot turn those off completely,” Daring replied reassuringly. “It will probably turn back on by the time we’ll be done.”

“Okay then, good luck!” Matthias shouted as he charged at the six-armed dog.

“Break a leg!” Daring shouted back as she flew at the closest of the smaller statues.

The paladin found himself unable to not respond other than with: “I intend to!”

Daring mused at the craftsmanship of the blades Sir Lightbringer loaned her, as they effortlessly cut through the stone, decapitating one of the statutes. Of course, that didn’t hinder its movements, making the pegasus dodge with a roll and whirl around while slashing at another one, leaving a deep X-like mark on its chest.

“This might take a while…” she pondered as she flew out of reach of them, and shoot a quick look at the paladin’s direction. It was very easy to spot him; as he was illuminated by the Light; which she got a short description about during her questioning about Azeroth. Much to her chagrin, she saw that the big statue was already missing one of its arms.

“As if I’m going to lose here!” she thought, her attention back again on her opponents and she plunged at them.

She wasn’t worried at all. Being no stranger to fights, Daring knew when she was on a winning side, that is, unless it turned out her partner would be playing for the other team (not in the cute sorta way), which pretty much ended with her having something sharp pressed against her back (again, not in the cute sorta way) just when she was about to win. However, with Sir Lightbringer, who emanated trust, kindness and equity, she just knew that would never be the case.

“Although,” she smirked as she cut the statues “if this night ends up with me having something involving him pressed against my back, I don’t think I would mind much.”

Author's Note

Sorry it's been a while since I uploaded the new chapter, but there were several factors that lead to this, further explained here. It's also explained there that there will be even longer break before a new chapter will get here, sorry.

In other news, I have 3 new proofreaders: Vrilix, Merchent343, and TexPony. Now that there are 7 people in total working on making this fic readable I hope that there won't be any more stupid grammar mistakes.

121. Secrets of the Founders

With one last slash, Daring Do severed the remaining statue’s arm and separated its chest from the rest of its body. As the last guardian of the chamber fell down, once again becoming unanimated rock - only this time, in pieces - the adventurous pegasus couldn’t help but admire her hoofwork, even though the merit wasn’t just hers.

Daring’s look slid from her surroundings to the daggers she held in her hooves, and the gentle, golden light surrounding both them and her. While she just marveled at the lethal beauty of those blades, she couldn’t deny that the aura around her body had the first place on her list of interests right now.

“So, this is the ‘Holy Light’, I take?” Daring called out to Sir Lightbringer.

It felt incredible. She was faster and stronger ever since the aura appeared around her, and it wasn’t just that. Her mind felt much clearer: she could think swiftly and her reactions were quicker. Most importantly, there was this strange warmth in her heart, making her feel safe, despite still having to deal with eleven statues then.

The pony sitting casually on top of the rubble that used to be the six-armed stone guardian nodded. “Paladins are able to channel the powers of the Light to aid them and their allies in battle, as well as heal and protect.”

Daring tried to not show the embarrassment at the memory from a few minutes earlier when a golden shield had formed around her, saving her from a nasty blow to her shoulder.

“Mind explaining why you were waiting until then to help me?” she asked flying towards the pedestal, hoping he hadn’t seen the slight blush.

“I was curious as to how skilled you exactly are,” Sir Lightbringer replied, jumping down from the rubble. “Forgive me, but I wondered if you hadn’t… embellished some things in your books.” He met her in front of the pedestal and bowed his head. “I’m sorry for ever thinking so; you’re an excellent fighter.”

Once again, his words caused her to blush. Even though the fight managed to take some of her tension, now that they were out of danger she once more began to feel the heat in certain parts of her body. That sensation had nothing to do with the Holy Light, which was starting to disperse anyway.

“Flattery will get you nowhere, big guy,” she lied as she turned to the pedestal, though she couldn’t help herself from flicking her tail in front of his muzzle. “Now, I need to take this tablet, and we can get going; wouldn’t want to stay down here forever, right?”

“Of course,” Sir Lightbringer agreed, taking a step back. “I’ll leave you to it, and in the meantime I shall check if our escape route had activated already.”

Daring noted absentmindedly, focusing on the tablet. It was about one and half hoof wide and twice as long. The gray stone was covered in symbols and letters that she had seen on some other diamond dog’s structures, but hadn’t got a clue as to how to read yet.

“All in good time,” she thought to herself, simply taking the tablet and placing it in her saddlebags. “Now then… how to get that hunk? I mean, I just flicked my tail in front of him and he hadn’t reacted, so he’s obviously as dull as every other decent stallion.”

She turned around as the ceiling began slowly coming down.

“I suppose I could just throw myself at him, have a fun night, then wake up the next day, start cuddling and see what comes next,” Daring pondered as she trotted back to the teleport platform, ignoring the concerned shouts of Sir Lightbringer. “Ugh, I hope he isn’t going to think that I’m some sort of tramp. But it’s not like I have the time for dating… Wait, when was I supposed to give that lecture at Canterlot University?!” she recalled with a bit of panic, but she quickly relaxed. “Phew, I still have two days.”

“Err, Daring?” Sir Lightbringer question caused her to look at him. She raised a brow. “The ceiling is coming down, and the teleport platform hadn’t reactivated yet.”

Glancing down to see that he was right, Daring, reached to her saddlebags, picked up a small shining gem, and scraped it against the floor. After a few seconds, the circles shone with light once more.

Winking at the stallion, Daring placed the gem back in her saddlebags and entered the platform, immediately appearing under the ruins of the shrine in the chamber above them. A heartbeat later Sir Lightbringer was standing next to her, looking both relieved and annoyed.

“On which book are you, exactly?” Daring asked, taking great amusement from this.

“On fourth,” he said, sitting down rubbing his temples. “Forgive me, but I hadn’t got too much free time as of late.”

“No prob, but just so you know, at some point I noticed that it doesn’t really matter how carefully you look, there is always some trap you’re going to miss,” she told him, smirking, as she began to trot up the stairs. “So instead I just carry with myself everything that could help in situations like those.”

“It’s a true relief to know that in advance,” the white stallion chided her, but there was a smirk on his face.

“Good,” the pegasus said. She stretched out alluringly as they reached the now unappealing ruins outside, courtesy of the hunk she was going to bang soon. “Say, do you know a place I could crash at?” she asked, glancing back.

To her disappointment, Sir Lightbringer’s eyes stopped at her flank for only a split second. “Am I losing it?”

“There are plenty of free quarters at the Everfree Abbey,” he replied, stepping outside of the passage. “You’re more then welcome to pick whichever you like and stay as long as you want.”

“Your place, then,” she smirked under her breath.

“Thanks, though I won’t be staying long, I have to be in Canterlot in two days,” she said, flexing her wings. It then suddenly hit her that the earth pony had no way of exiting the dungeon like she. “Hey, how do you plan to get out of here?”

Instead of replying, Sir Lightbringer grinned, lifted a hoof to his mouth, and whistled. The noise carried across the empty cave, bouncing off the walls.

“What, are you hoping to catch a cab?” Daring asked with sarcasm, though inside she was interested.

“Huh?” he questioned, looking at her with confusion. “What do you mean?”

Daring raised an eyebrow. “I mean-” she began, but trailed off as something bright emerged through the hole in the ceiling. Daring stared, being startled, as the big ball of light descended. She quickly managed to distinguish it figures, and she realized that what was coming down could only be a giant phoenix.

She took a cautious step back as the big bird of fire - literally - landed next to Sir Lightbringer. “Thank you for waiting so patiently, Al’ar,” the stallion said, bowing his head respectfully.

Despite her stupor, Daring managed to recall the name Sir Lightbringer had mentioned to Storm. She wondered how the gray pegasus felt telling the phoenix to wait.

Al’ar didn’t seemed interested in Sir Lightbringer’s greeting, as he cawed somewhat indifferently and turned his scorching ruby eye to her, making her slightly nervous.

“Daring, this is Al’ar, the Phoenix God,” the paladin introduced them. “Al’ar, this is Daring Do, Equestria’s greatest explorer.”

Daring quickly glanced at the stallion to see him smirk at her discomposure. Turning to Al’ar, she tipped her hat: “Charmed.”

“So, seeing how it’s quite the flight from here to the Abbey,” Matthias started as they soared through the sky above the Everfree Forest, him riding on Al’ar, “care to share some stories to pass the time? I told you about my world, you could return the favor.”

“Why?” Daring asked, flying beside Al’ar. Both of them were keeping a casual pace, as the pegasus had a priceless relic in her saddlebags. She smirked. “Do you want to spoil my books for yourself?”

Matthias rolled his eyes. It slipped his mind that he could just read about her adventures in her other books. “Then tell me something that you hadn’t written yet,” he said, with his mouth twisted into a grin. “Oh, please do that. I could torture a friend of mine that’s a huge fan of yours.”

His grin chipped off on Daring. “Heh, that sounds like a fun plan,” she said playfully. “Though nothing as exciting as tonight happened to me as of late… however, I can tell you what discoveries I made during summer. I think you will find it interesting, to say the least.” Looking at him more seriously, Daring added: “Though you will have to keep quiet about it. Aside from me, only Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are privy to all the details.”

“Why? What were you researching?” Matthias asked, with a touch concerned.

“The history of ponies prior to Founding of Equestria,” Daring replied, crossing her forelegs as she grew serious. “Because of Discord, there is a lot of we don’t know about the period before the rule of Celestia and Luna, but compared with the time before that those lacks seem small. Though it’s understandable, really; when the Three Tribes journeyed to the land the Founders had found, they couldn’t carry much, so they left behind unnecessary excesses. Scrolls of lore and history were among those excesses. Granted, the unicorns did take a lot of documents, books and scrolls with them,” Daring amended with a roll of her eyes, “but those were mostly either about genealogy of various noble families, or spells books.”

Matthias facehoofed when he heard about the nobles’ concern, wondering just how it was possible for a certain social class to act exactly the same as its counterpart from a completely different species would.

“Anyway, for some time there were voices in Canterlot University’s circles about the need to launch an expedition to the Frozen North, and discover our forgotten past. Finally they got permission this year from the Princesses… provided that I would lead it,” the pegasus added with a wink.

“So you spent this summer searching for the traces of ponykind’s former homes?”

“Not just traces,” Daring corrected. “And not just searching. We found all three capitals and some bigger cities still intact. Well, to some extent; two thousand years among all that snow and ice did a number on them. But still, we were able to discover a lot!” she exclaimed in excitement, “Trade agreements in Stalliongrad, battle reports in Stormpolis, spellbooks in Unicolt, and including a few spellbooks written by Star Swirl the Bearded himself!”

“I didn’t take you for one to be so excited just about finding documents,” Matthias commented while thinking how Twilight would have reacted about the news.

Daring chuckled. “Well, yeah, if that was everything, I might have grown a bit bored there those few months, and I would have little to write about. However, there were some exciting moments; the windigoes might have been banished a long time ago, but there were some other dangerous critters that made their homes amongst the ruins. But still,” she shook, “what we found was amazing. And later, when we compared those documents with notes in the Crystal Empire’s library about the beginning of Equestria, we got answers to many intriguing questions.”

“Such as…?”

“Why on every painting or statue Commander Hurricane is portrayed he is wearing his armor,” the pegasus replied, and Matthias noticed, to his surprise, that her mood grew bitter. “Why there isn’t a single mention of him without it anywhere. Why nopony today knows how his cutie mark looked like. You see, there were some medical reports amongst our findings, including Hurricane’s.”

“And what in them?” he asked, intrigued.

“He didn’t have a cutie mark,” Daring said, her eyes becoming grim in the light of Al’ar’s body. “Griffons of the Snowfeather Tribe that enslaved him as a foal seared the skin on his flanks off.”

Matthias eyes grew wide. Being a pony for some time now, he grew to appreciate cutie marks; his was the symbol of the order he once belonged to, symbolizing that his destiny was tied with the Holy Light and the ways of the paladins. To hear that a pony was denied to not only have the mark of his destiny, but to ever know what it was, too…

“And his back was covered in scars,” Daring continued. “I suspect that’s why he always wore his armor: to spare the sight the other tribes, which were much less violent. They already had problems looking at his scarred face.”

“I recall reading that he had quite the record with the mares, though,” Matthias couldn’t help but point out.

“True, but most of them were pegasi, who perceived the scars as marks of the battles the pegasus fought. As for the rumors about him bedding the maids of Platinum…” she shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe the rumors weren’t true?”

Matthias shook his head. Truth to be told, he wasn’t really that interested in that information. “But still, what the griffons did to him… I’m kinda surprised that they didn’t also break his wings. If they were that cruel…”

“They did keep him in Griffenburg as a live training dummy for their kids,” Daring said more briskly. “The griffons needed him to be able to use his wings so that their youngsters could learn how to fight a pegasus. That most certainly backfired on them. In a few short years since they started those training sessions, he gained so much skills that they began to call him The Hurricane of Destruction, the name under which he became known to the entire world. When he had finally escaped - taking down Ulrich, the chieftain of the Snowfeather Tribe, and a number of elite warriors that went to chase after him - he put those skills to use.”

The stallion nodded; that part had been known to him. In fact, he found the similarities between Commander Hurricane and Thrall, the former Warchief of the Horde, to be amusing.

“We also found out about the battle he fought that made Commander Thunderbolt chose him as her second-in-command,” Daring Do continued, visibly excited to reveal historic information about the leader of the pegasi. “He was leading a recon team deep into the Snowfeather territory. They were discovered, however, and had to make their way back, but the griffons outnumbered them, and managed to surround them a few hours away from No Wings’ Land. To let his wounded and exhausted comrades get away, Hurricane stayed behind as a decoy and fought off the enemy.” She turned to him and smirked. “He fought with over a thousand griffons.”

Matthias had almost slide off Al’ar from the shock. “W-what?!” he exclaimed, pulling himself up, as the phoenix cawed, irritated. “You’re joking, right? A thousand enemies all by himself?! That’s impossible!”

“I didn’t say the records showed that he won,” Daring replied. “Although he did fight for hours until he collapsed from exhaustion. Luckily just then the reinforcements had arrived, led by Commander Thunderbolt.”

The paladin shook his head. Was such thing even possible? A mortal to fight against such odds… Sure, they weren’t much different from the odds Alexandros Mograine had faced at the gates of Stratholme, but he was a paladin armed with the Ashbringer. Hurricane had to fight against living opponents, who were predators by nature, without such weapon.

Was Commander Hurricane even a mortal? Suddenly, Matthias began to suspect that the tales of the legendary pegasus leader being the greatest warrior of all time amongst just ponies to be underestimating.

“Aaww!” Daring, smiling snidely. “Is somepony feeling threatened?”

Matthias pulled himself from his musing. “No, why would I feel threatened? In fact, I find it to be a pity that he lived so long ago; it would have been an honor to meet such a great warrior in person. You’d agree, I bet?” he asked with a smirk. “You seem to be really enjoying talking about Commander Hurricane.”

“Well, of course!” Daring beamed up. “I mean, him being a pegasus aside,” she wiggled her wings, causing her to lose some attitude and fall back before she leveled out her flight. Quickly catching up with Al’ar, she continued, “he was the most awesome - or, well, one of the two most awesome - pony of the six Founders of Equestria, and they were all amazing ponies. Take your pick!

“Puddinghead was the driving force between unifying the laws of all Three Tribes and writing of the first constitution,” the tan pegasus began to count the services of the Founders of Equestria. “Given how Commander Hurricane despised King Goldest, and how the unicorn leader believed himself to be the most important pony ever and was above compromises, any agreements between the three parties would have been impossible if it weren’t for the earth pony leader’s efforts. Also, according to the records we found, he was the first uncorrupted chancellor of the earth ponies in the last few decades, and the only one ever to be elected for a third tenure.

“When he had finally resigned, his former assistant, Smart Cookie, was chosen to be his successor, as the last chancellor prior to the writing of the second constitution that disestablished the Council of Equestria and gave full power over the country to Queen Platinum. Smart Cookie was also the only mare ever to hold the position. She served during the Equestrian-Griffonian War as quartermaster, and it was thanks to her organizing skills that Equestrian Army had supplies at every front. When mares in Equestria had begun to disappear under strange circumstances, it was her that led the investigation that pointed to Saddle Arabia as the culprit. Smart Cookie could also be praised that she and her husband were the first mixed couple in Equestria, and at that she was the only of the Founders to marry a pony of a different pony kind. Thought to be fair,” Daring amended with a roll of eyes, “other than her only Platinum had gotten married after Equestria was founded, and Puddinghead was married for many years prior.

“Pansy -whose name so unfairly became a slang word for… a not so brave pony- is widely believed to be the Founder who had the smallest impact on Equestria. Everypony underestimates how much her death had affected Commander Hurricane.”

“You know,” Matthias interrupted her, “I don’t think I saw anywhere mentioned how exactly she died.”

“That’s because nopony knows. It is said that her death was too horrifying for ponies to speak about it, and it filled the griffons with too much shame. The only thing that is known for sure is that she had fallen into an ambush laid by King Friedrich for Hurricane. To this day, Pansy’s remains are forbidden by a royal decree from performing autopsy on.”

For all his experience with the dead, Matthias shuddered to think just what exactly must have befallen Pansy to have her corpse forbidden to look at.

“Her death changed Hurricane,” Daring continued, her voice and face once again growing dark. “The ten years of peace after the tribes came to live in Equestria had made him less violent, and calmer. His relationship with Pansy had also contributed to it. When the war began, he concentrated on defensive and kept reaching out with peace offers. And bear in mind that King Friedrich, who unified the tribes of griffons, was the son of Ulrich, the one who had enslaved Hurricane as a foal. However, the griffon king rejected one peace offer after another, and after he murdered Pansy, there was no chance for peace until one - either Equestria or Griffonia - was crushed. Now, the chronicles of the war do not mention exactly those last few months of it, but…” the pegasus trailed off, “there are recorded orders for additional supplies for the prison camps. Well, apparently, the very next day after Pansy’s death every single griffon from thousands of prisoners had suddenly no need for food,” she shook with dread. “Hurricane was known among both griffons and pegasi as ‘Terror of the Skies’ even before he became the Commander of the Pegasi Armada, but since the last year of war he gained a new nickname: ‘Monster in Pony’s Skin’. To this day, griffons still fear him, and the tales of him are used to scare their cubs similarly how ponies use the stories about the Headless Horse.

“He must have been really devastated...” Matthias murmured, some part of him wondering how he would have reacted in his horseshoes.

What had hurt him more? That his beloved had died in such horrible way that nobody, even the griffons, wanted to make any records for history? That the ambush was laid for him? Or that if he had pressed for offensive from the beginning, things would have been different?

“Well, it’s not like he didn’t have any anger control issues before. In fact, I think that Pansy’s ability to calm him down should be counted amongst her feats… right next to establishing the Wonderbolts.”

It took Matthias a whole five seconds to understand just what he heard. When he did, his jaw dropped. “You’re pulling my tail on this one,” he said after his vocal functions returned.

“Nope,” Daring replied. “It’s really interesting how only few ponies know that despite having no heart for combat, Pansy was an excellent flier. She formed the Wonderbolts sometime after founding Equestria, so that the other tribes could see a different side of pegasi and not associate flying with just fighting and controlling the weather. Soon the group had begun to be called to perform on some events, shows, and they gradually evolved into what they are known today. Pansy, however, had quickly resigned from her position as their leader, as she wanted to remain at Hurricane’s side. Oh, and before you ask, she named the group after her mother, Wonderbolt, after whom she inherited her flying skills.”

“Huh,” Matthias thought, still in shock. “Can’t wait to tell Rainbow Dash that.”

Daring, on the other hoof, was brushing her chin in, pondering. “Who’s left… oh, right, Clover the Clever. Apprentice of Star Swirl the Bearded, she would have probably succeeded him as Archmage of Unicolt if it weren’t for her sex and parentage. She was a bastard,” the pegasus explained when Matthias shot her a confused look, “which is another bit of information we discovered this summer. Her father was King Goldest, making her and Platinum half-sisters. One of the reasons why Commander Hurricane despised him so much was the lack of attention he was paying to his daughter, as marriages and bastards were foreign matters to pegasi. During the war, Hurricane chose her to lead the newly established Magic Corps, despite Goldest protests. She developed many spells for the sake of war - as shooting magic beams was about the only offensive spell know prior to that - and the scrolls about them are mostly locked in secret vaults somewhere in Canterlot. Clover wasn't as powerful as her mentor, but she learned a precise magic control to let her cast spells with a minimal amount of magic. There are some records that say that she could fill in for the entire Arcane Council and raise the Sun or the Moon by herself. The full extent of her abilities is unknown, however, as she was never one for much attention, so Queen Platinum had probably made sure there weren’t many documentations regarding her.”

The pegasus took a small break to catch her break, before turning to him with a smirk. “Now…” Daring trailed off. “we are left with the two most important from the group, the ones that became rivals for the position neither of them really wanted: the sole ruler of Equestria.

“The ponies of Equestria grew tired with the Council that was established at the birth of the nation. The entire decision making was taking too long. Every member of the Council - which, in full attendance, counted fifteen members - wanted to present her or his thoughts on the matter, even though the voices of the three leaders carried most weight. Since the idea was somewhat based on the earth pony’s democracy, it’s really not that surprising there were some troubles with it; after all, a lot of chancellors before Puddinghead were corrupted and valued their wealth more than other ponies’ lives. And then there was also the matter of the inner politics in each tribe, especially troublesome in case of the unicorns. Due to the rules established in the first constitution, inner politics of each tribe were their own business, and the other two were not allowed to meddle, which a few times caused Council meetings to be delayed. If it weren’t for the Council naming Commander Hurricane the Supreme Commander of the Equestrian Army at the start of the war… well, you can imagine how it would have gone,” Daring shrugged. “The flaws of the Council were further more apparent during Saddle Arabia’s kidnappings, where Commander Hurricane resolve the issue in the matter of days after taking the matter into his own hooves. So it really didn’t come to a surprise of anypony when the ponies of Equestria demanded the change of the system.

“It was obvious that there were only two candidates for the position of the sole leader: Commander Hurricane and Queen Platinum. As you know, Platinum was the one that was ultimately given the seat. The only legitimate foal of King Goldest, she was the youngest of the six Founders; when they discovered Equestria, she was sixteen. And while the Hearth’s Warming Eve’s pageants portray her personality at that point of time rather well, she had quickly grown out of that snobbish attitude towards the other two tribes. She began to care about their well being as much as she did for the unicorns; which was another reason why her father didn’t want her to succeed him. Platinum was the first queen of the unicorns that had actual power; in fact, it was her husband, Prince Gembold, who had no power at all.

“And it wasn’t just ponies she cared about; after Hurricane defeated and captured King Friedrich - after Clover had barely stopped him from just killing him - she managed to convince the griffon king to a very advantageous peace treaty, giving Equestria the rich lands in Griffonia around equestrian forwards base, today’s Trottingham.”

Matthias couldn’t help but cut in: “It was really a stroke of luck that the Sundering of Griffonia hadn’t buried it under the sea.”

“Quite. Anyway, Platinum understood that killing Friedrich would prolong the war for many more years, so she chose to not seek vengeance for Pansy’s death. Hurricane and his pegasi were the only ones to oppose the peace treaty; the other Council members either shared Platinum sentiment, or had eyes on the profits. Either way, as the decision couldn’t be made with the entire third of the members opposing, Hurricane, after many pleas from the remaining Founders, had finally gave in, though it was clear that he did so unhappily.

“Platinum was also the pony responsible for treaties with the Crystal Empire, Aquestria, Saddle Arabia - aside for what happened after the kidnappings - the buffalo and zebra tribes. After becoming the Queen of Unicorns, she convinced the Council to back up financially Shattered Hoof, chieftain of one the minotaurs clans, to aid him in uniting his people, giving birth to the Minotaur Khanate, gaining them a loyal ally and a friend in the far south.” Daring paused to wink at him. “You can see why she had so quickly become loved by everypony: she worked for Equestria safety and happiness through peaceful ways, while almost every other unicorn on the Council was content to just bark around orders and fill their pockets.

“Commander Hurricane, on the other hoof, preferred to protect Equestria in… well, you get the idea. He was considered by everypony to be a hero for his victories over griffons, and praised for his actions against the Saddle Arabia. He not only protected Equestria from the enemies from outside, but also from within. On the night of King Goldest funeral, the unicorns’ Kingsguards planned a coup d'etat: to prevent Platinum, a mare, from becoming their new leader. Commander Hurricane ordered his troops to execute all of the members without any hesitation, despite knowing what repercussions he could meet for breaking the law and meddling into unicorns inner politics. He himself had killed, with his bare hooves, the twenty guards that attempted to assassinate Platinum and her husband. Once he was forgiven by the Council for overstepping his boundaries, he formed the Royal Guard, composed of the Magic Corps and elite warriors, to serve as guards for all members of the Council, further bringing the Three Tribes closer.

“As you can see, while both Hurricane and Platinum wanted what was best for Equestria, they had different ways of going about it. They were like two sides of the same coin, actually. It’s a pity they couldn’t get married,” Daring added with a sight. “That would have solved all their problems… But then,” she said, growing serious once more, “something happened that had decided the matter of who would become the leader of Equestria.

After living in Twilight’s library for so long, there was no question in Matthias mind as to what that “something” was.

“The Dragon Hunt,” he said.

“Yeah,” Daring nodded, “the ‘hunt’ which cost Hurricane his life. It almost began innocently; a travelling dragon stopped at Smokey Mountain and took a nap. Hurricane led a team to chase it away. A few days after that, a group of seven huge dragons attacked New Unicolt, the city furthest to the south. Luckily for its inhabitants, word spread quickly; Clover the Clever teleported there from Canterlot and shielded the city until Commander and his warriors took down the dragons.

“Hurricane was furious. Without waiting for the Council’s decision, he assembled all his pegasi warriors, and traveled south, the home of the dragons, the place now called: the Dread Wastes. It’s a place even more inhospitable than Badlands, especially due to the pockets of toxic air here and there. ” Daring paused to look at him. “There are no preserved records in Equestria why that was the home of the dragon, as those days they live alone safe for the time of their migration, when almost all travel to Dragon Crater, east of the Dread Wastes. All that is known is that only half of the forces Hurricane led had returned, and that the Commander himself had perished after slaying the matriarch of all dragons, a behemoth like no other. With the Crystal Empire’s return, however…”

“You now know why they lived there,” Matthias finished for her.

“Yeah… and when you recount today’s events, it might shed some light - no pun intended,” she stuck her tongue at him, “- on a few matters.”

As Matthias pondered just what exactly she was referring to, Daring resumed her tale: “The chronicles of the Crystal Empire describe the place the dragons lived as a paradise; the Valley of Life. It was a place filled with magic that nurtured everything that lived there. Plants that you could find nowhere else, gems more beautiful - and apparently tastier, which is why dragons lived there - intelligent animals… there were illustrations in the scroll, but describing them just doesn’t do justice the majesticness of the vale.”

“I will be sure to look for them the next time I’ll visit the Crystal Empire,” Matthias promised; he wondered if this Valley was a place similar to Azeroth’s Sholazar Basin or Un’goro Crater, where titans experimented with life.

“Anyway, in the middle of the vale rose a tree, bigger than any tree in Equestria; it was called Ashvattha. Within its roots was an enormous cave where the dragons dwelled, filled with gems.”

“A World Tree?” Matthias perked his ears in surprise. “I didn’t expect that one. While there are shamans among zebra and minotaurs, and shadow hunters and witch doctors among the former as well, I haven’t heard anything about any druids…”

“And Hurricane burned it all,” Daring continued, her eyes growing with sadness; clearly, despite being primarily interested in ancient cultures, she had an appreciation for nature. “To prevent a possible threat for Equestria, he destroyed one of the most beautiful places in this world, if not the most beautiful, and slaughtered nopony knows how many dragons.”

Matthias wasn’t too much surprised when he saw her raise a hoof to her eyes. He turned away politely as she wiped her tears, thinking over what she said earlier.

“What you meant earlier…” he began after a few seconds, “about today’s events… you think Hurricane was the pony from this legend that caused my knight to fly into this forest?”

“Yeah,” she replied in an even voice. “I read about some bard mentioning in the Crystal Empire during Equestrian-Griffonian War about Commander Hurricane ‘making a goddess moan’,” Daring snorted. “I suppose that fits with this ‘Soul of the Forest’, huh?”

“So you mean that the timberwolf that had ripped my close friend’s throat open is a descendant of one of the Founders of Equestria?” the paladin asked in disbelief; though from a technical point of view, if that spirit was a demigod, it could be true…

“Oh!” Daring shout brought him back to the conversation. “I-I’m so sorry-”

Realising the misunderstanding, Matthias quickly waved. “Oh, don’t worry, I managed to heal her just in time,” he calmed her down, though she looked at him uncertainly. “If you want, you can ask her tomorrow, she lives on a farm near the Abbey.”

Daring was still giving him a strange look, but she shook her head after a heartbeat. “Anyway… The Valley was burned to the ground, and the dragons fled from there. Hurricane perished in the flames that consumed the dragon matriarch and Ashvattha. Queen Platinum became the first Queen of Equestria, and her line ruled over our country since then. To this day, Platinum is considered to be the most powerful and influential monarch in history, not only of Equestria, but of the entire world. Only Celestia comes close, but she’s an alicorn, so that’s kinda cheating,” the pegasus smirked. “I mean, it’s comparing her over millennia long reign to Platinum’s fifteen year old reign. Even if you would discount the things she managed to accomplish alongside with Princess Luna, which still leaves her victory over Nightmare Moon, despite what it cost her, her defeat of Bane the Hippogriff, and all the centuries of peace. Platinum’s line ensured peace, stability that prospered for not only Equestria for over two millennia. Can you imagine how things would be different if it was Hurricane who became the sole ruler?”

Matthias pondered her question. Hurricane was a hero; of that, there was no doubt. But… if after Pansy’s death his answer to everything was violence, was he an appropriate pony to hold such position?

“For Equestria’s sake, it might have been better that things had turned out as they did,” the paladin answered Daring’s question. “Commander Hurricane was a great pony, but he was not without his flaws. I suspected that he might have waged another war with the griffons, or perhaps Saddle Arabia… It’s better that he is remembered as a hero, and as much as I think he deserved to live to a ripe old age in happiness, I suppose it’s better that he died in the Valley of Life.”

Daring nodded thoughtfully. “Or so they say.”

Matthias looked at her, confused. “What do you mean by that?” he asked, not sure if he understood her correctly.

The tan pegasus looked into his eyes sharply. “Listen,” she didn’t ask or say, but commanded, “what I am about to tell you is something that only myself, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna know. You must not, under any circumstances, mention it to anypony. Do you understand?”

He quickly nodded, both interested and worried by seeing her so serious. What could be so important?

“That phoenix can’t talk, right?” she asked after a thought, looking at flying beside her Al’ar.

The Phoenix God gave a sound that Matthias came to understand as a mix of irritation, amusement, and anger. “No, he can’t,” he answered for him. “And even if he could, he would keep quiet.”

Al’ar cawed in agreement, though Matthias was fairly certain that the phoenix did not care in the slightest what they were talking about.

Daring, however, seemingly relaxed. “I found something,” she began, focusing on the flight path before them. “In the mountains that stand between the Dread Wastes and the forests surrounding the Dragon Crater, on the top of the tallest mountain where, due to the lack of oxygen, only a few pegasi could fly up so high, lies a skull.”

“A skull?”

The pegasus nodded. “A dragon skull,” she specified. “And a huge one at that. Its owner could have easily fought with that Ursa Major you nearly dropped on me and Storm.”

Matthias rolled his eyes at the faked pretense in her voice, more interested in hearing more about the skull.

“I doubt there is a dragon alive that could match the owner of the skull in size,” she continued. “But its size isn’t what makes it so interesting. What does is that there are letters carved into the skull.” Daring once again looked Matthias into eyes, “They read ‘The fate of Equestria’s enemies’. The skull is facing the Dragon Crater.”

It didn’t take much imagination to figure out what she was thinking. “You think that-”

Daring nodded. “Dragon scales are extremely durable, and their bones are most likely even sturdier. I don’t know of many blades other than Windtear that could be used to carve something on a skull like that. And Commander Hurricane was one of the few ponies- no, the only pony that would have been able to fly to the top of that mountain with a head of a dragon this big.”

“But then why the history believed him to perish during the Dragon Hunt?” Matthias asked. It didn’t make any sense-

His eyes shot wide. “Unless-!”

“You just said it yourself,” Daring reminded him. “‘For Equestria’s sake, it might have been better that things had turned out as they did’.”

“So… he was assassinated shortly after the Dragon Hunt? But by whom? Surely Platinum wouldn’t have her friend killed!”

He tried to not think of his old history lessons regarding the human kingdoms born from the Arathi Empire, how their kings and lords often resorted to such actions. This was Equestria, not Azeroth; Matthias just couldn’t think of ponies doing something so dishonoring, especially not Luna and Celestia’s ancestor.

“I didn’t say he was assassinated,” Daring retorted calmly. “And I most certainly didn’t say ‘shortly after the Dragon Hunt’. I talked with the Princesses for some time about it,” she confessed, and for once Matthias saw that she was as puzzled as he felt, “they were shocked at my discovery at first, but… they - especially Celestia - had quickly come to accept it. And when we talked, Celestia seemed convinced that Hurricane had returned from the Dragon Hunt safe and sound, though she didn’t explain why.”

“Huh, that…” Matthias trailed off; apparently, Princess Celestia had somehow suspected such possibility. Did she know of some clue? “And what about you? You seem sure that Commander Hurricane had returned safely. Why?”

Daring Do remained silent for a few moments. “Don’t you find it strange?” she finally asked. “The timing; the most terrifying pony disappeared from the pages of history… and a few months later, a cataclysm struck the homeland of his most hated enemy.”

He was certain that his heart skipped a beat once he realized what she was implying. “But that’s impossible!” he shouted; Azeroth’s pain from being ripped apart wasn’t yet forgotten by him. “The Sundering of Griffonia had shattered the entire continent! A single landmass was broken into smaller islands, and big extent of them was covered by waves! Almost the entire griffonkind had died out! I don’t care how powerful Commander Hurricane was, no mortal can accomplish something like this!”

“Commander Hurricane wasn’t just a mortal,” Daring countered. “Even before he was given the Windtear, he was regarded as a monster when on battlefield. He was stronger and faster than any pegasus alive, was a master of combat, and he could command powerful lightning from clouds with a minimal effort and use it to strike with great precision. His body possessed an insane amount of endurance and vitality; his medical record can attest to that. The only one that could match him in battle prowess was King of Griffonia, but that was only due to him being strengthened by the power of the earth elementals the griffons had enslaved somehow. And Windtear was the masterpiece of the Crystal Forge; a blade that could cut through everything, as long as it’s wielder’s foreleg had the necessary strength, and was able to absorb magic and blast it back at the attacker. Put him and that sword together…” Daring shook her head. “I’ll admit, it’s difficult for me to fathom, but at this point, when it comes to Commander Hurricane... I could belief just about anything.”

Matthias gulped heavily. “Could this be true?” he wondered. “Could a pony do something like this? To shatter a continent… he could give Deathwing a run for his bits.”

A change in the terrain under him caused him to look down. They’ve just passed the Everfree Forest’s border. Soon they would be within the Abbey.

“And I thought that the only secrets of Equestria I should be concerned about regards to what happened a thousand years ago,” Matthias thought, his eyes turning in the direction of the Chapel. “It turns out two thousand years ago things were as much interesting around here.”

Author's Note

Just so you know, the alternative title for this chapter was "The 'take a shot whenever you spot a plotpoint' chapter". Feel free to read again and play this drinking game;p You're also most welcome to make theories as to what those plotpoints are and what do they mean. I wonder is somebody will notice them all...

Sorry that the first chatper after so long is practically all about exposition, but I was looking forwards to giving Equestria's lore (that I made up) a chance to shine for over a year. Hope you found it... interesting.

The story still isn't returning to its previous update rate, sorry. Between concentrating more on other stories and collage, I simply don't have the time. It might come to this that I will be posting a chapter per month... and I don't mean just here.

122. Night of Dares

How far a pony could go to protect those he cares about?

This question - as well as some others - was going through Matthias’ head over and over again, as he contemplated the revelation from Daring Do. What he just learned about Commander Hurricane, even if they were just theories and guesses, practically went against everything he knew about ponies.

Those that lived today were peace loving beings. To somebody from Azeroth, the idea of one capable of mass destruction was ridiculous, even to one that had lived there for months.

Two thousand years ago, there was a pony whose whole life was centered about waging wars, and who had shattered an entire continent.

“Was Commander Hurricane the reason why Queen Platinum had forbid killing another in Equestria?” Matthias wondered. “When you kill someone, you create a hole in their close ones’ lives. A hole often filled by hatred, a need for not justice, but bloodthirsty revenge. Was there anypony who proved that more than Commander Hurricane? Despite everything that happened to him at griffons’ talons in the years before, he still sought peace, until Pansy was murdered. Then… all hell broke loose. Had Queen Platinum wanted to prevent future wars? To ensure that nopony would have to go through what her friend did? Or-”

“Are you listening to me at all?”

Eyes snapping wide at the sudden interruption of his musing, Matthias looked at the pegasus trotting beside him. After Daring Do and Al’ar reached the Abbey, both of them landed beside the barracks. Of course, the phoenix stayed only long enough for Matthias to dismount before he took air once more, settling on the Lightbringer’s Chapel roof.

“Um, sorry, I got lost in thought,” the paladin confessed, somewhat embarrassed. “What were you saying?”

Seeing that she had his attention, Daring repeated herself, “Why are you heading towards the armory?”

“I want to return this armor, as well as put back those daggers I let you borrow in there,” Matthias replied, shrugging. “If you wish to retire for the night, you can just return them to me and go to sleep in whichever quarters you want.”

He resumed walking towards the closed doors of the armory, glancing back at Daring, who was brushing her chin, pondering his offer.

“I would have thought she would jumped on the occasion of seeing the rest of the weapons I’ve told her about, seeing as she knows now that they’re not from this world,” Matthias thought, slowing down and stopping as he saw her hesitate. “She must be more tired than I had thought.”

“If you wish to retire for the night, you can just return them to me and go to sleep in whichever quarters you want.”

The offer, so casually given by Sir Lightbringer, opened a new possibility for Daring, forcing her to pause and think her plan through. Her objective hadn’t changed since they left the chamber: she wanted to get into the paladin’s bed. Preferably with him and a lot of motion involved. But there now there was a new way for her to go about her goal.

“I could go to his quarters, hide in his bed, and then when he lies down, I would pounce!” she mused, the whole scene playing in her mind. But then she furrowed her brow when she realized the giant hole in this plan. “Except I have no idea which quarters are his. I doubt they have a sign in there that says ‘HUNK - SECOND FLOOR, 3RD CORRIDOR ON THE LEFT’... plus, there are more weapons in there from another world…”

As much as Daring’s nethers were demanding to throw out anything other than objective number one out of her head, there was no way in hell she was going to pass on such opportunity.

“It’s a tempting offer,” Daring told Sir Lightbringer, who had been awaiting her response, “but I am itching to see all your weapons.”

True to stereotype of a decent stallion, Sir Lightbringer didn’t catch the double meaning behind her statement. He just nodded, smiled, and led her to the armory.

“Ooh, this is going to be so fun!” Daring smirked as she followed him.

“Ugh, this is so boring!” Dash thought as she finally gave up trying to read the libram. She closed it and threw herself on the bed. “Where the heck is he?!”

Figures that when she had finally prepared what to say to Matt and worked up enough confidence to break this bang-pony thing they had going on, he goes missing! Well, not missing; the other stallions told her that Zecora came to fetch him and she had missed him by minutes. Rainbow Dash contemplated to go and try to catch up with them (figuring that they would be most likely in Zecora’s hut), but the card game was too fun-looking to pass on…

But that was three hours ago. The game had long since ended, and she was bored to death. As everypony went to sleep, Dash (having ignored a few comments uttered by Wind and Tucker what she could do to pass the time) headed to Matt’s bedroom and waited for him.

Her patience was reaching its limits.

“Who would have thought that ditching a guy would be this hard?!” Rainbow Dash asked herself, only to immediately wince; saying ‘ditch’ was a bit unfair and degrading to Matt.

She hoped (and, quite frankly, having known the head paladin for some time, was quite sure) that once she presented him with her reasons this break up would be mutual. Dash couldn’t tell him, of course, the true reason -that Twilight had finally realized how deep down she was hurting inside. But he should be satisfied when she would say that due to what Wind had said and done she began to feel uncomfortable, which wasn’t entirely made up.

“Plus, he might kick Wind’s tail, that’s good.“

It felt weird to her that soon she would no longer… satisfy some needs with Matt. Dash had gotten used to how the past two months were, and not just because, like she told Twilight, that it felt like a real relationship, but just out of plain, primal urges. She had no idea why she never gotten laid before, but now the thought of not getting anything at least once every few days seemed strange to her. Which was why, during those past days of avoiding Matt as she tried to come up how to break up with him, she had looked for a certain… shop, in Canterlot, were one could buy certain accessories, that could help a girl with certain itches. And, since she started wondering whether she might like mares as much as stallions - thanks to a certain covered-in-chitin tailhole - she also purchased certain things that could help with that, just in case.

“Won’t hurt to be prepared,” she thought then, though she had no idea how to check if she was indeed bisexual. “Maybe Blossomforth… I mean, she is quite flexible…” But first things first; she had to break up with Matt - even though this was an open relationship; she just wanted to be over this - then she could go about other things.

Which was why her level of being pissed was growing.

“I swear, if you’re not here in the next… fifteen minutes, I’m clopping with your pillow before I’ll leave,” she threatened mentally, smirking at the thought of Matt finally returning and going to bed...

The high-pitched squeak assaulted Matthias’ ears once he opened the chest Brann had brought him just a few hours earlier. Daring eyes were wide with excitement as she admired them; the weapons he acquired in his past life (thankfully minus the one that was the worst of them), some from good people, some not, but all not deserving their fate.

“Save for Kael,” he mused darkly. A small pang of anger burned up in him at the memory of the arrogant, hypocritical elven prince. “May he rot in Tartarus.”

Shaking off those dark thoughts, Matthias quickly told Daring the names of each weapon while he put the two daggers back into the chest. He then left the pegasus to give each of them a swing while he walked away to remove the leather armor.

He looked with dismay at the red stains of the Ursa Major’s blood. There was no way anypony wouldn’t realize that he wasn’t just on a night stroll upon seeing the state of the armor. “Nor would they think so when looking at me”, he realized, remembering that he was partially covered in a dried up blood.

Making a mental note to take a very thorough shower today (and quite possibly a bath later to relieve some tension after fighting quite probably the biggest thing alive on Equestria) Matthias hid the armor at the back of the shelf. Since this was all Storm’s fault, Matthias would just give this to him when it was the pegasus turn at the cleaning duty.

“I must remember to never fight something so big that the risk of drowning in its blood becomes literal,” he said with a smirk, turning to Daring, who was eyeing the crossbow confusedly before looking at him. “I am not really that concerned with my looks, but this-”

“You look fine to me,” Daring interrupted him, a smirk on her muzzle as well, as she trotted towards him. “The red goes quite nicely with your eyes.”

“Really?” Matthias questioned; he wasn’t sure if sea-green actually worked with red...then again, he was neither Rarity nor Celie, so he had no idea.

“And those scars…” As he pondered colors, Daring Do continued to trot closer, and now she stood right before him. When Matthias looked down he saw (and felt) her hoof brushing his body along the mark left by Illidan, “they are just so…” Dang hung her sentence, which she said in an odd voice, as she looked for the right word, “masculine.”

His eyes almost bulged once he placed that tone of voice. Rainbow Dash had used it a few times when she was in a mood for… things.

“Um… listen…” he began, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under her gaze. He was quite certain this was a feeling a mouse had when it noticed a buzzard swooping down on it.

“Oh!” Daring exclaimed, taking a step back and poking her head. “This reminds me…”

Matthias was about to sigh with relief, but it didn’t even take a heartbeat to realize that he got a wrong impression.

Faster than an eye could follow, Daring Do throw herself at him, her lips landing perfectly on his and her tongue forced them open. She had him pressed against the wall in a second, and whether by his body’s natural reactions, or by the works of her hooves and wings, Matthias soon found himself with one forehoof around her head and the other on her flanks.

His body replied by itself… no, blaming it on just that would be lying. The moment Matthias had felt Daring lips on his, he had completely forgotten about his previous discomfort and reluctance. He replied on his own to her kiss and began to caress her body, just as she was moving her hooves and wings against his. Not because she was beautiful, or famous, or fun to be around, but out a simple, primal thing: she was a willing mare, and he was a stallion, one who had been fasting for the last few days at that. His mind was thrown back to what happened about two months back, how his ‘pony virginity’ was taken by some mare he had never met… this was just like then, except…

Except this time he knew that he would wake up tomorrow, regretting it’s not Twilight.

He didn’t remove his hooves from Daring, letting himself enjoy this short moment while it lasted. Matthias waited for her to pull back before he would try to kindly decline any further… actions.

It almost took her a minute to finally unstick from his lips. Daring pulled her head back, giving him a really sultry look that almost made him reconsider his decision (and definitely regret it).

“Look…” he started uncertainly, “I’m flattered, really…”

“You’re kidding,” Daring interrupted him. Her eyes were wide with disbelief. Suddenly, she groaned and facehoofed. “Ugh, I can’t believe this! First guy I get a crush on in years and he’s not interested!”

“I…” Matthias mumbled. He wasn’t sure what her reaction would, but he didn’t expect something like this. “... ‘a crush’?”

For his stupid question, he was rewarded with an irritated look from Daring. “Hon, I am this close,” she started, taking finally both of his hooves from him to keep them an inch from each other in front of him, “from getting wingboners at the sight of ancient temples filled with deadly traps, and you fell down a cave on an Ursa Major’s back. Put the two together.”

Matthias had to admit that there was some logic to that… but if that was true, that Daring Do had a crush on him, then that meant that he definitely couldn’t allow things to go further, for both their sakes.

“I’m sorry,” he told her; despite his clear reluctance, Daring’s hooves had returned to groping his body, “but I can’t.”

Daring’s eyes continued to look at him with disbelief, but she finally sighed and let go of him. “Oh, well, I’ll get over it,” she said, fixing her mane and quickly rearranging feathers. “At least this time things didn’t end with me getting stabbed in the back.”

There was a hurt in her voice, despite her trying to be nonchalant. Matthias felt a sudden urge to kick himself. “Maybe I should visit Big Mac again…” he pondered; even if this wasn’t his fault, and in fact he was doing Daring a favor, he still felt like a scumbag.

His mind became filled with another break up… well, this wasn’t a break up, more like rejection, but still… It was during Winter Veil. Jaina’s off-hand comment about children made him panic, fill him with doubt whether they were meant to be, was he ready, would he be a good husband and father… so he broke her heart. Even if they parted in friendship, he knew he had hurt her.

Was he now doing the same?

He had no idea what to say, so he concentrated on the first thing that came to his mind after Daring’s comment. “Somepony betrayed you?”

That was hard to believe. While Daring Do might have been a little too forward for his tastes (just a little; after all, neither Ripple nor Rainbow Dash weren’t exactly subtle), she was, by all accounts, a great mare. Why would anypony-

Daring’s chuckle interrupted him. “Well, kinda, though that’s not what I meant,” she said, quickly taking off her vest. Matthias was about to avert his eyes before he remembered that nudity wasn’t really a big deal for ponies. Placing her vest on one of the training dummies, Daring turned around, stood up on her hind legs and spread her wings. “I meant literally.”

Staring at the spot on her back she pointed at, Matthias felt his eyes grew wider. There, below her left wing, there was an ugly scar. Had it been a bit higher… A furious growl escaped Matthias’ throat as he realized that this was left by somepony she had a crush on.

“Had I been there,” he began slowly, “ponies would have mistaken him for a zebra after I was done with him.”

Assuming he would have lived. Given how many scars that analogy would have required...

“You’re a sweetheart for saying something like that, hon,” Daring giggled, putting her vest back on, “but I don’t need a knight in shining armor. So!” she exclaimed, looking at him sharply. “What is it? A marefriend? A fiancé?”

“Light, I wish…” he allowed himself to think.

“Because…” Daring continued; she squint her eyes and moved to him slowly but in swift motion at the same time, “I wouldn’t have anything against…”

She trailed off, leaving a lot to imagination. So much, in fact, that Matthias had stumbled back and fell on his haunches. “WHAT?! Surely she doesn’t mean-” She began giggling. “Now she’s giggling, what does that meant!?”

“I-” he stuttered, trying to regain his composure, “It’s... complicated,” he summed up awkwardly. He didn’t want to discuss his love-life.

Daring pouted. “That’s all you’ll give me?” She sighed. “Oh, well, I suppose it’s not of my business…”

“I’m sorry…” Matthias once again said, his earlier discomfort forgotten; he felt like crap for making her like him, even if it was completely unintentional, and then failing her…

“You bet your hot flank you are,” Daring turned to him, smirking. “Or rather, you will be. Now, if you ever want to hit this,” she paused to wiggle her hind parts, “I’ll make you suffer first,” Daring finished with malicious grin.

Matthias felt himself once again forced back. The fact that he was both scared and aroused wasn’t helping him. “Soo…” he said slowly, trying to defuse the situation, “what now?”

“Now you’re going to escort me to my quarters like a gentlecolt,” the mare replied; the grin was gone, and back was the cheerful but smart-mouthed pegasus he had met in the tunnels beneath the Everfree Forest. “Tomorrow, you will show me the Chapel. And you will you give me at your leisure the list of stallions who are as hot as you,” she added with a wink.

Despite having no idea what exactly distinguished a male as “hot”, there was no other answer he could give her than; “Deal.”

She chuckled again and helped him up. They then exited the armory and locked it behind them, their business there done. Somehow, Daring managed to make an awkward situation into… not awkward. Matthias - though still somewhat sorry for this entire situation - felt again at ease while talking with the famous adventurer and writer.

“Hey,” it suddenly hit him as they entered the barracks, “might I ask you for a favor? I have a friend’s book of yours; I would’ve been honored if you could sign it for her.”

“Well, seeing how my plans for the night are ruined,” Daring replied slowly; Matthias winced at her words, which made her giggle, “I think I can spare a few minutes. But you better start thinking on that list!” she added jokingly.

“Sure, um…” he paused as he headed for his quarters. “To be honest, I’m not sure I know that many stallions I could recommend… one is married; two others are after girls… I suppose Guard Shield, one of my paladins, would fit your criteria, though he’s a bit old…”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” she winked; Matthias had no idea if she was being serious, or if the whole thing was just her joke on him. “Anypony else?”

“Hmm…” he mused; if this was a joke… “I know of one awesome guy… But he’s not a pony...”

“I’m not prejudicious-”

“... and he’s a widower with a kid.”

It took them minutes to reach his quarters, while they filled with exchanging jokes, the earlier topic quickly getting bored to them. Somewhat regretting things couldn’t be different - that they weren’t here for a different purpose - Matthias opened the doors… only to be almost deafened.

“FINALLY!” much to his shock, Rainbow Dash, who was lying in his bed, exclaimed upon seeing him. She rose and strode forward to him. “Where have you been Matt!? I’ve been waiting for you for hours! One more minute and I would have-”

The pause in was so abrupt that Matthias would have thought that Rainbow Dash was having a stroke - or that she had noticed that he was covered in blood - if it weren’t for her eyes shifting from him to the figure standing behind him.

“Oh… Oh my gosh…” she mumbled quietly, not believing what she was seeing. “D-Daring D-d-do?!”

Surprise mixed with amusement sounded in her voice as Daring replied, “In the flesh!”

“OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she flew over Matthias and landed before Daring Do. Matthias, knowing she wouldn’t pay him any attention, went to a shelf where he placed the book he borrowed from Twilight. “It’s Daring Do! I can’t believe it! What are you doing here?!”

“Well…” Daring began; Matthias wondered if she was used to such treatment. “To make a long story short, Sir Lightbringer over there asked me to sign a book-”

“You have to come with me!” Dash interrupted her, her excitement making her forget everything about good manners. “I’ve got all your books, pleeeeeease, you have to sign them, I’m your biggest fan ever, I-”

“Alright, alright, I’ll come!” the tan pegasus out shouted her. “Just give me a minute!” she added, seeing Rainbow Dash had already spread her wings. “I will sign his book, and-”

“I’ll wait by the entrance!” Dash said, taking air. “I can’t believe it; Daring Do is going to sign my books about her!”

Matthias watched her with wide eyes as she did a flip in the air, and then with worry as she squeeed before racing to the entrance to the barracks. He had expected her to be quite excited at the sight of Daring, but he had clearly underestimated her obsession with her.

“Sorry about Rainbow Dash,” he told Daring as she trotted closer, having noticed that his friend hadn’t introduced herself. “She’s usually not like that, but she’s a real fan of yours.”

“Yeah, I caught that,” Daring smirked, though she didn’t seem completely unfazed. Looking at him, puzzled, she asked one thing; “‘Matt’?”

Matthias rolled his eyes. “I go by many names,” he said, giving her the book, “Daring Do and the Razor of Dreams”, along with a quill and an ink.

“Mhmm…” she mused, taking the book. “And she was waiting here for you because…” she trailed off, clearly wanting him to finish.

That was a good question. Why was she waiting for him? For the past few days, Matthias had even gotten an impression that she’s been avoiding him.

“I suppose she… um, wanted something from me,” he said, blushing slightly.

“Sure she did,” Daring smirked, making the blush deepen. Looking at the book, she asked: “So, who’s this for?”

“For Twilight Sparkle,” Matthias replied, and was surprised to see Daring’s ears flicked.

“Princess Celestia’s star student?” she asked, and before he could answer, she looked back at where Rainbow Dash had flown away. “And you say her name was Rainbow Dash…” she looked back at him, smirking. “You’re friends with the Elements of Harmony?”

“Why, yes I am,” he replied, pleasantly surprised that she knew about them; but then again, a pony that researches ancient civilizations and occasionally fights evildoers would be interested in ponies that had defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord.

“More than a friend with some of them,” Daring commented, making him blush again. She signed the book and gave it back to him. “Guessing that you weren’t bothering to hide that I was going to sign Twilight Sparkle’s book, I’m going to assume Rainbow Dash knows you have a thing for her, which is why you said earlier ‘it’s complicated’. Am I right?”

“I-” he stuttered, the red on his cheek growing darker. How did she figure all that?

“And,” she continued, smirking, as she advanced on him once again, and stopped right in front of him, “I’m guessing this means you two have a very loose relationship, right?”

“I- um… I suppose that’s one of putting it…” Matthias confessed awkwardly, once more feeling uncomfortably under her gaze.

Daring chuckled evilly. “Well,” she said, turning around. “That’s all I needed.”

“For what?” Matthias asked, not sure if he wanted to know.

“I told you I will make you suffer,” Daring smirked trotting away from him. She turned back to him with a sultry look. “Now you will have to stay here, going over in your head what is happening in her house, knowing that you could have been a part of it, but you weren’t… because you rejected me,” she added, flicking her tail by his nose.

Speechless was one word to describe how Matthias reacted once he had realized what Daring had been talking about. Another was stupefied, as his brain turned off once certain images appeared in his head. So struck he was that Daring was by the doorway before he called after her.

“Rainbow Dash is straight!” he said, feeling the need to point that out.

“Not after tonight she won’t be!” Daring replied with her predatory grin before she flew after his friend.

Matthias was left staring at the doorway in shock. His mind continued to be plagued by images… “No…” he murmured, shaking his head. Rainbow Dash wasn’t into that; heck, he of all ponies could confirm that. But then again… the things she and Applejack kept doing when they were drunk…

“No,” he said, more assertively this time.

He closed the door and turned his back on it. Rainbow Dash was sober now; that would happen. Even if it was her idol…

And he could have been a part of it…

“I need a drink…” he sighed finally, feeling he wasn’t going to fall asleep without some help.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe it.

“Daring Do! In my house!” she mentally squeaked as he opened her door and let her in.

“Sorry if it’s a bit messy, I don’t really have a lot of guests,” she said, feeling a bit ashamed. “I only have one close friend that’s a pegasus, so…”

“Oh, really, I don’t mind,” Daring replied, smiling. “Trust me, honey, this is nothing compared to the mess in my house.” She rolled her eyes. “Heck, one time, I couldn’t find the artifact I recovered and was supposed to bring back to museum… what was it…” she pondered before she shrugged. “Eh, it will get back to me.”

Rainbow Dash, however, had paid little attention to all that. She couldn’t believe that Daring called her ‘honey’! Like she was a friend! Quite honestly, Rainbow feared that she had made an extremely bad first impression... and the second, third, and so on. But she couldn’t help it! This was THE Daring Do!

Despite her happiness, she also had a nagging feeling in her head that wouldn’t leave her ever since they left the Abbey behind and flew for her house. Only when it was in sight Rainbow Dash had realized that she was supposed to break up with Matt tonight.

“Oh well, I’ll do that some other time,” she shrugged back then.

Returning to the present moment, Rainbow turned to her guest. Despite only having Fluttershy there a few times, she did know how to treat guests. “Could I get you anything? Water? Something to eat?”

She hoped she could actually comply if she chose the latter. “When was the last time I bought some groceries?!” Dash thought in panic.

“Just water will be fine,” Daring replied, much to her relief.

“Okay, I’ll be right back!” she said, heading towards the kitchen. “Make yourself at home… and if you want to start signing those books,” she added, hoping she didn’t sound too suggestive, “they’re in my bedroom, up the stairs, door at the end of the hall.”

Daring rolled her eyes again. “I’ll get right to it, then.”

Doubts filled Rainbow Dash as she watched her fly through her cloudy hall: was she being too pushy? She couldn’t be, if Daring had agreed. She didn’t seem annoyed at all at the attention she was giving her… but…

“Ugh, I’m thinking way too much into this,” Rainbow decided, pouring some water for Daring. “She’s here, in my house, signing my books, smiling and joking. That’s what matters.”

Having somewhat relaxed, she took the glass of water and flew towards her bedroom… just to see something that made the calmness she had attained jump through the window.

Daring Do was in the middle of her room, her head turned towards the pile of her books on shelves and the big poster of her above them, all right next to the posters of Wonderbolts, her reward from the Best Young Flyer Competition… but whether Daring was looking at all that or not, it wasn’t what made Rainbow Dash’s heart skip a bit.

She was taking off her vest! Her hat was already on the table next to her, and now she was removing her vest! And not just removing it; she was doing it very slowly, one wing at the time… almost as if… she was doing a…

Just when the thought appeared in her head, Rainbow felt a sudden stiffness in her wings… and just at the same time, Daring had turned around to look at her. “I hope you don’t mind,” she said, “it’s kinda hot.”

“Um… yeah.” Dash wasn’t sure to what exactly she had ‘yeahed’ to; she was too busy suppressing her wings from doing any sudden movements. “Sure, no problem.”

“Perfect,” Daring said, placing the vest on the table next to the hat. “I suppose I will start signing those books…”

Rainbow nodded absentmindedly. As Daring trotted to the shelf with them, she put the glass of water at the table. It felt weird to her to see Daring Do without any clothes. Well, it was weird to see her at all, granted, but in her books she had hardly ever removed them. She looked… quite nice without them. More like a normal pony. She kept her left wing at folded at weird angle, but her-

“Focus, Rainbow!” she mentally scolded herself as Daring turned around, the first book in her mouth. “You can’t have Daring Do think you’re a fillyfooler… even if you are one! You just can’t!”

Of course, she knew that Daring had slept with a few mares in her books, but that was beside the point! She was a famous adventurer and most awesome pegasus ever! She would sure as hell get offended at some random fan thinking of her in that way-

“Oops!” a sudden exclamation from Daring made Rainbow Dash pause and look at her. While she discussed the matter in her head, Daring had begun to sign her book, but she must have dropped a quill, for now it was under the table. “I’m such a klutz,” the tan pegasus said with embarrassment as she lowered her head, fishing for the quill…

Rainbow Dash jaw dropped as the bended over Daring Do lifted her tail, presenting herself unintentionally for her.

Even after she began suspect herself for those tendencies, she never stared at other mares’ flanks, just gave them a passing glances. But this… the sight of perfectly toned haunches, the two cutie marks, and, most importantly, Daring’s m-

“Like what you see?”

The sultry whisper was so quiet, and yet Rainbow had heard it as if Daring had shouted. Her eyes moved from the other mare’s privates to her eyes. She was glancing at her with her eyes half closed, and a smile on her lips.

It had suddenly become very clear to Rainbow that none of this was unintentional. Daring was giving her very clear signals; she wanted it. But...did she want it? Rainbow Dash had only recently came to terms that her constant actions while being drunk might point at her enjoying both sexes, and hadn’t even kissed a mare while sober, aside from Wind when he was her, but that didn’t count.

Should she really go through with this? Even with Daring Do?

...

“Eh, screw it!”

She lunged at Daring, grabbed her into her forelegs, then took her into the air and landed heavily on her bed, pressing her body against hers, their lips meeting on their own accord. Daring’s mouth tasted… differently from that which she had imagined. Not bad, heavens no, just different. Then again, she only had kissed Matt and herself before…

They kissed for some time, both purring with delight. Rainbow had finally pulled back and looked down at Daring. The other pegasus looked relaxed, as if this was nothing new to her, while she was… nervous. Her eyes quickly traveled down Daring’s body, and she realized she was confused how to proceed.

“I…” she said, more embarrassed that she could remember ever being. “I’ve never been with… another mare…”

She risked looking at Daring. To her surprise, the other mare was grinning!

“In that case...” she purred in delight.

Before Rainbow knew what happened, Daring grabbed her with her hooves and rolled over. Now their positions had been reversed: Daring was on top, and Dash at the bottom.

“You better hold on,” Daring whispered sultry. “I can get a little… rough sometimes.”

Rainbow Dash shook; whether out of fear or excitement, she didn’t know.

“Now, tell me…” Daring continued to speak in this sexy voice as her hooves traveled down Rainbow’s body. “Do you have any… accessories?” she asked, her tone of voice leaving no place for doubts as for what sort of accessories she was asking, as her hoof had finally reach its destination, making Dash moan. “Or will I have to rely solely on my hooves… tongue…” she trailed off again, her tongue licking her ear before whispering one last thing as at the same time she put pressure on that hoof; “and my whip?”

Author's Note

So... yeah, I think it's a high time I add "sex" tag... and since there were certain moments in past chapters that weren't PG13 for different reasons, I'm adding "gore" as well.

123. Cute Mornings

Matthias raised his hoof to cover his yawn.

“Rough night?” the image of Princess Luna on the mirror asked him, the end of her mouth curling into a smirk.

Not wanting to dwell deeper into the subject, Matthias just nodded and murmured “That’s one way of putting it.”

Thanks to the night-time adventure that had begun with chasing after Storm and ended with him not being able to put the images of Rainbow Dash and Daring Do in bed together, Matthias had caught a little shuteye. Even the alcohol didn’t help him with falling asleep… especially after he began fearing his dreams might reflect his recent thoughts. If Luna had taken a peek…

Unfortunately for him, it looked as if she did, though he didn’t have any memories of them. Maybe she was just assuming this ‘rough night’ was caused by Rainbow Dash? Either way, she looked at him as if disgusted, though her eyes twinkled with amusement. “Well, I would prefer if you would not put it in some other way, on account of the present company,” Luna said, her horn beginning to glow with blue light.

Matthias was about to ask her what did she mean, but soon he found himself face to face with the levitated ‘company’. He smiled to the small foal that started to giggle as soon as she made out his features in the mirror on Luna’s side. “Hello, Moonlight, how are you?”

“Ar-thias!” the little princess babbled cutely, extending her little hooves to try to touch him through the mirror.

From his side, Arthas ignored the odd feeling of hearing his real name spoken by the small pony and pressed his hoof to the surface of the mirror. “I’m happy to see you too,” he told her, causing Moonlight to start another giggle attack.

Luna hummed happily as she trotted closer. “She’s so cute and sweet that I sometimes fear she will give ponies diabetes when they’ll look upon her,” she said, leaning down to nuzzle her daughter.

Moonlight turned her little head to reply to her mother’s affection, but she paused in mid-nuzzle to yawn. “By the Light, could she be more adorable?” Arthas thought at the sight, watching the little filly rub her tiny eyes.

Luna kissed her just below her horn, “Looks like somepony needs a nap,” she said quietly. “Tell your godfather goodbye, Moonlight.”

The small alicorn mumbled something incoherent (and yet extremely cute at the same time) as her mother began to float her away from the field of vision Matthias had from through the mirror. He waited patiently for a few moments until Luna returned.

“Your daughter is growing well,” he complimented her, “though I must admit her sleeping pattern could use a little improvement.”

“You try telling her that,” Luna smirked in response. “After all, I do believe she stayed up so long because I may have mentioned that I will talk with you in the morning.” Her face became gentler and warmth filled her eyes. “I will never be able to thank you enough for everything.”

Normally, Matthias would try to decline such praise, but in the case of Moonlight, he knew how much this meant to Luna. So he just bowed slightly and replied: “Your friendship is enough of a thank you, Your Majesty.”

“I’m beginning to understand why this annoys Cadance so much,” Luna told him in reply, grimacing at the last two words, though there was a good-humored gleam tune in her voice. “Since you decided to remind me of my title, perhaps I should get around to telling you why I contacted you?”

“If you so wish. Had it been something in dire need of my attention, you would have already told me what it is.”

“True,” Luna smirked, then sighed. “It concerns the changelings.”

Matthias sat up straighter and perked his ears.

“Unfortunately, my Night Guard’s investigation regarding that lost changeling has yet to bear any fruits,” Luna continued, and Matthias felt a little wave of disappointment wash over him, causing his ears to fall down by a few inches.

Whenever he tried to picture himself in Wind Reaver’s situation, he always felt a desire to rush all across Equestria, searching through ponies’ houses and beating any information out of them. How the changeling managed to stay as calm as he is was beyond Matthias’ belief.

“However,” the Princess of the Night continued, glancing away at something that was out of his field of vision, “Doctor Angelic Touch finally has the results from the tests she had conducted on that blood sample you had acquired for us.”

With those words, she moved slightly to the side, letting another mare, much smaller, to stand before the mirror. Matthias nodded his head to the blue as sky unicorn. “Doctor, it’s been a while,” he greeted her, smiling warmly. “As always, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

A smile crossed her features as she regarded him with one violet eye. As always, the other was covered by a lock of white hair. Matthias couldn’t help but wonder if there was a specific reason for her to wear her mane like that, or was it just her favorite manecut.

“Save such smooth words for the half of the castle’s staff that’s interested,” she replied with a smirk, causing him to look at her puzzled. “About every mare that works as help here besides my mother dreams about you.”

A blush covered his cheeks hearing that. He… had some suspicion after those few times he had interacted with maids in Canterlot Castle, but to hear it be put so bluntly…

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Luna interjected; it was clear from her expression that she was rather enjoying watching him grow uncomfortable. “I think that young noble that had joined the court the other day, Lord Blackhorn, had also stirred some hearts. Still, though,” she continued, glaring at Matthias with a look so evil that he was convinced she must have bore it as Nightmare Moon as well, “the number of mares that would try to break into your chambers next time you’ll stay in Canterlot is simply terrifying!”

“Of course it is…” he thought, somehow managing to not roll his eyes.

However, he did facehoof when Luna hadn’t stopped; “I think it would be good if you gave them a clear message… maybe by starting a serious relationship with a certain unicorn?” she asked teasingly.

“Can we please leave my personal life out of this?” Matthias asked, exasperated. He turned to Dr Angelic with half-pleading look. “Doctor, what was it you had found out?”

The blue mare smiled and winked (or maybe just blinked, it was hard to say when you can see only one eye). “Not that I want to cut your fun short, Your Majesty,” she said, looking back at Luna, “but I do have some other duties to attend to. Maybe we could begin?”

The alicorn glanced briefly at the Royal Physician with disappointment, then rolled her eyes and nodded to her. Angelic turned to Matthias again, levitating a clipboard next to her.

“Let me start by saying that if the Princess hadn’t assured me you’re not one for pranks, I wouldn’t have believed that what you gave me was a blood sample,” she began, making Matthias raise an eyebrow in surprise. “It didn’t resemble the blood of any living organism I had ever examined… which means every living organism known to science save for dragon’s. There were no traces of blood cells, be it erythrocytes, leukocytes, or thrombocytes, and on top of all that, that substance also didn’t resemble plasma. Are you following this?” she looked up from her notes.

Matthias nodded to let her know she can continue. While he wasn’t nearly as studious as Jaina or Twilight, a future king was expected to have a vast knowledge. The fact that he had been a lord of the dead had also contributed to it.

Angelic cleared her throat and resumed her summary. “The cellular build of this ‘blood’ - and I use this term loosely - doesn’t consists any sodium, potassium, chloride or calcium. There wasn’t even water in it, which should be just plain impossible. But,” she paused to once again look at him, “this blood, whatever is made from, is highly dense with strange magic. In fact, I think this is some form of liquefied magic.”

Matthias’ memory went back to his meeting with Chrysalis. Back then, when he and Twilight had arrived, she was drinking a strange green liquid.

“Or maybe it’s liquefied love?” he asked, recalling what the Changeling Queen told him back then. “I’ve seen Queen Chrysalis drink something strange and called it ‘love in this form’.”

The doctor perked up with interest, then nodded. “Normally, I would have considered it to be a rather bizarre assumption. You’re basically saying that they are drinking their own blood. However, when I compared the sample with the amber left from the Changeling Invasion, after some tests I came to the conclusion that they’re basically made out of the same substance. Which means… that both of them are changelings magic that was given a form, and depending on what they want, the changelings create it to do practically everything,” Doctor Angelic summed up. “Their bodies must naturally change it to blood to have the love spread through their bodies… and that means that their circulatory system and gastrointestinal tract must be fused on some level… and probably their respiratory system, too, seeing how they seem to breathe, yet there was no oxygen in that sample… had you ever seen them go to a bathroom?” she asked Matthias. “I’m curious if they need to dispose any waste.”

“No, I don’t think I ever had,” Matthias replied, pondering those revelations. The changelings were unlike any living creature that he had ever heard off… and at the same time, they’ve resembled both ponies and aqirs so much… He recalled how the silithid used natural materials using their bodily secretions to build their homes, comparing that to the changelings abilities...

“I think this also explains how come every member of their kind can change shape so easily,” Luna’s voice pulled him from his musing.

“Quite,” Doctor Angelic agreed. “I would imagine that their entire body must be made from this ‘love’, in different states of molecular structure. Though we won’t know for sure until they decide to... ‘come clean’, so to say.”

“That reminds me,” Matthias said, turning to Luna, “how’s that coming along?”

“I think that we will have the majority of nobles and officials convinced in a few days,” the Princess of the Night replied. “Once that will be over, my sister and I will inform Equestria of our efforts to form alliance with the changelings… though how that will go remains to be seen.”

“I’m sure that once they reveal what exactly makes them tick, ponies will stop fearing them,” Angelic said.

“Not all ponies decide to trust somebody by knowing what their insides look like, dear doctor,” Luna retorted, smirking. “Most ponies have a few other criteria another has to meet before they stop fearing them.”

In reply to the barb, Angelic Touch rolled her eyes. “Yes, well, making peace between ponies and changelings is your job, not mine. I’m just a help in the biology related issues. Which is why you and your sister had told me to make sure I will have enough of a free time in my schedule to travel to Ponyville, is it not?”

“You will be coming to Ponyville to hear what Nymph and Wind Reaver will tell us,” Matthias realized out loud.

“Hear, document, ask questions...” Angelic shrugged. “Though since they are supposed to tell us about their social structure as well, it’s a good thing Twilight is supposed to be there to make notes,” the unicorn shook her head. “I find the ponies’ society boring enough; no way would I bother writing about changelings’.”

“You know Twilight?” Matthias asked, slightly surprised.

“Oh yes, we met in Celestia’s School for gifted unicorns,” the mare replied, smiling. “Though being a senior by the time she was admitted there as Celestia’s protégée we couldn’t exactly become friends.”

“There’s that, and the fact that you were mostly interested in taking a blood sample from Spike,” Luna added, looking at Angelic sternly.

To her credit, the blue mare blushed with embarrassment. “Oh, Princess Celestia told you about that… heh…” Angelic brushed her mane nervously. When she looked back to Matthias, she saw him also staring with a stern expression (though inwardly, he was more surprised and mildly amused than angry). “I admit, I could have handled that suggestion a bit better… Oh, give me a break!” she finally exclaimed, looking at one and the other. “We know nothing about dragons, and there is one living right around the corner. Can you really blame me for wanting to know a bit more about him?”

“He likes green gems the most, makes good nachos and pancakes…” Matthias began, but Angelic shoot him an angry look, while Luna giggled.

Sighing, the blue mare dropped the issue. “If that’s all, I would like to go prepare for my lecture at Celestia’s school,” she said, massaging her temples.

“Of course,” Luna replied, nodding. “Thank you for your assistance, Doctor Angelic.”

Matthias echoed her words, while the Royal Physician moved away from his field of vision, murmuring something under her breath. Princess Luna stood for a moment in silence, turning to him once he heard the sound of doors closing.

“I think we’ve established that you’re not the only one with an obsessed scientist working for you,” Luna said with a smirk.

Matthias raised an eyebrow. “Are you… seriously comparing Angelic to Putricide?”

“Well, she has obsession. Only she keeps it in check,” she shrugged. “Now, jokes aside, is there anything you feel we should talk about? Because I think I should follow my daughter’s example and go to sleep.”

As much as Matthias didn’t want to stop her from taking a well-earned rest, there was something he needed to talk with her about. “Sorry, but I think there is,” he said. “Last night, I’ve stumbled upon Daring Do.”

“Oh?” Luna asked, her eyes growing wide. Then, much to Matthias horror - as he realized what she was thinking - her surprised expression changed into smirking one. “Well, that explains why you had a rough night.”

“Oh, for the love of…” Matthias muttered, facehoofing. “We didn’t do anything of those sorts.”

He decided not to mention that she had flown away with Rainbow Dash, afraid of how she would react to that. “Probably laugh her flank off.”

“Really?” Princess Luna asked surprised. “I was under the impression that Rainbow Dash is a really big fan of her books. Given the nature of your relationship, I would have thought that-”

“You’re daughter is sleeping like three meters away from you,” Matthias reminded her, feeling suddenly hot. Princess Luna smirked, but she did stop talking and looked to her side to check if Moonlight Shadow was still asleep. Matthias sighed, deciding that since they were already on the subject, he might confide in her. “Honestly, though… I think I decided I’m tired of… such entertainments.”

Not entirely unexpectedly, Luna looked at him with no surprise or amusement, but understanding. “You’re thinking about ending your relationship with Rainbow Dash?”

He nodded, though somewhat reluctantly. “This ‘relationship’ of ours was based purely on bodily needs, anyway. It’s not that we don’t care about one another, but…”

“But it’s nothing compared to how you felt about Jaina… or how you feel about Twilight, right?” Luna said gently for him.

“Luna, please don’t bring this up,” Matthias sighed, then forced a smile. “We both know how this will go; you will tell me that my past doesn’t matter, that I should put it behind me, while I will continue to think myself unworthy of being friends with everypony, let alone be romantically involved with Twilight. Besides,” he added more briskly, ignoring the look Luna was giving him, “she decided that we should remain friends.”

“Yes, which makes me question my sister’s praises for her intellect,” Luna replied with a sigh, but she waved away the retort Matthias had on the tip of his tongue. “No matter, we will discuss this some other time. Why was it that you brought up Daring Do?”

Glad that they returned to this topic, Matthias straightened up. “She told me what she had found out about Commander Hurricane,” he said, and immediately Luna’s mood grew sour. “In fact, she told me some things about all six Founders, including your ancestor, Queen Platinum. However, what she said about Commander Hurricane was the most haunting.”

“Not really surprising,” Luna replied, smirking briefly. “Fighting off a thousand enemies… I think he would have stirred some things on your old world, despite how some might react on the first sight of him.” Her expression grew more serious and somber as she continued: “But regardless… he is hailed as one of the greatest heroes known to ponykind, and it suddenly turns out that he had destroyed one of the most beautiful places on our world, burned down the World Tree… and maybe shattered a continent.”

“Do you really think that’s possible?” Matthias asked the question that was nagging him ever since the night before. “Not even Deathwing’s Cataclysm managed to shatter an entire continent… well, at least so far. How could Commander Hurricane do that?”

“Commander Hurricane wasn’t an ordinary pony. And while destroying a continent seems impossible, so does killing a dragon as big as Daring Do claims it was.” Luna sighed and sat down. “I remember how when we were foals Bolt would read about Hurricane in some old books we had back in the castle. ‘The greatest pegasus who ever lived’, as he had called him,” she smiled at the memory. “Even after he was no longer a pegasus, Commander Hurricane was still a role-model for him. A pony determined to do whatever it took to protect what was dear for him... I guess it’s for the best that back then we didn’t know what happened during the Dragon Hunt.” She remained silent for a few short moments, then continued: “What do you think of Commander Hurricane? You, Arthas Menethil, who can put yourself in his horseshoes?”

“I think that he is lucky to be remembered as a hero,” Arthas replied calmly without missing a beat, unable to hide a tone of longing from his voice. “I envy him. And Shadow Bolt; I wish I could have protected what was dear to me as well as he had,” looking at Luna, he added: “I know I hadn’t really known him… but I think he would have been happy to see you and Moonlight now. To know that thanks to his sacrifice you two were protected. I’m sure he must be looking over you from whatever there is beyond death.”

Luna’s smiled sadly hearing those words. “And I’m sure your family and friends must be doing the same for you, and are happy to see you free from your shadow.”

Her words managed to lift his heart… to some degree. Arthas doubted he would ever be truly free from the darkness that lingered there.

“Let’s change the subject,” he finally said after a few more moments of silence, when both of them remained in the state of neither sadness nor happiness, as they recalled their close ones that were no longer alive. “You’ve told me how the investigation regarding the missing changeling is going… how is the other one?”

Luna’s brow furrowed, immediately knowing what he was talking about. “As well as you can expect with the trail being so cold. Honestly, I don’t expect it to bear any fruition.”

“But you cannot deny that it must be checked… even if for just a memory’s sake,” Matthias replied. “Have you told Celestia yet?”

A smirk appeared on Luna’s face. “She has her ploys, I have mine. When the time comes, I will bring this matter to her attention. Right now, when it’s just speculation, I don’t see a reason to bring this up.”

“May I remind you, Luna, that I swore an oath to both you and Celestia?” Matthias said uncomfortably. “I am kind off obliged to inform her of such matters…”

“May I remind you, Arthas, that I can nag you about Twilight when you're awake and asleep?” Luna retorted, smirking. As Matthias groaned and facehoofed, she continued. “I do not plan to take any actions in this matter without consulting with my sister, either way, so there’s not really a need for you to worry.” She paused to look at him intensively. “And you could at least talk with Twilight again.”

“Oh, for the love of Light, why?” Matthias thought, already tired of hearing that.

Deciding to move this topic along and end this discussion (as he had a few matters to attend to) he spoke: “We’re both going today to Rarity’s Birthday Party, so we will likely end up talking with each other.”

“Good,” Luna commented, smirking, as if she had won the discussion. “Maybe you two will finally come to your senses and be together, Prince Arthas.” Matthias blinked in surprise as she referred to him by the title he held in life. “I mean, just think about it; if you two would get married, then she would be called Princess Twilight Sparkle. Doesn’t it have a good ring to it?”

Despite how wrong that entire conversation was, on accounts of both Luna touching the subject of his previous life and the subject of his relationship with Twilight, Arthas couldn’t help himself from imagining the scene that simple sentence had portrayed for him: he and Twilight getting married…

“Princess Twilight Sparkle…” he tasted the thought, “... that does sound good…”

The giggling from the other side of the mirror brought him back to his senses. He realized as he looked at smirking Luna that some of his feelings must have reflected on his face.

“Please wish Rarity a happy birthday from me and my sister,” she said, still giggling, as she ended the connection.

From within the mirror, an earth pony whose cheeks were more red than white looked back at Matthias.

“I. Love. Mares!”

That more or less summed up Rainbow Dash’s thoughts as she woke up to find Daring doing… pretty much the same she was doing when she had finally passed out late at night. Not that she loved stallions any less; in fact, the only way this could be any better would be by having Matt here as well. She kicked herself mentally for dragging Daring to her house so quickly… even if her bed was more comfortable than Matt’s…

Which, to be perfectly honest, didn’t help her much. She was so sore! Around the end of the first hour Rainbow had realized that Daring left out a lot from her adventures in her books. There was no way she could have learned all those things she did to her during those few flings she wrote about. As much as Rainbow had enjoyed her fun times with Matt and would have gladly have him here, there was no denying who was a better lay.

By the time Daring was done, Rainbow was once again panting. “That. Was. Awesome,” she managed to say, looking lazily at the other pegasus beside her.

Daring smirked. “I know,” she replied, her hoof traveling up and down Rainbow’s body. “Though you’re not half bad either. Can’t believe that was your first time with another mare. You’ve got quite an enthusiastic tongue there…” Daring murmured as she leaned for a kiss, which Rainbow happily gave her.

“Well…” Rainbow said, smiling awkwardly, “I may have… done some things while drunk…”

Daring chuckled. “Oh, I see… I guess that’s why you had those ‘toys’ here…” she grinned as Rainbow blushed. “Trying to figure out your identity and such?”

“Kinda,” Dash admitted. “Though I decided that I like both; plastic just doesn’t feel as good.”

“I hear ya,” the other pegasus nodded. “But sometimes it can be soo hard to find a willing colt-toy. Take, for example, that Sir Lightbringer…”

Her ears perked up. “... What?” Dash thought, stunned.

“Can you believe he turned me down?” Daring asked, pouting.

“What?!” Dash this time asked out loud. “Why would he…” she began to say, but then she quickly reminded herself who they were talking about. The masochistic stallion determined to be forever unhappy and not being with the mare he loves had now apparently decided that he did no longer want to be... adventurous. Which under normal circumstances Rainbow would have applauded, as it might finally bring him and Twilight together… but he really could have picked a better timing for snapping like this! “Ugh, I can’t believe that idiot! We could have-”

Rainbow had just realized that she was speaking out loud.

“‘We could have’... what?” Daring, looking at her oddly, asked when she had stopped talking. “Are you telling me there is something between you and Sir Lightbringer, which would most likely be the reason why he had turned me down?”

“Um…” Dash mumbled, and then managed a faked smirk. “Nah, of course no- Yeow!” she yowled in pain as Daring smacked her already sore flank really hard.

“That,” Daring said, looking at her through narrowed eyes; somehow, an image of one Ahuizotl's cats suddenly came to Rainbow’s mind, “was for lying.”

“No, I- YEOW!” Dash once again yowled as another smack hit her, even more painful than before.

“And that...” Daring said, leaning over her face. Rainbow Dash swallowed nervously, preparing for the worst... “was for calling his name,” she finished with a smirk.

Rainbow's jaw dropped. Daring moved away as she began to laugh. “Oh, the look on your face is just priceless!”

“I… really called his name?” Dash asked, embarrassed.

She had no idea what she was getting into.

Daring stopped laughing closed her eyes, and: “Oh, Matt!” Rainbow’s cyan coat started turning into red as the other mare continued to moan and gasp. “Oh yes! Harder, Matt! Harder!”

Unable to look at her, Dash covered her head with her hooves. Daring giggled seeing that and pulled her hooves apart. “Oh, come on,” she said, kissing her neck, “that was actually cute! And it only happened once,” she added with a grin. “Most of the time you got the name right.”

Rainbow Dash, still flushed, began responding to the smooches. Soon the smooches turned into another round, after which both laid unmoving for some time.

“Gotta get up at some point,” Rainbow finally muttered reluctantly.

“Yeah,” Daring said, somehow having the energy - and health - to rise. “I have to get to Canterlot today; got a lecture tomorrow,” she said, stretching.

“Right…” Dash trailed of, recalling that a few of her books actually started with Daring giving a lecture in Canterlot. “Hey, are all those students really crazy about you, or did you make that one up?”

“‘Make that one up’?” Daring replied with a smirk. “I don’t make things up… and as for those students, can you blame them?” she added sultrily.

“Hm… guess not?” the cyan mare replied, finally also getting up… and then falling right back down. “I think you broke me.”

“Well, I would offer a message to make it better, but we both know how that’s gonna end,” Daring Do said, hopping off the bed.

She trotted to stand next to unmoving Rainbow Dash, and swiftly pulled her out of the bed and unto her back. “Where’s your bathroom?” she asked.

“That way,” Dash replied, pointing a little to the left from her bedroom’s door. As Daring began to trot away, Rainbow wrapped her forelegs around her neck and buried her muzzle in her mane. “So,” she asked, savouring the smell, “what happens now?”

“Shower, breakfast, then for me it’s Canterlot and then more research,” Daring said as she trotted through Dash’s hallway in the direction she was pointing. She looked back at the pegasus on her back with concern. “Hon, I hope I hadn’t given you the wrong idea…”

But she stopped as Rainbow immediately started chuckling. “Sorry, Daring, but I am not looking for a relationship anytime soon,” she said, amused that the tan pegasus had thought her to be that kind of a mare. “Though it would be nice if you would drop by from time to time,” Rainbow added when she stopped laughing.

“Oh, I intend to,” Daring replied, grinning.

“I tried to convince him to go as well, but there’s no reasoning with him,” Nymph said as she caught the apples with her magic before they fell to the ground. Levitating them to one of the few empty barrels there were left on the cart, she continued: “I know I cannot possibly imagine what he must be going through, with his intended mate missing, but I had really thought that Rarity’s Birthday party would cheer him up.”

Big Mac, who was about to buck another apple tree, stopped to look at her, “Didn’tya say you two ain’t friends?” he asked, cocking his head. “Why do ya care so much?”

As most of her days had been starting ever since they had returned from the Crystal Empire, Nymph was on Sweet Apple Acres. She was helping Big Mac with his chores, and although the first time she spend most of the day talking, the changeling was now more than happy to just simply be there and enjoy his company. A few times she had even gotten Big Mac to talk and she was the one listening. Nymph wished he would do that more often; he had a really beautiful, strong voice…

He wasn’t the only one she would spend time with while on the farm. The Cutie Mark Crusaders would often come here after school and would attempt to drag her away to play with them or help them earn their cutie marks. Most of those attempts were successful, as Nymph liked playing with the fillies; plus, Big Mac’s confusion every time she took a shape of a pony his little sister’s age was really amusing.

There was also Applejack. The mare still didn’t trust her, and gave her a look whenever they would bump into each other. Thankfully, those last couple of days she and her brother tended to different parts of the farm, so Nymph didn’t have to spend too much time in her company.

The last member of the Apple family was Granny Smith. Nymph met her when Big Mac insisted she would join them for a dinner one time. Well, not as much as insisted, but looked at her with those green eyes of his and she just found herself unable to say no (despite that her unicorn shape’s fake stomach couldn’t exactly digest food). The dinner was nice, and so was Granny Smith… though when she asked her why a changeling was hanging out so often on her farm and Nymph replied that she liked spending time with Big Mac and found the work on the farm to be quite relaxing, the older mare, to her confusion, gave an amused chuckle and just dropped the subject.

“That was a weird day,” she thought back then, confused both with Granny Smith’s reaction as well as how she felt oddly when Big Mac asked her to join them for that dinner.

Back in the present moment, after Nymph had made sure that the barrels in which she put the apples were secured, she turned to reply to Big Mac’s question; “Aren’t you ponies the ones that try to be friends with everypony?”

The red stallion chuckled, “Fair ‘nough,” he said, bucking the tree.

Nymph swiftly caught the falling apples. “I have a rare opportunity to make friends with another changeling,” she continued. “Wind is currently too worried about his intended mate to think of me as a walking reminder that our Queen might one day be gone.”

Nymph had known that telling Big Mac about being Queen Chrysalis’ heir was going against her mother’s orders, but… she felt so happy being able to finally confine in someling other than Mother. One time when her stay on the farm prolonged up until evening, Big Mac had asked her just why exactly she wasn’t friends with Wind Reaver… and she told him how she was chosen by Queen Chrysalis as her heir, was raised by her for the role of Queen of the Changelings should something happen to her, and how all Chrysalis’ daughters were treated by the Swarm. Noling was unpleasant to them or rude, but just… didn’t see them as another changeling.

She was practically sobbing when she had gotten to that part, and then, to her surprise, Big Mac trotted over to her and gave her a hug. Nymph was so stunned that it took her a few seconds to hug him back. He was so warm, so strong, and yet so gentle… she quickly finished her sobbing over his shoulder, feeling her sadness disperse when presented with Big Mac’s warm feelings.

And he wasn’t the only one with those feelings. The moment their coats had touched, Nymph felt as if she could melt. Her heart sped up, pumping love through her body, and it had nothing to do with the emotions she was being willingly given by Big Mac.

Ever since then, Nymph began to better understand Wind Reaver.

“And I really pity him,” Nymph added to her response. “You ponies have no idea what having your mate be gone means for a changeling.”

Big Mac looked back at her. “Ah could imagine.”

Nymph shivered as she sensed what he was feeling right when he said those words.

“Um, no, you don’t understand,” she quickly said, shrugging off that sensation. “When changelings become live-mates - husband and wife, as you ponies would say - there are a few… um, things that happen to them,” Nymph finished awkwardly. Seeing the questioning gaze of Big Mac she added: “Look, it’s a bit complicated, and I need to go start getting ready for Rarity’s party; it’s already past noon.”

Now Big Mac’s confusion’s grew deeper. “Stallions,” Nymph thought with amusements.

“A mare needs some time to properly prepare for an important event,” she told him. “While Rarity might have said that this will be a more casual kind of party, I plan to be at my best, as a representative of the Changeling Swarm.”

She smiled to Big Mac. The red stallion’s confusion dispersed… but now there was a smirk on his face as he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“... or maybe I plan to trot around my room at the Abbey nervously, worried if I look good enough for the party or not,” Nymph admitted, looking down and blushing.

A warm chuckle escaped Big Mac as he trotted over to her. Nymph had suddenly found her chin being lifted by his hoof to meet his eyes. “Ya’ll be fine, however ya’ll look,” he told her, smiling.

She was certain that if she was in her true form right now, her wings would start buzzing uncontrollably.

She didn’t respond, just smiled back to him, thankful for the praise and… just happy. Seeing her mood improved, Big Mac took a step back - making Nymph miss his touch on her chin - and turned his head back. He reached for his something under his yoke, pulled it out, and turned back to give it to her.

Nymph took it with her magic. This ‘something’ turned out to be a ticket for tomorrow’s performance of Ponytones, the vocal quartet that Big Mac had recently joined.

“Tomorrow is our first performance since Ah joined,” he told her, and when Nymph looked up at him she saw that he was blushing. “Ah was wonderin’ if ya’d like to come… and then maybe go for a walk?”

Nymph eyes grew wide. “Is he… asking me out on a date?”

It certainly looked like it. He was obviously nervous, she could sense his emotions swirl around him like a maelstrom, and was waiting for her answer.

“By Ashvattha, what should I say?!”

“I, e…” she mumbled, looking from him to the ticket to him and back. Her heart was pumping love through her body like crazy, and she felt as if the temperature around them had suddenly increased. She looked into his green eyes as he calmly waited for her response, hope glimmering from behind them… “Yes,” she finally whispered, then added louder: “Yes, I would love to.”

She didn’t think she could feel more hot, but she was proven wrong as she saw Big Mac smile at her response. Deciding to get away from him before her heart would explode, she bid him farewell and prepared for a teleportation spell.

“I’ll… I’ll see you tomorrow after the show,” she said, smiling.

The last thing she saw before her vision was obscured by the flash of green were those green eyes of his.

Back in the quarters the Hivespeaker had given her to live in during her stay, Nymph had finally abandoned her disguise. She jumped atop her bed in her true form, her wings buzzing with excitement as she squeezed the ticket against her chest.

Author's Note

Edit: Here's a little "survey" for all of y'all, if you want to help me a little :)

Okay, it's not a survey, but a question. Details.

124. Rarity's Birthday, Part I

“Nervous?”

Hearing the Hivespeaker’s sudden question almost made Nymph jump.

“A little,” she admitted, looking around edgily.

The two of them were walking through the streets of Ponyville - with her wearing her usual disguise of a black unicorn with green heart for a cutie mark - which had an interesting effect on the ponies they passed. Most of them smiled and said hello to the Hivespeaker, while grimaced, glared, or looked away from her. In return, the Hivespeaker, though hadn’t said anything to them, looked at the ponies with a mixture of disappointment and warning to not voice their opinions about his companion. But that was not what was causing Nymp to be nervous. Rather, it was their destination.

They were going to Rarity’s birthday party.

“I hope she’ll like my gift,” Nymph thought for about a millionth time as she moved the small wrapped box she was levitating a bit closer to her face. “Maybe I should have-”

“Relax,” the Hivespeaker told her humorously, interrupting her train of thoughts. He looked weird without his armor on, not to mention that such scars as his looked out of place on a pony. He wore a saddle-bag, though, where he kept his gift for the birthday pony. “Rarity isn’t going to eat you. Can’t you get back to being all happy like you were when you got back from Sweet Apple Acres?”

“I’ll try- wait,” Nymph paused to look at him, confused. “What do you mean, Hivespeaker? You haven’t seen me when I got back…”

“No, but I have happened to walk by you quarters once you teleported back,” the earth pony replied, glancing at her and smirking. “Should I mimic the squeaks you were making, or will we move on with the conversation?”

“Um… move on, I suppose,” Nymph decided, blushing.

“I also happen to know that Big Mac is performing tomorrow with the Ponytones, so I figure this all means he invited you.”

“W-well… yes,” Nymph replied hesitantly, not sure how was he going to react.

“Good for both of you.”

Nymph blinked. “Just like that?”

“Um, Hivespeaker, excuse me, but…” she started, wondering if she really wanted to know the answer to this question. “Do you really have nothing against it?”

“Why should I?” the Hivespeaker said, smiling warmly. “Unlike some ponies, I don’t pry to others’ relationships. Also, unless you had known I was nearby the instant you teleported to the Abbey and went out of your way to pretend that you were genuinely happy - in a rather embarrassing way I might add - this proves more than anything else so far that you are being honest with everypony.”

She hadn’t thought of that in this way before. The Hivespeaker was right that she hadn’t noticed him passing by her room, she was too absorbed by Big Mac asking her out to pay attention for things like that. Nymph just couldn’t believe that there was someling - “Well, somepony,” she amended - earnestly interested in her, somepony who she liked too.

“I suppose…” she said, giving the Hivespeaker a shy smile as they were about to finally reach Carousel Boutique.

The party must have already started; they could hear the music coming from inside. Nymph could also sense happiness of six ponies and one baby dragon. She took a deep breath to calm herself as they were about to enter a party that could quite possibly turn into a disaster because of her.

Despite how adorable he found Nymph’s reactions to be and how heartwarming her and Big Mac’s relationship could be, Matthias forced himself to push those thoughts away as he was about to become a target of something utterly terrifying.

A mare’s rage.

Resigned, he knocked on the door.

“Coming,” he heard from amongst the music deeper inside.

As he expected from Rarity, she didn’t let her guests wait too long. Barely a few seconds after Matthias had knocked the door stood open.

“Happy birthday!” he greeted her, moving closer to embrace her in a hug. “Hope we aren’t late?”

“No, you’re just on time,” Rarity replied, giving him a friendly peck on the cheek. “So glad you could make it- wait, where’s Storm?” she asked, her eyes going from him to Nymph.

“Here goes nothing…”

“I am terribly, terribly sorry, Rarity,” he started, doing his best imitation of ‘please don’t kill me’ face, “but I had to send Knight Storm Clash on a mission…”

He stopped under the gaze Rarity gave him.

“Let me guess:” she said, narrowing her eyes, “there was some ‘evil spirit of some kind going on a rampage on the other side of Equestria’, am I right?”

Matthias chuckled nervously, surprised and unnerved that she remembered the joke he uttered when she had invited him and Storm to her birthday. “No, nothing of that kind,” he assured her. “But I had to send him to Cloudsdale on Order’s business. I’m sorry, but he won’t be back until tomorrow.”

Prior to coming here, Matthias had spend long time thinking what to tell Rarity. He decided to cover for Storm and say that it was his fault, because that way he wasn’t downgrading him in the white unicorn’s eyes, which could have happened if he said something along the lines of ‘he’s looking for a gift for you’. Matthias also felt necessary to mention that the pegasus wouldn’t be back until tomorrow, in case his time limit would run out and he would have to go find him, as much as he believed that Storm would succeed.

He was a bit worried that the pegasus paladin hadn’t returned yet, but when Matthias gave him his deadline, he felt certain that he was doing the right thing. The Light seemed to approve of his choice. What that meant for Storm, he was not sure, but he trusted him to find what he was looking for and get back…

… eventually.

“You couldn’t send anypony else?” Rarity asked with pretense as she moved back to let them in. “It was bad enough that I couldn’t have Serenity here, and now-”

“It was to Cloudsdale,” he reminded her.

“You could have asked Twilight to cast a spell to let Guard or that unicorn to walk on clouds.”

If it wasn’t her birthday, Matthias would not be able to resist replying: ‘or to give them wings’.

“Sadly, there was no time. I am terribly sorry, Rarity.”

Rarity sighed. “Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk, I suppose. Although,” she added, glaring at him, though there was a spark of amusement in her eye, “for your sake, I do hope your present is something breathtaking. If you want any piece of the cake, that is.”

Though Matthias was certain that his gift would do just that, he felt brief anger at Storm. “He’s going to clean the Abbey’s toilets for a month…”

As he threatened Storm in his head, Rarity turned to greet Nymph. “Sorry about that, darling, I’m being a terrible hostess. Welcome.”

“Don’t worry, miss Rarity, I understand,” the changeling in disguise replied, smiling nervously. “Happy birthday,” she added, giving the unicorn her gift.

“Thank you, dear, and please, just ‘Rarity’. Now come along, I was waiting for everypony - which” she added with a glare at Matthias as she led them further into the domestic part of the building, “I suppose that means this is it - to open presents. But before that go and mingle.”

The other girls were already there, either talking or trying some of the treats and punch placed on a table. Matthias smiled in greeting, but before he joined them he followed Rarity to another table, where a small pile of presents was and placed his along the others. He then asked Rarity where he could leave his saddlebag.

“You can put it in the kitchen if you want, in the corner.”

As Matthias turned towards the kitchen, he noticed that Nymph was looking a little lost. Her eyes traveled across the room shyly, not sure what to do. When they rested on him, Matthias pointed subtly at Fluttershy and nodded encouragingly, knowing that the kind pony would be a perfect conversationalist for her.

Once he left his saddlebag in the kitchen - where he saw Spike baking muffins - Matthias found his eyes drawn to one particular pony, and for once it wasn’t Twilight. As if feeling his gaze, Rainbow Dash turned and began trotting towards him. The paladin almost immediately noticed that she was walking a bit oddly, and recognized the signs of a body being sore.

The realization that struck him of what must have happened since he last saw her must have reflected on his face, because Rainbow’s cheeks turned crimson by the time she reached him.

“I… am torn,” Matthias said quietly once he found his voice. “Should I be shocked, confused, amused…”

“Yeah, well,” Rainbow Dash, though she seemed slightly embarrassed, interrupted him, “I know that I should laugh my tail off.” Seeing Matthias’ confusion, she explained in the same quiet tone; “Daring told me. You’ve missed on a threesome!”

When she uttered the word ‘threesome’, the same tingling sensation that he felt since last night when he thought what would have happened if he had accepted Daring’s offer run through his spine. And while a part of him did regret it, he knew he had made the right choice.

“I had my reasons,” he told Rainbow Dash, who looked as if she was about to burst with laughter.

“Yes, Daring told me that, too,” she replied, grinning.

Matthias’ eyes grew wide.

“So, what’s there to stop me from telling those ‘reasons’ of yours?”

“Why would you tell her that?” Matthias asked, knowing only too well who she meant.

“Cause we all still think you two should be together? Plus, you know, it will be hilarious.”

“Oh?” Matthias, who was struck by an idea, smiled maliciously. “As hilarious as…” he trailed off as he leaned to her ear.

“OKAY, I”LL KEEP QUIET!”

Nymph, like everyling in the room startled by the sudden outburst, looked away from Rarity and Fluttershy to gaze at Rainbow Dash. The pegasus pony, who just now must have realized that she caused a commotion, chuckled nervously and waved.

“What’s with the sudden wave of fear and embarrassment?” Nymph wondered briefly, curious about the almost instantaneous change in her emotions - from gleeful into that - but she quickly lost interest as the two mares resumed their effort to persuade her to join them on a spa date.

Once everypony looked away, Rainbow Dash turned to Matt. “I can’t believe you would stoop so low…” she hissed.

“Oh please, we both know that even discounting my previous life I am far from being a paragon of virtues,” the stallion replied, smirking.

“Remind me to scare the living Tartarus out of you someday by telling you ‘I’m pregnant’,” Rainbow bit back, still feeling embarrassed by the thought of what he could tell the others.

“So, on to the other matters…” Matt began somewhat awkwardly, as they trotted to get something to drink. “Should I warn our friends to not let you stand behind them, or-”

Rainbow silenced him with a gaze, though guessing by his smile he was more amused than scared by it. “I should have asked the same after that thing with Applejack.”

“You asked me to do that,” he reminded her as they poured themselves some punch.

She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I will tell them myself. I actually talked a few days ago with Twilight that I might be… you know, both ways.”

“Hm…” Matt hummed. “Kinda puts your drank shenanigans with Applejack in a new light, huh?”

Rainbow Dash found herself once again glaring at him, though this time she kept him in her gaze for a while longer. Finally, she said: “Daring is better in bed that you.”

She took some enjoyment in the shocked expression on his face, but before Rainbow could explore this wound in his ego, Pinkie’s voice rang above the small crowd: “Alright, it’s time for the birthday girl to open her presents!”

Rarity rolled her eyes at Pinkie’s enthusiasm, despite that it made her smile as well. She trotted towards the table where all the gifts her friends gave her were. She was saddened that there was no gift from Storm, although, to be honest, she missed his presence even more. Normally, a mare would feel offended by a thing like that. Rarity, however, understood that his duties came first (and therefore, she was mad at Matt, not at Storm).

Pinkie enthusiastically pulled her out of her dark thoughts. “Open mine first!” she exclaimed, practically shoving her rather big package into Rarity’s face.

Everypony else gathered around. Smiling - and deciding to not scold her pink friend - Rarity wrapped the present in her magic and began to unwrap it. She was curious what it could be; the box was a square cuboid. Since Pinkie looked as if she was about to burst, Rarity quickly unpacked the decorative paper, took off the lid, and levitated up-

“It’s a Dance Hat!” Pinkie exclaimed as Rarity and everypony else admired the big round hat with quite realistic fruits decorating its top.

“My, quite exotic,” Rarity commented, genuinely surprised and pleased that Pinkie picked such a fine piece of clothing. “Thank you very much, Pinkie Pie.”

“That’s not all!” Pinkie added happily while Rarity put the hat on her head. She quickly sprinted to the record player on the corner of the room and swiftly changed the disk. “Look how funny you can dance with it!”

The music Pinkie had played wasn’t something Rarity listened usually, it was much too lively and jumpy that the classic work of, for example, Octavia, or Beethomare. Oddly, the last time she had listened to it was, if she remembered correctly, at the last party Pinkie Pie had thrown. However, this time, for whatever reason, she felt as if magic went through her body. Her hips began to swaying in the rhythm of the music, and before she knew it, she was dancing, quickly joined by the others.

“Oh, yeah, I’m feeling it!” Rainbow Dash said after a few seconds.

The music Pinkie played lasted a few minutes, and when it was over, Rarity quickly used her magic to change the discs again. Excitement was good, but she wanted to finish unpacking all her gifts first. Everypony stopped dancing, some breathing heavily, and returned their attention to the birthday mare.

She quickly went through the presents of the remaining six of the friends she was celebrating her birthday for third year straight. All were dear and heart warming, especially Spikey-Wikey’s set of threads of very unique colors, as she had run out of her supply just a few days ago.

“You’ve mentioned it to me,” Spike replied when she asked him how did she know she needed them. “Well, complained about needing to buy them when I was nearby to be exact, but…”

“Oh, thank you very much,” Rarity said, kissing him on the cheek.

As usual, Spike gave a soft sigh and fell to the floor. Rarity suppressed a giggle and turned to the remaining two gifts, this time from her newer friends. Curious just what exactly changelings gave each other for birthdays, she concentrated on Nymph’s present.

With her magic she quickly unwrapped her gift to reveal as strange, almost tear-shaped, green gem.

“What’s this?” she asked, intrigued, as she held the gift in her hooves. “It doesn’t look like an emerald, or any kind of gem…”

“It’s a resonating amber,” Nymph quickly explained, sounding a bit nervous. “It reacts to magic. Here.”

Rarity watched as Nymph’s present rose from her hooves, held by a green aura of changeling’s magic. But something happened the second she reach to it with her spell. The resonation amber began emitting hard to describe sounds. To Rarity, it reminded a weirdly well put together mash of noises of rustling leaves, insectoid wings’ buzz, and mountain streams.

The odd but beautiful music stopped as Nymph laid the amber back in Rarity’s hooves. Without waiting, Rarity lifted it with her magic. The music started again, but this time it was different. It sounded a lot like the classical music she loved, but there were some jingle sounds, which her ear connected with the sound gems made when struck against one another, as well as dropping of water. Then Twilight tried, and in her case the amber produced sound of rustling paper, hum of magic, and something that everypony agreed resembled laughter.

“That’s a beautiful gift,” Rarity told Nymph, smiling. “Thank you very much, Nymph.”

The changeling blushed and looked down, murmuring something along the lines of ‘it was nothing’. Rarity chuckled warmly and moved on to the last gift, the one from Matt. She wondered what that could be, even though she was only jesting earlier when she said that unless the present would be something amazing she wouldn’t let him have a piece of cake. After all, even though they only knew each other for a few months, in this time she came to consider him one of her best friends.

“Even if because of him Storm’s not here…” she mused before she realized it. Him, too, she knew for a short time, shorter than even Matt, and yet… there was something charming in that pegasus that made some of her thoughts draw closer to him rather than to the white earth pony.

Turning her mind away from Storm Clash, she unwrapped her last birthday gift. Inside there was an ornate wooden box. Rarity gazed for a moment at the decorative gold and silver before she opened the lid.

And gasped.

Inside there was a small jeweled necklace. The chain was shaped to resemble a vine, with very tiny leaves shaped on it, but Rarity had almost missed that detail. She was so mesmerized by three gems, one blue, one silvery, and a bigger golden one in the middle.

Matthias could barely stop himself from grinning as he looked at Rarity’s breathtaken expression, having her warning still fresh in memory.

“My word,” she finally said, holding up the necklace so that everypony could see it “this is…”

Now he couldn’t help himself, he had to say it: “Breathtaking?”

Rarity glared at him, but she quickly brightened and nodded. “Where did get such a beautiful thing? I don’t recognize the craftship.”

“That’s not surprising,” he told her humorously. “It used to be my sister’s.”

Despite being prepared for it, Matthias had almost thought he had gone deaf in the next second, so shocking was the silence that followed his words. Out of everypony here, only Nymph didn’t know about Celie - and that she was most likely dead - and even she was looking at his with curiosity and confusion.

“Your… your sister?” Rarity asked, her eyes wide. “But how-”

“Brann dropped by yesterday. I had asked him to bring some things from my old homeland so I will have breathtaking gifts for the birthdays of each of you… at least for this year,” he added with a wink, addressing all seven of his closest friends..

“But where had Brann found this necklace?” Twilight asked. He turned to her; he could read curiosity from her face, but she tempered it with compassion, as it was a delicate matter, and was careful as she formulated her question. “I thought you said that nopony knows what exactly had happened to your sister.”

“True,” he said, for a moment saddened. “But Celie donated that necklace for a charity auction, organized by the Church of the Holy Light, a few years back. I asked Brann to track down its current owner and buy it back for a fivefold of its original price.”

“And where did you get that many bits?” Twilight continued. “I know you wouldn’t have him pay for it, and I also know you wouldn’t take so much - as this necklace was obviously expensive already - out of the finances Princess Celestia gave you.”

“Oh, I have my ways,” he replied with a wink.

Those ‘ways’ happened to be telling Brann the location of his family’s secret vault, hiding a few private treasures. It was much, much smaller when compared with the royal treasury of Lordaeron, but it would have made anybody - given the location, probably a Forsaken - extremely rich.

And Matthias had Brann gave away everything that he hadn’t used to fund his errands to the orphanages across the Azeroth and the one in Shattrath City on Outland. The dwarf immediately agreed, taking a great amusement in the thought that the former Lich King was giving away a fortune to orphans.

“How many of those had lost their parents because of me?” he had wondered back then.

Now, though, his thoughts were occupied with the matter at hoof. Namely, Rarity looking dubiously at the necklace created by the elves of Quel’Thalas and given to his and Celie’s paternal great-grandmother as a wedding gift and then passed down the line to his sister. “I’m not sure if I can accept it,” she said, her hoof brushing the gems symbolizing the sun and two moons of Azeroth.

“Yes you can,” Matthias replied; he spend a long time wondering what to give to each of his friends, and he was not going to be proven wrong of his choices. “You remind me of Celie in many ways.”

One of his friends took upon herself to list those ‘ways’: “Being stuck-up, fancy, sophisticated perfectionistic-”

“Rainbow Dash!” four ponies interrupted her in unison, looking at her sternly.

“Yeah,” Matthias replied her, grinning.

Seeing the gazes they gave him, he laughed along with Rainbow, who had probably made her comment to relief the tension. “Of course, there were more, how to say it, charming qualities to her than just those. But one of the first things that made me see resemblance between you and my sister, Rarity, was how you scold Sweetie Belle, how she should act and how shouldn’t.” He smiled as nostalgia hit him. “When I was younger than your sister, I heard from Celie - and, to be fair, from a lot of others as well - many times things like: ‘You should sit straight’, ‘Be presentable’, ‘You shouldn’t look bored, Arthas,’ or ‘How many-’”

“Wait wait wait,” Rainbow Dash stopped him, confused. “‘Arthas?”

Matthias opened his mouth to reply… and then froze as he realized what he had just said.

Alerted by the sudden noise, Angelic Heart rose her head from ‘In the Service of the Sun’ by Captain Day Light and looked at her charge. Princess Moonlight Shadow was in her crib, still laying and still with her tiny eyes closed, but she was laughing as if she heard the best joke of her life. Or, given her age, as if somepony had blown raspberries on her belly.

The middle-aged maid glanced at her sleeping liege, afraid that the noise might awake her. Luckily, Princess Luna was sound asleep. Soon the laughter of her daughter ceased. Making a mental note to report that to the Princess later, Angelic Heart shrugged her shoulders and returned to her book.

She turned it’s pages, and, confused, tilted it vertically and unfolded the piece of paper to see the long drawing of the book. A smirk crossed her features. “You old liar... you’re not that big…”

Author's Note

You kown, I think that, since I began writing this story, I run through four different ideas as to how Arthas' real name would be revealed to the Mane6, each being more epic and dramatic than the others... and finally, I went with this. Why? Maybe I just wanted to return after a long break with a good deal of humor. Maybe I didn't want to have all of Arthas' secrets revealed at the same time, and gave them appropriate for their measure differently leveled dramatic scenes. Or maybe I am incredibly lazy and after so many chapters I have finally decided that I will now use Arthas instead of Matthias as the former have less letters. Who knows?

I am sorry about the long break. So very sorry. My BA Thesis took much of my time, and it didn't help that another of my stories had also started becoming popular. I will try to resume my earlier track with Rebirth of the Damned, though it might take some time. I am still recovering from writing my thesis. And there's also the fact that I decided to collect every possible to obtain legendary weapon in World of Warcraft, and I was already trying with mounts... which all gave me a few interesting ideas...

125. Rarity's Birthday, Part II

“How could you tell us a fake name?!”

Twilight wasn’t sure what exactly she was feeling at the moment. Like everypony else, she was shocked. They had known Matt for over five months now, by the name he gave them when they first met. Matthias Lehner.

And it just now turned out that it wasn’t his real name.

She felt… angry. Lied to. One of the fundamental things in her life had just been revealed to be a fake. It was as if somepony had suddenly came to her and told her that the sun wasn’t actually the sun, but a big mass of gasses or something. Or that moon isn’t shining with its own light, but is instead reflecting the sun’s. It was crazy.

But, on the other hoof… a part of her wondered: did it matter? She had always thought of him as Matt, true, but… was him having actually a completely different name mattered? He had been a human once; now he was a pony. That never had bothered her. Shouldn’t she also ignore what his name once was?

As she wrestled with those thoughts, Matt - or, apparently, Arthas - replied to her accusing question: “It wasn’t exactly a fake name…” he said, scratching his head awkwardly.

“No, just a name you came up with when we met,” Rainbow Dash argued sarcastically. “And then continued to use it for - oh, I dunno - five months!”

“Rainbow Dash, please, there’s no need for sarcasm,” Rarity scolded her. “I’m sure our friend has a good reason-”

The said earth pony sighed with relief. “Thank you, Rarity-”

“- for lying to us,” Rarity finished, her voice neutral.

“Oh, for the… put yourselves in my horseshoes for a moment,” Arthas sighed, sounding both annoyed and defeated. “Imagine that you would have been brought back to life in a completely different body, on a completely different world. Would you-”

“Um, pardon me…” a confused and shy sounding voice, as if its owner wasn’t sure if she should speak, asked. “What do you mean by all of this?”

It was only then that Twilight and her friends, judging by the mixed emotions on their faces as they all turned sharply at the speaker, had remembered something important. That aside from their circle of friends, who all had known about what Arthas just said, there was one outsider present, Nymph. A changeling ‘ambassador’ of sorts.

Arthas sighed once again, rubbing his temples. “I really talk too much…” he muttered, and then turned to Nymph. “Your queen already knows that there is no land called ‘Azeroth’ on Equestria, as I had claimed to be from. You would have learned the truth sooner or later, probably. I will explain this to you in more detail later; right now I kinda have to deal with this.”

Though it was clear that she still had some questions, Nymph held her curiosity in check. “Of course, Hivespeaker,” she said, nodding respectfully.

Her reply caused Arthas’ gaze harden.

“Alright, that’s another thing!” he exclaimed, turning to the rest of the group, pointing at the startled Nymph. “The changelings address me by ‘Hivespeaker’. Everypony as of late had begun calling me ‘Lightbringer’. Does the fact that I have a different true name than the one I told you really matters at this point?”

Twilight had to admit that he was right in this regard. She herself had called him by that name the crystal ponies gave him after his battle with King Sombra a few times. Even though she had always aimed to annoy him by doing so, the fact that she used it still stood.

Their friends must have had similar thoughts, for they all looked a bit confused instead of angry. “Maybe ya’ve got a point there, sugarcube,” Applejack said. “But it still doesn’t change the fact that ya lied to us.”

“I know, I… I’ve been planning on bringing this up at some point, believe me,” he said, awkwardly. “Back then, though… you know that I had not always been the pony you know. You know that I have done things that I will regret until the end of time.” Twilight felt a cold wave of dread as she recalled the bits she knew of his past. She quickly shrugged it off as the stallion she was certain would never do them again looked at her. “When you asked me then about my name… I didn’t want to say I was me. I know it was stupid; I had already figured out this wasn’t Azeroth; there was no way that you could have known my name. But I just… wanted to be somepony different. And I suppose I was also afraid you would all shun me if you know who I was, so…”

“So you made up a fake name?” Fluttershy finished for him.

“Not… exactly,” Arthas replied, scratching his head. “Light, how should I explain this… You remember how I told you that moment before my death I became myself?”

“Vaguely,” Twilight answered, wondering where this was going.

“That was because… when I became evil, a part of me - I suppose we can say the good part - was partially taken from me, and partially… it remained, but it was weakened. But it still had enough of influence to hold me back at some times. So… I cast it away.”

“I just love when you’re making sense,” Rainbow Dash remarked. Ignoring the stare Arthas gave her, she continued: “What does that have to do with your name?”

“I was get-”

“The fake one I mean,” the cyan pegasus added, smirking when Arthas glared daggers at her.

After a few seconds he resumed explaining: “I was getting to that. That part of me that I cast away took a form of a ghostly apparition, and sought to help of Azeroth’s adventurers who fought against me… after a fashion,” he added, scratching his chin. “Or maybe it was trying to just warn them…”

“What do you mean?” Rarity inquired.

“I don’t have all the details.”

“Wasn’t that a part of you?” Pinkie asked. “How could you not know what a part of you was up to? I know when my hoof is up!”

“That’s very nice,” Arthas muttered so quietly that only Twilight and Nymph, sitting closest to him, must have heard him. Twilight had to stifle a snicker as Arthas spoke again in a normal voice: “I would rather not go into how all that soul, spirit, consciousness and awareness business works.”

“Why not?” Twilight asked, actually quite curious as to how one exactly could ‘cast away’ a part of himself.

“Because we would be talking for hours, and I would very much prefer to return to enjoying the party. Getting back to the subject, though, the part of my called itself ‘Matthias Lehner’, so-”

“So you took on a name of the part of you that you considered ‘the best’?” Twilight finished for him. When Arthas nodded in reply, she smiled, feeling that she understood now, and looked at the others. “I guess we can forgive you. None of us had been through what you had been, so we really cannot judge you on how you had chosen to handle this. Although,” she added, knowing that some would still protest, “it still hurts. How could you never bring it up? You could have mentioned it back when you said that you were from another world, for example.”

“I… it skipped my mind,” Arthas said, blushing from embarrassment. “I was kind of too busy explaining about that vision and all that. As for later… how was I supposed to say it?” he asked, looking around. “‘Hey everypony, you know what? All this time you called me Matthias you weren’t saying my real name’?”

“Fair enough, I suppose” Rainbow said after a few seconds, rolling her eyes, and the others nodded affirmatively.

“So…” Twilight said, looking at the stallion expectantly. “Your name is Arthas…” she trailed off suggestively.

“Menethil,” he finished, smiling a bit shyly. “Arthas Menethil.”

“No embarrassing second name there?” Rainbow Dash asked with a smirk. “Something like ‘Arthas Francis Menethil’?”

While everypony snicker with laughter, Arthas simply glared at her. “Just ‘Arthas Menethil’,” he said once the laughing had stopped, though his comment revived them for a few seconds. “Out of curiosity, though, why Francis?”

“Dunno, first thing came to mind,” Rainbow replied, smirking. “An old friend had a younger brother named Francis, so I kinda couldn’t make fun of it, and now I guess I’m trying to make up for the lost time.”

“Charming as always,” Arthas sighed. Turning to Rarity, he said, “I’m sorry for souring the mood of your party…”

“Oh, that’s okay, darling, I do not mind,” she assured him. “To be honest, if I were to say that I am angry about something, it would be due to you sending Storm away on Order’s business.”

Twilight once again found herself stifling a laugh. She already heard that Storm had been sent away and couldn’t attend the party today… but prior to that, she hadn’t even known that Rarity had invited him, though she suspected she might. Her fellow unicorn had probably decided to not to bring that up to avoid further jokes from her. And if she feared them, then it must have meant that those jibes were striking close to the truth.

Rarity continued speaking to Arthas: “It’s nice to know your real name… and besides, when you give such a marvelous gift you can be sure you will be forgiven many things,” she added, brushing the necklace that now adored her neck. “And I am truly touched that you say I remind you of your sister… even if what first led you to think that had been some of my… less presentable traits.”

“I am happy you think so,” he replied, nodding courteously.

“Now then!” Rarity called out, standing up and looking around, “How about we return to partying? Who wants to pin the tail on the pony?”

“So you were brought back to life on Equestria because of the Gate of Tartarus?” Nymph asked him about an hour later. They stepped away for the moment so Arthas could explain to her just what exactly he had been talking about earlier. “It’s… hard to believe.”

He could not blame her for thinking that. After all, he himself sometimes had trouble believing that. If it weren’t for his connection with Bolvar and Ner’zhul, he might have even started to think that all that happened in his past was just a bad dream.

Twilight, however, who had also joined them, mused over a different problem. When in their conversation Arthas had reached the subject of Tartarus he confessed that thanks to Zecora’s help, he actually remembered his soul being pulled out of there. She was partially intrigued by that, of course. After all, until then Tartarus was nothing more than Princess Celestia’s theory. Twilight was also irritated that he hadn’t brought it up earlier, but she was even much more shocked and worried for him.

“I shouldn’t have mentioned that part about how it felt in there,” Arthas scolded himself.

His attention returned to Nymph as she continued, “And I don’t just mean that part about you coming back to life, as incredible as it sounds, Hivespeaker. It’s equally hard to imagine your soul being sent to Tartarus after your death. You’re such a noble pony; even my Queen thinks so.”

Arthas noticed in the corner of his eye that Twilight bristled at the mention of Chrysalis, but chose to ignore that for the moment. “I’m honored, truly, but sadly I was not always as I am now. And I don’t mean just physical differences.”

“That’s another thing,” Nymph said, tilting her head in confusion. “Those humans that you talked about, that you once were a member of… from your words, they resemble monkeys! That’s just ridiculous-”

“Should I be offended?” Arthas interrupted her jokingly, turning to Twilight, who snorted in reply.

The changeling gasped as she realized that her words could be interpreted as an insult. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

Arthas cut her off again. “It’s alright, I was just joking. On that note, if you meet Brann Bronzebeard the next time he would pay Equestria a visit, you might want to repeat that; he will burst with laughter.”

He pondered if he should explain to her the ancestry of humans, how they evolved from vrykul, who themselves were a titan creation. It would help prevent her or her Queen from coming up with any wild theories that would tie his former race with monkeys in any way, but Arthas figured that there was no need for that.

“I will keep that in mind, Hivespeaker,” Nymph replied, though Arthas doubted that she would actually go along with the idea. “I suppose that insectoid race you had mentioned also lives on Azeroth?”

“Actually…” he started hesitantly, “since we are speaking about that… Yes, that race lives on Azeroth, true, but… I believe there is some connection between you and them.”

“Connection?”

“Yes. I hadn’t realized it when I fought with you Queen, maybe because I was fighting for my life. After the fight, as I saw the other changelings fighting in the city, saw how you all walked, flew, fought… it all screamed to me with familiarity.”

”But how could that be? According to Lady Twi- um, m-miss Twilight?” she asked the unicorn in question, no doubt sensing her irritation.

“Just ‘Twilight’ is fine,” she told Nymph, smiling briefly, before she glared at Arthas.

Before he had a chance to explain that he had nothing to do with it, the changeling continued: “According to Twilight, Azeroth is ridiculously far away. The energy required for someling to teleport over such a distance, or opening a portal… I don’t think even the Elements of Harmony would have been able to do that.”

“Well…” Twilight mused, brushing her muzzle thoughtfully, “Maybe not. Are you familiar with the Theory of Familiarity?”

“Yes, that a spell becomes easier to perform the more time it’s used, and it costs less energy,” Nymph replied almost instantly. “In case of a teleportation spell it also applies to the place where one tries to teleport, how familiar it is to the caster.”

“Maybe there was another pony like Ma- Arthas, who came back to life on Equestria, but as a unicorn?” Twilight suggested. “And that pony later would… I dunno, go between Azeroth and Equestria and somehow… I don’t know, um…”

Arthas knew why she hesitated. It wasn’t that Twilight couldn’t bring her reasoning to a conclusion. She just didn’t want to say it in front of Nymph.

That maybe changelings were either brought to this world, or were created by a pony like him.

“It’s a possibility,” he said, deciding it wasn’t the time and place for such discussion, “though I feel it’s an unlikely one. Light knows that there were plenty of souls on Azeroth who wasted their mortal lives on evil, but could still potentially redeem themselves. But… if there were more cases than mine, Celestia would have known of them. I think that the news of a pony appearing out of nowhere, especially if it wouldn’t act too… civil, would reach her sooner or later. Hiding one’s origin would require too many resources for one to acquire them without any help.”

“Maybe that other pony could have come before Celestia’s reign?” Twilight asked, not arguing with his reasoning. However, she herself had answered her question: “No, the rulers before her could have also known… maybe during Discord’s reign?”

“That seems unlikely,” Arthas objected. “If it was possible for multiple souls being freed from Tartarus and brought back to life, I don’t see much reason as to why this phenomenon would take a thousand year long break.” He sighed. Arthas had long since stopped trying to figure out as to how he came to this world. It was something he had accepted and was grateful for. “I think it’s enough of those talks for now,” he told the two females. “We can resume this matter when you will reveal to us information about changelings, after Celestia and Luna will finish getting everypony to agree to this alliance on our side.”

Nymph nodded, “Very well, Hivespeaker. I’m sure when I relay to my Queen what you told me today she will anticipate that moment much more.”

Arthas waited for her until she trotted away to speak with Rarity before he turned to Twilight. All his thoughts about worlds and insectoid creatures evaporated from his mind. “So… we’re good?”

He knew he didn’t need to explain what he meant. He face immediately grew serious and a bit angry. “I might have forgiven you for lying about your name, but I am still angry.”

Hearing that from her hurt Arthas more than if it were from anypony else. “I wasn’t exactly… I mean, you were a complete stranger when I-”

“Yes, but we stopped being strangers like a two days later,” Twilight retorted. “What was it that you told Scootaloo? That she can’t live in a lie?”

Arthas winced. “I know, I’m a hypocrite,” he admitted, hating the word. He looked down. “It just… I liked being ‘Matthias’.”

“You are still ‘Matt’ where it counts,” Twilight said. Arthas lifted his head hearing the gentleness in her voice. “You are still ‘the best you’, Arthas, and it’s about time you’d realize that,” she told him with a smile, then added more bristly: “But I’m still mad.”

Arthas smiled reluctantly. “I suppose that’s only fair. What would it take to make you stop being mad?”

Twilight pretended to frown, but soon her face betrayed her as she smiled. “Probably a few days to get used to your name will be enough,” she said and she laughed shyly. “Another name for you to go by… I suppose I really shouldn’t be surprised about that.”

“I really am sorry, though,” Arthas told her, regretting that he kept that a secret for so long.

“And you should be,” Twilight replied, smirking. Both of them smiled, after which Twilight said: “Wow… it’s really been a while since we talked like this, huh?”

“Yeah…” Arthas admitted, knowing only too well whose fault it was. “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy as of late-”

“You really should stop feeling sorry for nearly everything,” she interrupted him. “It’s not your fault that you have so many duties now as the head of the paladin order. And I’ve been very busy as well, ever since the Crystal Empire, remember?”

“Yes…” he said and trailed off, wondering if it would be more polite to ask about her studies’ progress, or just complimenting her about it, as Celestia had mentioned it to him when they talked a few days ago.

Twilight, however, said something that made him forget all about that dilemma. “Guess it’s really a good thing we have agreed to remain just friends, huh?”

Arthas eyes widened as the slightly blushing unicorn brought in the subject of that night in Altomare. “I suppose…” he said, finding it difficult to formulate words; he still remembered what Luna told him earlier. “I mean, we would scarcely have the time for… anything…”

“Y-yes…” Twilight stammered, then sighed and smiled embarrassingly. “Sorry for bringing that up, it’s just… everypony keeps saying that we would be together…”

“Yeah, tell me about it…” Arthas muttered, glaring at their friends.

“Even Princess Celestia told me something along those lines,” Twilight confessed, her cheeks become redder.

Arthas chuckled, having been in the same situation. “Guess what Luna told me this morning?”

Twilight’s eyes widened for an instant, and then she joined him in laughter. “Honestly… I think my parents are about the only ones that hadn’t tried to talk or trick us into a relationship.”

He was not fast enough. At the mention of her parents, his mouth automatically opened to reply. Arthas closed it quickly, hoping that Twilight hadn’t notice…

She did.

Her mouth hang open in shock. “W-when?!” she asked once she found her voice.

“Back when Brann and I were summoned to Canterlot by Princess Celestia,” he confessed as Twilight groaned and covered her face. “I told you I bumped into them, didn’t I?”

Twilight nodded absentmindedly. “I need a drink…” she murmured, heading towards the punch bowl.

Arthas, knowing this discussion wasn’t over, followed her.

Noticing Nymph approaching her, Rarity turned away from her reflection in the mirror, which she was using to admire the necklace Arthas gave her. “Quite difficult to believe, wouldn’t you say?” she asked, as she saw her talking with Arthas and Twilight.

The changeling in disguise nodded. “That’s exactly what I had said, m- Rarity,” Nymph quickly corrected herself.

“Makes you wonder if he keeps anything else a secret,” she told her, half-jokingly, half-serious. “Next thing we’ll know is that he’s a prince or something.” She stifled a giggle. “And that would be just ridiculous.”

“I suppose it would,” Nymph agreed, smiling. “But still, what he and Twilight told me was most interesting. My Queen will be really intrigued once I relay this to her.”

Rarity hummed, not really feeling like talking about Nymph’s queen. Her eyes traveled above the changeling to look at Twilight and Arthas, who were still talking. Although she was standing too far away to hear what they were saying to one another, her ears detected warmth in their voices.

“Stupid ponies,” she sighed quietly, once again disappointed that they were nothing more than friends, before she turned to Nymph… and found the changeling intensively observing her.

Before Rarity could figure out how to explain what she had been doing, Nymph quickly turned to look at Arthas and Twilight, then back at her. She opened her mouth… then her eyes widened, closed her mouth and eyes, as if listening to something. Rarity, confused by this behaviour, was about to ask her if something was wrong when Nymph once again looked at her.

“Um…” she started uncomfortably. “My Queen wishes to speak to you… in private. What do you want me to tell her?”

That took Rarity by surprise. “What could possibly that giant b- the Changeling Queen want to talk with me about?” she wondered, barely stopping herself from thinking that way about Nymph’s queen. She wondered if she should tell her no; it was her birthday party, which she wished to spend in the pleasant company of her friends. However, her good manners prevented her from declining the request.

“Very well, I will speak with her,” she told Nymph, wondering if she would regret that.

Nymph nodded and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were still as they were before, but there was a new intensity in her gaze.

“Hello, Queen Chrysalis,” Rarity told her politely but coldly. “May I ask as to what I owe the pleasure?”

“Doesn’t sound like ‘a pleasure’, Lady Rarity,” Chrysalis replied through the mouth of her subject.

“You will have to excuse me for the slight unhappiness you can hear in my voice,” she told her. “You are, after all, barging in on my birthday party, and in a fashion you stole one of my guests.”

“I’m sorry, but you will have to forgive me for this, on the account of a cultural difference. A changeling would celebrate his birthday and any other event with as many changelings as possible. As for Nymph, she is still present, though she cannot speak at the moment.”

“Hmm,” Rarity hummed, surprised at the cultural conversation they were having. “What is it that you wanted to talk about, Queen Chrysalis?”

Instead of replying, the black unicorn turned to look at Twilight and Arthas, who were now both heading towards the punch bowl, then back to her. “What’s the deal with the two of them?”

If it weren’t for the fact that Rarity tried to keep the civility of this talk, she would have facehoofed. “Even the Changeling Queen had noticed…”

“One does not have to be able to feel their emotions to know that they have a thing for each other,” Chrysalis continued, glancing at them. “And yet, they are not a couple. How is it so?”

“And why do you need to know something like that?”

“Nymph had relayed to me what ‘Arthas’ had told her,” the Changeling Queen replied, accenting his real name. “My interest in him was magnified, so to speak. No, not in that way,” she assured Rarity when she, with a growing suspicion, glared at her. “Celestia’s student can have him… but that just simply intrigues me.”

“They had decided that it would be best for them to stay as friends,” Rarity replied, her eyes still on the changeling. “But we all hope they will change their mind.”

“I could give them a push, you know,” Chrysalis commented, smirking.

“I have no doubt you could,” Rarity said, her creative imagination giving her a plethora of ideas how one could use an army of a shape-shifting creatures. “But if they will get together, it will be because they came to such decision by themselves. Are we clear?”

Rarity had learned her lesson. She would no longer try to force to ponies into a relationship… as much as she wanted to.

The Changeling Queen scanned her with her gaze for a while before she nodded. “Very well, I will not interfere… I must direct my attention to different matters, Lady Rarity. This had been an enlightening talk we just had.”

“It had,” Rarity admitted, slightly nodding her head.

“I wish you a happy birthday,” Chrysalis said, closing her eyes… only to open them again. “Oh, and one more thing: Nymph has a date tomorrow. Do advise her, please.”

When in the very next second Nymph’s unicorn face twisted into an expression of pure shock, Rarity knew that the Queen had left.

Author's Note

Funny thing: some of you, who counted the months and holidays within the story might have realized that currently the story takes place during October. And you know what I had found out a few days after I first foreshadowed Rarity's birthday (by foreshadowed, I mean when she was giving an invitation to Arthas and Storm)? That G3 Rarity's birthday was in October! I swear I had no idea when I thought this up! What a funny coincidence!

127. The Gods of Everfree

Sixteen hours ago...

Ever since the Three Tribes had united and founded Equestria, the pegasi had known that while they could control weather everywhere else, the skies above the Everfree Forest were an exception. They could move the clouds, but they would travel by themselves. The clouds could shoot lightning when they weren’t supposed to. The pegasi had long since learned that it was best to stay well clear from the clouds above the Everfree Forest.

And this morning, Knight Storm Clash of the Celestial Light learned that it wasn’t a good idea to sleep on them.

He woke up with a loud yelp as the cloud on which he slept on shocked him with electricity, and he was literally jolted awake. When the shocks passed, Storm shook his head, trying to get a hold of himself and trying to locate the source of the sudden pain. Too late did he remember where he was; between the shock and shaking, Storm’s sense of balance was compromised and he fell down.

The sudden sensation of falling and air hitting him in the face finally managed to wake him up completely. The paladin beat his wings and quickly stopped his fall before he collided with any of the trees below him.

“Am I doomed to be the ponification of everything a pegasus is not?” he thought bitterly. “Who else could fall into a giant chasm and from a cloud in the matter of a few hours?”

Storm sighed, not wanting to know an answer to that question. He decided that he should be just glad to be mostly unharmed after everything that had happened.

Now properly awake, he scanned the area. “Based on those mountains on the horizon… I think I must be in the very center of the forest,” he thought, picturing in his mind that map of Equestria.

After he parted ways with Daring Do and Sir Lightbringer (and Al’ar), Storm spent some time pondering his next move, while letting the wind carry him over the forest. On one hoof, he still considered that his initial assumption was right, that he had to look for the Eon Petals in something resembling a den in the heart of the forest. On the other, that train of thoughts had almost got him killed.

“Okay, no more bending down to smell strange plants in dark caves, then,” Storm finally decided, shaking his head, and set off. Because no matter how bad this plan sounded, it was still the only one he had.

But it wasn’t long before fatigue began to catch up with him. Despite being able to use the Holy Light to replenish himself, Storm had decided to not do that, out of fear of bringing more predators on his head. “Or rather, after my head… well, maybe insides more likely…” he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

He had found a comfortable cloud to spend the rest of the night on. Storm was hoping that maybe in the light of the day he would have more luck in his quest. He ate some MRE’s that were in the small saddlebags attached to the armor Sir Lightbringer had brought him and had fallen asleep.

“Until that stupid cloud hadn’t woke me up,” the pegasus thought angrily, leering at the criminal.

Another lightning bolt shoot down, almost hitting him. Scared, Storm quickly dropped lower, trying to get out of the cloud’s reach. He flew through a hole in the barrier of branches and leaves, landing safely on the ground.

He looked up at the crazy sky above him. “I was going to walk anyway,” he hissed before he turned his back on them.

Storm checked if the Spring Binder's strap was clasped tightly and if he could reach the grip of it and of Stormfury, the dagger Sir Lightbringer gave him, easily. Satisfied, he took a deep breath and walked towards the unknown.

“I will find those flowers for you, Rarity.”

He wasn’t trotting for even ten minutes before he realized that something was following him.

“Alright, don’t panic,” he thought, continuing to walk as if he hadn’t noticed the quiet sounds of some animals prowling between the trees around him. “It sounds like… there’s only two of them. It should be easy to scare them off, now that I have my Spring Binder with me.”

He barely thought when Storm had to jump and roll on the ground as something to his right tried to pounce on him. The paladin turned to see what his adversary was, one hoof raised and other grabbing the grip of the sword.

It was a timberwolf.

The monstrous beast of timber and leaves snarled, a horrid stench emanating from its mouth. It readied itself to attack the pegasus again, but Storm didn’t give it a chance. The second he registered the threat, he asked the Light to aid him, and the Light had answered. A blast of Light stunned the creature, letting Storm to concentrate on the one that tried to jump on him from behind.

He whirled around, unsheathing the Spring Binder. The Light shone through the weapon as Storm brought it down on its head. In the middle of the swing he twisted the blade, so that it would hit the timberwolf with its flat side. Storm didn’t want to kill it; it was an act against a pony’s nature and his paladin teachings.

Upon contact, however, the beast literally fell apart.

As Storm took in the sight, scarcely believing it, the timberwolf behind him had recovered. It growled as it attacked again, but that was its mistake. The noise snapped Storm out of his shock. He reared up, and with his hind hooves, strengthened by the power of the Light, he bucked the timberwolf, making it also break down into loose branches.

“This is the other kind of timberwolves,” Storm realized, nudging one of the branches with the Spring Binder. “The one that is more like spirits than beasts…”

He let out a breath he hadn’t even known he’d been holding. He was relieved that he hadn’t killed an actual living creature… even if the more living-like timberwolves would have also tried to eat him.

Shaking his head to put those dark thoughts behind him, Storm sheathed his sword and continued to trek towards a promising looking hill.

As the pegasus slowly left the scene of the short fight, the forest became silent in that part of it. There were no birds singing. Not even the wing sang through the foliage. Everything in the Everfree Forest had sensed something that only a few of its inhabitants could allow themselves to ignore.

Her hunt had begun.

The loose branches and pieces of timber, enveloped by a green aura, rose from the ground.

When about an hour later Storm found a promising looking cave, he wondered if it was a stroke of good luck, or a foreboding sign. Of course, despite the memory of how the last time things ended when he entered a cave, he still went. If there was a chance to find the Eon Petals there, he had to at least look around.

He paused at the entrance, measuring it. It was big; the ceiling was about five times his height above him, and it was wide enough to allow five or six ponies standing side by side to pass through.

“Well, it definitely looks like it could be the den for a forest spirit,” he thought, then once again winced at the thought about what - according to the legend - had transpired in it between the Spirit and the Hero. “Oh, get over it. It was a very long time ago, right?”

He flexed his wings before he took a step forward. And then another one. Soon he was engulfed by darkness. Luckily, the gentle light that the Spring Binder emanated was more than enough to shine his way and lift his heart.

Storm braved into the cave, looking around to see if there were any signs of the flowers he was searching for. However, unlike the previous cave, where there was that strange moss-like plant that had drugged him, this one seemed to have no life in it.

Storm’s eyes went to the ceiling. There were several stalagmites coming down from it, which explained the soft sounds of water dropping. “Would the Eon Petals be able to survive with just this water?” he pondered. “Hmm… That doesn’t seem likely, now that I think about it. Maybe this den isn’t a cave after all? Maybe it’s a… a gorge of some kind?”

Perhaps it was due to the memory of the night before, or the general creepiness of such place, but the idea struck Storm to be closer to the truth. He was about to turn around and march out of the cave, when-

Crack!

His movements stopped as he heard the awful noise, coming right from under his hoof. Gulping, Storm glanced down.

He had stepped on a skull of a manticore.

Before he could even begin to start imagining what fate had befallen its owner, fate seemed determined to let him know that it wasn’t a natural death.

Hissssssss…

Storm’s eyes shot right up, Spring Binder ready in his hoof, prepared to defend himself as he looked right into the glowing, scarlet eyes of the beast which lair it was…

… and realized that he couldn’t move his hooves, not even by an inch.

As the horrific, cold feeling began to crept up from his hooves, Storm, who could not tear his gaze away from those awful eyes, realized what he was facing.

A cockatrice.

Spring Binder’s glow illuminated its features as the animal slithered closer. Storm had to stifle a shout. It was gigantic! Just its head was bigger than Storm, not to mention the rest of its body. The cockatrice spread its wing as it rose higher, still keeping the eye contact with the paladin. It stood on its chicken’s legs; Storm heard the unpleasant noise of claws scratching stone. And its long, serpent’s tail…

… began to wrap around him, lifting him higher into the air.

As all that was going on, Storm fought desperately to free himself. His legs were now completely changed into stone. It was a terrifying sensation; as if his legs were no longer there, as if somepony had cut them off, and in their place a chill that could freeze a heart appeared. To make this worse, Storm could feel this sensation spreading even further. His wings were still not affected by cockatrice’s gaze, but it’s tail was preventing him from flying away.

And now the cockatrice opened his beak, preparing to swallow the paladin pony whole.

Storm didn’t spare much time trying to ponder as to how exactly this was going to work in the beast’s mind; more than half of his body was turned to stone at this point. He wasn’t at all curious if the cockatrice stomach could digest stone, or how that skull had turned up at the cave’s floor. If he felt like it, he would ponder about those matters after the threat of being eaten was over.

The paladin could no longer move, so he did the only thing he had left; prayed. Storm reached into himself, to the small flame in his heart that burned with the Holy Light. He prayed to the Holy Light to give him the strength to free himself, and the Light had answered. The small flame extended, spreading throughout his body and soul.

Storm took a deep breath, and as his lungs filled with air and chest rose, the stone curse that was binding him was broken.

However, he still couldn’t get away. The cockatrice’s tail was holding him. However, the foreleg which he had extended still held Spring Binder. Now that he could move it, he gripped the blade tighter and slashed the fanged beak.

The cockatrice cried in pain as it took a step back. The cut was shallow, but it was still painful. Storm wasn’t waiting to see the effects of his attack, though. He quickly used the strength the Light had given him to hit the tail around him with the sword’s grip. The cockatrice’s hold loosened… and Storm just bolted out of there.

Of course, the cockatrice very quickly gave chase after him. It wouldn’t have gotten as big as that if he let every meal escape that easily. But that was the problem with being so much bigger than your intended prey; you couldn’t fit in all the places it could.

Storm realized it, so as soon as he was out of the cave, with the raging cockatrice hot in pursuit, he immediately dove in between the trees. He could hear the great beast tear out one tree in anger, and then it tried to follow him from above. Luckily for Storm Clash, the trees were thick with leaves in this part of the forest. The cockatrice quickly lost his trail.

“Looks like I’ve lost it,” Storm sighed with relief.

He had been standing on one of the highest branches of a tree, where leaves would cover him from unfriendly eyes, looking around for the signs of the cockatrice. Storm had put some distance between himself and its cave, and it’s been a while since he could hear the great animal, but he still wanted to make sure he was safe.

Satisfied, he thanked the Light, and rose above the tree-tops to scan the area. Since his epiphany in the cave, he tried to recall if he had seen any kind of gorge during one of his earlier searches. However, considering that until now the need to escape a pissed off giant cockatrice took priority, he couldn’t focus.

“Let’s see…” Storm pondered, looking around. “My main focus was hills, but… I could swear that- Aha!” he thought triumphantly, seeing a small break in the tree-line.

With a quick look at the clouds above him, to make sure they weren’t going to shock him again, the paladin flew straight towards the spot he noticed. He reached in a matter of seconds. Before him lied a cavity in the ground, separating two parts of the forest for about half a mile.

Storm smirked, feeling certain that he was bound to find something in there. Trying to remain positive - and not think just why he hadn’t thought of this earlier - he flew right into the gorge.

It was quite spacious, leaving him plenty of space in the air. There was no sign of a river at its bottom; Storm assumed that whatever stream must have carved this small canyon had dried out millenia ago. His eyes kept searching through from one side to another, trying to find-

Out of the blue, he collided with something.

He immediately focused and tried to regain his balance in the air… only to find out that he couldn’t. Whatever he had collided with had now trapped him, keeping him suspended in the air. It also wobbled him a bit forward and backwards, and felt really strange, as if… sticky.

Storm gave out an irritated sigh. “How many more times am I going to get caught like this?” He shrugged - finding it to be very hard now - and tried to see into what kind of trap he had gotten himself into.

He didn’t like what he found out. Storm gazed at the white thing that sticks to his hoof, then to another one on his wing and on another hoof. Then he tried to see how far the edge of the gorge was.

“Spider web…” he muttered weakly, his brain beginning to shut down from the panic. “I’m stuck in a gigantic spider web…”

He had seen one gigantic animal today; it wasn’t much of a stretch to figure out that there could be something like a gigantic spider prowling nearby.

The web vibrated.

Swallowing with great difficulty, Storm - who didn’t know if he was trembling due to the vibration or fear - looked down, from where the vibrations seemed to emanate.

What he saw made him scream and begin to sharp violently against his restraints.

From below him, from a hole hidden beneath the ground, emerged a huge black spider, with thin but long legs spread across the web. It had a blue star on its abdomen, and Storm, for the brief moment he was looking down, could swear he saw four pair of eyes look into his with hunger.

No matter how hard Storm shook and jerked his legs, nothing worked. The web was stuck to his coat and armor for good. Even when he gripped the dagger Sir Lightbringer loaned him with his mouth, his situation hadn’t improved. He couldn’t cut the thread. Maybe if he had the time, he could try to saw it, but the spider was coming closer!

“I’m… I’m… I’m gonna die like a fly!” Storm realized with panic. “No! This… this cannot end like this! Not here! I… I was supposed to find her a gift, I-” Storm paused, summoning Rarity’s face before his mind’s eye.

Today was her birthday...

“I will not die on her birthday! You hear me!?” he shouted at the spider, his resolve strengthened.

His shout didn’t seem to have any effect on the arachnid, but it managed to chase away his fear. Being able to think more clearly, he once again bathed in the Holy Light.

Those who walk the path of the righteous need not fear restraint, Sir Lightbringer had taught them.

The web around him have dissolved.

Storm once again didn’t stay around for the huge beast to catch him again. He avoided the spider’s leg, which it tried to hit him with, and flew up high, satisfied that at least this time the thing chasing him had no wings.

The smirk that appeared on his muzzle disappeared as he had barely avoided colliding with another web, spread across the two ridges marking the edge of the gorge.

“Son of a-” he thought before turned around and headed for the mouth of the small canyon, wondering just how he had missed it when he first saw the gorge from the sky. One would think there would be leaves or something sticking to it.

However, he did not have time to glance at it and see if he was right. The gigantic spider was chasing after him, its long legs letting it keep up with the flying pegasus. The arachnid’s eyes stayed on him as it passed various rocks and trunks falls seemingly without effort. Storm reached to the Light for strength, gaining on speed. If he could just reach the mouth of the gorge, he could fly into the sky…

… the sky which was now blocked by a wall of clouds with spikes.

“Oh, come on!” he shouted in exasperation as he kept to the ground while the spider chased after him.

It also began to spit small projectiles at him. When one flew right past his head and hit a tree before him, Storm had realized what it was. He looked back to confirm it: the spider was arching its abdomen up to spit web-missiles at him.

He hastened. Storm hoped to use the similar tactic to the one he used against the cockatrice; lose the beast amongst the trees. Unfortunately for him, the trees were scare here; it looked as if this part of the Everfree Forest was converting into a marsh. There was green water below him (and below the spider), a weird, smelly scent lingered in the air, a giant green rock stood from the-

Storm shot his head. That was no rock. Stopping in mid-air, he raised his eyes to look up… and up…

Before him stood a gigantic, four-headed hydra.

“I hate this forest!” Storm shouted as the hydra stared back at him.

All four heads regarded him with surprise and hostility; they were also blinking slowly, as if they had woken up just now. Storm had realized, probably explained why he hadn’t noticed them earlier.

He didn’t have much time to ponder on that, though. Behind him he could hear that hissing and rattling of the giant spider. In front of him, the four long necks straightened as hydra looked over him at…

Storm felt as if the Holy Light shone brightly for a second above his head.

The paladin rose slightly into the air and spread his forelegs, emanating light that dazzled and blinded both beasts. The spider continued to run, and crashed into the hydra. The four-headed monstrosity roared in rage, and one head bent down to bite two of the arachnid’s leg. The spider gave out a curious mixture of rattling and hissing noises as it spit some green substance on it. The hydra cried as in pain as its scales began to melt…

But by then Storm was too far away to see those details.

“I would say ‘if I see another giant animal I’m leaving’, but I know that the very moment I do, a giant animal will try to eat me again, so…”

Thoughts along those lines run through Storm’s head as he rested on a riverbank. He could still see some of the hydra’s heads above the treeline as it walked somewhere. The sounds of battle between it and the spider had toned down some time ago, though. Storm briefly wondered what had happened to arachnid, but he quickly stopped as he pondered his next move.

“I’m running out of time…” he thought as he took another MRE from his saddlebags. The paladin looked up in the sky. “It’s already past noon. I have just a few more hours to find the Eon Petals if I want to make it in time.”

Unfortunately for him, it looked like he was going to be delayed a few minutes more. From behind him he heard a twig snap.

Storm turned around, readying his blade. What he saw almost made him smile. Instead of gigantic monsters that he would prefer to see from the safety of the local cinema, stood about ten timberwolf. Of course, it wasn’t exactly a pleasant sight, especially considering their numbers. Neither less intimidating were their wooden fangs that they bared at him, nor were their claws. Their poisonous breaths - Storm was almost positive about that one, nothing that smelled this bad could be healthy - also left many to be desired.

The paladin, however, was simply relieved that he had to face foes roughly his size. Also, because he could see that they were identical to the pair that attacked him a few hours ago, he knew he could go all out.

The first three timberwolves leaped at him right from the start. Storm used the power of the Light to stun the one trying to flank him from the right and focused on the other two. Spring Binder sang as it cut the air and timberwolf’s head off. The rest of its body immediately crumbled. Storm turned around so that his hind hooves where just in the right position for him to buck this “strike group’s” remaining timberwolf.

Quickly dispatching the one that he stunned earlier, Storm noticed that the remaining timberwolves had formed a circle around him. They cut him from the river and were coming closer very quickly, probably to not give him the time to fly into the air.

Storm summoned the Light to hit all his enemies around him. He swung his blade again and again, blasted them with the Holy Light and bucked them with his hooves. The timberwolves, all seven of them, having sustained damage from the storm of Light he had unleashed, fell easily. The last one managed to get a drop on Storm. It pounced on him and was about to sink its fangs into his neck. In the last moment Storm managed to grab Stormfury and pierce the spirit’s neck.

Breathing heavily after the exertion, Storm shrug off the pieces of timber and stood up. He wondered why he hadn’t simply just flown away. “I guess I just wanted some revenge on the forest,” he realized with a chuckle, but then scowled. Revenge was beneath the paladins.

Shaking his head, Storm trotted over to the river, wanting to splash some water on his face to cool off and clean himself. He had to get a grip; he had a quest to complete. Going around relieving some stress on weird nature spirits or whatnot wouldn’t get him anywhere.

“Not that I am going anywhere at the moment,” Storm thought darkly as he splashed some water against his face. “How am I supposed to find the Eon Petals in time? In this gigantic forest? I mean, it’s not like I thought that I would just stumble upon a road sign, but still…” he mused, standing on the edge of the riverbank, looking at his reflection. Suddenly, he blinked. “Wait, did something moved in there?” He leaned closer to the water, trying to see through it…

The speed with which the humongous jaws shot from the water was astonishing.

Storm barely had the time to cast the Light’s shield around him as the two sets of very sharp fangs tried to rip him to shreds. The beast - which Storm suspected to be a cragadile (and a rather big one at that, because why not) - increased the pressure of its bite and turned around its own axis. The paladin, though slightly dizzy, managed to retain enough of sense amidst the terror to point a hoof into the depths of the cragadile’s mouth and blasted it with the Holy Light.

The beast roared as it parted its jaws. Storm immediately took advantage of the fact and flew into the sky, out of the reach of the cragadile. The animal glared at him from the water as he hovered in the air, trying to calm down his heart after the traumatic experience. After a few minutes, the cragadile turned away and, submerging under the water, it swam away against the river’s current. The paladin sighed with relief.

“My, what an unruly display.”

Storm blinked. Did he really hear that, or was it his mind playing tricks on him?

He turned around, expecting… well, he wasn’t sure what exactly he expected to be able to talk within the Everfree Forest. Certainly not that, however. A little further down the river was a gigantic sea serpent. Storm took in the sight of it looking at the retreating cragadile disapprovingly, it’s arms crossed on its chest. The paladin assumed that it was a ‘he’; the sea serpent had a mustache, orange - although about a half of the right one had a strangely familiar violet color - like his hair.

“Um… hi?” the paladin asked, not sure if the bizarre creature’s intentions.

“Oh, hello!” the sea serpent said cheerfully. “My, what a surprise! I hadn’t expected to see a pony so deep within the forest… and not in such a tacky get up, if you don’t mind me saying so,” he added, glancing at the armor Storm wore with a mild disgust. “I do apologize for that ruffian’s action,” he continued, his head turning back towards the disappearing cragadile. “None of the others have much of civility left in them, it would seem. A pity,” the sea serpent added, shaking his head. “They were such a fabulous bunch to hang around with. Everfree and I have even used to be besties! Now she all but growls at me whenever I try to speak to her. Can you imagine?”

“Um…” Storm murmured, staring at the sea serpent. He didn’t understand even a half of what he had said.

“Did he say that he used to be best friends with… the forest? And that it now… growls at him?”

The sea serpent, oblivious to his confusion, continued to talk. “I go like ‘hello!’ but she totally tried to bit me! And the others were even worse! I swear, I don’t know what happened to everybody in this forest… I live in the sea most of the time, you see. I only travel up the river every once in a while. Funny, the previous time I was here I also bumped into ponies… though unlike them, you seem a little lost. May I help you?”

“W-well…” he stammered, not sure if the strange being could help him or not. However, it wasn’t like he had any better lead… “I was looking for a flower that is supposed to grow in the Heart of the Forest, but-”

“Down the river, by the huge willow with five branches turn right, continue until you see a rock split in two, then go left and you will get there.”

Storm blinked. “Did he… just…” He continued to stare at the sea serpent for a good few seconds, completely baffled that he had just learned the location of the place he seeked.

“Is anything wrong?” the sea serpent asked, furrowing his brow in concern.

Finally, Storm managed to regain his senses. “N-no…” he replied, a bit shakily, but he shrugged it off. He now knew where the Eon Petals were! “Thank you very much, sir!” the paladin said, bowing graciously to the sea serpent. He then spread his wings and flew in the direction his savior told him. “I will never forget this! Thank you!” he called out, waving behind him.

The sea serpent waved back. “No problem!”

Storm’s smile grew wider when he spotted a gray rock that was split in half.

“I’m almost there!”

Once he reached it, he turned left, just like the serpent had said. He could not believe his luck; the sea serpent had said that he only came to the forest every once in a while. The Light must have been clearly at work behind their meeting.

Despite his glee, he continued to be on alert for any sort of dangers that could wait for him. The forest around him was much more spacious; the trees were all several paces from each other. They were much bigger, however. Thick bark protected the massive behemoths, whose stumps were wider than four ponies standing together. Their branches were of an odd number and spread in a strange way, bringing something to Storm’s mind that he couldn’t quite place.

He paused by one of the trees, wanting to examine it. His eyes were quickly drawn to the hollow in between its branches. “It almost looks like… a face…” Storm noticed, half-amused, half-intrigued by the discovery.

However, he soon found his biological research in need of being put away for a brief time. A ear-piercing howl sounded around him. All around him, from several places and several throats at once. Storm tore his eyes away from the tree hollow and looked around. He was surrounded by another pack of timberwolves. This time, thought, there weren’t just two of them. Nor were there ten of them.

There were dozens of them.

Storm glanced at them nervously. It was clear that he wasn’t going to fight them. He readied his wings to carry him far above the reach of their fangs.

“Why did they all came after me?” he wondered as the timberwolves gave out another howl. “Is there no other prey in the forest for them? And… this is the same kind as the ones that I had encountered earlier. How come I’m bumping only into those and not the ones that are animals and not spirits?”

Another howl rang, and though it was as terrifying as all the previous ones, there was something in this one that froze Storm’s blood in his veins. In the next second, he knew why: because that howl was foretelling what was about to happen now.

All there timberwolves as one were enveloped by green aura. Storm had the prayer of protection at the tip of his tongue, ready to use it… but what followed baffled him. Instead of attacking him, the timberwolves fell apart. However, their remains, despite what common sense said, did not fall to the ground. They remained in the air, but not for long. Soon they lifted higher, all of them, as if guided by an unseen hoof. They gathered together, joining…

As the realization of what was happening hit him, Storm’s eyes grew wide. He had read about it not so long ago:

As the trees fell, dying the needless death, it was the end of the line. An ancient fury awakened in the heart of the Nature’s Goddess. The fallen trees and timber swirled around her, giving her a physical form in which she could extract her vengeance.

“T-this…” Storm thought, his eyes observing the re-emergence of a being like no other, “this is her…” Limbs and torso became distinguishable, so had the claws. “The Spirit of the Forest…”

Finally, the monstrous head of a wolf was also completed. Storm, who continued to stare at it in awe and terror, saw green lights appear in previously empty sockets. She was whole. The Spirit of the Forest, in the body she shaped when she was on a warpath eons ago. She threw her head back and parted her jaws, wanting to announce her presence in the world.

Storm, who retained enough of a common sense to cover his ears, was taken aback. What the Spirit had uttered was nothing like the howls the timberwolves gave earlier. It much more reminded him of the sounds a dog’s whining.

He looked carefully at the monstrosity of wood as it shook in, what he realized, was pain. There was a sickly orange aura surrounding her, and from her mouth a green mist shoots forward, heading towards a dark shape.

A shape that was growing.

“Yes…” Storm heard suddenly, first quiet, them louder, and then finally triumphantly. “Yes… Yes! All this waiting had finally paid off!” UIt continued to speak as the dark shape continued to grow. “I knew that sooner or later you would focus your being into a single form if I waited long enough, and it had finally paid off! Now, with all your magic, I can finally exact my revenge on those ponies!”

With a pitiful whine, the body of the Spirit crumbled, becoming a mound of timber. Storm’s eyes briefly stopped on it before they returned to observing the one who caused it as he stepped out of the shadows. The stranger had said something about ‘revenge on Equestria’, and whatever he meant by that it couldn’t be anything good.

Storm’s eyes widened once he could see what the mysterious creature was. A centaur, a very rare hybrid of either pony, zebra or a horse with a minotaur. He had a body of an equine, but in the place where they had necks, another torse emerged, that of a minotaur, creating a bizarre mix. And he was huge! Not nearly as big as the Spirit of the Forest had been, but still about three times as big as a normal centaur should be. His skin, visible on his face and arms, was red. The rest of his body was covered by black and gray fur. On his arms he wore a pair of metal braces, and there was another one around his neck. Underneath it he wore a strange golden medallion. The centaur also had a pair of long curved horns adorning his head.

Burying his fear of the much larger being, Storm called out. “Who are you?”

The centaur stopped and looked at him. He smiled maliciously. “I suppose as a thank-you for forcing most of Everfree to focus into a single body I can tell you.” Storm had a strange feeling that he would not like where this was going. His hoof reached for the Spring Binder. “My name is Lord Tirek, soon the master of all the magic on Equestria… starting with yours!”

Before Storm could react, the centaur’s horn glowed and a sphere appearing in between them, a sign of a minotaur using its magic. The paladin hastily recited the prayer of protection, but just as he uttered the first syllable, something unexpected happened.

A vine shot from the ground, wrapping around one of this Lord Tirek’s arms. Another one shot up a split second later, wrapping around his leg and torso. More vines emerged, all seemingly wanting to devour the centaur.

Lord Tirek, however, was not so easily defeated. He pulled his arms free of the vines with just his physical strength, and then torn off the vines from the rest of his body. Having freed himself, he bellowed: “Who dared?!”

“I had,” spoke a voice, calm but strong, quiet, but with a force of storm.

Storm Clash followed his ears to the source of this voice. He looked to his side and saw a timberwolf walk slowly from between the trees. It was clear to Storm immediately from the way it walked that this wasn’t just a part of the Spirit like the ones he encountered before. This was a living, singular creature, with its own life and mind, and a real body with a wooden hide. But… it wasn’t like any timberwolf he had seen or heard ever before.

It didn’t have any branches protruding from its body in any weird angles. Its hide was smooth, like of a real wolf. It had a mane, starting at the edge of its head and coming to stop at its chest. This mane was composed of leaves and small flowers, and as the timberwolf walked, they crackled against the wind. His eyes shone, like that of the spirit-like kind, but with an amber glow, not green, and its look spoke of intelligence.

Lord Tirek blew steam through his nose and asked the question that was going over Storm’s mind. “Who are you, mutt?”

The timberwolf’s eyes narrowed. “I am Provato, the last of the demigods of this forest… and you are trespassing.”

Author's Note

I forgot to mention under the previous chapter: the first chapter her recently been polished up by Taltharius (and I helped a bit ;p). Thought the context hadn't changed much, it looks much better now.

128. Slash and Burn

The laughter with which the centaur erupted almost deafened Storm. He pressed his hooves to his ears, wondering how could this… this Provato, a demigod, be completely unfazed by it. He - Storm assumed such by the depth of the timberwolf’s voice - just stood there, his glowing amber eyes unnervingly continuing to stare at Lord Tirek calmy. Behind those eyes, however, Storm could sense a wild, primal fury raging within him.

Which was why when Provato’s head turned towards him, the pegasus held his breath.

Much to his shock - and relief - the timberwolf demigod’s gaze softened a touch. “Hide, child of the skies,” he said in his rumbling voice, hearable over the thunderous laughter of Tirek. “This battle will be too dangerous for you to stay close.”

Feeling overwhelmed by this voice and gaze, Storm barely could find in himself enough strength to nod. The sensation lessened when Provato turned back to Tirek, letting the pegasus regain enough control over his body to hide behind one of the great trees.

To be honest, Storm’s first instinct was to run away. It was clear that the place he had found himself in was soon to become a battlefield for forces beyond reckoning. The Princesses and maybe Sir Lightbringer could stay safely and even participate, but not him. However, despite that, Storm stayed. He was a paladin, and his duty to Equestria demanded that he would bear witness to what was about to transpire.

As he positioned himself safely behind the tree, staying out of sight but letting him see what was happening, the centaur laughter had cased. “You claim to be a demigod, mutt?” he sneered. “Don’t make me laugh.”

“A bit too late for that one,” Storm commented in his thoughts.

“I have faced the demigods of this land in the past,” Lord Tirek continued. “They oozed with power. Compared to them, you are but a pup!”

Provato seemed unfazed by the insult. He tilted his head as he regarded the centaur. “I know you had,” the timberwolf said calmly. “I heard about you from my elders. You are that mortal who got into his head that he could become a demigod himself by leeching off the power of the Ancients. Your arrogance had nearly costed you your life.”

Tirek’s nose wrinkled and exhaled steam through his nostrils. But Provato wasn’t done.

“Then you thought you could make yourself stronger by stealing the magic of ponies living in the far north,” he continued, beginning to walk around the centaur. Tirek’s head moved after him, not letting him out of his sight. “I heard their legends once they came to live here. They've banished you into Tartarus, and yet it looks like you still haven’t learned from your mistakes.”

Storm had no illusions by that point. Provato was openly mocking Tirek. It wasn’t really shocking; the demigod had told Tirek that he was trespassing. Whatever it was exactly the centaur was trespassing on, by doing so he clearly made an enemy in a probably territorial being.

Lord Tirek however, one who also didn’t like being offended, though in his case the offense was one’s words, not one’s actions. Having been mocked, he soon gave his as well.

“Seems you like to hear old stories,” he bellowed, narrowing his eyes. “I do too. I would just love to hear how you, a supposed demigod, managed to stay sane, while all the others, even the great Everfree, had become corrupted by this darkness. This darkness, which shrouded this entire forest.” Provato stopped his prowl around Tirek to stare at him with his amber gaze. “Their minds are nothing more than those of animals, unable to use their vast powers. Not that I’m complaining,” he added, sneering once more. “If it wasn’t for Everfree’s condition I wouldn’t have been able, in my weakened state, to drain her magic out of her.”

Even from where he stood, Storm could tell that the mood of Provato had changed. “I, too, have fallen into the darkness that has engulfed this forest as well,” he said in a somber tone. “For more than a thousand years, I prowled through this land as a mere animal. My pack hunted down anyone who stepped into the forest. It took two very unique ponies to break the darkness’ hold on my mind and allow me to heal over time.”

Provato’s voice hardened. “Now you seek to bring their kind harm, have trespassed upon this ancient grove, and leached off the powers of my mother,” he snarled, setting his forepaws further apart, “and dare to think you may leave unpunished?!”

If Tirek felt threatened at all by the demigod’s battle-stance, Storm could not see it. He merely snarled, his face still locked in a jeer. He lifted his arms to the side of his head and said, “Here’s me, playing the world’s smallest violin,” while rubbing his hand.

Storm felt as if his eyes were about to fall out of their sockets. He stared at the centaur, wondering how he could just offend a demigod like that… then he recalled that a minute ago Tirek had absorbed the magic from a goddess (who was apparently Provato’s mother).

The growl that came from the timberwolf’s jaws hinted that he remembered that event as well.

“If you are quite finished, demigod,” Tirek continued to mock, “I have more magic to steal from the Ancients before I will conquer those ponies’ pathetic little country. Get out of my sight and I may yet allow you to live someday as my pet.”

Instead of replying, Provato’s jaws parted. A sphere of swirling gold-amber energy, same as his eyes, began to form in his mouth.

Lord Tirek wasn’t sitting idle. His horns glowed, a red ball formed in between them. WIth a growl, he fired a magic beam at Provato.

The sphere shot from the demigod’s mouth, colliding with the beam half way.

Storm felt his body being pushed away by the force of the deafening explosion that followed, despite being far away from it and behind a tree. The tree itself also shook, and for a heartbeat he feared that his protection might get blown out of the ground.

Praying to the Light to heal his perforated ear drums, Storm wondered if coming into the Everfree Forest was an even worse idea that he had anticipated.

Lord Tirek staggered backwards. A moment ago, he was gloating. He had the full right to it, for he had done the impossible: absorbed the magic from probably the oldest being of this world and arguably the most powerful one. True, that feat would have been impossible if Everfree hadn’t been corrupted by some strange powers during his imprisonment in Tartarus among the souls of the damned. This darkness that both he and her mutt had spoken of had turned the Eternal Spirit of Nature into a little more than an animal. Had she been her old self, Tirek would have never dared approach her.

But he had, had stolen her magic from her, rejuvenating him from his long stay in Tartarus in a matter of seconds and becoming more powerful than ever before…only to find himself be evenly matched by some pup.

Lord Tirek growled in annoyance as he shielded his face from the explosion with his arms. As much as he hated to admit it, this Provato was speaking truth; he was really a demigod. Few beings other than them could match him in power now.

“I must be careful,” he thought, peering through the dust stirred by the clash of their powers. “Everfree wasn’t nearly at her full power when I stole her magic. Her son might prove to be difficult-”

He stopped his inner monologue as a shape was registered by his eyes. They grew wide in shock as from within the cover of dust a wolf-like creature lunged at him, its fangs bare. Provato was much smaller than Tirek, but his jaw was still perfectly sized enough to rip out his throat.

Regaining his composure, Lord Tirek grabbed him with his magic. For a moment, the wooden wolf stayed, suspended in the air and surrounded by the red aura of Tirek’s magic, before the centaur smashed him against the ground. He reared up, intending to crash the being before him with his hooves.

As he came down upon him, Provato stood up. Tirek’s front hooves stomped against his spine, with force great enough to shake the ground around them and cause several fractures in it… but the demigod was unfazed.

Provato looked up at him, his eyes narrow. Before Tirek could react, vines shot from the ground around him once more, except this time they were much thicker and covered with thorns. He roared in pain as he felt them draw his blood once the vines entangled him. But pain wasn’t the only thing he felt. Dizziness overtook him, and Tirek suddenly felt weaker, as if he was sick...

“Poison,” he realized through the fog that began clouding his mind. “Those plants are poisonous…”

He looked down at his opponent with fury that he dared to use such an attack against him, but Provato was no longer under his hooves. The wolf demigod had stepped away, and once again his maw had parted, as energy began forming in it.

Fueled by anger, Tirek burned the poison away from his body and tore through the vines, just in time to bash the demigod with his horned head.

Provato staggered, stunned, as the sphere of nature’s energy dispersed from his maw. Tirek, using the time to completely free himself, grabbed the wolf-like being and lifted it into the air.

“I’m going to break your neck for that,” he snarled as one of his arms grabbed Provato’s head from the opposite side, “and then I will take your magic as weaarrghh!”

His last word became a hiss of pain as the wolf he had in his hold bristled its fur. Except instead of hair, thorns rose straight from his body, piercing Tirek’s flesh. The pain caused by this made Tirek ease his hold of Provato, allowing the wooden wolf enough of freedom to lunge its fangs into his hand.

The centaur howled, feeling the monstrous jaws clench around his hand like an iron vise. He could feel the bone breaking underneath. Being in an incredible pain, despite the possible consequences, Lord Tirek unloaded a powerful magical blast at the point-blank range.

Storm once again had to cover his ears as a flash warned him about an explosion. This time, though, the force of it hadn’t shaken him as badly, as the two powerful being that fought each other had absorbed most of the blast.

When he looked at the battlefield, he saw Provato and Tirek, standing at some distance from one another. Both appeared to be wounded after the explosion; the centaur bore many wounds, both gashed and burns, and appeared to have a broken arm; the demigod’s chest was raising heavily, and liquids (Storm wasn’t sure whether it was blood or sap) dropped down from it. However, green lights began to swirl around Provato almost the instant Storm had laid eyes on him. The injury that would take him long prayers to heal with the Light began to disappear quickly.

“I am the son of the Forest and the Wind,” Provato stated calmly, belying the viciousness he had displayed mere seconds ago. He had healed his injuries, while Tirek continued to bleed and hold his wounded arm. “You cannot defeat me.”

As if to support his claim, the wind began to blow between the trees, gaining in strength; the clouds in the skies above swirled, growing bigger, and a lightning flashed briefly. Something brushed against Storm; he could swear that the tree he used as a cover had moved.

He could not understand why Tirek hadn’t surrendered by then. It was clear to him that Provato was the stronger of the two, despite the centaur having stolen the magic of the goddess. And yet, despite suffering great damage in such a short amount of time, he was smirking.

“Maybe you are the son of the Forest,” Tirek sneered, and began chuckling, “but have you forgotten? I have her power!”

Storm’s eyes grew wider in confusion as Tirek rose on his hind legs once more, and a glowing red orb appeared between his horns. However, those weren’t the reasons for his surprise.

What caused it was Provato, suddenly snapping and yelling: “Don’t!”

The centaur’s forehooves slammed against the ground. The orb between his horns had dispersed, its energy spreading through Tirek’s body into his legs. From there the magic spread across the ground around him, empowered by the force of his stomp. Storm Clash watched as the red glow passed underneath him, dreading what it may cause…

The tree behind which he had hidden shook.

Provato watched, with fury he had never felt before, at the perversion that took place before him.

The ancients, creatures old beyond even his comprehension, the first protectors of life on Equestria after his mother, had slept peacefully in this grove for uncount millennia. Due to that and to how close they were to the Heart of the Forest, they remained mostly untouched by the corruption that had befallen everything else that lived in the forest.

“But this arrogant mortal has changed it,” Provato mused angrily as he watched several of them pull their roots out of the ground and rise.

Only his mother’s power could awaken them, only her call. But this centaur used the magic he stole to not only stir them from their slumber, but also, due to his own evil heart, increased the corruption in them. Now those ancients that woke up weren’t the guardians of life in which shadowed Provato and his siblings had played when they were cubs. They were now a dark, perverted version of themselves, serving the the beck and call of the one that woke them and whose heart was as dark as theirs.

Provato took some solace in the fact that not all ancients had awakened. Only a pawful answered Tirek’s call. Either the centaur wasn’t as good in controlling his mother’s power as Provato had feared, or he absorbed less than he anticipated. He had known, of course, that Tirek hadn’t stolen all of Everfree’s magic or even majority of it; no mortal would be able to withstand that much power. Either way, this was rather optimistic.

At least, when compared with what Provato was about to do.

If “Lord” Tirek had thought that he would hesitate when facing the ancients, he was sorely mistaken. Provato’s heart wept in anguish over what he was about to do, but he had no choice. It was his duty as the last guardian of the forest to protect it and to stop Tirek…

Whatever the cost.

A pony, or any other mortal, would probably face an even greater dilemma than Provato in this situation. However, the timberwolf demigod knew very well that in nature nothing really ever dies. In case of creatures such as him or the ancients, that saying had a lot more meaning. Still, though, destroying their physical form was painful for Provato.

As the ancients began surging towards him, the demigod howled into the sky. The clouds above answered, sanding several lightnings down at the beings that were meant to be so much more than mindless beasts. The lightning’s burned their barks, setting a few of them aflame, yet still they marched. Narrowing his eyes, Provato stomped the ground and howled again, summoning a vortex of wind that slowed them down. With a brief touch of his mind to the un-awakened ancients and simple trees, the demigod pleaded them to drop some of their leaves. With a little coaxing to remind them what they are meant to be, the slightly corrupted beings answered. Their leaves dropped, some of them big, some of them small, and all were now carried by the wind. With heavy heart, Provato directed the powerful gust to send the leaves at the attacking ancients and the coward hiding behind them, using their sharp edges to cut them all.

All while they were bombarded by the force of a hurricane, lightning shooting down on them constantly, without a moment of respite. The ancients, though mindless, were still living being, and gave voice to their pain. Provato grinded his teeth as their wails assaulted his ears.

It was over mercifully quickly. The wind and the skies had calmed down, letting the demigod to see the charred remains of the once noble beings. He spared a second to mourn them, before he let out a furious growl and began searching for Tirek.

The centaur stood not far away. A magical shield was wrapped around him, though now that the danger of the storm had ended, it began dispersing.

“You will die for that,” he told the mortal, baring his fangs at him.

The centaur, despite his situation and many wounds, was still smirking. The sight of that alerted Provato. He quickly overcame his desire to rip him to shreds and observed him carefully. His good arm was behind his back, and there was a red orb between his horns, thought Provato could not sense it being concentrated anywhere near him. “What is he-”

“Oh, I doubt that,” Tirek said, interrupting his thoughts. “You are much more powerful that I thought. You are a true demigod, I will give you that. I cannot defeat you.”

Provato narrowed his eyes. He had a sinking feeling that Tirek had another dirty trick in store for him.

“So,” the centaur continued, grinning, “how about a trade.”

The centaur pulled out his arm from behind his back. Inside his hand was the pegasus who had braved this forest, trapped in a tight magic bubble.

“Your magic for his life.”

Provato glared at the smirking centaur with disgust, and then concentrated at pegasus. With his size, Tirek could crush him with his hand alone, not to mention what he could do with magic. The pegasus seemed to understand that as well. Even though his prison was too tight for him to move, Provato knew that he channeled mysterious powers, exactly like the pony who had healed him months ago. The fact that he wasn’t trying to use them now to free himself and was shaking his head could only mean that he had already tried to and failed.

Provato grinded his teeth. He should leave him to his fate. Everybody has to die at some point, even eternals such as him. Why should he care what happens to this pony? True, he would save him if he could, but letting Lord Tirek absorb his magic would lead to horrific events. The pegasus warrior understood this, and that was why he was looking at him with eyes pleading him not to do it, despite the obvious fear on his face.

“Why should I give me magic away to him to save some mortal?” Provato mused angrily. “I harmed many ponies and others when my mind had been reduced to that of a feral beast; what’s one more to meet his death ahead of his time because of me? Just because he wields the same powers as the one who had healed me? Just because he also has wings like the one that opened my mind? Or… like my father…”

Provato growled in defeat. Another demigod might have sacrificed this pony for the greater good, but he simply couldn’t.

“Release him,” he said, dropping his ears. “I will give you my magic.”

“And hope that you will choke on it.”

The centaur's grin grew wider as the sphere between his horns flickered. The prison of the pegasus had dispersed. Before he could take any action, however, Tirek threw him away almost nonchalantly, his attention on Provato. The pegasus was bashed against one of the trees, and fell down stunned.

Tirek opened his mouth and took a deep breath. Provato, who had lowered the mental barriers around himself, immediately felt him sucking his magic away. It was a painful feeling, as if the he was being eaten alive. He grew weaker rapidly and fell to the ground.

The leaves on his mane, now yellow instead of green, began falling out…

Storm quickly shook of the dizzyness.

He wanted to scream in frustration for how easily he had gotten captured. As the trees began uprooting themselves and Provato countered them with lightning and wind, Storm had suddenly felt some force grabbing him and pulling him away, almost right into the middle of the battle. The next thing he knew he was looking at Tirek from behind a tight glowing sphere-like prison. He tried several time to free himself using the Light, but he wasn’t able to use it as a means to attack as easily as Sir Lightbringer could. He would need to channel it through a weapon if the attack were to be effective, but in such tight space he could not reach either of them, even the dagger.

When he heard Tirek’s offer, he immediately tried to signal Provato not to do it. He didn’t want to die, of course, but he immediately thought of what this centaur would be able to do if he absorbed more magic. Especially from somepony who had been kicking his flank. Even the Princesses would be unable to stand against such a threat. As much as he wished there was another way, Storm understood that the fate of Equestria was more important than him.

But then Provato had agreed.

With his head cleared, Storm Clash looked around. The two stood more or less where they were the last time he saw them. Provato was laying on the ground seemingly unconscious, while Tirek stood over him, sucking in the demigod’s magic (on colors of gold and green) into his mouth, just like he had done earlier with his mother. The timberwolf was visibly affected by it; the bark that made his pelt had many cracks on it, the leaves and flowers on his mane were drying out and falling out. If this would continue, he would die.

Despite knowing that this would mostly likely cost him his life, Storm charged at Tirek, praying to the Light swiftly as he thrust his forehooves forward. White light shot forward and struck the centaur square in the back. His attack hadn’t harmed him seriously, though judging by the roar Tirek had uttered, it must’ve been surprisingly painful. However, it had succeeded in stopping him from absorbing the magic from Provato. Turning his attention towards him, Tirek left the demigod be for now.

Storm briefly registered that the centaur was now much bigger, and that his wounds had all mended, before he uttered a war cry and lunged at him with Spring Binder in hoof.

He didn’t even come close to reaching him before he was stopped in mid-air by his magic.

“I was going to let you flee, insect,” Tirek rumbled, lowering his powerful head to meet Storm’s eyes one the same level. “But you seem to posses some powerful magic…”

Storm gasped as the centaur lifted his head and opened his mouth, beginning to suck his magic away. It was a terrible sensation; as if the air from his lungs was being taken away, along with his blood and life.

“Light… please…” he pleaded, feeling his strength rapidly diminish, “give me the strength… to bear through this…”

He could feel the Light’s power surge through him, and for a second, the paladin felt hope in his heart. That hope quickly disappeared as the power given him by the Light had too been absorbed by the centaur. Storm prayed quickly for more, hoping he would be able to free himself somehow and buy some more time for Provato to recover-

“GGGAAHH!!!”

As the deafening roar cut through the evening air, Storm found himself no longer being held by Tirek’s magic. He flapped his wings to stay in the air and looked at the centaur in confusion. The mighty being held his throat, as if he had tried to swallow something and it was stuck in there.

Tirek turned to him with fury on his face. “What did you do to me?!”

Storm - who was beyond confused - wasn’t given the time to answer. Lord Tirek’s right arm shot towards him, with a clear intention of grabbing him and probably crushing. Storm swiftly moved out of the way, but as the hand reached the spot where he was a second ago, something happened.

It began to turn into dust.

The paladin looked wide eyed as the mighty centaur’s arm began to dissolve right before him. And it wasn’t just the arm. There was a hole in his stomach, and one of his legs was missing about a hoof.

Storm tried to comprehend this as he once again looked at the pained face of Tirek… and then he understood.

They've banished you into Tartarus, and yet it looks like you still haven’t learned from your mistakes.

Though Storm had never heard of such a legend, he could quite easily figure out what this meant.

“You’ve been banished into Tartarus,” he told the centaur as he opened himself to the Light. His body shone with a golden radiance, signaling the Light’s approval. “For thousands of years you’ve stayed there, among the souls of the damned, where you belong.” Storm Clash’s eyes narrowed. “The force that you had tried to absorb is the Holy Light; a force of such purity and grace that it burns evil away! A being such as you cannot withstand its glow, and now it runs through your veins! This is over, Lord Tirek! The Light will tear you apart!”

The centaur was staring at him, though he was in clear pain by both the mere sight of Light and of his upcoming death. Storm could see the fear in his eyes as he slowly came to realize that his fate was inevitable. He reared his head and roared in defiance; if he would later learn that nopony had heard those noises in Ponyville despite the great distance, Storm would think them all deaf.

But Tirek wasn’t finished. His horns shone once again, with a gigantic sphere appearing above them. “Then I am taking this damned forest with me!” he growled as he concentrates on what looked like a cataclysmic spell.

Storm cursed under his breath and charged at the centaur’s head. He channeled the power of the Holy Light into one swing, hoping that it would be enough to disrupt the spell. With the strength greater than the paladin could ever remember he ever mustered, Storm Clash swung Spring Binder at one of Tirek’s horns.

The sword bit into the curved horn, going deeper and deeper, until he came out on the opposite side, cutting it off.

Lord Tirek howled in pain, and his remaining arm began reaching out to the pitiful stump he had left from his right horn, while the rest of it slowly fell to the ground. The sphere, however… without the second horn to let Tirek channel and shape magic, become unstable and started fluctuating.

Storm, guessing what was about to happen, prayed to the Light for protection for himself and Provato as he quickly flew away from it. A golden shield enveloped him while he ran; barely noticing that more of Tirek had already been turned to dust.

The sphere exploded.

The paladin felt a tremendous force hit him and threw him as if he was a toy… and then he felt nothing.

129. The Heart of the Forest

The feeling that was now coursing through Storm’s body as he slowly regained his consciousness was in sharp contrast to the searing pain he had felt prior to losing it. Instead, he now could feel a sensation similar to waking up after a very long night sleep.

“Where… am I?” he wondered weakly, still in the process of waking up.

Storm hadn’t opened his eyes yet, he was too weak for that. Instead, his other senses began to register his surroundings.

The first was smell. As soon as he started to regain consciousness, his nose had caught the surrounding aroma of many flowers, as if it was spring and not fall. Mixed with it were the scents of resin, wood, grass and honey.

The second sense that started scanning his location was touch. Storm Clash was laying on a surprisingly comfortable moss and grass. His own bed in the Abbey’s barracks was of no comparison. If he hadn’t felt several blades of grass brush against his coat as he shrugged, the paladin would think that he had somehow found himself on a bed worthy of a princess.

The third was hearing. As Storm was about finally open his eyes, his ears caught, to his confusion, the chirping of small birds. That, alone, wouldn’t be so odd, if it weren’t for two things. One, he was fairly certain that he was in the Everfree Forest prior to losing consciousness, and there weren’t many (if any) small birds in it. Two, Storm was fairly sure his ears picked up among them cries that belonged to no critter in Equestria.

Finally, Storm opened his eyes. His vision, though blurred, quickly focused around two points he saw immediately: two burning amber orbs.

Provato’s eyes.

For years to come, Storm would forever blame his confusion and mental exhaustion after the bizarre day for what he had blurted seeing the timberwolf demigod lying not far away from him.

“I-I don’t want to mate with you!”

And Zecora. He would blame Zecora for this.

Provato’s expression hadn’t changed in the few seconds it took Storm to realize just what he had said. However, before he got a chance to add anything else, the demigod spoke: “You’ve read Quirky Scribe’s book. ‘The Folktales of Eastin’?”

“Um…” the pegasus stuttered, feeling extremely embarrassed. “Y-yes, sort of.”

The demigod made a weird sound, one that Storm could swear sounded like snorting. “Of all the things that pony could made up about this forest…” he sighed as he rose up from the ground on his forelegs, sitting up. “Rest assured, child of the skies, that I do not mate with someone against their will… and when they are of the same gender as me.” Provato added. He fell silent for a short moment, during which concern flashed in his glowing eyes. “How do you feel?”

Storm gulped nervously. “I’m… fine,” he said hastily, also rising. Feeling anxious about the gaze of the demigod, which he felt as if it was piercing into his soul, the paladin took a look around, curious as to where exactly he was.

What greeted him was a not everyday sight. Storm found himself in a meadow. He could have assumed as much based on what his other sensed had observed. However, his sight now allowed him to see three oddly shaped trees. They all had a fat, short trunk, which quickly split into multiple branches, each of them very long. The branches somehow spread out at certain height, mingling with each other and vines that sprouted from somewhere on the edges of the meadow, forming a ceiling of sorts above it.

From the distance they were from him it was impossible for Storm to tell which exactly species each of them were, assuming those were normal trees (which, recalling what he had witnessed to today, he doubted). Whatever they were, however, small animals weren’t afraid of them. The birds that Storm heard singing earlier sat on their branches, and two of them had big bee hives attached to them. Movement on one tree caught his eyes, and Storm managed to get a glimpse of a bushy red tail disappear between its leaves.

While he looked at them, Storm found one thing strange: two trees grew on the edges of a small, ten feet high cliff, while the remaining one stood in a straight line from the one on the paladin’s left in the exact same distance as the two by the knoll.

“As if there was meant to be a fourth,” he thought, glancing at the spot where straight lines from the tree behind him and the one of his right had crossed. “If it grew there, they would form a square’s corners.”

It quickly hit him as odd that he could see everything so well, as he could see the night sky through the living ceiling. However, he even faster localized the source of the light: mushrooms. Big, knee high mushrooms. They grow around the meadow, in random places, though most concentrated they were around the three trees and the hill. And they glowed. The sight of them, glowing with a gentle blue or green light, was breathtaking.

“Where…” he finally spoke, only to lose his voice in the next second as he continued to stare in wonder at this beautiful place. “Where am I?”

“You’re in a place that nopony had seen in over two thousand years,” replied Provato. Storm, who was more speaking out loud that actually asking, turned back to him. The demigod was observing him with great interest, as if curious to his reaction. “I’ve brought you here to mend your wounds… and to thank you for defeating Lord Tirek.” Much to Storm’s shock, the demigod bowed his head before him. “Welcome, child of the skies, to the Heart of the Forest.”

Storm’s eyes widened. “The Heart of the Forest…”

This was the place. The place he had been searching for. The place where he could find his birthday gift for Rarity: The Eon Petals.

However, despite finally being there, Storm pulled his thoughts away from the Eon Petals for the moment. He was aware that it was already night time, and if he hoped to deliver Rarity her present today he should hurry. Above all, though, he was a paladin, a knight defender of Equestria. What happened there with Tirek was too important to leave now, when there was so much he didn’t understand. Nor could Storm Clash waste this opportunity to gain information regarding the most dangerous place in Equestria.

“Even though it doesn’t look so much in here,” he commented, once again glancing at the tranquil place.

Turning back his attention to Provato, he noticed that the demigod looked much healthier than when he had last seen him. The effects of his magic being drained away by the centaur have disappeared, and now he was once more the covered in green plants… as bizarre as it was.

Storm cleared his throat, feeling nervous about speaking to the timberwolf. “Thank you for healing my injuries,” he said, bowing his head with respect, “as well as letting me see this wondrous place…” Storm hesitated briefly, confused as to how address the demigod. Finally, he decided to just use his name: “Provato. However, you don’t need to thank me for defeating Lord Tirek. It is my duty as a paladin of the Holy Light to fight against evil… and besides, it was mostly a stroke of luck, anyway,” he added, feeling a bit ashamed that if Tirek hadn’t tried foolishly to absorb the Light he would have won.

If Provato took notice of his embarrassment, he did not show it. Instead, he tilted his head slightly; Storm immediately thought of a dog doing the same gesture when listening to somepony and not understanding. “‘Holy Light’... that’s the power you wield, correct?”

“Y-yes… well, sort of. It’s more like I’m working together with It...” the paladin corrected him, anxious about explaining the Light

Provato stayed silent for a moment before he spoke again: “There was another… a child of the earth, with fur white as snow and mane in the color of wheat-”

“That’s Sir Lightbringer!” Storm exclaimed, interrupting the demigod in his surprise. He flushed when he realized that, but continued nonetheless: “That’s the head of my order and my mentor. He’s the one that taught me and others how to summon the powers of the Light. When did you meet him?” he asked, confused. If Sir Lightbringer had met Provato, wouldn’t he had mentioned this to Storm?

But Provato shook his head. “I did not meet him… or rather, when I did, I was not of a sane mind. He and another, a child of skies like you, approached me after I had killed their friend. Instead of harming me, however, they healed my injuries. While doing so, the female managed somehow to open my feral mind to this force you call the Holy Light, letting it purge the Darkness’s influence out of me. In time, I made a complete recovery.”

“You’re that timberwolf that attacked Applejack?!” Storm exclaimed, shocked. He heard some things about that incident, though nopony had mentioned anything about Applejack being ‘killed’. All he knew was that she had been attacked and Sir Lightbringer had healed her. “She’s not dead. Sir Lightbringer healed her injuries.”

He pondered briefly if he should inquire as to how serious those injuries were, exactly.

“She’s alive?” Provato asked, clearly taken by surprise by the news. When Storm nodded, he exhaled with relief. “That is good to know… so good…”

“What is this ‘Darkness’ you keep mentioning?” Storm asked as the demigod had trailed off. “You told Tirek that it had engulfed this forest. What did you mean by that?”

Provato’s attention shifted back to him. “I do not know what it was,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “This Darkness… it was something not of this world. An ancient evil from beyond stars, maybe even older than our world. It’s gone now,” he quickly added; no doubt seeing the panic in Storm’s eyes. “Whatever this evil was, it had long since left the forest, leaving only its corruption behind.”

“Corruption?”

“Yes. Though its stay in this forest was relatively short, the evil this thing emanated began affecting everything that lives here as soon as it arrived.” Provato’s gaze softened. “Look around you.” Storm did as he asked, taking in the sight of Heart of the Forest once more. “This forest had always been what you ponies would call ‘wild’. However, it was far more like this: full of life… beautiful. Everything existed in balance with one another. Now, though…”

As the demigod once again had trailed off, Storm dared to ask something that was bugging him about this place. “Why hasn't this place fallen into the darkness?”

The question had an unexpecting effect: Provato looked away, as if… ashamed. Storm furrowed his brow, confused by that reaction, but before he could ask another question, the demigod rose. “Come with me,” he told the paladin simply as he started to walk.

His wooden paws making no sound against the ground, nor did his legs rustle the grass. In fact, as Storm noticed, the blades of grass were moving out of his way.

“As if they are letting Provato pass,” Storm thought as he followed him, watching as the blades caressed the demigod’s coat.

He quickly realized that Provato was leading him towards the tree that stood away from the small hill. The demigod eyes’ were locked on it as he walked. He stopped right before it, gazing intently at the strange bough growing about his head level.

“What do you see, young pony?” he asked as Storm landed beside him, not even turning away to address him.

Confused, the paladin turned his gaze towards the tree. It looked much higher up close… and weirder.

“The branches sprout from the main trunk right about Provato’s height,” Storm noticed in passing as he raised into the air to get a better look at the bough that the demigod was so absorbed by…

His eyes grew wide with shock.

Storm looked at Provato, then back at the bough. What he just thought couldn’t be true… this tree could have just grown like this. Provato had the power to make the plants grow; he had seen it during his fight with Tirek. Couldn’t he have coaxed this tree to grow into this shape? And yet, somehow, Storm knew that he was right.

“Yes,” Provato said, confirming his suspicion.

The bough he had been staring at was nearly identical in shape to his head.

“Those trees are my littermates.”

About hundred questions came to Storm’s mind, none of which he dared to voice out of fear of offending the demigod. He was resigned to just looking at the timberwolf and the tree, his sibling, as he landed on the ground. Thankfully, Provato soon began his tale, sparing Storm from asking.

“I do not know what this Darkness was, or how did it come to our world. What I do know, is how it got into the forest. Almost eleven hundred years ago, an island plummeted from the skies-”

“An island?!” Storm blurted.

Provato turned his head slightly to peer at his with one eye. Storm immediately fell silent.

“Not too long after I was born, two thousand years ago, the Air and Earth had collided on the other side of our world. The clashing of the violent energies caused the entire continent to shatter.”

“The Sundering of Griffonia!” the paladin realized. Provato nodded. “Y-you know what caused it?!”

“I was but a pup then,” he replied. “I’ve only repeated my mother’s words.”

As the demigod’s attention shifted back to the tree - his sibling - it didn’t escape Storm’s notice that Provato hadn’t exactly answered his question.

“The ground was shattered and split,” Provato continued. “Not all shards of land were separated by water, though. A few were raised above the ground, suspended in the air by the energies released that fateful day.”

“And on of those ‘shards’ fell here?”

“Yes. You’ve probably seen it - the big mountain not far away from the ruins of the castle the last Unicorn King had build.”

Indeed, Storm had seen it. He escaped from the underground tunnels by the cave underneath it. He also knew that there was something there being investigated by Equestria.

“I do not know how that… thing got on that island,” Provato resumed his tale, “but I am certain that it caused it to crash. I could feel its fear, as if it was running from something… Whatever it was running from, I wish they would have finished it. The Darkness hid itself in this land, perverting everything. Corrupting. Tainting. Darkening. We - me and the other demigods, and everything that lived - became feral versions of ourselves, mindless beasts dominated by their primal instincts.”

“How could all of you become corrupted by the Darkness?” Storm inquired. “I’ve seen you fighting with Tirek, you are powerful. If the other demigods were as powerful as you-”

“It is because of our powers that we have fallen to it so easily,” Provato interrupted him. “That thing was something alien to us, not of this world, while we… we are of this world. We are a part of it, some of the others even more than I. When the Darkness engulfed the core of the land, my mother was the first to fall.”

“Why?” he asked gently.

“She’s not just a demigod like me. My mother is the Spirit of Nature, old as this world, one of it’s Ancient Guardians. As you might have realized, her being touches everything in this forest, be it a plant or animal… or the other demigods.”

“‘As I might have realized’?” Storm asked, confused. “I don’t-”

Provato turned once again towards him. “My mother used to be a part of everything that lived here. She was in every leaf and every blade of grass, at the same time. However, just like the Darkness caused our minds to become feral, so have that trait of her been perverted. Instead of being omnipresent, my mother spirit transformed into something I would call a ‘pack mind’.”

Now Storm understood, “Those timberwolves.”

Provato nodded and continued. “Because of her bond to nature, the Darkness had that much bigger effect on her, and when she fell, it was only a matter of time. But…” the demigod fell silent as his gaze returned to his sibling. “Me and my littermates had two advantages over the other demigods. We were young; life was stronger in us as it had just sprouted. Our souls had also inherited from our father a pony element.”

Storm’s eyes went wide. “Y-you… you are… you mean t-that tale of Forest and Wind was real?!”

“One of the few tales Quirky Scribe got entirely right,” Provato nodded, amused by his . “Yes, I am son of Everfree and Commander Hurricane.”

…

“WHAT?!” Storm exclaimed after a second, utterly shocked.

He tried to process this information as best as he could while Provato chuckled. Commander Hurricane, one of the legendary Founders of Equestria, the last leader of Pegasi Armada… was this demigod’s father?!

“The changes of time lead to such interesting moments,” Provato commented, smiling. “I hadn’t seen a reaction so amusing in ages. I take your kind had really forgotten that story?”

Storm nodded, not trusting his voice.

“I suppose thats not too weird… considering how unbelievable this tale must seem. But let’s leave that matter for now and return to what happened eleven hundred years ago,“ the demigod told him, his voice losing its nostalgic tone. “As I have said, my littermates and I had a pony element in our beings, and for some reason the Darkness hold wasn’t corrupting us as swiftly as others. I am not sure exactly why that was, but it felt as if… something - or someone - was holding it back. Whatever the reason, we planned to use that to our advantage. We were to come here and forsake our animalistic aspects, thus becoming one with the nature.” He nodded at the tree before him. “By doing so, our souls were to become the part of the forest as much as our mother. Together, the four of us, would have been enough to bring her back to her senses.”

Provato fell silent. Storm, who managed to recover from his shock, didn’t utter a word, as he knew what the demigod was about to say.

“I didn’t make it,” the timberwolf finally said quietly, his voice laced with sadness. “The island fell atop of the eastern part of the forest… where I lived. The corruption had taken me, before I could make it here.” He sighed. “With just three of them, all they could do was protecting this place from sharing the fate of the forest. Even if I were to join them now, it’s too late. Our mother has been like this for too long now; our souls would no longer be able to reach her.”

“What about the Holy Light?” Storm asked hopefully. “You said It healed you. Surely it should do the same for your mother, right? Or maybe the Elements of Harmony? They’ve managed to transform Nightmare Moon back to Princess Luna-”

“I do not know what exactly you speak of,” Provato interrupted him, “but it doesn’t matter now. Thanks to that damned centaur, my mother’s spirit had scattered across the forest. It will take her months, if not years, to focus her being into a single form once again.”

“I see…” Storm said, making a note to report all of this to Sir Lightbringer. “I’m sorry. About your mother, and your siblings.”

Provato’s ears perked up. “My siblings?” he asked, confused. “Oh, no, they’re still here.” Seeing Storm’s confused expression, the demigod explained: “They’ve became one with nature. They’re still here, only in a different way that before. Though I admit, I kind of miss my sister pouncing on me unexpectedly,” he chuckled humorously.

“Oh, that’s… good to hear,” Storm stuttered. He was not sure if he understood what Provato meant. “I just assumed otherwise because we’ve been standing here for so long…”

“No, she just wanted to get a good look at you,” Provato replied casually.

“What do you mean?” the paladin asked, confused.

Without as much as turning to Storm, Provato said, “Take a close look at yourself.”

Still confused, Storm did as the demigod asked and looked down on his chest.

He gasped and tried to fly away, but he couldn’t move. His body was covered by vines.

A chuckle escaped Provato. “Calm down; if she had wished you harm, she would have done so long ago.”

As he spoke, the vines’ hold lessened, and they began to unwrapped themselves from his body. Storm - his heart in his throat - waited for them to leave while he tried to calm himself. It wasn’t easy; some of the vines tickled him as they moved. One of them brushed his crooked jaw; another very briefly touched his ear, one of its leaves actually getting inside of it.

When it did, Storm’s was certain that he heard a female’s laugh.

Finally, all the vines hid back underground, letting him go. Storm exhaled air with relief and flexed his wings.

“Her name is Artemi,” Provato spoke, gaining his attention. The timberwolf demigod had touched his nose to his sister’s and began moving away from her. Storm followed him. “She used to guard the south part of the forest. Those two are our brothers,” he motioned to the other two, “Cernunn of the west and Frisian of the north.”

“And your mother’s name is Everfree,” Storm asked for confirmation, “as in Everfree Forest?”

The demigod nodded. “Originally, you ponies had called this ‘Everfree’s Forest’,” he shrugged. “Like I said, changes of time. Now, then...” Provato said, sitting down underneath the knoll’s edge. His gaze pierced Storm. “What are you doing here, child of the skies?”

Storm gulped nervously due to the demigod’s attention shifting back to him. He bowed his head as he spoke: “Provato, my name is Storm Clash. I came here searching for Eon Petals.”

He risked to take a look at him. Provato’s gaze narrowed on him. “Why do you seek them?” he asked, suspicious.

“I wish to give them to somepony I... to somepony I like very much,” he finished, flushing. “It’s her birthday, and I thought-”

He trailed off, surprised at what he saw before him. Provato, the demigod, son of the Spirit of Nature and the most famous pegasus in history… was looking at him with his jaw dropped.

To the demigod’s credit, he recovered quickly, though he continued to stare at Storm with disbelief. “You came here, to this forest, where everything would like to either kill or eat you or both (and not necessarily in that order at that), to the very center of it, to find flowers of mystic power… to give them to somebody as a birthday present?”

“Um…” Storm stammered, slightly embarrassed. “y-yes.”

For a second, Provato’s glowing eyes continued to pierce him. Then, in the next, the demigod threw his head back and laughed.

The wind blew past them as he laughed, as if awaken by it. The plants around them resulted, with the leaves on the trees being the loudest. The birds hiding in their branched all started chirruping.

The symphony of nature’s sounds began to quiet down as Provato slowly calmed down. He looked down at the paladin, amusement painted on his muzzle. “I’ve forgotten how unpredictable your kind can be,” he said, smiling. “Follow me.”

Storm looked, astonished, as the timberwolf rose and with one swift jump he was at the top of the hill. Shaking his head, the pegasus followed him on his wings.

His eyes widened when he saw what was atop of the knoll. He had thought the what he saw so far of the Heart of the Forest was beautiful, but this…

Before Provato laid a large, flat rock, which was surrounded by the flowers he sought: The Eon Petals. They were… beautiful. That was the only description that came to Storm’s mind. Their stem and leaves were not just green, but emerald. The leaves were heart-shaped at that. But the flowers themselves… their petals were white, snow white, to the point it almost hurt to look at them. And they glowed. Each Eon Petal emanated gentle white light, which was the source of the glow he had seen from below and mistook it for mushroom. Aside from the white light, however, each plant was… burning. At least, that’s how Storm at first thought of it, that they burned with green flames. After a second he realized that it didn’t look as much as burning, but as if they were… evaporating emerald steam.

“These are what you have sought,” Provato told him as Storm landed beside him, speechless. “The Eon Petals. In the past, many ponies tried to find them, tempted by their beauty and power. None have made it this far. As far as I know, only once had those flowers been picked from here, by my mother. Now, though,” he added, looking at the paladin, “I am allowing you to take one. Consider this to be both a reward for managing to find your way here, and the symbol of my gratefulness for defeating Tirek. Also,” Provato smiled, “I can understand and respect a male’s need to give his mate beautiful gifts.”

Storm wings sprung up by itself at the comment. Flustered, he looked at the demigod. “S-she’s not my mate!” he stammer, flushed.

“Of course she’s not,” Provato replied in mocking tone, grinning. He waved off Storm’s further words of the denial. “Now, pick one, Storm Clash.”

Embarrassed, and still blushing, Storm turned back to the flowers. Each of them was nearly identical… and very beautiful. He began to wonder if this was a good-

“Do not worry,” Provato spoke, as if reading his mind. “Those flowers are called ‘Eon Petals’ for a reason. They will not wither when they are picked, and will even grow back if planted back in earth as well as regenerate the cut part.”

Calmed down by the demigod’s words, Storm picked one that had six petals around it’s center. He bent down and bit it around the half of its height, so that it would have two leaves.

Some of the flower’s juices dropped down on his tongue. Storm quickly placed it on his hooves as he licked the inside of his mouth. The Eon Petals tasted… oddly.

“Kinda like a watermelon,” Storm thought, surprised.

He placed the flower carefully into his saddlebags and turned back to Provato. “Thank you, Provato-” he started, but the demigod silenced him.

“Think nothing of it. However… you said that her birthday is today, right?” he asked.

“Yes, why do you-”

Before he finished that question, the demigod breathed at him. Storm, taken by surprise, inhaled the strange green mist… and found that it smelled like flowers. But that was not all he realized. He flapped his wings, finding them to move faster, and he could feel his muscles to be stronger.

“I gave you my blessing,” Provato spoke, gaining his attention once more. “For a short time, you’ve gained the speed, strength and grace nature can grant. You must hasten - your mate’s birthday will last only for two more hours.”

“WHAT?!” Storm exclaimed, horrified. He didn’t realize it was this late. He quickly jumped into the air. “Thank you, Provato,” he told him, turning back and bowing his head. “Thank you for everything!”

Having said that, he quickly flew up, in between the branches of above the meadow and turned towards east. Towards Ponyville.

“I will make it in time!” he swore, dashing through the air.

Storm opened his mind and reached for the Light, asking for Its aid in his hour of need. He smiled as he felt the Light answer.

Provato looked up from outside of the Heart of the Forest. His eyes trailed the glowing pony, pondering the nature of his powers.

“This Holy Light,” he mused. “It reminds me of Mother’s stories…”

Lost in thoughts, his eyes left Storm Clash - who he wished good luck - and traveled towards the direction he was heading; the small town build in place of Eastin, called Ponyville. The town he have avoided for months now, ashamed for what he had done so shortly before his recovery. The news of that mare’s surviving took a load off his mind.

He spent some time, outside of the ‘den’ he had been born in, contemplating all that have happened recently.

“Just like you said, Mother: ‘changes are coming rapidly’,” he thought. “Now those changes seem faster than ever…”

Provato closed his eyes, pondering his next move, before he opened them and ran in the same direction Storm had flown.

130. Love Blooms and Dragons Weep

The air whistled around Storm as he continued to beat his wings faster and faster. He had no idea how long it was since he left the Heart of the Forest behind and he tried to not think about it. The idea that, after all he had been through this day, he would not made it back to Rarity in time was unacceptable.

“I will make it,” he promised - to whom, he didn’t know - as he soared through the night sky, beneath the moon.

The paladin was not alone in his struggle. The Holy Light was with him, giving him strength to push past his limits, long after he felt the effects of Provato’s blessing leave his body. Thankfully, he managed to cross a very long distance in that time.

Storm’s concentration lessened as he remembered the feeling; he soared through the air with such ease, speed, and grace… Ever since his stupid accident which scarred him, Storm had lost interest in developing his flying skills. And yet, with Provato’s blessing, it seemed to him as if he was a born flier.

“Well, he is the son of the greatest pegasus who ever lived,” the paladin commented, still shocked at this revelation. “This must have affected his blessing.”

He snapped out of his train of thoughts when he noticed that, with his concentration slipping, the Light’s strength grew weaker. Storm was beginning to slow down. He focused once again, renewing his connection to the Light and speeding up. The Light’s touch emanated through his body, enveloping him in a gentle glow and leaving a short tail of golden blur in his wake.

Just as an amusing thought crossed his mind about how would Princess Luna feel about him lightening the night sky, Storm saw something that made him smile.

The spire of Lightbringer’s Chapel, with an orange glow of Al’ar coming from the roof of the barracks near it.

He was almost out of the forest.

“Sir,” Sound Wave greeted him as he had finally reached the entrance to the Abbey.

Arthas nodded to him. He intended to avoid speaking too much, in fear of the guard picking up the smell of his mouth. Though before Arthas had left Twilight’s library he had made sure that his mouth was clean, during the trek back the awful taste reminded him of itself. The paladin wasn’t sure if it wasn’t just a trick played on him by his mind, but he was resolved to not risk an embarrassment of somepony wondering why the stench of vomit was coming from his mouth.

Unfortunately for him, Sound was in a mood for some gossip.

“How was the party?” he asked, immediately switching into more familiar tone. Not that Arthas minded; if he had, he would not have requested from Celestia to place the two royal guards he befriended during Shining Armor and Cadance’s wedding under his orders for a few months when she had brought up the need for security of the Abbey.

What he did mind, however, was standing there and talking while he desperately needed something to wash away the taste in his mouth.

“Nymph came back some time ago, but she wasn’t in a mood for talking,” Sound Wave continued. “She just wished me, Applejack and Fluttershy a good night and went straight to the barracks.”

Arthas sighed mentally. “Knowing Applejack, they’ve must have walked all the way here in awkward silence.”

He hoped her attitude towards changelings - or at least this one - would change soon, otherwise poor Nymph will most likely find herself in a rather unhappy situation. Arthas had no doubt that Big Mac will be able to knock some sense into Applejack if things would go ugly, but he didn’t envy the changeling the stress she would go through.

“So, how was it?” the guard’s question brought him back to the present.

“Eventful,” he described it shortly - and surprisingly accurately - while making sure he stood downwind. “Has there been any sign of Storm Clash?” Arthas asked, changing the subject; the paladin preferred to not explain to Sound as to why he returned much later than Nymph.

Aside for that, Arthas also asked that question out of concern. He had faith in Storm, but his time was running out. Glossing over fact that if he wouldn’t show up soon, he could forget making it in time for Rarity’s birthday, Arthas would prefer to spare Storm the embarrassment of being rescued.

“No sir,” Sound replied, sounding a bit more formal. The unicorn then raised an eyebrow. “Should he be back? You haven’t told us where you sent him…”

While he spoke, Arthas’ ears picked up a sound emanating somewhere from within the night. He stopped the guard’s flow of words with a wave of his hoof as he perked up his ears. “I really should be more grateful for the advantages this body has over human’s,” he thought as he listened.

It wasn’t until Arthas saw it the next second that he identified it as a very fast beating of wings.

Both he and Sound Wave stared with wide eyes as the golden blur passed over them, heading straight for Ponyville. Arthas turned his head to keep his eyes on it, surprised by the speed with which it moved.

“Um…” he heard Sound stammer beside him. “Was that Storm?”

Arthas nickered. “The better question is: how many minutes are left before midnight?”

Rarity sighed as she leaned over the window in her bedroom, admiring the the moon and the stars. Another year had passed since she was born. Now she had to add one to her age. A furrow crossed the white unicorn’s head at the thought, even though she still had good eight years before she would stop adding.

“Assuming I will need to at all,” she mused with amusement, relaxing. “Maybe I will be lucky and stay beautiful forever?”

Her good humor was soured as the cold draft blew against her. Rarity quickly moved away from the window, though she left it open for a few more moments before she would close it. She hated when her bedroom become frowsty. During summer and warmer nights of fall and spring she normally left the window open the whole night. However, tonight, despite wearing a dressing-gown, Rarity felt chilly in her bedroom.

“Although, to be fair, that’s mostly the fault of being fresh from a long, hot bath,” she amended as she trotted towards her bed.

As she was about to call it a night and go to bed, her mind went back to her birthday party. Rarity was truly satisfied with how it turned out; she had a pleasant time with her friends, got to know some of the guests better, received fabulous gifts from her friends, and now she could look forward to a delightful time in the spa tomorrow, when she would tutor a new friend in the field of dating. Only one thing spoiled this day for her: the absence of two ponies, Serenity and Storm Clash.

Out of the two, Rarity found herself missing more the presence of the pegasus stallion rather that the crystal pony mare. She pondered on why exactly was that; wouldn’t it make more sense for her to miss Serenity? Being both mares, they had more in common, and she was a crystal pony for Light’s sake. True, she knew Storm better than Serenity,talked with him more, even met his family and befriended his mother… and he was so charming, despite his crooked jaw…

Rarity sighed, sitting on the edge of her bed, as her mind went back to the day of Storm and others’ Initiation. How she talked about him with his mother when making a dress for her… how he hugged her unexpectedly when she was about to congratulate him and the others, how pleasantly surprised she was…

Did she like like Storm Clash? Rarity bit her lip as she pondered this question. In the past, when she was interested in some stallion, she had “nudged” him to ask her out, and during the date she would try to get to know him as best as she could. However, after every single time she found the stallion to fall short from her criteria, she quit dating. Unlike Rainbow Dash, who was happy with living without commitment, Rarity wanted exactly that: a commitment, to share her life with another pony and nopony other than him. She wanted to be nopony’s but his, and preferably with mutuality. Though she had long since given up on the idea of capturing the heart of royalty, she still wanted to be like a princess to her stallion.

Rarity chuckled, remembering some of her favorite fairy tales, which were probably responsible for that last thought. In every one of them, a princess was saved from a terrible fate by a brave pony, sometime prince, sometime knight, and sometime a mere servant or peasant, but every one of those heroes had one thing in common; love for the princess.

Tales like those, read by her mother when she was a little filly, was what caused Rarity’s determination to find the one and nopony else. Was Storm the one? She knew he liked her, that was obvious, despite her not making the best first impression when they first met. Rarity cringed at the memory of how she reacted when her eyes laid on Storm’s crooked jaw. Over time, she came to treat that disfigurement as a part of the pegasus paladin’s unique charm, giving him quite an appeal… Storm Clash was also kind and patient, attributes he must have developed while looking after his younger brother. He was quick to forgive her reaction back at the station, was fun to talk with, he was polite… and he was a paladin knight…

By all accounts, it seemed that Storm filled most of the criteria Rarity looked for in a stallion. So maybe… But what did he think of her? He liked her… but did he like like her? If so, how come he haven’t tried asking her out yet?

Rarity sighed, turning off the light in her room. “This would have been much easier to think about if I could have talked to him today… ugh, why did Arthas have to send him away today?”

Shaking her head, the unicorn decided to look for Storm the next day - assuming he wouldn’t seek her out first, seeing how he missed her birthday - and try to steer their conversation to let her know if there is a chance for something more than friendship between them. Making that mental note, Rarity reached over to the nightstand, where her sleep mask was…

Her hoof stopped in mid-air as she hear a weird noise coming from the outside. Intrigued and displeased that somepony might be causing such a ruckus at this hour, she was about to trot over to the window to see what it was, when in the next heartbeat she realized what this noise reminded her of.

Rainbow Dash made similar cries whenever she lost control over her flight and was about to crash into something.

Within a second, her suspicion proved true. Even without any source of light, Rarity still could see and hear a pony-sized object fly through her window, and crash against the wall of her room.

Storm Clash groaned as he recovered. “And ponies don’t believe me when I tell them ‘I hit a wall’...”

The moment he spotted Carousel Boutique the pegasus tried to slow down his flight. The key word being “tried”. It was sort of funny, actually. In high school, Storm nearly failed physics one year.

Tonight, physics failed him.

He hadn’t realized just how fast he was flying, not even when he passed the Abbey astonishingly swiftly. Nor when he flew over half of Ponyville, until Rarity’s boutique came into his sight. Only then had Storm stopped drawing strength from the Holy Light and attempted to slow down. However, being only an average flier, he had no idea how hard it would be to halt. His attempt at beating wings forward caused him to lose control over his flight, and, after uttering a short cried, he shot straight through one of the windows at the upper floor of the boutique. The window was, thank the Light, open, so instead of crashing through glass Storm’s side had collided with the wall inside.

He shook his head as he rose, clenching his teeth from the mild pain. Storm opened his eyes to examine where he was hurt to heal himself, but the room he was in was dark.

The next second, however, everything around him was illuminated by a soft light.

“Storm?!” blunted from behind him a very familiar voice.

“Rarity!” Storm quickly exclaimed. Turning around and hoping he made it in time, he started: “I-”

Words stuck in his throat when he stared, wide-eyed, at the scene around them.

Rarity stood in front of him.

He was in Rarity’s bedroom, and the mare stood in front of him.

He flew through the window into Rarity’s bedroom, and she now stood before him.

He flew through the window into Rarity’s bedroom, and now she stood before him in a dressing-gown.

As Storm’s mind tried to comprehend that and come up with a wise-sounding response while he stood there with his mouth open, his body took it upon itself to address the sight before him.

Poink!

Much to Storm’s horror, his wings stood straight up, awakened by the sight of Rarity in a dressing-gown while standing in her bedroom. Seeing her like that, in this environment, awakened the most primal thoughts in his brain. And that was a split second before his nose picked up the scent of bath oils clinging to her coat.

Mercifully, the shame of his wingboner lasted less than a heartbeat. Storm didn’t even get the time to get properly embarrassed, nor did Rarity to notice his reaction (at least, he hoped). That was because the instant when his wings unfolded, he localized the source of his pain.

“Augh!” he moaned as he curled the hurting wing, sitting down.

“Oh my goodness, are you hurt?” Rarity quickly exclaimed, hurrying towards him. Storm glanced at her in time to see her use her magic to switch the lights in the room on and cancel her illumination spell. “Wait here, let me get a first-aid kit-”

Storm, though still confused, managed to recover enough to stop her before she ran past the door. “Rarity, it’s okay,” he said, lifting a hoof. When the white unicorn stopped, he exhaled air in order to calm himself a bit and opened himself to the Light. Due to his nervousness and embarrassment, it took him longer than usually, but soon the Light’s soothing touch raced across his body, healing all the scratches and the strained wing. Once he was healed, he turned to Rarity, smiling shyly and stretching the wing. “I’m a paladin, remember?”

Relief washed over the unicorn’s face, and Storm noticed a bit of crimson appear on her cheek. “Right, how could I forget?” she smiled, giggling. “Although, to be fair, that was the first time I saw you working with the Holy Light.” Rarity looked at him with admiringly very briefly, before her eyes narrowed. “Now that you’re alright, would you care to explain, darling, what exactly are you doing in my bedroom?”

The paladin’s mind went blank hearing the simple question. “Um…” he stammered, wondering how to reply.

“Or, for that matter, why did you think it was necessary to arrive in such manner?” Rarity inquired. “Dashing through my window, armed, and wearing a tacky and burned armor?”

“Um...”

“Now that I think about it,” she cut him off, “I’ve been told that you couldn’t attend my birthday party because you were sent away on your Order’s business. I somehow doubt that now to be true, given your attire.”

Storm closed his mouth and tilted his head. “Order’s business?” he wondered, confused. Then it hit him. “Sir Lightbringer must have told her that! He didn’t want her to worry...”

In his mind, he apologized to his mentor. The only way to explain all of that to Rarity would require telling her that her friend lied to her.

“You see…” Storm started, and took a deep breath. Afterwards, words just came out of him: “I crashed because I was flying really fast thanks to the constant prayer to the Light to give me strength and for about a half-way back I was even faster because of the blessing of a timberwolf demigod, the one that attacked Applejack and was healed by Sir Lightbringer, his name’s Provato, I helped him defeat a crazy centaur called Tirek but the blast knocked me out for a few hours which is why I was so late, not to mention that I spend most of the day in that damned forest running away from monsters which I now think might have all been corrupted demigods, and that all happened after I fell underground and met Daring Do and Sir Lightbringer knocked down the Ursa Major-”

As he talked, Rarity’s expression changed from curious to confused to very confused, and in the she raised a hoof and pressed it against his lips, silencing him. “Dear, I’m afraid I didn’t understand any of this,” she told him, smiling, probably amused by his stammer. Storm felt as if he could melt against her hoof watching that smile. “How about you take another breath and start again more calmly?”

The paladin nodded, and she released his lips. However, he did not listen to her; for all he know, there was no time left for that. “What time is it?” he asked, praying that it was still her birthday.

Rarity raised and eyebrow before she turned around to look at the clock on the wall. “It’s… eleven fifty nine.”

Hearing that, Storm’s mouth curved into a smile. “I made it!”

Without a moment of hesitation, he reached to his saddlebags, picking up the gift he went through so much trouble to get. Storm turned back to Rarity, who was looking at him with curiosity, and offered her the Eon Petals. “Happy birthday, Rarity.”

The white unicorn gasped upon seeing the flower. Her eyes became wide as plates and her mouth hung open. “Wha… what is this?” she stammered as she regarded the white-glowing and emerald-fuming flower.

“It’s Eon Petals. Do you like it?” Storm asked, slightly nervous.

“Like it?!” Rarity exclaimed, shocked. Her eyes gleamed. “I love it! It’s so beautiful… I’ve never even heard of such a beautiful flower, let alone seen one!” she said, picking up the Eon Petals with her magic.

Storm’s heart lifted in joy as he watched her smelling the flower. “That’s not surprising,” he told her, smiling. “It only grows in the Heart of the Everfree Forest, so-”

“Pardon?” Rarity cut him off, taking the eyes off the Eon Petals. “Did you say ‘the Heart of the Everfree Forest?”

“Um… yes?” Storm replied, not sure if he was suddenly in trouble or not.

“So you’re saying” the white unicorn said slowly, her eyes going back to the flower, “that in order to give this to me on my birthday you braved the most dangerous place in Equestria, and traveled all the way into the deepest part of it?”

“Well… I wanted to give you something…” he stammered, looking for right words to convey what he felt, “special, something beautiful… b-because, um…”

He could feel himself becoming redder and redder. Storm paused to take a deep breath. “Just say it!” he told himself. The paladin tried to force the words out of his mouth, but embarrassment and fear blocked them. He feared hearing how she would respond; his mind went back to how in school ponies were looking at his jaw…

While he battled his inner demons, he noticed that Rarity was smiling. She sniffed the flower once again, with her eyes closed. When she opened them, she looked straight at him.

“Storm?” she asked, and just like that, her voice erased all those negative thoughts from his head. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”

“Um…” he stammered, confused. “Nothing?”

“Would you look at that,” Rarity whispered, her gaze never leaving his eyes. “I also have nothing in my plans after the Ponytones’ performance…”

Storm continued to look into her eyes, wondering why she was telling him that… and then his eyes widened as he realized that he was an idiot. “W-would you like to-”

“I would love to,” Rarity interrupted him, her cheeks becoming a bid red.

He could scarcely believe what he just hear. Rarity, the most beautiful mare he ever met, had just agreed to go on a date with him!

“Light, if I am dreaming, don’t wake me!”

“G-great!” he managed to say somehow. “So it’s a date!”

Rarity giggled. “Indeed it is.”

The two ponies were so lost in their happiness, that neither of them had realized that there was somepony watching them through the crack in the door.

Or rather, somedragon.

Spike, awoken by the sound of something crashing in Rarity’s bedroom, hurried to see if she was alright. He sighed with relief when he was near her doors and heard her talking with one of Arthas’ paladins, meaning that she was okay. However, as soon he calmed down, Spike became suspicious just what he could be doing in Rarity’s bedroom so late at night. Curious, concerned and full of worries, the little dragon took a peek through the crack in the door.

What he saw inside was like a nightmare.

At first, he thought that it was it. A nightmare, nothing more. He was still asleep. But no, it wasn’t because when he pinched himself he hadn’t woken up. What was happening in the room was real, and in that moment as Spike watched it, he felt as if his heart was stabbed.

Rarity was just asked out on a date by some stallion… and she agreed to.

But it wasn’t just that. If all Spike saw was Rarity agreeing, he wouldn’t feel so heartbroken. No, what made this so painful to watch was the way Rarity was looking at Storm. She wasn’t staring at him like at Prince Blueblood, her former crush. The white unicorn was gazing into the pegasus’ eyes with the intensity Spike had never seen in her. Nor he ever saw her blush when talking with a stallion. It could mean only one thing.

She really, really liked him.

He couldn’t believe this. Out of everypony… him!? A pony with a crooked jaw?! Why, because he brought her a glowing flower?! Spike gave her a fire ruby, and what did he get for that? A mere peck on the cheek! This was not fair, this was… this was…

With tears streaming from his eyes, Spike ran back to the room in which he slept, certain that nowhere in the whole world there was a dragon whose night was worse than his.

“Garble, when are we going back?”

Garble, the teenage red dragon, glared at his two companions with fury. “I told you two, we are not going back home until I figure out how to get back on that sorry excuse for a dragon and that pony!”

The other two dragons cringed and didn’t dare to continued this argument. They returned their gazes into the campfire.

Garble snarled, exhaling flames from his nose drills, and turned around, resuming his pacing. It’s been months since that memorable confrontation in that village. Months since they came to get back on that runt of a dragon Spike and on his pony friends, only to get beaten by that-

His heart jumped into his throat when he recalled that pony. When he gazed into his eyes, Garble was certain that he was going to kill him. There was so much fury in them…

Angered, he shook his head. “No!” he repeated for about a thousandth time. “This is just a pony! I am a dragon, I will not let some grass-chewer humiliate me like that!”

This was why they hadn’t returned yet to the dragon’s nursery grounds. He could face any dragon until he would make that pony pay. They stayed just by those namby-pamby ponies’ country’s border, plotting.

The only problem was, even after they would devise a plan, none of them could muster enough courage to actually go through with it. None of them dared to travel back to that village and face that white pony.

Garble scratched his claws against the entrance to the cave in where they’ve slept. He looked with satisfaction at the deep marks they left on the stone, imagining them on that pony’s throat.

“How did it come to this? That we would be hiding, not daring to go fight one pony?” he wondered, his rage returning.

This couldn’t go on. Every day he woke up, he thrashed around in impotent fury. He no longer cared even if that pony would follow up with his threats.

One of his companions spoke up again: “Garble-”

Whether he was about to try suggesting yet again that they should head back home, or just ask if he could go looking for games or something, Garble wouldn’t know. Because at that moment he said the word he had been holding back for five months.

“Tomorrow.”

It was almost as if everything around him fell silent. Not only just the other two dragons, but wind and crickets as well. Garble turned back to them, glaring at them and daring to oppose him.

“We are going back there tomorrow, and we will teach that pony what it means to threaten a dragon.”

His friends exchanged glances. “B-but-” one of them tried.

“NO BUTS!” Garble roared, silencing him. “We are dragons, the strongest creatures there ever were! We-”

Something dared to interrupt him. A noise.

A snicker.

Garble turned towards the source of the sound, which, to his surprise, weren’t his friends. Whoever just uttered that snicker was, it was standing outside the circle of light.

“I’m sorry,” a voice - probably male, judging by it’s depth - spoke from the direction he was looking, “but I think I’ve never heard more ridiculous statement. ‘The strongest creatures there ever were’...”

The red dragon’s eyes narrowed as the stranger began to laugh. “You've picked the wrong night and wrong dragons to mock, jokester.” he growled.

“Oh, I would beg to differ,” the stranger replied casually, still hidden in the shadows. “At least in the latter. Because you see, I think I picked the right dragons. Ones that nobody will miss. You are, after all, such colossal failures-”

Garble heard enough. He took a deep breath and unleashed the torrent of flames upon this idiot. Once he was done, he nodded with satisfaction, certain that the stranger had been burned to crisps. Garble turned to his friends, grinning...

Caclop...

His eyes wide, Garble turned back at the sound of hoofsteps. The stranger was not only not-burned, he was also standing now within the light’s reach. It was - much to Garble irritation - a pony, but unlike that one, this one’s coat was ebony. A horn was sprouting from his head, and in the flickering light of the campfire, his eyes seemed to gleam orange.

“I’m sorry, was that supposed to be a dragon’s fire?” the pony asked.

Grinding his teeth, Garble nodded at his companions, who were equally shocked as he. They quickly shook it off and rose from the campfire, moving to surround the pony.

The black pony sighed. “I tried to be a courteous guest, but it seems now’s the time to throw all pretense aside.” He grinned as he looked around at the three dragons. “Oh, but I do hope this little group of yours can amuse me for a few moments!”

With a furious roar, Garble and his friends jumped at him.

Author's Note

Well, this mini-arc is finally over, it only took me like forever...

131. New Day, New Beginnings

The sun still hadn’t risen when Big Macintosh woke up. The big red stallion glanced through the window to gauge what time it was, before he rolled the other way on the bed, extending his hoof to hug…

Nothing.

Big Macintosh sighed. It had been months since he had given Smarty Pants to Matt after the latter had tried to beat him in a hoof-wrestle for it. Months… and yet Big Macintosh still hadn’t quite gotten used to the doll not being there when he woke up.

The red pony was fully aware that it was rather unusual for a stallion - his age no less - to sleep with a doll (or play with it for that matter), but he couldn’t help himself from keeping it. It was just nice to fall asleep, hugging somepony, and waking up with a pony in your hooves.

Or, well, with a doll.

Despite that, however, Big Macintosh had given Smarty Pants to Matt. He remembered that day clearly. The paladin had discovered where Smarty Pant - the doll that Big Macintosh had found after the entire town went insane for some reason - was and came to ask if he could have it. Big Macintosh didn’t want to part with it, so the white pony tried a few other approaches, in the end challenging him to a hoof-wrestle.

He smirked at the memory. It had been clear from Matt’s expression when he had done so that he doubted if he could win. Big Macintosh took great pride in his strength, and on that day he was proven right to do so. No matter how hard Matt had tried, he could not push his hoof away.

But… neither could Big Macintosh.

Matt’s foreleg had been shaking, his muscles were flexed, his face red and tensed, betraying the pain he was in, but the paladin pony, though physically weaker, refused to be pushed back by his sheer willpower. Big Macintosh, shocked and impressed, as well as not wanting to cause his friend permanent damage stopped the duel. He was certain that a moment before he had done so he heard something crack - which was a sound he would later be more acquainted with on a different occasion - within Matt’s foreleg; the white pony was also limping on his way back that day, despite having healed himself. Once their duel was stopped, Big Macintosh had asked him exactly what he needed Smarty Pants for.

After some explanation from both sides and a short discussion, Big Macintosh decided, with heavy heart, to give the doll to Matt, and in return… well…

Big Macintosh’s mind returned to the present day, to today’s performance… to Nymph. His heart pounded in his chest when his thoughts turned towards her, and his lips spread into a smile. Ever since he met her, dazed after one of the apples he bucked landed heavily on her head, she had been on his mind more often than not. Nymph was just so… lovely, and so cute, and friendly, and awkward… Big Macintosh had known, of course, that she was a changeling, his sisters had brought her up quite often in the conversations around the farm, though both thought of her differently. He had gotten a good description of how her unicorn form looked. And yes, he was a tiny bit wary of her… but that was before he met her. When Big Macintosh had helped Nymph up, he just couldn’t imagine her being any sort of threat. Then, after encouragement from him, she started talking, telling him what had spooked her into teleporting there while he listened… which eventually led to them spending almost every day together. He would work on the farm and she would help; she would talk and he would listen, offering a short comment when it was required. Those were all great days for Big Mac, and he couldn’t imagine anything better… until he worked himself up to asking Nymph out on a date.

He did not care that she was a changeling. He did not care that Applejack didn’t trust her. To Big Mac, she was a kind, friendly being, who was so adorably, socially awkward. He felt good when she was around, and that was all that mattered to him.

The red stallion closed his eyes, recalling her happy face when she said yes, how warm her smile was… how beautiful she was when she blushed. Big Macintosh’s hoof once again cradled the empty space beside him, imagining-

With a shook of his head, he snapped himself from the daydream. This was their first date! Nothing of those sorts would happen. Not to mention that the mere thought of bringing her for a night with both of his sisters and Granny Smith being here scared him to death.

However… Granny was leaving in a few days to visit his great aunt Pine Apple… and Apple Bloom and Applejack were talking about going camping…

The thought of Applejack dispelled all embarrassing fantasies from Big Mac’s mind. “Where is she?” he wondered, raising his head and looking at the door. Usually, his younger sibling would have been banging on them in an effort to hasten him, as she always woke up first. For her to not do that…

Big Mac straightened his ears, listening. He could pick up faint noise coming from the hallway… “No,” he corrected himself, getting up. “From the bathroom. Why is she taking shower now?”

He knew it had to be her, both Apple Bloom and Granny Smith stayed asleep for at least three more hours, unless there were some unusual circumstances. But why would Applejack take shower in the morning? That was a weird change in her routine. Most of the time, both he and Applejack would take showers after they’ve done their chores or by the end of the day. Big Mac wondered why she hadn’t done so… then frowned. At what time had Applejack got back home? She was at Rarity’s birthday party until late at night. He himself went to bed early yesterday, so he had missed her returning…

His ears flickered as Applejack turned off the water. Being curious, and also needing to use the bathroom himself, Big Mac stretched his still half-asleep body and trotted to the door. He opened it just in time to see his sister do the same with the bathroom’s door. Her mane was unbraided and still wet, and she was vigorously brushing herself with a towel in order to change that.

Upon noticing him, however, she froze. Applejack stood at the doorway to the bathroom, with the towel on her head, staring at her brother with wide eyes and open mouth. Big Mac raised an eyebrow, surprised at his sibling’s behaviour. What was going on?

It looked as if he wouldn’t even need to ask for an explanation. “Ah, um…” Applejack stammered, becoming - much to Big Macintosh’ surprise - red on her face. She cleared her throat and started again. “Ah got back mighty late and was… um… a bit...” she trailed off, scratching the back of her head.

As the reason behind Applejack’s embarrassment dawned upon Big Macintosh, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “Couldn’t handle yar drinks, huh?” he thought, amused.

It was too late did he realize that he shouldn’t have done that, as Applejack’s gaze narrowed at him. “Somethin’ funny?” she asked angrily, glaring at him.

Big Macintosh quickly shook his head and gulped nervously. For the last couple of days, his sister – for reason unknown to him- was very easy to anger. Because of that, the idea of telling her that he was going on a date with a changeling that she clearly didn’t like became much less appealing.

She snorted and turned towards her room. “Ah’m gonna get some more shuteye, Ah’m still dead on my hooves,” she snapped, but soon her face was softened by the enormous yawn she gave, as if to emphasize her statement. Applejack glanced back at him. “Tell Granny to wake me up in a few hours, alright? Ah’ve gotta go sell our apples in town today.”

Big Macintosh nodded, relieved that his sister’s anger didn’t last long. Applejack yawned once more, muttered “Night,” and was about to head to her room, when something caught Big Macintosh’s attention.

“AJ?” he asked her. His sister stopped and looked at him questioningly, to which he pointed at her side.

Along her foreleg and shoulder there were weird looking scratches.

The red stallion looked at his sister inquiringly, and saw that she appeared to be about as surprised as he was. And… a little bit abashed? “Must have fallen in some brambles or somethin’,” she said after a moment, shrugging, and trotted towards her room. “See ya later, big brother.”

Big Mac continued to look at her with a raised eyebrow, confused, as she shut the door behind her. Finally, he shrugged, and entered the bathroom.

Rarity hummed to herself as she prepared three sets of breakfast; one for herself, the other for Spike, and another for Storm Clash.

Seeing how late it was, and having considered how long he had traveled that day, Rarity didn’t want the pegasus to go all the way to the Abbey before he would get some well-earned rest. Storm had tried to decline her offer, but the challenges of the last thirty hours, even with the aid of the Light, had taken a toll on him. As tiredness began overtaking him, the paladin had agreed to sleep on her couch in the living room, as Sweetie’s room was taken by Spike. That and Rarity wouldn’t go along with the idea of her coltfriend sleeping in her little sister’s room.

“Presumable coltfriend,” Rarity corrected herself, though she couldn’t help but utter a giggle at the thought. “It’s only one date for now, nothing is yet decided...”

Her mind went back to the night before, when after he asked her out they came to down to the kitchen. After all, it would have been rude from Rarity if she hadn’t offered her guest a piece of cake. During the short meal, Storm told her briefly about his adventure in the Everfree Forest… and Rarity couldn’t help but be lost in admiration. Ancient catacombs, giant monsters, evil centaur… all that he faced alone, to find her such a beautiful gift. It was so… romantic…

Rarity sighed with content. Never before have any stallion done anything like that for her. It was almost as if her dreams of a fairy-tale knight came true. Storm was just so… so…

It took some restrain from Rarity to not kiss him that night. A proper lady waits with the first kiss until after the date. Even so, however, she could not stop herself from brushing his cheek in a loving manner, wishing him good night as he tuckered in on her couch.

When in response Storm took her hoof into his one and gently kissed its top, Rarity felt fire wash over her under her coat.

Now, as she walked out of her kitchen, Rarity felt pretty certain that she had found the one. “Oh, I can’t wait to tell my friends about it,” she thought, excited, as she entered her living room silently. “Even if that means I will have to endure some comments from Twilight…”

Her eyes locked on her couch, where Storm still slept. Knowing - to some extent at least - what he had been through the day before, Rarity decided to let him sleep for some more, and left the living room as silently as she had entered it, turning her thoughts to her other guest.

As Rarity began walking up the stairs, she wondered how it would be best to handle this situation. If it were anypony else, she wouldn’t have had too much of a problem explaining why Storm slept in her house, especially since they were (very, very, very, very) likely going to become a couple. However, this was Spike. One of her closest friends… who had a crush on her.

She sighed and stopped. Rarity knew that this moment was inevitable, though in her wildest dreams she hadn’t expected it to come so soon. While technically, whom she dated was her business, Rarity knew this was going to hurt Spike. And even though she didn’t return his feelings, she still cared for him a great deal. She needed a few moments to prepare herself for what was about to come.

“How would it be best to handle this situation?” she wondered. “Hmm… option A: I tell him that Storm had asked me out, that I really like him and I hope this will grow into something beautiful. Spikey-wikey could be saddened by it, but he would say that he understands, and that they would always be friends and is happy for me… or he could cry and run away.” Rarity winced at the unpleasant assumption. “Option B: I tell him nothing about the date, and when he asks why Storm is here I will just say that he came very late with his gift and not elaborate… but if I would want all three of us to eat breakfast together, I would have to warn Storm first, and then I would have to explain to him about Spike’s crush on me…” Once again, she winced; she read enough romance novels when one of the characters tried to protect somepony from harm with lies to know this would end badly. “Spike would learn about this sooner or later, and it would be best if it were from me.”

Rarity took a deep breath, knowing that this would not be easy but had to be done. She took a step towards the door of Sweetie Belle’s room… and then her eyes widened in surprise as the doorknob turned on its own.

“Oh, hi Rarity!” Spike greeted her cheerfully, walking out of the room. Rarity just stared in stupor. “Beautiful day today, huh? Thanks for letting me sleep over, but I should go back to Twilight. See you!”

The baby dragon didn’t even wait for her to reply in any manner. He tried to run past her, still smiling cheerfully and not meeting her eyes. Rarity, realizing that something was wrong, quickly grabbed him with her magic and pulled him closer to her.

“Spike, what is the matter with you?” she asked, looking at him closely. “Did something happen to you?”

“What do you mean? Nothing happened to me,” Spike said, still maintaining this weird happy-sounding voice. “Why would you think that something happened to me? That’s silly!” Rarity raised eyebrows as Spike laughed so fakely that it was hurtful for her ears.

The unicorn studied him intensively, wondering why in Celestia name he was acting so strangely, talking to her without looking at her. She soon realized the answer to that question when she noticed one detail, so obvious that Rarity couldn’t understand why it had taken her so long to see it.

Spike’s eyes were red.

He had been crying. And there was only one reason why he would cry.

“He already knows,” Rarity realized with a sinking heart. “But how? How could he-” She stopped in mid-thought as the memory of Storm’s entrance awakened in her mind. Rarity stifled the urge to facehoof at her own stupidity. “That was loud enough to wake the dead, of course it would’ve woken up Spike.”

This was already going worse that she anticipated. She planned to tell Spike herself, but the little dragon learned about it by himself. He cried, possibly all night, and now didn’t want to talk with her.

Rarity raised one hoof and placed it under the baby dragon’s chin. Gently, very gently, she lifted his head to meet his eyes. “You’ve heard what Storm and I talked about, haven’t you?” she asked softly.

“N-no,” Spike tried to deny. He hadn’t pulled his head away from her hoof, his eyes darted around, not meeting hers. They began welling up. “I-I mean, w-what would I h-hear…”

The last part of his sentence was lost to the world as Spike’s words transformed into gabble. Tears began falling down from his face. Rarity quickly pulled him into a hug, and was relieved when the little dragon didn’t try to run away.

After a few moments, during which she stroked the back of his head in an effort to calm him down, Spike spoke up: “I… I just don’t understand,” he stammered. “W-Why him? I had a crush on you for years, I’ve been helping you at your boutique in any way I could, and, and...”

“I’m sorry, darling,” Rarity replied, and she truly meant that. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, I swear.”

“Is it because I am a dragon?” Spike asked. “Is that why you would choose a pony with a crooked face over me?”

She bit her tongue to stop herself from berating him. “No, dear, this has nothing to do with you being dragon.”

“Then what-”

Rarity pressed her hoof against his lips. “Spike,” she started, praying that she was using the right words, “you are one of my closest friends. You matter a great deal to me. However, I never felt the same way you feel about me, mostly because you are a kid. No, let me finish,” Rarity told him, gently but firmly, as she saw him raise his claw to her hoof. “You are a kid, and what you feel for me is just a childish crush. Trust me, I went through that when I was your age. I had a crush on some colt, but that was just it, a crush. I grew out of it. Today I barely even remember his name.”

“But I won’t grow out it!” Spike protested, finally managing to free his mouth. “Rarity, I l-”

She once again silenced him. Rarity was certain that what he was about to say wasn’t true, and in that case... “Twilight told me that back in the Crystal Empire you fell under the spell of King Sombra’s dark magic. That it showed you your worst nightmare. What was it about? Was it about me rejecting you?”

“Like I am right now?” she thought with a pang of regret.

As she released him, the baby dragon looked down. “N-no…” he muttered.

“If you felt real love for me, then it would be,” Rarity told him gently. “Oh, Spike, I am sorry. I’d hoped you would’ve grown out of this crush by yourself before something like this would happen. Please tell me we are still friends?”

Rarity watched Spike carefully, not sure what his answer would be. The baby dragon stayed silent for a few moments, before he embraced her in a hug once again. “Of course we’re still friends,” he said, though in a broken voice.

“I am glad to hear that,” Rarity said, sighing with relief. “Will you be okay?”

“Y-yeah… I think…”

“Trust me, you will be,” she told him, resuming stroking the back of his head gently. “Someday you will meet a girl that you would truly love, and she will be a much better girlfriend to you than I could ever be.”

Spike murmured something doubtfully. Rarity wondered if it was about the part of him meeting a girl, or the girl being a better than her.

“I mean it,” she said softly. “You know, Spike, this was really mature of you to…”

Rarity trailed off as the sound of quiet snoring reached her ears. She looked down to see that Spike had fallen asleep, his head pressed against her coat.

“Poor thing, he must have cried all night,” Rarity thought with regret. She lifted him gently with her magic and lead him back into the room. “I should have made it clear to him that I did not love him years ago… but I just didn’t want to hurt him!”

She shook her head; it was no use crying over spilled milk. Rarity placed Spike on Sweetie’s bed, and covered him with a blanket. Once he was tucked in, she looked at his sleeping form and smiled. She bend down to kiss him on the forehead and whispered: “You will meet your real love someday. Who knows, maybe you will see her in your dream?”

Her eyes widened as she realized something. Quickly glancing at their surroundings, she added quietly but sternly: “Don’t dream of my sister!”

“Ain’t that one of Matt’s paladins?”

The pony’s whisper awakens Storm from sleep. “What’s going on?” he thought, his mind still clouded.

“Yeah… Storm Clash. Come to think of it, I didn’t see him yesterday around the Abbey… What is he doing here, Sweetie Belle?”

“I don’t know, maybe he fell asleep during Rarity’s party?”

“Rarity!” he repeated, the sound of her name jolting him awake.

The events of the last night came back to him; the most important being asking Rarity out on a date and her agreeing. He could scarcely believe what he had heard. Storm never expected a mare like Rarity agreed to go out with him, let alone hint to him that she wanted to be asked out. Despite everything that had gone through that day, the paladin felt as if it had been the best day ever!

But the night hadn’t finished on just that. Rarity led him down to her kitchen and given him some cake, the leftovers from her birthday party that he had missed; she asked him about what exactly he had been through in the Everfree Forest, and he told her (leaving out some more terrifying moments, there was no need for the lady to learn of all that at that hour); then, as Rarity had insisted on him sleeping at her place (which he had to agree, as his exhaustion caught up with him), he fallen asleep on a couch… but not before kissing Rarity’s hoof.

And now as he woke up, he found himself in the company of Rarity’s younger sister and her friends. “I suppose it could have been worse,” he thought as he blinked to clear the rest of the sleep out of his eyes. “Like my younger sibling being here…”

“Morning girls,” he said, aware that the three fillies were looking up at him with furrowed brows. “What are you doing here?” Storm was certain that if the girls were meant to be here at this time, Rarity would have woken him up earlier.

Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to reply, but Scootaloo stopped her by pressing a hoof to her mouth. “She kinda lives here,” she said, then with a roll of eyes amended: “Well, half the time at least. What are you doing here?” she inquired, smirking.

Storm didn’t rise to the bait. Staying perfectly calm, he narrowed his eyes at them. “I was sleeping.” he told them, accenting “was”.

This time it was Apple Bloom who was about to reply, but just like with Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo covered her mouth with a hoof. “And what would Matt say if he knew you were sleeping here?” the little pegasus asked with mischievousness written all over her face.

“You clearly haven’t gotten to know my brother well when he was here - thank the Light for that” he murmured under his breath “- if you think this tactic of yours is going to work on me.”

Scootaloo frowned, but just like she had interrupted her friends, so she was now stopped right when she opened her mouth.

“Storm dear, are you awake?” asked the silky voice of Rarity, coming from the stairs leading to the upper floor.

The paladin ear’s raised as he hears her hoofsteps. He looked down on the fillies, curious as to what they were going to do now (continue to ‘interrogate’ him or not), but to his surprise and confusion, he saw Sweetie Belle jump up.

“Quick, hide!” she told the other two in a hushed voice and pushed them back in the direction of the door separating this room from the shop part of the house. The white filly then turned around to look briefly at Storm pleadingly while pressing a hoof against her own lips.

Still confused, but now somewhat intrigued, Storm nodded. As the filly’s attention shifted to the stairs, the paladin glanced at the other two. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were looking at him from above the small decorative “batwing” doors. Upon seeing him look their way, the young pegasus pointed a hoof at her eyes, at him, and then repeated the gesture.

Storm raised an eyebrow, but just then he heard Rarity’s surprised voice. “Oh, good morning Sweetie Belle. What are you doing here so early? I hope you weren’t disturbing Knight Storm Clash?” she added before the filly could respond.

“Don’t worry,” Storm spoke up, directing his attention to the mare of his dreams. He rose from the couch and slid from under the blanket. “I was already waking up when she got here.”

The white unicorn brightened at the sight of him. She flashed him a smile before she returned her attention to her sister.

Sweetie Belle gave her a stare, it was The look. The look Storm Clash was very familiar with. It was the look a younger sibling gives to their older sibling when they ask for something. “I was wondering if the best sister ever would go with me on a few-day long camping trip starting tomorrow.”

“Camping trip?!” Rarity exclaimed, shocked. “I despise camping! All of that... brrr” she shuddered with disgust, “nature.”

“Note to myself: never, ever, invite Rarity for a camping trip.”

But it looked that the filly wasn’t ready to give up yet. “Applejack's going with her little sister,” Sweetie Belle said, saddened. She then looked down and closed her eyes. “But, y'know, if you don't wanna spend time with me…”

At the last part of that sentence the filly turned around and looked back at her sister with big puppy-eyes. Storm had to admit that she pulled them off much better than Oak Heart ever had.

Rarity was helpless before those eyes. “Oh, all right!” she said, clearly unhappy at being talked into this. Sweetie Belle, on the hoof, brightened up immediately. Rarity looked at her smile with a mild annoyance, but then her eyes widened. “Ooh!” she exclaimed, sounding a bit excited. “Of course I will need to find an outfit more appropriate for ‘roughing’ it.” Rarity turned around and was about to walk up the stairs before she turned back. “Oh, Storm dear, I will be back in a moment, but help yourself to the breakfast in the kitchen if you want.”

With that, the white unicorn was gone. Storm’s attention returned to the younger one, who was looking at her friends triumphantly. “See? Told you she’d wanna go.”

“Oh no, oh no, oh no…”

This had started on such a beautiful day. Fluttershy woke up, ate breakfast, and then fed her animal friends around her cottage while humming a soft melody. She hadn’t been in a hurry; her meeting with Rarity and Nymph at the spa was a good few hours away. That left her with plenty of time to make sure everypony was fed, do some chores in her cottage and play with Angel.

She was looking forward to the spa date. Nymph was a very nice changeling to talk with, and Fluttershy was really curious about her. Also, Rarity told her that they’d need to help her with something, and Fluttershy couldn’t say no to help.

However, all thoughts about the spa evaporated from her mind when she had reached the chicken coop, intending to feed her four chickens.

There was a hole in the fence surrounding their coop.

Whatever hope Fluttershy had that none of the chickens had run away was quickly gone as only three emerged at the sound of her calling ‘Breakfast.’ Elizabeak, the most adventurous of them, was missing. The hen’s habits of wandering around, which at one point had almost ended with tragedy, were what prompted Fluttershy in the first place to put the short fence around the chicken coop. Of course, after that adventure with the cockatrice, Elizabeak had calmed down a bit, but now it looked like her curiosity had returned. How long it had taken her to peck her way through the fence was beyond Fluttershy, but she knew one thing: her tracks lead to the Everfree Forest.

“Alright, Fluttershy, stay calm,” she told herself, stopping her earlier ‘Oh no’ mantra. She eyed the forest warily. “She couldn’t have gone too far… I’m sure I heard her along with the other three clucking just an hour ago…”

If she hadn’t left earlier than an hour ago, she could still be close. Fluttershy nodded weakly, even though there was nopony there other than the remaining chickens, deciding to go after her. “If I won’t find her by the border of the forest, I will go ask Mattie- I mean, Arthas, for help,” she told herself as she flew.

She reached the trees standing at the edge of the forest very quickly. Like always whenever she had to come here, she was disturbed by the eerie silence of this place. Fluttershy shook with fear, but she didn’t give in to the feeling; she had a chicken to find.

The pegasus looked at the ground, her trained eye easily recognizing the marks left by Elizabeak’s claws. “It looks like she went this way…” she thought as she followed on the ground. To her mild surprise, at some point the trail made a sharp turn, leading to the spot where trees grew with wider space between them. “Weird, the last time she came to the forest, she went straight ahead… it’s almost as if somepony had called her…”

Fluttershy stopped her inner monologue as, when walking with her eyes on the ground looking at the trail of Elizabeak, saw the roots of the strangest tree before her. “Funny, it looks almost like a timberwolf’s paws,” she thought in an amusement, raising her head-

to look exactly right into the eyes of a timberwolf.

For what seemed like an eternity, Fluttershy just stared at him in mute terror.

The very next second, she gave voice to that terror.

Taking a cautious step back, she looked at the timberwolf carefully. “Um… h-hello?” she tried weakly. She remembered, of course, how she had managed to handle that timberwolf who attacked Applejack while it tried to attack her and Arthas, but the sudden appearance of another now have disturbed her. She had trouble collecting her thoughts.

And the fact that the timberwolf replied didn’t actually help her.

“Hello.”

Fluttershy stopped, shocked. She had no idea that timberwolves could speak… but then again, as she took a good look on him, Fluttershy realized that it wasn’t like any timberwolf she had seen so far. It was bigger, almost twice her size, and a mane of leaves and flowers adorned its neck and chest. And his eyes… they glowed like small suns, and there was definitely an intelligence behind them.

Fluttershy blinked. She could swear that there was something familiar about this timberwolf…

“Cluck cluck.”

“Elizabeak!” the pegasus exclaimed, stunned, now noticing the missing chicken was standing beside the timberwolf. Ignoring the timberwolf, she jumped to Elizabeak and nuzzled her. “I was so worried about you! What did I tell you about coming into this forest?”

The chicken looked sorry and embarrassed for being scolded. She clucked a few times in apology. Fluttershy smiled. “That’s alright; the important thing is that you are safe.”

“You understood her?”

Fluttershy looked back at the timberwolf. He - Fluttershy was fairly certain of that - had been observing her with great interest. “Yes, of course,” she replied, smiling a bit nervously.

The timberwolf narrowed his eyes for a moment. His gaze softened quickly, however, and he nodded at Elizabeak. “I was passing nearby when I saw her. I figured this was not a place for her and beckoned her to me.”

“Really? Thank you, I don’t know if I could have found her if she had gone deeper into the forest.”

“It was the least I could do after you and the child of the earth had done for me,” the timberwolf replied, bowing his head slightly.

Fluttershy tilted her head, confused. “What do you mean?”

A rumbling noise came from the timberwolf’s mouth, and she realized that he was chuckling. “You don’t recognize me, don’t you?”

Fluttershy’s brow furrowed… and then her eyes went wide. “You’re the timberwolf that Mattie had healed!” she realized.

She could scarcely recognize him. He was bigger than back then, and she was sure he hadn’t had this mane and the bark covering the rest of his body was much more… tangled-like.

The timberwolf nodded. “Yes, that’s me.”

“But you look-”

“The power your friend wields healed more than just my injury,” he interrupted her. “It also affected my mind, freeing me from the Darkness that had corrupted the entire forest. It took time, but slowly I recovered, both mentally and physically… and it was thanks to you as well.”

Fluttershy eyes went wide once again. “R-really?” she stammered, not understanding.

“Something you did, when you spoke with me… or rather, when you scolded me,” he amended with humor, “somehow, you opened my mind for your friend’s power through the fog of darkness. I wanted to thank you for that.”

“Oh…” Fluttershy exclaimed, not sure if she understood what he had said. She quickly dismissed her confusion and smiled. “There’s no need to thank me, I am happy that me and Mattie could help you. And I’m glad to see you’re better.”

The timberwolf didn’t reply to her, nor did he give any indication that he heard her last words. He continued to gaze into her eyes. Strangely, Fluttershy didn’t feel nervous. It was weird, really weird, considering how much bigger he was, how he had almost killed Applejack, and where they were, but... for some reason, she felt that she could trust this strange timberwolf.

Finally, the timberwolf’s gaze have shifted from her and rested on Elizabeak. It stayed very briefly on her before it returned to Fluttershy. “Would you like to learn how to speak with her better?”

Fluttershy tilted her head, not understanding what he meant. “I’m sorry… what?”

“I can teach you how to commune with nature if you’d like, how to speak with animals and plants, how to harness the nature’s power to protect it from those who would wish to harm it. And, most importantly, learn how to protect your friends.”

The pegasus felt dizzy as the timberwolf spoke. What he was saying sounded… crazy. Speaking with plants? Harnessing the power of nature? And she would be the one to do that? It seemed like something more up Twilight’s alley… and yet Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel captivated. She had always wanted to be able to understand her animal friends as best she could, and now she would be able to speak with plants as well? And be able to protect her friends… her? Thought she knew her friends loved her despite her being so easily scared, Fluttershy often wished she could be more like Rainbow Dash, to be able to stand up for others.

And there was also this timberwolf. Something about him, the way he spoke… it resonated within her soul. As if she had always been meant to hear him say those words.

Smiling timidly, Fluttershy looked into the timberwolf’s eyes. “Y-yes… I would like that very much… i-if that’s really okay!” she added quickly, scared that she sounded greedy.

The timberwolf chuckled warmly. He looked at her, and Fluttershy noticed the edges of its mouth curving upwards, signaling that he was smiling. “How about we start with introductions, then?”

Author's Note

You really hadn't seen this coming?

Also, I need new proofreaders again. Those who are interested in helping me, please PM me :)

132. Dark Shot

“You do know she’s guilt-tripping you into this camping trip, right?”

“Oh, don’t be silly, Storm dear; of course I know,” Rarity replied, waving her hoof nonchalantly from across the table. “But trust me when I say that I have a little… payback, of sorts, prepared.”

Storm raised an eyebrow, intrigued. They were sitting in Rarity’s kitchen, enjoying the breakfast she had prepared. The three fillies had left a while ago, soon after Sweetie Belle had convinced her sister to come with them (and, as they told Storm when he asked about it, with Applejack and Rainbow Dash) for this camping trip, saying that each needed to prepare.

The paladin wondered briefly if Scootaloo had mentioned to Sir Lightbringer about this whole idea, but the young pegasus had scampered off before he had the chance to remind her of that (as he doubted she had). His worries for her were quickly dispersed, however, as Rarity returned from her bedroom, having quickly picked an outfit - or, as she had mentioned offhoofedly, several outfits from which she would later pick one - for tomorrow and invited him to dine with her. The breakfast, though modest, was really delicious, and the company of the beautiful mare was more than enough to cause the paladin to concentrate on the present moment and nothing else.

There was only one thing that bothered him throughout this experience. Due to his crooked jaw, Storm had to tilt his head a bit while chewing. He feared that this sight might be displeasing for Rarity, but if the white unicorn took any offense, or even noticed it, she hadn’t showed it. Throughout the meal, she continued to smile.

“Light, she even looks beautiful when she’s chewing…” he noticed at some point. “Who looks beautiful when they are chewing?”

“What sort of payback are you talking about?” Storm asked, pushing his now empty plate away.

“Well, let’s just say that I plan to have my sweet little sister agree to carry a few necessities,” Rarity replied, winking. “It’s only fair, seeing how this time we’re doing something she likes and I don’t. I’m sure you’ve been through similar situations with Oak Heart, haven’t you?”

“Yes…” the pegasus said uncomfortably; other than flying, there wasn’t any specific activity that he disliked which his brother liked.

Whether she had noticed his discomposure or not, Rarity changed the subject before he had a chance to continue. “But enough about younger siblings; lets talk about our date. What do you have planned?”

Storm hoped that she hadn’t seen his eyes growing wider. He had no plan whatsoever. Of course, he had a vague idea in his head already: take Rarity out to a fancy restaurant. However, there were several problems with that, the major being that such places required a reservation in advance. Also important was the issue of his jaw: while in Ponyville, Storm caught fewer ponies staring at him than in Canterlot or Manehatten, he hadn’t forgotten what effect his looks had on everypony. In any sort of fancy place, they would scowl at him, and if Rarity was with him...

He was spared the need of answering Rarity’s question - and finishing that train of thoughts - by somepony knocking on the door. Storm glanced at Rarity, and saw her eyes flicker in surprise. Apparently, her little sister and her friends weren’t the only unexpected guests she was going to have today.

As his hostess rose up from the table and trotted to her door, Storm decided to follow her. Not because he feared that she could be in some sort of danger or something. Far from it.

He followed her because of the sinking feeling that whoever was knocking on those doors, they had come for him.

Storm’s suspicion proved to be correct. When Rarity opened the door, she revealed none other than Knight Guard Shield standing behind it.

“Ma’am,” Guard greeted Rarity with a nod before he turned his attention to Storm. His face bore the emotionless stare both paladins had learned during their service in the Royal Guard. “I’ve been ordered to gather you.”

“Um, hi Guard,” Storm said a bit nervously, stepping out from behind Rarity. “I’m… not in trouble, am I?”

He could tell that Rarity was frowning beside him, but before she had a chance to speak her mind, Guard shook his head. “I don’t think you are. However, Sir Lightbringer seemed to be in bad humor when he sent me… and, if I may be so bold to add, annoyed when he had discovered that you hadn’t returned for the night.”

Storm felt himself flush from embarrassment when he caught the meaning behind the older pony’s words. Rarity, on the other hoof, took offense to the implication. She narrowed her eyes on Guard and spoke: “Am I to understand that Sir Lightbringer would have wished me to send away a pony practically dead on his hooves without offering him a chance to rest?”

He was impressed when Guard didn’t react to her tone. Storm would have at least cringed. Instead, the earth pony simply nodded. “I am sure Sir Lightbringer must have realized the reasoning behind the delay in Storm’s return and his annoyance was caused by another matter.” The paladin glanced back at Storm and added: “However, I’ve been ordered to threaten you with hoofcuffs if you wouldn’t hurry.”

To emphasize his words, Guard reached back and from a saddlebag strapped to his armor he took out a pair of hoofcuffs. His face lost his emotionless state as he did so, and showed clear bemusement and bewilderment at what Storm quickly realized was nothing but Sir Lightbringer’s humor.

Rarity, though she must have also realized such, opened her mouth to chasten - either Guard or Sir Lightbringer - but Guard stopped her. “And to prevent you from undermining his deference, Ma’am, I am to say ‘Altomare’. Whatever that means,” he added, confused, as he hid the hoofcuffs back in his saddlebag.

Storm, also confused as to why a name of city would stop Rarity from voicing her opinion, looked at her. To his surprise, the white unicorn was staring speechless at Guard, and her coat became slightly pink. She quickly recovered, though, and cleared her throat. “Well, yes, I suppose I deserved that one from our good Sir Lightbringer.”

“I hope I haven’t offended you, Ma’am, just following orders.”

“No no, it’s fine, Knight Guard Shield,” Rarity assured him.

Guard nodded to her respectfully. “Five minutes,” he told Storm before he turned around and stood at attention next to the boutique’s door.

Storm sighed with embarrassment as Rarity closed the door. He knew that Sir Lightbringer must have heard that he made it out of the forest - he had flown above the Abbey, and either Sound or Cherry simply must have seen him - but it somehow escaped his mind that his commander might be annoyed by him being away for so long. And what Guard had suggested…

“He… he cannot think that me and Rarity had… right?” he pondered nervously. “I mean, he knows I wouldn’t have tried to… and Rarity wouldn’t… I’m dead.”

As if reading his mind, Rarity tapped his shoulder playfully. “Oh, don’t you worry your handsome head. Arthas, that is, Sir Lightbringer - long story,” she added when he shot her a confused look. “- won’t cause you any problems for going on a date with me.”

“I wasn’t worried!” Storm quickly protested, not wanting her to think him a coward. However, when Rarity simply raised an eyebrow, he confessed. “Maybe a bit… he can be really scary sometimes.”

Rarity giggled, and although Storm knew he should feel embarrassed, the sound of her laughter made his heart beat faster. “Which is why I think you should hurry up,” she said, leading him back to the living room, where he left his armor and weapons. As Storm quickly put the armor on - and felt surprisingly nervous for doing so in front of Rarity - the unicorn asked him: “So, our date?”

Storm gulped nervously. The best thing that came to his mind in the last few minutes was going to the local restaurant, but he wasn’t sure if Rarity would like that. “It’s not like I have much of a choice…” he remarked as he strapped on the armor. Sighing, he turned around…

… just in time to see Rarity straighten up and blush slightly.

“Was she… looking at my flank?” Storm thought, confused. “... Nah,” he finally decided; Rarity was a lady, she would never do something like that.

He cleared his throat before he spoke. “Well, I, um, thought that maybe we could… um…” Storm stammered. He had enough of a hard time just thinking about what he was supposed to say, but now that he was actually speaking to Rarity, his thoughts became muddled as he gazed into her blue eyes.

Much to his delight, the beautiful mare once again giggled. “You are so cute,” she whispered, coming a bit close to him. Their noses almost touched. “Seeing how you have problems articulating, how about I will choose where we will go?”

The proximity of her body, combined with the sight of her eyes and her scent, made Storm able to respond only with: “Umghmrrbemhmm…”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.”

Nymph did her best to ignore the stares she received during her walk through Ponyville. The irony of how conspicuous she, a changeling and heir to Queen Chrysalis, was right now was not lost upon her. “I wouldn’t even need to shapeshift to hide myself, I could cast an Invisibility Spell on myself,” she thought with mild annoyance.

She sighed and closed her eyes. Not that it helped: she could feel everypony around her, and she was thankful that most of them only emanated suspiciousness instead of any harsher emotions. But it did prevent her from seeing ponies scowling at her…

Nymph once again pondered the idea of simply teleporting to her destination - Rarity’s boutique - but she reminded herself once more that getting ponies accustomed to her presence would yield better results in the long run, rather than avoiding them. Also, she planned to make a stop at the market, where she hoped to catch Big Mac.

The thought of the red stallion with green eyes made her brighten up. Tonight the two of them would go on a date! She still could scarcely believe it… or that Rarity had offered her to give her a few tips, which was why she was coming to see her. They had made an appointment with Fluttershy to meet at the spa, but that was still hours away. Nymph was too nervous to wait.

“I hope I won’t be imposing…” she worried, but soon that thought was completely forgotten by her as her eyes spot a certain stallion helping to set up baskets with apples at the market stand.

Nymph happily trotted towards the Apple’s stand. She was still aware of the ponies around her, but she no longer cared. Big Mac was there! That was all that mattered to her at the moment.

“Hi!” she greeted him. The big stallion turned around at the sound of her voice and when his eyes rested on her, he smiled. He mouthed ‘hello’ around the basket’s handle he had in his teeth. Nymph had to suppress a giggle: for some reason, that amused her greatly. “How are you?”

“Haven’t ya two seen each other just the other day?” his sister asked her sternly as Big Mac put down the basket.

Despite the tone of Applejack’s voice being gentler than when she usually spoke to her, Nymph winced. It occurred to her how stupid her questions sounded, as the mare was right; they had seen each other just yesterday.

“Um, I aahh… I mean if you are feeling nervous!” she quickly amended, turning back to Big Mac. “About the Ponytones’ performance!” Nymph added… and immediately wanted to facehoof.

“Applejack doesn’t know that we are going out on a date, what else would he be nervous about other than the performance!?” she chided herself, burning with embarrassment. “Stupid, stupid, stupid...”

Big Mac, oblivious to her mental beration, smiled, a barely noticeable blush covering his cheeks. “A bit,” he admitted, and Nymph felt a subtle hint of fear in him.

“I’m sure you will do fine,” she blurted before she could stop herself; of course he was going to be fine, he had such a lovely voice…

The pang of fear disappeared from Big Mac as his smile grew wider and warmer. “As if all he needed was my assurance…” Nymph thought, losing herself in the depth of his loving green eyes…

She snapped out of it with a sharp shake of her head. What was wrong with her? She liked Big Mac a lot, true, and the thought of him made her heart beat faster, but now just talking with him… her heart had skipped a beat, her body felt hotter and her head was spinning… and she had this urge to just curl up against him… How could she feel so strongly about someling she had met only recently? And not a someling but somepony no less?! This… this denied a changeling’s common sense!

Nymph wasn’t sure how long she had stood there, staring into Big Mac’s eyes while the maelstrom of those confusing thoughts raced through her head. It couldn’t have been too long, however; otherwise Applejack’s next words would have been undoubtedly much harsher.

“It’s nice of ya to say so, Nymph, but we’re hopin’ to sell some apples ‘ere today. And Ah mean no offense, but ya ain’t exactly good for advertisin’ by standin’ ‘ere doin’ nothin’.”

Although Big Mac scowled at his sister, taking offense at her words, Nymph instead turned to her with surprise. Again, Applejack spoke to her more kindly than she would have expected her to do, even discounting the fact that Nymph had almost all but drooled while staring at her brother. There was something off with her…

Dispelling the lingering effects of her daydream, the changeling focused. She scanned Applejack with her eyes as the pony arranged her stand. There was something odd about her. Nymph tilted her head in confusion, but as she pondered if she should question Applejack about it, she felt something different. Something stirred at the edge of her consciousness, and this sensation caused the fake fur at the back of her neck to ruffle up.

She looked back.

Rainbow Dash yawned as she stretched out on the cloud. Today was going to be a good day; she was already done with her job for today, and the weather was going to be fine, despite the slowly approaching winter. Now all she wanted to do for several hours was to take a long, relaxing nap.

As her mind began trailing off, despite the quiet buzzing of a fly somewhere below her, Rainbow Dash found her thoughts being drawn to her recent problems. Namely, her orientation and Matt. “Arthas,” she corrected her mind lazily.

Rainbow Dash yawned, the thought of her problems preventing her from falling asleep. She still had to both tell her friends about being bisexual, and break up with Arthas. The former she planned to do today, despite how awkward she felt about it, but the latter… Rainbow Dash had been putting that off for a while now, hoping that she would figure out some plausible excuse other than “Twilight tried to shove me through a wall for sleeping with you”.

“This would’ve been so much easier if those two would just buck,” she thought, rolling her eyes under her closed eyelids as she shifted her body on the cloud to be more comfortable. “Maybe they got drunk enough yesterday and did that? Would get a load off my mind…”

To make things more complicated, in a little more than a week from now Rainbow Dash would be leaving for Wonderbolt Academy. On the off chance that she was going to meet somepony interesting there, she would prefer to have this business with Arthas wrapped up already. While her night with Daring was immensely fun, and she hadn’t broken any rules of their “relationship”, Rainbow Dash had felt a little bit… dirty afterwards; which, oddly enough, had nothing to do with any of the things they did.

The buzzing below her grew louder, but Rainbow ignored it. She knew she had to tell Arthas that their activities were over, and sometime soon. She couldn’t avoid him forever. “Ugh, I wish I could just get away from Ponyville for a few days,” Rainbow thought in mild irritation. “Just enough to collect my thoughts-”

Chirrrrrrr!

“Gah!!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as the weird noise sounded just right beside her ear. She jumped into the air in fear and turned around… just to see a changeling’s head sticking out of the cloud next to where her head laid. “What the hell was that?!” Rainbow shouted a moment before Wind Reaver bursted with laughter.

“Oh, I can’t... you should have seen yourself!” he cried as he flew out of the cloud and fell on his back, laughing his head off.

Rainbow fought off the urge to strangle him on the spot and settled for glaring at him. She hadn’t seen Wind since the memorable day when he had changed into her and tried making out with her. Even though back then she had given him quite a trashing, the cyan pegasus was still not satisfied with how she repaid him.

“What do you want?” she snarled when he had somewhat calmed down. She sat on the opposite end of the cloud, as far away as possible.

“Why so aggressive?” the changeling asked, rolling onto his chest.

“Well, gee, let me think: there’s what you did now, and there’s also what you did the last time.”

“You’re still mad about that?” Wind asked with a raised eyebrow. “By Ashvattha, you ponies can really hold a grudge.”

“I’ll ask again:” Rainbow growled, getting more and more annoyed, “what do you want?”

Wind Reaver opened his mouth to reply, but before he could a small jolt of electricity ran through his body. Rainbow grinned as his wings buzzed, lifting him a foot above the now gray cloud.

The changeling scowled at her. “That’s not fair.”

“Right, because doing some disgusting bug sounds right into a napping pony’s ear is?”

“You used your pegasi magic!”

“And you used your changeling magic to make out with me!”

“Are you seriously going to bring it up?” Wind asked her with a smirk. “You know, considering who I was at the time?”

“You…” Rainbow Dash growled through clenched teeth, before she sighed and facehoofed. “Just tell me what you want and get out.”

“I was wondering if you were up for another race anytime soon?”

The question was so unexpected that Rainbow’s jaw actually dropped. She looked at the the hovering changeling who waited for her answer. “No,” she told him, snarling. “Now get lost.”

“Oh come on, please?” he asked, dropping a bit closer to her. “I am getting really bored at the Hivespeaker’s place. I like sparring with Tucker, but I need to do something more challenging!”

“Not my problem,” Rainbow Dash told him. “Go race with Al’ar.”

“You mean that giant, flaming bird? Right, as if I wasn’t unsettled by the way he looks at me on a daily basis, not to mention today…” Wind trailed off, shaking with dread. He quickly recovered and tried again. “C’mon, please? Are you really that mad at me?”

“Yes!” she replied, not believing that a guy that can supposedly sense emotions had to ask that question.

“I’m sorry, okay? I was just… I dunno,” he said, looking down. “I try to distract myself from thinking about my intended mate, and sometimes I… don’t think about the consequences.” Wind Reaver sighed. “You would not believe how many problems I’ve gotten myself into back in the Hive before I volunteered for this assignment.”

“It’s bit too late to play the sympathy card,” Rainbow told him, although her tone softened a touch.

She hadn’t thought that he might have done that to distract himself. To be honest, most of the time Wind Reaver acted as if he really was not thinking about his intended mate, to the point that Rainbow nearly forgot about that issue. She tried to imagine how she would feel if one of her friends was lost for months, and there was little she could do to help them. “I think I would go crazy.”

“What would she think if she saw what you did last time?” Rainbow asked, hoping that maybe mentioning that would at least prevent that scenario from happening again.

Wind brushed his chin as he pondered her question, then he smirked. “Seeing how much it annoyed you? She would probably take your shape, then waited for me to do the same and we would start making out right before you.”

“Ugh!” Rainbow grunted, facehoofing again. “I should’ve figured. So she’s a lot like you, huh?”

“Are you kidding? We have more differences than similarities.”

“But you’re still both perverts.”

“No, we are both changelings,” Wind corrected her. “We have little to no shame when sex is involved. Jelly?” he asked with a smirk.

“Of what?” Rainbow Dash snorted. “Of basically all of you being sluts?”

Wind chuckled, landing on the cloud. “No… of having no shame. No moral barriers, no fear of ponies looking disapprovingly…” he chuckled as he took a step closer. “Admit it, a part of you would like that.”

Rainbow, who had to back her head so that Wind wouldn’t be all up in her muzzle, pressed a hoof against his face and pushed him away. “No, a part of me would like to punch you again. A big part, actually.”

The changeling chuckled, though he did take a step back. “Fine, let’s say I believe you-”

Rainbow looked at Wind with confusion as he stopped abruptly. The changeling’s pupiless eyes grew wide in shock. Without warning, his wings started buzzing as his body shifted over to the edge of the cloud. Before he dove right down, Rainbow heard him say one word:

“Shit!”

Once Rarity had closed her door behind him, Storm turned to Guard. “So, how much trouble do you think I am in?” he asked the older stallion as they started trotting through the streets of Ponyville.

“That depends,” Guard replied, keeping his voice calm. “Do you think Sir Lightbringer has some sort of overprotective big brother’s instinct, like Prince Shining Armor?”

“W-well… he sort of already warned me to not break Rarity’s heart…” Storm murmured nervously.

“Then I suppose you should be fine… for now,” he added. “Speaking of, how did it go?”

“Oh, great! We’re going on a date later tonight!”

“Good for you, lad,” Guard said, a touch of good humor warming his voice. “She seems like a fine mare.”

“Yeah… so,” Storm started awkwardly, “got any advice?”

Guard Shield didn’t turn his head, just one eye to stare at him with a look that said “Are you kidding, lad?”, making Storm cringe in embarrassment. However, when Guard’s eyes shifted back to look in front of him, he said: “Just one: don’t ask Tucker for advice.”

The remark took Storm by such surprise that he snorted. “You don’t have to tell me that,” he chuckled humorously when he recovered.

“Just making sure,” Guard smirked. “On another subject; what exactly have you been doing all day yesterday? Cause I somehow doubt what Sir Lightbringer told us about sending you on some assignment.”

“It’s… well, a long and complicated story. Suffice to say for now that I went to get Rarity a birthday gift, I suppose,” he said, not sure what to take on his adventures in the forest. Storm felt that it would be best to first report about them to Sir Lightbringer. “Did I miss anything interesting?”

“Other than Al’ar acting weirdly this morning, not much,” Guard shrugged. When Storm shot him a questioning look, he elaborated: “He’s been flying around the chapel’s spire; every now and then he stops, puffs his chest out in the direction of the Everfree Forest, and then returns to flying in circles.”

Storm pictured the giant phoenix doing those things. “That… sounds like some sort of bird’s mating dance.”

“Well, seeing how the closest phoenix female is in the opposite direction, I doubt it. Sir Lightbringer was also confused by it, but he said he had more important things to do than worry about his strange behaviour.”

Storm would have liked to ask Guard for more details regarding Al’ar’s actions, but they were passing through the market at the moment. There were more ponies around them, and the paladin had figured that it wouldn’t do much good if one of them would overhear that a giant phoenix living nearby was acting weird.

Deciding to drop the conversation for the moment, the pegasus looked around, watching as ponies carried on their daily lives. He thought back to his encounter with Tirek, and wondered how this place would have looked if something went wrong. His eyes slid from one pony to another, and felt his heart swell with pride for helping preserve this peace.

However, just when he was about to whisper his thanks to the Light, he saw something that made him stop. Upon the many shapes his eyes laid on, one stood out. It was pony-shaped, but its features were masked by a coat. There were saddlebags visible under it, and strapped upon the stranger’s back was a bow.

Neither of those were what made Storm concentrate on this pony, however. What made the stranger particularly stand out in his eyes had been the intensity with which it stared at something across the street.

Storm followed its gaze. To his surprise, he saw an apple stand, run by Applejack and Big Macintosh. Beside them stood another figure, a black unicorn, which Storm easily recognized as Nymph’s usual disguise.

He turned his eyes back on the cloaked stranger, and saw that during the one second that he had looked away, the pony had grabbed its bow and notched an arrow.

By the time Storm opened his mouth to shout - a warning or order, he did not know - he fired the arrow at Nymph.

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, had this chapter ready for a while now but there were several problems. But nevermind that now.

Special thanks to Sixkiller5, DarkZonker, SmurfOnSteroids, Bast, Shadowfire, Wraithguard, Bazing, Sage Probo, guardianxela, who together with Zaleros had proofreader the chapter. They will also work on the next chapter (and after that one from another story), after which I will pick three I think to continue helping me (because you have no idea how much of a hastle was editing this chapter after 10 people went down on it).

133. The Hunter

Without giving it any thought, Storm shot his leg in Nymph’s direction. As his hoof shone with the Holy Light, a barrier had formed around the changeling, just in time to protect her from the arrow.

As Nymph’s head turned around, she got to witness the deadly projectile bounce off a golden bubble with a distinguishable cling!

At the same time, the rational part of Storm’s mind had realized that they couldn’t afford to give the would be assassin a chance to get away. “Guard!” he called out to his paladin brother.

“I got him,” Guard replied before Storm could point out the cloaked figure to him.

The older paladin, most likely alarmed by the sound of arrow being fired, was pointing at the archer in the similar manner to Storm at Nymph. However, where Nymph had been shielded by the Light’s protection, the cloaked figure became surrounded by golden chains, binding his movements.

By then, ponies around them began to realize what was going on. All of them backed away from the mysterious archer. Some of them slow and steadily, staring at him with confusion; others took in the sight of the bow and the released arrow and ran away, some of them screaming with fear. The only ones that hadn’t moved were Applejack and Big Mac, whose eyes both traveled between Nymph and the stranger in deep shock, and Nymph herself, who was looking at the one that attacked her.

Without as much as sharing a look, both paladins began making their way towards the bound figure. Storm reached for Spring Binder, abandoning walking in favor of flying, while Guard strapped his shield to his left foreleg.

The cloaked figure, however, wasn’t content on waiting for them. The moment Storm and Guard had made a single step towards him, his hoof, in which he held the bow, rose, despite the Light’s chain limiting the pony’s movement. It crossed the short distance that separated it from the archer’s mouth, and he whistled.

Almost exactly next to him, from a dark, small fog, appeared a black panther.

So shocking was the view that Storm had almost forgotten to flap his wings. It’s not every day when an exotic creature suddenly appears in the middle of the town, after all. But it wasn’t just a normal black panther that the mysterious figure had apparently called to his help. It eyes shone with silver glow, and so did its nostrils. As it bounded towards the archer, Storm noticed that the edges of its leg and tail left a small smog-like trace in the air behind it, as if they were burning incense.

If the event that was transpiring before him would have lasted more than a split second, Storm would have pondered as to why the Light had seemingly decided to broaden the horizons of his acquaintanceship with magical creatures.

The black panther reached the archer in a few fast steps. With a fierce roar, it lunged at the chains that Guard had summoned, breaking them in one swift bite. Beside Storm, Guard had grunted as his mind suffered a mild backlash; but to his credit, he not only didn’t slow down, but hastened as well. The pegasus paladin followed suit.

The archer, now freed, muttered something and turned his attention towards them. The panther, however, turned around.

“He must have send it to attack Nymph!” Storm realized quickly.

With a prayer in his head ready, he concentrated on the animal. As Storm prepared to stop it, he noticed in the corner of his eye that the archer had simultaneously shot another arrow, this time at Guard, and lifted a strange contraption in his free hoof, pointed at him. Expecting some sort of projectile to be fired at him (and very shortly being proven right by the sound of it launching something), the paladin raised his altitude, dodging the archer’s missile.

He did dodge it. The projectile had passed under him… but at that instant, it exploded, encasing everything around it in a block of ice.

With Storm included.

Guard’s eyes narrowed at the archer’s pet. He had heard of such as him: the ones with a powerful connection to the wild, who manage to befriend even the wildest of beast, forming a deep bond with them and making them their companion. The hunters, they were called. However… there weren’t any hunters in Equestria.

“And this panther,” Guard thought, recognizing it’s characteristic, despite only hearing of them in tales. “it’s a-”

At that instant, the hunter had sent his pet at Nymph and the Apples, while at the same time notching another arrow. This time, his attention was on Guard and Storm. He fired the arrow, and Guard swiftly brought his shield to protect himself, barely noticing that the hunter was reaching for something under his cloak.

He felt the arrow bounce off his shield. Guard shrugged it off and resumed running towards him… but then he staggered. His vision went hazy, and he felt his eyelids became very, very heavy…

His eyes fell on the arrow. Though he didn’t recognize it’s design, Guard spotted one familiar detail: it didn’t have an arrowhead. Instead, the arrow ended with a very small satchel tied around the end of the wood. Guard had seen such modified arrows before, and as such, even with his focus being impaired, he realized what the contents of the satchel were.

“Sleep powder… ”

Big Mac watched the events that transpired before him in such short amount of time. To say he was shocked would be an understatement. His mind became incapable of any thought. First, he heard a strange piercing noise, then, as he noticed Nymph became enveloped by a golden bubble and heard an arrow bounce off it, he realized what he heard earlier was said arrow. Then Storm and Guard, two paladins trained by Matt, attacked the cloaked figure holding a bow, who was quickly freed from the chains that surrounded him by a strange beast.

And then said beast turned it’s attention to Nymph.

It was as if time had slowed down. Big Mac watched as the big cat crouched down and lunged at Nymph, baring its fangs at her. His Nymph.

Without giving his next action much of a thought, Big Macintosh, gritting his teeth in primal fury he had tasted only once before, sprung into the air, meeting the beast before it could reach Nymph. He bowled into it, throwing it off it’s trajectory and falling together with it away from the changeling.

The beast, though taken by surprise, didn’t remain inactive. It quickly whirled away from him before he could pin it down to the ground and retaliated. Burning pain stung Big Mac as the big cat’s claws slashed his shoulder. However, all it had accomplished was to fuel the red stallion’s fury. Empowered by it, Big Mac grabbed the beast’s limb and threw it off balance. He once again bowled into it, and this time pinned it to the ground. He placed his heavy hooves on the beast’s neck, and despite it’s struggles, he held it down.

Having dealt with the animal, Big Macintosh scanned the area, hoping to see the cloaked archer being detained by the paladins.

Instead, he saw said archer fire two more arrows at Nymph.

Panic seized his heart. He turned his head, about to shout a warning, despite knowing it would be too late…

… and saw a black shape hover over Nymph. Again, it was as if time had slowed. Otherwise, Big Mac wouldn’t be able to see what had happened. It was so quick. He saw a changeling, Wind Reaver, diving down from the sky head first, with his forelegs outstretched and spread wide. They were encased in a green substance, which grew long and took the shape of blades.

Beside him, in the air, were the spinning remains of the arrows.

Though Wind Reaver acted the instant the alarm spell that Queen Chrysalis had implanted into his head went off, signaling Nymph was in danger, he was almost too late. The fact that the Queen’s Heir, whom he had been charged to guard, was protected by a bubble of Light, meant that she had already been attacked.

Wind - whose best flying maneuver was diving, and he had been almost directly above her - almost didn’t make it.

Growling under his breath, he took in the scene before him. A black panther being wrestled into the ground by a bleeding Big Macintosh. Applejack getting a rope and coming to her brother’s aid. A glowing Storm Clash stuck in a cracked block of ice. Guard Shield shaking his head and staggering a bit. The cloaked figure with a bow… firing two more arrows.

He concentrated on the current threat first.

His timing was perfect, the swings of his claws precise; a true testimony to his skills and the reason why Queen Chrysalis trusted him to protect her heir. He cut both arrows in half before the could reach Nymph; and then, before he could collide with the ground, he did a barrel roll and bent down. The beating of his wings, coupled with the alignment of his body, allowed him to propel himself from the ground safely and lunge forward. Ending the barrel roll, he readied himself as he flew at the attacker, snarling.

All the rage Wind had pent up in himself throughout the last three months, all the fury, now had finally found a target upon which it could be released. Without acknowledging his foe with as much as a battlecry, he swung his claws-

-hitting nothing. The cloaked archer made a backflip in the last second, dodging his attack. Wind gritted his teeth; the cloaked figure was not going to be so lucky next time. With his wings still propelling him forward, he would reach his mark in less than-

Only when the sound of explosion reached his ears did Wind notice that the archer had left behind a vial with an orange fluid. A searing pain overtook him in the next instant.

And then he felt nothing.

The ice which bound him shattered under the force of Light. Storm Clash clenched his teeth, trying to forget the sensation of being frozen, even if it lasted only a few seconds…

The nearby explosion caused him to focus on what was happening around him. The paladin located the archer; he was in the air, pushed back by the force of the blast. In his hoof he still held his bow and had another arrow ready. Storm didn’t bother to look where he was aiming; with the power of the Holy Light, he could stop him before the archer would fire. He narrowed his eyes, prayer recited in his mind as he raised his hoof-

At that moment, three things happened, one after another, with the intervals between them so short that to Storm’s eyes it was if they had happened simultaneously. Firstly a shield, glowing with the Light, shot through the air, knocking the bow out of the archer’s hoof. Then green bolts of magic hit the archer in all four limbs, becoming a goo-like blobs. Finally, a rainbow-colored streak hit him square in the chest, sending him against the wall of the building on the other side of the street. The green blobs engulfed his hoofs, glueing the would-be assassin to the wall.

Seeing that the danger had passed, Storm allowed himself to relax and put away his sword. He looked as Guard, who was now without his shield, approaching the mysterious figure, keeping his hammer at ready.

He was about to go join him, when a shout from behind made him stop and look around: “Big Mac, you’re hurt!”

Storm’s eyes scanned the area. Big Macintosh was standing atop of the strange black panther that only a seconds ago had freed the archer. His sister was tying it up with her rope, though at the sound of the scream she looked up at him in shock. The one who uttered the shout, Nymph, still in her unicorn disguise, was running up to them, her horn glowing as she probably prepared some sort of healing spell. Her face had worry written all over her, and as Storm turned his attention to Big Mac, he couldn’t blame her: three large cuts marked his shoulder, no doubt a memento from the panther below him. Streaks of blood ran down his leg, easily noticeable even with his red coat.

Deciding that Guard could handle the archer on his own now, Storm flew towards the wounded stallion. On his way, he looked at two remaining participants of the battle: Rainbow Dash, who appeared out of nowhere in the last moment, and Wind Reaver.

Wind Reaver stood where the explosion took place. Actually, it couldn’t be said that he stood. Rather, he was suspended, in an eerily similar manner to how Storm had been just a few heartbeats ago. The changeling was encased in a green block of amber. That sight was so confusing that Storm landed next to it to get a better look, and was quickly joined by Rainbow Dash.

Both of them gasped when they saw the state Wind Reaver was in. His chest and belly were burned off. His chitin on those body parts were visibly blackened and crisped, and the parts on his legs were cracked.

“Is he going to be okay?” Rainbow called out to Nymph, and Storm, who remembered how hostile she was to the changeling when he first came to the Abbey, was surprised to hear worry and panic in her voice.

As he also looked to Nymph for answers, he went over the prayers for healing, in case he would need them.

The female changeling was tending to Big Mac’s wound. She turned her head to them at Rainbow’s question, though she didn’t cease her efforts. “Yes, he will be fine. I encased him in amber before he could suffer more serious damage. It should already start healing him.”

Indeed, as Storm looked back to Wind, he saw that the cracks on his legs had already disappeared, and the wounds on his chest were healing as well, with new chitin beginning to grow in place of the burned one.

Relieved and confused at changelings’ powers, Storm’s attention shifted back to Nymph and the two Apples. A green, pulsing glow surrounded Big Mac’s wound, identical in color to the amber. As the paladin approached them, the glow grew gradually weaker, and the expression on Big Mac’s face became less pained.

“Guess you don’t need my help,” he commented.

“Actually, mind givin’ me a hoof with this fellow, partner?” Applejack told him, pointing at the panther and the other end of the rope.

Together, they tied the animal’s limbs tightly to its body. Once it couldn’t move, Big Mac got off it. The panther immediately resumed thrashing around with renewed strength, but the rope held.

“Well, that’s taken care off,”.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac nodded, and at the same time, the glow around his shoulder disappeared. Everypony looked over where his wound was, and saw no trace of it left. Only blood matting his coat indicated that he had been in a fight with a ferocious beast. The red stallion stretched his leg to test it, and smiled with relief. “Thanks,” he told Nymph, who was still looking at him with concern.

The changeling immediately blushed. “I-it’s nothing,” she stammered, scratching her head. “Y-you got wounded while defending me, so…”

“Speaking of,” Storm interjected when Nymph had trailed off; also, he noticed that Applejack was looking back and forth between her brother and the changeling, and although he had no idea why she was looking at them so oddly, the paladin hoped to avoid any new conflict. “Do you know why somepony would want to attack you?”

His mind went back to when he was guarding her and Wind Reaver not so long ago, in Canterlot. Blueblood and some other nobles had hired goons to rough the changelings up due to some petty revenge. Could they be responsible now as well?

“I…” Nymph hesitated, “I think I know why.” She looked over at where she had glued the archer to the wall. Guard was standing by him, probably interrogating him. “And if my guess is correct… then things are going to be awkward…”

Guard nodded with approval as Storm hastened to help with Big Macintosh’s injury. He had the feeling that Nymph was capable of healing him, he heard how she treated Wind Reaver in the Crystal Empire, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a paladin look at him.

“I wonder what about him, though,” he thought, looking over at the green crystal holding Wind Reaver inside.

Though the sleep powder had dulled his senses and almost caused him to lose consciousness, as he prayed to the Light to cleanse him, Guard had noticed the explosion that undoubtedly had wounded the changeling. He was worried about Wind’s state, but he hoped that the fact that Nymph had went to take care of Big Macintosh meant his life wasn’t in danger.

“Not now, at least.”

His attention focused on the hunter. Nymph’s spell hit him in the hooves, creating the goo similar to the one Guard had seen during the Invasion of Canterlot. It glued his hooves to the wall, making him unable to fight back anymore. With a last look at his restrains, Guard reached out to the hood hiding the hunter’s face and lifted it.

As he had guessed, the face of their attacker was adorned by the white and gray stripes.

What he didn’t expect, however, was the zebra being female.

She had a pale blue eyes which now gazed into his. Her right ear had two small golden piercings, but other than that her head lacked any jewelry. Unlike the zebra that lived near Ponyville this one kept her mane free, letting it fall down to her shoulders. She also appeared to be older than her.

On her neck she wore a necklace made out of small bones. Most ponies would be horrified by the sight. Guard, however, had been part of Princess Celestia’s entourage many times during her diplomatic missions, including the ones to the zebras of the Dowunai Tribe. He knew of several of their customs, like making animal sacrifices to their Great Spirits (though that depended on what Spirit the zebras were offering to; some preferred fruits), which also gave rise to the hunters. Guard was also aware that traditionally hunters wore a necklace made out of the bones of their first kill.

Shaking off his head to hide his surprise at the zebra turning out to be a female, Guard narrowed his eyes. She had, even if for a very short time, managed to fight off him, Storm and Wind, all while trying to shoot Nymph.

“Why have you attacked her?” he asked.

The zebra looked at him with confusion. Guard wondered if it was possible that she couldn’t speak Equestrian, but then she spoke. “Are you ponyfolk mad or blind?” Her Equestrian bore a strong accent. “Can’t you see that’s a changeling?”

Guard blinked. “We know Nymph is changeling,” he told her, baffled. “She and Wind Reaver are here as guests of Princess Celestia.”

Now it was the zebra’s turn to blink in surprise. “What?”

A few minutes worth of explanation later, the zebra was vigorously apologizing. “I be so sorry,” she repeated yet again, bowing; Nymph had released her shortly after they started explaining to her why two changelings were in Ponyville. It was clear that the zebra wasn’t as fluent with Equestrian as Zecora was. “Me swear by the Great Spirits, I did not know. Me thought you were feeding on their love.”

“That’s fine,” Nymph replied, Storm noticed a slight blush of embarrassment on her. “Luckily, no one got harmed.”

Wind Reaver, standing beside her, snorted. Soon after Nymph had finished treating Big Mac, she released the male changeling from the amber. His wounds had been healed, but his pride was still hurt.

He was not the only one glaring at the zebra. Big Mac was standing on the other side of Nymph, as if waiting for the hunter (as Guard had called her) to try and harm her again. Applejack also seemed distrustful of the zebra, and continued to keep the panther tied and on a leash. The glares of ponies who came back after the short fight was over were also not friendly, though Storm couldn’t help but wonder if it had more to do with how she had disrupted the peace rather than attacking Nymph.

“Um, I mean, permanently harmed,” Nymph amended with anxious smile.

“That doesn’t make trying to kill you okay,” Guard told her.

“She wasn’t trying to kill me.”

Everypony turned to stare at Nymph. “Come again?” Rainbow asked.

“The first arrow was aimed to pass right before my eyes,” Nymph explained calmly. “I assume she meant to scare me and make me reveal my real self, right?” The zebra nodded sheepishly. The changeling continued: “Her later shots were aimed to wound, not kill.”

Guard exchanged a glance with him. Storm shrugged. He had no idea what to think of this. The older paladin glanced at the zebra, then back at Nymph. “Are you sure she poses no threat?”

“Well…” Nymph started, the smiled shyly. “No greater than two changelings.”

“How did she know that you’re a changeling, though?” Rainbow Dash inquired.

“That’s actually a good question.”

Nymph opened her mouth to answer, but the zebra interrupted. “Me know me be the guilty here, but could you not talk as if me was not here?” She gave the younger mare an offended glare, then quickly dropped her ears back and resumed her submissive stance. “My people be in tune with the spirits; we be better at seeing things for what they be.”

“Which is why we changelings usually don’t stray into their lands,” Nymph added.

“That’s all well and nice, but what are we going to do about her?” Guard asked, still retaining his impassive expression.

“We should probably bring her to Sir Lightbringer to decide that,” Storm said. “After all, he’s the one responsible for the changeling’s safety. I can fly ahead and notify him.” Turning to the zebra, he asked her: “But before that; could you tell me your name? And what are you doing in Ponyville, for that matter?”

“Me name be Zahara. Me be looking for me younger sister. Zecora, her name,” the zebra added. “Do you know her?”

Author's Note

Yes, this chapter is a reference to how in WoW hunters sometimes start an encounter by accident. Happened to me once ;p.

Once again, thanks to Sixkiller5, DarkZonker, SmurfOnSteroids, Bast, Shadowfire, Wraithguard, Bazing, Sage Probo, guardianxela. Especially to Sixkiller5, who came up with Zahara's name, way better than what I had in mind.

134. The Storm's Calm

Storm winced when he saw Sir Lightbringer beside Cherry Bomb and Sound Wave at the entrance to the Abbey. If the head paladin had been waiting for him and Guard in that place instead of his office, it could only mean that he had grown impatient.

He was pretty sure he did notwant to see Sir Lightbringer impatient.

Fighting off the urge to fly in the opposite direction, Storm folded his wings and dropped down, intending to land beside them. Sir Lightbringer needed to be informed about what had happened in Ponyville.

After he and the others had learned that Zahara was Zecora’s sister, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had somehow relaxed. It said something about how respected and liked that zebra was in Ponyville if the two had warmed up to her sister. They had also mentioned something about knowing that sometimes ponies can make a bad first impression due to misunderstanding.

Big Mac, on the other hoof, continued to glare at Zahara with hostility. Storm couldn’t blame him; he had once been told that he and Nymph were becoming really good friends, so seeing her being shot at must have angered him greatly. Especially if it was because of her merely being a changeling. The pegasus didn’t know Nymph quite as well and still he was upset about the whole ordeal; he could only imagine how pissed Big Mac must have been.

As for the changelings, Nymph appeared to have completely forgiven the zebra for her actions. When Zahara had apologised to Wind Reaver for wounding him so badly, he merely snorted, saying "It was nothing." Shortly after that he disappeared, without anypony noticing him leave.

Guard Shield was the only one who seemed unmoved by everything that had happened, both by the fight and the revelation of its cause. Storm even suspected that his paladin brother wasn’t surprised by the identity of the archer. Being a seasoned royal guard prior to joining the Order of the Celestial Light, Guard had a far greater experience with what lay behind Equestria’s borders than anypony in Ponyville, save maybe for the changelings. Storm did, however, catch him casting a surprise glance at Zahara’s panther, though why that was he did not know.

As he landed, Storm returned with his thoughts to the present moment. Guard was supposed to escort Zahara and her “pet” to the Abbey, and although it would take a while for them to reach it by hoof, Storm knew Sir Lightbringer would want all the information regarding the incident beforehoof.

To his relief, Sir Lightbringer’s face showed surprise and confusion instead of impatience. “I take it there’s some reason why you left Guard behind?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Storm nodded. “Yes, sir. You see…”

“Well, that’s taken care of,” Applejack commented.

Soon after Knight Guard Shield led Zahara away (with her panther walking slowly before them), she and her brother, along with Rainbow Dash and Nymph, had turned their attention back to the apple stand.

Or rather, what was left of it. Somehow, in the heat of battle, when Big Mac had jumped at the panther attacking Nymph, he had forgotten about the stand being in his way and he smashed through it without realizing it. Apples and pieces of wood were spread across the market. Applejack glared at her brother angrily before sighing and saying that they had better get back to repairing it… to which Nymph interjected by saying that there was no need. A few flashes of her horn later and the stand was looking as good as new.

Applejack found herself torn. On one hoof, she was angry at the changeling; she needed only a few seconds to do something that would have taken her much longer with her hooves and mouth. She knew that it was stupid for her to be angry over this, but sometimes she still had pride issues. On the other hoof, however, Applejack could appreciate Nymph wanting to help them, and she was aware that both of her siblings were fond of her.

“Good for ‘er Ah’m still in good humor after last night…”

“Thank you, Nymph, that was mighty kind of ya,” Applejack said out loud, resigned. If everypony else seemed to like her, she really should try to be nice to her.

The changeling flashed her a smile. “It’s nothing, really. Seeing how this mess was sort of my fault, it’s only fair that I’d help.”

“It wasn’t your fault!” Big Mac quickly objected, frowning.

“Yeah, it was a misunderstanding,” Rainbow added. “No biggie.”

Applejack nodded in agreement. Though this time the misunderstanding had led to much more violent events, was it really that much different from how everypony had distrusted, feared, and avoided Zecora, simply because she was a zebra? Except this time a zebra had shown prejudice against a changeling… “Strange times,” Applejack summed up.

“Thank you, all of you,” Nymph bowed her head graciously. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I was going over to Rarity’s before all of this had started.”

“Want me to walk ya there?” asked Big Mac almost immediately, concern on his face.

Nymph smiled to him, but shook her head. “No need, there aren’t any more zebras in town, if that’s what you were thinking.” Turning to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, she said: “I will see you all later.” With a nod, she turned around and headed towards the Carousel Boutique.

Almost as soon as Nymph was out of earshot, Rainbow Dash turned to Big Mac. “‘Want me to walk ya there’,” she mimicked his voice, smirking. “Looks like somepony likes someling!”

Big Mac’s cheeks became even redder at the accusation. To spare her brother further embarrassment, Applejack glared at Rainbow. “Rainbow Dash, don’t… just don’t,” she finished, not in the mood for pointing out to her just how ridiculous that joke was.

The pegasus mare snickered, but she dropped the subject. Relieved that that was over, Applejack winked at her brother, but before he could thank her, she turned back to Rainbow, suddenly reminded that she needed to talk with her.

“Hey Rainbow,” she started. When Rainbow looked at her, she continued: “Listen… would ya care for a trip for a few days? Ya see, mah sister and her friends wanted to go campin’, and Ah doubt that Rarity and Ah will be enough to handle those little monsters-”

“Wait, Rare’s going too? As in, ‘going camping’ going?”

“Yeah, that did strike me as odd…” she mused, thinking back to how Apple Bloom proposed to invite her friends, Rarity and Rainbow Dash to their camping trip.

“Well, if Rarity is going, then I’ve got to see that,” Rainbow said, pulling her from her thoughts. “Besides, I’ve been thinking about getting away from the town for a few days. You know, so that I could gather my thoughts,” she finished awkwardly, scratching the back of her head.

Applejack nodded with understanding. She knew that her friend planned to “quit” Arthas, and still hadn’t found the right way to do it. Maybe those few days away were just what she needed.

“Sure, sugarcube. Now, Ah need to run the stand, but Ah’ll tell ya exactly where we’ll be campin’ and all later.”

“Cool.”

“This campin’ trip sure promises to be fun!” Applejack said cheerfully, happy that Rarity wasn’t going to be the only other adult there.

In reply, however, Rainbow snickered. “Yeah, you say that now…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Applejack frowned, confused.

“Eh,” the pegasus shrugged, “I’ll explain before tonight’s performance. Catch you later!” she shouted back as she flew into the sky.

Applejack watched her for a while, before she turned back to her stand, shaking her head.

Cold wind attacked him from every side. He covered his eyes from snow and ice as he took another step forward. A voice, both incredibly young and old beyond his understanding at the same time, still called out to him. He had to reach it. Just one more step… only one more step… he reached out, wanting to grab…

With a gasp, Spike woke up.

“Wha…” he muttered, rubbing his eyes and looking at the extended claw.

What did he dream about? It was so… vivid. Spike recalled cold and wanting to grab something, but what was it…

His musing was interrupted by a knock on the door. The baby dragon turned to the sound, noticing that he was, again, in Sweetie Belle’s room.

The door opened, revealing Rarity. A tray with some breakfast was levitating beside her, held by her magic. “Hello again,” the white unicorn greeted him with a smile. “I hoped that you had woken up by now, your breakfast is getting cold.”

She pointed at the tray. Spike nodded and rose from the bed so that he was sitting by the edge of it. He hoped his face didn’t betray how awkward he felt; though he couldn’t remember what his dream was about, he did remember the last thing that happened before he fell asleep.

Rarity trotted towards the bed and sat next to him, placing the tray between them. She nodded to him to start eating.

“Thanks,” he said, taking a bowl of cereal. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Oh, no, darling, I’ve already eaten.”

He didn’t need to ask with whom she ate, he already knew the answer. “With him,” he thought dismayed as he started eating. Was he still there? Spike tried to not think about it, or Storm Clash in general. If Rarity really liked him, there was nothing he could do about it. She and Spike were… just friends.

“So…” he tried to break the silence, “nervous about the date?”

Rarity blinked at him with surprise. She probably had expected him to avoid the subject. “Well… a bit, I suppose.”

“Why?” he asked quickly. He cleared his throat and added: “I mean, what do you have to be nervous about?”

“Spike, the first date’s purpose is - usually - learning more about each other. And although I am far from modest, I do realize that I posses a few… less appealing characteristics. I don’t think there is anything about me that Storm could find off-putting-”

“Of course there isn’t!” Spike put in without thinking.

Rarity smiled and continued: “- but it is normal to feel nervous. You can never be really sure what the other pony is thinking about you.”

“Yeah, well, I still think you have nothing to worry about. Storm is gonna adore you,” Spike said, despite how heavy his chest felt.

“Thank you, Spikey-wikey. It really means a lot to me to hear you say it.”

Spike couldn’t help but smile back to her. Even if he could no longer even dream of being with her, Rarity was still his friend, and friends supported one another and wished them well.

“I hope that when you will ask somepony out one day, I will be able to return the favor,” Rarity added, winking.

He tried to picture it - him going out with some other mare - and he just… couldn’t. Spike tried to imagine the dream he often had, of taking Rarity to an ice cream house, except instead of Rarity he tried to conjure an image of a different mare. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t even imagine Rarity there. There was nopony there.

Only him.

He swallowed another spoon of cereal to hide his anxiety from Rarity. “If that would happen, I would probably come for some advice rather than words of encouragement.”

“And I would be happy to help you.”

Despite having his emotions in turmoil, Spike noticed that Rarity’s voice had shifted a bit. She looked as if she was about to add something but didn’t know how. Spike, who was already uncomfortable with this conversation, didn’t want to know what that could be.

“You don’t have to sit with me just because you feel bad about… you know,” he explained awkwardly. “You must have many things to do today…”

“Oh Spike, dear, I’ve already wrapped up what little I had to do today,” Rarity assured him. “My schedule is free for the next two hours; after that Fluttershy and I are taking Nymph to the spa.”

“Wait, two hours?” Spike repeated. He knew Rarity’s daily schedule by heart, and he knew that she and Fluttershy usually would go to the spa around twelve o’clock. But if that was true, this meant… “What time is it?”

“It’s ten in the morning.”

“Ten in the morning!?” Spike echoed, panicking. “By the Light, Twilight is going to be so upset that I overslept!”

When you grow up with a control freak, who lives her life according to a second-precise schedule, you fear oversleeping. Twilight had never - so far - punished him whenever he was late with anything, but every time she fumed, Spike felt like dropping on the floor and begging for forgiveness.

“I don’t think she-” Rarity tried to calm him down, but he wasn’t listening to her.

“Thank you for the breakfast Rarity, and for letting me sleep here,” Spike told her, jumping from the bed and grabbing one of the haywiches. “I’ll catch you later!” As he ran past the door, he stopped, hit by a thought. “But if I don’t,” Spike said, turning back, “good luck on your date.”

Rarity, who was slightly shocked by his actions, smiled warmly hearing him. Knowing that time was of the essence, Spike waved goodbye and ran down the hall and down the stairs, past the kitchen and through the door…

… and nearly collided with Nymph.

In the last second he managed to stop himself. “Oh, hi Nymph, sorry I nearly ran into you.”

“Well,” the changeling, although startled by his sudden appearance, smiled, “you wouldn’t be the first to attack me this morning.”

Her reply confused Spike, but he didn’t have the time to ask her what she meant. “Sorry, I need to go to Twilight, bye-”

“Spike, wait!” she called as he was about to run off. Surprised, he stopped and looked at her. “Are you alright?” Nymph asked, her voice full of sympathy and worry. “You’re… hurting.”

“Oh, that’s right, changelings can sense emotions,” Spike realized. “She must have sensed how I feel about Rarity going out with…”

At first he thought of answering that he was alright, but, even before he opened his mouth, Spike had realized how futile it would be to try and lie to Nymph. “N-no, I’m not,” he said, but he quickly smiled and added: “But I will be.”

“Huh,” Sir Lightbringer said, once Storm finished telling him and the two guards what had transpired in Ponyville, “I guess this means I should visit the market more often.”

Cherry Bomb, on the other hoof, had a different comment. “Wow, she totally kicked your flanks there,” he said with a snicker.

Storm’s ears dropped, as he knew the royal guard to be right. However, before he could find any words to reply to Bomb, Sir Lightbringer turned to the guard. “If she is Zecora’s sister, then it doesn’t come to me as a surprise. I always felt that our resident hermit was dangerous, so Zahara, being an older sibling, might be even more so.”

“Wait, so you’re saying that ponies here were right to fear Zecora when she first came to live here?” Sound Wave asked.

“No, I’m saying that they were right to become friends with her instead of coming to her hut with pitchforks and torches,” Sir Lightbringer replied calmly, and his tone of voice clearly indicated that he thought it to be obvious. “As for her sister… Nymph was certain that Zahara wasn’t trying to kill her?”

“Yes, she said that the first arrow would have passed right before her eyes if I hadn’t shielded her.”

“So she wasn’t even trying to wound her…” Sir Lightbringer murmured, frowning. “Did it look so from where you stood?”

“Sir?” Storm asked, not understanding the question.

“I’m asking if you, a trained and experienced fighter, could have told that the arrow wasn’t going to hurt her,” he explained, his brow still furrowed.

“Um… no, Sir, I wouldn’t have been able to,” Storm admitted, not sure where the head paladin was going with it. “I saw an arrow fired at her and acted on instinct.”

To his relief, Sir Lightbringer nodded. “Yes, in your place I would have done the same. As for Zahara,” he turned to the guards, “when Knight Guard Shield brings her here, tell him to escort her to Zecora’s hut. If Zecora does confirm that this hunter is indeed her sister, then he will let her know that for now she - along with that pet of hers - is her responsibility. Zahara might have not tried to kill Nymph, but it doesn’t change the fact that in the light of law she had attacked a representative of a foreign nation, wounded another one and an equestrian citizen, and resisted the defenders of the realm. If it weren’t for Nymph forgiving her, I would have been forced to arrest her. I want Guard to make sure our zebra siblings know that.”

As the two royal guards nodded, Storm frowned, confused. Couldn’t Sir Lightbringer tell her that himself? Storm had assumed that the head paladin would have liked to meet her personally.

Almost as if reading his mind, Sir Lightbringer added: “Also, tell her that I’m sorry I cannot tell her that in person, but I have duties that I must take care of. Speaking of; Storm, with me.”

With those words, Sir Lightbringer turned around and marched towards the barracks, motioning for Storm to follow him. The pegasus gulped nervously, certain that they were going to speak about Rarity.

“Well, at least I’ll be able to tell him about Provato and Tirek,” he thought as he quickly caught up with the head of the order. As he did so, he looked up; ever since he reached the Abbey, he could see with his own eyes what Guard had mentioned. Al’ar was circling around the Chapel’s spire and was occasionally puffing up his chest. Seeing how the other three ponies were ignoring it during their conversation, he must have been at it for a while now; Storm, on the other hoof, had problems trying not to look at it, it was just so plain weird.

True to his suspicion, almost at once Sir Lightbringer asked him calmly, as if casually: “How did it go with Rarity?”

“Um, very well, Sir,” Storm stammered, taking eyes off Al’ar. “We’re-”

But the earth pony stopped him with a wave of his hoof. “Spare me the details; I’m sure I’ll hear them from Rainbow later, anyway.”

Storm tilted his head, not understanding what he meant, but the mention of Rainbow Dash made him recall what else he had to tell him.

“Oh, Sir, there is something I wanted to ask you. Were you aware that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were going camping?”

Sir Lightbringer’s head turned to him with wide eyes. “No, I wasn’t,” he said as they trotted through the barrack’s corridors. “How do you know?”

“They came to Rarity earlier, her sister asked her to come as well, saying that Applejack was going with Apple Bloom, and later I learned that Rainbow Dash will be going as well.”

“Scootaloo should have discussed this with me first,” Sir Lightbringer said, and Storm detected a hint of annoyance in his voice. “I will have to catch her later; for now, we have more important matters to discuss with you.”

“‘We’, Sir?” Storm asked, confused, as they stopped. They had reached the door leading to Sir Lightbringer’s office.

The earth pony opened the door, not answering his question. Storm was about to repeat it, when suddenly there was no need for that.

“Ah, Knight Storm Clash,” said the voice all too familiar to the former royal guard. “I see you have arrived at last. Come in, please.”

Inside Sir Lightbringer’s office, sitting on the pillows before the desk, were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna . Storm was so shocked that he was barely aware of following Sir Lightbringer inside. Next to the two alicorns was a tray with two cups of tea and a kettle, indicating that they must have been there for a while.

“Your Majesties,” he said, saluting.

Princess Celestia nodded and said: “You can make yourself comfortable, Knight. My sister and I wanted to talk with you.”

Despite being allowed to sit down, Storm continued to stand. It just wouldn’t feel right to him to sit when being addressed by the princesses. Sir Lightbringer was apparently of the same mind, as when he joined the two alicorns and turned to look at him from beside Princess Celestia, he was also standing.

Both princesses glared at Sir Lightbringer, as if he had offended them somehow, but the earth pony just looked back at them with an expressionless face worthy of a royal guard. Before Storm could ponder on that, all three turned to him.

“Knight Storm Clash,” Princess Luna started, “perhaps you would find it of interest that my sister and I had felt an unusual magical disturbance yesterday, emanating from somewhere deep within the Everfree Forest.”

“Which,” Princess Celestia continued, “as we were informed by Sir Lightbringer, is where you spend the entire day in.”

“And,” Princess Luna resumed, “as if that weren’t enough, shortly before I woke up to raise the moon yesterday, I had a vision. A vision which involved you and one of the creatures mentioned in the legends surrounding Stars Swirl the Bearded.”

“The Princesses and I were hoping you could shed some light on what happened to you in the forest,” explained Sir Lightbringer.

To say that Storm Clash was surprised would have been an understatement. He didn’t expect that the Princesses would have known that something unusual had happened in the Everfree Forest. Nevertheless, he quickly shook of the shock and straightened up.

“Of course, Sir, Your Majesties,” he said, bowing his head. “Where would you want me to start?”

135. Revelations under Sun

Spike stopped before the Golden Oak Library to catch his breath. He had run all the way from Rarity’s, and he needed a moment to compose himself before he could face a probably very angry mare.

“You know,” suddenly a voice called from above him, “even I have never come home so late from a party when I was your age.”

Spike raised his head to look up and saw Rainbow Dash hovering above him. “Oh, hi Rainbow,” he greeted her, slightly unnerved by her comment. “What are you doing here so early?”

The cyan pegasus landed beside him. “I heard that Daring Do was gonna have a lecture this morning at Canterlot, and I know Twilight would have watched it. I wanted to check if Daring mentioned something about when her new book will be out. She kept laughing whenever I asked her and waving it off…” she muttered under her breath.

“Um…” Spike stammered, not sure what the last part was supposed to mean. “Well, sure, Twilight would have seen it by now- Wait a moment,” he stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing something. “How did you know about that? You’re not exactly… you know, the scholarly type,” he finished, not wanting to offend her.

Much to his surprise, however, Rainbow Dash merely chuckled. “Heh, listen, I’ll tell you that when you get older, ‘kay?”

Without waiting for his reaction, she opened the door and entered the library. Spike, bewildered, stood where he was for a few seconds. He was very confused.

“I get the strangest feeling that this is going to be a very long day…” he mused, scratching the back of his head.

As if some higher power decided to mock him, from inside the library came a badly stifled snort. It was followed by Rainbow Dash’s amused: “Oh, sweet Celestia!”

“Ugh, what now…” Spike groaned and entered the library.

The baby dragon quickly followed the chuckling of Rainbow and some other unidentified voices that were coming out of the bedroom. When he entered, Spike realized that all the blinds were closed. As his eyes adapted to the darker environment, he saw the pegasus rolling on the floor holding her sides, and on the bed was-

“Twilight!” Spike cried out, running up to her.

The lavender unicorn was laying in her bed, groaning and covering her ears. Her mane was a mess, and when she opened one eye to look at Spike he saw it was bloodshot.

“Twilight, what happened?” Spike asked, full of worry. “You never sleep in like this! Are you sick?” he added, noticing that nearby stood a bucket.

Instead of answering his questions, Twilight pressed her ears harder and turned the other way. Spike opened his mouth to repeat his questions, but at that moment he found himself being gagged by a cyan hoof.

“Yeah, she’s sick,” Rainbow whispered into his ear.

Cold talons of fear gripped Spike’s heart… until he realized that the voice in which Rainbow told him those news was an amused one. And then he remembered how she was laughing at Twilight earlier. Indeed, as Spike looked up at her now, Rainbow was still smirking while looking at their bed-ridden friend.

“Remember how we all got sick after the wedding?” she asked. Spike searched back with his memory; yes, he recalled that. He hadn’t paid much attention then, as Mat- Arthas was telling him about a dragon he once fought… “Come to think of it, he also seemed kind of sick that day…” He stopped reminiscencing and nodded to the pegasus. “Well, it’s more or less the same thing, only a bit worse, apparently. Go make her some tea, will you? I will look after her.”

“Right, one tea coming!” Spike quickly said and run to the kitchen.

Twilight groaned as Spike’s too-enthusiastic voice drummed against what was supposed to be her brain. With how much it hurt, she could not be certain if what was left inside her cranium could still be called as such.

The giggle of Rainbow Dash wasn’t helping her, even if she was quieter now. “Damn, you really overdid it last night, huh?”

The unicorn tried to formulate an articulated response. What came from her mouth, however, resembled “Moahhhh…” more than anything else.

Rainbow snickered. “You know, I don’t think I’ve seen you drink that much… which must mean you mixed the punch with the wine, huh? Light blind me, Twilight, you’re supposed to be the smart one!”

She was in too much pain to wince at her words. Rainbow was right, she should have been smarter. But to be fair, before she had started drinking whatever was in her hooves’ reach, Twilight had learned that her parents had tried talking Matt (“Who wasn’t even Matt this whole time!” she thought, still finding it a bit difficult to adjusting to Arthas’ real name) into dating her. Despite being in severe pain, she still felt that she was excused from turning her brain off when drinking.

“Great, I’m starting to talk like him,” she heard Rainbow murmur to herself. She then sighed and turned back to Twilight. “I guess this means you’ve missed Daring’s lecture, huh?”

Twilight glanced at her, blinking. She mulled over her words, trying through pain to concentrate. “Daring’s lecture, Daring’s Lecture… Daring-”

“Daring Do’s lecture!” she exclaimed. Twilight jumped out of her bed, ignoring the pain pressing against her skull. “How could I forget about it. I need to-”

Her words trailed off as her body swung, quickly losing its sense of balance, and on its merry way to lose against the gravity. Luckily, something blue swiftly appeared next to her and supported her.

“Whoa, easy girl,” Rainbow said, wrapping her wing around Twilight and guiding her back to bed.

Twilight muttered thanks through her dizziness. Worse, it wasn’t just her head that was spinning now, the contents of her stomach were too. Spotting a bucket in the last second, she quickly bent over it as her body expelled… whatever it was she had eaten back at the party.

Rainbow gently tapped her back as she puked. “Huh, really didn’t expect the day to go this way. Not to mention that it would have made way more sense if our roles were reversed. Better?”

Twilight nodded as she raised her head, using magic to wipe her mouth, even though using magic added an unpleasant hum to her headache. Ignoring the pain, she focused on a cabinet next to the wall. It opened, and from it’s insides she levitated a television set.

“Still have no idea why you keep it locked away.”

The unicorn glanced at Rainbow with offense. “Television is the number one thing that makes ponies stop reading books! Did you know that ever since the invention of gems capable of receiving magic transmission and projecting them on the display glass, the number of books being read had started falling at the rate of-”

Rainbow Dash covered her mouth. “Yeah, yeah, television kills reading, I get it.”

Twilight pushed her hoof away and continued: “I don’t want Spike to spend his days watching it. That’s bad for your health. And I myself prefer reading,” she added, as she started adjusting the gem inside the television to the Canterlot University’s main auditorium’s gem’s frequency.

Being Princess Celestia personal protégé had a few perks attached to it. Being able to see every important lecture was one of them.

As she worked her magic (the hangover was proving the usually simple task challenging), Rainbow commented on her words: “Seriously, you and Arthas are made for each other. He doesn’t even have a television down at the Abbey. When I asked him about it, he made a serious face and said something along the lines of: ‘Television is the blasphemous creation of the demons!’. He then chuckled to himself. Did you teach him that?”

Twilight giggled hearing the short story. “Oh, don’t be silly, he was just making fun of you. As for why he doesn’t have one there: his old world doesn’t have television.”

“What a weird world.”

She nodded absentmindedly, focusing on her task instead. A heartbeat later, she uttered a cry of triumph (for which she apologized to her head the next heartbeat) and turned on the television. On display appeared an image of a large auditorium, with many professors, doctors, and students listening to the mare behind the podium. A tan pegasus mare, donning a simple suit, though most of the time she wore a dark olivine vest.

Daring Do.

“And that ends my lecture.”

“Oh, come on!” Twilight groaned, grabbing her head and falling back on her bed. Hearing Rainbow chuckle, she tried threw a pillow at her, but missed.

“Thank you very much, Doctor Do, for your astonishing lecture,” one of the University’s professors said. “Now, does anypony have any questions for our esteemed quest?”

Twilight looked at the television just in time to see a forest of hooves shoot up into the air.

Daring took the microphone and sit on the podium. “Anypony got a question not related to my book series?”

And just like that, about a half of those hooves fell, most of which (though not all) belonged to students.

“If so, put your hooves down, my fans got the priority,” Daring said, smirking. When the auditorium was filled with laughter of the younger members, Daring stuck out her tongue to the elderly professors. She then looked back at the audience. “Yes, you?”

“Doctor Do,” one of the students, a mare by the sound of her voice, started, “when can we all expect your next book to be published?”

Twilight facehooved. Daring came to Canterlot to give a lecture regarding what she and her team found in the Frozen North, where ponies originated from, and this was the mare’s concern?!

If Daring was annoyed by the question, she hadn’t showed it. “Funny, I recall hearing that question a lot yesterday.” For some reason unknown to Twilight, Rainbow snorted and muttered something under her breath. “My answer was the same: that I currently don’t have plans regarding my next book. I haven’t had an adventure long enough to fill an entire book in a while.” A gasp of disappointment filled the auditorium. “Buuuuuuut-” Daring added, winking, “I will release three short stories, cramped into one book. A small book, mind you, but I think you will find it entertaining.”

“What will those stories be about?” another student asked.

“The first one will detail a rather unpleasant misunderstanding I had with some zebra’s of the Jurassica Tribe about half a year ago;” Daring started counting, “the second one will concentrate on those few difficulties our expedition had in the Frozen North that I had mentioned, especially in Unicolt; and the third and last one will be about my research of the diamond dogs’ old empire. I would advise anypony who is on, let’s say, book four, should finish the series quickly,” Daring added with a wink.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, surprised at the comment. “Funny, Arthas is still on book four,” she noted, turning off the television, despite Rainbow Dash’s protest; she knew from experience that Daring answered mostly questions regarding her books after those lectures. And even though Twilight was no lesser fan of them than Rainbow, she liked to be surprised, not to mention that hangover made her rather disinterested in listening to… pretty much anything.

At that moment, Spike returned to the room, bringing a tray with a teapot, teacup and sugar on it. “Here you go, Twilight,” he said, laying the tray on the coffee stand next to her bed. “Need something else?” he added, his eyes turning to the bucket.

Twilight wanted to bash her head against the wall for being such a bad example to him at the moment. Before she could reply, Rainbow did it for her: “Yeah, hang on a second.” She trotted over to one the table, took a loose piece of paper and a pencil and scribbled some things on it. “Go to a store and buy those, I’ll make something that will put Twilight right on her hooves.”

“You will make something?” Twilight said sceptically when Spike ran out of the room.

Rainbow glanced her way. “Yeah, Bloody Mare. It cures hangovers right out of you, trust me.”

“Um… maybe it would be better to ask Zecora for-” Twilight started, not really sure she wanted to try this ‘Bloody Mare’.

“Nope,” Rainbow cut her off, “we’re doing it my way.”

Reluctantly, Twilight nodded and laid back in bed, still feeling weak. She took some solace in the fact that there was nothing that could make her feel worse-

“So, what happened after Arthas led you home?”

Her eyes snapped wide. “Arthas!” She remembered him leading her back here. She remembered her leaning against him for support. She remembered… remembered… nothing else past opening the door.

“Oh no, oh no…” Twilight groaned pitifully, looking at Rainbow, “D-do you think he saw me puke?”

“Considering there was this bucket over here? Probably,” Rainbow said offhoofly, confirming Twilight’s fear. She uttered a weak cry and buried her face in her hooves. “Hey, come on now,” she heard Rainbow say as she came closer. “Don’t worry; I’m sure Arthas would still have the hots for you even if you had puked on him. Or worse.”

Twilight looked at her from behind her hooves. “You think so?” When the pegasus nodded, she smiled, but then quickly looked at her puzzled. “What could be worse than puking on him?”

Rainbow shrugged. “I dunno. Anyways, I gotta go get one more ingredient for the Bloody Mare. You try to get some sleep. I want you to be fresh when I tell you how I kicked Zecora’s sister’s tail after she had mopped the floor with Wind.”

“W-What?!” Twilight asked, confused, but Rainbow had already flown out of her room.

She tried to make any lick of sense from what she had just heard, but she couldn’t, so she quickly resigned herself to listening to Rainbow’s advice and tried to get some sleep.

Guard wasn’t surprised by Sir Lightbringer’s decision regarding Zahara. He would have done the same if he was in his place, except he would have probably also made her do some community service as punishment for causing a commotion in town. However, he had long since learned that Sir Lightbringer - and, to be fair, pretty much everypony in Ponyville - had a forgiving heart.

What did surprise him, though, was that he hadn’t come to tell Zahara his decision personally. Guard had assumed that he would have liked to see for himself such an intriguing zebra. Glossing over how rare it was to one of her kind in Equestria, she was also the sister of his friend. She had given him, Storm and Wind quite the beating... and had a rather uncommon companion.

“So,” Guard started once they left the Abbey behind, for the first time speaking to Zahara since he began escorting her and her pet, “ye’re from Jivbuti Tribe?”

Zahara turned to him, her eyes wide with surprise. “You speak Zebrican?”

Guard nodded, offering her a half-smile. “I’ve been a part of Princess Celestia’s envoy to Dowunai Tribe several times, I learned enough of your language to get by, as well as some of your customs.”

“I see. You’ve learned it quite well... though you could work on your accent a bit,” Zahara said, smirking. “Why would you think I am from Jivbuti Tribe?”

Guard nodded at her pet, who was walking slowly before them. “Your friend over there is a spitting image of Mngwa the Shadow Panther, one of the lesser spirits worshipped by, if I’m not mistaken, the Jivbuti Tribe.”

The zebra laughed pleasantly, causing the paladin to look at her in surprise. Until now he had only seen her when focused on her “hunt”, pleading for forgiveness and emotionless when she patiently trotted from Ponyville to the Abbey. This relaxed happiness was… pleasant to watch, to say the least.

“Well, it seems you learned quite a lot about my people,” she told him. Jivbuti was not the tribe I was born into, but your senses did not lead you astray; my companion, Nunda, looks a lot like his mother.”

The paladin’s eyes widened, even though he had expected such news. He glanced at the panther before him, who also partially turned. “You must be an exceptional hunter,” he said, briefly looking into the silvery eyes of Nunda before turning back to Zahara, “if you managed to befriend a child of one of the spirits.”

“Thank you,” Zahara replied, bowing her head graciously. “You’re not a common warrior yourself. How are you able to call upon those celestial-like powers?”

“Those ‘powers’ that I and Storm Clash can call upon is the Holy Light. Paladins - warriors such as I - can call upon it to aid us in a similar manner to how your priests and prophets are granted powers by the spirits, or how shamans by the elements. Now my turn;” he added; “if you’re not from Jivbuti Tribe, then what is your tribe?”

As soon as he looked into Zahara’s eyes, he realized that he touched a sore subject. All humor and amusement was gone from her. “I have no tribe,” she said, looking away. “Not anymore.”

Guard’s brow furrowed; being discarded from a tribe was one of the most severe punishments for zebras. He couldn’t understand why would she be banished. A hunter like her had to be a valued asset. What kind of crime she could commit to-

“Unless,” he suddenly realized, stopping his earlier train of thoughts, “she chose to leave the tribe by herself…”

There was only one tribe that came to his mind that a zebra like Zahara (and, by extension, probably Zecora as well) would want to leave.

“You are- were,” Guard corrected himself, “from Aaztai Tribe, weren’t you?” The sigh she gave confirmed his guess. “I heard stories-”

“Most of them,” Zahara interrupted him, glaring at him, “are just stories. Slander born out of fear and Aaztai Tribe’s seclusion.”

Despite her words, Guard tried to look at her teeth as she spoke subtlety. However, the zebra had noticed, if her frown was of any indication.

“Not all born to the tribe have fangs,” she told him, baring her teeth briefly.

“But you admit some of you have them,” Guard noticed, though he felt a sense of relief when he saw that Zahara lacked any unnatural addition to her herbivore mouth.

She cringed a bit at his words, but when she replied her voice was steady: “Those born with fangs are marked by Caesar the White Lion, Aaztai Tribe’s patron. They’re a sign of a great destiny within the tribe.”

Not wanting to argue, Guard nodded politely. He had heard the rumor (among some other, much more horrifying ones) of the zebra from that tribe having fangs, but he hadn’t given them much faith to them. To hear that they was actually some truth to them…

He opened his mouth to ask her more about Aaztai Tribe, but as he turned to Zahara, he noticed that, as she stared into the forest ahead of them, her eyes became clouded with what he assumed were unhappy memories.

“Forgive me,” Guard quickly said, chastising himself. “I did not mean to cause you any discomfort.”

The zebra’s eyes lit up as she looked at him in mild surprise. “Thank you for your concern, but that’s alright. Although…” Zahara hesitated. “Would you mind… not spreading all those rumors you heard about my former tribe in the town? I already made a bad first impression, I wouldn’t want to sullen my sister’s reputation as well.”

“A reasonable request,” Guard nodded. “My lips are sealed, of course.”

“Thank you,” Zahara smiled, and for some reason that sight made Guard smile back.

“I wouldn’t want to cause unnecessary panic. Although… would you mind telling me what are rumors and what are truths?” he asked uncertainly.

The zebra smirked. “You want me to tell the secrets of my former tribe, who stays away even from other tribes, to somepony that I don’t even know his name?”

“She has a point here, I suppose,” Guard decided, chuckling.

“... and with the blessing of Provato, I gained enough strength to make it back to Ponyville before midnight,” Storm finished, relieved for the momentary respite.

He had spent what felt like an hour recounting everything that happened to him yesterday, ever since he had left Sir Lightbringer and Daring Do in the catacombs with the knocked out Ursa Major (he made a mental note to ask Sir Lightbringer later what happened to it, and if they got into the ruined shrine as Daring wanted). Just having to tell all that to the Princesses and the head of his order would have been hard enough, but he also had to reply to the few questions they asked when they wanted him to explain things in more detail. As such, by the time he was done, his throat had become dry and he began dreaming of a glass of water.

“Looks like you had a really exhausting experience yesterday,” Princess Celestia summed up pretty nicely. “I’m sure you want to go and recover properly, but please bear with us for a few moments.”

Storm nodded with understanding.

“Are you sure that Lord Tirek had been destroyed?” Princess Luna asked him.

“The Light was ripping him apart,” Storm replied, wincing a little at the memory. “I think even he had realized he was about to die, as he tried to use his power to blow up everything around him. And even if he had somehow survived and the blast hadn’t finished him off, I’m sure Provato would have taken care of him.”

“Yes, Provato… He most certainly seems like a being who wouldn’t hesitate to finish his enemy off,” Princess Celestia mused. “Then again, most demigods are like that.”

“You’ve met some others, Your Highness?” Sir Lightbringer asked, a slightly raised eyebrow the only sign of his surprise.

“The patron of the Dowunai Tribe. It was… interesting talking with her,” Princess Celestia replied. “But at the moment I am more interested about this Provato and his mother, Everfree. He really had confirmed that those stories written in ‘Folktales of Eastin’ are true?” she asked, turning to Storm.

“Yes. I admit I was also surprised… even more when he had mentioned that this ‘Winged Warrior’ was Commander Hurricane.”

“Yes, that is rather confusing,” Sir Lightbringer said, frowning. “I’m not sure how it would be possible for a pony and the Spirit of Nature to…” He stopped and shook his head. “Come to think of it, I’m not sure if I want to know that.”

Storm found himself on the exact same page as his mentor and commander.

“Regardless,” Princess Luna resumed, “this Provato would make a powerful ally. As would his mother. Such a pity that because of Tirek’s actions a chance to heal her and restore the Everfree Forest won’t come in a foreseeable future. Still, it is good to know that there is at least one creature in that forest that wouldn’t seek to harm a pony and would try to save them instead.”

“We should try and make contact with him,” Princess Celestia decided, then both she and her sister looked at Sir Lightbringer. “This task will fall to you, Sir Lightbringer.”

The head paladin saluted. “Of course Your Majesty.”

The two alicorns nodded their head and all trio exchanged glances. “Now then,” Princess Celestia spoke, turning her attention back to Storm., “how about we turn to the other matter?”

“About time,” Princess Luna added, also looking at Storm.

“Agreed,” said Sir Lightbringer, trotting towards the pegasus.

“W-what is going on?” Storm thought, startled as Sir Lightbringer stood before him.

“Knight Storm Clash!” Sir Lightbringer said, standing inattention. Storm quickly mimicked his pose. “In recognition of your service in the name of the Holy Light and the Princesses, you are hereby promoted to knight-lieutenant!”

Storm’s jaw dropped hearing that. “W-what?” he thought weakly. “M-me? A knight-lieutenant? I don’t…”

“You have faced an unimaginable evil twice now and came victorious each time,” Sir Lightbringer continued, making Storm recall the events in Northville. “Your dedication to the Light and care for other ponies are without question. I am sure you are worthy of that rank, paladin.”

“I…” He wanted to protest; that he wasn’t worthy, that he had a lot of luck both with Tirek and the windigo, that Guard or Serenity were better candidates for a higher rank, maybe even Tucker… but as his eyes traveled from Sir Lightbringer to the princesses and back, all looking at him without any shred of doubt, he found that he couldn’t. How could he protest against what those three had all agreed on? Instead, he straightened up and saluted. “Thank you, Sir! I swear by my blood and honor that I will serve as best I can!”

“I expect as such,” Sir Lightbringer replied, smiling. “But for now, go and get some rest. You have the rest of the day free. However, I expect you tomorrow at six o’clock in my office, we’ll need to discuss your extra duties.”

“Yes Sir,” Storm replied, relieved that he was… relieved. He saluted to his direct superior, and then the two alicorns.

“Have a good rest, Knight-Lieutenant,” Princess Luna wished him before he respectfully left the office.

As he began heading to the bunk in the barracks he shared with Guard and Tucker (“Does being promoted mean that I will get my own quarters?”), he pondered about his sudden promotion. Instead of being worried, however, as he had expected himself, Storm realized that he was excited at the prospect of announcing this to Rarity during their date.

“That went surprisingly well,” Arthas said once the door had closed behind the newly promoted paladin. “I was certain we were going to spend a few minutes explaining to him why we think him worthy of a higher rank.”

“I am pleased that it wasn’t the case,” Princess Luna said as he trotted to stand closer to them. He frowned as they motioned for him to sit in his chair. “Your new knight-lieutenant growing more confident aside, we have important matters to look into back in Canterlot, and we are still not done here, aren’t we?” she added, looking at her sister.

Princess Celestia nodded. “What do you think we should do about Everfree?” she asked, turning to Arthas.

Before he answered her, Arthas jumped into his swivel-chair… which immediately spun around, as usual. Throwing an annoyed look in Luna’s direction, he replied: “I believe it would be best to consult with Provato first, assuming it would be possible. Rest assured, I will be on a lookout for him. But if the Light could heal him, despite that I hadn’t directed it to affect him in that way, I see no reason why it shouldn’t also work on Everfree.”

“But for that we will need her to focus most of her being into a single body,” Celestia pointed out. “If Knight-Lieutenant Storm Clash’s description wasn’t exaggerated, it might be difficult to perform an exorcism on her.”

“Seeing how it will take her months to recover, I expect that we will have many more new paladins ready to help with the task,” Arthas countered. “Though I suppose we could also use the Elements of Harmony. I must admit, it would be interesting to see their power.”

Both Princesses nodded. “Have Spike send a message to me if such scenario comes, I will deliver the Elements personally. We cannot let an opportunity to cleanse the Everfree Forest go to waste. Nor we can allow the chance to learn more about the past to slip by us.” Glancing at both her sister and Arthas, she added: “I’m sure it’s clear to you as well as me that Everfree knows something about the Sundering of Griffonia, right?” Once they nodded, she added quietly, as if to herself: “And those flowers…”

“Those Eon Petals?” Arthas asked, frowning. “What about them?”

“I did not know their name, but I recognised their description. Provato had told Storm that those flowers were picked only once before, and I know what happened to them.” Arthas quickly glanced at Luna, and saw that she was as surprised as he was. “A bouquet of them is within Queen Platinum’s grave.”

Arthas gasped. Luna was equally puzzled. “Are you certain?” she asked her sister.

As Princess Celestia nodded, Arthas’ mind was working at doubled pace. Why would Everfree allow Eon Petals to be picked from the Heart of the Forest and placed in Equestria’s queen grave? He could understand Commander Hurricane, even after he had burned down Ashvattha, but Queen Platinum?

“The first Queen of Equestria… the mare hailed as the most powerful and influential monarch in this world’s history… what could be the Spirit of Nature’s connection to her?”

“As intriguing as that is,” he finally said, turning to the Royal Sisters, “I do not think it carries much significance. I am much more interested in learning what “the Air and Earth collided’ Provato had mentioned means.”

“Maybe it has something to do with how the griffons had enslaved the earth elementals?” Luna suggested.

“It would make sense, but what about the air?” Celestia inquired. “The air elementals were never mentioned in recorded history, let alone anywhen around the time of Founding of Equestria.”

“You’re right, Sister…” the younger alicorn admitted, biting her lip. She turned to Arthas. “You’d better train your new initiates well, Arthas. We cannot lose a chance to learn what this means. We should also order our respective guards to patrol the edge of the Everfree Forest and report any sighting of an unusual sized timberwolf.”

While Princess Celestia agreed to her sister’s suggestion, Arthas decided it would be a good opportunity for him to bring up something that had been on his mind for some time now. He cleared his throat to gain the attention of both alicorns.

“If I may…” he started carefully. This was going to be a sore topic, especially for Celestia. “I feel that preparing new paladins would go much more smoother if they were trained by ponies who are… more experienced. They would have much more to teach them, would be able to better explain to them how to act when under pressure-”

“You have more experience than several generations of ponies combined, Arthas,” Princess Luna reminded him, interrupting. “And if you are speaking about your knights and knight-lieutenant, haven’t they fared exceptionally well in Northville?”

“Yes, they have” Arthas admitted. “But that little adventure, as significant as it was, cannot compare to the horrors of combat, of the clash of steel and will, of situations where every action you make can be your last. This is what paladins on Azeroth had to face since the creation of the Order of the Silver Hand.” He turned to Celestia, and though he knew instantly that she had already guessed what he intended, he said it anyway. “And there is only one place in Equestria where they can experience it.”

Luna gasped as realization came upon her as well. “You certainly have a lot of courage to propose this to me, Arthas Menethil,” Princess Celestia said slowly, her eyes gazing into his.

Arthas bowed his head. “You know I wouldn’t suggest it if I wouldn’t think it to be necessary. We all sense something is coming,” he said, turning to Luna as well. “Your connection to this world and the celestial bodies above us, my connection to the Light… neither of us knows what this warning we sense can be, but we must be prepared for anything.”

“But to send them there-” Luna started, but her sister raised a hoof.

“You are right,” Celestia said, looking at Arthas. Her eyes shone with determination. “We should be prepared for anything. And I would be lying if I said that it had never crossed my mind to send royal guards to that place to experience... it.”

Lune looked at her with worried expression. “Sister… are you sure?”

The older alicorn turned to her and smiled briefly. “Yes, I am sure. Just like Arthas said, we need to be prepared. I do not know what is coming, but there is no other place where those paladins can prepare for the worst.” She closed her eyes. “The Dread Isle,” she uttered the name quietly. “For the sake of Equestria, they have to go to the place where over eight hundred years ago I had taken a life of another... and experience war.”

She could sense a slow, steady growth of leaves, branches and roots. She felt a timeless wisdom, the eternal thoughts within. The tree had its own unique signature, as was true with anypony.

“They are alive,” came her teacher’s voice. “Like you and I, they are alive, and have their own thoughts and personalities. It takes time, but you can learn how to listen to their voices.” He paused for a few seconds. “Now, come back…”

Fluttershy concentrated on her body, just as Provato had taught her, and withdrew her mind respectfully from one of the bigger trees growing just outside the borders of the Everfree Forest. When she had asked why they couldn’t try with one growing in the forest, the timberwolf demigod told her it was too dangerous for now. Fluttershy was eager to agree; that place still scared her. Even though she couldn’t understand what exactly could be dangerous about it, it was a wonderful experience! She had actually felt what it was like to be a tree!

As Fluttershy retreated, her physical surroundings gradually reappeared, albeit murky at first. She blinked her blue eyes a few times, bringing everything to focus. Her breathing was heavy, and she was sweating, but she was happy and proud.

“You did better than I had expected, child of the skies,” Provato, who was sitting beside her, rumbled. Fluttershy detected both pride and amazement in his voice. “You certainly possess a great potential in you…”

The pegasus flushed, embarrassed at the praise she wasn’t sure she deserved. “I…I wouldn’t know about that,” she said shily, looking down on the ground. “I just followed your instructions…”

On her other side, two small creatures raised their protest. One was Elizabeak, the other Angel. Her faithful bunny came looking for her when she hadn’t came back for too long, and he stayed to observe her training under the eye of Provato.

Strangely, Fluttershy had realized that she could understand them. She could always tell what little critters were saying, but… now it seemed more clear.

“And exceeded my expectations,” Provato finished for her, drawing her attention. “You will learn the ways of the nature quickly.”

“T-thanks you,” Fluttershy replied, still blushing. Recalling something Matthias had once told her, she asked: “Ma- Arthas, my friend that healed you, had once told me about people who possess abilities like the one you spoke of. He called them ‘druids’, and their magic ‘druidism’. Is that what you’re teaching me?”

The wooden wolf gazed into her eyes, pondering her question. “Those are not names I am familiar with, nor does this magic has a name. I had always called it ‘ways of the nature’. But… they do sound accurate.” Provato nodded. “Yes, then, what I am teaching you is druidism, and you are a druid, young Fluttershy.”

Her heart swelled with pride. She couldn’t wait to tell her friends about it!

“Can we try again?” she asked her teacher eagerly.

To her disappointment, Provato shook his head. “This was enough for your first day. You need to rest before you try again. Also, haven’t you told me you have a meeting with your friends planned?”

Surprised, Fluttershy looked up at the sun. To her shock, it was near noon. She hadn’t even realized how long she had been with Provato.

“Yes, you’re right, Provato,” she said, turning to the demigod and smiling timidly. She was no longer scared of him, but he was still intimidating in that good sort of way. “Thank you for reminding me.”

Provato nodded as she raised from the ground. “Come back here tomorrow after dawn. I’ll be waiting.”

Her legs felt stiff after the long time she had spent not moving. Fluttershy stretched them carefully as she listened to Provato. Nodding, she turned to Angel and Elizabeak. “Come along now, we’re going back home.”

“One more thing, Fluttershy,” Provato said, also rising. Fluttershy turned back to him. “I would be grateful if, for the time being, you could keep me - and by extension our meetings - a secret. Please understand,” he said patiently as her eyes widened in surprise, “In ages past, I had been known by many ponies as a friend, and they ventured into my part of the forest without fear. But for the past thousand years, I was nothing more than an animal, and that is how everybody will remember me. I know I had harmed many of your kind. I do not want my presence to be known until I feel ready to face them again.”

Hearing his explanation, Fluttershy smiled with understanding. “Of course, I understand. But… you will have to face ponies sooner or later,” she added timidly. It didn’t feel like her place to give any advice to Provato…

But he chuckled warmly, taking no offence. “I know, dear Fluttershy. Now go, be with you friends.”

Fluttershy smiled, relieved, and waved goodbye as she took her pets and flew towards her cottage. She was a bit disappointed that she couldn’t tell her friends for now about what she was learning from Provato, but she understood his reason.

“Besides,” she thought, excited, “this means that I will later be able to show them how much more I’ve learned…”

Provato watched as the pegasus wandered off, his mind still on her. He hadn’t exaggerated; Fluttershy had made a tremendous progress in a short amount of time. She had been able, for a short time, to become one with a tree, something Provato hadn’t expected a mortal being to learn without days of practice at least.

“How long will it take her to learn how to talk with nature?” he mused; his mind seeing her through the plants surrounding her cottage as she led her pets back home. “How long until she will be able to heal the wounds of others? Maybe even,” he added, looking to his side, “change shape?”

On top of another tree, not the one Fluttershy had entered, on one of its branches, was crouching a sparrow. A seemingly common bird.

“Should I be disappointed, or relieved that, despite her talent, Fluttershy hadn’t sensed anything unusual about this bird?” He pondered before he chuckled inwardly. “Relieved. If she would learn everything quickly, it would be no fun teaching her.”

“What do you think of my student?” Provato asked, turning fully to the bird and taking a step back.

The sparrow - or rather, what appeared to be a sparrow - blinked its tiny eyes at him before it jumped into the air. As it neared the ground, it grew, its wingspan extended tens of times, and so did its height. It wasn’t just its size that changed, though. Its features had also became different. In place of brown, many other colors came, with gold most apparent to Provato, as it covered the face, chest and belly. He couldn’t see the back, but he knew it to be blue, ranging from dark to light. And the wings had feathers of many colors, harmonically going from red to violet.

Provato’s eyes stopped briefly on those wings, recalling the tale his mother once told him about how the first time a rainbow graced this world skies was when this being before him had taken flight.

Turning his head back to address the bird that now stood many times his height and size, Provato bowed his head in gesture of respect. “Marahute.”

Marahute, the Eagle Mother (though closer to the truth of her being would be a name that only a few knew, the Greatmother of Winged Beings), looked down at him. “Provato, right? You’re one of Everfree’s youngest children,” when Provato nodded, the great eagle continued: “I felt a disturbing power surge emanating from this forest. I came here, hoping to see if your mother and the others had recovered.” Her expression softened around her beak. “I am pleased to see that at least you have came to your senses.”

“Thank you, Marahute,” Provato replied. “I hope that in short time the same could be said about the entire forest, my mother included.”

“Is that why you taught this pony?” Marahute asked, her head turning briefly in the direction where Fluttershy had went. “I do not know if your mother would have approved of that.”

“I am not my mother,” Provato reminded her, despite having pondered the same matter a few times today.

“No, you are not,” the great eagle replied, though it was impossible to tell whether she meant those words as an offense or not.

Provato growled inwardly in irritation, but did not let it shown. Even though their powers were about equal, she was still his elder by millennia, and deserved his respect.

“Besides, she’s not nearly as bad as Arachnia was.”

“Is it alright for you to be away from your worshipers for so long?” he asked, changing the subject.

“The Dowunai Tribe doesn’t need me to hold their hooves on daily basis,” Marahute replied, shrugging her wings. She extended one and looked at it, as if looking for loose feathers. “Do you know what is that strange being about a mile east of here?”

It took a great deal of control to not reply with some snide comment. “Yes, my student had told me he is called Al’ar, the Phoenix God. Assuming this is a courtship dance he is doing, we can safely assume he can sense you,” he added, looking in the direction where, as Fluttershy said, Everfree Abbey stood.

“Interesting…” Marahute cooed, her eagle eyes probably seeing the fire bird without a problem. Provato raised an eyebrow, but before he could open his maw, the Eagle Mother spoke: “Considering last night, you really shouldn’t give me that look.”

For the first time, she had caught him by surprise. Provato hadn’t sensed her until about an hour after he had met Fluttershy. Irritated, he replied: “Are you seriously giving me a lecture?”

That had done it. Marahute turned to him, angered. “I see you’re more like your mother than I thought,” she said, glaring at him. “Though in her case, it was probably caused by jealousy over Caesar.”

“If you came merely to exchange petty insults far beneath your age, Marahute, I’m leaving. I have more important matters to see to,” Provato replied calmly, nodding his head respectfully before turning around. As he walked away, however, he glanced back. “One more thing: you might find it of interest that my student told me that in this town lives a pegasus with mane in colors of a rainbow.”

Her big eagle eyes opened wide, and her beak opened in surprise. “Really?” Marahute asked, regaining her composure. Her eyes turned to the town nearby. “How unexpected… It’s been some time since my blood had awakened among them… twenty five hundred years, I believe,” she added, looking thoughtfully at Ponyville.

Without a word of goodbye, Marahute had once again shrunk down to a shape of a small bird. Disguised, she soared into the sky, heading towards the town.

Zecora looked up in surprise from the recipe for a potion she had been asked to prepare at the sound of the knocking. She licked the empty space in her mouth were fangs once were, before she removed them after moving into ponies’ lands, pondering. She wasn’t expecting any guests today.

“Who could it be, I wonder,” she mused, raising from her table and trotting over. “I hope it’s not somepony who into the forest by accident had wandered.”

She reached for the doorknob and opened the door, about to greet her visitors with a smile… then stood agape once she saw who it was standing before her. Zecora could not believe her eyes, but… she was there.

“Z-zahara?” Zecora whispered, as if she was afraid that it was a dream and raising her voice would make her disappear.

Her older sister didn’t bother replying, instead she quickly grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. Zecora didn’t object; she hugged her fiercely, on verge of tears. She had missed her family so much…

About a thousand questions were pressed against her tongue, but Zecora managed to hold them. She had noticed that they weren’t alone. Next to Zecora stood one of Matthias’ paladins, Guard Shield, if she wasn’t mistaken. Other than them, there was also a spirit beast bearing a striking resemblance to Mngwa the Shadow Panther, which Zecora assumed to be her sister’s newest companion.

Zahara must have also wanted to ask her questions in private later, as despite not seeing her sister in three years she hadn’t said much other than “I missed you,” and “It’s good to see you again.”

When the two had finally pulled away from each other, Zecora turned to the paladin. “Please forgive me for ignoring you, seeing my sister now has a special value.”

Guard was about to reply, but he was stopped by Zahara’s snort. “Oh, Great Spirits, how I missed hearing your rhyming,” she told her in their native language. “Still doing that, I see?”

Zecora stifled a giggle. She forgot how her rhyming, a practice she had learned a long time ago that served to sharpen the mind, annoyed her older sibling.

The paladin tried again. “I am terribly sorry to interrupt this family moment, ma’am. However, I’ve been ordered to escort your sister and her companion after the commotion she had caused in Ponyville.”

Her eyes widened. “A commotion?” she asked sharply, glancing at her sister.

“I believe it would be best if Zahara would explain this to you,” Guard Shield continued. “I’ve been also ordered to inform you that until further notice, your sister and her pet are your responsibility.”

“For my sister and her pet do not fear, I will make sure with peace they won’t interfere,” Zecora promised, worried what kind of impression her sister might have left on citizens of Ponyville; she still remembered how long it took her to break the ice.

“I’m sure you will,” Guard said, nodding his head in goodbye. “Ladies.”

“Thank you for leading me here,” Zahara said with a smile in Zebrican as he began to turn around.

To Zecora’s surprise, the paladin stopped and replied in the same language. “I was ordered to do so,” he reminded her, though he was smiling.

As the paladin started going back to Ponyville, the panther jumped somewhere between the trees while Zecora closed the door and concentrated on her sister. “I am so glad to see you,” she told her, then smirked, “apparently since you’re thinking about giving me a niece or nephew.”

Her sister looked at her startled and surprised, then smiled and looked away. “Well... I am of age when I should start putting some thought into it, huh?” she asked, flushing. When Zecora giggled, she fumed and retorted: “You’re not exactly young yourself.”

She waved her hoof in apology, calming down. There was one question she needed to ask, even if she feared the answer. She led Zahara to her table and sat beside it. Not bothering with coming up with a rhyme, she asked: “So… where’s Zenobia?”

Zahara’s expression grew somber. “She.. stayed with the tribe.”

Even though she had expected this answer, she still hid her face in her hooves.

“You know how she had always been,” Zahara said apologetically. “I tried to convince her to leave the tribe with me after you had run away, but-”

“Yes, I know,” Zecora stopped her; she knew Zahara had done all she could.

If anyzebra was to blame, it was her.

“But it’s not the worst news I have for you,” Zahara continued.

Zecora blinked and looked up. Her sister was looking at her with worry.

“Chieftain had marked you to be found and killed.”

She frowned. Was this supposed to be the worst news?

“As unpleasant that it is, I kind of figured that would be the case. When the prophet of the tribe’s patron runs away, it upsets the uppercaste. Not that I have anything to worry, I’ll make anyzebra coming for me run like a sissy.”

“Even a shadow hunter?”

Zecora’s jaw dropped. Shadow hunters were the elite; few zebras, even prophets of the Great Spirits, could win in a fight against them. But the shadow hunters were extremely small in numbers. In fact, even amongst all five tribes it would be probably possible to count them on hooves of a single zebra.

And Zecora knew there was no shadow hunter in Aaztai Tribe. At least, at the time she had left.

“By the time I had finally caught your trail, I heard that one zebra of Aaztai Tribe became a shadow hunter,” Zahara said, confirming her guess. “And the chieftain had ordered her to hunt you down.”

As much as this news was troubling, Zecora’s thoughts immediately stopped on one word.

“‘Her’?” she echoed.

She hoped her sister would deny her fears, but the look in her eyes instead confirmed it.

“You’re saying…” Zecora said slowly, “that our own sister is coming to kill me?”

“I believe that’s all,” Arthas said, leaning back in his chair. “Serenity wrote in a letter today that she plans to return almost two weeks before the new initiates are scheduled to arrive, which gives us plenty of time to prepare everything.”

The two alicorns nodded in agreement. They had spent the last hour discussing and planning how to make everything work before everypony was satisfied.

“I’m glad we wrapped this up before the Ponytones concert, at least,” Arthas thought with amusement; that was still hours away. “The girls would have skinned me alive if I had missed it.”

“Now that we’re finally done,” Princess Luna started, raising, “I believe it’s prime time for us to return to Canterlot.”

Arthas had expected Princess Celestia to nod in agreement. To his surprise, he saw her shake her head. “You go, Little Sister,” she said, turning to Luna. “I still need to discuss a certain matter with Arthas before I’ll return. It won’t be long,” she added, seeing that Luna was about to object.

“Very well, Sister,” the Princess of the Night agreed, though reluctantly. “I bid you farewell, Arthas,” she said, turning to the earth pony, before her horn started glowing.

Arthas bowed his head respectfully as Luna teleported back to Canterlot. He turned to Celestia, raising an eyebrow. “It might be a coincidence, but I also wished to talk with you about something.”

“Oh really?” Celestia asked, surprised. “Then by all means, speak your mind first.”

“Thank you. I’ve been wondering... Daring Do told me that once she told you and Luna about how Commander Hurricane had possibly survived the Dragon Hunt, you were quick to accept it. And that you seemed convinced it was true.” He paused to look at Celestia. “I’ve given it some thought, and… I can think of only one possibility for that.”

Celestia closed her eyes and smiled. “When Daring told you about that humongous dragon Commander Hurricane had slain, did she tell you about what color it was?”

“No,” Arthas replied. “Though I can guess.”

“And I’m sure your guess would have been correct one. The matriarch of all dragons… had purple scales.” Celestia opened her eyes and looked into his. “Only one other dragon had been seen to have the same scales.”

“Spike,” Arthas said. When Celestia nodded, he asked: “Where did his egg come from?”

“I found it several centuries ago in one of the oldest part of Canterlot Castle by accident. His egg was stored in a small, hidden vault, along with an empty diary and some… questionable items,” she added, a subtle hint of red creeping onto her cheeks.

Arthas raised an eyebrow, surprised by her reaction, but chose to not question it.

“So you think it was brought back from the Dragon Hunt by Commander Hurricane? But… how would it have survived this long? On Azeroth, without proper temperature the egg of a dragon dies in the matter of days, or weeks if it’s lucky,” he said, recalling some of the research the Cult of the Damned had conducted in Scholomance, as well as what he could take from the memories of dragons locked in his head. Then something more obvious hit him. “And why wouldn’t it hatch for so long?”

“You know how Spike’s egg was hatched, right?” Celestia asked instead, raising an eyebrow. “Or rather, by whom?”

Arthas nodded. Of course he knew, he lived with the mare who had hatched him for months. He knew the story, of how the Sonic Rainboom, caused by Rainbow Dash, had interfered with her magic causing it to surge and affect everything around her.

“When I first saw Twilight, I sensed there was something special about her,” Celestia said, her voice becoming warm. “I arranged her entrance exam, curious if she would be able to affect the dragon egg, which was something I hadn’t managed to do. The results exceeded my expectations.”

“But what does it mean?” Arthas asked, confused. “Why did Spike’s egg hatch then? Why did it need Twilight?”

“You assume I know the answers to those questions,” Celestia smirked, amused. “Had it escaped your notice that ponies know little to nothing about dragons? To be honest, I do not think the dragons themselves know anything about themselves. Not if their treatment of the son of their last leader during the Dragon Migration is of any indication.”

Arthas frowned. Had he known after being brought back to live in the world of colorful talking ponies that there were mysteries as complicated as those he had to tackle today alone, he wouldn’t have believed it.

“Does Spike know this?” he asked, and as soon as that question left his lips, he knew what Celestia’s answer would be. “Or Twilight? Or Luna?”

“I told Luna sometime after Daring Do’s revelations. As for Twilight and Spike… I hoped to wait until Spike is older to first tell Twilight, then try to tell him together that his mother was killed by one of the Founders of Equestria.”

The tone with which Celestia said the last part of the sentence was neutral, but that made it sound even more daunting. Arthas slammed his head against his desk. “I miss the time when my life was simple,” he said with his head still on the desk, trying to remember when exactly his life had been simple. He sighed and raised. “Thank you for telling me this, I will keep this to myself. And I will help you and Twilight explain this to Spike once the time is right, as well as discover what all of this could mean.”

“Thank you, Arthas, I appreciate it,” Celestia nodded gracefully. “Now, can we go to the topic I hoped to touch with you?”

“Sure,” Arthas said, curious what it could be.

Celestia closed her eyes, as if needing to focus her thoughts. “As you know, I have been Twilight’s mentor for many years,” she started, completely surprising him, “and I have grown to know her well. Probably even better that she knows herself. And she also became to me the closest pony I have had to family in over a thousand years, until she returned my sister to me, and you my niece.”

“Princess Celestia,” Arthas started, taking advantage of the break, “what-”

“I know her well,” Celestia resumed, ignoring him. “And I know when she’s hurting.”

Without any warning, Arthas was thrown against the wall of his office with great force, pushing air out of his lungs. At the same time, an unbearable heat assaulted his body, so intense that he couldn’t understand why he wasn’t melting.

“I stayed away, hoping either one of you would finally grow smarter,” Celestia continued; her voice resonated through his body. “But it appears that is too much to ask. Listen.” the grip of her magic around him tightened. “If you truly care about Twilight, you will stop bucking Rainbow Dash before Twilight realizes how much it’s hurting her.”

Once the last words were heard by Arthas, it ended. The grip around him disappeared, as did the heat. He fell to the floor, gasping for air, as his mind tried to make out his office. Celestia was gone.

Arthas sat down, trying to understand what just happened. His thoughts, unexpectedly, didn’t center around Twilight, as if sensing that this was too hurtful of a subject in light of what Celestia had said. No, his thoughts instead focused on another matter, on something that had been bothering him for a few months.

“No wonder Chrysalis had defeated her so easily, despite her vast powers,” he thought, still recovering after Celestia’s display of power. He recalled the heat he had felt. “She couldn’t access her full power. If she had…

“… everything around her would have been instantly incinerated.”

136. Hearts to Hearts

As she finished lowering the sun, Celestia looked to her side to watch as her sister raised the moon. She smiled, seeing how much confidence Luna had, nostalgically recalling the first few sunsets and sunrises after they defeated Discord. Both of them were nervous every time.

“How far we’ve come since those days… and nights,” Celestia added in her thoughts, stifling a chuckle. “Funny… it was just after we brought harmony and order back to Equestria, and we were made rulers of it, and yet… I look back on those days, and find them much simpler. We still had our parents to ask for advice.” Her eyes dropped with sadness, but she quickly brightened up as she turned around on the balcony of Luna’s bedchambers and peered inside. “But such is the circle of life; old generations must make way for new ones.”

Celestia smile grew warmer, looking at little Moonlight chewing on one of her toys in her playpen. Her sister, however, hadn’t found this sight so adorable.

“Princess Moonlight Shadow,” Luna said, a touch sternly, as she picked up her daughter with her magic, “we do not chew on toys! Or anything other than food for that matter!”

The little alicorn’s response to her mother’s reproach was squealing in the most adorable and carefree way possible, throwing her little forelegs in attempt to hug Luna. Celestia stopped trying to hold back laughter as her sister gave in with a sigh and pulled Moonlight closer.

“I already dread teaching her the royal etiquette,” Luna whined, nuzzling her daughter. “Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have Aunt Twinklestar on hoof right now.”

Celestia felt the need to intervene. “Please, I’m sure she won’t be such a terrible case to require a pony like our Aunty to help her, unlike some other princess I could mention,” she added, smirking.

Her younger sister stuck her tongue out at her, which only made the situation more amusing for Celestia. She continued to chuckle as Luna’s attention shifted to her daughter, but quieted down as she observed them. A mother and daughter. Celestia felt a slight pang of jealousy; being well over a thousand years, it happened that from time to time she would have thought how it would be to have a foal on her own. Of course, she never let such thoughts linger for too long; throughout all those centuries, she had never felt any special feeling towards any stallion, so until she would, thinking about babies was pointless.

“Well, there was one...” Celestia thought, but quickly dismissed it; she herself was a filly back then.

Instead, her mind turned to Twilight. She wasn’t exaggerating when she had told Arthas those few hours ago that she was the closest pony she had to family. Of course, there was Cadance, whom she had adopted as her niece, but even though she loved her, she was already approaching teenhood when they first met. Celestia had been Twilight’s mentor since she was a filly, and felt closer to her because of that than to anypony, even her previous pupil, Sunset Shimmer, and few others before her.

She felt bad about threatening Arthas the way she did, but he had forced her hoof. Celestia knew Twilight, and could tell that inside of her was welling up pain, even if she herself hadn’t realized it. The Princess knew that it would have been best to leave her student to deal with this matter by herself, but… she hoped she could spare her the other side of the coin known as love.

Besides, the situation between Arthas, Rainbow Dash and Twilight had started to really piss her off. Even if Celestia felt a bit bad for lashing out with her powers - powers she normally had to keep under her control at all times - she found it quite satisfying to just vent her frustration on the stallion. Also, if even half of those little bits Luna had told her about him were true, he could take it.

Her eyes once again on Moonlight, Celestia wondered if that little push she gave Arthas could possibly lead to him and Twilight becoming a couple. “Finally,” she added with a roll of her eyes. “It would be nice to have another royal wedding… assuming they wouldn’t get married before that time will come,” Celestia amended, her thoughts briefly turning to that book. “And… how long would it take them to have a foal?”

“I think things went well in Ponyville today,” Luna’s voice pulled her away from her musing. Raising an eyebrow, Celestia encouraged her sister to elaborate. “Both with Knight-Lieutenant and the Grand Master.”

Celestia was fairly certain that Arthas would disagree on that…

“However, what he suggested…” Luna trailed, shaking her head. She moved her daughter back to the play-pen; Moonlight almost at once pounced on her plushies. “Even to me, that was a surprise. Equal to how quickly you had agreed,” she added, turning to Celestia. “Given what you told me, I would have expected this to be a more painful matter.”

“It’s been centuries since that day,” Celestia retorted calmly. “I had plenty of time to reflect on it, and I have no regrets. Bane had to be stopped.” She sighed and added: “I just wish I could have prevented the effect our fight had on the island.”

Luna continued to gaze at her, her eyes sympathetic, but also questioning. As to what she was questioning, Celestia got an answer soon to, when Luna’s turned back to watch her daughter.

“Demons laugh when a good pony goes to war,” she said softly.

The older alicorn opened her mouth, taken by surprise, then she closed it. Like her sister, she knew the ancient poem, written by Clover the Clever shortly after the end of the war with Griffonia. Celestia looked away from her sister and niece, turning back to the balcony outside. Her face was devoid of emotion as she look at the horizon, where moments ago the sun was. Quietly, she recited the whole poem:

Demons laugh

when a good pony goes to war.

Darkness comes and drowns the sun,

when a good pony goes to war.

Friendship lies and true love dies.

Void will come

and the dark will rise,

when a good pony goes to war.

Demons laugh as you count the cost,

the battle’s won

but the future is lost.

Even though her words were almost a whisper, she was certain that Luna heard her; or, more likely, she had already guessed what was on her mind.

“What awaits them on the Isle of Dread,” Luna said, “might very well destroy them.”

Celestia turned back to see her sister looking right at her.

“Do you fear Arthas is overestimating them?”

Luna closed her eyes thoughtfully. “It’s… difficult to say,” she finally offered. “I doubt anypony knows the limits of those four better than him, but…” She sighed and opened her eyes. “He came from a world much more violent than ours. He had basically spent his entire adulthood on the battlefield, even if in the years leading to his demise he had seen little combat. Arthas might not understand just what he wants to put them through.”

Celestia nodded; she had considered such thoughts during their discussion in the Abbey. However, she had dismissed them, on account of the obvious care Arthas had displayed for others, time and time again.

“‘Years leading to his demise’...” she repeated her sister’s words, finding them somewhat intriguing. “Just how old is Arthas again?”

“Hm… I believe he’s thirty two, plus a few months. Well, minus two months from that, I guess...”

She snorted hearing the number; hardly a long existence, especially when compared with hers. And yet…

“Well, at least Twilight was right about him at first,” she said humorously. Seeing Luna’s puzzled look, she explained: “Remember? In the first letter where she wrote to me about him, she stated that Arthas must be about ten years older than her.”

Luna snickered. “True, even if his body biologically is only about twenty four… Still, doesn’t change the fact that your student fell for somepony she thought was that much older than her. Kind of makes me wonder how old her teacher’s love interest will be,” she smirked. “Eleven hundred?”

Celestia was taken aback by her sister’s teasing sneer. She frowned, slightly blushing, as Luna giggled.

“Makes me wonder - assuming you would want Moonlight to have a stepfather - how old yours would be,” she retorted, correcting herself when as she remembered that this could be a sore topic. “Eleven thousand?”

“‘Eleven thousand’?” Luna repeated, now ever more amused. “Sister, if you wish your comeback to sting, as ponies say it now, you might try for something more realistic. I only made yours less than six decades older.”

Celestia blushed, feeling a bit embarrassed. She looked for a witty retort, but before she could, somepony knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Luna called out, getting her giggles under control.

The door opened to reveal Celestia’s aide, Raven. She respectfully entered the room, bowing before the two alicorns.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, I have urgent news!”

The sisters exchanged looks; usually, such words preceded dire news.

However, Raven was smiling.

“You could have asked me for permission first,” Arthas sighed, already tired of this argument, it if could even be called such. “Actually, make that should have.”

To her credit, Scootaloo had actually came to him by herself to tell him about the trip she was taking the next day. He was already planning on bringing it up sometime after the performance of Pony Tones, but the little filly, after she had spotted him among the small crowd gathering before the stage at the park, left her friends and came over to him.

“I know I should have, but… it just slipped my mind,” she replied, scratching the back of her head and not looking at him. “I’m just… I guess I’m just not used to somepony looking after me. I’m sorry. Can I still go?”

Although Arthas had planned on pretending to consider it for a few seconds, such thoughts immediately evaporated from his mind as Scootaloo turned to look at him with her big purple eyes. He sighed, recalling how Rarity told him that he would be a good father; now he had the biggest proof that was not true.

“Sure, you can go.”

“Really?” Scootaloo asked, beaming up at once. “Thank you, Matt, you’re the best!”

He rolled his eyes, not commenting on that, and ruffled her mane. “Just be sure to give me a heads-up sooner the next time something like this pops up, alright?”

“Right, of course. I gotta go and tell Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, see you later,” she said, pushing his hoof away, before turning around and running back to her friends.

Arthas watched them briefly, grateful for the momentary distraction. However, when he turned around, he found that the Light was merciful enough to provide another.

“Spike!” he called out, trotting up the baby dragon. Spike looked his way and smiled, making Arthas relax; he had an unpleasant twist in his stomach when he saw him alone. “Didn’t expect to run into by yourself. Where are the girls?”

“At the library. Rainbow told Twilight earlier that she would like to talk with them about something before the performance of Pony Tones. Said it was some girly stuff.” Spike spread his arms. “Rainbow wanting to talk about girly stuff? How crazy is that? Did something really strange happened at the party when I went to sleep or something?”

“No, it happened about a day before that,” Arthas thought, having guessed what Rainbow wanted to tell the other girls. He hoped it was going well; Light knows how she must feel, informing her best friends about something like that.

Arthas’ thoughts left the subject of Rainbow - before they could start making him… uncomfortable - as he noticed that something was clearly on Spike’s mind. He had looked to a side and was scratching his head, as if wanting to talk about something, but wasn’t sure how to start.

“Something on your mind, Spike?”

“W-well... sort of,” Spike replied, clearly embarrassed and unhappy. “That guy, Storm, you know, one of your paladins… is he a good pony?”

The question, so awkwardly asked, made Spike’s behavior clear to Arthas. Forgetting his own personal problems for the moment, he lowered his head to the dragon’s level and asked gently: “You know already, huh?”

Spike was still not looking at him; now his eyes were on the ground. But he nodded nonetheless. Arthas sighed; he knew Spike had a crush for Rarity almost as long as he was alive in this world, so he had expected that this would come sooner or later. Without speaking, he scooped Spike unto his back and trotted away from the crowd, looking for a more secluded place. Not that anypony paid them any attention; everypony was talking in small groups of friends and families, starting to get impatient as they waited for the Pony Tones. However, what he wanted to tell Spike wasn’t something he wanted another pony to overhear.

“Knowing my luck, it would be Rainbow Dash to overhear us anyway.”

“Why did you ask me that question?” he asked Spike as he walked, turning his head a bit to look at him.

Spike sighed, looking more sad that Arthas could ever recall seeing him. “Because... I want Rarity to be happy, even if it means that she won’t be with me. She’s still my friend; her happiness is more important to me.”

Arthas smiled sadly. “Storm Clash is a good pony,” he started, looking away; he spotted a tree nearby, behind which they should be shielded from prying eyes. “He’s not perfect, mind you; when he first started training under me, I could see he often had problems believing in himself. Because of that, it took him longer to connect to the Holy Light than the others. However, he was still diligent in fulfilling his duties and brave when the need arose. He fought with a windigo, letting the wounded Tucker escape despite not being able to call upon the Light back then. He puts others before himself. I also learned that he is very caring towards his younger brother. But most importantly,” Arthas added, stopping; they had reached the tree. He let Spike slide off his back and turned to address him properly, “I know for a fact that he loves Rarity dearly. He had nearly gotten himself killed several times yesterday to get her birthday present, in hopes of impressing her. Storm wanted to impress her because he was unsure how to approach her, fearing her rejection due to his looks.”

Now that he was looking at Spike, it was hard not to tell that he was still not looking at him. His eyes were on the ground as he listened to his words, resigned. Arthas was about to say something that, he hoped, would give Spike what he needed to bear through his turmoil, but the dragon then spoke.

“I guess I should have seen something like that coming, huh? I mean… what kind of mare would choose a dragon over a knight? It’s like a fairy tale gone backwards.”

Arthas flicked his ears as Spike uttered a laugh devoid of anything positive. He reached to the dragon and put a hoof on his head.

“As I know there is no way Twilight was the one who told you that stupid earth pony fairy tale, I am going to find the idiot responsible and introduce him to just what a knight can do,” he said, before he lifted his head by the chin so Spike would finally look at him. “I’m about to tell you something which might help you, but I want your full attention. Alright?”

Spike nodded, and quickly wiped his eyes, which Arthas pretended to not notice had became teary. As for the earth pony, he laid on the grass before Spike, making himself more comfortable.

“I’ve mentioned to you several times that in my previous life I had a girlfriend,” he started. Spike immediately focused. “Her name was Jaina. I first met her when I was eleven, and, well, I wouldn’t even call it a crush, but I really wanted to hang out with her for a bit almost as soon as I saw her.”

Arthas closed his eyes briefly, recalling that moment so many years ago. It was in his family private chapel; he had been late for a service. As he walked to take his usual place, he had spotted an unfamiliar face amongst them. Naturally, Arthas became curious; not everybody would get invited to the private service of the Lordaeron’s royal family. That day, there were three other attendants, two of which he had already met and known: Muradin Bronzebeard and Thoras Trollbane, King of Stromgarde. The one he hadn’t met, as he had soon learned, was Jaina Proudmoore, daughter of Grand Admiral Daelin Proudmoore, Lord of Kul Tiras.

“I got my chance, and we had a small adventure,” he resumed his tale, opening his eyes. Smiling, he added: “Not of the sorts you seem to get around Ponyville, but an adventure nonetheless.”

The “adventure”, was sneaking near one of the internment camps. Built after the end of the Second War, they served as prisons for orcs.

“It was more merciful than simply killing them,” Arthas recalled his father’s words, “and now they make themselves out to be unfairly treated victims for being ‘enslaved’ by humans.”

He brushed those thoughts away; he was much wiser now than he was in his youth, and he no longer viewed the orcs as beasts. Furthermore, being on another world, he had no reason to resent them anymore.

But back then he had. Arthas recalled how sad Jaina was when she saw a small family with a baby amongst the prisoners. And what he had said?

He compared them to rats.

Dismayed and ashamed, he turned his attention back to Spike.

“A few years passed, and I would meet her again during my introduction to the Order of the Silver Hand,” he said.

This time he only briefly recalled that event from his past; many delegations from the neighboring nations had come to witness the Prince of Lordaeron become a paladin. Jaina was there as well, being the daughter of Lord of Kul Tiras and an apprentice of Archmage Antonidas, leader of the Kirin Tor.

“I kept thinking about her after seeing her that day,” he told Spike. “I was nineteen then, and after becoming a paladin, I wanted to do something fun. So, I visited her, and took her for a picnic… and that was how we started dating.”

If it could be called as such. After their first kiss that day, they would meet in secret, sharing a few tender moments and kisses away from prying eyes. With both of them being such known figures, they hoped to avoid gossip. And they had.

Even though their families and teachers must have caught on at some point...

“As you know, it didn’t work out,” Arthas said, his voice becoming a touch sad. “Mostly out of my own fault. That is all I am going to say on that matter; maybe someday I will tell you just how much of an idiot I was, but for now I want to retain some dignity,” he added with a smirk.

To his relief, the baby dragon replied with a chuckle. Seeing Spike so sad was heartbreaking. It was good to see him crack a smile and laugh.

“Once I was brought back to life… and was able to feel emotions such as love again, I was…” he looked for a right word, but found none that would give justice to what he felt back then. If Spike was in an emotional turmoil, Arthas had been in a maelstrom. “Well, when just Jaina was concerned, I felt… empty. I loved her, Spike,” the paladin admitted, wondering if it was really the first time he had said so those words out loud. “I truly loved her with all my heart. Even at my most… evil, there was still some spark left of her in… in my heart.”

“In the empty, hollow void I had in its place after I had cut it out...”

“And what’s even worse, I know that, despite all the things I had done, she had still loved me somehow,” Arthas continued, recalling how she came - along with a handful of Alliance’s heroes - to his private chambers in the Icecrown Citadel, determined to find a way of saving him.

He recalled how close he came to killing her.

“But now, here I am, my soul and heart free of the shadow that fell upon me… on another world, and as a pony. Not that I am complaining about being a pony, mind you,” he added. “There are several… perks to this body that I came to really appreciate. And Equestria is a beautiful world. However,” he added, his ears dropping, “being here means that I am never able to meet Jaina again. Or, at least I used to think so, before Brann first came here, but let’s leave that. I couldn’t have known that all those months ago. I was distraught, but I had also accepted this, as after everything I had done, I didn’t think I would deserve being with her. Not to mention that being a pony would create an entire new problem when it would come to any form of relationships with Jaina,” he added with a roll of his eyes, not even wanting to imagine how could that possibly work. He sighed, and finally steered towards the end of this painful tale: “After that… I hadn’t expect to fall in love ever again. But… I had.”

“With Twilight,” Spike said, speaking for the first time in a while.

Arthas nodded. “Yes, with Twilight. I fell in love with Twilight.”

He wasn’t going to tell Spike why; that was a discussion he was going to have only with one pony. Assuming he would ever bring himself to do it.

“If I was able to find love again, Spike, then somepony like you surely will.” Arthas looked into the eyes of the little dragon before him, and fully meaning those words, he said: “You have no idea how much I wish I was more like you when I was your age-”

“Why aren’t you with Twilight?” Spike cut him off.

Arthas blinked. “Come again?”

“Why aren’t you with Twilight?” Spike repeated himself, taking a step forward. “If you love her, then why aren’t you with her?”

The little comment had taken him completely by surprise. Admittingly, telling somepony that you were in love might lead the conversation into those tracks, but Arthas had expected Spike to be too concentrated on his own heart problem.

“S-spike, It’s not that simple,” he said, not sure how to explain this. “It’s complicated-”

“What’s complicated about it?” Spike asked. “If you love her, then ask her out. I’m not very experienced in this, and even I can tell that Twilight really cares about you. I’m sure she would have agreed to a date.”

It took a great deal of self-control from Arthas to not point out to Spike that despite being in love with Rarity he had never asked her out.

However, because of Spike mentioning how Twilight cared about him, Arthas recalled something.

“How was she this morning?” he asked, the memories of her state last night still fresh in his memory. “Was she feeling okay?”

“Um…” Spike stammered, slightly taken aback by the change of subject. “Well, no, she was really sick when I got back from Rarity’s. Kinda like back after the wedding. But Rainbow Dash came with me, so she took care of Twilight. I helped, of course. She’s fine now.”

Arthas smiled. Knowledge that Twilight was alright aside, he hoped her state in the morning ment she forgot about what exactly happened last night.

He looked at Spike again. There was one question that he needed to ask, that he needed to know the answer to. And aside from Twilight herself, Spike was the only one he could ask it.

“Spike…” he started. “I need to know something. Has Twilight… acted strangely since I moved out? No,” the paladin quickly corrected himself, “since I had began overseeing the construction of the Abbey? Had she ever seemed… sad to you?”

Hurting.

That was the only thing he was able to think about after Celestia had disappeared. Her words were still ringing in his ears.

I know when she’s hurting.

Had he been hurting Twilight all this time with his… screwing with Rainbow?! She had told him that Twilight was okay with this arrangement… but was she? Or had she just lied because… because she actually thought she thought so? If so, had she realized since then she wasn’t?

“How could I have been so damned stupid!?” he kept thinking over and over again hours after Celestia had left.

Nothing could stop him from pondering this. Not the lecture of the Daring Do book (which he had planned to finish up soon so he could give it back to Twilight, with Daring’s autograph on it), nor the study of the draenic tomes. Not even the one written by Prophet Velen himself. Nor the discovery of four hoof shaped marks burned into his office’s floor.

Arthas knew, of course, deep down why he had accepted Rainbow’s offer so easily. It was the same reason why he had accepted Ripple’s advances. He wanted to get Twilight out of his head.

Worked about as well as everything else he tried to do.

He awaited Spike’s words, full of dread, not sure how he was going to react if the little dragon would tell him he had caught her crying or something. Would he run to her and throw himself at her hooves, beginning for forgiveness? Or just plunge his blade into his chest be over with this?

“Not that I had noticed.”

It was like the sun peering through the clouds. Arthas looked at Spike, drinking in his words.

“I mean, practically all her time she had spend studying. Princess Celestia had been sending her more work, spells and books ever since that ‘test’. Only time she takes a break is when she hangs out with others, or when she is sleeping.”

Arthas chuckled and covered his eyes. “Guess I will have to thank her for that, even if it wasn’t her intention…” he murmured quietly to himself.

“Hm? Sorry, didn’t catch that, what did you say?” Spike asked, confused.

“Nothing, nothing,” Arthas replied, smiling and raising. He looked back at the stage. “It seems the performance should be starting soon; I bet our friends are here already. Let’s go join them,” he added, waiting for Spike to hop on his back.

“B-but wait! We’re not done yet!” the dragon reminded him. He jumped at Arthas’ back and glared at him sternly. “This conversation isn’t over!”

Arthas could only chuckle. “Oh, Spike…” he said, shaking his head. “We are done,” the paladin said, looking back at the fuming dragon. He began walking towards the front of the crowd. “But you’re right; this conversation isn’t over.”

137. Changing Relationships

“Thanks for earlier, Rainbow,” Twilight started. “That ‘Bloody Mare’ of yours really helped me. Where’d you learn about it?”

“Cloudchaser told me how to make it when I mentioned to her at work when I was having a hangover after the wedding,” Rainbow replied, shrugging.

“Guess this proves we can always learn something new from our friends,” Twilight chuckled. “Now then, could you perhaps tell us what was so important that we would all gather here and kick out Spike?”

“Indeed,” Rarity added from the opposite side of the library’s main room. “The Ponytones start their performance in half an hour, so I would very much like if you could hurry up.”

“Yeah, sure…” Rainbow started, then trailed off, nervous.

She had decided that, since she yet again moved telling Arthas that they were “breaking up” back a few more days at least, she should at least tell her friends about her… broadened orientation. Especially since Applejack invited her for this camping trip tomorrow, in case she and Rarity would feel uncomfortable with her around. Rainbow would understand and not go, giving them some time to get used to this. Because of that, she asked all her friends to come to Twilight’s library shortly before the Ponytones performance would start.

Taking a deep breath, Rainbow started again. “Sorry I gathered you all here on such short notice but… Fluttershy, you mind paying attention?” she asked, irritated, noticing the other pegasus wasn’t looking at her.

Fluttershy, whose gaze was sliding around the library’s walls, snapped. “Oh, sorry,” she said, blushing with embarrassment.

Rolling her eyes, Rainbow resumed. “Lately, something came up that I think I should tell you about. Seeing how you’re all my best friends and all.” She paused, wondering how to best phrase it. “You see…”

“Ya’re pregnant?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rainbow almost fell over, taken by surprise. “No!” she quickly shouted, glaring at Applejack, who was chuckling. “Very funny.”

“No wonder Arthas didn’t like it when I joked about him getting Applejack pregnant. It really is more annoying than funny.”

“Calm down, darling,” Rarity chided her. “Just tell us what you want to say.”

“Ugh, fine,” Rainbow sighed. She closed her eyes, not able to look at her friend. “I… recently realised that I… like mares in the same way most mares like stallions,” she finished awkwardly.

Feeling heat rising on her cheeks, Rainbow sighed and looked at her friends. As she expected, they looked surprised and awkward.

“Well, Ah guess this explains a few things,” Applejack was first to speak up.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure you want this discussion to go that way?”

Her comment made Applejack’s face grow red. “Um, sorry, sugar,” she said, scratching the back of her head. “Ah just did’n know what to say.”

“So,” Pinkie Pie took over, tilting her head, “do you have hots for us now?”

“What? No!” Rainbow quickly assured them. Realizing how that could sound, she explained: “I mean, no offense guys, but you’re like my family, that would just feel wrong. Although,” Rainbow added when a thought hit her; she glanced at Twilight and smirked, “when Twilight and Arthas finally get together, I wouldn’t mind-”

“Rainbow!” Twilight interrupted her, blushing fiercely. “Out of the question!”

The pegasus mare raised her eyebrows. “Which one, you getting together with Arthas or the three-”

Before she could finished her last word, Twilight wrapped her magic around her mouth, gagging her. Rainbow looked at her friend with amusement as she scowled at her. “Can we get back to you being bisexual, please?” Twilight asked.

“Sorry, couldn’t help myself,” Rainbow replied as the unicorn canceled her magic.

“And you can bet I will bring this up again in the future,” she added inwardly.

“So,” Twilight resumed, having calmed down somewhat, “getting back to the subject, how did you find out for sure? I mean, you’ve mentioned to me that you suspect you might be bisexual, but-”

“Really?” Rarity interrupted her with a question. “When did that happen? And why did you discuss this only with Twilight?” she added, turning to Rainbow.

“W-well,” she stammered; Rainbow did promise Twilight to not reveal to the others how Trixie had kissed her, “a while back, Wind tried to mess with me, saying how I was being selfish with… the things I do with Arthas, despite how Twilight feels about him. Even if she had given me her permission;” Rainbow rolled her eyes, then paused and rubbed her chin; “although, since even back then we called the two of them on being stupid…”

Twilight sighed. “Can you please stay on the subject?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Where was I… oh right, Wind being a jerk. After he said all that, he changed into… well, me,” she said, blushing with embarrassment at the memory. “And… he started kissing me. So after I kicked his tail, I went to talk with Twilight about Arthas and if I letting him kiss me when he was a mare was a sign that I might be bisexual.”

“Sounds like that should’ve been the least of yar worries,” Applejack observed. “Ain’t ya forgettin’ that what mare he was at the time?”

Before Rainbow could reply, a loud explosion of laughter draw her and everypony’s attention. Pinkie Pie was rolling on the floor, laughing maniacally. “Oh, I can’t, this is so funny!” she managed to rasp. “I need to start hanging out with Windy more! Think of all the pranks we could pull!”

“Oh goodness, Ponyville is doomed!” Rarity exclaimed, lifting her foreleg to her forehead.

“Yeah…” Rainbow said, looking at the still laughing Pinkie up and down, “good thing I hate the guy, otherwise I would probably join in. And back to him being me,” she added, turning to Applejack, “I was lost in the moment, I bucked his face after a few seconds.”

“‘Lost in the moment’?” Applejack asked, one eyebrow raised.

“I’m hot, what do want from me?” Rainbow shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable. “So… do you guys have a problem?”

“With what, dear?” Rarity asked.

“With Hoofington Reapers winning the Cup,” she replied sarcastically. “What have we been talking about the past few minutes? I was asking if you have a problem with me liking mares.”

“Why would you think we would have problem with that?” Fluttershy asked, as if that never occurred to her.

“Well, I dunno, cause you might fear that one day I might make some moves on you or something?” Rainbow answered with a question. “You know, kinda like I had with Applejack when I got drunk? Or how I will with Twi and Arthas- OW!” she shouted as something pulled at her ear.

She glanced to the side to see Twilight horn glowing. The unicorn was looking at her bemused as she released her ear. “Are you going to be like this all the time?”

“I will stop the moment you get together with Arthas,” Rainbow promised (possibly falsely), sticking her tongue at her.

As Twilight groaned and buried her face in her hooves, Rarity cleared her throat. “Moving on for now,” she said, turning to Rainbow, “Rainbow, the fact that you had discovered that you’re bisexual doesn’t matter to us.”

“Like you said, we’re like family,” Fluttershy added, smiling. “We’ll always love you, no matter what.”

Rainbow was touched when everypony else nodded in agreement. “Thanks guys, I’m so relieved,” she said, and realized that her voice shook a bit and there was something wet in her eyes. “Oh great, you made me all sappy…”

Everypony laughed warmly, and Pinkie and Fluttershy went over to hug her. “So,” Applejack asked as she replied to their hugs, “ar ya gonna tell yar folks about it?”

Rainbow’s eyes widened. Until now, it hadn’t occurred to her that she would have to tell her parents about it as well… at some point. “Um, yeah, probably at their funeral,” she said. As five pairs of eyes drilled into her scornfully, she exclaimed: “What? You think it’s going to be easy, just walk up to your parents and basically say that it can be possible they won’t have a grandfoal as I might end up in a relationship with another mare?”

“Oh, you’re finally thinking about taking your love-life seriously?” Rarity asked with excitement. Rainbow facehoofed. “That’s wonderful. Oh, this reminds me; you never actually answered Twilight’s question. About how exactly you found out that you’re bisexual?” she explained, smirking. “It wouldn’t happen to be caused by some lucky mare spending a night of passion with you, would it?”

Rainbow smirked. “Why, as a matter of fact, it would.”

“Is it somepony we know?” Rarity inquired. “And is this something serious, or more alike to your relationship with Arthas… which, on that note, you still haven’t ended, have you?” she added, frowning.

“Ugh, I’m working on it,” Rainbow grunted, not wanting to think about that issue for now. “And no, it’s nothing serious, neither me nor Daring are looking for a relationship.”

“Well- wait,” Twilight stopped, staring at her with wide eyes. “Did you just say ‘Daring’?”

“Yep,” Rainbow replied, smirking.

“As in... ‘Daring Do’, ‘Daring’?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow brushed her mane.

Everypony started at her, now more shocked than when she told them about her bisexuality. “You’re kidding,” Twilight finally recovered.

“And how do you think I knew about her lecture today?” Rainbow replied, raising an eyebrow. As Twilight’s jaw dropped, she shrugged. “Besides, you can ask Arthas later, he-”

“Wait, what?!” Twilight exclaimed, now even more shocked.

“- saw me and Daring leave for my house,” Rainbow finished, rolling her eyes.

She wondered if she should mention to her that Arthas also had a chance to sleep with Daring that night (or rather, with her and Daring), but Rainbow figured it would be funnier if Arthas would tell her himself.

“Oh,” Twilight exclaimed, calming down. “I see… but… how the heck did you even meet Daring Do? She’s not somepony who you can just run into!”

“Storm ran into her within the tunnels of an old diamond dog’s empire under the Everfree Forest.”

Rainbow blinked, surprised. The one who said those words was Rarity. “How could she know that? And besides…” Daring had told Rainbow briefly about how exactly she came to Ponyville, but she did not mention the pegasus paladin.

She wasn’t the only one looking at Rarity with confusion, the others were too. “How do you know that?” she asked, perplexed.

“Because Storm got into those catacombs while searching for a birthday gift for me,” Rarity replied, smiling. “He came to my house last night after all you of you had already left, and I heard about it from him.”

“Was that why he and that other knight fellow were in the town’s market when Zahara started her commotion?” Applejack asked. By now, the others had already heard about the misunderstanding earlier today. “Now that I think about it, they were comin’ from yar boutique's direction.”

“Yes, Knight Guard Shield came to gather Storm-” Rarity started to explain, but Twilight cut her off.

“Oh? So you’re saying that he stayed overnight at your place?” she asked, smirking.

Rainbow giggled as Rarity blushed hearing the subtle accusation. “Twilight, your suggestion offends me,” she said, while Rainbow offered the lavender unicorn a hoof bump. Twilight giggled as well and bumped hooves with her. “He came to my house exhausted and tired, of course I let him sleep at my place, and just sleep,” Rarity added before either Rainbow or Twilight could make another comment. Then, however, the white unicorn surprised everypony by giggling. “Though we are going on a date after the Ponytones performance.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, smiling. “That’s wonderful to hear.”

“Thank you, dear.”

“So,” Rainbow asked, mimicking Rarity’s earlier way of speaking, “is this something serious?”

“Well, I would like to think so,” Rarity confessed. “I really like him, and think he really likes me too-”

“Of course he really likes you, who wouldn’t?” Fluttershy asked, smiling. “Oh, I’m so happy for you, Rarity!”

“Wait,” Twilight suddenly said, gaining everypony’s attention. “Wasn’t Spike sleeping at your place? Did he-”

“Yes, he heard us talking about going on a date,” Rarity sighed. “The poor thing was devastated. I talked with him later, and I think he’s now feeling better. Still, I think it would be best if you would keep an eye on him.”

“Of course I will. I cannot believe I didn’t notice him feeling down,” Twilight chided herself. “Ugh, what a great day to wake up with a hangover.”

“Hey, look at it this way: at least you gave Spike something to worry about,” Rainbow pointed out. “I think it distracted him from his own feelings.”

“Well, seeing as I don’t plan on getting another hangover anytime soon, I will have to think of something else,” Twilight replied, shaking her head. “And since letting him be alone is probably not going to help, how about we start going? The performance can’t start without you, anyway,” she nodded at Rarity.

“Indeed, darling, let us go.”

As everypony started heading towards the door, Rainbow Dash trotted to Rarity. “So,” she whispered conspiratorially, “Storm, huh?”

Rarity turned to her with confusion. “Yes, why- NO!” she exclaimed as she realized what Rainbow was alluding to.

Rainbow Dash erupted with laughter. “Geez, relax, I was just kidding,” she managed to say.

The unicorn huffed. “You’re horrible, you know that?”

“C’mon, tell me what you meant!” Spike tried again, becoming more and more frustrated.

“Spike, if asking me eleven times didn’t manage to get an answer out of me, why would you think the twelfth time would work?” Arthas asked, glancing back at the baby dragon sitting on his back as they made their way through the crowd. Noticing the girls in the corner of his eye, he added: “Now hush, the others are here.”

Spike thought reluctantly before nodding in agreement. Arthas resisted an urge to chuckle; he was adorable when he pouted like that.

“Hello girls,” he greeted Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and, a bit surprisingly, Nymph, who was sticking close to the timid pegasus. “Seeing how Rarity is not here, I’m guessing that the performance is about to start?”

“Looks like it,” Twilight replied as she trotted next to him, letting Spike jump from Arthas’ back to hers. “Lets try to see if we can find some space next to the stage.”

As Twilight led the way, and the others followed, trying to get through the crowd, Arthas moved so that he would walk beside Rainbow. His earlier talk with Spike, coupled with the events of a last few days (not to mention the threat from the incarnation of the Sun), finally gave him the push he needed to do something he should have done a while ago.

“Actually, scratch that,” Arthas corrected himself. “I shouldn’t have done any of that in the first place.”

Taking a deep breath, he leaned to Rainbow. “Hey, Rainbow?” he whispered. “Can we talk after the concert?”

The pegasus glanced at him. After a second, her eyes widened. “You want to break our deal?” she asked, sounding surprised.

Arthas' jaw dropped. “Um…” he stammered, trying to figure out how just how exactly Rainbow had guessed that based on just that one sentence.

His confusion only deepened as Rainbow started giggling. “And what exactly is so funny?” he asked, starting to get embarrassed.

“Sorry, not that,” Rainbow whispered back. “I sorta wanted to break our deal myself.”

“R-really?” Arthas asked, surprised.

He wasn’t sure how to feel about that one.

“We’ll talk about it after the concert, okay?”

Arthas smiled. “Sure,” he said, realizing that he felt somewhat relieved.

Since Rainbow herself wanted to break their little deal, it looked that the talk he planned to have would be much less awkward than he feared. Maybe more embarrassing, but…

Shaking his head, he stopped to stand beside his friends, as the Ponytones (Rarity, Big Macintosh, and two ponies Arthas was only vaguely familiar with, Toe-Tapper and Torch Song) started getting on the stage.

“That was wonderful,” Fluttershy exclaimed much later as the concert had ended.

Arthas had to agree with her. He was really impressed with the four ponies’ performance. They all had beautiful singing voices, and they sung in perfect sync. And Big Mac was the most surprising of all.

“Who would have thought that a stallion who says so little could sing so well,” Arthas thought as he applauded together with the rest of the crowd.

It looked that Applejack was of a similar opinion. “Can’t wait to congratulate that brother of mine,” she said, as the crowd had began to disperse. “He sounded better than ever.”

“Maybe he had a good motivation this time,” Arthas thought with amusement, glancing at Nymph.

He twitched his ears as he heard Fluttershy speak to Applejack. “Oh, um, this reminds me,” the shy pegasus started. “Rarity told me at the spa earlier that the Ponytones’ members will be hanging out later after the concert, so Big Mac will probably be busy.”

“Oh, really?” Applejack asked, surprised. “Huh, he didn’t mention it me. Well then,” she said, turning to the others, “Ah guess Ah’ll go home. Gotta prepare for tomorrow and all.”

Everypony wished her good night as she went to gather her sister. As soon as she was out of earshot, Nymph sighed. “I really wish we could avoid lying to her…”

“Me too, but you heard what Rarity had said-” Fluttershy started to tell her, but Twilight interrupted her.

“Wait, what’s going on?”

“Um…” Nymph stammered. “I’m… going on a date with Big Mac.”

“Really?!” Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie and Spike exclaimed at the same time.

“Um, yes,” Nymph replied, blushing. “And Rarity said that Applejack would need some time to get used to the idea, so…”

“Yeah, it’s probably for the best if she learns about it later,” Twilight said. “She really seems overprotective of her sister sometimes, Light knows how she would react if she knew about you going on a date with her brother.”

“You really shouldn’t comment on others being overprotective of their siblings, you know,” Arthas pointed out, smirking. “Remember the wedding in Canterlot?”

“Oh, for the-” Twilight glared at him as the others chuckled. “I was right. Wasn’t I?” she glanced meaningfully at Nymph, who smiled nervously. Twilight shook her head, ignoring the laughter. “In any case,” she said, “don’t let us keep you. Go on and have a fun night with Big Mac.”

“Thank you, Twilight, I will. Goodnight,” she said to everypony as she began to trot away towards the back of the stage.

“I’ll also go, I need to get up early tomorrow,” Fluttershy told the other, and after they exchanged farewells she also left.

“Well, it’ll be a fun day when Applejack learns of this,” Rainbow commented looking in the direction where Nymph went. “Think it’ll put an end to her suspicions of Nymph planning something nasty?”

“Probably not,” Twilight groaned. “Think you could try together with Rarity to warm her up to Nymph and changelings during your camping trip?”

“How am I supposed to do that when I hate the only other changeling around?” Rainbow asked, then blinked around. “Come to think of it, where is Wind? I haven’t seen him since Nymph healed his injuries.”

“You know, now that you’ve mentioned it,” Arthas started, also looking around, “I think I haven’t seen him the whole day. Could you look for him?” he asked, turning to Rainbow.

The pegasus frowned. “Why me?”

“I know you dislike him, Rainbow, but you’ll have the best chance of finding him, given how you fast you are,” he praised her, knowing only too well that it was the easiest way to get her to do something. “Also,” he added, having only just now noticed this himself, “Pinkie already left.”

“What?” Rainbow exclaimed, and looked to her side where the pink pony used to be. “Oh, that sneaky… ugh, fine, whatever, I’ll look for him,” she said, resigned. “I think I can guess where he went to, anyway. We’ll talk later,” she added quietly, so that only Arthas heard her. “But you can assume we have officially broken up, if you need to,” she said, nodding at something beside him as she spread her wings.

Confused, Arthas looked behind him, to see that Rainbow was pointing at Twilight. Annoyed and embarrassed, he turned back to Rainbow, but the cyan mare had already flew away. All he could do was sigh at defeat.

“Now that the others are gone,” he started, turning to Twilight, “how do you feel? You weren’t exactly in top shape when I left you at home.”

His words caused the lavender mare to blush fiercely. “Um about that…” she stammered. “How… I mean… I don’t remember anything after you opened the door,” she confessed, looking down on the ground. “What… what exactly happened?”

Arthas was glad she wasn’t looking at him. Thanks to that, she missed the relief on his face. “Oh, nothing bad. I guided you to your bed, brought a bucket just in case, and left.”

Twilight looked up at him, ears perked. “Really? Oh, I’m so relieved… I was afraid I did or said something stupid,” she confessed, smiling awkwardly.

“No, you didn’t,” Arthas lied. His eyes moved to Spike, who was sitting on Twilight’s back and was giving him a meaningful stare. Sighing, he started: “Twilight, listen-”

However, in that exact same moment, he was interrupted. And what made this even more annoying than the act of interruption usually was, was that it was caused by two people who were actually pushing him to talk with Twilight in the first place.

With only a cough as warning, Spike burped out a small green flame, that quickly materialized into a letter from Celestia.

Twilight, who was as surprised as he was, grabbed the letter with her magic. “A letter from Princess Celestia at this hour?” she murmured as she broke the seal and unrolled the scroll. “That’s odd…”

Arthas gave her a moment to read the letter, while Spike tried to glance from behind her. When her eyes widened with surprise, he asked. “What does it say?”

Twilight looked at him. “She wants to see both of us tomorrow morning in Canterlot.”

“Well, that’s taken care of,” Celestia said as she burned the scroll she had just finished writing with green flames, sending it to Spike.

“I must admit, I didn’t expect this matter to be resolved so quickly,” Luna said. “Or that we would be seeing Arthas so soon… together with your student, no less.”

Celestia nodded in agreement. They were still within Luna’s bedchambers. The news brought by Raven, and their repercussions, took priority over starting a night court or other businesses, and required their utmost attention.

“Everything else aside, it will be nice to see those two,” she commented as Luna nuzzled her daughter. “Maybe they will finally realize that they should just be together.”

“Oh, they probably will,” Luna replied, shrugging. “I was talking with Arthas the previous day, and he mentioned that he plans on breaking his ‘deal’ with Rainbow Dash.”

Her sister’s words made Celestia stare at her with eyes wide as plates. “R-Really?” she asked, shocked.

“So I didn't need to meddle…” she realized, suddenly feeling really stupid.

“Yes, so it probably means he finally decided to buck up, as they say,” Luna replied, unaware of her sister’s embarrassment.

“Ugh, you could have told me that before...” Celestia started, only to stop as she noticed the sharp look Luna gave her.

“‘Before’ what, sister?” she asked, frowning.

For the first time in literal ages, Celestia felt like a small filly that was about to get scolded. “W-well… I might have, sort of… tried to give Arthas a little push…”

Not wanting to make this situation longer than it needed to be, she quickly told Luna about what happened after she left the Abbey. When she was done, her sister was gazing at her with disappointment. “You know,” she finally said once Celestia was done, “I would be willing to bet that some ponies believe me to enjoy it when you mess something up…”

“Oh, would you stop it?” Celestia interrupted her. “What was I supposed to do? Wait until Twilight would realize how she really feels about the stallion she loves bucking with one of her best friends? I dread to think how it would have ended.”

Luna groaned. “Well, glossing over how the thousand year old Virgin Princess shouldn’t give relationship advice-”

She was interrupted by a pillow hitting her straight in the head. Celetia, who had flung it, managed to speak calmly: “I am not having that discussion with you, sister.”

“And why, exactly?”

“When have you noticed that Moonlight’s father was in love with you?”

Celestia comment made the smug expression disappear from Luna’s face. The younger alicorn looked away, not able to meet her sister’s gaze. “When he told me,” she said.

Sighing, Celestia laid beside her sister. “I’m sorry if bringing Bolt up brought you pain,” she started, but Luna shook her head.

“No, quite opposite in fact. It made me remember how happy I was when he first kissed me… stupid stallion,” she murmured, smiling. Sighing, she turned to Celestia. “Very well, sister, you’re right; I am not much smarter in those matters than you. But you must still admit that unleashing your powers on Arthas did not serve to help him and Twilight; rather, it seems to me you wanted to take out your frustrations on him.”

“Can you blame me?” Celestia asked, sighing. “He and Twilight are being so silly… honestly, at this point, I think it would take a miracle to finally make them see that they are meant to be together.”

Luna nodded, understanding her sister’s frustration. She, too, wanted to see Arthas and Twilight become a couple. She even considered finding some pretense to send both of them to the Moon for a few days.

“A miracle, huh?” she repeated in her thoughts what her sister had said, as she took her daughter into her forelegs.

The tiny filly was dozing off, even though knowing her she was going to wake up halfway through the night, and would fall to sleep again in the middle of the day.

As she looked at her daugher, Luna realized something. Smirking, she glanced at her sister. “Tia? Are you pondering what I’m pondering?”

Celestia looked at her with confusion, not understanding, until her eyes laid on the foal. “Oh, little sister,” she whispered as she smiled and began to giggle, “you are truly evil.”

138. Can You Feel the Love Tonight

Marahute’s eyes followed the rainbow-maned mare as she flew into the air, leaving the ponies she had talked with. The Great Spirit have hidden herself from both the eyes of the mortals as well as their higher senses, on top of taking the small shape of a sparrow. She wanted to observe the pegasus without anybody noticing her. And since Provato’s student had joined her not long afterwards, Marahute had to take extra precautions.

After those past several hours, she came to a conclusion that, in this mare, her blood had definitely awakened. The way she flew, how little exertion she put into it, her smoothness in the air… and now, as Marahute watched her, she had reached an impressive speed within seconds after taking flight. This Rainbow Dash was born with this mane, not had it dyed as some zebra worshipping her had. This pony bore a mark of being born to the skies, in more ways than she could realize.

Marahute frowned, pondering. “Why had she been born with this mane?”

All pegasi were Marahute’s descendants, like every child of the skies in this world. But within a few generations all those millennia ago, when her oldest child Sairyss had mingled with their kind, her blood dispersed among them, and that trait had disappeared. Since then, only a few had been born with those manes.

“The three last ones led the pegasi during the bloodiest battles with the cubs of Snowfeather,” she recalled, “and the one before them rallied them into the Pegasi Armada three thousand years ago. Is this one destined for greatness as well?”

Marahute wondered if this was truly the first pony in which her blood had awakened in twenty five hundred years. Ever since the pony tribes had left their old lands up north, Sairyss had cased observing them. “Probably lost his interest in his descendants after what that one had done…

Her thoughts returning to the present moment, Marahute contemplated about everything she had seen this day. Rainbow Dash wasn’t the only thing that gained her attention. She and Provato’s disciple, as well as those four other mares, had an unique connection. It seemed as if they all had been touched by some power. Though it was weak and difficult to pick up, Marahute recognised this power, despite the many, many millenniums since she had last sensed it.

It was almost identical to the power of those who had shaped this world.

“And they’re not the only ones…” she thought, glancing at the white stallion that along a lavender mare and a dragon hatchling had been left by Rainbow Dash. “This one… though it’s not exactly the same… it resembles the Lights that became the Sun and the Moon more than them… though unlike Celestia, he doesn’t seem to be connected to either of those two, rather to something… higher…” Marahute trailed off, puzzled. Though that power all but emanated from him to those who had the eyes of true sight, there was something else. Something that stood in contrast with his entire being. The touch of death.

“Does she have anything to do with him?” Marahute pondered. “It doesn’t seem like her… and besides, I doubt he’s a shadow hunter, he feels different from them either. And why does his soul seem so scarred?” the Great Spirit thought, focusing on the other strange thing about the white stallion. “As if it wasn’t fully here with him? This is strange… ”

Then again, he wasn’t the only one who seemed strange in this little group. That unicorn he was now talking with, she also seemed different beside the touch of that ancient magic. Marahute could sense that great destiny was ahead of that. “And then there’s this little dragon…” she thought, her eyes focusing on the hatchling on the lavender pony’s back. “There’s no mistaking it. He’s-”

She paused as she felt somebody’s mind reaching to hers respectfully. Marahute quickly recognized it to be her current champion, Prophet Amaka.

“What is it, Amaka?” she asked, a touch annoyed.

“I beg your forgiveness, Great Spirit, but you had said that you would be away for only a day.”

Marahute made sure her champion could sense her amusement over her worrying about a being such as her. “The situation had changed a bit. I decided to take a closer look at some things.”

“As you wish, Great Spirit. I shall inform everyzebra at the temple.”

Once Amaka’s consciousness left her mind, Marahute jumped from a branch from which she observed the group of ponies and took the air. Though she felt tempted to continue watching the white stallion, lavender mare and the baby dragon, or search for the female changeling - whose race she seldom had a chance to observe, ever since they first appeared a thousand years ago - during her courtship ritual, the Great Spirit wanted to see how fast the rainbow-maned mare could fly.

Flying with speed that was impossible for the form she wore, Marahute quickly caught up with Rainbow Dash. She kept her distance from her, watching her form. The mare was completely relaxed, and appeared as if this already impressive speed was merely casual for her.

“Now, how to coax you to fly a bit faster, child?” Marahute pondered, but before she could conjure any idea, something draw her attention.

A brief flash of light in the distance, and short screech that carried to her through the wind.

A smirk made its way to Marahute’s beak. Forgetting about the pony mare, she changed her direction, flying directly up. As she rose higher and higher, she made herself visible, both to mundane senses as well as those higher ones.

When she broke the cloud level, she dropped her disguise, appearing to the skies in all her glory and wonder.

Not even ten seconds had passed as the one called Al’ar burst from the cloud as well, following her.

Marahute’s smile grew bigger. Up close, the creature Provato’s student had claimed to be “the Phoenix God” looked even more majestic, more worthy of that name. “Except he isn’t a phoenix,” she noted as Al’ar flew closer. “At least, he isn’t a descendant of Fafnir. Although, like my son, he seems to be a half-elemental… Could he be a child of Aine?” she pondered, but quickly dismissed the thought. “No, he cannot be. There’s something… unworldly about him, but I don’t think he came from the Flamelands, or any other Elemental Kingdom.”

By then, Al’ar had almost reached her. Marahute cased her inner dispute, deciding to have a little fun and test him. With an effortless push of her wings, the Eagle Mother increased the distance between them by a great length. As she expected, the bird of flames did not show confusion by her act. His only reaction was increasing his efforts in reaching her.

“Alright,” Marahute thought as she turned away, “let’s see if you can catch me.”

Of course, she wasn’t going to fly at her full speed. As the fastest being in the world, Marahute had to go easy whenever she wanted to test somebody. Though, as she had quickly learned, Al’ar didn’t need much of a handicap from her. The Phoenix God had was gaining speed, the air around him burning as he put more of his power into reaching her. Marahute smiled with approval as Al’ar finally gained in on her by the time they reached the Everfree’s Forest.

“How about your agility?” Marahute wondered, swooping down.

Al’ar immediately lined his course with hers. The Great Spirit veered left; so did he. When she leveled her flight and turned right, just to fly back up, Al’ar was on her tail the whole time. Marahute did a barrel roll while flying upwards, and he was there, right in front of her. The two circled in the air for several heartbeats before stopping in mid air, accompanied by nothing but the sound of their wings and hearts.

“I’m not one to be easily impressed,” Marahute cooed, gazing into his burning ruby eyes as she touched his beak. “So being accepted by me is a rather great praise.”

Al’ar cawed in reply as he moved his beak along her face.

“Unable of speaking?” she thought, a touch surprised; his eyes spoke of great intelligence. “Oh well, not like it matters…”

“You won’t mind if we change the scenery a bit, won’t you?” she asked as they nuzzled each other in the air. “It would be distracting if any of those ponies were to come by us in the next couple of days… especially as it’s been a while since I laid eggs…”

If Al’ar had any objections, he did not showed them. Marahute smiled as she entered the Spirit World, pulling her mate with her.

As the world around them changed from colorful and sharp to gray and blurry, with the stars and Moon barely visible from behind the great vortex, the two birds flew towards the land.

“I really would have been more comfortable if we had told Applejack,” Nymph said after few minutes of silence.

Big Mac sighed. He would have preferred if the first thing either of them mentions on their first date would have been something other than his sister’s attitude. Though he couldn’t really blame Nymph for bringing that up; not with either of them being too shy to say anything since they left the stage of the performance and went to the park, right after Applejack’s friends had distracted her and lied for Nymph to keep her away.

“Ah must remember t’ thank ‘em later.”

“Me too,” he admitted, turning to Nymph. “But mah sister’s mighty stubborn. If she thinks ya’re up t’ no good, then tellin’ her would just convince her she’s right,” Big Mac said, rolling his eyes.

“Then…” Nymph started, then hesitated. “Then maybe we shouldn’t… I mean, I like you very much,” she quickly assured him, “but I would hate to cause any strife in your family…”

Big Mac suppressed an urge to sigh again. He had expected Nymph to say something as much. He was about to tell her that he couldn’t care less about what Applejack thought, when he spotted something in the corner of his eye.

“I know that you’re going to say that only Applejack has a problem with me,” Nymph continued, not noticing him bending down to the side of the road they walked. “So if she would attack me - not physically, of course - Apple Bloom and Granny Smith would defend me along with you, but… it’s just unfair to Applejack.”

Big Mac, having picked up the object he spotted with his mouth, leaned to her.

“It could make her feel like I am stealing her family from her, and I-” Nymph trailed off in mid-sentence, finally noticing Big Mac’s actions. Her eyes widened as the huge stallion brushed her cheek and slid something into her mane’s hair, right above the ear.

A small rose flower.

Big Mac leaned back, wanting to see the surprise on her face as she looked at the rose, visible on the edge on her vision. He waited for the Nymph to turn back to him with that warm and shy smile he grew to like so much, before he leaned back.

And kissed her on her cheek.

“Don'tchya worry about mah sis,” he told her as her face became red; his was too, but luckily nopony could hardly ever notice. “She will come around. Tell ya what,” he told her, seeing that she was still not convinced. “Tomorrow mornin’ mah sisters are goin’ on a campin’ trip with ‘eir friends. They will be gone for a few days. Ah can tell Applejack in the mornin’ that we’re goin’ out, and by the time they got back, she-”

“No,” Nymph interrupted him, shaking her head. “It’s a good plan, but I wouldn’t want to ruin the girls trip. Applejack would be angry through most of it. But,” she added, smiling timidly, “maybe after they come back?”

Smiling, Big Mac nodded. That sounded like a good plan.

It took him several moments to realize that both of them spoke as if taking the future dates for granted.

Storm Clash tried to read the magazine about fashion he found in Rarity’s living room, but he couldn’t concentrate on it. He kept glancing toward the stairs leading upstairs, listening for the sounds of hoofsteps.

It’s been almost half an hour since he met with Rarity after the concert. Of course, he had been there for it, he wouldn’t miss the beautiful unicorn singing for the world. He wished that he could hear only her, without those three other ponies, but he (hoped he) could get a solo song from her sometime in the future. Once he had met her, he escorted her to her house - complimenting her on the performance - so that she could, as she had put it, “freshen up”.

Now Storm was waiting for her, slightly fidgeting in suit, wondering how the date was going to go. They were going to one of the town’s more elegant restaurants, so refined behaviour was required. Luckily, with that shouldn’t be much problem; after all, he had been a royal guard. He had seen plenty of those snooty nobles during various events in the castle. There might be some problem with ponies staring at his jaw…

“Light blind them, let them,” he thought, pushing away that worry. “I’m a knight-lieutenant now, if anypony will look down on me, then that’s their own problem, not mine! Alright… now what else can go wrong?”

He was pulled from his musing by the sound he waited for so long; the sound of hoofsteps. The paladin rose from the couch and trotted to the stairs… and started, stunned, with his crooked jaw dropping at odd angle.

Rarity was… just… Storm could find no words, nor he felt could any higher force that could have been looking down at them at that moment, even if it was writing their fate. She was very beautiful already, but now, in this gorgeous blue and white dress, in these pearl necklace, and in the very flower he had given her tucked into her mane above her ear, she was stunningly beautiful!

And she knew that. Rarity waited a few seconds, watching his reaction, before she started giggling. “Darling, I do hope you plan to get a hold of yourself. After all,” she added, trotting closer, “if you are serious about dating me, you’re going to see me ‘dressed up to the nines’, as they say, a lot,” she stressed the last part, stopping before him. Nodding in the direction of the door, she added: “Shall we?”

Somehow finding strength to nod, Storm turned around and waited for Rarity to move to beside him. He offered her his foreleg, which she took, and they left her house.

“So,” Rarity started, smiling, “as we go to the restaurant, how about you tell me something about yourself I do not yet know about you, my knight?”

Storm, who by then had regained most of his thinking processes, couldn’t help but snort with laughter hearing the rank she used.

Wind soared around Rainbow Dash as she flew across the fields surrounding Ponyville, when finally her destination became visible in the moonlight: Ghastly Gorge.

And what was more important, as soon as she neared it, she heard sounds coming from inside of it, confirming her guess was right. Rainbow landed on the edge and peered down at the green glow.

The light came from Wind’s horn. He was using it to light the area around himself, as he was cutting several large rocks in half with those strange green blades Rainbow had seen him use to attack Zahara earlier. All around him, there was rubbles and pebbles, probably from all the boulders he had cut or crushed to pieces so far. The walls of the gorge had also suffered; as far as Rainbow could see in the light of his horn, they bore the marks from his blades.

“Geez, talk about anger control issues,” Rainbow commented. “Then again, he isn’t doing that to ponies, so… I guess that’s a plus?”

Shaking her head, she spread her wings and swooped down into the gorge. Wind Reaver was so absorbed that he hadn’t even noticed Rainbow as she hovered behind him (while keeping her distance; she didn’t want to get hit by accident). She opened her mouth, wanting to call out to him-

“What do you want?” Wind Reaver asked, without as much as looking back.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. Apparently, he wasn’t as preoccupied as she had thought. “Arthas was worried about you,” she said, flying closer and landin. “Nopony has seen you all day.”

Wind sliced another boulder in half, then paused, hovering in the air and turning to her. “Who?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, I mean, the Hivespeaker,” Rainbow explained, realizing that only their friends and Nymph knew about Arthas real name.

The changeling before her snorted and turned around. “Tell him I’ll be back by tomorrow.”

Having said that, Wind immediately returned to his earlier exercise, and hit the remains of the boulder. Rainbow tilted her head, watching him for a while as he all but obliterated it. “Are you okay?” she finally asked as he finished.

Wind stopped, his blades halting in mid-air. “Am I okay?” he asked, turning back. “Well, let’s do a recount, shall we?” The changeling’s blades shimmered, and within a second they receded back to his forelegs. Wind landed on the ground and started talking. “A few months ago the love of my life vanished. Not even our queen, who can locate any changeling with a mere thought on the entire planet can tell where she is. The Swarm searched for her high and low, and found no trace of her. And because I failed my covert ops training, I cannot go and help my brothers and sisters search for my own intended mate!” he shouted, baring his fangs in an angry snarl as he took a step forward.

“O-okay, I get that it might be frustrating…” Rainbow stammered, shocked by his anger.

However, Wind wasn’t done. “It came to that we had to ask ponies for help finding her. Not only do we have to swallow our pride and try to find a way to coexists with our favorite prey, but I have to suffer the humiliation of knowing that when I will finally be able to see her again, it might be because ponies had found her, not me or even my own kind!” Wind growled, taking a step forward.

Rainbow backpedaled. She was beginning to fear him; only now she had remembered how back when he first came to Ponyville he attacked her almost instantly when she touched a very sore subject for him, and only his queen’s intervention had stopped him. Since then, Rainbow had never seen him lose control over himself…

Until now.

“But you know what?!” Wind Reaver didn’t wait for her to answer, he gave it himself. “I would have been fine with that! As long as I could just hold her together again, I would be fine with whoever would have saved her! So I volunteered to help with this ‘let’s make friends’ bullshit, and I got stuck protecting that wimpy excuse for a queen’s heir who’s freaking afraid of how ponies think of her!”

Even though her fear, Rainbow’s mind registered what he had said. “Nymph? Queen’s heir?” she thought as she continued to back away. “Wha-”

“And what happens?!” Wind shouted, stopping her trail of thoughts. “She gets attacked by a fucking zebra! I try to defend her, and end up with explosion to my face! I could have died if she hadn’t saved me!”

Something touched Rainbow’s hind hoof. She glanced back, only to realize that she had reached the wall of the gorge.

Her ear perked as she heard a buzzing noise.

Rainbow didn’t even have the time to turn back when Wind threw himself at her. She grunted, more from surprise than pain, as she found herself pinned to the wall of the gorge, with a very angry changeling inches away her face.

“And you’re asking me,” he snarled, “if I am okay?!”

Rainbow didn’t want to wait and see what would he do next, or whether the Changeling Queen would stop him again. Wind Reaver was pissed and had attacked her again; she did the only thing she could do.

She mashed her forehead into his muzzle.

A crunching sound resonated through the empty gorge, followed by Wind’s grunt as she backed away, forehooves gripping his nose. Apparently, despite how sturdy changeling’s chitin seemed (“And felt, ouch!” Rainbow added, grabbing her head), if one struck with great force they could still inflict some serious injury.

However, Rainbow didn’t pause to see what exactly she did to his muzzle. As far as she knew it, she had still a crazy changeling to deal with, who now, on top of being pissed, was wounded.

Recalling all her battle training she received from Arthas, she jumped at Wind. Being still confused after her attack, the changeling couldn’t reach in time as Rainbow kicked him in the stomach. She grabbed him by the head and threw him above her shoulder, sending him flying…

… literally.

“Oh, right, forgot this is Wind, not Arthas.”

The moment she heard the buzzing of his wings, she dashed into him, smashing him against the wall of the gorge. Wind gasped as the strength of her attack pushing the the air out of his lungs… or whatever it was that changelings had for those. Rainbow quickly grabbed him and flew him against the ground, landing heavily on him.

Wind definitely didn’t like that. The changeling under her began thrashing immediately. Rainbow pressed her body hard against his, ignoring the itching feeling of his wings vibrating against her chest. She wrapped one of her forelegs around his head and lifted it up a little, so he couldn’t point his horn (from which he had fired two bolts of magic already) at her. Their struggled lasted for several moments, until Wind’s effort finally began to case.

“Have you calmed down already?” Rainbow asked, not easing his hold on him.

The changeling did not answer. Rainbow Dash waited for him to reply, not trusting him to behave civilly until he would get a vocal confirmation, when suddenly she heard a weird sound from below her. It sound as if he was choking or slurping something…

“Wait,” Rainbow thought, realizing what this sound reminded her of. “Is he… crying?”

She finally let go of Wind and got off him. He hadn’t moved, just stayed on ground, still making those sounds. It was too dark for Rainbow to see his face, if her was crying or not, but there was definitely something wrong with him.

Not sure what to do, Rainbow placed delicately a hoof on his shoulder. “Hey…” she started, but Wind cut her off.

“I just want her back…” he moaned, not even turning to Rainbow. “I want to hold her in my hooves, to see that she’s okay… if only this would have happened a month later, we would have been mates, and everything would have been fine, I would have found her…”

Her dislike of the changeling before her evaporated as if by a spell. Seeing him broken like this, with his pain exposed, made her do the only thing she could do; act like a friend should. She gently pulled him into a hug. “Hey, c’mon,” she said, hoping her voice sounded confident. “Everything will be alright, you’ll see!”

Wind didn’t reply, although he did return the hug and buried his face (which was a bit wet) into her shoulder. They stayed like this for a while; long enough for Wind’s sobs to trail off, and for Rainbow to start being uncomfortable and embarrassed.

She was about to say something, about maybe getting back to Ponyville or something, when she felt Wind’s forehooves slid down from her back to her flanks.

More annoyed than offended, she sighed. “Really?”

A chuckle escaped Wind. “Everyling has their own coping mechanism.” Rainbow rolled her eyes and pushed him away. The changeling lit his horn. “Thanks, though.”

“Yeah, well, you’re welcome,” she replied, looking at his face. To her confusion, she realized that his eyes weren’t reddened or swollen, nor were there trails left by tears under them, or any other sign that he was crying. From his nose, however, a green liquid was dripping down. “Let’s go, you need to get it healed-”

“Nah, it’s nothing, it will heal on its own,” Wind said, then smirked. “As long as I get some looove-”

“Dream on,” Rainbow replied him shortly, though inwardly she couldn’t help but snort with amusement; it was a bit funny. And it was good to see him be back to his usual self. “Lets go, I’ll see you to the Abbey before I go home,” she said, spreading her wings and soaring into the air.

“Aaaw,” Wind moaned as he followed her, “but I don’t think I should be alone tonight…”

“I must say, this was a splendid night,” Rarity said as turned back to him after opening the door to her house. “Thank you, my knight-lieutenant.”

Storm felt himself blush hearing her use his new rank for about the twentieth time. Not that he minded, though he liked it even more when she used just his name. And he agreed full heartedly; tonight was just… splendid. The dinner they had, their date… everything was just perfect.

“I had a great time, too,” he said, smiling. “So… would you like to go on another date?”

Rarity’s smile widened. “I would love to. Sadly, I have this camping trip tomorrow,” she said, frowning, “but we will schedule a date as soon as I will go back.”

“I will look forward to it,” Storm said, bowing courteously. When he raised, he saw that Rarity was staring at him intentively, as if waiting for somethin- “W-well,” the pegasus stammered, becoming suddenly nervous. “I’ll… I’ll see you soon!”

Before he got a chance to turn around, he felt something grab his face and pull it towards Rarity. In the next split second he saw that this ‘something’ was Rarity’s horn, glowing with magic.

In the split second after that, they were kissing.

His wings immediately sprung open, practically the very instant their lips met. But the kiss didn’t end there. Both of them deepened it at the same time, as if they were of the same mind. As Storm's tongue wrestled with Rarity’s, he became aware to kiss him like this Rarity must have tilted her head at an odd angle, as if wanting it to be perfect. Not wanting to be outdone or for her to be uncomfortable, Storm moved his head a bit to make the act easier for the mare. Once she started humming, he knew he found the right angle.

After what seemed like a minute (guessing by how out of breath both of them were) they parted, panting heavily. Storm looked into Rarity’s amazing blue eyes as she gazed back.

Smiles crept on both of their muzzles.

Rarity, who was first to recover after such passionate kiss, took a step back. “I think our next dates will be even more enjoyable,” she said as she stepped into her house.

Storm nodded, and wished her good night. He waited until she replied and - slowly - closed the door. Only then did he jump into the air, his wings carrying him into heavens as he announced his happiness to the world.

Nymph became unhappy as they slowly reached the entrance to the Abbey. Rarity had told her that “becoming intimate” on the first date was unbecoming of a lady, and although she didn’t care much about that, she wanted to seem to Big Mac as… as much a normal pony as she could. It was the best course of action she could take if she wanted this relationship to last.

And besides, they’ve already agreed to meet tomorrow.

“Would you mind walking me to the barracks?” she asked Big Mac, leaning against him. “So that we could part in private?”

At the entrance, as usually, were Sound Wave and Cherry Bomb, standing guard. Parting there would not only be awkward because of the onlookers, but also because of who they were.

Ponies she had slept with. Or rather, had done everything but slept with them.

Nymph had to hand it to Rarity; the unicorn mare had kept on repeating over and over during their lesson in the spa that a mare shouldn’t just have a casual sex that she had actually made a changeling feel slightly like a slut. She even actually felt so bad about it, that when during their date a subject of “exes” was brought up, she had mentioned them to Big Mac, but had quickly assured him that they meant nothing as nearly much to her as him the instant she felt a wave of hurt for him. Nymph even begged him to stop feeling like that, said she would do everything… but before she had a chance, Big Mac’s pain disappeared, replaced by amusement and a feeling of… of…

Nymph leaned closer to Big Mac as they passed the entrance (while the two guards quaked in fear under the unexpected glare the big stallion send their way) as she recalled that wonderful feeling. The feeling of-

“M-miss Nymph,” Sound called out as they passed him and Cherry. They both turned back - with Big Mac growling, which made the unicorn stallion step back - and looked at him expectantly. “S-sir L-lightbringer wanted to see you tonight before you would go to rest.”

Nymph tilted her head in surprise. “What could the Hivespeaker want from me?” she thought as she nodded in a sign that she understood, and she and her date continued to trot towards the barracks. “Did something happened to Wind? I haven’t seen him since that zebra’s… mistake.”

She forced those thoughts out of her head as she turned to face Big Mac. They were at the door leading to the barracks. It was time to say good bye. And currently, for Nymph, that took priority before everything.

Big Mac was frowning in the direction of two stallions. Nymph didn’t need to be a changeling to know what he was feeling.

Fortunately, she knew exactly how to fix that.

“Hey,” she said softly, taking a step towards him.

The second Big Mac turned to her, she grabbed his head with both forehooves and kissed him with all the passion she could muster. The red stallion was so shocked that he actually backed away a few steps before she finally returned the kiss, wrapping one foreleg around her.

All that Nymph wanted was to melt in his embrace…

When Nymph had finally pulled back and pressed her nose against his, Big Mac was becoming purple on his face. “Tomorrow we’re spending the entire day together, remember?” she whispered to the red stallion.

“Eyep,” Big Mac replied slowly, gazing into her eyes.

“The whole day, just the two of us,” Nymph whispered, moving her head so that she could nuzzle his cheek. “I’ll show you just how much you mean to me.”

Having said that, they shared one more kiss and parted, wishing each other a good night, knowing that the other would be thinking about the other. And although Nymph was almost certain that she heard two high-pitched yelps and something breaking as she descended further into the halls of Abbey’s barracks, she knew that Big Mac wasn’t worried about those two anymore.

She kept thinking about him and about their date… until she had finally reached the door leading to the Hivespeaker’s office. Then she returned to her earlier thoughts after Sound had told her he wanted to see her. What could it be that the Hivespeaker wanted from her at that this time?

“Come in, Nymph,” came from behind the door as she knocked.

The changelings entered the room to see the Hivespeaker sitting behind his desk, putting a book he was reading on it. “I am terribly sorry if I had interrupted anything-”

“No no, it’s alright,” Nymph quickly interrupted him.

“I’m glad to hear that,” the Hivespeaker said. “Having Big Mac angry at me is about the last thing I need…”

“What is it that you wanted to speak with me, Hivespeaker?” Nymph asked, confused. It didn’t seem like anything bad had happened…

Hivespeaker smiled. “Well, it’s not just you I want to speak with, but your queen as well.” As Nymph’s eyes widened, so did the Hivespeaker’s smile. “I have great news.”

Spottedleaf lifted her head, smelling the air. There was no scent of any wild mice or squirrels anywhere.

“I finally get tired of all those fishes and go hunting, and there is no prey. Figures,” she thought, before continuing her prowl through the edge of the forest. “Maybe I should try for a rabbit instead…”

She knew it was really dangerous. She knew she had promised to not hunt any prey. But she was starting to go crazy with only fishes for every meal. She wasn’t a RiverClan cat, nor was she a kittypet to try those dry blocks they eat. She was a ThunderClan Cat, and tonight she was going to taste mice!

Or squirrel. Or a mole. Or…

The wind changed its direction, and was now blowing from behind her. A scent she had never tasted before reached her nose.

Spottedleaf whirled around, prepared to fight or run… and could only stare at the creature before her.

He was big and majestic, like the the warriors of old. Spottedleaf would have thought him to be a TigerClan cat, except his fur was purely black. And his shoulders weren’t such broad as tales of their ancestors said… was he somehow half TigerClan, half LeopardClan?

Before Spottedleaf could shake her stupor away and greet him, the great cat lowered his head to hers, gazing into her with eyes that shone with stars. “Is he a spirit?” she thought as his nostrils flared, inhaling her scent. “Did… did he come for me? Or-”

His nose moved lower down her body, making Spottedleaf gasp in surprise.

He took another step through the blizzard that seemed determined to keep him away. He wasn’t going to give up! He was so close… he reached out…

And through the blizzard, in his dream, Spike grabbed her.

139. Mended Fences

Fluttershy stifled a yawn. She had been training under Provato’s eye since dawn (having woken up much earlier so that her animals would have their food in their bowls) for several hours. As such, she hadn’t read in the newspapers about the important announcement Princess Celestia was to make in Canterlot at noon. However, Pinkie Pie came for her about an hour earlier, saying that it would be a great idea to watch it together at Twilight’s library, so that they could keep Spike company.

“Not just Spike,” she thought with amusement, pushing away her sleepiness as she opened the window.

What would usually be the sound of the rustling of leaves as the wind blew through the branches was now like normal speech. Well, not normal; the trees talked in a very different way than ponies. Their sense of time alone was much different. To the Golden Oak, Twilight and Spike had moved into it recently.

Despite what one could think, the tree was quite happy to have others living inside of it. The “recent change” made life for it more interesting, in comparison to the centuries it lived before.

“Fluttershy, come on!” Pinkie Pie called her from behind, shifting her attention back to them. “It’s about to start!”

“Oh, right, sorry,” she apologized, trotting back to them.

“Are you alright?” Nymph asked, looking at her with confusion and concern.

Before she came to get her, Pinkie had run into Nymph, and invited her and Big Mac as well. Fluttershy wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good idea; she would have thought that maybe they would have liked to spend the day in private. But then again, given the subject of the announcement…

The other changeling, Wind Reaver, was also present. Unlike Nymph, he chose his real appearance, which, as shameful as it was, unnerved Fluttershy a bit. It wasn’t just his bug-like look, or the sharp fangs that scared her (if she had issue with things like those alone, she would have a much easier time getting over them; after all, she helped many critters that were either insects or had really big fangs); it was that whenever his wings buzzed, she couldn’t help but remember the fight back in Canterlot not so long ago.

And he kept buzzing them every once in a while. By now Fluttershy had realized that he must have sensed her discomfort, because she caught him glancing at her with an expression oddly familiar to Rainbow Dash when she was annoying somepony on purpose.

“Yes I am, sorry,” Fluttershy told Nymph as she sat beside her and Pinkie Pie. The changeling was in her usual form of a black unicorn, her coat touching Big Mac’s who was on her other side. “I wanted to breathe some fresh air.”

She really hated lying to her friends, but Provato had asked her to keep his identity and everything he was teaching her to herself for now, and she would have hated to disappoint him. And even if she could tell them, how exactly was she going to explain that she could now talk with trees? “Dashie would just love this,” Fluttershy thought humorously.

“Well, we have a draft now,” Pinkie said happily, glancing at the window she left open.

“Okay…” Everypony’s attention turned to the dragon, who was working on the switches of Twilight’s television. The vision had finally become clear, letting them watch the balcony of the Canterlot Castle from where Celestia would make her announcement. “Sorry about that,” Spike said, walking away from the television and sitting beside them, “Twilight doesn’t use it too often, so the manual arcane calibration got-”

“Arcane whatsit?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head in confusion as she voiced Fluttershy’s question.

The baby dragon rolled his eyes. “The option to change channels got busted.”

“Oooh,” Pinkie exclaimed, “why didn’t you say so?”

“Um, Pinkie, he did,” Nymph said, looking at the pink pony shily. “He just used a more precise-”

“Oh oh, look!” Pinkie exclaimed, cutting the changeling off. “It’s starting!”

Fluttershy gave the slightly baffled Nymph an apologetic look before she turned her attention on the television. She managed to get a glimpse of the vast crowd gathered beneath the balcony before it switched to Princess Celestia, as she, flanked by her sister, Princess Luna, as well as Princess Cadance, walked towards the edge of the balcony, to address their subjects. The camera pony - probably a pegasus, guessing from the angle of the shot - briefly let it slide to the ponies standing behind them. Aside from a few guards, there were also a few other ponies present, and in the small group Fluttershy had easily managed to recognise three.

But there was something off with the expressions on their faces and motions they made. “Are they arguing?” Fluttershy thought, worried.

“Rough night?” Shining Armor asked him, smirking, as he stifled a yawn.

Arthas glanced at him, angrily; his comment made Twilight glare at both of them. Whether the look she was giving them meant that she was offended that they were talking now, when the Princess was about to address Equestria, or… she was mad about what Shining Armor was possibly referring too.

“I suppose you could say so,” he told him in a hushed voice. “Discussing all the details with Nymph and the Princesses via my mirror did take several hours.”

“Oh, I see,” the unicorn prince replied, slightly abashed. “So… you didn’t have any time to spend with Rainbow Dash?”

Arthas’s jaw dropped. He looked at Shining Armor, stunned that he would ask him so directly about his private life. Twilight, also surprised, frowned, and suddenly started paying more attention to their conversation. And she wasn’t the only one; one of the night guards’ ear twitched and he turned his head towards them, his lips curling in amusement. Arthas had also noticed passing smirks on the faces of the group on the opposite side of the balcony.

Glaring at the young bat pony with such intensity that the guard quickly looked away and ignoring them, the paladin addressed Shining Armor. “Since you’ve never put that much interest in my private life, I am going to assume your wife put you up to this.”

“Maybe.”

“Well then, even though it’s none of your business, you can report to her that Rainbow and I are no longer in any sort of relationship.”

“Really?” Twilight asked in a weird voice. “What happened?”

“Yes, why did she dump you?”

Arthas eyes widened, but then he frowned and looked back. “She didn’t dump me, Knight Tucker, it was mutual.”

Tucker, who Arthas took to Canterlot together with Guard Shield to represent the Order during Celestia’s announcement, smirked at him from beside the wall where he stood. “Mutual in what way? Mutual in the sense that you were both single the moment after she dumped you?” He then quickly added: “Sir?”

He opened his mouth, but then closed it. “Wait, why am talking to you about this?” Arthas wondered out loud. “Cleaning duty for three days,” he added, noticing the amusement on Tucker’s face. The aqua unicorn’s face fell. Guard, on the other hoof, as well as two ponies from Night Guard, Royal Guard and Crystal Guard each, all snickered. “Nothing happened,” Arthas told then Twilight and Shining Armor quietly. “We both… kind of grew tired of this some time ago. Rainbow and I talked last night after she had found Wind Reaver; she told me that she felt that she was becoming a bit too attached to me for her tastes, and I… well, I suppose in the end I am just not cut out for such a relationship without commitment.”

Shining Armor (who probably remembered everything to report to the Princess of Love later) nodded, accepting the explanation, but Arthas was far more interested in Twilight’s reaction. For a brief second, before she turned her head, he could have sworn that he saw her smile.

That… unnerved him. Arthas remembered - vividly - what Celestia had told him, that his relationship with Rainbow Dash was hurting Twilight, even if she wasn’t aware of that. Could it be that she had realized how she truly felt about it? Arthas couldn’t remember anything different in her behaviour that would suggest if she was hurt by his… stupidity. But what was that smile supposed to mean if not-

“Maybe,” he suddenly realized, “Twilight is glad that there’s absolutely nothing now between me and Rainbow because she wants to try and be more than friends…”

Could that be true? Arthas went back in his memories to that night in Altomare, when they’ve both decided that it would be best if they’d remain friends… had she changed her mind since then? Granted, what she had done after Rarity’s Birthday Party could be a big giveaway, but she was drunk…

“It’s starting.”

Twilight’s voice pulled him from his musings. Arthas shook his head and - trying to not think about his personal life - watched as Princess Celestia took first steps on the path to change the relations of two nations.

Celestia looked down at her ponies, her subjects, taking in their sight. She had served as their ruler for over a thousand years - most of those years by herself - all while leading them with a strong will and kind heart, despite how torn it was over what she had done to her sister. Now Luna was back, ruling together with her… and yet, despite that, despite of all the centuries of experience Celestia had, despite how many important speeches she had made… she found herself feeling slightly nervous about this one.

She forced herself to calm down. True, what she was about to announce was probably the most controversial matter Equestria had to face during her rule. However, Celestia had trust in her ponies that they would see the wisdom in the course they had decided to take.

Sensing her sister and niece’s comforting support, Princess Celestia smiled and started her announcement. “Citizens of Equestria,” she started, her voice carrying across the square, “I am grateful that so many of you have gathered here to hear my announcement, and so many more across our beautiful kingdom are watching or listening to it in their homes. Especially since you were informed about it so recently. I apologize about it, but I wanted to say this to all of Equestria as soon as possible.”

She smiled as she watched the ponies below her all murmur between themselves and stare at her with increased interest.

“Nopony can deny that Equestria is a special land,” Celestia continued, knowing she couldn’t she just drop the news on them without first preparing them. “This nation was born of love and friendship and throughout the two millenia Equestria had existed, we upheld the ideals the Six Founders had been inspired by, and no matter what storm we had faced, we stayed true to them. Just within the two last years this kingdom has been through a lot; the return of the Nightmare Moon, Discord escaping from his prison, and the Changeling Invasion. But we had prevailed!”

She raised her voice on that last sentence, and the crowd below cheered in agreement. Celestia waited until they've calmed down before she continued:

“My sister Luna was purged of the darkness known as Nightmare Moon and returned to me and all of Equestria as the rightful Princess of the Night!” Once again, ponies below cheered, a lot of them shouting ‘Princess Luna! Princess Luna!’. Celestia glanced at her sister; she was smiling, touched by the love in their cheers. “Discord had been once again imprisoned in stone, by the same brave heroes who saved Princess Luna, and brought back harmony to Equestria!” Another round of cheers; this time, though, there were less ponies shouting names. Twilight and her friends weren’t as famous as Luna, though Celestia thought it to be a good thing.

“Especially for Fluttershy,” she added humorously in her mind.

“And when the changelings had tried to invade Canterlot and almost won, they were defeated by the love of Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor!” she finished, and once more the crowd cheered.

Celestia did not miss the mild annoyance on the face of the pony leading the small group standing on the side of the balcony.

“The attack of the Changeling Swarm wasn’t the only occurrence when ponies were wronged by changelings, although it was the most known one,” Celestia said, finally getting near the real reason of this speech. “For over a thousand years, they’ve been stealing ponies’ love and feeding of it. For over a thousand years, they were our enemy. But… from this day forward, this will be no more.”

“I hope,” she added in her thoughts as she motioned the pony who got briefly annoyed earlier to step forward.

“Because on this day,” Celestia said as the black coated unicorn mare with a green mane stopped beside her, “Equestria and the Changeling Swarm are finally going to become allies.”

And with those words, green flames flashed around the mare standing next to her, and she changed into Queen Chrysalis. Likewise, the small group she had brought along to Canterlot also revealed their true forms.

The crowd of ponies fell silent. Celestia watched as they stared with widening eyes at the Changeling Queen, stunned. She recalled hearing about how in Ponyville everypony reacted when Nymph and Wind Reaver had revealed themselves.

“My beloved subjects,” she spoke before anypony’s shock could turn to fury fueled by fear, and worse, voice that fury, “I understand that this is an unexpected announcement to you, but I urge you; please, listen to what the Changeling Queen has to say, before you pass your judgement on the notion.”

Celestia glanced at the changeling standing next to her and nodded. Chrysalis straightened up a bit and spoke: “Greeting, citizens of Equestria,” she started; Celestia cringed inside a bit at her weird, dis-synchronised voice. “Just like your Princess, I too understand your shock, or even fear or hate. My kind has never been, to put it kindly, on good terms with ponies, and I would have imagined that your opinion about changelings had only grown worse due to our recent attack on Canterlot. However, that event had helped me to realize that the current relations between our two kinds couldn’t go on like it did. And that is why a few weeks ago I had reached out to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, with an offer of peace.”

Chrysalis nodded to Celestia, who, as they had agreed upon earlier when discussing the announcement, spoke to her subjects once more. “We had reservations against the offer, my subjects. Believe me, I had. But my sister and I have given it a lot of thought, and consulted this matter with our trusted advisors, and we came to a decision that Queen Chrysalis’s proposition is worth giving a try. After all, what greater victory is there than turning an enemy into a friend?” Celestia asked, looking at her subjects with love, her words having nothing but honesty. “What should a country, founded on friendship, do other than accept an olive branch when it is extended?”

Her words seemed to hit a spot in everypony, because they all began murmuring between themselves, and Celestia saw more than half nodding their heads.

“Most of you would probably say,” Chrysalis resumed as ponies opinion started to wave in the direction they’ve been hoping it would; everypony fell silent, eager to hear more, “that it is impossible for changelings and ponies to coexist peacefully. That is not true; when I first contacted the Princesses, I had sent, as a proof of good will, my daughter and heir, Nymph-”

Celestia’s eyes widened. “What?”

“-along with just one protector, Wind Reaver, to Ponyville, where they’ve been living openly with ponies for a while now.”

Shaking off the surprise after this revelation, Celestia spoke once more: “The two changelings had been staying under the protection of Sir Lightbringer, the Grand Master of the newly formed Order of Celestial Light. I’ve heard reports from both him and my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic, about how they lived in Ponyville, and neither of them had noticed anything that would suggest coexistence wouldn’t be possible.”

She spoke truly. Though both Twilight and Arthas mentioned that Wind Reaver seemed borderline aggressive at times, and Celestia herself still remembered that he had punched Rainbow Dash shortly after arriving in Ponyville, she considered him to act not too differently from a pony (especially when one would take his rather distressful situation into account). And this relationship forming between Nymph and Big Macintosh was truly heartwarming.

“Furthermore,” Celestia continued, “the two changelings had also made a short trip to the Crystal Empire, where they had an audience with Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor. And even despite having a very good, personal reason to distrust them and their kind, they’ve came to a decision that they spoke truly and the changelings really wished to be friends, and approved of the idea.”

Hearing about Princess Cadance and her husband, whose own wedding was nearly ruined by the very Changeling Queen that now stood beside Celestia, agreed that it was for the best, seemed to speak to ponies the most. Everywhere she looked, Celestia saw faces staring at her and Chrysalis warily, but with hope nonetheless.

Princess Celestia smiled and turned to the Changeling Queen. “Queen Chrysalis,” she said, looking her in the eyes, “let us work together to ensure peace and friendship between our kinds forever more.”

And as she said that, Celestia extended her hoof to the one who mere months ago had bested her and nearly conquered Canterlot.

Chrysalis’s eyes briefly shifted to look at her hoof before she smiled. “My words exactly,” she said, extending her own hoof and grabbing hers.

Before the large crowd gathered at the square and millions of ponies across Equestria who watched this at their homes, they shook hooves.

They didn’t react at once. However, slowly, slower than Celestia wished for, but actually faster than she had hoped for, ponies began stomping in applause. It steadily grew louder, until finally everypony was cheering and the ground beneath them shook as if in stampede.

This was the sign that the Wonderbolts had been waiting for. Still holding Chrysalis hoof, Celestia watched as the kingdom's best flyers shot from behind the castle and charged at the skies. The separated right above the square with such energy, that the sky became ablaze with magical lightning. Which, of course, made the crowd cheer louder.

Celestia smiled, happy that this announcement went so smoothly. “This feels nice,” she murmured.

Chrysalis overheard her. “What?” she asked, smirking. “Shaking hooves with somebody your height?”

The Princess blinked, then snickered, honestly amused by the remark. Indeed, Chrysalis was the first being she met in centuries that matched her height. “Not that,” she told her, letting go of her hoof. “I meant making peace with an enemy. It’s a really nice change of pace after Discord or Bane,” Celestia added as they both turned around.

“I suppose I can understand that. Though I’m afraid I cannot say I am as pleased as you, Princess Celestia,” Chrysalis confessed, glancing back as they began to leave the balcony, along with everypony (“And everyling.”) else. “All those ponies staring… for a changeling, that’s naturally unnerving.”

She was about to assure her that she, too, can understand her (given the nature of her kind), but then a thought hit Celestia. “I think I know of a changeling who is a lot more unnerved right about now.”

Nymph poked her hoof against the floor nervously as Spike turned off the television. For a brief second, the only sound she could hear was Wind’s chuckling, and then-

“You’re Chrysalis’s daughter?!” Pinkie repeated the question she had asked earlier.

“And to think” she thought, cringing. “I was saddened that Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had already left for their camping trip with the Cutie Mark Crusaders by the time everypony was informed about the royal announcement. If they were all here, it would have been much more awkward… right now, Rarity would have been asking me-”

“So you’re a princess?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes wide.

“Yes, that, Ashvattha, thank you very much.”

“Um… well, yes and no,” Nymph replied, managing to stay somewhat calm thanks to the comfort Big Mac’s proximity was providing her with. “Yes, I am Queen Chrysalis’ daughter and her heir. However, we do not have ‘princesses’. I am the Queen’s Heir.”

“So a princess,” Pinkie Pie summed up.

“I… well, from a technical point of view, I suppose you could say so. But I do not have an actual title ‘princess’.”

“Still, that’s amazing,” Spike exclaimed. “Must have taken you by surprise, huh Big Mac?”

But the red stallion, much to confusion of everybody, shook his head. “Nope.”

Wind was the first to recover. “You told him?” he asked, looking at Nymph with tilted head. “Didn’t expect you to do something like that.”

“Why would I conceal it from him?” Nymph asked, frowning.

Wind Reaver opened his mouth to reply… but then he closed it. His eyes shifted from her to Big Mac, and then back to her. “Oh boy…” he murmured. Before anybody had a chance to ask him what he meant, he raised and flapped his wings quickly. “Well, not my business, I guess,” Wind said over the buzzing sounds his wings were making. He stopped and started trotting towards the door. “Besides, it would mean I would have less work to do. He seems more than capable of guarding you.”

“What are you-” Nymph started to ask, confused by his behaviour.

“I will be at the Abbey if anyling needs me,” Wind cut her off, opening the door and flying off.

Nymph wasn’t sure what to think about what she has just seen. Of course Big Mac was more than capable of guarding her; she had seen that just the other day when Zahara had attacked her. But why would that make Wind think he would have less work to do? His duty was to protect her whenever she would be in danger, be it day or ni-

“Oh,” she thought, suddenly realizing. “He did not know we’ve started dating… he must have thought I would be keeping Big Mac close… not that I don’t plan to, but he is his own pony, I wouldn’t force him to stay with me at all times, nor do I want him to shirk from his duties at Sweet Apple Acres or to his family…”

She was pulled from her musing by Fluttershy’s question. “So, Chrysalis is your mother?”

Nymph turned to her genuinely interested face. “Well… depends on what you mean. I am her foster daughter,” she explained, seeing the confused looks that she, Pinkie and Spike were giving her. “It’s.. complicated. If you want to learn about our customs and biology, you can come tomorrow when Wind and I will be explaining this to the Princesses and the others.”

“Sure!” Pinke immediately said, grinning. “That sounds fun!”

Nymph wasn’t sure if that was the word she would have used, but she pushed her thoughts away from tomorrow. Because before she would have to go through all of that, she had a whole day to spend with Big Mac, and she intended to spent it to the fullest.

And if the look the red stallion gave her when she turned to him was of any indication, Big Mac was thinking the same thing (and if it wasn’t, the emotions she was picking up from him sure were).

Author's Note

Special thanks (aside, as always, from the proofreading/editing team) to Dubz, who gave the chapter last check-up, to see if importing it from google docs cut anything!

140. Council Meeting

“Can you believe that Nymph is her daughter?” Twilight asked Arthas in a hushed tone.

She didn’t need to point at the black figure walking in front of them; Arthas was right there with them when Chrysalis had told the entirety of Equestria that Nymph was her daughter. The timid changeling who was currently dating Big Macintosh was daughter of the Queen of Changelings!

“Actually, I can,” Arthas replied, surprising her. “I thought there was something odd about her.”

He was also speaking in a whisper; they, as well as everypony who was at the balcony moments ago, were currently trotting through the castle’s corridors to the Council Chamber, not too far off from the Throne Room. Back in the times of the dawn of Equestria, the Council - comprised of the representants of each pony tribe - that ruled over the land gathered there. Currently, though, that place served the princesses as a place to discuss important matters with foreign rulers or with trusted advisors and authoritative figures; such as what results, on a national scale, could come from the sudden introduction of another entire nation’s population.

“What do you mean by odd?” asked him Twilight, curious.

“Despite her timid nature, she seemed much more cautious than Wind Reaver as to how much she revealed to us, while at the same time, she was eager to gather as much information as she could,” Arthas replied, eyeing the changelings.

Twilight followed his gaze; aside from Queen Chrysalis, there were eight of them, four of which seemed to be their counterpart of the royal guards. They wore heavy dark blue plate armor, and walked in perfectly synchronised motion. Of the other four, two also wore armor, except that one had theirs adorned with strange symbols, and the other’s was much lighter, more similar to the Royal Guard’s design.

“That implies she had some spy training - at least, more advanced than Wind - and yet she had claimed to be a ‘scholar’,” Arthas continued. “Which, considering that she’s the one that will tell us tomorrow about changelings’ biology and society, must be true. Also, according to the report Storm had given me regarding that short skirmish with Zahara, she has some combat skills. It was confusing that Chrysalis would send such a highly trained changeling to Ponyville, but since she is her heir, it makes sense that she wanted her to befriend ponies, given her change of policy towards us.”

Twilight thought over what he said; indeed, it did make sense now, although until Arthas told her about Nymph’s multiple skills, it never crossed her mind that there was anything weird about her.

Before she had a chance to voice her opinion, another voice chimed in: “Also, she might have wished for her daughter to become more comfortable around ponies.”

The unicorn looked surprised as Cadance slowed down to even with them. It took Twilight one look at her face to realize that she was also not surprised by Chrysalis’ revelation.

“Nymph told me and Shining that she’s Chrysalis daughter when she was in Crystal Empire,” said Cadance,

“So that’s why she wanted to stay alone with you,” Arthas said, narrowing his brow. “Why did she tell you?”

“Come now, Sir Lightbringer, she told us that in secret,” Cadance replied, smirking.

Twilight giggled, then looked around to find her brother. He was talking with a pegasus guard who wore armor similar to his purple armor. “He must by Shining Armor’s replacement as the Captain of the Royal Guard,” Twilight realized.

At that moment, she noticed that Princess Celestia had stopped by the open doors and turned around to the changelings. “I hope you don’t mind waiting before we start; there are a few more ponies I had hoped that would join us.”

“Not at all,” Chrysalis replied, glancing briefly at the changeling in ornate heavy armor.

The changeling nodded and glanced at the four of their guards. They at once turned and trotted to the wall opposite of the entrance.

“No point in standing around, lets go inside,” Celestia said invitingly, and she herself entered first, with Luna right beside her.

As guards from both sides took places on the corridor, ponies and changelings followed the Royal Sisters. Twilight had accompanied Princess Celestia during a few meetings in this chamber, so she was already familiar with the large, circular chamber, big enough to easily accommodate several dozens of ponies. In the middle of the room there was a round table, with cushions for everypony to sit. Each seat was marked by enchanted gems that were embedded into the table, as well as a glass of water next to it.

There was already one pony waiting inside. “You’ve sent notice to the others, Raven?” Celestia asked her aide, a light gray unicorn.

“Of course, Princess,” Raven replied, briefly nodding respectfully to others before falling a step behind Celestia and Luna. “I’ve got confirming replies from all three, even Doctor Angelic, and you know how she dislikes attending meetings.”

“So we are waiting for three more ponies, then?” Chrysalis asked as she and four of her changelings walked around the table from the opposite side of Celestia and Luna.

“Two,” said a voice from behind.

Twilight looked back to see who that was. In the door stood a bright orange pegasus mare in blue uniform. “Captain Spitfire,” Celestia greeted her as the mare saluted. “Fast as ever, I see.”

As Spitfire replied to the Princess, Twilight wondered why exactly she was there. Of course, as the Captain of the Wonderbolts, the last remaining division of the Pegasi Armada, she was the commander of Equestria’s aerial forces, but was she really needed?

“Unless, the Princesses hope to discuss more than just how Equestria might be affected by the alliance with changelings,” Twilight realized, glancing at the new Captain of the Royal Guard and a bat pony she did not know as they took places beside the table as well.

She also wondered how had Spitfire managed to take a shower and change into her uniform in such short amount of time.

As Twilight pondered, the mare in question had walked up to her and Arthas. Spitfire smiled at her and nodded in greeting - probably recognizing her from way back during tornado day, when she came to oversee the water transfer - before turning to the stallion.

“So you’re the head of those paladins?” she asked, eyeing him thoughtfully.

Arthas smile. “Yes, that’s me.” He extended his hoof towards her. “I’m Ma-”

“Oh, no you don’t!” Twilight thought, swiftly grabbing his his ear and pulling.

The stallion yelped, more from surprise than pain, then frowned at her. She stifled a giggle as he sighed in defeat. “I’m Arthas Menethil,” he said, turning back to Spitfire, who was looking at the exchange with raised eyebrow.

“I thought you were called Lightbringer?”

This time Twilight did giggle as Arthas facehoofed. “Yes, I happen to go by many names.”

Judging by Spitfire’s amused expressions, she figured out that this was an uncomfortable subject for him. “I passed two of you paladins,” she said, changing the subject. “I thought there was also a pegasus in your Order?”

“Ah, yes, Knight-Lieutenant Storm Clash. He had to stay behind in our Abbey in Ponyville.”

Twilight tilted her head in confusion, noticing the smirk of amusement on his face.

Storm took a step back, forcing back the urge to vomit. He massaged his neck as he “admired” his work.

This toilet was clean.

Sighing, the pegasus paladin readjusted the toilet brush in his mouth and went on to the next.

“He gained a lot of duties after getting promoted,” Arthas added, somehow managing to not burst with laughter as he recalled what punishment he had given Storm Clash. “There’s also a crystal pony amongst my paladins, but she’s currently in the Crystal Empire. I’m sure they both would have been awed by your performance, it was really amazing. Especially considering how little time you had to prepare for it.”

“Wonderbolts are always ready to do their best,” Spitfire replied, though a slight change in her posture told him that she was pleased with his praise. “We were prepared even for an occasion where things wouldn’t go quite smoothly,” she added with a glance at the changelings. Shrugging, she added: “I’m curious what exactly they plan to talk about here; you two wouldn’t happen to know?”

“We can only guess,” he replied for himself and Twilight.

As Spitfire left them to talk with the Princesses, the unicorn turned to him. “And I guess Wind’s mate will be one of the topics.”

Arthas nodded in agreement as they sat down by the table. “I know from Luna that the Night Guard had as much luck so far as the changelings in finding her. I hope Chrysalis will understand that they hadn’t had enough time to do something they haven’t been able to in months, otherwise this meeting could get a little… heated.”

“What else do you think could be talked about?” Twilight asked him. She frowned in cogitation. “I had thought that the major issue would be how this could affect Equestria, but in that case why invite the captains of the guards and Wonderbolts?”

“Did you already forget that Chrysalis thinks somepony had tricked her into attacking Canterlot? Or that somepony had poisoned Apple Bloom to drag us away from Ponyville?” he reminded her quietly. “There are enemies somewhere within Equestria.”

Seeing that Twilight looked a bit sickened at the thought, he decided to cheer her up. “Hell, the most dangerous enemy Equestria faced is in the garden, serving as toilet for pigeons.”

Twilight snorted with laughter, causing several heads to turn to her in surprise. “You’re terrible,” she whispered once she calmed down.

“Who do you think we are waiting for?” Arthas asked her, knowing she had been to few meetings like those.

“Aside from Angelic Touch, I have no clue. I’ve never accompanied Celestia during meeting like this. In the past, she usually could have dealt with most issues by herself, or with the help of Raven. Only when issues like a legislation work or reform of health services, and in those cases, Princess Celestia had conferred with her aide, the Royal Physician and the Royal Treasurer. She also discussed international politics here a few times, but I wasn’t invited,” Twilight replied quickly. When Arthas glanced at her, he saw that her eyes were on the changelings. “Who do you think they are?”

Arthas followed her gaze. Due to the size of the table, it would have been slightly impractical if Chrysalis and her people would have chosen to sit on the opposite site of the ponies. However, the closest changeling, the one in ornate blue armor, sat three seats away from the closest pony - the pegasus Shining Armor had briefly introduced to him as Cyclone Strike, his successor as the Captain of the Royal Guard.

“I think this is the leader of her guards,” he whispered to Twilight; he certainly seemed such. He, along with those four changelings that they left outside, was of a bulkier build than most changelings Arthas had seen so far. He was also sitting right next to his queen. On her other side, though… “That one was with Chrysalis when she came to Ponyville. He’s Ghost Step, and she had called him one of her Swarm’s best information gatherers.”

“Information gatherers?” Twilight repeated, confused.

“A polite way of saying ‘spies’, I suppose,” Arthas told her, then glanced at the remaining two. “I’m not sure who the other two could be, though…”

Next to Ghost Step sat the other changeling without armor; it had a more slender body, and its muzzle was shorter, more similar to Nymph, making Arthas think that it was female. However, her most conspicuous characteristics were her eyes. They were larger in proportion to her head than any other changeling Arthas had seen, and she hardly seemed to blink. She was looking with those eyes at the crystal in front of her curiously, almost studiously.

The other one was definitely a warrior; aside from the armor, it could also be recognizable by a barely visible mark running from its cheek down its throat, looking like a scar.

“A military advisor?” Arthas thought, observing him.

His musing was interrupted by a gasp on his left and tapping on his shoulder. Arthas looked at Twilight, whose eyes were at the entrance…

… through which was trotting Daring Do.

The memories of the night he met her - especially those of the last few seconds of their acquaintanceship - resurfaced as the pegasus mare smirked. “We seem to keep running into each other,” she said as put her hat on the table right next to him.

“Good morning, Doctor Do,” Celestia greeted her before Arthas could reply. Daring turned to the Princess and bowed. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“You were lucky your message had reached me, Your Majesty,” Daring replied. “I was just about to leave for the Crystal Empire when I got it. Can I expect some compensation for missing my train?”

“My husband and I will be returning home on our private train once this meeting ends,” Cadance, sitting between Twilight and Shining Armor, said. “You’re welcome to join us if you wish.”

“Thank you, Princess Cadance, I think I’ll accept the offer.”

“Hoping on decoding that stone tablet there?” Arthas asked.

“Planning,” Daring corrected him. “So what happened to Storm?” she asked, changing the subject.

“He found the Eon Petals and came out of the Forest. I will give you more details after the meeting,” he answered, knowing that Daring Do would be grateful to learn that her theory about Commander Hurricane mating with Everfree was right.

“Um, excuse me?” Twilight spoke up, sounding a bit nervous. She smiled as Daring turned to her. “It’s an honor to meet you, Doctor Do. I’m-”

“Guessing by you sitting so close to Lightbringer, I’m gonna guess you’re Twilight Sparkle,” Daring interrupted her, smirking. Seeing the dumbfounded expression on her face, she chuckled. “Your friend here made me sign a book for you when I ran into him two nights ago.”

“Really?!” Twilight exclaimed, looking at Arthas. “You hadn’t told me.”

“I wanted to surprise you when I would give you your book back. Thanks for ruining it, by the way,” he added, scowling at Daring Do.

The pegasus mare gave him a smirk. “Be glad that’s all I said, handsome.”

“What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked, confused.

Thankfully, before Daring could say anything embarrassing for Arthas or worse, the last pony had finally walked through the door, which closed behind her. “I’m here, I’m here,” Doctor Angelic Touch said, appearing as if she was a bit sleepy. That impression assured itself as the blue-white mare yawned when she trotted past Arthas, muttering greetings to the passing ponies.

“Doctor Angelic,” Celestia greeted her, apparently not offended by both her tardiness and her behaviour. “I would have expected you to be more excited about a prospect of meeting with changelings.”

“You already told me that you won’t let me dissect any of them,” Angelic replied, sitting down between the bat pony and Cyclone Strike. “No offense meant,” she added, glancing briefly at the five changelings.

Arthas had a sudden thought that maybe Luna’s comparison of her to Professor Putricide - the abomination-making alchemist who was long on his way into insanity before he was called into service of the Scourge - was not so farfetched.

“Now then,” Celestia spoke up, “I believe that it’s about time for this talk to start. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss several issues, first of them being possible repercussions of the announcement that took place today. I am talking on both national and worldwide scale.”

“Well, that’s obvious,” Arthas commented in his thoughts.

“However, there are other matters I would like to discuss with all of you. Especially with our guests,” she added, looking at the changelings. “I know that, in accordance with the plans we’ve made earlier, we’re supposed to learn about your biology and social structure tomorrow from Nymph. However, if we are supposed to draft some plans on how we should coexist with one another, there’s a certain matter than needs to be addressed. Namely, your diet.”

Chrysalis eyes narrowed. “I thought we had also agreed that before any final decisions will be made, you will help us locate our missing changeling. How’s that coming along?”

Arthas exchanged looks with Twilight, certain that she also thought “I knew it,” at that moment. He turned his eyes to Celestia in time to see her cast a glance at the bat pony, who, Arthas assumed, was the leader of the Night Guard.

The bat pony - whose name Arthas made a mental note to ask later - straightened a bit. His coat was light gray, almost blue. It was still a bit weird for Arthas to look at him and know that it was no illusion, that he really had featherless wings, narrow pupils and fangs. “He seems more like a carnivorous animal than herbivorous.”

“We haven’t been able to locate her as of yet,” the bat pony spoke up in a calm voice. “The Night Guard has searched estates of everypony who would have the means to hold a changelings against their will, and we’ve looked through all the reports we had about you since the Canterlot Invasion, trying to calculate possible areas in which she could be. It’s frustrating, but so far we have nothing to show for our efforts, for which I apologize, Your Highness.”

Chrysalis seemed to be slightly surprised by his polite reply, but she quickly shrugged it off. “Once this meeting is over, if the Princesses have nothing against it, you should converse with my Spymaster. I’m sure your task will prove easier with his help.”

“I’m sure Nightshade will appreciate your Spymaster’s help,” Princess Luna replied. “But I hope you don’t plan on leaving the matter my sister brought up not discussed today, Your Highness. While it is true that we cannot make any final decisions as per our earlier agreement, it doesn’t mean we cannot talk about it, wouldn’t you agree?”

By how quick it took Chrysalis to nod, Arthas had figured that she had planned on approaching the issue anyway. “Very well; however, before we discuss it, perhaps it would be best if I introduced my advisors to you? Since we already all know your names,” she added, smiling mischievously, “it doesn’t seem fair for us to have such an advantage over you.”

“She doesn’t need to brag that they know more about us than we do them,” Twilight hissed quietly as Celestia replied that she and everypony else would be delighted to know the names of her advisors.

Arthas leaned to her. “Actually, things are going quite civil so far for this kind of meeting.”

As Twilight cast him a dubious glance, Chrysalis nodded at the changeling on her right. “Commander Unscathed, leader of Praetorians, my elite guards,” she said, confirming Arthas’ earlier guess. The Changeling Queen turned to her left. “Spymastar Ghost Step, head of intelligence gatherers. Grand Magistrix Lucid, the Swarm’s top magic user. And lastly Wing Lord Dragon Blood, leader of my warriors.”

Each changeling nodded their head as their queen named them. Arthas, who noticed that some among the ponies were intrigued by some of their names, decided to voice his own interest. “I know from Wind Reaver that changelings chose their name that defines them best upon reaching maturity,” he said, omitting that it was Rainbow Dash who learned about this from him. “How does one get defined by the name Dragon Blood, Wing Lord?”

The changeling to which the question was directed smirked. “Dragonsss often sssstray into our territory,” he said in weird hissing voice. “The Ssswarm warriorsss’ main tasssk isss keeping them away, or killing them if they prove too ssstubborn. My team had encountered ttthree sssuch ssstuborn ones before I’d reached maturity. When reinforcccementsss arrived, they found me bathed in dragon blood… asss well asss my own,” he added, lifting his hoof and running it down his scar. “I figured that the dragonsss owed me my name for damaging my vocal cordsss.”

“You killed dragons?” Spitfire asked him, her tone of voice and raised eyebrow suggesting that she found the story to be unbelievable.

“He can join the club,” Arthas thought in dark amusement.

Dragon Blood seemed amused by her disbelief. “It’sss not ssso hard… provided one knowsss what they’re doing.”

Spitfire frowned, but Princess Celestia spoke up before the pegasus could raise to the bait. “I can understand why you wouldn’t want dragons in your land - wherever it might be - but taking their life seems to be extreme,” she said.

“Our lives are harsher than yours,” Chrysalis replied. “Do you not justify in similar manner the ways of the zebra tribes? That they live in a harsher, more dangerous land? Or the griffons’ way and custom by their natural ferocity?”

“But why would dragons continue to stray into your territory?” Daring asked instead, changing the course of the discussion.

Chrysalis eyes narrowed before she shrugged. “They might be driven there by their instincts. After all, they used to live there before a certain pony drove them out.”

Several jaws on the ponies’ side of the table as they apprehended what this implied. Arthas, who had a lot of experience with encountering unbelieveable things (especially as of late) was the first to recover. “You live in the Dread Wastes. The area once known as the Valley of Life.”

“But that’s impossible!” Daring was quick to exclaim. “The Dread Wastes are inhospitable to any living being, the ground is dead and the air is toxic-”

“Which is precisely what we want the world to think,” Lucid, the Grand Magistrix, cut her off. “While I don’t doubt that, originally, the Dread Wastes were such as you describe them, by the time our kind chose them as their home the air had cleared. Magisters primary job is ensuring that our Hive is safe; and the illusion of toxic air is our first layer of defense.” Even as she explain this to everypony, she was still eyeing the crystal embedded into the table. “This crystal serves to project thoughts and memories, correct?” she asked, prodding it with her hoof.

“Yes, that’s right-” Princess Luna replied, but she was cut off as suddenly a transparent vision appeared in the middle of the table, circling around its own axis.

“I thought so,” said Lucid, who appeared to be more interested in the now glowing crystal rather than the image she had conjured, unlike the ponies.

Arthas, though he had never seen any image of it and was certain he was watching a scaled model of it, realized what it has to be. It was Daring, however, who said it: “That’s the stump of Ashvattha. You’ve made your... Hive in the cave beneath its roots?” she asked, glancing up from the image of the empty, scarred land with remains of the World Tree in the middle.

As Arthas wondered on what scale this image was, his eyes scanning the long roots coming off the dead World Tree, and the remains of its trunk, which most of the higher part got destroyed, either by fire or time, Chrysalis answered: “The term ‘caverns’ would be more accurate. Beneath Ashvattha’s roots laid a real maze even before we started to build our home there.”

“How long ago that was, if I might ask?” Celestia asked. “We have no record of changelings’ presence before my and Luna’s reign.”

“That’s not surprising,” Chrysalis replied as Lucid had finally taken her hoof off the crystal, causing the image to disappear. “As far as I am able to tell, we changelings came into being sometime within that century, and we found our home a little before you defeated Discord. I’m sorry I cannot give you a precise date,” she continued, ignoring the confused and thoughtful gazes she was receiving, “my mind at the time was probably less advanced as that of a drone after it first molted.”

“You lived at the time?” Angelic exclaimed, sounding excited. “Are all changelings so long-lived, or is it just-”

“Tomorrow, Doctor,” Celestia cut her off, causing the Royal Physician to frown. “She raised a good point, though; are we to understand that you are over thousand years old?”

“Yes, that’s what I meant,” Chrysalis replied, appearing to be slightly amused by Angelic Touch’s enthusiasm. “I am the oldest living changeling, and I’ve been their queen since the dawn of our species… though, as I said before, I don’t remember much from that time.” For the first time, she looked genuinely troubled. “As you will learn tomorrow from my daughter, when we are born, our minds are primitive, and it takes time for them to mature into a state of consciousness and awareness sentient beings possess.”

Arthas noticed that Doctor Angelic was making notes of what Queen Chrysalis just said.

“I believe the same process applied when we first came to be… however it might have happened,” Chrysalis finished.

“So you had no idea where you came from?” Celestia asked.

“No. I and my subjects had long since concluded that focusing on our origin was pointless. Although, some clues as to where we came from had come to our attention recently,” she added, her eyes locking with Arthas briefly, “which is a matter I hoped we could elaborate later.”

Arthas winced inwardly. Assuming Chrysalis had shared with her closest advisors what he told Nymph (which he was certain she had), there were still three (probably) ponies in this chamber that did not know he came from another world. Arthas wasn’t exactly too keen on explaining the story again.

“For now, though,” Chrysalis continued, putting her forelegs on the table and joining her forehooves beneath her chin, “I believe you had asked about our ‘diet’. As all of you know, we changelings feed on love. Love is our only source of nutrition, as well as source of our power. Our entire kind’s existence depends on it.”

Angelic seemed as if she wanted to inquire about what the Changeling Queen had just said, but only a look from Princess Celestia silenced her.

“Due to the incident from several months back,” Chrysalis carried on, clearly carefully picking her words “you ponies might have been under wrong assumption that when we feed on a pony’s love, it’s harmful to him or her.”

Shining Armor snorted, probably offended by the word “wrong”.

“However, the condition Prince Shining Armor here was in had been caused by prolonged draining of love,” the Changeling Queen said. “I admit, it was an intended action on my part. As more and more love is drained from a pony, he enters and apathetic state, causing a severe decrease in mental capacity as well as magical prowess, which was my goal. It was a strategic move.”

Beside Arthas, Twilight was grinding her teeth. She must have been angered by Chrysalis talking so casually about what she had done to her brother. “Calm down,” Arthas whispered, leaning to her ear. “Shining Armor and Cadance remember those events more vividly than you, and they’ve given this idea their support.”

“Doesn’t mean I cannot be angry,” Twilight whispered back, although she relaxed somewhat.

While they conversed in hushed voices, Chrysalis was bringing her explanation to a close: “Normally, a changeling would never feed on a pony to such degree. The amount we drain from them doesn’t harm them, but it’s more than enough to sustain us.”

“If that’s true, then perhaps coexisting would be much more easy to bring about than I had anticipated,” Princess Celestia mused. “But I am worried as to how you have ‘fed’ on ponies until now.”

“I assure you, Princess, not a single pony had been harmed by my changelings for the past thousand years… recent event aside,” she quickly amended. “My subjects are also instructed to ensure that their actions won’t endanger relationships of ponies; if ponies started getting divorces or breaking up, it would cause too much attention. As for how we feed… it depends on the scenario. We have teams assigned to specific towns, and they are coordinated by their leader. One changeling takes the shape of somepony’s spouse and bumps into them during their lunch break while their partner goes to the other spouse and acts similarly. Another two separate the two ponies before or during the date, and if necessary modifies their memories a little… Those are basic scenarios. Also, about a third of mares employed in Equestria’s brothels are changelings.” She paused and mused in silence, while several ponies looked at her with mixed emotions of shock and repulsion. “I think I actually own one…”

Celestia sighed and massaged her temple. “Well, that’s a topic I hadn’t expected to hear… again…”

“When have you discussed brothels?” Luna asked, turning to her sister in surprise.

“About four hundred years ago one ‘moral activist’ wished for me to force a law to close all such establishments,” Celestia replied, sounding slightly uncomfortable. “As much as I personally do not approve of such practices, I had no legal basis to do so. Both selling and mating are legal, but trying to explain that to that mare…” she trailed off and shook her head, while Luna snickered. “I don’t suppose it would be possible for your Swarm to survive on by those means alone?” Celestia asked Chrysalis.

“Not unless you would have allowed to multiply the number of such establishments by ten,” Chrysalis replied, and Arthas realized that she must have done those calculations prior to coming here.

“Oh, well, it’s probably for the best,” Celestia said, shrugging. “It wouldn’t be good if the relationship between ponies and changelings was built on making your entire kind into hookers.”

“To be honest, I don’t see any reason why we should change status quo,” Chrysalis continued. “If you would remove your scrying and protection spells from your cities and let my subjects gather love in peace-”

“Steal love,” the white alicorn corrected her, frowning.

“They are not being harmed,” Chrysalis said, her eyes narrowing.

“Even so, you cannot expect me to allow you to lie to my subjects and use them.”

“Then what do you propose, Your Highness?”

It was Luna who replied instead: “What if you would pay for love?”

Every changeling looked at her with wide eyes. Arthas was no less surprised than them, although he was mostly shocked that such an option hadn’t came out earlier. “Basic rule of a trade, you want something you have to pay for it.”

Chrysalis was quick to recover. “Oh, yes, that sounds reasonable,” she said mockingly. “Anyling knows the current exchange rate of love into bits?”

As Ghost Step and Dragon Blood chuckled (or hissed in case of the Wing Lord), Luna replied calmly: “I’m sure we would be able to put a price on amount of love you drain from a pony.”

“And how would you expect us to pay? What little resources there were left in Dread Wastes, we had long since used on building the Hive...” Chrysalis trailed off and mused. “Though I suppose we could sell you all those dragon skeletons-”

“Dragon skeletons!?!” Angelic exclaimed, her eyes wide with excitement.

“- and the other huge animals that lay all around our front yard,” Chrysalis said with mild disgust, ignoring the doctor. “We’ve incorporated some into our structures and defense mechanisms, but that still left hundreds-”

“You used their remains in your buildings!?” Twilight exclaimed, disgusted.

Ghost Step made a motion as if he rolled his eyes. “Zebras do the same in their land with sacrificed animals, or even remains of their ancestors. How are we worse for using the bones of creatures that were dead longer than our kind probably existed?”

“And what you do with the remains of the dragons you kill?”

“We bury them,” Dragon Blood replied, shrugging. “The lassst ttthing Dread Wassstesss needsss isss a carrion-feedersss infessstation.”

“How exactly are they used the in your ‘defense mechanisms’?” Cyclone Strike asked intrigued.

Arthas was also curious by that. The first thought that came to his mind after hearing that was necromancy, but he could think of some more uses of dragon bones, and he didn’t want to assume the worst.

Lucid turned her large, almost non-blinking eyes to the Captain of the Guard. “You don’t think we’re going to reveal more about our defenses at this point, don’t you?”

Cyclone Strike frowned, but at the same time Princess Celestia spoke, gaining everybody’s attention. “I think it would be possible for us to buy several skeletons for academic purposes,” she said. Angelic looked as if Heartwarming Eve came early this year. “As for those we would not buy, assuming you won’t bury them, I think it would be best if you would try to sell most of them to the zebra tribes, as they use them in some of their rituals.”

“Zebras despise us even more than ponies do,” Chrysalis pointed out.

“I’m sure I would be able to arrange meeting for you with the Dowunai Tribe chieftain, if you would wish to make a trading agreement with them. In fact, Luna and I planned on organizing a Royal Summit sometime in the future,” Celestia added. “It would seem proper for the Changeling Swarm to join worldwide politics, seeing how you are coming out of the shadows.”

Chrysalis smirked. “Perhaps. But before we talk about that, let’s wrap up this issue. Now, assuming we would agree on this ‘buying love’ idea, how do you propose we should go about that? Last time I checked, ponies didn’t have the ability to siphon love.”

“Perhaps we could open some sort of embassy?” Raven spoke up. She glanced at Celestia and continued: “Ponies who would need bits could come, spend some time with a changeling-”

“Are we back to the brothel idea?” Chrysalis asked, raising an eyebrow. “Because it sure sounds like a brothel idea to me.”

“You don’t need to be intimate with them,” Raven retorted. “Couldn’t you… I don’t know, take shapes of passed away family members and friends?”

“That’s an idea. Unfortunately, such bittersweet love has a terrible aftertaste,” Chrysalis said, cringing.

Several ponies facehooved hearing the comment. “How does-” Angelic started, but Celestia once again silenced her.

Several similar ideas were thrown following this, though all had one or another flaw. As this most bizarre trading agreement Arthas had ever been witness to unfolded, he noticed that more and more participants were starting to get bored. Spitfire laid her head on her forehoof and looked as if she was about to doze off, Daring was playing with her hat, Angelic (still pouting after the last reprimand she received) was scratching something on her notes, Dragon Blood crossed his forelegs on the table and laid his head on them, and Lucid’s eyes were on the ceiling. Also, Arthas was willing to bet that Cyclone Strike and Unscathed (and Shining Armor as well, probably) managed to remain as if if they were listening intensively due to them being experienced guards. Aside from Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Raven and Chrysalis, who remained active through this discussion, only Nightshade, Ghost Step, Twilight and Arthas himself continued to listen attentively.

Finally, that part of the meeting was brought to a close by Cadance. “I believe further discussion on the subject is pointless at this moment, especially since this was supposed to be just preliminaries. We have other matters we need to focus on, after all.”

The other three monarchs nodded. “You are right, Cadance. At this point, far more concerning should be the reactions of our subjects and the world to this treaty. Cadance, perhaps you can start?”

“Very well, Aunt Celestia,” Cadance replied with respect, smiling. “I believe the crystal ponies will be very acceptive of changelings. The Crystal Empire’s banishment works in our favor on this matter; as they’ve been gone for the past thousand years, they’ve never grown to fear or hate you. When Nymph was seen walking together with Knight Serenity through the empire not so long ago, it didn’t cause panic. They were almost indifferent to her. In fact, I think Knight Serenity had drawn more eyes than Nymph.”

“That’s good to hear,” Celestia said. In the next second her face became troubled. “I wish I were able to say the same for Equestria. Many ponies viewed changelings very negatively even before Canterlot Invasion.”

“Since then, those who were at Canterlot at that day often had bad dreams about you,” Luna added. “The frequency of such nightmares has lessened over the last few months, but after today, I fear there will be many more.”

“And there are the nobles,” Celestia continued. “Even though they’ve long since lost the privileges they had during the times before Equestria was founded, they are still the richest group of ponies and can be influential if they want to. And they can keep grudges,” she added, glancing at Chrysalis. “A lot of their mansions got destroyed during your invasion, and even though they were able to easily afford the repairs, they’ve made things difficult for me and Luna. It took us quite a while to convince the highest officials to agree to the idea with the nobles meddling-”

“Speaking of, Your Majesty,” Captain Cyclone Strike interrupted her. Celestia nodded at him to continue; “won’t the nobles be offended that their representative hasn’t been invited for these talks?”

“Oh, definitely,” Celestia replied nonchalantly. “But considering how much we have to discuss and how much constant interruptions would have slowed us down, we’ve decided that a little more trouble from them will be worth it.”

“How much trouble do you think they can cause?” Chrysalis asked.

“At worst? They’ll hire instigators to speak against the alliance with you, maybe proclaim me senile and try to dethrone me and Luna.” Her carefree voice betrayed that she found such scenario to be highly unrealistic. “Though I really doubt that. Despite their arrogance, they aren’t that stupid to try anything such dramatic.”

The Changeling Queen hummed. “Still, I would hate if there were any problems from those buffoons… When you are able to sense the emotions of others, you grow to really dislike ponies such as them,” she added unexpectedly. “Self-obsessed, arrogant… the only love most of them can feel is for oneself. They disgust us. Which is why several of my subjects damaged those mansions of theirs.” She glanced at the Wing Lord as she said that.

“Not all nobles are like that,” Celestia retorted, but Chrysalis shrugged.

“I said most.” She tapped the table with her hoof, pondering something. “If they are going to go out of their way, perhaps it would be best if I were to… talk with several of their representatives?”

Celestia and Luna exchanged glances. “What sort of ‘talk’ do you have in mind?” Luna asked.

Arthas felt he shouldn’t like the grin on Chrysalis face. And he wouldn’t, if they had been talking about any other group of the populace. “I just want to let them know what kind of consequences there could be if they ever try to pull out anything similar to what that nephew of yours tried. In short - if they’ll play dirty, we’ll play dirty.”

When the last word left her mouth, green flames danced around her as she transformed into… Prince Blueblood.

Her demonstration was met with silence, as everypony tried to imagine what kind of possibilities laid behind her suggestion.

“He doesn’t have such a sinister smile,” Nightshade commented after a second.

Celestia, on the other hoof, sighed. “Queen Chrysalis, we cannot resolve to such underhoofed tactics, especially not when we are trying to mend our relations after a good thousand years.”

“I suppose that’s true,” Chrysalis said, reverting to her true shape. “But if that insolent whelp tries to harm my daughter yet again, I will not guarantee anything.”

“But perhaps,” Ghost Step spoke up, “we could help with the issue in some other way? We know plenty of the nobles’ secrets. For example, did you know that Lord Clean Gem has three bastards?”

Eyes of several ponies, including the three princesses’, shot wide. Celestia, however, had quickly frowned. “That’s scandalous, assuming it’s true, but I don’t see-”

“He’s also involved with illegal trade, and in his castle near Hollow Shades he keeps two zebra mares that I am fairly certain are his slaves.”

This time everypony, including Arthas, stared at the changeling with their jaws dropped. In the next heartbeat there was a quiet puff sound, and the bat pony had disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

“Is that true?” Celestia asked, visibly straining herself to remain calm. When Ghost Step nodded, she started. “Then why-”

“Until this morning, we were officially enemies,” Chrysalis replied. “There was no reason for us to intervene. Also, this is information that we’ve come upon only recently, during our search for our missing changeling.”

Celestia closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. “How many more are there like Lord Gem?”

“He happens to be the only one to own anypony,” Ghost Step replied. “If you wish, Your Highness, I can make a list of each noble who broke equestrian law.”

“We would be most grateful,” Luna told him, and, at the same time, Nightshade returned.

“I’ve ordered Officer Vendetta to gather a team and quickly fly for Hollow Shade,” he said, getting back to his seat. Nightshade glanced at Ghost Step; “If Spymaster here is speaking truth, we will know that in several hours.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Luna said. “For now, lets consider the case closed, and return to our original topic. Queen Chrysalis, you have yet to tell us: what do your people think?”

Chrysalis straightened a bit. “My subjects are unquestionably loyal to me. Even though there are many among them who consider it to be a bad idea, they’ll obey my orders. I cannot, of course, guarantee that they will start dancing, singing and hugging ponies, but I’ll make sure that until there’s more trust between our races, they won’t wander into Equestria.”

“That’s reassuring, to some degree,” Celestia said. She was now in a better mood than she was a minute ago. However, Arthas noticed her eyes narrowed as she touched the crystal in front of her. “Now we have to discuss what other nations will think of this.”

An image of the world of Equestria appeared above the table. Arthas looked in marvel at the globe as it turned around, displaying all its lands. The continent on which they were (also named Equestria; he wondered sometimes how come nobody on this world ever thought to name their continents or the world before ponies practically became its dominating species) was larger of the “two”. It started on the roof of the world, which was now covered in ice thanks to the windigo, and where once the Three Tribes of Ponies lived, as well as griffon’s Snowfeather Tribe. Then, south of it, were the Crystal Empire and Equestria. Further down the continent stretched out; on the west, beside the West Sea, laid huge San Palomino Desert. On the east, beside East Sea, Hayseed Swamps stretched out. Between the two, in the center, laid Macintosh Hills, high enough to be covered in snow, except for a big crater the Badlands created during the Sundering of Griffonia. South of the Badlands, surrounded by Macintosh Hills, were the Dread Wastes.

Below San Palomino Desert were the Eyrie Mountains, a long, crescent-shaped range of very tall mountains, possibly (Arthas hadn’t remembered precise numbers) the tallest in this world. They slowly declined the more they went east, and ended with Barren Highlands. From the south, almost in between two ends of the Eyrie Mountains was another desert, the Scorpid Desert, much smaller in size than San Palomino’s.

This was the home of the Dowunai Tribe, the only Zebra Tribe that had diplomatic relationship with Equestria, as well as the rest of the world. The mountains, the highlands, the desert. “A harsh land for harsh people,” Arthas thought, his eyes briefly stopping on the area before moving on.

South of the mountains and the desert, surrounded from both the west as well as south, was Savage Jungle. It ended on the east, the land transforming into a large barren land called the Great Savannah. Further up north of it, another mountain range started to grow between it and the sea, called the Outcasts Mountains, much shorter than the Eyrie Mountains. The Great Savannah continued further up north, until it met with shadowy and leafy Mirkwood Forest. Despite its seemingly dark nature (which some attributed it to the Dread Wastes, as they were on its northern border), inside the forest was the largest lake on Equestria (unless one actually counted Friedrich’s Fall Lake as a lake), called Sun’s Basin. The Outcasts Mountains also bordered with the forest, before they turned right on their north end, as the forest and mountains met with Hayseed Swamps around the Dragon Crater.

However, Arthas’s eyes focused not on the forest or jungle, neither captivating at the moment was the savannah or even the lake or the Dragon Crater. No, his attention was drawn to a small lonely nipple that laid on the “crossroads” between Barren Highlands, Savage Jungle, Mirkwood Forest and the Great Savannah. The Oloora Mountain, a rotund beacon of the land, housing the Great Spirits’ Temple of Oloora. The most spiritual and sacred place for all five zebra tribes.

“The Temple dedicated to all six Great Spirits, five of which became patrons to each zebra tribe,” Arthas mused, fascinated.

West of the continent, not far from its southern shores, was a Forgotten Island. It was called such, because, as they said, “time forgot about it”. On this huge island, covered by jungle, walked animals which had long since been extinct on the mainland. “Who happen to resemble azerothian dinosaurs a lot,” Arthas sighed inwardly. They were even called the same!

The image of the planet, like the image of the Ashvattha remains before it, was turning around, letting Arthas see what was on its other side.

He recalled how, after looking at several equestrian maps, he began to wonder how the cartographers from two thousand years ago could have considered Griffonia to be a separate continent. Though the roof of the world was now covered in ice, Arthas knew that the two huge land masses had been and still were connected. The only difference was that there were no longer two huge land masses. The Sundering of Griffonia shattered the continent, breaking it apart for smaller parts. The only part big enough to be considered a continent, the land of Minotauria, that made about half of the original land mass’ size, was far down south, but somehow all those lands together were still called Griffonia.

The northern half (or rather, its remains) was populated by griffons and ponies. The Kingdom of Griffonia consisted of (aside from their dominion in southern Equestria) three big islands, three fifths of their original kingdom. Icecliff, northernmost (which wasn’t exactly an island, as it still was connected to Equestria), Lionclaw (aptly named, as the isle’s shape resembled a claw), eastmost, and largest Refuge Rock, on the west. Ponies lived on the fourth island south of Lionclaw, named Cockneigh, on the land that was taken from griffons after the Equestrian-Griffonian War.

The fifth of the land from two thousand years ago laid on the bottom of the sea.

In between the island was the Friedrich’s Fall Lake. In truth, it wasn’t a real lake, as it was connected to both the West and East Sea. It was a name the griffons gave to the land where New Griffenburg once was, and where their first king had perished.

There were several smaller islands around what was left of the northern part of the continent. However, there was one that, in the time before the Sundering, lay almost exactly in between Griffonia and Equestria. After it, though, it moved a bit closer to Equestria. A small island now called the Dread Isle.

While he looked upon those lands, Arthas couldn’t help but think about the cataclysm that had ripped them apart. In his ears, echoes of Daring Do’s words rumbled. It seemed even more ludicrous now as he beheld what was was left of Griffonia. A single pony wasn’t capable of causing such destruction.

More in effort to escape those thoughts than curiosity, he led his eyes down to Minotauria. It was a land even harsher than the lands on which the zebra lived. What it lacked in humongous beasts and hardscrabble land, it made up for twice in volcanos. The Minotaur Khanate was practically studded with them. It was no small wonder that the minotaurs worshiped fire; there was nearly more of it on their land than there was ground.

Further down south, and the very bottom of this world, was a white mass of ice and snow. Arthas knew that to be the fallen griffin civilization from before three thousand years ago, though little more than that.

He spared those observations of his merely several seconds. He had already seen plenty of globes and maps before. Arthas was far more interested in what Celestia had to say now. He turned to her, trying to see if he could predict each of the other nation’s attitude. Being once a Crown Prince, he knew the importance of knowing your neighbor rulers well. Celestia knew each of them practically all their lives, and Arthas was certain her predictions would be very accurate. His guesses were supported by nothing more than what he read in the latest history books and newspapers.

Celestia opened her mouth to speak… but then closed it. “Actually,” she said, as if in afterthought, turning towards Arthas’ part of the table, “I think this would be a nice opportunity to see how well my student remembers her lessons about geography and civics. Twilight, can you?”

Twilight looked startled as Celestia asked her that question. “Um, yes, of course, Your Majesty,” she quickly replied.

Arthas smiled as whatever sign of nervousness left Twilight. When she reached with her hoof for the crystal, all he saw in her was eagerness to show how much she knew.

The image flickered when Celestia let go of her crystal, letting Twilight control of the projection. The unicorn cleared her throat quietly and spoke up: “Let’s start with the closest - after Crystal Empire, of course - nation to Equestria.”

On the giant globe, almost the entire region of San Palomino Desert started to glow.

“Saddle Arabia, the land of horses,” Twilight said. “Its current ruler is Sultan Akhal the Fourth.”

The image of the world flickered and disappeared, replaced by another. In the middle of the table was a projection of an obese horse. He was much bigger than ponies, like all horses, though he was still shorter in height than Celestia. Akhal was clad in loose white robes, and what was visible of his coat was yellow like a desert’s sand. His mane was hidden behind a turban that was adorned with diamonds.

“I don’t think there’s much we have to fear from Saddle Arabia,” Celestia started. “Horses were always ignoring of the rest of the world. As long as nothing changes in their trade agreements, Akhal will probably not even react to another nation appearing on the political scene.”

“Are you certain, Your Majesty?” Cyclone Strike asked. “Horses have a tendency to… think poorly of mares. Won’t Sultan Akhal be concerned about a nation ruled by a queen?”

His words caused Luna to giggle softly. “Captain, you’ve just said it yourself that they think less of females. Why would he get concerned? Even if he should,” she added, nodding to Chrysalis.

The Changeling Queen, pleased with her comment, smiled. “I agree that Saddle Arabia will be the least of our problems,” she said, her eyes traveling to the image of Sultan Akhal. “Although I don’t think I will like very much to have a conversation with the likes of the sultan, I would take his insults over real threats.”

Several others voiced their own opinions, but Arthas listened to them with one ear. He wished now that he had accompanied Celestia to Saddle Arabia, so that he could have made up his own opinion about Akhal rather than relying on those of others or what he could read about him. From what he could tell, Akhal was a strong follower of his country’s traditions, and yet when conversing with Celestia or some other female representatives from other nations, he behaved quite respectfully.

“Unlike his guards,” Arthas thought, recalling Guard’s and Tucker’s argument with them.

He also knew that Akhal has nine wives, four sons and seven daughters. Arthas couldn’t imagine having such a weird family life.

Beside him, what little arguments there were started to subside. “Depending on the Saddle Arabia’s reaction, I might consider offering him some gifts in a gesture of goodwill,” Chrysalis said. “As rich as the sultans of Saddle Arabia are, they’ve never seen what a changeling can offer to a friend.”

Though Arthas wondered what she could possibly offer to Sultan Akhan (probably something as intriguing as Nymph’s gift to Rarity), he had to admit that she was right about sultans being rich. Thought they lived on desert, and aside from Hippocrene Delta and several oasis they couldn’t produce much food, they had a lot of gold mines and diamond mines. They’ve also had oil, which they traded to griffons for a high price to serve as fuel up their airships. Such exchanges had made Saddle Arabia the richest nation on Equestria.

“That would probably be the best course of action,” Celestia agreed to Chrysalis comment. “Let’s go to our next neighbor.”

She nodded at Twilight, who quickly brought back the image of the world. This time, another region was highlighted, except it wasn’t anywhere on the land.

“Aquastria,” Twilight said as a big part of the West Sea glowed brightly on the globe. “underwater kingdom of sea ponies. Currently ruled by King Ocean Tide.”

Again the projection faltered as Twilight focused on the image of Ocean Tide. Arthas, who knew she had learned about all the foreign rulers from her books, was curious just how true to reality those images were going to be. He then realized that this was Twilight, and had to suppress an urge to facehoof.

King Ocean Tide was definitely a much different sea pony that those he had met so far (meaning Ripple). The king was surprisingly broad shouldered, which was in high contrast to Ripple’s slender body, making Arthas wonder if that was a common difference between male and female sea ponies. His scales ranged in colored from blue to green, the colors of the sea. A shock of red mane circled his head, from which two dragon-like horns spurred. On that head rested a crown, embedded with pearls and ornamented in images of shells. However, what drawed Arthas’ attention the most was the king’s face; rather than ponies, it resembled to him more that of a sea lion.

“Sea ponies are one of the friendliest people on Equestria,” Celestia said. “Of all the nations, Aquastria is sure to cause least problems. That is, none at all. Furthermore, King Ocean Tide, despite his name and fierce appearance, is known for his magnanimity. I’m sure he will see wisdom in our negotiations.”

“Also, the sea ponies are too thrilled about the underwater tunnel you are drilling for them across Equestria to have any objections against your decisions,” Ghost Step said, smirking.

“I suppose that’s also a factor,” Princess Luna, who, as Arthas knew, was responsible for finalizing the negotiations on that project between interested parties, replied.

Celestia gave Twilight a sign to go on. As she did so, Arthas noticed that everybody tensed a bit. The next closest neighbor wasn’t going to be as easy to please or as friendly.

“Dowunai Tribe, one of the five zebra tribes,” Twilight said as on the projection of the globe flashed the Eyrie Mountains, Barren Highlands and Scorpid Desert. “Its chieftain is Farseer P'aqo, who’s also the tribe’s Elder Shaman.”

Just like Ocean Tide before him had intrigued Arthas, so now had P’aqo. The zebra shaman was in the autumn of life; wrinkles covered his face more densely than stripes. He was clad in simple brown robes, wore saddlebags and a necklace very similar to the one that Arthas received from Zecora and was currently placed around his own neck. Around each of his hooves were beads, made from bones, rocks and other materials on which mystic symbols were engraved, along with a miniature totem. His mane’s black stripes had long since lost their color, becoming as gray as the other half of it.

His eyes were clouded as if by a mist.

“Farseer P’aqo is wise, and as a shaman, he should understand the value of peaceful coexistence,” Celestia started carefully.

“Or, as a shaman, he will consider us as an unnatural creatures that should be removed from this world,” Chrysalis countered.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” Cadance replied, rolling her eyes. “Feeding on love is a bit bizarre, but saying that such a wise shaman would call you unnatural is paranoid.”

“So you say, Princess,” Chrysalis retorted, annoyed. “And yet that is what the zebras have been calling us for over thousand years.”

“Which is why it’s about time to start changing that,” Celestia said calmly. “During yesterday’s incident in Ponyville, hadn’t the zebra Zahara been quick to apologize once it had been explained to her why Nymph and Wind Reaver were there? It would seem that zebras aren’t incapable of changing their views,” she added as Chrysalis’ expression faltered.

“Perhaps some zebras are,” Luna said cautiously, “but we cannot be sure all of them will think such. Zahara is the older sister of Zecora, who is known in Ponyville for her wisdom, is she not?” she asked, glancing at Twilight and Arthas, who quickly nodded. “She is bound to be wise herself. Farseer P’aqo would probably support the idea of coexistence, true, but we cannot be sure how his people would react. Even if he is their chieftain, he has to listen to their worries.”

“That is true,” Celestia said, her eyes slightly narrowed. “However… the patron of Dowunai Tribe is Marahute the Eagle Mother, who loves all winged beings. I might be wrong,” she said, glancing at the changelings, “but considering that you are also creatures of the skies, she might look upon you with sympathetic eyes. If that is so, her prophet will convey to the tribe that she wishes to give you a chance.”

“I would have preferred to not have the future of my kind depend on a whim of a demigod, but I suppose you have a point, Your Highness,” Chrysalis sighed. “I’ll best start thinking about sending envoys with offerings to her.”

Seeing that the issue was almost resolved, Arthas dared to ask: “It is uncommon for a zebra to be both chieftain and a shaman, is it not?”

Having once merged with a shaman, he understood that following both paths, one dedicated to his people and other to the world as a whole, wasn’t easy. Such was the reason why Thrall, the former warchief of the Horde, had to leave behind his title and duty to the his people, so that he could be free to help Azeroth.

“You speak truly, Sir Lightbringer,” Celestia replied. “During the last thousand years, there were only two other such leaders of the Dowunai Tribe. It is not easy following two paths at the same time; one of those two had to resign from his title as chieftain to go work with other zebra shaman during Great Draught six hundred years ago. It speaks volumes of how much respect P’aqo deserves for maintaining both sets of duties for so long.”

“He seems to be nearing the end of his life,” said a voice that Arthas hadn’t yet heard speak there today. He turned to look at Unscathed, Commander of Praetorians. “Maybe we should discuss his successor's possible attitude?” He had a strange voice; it was hoarse, much unlike that of the other changelings.

Before anybody could reply, a lengthy hissing chuckle sounded in the chamber. “Sssaid the changeling who doesssn’t want to dissscusss hisss own retirment,” smirked Dragon Blood.

Unscathed didn’t even look at him as he replied: “Last changeling who challenged me ended up collecting his chitin across Dread Wastes.”

There was a hint of a threat in his voice. Dragon Blood must have sensed that as well but thought little of it, because he snorted and said: “When wassss that? Fifty ye-”

“Enough,” said Chrysalis quietly, and the Swarm’s Wing Lord immediately ceased. “My apologies for that scene,” she added to the rest.

“No need, You Majesty,” Luna replied.

“The Commander of my Praetorians raised a good point,” the Changeling Queen continued. “We should perhaps talk a little about P’aqo’s successor. It’s his grandson, correct?”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, his name is Tsume.”

As the white alicorn touched the gem in front of her, intending to show everybody this zebra, Arthas watched Unscathed closely. Apparently, he was old for a changeling other than Chrysalis, or at least according to Dragon Blood. However, Arthas could not see any physical marks of advanced ago on him. Only his voice seemed to indicate that he was old. Were all changelings like that?

“Nerubians also showed no visible signs of aging,” Arthas mused, turning to the image.

Tsume was a muscular, but lean zebra, clearly in the prime of his life. It took one look at him to see that he hadn’t followed in his grandfather’s hoofsteps to become a shaman; he was a warrior. He wore leather armor underneath a cloak of wolf’s fur by the looks of it. On his forelegs were braces with exserted blades.

Arthas frowned. Young warriors had a tendency to be hotheads. It could spell trouble.

“I know little of Tsume,” Celestia started. “His parents had died in an avalanche twelve years ago, and since then he had been raised by Farseer P’aqo. Though he is young, I hope his grandfather’s wisdom seeped through to him.”

“However, according to Night Guard report, he was involved with some argument with horses over their shared border very recently,” Luna said, glancing at Nightshade. “We don’t have details of the incident, but it can mean that Tsune isn’t fond of other races.”

“Your Majesty, almost nobody is fond of those horses,” Cyclone Strike said, causing several ponies and changelings to chuckle. “In all seriousness, for all we know, the incident could have been caused by Saddle Arabia.”

“My contacts in Neighyadh haven’t been able to find out anything about it so far,” Nightshade added. “It would seem that the local emir is trying to keep this matter under wraps.”

“We also know nothing regarding this issue,” Ghost Step said. Then, as if trying to explain himself, he added: “We tend to stay away from zebras’ lands, and most of my changelings’ attention had been directed into search of our missing one as of late.”

“It would appear we don’t know enough about Tsune to predict how he might act if he were to became chieftain. Luckily, the last time I saw P’aqo, he was in health belying his age. Let’s move on, shall we?” she asked, looking around if anybody had anything against it. When everypony nodded, she looked at Twilight. “Since the other four tribes of the zebra do not engage in worldwide politics in any way, I think we can skip them.”

Twilight nodded and quickly took control of the magic projection. “The Minotaur Khanate,” she said as once again an image of the world of Equestria appeared, with glowing subcontinent Minotauria. “And it’s current leader, Khan Steel Rage.”

The image flickered, changing into that of a minotaur leader. Arthas looked up… and up…

“What scale is this?” he asked, shocked.

“One to one,” Twilight replied, sounding amused by his reaction.

“Lovely,” Arthas commented, cracking his neck to better see the head of Steel Rage.

He knew from books that minotaurs’ average height was around seven feet tall, making them slightly smaller in height than Azeroth’s tauren, who themselves were eight feet tall (the males were; a female’s average height was around six and a half).

This behemoth in front of him was well over ten feet tall.

Steel Rage wasn’t just tall, he was overall huge. He was easily the biggest mountain of muscles Arthas had ever seen. The Khan of Minotaurs wore only metal-chained pants, leaving his powerful chest, shoulder and arms in full view of the world. Symbolic lines, both painting on his dark brown coat and tattoos on the skin underneath emphasized the primal strength he radiated. The end of his fur in several places started to grow gray with age, especially around his face. However, his massive wide horns and iron nose ring drew attention away from them.

“Minotaurs are terrifying when angered,” Celestia spoke up, “and from what I heard, none can compare to Khan Steel Rage’s fury. However, he’s an honorable ruler, and since he assumed the position of the khan over thirty years ago, he had never caused any international incidents. Also, he, along with his people, still remember the help they received from Queen Platinum that let them form their nation, and there have been strong friendships between us ever since. Which leads me to believe that he would also support the Swarm joining our world’s political scene. Although,” she added, glancing at Chrysalis, “he doesn’t appreciate others making snarky comments to him, or sarcasm in general.”

“I’ll ignore the ‘I’m offended you’re looking at me while saying that part’ phase and move on,” Chrysalis said in a bit cold tone. She looked at the image of the Khan before she turned back to Celestia. “I also think that our plans have nothing to fear from the minotaurs. After all, they are passionate like the fire they worship. They would get along very well with us.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s not that kind of passionate,” Arthas thought, but kept that to himself.

Once again, after everybody murmured their agreement, Celestia nodded to Twilight. The unicorn cleared her throat as she summoned back the globe. “And lastly-”

“‘Lastly’?” Daring Do interrupted her, raising an eyebrow in mild surprise. “We’re not going to talk about attitudes of the buffaloes or the diamond dogs?”

“Why would we?” Spitfire asked.

Arthas thought that among them, she appeared to be the one most tired with these discussions. Not that he expected her to voice it; she gave away an impression of a mare that was adamant about seeing her duties through.

“Neither of them had a country the last time I checked,” the fiery pegasus added.

“True, but it doesn’t change the fact that there are nomad buffaloes tribes traveling between south Equestria and zebras’ lands,” Daring replied. “Or that there are several packs of diamond dogs living underneath our own hooves.”

“You are right, Doctor Do,” Celestia spoke calmly. “However, neither of those two races partake in worldwide politics.”

“Not to mention that diamond dogs are too dumb to even spell politics,” Cyclone Strike snorted.

Daring scowled hearing that. “If you had been on my lecture the other day, Captain,” she said, relaxing, though her eyes were still narrowed on the other pegasus; “you might have heard that during my expedition to the Frozen North we’ve discovered evidence of earth ponies having regular trades with a civilized city of diamond dogs not too long before our ancestors left those lands.”

“Really?!” Twilight exclaimed, her eyes huge. “Ugh, I cannot believe I missed that!”

Though Cyclone Strike, like several others, at first had looked at Twilight with mixed surprise and amusement, he then quickly turned to regard Daring. “I actually heard about that part sometime after your lecture. That, and the one about those documents mentioning about a diamond dog with two heads that could use magic.” He snorted. “Forgive me for doubting such reliable evidence-”

His sarcastic comment was quickly drowned out by another exclamation. “Really?!” Lucid shouted, her huge eyes even bigger. “A two-headed diamond dog? Able to use magic? That’s so fascinating! Oh, I knew I should have sneaked in on your lecture!” she added with pretense, muttering something under her breath.

Arthas frowned as Daring assured the Grand Magistrix that she could give her a copy of her report on that subject later on if she wanted, lost in thoughts. He recalled Serenity mentioning to him long ago about the Diamond Empire’s collapse three thousand years ago. Could this be with whom the earth ponies once traded with? He also wasn’t sure what to think about that supposed ‘two-headed diamond dog’ part.

He was pulled back from his musing by Twilight. “I cannot believe that Daring Do found some evidence of a civilized city of diamond dogs,” she whispered into his ear. “I still find it hard to believe that there was supposedly once an entire empire of them. The ones my friends and I had met hardly seemed smart enough to run an empire.”

“Don’t be so sure;” Arthas replied in a hushed voice; “you should never underestimate anybody. I recall hearing that back on Azeroth the Kingdom of Stormwind had huge problems with one gnoll, and those creatures aren’t too different from diamond dogs.”

“The entire kingdom had trouble from one of those gnolls,” Twilight repeated, deadpanning.

Arthas was spared the need to explain the matter further by Celestia speaking up. “If we can turn our attention back to this meeting’s purpose; Twilight?”

“Oh right, Princess,” the unicorn mare quickly replied, returning to her task. “Like I said before, lastly: the Kingdom of Griffonia.” The image of the world appeared, this time with three big islands that remained from the northern Griffonia, as well as the Outcasts Mountains, glowing, only to be replaced in the next few seconds as Twilight said: “Currently ruled by King Robert Snowfeather.”

King Robert was a powerfully built griffon. He wasn’t nearly as imposing as Khan Steel Rage was, that’s for sure, but he made up what he lacked in muscles in comparison to the minotaur with large talons, powerful wings, a strong beak, mane-like feathers around his head and neck and a fierce glare that his image was giving everybody with King’s eagle eyes. His feathers and fur were white, though not the same pure shade of white as Arthas’ coat was. Rather, it was a bit darker, more like light gray in comparison to his. He was clad in a silk tunic that was decorated with several medals. On his head, a crown forged out of iron rested.

“He’s definitely going to be the biggest obstacle,” Celestia commented. “The relations between Equestria and Griffonia had never been exactly easy, even after all the help they received after the Sundering struck them. King Robert is a proud griffon, like his predecessors, and like them he is a strong follower of traditions. Meaning,” the Princess said, rolling her eyes; “he’s not fond of Equestria having a dominating position in our world.”

Chrysalis smirked. “I would call you on being very modest, but…” she waved her hoof, ending that part of the discussion. “You also seem to think that Griffonia wouldn’t take kindly to Equestria gaining an ally out of the blue?”

“Indeed, and their recent behaviour is also worrisome,” Luna replied, glancing at Nightshade and nodding.

The bat pony looked a bit unsure at the Princess, but when he spoke, his voice did not waver. “We’ve discovered that during the last few months, Griffonia had been trying to tighten their relationships with the minotaurs, have made bigger orders on Saddle Arabia’s oil, and even implored Lady Nymeria Thistleclaw, Warden of the South, to send envoys to zebras’ Sovati and Aaztai Tribes.”

As the night guard was saying the last part, he pressed his hoof to the his crystal. The image changed to show the map of the territories of the Outcasts Mountains, belonging to Griffonia, and of Mirkblood Forest and Great Savannah, homes of Sovati and Aaztai Tribes respectively. Next to it appeared the image of a female griffon, Lady Nymeria.

While King Robert could almost pass as a human monarch in Arthas’ eyes - if one could somehow miss all the feathers, fur, talons, beak, wings, tail and paws - this female’s appearance brought forth similarities to Azeroth’s more primitive races. Unlike her liege, she didn’t wear clothes. She had, however, several decorations, the most prominent one being bone-like piercings in her beak and ears. She also wore ivory bracelets on her forelegs. Her feathers - bristled around her neck - were dark gray in color and less thick than King Robert’s were. The fur on her hind part was of much lighter shade of gray, with dark, almost tiger-like stripes.

Twilight once again leaned to Arthas. “Between her and that image of Tsune, I’m really glad Fluttershy isn’t here to watch them,” she whispered, glancing at her bracelets.

Arthas was about to nod in agreement when he noticed Ghost Step smirking. “Oh, they are not searching for allies, it that’s what you’re thinking,” he said, visibly pleased that he knew what bat pony did not. Nightshade narrowed his eyes but let him continue. “Rather, the griffons hope to learn something from minotaurs and zebras.”

“Learn something?” Celestia asked, intrigued.

“Shamanism,” Chrysalis replied. She then turned her eyes to Arthas. “It would appear that, with the news of ponies without horns were learning how to use strange powers, King Robert also desired his people to learn such a trick. After all, magic is the biggest advantage Equestria has over Griffonia.”

An unpleasant thought occurred to Arthas, and judging by the way Celestia and Luna exchanged glances, so did they. “Are you suggesting that he’s preparing for war?” Celestia asked Chrysalis calmly.

The Changeling Queen frowned. “Not exactly. Rather, he thinks you are getting ready for war. Between forming a paladin order and placing your niece in charge of the newly returned empire, some might have thought you are arming yourselves. And our alliance won’t make those fears go away.”

“But that’s just crazy!” Twilight exclaimed. “They cannot seriously think we would start a war! Ponies strived for nothing but peace for thousands of years, and we helped others!”

“Rulers have to act based on what they know,” Arthas said calmly. “All King Robert knows is that Equestria’s influence has spread, and that it gained a new addition to its force, all in less time than the span of several months.”

Though he spoke calmly, inwardly he was almost panicking. He hadn’t expected that spreading the Light’s teachings could have such a consequence! “Of course,” Arthas thought darkly, “considering that I am the one spreading those teachings, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. Maybe everything I touch can get corrupted and perverted.”

By then, everybody had grown serious. All of them understood how serious a matter this was. “I was afraid this was King Robert’s reasoning behind Griffonia’s recent actions,” Luna said. “But this makes our peace arrangements much more delicate than we had expected. We must find a way to soothe their worries.”

“Actually,” Chrysalis spoke up. “I think I might have a solution to that. However, it might lead to further problems.”

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked.

Chrysalis hesitated before she spoke. “Earlier, when we were discussion possible trade between our kinds, I lied. There is one more resource in Dread Wastes that we could use for trading, one that griffons would likely be interested in buying.”

Luna was quick to realize what kind of resource Chrysalis meant. “Oil,” she said. “Fuel the griffons use in their airships and several other contraptions. If you were to establish an adequately advantageous for griffons trade agreement, it could warm up King of Griffonia to you and convince him that we aren’t preparing for war. However, introducing a second importer of it could cause problems with Saddle Arabia.”

“Exactly,” Chrysalis nodded. “I was hoping that, having more experience in foreign politics, you would know how to best handle this matter.”

Celestia nodded thoughtfully, mulling over the issue. “Perhaps if in return we would have dropped prices on some goods that we sell to Saddle Arabia, they wouldn’t mind losing profits on their oil trade?”

“That in turn would anger our companies,” Luna pointed out. “Which our nobles could try to use against us. “

Arthas, who also pondered the issue, and was more worried about potential negative results, spoke up: “I see one more way of putting an end to Griffonia’s fears.”

Everybody looked at him. “Of course you do,” Luna commented, smirking. “Pray tell, what is your idea, Sir Lightbringer?”

“I could invite the griffons to join the order.”

He remained calm as everybody around him stared at him in shock. He expected such reactions the moment the idea came to him. Spitfire was first to break the silence: “So basically, as Griffonia is seeking to increase their war potential, you’re suggesting to offer them another weapon?”

Knowing that it could be perceived as such, Arthas turned to the Wonderbolt. “Light is not a weapon,” he remarked, smiling. “It’s a benevolent force that would help anybody. I’m hoping that, by passing teachings of the Holy Light to griffons, it would help bring them and ponies together. Also, it would send a clear message to King Robert that we have no intention of starting a war; what kind of fool would teach those they plan to attack?”

The princesses looked at each other thoughtfully, while Queen Chrysalis remarked: “King Robert might not agree, Hivespeaker. Even if you would not require griffons that would join your order to be loyal to your princesses, they could emotionally attach themselves to ponies too far for the King’s liking.”

But Arthas just shrugged. “Perhaps, but he would still see that we’re not have anything sinister in our plans if we send him such proposal.”

“Wait, why would he not accept this offer?” Twilight asked, frowning. “I understand that he would want his subjects to be loyal just to him, but he’s apparently prepared to have some of them learn from minotaurs and zebras. Zebras with which griffons of the Outcasts Mountains had as bloody of a history as pegasi once had with the Snowfeather Tribe, and continue to have skirmishes every now and then to this day,” she added.

“It could be that he sees them as much less of a potential threat,” Shining Armor replied. “Though I am still surprised that he would actually turn to zebras for help. I’d have thought him to be too prideful for that.”

“Actually, Prince Shining Armor, it wasn’t his idea,” Nightshade spoke up. Reaching for the crystal, he added: “According to my sources, the idea originally came from Princess Victoria, Warden of the North.”

The image flickered to life… and Arthas almost gasped.

Until that moment, he had never considered griffon females to be specially attractive. He could think of them as pretty, but the same way as back during his previous life (the part when he was still able to consider the matters of beauty) he would think of a gryphon or a horse as that. Since he was reborn as a pony, he found that in terms of ponies that had changed, but not griffons, not to such degree at least.

Now it changed, because the female he was seeing was hooves down the most beautiful creature alive.

Arthas shook his head to dispel the effect Princess Victoria’s look had on him and focused. He spared the moment to thank the Light that his heart was already taken; otherwise, he doubted he would have been able to think clearly. He could see that other stallions present in the room had similar problems; only Shining Armor and Unsceathed seemed to be dealing with it as well as he.

Unlike her father, Princess Victoria’s colouring was pure white, like that of snow, just like Arthas. She was much leaner than him and didn’t wear anything other than golden bracelets on her legs and a golden necklace, all with diamonds engraved into them. Her talons were gray, beak blue, and eyes - icy blue.

Nightshade, somehow managing to get his voice under control, continued. “As King Robert’s only heir, she’s been attending her father’s council and had advised him on several matters. Especially as of late, as she’s only a few months away from reaching adulthood.”

Arthas frowned; something was not right. “Wait, what do you mean by ‘only heir’, Captain Nightshade?” he asked, recalling what he read about griffons. “Doesn’t she have two brothers?”

“Yes, two, one older and one younger,” Nightshade replied, and the image of Victoria disappeared, replaced by two griffons, one of an adult griffon, and other much smaller; Arthas realized the younger must be around Scootaloo’s and others age.

The older resembled King Robert in build and had white feathers around his neck like his. That’s where similarities ended; the rest of his body was bright yellow, almost golden. His eyes, though, were the same as his sister. Their younger brother, however, had none of the white color they had; his entire body was golden, including his eyes.

“However, as per Griffonia’s tradition, only those members of the royal family who inherited Snowfeather Tribe’s colouring can became rulers,” Nightshade continued. “As you can see, neither Prince Richard nor Prince John inherited those traits.”

“Well, that’s the most ridiculous rule of succession I ever heard,” Arthas commented, surprised. “What would happen if none of the king’s children inherited those traits?”

“If I recall correctly, it only happened several times during the last two thousand years, but always there was some further descendant or relative all white,” Nightshade replied, shrugging. “Victoria is likely going to be the first female ruler of Griffonia, unless she marries somegriffon prior to succeeding the throne. Then, who knows? Anyway, this might be why she’s thought of the idea of turning to zebras and minotaurs for help and learning shamanism. Since she detached herself from traditions of griffons by being a female ruler, it might have caused her to be much more open minded than her ancestors.”

“Which means she might try to convince her father to accept the offer,” Celestia said unexpectedly. She turned to Arthas. “If that would happen, would you really teach them?”

Arthas bowed his head. “In the eyes of the Light, we are all one. I cannot deny anybody who would come to learn from me.”

“Perhaps we indeed should offer this possibility to King Robert,” Celestia mused. Looking at Luna, she added: “We will know for sure once we hear from Griffonia’s ambassador; we’ve promised him and the others that we would hear them tomorrow. We will decide what to do based on his reaction.” When Luna nodded, Celestia directed her gaze to the middle of the table. “We must ensure that we soothe their worries, especially considering the current situation.”

“Here we go,” Arthas thought, noticing several ponies looking at the Princess in confusion.

“For some time, my sister and I had felt as if… something was in store for all of us in the future,” Celestia started to explain in a calm voice. “Sir Lightbringer had also reported receiving such warnings from the Light.”

“You can add me to the count,” Chrysalis said unexpectedly. “I also had feeling as if something was amiss in the world, though I cannot explain what.”

“So, something bad is going to happen?” Spitfire asked doubtfully, though still with respect.

“It would seem that way,” Luna replied, “though we would prefer to stop whoever is responsible before they’re going to cause more damage. They already have,” she added, seeing confusion on some faces. “Sir Lightbringer had reported to us that he sensed some malicious intent briefly emanating from somebody in Ponyville; later, when Queen Chrysalis came to us with the offer of peace, she confirmed that there was indeed somebody hidden by powerful magic in town. We do not know what was their intention, but we know that they were responsible for poisoning a little filly and almost causing her death.”

“And I believe that whoever they are, they are also responsible for capturing my subject,” Chrysalis said while ponies who had just learned about this gasped at Princess’ words. “It would take really powerful magic to make me unable to locate her, something beyond what a little unicorn lord would do to hide his slaves.”

“So there are enemies among us,” Daring Do summed up.

Celestia nodded. “It would seem as such.” Turning to Chrysalis, she said. “Queen Chrysalis, when you came to Sir Lightbringer, you mentioned that you had some reason for attacking Canterlot, and that since then you grew suspicious that you were manipulated. Could you please reveal to us what you meant by that?”

Chrysalis long started into Celestia eyes before she replied. “It was because of a dream,” she finally said.

Everypony stared at her in surprise.

“It happened about a month before the Canterlot Invasion,” she continued; nopony dared to interrupt her. “In this dream, I’d been asked for help… by a pony. Some young colt.” She frowned. “I’ve never cared for anypony; at least, not like this. In that dream, he was in pain, and as he begged me for help, I felt as if I saw someling close to me suffer. It was a very vivid dream; when I woke up, I wanted to know if it meant anything. Luckily, among the zebra lands there are several hermit seers; I was able to gain one’s help.”

Arthas decided not to ask how did she persuade him, too focused on the story.

“All he could tell me was that my dream was tied to Canterlot, that I would find my answers there,” Chrysalis finished.

“You invaded the capital of Equestria because of a dream?” Cyclone Strike asked.

“I couldn’t search the city thoroughly without alerting anypony,” Chrysalis replied. “Anyway, since then, I’ve been thinking this over and over… and after the disappearance of one of my subjects, as well as those strange happenings in Ponyville, I came to the conclusion that somehow somebody had manipulated me.”

Luna, who knew the most about dreams, was listening to her thoughtfully. “Could you use the crystal to show us your dream?” she asked.

Chrysalis nodded. “Be advised,” she said as she reached for the crystal, “if you do not enjoy the sight of foals crying in pain, you might not like it.”

Arthas bit back a retort and focused on the middle of the table as the image appeared.

Immediately, ponies gasped, but their voices were obscured by the colt’s pleading: “Please, help me.”

Arthas, despite all that he had seen, was among those who gasped. The colt had a red mane, dark gray coat, and a strange cutie mark; a whirlpool of rainbow colors. He also had strange eyes; yellow, with red irises. However, none of those were the reasons why everypony had gasped.

The colt shook as if struck. “Save me, please.”

A scar was running up his spine, starting from his neck and stopping half his torso. And below his shoulders, dark blue wings were stitched to his body.

“Make it stop. MAKE IT STOP!!!”

The last sentence was uttered in a terribly loud scream. Everybody covered their ears as the terrifying wail washed over them. All of them now knew why Chrysalis had woken up at that moment of the dream.

However, it wasn’t the most shocking thing they were to hear.

As everypony recovered, all eyes, ponies and changeling alike, turned to Celestia as she uttered quietly in shock:

“E?”

141. Worlds Collide

For a heartbeat, Celestia was deaf to the world.

She stared with wide eyes at the image of a colt she hadn’t seen since she was a little filly, ignoring everything else. This was impossible; Chrysalis just said that she had seen him in her dream, like that, begging for help. But how could that be?

A whisper finally broke her stupor. “Sister?” Luna asked.

With great difficulty, Celestia turned her eyes away from E’s image and looked at her sister. She was gazing at her with worry. Celestia knew why; Luna must have realized that this colt held special meaning to her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t let everypony see her react like that.

“I’m alright,” Celestia replied in the same voice, so that only her sister would hear her. Pushing away her worry and shock, as well as thousand questions that were surging through her head, she turned to the others.

“Well, that’s a surprise,” Chrysalis said, staring at her intentively. “Princess Celestia, do you happen to know this colt?”

Mindful that she was being watched by not only some of her most prominent subjects and ponies she counted as friends, but also people who not long ago were their enemies, Celestia regained her composure before she replied. “Yes, I do. Although, closer to the truth would be to say that I’ve met him.

“It was a long time ago,” she started to explain, gazing at the image, “during Discord’s reign over Equestria, when our family was hiding in the old ruins in the Everfree Forest, today called the Castle of the Royal Sisters. I was but a filly then, eight years old. I just… bumped into him in the gardens.”

“He was on the old castle’s grounds?” Luna asked, surprised. “And nopony besides you knew about it? Forgive me for doubting your words, Sister, but between the guards and our father’s spell, I find that unlikely.”

“I know,” Celestia sighed. How many times had she pondered how he had done it? “And I’d wished I was a bit older and had a better understanding of just why that feat should have been impossible to accomplish. Or was more intrigued by his unusual features,” she added, glancing at his wings. “But being as young as I was, I was too busy being happy with finally having somepony my age to play with… somepony who was also different, like me.”

“So back when you met him, he was the same age as in my dream?” Chrysalis asked, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

Celestia nodded. “Yes, as bizarre as it sounds… then again, that whole day I spent with him was bizarre. He kept asking me what happened to Equestria, what became of the King, and was surprised when I told him I was his granddaughter… as if he didn’t know about Discord. And he also often talked to himself as if he was talking with somepony else.”

“Are you sure he was alone then, Princess?” Nightshade asked her. “Maybe there was somepony invisible there as well?”

“And he would have talked to them with the Princess at his side?” Chrysalis’ Spymaster retorted. “If one wants to hide, why would their accomplice risk revealing their position?”

The bat pony shrugged. “Maybe they had thought that the Princess wouldn’t have realized? With all due respect,” Nightshade added, bowing to Celestia, “Your Highness just said that you were very young.”

“I’ve taken no offense, Captain,” Celestia replied. “But I don’t think there was anypony else with him. Even though E had somehow passed through the various spells and wards mine and Luna’s father had placed around the castle, I think they would have still detected somepony invisible. They would have also stopped him from contacting others outside, whether by magical means or otherwise.”

“E?” Luna asked.

“That’s how he called himself. When I asked him for a name, he said ‘Just call me E; every friend I had called me that.’ He didn’t want to explain further.”

“What had become of him?” asked Chrysalis.

“He disappeared the next morning,” Celestia said, still saddened, despite how much time had passed. “But he had told me he would need to go; that there was something he had to do, no matter what price he would have to pay.”

She didn’t add how much it hurt when she had realized that he left without even saying goodbye. Or how he slept in her bed.

Or how he and her kissed.

“So what does that mean?” Luna asked; Celestia noticed the look she gave her before she had turned to the image. She knew her younger sister must have sensed that she had left out some details, and was trying to change the subject for her. “A bizarre earth pony colt with pegasi wings stitched to him, who was only seen once over thousand years ago, now appearing in a dream of the Changeling Queen? Which, according to a zebra seer, is tied to Canterlot?”

“Maybe he’s somewhere in the city?” Shining Armor suggested. Celestia’s heart skipped a beat at the thought. “It could be that this E character doesn’t age. Or perhaps he somehow traveled through time?”

“You’ve read too many comics,” Twilight retorted before anybody could. She smirked. “Time travel is impossible. There’s only one spell that allows a brief jump into the past, and the spell’s structure won’t let you change anything.”

“That’s not exactly true…” Arthas, sitting beside her, muttered, but then trailed off, lost in his thoughts.

Celestia was very curious as to what those thoughts entailed. She recalled what her student wrote her about what Arthas had mentioned about his homeworld, how there were dragons who were charged with protecting time. However, he also knew of Chrona, an alicorn whose powers were tied to time, and that she had made sure time travel spells would not work.

“What I wonder about,” Chrysalis spoke up, “is what’s this colt’s connection to me? It could be that I had met him during that period of my life that I cannot remember, but that raises further questions. Assuming that I am right and somebody somehow ‘sent’ me that dream through some spell, then this somebody knows about our kind’s origin.”

“Or perhaps had a hoof in their origin,” Celestia realized, pushing all thoughts about E further away into corners of her mind.

She cleared her throat. “Something had occurred to me; have you taken notice of one of the paladins standing guard outside?”

“You mean the unicorn that appeared in Canterlot shortly after your student, her brother prince, the Hivespeaker, one pegasus and strange creature called ‘dwarf’ went to the Everfree Forest? What about him?”

Celestia rolled her eyes inwardly. “He was found enclosed in a green crystal, very similar to the one you changelings can create, in an abandoned facility in Everfree Forest.” She had to try very hard to not smirk at the sight of surprised expressions of Chrysalis and Ghost Step. “The facility was located underground in a mountain that we have reasons to believe used to float in the sky before it crashed around eleven hundred years ago, and it was tied to something called ‘Project Eclipse’. Does any of this ring any bells for you, Your Majesty?”

For a few long seconds, Chrysalis just stared at her. “No,” she finally said. “Neither of those informations brings any memories into my mind.”

“Interesting,” Celestia replied. “That paladin also had no memories of his time before getting trapped in that crystal. Also, as you probably know by now, he possesses a strange ability to project his life-energy from his hoof into the form of a blade, which is oddly familiar to how you can form ‘claws’ through your hooves.”

Angelic had learned her lesson; she did not react to those news by interrupting her with a question. Instead, Celestia heard her pencil scratching against the surface of her notepad.

“And there is also the timing of all those things,” she finished, “me meeting E included. It seems like a strange set of coincidences to happen in a span of less than a century.”

Chrysalis continued to look into her eyes. Celestia wondered if she was trying to read her mind. “Since we’ve already agreed to exchange information, you wouldn’t mind giving us access to all you know about this Project Eclipse, as well as allowing my changelings to examine the site?” she finally asked. Before Celestia could reply, Chrysalis quickly added: “With your supervision, of course.”

Celestia glanced at her sister, and saw in her eyes that she was of the same mind on this. “Captain Nightshade will present your Spymaster with the information you asked when they confer later, as well as arrange for you to examine the site,” Luna replied. “Of course, we will expect to hear from you if you discover something we had missed.”

As Chrysalis assured that they would, Celestia pondered whether Project Eclipse was tied to changelings. “Or to E,” she thought. It would seem most likely. Celetia thought back to that list they’d managed to display from the rune Twilight had recovered at the site. “Could ‘E’ be a short for ‘Eastin’? The one listed as ‘unknown’ and had the biggest threat level assigned?”

She looked at the changelings, feeling more certain than ever that becoming allies with them was necessary. It was the only hope to uncover all those mysteries, at the bottom of which perhaps she would find E again. “And since we’re on the topic of secrets,” Celestia thought, turning her eyes to the one who undoubtedly had more than a share of those, “I think it’s time we talk about what Arthas thought regarding the origin of changelings.”

“It would seem that discovering what Project Eclipse really was is even more important than we had originally thought,” she spoke up. “The possible connections between it, Knight Tucker, my foalhood friend and changelings are unsettling… however,” Celestia added, and all eyes narrowed, “there is one more connection that should be discussed.”

The moment Celestia’s eyes turned to look at Arthas, Twilight had realized what she meant. So had Arthas, judging by the brief frown of his brow.

“He doesn’t like that Celestia had asked him to tell them,” Twilight thought.

But who could blame him? How often does one find himself talking about being dead, unspeakably evil, not a pony and having hailed from another world?

“Surprisingly often when it comes to Arthas, come to think of if…”

She thought back to how long it took him to admit it to her and the others, his closest friends. It hadn’t taken him too long, just a couple of days, but Twilight knew this was mostly due to everything building up inside of him during those few days. Unable to cope with those terrible secrets - and having been pestered repeatedly by them - Arthas had to tell them; and yet, they still didn’t know a lot about him. Like his name, until recently.

And now he was being asked to tell that again, and to people who were strangers to him. Of course, all present in the chamber were sworn to secrecy, or at least all the ponies were, but still…

However, he didn’t try to talk Princess Celestia out of her unspoken order. “As I assume everybody here knows,” Arthas started, turning to address ponies and changelings, “I’m not from Equestria. However, only few of you here know where I came from. When several months ago I appeared in Ponyville, I’d introduced myself as Matthias Lehner, and said I came from a distant land on the other side of the planet. While the former was truth to some degree-”

Twilight resisted an urge to pull him by his ear again.

“- the other was a complete lie. I didn’t come from the other side of this world; rather, I came from a completely different world.”

Those few who didn’t know about it stared at him in surprise and confusion. To her surprise, Twilight noticed that two of the changelings, the Grand Magistrix and Wing Leader, also looked surprised. She had been sure that Chrysalis had shared what Arthas had told Nymph with all of her advisors.

“Then again, Princess Celestia hadn’t told Raven or Doctor Angelic by the looks of it,” Twilight thought, seeing their expressions. “Not to mention the three captains.”

Arthas waited a few seconds for his words to sink in before he continued. “However, the reason why Princess Celestia wanted me to bring up this matter now is because there are many races inhabiting that distant world, and several of them have a striking resemblance to changelings.”

“You’ve already mentioned that to my daughter,” Chrysalis replied calmly while others processed those information, “but I would like if you could tell us more about those races, Hivespeaker. Thanks to those crystals, you will be able to show us what they look like, won’t you?”

“Hold on,” Daring interrupted as Arthas was about to nod. “Before we go any further, can those of us who just learned about the other world learn just how exactly Sir Lightbringer arrived here?”

Twilight saw Arthas frown at Daring Do (who appeared to be strangely amused by it) before he turned to Celestia. The Princess nodded, letting him know that she wished him to explain.

Sighing, Arthas closed his eyes. “This is going to take a while…” he muttered. “Most of you must have seen the scars on my chest,” the paladin said, opening his eyes and poking at his chestplate. He then smirked: “At least, I hope so; I don’t plan on doing a strip tease just to emphasize my point.”

His words caused a ripple of laughter to wash over the gathered ponies and changelings. Twilight would normally made a mental note to berate him for making such joke in the presence of Princesses, but it was so unexpected that she, too, had to cover her mouth as she almost snorted.

When the short amusement faded down, Twilight braced herself for what was about to come. “I died from the wound that left the scar above my heart.”

Arthas statement, so calmly uttered, was met with silence.

“I died,” he continued, undisturbed. “Furthermore, in years prior to my death, my life - if it can be called such - was vastly different from whom I am today. Due to events I would rather not discuss in greater detail, I had turned away from the Light, and instead followed a much darker path, in my foolishness and arrogance believing that it would lead to the salvation of my people.” Despite that his voice remained the same, Twilight caught a glimpse of pain and shame in Arthas eyes. “It didn’t. All that awaited on that path was more darkness. For my sins, I had been killed, and I assure you all, it was a just punishment. What awaited in hell or Tartarus, or whatever you want to call the realm where souls of the damned go, is beyond description. However, for reasons unknown to me, something, somehow, brought me back to life. My soul was pulled through the Gate of Tartarus and I awoke in the Everfree Forest, alive, in the body of a pony. That is how I came to Equestria.”

Nightshade was first to respond. “What sort of sins-” he started to ask, but Princess Luna cut him off.

“The nature of Sir Lightbringer's sins in his past life is not the subject of our debates here. However,” she added, her eyes moving through captain to captain, “I would like you all to know that I have seen all of his past through his dreams and still trust him. I hope this dispels any unease you might feel towards Sir Lightbringer.”

Twilight blinked in surprise. She had no idea Princess Luna knew everything about Arthas; heck, even she didn’t know anything specific about his previous life. For an instant, Twilight felt a pang of jealousy, but then realized that it made sense. If there was anypony capable of understanding what Arthas has been through, it could be only Princess Luna. Twilight suspected that Arthas was relieved to finally have somepony he could talk to about his past.

“Should that be me?” she wondered suddenly. “I’ve told him I don’t care about his past, because I know about his present self, but…”

Twilight shook her head when she had realized that Daring Do broke the silence; she would ponder about how much interest she should show in Arthas’ past life later.

“Why did you add that ‘in the body of a pony’ bit?” the famous explorer ask Twilight’s friend.

“Because I wasn’t a pony,” Arthas replied casually; Twilight had to hide her smirk. “Before I was resurrected, I was a human, a two-legged creature somewhat resembling a minotaur, except much shorter and without horns, hooves and fur. Getting used to this body wasn’t exactly easy,” he admitted, continued to speak in a tone of voice as if not paying attention to the shocked stares (or amused, in case of her, Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Shining Armor) he was receiving, “but now I actually feel more comfortable in this body than in my previous one.”

He winked at her, making it even harder for her to not burst with laughter. She was about to berate him quietly when she noticed Ghost Step, on the other side of the table, leaning towards Lucid and Dragon Blood and muttering something. Lucid appeared unmoved by whatever his remark was, but the Wing Lord apparently found it amusing, as he snorted and grinned.

“But who brought you back to life?” Daring Do asked, pulling Twilight’s attention away from the changelings. “According to what you’ve just told us, whoever it was, they pulled your soul out of Tartarus, conjured you a brand new body… I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

“Perhaps you should examine the Gate of Tartarus,” Arthas replied, shrugging. “Maybe it has the power to do that, to bring others back to life as ponies. As to who drew my soul out from hell, I don’t know their identity. It could be some powerful mage; could have been the Light itself, bringing me to life in the world in its time of need. It also could be simply another stage of my punishment; when you are in eternal torment, you have little time for contemplating just how horrific a person you were.”

Twilight looked at him, shocked; did he really think of those past five months he spend with them to be another chapter of his torment?

“But enough about me,” he spoke, giving her no time to ask him. “As I’ve mentioned, I came from the world of Azeroth.”

Just like Twilight had done so before, now Arthas pressed his hoof to the crystal embedded into the table where he sat, and summoned an image of a world. Twilight had previously seen Azeroth through her telescope, but due to how far away it was from Equestria, she hadn’t gotten a good look at it. Now she observed with interest Arthas’ homeworld, comparing what she was now seeing with what he had told her. In the center of the planet lay the Maelstrom, a whirlpool so huge that it was visible from space. Surrounding it were four continents and several smaller islands. At least, Twilight knew that there were four continents; on the image, the southernmost land appeared as if covered by clouds.

She perked one ear as Arthas started to explain basic geography of Azeroth, already knowing it in more detail. The hidden land was Pandaria, and it was literally hidden from the rest of the world for ten thousand years by an impregnable cover of mist (which had given Arthas the idea of what to tell them when they first met to explain why he came from a land nopony knew of). On the east were the Eastern Kingdoms, named so because unlike the other three, it was a birthplace of many nations. Kalimdor on the west, while also home to many races, never had any proper countries until recently. And in the north, at the roof of the world, lay Northrend, a very inhospitable place. Out of the island, only a few were of bigger significance, Kul Tiras not far from the northern coast of Eastern Kingdoms, Azuremyst Isles and Teldrassil near northern Kalimdor, and Zandalar and Kezan at the South Seas, between Maelstrom and Pandaria.

Everypony continued to listen as Arthas then said how long ago all those lands were part of Kalimdor, forming a single continent, and how there was one insectoid race called aqir inhabiting it. Twilight, who also heard that part, listened with one ear as he quickly described their conflict with another empire that caused the aqir to separate into three colonies over sixteen thousand years ago.

“Living in different lands caused those aqir to slowly change into another races,” Arthas said, fiddling with the crystal. “I think those changes became even more drastic after the Sundering ten thousand years ago, when they became completely separated from each other. Those that fled north and found the kingdom of Azjol-Nerub, which lies below Northrend, became spider-like beings called Nerubians.”

The image of his world disappeared and was replaced with depictions of creatures from an arachnophobic pony’s worst nightmare. There were several of them, all the same species but of different kinds, similar to ponies, but that was about all those two races had had in common. One was walking on six thin legs and had two two appendages with fingers that it apparently used like hands, and observed the world around it with multiple eyes, which resembled a spider the most. Another one which was massive, with thick carapace, walked on four legs, with vicious looking claws and horn resembled more a beetle to her. Two others were much smaller, seemed less intelligent (as despite their strange look, the other two emanated almost eerie intelligence) and more animalistic. The main difference between them was that one of them could fly thanks to skin between its six appendages, while the other had to crawl around on four legs. The last one looked most bizarre; it was very tall, stood straight on four legs, had four hands, and was wearing clothes.

Twilight looked at them, fascinated, then turned to the changelings, who were also watching them with fascination. “Hm… yeah,” she thought, looking back between the two groups, “I think I can see those two being relatives… the changelings kinda look like the mix of them and ponies…”

Sounds of vicious scribbling made her turn her attention to another part of the table. Doctor Angelic was quickly moving her pencil up and down while looking at nerubians, no doubt making sketches of them.

“Interesting,” she heard Chrysalis say. Turning back to her, Twilight saw that she was still taking in the sight of nerubians. “What does their society and culture look like?”

Arthas shrugged. “They were master architects, their libraries contained many works of literature, philosophy and arcane lore. They were also cruel and xenophobic; bad mix. They used to occasionally kidnap members of other races for experiments.”

Twilight had an unpleasant twist in her stomach at the thought. As bad as Chrysalis was, she at least hadn’t experimented on her or Cadence.

“Their society was divided into castes,” Arthas continued. “The kind like that one that resembles a spider the most was the most common type; they could serve as workers or as soldiers. The biggest ones, like that one that looks like a cross between spider and a beetle, were something along the lines of aristocracy. They were called spiderlords, and they usually were kings of specified portions of their empire, with the mightiest one ruling all of Azjol-Nerub as the King. Also, the spiderlords were the only ones allowed to mate with the nerubian queen, of which there was only one at the time.”

All five changelings looked at him in surprise. “Judging by their shock, I’m guessing that’s not how things work with them…”

“Interesting,” was all what Chrysalis said, though. She turned to the image of the tallest nerubian. “Is that their queen?”

“No, that’s a nerubian vizier; they were advisors, sorcerers and seers for the empire. As for the queen, I don’t think I can show her to you, as her image would not fit in this room.”

Twilight suddenly thought back to Arthas’ suggestion concerning Brann and the Nerubian Queen, and how the dwarf hadn’t denied it. She wasn’t sure if she would bash her head and puke or start to laugh.

“That tone…” Celestia mused out loud. “You’ve met one, hadn’t you?”

Arthas cringed slightly. “Yes. Her name was Nezar’Azret. However, it wasn’t the happiest of meetings; she and her court stood in my way and I was in a hurry. As for the remaining two,” Arthas continued. “The one on the ground is called a spiderling, and they are simply young nerubians; they would later mature into one of the other castes. They had similar functions to that of an average nerubian. The flying ones are simple drones, they never change since the moment they hatch.”

Chrysalis, who was listening to him thoughtfully, spoke when he had finished: “I couldn’t help but notice that you had used past tense when describing their culture.”

“Most of the nerubians were killed during the War of the Spider ten years ago,” Arthas replied. “Death now rules the halls of Azjol-Nerub, if not worse. However, the small number of living nerubians have an enormous stash of hidden eggs stored away, so their species isn’t endangered. What this spells for the future of Azeroth…” he trailed off, obviously dubious of what they would do.

“What did you mean by ‘if not worse’?” Cadance asked.

“During the war, Nerubians tunneled deeper underground, and by accident unearthed malicious creatures, known as the faceless ones,” Arthas said, after which he turned to Celestia and raised an eyebrow. “I would prefer to not show their image, though, on the grounds that I do not wish half of the room to have nightmares.”

“Very well,” Celestia replied, ignoring frowns on several faces, like that of Cyclone Strike and Spitfire. They’d probably taken offense to Arthas’ words; Twilight, on the other hoof, knew that he wouldn’t have said it unless it would have been very possible. She still felt shivers at the memory of Deathwing. “But could you explain what they are?”

“They are monstrous servants of the Old Gods; I would hazard a guess that they were also created by them. The Old Gods,” he added, turning to the others, “are extremely powerful creatures of pure evil that used to rule the world of Azeroth uncount millennia ago. Then a race of godlike beings called Titans came, defeated their armies, imprisoned the Old Gods deep under the planet, reshaped Azeroth, and then left, leaving behind several guardians.”

“Well, that’s a detailed story,” Daring commented.

Arthas sighed. “If I were to explain everything in full detail that will come up today, we would spend days here. And since I expect that I will end up telling you about the entire current political scene of Azeroth, I would prefer to avoid distractions.”

“More importantly,” Celestia interrupted him, frowning, “could you explain why exactly did those faceless ones attack the nerubians? The first time you mentioned aqir to me and Luna, you said that they also served the Old Gods.”

“Oh, right,” Arthas said, and then smiled. “Actually, this is something that I probably find most remarkable about nerubians. At the dawn of their empire, there were five or six schools of religious thought in Azjol-Nerub, all devoted to the Old Gods. However, they eventually came to a conclusion that worshiping creatures is insane. One of their seers, Ul’Tomon I believe his name was, even said-”

Twilight eyes went wide as Arthas words changed into an incomprehensible hisses and clicking sounds. Everybody was as much as surprised like her, but the stallion continued to speak in this strange manner until he finished his sentence… while looking at the changelings.

She realized what was Arthas’ intention a heartbeat before Chrysalis spoke: “Did you just speak in their language to see if me or my subjects would react somehow to it?”

Twilight turned to look at them. While Chrysalis and Unsceathed remained calm, the other three were obviously moved and unsettled after hearing the Nerubian language.

“Maybe,” Arthas replied, looking at Ghost Step, Lucid and Dragon Blood studiously.

Chrysalis snorted. “We didn’t understand any word… however, it is unsettlingly similar to our own language.”

“You have your own language?” Twilight blurted before she could stop herself.

“Racist,” Chrysalis commented, although she appeared more amused than offended. “All of my subjects know two languages, changelin and equestrian, and a lot learn all the others as well. Also, changelings often stop using changelin when we… grow up.”

While Twilight pondered her words, Arthas shrugged. “Getting back to the subject… in translation, those words meant: ‘worship makes as much sense as a fly caught in a web worshiping the spider who is about to devour him’.”

“An interesting analogy,” Celestia commented. “As you had said, Sir Lightbringer, it is indeed remarkable that they chose by themselves to stop worshiping those dark beings. But what of the other aqir’s descendants?

“I don’t know about the mantid, as they live in Pandaria and as such, gathering information regarding them is impossible. However, as for qiraji, I’m afraid that all of them continue to worship and serve the Old Gods… however there aren’t many left of them. Almost the entirety of their species was wiped out during the Second War of the Shifting Sands by Might of Kalimdor, the combined Alliance-Horde army, after Shiromar the Scarab Lord opened the Gate of Ahn’Qiraj more than two years ago. Although, word had reached me that several months later a very powerful qiraji prophet was found locked in Arcatraz in Outland; how in Light’s name did the naaru managed to…” Arthas slowly trailed off. When he stopped talking, he sighed heavily and closed his eyes. “You’d like me to explain what all of those are, correct?”

“Indeed,” Celestia replied, amused. “But to avoid confusing anybody, first finish telling us about qiraji.”

Arthas, who took advantage of the short break to drink a sip of water, nodded and put away the glass. Twilight, although also amused, felt sorry for him.

“Qiraji lived in Ahn'Qiraj, in the desert called Silithus in southern Kalimdor,” he said. “Similarly to nerubians, they’d also diverged into different types.”

Once again the image flickered. Twilight looked at the qiraji; unlike their nerubian cousins, all types of them were standing upright and had two legs, aside for one that resembled a nerubian vizor in a fashion; like it, it was very tall, and had eight legs, coming out from under its gown. The creature also had two antennae, almost as long as its body. Twilight couldn’t tell where its clothes ended and where carapace began. The other one was almost as tall as it, but this one was much bulkier and had pincers instead of hands. Another was the first one that Twilight thought could be female; the bulges under its clothes on its chest seemed very alike to breasts of minotaurs and diamond dogs. This qiraji was very lithe, had long, similar to a dragonfly’s, wings and its face was covered.

The last type… it didn’t look as exotic as the others, aside from the one with wings it was the smallest one, and yet… Twilight had this strange feeling that it was the most dangerous of them. It almost looked human (based on the statue of Uther in the Abbey). Like with the tallest one, it was impossible to tell which part of its body was carapace and which was its clothes. It had two strange growths coming out of the bulge on his back, and underneath its hood was an alien face with glowing eyes.

“I’ve never been to Silithus,” Arthas started to speak, “nor have I actually seen a qiraji. As such, I have much less information about them that I have regarding nerubians. I do know that the big hulking ones were the most common type, and they are powerful fighters. The winged ones seem to be all females, but I don’t know how they reproduce. They mostly served as guardians in their city rather than in the field. The tall ones were often called prophets and wielded powerful magic. The last one...” he frowned as the image changed, and now depicted two near identical specimens of that type, “there were only two of them. The Twin Emperors, Vek’nilash and Vek’lor. They ruled over the qiraji.

“The qiraji, due to their fanatical devotion to the Old Gods, have a bit more colorful history than their nerubian cousins. Their capital Ahn’Qiraj used to be a Titan research station that served as a prison of one of the Old Gods. Once the aqir commandeered it, they’d also gained control over several Titan constructs inside, adding even more firepower to their forces. It took them many millennia, but finally, about a thousand years ago, they had an army ready to enact their and their god’s revenge of Kalimdor. However, the night elves, or kaldorei as they are called in their tongue,” the image changed as Arthas talked. Now it depicted two of those night elves, one female and male; both had purple skin, no fur, stood upright, had blue hair (Twilight knew from Arthas’ tales that their hair was usually shades of either blue or green, though some also had white hair), long ears and glowing silvery eyes; “stood in their way. The War of the Shifting Sands erupted, and lasted for months. The night elves were losing, and were pushed back, out of Silithus. But then the dragons joined them, having realized how much of a threat the qiraji was. Still, their numbers, spawning endlessly from Ahn’Qiraj, seemed infinite. Coming to a conclusion that they didn’t have the strength to win, the dragons and night elves pushed at the city’s limits and held the line. Together, they erected a magical barrier called the Scarab Wall around Ahn’Qiraj that would contain their threat until the world of Azeroth would have the means to end the qiraji threat permanently.”

“So there are dragons on that world as well?” Lucid asked once Arthas took a longer break for breath.

“Yes, except that they are much different that those you have on Equestria,” Arthas replied. “But please, try to not interrupt me; I’ll get to dragons later. As I was saying, the War of the Shifting Sands took place over a thousand years ago-”

“A very strange coincidence,” Chrysalis interrupted, her tone of voice suggesting that she was suspicious of this ‘coincidence’. “Especially considering what you’ve mentioned about the Second War of the Shifting Sands; when it took place, to be specific,” she added, glancing at Princess Luna.

Arthas nodded. “Indeed. I’ve discussed this matter with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna as well, and we’ve agreed that it is very likely far more than coincidence that all the things that happened in the past, and the return of Nightmare Moon occurred while the Old God increased its activity in Ahn’Qiraj.”

“So you suspect that it might be responsible for Princess Luna’s corruption?” Daring asked, raising an eyebrow. When Arthas and the two Princesses nodded, she frowned. “But how?”

“We don’t know,” Arthas quickly replied. “There is no evidence of any connection between Azeroth and Equestria on Azeroth’s side-”

“What about the amulet Brann uses?” Twilight asked, frowning.

“It’s a Titan artifact, it doesn’t count,” Arthas replied, but Twilight didn’t give up easily.

“You just said that Ahn’Qiraj was a Titan research station,” she reminded him, nearly breaking her tongue on the odd name. “It could be that there was another such amulet or a similar artifact in it.”

To her surprise, it wasn’t Arthas that replied her, but Celestia. “You raise an excellent point, Twilight, but you forgot one detail that speaks against this theory.”

“What detail? Your Majesty,” she quickly added.

“It wasn’t just a research station, but also a prison. For a being that, according to Sir Lightbringer, is evil incarnate, I might add. You don’t put a key next to it, and certainly not an artifact that could transport it to another world. Regardless,” Celestia continued while Twilight blushed with embarrassment, “while there is no evidence on Azeroth that would point to a connection between our worlds that would allow the Old Gods to corrupt my sister, there is here.”

“You mean us?” Chrysalis said, her voice indicating that she was dubious of it. “Perhaps you’re right, but even if you are, we have no way of knowing it for certain. Hivespeaker, you said that almost all qiraji are dead, right?” she asked, turning to Arthas. “Those two emperors included, I assume?” Arthas nodded. “Then I guess we have noling to ask whether they had something to do with my race’s origin. And what became of that ‘Old God’, exactly?”

Arthas frowned before he replied. “It… When the Might of Kalimdor destroyed all of the qiraji on the surface, the mightest heroes of Azeroth traveled to the tunnels beneath it. There they faced the Old God, C’thun.”

Twilight was surprised to see him reach for the crystal again, but before she could say anything, the image flickered again.

In the middle of the table, a huge purple sphere appeared. But Twilight quickly realized that it wasn’t a sphere. As it turned, she saw a golden crack running through it vertically, with a dark slit inside of it. An iris.

It was an eye!

The ponies gasped as the eye slowly turned around, gazing at them. There was something utterly horrific about this, this mere projection of this… C’thun. A mere projection, an image… and yet already Twilight wanted Arthas to dispel it.

What kind of horror would it be to look at the real Old God?

As she gathered her strength to whisper to Arthas a plea to make it disappear, the eye turned to the changeling’s side of the table.

Chrysalis sprung up from her seat and backed away; everybody, even her changelings, turned to her with surprise as she stared at the eye with eyes wide open and her mouth ajar. She was trembling.

“My Queen...” Unsceathed began to say in his raspy voice, but he quickly fell silent.

“Ahn’Qiraj…” she whispered, so quietly that Twilight almost didn’t hear her. “C’thun… Ahn’Qiraj… Ph'nglui mglw'naft C'Thun Ahn'Qiraj wgah'nagl fhtagn!”

142. From Politics to Gossip

It took several minutes for Chrysalis to return to her senses. Several minutes which everybody else spent worried and confused; the ponies more confused, changelings worried. Soon after everybody had realized that the Changeling Queen wasn’t responding to anybody, only repeating that one sentence over and over, her four advisors had begun to speak to each other in a strange, clicking language that was indeed not unlike nerubian. Though Arthas couldn’t understand a single word of it, the concern radiating from them was clear.

He had quickly offered his help, as had Doctor Angelic Touch. However, the way Unscathed looked at him made him rethink that offer. It’s amazing how one doesn’t need pupils to say with just eyes ‘Make a sudden move and I’ll kill you’, Arthas thought as he sat back, unlike Angelic who needed to be hissed at by Dragon Blood to be discouraged.

While the two warriors and Ghost Step watched everypony carefully, Lucid was doing what she could to help Chrysalis. After a brief hesitation, she immobilized her Queen with magic and, her horn still emanating magic, lowered it to Chrysalis’. When the two horns touched, the Changeling Queen finally fell silent, though her eyes continued to stare in the direction where the image of the Eye of C’thun had been, blind to everything else.

“Um… Shouldn’t we talk about this?” Twilight asked Arthas in a hushed voice, glancing at Celestia, who, like the rest, was waiting patiently for the changelings to help their queen (though patiently was a term used loosely in some cases; Spitfire, for one, was tapping the table with her hoof).

“Discussing anything while Chrysalis is incapacitated wouldn’t look good for them,” Arthas replied shortly.

After his response, Twilight didn’t reply back, taking his explanation to heart. Thankfully, she didn’t need to worry about it for long; moments after their exchange Chrysalis closed her eyes and and groaned quietly. Lucid took a step back and dispelled her magic while her Queen shook her head slightly and touched her temples. Arthas couldn’t help but notice that none of the changelings were speaking; at least, not out loud. Though he already knew that Chrysalis could communicate with other changelings telepathically in some manner, it still unnerved him a bit.

Thinking about it brought back unpleasant memories of the Lich King’s telepathic powers.

Arthas pulled himself from the unpleasant thoughts, focusing on the present moment. The Changeling Queen had finally opened her eyes and straightened up… and immediately turned to him with anger in her green eyes.

“Of course,” Arthas thought, no surprised at all.

“You’ve got some explaining to do,” Chrysalis hissed at him.

Before he could reply, Celestia tried to intervene: “Queen Chrysalis, we are glad to see you are better, but-”

“I wasn’t talking to you, Princess!” Chrysalis cut her off angrily, glancing at her briefly, before turning back to Arthas. “I demand to know, Hivespeaker, what those words I said meant, and more importantly why I said them!”

Hoping he seemed more calm than he really felt, Arthas replied: “I cannot answer either of those questions-”

Chrysalis’ snort interrupted him. “Right, because I’ll believe it just like that. You clearly have a vast knowledge about that world of yours. I don’t care who you were, but right now I want answers.”

“It is true that I know a lot about Azeroth,” Arthas admitted. “But I really don’t know what those words mean, let alone why you spoke them at the sight of a piece of the Old God.”

“Piece?” Daring asked, interrupting him.

“It was just his eye; I thought the whole body of C’thun would be too horrific to show you. Besides, I don’t exactly know how…” Arthas trailed off, trying to think how to say ‘the adventurers who had fought it in Ahn’Qiraj and later perished in Naxxramas, letting me know their memories of the event after they’d been resurrected as death knights, had first saw only its Eye, and the rest emerged after it got destroyed, so I cannot say how C’Thun’s Eye was attached to it…’ in a way that would make sense. Finally, he shrugged and said: “Let’s just say that the information I have regarding C’Thun come mostly from a second hoof. But let’s get back to the subject,” Arthas said, turning back to Chrysalis. “As I said, I cannot say what those words mean, besides two of them being the name of the Old God and his home, of course. But,” he added, frowning, “I can tell you that there is no doubt in my mind that it was the language of the faceless ones you had spoken.”

He could see that Chrysalis and her changelings weren’t happy with his answer. The ponies were more confused than anything else, though Arthas noticed some glancing at the other side of the table with new suspiciousness, no doubt remembering his earlier remark about whom the faceless ones served.

Celestia frowned, pondering. “Are you sure it’s the language of those foul creatures, Sir Lightbringer?”

Arthas nodded. “I know the sound of it well; during my trek through Azjol-Nerub I faced hordes of the faceless ones. There’s no other language so foul as the one of those creatures. Nobody on Azeroth other than them and their dark masters can speak it; even their mortal servants can only repeat the phrases they memorized, though pronouncing them correctly is nearly impossible… Though that’s not what makes the faceless one’s language so… unpleasant,” Arthas paused briefly before frowning. “How should I explain this… the Old Gods have powerful telepathic powers, able to reach into the minds of others even from within their prisons. Their minions, the faceless ones…the powerful ones possess some form of telepathy, affecting the minds of those around them, and automatically translating their words directly into their minds. Meaning, for example, that if it was a faceless one who said those words, not you Your Majesty,” he said to Chrysalis, “we would have all heard dark whispers in our minds speaking in a language we understand.”

Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed while everybody digested those information. “That’s very interesting to know, but it doesn’t explain why I spoken those words. No,” she said, raising her hoof, as Arthas opened his mouth to retort, “I heard when you said that you don’t understand that either, Hivespeaker. As such, it seems only logical that we should try to pursue the answer to that ourselves, doesn’t it?”

Even before she finished that rhetorical question, Arthas had already realized what she was about to suggest, and felt a cold shiver run down his spine. “I cannot let this happen!” he thought as Chrysalis turned to Celestia.

“Would Equestria be interested in mounting together with us an expedition to that world?”

Ponies looked at her, surprised, as Arthas’ fears came true. “I don’t necessarily see wisdom in such action,” Celestia replied calmly; Arthas realized that she too must have anticipated this. “But that matter aside, how would you even propose to accomplish such a feat? Azeroth is practically on the other side of the galaxy, as my student had learned after studying astrological charts and listening to Sir Lightbringer’s descriptions.”

“Come now, Princess Celestia,” Chrysalis said, not pausing when Celestia took a moment to glance at Twilight with pride, “surely somepony with such magical prowess as yourself knows that creating a portal to this world would be easy. You are still visited by that ‘dwarf’ creature from time to time, right? With his amulet serving as a medium, we could conjure a portal without anyling as much as breaking a sweat.”

Arthas blinked. That hadn’t even occurred to him. He had suspected of course that creating a portal to Azeroth would be possible for Equestria (after all, the orcs managed to create a stable one, and even considering that they had the help of Medivh and that Draenor was much closer to Azeroth than Equestria, ponies had known arcane magic for thousands of years longer than orcs dabbled in fel magic), but he hadn’t counted on anypony using Brann’s amulet as a medium. With all the memories of the mages he had slaughtered in Dalaran still in his head, Arthas grew to understand magic enough to know that in this case, they could practically have a portal ready within the hour of Brann’s next visit.

Not wanting to allow this idea to grow any longer, Arthas spoke up: “Your Majesties, everyp- everyone; I’d strongly advise against such action. Creating a portal to Azeroth, or worse, launching an expedition into it, could bring about massive threat to the entire world of Equestria.”

“My, how dramatic,” Chrysalis commented. Arthas looked at her; despite her mocking tone, her eyes held nothing of her usual amusement. “I am sure you must have a good reason for thinking so, Hivespeaker. You certainly wouldn’t be concerned about the reaction of anyling on Azeroth who you had wronged with whatever it is you had done to the news of you being alive, wouldn’t you?”

“She’s unsettled by what had happened to her,” Arthas noted. “She wants to know why, and going to Ahn’Qiraj seems like the only place she would get her answers. Light, grant me clarity to convince her to not pursue this path.”

A smile crept to his lips on its own as he answered. “Your Majesty, if my death could prevent problems of the magnitude I fear Equestria would face in an event of those two worlds meeting, I would present my neck to the executioner’s axe,” he said, meaning those words. His gaze traveled around the table as he addressed no longer just Chrysalis but everybody. “However, the issue of me being alive and what it could mean to some Azerothians isn’t what I fear. Creating a portal between worlds, even if to such remote places like Ahn’Qiraj, would undoubtedly attract attention. Among those who I am certain would sense it would be Kirin Tor, the conclave that leads the magocratic nation of the city-state of Dalaran, and from there the rest of the world would quickly learn of it.”

“And why exactly would that be a bad thing?” Daring Do asked.

“Because there are currently three world-scaled wars raging across Azeroth, and in my opinion the probability of Equestria getting dragged into those conflicts is too great to risk a contact.”

Everybody turned to him with wide eyes and open mouth. Even Luna, who knew the most about Azeroth from seeing it in his memories, was shocked. This world hadn’t seen a real war in over two thousand years; the concept of three wars raging at the same time must have been hard to grasp for them.

Luna was first to recover her composure. “I’m starting to think we should have questioned you more often about Azeroth,” she noted calmly.

“I’ve only learned about the third one recently,” Arthas admitted, “so even it-”

“Nevermind,” Luna interrupted him. “Could you please describe those conflicts for us shortly, so that we may decide if it’s really too dangerous for us to attempt contact?”

“Of course Your Majesty,” Arthas replied; as he had guessed earlier, he was going to explain the entire political scene of Azeroth. “For everybody here to get a good grasp on Azeroth’s matters, I will first need to tell you about the various allegiances that play major parts in them.”

He reached to the crystal, summoning back the image of Azeroth. Except this time, several lands appeared highlighted in a blue color; most of the southern Eastern Kingdoms and northern Kalimdor, with several more scattered locations as well.

“The Alliance,” Arthas started to speak, focusing his thoughts through the crystal so that beside the model of a planet appears the symbol of the Alliance; a blue-gold shield with a lion’s head as shield boss, flanked by golden gryphons on both sides, a hammer’s head above it, and below arrows crossed over mechanical gears, “is one of the two major political factions of my former world. Its major members are the human nations of Stormwind, Theramore, Stromgarde, and Gilneas;” Arthas decided to not divulge whether Gilneas could be still considered a ‘human nation’ or not; instead, he focused on creating an image of a human male and female. Ignoring the others’ reactions to the sight of the race he had formerly belonged to, Arthas spared only a moment before he named another member of the Alliance; “the dwarven Kingdom of Ironforge;” the images of humans were replaced by Bronzebeard dwarves, he would present the other two clans later; “the Frostborn;” dwarves with light blue skin, “the Gnomeregan Exiles;” several ponies and changelings made borderline amused expression at the sight of the images representing tiny gnomes. Arthas found it amusing, considering how the races of Azeroth would react to them in turn; “the night elves of Darnassus;” the images of this nocturnal race, already seen by the gathered, were more respectfully accepted, though whether it was due to their height or their silvery glowing eyes Arthas wasn’t sure; “several scarce organisations of high elves, the most notably being the Silver Covenant;” the images of the shorter and light skinner cousins of night elves appeared; “and lastly, the draenei of Exodar.”

The forms of draenei were, ironically, the most easily acceptable to ponies and changelings so far. It wasn’t surprising; their features - blue skin, hooved hind legs, reptile tails and glowing eyes - which were considered alien on Azeroth, weren’t really that unusual on Equestria.

“Diverse crowd,” Ghost Step commented once Arthas let the images of draenei fade.

“You would think that, but in truth all those races share same ideals of honor, nobility and justice,” Arthas replied. “Though they are of different races, all members are loyal to one another.”

“You’ve mentioned human nations of Stormwind, Theramore, Stromgarde and Gilneas,” Cadance mused out loud before turning to him questioningly. “What of the Kingdom of Lordaeron? I recall you saying that you used to live there.”

The slight curve at the edge her mouth told Arthas that she hadn’t forgotten about the remark he made on her and Shining Armor’s wedding as well. “The Kingdom of Lordaeron was destroyed during the Third War several years ago,” he said, somehow managing to speak without flinching. “Though I suppose one could say that it still exist in a fashion; you will understand that in a moment.”

“Sorry for bringing it up,” Cadance apologized.

Arthas shook his head, showing that he took no offense. “Don’t be,” he wanted to say, “I was the one who destroyed it.”

“Now, the second major faction on Azeroth,” he started again, “is the Horde.” Once again the image of Azeroth appeared, but this time the lands highlighted (by a red light) were the northern Eastern Kingdoms and central Kalimdor. Beside the globe Arthas summoned the crest of the Horde; the red and ivory shield with a turned crescent surrounding the shield boss, with a long, adorned in feathers tusk behind it, as well as painted masks and chained bones above. “It’s composed of the orc clans, mainly living in the nation of Durotar;” strangely, the sight of sturdy, green-skinned forms of orc male and female hadn’t caused ponies and changelings to express nearly as much of a shock as when his father’s court had first heard of them. They still blinked in surprise though; “the jungle trolls of the Darkspear Tribe,” the more grotesque forms of trolls, the male’s hulking ones ever more so with their tusks, did cause a greater impression; “the forest trolls of Revantusk Tribe;” the images basically just changed colors from blue to green; “the United Tauren Tribes;” being so alike to minotaurs aside from their hands, the images of tauren male and female didn’t cause much of a reaction; “the taunka tribes;” the images almost didn’t change, except of the male and female gaining more fur and flatter muzzles; “the blood elves of the Kingdom of Quel’Thalas;” again elven shapes formed, only this time they had glowing green eyes; “the ogres of Stonemaul clan;” this time, only one image appeared. Even with all the knowledge he had gained as the Lich King, Arthas had never actually gotten to learn how the ogre’s female looked like. Still, the image of the massive, hulking, half-naked giant was surprising enough for ponies and changelings to not ask any questions; “the goblins of Bilgewater Cartel;” the short images of goblins, after the massive ogre, taurens and trolls took the gathered by surprise; “and… the Forsaken.”

He hesitated briefly before he summoned the last images. He purposely left the Forsaken for the last, knowing that their appearance would lead to uncomfortable questions. As he predicted, when the half-decayed forms of undead human male and female appeared - the most numerous among the Forsaken’s ranks - several of the gathered in the chamber gasped.

“Okay, I take back what I said;” Ghost Step said, perplexed like others; “this is a diverse crowd. What’s with the zombies?”

“At the start of the Third War, the Plague of Undeath swept through Lordaeron, killing everything, raising their corpses, and making them fight for a necromancer that created the plague.”

That was the truth… to some degree...

“However, shortly by the end of the war, a group of the undead managed to break free from the control,” he continued. “They created their own nation in the ruins of Lordaeron, making Undercity their capital, and later allied themselves with the Horde.”

He glanced at Twilight briefly, concerned as to how she was taking the sight of undead. To his relief, she didn’t appear too traumatized by it; she was appalled, but she wasn’t covering her eyes or looking away.

“So what, you’re saying that those Forsaken are not dangerous?” Shining Armor asked, pulling Arthas’ attention away from Twilight. “They’re not… eating brains and stuff?”

Arthas looked at him, bemused. “Why would they eat brains?” Not waiting for an answer, he continued. “They’re dangerous alright, but I assume you were asking if they are not evil like the faceless ones for example? They have a free will, like they had back in life, and although regarding their queen I have some words I would not utter during such a formal meeting like this, they are generally not bad.”

“‘Not bad’, huh?” Cyclone Strike asked, clearly doubting his words. “And they named their capital ‘Undercity’ to not make a contradicting impression?”

“The Undercity was so named years before Forsaken had claimed it,” Arthas retorted, rolling his eyes. “It’s made out of dungeons and ancient royal crypts beneath the capital of Lordaeron. When the Forsaken came, they worked to transform those catacombs into a city.”

“Or rather, finished the work I started,” he thought, and to his surprise and mild annoyance he realized that he was slightly bitter about it.

Cyclone Strike’s voice shook him out of those musings. “Out of curiosity, what was the name of Lordaeron’s capital?”

“Capital City.”

“Yeah, what was it’s name?”

Arthas looked at the Captain of the Royal Guard, bemused. “Capital City.”

“Yeah, what- oh,” the pegasus exclaimed, now understanding it. “Wait, their actually named their capital Capital City? Are all of those humans so unoriginal?”

Arthas blinked, utterly shocked. “You know, Captain,” he started after a second when he regained his composure, “I would be inclined to feel embarrassed if you ponies hadn’t given all your cities save maybe three names that are equine puns,” Arthas said flatly.

“Enough of this idle chatter,” Chrysalis interrupted before Cyclone Strike could retort. “We can leave the discussion whether it is ponies or humans that come with sillier names for later.”

Though inwardly Arthas rolled his eyes, he nodded to the Changeling Queen. Cyclone Strike did the same, although Arthas could swear he heard the pegasus mutter something that sounded alike to “the Hive”.

“As I have said,” Arthas resumed, “those are the two major political factions on Azeroth, and one of those three wars I had mentioned is the Alliance-Horde War.”

“Wait, didn’t you just say they allied to face the qiraji in the Second War of the Shifting Sands?” Cadance asked.

“They did; however, at the time, they weren’t in the state of open war, and the qiraji were too much of a threat for one faction deal with by themselves, or worse, while fighting with each other. That wasn’t the only instance when the two united against a common enemy.”

“Then why are they fighting now? Don’t they have to deal with… another thing?” Twilight spoke up, shivering briefly.

Arthas observed her carefully. The shiver was without doubt caused by the memory of Deathwing… but there was something else about her that unsettled Arthas, though he couldn’t put his hoof on it.

“How should I explain this…” he said, making a mental note to ask her when this was all over if she was alright. “Though the current forms of both Alliance and the Horde were formed after the Third War, their history is much longer than those last eight years. The Horde came into being first, and was comprised solely of orcish and ogres clans, though ogres were, for the most part, second-category members. It was founded on the world of Draenor.”

He pressed his hoof against the crystal yet again, conjuring an image of another world. Draenor. However, he didn’t summon that image of how it looked now (as the shattered, floating pieces of land called Outland), but as how it was before Ner’zhul’s reckless actions tore it apart.

Ignoring the snort on the other side of his soul, Arthas pointed at the landmass where the events he was about to describe had transpired. “This world was dying, it couldn’t provide food for the numerous orc clans.”

Arthas could have told them about the slaughter of the draenei, how the Horde was first formed, but decided not to. He was asked to describe the current conflicts on Azeroth, and though that required explaining bits of history, this part wasn’t necessary and would only serve to portray orcs as monsters.

“They created a huge gateway known as the Dark Portal, creating a permanent link to Azeroth, a world full of space living for them. The only problem-”

“The inhabitantsss?” Dragon Blood guessed.

“The First War, between the Horde and the Kingdom of Stormwind, erupted. The Old Horde had a huge advantage in numbers, and after the assassination of King Llane Wrynn, they won. Stormwind City was almost entirely destroyed, and the humans of the kingdom fled north to Lordaeron. There, the Alliance of Lordaeron was founded, originally formed from the seven human kingdoms. It was joined by the high elves, dwarves and gnomes, and it faced the Horde in the Second War. The Horde had similarly gained allies in forest trolls, the goblins of Steamwheedle Cartel, and enslaved red dragons. The Alliance won the war, and the orcs were placed in the internment camps. Those that weren’t killed, of course.

“What followed next was about ten years of relative peace. Most of the orcs started to suffer a strange lethargy that made them easy to keep in the internment camps. There were several bands causing troubles, most prominent being the Warsong Clan led by Grommash Hellscream, and the group that became known as the Dark Horde, consisted mostly of Blackrock and Dragonmaw Clans, led by Dal’rend Blackhand, son of the first Warchief of the Horde, Blackhand the Destroyer. However, most of the firepower that faction had dispersed when agents of the Alliance had freed the red dragons from the Dragonmaw’s control. Regardless, the rebirth of the real Horde took place about ten years ago, shortly before the Third War. A ‘pet orc’ of the head of the internment camps, who was taught how to fight for a gladiator arena, broke free and escaped into the wilderness.The orc’s name was Thrall; he first met the Warsong Clan, and then he found his own clan, the Frostwolves, who had been banished during the First War. There he learned the art of shamanism, and after meeting the Warchief that led the Horde during the Second War, Orgrim Doomhammer, they liberated all the orcs in the internment camps. During one of those raids, Orgrim suffered a mortal wound, and named Thrall his successor. Once the orcs were freed, Thrall had tried to negotiate some form of peace with the Alliance, but… we were uncooperative,” he admitted, wondering how differently the history would have played if they had listened to the words of Lord Karramyn Langston, protége of the late Aedelas Blackmoore, when Thrall sent him with his message. As Arthas himself was then fighting Blackrock orcs in Alterac, ignoring that offer of peace was one of the few things that he wasn’t responsible for, and yet… “Furthermore, Thrall soon received a vision that led him to lead his people across the Great Sea to Kalimdor. During their journey, the saved an exiled tribe of jungle trolls, the Darkspear Tribe, and on Kalimdor they helped the taurens, forming strong bonds of friendship with them.

“On the other hoof, things didn’t go well for the Alliance during the time of peace. One of its members, the Kingdom of Alterac, had betrayed the Alliance during the Second War and was put under martial law at first, but several years later its own people abandoned it. The matter of Alterac was causing a wedge between leaders of the Alliance, with Gilneas supporting one heir to the throne and Stromgarde wanting a portion of its territory as war contribution. There was also a lot of disagreements within it regarding what should be done with the lethargic orcs. The upkeep of the internment camps was high, and the increased taxes were causing the people in the kingdoms to speak against them. The high elves of Quel’Thalas were first to leave the Alliance, followed soon by both Gilneas and Stromgarde. Stormwind, rebuilt after the Second War, had faced a different problem: due to manipulations of a certain third party that I will mention later, riots erupted within the capital, which resulted in the death of Queen Tiffin Wrynn, causing King Varian Wrynn to fall into a great depression. With all that, it’s not surprising why the Alliance of Lordaeron suffered so greatly in the Third War.

“The Kingdoms of Lordaeron and Quel’Thalas were destroyed, as was the nation of Dalaran.”

“All by my hand…”

“Many people had survived, as a lot had earlier fled to Kalimdor, where they would later found the nation of Theramore. High elves were less fortunate, as around ninety percent of their population had been wiped out. The survivors had taken the name blood elves to honor their fallen comrades, though later several ideological differences led a small portion of them to take the name ‘high elves’ once again. The Kingdom of Stromgarde managed to survive, although severely weakened, and after the assassination of King Thoras Trollbane, Stromgarde City came under siege from a criminal organization known as the Syndicate - which is led by nobles of the fallen Alterac- and ogres of the Boulderfist clan, resulting in them claiming about half of the capital. Gilneas, safe behind the Graymane Wall they erected after leaving the Alliance to isolate themselves, faced two threats; a civil war known as Northgate Rebellion and an outbreak of the Worgen curse, which would change, over time, the majority of the population into ferocious beasts known as worgens.” As he spoke, Arthas reached for the crystal. A huge form of lupine humanoid appeared. “Only recently had they found a way to retain their human minds in those forms. Gnomes of Gnomeregan didn’t take part during the Third War, because they were facing another enemy: a primitive race known as troggs.” The image changed yet again, showing a small, about the size of a dwarf, hideous creature. “Hordes of them broke through the lower reaches of the city - Gnomeregan is a subterranean city - catching the gnomes by surprise. In order to defeat them, one of High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque’s advisors, Mekgineer Sicco Thermaplugg, suggested using toxic gas, claiming he had tested its radiation level and that it was lethal to troggs and that it would stay in the quarantine areas. The plan backfired catastrophically, forcing the gnomes to abandon the city and seek safe haven in Ironforge City. As for the night elves, during the war they lost their immortality and most of the forests they called home.

“Within the year following the end of Third War, the orcs had founded the nation of Durotar and began to build Orgrimmar City. However, they soon found themselves under attack of Kul Tiras. Grand Admiral Daelin Proudmoore ignored the non-aggression pact between humans of Theramore and orcs and used the human city as a base of operation. The Horde, consistent then of orcs, Darkspear trolls, tauren and Stonemaul ogres, faced him and ended his life, sparing Theramore and those of Daelin’s men who surrendered. In the Eastern Kingdoms, the remnants of the Alliance, led by Grand Marshal Othmar Garithos,” Arthas couldn’t stop himself from snorting at the memory of the racist baron who attained his rank in military more so because of his rank and his father’s reputation rather than his skills, “fought with the undead. The blood elves, wanting to avenge their homeland, joined him, but it almost cost them their lives. Garithos hated elves, and as soon as he found a legitimate sounding excuse he arrested all the blood elves serving under him and wanted to execute them. They escaped, though, and would remember the betrayal of the Alliance for years to come. Garithos, however, wouldn’t live long, as he himself was later killed by the undead that became known as the Forsaken.

“For the next four years, there was peace between the Alliance and the Horde. However, tensions were growing; the orcs continued to cut trees in Ashenvale Forest for lumber, much to the anger of the night elves, who joined the Alliance during that time. The Forsaken, besieged by the enemies like other undead and the humans of the Scarlet Crusade - a very corrupted order of paladins that believed everything is impure and that all beings other than them should die - joined the Horde, which didn’t make the remnants of humans in southern Lordaeron and Stromgarde feel comfortable. After the third year of peace, it was decided that a summit should be held between the Warchief of the Horde and King of Stormwind, the member of the Alliance considered to be the most powerful and influential, to write down a formal peace treaty. The summit was to be held in Theramore, but unfortunately, King Varian had been abducted on his way there and disappeared for years.

“The fourth year marked the end of peace, though there was no open war. Rather, it resembled the skirmishes the griffons of Outcasts Mountains have with the zebra tribes of Aaztai and Sovati, with major fights taking place only in Warsong Gulch on the outskirts of Ashenvale, Arathi Basin within the lands of Stromgarde, and Alterac Valley in the ruins of Alterac. Still, the two factions remained able of putting aside their differences and uniting against common threats like the qiraji. A year since the start of this cold war, blood elves had joined the Horde and Alliance was joined by the draenei, which didn’t do much to mend the relations between the two factions. The Alliance, the high elves especially, considered the blood elves to be traitors, while the draenei had a history with the orcs. When the King of Stormwind was finally found almost two years ago, the two sides attempted to once again hold a peace summit. However, a third party intervened, with members of the Alliance’s races attacking the Horde and vice versa, causing the summit to fail as each side blamed another for it. However, that wasn’t what ultimately changed this cold war into an open conflict.

“During another conflict with a common enemy, the two sides again cooperated. Unfortunately, a tragedy struck. A group of Forsaken staged a coup d'etat within Undercity and turned on both the Horde and the Alliance. The King of Stormwind in particular took those events hard, as among the casualties was one he considered as close as a brother. After discovering the reason behind it, King Varian had personally led an attack on Undercity, intending on both bringing the guilty to justice as well as reclaiming Lordaeron’s capital for the Alliance. However, while he was there, he discovered evidence that despite the small peace between the two factions, the Forsaken were developing a deadly chemical weapon. He confronted Warchief Thrall, who also lead a party to liberate the city, and declared that peace couldn’t be achieved. Though it wasn’t official, Varian had practically declared a war then. Luckily, a mage teleported them out before a fight could erupt.”

“So technically it was the Alliance who started the war?” Ghost Step asked.

Instead of replying at once, Arthas just glared at him. “I almost managed to get to the end without getting interrupted.”

The changeling raised his forehooves and spread them slightly, showing that he was done. Arthas ignored his question and continued: “Throughout the rest of the conflict, the two factions wouldn’t cooperate, unless pressed to by other neutral factions taking part in it as well. Though neither of the two sides went as far as to start attacking outposts of the other faction, they would fight with one another several times.”

“Like at my doorstep, right when they were storming Icecrown Citadel,” Arthas thought, mentally facehoofing. “Looking back, I’m starting to understand why I thought undead were better…”

Banishing the thought, not even wanting to joke about it, he resumed: “However, once that conflict was over, they declared a cease fire while each side pulled their armies from Northrend. Even King Varian, who has good reasons to hate and distrust the Horde, agreed with that idea. If the Cataclysm hadn’t happened, maybe they would have found a way to return to the previous state at least.”

“The Cataclysm?” Lucid and Spitfire asked at the same time.

“A worldwide disaster, caused by a mad Dragon Aspect, Deathwing the Destroyer. Dragon Aspects are the five most powerful beings on Azeroth, each imbued with the powers of the titans that so long ago had shaped that world and left these dragons to guard it. As I’ve mentioned, they are much different than dragons from your world. Unfortunately, one of the greatest of their kind had been driven mad by the whispers of the Old God many millennia ago; the Cataclysm he had caused five months ago is only one of the latests atrocities he had committed.”

“Great plan on the titans' part, to give one of the protectors of the world power of the earth… under which they’ve buried arguably the greatest threat to the world,” Arthas thought, snorting inwardly. The more he thought about the titans, the more they struck him as incompetent, which was why he hoped so much that Brann’s guesses regarding Equestria were wrong.

If titans had also visited Equestria, what could go wrong here?

“The Cataclysm reshaped the face of the world, with many coastlines shifting, exposing new lands or flooding old ones. Resources became scarce; and what’s worse, the Horde had a new warchief. Thrall, being a shaman, had to put his duties to the world first and joined many other shamans from a group called the Earthen Ring in their attempts to heal the damage the Cataclysm was causing. In his stead, he appointed Garrosh Hellscream, son of Grommash, as Warchief. Garrosh is a warrior, not a shaman, and a firm believer in the Horde’s supremacy and its right to take what they need.”

“It seems weird,” Celestia spoke up, interrupting him, “that this Thrall would knowingly appoint somebody like him as his successor.”

“As a shaman, he puts the world first,” Arthas agreed. “But as the leader of the Horde, he also had to consider what is best for the Horde. Like you yourself had mentioned earlier regarding P’aqo, Your Majesty, it’s not easy following two paths. I cannot say what exactly Thrall must have thought when he decided to appoint a known warmonger like Garrosh, but if I were to make a guess, there were several reasons behind the choice. One was that Thrall had originally thought that he would be gone for a short time only; according to what I know, he may yet decide to resume the mantle of a warchief once the Cataclysm ends. Another reason was that his people craved for a war hero to lead them, and Garrosh had certainly proved himself a great warrior and commander during the earlier conflict. The reputation of his father, who is revered as one of the greatest heroes of the Horde, also played an important factor.” He paused for a moment, pondering. Having once been one being with an orc shaman, Arthas had a unique insight into how an orc’s mind worked. “His youth was probably also important; orcs, who are the core of the Horde, tend sometimes to think less of the elderly, which is probably why Thrall hadn’t chosen High Overlord Varok Saurfang, a veteran orc hero.”

He winced. The thought of Saurfang, like earlier, brought memories of his son, Dranosh Saurfang - a Horde’s commander at Wrathgate. Unlike most of the soldiers that died that day, he wasn’t struck by the Forsaken Blight, but by Arthas’ blade. Frostmourne devoured his soul and he raised him as his most powerful death knight, Deathbringer Saurfang. He died defending the entry to the upper floors of Icecrown Citadel, and his corpse was taken away by his father so that he could have a proper ceremony in Nagrand.

“By all accounts, Dranosh was known to be a mighty and wise warrior, like his father. Would Thrall have chosen him as the Warchief if he had lived?” Arthas mused. “Does it always have to be my fault in the end?”

“Regardless of the former Warchief’s reasons, what is fact is that war broke out between the two factions,” he resumed, wanting to finish. He reached for the crystal to show which territories were currently most contested. “While Garrosh had set on securing the Horde’s position in central Kalimdor - with himself leading the offensive in Ashenvale Forest - he also ordered the Forsaken to similarly secure northern Eastern Kingdoms. Aside from taking over Hillsbrad Foothills, the last remaining part of the Lordaeron Kingdom where living humans lived, as well as the city of Andorhal, they also attacked the, until then, neutral Gilneas, taking advantage of the Cataclysm breaking the Greymane Wall and forcing its people to flee their own country, which is how the Gilneas rejoined the Alliance. Most refugees now live in Darnassus, the capital of the night elves, while their King, Genn Greymane, is in Stormwind, formulating plans of retaking Gilneas together with King Varian. The Alliance sent in their finest, the 7th Legion, who together with the Gilneas Liberation Front - a resistance group formed from Gilnean soldiers who remained behind, a feral worgen pack of Bloodfang, and Hillsbrad survivors - led by Lord Darius Crowley, continued to battle the Forsaken in Gilneas, Silverpine Forest and Hillsbrad.”

Arthas’ grip on the edge of the table tightened as he finished talking. His gaze rested on highlighted lands of his father. “Lordaeronians are killing Lordaeronians,” he thought, thinking of the Hillsbrad refuges and the Forsaken. His jaw clenched. “All because of that elven witch!” His eyes moved from Gilneas to Pyrewood Village, Shadowfang Keep, Ambermill, Fenris Isle, and to Dalaran Crater. “If only Celie were alive and I could find her, I could-”

He blinked, surprised at the ideas and scenarios that came to his mind, and shook his head. Where did that came from?

“Sir Lightbringer, is something wrong?” Luna asked, frowning.

“No, Your Majesty,” Arthas replied, calming down. “Forgive me, I think I simply got a bit winded from this overlong exposition.”

“Even if Celie is alive, I would be the last person she would want to talk with,” he chided himself. “And that is beside the fact that I am now a pony in another world. Thinking up ludicrous plans would serve nothing but indulge my pride, sense of duty and need for forgiveness.”

“In Kalimdor, the Horde, like I mentioned, focused on pushing the night elves from Ashenvale, launching two offensives. Aside from that, they also focused on claiming Stonetalon Mountains and combating the Alliance in Southern Barrens, where they established outposts wanting to create a military line between the land of the night elves and Theramore. When the goblins of Bilgewater Cartel, whose home on the Isle of Kezan was destroyed during the Cataclysm, joined the Horde, they made their home inside the Bilgewater Harbor in Azshara, and started to work on transforming the entire area into the Horde’s symbol. There have also been naval fights over key trade routes, and one island known as Tol Barad became a battlefield as well. There had also been some fights in Twilight Highlands, though I know little of that,” Arthas said, finally finishing.

After his last word, there was silence for several seconds. “So,” Daring spoke up, breaking the silence, “just to clarify; all of that was just a short version of your world’s history from the last… twenty years?”

“More like thirtiesh, actually,” Arthas corrected her.

“Wow,” Daring replied, then turned to the rest. “Anypony else want to go there just to buy the first history textbook they can find?”

“Thank you for this explanation regarding the Alliance-Horde War, Sir Lightbringer,” Celestia said, ignoring Daring Do. “It gave us an important insight on your world. Taking into the account how widespread this war is,” she added, turning to Chrysalis, “it does seem very likely we would be engulfed by it if we were to make a contact with Azeroth. Perhaps it would be better to postpone such ideas until we hear that the Alliance and the Horde found some form of coexistence?”

Chrysalis frowned, but before she could reply, Daring Do once again spoke. “I’m all for exploring and leading expeditions, but I would prefer to not get mixed up in a war of people so silly that they wage it while their world is falling apart around them.”

“Really?” Ghost Step asked her, smirking. “I was under the impression that you enjoyed working in a hostile environments… and with hostile people. Hadn’t the chieftain of the Jurassica Tribe threatened to cut your head off if you ever returned to Forgotten Island?”

Everypony glanced at Daring, who seemed slightly surprised. “How did you… oh right, who am I talking to,” she answered her own question. “But no, it wasn’t my head.”

“Oh, really?” Ghost Step asked, blinking in surprise. “Your hooves perhaps?”

“No, it was… it was a misunderstanding. So, are we also going to listen about two other wars on that world of yours or have we heard enough?” Daring questioned.

Arthas frowned, surprised (and somewhat amused) by her change of topic. “The other two are the War against Deathwing - waged between the Old God’s forces led by Deathwing and forces of Alliance, Horde, and neutral parties like the other four dragonflights - and the War against the Zandalari, the progenitor of all troll tribes whose homeland had been destroyed in the Cataclysm. Because of this, they now attempt to rebuild the fallen troll empires of Amani and Gurubashi.”

“I can understand why the war with this Deathwing is being waged, but who are those trolls fighting, exactly?” Shining Armor asked

“Basically, the rest of Azeroth,” Arthas explained. “In the wake of the Cataclysm and the destruction of Zandalar, the Zandalari believed that only unifying trolls into the single mighty empire will save them. To that extent, they are willing to even imprison their own Loas - the primal gods the trolls worship, not unlike the Spirits the zebras pray to - and drain their powers. There is no telling how far they would go in their plans, and left to their own devices the troubled world would have to face the legendary savagery of the troll empires on top of everything else. Furthermore, Zul’Aman, the capital of Amani Empire, is located near Quel’Thalas, posing a threat to the blood elves, and Zul’Gurub, the capital of Gurubashi Empire, is near the border with Stormwing Kingdom, not to mention all the outposts of Alliance and Horde within Stranglethorn Vale. Vol’jin, chieftain of the Darkspear Tribe who had refused the Zandalari offer to join them, gathered allies from the Horde and even sent envoys to the Alliance to combat that threat.”

“It’s heartening to see that there are some among them still willing to cooperate,” Celestia commented. “And what of the War against Deathwing?”

“I suppose it’s not really as much ‘against Deathwing’ as ‘against forces of the Old Gods’. Since his initial flight over Azeroth as the Cataclysm had started, during which he had severely damaged Stormwind City, the great wyrm had only made several appearances. I have no idea where he is hiding, but even without him the forces of Azeroth have plenty on their plate. Twilight’s Hammer cult, obsessed with the end of the world, make the bulk of Old Gods’ forces. Though since the death of their leader, ogre mage Cho’gall, they have been disorganized. Another force following Deathwing is his own Black Dragonflight, all of them as wicked as he is, though most of the black dragons have been killed, including Deathwing’s mate Sintharia and their two oldest children, Nefarian and Onyxia. The Black Dragonflight was the party I mentioned earlier regarding manipulating events in Stormwind that led to Queen Tiffin’s demise.”

“How can a dragon ‘manipulate events’?” Spitfire asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Captain Spitfire, I’ve mentioned several times that Azerothian dragons are different than the ones you are familiar with. Among those differences is their ability to take shapes of mortal races, like humans. Onyxia had taken a guise of a human noble and was the one responsible for the riots, as well as King Varian’s disappearance.”

“I think we’ve heard enough at this point,” Luna spoke up, before Arthas could continue. Turning to everybody, she said: “Getting mixed up in those wars wouldn’t benefit anybody on Equestria. Even if one were to argue that we should at least offer them equanitarian help, what we learned about the Warchief of the Horde points out that he would try to come to us and take what the Horde needs. Am I right?” she asked, turning to Arthas.

“I believe so as well, Your Majesty,” he agreed. “Although to be honest, I cannot be certain.”

“Regardless, it is indeed too big of a risk,” Celestia said. “Though I wish we could do something to help them, at least with those seeking to destroy their world, it is best to leave them combat that threat by themselves.”

“Do not worry, Your Majesty; Azerothians have faced many threats in the past,” Arthas said. “I am certain they will be able to defeat Deathwing.”

He did not add that he - together with Bolvar and Ner’zhul- was working on a plan to help them.

“Then we will not work on creating a portal leading to Azeroth,” Celestia said, nodding. “Unless you wish to disagree, Queen Chrysalis?” she added, glancing at the Changeling Queen.

Chrysalis didn’t look too happy, but she nodded. “I know my changelings would be able to operate on Azeroth undetected, but if you promise we will return to this issue once the situation on that world becomes more stabilized, I don’t mind waiting.”

“Of course,” Celestia agreed. Turning to others, she said “The discussion regarding the world of Azeroth distracted us from more important matters; namely, how there are those who would wish us harm. Whoever had manipulated you into attacking Canterlot,” she said, turning to the changelings, “they must have had some reason for doing that. It would seem logical that they are also behind the disappearance of one of your changelings.”

“And that they were the ones responsible for Apple Bloom’s sudden ‘aging problem’ two months ago,” Arthas thought, thankful that Celestia hadn’t brought up that subject. The less ponies knew about it the better it was for Apple Bloom.

“Hopefully, with both the Night Guard and your spies looking for her, we will get to the bottom of this” Celestia continued, “but until then I would want everybody here be on the lookout for anything unusual.”

Arthas fought off the urge to ask her to define ‘unusual’, since for him just the fact that his heart was beating was unusual.

“With that, I believe we can bring this meeting to an end.”

“Tucker, I want you to go with Doctor Do and the changelings and guard them.”

Shortly after leaving the Council Chamber, the Changeling Queen bid everypony farewell, teleporting herself and all of her changelings save four; Grand Magistrix Lucid, Spymaster Ghost Step and two Praetorians. First they were going with Daring Do, so that Lucid would receive a copy of her report.

“And to have something to read while I wait for the spooks to be done playing so I can teleport us all back to the Hive,” Lucid added.

Ghost Step ignored her comment, though Nightshade looked at her with near outrage before saying that he needed to go see if Operative Vendetta had returned. Others had similarly dispersed, leaving Arthas, his paladins, the changelings and Daring Do together with Twilight, the Crystal Empire’s Royal Couple and their guards.

“Oh, and Twilight, Lightbringer?” Celestia asked as she and her sister started to leave to take care of some duties. “After you see Cadance and Shining Armor off, please come to my chambers. Luna and I would like to have a word with you.”

“Of course, Princess,” Arthas replied together with Twilight back then, though inwardly he winced, recalling his last ‘word’ with Celestia.

“I really hope this is something unrelated to that…”

“A unicorn will slow us down,” Lucid said. “It will be much faster if we just fly.”

“It wouldn’t do well to warm up citizens of Canterlot to you if they would see you flying,” Arthas explained. “Your flight is a tad intimidating. They would become accustomed to changelings more easily if they saw that you aren’t much different from ponies. So, walk and make smalltalk with Doctor Do. Besides,” he added, shrugging, “if Nightshade’s operative had reported back, he would need time to debrief her.”

Neither Lucid nor Ghost Step looked too happy, but they nodded in agreement. Arthas turned back to Tucker Out. “Once they part with Doctor Do, escort them to the Night Guard Command Center. I’ll send somepony there with a message, filling you in on your next orders.”

“Can't I just hang around the changelings?” the aqua unicorn asked, glancing at Lucid. “I have a target I wouldn’t mind filling in. Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow.”

Arthas’ eyelid twitched, but it was Lucid who replied. “Sorry, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“Why? Wind Reaver told me you changelings have nothing against casual sex.”

“I made a pony who talks about sex in the presence of royalty a knight…”

“Oh, that’s true,” Lucid said, blinking and tilting her head a bit. “However, every changeling has been ordered to not engage in sexual activities with you.”

Tucker’s jaw dropped. “W-T-Fuck!?” he exclaimed. Arthas, who had enough, walked over to him. “What did I ever do to he- AUGH!” Tucker grunted as Arthas’ hoof hit him in the back of the head.

“Stop talking or I’ll demote you,” he told him. “You have your orders.”

“But…” Tucker started, but he sighed and looked down. “Yes Sir.”

Arthas was aware of several others chuckling, but he ignored them as the two changeling’s “officials” said their farewells and left with their guards. “I bet Uther never had to deal with this…” he muttered, but trailed off before he cursed. He then turned to Guard Shield: “Not that I am overly curious about this matter, but do you know anything about it?”

“No, Sir,” the older earth pony replied. He, too, had found the situation to be amusing. “Although this explains why Wind Reaver was smiling oddly when talking with Knight Tucker.”

He decided it would be best to forget about this altogether. “Well, no matter. Knight Guard Shield, I would like you to head to the kitchen where they prepare food for Canterlot’s garrison, and see if any of the chefs there would be interested in joining us in Everfree Abbey.”

Guard didn’t need it explained to him why he was searching for a chef. He understood that with all the new initiates coming, they couldn’t rely on scheduling cooking duty. “Of course, Sir.”

“Also, I would like you to make sure they know how to cook meat,” Arthas added before the paladin had turned around.

The knight looked at him, surprised. “Meat?”

“I’ll explain when we will get back to the Abbey. Once you’ve completed your objective, join Tucker in Night Guard Command Center.”

The paladin nodded and trotted away. Arthas finally turned to Twilight, Shining Armor and Cadance. “I’m sorry for the wait, Your Majesties,” he said, bowing. “As well for the scene you had to witness.”

“That’s alright, I’ve been warned by Serenity about Tucker,” Cadance replied, and then frowned. “Also, stop calling us ‘Your Majesties’.”

“Of course, Your Grace,” Arthas replied.

“So, how’s life been treating you two, Prince Shining Armor?” he asked Shining Armor a few moments later, as they trotted through the streets of Canterlot; Twilight and Cadance were walking a little behind them, having their own talk.

Shining Armor rolled his eyes. “You know, I’m starting to understand why this annoys Cadance so much,” he said, although he smiled in the corner of his mouth.

“Good; if you hadn’t and found this amusing, it could mean some sort of inferiority complex,” Arthas told him, grinning as the unicorn deadpanned at him.

“All is well in the Crystal Empire,” Shining Armor said once he rolled his eyes. “Serenity helped a lot of ponies who lost their relatives and loved ones during King Sombra’s reign, which made everypony happier. You know, because when crystal ponies are sad and depressed you can see it,” he added.

“I am relieved to hear that. However, I wasn’t asking about the Empire.”

“Oh, well… we’re fine,” Shining Armor said, uncomfortable. Before Arthas could be alarmed, he quickly added: “We’ve been both very busy. Last week for instance we had delegates from Griffonia, while at the same time we were dealing with investigations in the crystal mines and construction of a stadium. Nothing too difficult to handle, but all of it piled up together has caused us to have little free time.”

“I see,” Arthas said, feeling sorry for them.. and a bit nostalgic. He recalled how his father had him help him with some of his duties. “Stadium?”

“Yes, we hope the Crystal Empire will be chosen as the location for the next Equestria Games,” Shining Armor explained. “Surely, you heard about them by now?”

Arthas nodded. Indeed, he had heard about them. Equestria Games were an event that took place once every four years, during which competitors from each town in Equestria, as well as representatives from other nations, competed in series of various activities. It sort of resembled tournaments.

“Since the Empire had disappeared several hundred years before Equestria Games had been established, there are no facilities like stadiums or swimming pools,” Shining Armor continued. He then sighed. “Not to mention things like movie theaters. You have no idea how hard it was for the crystal ponies to grasp the concept of the cinema.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t know anything about it,” Arthas murmured.

“But we’re slowly introducing them to all that. But since we want to really impress the Equestria Games Inspector, we made the stadium our priority, so that crystal ponies could start training and stuff.”

“Sounds logical,” he replied. “So, since both of you’ve been so busy, I take we will have to wait for the news of Crystal Empire’s heir?”

Shining Armor stumbled, making several Canterlot ponies who they were passing on the street look at him briefly (with increased interest; a Royal Couple with family, pony in paladin armor and a few crystal guards already were doomed to receive some looks). Cadance and Twilight also turned to him, but quickly resumed talking.

“Is this payback for asking about you and Rainbow Dash?” Shining Armor asked quietly, embarrassed… and a little angry.

“No, that was a legitimate question. It’s only natural that rulers of the kingdoms would secure their rule by producing an heir.”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, we live in Equestria, a nation that hasn’t needed to worry about it for the last thousand years,” the unicorn retorted.

“So that’s a- wait, is Cadance immortal?” Arthas asked, frowning.

“It’s… a bit more complicated,” Shining Armor explained uncomfortably. He then deadpanned again. “And personal.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just occurred to me that’s a possibility,” Arthas apologized. “I won’t pry on that matter anymore.”

He wondered what Shining Armor meant by “complicated”. Arthas couldn’t imagine Cadance to be able bear living forever after her husband would have died of old age… but then again, he couldn’t imagine Luna capable of that either, and yet she had been prepared to marry Shadow Bolt.

“So, back to the heir thing,” Arthas said, turning his thoughts away from that matter. “That’s a no, I take?”

Shining Armor glanced at him. “Now it is payback, isn’t it?”

“Maybe,” he replied humorously, but he quickly became serious “Honestly, though, are you two thinking about a kid?”

His seriousness helped Shining Armor get over his embarrassment. “Isn’t that the kind of talk guys should have over a beer?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “We’re not mares to gossip like this.”

“Well, I had been hanging out regularly with six mares for several months, you will have to excuse me,” Arthas replied, smirking. “But that sounds fair, next time we get together we will need to find some time for a couple of drinks.”

“I’ll look forward to it. Oh, that reminds me, how are Sound and Cherry doing?”

“So Twilight, what’s wrong?”

Cadance’s quiet question almost startled her. “What?” she asked in the same volume, her heart skipping a beat. “What do you mean?”

Her sister-in-law frowned. “Twilight, I used to be your foalsitter, I know when something’s bothering you.”

Twilight cringed and looked away. “Do… do you think anypony else noticed?” she asked, hoping to hear a negative answer.

To her great relief, Cadance slightly shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. Why?”

She bit her lip. Should she tell her? Twilight looked at Cadance again; on one hoof, she trusted her completely, and hopefully talking with somepony would make it easier for her to decide what should she do now, but on the other…

… she didn’t want anypony else to know about it.

“I…” Twilight started. She looked at Arthas and her brother to make sure they weren’t listening, then leaned a bit closer to Cadance and lowered her voice even further. “I… I think I figured out what Arthas did before he died.”

Cadance’s eyes grew wide. “Really?” she asked, surprised. “I didn’t think there was anything in what he had said that shed any light on his past.”

“Yes, well…” Twilight said and trailed off.

Was she right? Of course, Twilight knew she could be wrong. And even if her hunch was right, she knew she didn’t know everything. Or that she wasn’t even close to knowing everything. However, today, she had finally got an inkling as to what Arthas did that was so horrible; that led to his soul be sent to Tartarus; that made him loath himself…

… that led him to Equestria.

Twilight closed her eyes, recalling that short conversation they had so long ago that Arthas had probably forgotten about it; otherwise, he would have probably not mentioned them.

And the... Forsaken?

They... they were people that I harmed... a lot.

And now, today, Arthas had said:

At the start of the Third War, the Plague of Undeath swept through Lordaeron, killing everything, raising their corpses, and making them fight for a necromancer that created the plague.

“Arthas… a necromancer?” Twilight thought, the very notion so ridiculous that she hardly could believe it.

She had read about this forbidden magic; it was a dark magic that manipulated the dead, raised them from their graves, and brought pain and death to the living. A Light-wielding paladin was practically an exact opposite of a necromancer. To think that Arthas could have been one was beyond ludicrous, and yet… and yet it made perfect sense.

Why else would he so loathe himself? Why else would he say that the fact that somepony he could call upon the Light again was the biggest proof of Its magnanimity?

“It even explains how come he says he’s ‘twenty fourish’. If he really was nine years old when the Second War had started like he said back on the train to Altomare, he should be over thirty now. Necromancy could have stopped his aging process.”

But still, it didn’t add up. Necromancy was a school of magic deviating from the arcane school. It wasn’t something that one could learn from reciting psalms and prayers and by devotion. To learn it, it would take years of study. Though Arthas certainly possessed a vast knowledge, Twilight just couldn’t see him studying magic. He was a warrior, a knight, the Light’s champion, not a mage.

“And besides… why?” The question again crossed Twilight’s mind. “There’s no way Arthas would have simply just decided one day to turn everybody he knew into undeads. Everypony can see it in his eyes and hear in his voice whenever he talks about his family. He truly loved them… Something must have happened. There must have been a lot more to his story.”

She came to that conclusion even before he finished describing the conflict between the Alliance and the Horde. So then, why…

“So?” Cadance asked. “What about it makes you so unnerved?”

“It’s… not that I am ‘unnerved’,” Twilight replied slowly. “It’s just… it made me understand him more- wait a minute!” she snapped, looking at Cadance. “You don’t want to know?”

Cadance chuckled. “Twilight, I’m sure you remember where I came from, right? That I’ve been found by ponies as a foal, abandoned?”

“Y-yes, of course” Twilight said, surprised by the change of the subject.

“When I was younger, I often used to think about who my parents were, and why they abandoned me,” Cadance started, gazing ahead. “Back in that village, I used to hear adults whisper how I must have been a bastard, or worse. When Celestia adopted me as her niece, I once had a talk with her about this. She told me that ‘my past doesn’t define who I am. It just gives me the starting point for who I’m going to be’.” She looked at Twilight and smiled. “I know that my and Arthas’ cases can’t exactly compare, but even so, I want to know the Arthas of Equestria rather than whoever he was on Azeroth. It would have been good to know his real name earlier though,” she added, rolling her eyes.

“I know, tell me about it,” Twilight replied humorously. “And I also think so. It’s just… I don’t know what I should do with this. Should I tell him that I know? Because I’m not sure how he would react.”

It would be most logical that, if he knew that Twilight had some inkling to what he had done in the past and still...felt the same about him, he would be relieved. But, Twilight knew Arthas well enough to know that when it came to him and relationships with others… for all she knew, he could grow more distant, not just to her but to their friends as well.

Cadance smiled sadly. “Do you think you would be able to hide this from him forever?”

Twilight blinked, surprised. She hadn’t thought of that.

Since the answer was obvious, Cadance continued. “If he would learn that you knew and hadn’t said a word, he would think that knowing about his past had changed how you… thought of him. And it hasn’t, has it?”

“Of course not,” Twilight replied.

It hadn’t. It couldn’t after all the times she saw Arthas being in pain as he recalled his past, the guilt as he stared into his reflection, or when he showed nothing but dedication to all the Light’s virtues or how he cared for friends. The Arthas of now and the Arthas of then are two different ponies.

“Well, persons, I suppose,” Twilight corrected herself. “Anyway, this means I’m up for an uncomfortable talk tonight.”

She opened her mouth to ask Cadance if she could advise her how to handle this talk, but just then she noticed her brother stumble as he talked with Arthas. “I wonder what they are talking about,” Twilight said instead, watching as her brother recovered and turned to Arthas, appearing slightly angry, while the other pony seemed amused.

Cadance frowned. “Well, if those were ordinary colts, I would say they are comparing their achievements, but since this is my husband and your Arthas that we’re talking about…” Twilight started to roll her eyes, not even wanting to argue at this point, “... I think Arthas asked if the Empire is going to have a new heir.”

Twilight stopped her eyes mid-roll. “‘Heir’? As in… Cadance, are you...”

Cadance shook her head and chuckled. “Twilight, if I were, you would have already knew.”

“Oh… but are you two trying?” Twilight inquired, smiling. However, it then hit her that this seemed odd. “Wait, why would Arthas ask about this?”

“It is considered to be polite to ask newlywed princesses and princes this kind of question,” Cadance replied. “Or queens and kings. After all, you would expect the royal couple to prolong the line. Of course this has hardly been needed in Equestria for the last thousand years. Arthas, however, comes from another world, where there were many kingdoms of his race. He was probably asking out of habit; you’ve said once that he mentioned he met the kings of Stormwind and Ironforge, right? Also, he might have wanted to get back on Shining for asking him earlier about Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight frowned. She had been within the earshot of both Shining and Cadance since then, and she could have sworn that they hadn’t spoken about this. “How did she…” she began to think, but decided to forget about it.

“No matter. Are you two trying?” she asked with renewed enthusiasm.

“Prepare the letters for other rulers informing them of the situation with the Changeling Swarm,” Celestia instructed Raven as she laid on her bed. “I want them ready before I open the court, so that Luna and I might review and sign them.”

She had no doubt that they wouldn’t need to correct anything. Raven was an excellent aide; she trusted her with all state affairs.

“Of course, Princess,” Raven replied, bowing, and started to leave her chambers. However, she stopped in the doorway and moved back to let somepony in. The unicorn bowed her head in greeting. “Princess.”

Luna replied with a nod and smiled, and trotted over to her sister. Raven closed the door behind her, leaving the two sisters alone.

“That E was more to you than just a friend,“ Luna stated before Celestia had a chance to say anything.

Celestia sighed. “Am I this easy to read?

“Only to me,” Luna replied, smirking. Her expression grew serious as she leaned over and nuzzled her. “How are you feeling?”

“Considering that the only colt I ever met that I considered having a future with was shown to suffer in the Changeling Queen’s nightmare? I think I am doing fairly well.”

“You’ve met him only once, when you were a kid,” Luna pointed out, tilting her head. “Have you really never sought a consort or husband because you were waiting for E?”

“Honestly, no,” Celestia replied. “While it sounds romantic, reality isn’t that poetic. I simply hadn’t sought a mate because I didn’t want to see him grow old.”

“But you could have-” Luna started, but Celestia cut her off.

“I needed to wait for you, to see you be saved from the Nightmare Moon.” She leaned and hugged her sister. “I was prepared to wait a thousand winters… though of course I had no idea how long it would take.”

“Sorry for being so late,” Luna retorted, making her chuckle.

“Also,” Celestia continued, “I hadn’t found any stallion to be that interesting.”

“Well, considering that you had a crush on a colt with wings stitched to his back, that’s not surprising. The only being that meets those criteria is Discord.” Luna blinked, then smirked. “Sister, have you ever considered him to be attrac-”

She stopped and erupted with laughter under the bemused gaze Celestia send her. The white alicorn shook her head and giggled silently.

“Let’s leave my love-life for a moment,” she said once Luna had calmed down. “Is everything ready?”

Her sister nodded. “Yes. Are you sure you still want to go along with it?”

“I appreciate your concern, Little Sister, but I’m fine. Besides, I’m going to do my part of the plan either way, so we might as well start as we had planned.”

“Very well then,” Luna replied. Her smile turned into a grin. “Then Operation: Honeymoon is a go!”

Twilight chuckled as they trotted through the castle’s halls, amused by Arthas’ comment.

They hadn’t had to wait for Daring Do too long on the station. Almost as soon as they arrived the tan pegasus landed next to them. However, they hadn’t parted then. Twilight wanted to use the opportunity to talk with the famous archaeologist, and Daring in turn wanted to hear from Arthas what happened to Storm Clash. So they sat in Cadance and Shining’s train drinking tea for some time, during which they also discussed Storm, Rarity, Big Mac and Nymph going on dates.

“The day started with ponies and changelings making peace, discussing the political scenes of two worlds and realizing that the pony I love was responsible for killing his entire nation and raising them as undead… to gossiping,” Twilight summed up in her head.

Unfortunately, the Princesses needed them, so she and Arthas had to leave the impromptu tea party. However, that didn’t stop them from continuing the talk between themselves.

“All I’m saying is that Rarity is definitely not going to make Storm into a stand-up guy,” Arthas continued. “She will have him wrapped around her hoof in-”

“You’re awful,” Twilight interrupted him, giggling. She grew more serious as she realized that they were nearing Princess Celestia’s chambers. “What do you think they want to talk about with us?”

For some reason, Arthas cringed. He replied, however, a second later so calmly that Twilight wondered if she had imagined it: “Maybe they want to talk about the situation with Everfree Forest. You know, what I’ve mentioned about this Provato and his mother. Or ask us to do something to make ponies more friendly towards changelings?”

Twilight nodded. Both sounded plausible. A moment later they’ve passed the two guards beside Celestia’s door and entered. Twilight smiled as she looked around the familiar room, before focusing on the two Princesses.

“I’m glad you came,” Luna started.

“Forgive us for taking it so long, Your Majesties,” Arthas said, bowing.

“Don’t worry, it’s alright,” Celestia replied. She looked at both of them. “We’ve summoned you two to help us with the matter of utmost importance.”

Twilight shared a look with Arthas. “We’d be happy to help with anything, Princess.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Luna said. “Celestia has to open court’s proceedings, and as for myself, I need to-ooaugh,” the Princess of the Night raised a hoof to cover a long yawn. “Forgive me. I need to retire for some rest.”

Both of them nodded with understanding.

“And now that one of my nannies had fallen sick-”

“Wait, what?” Twilight thought, blinking dumbfoundedly.

“-you two are the only ones I can think of who would look after Moonlight while I’ll rest,” Luna finished, smiling.

“Why don’t we go and see little Moonlight right now?” Celestia asked her sister, smiling as well.

“That’s an excellent idea Sister,” Luna replied, raising. “You two, come along now,” she called as both alicorns walked around them and left the room.

Before they moved to leave as well, Twilight turned to look at Arthas, whose expression mirrored her own. “What just happened?” they asked in unison.

143. Operation: Honeymoon

“Ar-thias!”

Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise as she heard the the alicorn utter Arthas’ real name (albeit in a foalish, very cute form). She had barely even noticed that a small form shot at the paladin beside him. Luckily, Arthas hadn’t, and managed to catch Moonlight gently before she slammed against his armored chest.

“Hello Moonlight,” Arthas said calmly as the foal hugged his muzzle. “How’s my favorite Princess doing?”

Giggling along with Caring Star - the nanny of Princess Moonlight other than the one who had fallen sick - at the sight of Celestia and Luna sharing a half annoyed, half amused look, Twilight turned to Arthas.

“Nice catch,” she said as they left moved past doorway.

Arthas shrugged in reply. “I’ve had practice,” he replied with a smirk.

As Caring Star resumed helping Princess Luna on the other side of Luna’s bedchamber pack a bag with things they’d need, Twilight pondered their task. While it wasn’t exactly… something she and Arthas had expected, she felt that it would be quite the pleasant change. “Compared with talking about politics of two worlds, convincing dragons to move away, saving an Empire and Equestria,” Twilight thought, giggling inwardly. “Twice.”

However, at the moment, something more important occupied her thoughts. “So how come Moonlight knows your real name?” she asked Arthas, raising an eyebrow.

She had hoped that her question hadn’t sounded like she was making him any pretenses, but seeing how Arthas slightly winced, she might have failed. Or maybe he winced because Moonlight began to climb using his mane.

“Well...” he started as the little alicorn made herself comfortable on top of his head and began chewing a lock of his hair.

“Sweet Celestia,” Twilight suddenly thought, feeling warmth in her heart, “this is so adorable!”

However, she wasn’t given much time to admire how cute they looked together, as Celestia unexpectedly came to Arthas’ rescue. “Arthas, you’ve told Twilight about your real name?” she asked, smiling. “I’m impressed; it must have been difficult.”

Arthas smiled awkwardly, “Oh, well, it-”

Unfortunately for him, Twilight was still a bit sore for how he kept his true name secret from her and everypony. “Actually, Princess, he had blurted it out by accident.”

“Ah, that explains it,” Celestia said as Arthas frowned at Twilight.

“You couldn’t let me have this, couldn’t you?” he asked.

“Not a chance,” Twilight smirked. “Now, how does Moonlight know it?”

“We don’t exactly know that,” Celestia replied for him. “Luna is certain that she had never called Arthas by his real name near her. We suspect that it must be either tied to her alicorn powers somehow, or have be caused by Arthas being the one who brought her back to life,” she said in serious tone. “Or by both reasons.”

“So you think I had somehow affected her subconsciousness?” Arthas asked, squinting his eyes to look up at Moonlight, who has now moved from chewing on his mane to chewing on his ear. “I hadn’t heard of the Light’s resurrection having such an effect… but then again, I’ve never heard of a newborn being brought back to life after a thousand years of being dead on the surface of the moon. Not to mention that I’ve never actually brought anypony back to life with the power of the Holy Light,” he added.

The slight change of his voice hadn’t escaped Twilight’s notice. She was even more convinced that she was on the right track with her conjectures. Unfortunately, the talk she planned to have with Arthas would have to wait several hours; talking about the death of innocents, destruction of kingdoms and necromancy hardly seemed like a proper topic of conversation while babysitting.

“Unless… is there a fairytale with played down scenarios like that?” she pondered.

“Augh!” Arthas sudden yelp startled Twilight out of her reverie. She looked at him as he flickered his ear out of Moonlight’s reach. “Moonlight, please don’t bite my ears,” the strong earth pony in full set of plate armor pleaded.

“The destroyer of kingdoms and mass murderer, everypony,” Twilight thought with dark humor, hardly able to believe how one’s fate could take so many of such improbable turns. “Just the thought of it is beyond hilarious. Oh, even Moonlight thinks this is,” she noted as the small alicorn began to giggle adorably.

“Oh, don’t be a baby,” she teased Arthas as he rubbed his ear. “She’s a foal, she couldn’t have bitten you that hard.”

“For your information, she has fangs,” Arthas told her, deadpanning.

“She has?” Twilight blinked in surprise.

“Interesting… I knew that she inherited her eyes after her father, but carnivorous teeth to be passed on… what would this mean for those bat ponies?” she wondered. “I know they are differently… made than how Shadow Bolt had been transformed, but what would happen when they’d have a foal with a non-bat pony?”

“But more importantly,” Arthas voice pulled her out of her musing, “Your Majesty, may I ask for how long you had known that Angelic Heart wouldn’t be able to foalsit today?”

“Since late last night,” Celestia replied. “Why? Are you trying to say that we could have found better foalsitters than Moonlight’s godfather and my student?”

“Of course not,” he sighed; Twilight had to admit, it did sound as if Celestia had tried to reproach him. “I am more than happy to help and spend some time with Moonlight, and I am sure Twilight will agree.” She quickly nodded to her mentor. “But you could have told us about it sooner. I wanted to look for a blacksmith to come work for the Order, and I expect Twilight also had plans as well. And I might have told Storm to continue to do something until I got back to the Abbey,” Arthas added, looking away.

“Couldn’t you send Guard or Tucker?” Twilight asked, puzzled. “You’ve sent Guard Shield to look for a cook.”

“I wanted to do this myself. I mean no offense, but since it’s been millennia since you took part in an actual armed conflict, your blacksmith’s job had been practically reduced to maintaining the royal guards’ equipment. I wanted to make sure the blacksmith has proper qualifications.”

Before Twilight had a chance to ask him what sort of qualifications he was talking about, Celestia stepped in. “I believe I know of a blacksmith that would meet all possible criteria, and with a little coaxing I can get him to suspend his retirement and work for the Order of the Celestial Light.”

“Oh,” Arthas exclaimed, blinking in surprise, “really?”

“Yes. He was working for the Royal Guard, but he left claiming that it was ‘too boring’. I am certain that he will find your paladin’s armors and weapons interesting enough to keep him in the Abbey for several months at least. And I vouch for his skills; I am certain that he would put to shame even blacksmiths of the war-torn Azeroth.”

“Well, if you say so, You Majesty, I will trust you on this,” Arthas said, bowing. “Thank you.”

Celestia smiled. “There’s no reason to thank me, Arthas. I have yet to convince him. And besides…” Twilight glanced at her, surprised, as she trailed off. To her confusion, Celestia seemed embarrassed. “I hope you’ll accept this as my way of apologizing for that one… discussion,” she added, now definitely embarrassed.

“What sort of discussion?” Twilight asked, confused.

“It’s nothing you have to worry about,” Arthas quickly replied.

She frowned at him, but nodded in understanding; it was probably something not important. Though it was hard to imagine what could cause Princess Celestia to be embarrassed about, she wouldn’t have waited until now to apologize if it was a serious matter.

Arthas turned back to Celestia. “Your Majesty, you don’t have to worry about… that. But getting back to the topic, do let me know how this matter turns out, and when I can expect to meet this ‘blacksmith who would put to shame even those from Azeroth’.” He smirked. “Of course, it would probably shame them if they knew a talking colorful pony can learn their craft, so...”

For some reason, his comment caused Princess Celestia to giggle. Twilight shared a look with Arthas, who was as confused as her. Just when they were about to ask what seemed so funny to her, though, Princess Luna and Caring Star had finally finished packing things they would need while taking care of Moonlight and turned to them.

“Everything is ready,” Luna said as they trotted.

“Ma-Ma!” Moonlight exclaimed adorably as she she jumped off Arthas’ head and flew at her mother.

Luna caught her in her magic, nuzzled her, and made her go around her. Caring Star coughed lightly. “Since Their Highnesses are busy,” she said, smirking, as she levitated the bag, “inside are diapers, foal towels, bottles with breast milk, toys-”

“Wait,” Arthas, who took the bag, interrupted her, “what milk?” he asked with wide eyes.

“Breast milk,” Luna replied, embracing Moonlight with her foreleg and staring seriously at Arthas. “Mine, to be specific.”

At first, Twilight was a bit embarrassed to hear Princess Luna say something so private, but then she saw Arthas’s reaction. His eyes, wide open, looked at Luna in utter shock. “But… um, you…” he mumbled as his eyes darted between the bag and the Princess, his face becoming red.

Moonlight was first to voice the thoughts of the four grown up mares. The little alicorn began to giggle loudly. Twilight, the Princesses, and Caring Star joined in quickly, though not as loudly as the foal.

Arthas, who was deadpanning at Moonlight as she started to giggle, sighed and rolled his eyes and waited patiently for them to calm down. “Since when did Moonlight get her own room?” he asked after several seconds.

“Trying to change the subject?” Twilight giggled again seeing the look Arthas gave Princess Luna. “Both Caring Star and Angelic Heart kept telling me that Moonlight should have her own room, so I had the chambers right next to mine prepared some time ago.”

“And still hadn’t used them,” Caring Star added.

Luna glared at the unicorn, but the nanny - tired of staying up all night looking after the alicorn foal - yawned and hadn’t noticed. Noticing that, Luna cleared her throat and continued. “I had decided that, seeing as Moonlight had slept through most of the night and is bound to stay awake now, it would be best if you’d foalsit her there.”

“And since Angelic Heart is sick, she won’t be there to criticize Her Highness for coming every ten minutes to check on Moonlight,” Caring Star added.

“You’re going to have nightmares,” Luna told her bristly.

The unicorn nanny shrugged. “If you want me to not rest properly before I come back to look after your daughter, go ahead.” Not waiting for the Princess to reply, she turned to Twilight and Arthas. “Take good care of the little Princess, Sir, Lady,” she told them, before trotting to Luna and Moonlight. “Goodbye, sweetie,” she said, nuzzling Moonlight gently. The alicorn foal groaned unhappily, probably familiar already with the gesture and that it meant her nanny would leave now. Caring Star kissed her on the forehead, right below her horn. “I’ll be back before you’ll notice. Your Majesties,” she said, bowing, as she finally turned to leave.

Princess Celestia restrained herself from commenting on that exchange until her hoofsteps faded away. “It’s always heartwarming to see how well you and your nannies get along,” she told Luna, with a barely noticeable smirk.

“Did the definition of ‘heartwarming’ change over the last thousand years? Because I don’t believe it meant ‘amusing’,” Luna replied, annoyed. “Caring Star had been spending too much time with Angelic Heart,” she added, sighing. She then turned her head away and covered with a wing as she yawned. “Hm, I really need to rest. You be nice to Arthas and Twilight,” Luna said as she bend down to nuzzle Moonlight.

The little alicorn giggled as she tickled her. Princess Luna yawned again as she used her magic to give her to Arthas to hold. Moonlight squeaked happily and quickly wiggled her way out and flew on top of his head again.

“I only need you to look after her for a few hours,” Luna said. “Let’s say… until eight in the evening.”

“Princess, are you sure?” Twilight asked, concerned. “If you need to rest, we can look after Moonlight longer.”

“Your concern is appreciated, Twilight, but it will be more than enough. Besides, I couldn’t stay away from Moonlight for too long,” she added, smiling at her daughter. “Hope you’ll have a fun time with her.”

“Of course, Princess,” both her and Arthas replied in unison. “Apologies for not bowing,” Arthas added pointing at his head as Twilight bowed.

Luna smiled in amusement before looking at her sister. “Good luck with the court, Sister.”

When Princess Celestia wished Luna a good rest, they finally began to leave. As they passed the doorway, Moonlight finally had realized what was going on, and began to look around. Her eyes began to well up when the door had closed.

“Oh, don’t cry, little one,” Celestia said softly as she bend down to nuzzle her. “Your Mommy needs some rest, and you are big enough to have your own room.”

Though the small alicorn still looked unhappy, her aunt’s words managed to calm her down. She was still unhappy, but she didn’t start crying. Grumpily, she grabbed Arthas’ ear and resumed munching on it.

Arthas sighed. “I’m going to lose my ears at this rate.”

“Look at the bright side,” Twilight joked, “I won’t be able to pull you by them when you annoy me. Princess Celestia,” she turned to her mentor, “is there anything else we should know?”

Earlier, Princess Luna told them what were her favorite toys - most of which were already moved to Moonlight’s new room - and what shape her magic surges could take.

Princess Celestia pondered a few seconds. “If she would start being too active, take her to the royal gardens; there’s a foal carriage in the room.”

“Princess Luna lets her play in the gardens?” Arthas asked.

“She’s not that overprotective,” Celestia replied, rolling her eyes. “And foals need to spend some time in fresh air.”

Moonlight voiced her agreement in an adorable cry.

Arthas sighed again. “Sorry, I guess I am still getting used to being a pony and all. Human babies don’t start crawling at her age- augh! And usually don’t start teething, too,” he added as he flicked his ear away from her.

Focusing on opening the door to Moonlight’s baby room helped Twilight to not laugh. She was already called ‘racist’ today, she didn’t want Arthas to call her that as well.

Moonlight’s room was decorated in the similar theme to Princess Luna’s. Shades of blue, with stars on the ceiling and the Moon in the middle, above the crib. The floor was carpeted, and there was a box with toys in one corner and small drawer with short books to read for her in another. Through the ajar door on the right wall of the room Twilight could see the small bathroom.

“What a lovely room,” she commented as she stepped in.

“I wish I could stay a bit longer,” Celestia said as Arthas followed Twilight, “but I’m afraid I have to attend to my duties. Even during my short lunch break I will be going through some paper work.”

“Don’t worry about us, Princess,” Twilight said briskly. “You and Princess Luna can count on us.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Twilight,” the Princess said, smiling, before nuzzling Moonlight in goodbye and leaving.

Not wanting for the little alicorn to grow sad now that her aunt also left, Twilight quickly trotted over to the toy box. “Moonlight?” she called as she grabbed several toy blocks with her magic and placed them in the center of the room. “Would you like to play with me?”

Moonlight seemed to like that idea, as she almost immediately flew to her from Arthas’ head. The paladin smiled at the two of them as the foal sat beside Twilight.

“You seem happy,” Twilight commented.

“She’s heavy,” Arthas replied, sticking his tongue, before he began to taking off his armor.

Twilight shifted her attention to Moonlight. The baby alicorn began moving the blocks in random order, placing them on top of each other in the way that would result in the them falling down. Just as soon as Twilight noticed that, the block Moonlight placed began to shake. She quickly grabbed it with her magic and placed it back where the filly put it, only more stably.

The little filly, however, didn’t like that she moved it. She looked at the blocks, then at Twilight, and frowned.

“Moonlight, if you set them this way, they won’t fall,” Twilight defended herself. “Look,” she said, as she took a few toy blocks Moonlight had yet to use, and began setting them in similar way to Moonlight’s. They fell down after the fourth one was placed on top. “See?”

The little princess didn’t seem to be impressed.

“But if you set them like this…”

Now Twilight placed them carefully and precisely, creating small, symmetrical, and most importantly, stable structure.

“What do you think?” she asked Moonlight.

Moonlight frowned and pushed the structure, resulting in the toy blocks falling down. Twilight, who expected this to happen, shielded the filly magically so no block would hurt her.

After a few seconds, when it was over, she dropped the shield. “Moonlight, that wasn’t very nice,” she told the filly calmly.

The little alicorn stomped angrily before she looked around. “Ar-thias!” she exclaimed, pointing at Twilight.

The earth pony, now free of his armor, trotted over to join them. “Twilight is right,” he told the foal, lying down. “What you did wasn’t very nice. She’s trying to be your friend.”

Hearing the gentle reprimand in her godfather’s voice took a greater effect than when Twilight had tried. She looked down, dropping her ears, before she resumed setting her toy blocks.

“You’re good with foals,” Arthas commented as Moonlight kept herself busy.

“I had a great foalsitter” Twilight replied, thinking back warmly to the time when Cadance had foalsat her. “I learned a lot from Cadance.”

“Why, did you push toy blocks too? Weren’t you six years old when she started to foalsit you?” he asked, smirking.

Twilight frowned, but instead of pulling his ear like she would usually do, she thought of a sweeter reply. “Why did you grow so uncomfortable about the breast milk?”

Arthas’ cheeks became red. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said, looking away.

“Was it because human female’s breasts are located on the chest and it confused you?” Twilight pressed, feeling great satisfaction at seeing him uncomfortable.

“... Maybe,” Arthas admitted, still not looking at her.

“And this stallion had slept with three mares since he became a pony,” Twilight thought. “One would think he had grown used to all anatomical differences.”

“Is this an appropriate topic to be discussed in front of a foal?” Arthas asked.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Seeing how she’s too young to start eating solid food, I am pretty sure she is familiar with breasts.”

Arthas visibly cringed. “And I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Luna only feed her with a bottle.”

“Mares usually feed their foals through a bottle when in company of others,” Twilight replied, surprised how one could be so dense. “It’s a bit… revealing.”

“Okay, I’m starting to understand why he is so uncomfortable.”

She cleared her throat as she changed the topic slightly. “And if you were referring to that time when we all came to see her after you brought her back to life, Princess Luna had to bottle feed her, as she hadn’t had milk. She gave birth to Moonlight a thousand years ago, remember?”

“Yeah, that’s another thing,” Arthas said. “How-”

“There are ways for a mare to induce milk production,” Twilight cut him off. “It’s all caused by hormones, after all. If you want-”

“No, thanks, I can do without the details,” Arthas quickly interrupted her. “How do you know all this?”

“I read.”

“No!” Arthas exclaimed dramatically.

Twilight glared at him, thinking of a good comeback. “And you stink,” she finally said.

“You try to walk around in plate armor in the middle of the day,” Arthas replied, though he did raise his foreleg and sniffed it.

Before Twilight could add anything, she felt Moonlight touch her leg. She looked at the little alicorn, and saw her pointing at the toy blocks. She had set nine of them into a small pyramid. “That’s amazing, Moonlight,” she praised her.

Moonlight smiled adorably and turned to Arthas, probably wanting a praise from him as well. But as Arthas was about to speak, she wrinkled her nose and backed away.

“You were sitting on my mane earlier, how is my smell now bothering you?” Arthas said, frowning at the foal.

“It’s official, you smell,” Twilight smirked. “We outvoted you.”

Arthas rolled his eyes. “Fine, I will go freshen up. You two will be okay alone?” he asked as he raised.

“Of course,” Twilight replied. She watched Arthas for a moment as he walked towards the bathroom, passing his armor. “Wait,” she said as she had an idea. “It’s kind of dangerous to keep your armor here. How about I send it to my place?”

“Your place?” Arthas asked, confused.

“My house in Canterlot, from before I came to live in Ponyville,” she explained. “It’s not far from the castle grounds. I figured we can spend the night there, since we’re stuck in Canterlot.”

To her relief, Arthas smiled. “That sounds lovely. Thank you for your offer.”

“No problem,” she said, and looked at his armor, concentrating. With a flash, it disappeared. Her magic sent it to her house’s living room. “Though on our way there we will need to buy something to make supper.”

“You can cook without Spike?” Arthas joked.

“Better than you,” Twilight replied, sticking her tongue.

Arthas just shook his head and went to the bathroom. Twilight smiled and looked back at Moonlight… who was staring right at her.

“So, Moonlight...” Twilight started, but trailed off.

The little alicorn slowly smiled.

Twilight opened her mouth and tried to speak. “... there’s no way you…” Twilight finally started, but again trailed off as Moonlight scampered towards her toy box.

She watched as the filly began searching through it, moving toys with both her hooves and magic, until she found what she had been looking for; stuffed dolls. Moonlight used her magic to pick two of them, one white and other purplish, and turned back to Twilight.

“Ar-thias,” she said, pointing at the white doll, “Twa-la,” as she pointed at the other; then, to Twilight’s shock, she made the two dolls collide heads with each other several times while the little foal imitated kissing noises.

“I cannot believe this,” Twilight thought as she facehoofed. “Moonlight is what, two months old? And even she is…”

As she took her hoof off her face, she noticed that Moonlight continued to make the two dolls kiss. “Ugh, Moonlight, sweetie,” she started, taking a step towards her. “Why don’t we play with some of your other dolls?”

To her dismay, Moonlight shook her head, and keeping the dolls levitating, she began to run around the room with them, giggling. “Ar-thias, Twa-la! Ar-thias, Twa-la!”

“Long-term note to self; get back at Princess Moonlight Shadow about twenty years from now.”

“You seem… energetic,” she tried as Moonlight stopped running and instead began to fly around her room. “How about we leave those dolls and go play in the gardens?”

The little alicorn stopped in mid air… and began to fall. Twilight quickly grabbed her with her magic and brought her closer to her. “Yay!” Moonlight exclaimed as she giggled happily.

Twilight sighed with relief. “Alright,” she said as she placed Moonlight on the floor next to her. “Let’s just wait for Arthas and then we’ll go to the royal gardens.”

As she said those words, she heard the door to the bathroom and Twilight turned to look as Arthas emerged. She could tell that he had just finished drying up his mane and coat, as he was still visibly wet in some places.

“I’m back,” he announced unnecessarily. “How you’ve been- where’s Moonlight!?” he suddenly asked, his eyes alarmed.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, confused. She looked to her side. “She’s right…”

She wasn’t there.

Twilight’s jaw dropped in shock. “Moonlight!” she called out, looking around the room frantically. “Moonlight sweetie, come here!” When the little alicorn failed to appear in the next few seconds, she began to lift every pillow and furniture in the room into the air. “I-I don’t understand!” she told Arthas as she looked under the crib. “She was next to me literally a second before you came out of the bathroom!”

“Twilight, calm down,” Arthas told her. She turned to look at him, dropping everything. It was clear that he was as alarmed as she was, but he managed to control himself. “We must think. If she’s not here, then…” he trailed off, wanting her to continue.

Twilight breathed deeply, trying to concentrate. “W-well.. she obviously used magic.” She thought back to the list of what Moonlight’s magic surges so far had caused. “If she hadn’t turned invisible,” and seeing how she had in the matter of seconds turned the room upside down, it was unlikely, “she had either phased through the floor or teleported.”

“Where would she go then? Luna’s bedchambers?” Arthas suggested.

Twilight nodded… but then she added: “Or to the royal gardens. A moment earlier I suggested that we’d go there. Oh no, what if she hurts herself?! We have to tell the guards to help us look for us.”

“Ugh, the Princesses will be so disappointed…”

But to her surprise, Arthas, after a brief hesitation, shook his head. “No, we can’t. Luna is already too overprotective of Moonlight. How do you think she’ll react when she hears she got away from the both of us?”

An image of the little alicorn surrounded by a bubble of magic appeared in Twilight’s mind.

“I will go check if she’s with Luna,” Arthas said, heading to the door. “You teleport to the royal gardens and look there; I will join you shortly, to help you or tell you I found her. If we don’t find Moonlight, then we’ll get some help.”

“Okay,” Twilight nodded; this plan sounded sensible.

Her teleportation spell made her appear right at the entrance to the gardens, outside of the castle’s corridor.

“Alright,” she thought, taking a step forward, “let’s-”

“Twilight Sparkle?”

She almost tripped hearing a pony call her. Twilight looked back, and was surprised to see two ponies standing in the hallway of the castle, one very old and familiar.

“Oh wait, it’s Lady Twilight Sparkle now, isn’t it?” Lord Blackhorn, professor of history and geology - and all things related to those fields of sciences - from Canterlot University, corrected himself.

Despite in how dire straits she was, Twilight knew she had to spare a few moments. “You can just call me Twilight, Lord Blackhorn,” she told the dark grayish unicorn with mane gray from old age, head of the very ancient unicorn noble family, as well as one of its last members.

The elderly pony chuckled warmly. “Actually, it’s just Professor Blackhorn now. I’ve stepped down and made my nephew, Victorious, the head of House Blackhorn. I don’t believe you’ve met him yet?” he asked, nodding at the unicorn next to him, who trotted close.

New Lord Blackhorn was an imposing pony. He was very handsome, even to Twilight, who usually hadn’t paid attention to stallions, with his ebony coat, black mane, and orange eyes, whose gaze pierced her. However, at the same time, there was something… repulsing about him, though Twilight couldn’t put her hoof on why that was.

“Pleasure to meet you, Lady Twilight,” he said in a deep voice, extending his hoof.

“L-likewise…” she said as to her surprise the unicorn stallion took her hoof and kissed it. She managed to resist the sudden urge to tear it away. “Professor, Lord Blackhorn, I’m terribly sorry, but I’m… running an errand for the Princess,” she lied, though technically it was truth.

“So you don’t have time,” the elderly pony said, nodding. “Well, we certainly wouldn’t want to keep you.”

She nodded in goodbye to him and Lord Victorious Blackhorn and run into the garden. “Well, that was an odd meeting,” she thought as she began to look around the garden for any sign of Moonlight. She also recalled the last lecture of Professor Blackhorn she had attended. “Especially since Professor Blackhorn hadn’t been back in Equestria for five years I think. He’s been staying in Castle Blackhorn on Magmarock Island…” her thoughts trailed off as she focused on the task at hoof.

She passed several bushes and flower beds, wondering where would she be if she was a baby alicorn. “In my room,” Twilight thought sternly, worried if she could find her on her own. “At this rate, it might be best to ask the guards to help with the search…”

After several minutes, she was no closer to finding Moonlight. However, she did stumble upon somepony familiar.

Twilight looked in dismay at the imprisoned Discord. “I bet you’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” she asked out loud, thought she wasn’t sure if he was conscious of his surroundings or not.

Of course, she hadn’t expect the statue to reply… which is why Twilight almost got a heart attack as she heard it giggle. Only… in a very foalish voice…

Twilight looked sharply at Discord’s head, where she spot tiny hooves helping a certain alicorn filly lift herself up atop the statue. “Moonlight!” Twilight exclaimed in relief. “Oh, I’m so happy I found you! Come down here.”

Moonlight, who was now sitting on top of Discord’s head, giggled and shook her head.

Twilight frowned. “Moonlight, I wasn’t asking; this is dangerous,” she told her, grabbing her with her magic.

To her surprise, the little alicorn’s horn flashed, and she disappeared.

“Well, at least she’s no longer sitting on Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony anymore,” Twilight thought a heartbeat before she heard giggling behind her.

She turned just in time to see the end of Moonlight light blue tail disappeared behind the edge of hedge maze’s wall. Twilight quickly ran after her. “We should have brought Rainbow Dash,” she remarked as she passed the edge and spotting Moonlight disappearing behind the next turn. “She’s surprisingly fast!”

Instead of running, she teleported right behind her, and resumed running, practically at her tail. “Moonlight, stop running!” she called, concentrating on a spell that would stop her from teleporting away again.

The little alicorn continued to laugh, and flapped her wings harder. She flew to the left on the next crossroads. Twilight followed, casting the spell…

… and violently colliding with somepony.

She shouted, more in surprise than in pain, as the momentum send them both rolling across grass. After several flips, they stopped, with her landing on top.

“Could this get any worse?” she thought, as she raised her head from the pony’s chest, apologies at the back of her tongue, when she noticed that he smelled familiar, and so was his scarred chest.

“Arthas?” she asked in surprise, getting a better look at her friend.

“Hello,” Arthas replied, smiling uncomfortably. “So, Moonlight wasn’t in Luna’s room…”

Adorable laughter erupted next to them.

Both of them looked to see the foal alicorn lying on the ground nearby and rolling in the dirt, laughing. Twilight and Arthas gave a tired sigh.

“How much do you think her nannies are getting paid?” Twilight asked, collapsing. “Sorry,” she added.

“Easily more than the rest of the castle staff,” Arthas replied, his muzzle pleasantly close to hers. “And I don’t mind.”

“Ar-thias, Twa-la! Ar-thias, Twa-la!” Moonlight exclaimed, dancing around.

Despite how embarrassing this situation was, Twilight couldn’t help but smile at the little filly.

144. Love Conquers All

Twilight giggled as Moonlight yawned in an absolutely adorable way that was probably unsuited for a princess. “And it’s a bit terrifying,” she admitted as she noted the little alicorn’s tiny little fangs.

“Looks like somepony is tired,” she chided, smiling, as she resumed grooming her. “Guess all that running around and playing has really drained you.”

Seeing how Moonlight yawned again, Twilight assumed she was right. The last few hours were tiresome even for her and Arthas, so the foal alicorn would probably soon fall asleep. Twilight was actually surprised that she hadn’t done that by now.

After she and Arthas found her in the maze, they’d spent almost an hour more in the royal gardens, trotting around the flower beds. Which resulted in the foal getting even more dirty and causing a near heart attack for Twilight every time it looked like Moonlight was about to start tasting solid food. Several of those flowers were from highly rare species, whose growth required great care. Luckily, it hadn’t come to that.

They’d finally gotten back when Moonlight’s tummy rumbled. Not wanting to explain to castle staff or anypony else why they took the little princess out to the gardens without a foal carriage, Twilight had simply teleported all three back to Moonlight’s room. Once there, she wanted to clean Moonlight immediately, but her stomach had again grumbled, so she fed her instead. Both her and Arthas had expected the foal to fall asleep afterwards, but instead, after emptying the bottle, she trotted back to her toys.

“And later she made Arthas give her piggyback rides,” Twilight recalled, looking over the foal and resting earth pony.

“Having problems?” he asked, raising his head.

“No,” Twilight replied, continuing to comb Moonlight’s mane and brush the fur on her back with magic. “Just thinking about how cute you two looked together.”

Arthas chuckled as he laid his head back on his forehooves, though Twilight noticed he blushed slightly. “It was probably all Moonlight. That filly makes even scarred ponies like me look cute when she sits on their back. Though when you two played with her dolls-”

“Yes?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

“What’s that word Spike called you?” he asked, smirking. “‘Nerdy’?”

Twilight growled. “I really hated that day Spike taught him that word…” Her mood hadn’t improved much as Arthas chuckled again.

“I’m joking. You two looked adorable playing.”

… maybe it improved a bit…

“Since you like to laugh so much,” Twilight said slowly, narrowing her eyes, “how about we tell Princess Luna how you changed Moonlight’s diaper?”

Arthas expression turned sour as she brought back that memory. “You would have reacted too if you had saw… that,” he said, his face almost becoming green again.

“It couldn’t have been that bad,” Twilight replied.

When about two hours ago a bad smell let those around Moonlight know that she needed her diaper changed, Twilight was in the bathroom. Arthas, to his misfortune, had decided to change her himself. “He’s about the only earth pony stallion that would change the foal’s diaper himself rather than ask a unicorn that’s in the next room,” Twilight thought, rolling her eyes.

Now, Twilight wasn’t one hundred percent sure why exactly Arthas looked as if he had been about to vomit after he finished changing Moonlight, as she hadn’t seen that. However, based on Arthas’ few short comments…

“I had no idea that… poop could go right up…” he had trailed off, shaking his head.

Though Twilight was sure he was overdramatizing, she was thankful that he had remained conscious enough to watch his language around the foal. Not wanting Moonlight to see Arthas in a shaken state, she kept her occupied while Arthas had recovered, sometimes muttering to himself things like: “Nobody tells you that one day you’ll have to clean…”

She had a few laughs at him then, but now that he had basically asked for it, Twilight started again. “The mighty paladin,” she started in an overly dramatic tone, “Grand Master of the Order of Celestial Light, had been beaten by diapers.”

“More like by their contents,” Arthas replied, regaining his composure. “And I swear, even Deathwing would have been beaten by that.”

“So looking forward to Brann coming to visit Equestria again,” Twilight said to that, smirking. “I want to be there when you tell him the key to defeating Deathwing.”

Twilight giggled as Arthas groaned and hid his face in his hooves, and then turned her attention back to their charge. She was about done with cleaning Moonlight’s mane and coat, but her wings… Twilight laid down comfortably, so that her head was on the same level as the little alicorn’s wings. She had read once about how pegasi took care of their feathers, but she had never preened one.

“Hm… I should just line up crooked ones, right?” Twilight thought, taking a closer look. “And pull the loose ones…”

As she wondered how to begin, Moonlight began to wiggle impatiently, which in turn alerted Arthas. “Want me to preen her?” he offered.

“Well… do you know how?” she asked hesitantly.

Arthas nodded, raising. “Yes, I… Rainbow showed me,,” he said, awkwardly, as he trotted to them.

Twilight blinked, surprised. “Oh… right,” she said, momentarily stupefied. She shook her head as she moved to make room for Arthas.

Why was she so shocked by this? “They’ve been… well, not dating, but however would you call it it’s been almost two months.” Twilight thought, more irritated by this revelation than she wanted to admit. “It’s not surprising that at some point Rainbow needed her wings preened, and her being a bit lazy…”

She knew that it wasn’t fair for her to be angry at this… but then again, Arthas also hadn’t been fair. Back in Altomare, he had admitted to loving her, and even though they’ve both agreed that it was best for them to stay friends, it hadn’t meant that it was okay for him to just have sex with a random sea pony mare and then become friends with benefits with Rainbow Dash. Maybe she should talk about this with Arthas later…

Twilight shook her head again. “Focus Twilight. His past first, his… whoring later.”

She looked curiously as Arthas delicately picked one lose tiny feather from Moonlight’s wing and spat it out. “You just have to look carefully for the loose ones and straighten the crooked ones,” he told her and resumed preeing the little alicorn’s wing.

“Well, I knew that,” Twilight thought, suppressing the urge to facehoof.

“Why don’t you do the right one?” Arthas suggested.

“Oh, sure,” she said, surprised, but she quickly scooched over.

Arthas’ chuckle distracted her a bit as she trusted her muzzle beside his and began searching Moonlight’s right wing for any loose or crooked feathers. “What?” she asked as she picked one such feather with her teeth.

She felt him brush her fur on her cheek as he lined up another tiny feather. “I sort of meant that you could do it when I’m done. It’s sort of tight here.”

“Oh…” Twilight exclaimed, blushing. “Well… do you mind?”

“No, not really,” Arthas replied, nuzzling her briefly.

Twilight giggled and, after a brief hesitation, she quickly kissed his cheek before she resumed peering Moonlight. As she did, she caught a glimpse of Moonlight glancing at her, with her big yellow eyes, and smiling.

“Oh, shut up,” Twilight thought humorously, blushing.

Nymph suddenly tilted her head, puzzled. “Why do you enjoy this so much?”

Big Mac turned to her, raising eyebrows.

“We’ve been here for over an hour,” she said, gesturing at the cliff. “But you remained as happy as you were at the beginning. And… well, I don’t mean to offend you, but you hadn’t caught anything.”

They both glanced at the apple lure that bobbed at the surface of the river.

“I don’t even think you are trying to catch anything,” Nymph continued, looking at the lure with confusion. “Unless there is a species of fish that eats apples that I am not aware of living in this river. And even then, how would you benefit from catching it? Ponies don’t eat fish. I suppose you could feed it to Winona or some other animals-”

His sister’s dog lift her head, hearing Nymph say her name, and barked.

“- or have it mounted over fireplace,” she finished, scratching Winona behind ear. “But… neither of those seem like something you’d do.”

Big Mac chuckled. “It ain’t ‘bout fishin’.”

“So… you’re saying that fishing isn’t about fishing?”

“Eeyup. Well, mah fishin’,” he amended. “How do ya feel?”

Nymph blinked, not understanding where he was going with this. “Me? Well… I feel… relaxed,” she finally said, returning to lying on her back with her head pressed against him as she had for the past hour. “Lying down like this with you, sunning ourselves, with no soul around… aside for Winona, of course,” she added, patting the dog again. “So… you fish to relax?”

“Eeyup,” he replied.

The changeling giggled in her unicorn form. “Now it makes sense.” Nymph stretched and looked at the setting sun. “It’s been a good day. Thanks for making me forget about the announcement, and how all of Equestria knows that the Changeling Queen’s daughter is in Ponyville.”

“Ya’re nervous ‘bout it?” Big Mac asked, concerned.

The whole day, neither of them brought that subject up. They’d been too busy doing chores. With his sisters out camping and Granny Smith leaving to visit their relative earlier than originally planned, Big Mac had been left alone tending to the farm. He was glad that Nymph actually found the work on Sweet Apple Acres to be fun, and was more than happy to offer her help. Even with her lending a hoof, they’d only been free since a little bit before they came over here.

“I’m trying not to think about this,” Nymph admitted, sighing. “And spending time with you helped with that. But a part of me was afraid that at any moment today, a train full of ponies wielding pitchforks and torches would arrive at Ponyville Station. But tomorrow will be worse,” she added. “Explaining our social structure is one thing, but our biology… how would you feel if you’d have to explain how your digestive system works?”

Big Mac had to admit that such perspective wasn’t too pleasant.

“Not to mention that I will still be concerned about ponies’ reactions to changelings,” she continued. “Ponies of Ponyville had started getting used to me and Wind Reaver, but I’m not sure how they would feel about more of us. And the rest of Equestria is bound to be distrustful. Also, there is still the matter of finding Wind Reaver’s intended mate; there still hasn’t been any sign of her. I’m worried how this is affecting him; I think he attacked Rainbow Dash last night. At least, that’s what Mother suspects. She was too busy at Canterlot to peer into Wind Reaver’s mind more acutely, and it's harder to do over greater distance, even for her. Especially if the changeling is trying to hide something, and it's already mentally unstable. Oh, and I can’t stop thinking about Applejack.”

“Well, ain’t that somethin’ a stallion wants to hear; his marefriend thinkin’ ‘bout his sister,” Big Mac thought, a bit amused, although he was starting to be concerned as Nymph continued to list things that worried her.

“She still doesn’t like me. Everypony else in your family - well, close family - does. I’m friends with Apple Bloom, Granny Smith treats me as if I was a pony, you’re dating me, and even Winona likes me. I worry that she’ll think I’m trying to steal her family from her. I don’t know how she will react when she’ll learn that I am dating you-”

Luckily for her, Big Mac already had to once deal with somepony worrying too much. It was back when Apple Bloom had started going to school. Applejack had been worried if something would happen to her, if other ponies would like her, if she would do well on her first day, and other things like that. Big Mac, though he had also been concerned about Apple Bloom, he knew that worrying wouldn’t have done either of them good, so he had thought of something that would calm his sister.

Coincidentally, he and Nymph were now in the same place.

As the changeling continued to talk about Applejack, Big Mac, with one swift move, pushed her into the river.

Uttering a surprised shriek, Nymph fell into the water with a splash. The river’s flow wasn’t strong here, so no harm could happen to her. Big Mac uttered a short chuckle as he saw her emerge on the surface and start to shake her head, and quickly jumped after her, doing a cannonball and splashing her with water.

As he resurfaced after a few seconds, he was met with his wet mane obscuring his sight, Winona’s barking, and, after a heartbeat, Nymph’s laughter. Big Mac brushed off his mane from his eyes to look at her. She was still in the river, floating beside him and covering her mouth with a hoof as she laughed, all her worries forgotten. Big Mac smiled, and splashed her with water.

Nymph continued to laugh as she responded in kind, and, after a second, she started to use her magic to send water at him. Big Mac smirked, put his forehooves on the cliff’s edge, and bucked the surface of the water with all his might. As Nymph’s other shriek told him, he succeeded. Grinning, he turned back towards her…

… and his ears dropped.

Nymph was sitting, at the dry bottom of the river. Her horn was glowing, and the rest of the river was above her.

It lasted only a second before she released the wave.The amount of water she had hit him with was enough to make Big Mac stagger. He shook, once again clearing his mane out of his eyes, and felt something press against his chest. He opened his eyes to see Nymph hugging him in the water looking up at him with sparkling eyes and smiling.

Smiling as well, he bent down to kiss her.

“I should have dropped by long ago,” Twilight noted as she and Arthas looked around her old house.

It was exactly as she left it. When they passed the doorway, they had barely avoided stepping into the present that Spike wanted to give Moon Dancer. As they went to the upper floor, they found Predictions and Prophecies, still open on the Elements of Harmony. The only thing that was new in the house was Arthas’ armor, which her spell had sent right next to her hourglass.

And everything was covered by layers of over two years worth of dust.

“So you used to live in a tower filled with books?” Arthas asked, politely not mentioning the state of her house.

“Yes, one of the perks of being the Princess’ student,” she replied, smiling awkwardly.

“Well, anyway,” Arthas said, putting down the bags with groceries they bought on their way here from the castle, “looks like I will have something to do while you make us something to eat. Where do you keep a duster?” he asked, looking around.

“I’m not going to let you clean my house,” Twilight told him. “I’ll take care of that.”

She was already embarrassed that he had to see her former home in such state. She didn’t want him to do something she should have done long ago. She was going to be as gracious host as she was way back when he came to live with her and Spike in Golden Oak Library.

But unfortunately, Arthas was stubborn. “Oh, so if you are going to clean, should I make us supper?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Twilight didn’t reply but instead she just looked at him. Still maintaining eye contact, she channeled magic through her horn, reaching towards the cabinet where she had kept a feather duster, opened it and brought the duster closer to her. Arthas raised eyebrows, waiting to see what she planned to do. Twilight barely stopped herself from smirking as she cast one of the new spells she had learned on the duster, causing it to start cleaning the nearest shelf.

She looked with satisfaction at Arthas, who was staring at the enchanted duster with interest. “Hm, does this mean Spike is fired?” he asked, turning back to her.

“Oh, very funny,” she told him, annoyed, as she cast the spell once again on a broom. “Why don’t you read something while I’ll prepare us some supper?” Twilight asked as the broom began dusting the floors.

Arthas did a great - and very annoying - show of looking around. “Hm, I think I might find a book that would interest me.”

Twilight just shook her head and left him on the upper floor, heading down towards the kitchen and picking up the groceries with her magic.

As she started making them supper (an omelette with oats and baked bread), she thought back to their day together. “Foalsitting Moonlight was so fun,” Twilight thought affectionately. There was probably nopony who wouldn’t just love that little filly. However, what really made this experience so great to Twilight was that she had shared it with Arthas. Taking care of a foal together was just... great! It made Twilight feel warmth in her heart several times this day, almost as if… as if this was meant to be.

“Maybe it was the Princesses’ plan?” she thought, chuckling at the silly thought. “Getting us two together? Would have explained why Luna had put such pressure on the words ‘both’ and ‘together’ as she thanked us for taking care of Moonlight when she came to relieve us.”

Taking comfort in knowing that this was too much of a despicable plan for the Princesses to do, Twilight finished making supper for her and Arthas and carried it on a tray to the dining table before she went back to the upper floor. She briefly pondered if they should eat on one of the balconies, but decided against it. She didn’t want to risk the chance of somepony eavesdropping on them, even though she wasn’t planning on touching certain subjects until after the meal.

Twilight smiled as she found Arthas sitting on by a small desk, reading a book. “It’s ready,” she told him, ignoring the sounds of the duster and broom she had enchanted that continued to work. “What are you reading?”

Arthas turned half of the book so that Twilight would see the cover.

“Bygone Griffons of Greatness?” she read out loud, a bit surprised.

“I thought that with the possibility of having griffons join the Order, it might be good to read more about their history,” Arthas replied, placing the bookmark where he was reading. “Would you mind if I’d borrow this?”

“No, go ahead. I have another copy in Ponyville,” Twilight said, trotting closer to read the name of the chapter he was reading; she found it strange that it was opened on the part closer to the end rather than beginning. Once she read it, her eyes widened in surprise. “Why did you start from the Dance of the Feathers?”

“There were some other things I wanted to check,” Arthas explained, closing the book. “Like if the griffons seriously pay such attention to the colors of their ruler.” He pondered for a second as they began to walk downstairs before he added: “And maybe I was curious as to who in their right mind gave a civil war the name ‘Dance’.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Well, if you’d read from chapter seventeen, you’d know that King Adolf I Snowfeather, known as ‘the Restorer’, had created that law of succession - stating that only a Snowfeather of the royal family can be the King of Griffonia and sit on the Dragon Throne - to minimize the possibility of fights between siblings, like he had as he restored Griffonia after the Sundering. Only two of his children were Snowfeathers.”

“As history proved, it didn’t work out so well,” Arthas pointed out. “This succession law was basically the whole reason for the Dance of the Feathers.”

“Well…” Twilight trailed off, trying to think of something to say in the defense of one of Griffonia’s wisest kings. “King Adolf couldn’t predict something that would happen nine hundred years later, couldn’t he?”

“I suppose not. But I don’t understand why the younger brother was made the king? The older one was also a Snowfeather.”

Twilight shook her head. “Prince Gwyn Bloodfeather was an albino; it was unknown what tribe’s trait he had inherited.”

“So he differed from his brother basically by just the color of his eyes,” Arthas said as they reached the dining table. He sniffed with closed eyes. “Mmm, smells delicious.”

Twilight smiled happily hearing his compliment, but she said playfully: “Don’t try to butter me up. We’re still not done,” she added, sitting down by the table.

Arthas sat down as well. “All I am saying is that when you look at it this way, that the three hundred year long civil war had started because some griffons decided that their king shouldn’t have red eyes-”

“It didn’t last three hundred years,” Twilight interrupted him as they started to eat. “There were many periods of peace during the Dance of the Feathers, some lasting even decades. It was actually a series of civil wars rather than one very long one. I think griffons’ historians consider them all as a single conflict because it made it seem more… glorious,” she finished, not understanding how anypony could consider war as anything other than a tragedy, but then again, the griffons had always been more violent than ponies.

The stallion sitting on the other side of the table nodded as he savoured the omelette. “Those likeminded to them probably hadn’t liked much that the last Bloodfeather Pretender had met his end at the hooves of a pony, huh?”

Twilight cringed as he brought that up. “Equestria hadn’t meddled in the Dance of the Feathers, seeing it as Griffonia’s inner conflict. We also had our own problems, first with Discord, then with Nightmare Moon. However, Celestia simply couldn’t ignore what Bane had planned to do.”

“And you, of all ponies, should understand why,” she added in her thoughts, not yet ready to bring up the subject of his past.

“Oh, so you know about what had happened on the Dread Isle?” Arthas asked in mild surprise as they continued to eat.

“Princess Celestia told me once,” Twilight admitted. “What Bane had planned to do, the fight between him and Celestia, and the outcome. She had no choice but to stop him.”

“Indeed,” Arthas said, nodding. He fell silent for a few seconds before he chuckled. “What a lovely topic for a discussion over supper, huh?”

“Well, you started it,” Twilight counter, smirking.

They spent the rest of their meal discussing more pleasure topics, such as Moonlight, their friends back in Ponyville, the Order’s new initiates…

“I’m thinking about devising trials for them to pass in order to become knights,” he said as they both finished eating.

“Really?” Twilight asked, intrigued. “You hadn’t made Storm, Serenity, Guard or Tucker pass any trials.”

“True, but I got to know each of them well enough to know they were ready. With over forty ponies, this would be harder.”

“Makes sense,” she admitted. “So what would those trials require of them?”

“They’d have to test their conviction and their understanding of the Three Virtues,” Arthas said, brushing his chin in pondering. “As well as combat prowess, of course. However, I’m not exactly sure how exactly should those trials look like… I plan to discuss this later with my paladins. I have notes on similar trials paladins on Azeroth passed in the past; if they’d learned of them, then together we could come up with the right trials.”

“If there would be anyway for me to help, don’t hesitate to ask,” Twilight offered.

“Thanks. And thank you for this meal,” he added. “It was delicious.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied, slightly blushing.

“I must admit, I never thought I would grow to like oats so much.”

“Humans don’t eat it, right?” Twilight asked to make sure she recalled correctly. When Arthas nodded, she continued: “It really is disturbing when you think about how much your body has changed. I mean, becoming a quadruped, having hooves, a muzzle, ears, a tail…”

“True, but I chose to focus on the positive aspects of those changes,” Arthas replied, smiling. “Better hearing and smell, faster running; once I got used to this body, of course,” he added.

“So you don’t regret that you are no longer human? Doesn’t it bother you?”

Arthas pondered her question for a moment. “Well, I do miss having fingers,” he admitted, “but… I never really put too much thought into that. I wasn’t exactly the best human,” he said, his expression darkening for a heartbeat. “And when I first woke up in Equestria, I focused more on why exactly I was alive, and where I was, meeting everypony… it just occupied my mind. And since then months had passed, and I cannot imagine being anything else. So, in answer to your question: even if I had regretted being reborn as a pony, it has long since stopped bothering me.”

“That’s good to hear,” Twilight replied, smiling, though it was a bit of a half-hearted effort.

His brief comment made her think back to what she wanted to talk about… but how should she…

“Are you okay?” Arthas asked, frowning.

“Well… no,” Twilight admitted, sighing. “Or rather, yes I am, it’s just… I need to talk with you about something,” she said, looking him in the eyes. “But I just don’t know how to start. Can we go sit on the couch?” she asked him to buy herself time.

Realising that this must be something serious, Arthas hadn’t said a word, just nodded and walked with her towards one of her couches. They sat next to each other, Twilight biting her lip as she thought how to say what she wanted to tell him, and Arthas waiting patiently for her, only slightly worried.

“That’s about to change,” Twilight remarked, sighing.

She looked into his eyes. She knew she had to look into his sea-colored eyes when she would say it, so that he see that she wasn’t afraid of him.

“I know that you are somehow tied to what had befallen Lordaeron… and its citizens.”

His blood froze.

Arthas was staring at Twilight, utterly speechless. In his mind, all he could feel was panic. He hoped he had misheard what she had said, but the way she was looking at him, right in the eyes, with resolve and compassion, told him he heard her right.

His mouth felt strangely dry as he finally spoke: “H-how...?”

“You’ve already told me about the Forsaken once,” she said. “It was when we had returned from the Crystal Empire and accidentally ended up sharing a bath. I asked you about some things you had mentioned after we first encountered Sombra, and you called the Forsaken-”

“- the people I had harmed,” Arthas finished, only now recalling that. “A lot.”

How could he have been so stupid?! “I should have remembered that. I should have known Twilight would figure it out. I should have-”

He stopped mentally berating himself as he felt something on his hoof. Arthas looked down as saw a lavender hoof on his own. “Arthas, look at me.” He did as she asked; he looked into those gorgeous purple eyes of hers. “Could you tell me everything?”

Arthas eyes grew wide. “I…” he tried to say over the lump in his throat. “I can’t.”

“Why?”

Why couldn’t he tell her? He had revealed his past to Luna, and despite his fears, she hadn’t condemned him. Twilight had already learned the general outcome of his actions in the past, so what was stopping him?

In his heart, he knew what that was, and he let it pour out.

“Because I love you!” he blurted out, trembling. He could feel tears forming in his eyes, but ignored that and continued: “I love you, and I cannot bear the thought you of being horrified by me! I-”

He stopped as Twilight pressed a hoof against his mouth.

“Arthas,” she said slowly, moving her hoof gently across his muzzle, “I already know you had killed thousands. That you had killed your father. And that you caused them to be raised from the dead. And yet I’m still here.” Her hoof slid down his neck to embrace him. “Remember what I told Brann when he first came to Equestria? About how many times I had seen you grieving over what you had done? And that you had been helping everypony ever since you came here?”

Arthas nodded weakly, but he couldn’t help butobject. “I don’t always help. My carelessness had allowed whoever poisoned Apple Bloom to remain unnoticed. Teaching ponies about the Light and the ways of the paladins increased hostility of griffons. And… I couldn’t save Sombra.”

But Twilight smiled. “We were all at fault for not looking into how Apple Bloom got poisoned. You came up with a way to appease the griffons. And you said it yourself that it was too late to save him.” Arthas was forced to admit that she had a point. “But the fact that you continue to do your best for others is what matters.”

He sighed heavily. “I… suppose… But-”

Twilight silenced him again. “No ‘buts’. You are going to stop blaming yourself for whatever you consider as your failures you had made in Equestria, and you will tell me everything that had happened in Azeroth.”

“Why do you want to know that?” Arthas asked, hoping to prolong the inevitable.

“Because I want to understand,” Twilight replied. “I cannot comprehend how somepony so good as you could have done such things.”

“I was younger,” he explained, looking away from her. “Stupid and arrogant. I-”

She interrupted him by reaching for his head and turning to back to look at her. “Tell me about it.”

Arthas still hesitated. “I… I wasn’t better than Bane. What he had tried to do… I’ve done worse. Worse than the hippogriff that Celestia had seen as such a dangerous and unreformable being that she had killed him.”

“And her sister had seen you as somepony worthy of friendship and forgiveness,” Twilight countered.

That was his last line of defense. Arthas sighed, seeing no way out of this. “You’d make a wonderful princess, Twilight,” he said, managing somehow to smile, as he recalled something Jaina had told him. “I cannot seem to deny you anything, even this.”

Even as he had said it, he couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe that he was actually going to tell Twilight about what he had done.

But he was.

“Just…please…” he started, not sure what he wanted to ask her.

But Twilight knew. She hugged him tightly. Arthas hugged her as well, hoping, as he breathed in her scent, that this wasn’t the last time they shared such moment. As the broke the hug after a few heartbeats, Twilight smiled to him encouragingly and squeezed his hoof.

Arthas sighed, utterly defeated. “I had nothing to do with the plague of undeath when it had started. I was still a paladin then. The plague… it first started in northern Lordaeron. The mages of Dalaran had learned of it but didn’t know any details, only suspecting that it was probably magical in nature. Archmage Antonidas had sent his apprentice, Jaina Proudmoore, to investigate, and had arranged a special envoy to assist her, led by a paladin. My men and I had met her at the King’s Road...”

Nymph nuzzled into Big Mac’s neck to make herself more comfortable as they dried themselves by the fireplace.

She had to admit, when he had thrown her into the river, she was startled, despite that she had known that he hadn’t had any nefarious motives. But when he had jumped after her and they had started splashing each other with water, she had more fun than she could recall ever having. Just like that, Big Mac had found a way to make her completely ignore all her worries. They would be dealt with when the time would come.

Their water war also had one more effect, which Nymph felt that she liked even more: it forced them to get back to the house and dry off, nice and cozy under a blanket by the fireplace, all snuggled up.

She wasn’t sure what it was exactly that she liked the most about it; Big Mac’s warm body, his smell, or the delicious love he was emanating. Nymph couldn’t quite figure out what it was that made him like her so much, though being of a race that practically preyed on couples she knew such things tend to happen. That, and during the first few dates, the initial attraction can cause a pony to develop much stronger feelings towards the partner-

Nymph shook her head. “Wait, was that covered in Swarm’s Preying Course, or had Rarity mentioned it yesterday?” she thought, confused.

Big Mac, slightly startled by her sudden movement, turned to look at her. “Sorry, I thought of… something unimportant,” she explained, smiling awkwardly.

She pulled closer to kiss him. It didn’t really matter to Nymph why he liked her so much; she knew why she liked him so much. Big Mac was caring, strong, gentle… he truly cared about her, which so far Nymph could only say about her mother. He listened to her problems, he liked her despite that she wasn’t a pony, and he was attracted to her. “Or rather, to my pony form, but he still knows that I am a changeling,” she amended as they kissed.

And tonight, she planned to fully respond to his attraction.

Nymph smiled with half-closed eyes as they broke the kiss, and nuzzled his cheek alluringly. As she did, she glanced at the fireplace; they’d been sitting by it for so long, that it had started to die down. Still, as poetic as it sounded, Nymph didn’t want his home to burn down when they would be busy, so she completely extinguished it with her magic. Once she finished, she rose, and after looking Big Mac in the eyes, she turned around, slipped from under the blanket, and trotted towards the stairs.

When she reached them, she glanced back at him with bedroom eyes. Big Mac, who had not moved and only stared at her with confusion, finally understood and rushed after her.

After she walked up the stairs, Nymph led Big Mac to his bedroom (and thanked Ashvattha that she knew which room it was; knowing her luck, she would have probably walked into Applejack’s bedroom otherwise). He had already started catching up to her, and so by the time she was by his bed, Big Mac was right behind her. Nymph turned to him, and he collided with her, their lips meeting as they both fell on the bed.

She purred into his mouth as she felt his bigger body on her, his hooves groping her body. Nymph could feel his excitement, and she couldn’t wait for them to engage in the physical act of love. “With Big Mac…” she thought dreamily, just as he pulled a bit up to look into her eyes.

“Change,” he whispered.

For a heartbeat, all she could do was stare at him. That word he had uttered, to her, sounded like glass shattering. Nymph had thought that Big Mac liked her current form, that he was attracted to her, but he just…

“Well… what did I expect?” she thought to herself, calming down. “It’s obvious that he would like to… do something funny with my shapeshifting abilities. I shouldn’t feel hurt because of this…”

“Of… of course,” Nymph stammered, smiling a bit awkwardly. “Who would you like me to change into?”

“Yarself.”

Nymph blinked, not sure if she understood him correctly. “What do you mean?” she asked, confused. “I am me.”

“No,” Big Mac replied, shaking his head. “Change into the real ya.”

Nymph thought she was shocked earlier. But that was like a drizzle compared to a rainstorm. She stared at Big Mac, moving her mouth but unable to say anything.

“N-no…” she finally managed to stutter weakly. “I… you cannot see me!” Nymph closed her eyes. “I… I’ll be so ugly to you! I-”

The gentle caress of her cheek made her open her eyes. Big Mac was looking into them. “Please?” he said.

Nymph hesitated. On one hoof, she knew what ponies thought of changelings only too well, but on the other… she couldn’t feel any uncertainty in Big Mac. He really wanted to see the real her… Maybe…

She shook, hoping she wasn’t about to make a terrible, irreversible mistake. “Please don’t be repulsed,” Nymph whispered as closed her eyes in fear and changed back into her real form.

When the green flames flashed and dispersed, Big Mac raised up to look down properly at the changeling below him.

The first thought that came to his mind wasn’t about her coatless chitin or her maneless head with a sort of a fin or her fangs, but rather: “She’s so… tiny.”

Being such a big stallion, he was used to that other ponies were smaller than him. Nymph, in her unicorn form, was already small for a mare, but apparently she made that form a bit bigger than her real one. She wasn’t very small, nopony would take her for a child, but the difference almost made Big Mac feel twice as big as her.

As he took one more look at her body, he found himself not understanding why Nymph was so worried. Her body looked a bit… strange, but it was also cute in its own way. To Big Mac, the fact that it was the real her made her even more beautiful that her unicorn form. “Though Ah don’know if Ah wanna know why there are holes in ‘er legs,” he thought as he turned his gaze back to Nymph’s face.

Only now did he realize that as he took in the sight of her body, Nymph had been lying there with her eyes closed and trembling. Big Mac frowned, not understanding how she could think he would find her repulsive, and lowered his head to kiss her. He touched her cheek a moment before he did, to better align her muzzle. Not paying much attention to the alien sensation of touching her chitin, Big Mac kissed her (a bit awkwardly because of the fangs).

Nymph’s eyes snapped open.

Big Mac was kissing her, but it wasn’t what caused her to react that way. Until she had felt his lips, she was drowning out everything, not wanting to feel his disgust. But when Big Mac kissed her, her concentration broke, and..

… and instead of disgust, she felt pure love.

She drunk this emotion as she embraced him. There was so much of it that Nymph almost felt like drowning. She deepened the kiss, maneuvering so that her fangs wouldn’t bother either of them. Her wings buzzed in excitement as Big Mac resumed groping her, not bothered by how hard her chitin must have seemed in contrast to the soft coat of her unicorn form.

When they finally broke the kiss, Big Mac grasping for air, she looked into his eyes. The amount of love was making it difficult for her to concentrate, but she managed to ask: “Why?”

Big Mac gazed with affection into her pupiless blue eyes, not thrown off by them. As always a stallion of few words, he just replied; “Because,” before he resumed kissing her.

Nymph had hoped to gain a more precise explanation, but all such thoughts escaped her as her nerve endings, responding to her arousal, drilled up through her chitin, allowing her to feel Big Mac’s caress. She moaned as he started kissing her neck, losing herself in pleasure.

“That’s all,” Arthas finally said.

It took him hours to tell Twilight of everything. “Well, almost everything.” He still had kept to himself about being the Crown Prince, feeling this information to be insignificant. But beside that, Arthas had told her everything that had happened to him since he had been sent to meet with Jaina in what felt like a lifetime ago.

Even though he had showed Luna his memories, and told of his past to Granny Rags, this proved to be more difficult. Arthas was telling this to Twilight. The one pony he knew he wouldn’t be able to live without if she feared him.

Throughout his tale, she had never stopped grasping his hoof. Even when he told her of the horrific realisation in Hearthglen. Even when he told her of the unforgivable decision he made in Stratholme. Even when he told her how he had betrayed the mercenaries. Even how he told her he had sacrificed his old mentor to claim Frostmourne. How he killed Falric, Marwyn, and all of his men. How he killed the King of Lordaeron. How he slaughtered the people he had sworn to protect and raised them into service of his new lord. How he began to fulfill the will of the Lich King and the dreadlord Tichondrius, how he killed Uther and nearly annihilated the high elves just to bring back Kel’Thuzad. How they destroyed Dalaran, summoned Archimonde into Azeroth and how he manipulated Illidan in order to defeat him. How he returned to Lordaeron only to find his powers weakening as he experienced painful seizures. How he journeyed back to Northrend and made his way through Azol-Nerub where he faced living horrors. How he fought Illidan’s armies and the demon hunter himself.

How he merged with the Lich King. How he dreamt for six years, relieving his life, and banished what remained of his humanity and of Ner’zhul, who had been the Lich King before him. How he, Arthas, had became the one and only Lich King.

He told her the events of the War Against the Lich King, of the vrykul in Howling Fjords and nerubians in Borean Tundra. Of Azjol-Nerub and Naxxramas in Dragonblight, the Battle of Angrathar the Wrathgate, where even he was taken by surprise. Of the Wolfcult and the Drakuru, whom he himself had killed when they disappointed him. Of the battles around Icecrown, where his discarded heart had been discovered by an adventurer and eventually destroyed. Of the Argent Tournament, so near his seat of power. Of the storm on the Icecrown Citadel, which ultimately led to his death… and cursed Bolvar to a terrible fate.

She never let go of his hoof. Twilight had been gasped and tears formed in her eyes several times during the course of his tale, but she never pulled away, nor did she try to interrupt him. Arthas in turn tried not to think what was happening in her head, but now that the story had come to an end, he would learn.

Twilight exhaled heavily before she spoke. “Wow, that’s… hard to believe,” she finally said.

Arthas wasn’t quite certain what she meant by that. “That’s understandable, I suppose,” he said carefully.

“No, I really mean it’s hard to believe,” Twilight began to explain. “Even if it could be the past of somepony else, it would be difficult to accept that one could become such a great evil. But with you-”

“Twilight-” Arthas started, but she silenced him again.

“I mean it. To think that you were once this Lich King, this monster… it seems utterly impossible.”

“But it’s truth,” he told her, despite how much he wished that she was right and he was wrong.

“I know that,” Twilight said, looking away. Arthas’ heart skipped a beat, but he calmed as she squeezed his hoof tighter. “Well… I suppose I can now understand why you blame yourself so much. However,” she said, looking back at him, “I cannot consider you to be the same person as you were then.”

He stared at her, not understanding. “W-well… The Lich King-”

“I don’t mean the Lich King,” Twilight interrupted him, “I mean everything. You are a different person than you were then. Look at this,” she said suddenly, picking something up with magic. Arthas glanced at what she levitated close to them; it was a framed picture. It depicted Twilight and five other mares, some of which he knew from sight. “Look at me,” she added. The Twilight on the picture was holding a book, and instead of laughing and eating cupcakes with her friends she was reading it with a stern face. “This was me before I came to Ponyville. Spike wanted to give this picture to our friend as a gift… I probably should bring him to Canterlot and visit her together. But does this mare seem like me?”

“Well, no-”

“Everypony change through their lives. Just as I was uninterested in friendship, you aren’t the same arrogant paladin who thought only his way would be the correct one.”

The simplicity of her statement baffled Arthas. “Twilight, you can’t compare…” he tried to argue, “those two are-”

“Vastly different matters, I know,” she said, interrupting him again. “but it doesn’t change that you are a different person, does it?”

Arthas opened his mouth, but then closed it. He definitely was very different from how he used to be, and not just physically, but did it mean that he was a different person? Arthas had to admit, he couldn’t imagine Twilight not enjoying spending time with her friends, but would that mean she was a different person?

As if knowing what was going through his head, Twilight spoke: “The old me wouldn’t have tried to help you when you first came to Equestria. Just like… I wouldn’t be able to fall in love in the old you,” she blushed as she drew closer. “And knowing of the old you won’t make me stop loving you.”

To hear her say that - that she was still in love with him, despite everything - made Arthas’ heart beat faster. “Twilight-” he started, but she silenced him.

By kissing him.

Unlike two days ago, when she was drunk, Twilight kissed him shily and a bit awkwardly. To Arthas, it seemed as if she was also surprised by what she was doing, though not as nearly as he was. Nevertheless, he embraced her, his heart racing, as he kissed back the mare he loved.

They pressed their muzzles against each other when they broke the kiss. “I thought we were just friends,” Arthas said after a few seconds.

Twilight slightly shook her head. “I’m tired of that,” she admitted. “And besides, we never really were ‘just friends’. It’s late,” Twilight said, briefly glancing at the clock, “and we have to get back to Ponyville tomorrow. We should get some rest. I know we’ll have a lot to talk about with… this, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. But for now... I want to forget what we said back in Altomare.” She looked into his eyes. “Do you think we could be together?

His heart soared. “Are… are you sure?” he asked.

“I want that more than anything.”

Arthas smiled hearing her response. “I love you,” was all he said before he kissed her again, those three words being enough of an answer.

145. Biology of Love

Twilight yawned as she awoke, and immediately realized that there was another pony sleeping beside her. However, unlike how she would have reacted in the past, instead of backing away in embarrassment and shock, she moved closer and hugged him tighter.

Just laying with Arthas like that was amazing to Twilight. Feeling the warmth of his body, his heartbeat, breathing his scent, and knowing that they were together. “Not to mention how good kissing feels,” Twilight thought, giggling into his neck.

She must have woke up Arthas by doing so, as she felt him stirr. A moment later, she heard him murmur: “Good morning.”

Twilight smiled and pulled back a bit. “Good morning,” she replied, looking into his eyes.

His sea green eyes looked back at her with warmth. “I could just drown in them…” she thought dreamily.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked her.

“Mhm…” Twilight purred in reply.

Arthas inched his muzzle closer to hers, and Twilight instantaneously moved hers closer as well. As they kissed, it once again struck Twilight how… right this felt. As if it was meant to be. “Almost as if our cutie marks were us kissing,” Twilight thought, stifling a giggle.

“I’d love nothing more than staying like this forever,” she murmured as they finally broke the kiss.

Arthas chuckled warmly. “Me too. But we need to get back to Ponyville.”

Twilight nodded, a bit reluctantly. “I know. Nymph is going to tell us about changelings. And besides, we have to see Spike and the others…”

Twilight eyes snapped wide open. “The others!” she thought, her sleepiness gone.

“Oh no, this will be horrible!” Twilight exclaimed out-loud, sitting up.

“What? What is it?” Arthas asked, alarmed.

She turned to him, worried. “Can you imagine how smug everypony will be when they hear we are together? After all those months of them saying that we should, and us telling them that we shouldn’t or couldn’t?”

Arthas opened his mouth… then closed it, along with his eyes. “Twilight…” he groaned, facehoofing.

“What?” she asked, baffled by his reaction.

He sighed and turned to her. “You are lying in bed with a mass murderer, who personally destroyed three kingdoms, committed patricide, regicide, and near genocide, but it is our friend’s reaction to our relationship that concerns you. I love you, Twilight, but you really should revise your priorities.”

Twilight blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry… I suppose you're right,” she said. “Even though you aren’t the pony who committed all those things anymore,” she added, frowning at him. “But it’s just… I’ve never been in a relationship before,” Twilight explained. “It’s all new to me, and everypony saying ‘told you so’, ‘we were right’, and ‘I knew this would happen’ for months won’t help me get used to this.”

His expression softened. “I understand that it might be… intimidating,” he said, wrapping his foreleg around her. “But won’t all those remarks of theirs be proof of how much they care about us and want us to be happy?”

“Well… I suppose,” she admitted unhappily. “But knowing that won’t make it easier to endure it. Not to mention everything Rainbow Dash could say.”

“What do you mean?” Arthas asked, confused.

She looked at him sternly. “One pony in this bed had been having a sort of relationship with Rainbow,” she reminded him. “Now the other pony will be hearing jokes like ‘I taught him this and that’.” Twilight blushed at the images that appeared in her head as she said that. “Even though we hadn’t…” she trailed off, embarrassed.

Despite that she was dead certain that she loved Arthas, Twilight didn’t feel ready for that aspect of a relationship quite yet. She was relieved that Arthas seemed to know that and she hadn’t had to embarrass herself by explaining this, and instead they just simply went to bed and fell asleep last night.

He reached to her cheek with his hoof. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of, you know.”

“I know,” Twilight sighed. “Though seeing how you and-”

She stopped when she saw Arthas rub his temples and sigh. “I shouldn’t have agreed to any of that…”

“Why did you?” Twilight asked him. This was something that she needed to talk about with him. “I mean, I know that back in Altomare we had agreed that it would be best that we’d remain as just friends, and I even told Rainbow that you are…‘free game’, but it didn’t mean that you had to start having sex with her. Or with that sea pony you never met.”

“I know,” Arthas said, sounding both tired and embarrassed. “I… it’s difficult to recall what exactly I was thinking, but… I think I had several reasons for… that. One of them was that I was curious about such life. Before I held that cursed blade and became a death knight, I was expected to act with honor and to live up to certain standards… you know, because I was a paladin knight,” he added quickly. “Here in Equestria I felt greater freedom than I had back on Azeroth, so getting into those sort of relationship held a captivating element for me. Even though after some time I decided that it wasn’t for me. Another reason was that I hoped that it would help me put you out of my head,” Arthas said, smiling weakly. “Even though I thought that you were right, that it would be best if we remained friends, it wasn’t easy with those feelings. However…” he started and hesitated. “... the most important reason I had was that I hoped… it would cause you to distance yourself from me. Because I felt that you shouldn’t love me,” he added, sighing.

“Because of what you’ve done in your past life?” Twilight asked, somehow managing to not roll her eyes.

But to her surprise, Arthas shook his head. “No… or rather, it wasn’t just that. You see…” he trailed off, sounding even more embarrassed. “I thought that I initially developed feelings for you because you reminded me so much of Jaina.”

“Jaina?” Twilight asked, blinking in surprise. “You mean your ex-girlfriend? The sorceress from Dalaran?” she added when Arthas nodded. Twilight wasn’t sure what to say to that. “You did mention once that we would get along,” she recalled, trying to collect her thoughts. “Are we really that alike?”

Arthas chuckled warmly. “You two are so alike that it’s eerie. You both love books, are dedicated to your studies, are masters of magic, are friendly and kind to others… For a long time, when I’d try to imagine Jaina in Equestria, somehow transformed into a pony like me… she’d look exactly like you in my mind. However,” he suddenly said, smiling to Twilight, “after some time, I realized that there are plenty of differences between you. You are… Light, I don’t even find words to describe it. You are somehow more easygoing than Jaina at some situations, and more strict in others, depending on the need of it. You panic over things that to most would be silly, and you are more… hm, violent,” he finished, smirking. Twilight glared at him, but allowed him to continue. “You also like different foods - aside from apples - and I don’t mean just hay and stuff. Trust me, you’d hate Dalaran Sharp. But above all else,” Arthas added, reaching to Twilight. She felt a pleasant shiver as he caressed her cheek, “you can do something Jaina, or anybody else, never could. Reign me in,” he finished, smiling.

Twilight couldn’t help but smile, despite blushing furiously hearing that. A part of her mind wondered how would Rainbow Dash laugh about Arthas being whipped, but she quickly silenced those thoughts.

“I wouldn’t say I can reign you in,” she said, smiling awkwardly. “Remember how I was angry when Chrysalis sent Wind Reaver to the Abbey? I would say it was rather you who reigned me.”

“It was a special case,” Arthas objected. “You, your brother and your sister-in-law have suffered because of her, so it was natural that you… hm…”

“Hated her?” Twilight suggested.

“I was going to say ‘didn’t trust her’, but I suppose that fits as well. And as for me, well, while I was naturally enraged by what she had done to you, I am a bit older and more experienced than you, so I know that letting one’s anger control you isn’t the right way. Not to mention that somepony very dear to me, along with her friends, had taught me how powerful the magic of friendship can be,” he added, making her once again blush.

“Sure it had nothing to do with how you had kissed her?” she asked teasingly, looking at him through narrowed eyes.

Twilight smirked seeing him sigh and roll his eyes. “I’m not getting into that argument.”

“Sorry, couldn’t help myself.”

“Do you see what I mean?” Arthas asked. “That right there, that comment that made me stop to sigh; the way you pull me by my ear when I annoy you with something. You do those little things and it makes me want to obey you, and… I just love that about you.” He leaned closer to her, so close that their noses touched. “All those differences…it might have taken me a while to realize it, but I hadn’t fallen in love with you just because you share some similarities with Jaina. I’ve fallen in love with Twilight Sparkle, who has many wonderful traits about her, some of which she shares with Jaina. I’ve fallen in love with Twilight, who was the first to offer me friendship in a long time.” Twilight couldn’t hear anything besides his voice and see anything besides his eyes. “I’ve fallen in love with Twilight, who loves me despite who I used to be.”

“Sweet talker,” Twilight replied after a few seconds teasingly. “How long have you been preparing this speech?”

“I just said what’s in my heart,” Arthas said, smiling, then winked. “That part I actually thought beforehoof.”

“Oh, shut up,” she told him before kissing him.

“I’m sorry if I hurt you with my behaviour,” Arthas told her after the kiss.

“You are forgiven,” Twilight said, resuming kissing. “Always… and completely…”

They both fell back on the bed soon, continuing to kiss for several more moments. Afterwards they just laid there, content. A part of Twilight would have been perfectly content staying in her old bed for much longer, but they couldn’t.

Arthas was the one to brought that up. “We should start getting ready to leave.”

“Mhm,” Twilight hummed in answer, a bit unhappy.

“We’re supposed to meet up with Nymph and Wind Reaver in your library at noon, and it’s already…” he paused to glance at a clock. “Past ten. And we still have to pick up Doctor Angelic Touch.”

“And your paladins.”

“I know.”

“Really?” Twilight asked humorously. “So you didn’t forget about them yesterday and let them wait for you in the Night Guard barracks?”

“I sent a guard to inform them about a change of plans,” Arthas replied, sticking his tongue out.

Twilight rolled her eyes, already knowing that he wouldn’t forget about his paladins like that, and began to rise. “So, um, about what we talked earlier,” she started, wanting to make sure they were on the same page regarding this, “about our friends…”

Arthas sighed. “You really want to hide this from everypony? I know they would make fun of us, but they would be also happy for us.”

“I know, but…” Twilight began.

“Well,” Arthas interrupted her, adding: “besides your brother.”

Twilight deadpanned at him, but quickly shook her head and continued. “Just… I’d like to keep us a secret for a short while,” Twilight pleaded. “Give me some time to get used to being in a relationship, then I’ll be much more comfortable listening to their jibes.”

She looked into his eyes, wondering how he would reply. “If he really won’t like it,” she thought, “then it can’t be helped…”

Her train of thoughts trailed off as she saw Arthas sight and close his eyes, then smile and begin to chuckle. “What’s so funny?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Nothing, just…” Arthas began, looking at her and taking her hoof. “You’d have been a great princess, Twilight,” he said, kissing her on the hoof. “I can’t seem to deny you anything.”

The sun had long since been risen by Princess Celestia by the time Big Mac woke up. The big red stallion, unused to sleeping in for so long, glanced at the window to gauge what time it was, before turning his head back to the other side of the bed and hugging tighter…

Nymph.

When they have finally fallen asleep last night, she had her back turned to him, and his one foreleg wrapped around her. Big Mac smiled as he saw that at some point during her sleep, Nymph had hugged his hoof with her forelegs.

He briefly pondered on why he wasn’t bothered at all with how different she was from him. When other ponies would learn that the two of them became a couple, many would probably think him to be some sort of pervert. With her chitin, blue pupiless eyes, insectoid wings, no hair whatsoever, and some… less obvious differences. “Although it’s not like Ah was actually into that,” Big Mac thought, shaking his head.

Despite all that, there was no change in his feelings for Nymph from when he had only seen her in her unicorn form. And even though they hadn’t known each other for too long… Big Mac couldn’t imagine life without her.

The changeling stirred and yawned. Big Mac frowned, as he didn’t want to wake her up, but quickly brightened up as she opened her eyes and looked at him.

“Hi,” she whispered, gazing at him with affection.

Instead of replying, Big Mac leaned to kiss her. He knew very well that, with her ability to sense feelings, this would convey his emotions far better than a simple word. And so Big Mac kissed her, not disturbed at all by her fangs; as during the course of the last night he had gotten completely used to them.

“Last night was amazing,” Nymph sighed contently after the kiss, while Big Mac moved to nibble down her neck. “I… have never done that in my real form,” she confessed, sounding embarrassed. “In a way, this was my first time… I’m glad it was with you,” Nymph said, looking back at him. Big Mac noticed that she blinked as he continued to move down her neck. “Oh, you were… um, Big Mac,” she smiled awkwardly, “I did mention last night it takes some time for me to begin feeling through my chitin. You should have told me you, um, started.”

She indeed had mentioned that. Big Mac recalled her explaining that her nerves whatsit would drill through her chitin when aroused, or something along those lines. But Big Mac didn’t let that discourage him. “And besides,” he thought mischievously, moving further down, “Ah have an idea…”

On Nymph’s back, there were two small nubs, through which her wings were attached to her body. Big Mac hadn’t taken a closer look at them yet, but he was wondering that, since those moved her wings, were covered by thinner chitin to make them more flexible. “And if that’s the case…” Big Mac thought as he nibble one of the nubs.

Squeaks that Nymph uttered briefly worried him, but as it quickly turned into moans, he relaxed and resumed his caress. Big Mac slowly increased his efforts in pleasing her, moving from one nub to another, and even licked her wings. Nymph, however, wasn’t completely satisfied, as soon he felt her pushing the forehoof he was hugging her with down.

When they had finished, Nymph was breathing heavily. Big Mac smiled seeing the effect he had on her, but before he could do anything else, his lover turned around and crawled on top of him, pressing her nose against his.

She stayed silent and just looked into his eyes for a moment. “You… you’re wonderful, you know that?” she finally said, a bit hesitantly. Big Mac kissed her, happy with her praise. “I… need to be in Twilight’s library at noon…” she said after the kiss. “You know, tell them all about…” she trailed off, sounding almost drowsy. Since Big Mac knew what she spoke of, he nodded. “But I think we have enough time for a bath… What do you think?”

“Eeyup,” was all that Big Mac said.

“Ah, it’s good to be home!” Twilight exclaimed as she trotted towards the Golden Oak’s Library’s door.

Arthas smiled, seeing her happy, before he turned back. “Guard, Tucker, you two can go back to the Abbey,” he told the two paladins as they jumped down from the chariot. He then addressed the two pegasi that had pulled it. “Royal Guards, your orders are to wait for Doctor Angelic, correct?”

However, it was the Royal Physician who replied to him. “Do you expect me to trot back to Canterlot?” she said as she and Twilight entered the library.

“I assumed you can teleport,” Arthas replied, trotting after them after nodding to the pegasi royal guards.

Angelic Touch was about to reply, but she was interrupted by Spike, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, as they greeted Twilight.

“Hi everypony,” Arthas told them as he closed the door behind him. “Nymph and Wind aren’t here yet?”

Their friends were sitting around a table, on which there were some cookies, several teacups and a pot of presumable tea. “No,” Spike replied to his question, reaching for a cookie as Arthas, Twilight, and Angelic sat on the empty seats beside them.

“Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy,” Twilight began, “this is Doctor Angelic Touch, the Princesses’ Royal Physician. Spike and I knew her back from my school in Canterlot.”

As the mares exchanged greetings, Arthas found his attention drawn to Fluttershy. There was something… odd about her, but he couldn’t put his hoof what exactly it was...

Pinkie’s voice snapped his attention back to the conversation. “Aw, so you’re going right back to Canterlot? Pity. Okay then, more importantly;” she said, looking at Arthas and Twilight with a serious expression, “now that everypony in Equestria knows we have here two changelings, can I finally throw them a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party?”

“I… suppose?” Arthas said uncertainly.

“Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow and the girls won’t be back for a couple of days,” Twilight reminded her. “You do plan to throw this party after they come back from their camping trip right?”

“Of course!” Pinkie replied happily.

“Actually,” Arthas started, “Serenity is supposed to return from the Crystal Empire two days after they get back from their trip-”

“Oh, that’s great!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I can throw a ‘Welcome to Ponyville / Welcome back to Ponyville’ party! And it will be so great to see Serenity again; I feel like I hadn’t seen her in almost two years. Huh, weird…”

He was about to ask her why she felt like that, as Serenity wasn’t gone for even a month, but at that moment they all heard knocking on the door. Twilight opened it with her magic, revealing the two changelings.

“Come in,” she said, then looked with surprise at the changelings beside Wind Reaver. Arthas couldn’t blame her; he too was surprised to see Nymph in her real form. “Nymph? I thought you weren’t comfortable with walking around ponies without your unicorn disguise.”

“Yes, well… I’ve lately received a confidence boost, so to speak,” Nymph replied, smiling a bit awkwardly.

The snort Wind Reaver uttered had probably not helped her feel more comfortable, judging by the short, disappointed glare she gave him.

“Looks like her date with Big Macintosh went well,” Arthas thought, feeling happy for the two. He looked at Twilight, and saw her smiling, as she too had figured out the reason behind Nymph’s “confidence boost”.

A part of him wished that they too could make their relationship known to others, though it would probably be revealed in a less subtle method, but if keeping this a secret for some time would help Twilight get used to it, then he was fine with it. “Even though I really hate the idea of courting in secret again,” Arthas thought, before returning his attention to the present moment.

Nymph, who had stopped glaring at Wind, resumed: “Still, it wasn’t easy coming all the way here, but I think I’m going to slowly get used to it.”

“That’s great to hear,” Fluttershy said, smiling.

Angelic cleared her throat. “That’s great to hear,” she began, “but could we perhaps get to the point of this meeting?”

“Of course,” Nymph said enthusiastically. “Where would you like me to start?”

“I would prefer to learn about your biology first, so that later I can zone out and let Twilight record and make notes of the rest,” Angelic said airily. Her horn began to glow and from her saddle bag came a notepad, a pencil, and a small sphere that she placed before the two changelings. “To be more precise, I hoped you could explain to me about your cells’ molecular structure. You see, we had run some tests…”

“This will be fun,” Arthas thought sarcastically.

About twenty minutes worth of Nymph’s explanations later, Doctor Angelic got her answer. Arthas, for all the knowledge he had gained in his previous life, wasn’t certain if he understood half of it correctly. The fact that he considered most of this part to be really boring hadn’t helped him focus. “I’m certain that from Azeroth, only Kel’Thuzad and Putricide would have found this interesting. And maybe Jaina, but only because she loved to study,” he noted, glancing at Twilight, who was also making notes. Pinkie and Fluttershy, on the other hoof, looked confused and bored; and so was Wind Reaver to a degree, much to Arthas’ amusement.

“So, to sum up,” Angelic began to say, glancing at her notes, “your entire body is made out of magic that took the form of a flesh?”

“That’s really simplifying it,” Nymph said, although she nodded her head. “Every living being on Equestria is magical in nature. We changelings are just… a more extreme case. It’s because of that characteristic that we are all able to completely change our bodies. We don’t know the reason for it; it could be that we are some sort of constructs that somehow evolved into biological beings, or that we were subjugated to some bizarre changes.” Nymph shrugged. “It is because of our unusual biology that we feed on love, but we cannot even be sure if we had developed our diet after our our bodies changed, or if this diet is what caused those changes.”

“Which brings me to my next question,” Angelic said. “How do you ‘feed on love’?”

“It’s quite simple, actually,” Nymph replied. “When ponies - as well as members of other races, of course - develop feelings for another, they focus their thoughts on them, and attach themselves emotionally, it causes their magic to ‘reach out’. Well,” she amended, “it’s actually the ‘magic of love’, but that’s still their magic. It’s not an amount that’d cause any visible loss to a pony, and it seldom causes any noticeable effects. However, there were a few rare cases that, for example, the love between two lovers had created a bond that allows them to communicate telepathically without even trying.”

“Yes, that’s a known fact,” Angelic nodded. “Even though a lot of those lovers simply think they know the other well enough to imagine their reply.”

“When a changeling takes shape of somebody’s affection,” Nymph continued, as if she hadn’t been interrupted, “their love reaches to the changeling. We absorb their love, or more correctly, their magic of love, and feed on it.”

“How does your gastrointestinal tract work?” the doctor asked without missing a beat.

The changeling pondered her question, seemingly hesitant. “Hm, how it would be best to explain it… the changelings… don’t actually have a gastrointestinal tract,” she finally said, making everypony stare in surprise. “We don’t have stomachs, bowels, and the, um… the end of the gastrointestinal tract,” she finished, smiling sheepishly.

Angelic was so utterly stunned that Twilight had to be the one to ask the next question. “Then how do you gain energy from love?” she questioned, obviously also shocked.

“A changeling heart converts the love into nutrients and stores them,” Nymph explained. “We still need the oxygen to convert those nutrients into energy, like all living beings, and then our cardiovascular system distributes them through our body. However-”

“Excuse me,” Doctor Angelic, who managed to snap out of her shock, interrupted her. “Did you just say that you store the love you steal from ponies in your hearts?”

“Um, yes?” Nymph confirmed, confused. “Changelings have hearts, it’s located in the middle of a chest in between lungs-”

“No, it’s not that,” Angelic cut her off, waving her hoof. “It’s just… that it sounds like something out of fairy tale.”

Arthas, who had been thinking the same thing, was inclined to agree on that statement. “Equestria never ceases to amaze me,” he mused.

The other ponies seemed to share Angelic’s opinion. Pinkie even nodded. “Yeah - or something out of a fanfiction.”

Arthas frowned, confused. “What’s a fan-”

“More importantly,” Doctor Angelic interrupted him, turning to Nymph, “what was it that you were saying? That your hearts are located in the middle of the chest, between lungs?”

“Yes, that’s correct.” Nymph sit up straighter, puffing up her chest and poking right in the middle. “It allows our cardiovascular system to transmit blood across our body more efficiently. Also, it makes it easier to exchange hearts during the Lifemates Bonding Ceremony-”

“I’m sorry, WHAT?!”

Arthas grabbed his ears as Angelic’s shout nearly deafened him. Spike reacted in similar manner, and Fluttershy looked so startled that he was surprised that she hadn’t hid under the table. “Not the only thing to be surprised about around here,” Arthas thought, turning his attention back to the changeling.

“I was going to bring this up during the second part of our interview,” Nymph began. “When two changelings are in love and want to become lifemates, they partake in the Lifemates Bonding Ceremony. Of course,” she added, a bit hesitantly, “both changelings have to be mature to undergo it.”

With her pupiless eyes it was difficult to say, but Arthas was sure that she had glanced at Wind Reaver.

“The Ceremony resembles your weddings. At the end of it, our Queen exchanges the hearts of two changelings. This creates an unbreakable bond between the lovers, allowing them to communicate telepathically freely, no matter the distance or magical interference.”

“So that’s why he’s so angry all the time,” Arthas suddenly understood, glancing at Wind Reaver. “If he and his intended mate had been a little older, he would have been able to find her long ago.”

Now more than ever Arthas felt for the changeling, as well as was amazed. He could only imagine how infuriating this must be for Wind, and yet, aside from a few episodes, he was acting quite calm and collected, given the circumstances.

“It also ensures that neither lover will outlive the other,” Nymph continued. “Due to their bond, when one of them dies, be it of old age or other causes, the other will too.”

“What?” Fluttershy exclaimed, covering her mouth. “But that’s horrible!”

The others looked as appalled as her, even Doctor Angelic, but the changelings shook their heads.

“To a changeling, there’s nothing worse than loneliness,” Nymph said. “The Swarm is like a big family, and we all consider each other as such. Not to say we all like everyling,” she added; Arthas noted that her voice sounded sad for a heartbeat there. “Or that we all get along perfectly. But from what we know, that’s alike to how pony families, especially the big ones, work.”

“I suppose…” Twilight said slowly; Arthas wondered if there was somepony in her family she didn’t get along with. “But what does this have to do with you dying at the same time as their loved ones?”

“It’s quite simple, really. Like I said, there’s nothing worse than loneliness for a changeling. The mere thought of having to live without the one we love the most, who is an inseparable part of our live is… well...” she trailed off, looking for the right word.

“A living hell,” Wind Reaver finished for her. “Which is why most of the Swarm fears I’m going to go insane at some point.”

“I suppose this reasoning has its point,” Arthas thought while Fluttershy and Pinkie tried to offer Wind some words of sympathy. He glanced at Twilight. “I certainly wouldn’t want to outlive her…”

“Thanks, but I’m fine. Mostly,” Wind added, waving his hoof at the two mares casually. “I believe we will find her, sooner or later, and I get to cut whoever is responsible into several pieces. Or maybe I’ll flay them first,” he mused, scratching his chin.

“I would advise you to go to attend some therapy,” Angelic said, but then she shrugged, “but you seem to be dealing with this well. Anyway,” she said as she turned back to Nymph, “could you finish telling us about all the other biological systems? Also, you’ve mentioned about dying of old age earlier. How long do the changelings live? And is your life cycle different from ponies?”

Nymph seemed to not be troubled by the number of questions. “Of course. Like I said, we also have lungs; our respiratory system isn’t different from those of ponies. The same can be said about our muscular system and nervous system, aside from a greater number of nerves around our hearts. Also, they’re not connected to our chitin.” She lifted a hoof. “Our chitin is extremely durable, capable of withstanding great pressure and heat, though not to the degree the crystal ponies’ coats can. Under them, we have a very fragile skin. In rare cases when our chitin would get punctured, the skin under it would too, most likely. Our chitin also serves to help us hide from various methods of magical detection; only warding spells that were placed with an intention to detect just changelings can spot us, and until recently they did not always work.”

“Well, you did leave plenty of samples of your magic in Canterlot,” Angelic pointed out. “It helped us to better calibrate the warding spells.”

“Anyway, due to the lack of the nerves in the chitin, we cannot feel anything through it. However,” she added, suddenly sounding embarrassed, “in the event of a changeling getting, well, aroused, the nerve ends in the skin would grow and puncture through the chitin, letting the changeling receive greater pleasure from the partner.“ Nymph paused to clear her throat. “As for the rest of our internal organs… we have no kidneys, liver, or a bladder. Because every part of our bodies are made out of the love magic, even our blood, urinating would make us waste love, so we don’t do it. We also don’t sweat or cry; we have no lacrimal glands. Hm, what’s next…” Nymph pondered briefly; Arthas glanced at Twilight and Angelic. Both of them were taking notes of every word the changeling had said, moving their quills with magic seemingly without any effort. “Contrary to popular pony belief, we do have bones; however, we only possess axial skeletons. We don’t have bones in our legs,” she added, lifting a foreleg again. “The holes in them allow us to form our claws.”

As soon as those words left her mouth, green substance emerged from those holes and in a blink of an eye, it took the same shape of a blade-like claw. “Exactly like Wind had done,” Arthas noted, recalling his sparring fight with the changeling in the Crystal Empire.

“We have miniatures pores located in the chitin in those holes,allowing us to form our claws,” Nymph explained. “The amber quickly hardens upon contact with the air, making our claws about as durable as our chitin. However, retracting it requires from the changeling to use magic. Less magically talented changelings need help with it,” she said as her horn glowed, making the claw dissolve and retract back into her foreleg.

“By ‘less magically talented’,” Wind spoke up, “she means the changelings who completely suck at it. What?” he asked when Nymph looked at him disapprovingly. He pointed at himself. “I know only the basic spells and have no problems with retracting my claws.”

Nymph shook her head and turned back to the ponies. “Where was I… Since we’re back on the subject of our exterior...” she said and turned around, showing them her back. Her wings buzzed briefly. “They’re obviously more delicate than pegasi or griffon’s wings, and are prone to damage. However, we have great regenerative ability. Everyling can easily regrow their wings, although the process isn’t exactly pleasant.”

“Yep,” Wind once again interjected. His wings buzzed. “Stings like a bitch.”

Nymph closed her eyes and breathed deeply, probably uncomfortable and annoyed with Wind Reaver interrupting her and cursing.

“You lost your wings?” Fluttershy asked, worried. “How? I-If you don’t mind me asking, I mean.”

“Was helping warriors chase off a dragon from the Dread Wastes,” he replied, shrugging. “It was about four years ago. I got hit by the dragon’s flames in the back.”

“The speed with which changeling’s wings would regrowth depends on the amount of love the changeling had stored,” Nymph resumed. “Of course, another changeling can always transfer love to them, or assist their regeneration with a healing spell. We can also regrow other parts of our body, as long as we have enough love, though regenerating organs takes much more out of us. And since we are on the subject of love again; we possess an ability called ‘burning love’. It allows us to convert love for energy at much quicker pace, increasing our strength, speed, and the force of our magic. However, not only does this make us lose love rapidly, but it also puts an enormous strain on our heart. If a changeling continues to burn love for too long, they could even die, which is why we don’t use this ability too often.”

“I wonder if Chrysalis was using it during our fight,” Arthas pondered, recalling her overwhelming strength.

Nymph also appeared to be pondering something briefly as well. “Getting back to the topic of the wings… um, our tegulas,” she said as she turned around once again and pointed at the tiny nubs on her back from which her wings grew, “are the only part of our body where our skin is exposed. Though it’s harder than the skin under our chitin, it’s still very touch-sensitive. Because of that, we… don’t let just anyling touch us there,” she explained, sounding embarrassed. “In most cases, touching a changeling’s tegulas without permission results in getting hit by them. And mostly, only the changeling’s lifemate can touch them. In fact,” Nymph added scratching the back of her head, “nibbling a changeling’s tegula is considered amongst us the same as your proposal. If the other changeling won’t hit them, well, they’re engaged.”

“Interesting,” Angelic mused, looking at her notes and underlining something. “Since engagement usually leads to procreation…” she trailed off, obviously meaning for Nymph to continue.

“Well… as for male’s reproductive system, it’s not that different from a pony’s.”

“Except the changeling’s penis is bigger,” Wind added, giving a sage nod.

Though Arthas rolled his eyes, he noticed that Nymph sighed, Fluttershy blushed, Pinkie snorted with laughter, Spike seemed confused, Twilight deadpanned… and Doctor Angelic looked under the table.

“Doctor, I hope you don’t plan on asking what I think you’re going to ask,” Arthas said.

Angelic Touch raised her head, a bit embarrassed, but it was Wind who replied him. “Having insecurities? Or are you just afraid you’ll get complexes?” he added, smirking.

“I’m not even going to dignify that with a reply,” Arthas replied calmly. He then glanced at Spike and turned to Twilight. “This reminds me… is this an appropriate topic to be discussed with, um, well…”

“Oh, for the love of…” Spike exclaimed loudly. “You guys know I also live in this library, right? And that there are plenty of books about this? And that after what happened in Altomare I wanted some answers?”

“Oh!” Twilight exclaimed, surprised. She looked at Arthas, very clearly abashed. “I... guess it’s okay then?”

He shrugged and turned to back to the changelings. Thankfully, Angelic didn’t ask them to show their privates.

“The male changeling’s genitals are within the body,” Nymph continued her explanation, “which is about the only difference from most pony kinds other than sea ponies. Similarly to them, as well as dragons, the penis emerges when the male is aroused. The female reproductive system is a bit more different.”

“Because you lay eggs?” Angelic hinted; her voice sounded almost hopeful to Arthas.

Nymph nodded. “Yes. We’re also fertile all the time, unlike other creatures. However, since females all place magical protection on themselves and, when they’d try to conceive they would remove it, you could say that we have a private breeding season of sorts that’s triggered by magic. After the egg cell is fertilized, the egg forms within a couple of days and the mother lays it. Sometimes she lays more than just one egg, but those cases are rare. Our eggs look like this,” she added, using her magic to create a projection.

Intrigued, Arthas looked at it closely. The egg was much smaller than a nerubian one; in fact, he was almost certain than it was smaller than a newborn foal would be. It was oval and grayish-greenish-bluish in color.

“After a month, the egg hatches,” Nymph continued “and a larva emerges.”

The projection of the egg disappeared and was replaced by… one of the weirdest examples of just how weird this world was.

“Wow, it’s so cute,” Fluttershy exclaimed, leaning a bit closer to the projection.

“It… sorta is,” Arthas admitted. “And at the same time, creepy.”

The changeling larva wasn’t black, as its chitin-clad adult form was. Instead, it was white. Its head was the biggest part of its body, with big blue eyes and a mouth that looked like a mix between pony’s muzzle and insect’s mouthpieces, with two very small mandibles that when closed - as Nymph made her projection open and close its mouth, as well as move around - would make the larva’s head almost seem like a pony’s. When opened, it revealed a tongue that brought to Arthas’ mind a resemblance to butterfly’s tongue (“What was it called? Pro- something…”), only much shorter. There was also a small horn on the larvae’s head.

The rest of its body bore resemblance to a caterpillar. It didn’t have legs, only an oblong torso. It wasn’t segmented like caterpillars, but the larva moved in a similar manner to it, reaching out ot with the head and pulling the rest.

“Changelings stay in the form of larvae for five years,” Nymph continued. “During that time, they are being cared for and supervised at all time, all while their consciousness slowly forms and their bodies grow.” The image disappeared and was replaced with a bigger one, almost the size of an adult changeling. Soon, that one too disappeared, and a bigger, dark green blob bearing the same general shape appeared. “When they reach the age of five, they wrap themselves in cocoons. The metamorphosis takes a year; it takes that amount of time for the larvae to reform their body and mind. When they emerge as drones, they’re physical form is not different from an adult changeling.” The projection disappeared completely. ‘However, the drone has a mentality of a toddler. Its mind slowly develops its intelligence and personality while the drone is being trained in various functions changelings perform in the Hive or in the world that I’ll cover soon. Ten years after emerging from the cocoon, the drone reaches an imago state, meaning that it’s considered an adult changeling. The changeling then chooses their name based on their personality and the job they feel is best suited for them in the Swarm.”

“Wow, that’s just simply fascinating,” Twilight exclaimed. “You two were really once those larvaes?”

“Yes, though we don’t remember much from it, just like you can’t remember much from your early foalhood. Also…” Nymph added and briefly hesitated. “I actually once held Wind Reaver in my forehooves when he was a larva.”

“Really?!” everypony, Arthas included, asked in surprise.

Wind sighed. “Could you not walk around telling ponies about it? It’s sort of embarrassing. I can already hear Rainbow’s jibes...” he muttered.

“How did that happen?” Twilight asked Nymph.

“As I said, as drones we have to train in all the tasks Swarm members perform. That means working in the Nursery and Incubation Chambers. And as Mo- I mean, Queen Chrysalis’ heir, I often accompanied her during my free time. Taking care of eggs and larvae is one of her most important and favorite duties,” she added, seeing the confusion on ponies faces.

“Really?” Twilight asked, bewildered, but then she cleared her throat and tried more politely. “I don’t mean to offend your mother, Nymph, but she doesn’t really… well, looks like she likes taking care of babies.”

Wind Reaver snorted loudly with laughter. Nymph smirked as well. “As her heir, I might be her adopted daughter, but she is in truth mother to us all. Everyling you’d ever meet has been held by her both as egg and larvae, heard her singing, telling bedtime stories, or just played with her. I understand that it might be hard to picture, especially given how you met Mother, but if you’d ever see her with a larva you’d see another side of her.”

“I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t want us to see that other side of her,” Arthas mused, but kept that comment to himself.

Out loud, however, he asked: “So you’re Queen Chrysalis adopted daughter?”

“Yes,” she replied, nodding. “Her Majesty has never laid an egg. However, since the Swarm needs a Queen, soon after we formed our society Mother decided to ensure that there would be a changeling ready to take her place as a queen should something happen to her. She always has an heir, who becomes her daugher in everything but blood. Of course, since Mother is the only changeling with a seemingly endless lifespan, all her daughters sooner or later die. I’m her nineteenth heir.”

“Who were your real parents then?” Fluttershy asked.

That question seemed to surprise Nymph a bit, but she nevertheless answered: “My father, Ray Light, was a magister under Grand Magistrix Lucid command; he died when calibrating the wards around the Dread Wastes caused an avalanche. My mother, Mothra, the previous Voice of the Queen, died at the same time. I was still an egg then.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” Fluttershy said compassionately.

“It’s alright; especially since based on what I heard of them, they weren’t… um, how do I put this,” Nymph trailed off, once again troubled. “The majority of changelings don’t have… a parental instinct.”

“They what?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Well… although we reproduce in the manner similar to you - and not like bees and ants, contrary to popular belief - we don’t actually form families. All the eggs are being cared for in Incubation Chambers and the larvae in the Nursery Chambers by nurses. Out of all changelings, only about five percent have paternal instinct, and about ten percent more develop it later during their life, and most of them choose to serve the Swarm as nurses. I understand that this might seem unnatural to you, but this strengthens the feeling of unity of the Swarm. Growing up together makes changelings feel like brothers and sisters. Of course,” she added, “some have actual siblings, and their relations are alike to a pony’s siblings.”

“Wow, that’s… weird,” Twilight said slowly. “So, most of changeling’s parents… don’t care about their offspring?”

“Of course not,” Nymph replied. “They take pride in their achievements, and are concerned if they come to harm. It also works in reverse; I’m really proud of my biological mother being the Voice of the Queen, and of my father being one of the best of Swarm’s magisters. Some parents also sometimes visit the larvae in the Nursery Chambers and spend some time with them.”

“But you all still feel more close to your Queen rather to your parents,” Angelic stated.

“Well, yes,” the changeling admitted. “Like I mentioned, Mother spends some time with all changelings when they are eggs and larvaes. She also possesses a telepathic link with everyling, though it’s not as strong as the one between lifemates.”

“Mhm…” Angelic mused, looking through her notes. “Alright, I think that all that’s left is your lifespan, after that you can explain your society more.”

“Oh, of course. With the exception of Queen Chrysalis, changeling’s average lifespan, when counting the time spend in egg, larvae, cocoon, drone and imago stage, is about as long as average pony’s lifespan. Of course, there are…” Nymph hesitated, “some exceptions…”

Wind snorted. “More like exception. Singular.”

“You should speak of Commander Unsceathed with greater respect,” Nymph chastened him.

“I was under the impression yesterday that he was older than average changeling,” Arthas spoke up before Wind Reaver could reply. “How old is he exactly? It’s hard to gauge the age of changelings.”

“That’s right;” Nymph replied, “we don’t show signs of aging. It’s kinda hard to get wrinkles on chitin,” she added jokingly (and a bit sheepishly) as she tapped her cheek. “But as we grow older, our reactions slow down and senses grow dull, our bodies ache… Similar to ponies, except we are immune to diseases old ponies catch. But as for Commander Unsceathed…” Nymph hesitated, “he’s one hundred and thirty-four years old.”

“Wow, really?!” Angelic asked, excited, while everypony else stared at Nymph in shock. “How is it possible?”

“The popular opinion in the Swarm is that he is too stubborn to die,” Nymph replied. “Personally, I think his heart is more durable than other changelings, and he has been keeping himself alive by burning love, though that’s just a theory. He’s the longest living changeling ever, aside from Mother.”

“Interesting… I must remember to talk with him if I see him again,” Angelic muttered under her nose. “And, just for the record, how old are you two?”

“Wind Reaver is sixteen, and I’m twenty-seven.”

“You’re older than us?” Pinkie asked, looking at the changeling with surprise. “But you’re so… um, young in spirit?” she finished awkwardly.

Nymph giggled, amused. “I have a small build, that’s all.”

Angelic paid no attention to that exchange, focused on writing down what Nymph had told her. “Okay,” she suddenly said, “this wraps up the part I was interested in; Twilight, be a dear and do make notes of the rest,” she asked, and without waiting for reply, the Doctor resumed looking over her notes.

Arthas glanced at Twilight, but she just nodded and asked Nymph to resume. As the changeling first began with “the changeling census”, he wondered about Unsceathed. ‘He’s so old,’ he thought, ‘but he’s still the commander of Chrysalis’ guards… I wonder how dangerous he must have been in his prime.”

“That’s the total number of the gatherers,” Nymph continued. “They’re job is to gather love from ponies. They’re not all in Equestria at the same time, of course; their work in accordance with the schedule organized by the Queen and the Voice of the Queen. The Voice of the Queen is Mother’s chief advisor regarding the Swarm’s everyday life, and is left in charge of the Hive whenever the Queen would leave. Currently, this position is held by a changeling named Bloodraven. Mother is currently discussing with him the idea presented at yesterday’s council by your Princesses, about us paying for love.”

Nymph went on for a while about duties of the Voice of the Queen - “Not surprising,” Arthas thought, “seeing how her biological mother was the previous Voice,” - and how he is responsible for sorting out the training of drones, supervising them during their choosing of their names and their role in the Swarm upon reaching imago stage, and rationing love to changelings. About the only three groups of changelings that the Voice wasn’t directly responsible for were magisters, warriors, and spies.

“There are also amber-shapers,” Nymph added. “As the name suggest, they use magic to shape amber, crafting various objects. Furnitures, lights, armor, weapons… a changeling amber-shaper from six hundred years ago named Aquarella created beautiful stained amber, giving it more colors than just shades of green. Few amber-shapers can do that; she was inspired by the stained glass in Canterlot Castle. However, they also have more mundane tasks, like keeping the Hive clean, repairing every possible damage, building new buildings...”

Unlike Angelic, Arthas found this part to be quite interesting. Unlike their biology, which was pretty bizarre even by Equestria standards, their society seemed far more “down to earth”. Arthas began to wonder if it would be possible to visit the Hive himself; if the changelings were as good architects as nerubians, there would certainly be sights worth seeing there.

“Praetorians are the Queen’s elite guards. Only the Swarm’s most powerful warriors can become one of them. In order to be accepted, a changeling has to defeat a Praetorian in combat. The position of Commander is attained the same way; Commander Unscathed has claimed this post over one hundred years ago and since then kept defeating every combatant.”

“I hadn’t noticed any changeling bearing their armor during the Canterlot Invasion,” Arthas spoke up, reminded of something he had realized yesterday. “How come you attacked without your most elite warriors? Not to mention that your Queen was the one leading the assault?”

“They were left behind defending the Hive. The forces required to take over Canterlot and occupy it had depleted the Hive of too many defenders. Also,” Nymph added, “Praetorians aren’t exactly known for espionage skills, so if they would protect Mother when she impersonated Princess Cadance they could have been revealed.”

There were only a few more details to discuss after that, and soon - much to Angelic’s joy - they had finished.

“Alright,” Twilight said, stacking her notes neatly on the table and standing up, “it’s all here. Thank you so much for your time,” she told the changelings. “You’re really fascinating people. I wish I could see the Hive for myself.”

“Really?” Nymph asked, surprised but pleased at the idea. “I’m sure something could be arranged soon.”

“Considering how recent this peace is, it might take a while,” Arthas objected, though he too wished to see their home. “I don’t think every changeling would be happy to have ponies in their home, am I correct?”

“I… I’m afraid you probably are,” Nymph replied, saddened.

“Still,” Arthas added, “give it some time, and who knows?”

They waved in goodbye as the chariot carrying Angelic back to Canterlot, with all the notes and recording gem, flew away. The Royal Physician was in a hurry, wanting to deliver everything to the Princesses quickly so that she could take care of… something that Arthas wasn’t certain that he wanted to know.

“As creepy as always,” Spike commented as soon as the chariot disappeared in the distance.

Instead of criticizing the dragon as Arthas had expected, Twilight sighed. “She’s not that bad Spike… she no longer wants to take blood samples without your knowledge, that’s an improvement. Right?” she added, glancing at Arthas, who shrugged.

“That sounds like an interesting story,” Pinkie Pie said, giggling. “Unfortunately, I need to watch the Cakes’ foals soon. And plan a party. And another one. So, see you!” she exclaimed loudly as she began to bounce away in the direction of Sugarcube Corner.

“I need to go back to my animals, too,” Fluttershy said. “Um… I might be too busy tomorrow to drop by,” she added apologetically.

“That’s alright, Fluttershy, I’ll probably be busy as well,” Twilight replied. “Princess Celestia will probably want me to resume studying.”

Fluttershy smiled. “It is important to study, isn’t it?” she asked, making Arthas glance at her, surprised by the statement. “Hope it goes well for you, Twilight. Bye,” she said as she turned to leave.

Arthas watched her for a while, wondering if he should ask her if something was wrong - “She is acting a bit odd…” - but ultimately decided that it was impossible for Fluttershy to wrap herself into something dangerous without anypony else being involved.

“What do you two plan on doing?” he asked the changelings instead.

“I’m going back to the Sweet Apple Acres,” Nymph replied. “I promised Big Mac I would come and help him on the farm as soon as we’re done.”

Wind muttered something under his nose that sounded strangely alike to “help on the farm, right,” before he cleared his throat and replied as well. “I’m off to the Abbey, see if Tucker maybe wants to have another sparring fight. Oh, and this reminds me,” he added, “Hivespeaker, you might want to go up to the barrack’s roof and talk with that bird of yours.”

“Al’ar?” Arthas asked, surprised. “Why?”

“You’ll see,” Wind replied, waving his hoof in goodbye before he took into the air.

Annoyed, Arthas turned to Nymph, but she seemed as surprised as him. “I… I was with Big Mac all day yesterday,” she explained. “I hadn’t seen Al’ar since the day before. Anyway, I need to go, bye,” she said to him, Twilight and Spike before teleporting away.

“What do you think Wind meant?” Twilight asked him.

“I have no idea,” Arthas admitted, very confused. “But two days ago Al’ar was acting a bit odd… I better go see what this is about. So, um…” he started, mindful that Spike was with them, “Twilight, could you come see me later? I wanted to return you that Daring Do book.”

“Oh, of course,” she replied, blushing.

He smiled and said his goodbyes to her and Spike. As Arthas began trotting towards the Everfree Abbey, he felt certain that whatever it was he’d have to deal with, he would nonetheless enjoy this day.

Nymph’s teleportation spell sent her to the Sweet Apple Acres’ orchard. Big Mac was nearby, bucking a tree. He smiled as he noticed her.

“Hi!” Nymph said happily and flew towards him. She kissed him and continued: “Everything went great, although the Royal Physician was a bit creepy… anywho, I’m all free now. Should I start helping you buck all those trees?” she asked, an idea in her mind.

Big Mac nodded and turned his attention back to the tree. Nymph trotted to another one, and started to buck it lightly. As the apples failed to fall, she turned around, raised on her hind legs and tried shaking the tree with her forehooves.

“Big Mac?” she called out, glancing over her shoulder. She hoped her voice sounded innocent. “Could you help me with this tree?”

As Big Mac turned to look at her, she raised her tail and smiled mischievously. The stallion blushed at the sight, but he quickly recovered and trotted to her.

“I know you didn’t know what nibbling on my tegula means,” she thought as he placed his forehooves on the tree. “But I know how you feel about me… and seeing how I didn’t react, I guess I feel the same way.”

“Finally,” Angelic murmured to herself as she jumped down from the chariot that just landed on the castle grounds. “Maybe I should have teleported instead… oh, but then I couldn’t read everything again,” she added as she lifted with her magic the notes she and Twilight made and placed most of them in her saddlebags.

The unicorn began trotting towards the castle, curious about the Princesses reaction to what Nymph told them regarding their race. "They will probably be more interested in their social life,” she thought, levitating the file with that topic before her eyes and skimming it over. “It’s probably more important for establishing peaceful relations with them… ugh, some ponies just can’t appreciate the importance of-”

Her train of thought was interrupted as she collided with somepony. The force of the collision made her fall on the floor and drop the files. Angelic shook her head, dizzy, and was about look around for where her notes fell…

“Oh my, I’m so sorry.”

She blinked in surprise hearing the voice and looked up.

Above her stood a handsome ebony unicorn stallion. His orange eyes locked with hers as he offered her a hoof to help her stand up. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“Um… yes, I’m fine, thank you,” Angelic replied after a heartbeat, accepting his help.

“I’m glad to hear that,” the ebony pony replied. “Forgive me, but are you Doctor Angelic Touch, the Royal Physician?”

“Yes,” she answered, a bit surprised; she was sure she hadn’t met this stallion before. “I don’t believe I had the pleasure-”

“I’m Lord Victorious Blackhorn,” the stallion introduced himself. “I heard a lot about you from my uncle,” he added, explaining how he recognized her.

“I.. see,” Angelic said; she recalled hearing Princesses Luna mention that half of the castle’s female workers was enamoured with this young noble, and she could see why. He was certainly… captivating… “It’s an honor to make your acquaintance, Lord Blackhorn.”

“I wish it wouldn’t have been in such… colliding circumstance,” he said. His horn began to glow as he picked up her notes for her. “Would you like to join me for lunch in my uncle's mansion here in Canterlot? At your closest possible convenience, of course.”

“I would be honored, Lord Blackhorn,” Angelic replied; though she wasn’t a very social pony, it was hard to decline an offer from such stallion. Especially seeing how he was now the head of one of the ancient unicorn houses. “I will let you know when my schedule will be open.”

“Splendid,” he said. Once again, he took her forehoof into his and lifted it to his muzzle. Angelic blushed as he kissed it. “I’ll be looking forward to it,” Lord Blackhorn said as he let go of her hoof. He smiled. “I believe we will have very much to talk about.”

“What. In the name of Light. Is this?” Arthas asked slowly, trying to remain calm.

Al’ar cawed at him from the nest he had built, as if not understanding the question.

“Al’ar,” Arthas tried again, beginning to lose his patience, “I know you don’t like me, and that you didn’t want to end up in my company. I understand that this situation is tough for you, and I tried to leave you to your own devices. However, I’d appreciate if you, in response, notify me of anything that I should know. In advance, if possible.”

The moment he said the last sentence, the giant phenix cawed again.

“I was gone only for two days!” Arthas snapped. “Where did those eggs come from!?”

Al’ar narrowed his eyes and lowered himself protectively over the eggs. There were seven of them, almost as big as a pony’s head, and each was of a different color. “Red, yellow, orange, green, blue, dark blue and violet,” Arthas noted. “All colors of the rainbow.”

“Stop glaring at me like that, I’m not going to hurt them,” he growled in annoyance, trying to regain his composure. “Alright… seeing how you are brooding over them and are about to burn me for shouting, I’m going to assume you’re the parent of whatever creatures are inside them, right?” When Al’ar nodded, Arthas continued. “And since I am pretty sure you’re a male, that means you’re their father, right?” The Phoenix God nodded again. “So, what I would like to know is: who’s the mother, what is she, where is she, and why did she leave the eggs with you?!”

Al’ar replied by cooing uninterested, as if saying “I don’t know and don’t care.” Arthas growled and facehoofed, annoyed. “Judging by how big they are, she must be about the same size as he,” he thought, looking at the eggs again. “Great, that means that there’s a ten foot high cuckoo flying around.”

“Look…” he started, trying to think calmly. “Unlike me, you are still a being from Azeroth. Well, from Azeroth’s Elemental Plane. Meaning that you and the mama bird just created hybrids of completely different species.” He paused as a thought hit him. “I mean, we don’t even know if your would-be hatchlings are alive. I’m going to ask Fluttershy and somepony else to come tomorrow and make sure if they are alright, okay?”

“And if they are going to be dangerous,” he added in his thoughts. Though he was truly concerned if the eggs had life in them, he wanted to make sure if those new lifeforms won’t burn down half of Equestria.

To his relief, Al’ar cawed in agreement, then laid back on the nest. Arthas sighed and left him and his progeny.

“Just who laid those eggs?” he thought as he walked down the stairs from the roof and headed for his office. “I’m sure there are no birds so big around here… maybe there could be in the Everfree Forest, but somepony would have noticed such a bird at some point, wouldn’t they?”

He continued his musing until he reached his office. When he entered it, he made a mental note to send somepony with a message to Fluttershy, as well as ask the Princesses if they could send Doctor Angelic again. “She is the best bet when it comes to examining a new species, probably.”

Arthas needed to hurry; Twilight was going to come later, and he wanted to be done with all his duties before that. “I should make us something to eat,” he thought, smiling at the thought. “It would be nice to eat again, just the two of us… I wonder if we have anything good in the pantry...”

His musing was interrupted by the sound of meowing. Arthas looked at the entrance to his bedroom and saw Spottedleaf. “Hi, how have you b-” the trailed off as his brain registered what he was seeing.

Spottedleaf eyes shone with silver glow.

Arthas opened his mouth… and after a few heartbeats of silence he closed it. “You know,” he finally said, “I don’t even want to know.”

The cat turned around. “Yes, I thought you wouldn’t.”

His eyes snapped wide as Spottedleaf left. “Did… did she just… ugh,” he exclaimed, facehoofing. “I’ll never get used to this world…”

146. Meanwhile

His foreleg vibrated as their blades collided. However, his strike was stronger, as his opponent’s weapon was pushed back. He quickly performed the next one, aiming at the chest. His opponent raised his shield and blocked the attack, after which he tried stabbing him. With a flap of the wings, he avoided the enemy weapon, and bringing up his own shield he slammed into his opponent, causing him to fall down on the ground below.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Sir Walter, the master-at-arms of Griffenhalla Keep, called out to them.

Prince John nodded, showing the older griffon that he heard him, and sheathed his sword on his back and strapped his shield over it. He then landed over his sparring partner and best friend, extending a helping talon towards him.

“Are you hurt, Francis?” he asked, concerned.

The other cub nodded as he accepted his outstretched talons. “No worse than usual when you beat me up,” he said as he lifted himself up from the ground with his help.

John looked Francis over to make sure he hadn’t wounded him. Though they were of the same age and related, his friend wasn’t as muscular as him, and had a leaner build. It wouldn’t be the first time that he got too roughed up during their training. However, John couldn’t spot any blood under his armor, nor was he limping as he stood up.

Prince John was relieved. For a griffon like himself, having a friend in Griffenhalla was rare, and he knew that, so he preferred not to accidentally beat him up to much. Although born to the royal family, he lacked any Snowfeather features; his entire colouring was golden, marking him as a Sandstorm griffon. Descendants of the tribe that three millennia ago made their home in deserts were usually laughed upon in the northernmost city of Griffonia; especially if they were of the royal blood.

Unlike him, Francis’ colouring wasn’t pure; which was a common trait, even among nobility. Like most of the citizens of Griffenhalla, the feathers and fur around his head, neck and chest were white (save for purple lines around his eyes) like a Snowfeather, but his torso was brown like a Raggedpelt griffon, making him a Snowpelt. There was one unique trait in Francis’ look that set him apart from other Snowpelts Prince John had seen; his eyes were of two different colors. His right eye was yellow like his sister, but the left one was green. Being a bit of a bookworm, Francis had read up about it and told John that it was because of something called heterochromia, but the Prince forgot the details of it.

Francis quickly gathered his weapons, sheathed them, and waited in attention together with John to for their instructors to join them. “That was nicely done, Your Highness,” the older griffon told him as he walked slowly towards them. Sir Walter then turned to Francis. “Lord Francis, you put too little strength into your strikes, and your reflexes are too slow. You should spend more time here in the training yard rather than in the Royal Library.”

The Snowpelt griffon blushed a bit in embarrassment. John didn’t like to see his friend talked down to like that, but he knew if he’d order Sir Walter to shut up he would get scolded later by his father and sister. He looked around the training yard to focus on something else. The short summer of Griffenhalla had already ended, and the walls around them were covered by a thin layer of snow. The center of the training yard was still warm enough to melt any snow that would fall down here, but not for long.

“I wonder if Father will decide where to send me before the winter will start for good?” Prince John wondered. “It would be nice to not have to wear sweaters and stuff.”

As was traditional for members of the royal family and several other noble houses, around the time a cub reached their twelfth birthday, they would be sent to a faraway land for a few years. There they would be raised by another noble family, staying with them as their ward. This custom was invented in memory of King Adolf the Restorer, who first had been raised in Equestrian court since he was a cub. Then, at the age of twelve, he traveled to Outcast Mountains and lived for two years among Thistleclaw and Breezepelt tribes, gaining their support and friendship. With their help he unified Griffonia, which had been broken after the Sundering and fought over by several warlords. The custom in its current form served to prepare the cubs for their adult lives, as well as enhance the bonds between griffons.

The tradition had been broken by the royal family only a few times over the course of the last two thousand years. John’s brother Richard had been sent to Pomerania on the Lionclaw Island, as ward of Lord Godwin Stormfur, Warden of the West. His sister Victoria had been sent to Aristeas in the Outcasts Mountains, as ward of the young Lady Nymeria Thistleclaw, Warden of the South. It would seem logical, then, that he would be sent as a ward to the Warden of the East, Lord Ivar Heathereyes, on the Refuge Rock. However, whenever John tried asking his sister what their father was planning regarding him, she would give him an evasive answer.

“Father considers carefully as to whom to entrust you with,” she had told him. As usual, she had been smiling as if she knew more than she let out (which was practically always the case). “Who has the best qualities to raise you, who’s loyalty and friendship should be strengthened; those are all important variables. He had been as thoughtful about choosing where Richard or I would be sent.”

“Yeah, like I will buy that,” John thought bitterly. He clenched his talons, scratching the ground beneath him, before relaxing and returning this attention to his friend and their instructor.

It turned out he hadn’t missed much. “Honestly,” Sir Walter was telling Francis, “it’s hard to understand how you can be a younger brother of a Kingsguard.”

Prince John, beginning to grow more annoyed, was about to open his beak and speak up for Francis, but somegriffon beat him to it. “His sister had simply trained a lot,” said a voice from above.

John had recognized the owner of that voice even before he darted his head up and saw the griffon flying towards them. “Uncle Gerard!” he and Francis exclaimed in unison, happy and surprised.

Sir Walter immediately bowed his head. “Lord Commander,” he greeted him.

“Uncle, what are you doing here?” John asked as the massive, pure-white griffon clad in white plate armor nodded to the Keep’s master-at-arms. “Shouldn’t you be with my sister?”

The Lord Commander of the Kingsguard chuckled. “The remaining Kingsguard present in the capital are with her,” he said. “Victoria is well protected.”

John was aware that despite how peaceful times they might live in may be, the royal family, especially the king and his successor, could always be in danger. The events that had transpired over a decade ago where the best example of that. That’s why they were guarded by eleven of the most elite warriors in all of Griffonia, the Kingsguard. Five of them, counting Gerard, were currently in the capital. When a few days ago his father and brother, together with several other griffons from the court, left for a hunt, they took four other Kingsguards. The remaining two were away on some assignments within the kingdom.

“Not that anygriffon expects any troubles today at court,” his great uncle continued, shrugging.

Beside John, Francis smirked. “The fact that the court is about to open at this time wouldn’t have anything with you being here, right Uncle?”

“Lord Francis,” Sir Walter began, frowning, “you shouldn’t suggest that Lord Commander is shirking away from his duties, even while jesting.”

“Don’t reprimand my grandnephew for being right,” Gerard told him, laughing. “If you had to stand through almost every court session for half a century, you’d also want to get away every now and then.”

John was aware that his great uncle was exaggerating, but not by much. Prince Gerard was the longest serving member of the current Kingsguard, having guarded two kings before King Robert. He was the last living Kingsguard of the first king he swore to protect, his own father, John’s and Francis’ great grandfather, King Cedric the Third, better known as “the Cruel”.

Prince Gerard turned back to the two young griffons. “I’d much rather watch the grandsons of my siblings train in combat. You don’t mind if I take over, Sir Walter?”

Sir Walter bowed. “Of course not, my Lord. Our session was about to end anyway.”

John looked at Francis, excited. Though age had started catching up with him, their great uncle was still considered one of the best warriors in the realm. It wasn’t often they had a chance to spar with him, his duties keeping him busy most of the time. Francis, of course, looked less enthusiastic; unlike most griffons, he didn’t really enjoy fighting.

“Now then,” their great uncle said once Sir Walter flew away, picking up one of the free training swords and equipping his shield, “how about you two show me how much you know about fighting?”

“Lord Commander!”

All three griffons lowered their weapons and turned to look as a messenger flew towards them and landed beside Gerard. John took the chance to massage a fresh bruise below his armor. Despite being their great uncle, Gerard showed them little mercy the past half an hour, treating them the same - if not worse - as Sir Walter would have during their training session, stopping only to give them advice or show them a battle move. And since they already had completed their daily hour with the Griffenhalla’s master-at-arms, John felt really tired.

He glanced at Francis. The other cub hadn’t complained about the prolonged training session, but he could tell that he would welcome the end of it.

John returned his attention to the messenger, who upon landing bowed, first to Gerard, then him, then Francis. “Lord Commander, Princess Victoria summons for you.”

The two cubs exchanged shocked looks, but Gerard remained calm, only a slightly raised brow betrayed his surprise. “Tell Her Highness, I will see her immediately,” he told the messenger. As the griffon jumped back into the air and returned to the Keep, he turned back to his great nephews. “You’re both fine fighters for your age, but you should continue practicing. Prince John, you tend to get too excited when you think you have the upper-talon. Lord Francis, you have to work on your reaction time, you’re too slow in combat.”

“Yes, Uncle Gerard,” they both replied with respect.

“Also,” he added; his face softened; “you shouldn’t push yourself too hard. Prince John, you are still young; you will become an equal fighter to your brother in a few years. Lord Francis, these aren’t the times of King Friedrich, when everygriffon had to be a warrior. Just knowing how to fight to defend yourself is fine, even for a member of nobility.”

John cringed a bit, hearing his great uncle so flatly state one of his reasons as to why he put so much effort into training. Beside him Francis reacted similarly, though he quickly smiled to the older griffon.

“I need to get going,” Gerard said, flapping his wings. His heavy armor didn’t slow him at all in the air. “I will see you two at court later,” he told them as he flew in the same direction as the messenger had gone to.

As soon as he was out of earshot, John turned to Francis. “When does the court start today?”

His friend glanced at the clock at the edge of the training yard. “It starts in five minutes. Why would your sister summon Uncle Gerard right before the court opens?”

“Something must have happened,” John said, wondering what it could be.

“Could something have happened to Father and Richard?” he wondered, and cold gripped his heart. He quickly dismissed the thought, though. “If that was the case, the summoning would have been more urgent…”

“Think Flori will know what’s that about?” he asked.

Francis raised an eyebrow. “I would call you racist for assuming that a Nightcloud griffon must know what’s going on, but…”

John growled. Outside of battle, Francis was annoyingly quick, especially in regards to his tongue. “She’s probably in the Throne Room already,” he said, not in mood to lose another banter with his friend.

“Hang on, John,” Francis called after him as he spread his wings; he turned back to the other griffon, confused. “We can’t attend the court like this.”

“Oh, right,” John said. It wouldn’t do well for either of them to show up stinking with sweat and carrying dirt. “Meet you in twenty minutes?”

“Sure,” Francis replied, flapping his wings and taking into air.

John followed him part of the way. Both of them lived on the Griffenhalla Keep’s grounds. The Keep was a massive stronghold, part-built and part-sculpted in the side of the Griffenhalla Mountain, looming over the city below it. Taking in the sight of Griffenhalla while in the air, John once again thought how impossible the legend of founding the city seemed. It said that the crater at the side of the mountain, in which the entire city was built, had come from a dragon crash-landing. “I would understand if he was really big, but this hardly looks big enough to let him swallow a griffon whole,” John thought.

He waved to Francis as they parted; his private chambers were in the highest, closest to the mountain-side part of the Keep, along with the rest of the royal family. As he flew, a cold wind blew against him, making him shiver.

“Griffenhalla really isn’t a place for a Sandstorm griffon,” he thought bitterly.

Almost twenty minutes later, John, having left his equipment in his chambers and thoroughly cleaned himself, met up with Francis near a flight window (a place in the castle where griffons could fly in and out) of one of the corridors leading to the Throne Room.

“Let's go through one of the back entrances,” John said; even from this distance, they could see a long line of petitioners. “I wonder how many of them know that they will be asking not their King for help, but his heir?” he wondered out loud.

He knew that some griffons might get confused by it. Even though by now everygiffon in town should have heard that King Robert had left for a hunt. As Warden of the North, Victoria had to take his place in their father’s absence, fulfilling his duties like holding the court and such.

“That reminds me,” Francis began as they walked the halls, “I’ve been meaning to ask: why didn’t you join your father and brother?”

“I wasn’t really in the mood for hunting,” he replied, shrugging. “Besides, I will probably be sent off soon to some other part of Griffonia; I wanted to spend some more time at home.”

He lowered his head as two griffon nobles - whose names escaped John at the moment - passed them in the corridor. Both of them bowed in respect before the Prince, who nodded politely in reply. The two older griffons resumed to walk in the opposite direction, but they hadn’t gotten out of the earshot when one of them whispered: “Yellow Snow.”

John imagined turning back and slicing the throats of both of them.

Whether Francis hadn’t heard them or was trying to divert his attention, he resumed their talk: “Do you think I could be sent with you?”

The Prince looked him, surprised, the overheard insult completely forgotten. “You’d want to? Away from the Royal Library?”

Francis rolled his multi-colored eyes. “As much as it may surprise you, I value our friendship more than books. Plus, wherever you’d be sent, they must have a library there,” he added, sticking his tongue out.

John stared at him in silence for a few seconds. “You just don’t want to have training sessions with Sir Walter anymore,” he finally said.

“Hm, maybe?” the other griffon replied with a straight face. “I don’t mind training all that much, but I could do without being compared to my sister every time.”

John had to agree that it was annoying. As they reached the doors leading to one of the balconies overlooking the Throne Room, he pondered how much easier it would be for him to live someplace else for a few years with a friend.

“Since Francis is a noble himself, there shouldn’t be a problem… heck, his sister was sent off to live with ponies, and only recently came back. I should ask Victoria what she thinks of it,” he thought, entering through the doors.

Ancestors apparently blessed his choice of the balcony, as there was only one griffon on it, one he had hoped to find.

“Hey Flori,” he said as he and Francis joined her.

Florica Nightcloud, who was sitting on the balcony railing, hidden in the shadow of the adorning it sculpture, glanced at them. Though roughly the same size as them, their friend was actually at least two years older than them. Like all pureblood Nightclouds, along with their black colouring she had also inherited their small size. The biggest Nightcloud griffons were usually a head shorter than other griffons.

“Sir Walter was annoyed that you had again missed on the training,” Francis told her as they leaned against the railing, looking down.

“I was busy,” replied Flori, smirking, before also looking back down.

John rolled his eyes hearing her reply. She was very often “busy”. With what exactly, neither he nor Francis knew, except that it was usually something Victoria wanted from her. Though by the time his sister had met the homeless orphan thief in Lativa, she had been too young herself to take on a ward (not to mention that tradition and various rules would forbid a princess and king’s heir to take somegriffon of such a low birth as a ward), she had convinced the Master of Crows, Bran Nightcloud, to take her in. Griffonia’s head of spies not only assured she’d have a home, but also had taught Flori in the arts that were stereotypically associated with their breed of griffons; of stealth, gathering information, and other similar things. Flori had always remembered that she owed everything to Victoria, and was eager to do whatever she’d ask of her.

It sometimes annoyed John that his sister, in turn, seemed to confide in Flori; at least, to a greater amount than in him. It made him a bit jealous of her, but he tried to not dwell too much on it. When she wasn’t busy with doing things for Victoria, she’d often spend time with him and Francis. Flori was his second best friend, almost ever since she came to live in the Keep.

As of late, however, John had noticed that… he felt strange around her from time to time. He had caught himself sweating once when talking with her and looking into her violet eyes, and his wings felt stiff when he was looking at her body (and some parts of his body also felt weird). Being a member of the royal family, he had known for some time how one exactly ensures his family grows bigger, so he eventually figured out what was happening to him. Which only served to make him look forward to being sent away more.

He was a prince. That meant that, even if he was a Sandstorm griffon, whether he liked it or not, he would be expected to someday marry a griffon of noble birth. Even if chances of him fathering a Snowfeather cub were small, it was important to ensure the royal blood would spread. Florica Nightcloud was of too low a birth to be his future wife, even if he himself could never be a king.

Not that he wanted to. Unlike Richard, who, as Victoria had told him, used to be jealous of her when they were younger, he had always found being just a prince too tiresome.

“I’m sure gonna miss her,” he thought, glancing at her briefly. “Even though I could do without some… thoughts regarding her. Being away for a few years will be good for us.”

The worst part of those thoughts was that she knew. John had no doubt about it. Though she had never said anything, he knew her to be too smart to not realize it. In their little group, he was the one with strength, Francis was the one with knowledge, and Flori was too damn cunning. And even without knowing how shrewd she was, or that she was well on her way to being a spy, there were these things she would do. Brushing against John, briefly intervening his tail with hers… or like right now, tapping his chest with it.

As John swatted it away, he caught a glimmer in her eyes. She loved to do this to him.

Annoyed, and wanting to focus on something else, John looked around the Throne Room below them. There were many petitioners inside, waiting for their turn, some noble born, some low born. The one who currently stepped forward and kneeled before the Dragon Throne was a merchant from the city below that John had seen a few times. Some nobles who weren’t there on a business other than their entertainment (like them) were whispering in groups between themselves. Several guards were posted around the the walls of the Throne Room, with two guarding the door.

The Kingsguard, however, stood in attention around the Dragon Throne. The big pale seat, fashioned - according to legend - from the skull of Ancalagon, the dragon that rampaged through the Snowfeather Tribe lands (thanks to ponies) before being slain by their warriors and crashing into the Griffenstone Mountain. Sitting on it was John’s sister, Princess Victoria “Blizzardborn” Snowfeather, Warden of the North.

Victoria was widely considered to be the most beautiful griffon alive. Out of all five living Snowfeathers, her colouring was the purest white and her eyes the bluest. Wherever she walked or flew, she moved with grace, whenever she talked, she captivated anygriffon’s attention. And she was kind and wise, too.

As if she had sensed him looking at her, Victoria glanced briefly at their balcony. John noticed she smiled, before she returned her attention to the petitioner and told him to rise.

John’s attention, however, wasn’t on his sister, or the petitioner. Rather, it was on the Kingsguard. Closest to Victoria was Francis’s sister, the newest member of the royal bodyguards. The others were all Kingsguard since before John had been born.

And there were only three of them.

“Where’s my uncle?” John asked Flori in a hushed voice, his eyes on the four Kingsguards.

“Your sister sent him to your father,” Flori replied; as always, she knew of things he didn’t; John wondered if she had been told by Victoria or found out herself. “Something has happened that requires His Majesty’s attention.”

“What is it?” John asked, curious.

Flori glanced at him. “I don’t know exactly, but before your sister sent for the Lord Commander, she had received a letter from Griffonia’s ambassador in Equestria.”

“From Equestria?” John and Francis asked in unison. When Flori nodded, John asked: “What could it be about?”

Over the last two years, Equestria has often been brought up in Griffenhalla as a topic of conversation. First the day lasted several hours longer, and when their Princess finally fixed it, Griffonia had learned that her sister had returned. Then, about a year ago, some sort of “chaos spirit”, that supposedly ruled that land at one point, escaped its magical prison in Equestria, but it was recaptured before it could do any lasting harm. Several months ago, an equestrian princess was getting married, and due to some threat they hadn’t invited John’s father, which would be a common courtesy. It turned out the the threat was real, as they had been invaded by changelings. Then a month later, an empire of ponies from over a thousand years ago returned, and the same princess that had gotten married became its ruler.

“What are those crazy ponies up to now?” John wondered.

“About something that happened there yesterday,” Flori replied to his question, shrugging.

John deadpanned at her. “Gee, I wouldn’t think-”

“Wait, yesterday?” Francis spoke up, interrupting him. “How come you know that it was yesterday that… whatever happened happened?”

“Because Master Bran had delivered an urgent report to Victoria yesterday.”

Hearing that, John once again peered down, looking for the spymaster. He was in the crowd, discussing something with a noble who had recently joined the court, named… Katrana Stormcloud, if he remembered correctly. He didn’t know too much about her, other than she was quickly gaining friends in high places. Her colouring was interesting; being a mix of Stormfur and Nightcloud breeds, she inherited their respective pale gray and black colors that mashed together, rather than occur on only half of body like in Francis’s case. Her head was gray, aside from the feathers atop her head and the back of the neck, which were black. her wings and tail were also black. As for the rest of her body, the dress she wore made it impossible to make out. Such patterns weren’t uncommon, but were rarer than usual colourings.

He frowned and turned back to Flori. “If my sister knew about it since yesterday, why did she send for my father now?”

“She probably came to the conclusion that it would be best to wait for official information before reacting; Equestria is bound to have their informants here. Though of course, whether that was the best course of action depends on the gravity of the matter. Also, she could have wanted to have the full picture of whatever this is.”

John frowned, then nodded. That did sound like his sister’s reasoning.

“Which reminds me,” Flori spoke up, pulling him out of his thoughts. “Princess Victoria wanted me to tell you two that she will probably be unable to join you for supper with Queen Dowager Nimue. Once His Majesty returns, she plans to call in a council meeting.”

“A council meeting over something happening in Equestria?” John said. That must have meant that it was something really serious. “And of course we’re not going to learn anything about it? Ugh, I wish they would tell me more,” he groaned quietly, placing his head on his talons.

His words made Flori chuckle and jump down, joining him and Francis. “Oh, don’t worry my Prince,” she said in a servile tone; John hated when she talked like that. She stepped closer to him so that their bodies were brushing, and her tail intertwined with his. “Based on what your sister had told me, whatever it is, she plans to tell you soon,” she whispered.

“R-really?” John asked. He was so surprised that he forgot to about getting flustered. “When? What did she exactly say?”

“Hm…” Flori hummed; it was clear she was having fun. “As for when, I believe she plans to tell you after discussing this matter with His Majesty. As for what she said… I believe she said something about ‘light’.”

147. A Chance for Change

“And Al’ar was the only one hatching them?” Fluttershy asked, turning away from the opened case and its precious contents. “Are you sure their mother wasn’t there?”

Raising his head from Bygone Griffons of Greatness, Arthas nodded. “There’s always at least one pony standing guard beside the Abbey’s entrance. Neither of the three saw any big bird flying in or out. None of them noticed when Al’ar returned either, for that matter,” Arthas added, frowning. “Not to mention that Wind Reaver had been here for most of that day two days ago. I’d have assumed he would be able to sense someone going through something as emotional as laying eggs. This can only mean that, whatever their mother is, she didn’t want to be noticed.”

“But… what could that be?” Fluttershy asked, concerned. “I’m sure that there isn’t any bird capable of doing something like that living around Ponyville. Not mention big enough to have laid such big eggs.”

Trotting towards her and the case with the eggs, Arthas hummed thoughtfully. “I’ve been thinking about it for some time. I believe that Al’ar’s mate must have been some kind of demigod; it is the only way to explain how they could have evaded everypony.”

Beside him, Fluttershy gasped. “But there isn’t any-” she stopped suddenly as Arthas turned to her. “I-I mean… I just said that there isn’t any big bird in Everfree Forest. Demigods are usually very big, right? You once told me about them,” she added hastily.

Arthas raised an eyebrow at her rather odd behaviour as he answered, “Well, yes, usually, though there are a few exceptions. However, it is within their powers to take other shapes if they’d want to. And regardless, there would be still the matter of the eggs’ size,” he added, looking back at them. “I had thought that maybe it could have been that cockatrice Storm Clash had run into in the Everfree Forest-”

“Oh, no, it couldn’t,” Fluttershy quickly interjected. “Cockatrice’s eggs are more oblong. I think they still would be even if she and Al’ar…. um…” she trailed off, blushing.

“Yes, Doctor Angelic had told me the same. I asked her to come check on the eggs yesterday when I couldn’t get ahold of you,” Arthas added as Fluttershy glanced at him in surprise. “What were you doing, anyway?”

“Oh, um, I…” the pegasus mumbled as her eyes darted from left to right, “I… had to help one of my animal friends, of course. Yes, I had to help a bear move to another burrow,” she said, pursing her lips weirdly.

Arthas looked at her, confused. “Help a bear…” he started to repeat, but then shook his head. “Nevermind. Are-”

“But about Doctor Angelic...” Fluttershy began before he could finish, “um, was it a good idea to show her those eggs? I mean, hadn’t Twilight said something about her trying to take a blood sample of Spike?”

“Yes, she had,” Arthas sighed. “I admit, I had some reservations about calling her to check on eggs that have been laid by an unidentified giant bird and sired by a Phoenix God from another world. However, her visit went through fine. At least, in regard to her examination of the eggs,” Arthas added.

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well…”

Yesterday...

“Seeing how I don’t have much information regarding his species,” Angelic Touch said with a glance at Al’ar, “and how zoology isn’t my area of expertise, I can’t be one hundred percent accurate regarding those hybrid eggs… but based on their structure, I would say that they were laid by a member of Accipitridae family. The birds of prey,” she added, no doubt noticing Arthas’ confused expression. “You know, hawks, eagles, et cetera. A giant one, of course.”

“That goes without saying,” Arthas replied, raising his voice a bit as the wind howled. The roof wasn’t the best place for talking, especially when the pegasi had scheduled a windy day. “I was hoping to talk with Fluttershy about this matter today, but even without her counsel I am fairly certain that there aren’t any giant birds like that around here.”

“Mhm…” Angelic hummed, her horn glowing as her magic washed over the eggs. “Hm, they give off a strange magical signature,” she said after a moment. Her brow furrowed in concentration. “They remind me of something I read about once… I will have to check this back in Canterlot. I’ll give my findings to the Princesses and ask them to send them to you,” she said, turning away from the eggs.

Arthas looked at her, slightly surprised. “You’re leaving already?”

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

“No, it’s just… inside those eggs are hybrids of two very unusual creatures from two different worlds,” he pointed out. “I don’t mean to offend you, but after witnessing how you acted around changelings yesterdays I’ve been expecting that I’d have to stop you from cracking the eggs open.”

Doctor Angelic frowned. “Hm, yes, I often act like that when I get too excited, don’t I? I’d probably normally even ignore him giving me that death glare,” the unicorn added, nodding at Al’ar. She sighed and continued: “I guess it’s fortunate then that I had a very long day today and I’m tired. Princess Luna had me checking on her bat ponies again, making sure they’re okay…”

“Why wouldn’t they be?” Arthas questioned, confused.

“Hm? Oh, there has been some new… developments. Princess Luna mentioned to you how one of the ideas behind their transformation was to give them the ability to use moon’s magic and how it failed? And how they instead unexpectedly gained a form of teleportation over a short distance? Well,” she said after he nodded, “recently, some of the bat ponies began exhibiting some other abilities. Psionics, manipulation of shadows-”

“What?!” Arthas interrupted her, alarmed.

“None of them began acting abnormally, if you’re worried about that,” Angelic replied calmly, yawning. “As per regulations established when we first began changing volunteers from the Night Guard into bat ponies, all of them regularly see mental counselor. So far we hadn’t had any deviations in their mentality.”

Her words reassured Arthas, but he was still a bit concerned. Angelic’s short description of bat ponies abilities sounded quite alike to what on Azeroth priests who derive their powers from the Void can do. “Even if that’s the case, it doesn’t necessarily bode ill,” he tried to think calmly. “Not all of those who dabble in dark powers become evil, just like not all that worship the Light are good, Scarlet Crusade being the proof. And with Luna keeping a close eye on them...”

“I’m sure Princess Luna will be delighted to talk about them in greater details,” Angelic continued, yawning again. “Anyway, I need to get going if you want me to check what the eggs’ magic reminds me of today.”

“Oh, right,” Arthas said, stopping his musing. “Thank you very much for your time, Doctor Angelic.”

“It was my pleasure,” Angelic replied. “It’s not everyday I get a chance to examine a new species… even if their parent isn’t a biological being,” she added, glancing at Al’ar.

“Hm, I suppose that explains why she’s not much interested about him.”

“It’s a pity that we currently don’t know what animal was their other parent,” the unicorn continued. “This species does need a name, after all. It’s a bit hard to name them while they are in eggs.”

“I guess… I will let you know when they hatch,” Arthas promised.

“That would be great,” Angelic said, smiling, as she began to prepare a teleportation spell. “You can expect word from me soon.”

Present...

Word indeed had come, but not until Arthas had a long discussion with Luna regarding her bat ponies. While it might have been true that they weren’t a threat to others, as a paladin it was his duty to protect ponies from darkness. His worries, however, seemed needless. Luna had assured him repeatedly (and had not forgotten to mention that Arthas was being more of a nag than her sister had been over this matter) that all the bat ponies that began to exhibit those powers (which was less than a quarter of their already small number) were under close surveillance, and none of them showed any changes in their mentality. After seeing that Arthas still hadn’t been entirely convinced, Luna promised she’d arrange for him to meet one of those ponies in person and judge for himself.

“The former Lich King is going to judge whether or not a pony is under influence of dark powers. There is something ironic about this…”

“So?” beside him Fluttershy prompted him to continue. “Had Doctor Angelic found out anything?”

“Oh, yes,” Arthas replied, snapping out of his dark thoughts. He resumed recounting to Fluttershy Angelic’s visit and its aftermath (omitting his discussion with Luna): “It turned out that that ‘something she read about’ she had in fact read about in Celestia’s private library.” How and why had she read anything from that was something that Arthas wasn’t sure if he wanted to learn. “Those were Celestia’s notes about Spike’s egg, from the time before Twilight had hatched him. Those seven eggs emit an almost exact same kind of magic signature as Spike’s egg.”

“Magic… signature?” Fluttershy repeated, confused. “What does that mean? They weren’t laid by a dragon.”

“No, they weren’t. However, Princess Celestia, after she had read Doctor Angelic’s findings, believes that those eggs require somepony to help them hatch, just like Spike’s had.”

“And that they’re able to survive for thousands of years until such a pony comes about,” Arthas added in his thoughts.

“When I later went to tell Al’ar about this, he didn’t seem surprised,” he continued as Fluttershy pressed her hoof to the yellow egg and closed her eyes. “Nor was he angry when I suggested that it would be best if he’d give those eggs to me, seeing how it is more likely ponies necessary to hatch them would come to me instead of a giant fire bird. He actually seemed like he wanted that. Seeing how he isn’t particularly fond of me, I assume this might be something his mate told him to do.”

He stopped talking when Fluttershy took her hoof away from the egg. “I see...” Fluttershy said, deep in thought. “Um… so hatching those eggs would require the same spell Twilight had used?”

“Celestia was not sure. Since Spike hadn’t hatched until Twilight’s magic got ‘jolted’ by the Sonic Rainboom, there could have been more factors that led to it.” He sighed. “Anyway, I left on your door that message to come see me before Angelic came; since it looks that she had found out everything that we can at the moment, I feel that you troubled yourself for nothing.”

“Oh, not at all,” Fluttershy quickly said. “I-I mean… I’m sorry I can’t help you hatch them, or even figure out who the mother is, but I got to see those beautiful eggs.” She smiled. “I don’t think that’s ‘nothing’.”

Arthas smiled. “I suppose that’s true. And besides, it was a pleasure to see you; I was a bit worried when you hadn’t come yesterday.”

“R-right, I was-”

“Busy,” he said for her, waving his hoof nonchalantly.

If it was anypony other than her, Arthas would have been concerned and kept asking her as to what was she hiding (because that much was obvious). However, he couldn’t possibly see Fluttershy getting involved in anything worrisome.

“And speaking of busy,” he said, closing the casing with the eggs, “I’m terribly sorry, but I need to finish looking over the applications of the Order’s new initiates.”

“Oh, of course. I’m sorry for taking your time,” Fluttershy said hastily.

“Don’t be, I needed a little break anyway.”

“Though I would prefer to finish this before Twilight comes in the evening.”

“Changing the subject a bit, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity are coming back today with the fillies, right?” he said as he sat behind his desk and Fluttershy began heading for the door.

“Um, yes, I think so?” Fluttershy replied, her voice uncertain; thought it might have been because she was confused as Arthas’ chair, as always, turned around the moment he sat on it.

He sighed. “Don’t ask,” he pleaded. “You’ve known Applejack longer than I have; how do you think she will react once she learns that her brother is dating a changeling?”

“Oh, come now, Mattie- um, I mean, Arthas, sorry,” she corrected herself, blushing.

“You can call me by whichever name you feel more comfortable Fluttershy,” he told her, rolling his eyes in amusement.

“Right… but about Applejack, I think you’re overreacting a bit. Applejack can be a bit stubborn and distrustful of the changelings after their invasion, but she’s reasonable. When she sees how happy Big Mac is with Nymph, I’m sure Applejack will be happy for them.”

“Well, since Nymph is currently on Sweet Apple Acres, we’re about to find out,” Arthas said. More to himself, he added, “I just pray to the Light that they remember they’re coming back today…”

“Um, what do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.

Arthas’ eyes darted to a side.

Last night...

“Hey, tomorrow his sisters are coming back, right?” Tucker Out was asking aloud as Arthas entered the mess hall. Beside him were Wind Reaver, Storm Clash, Sound Wave and Cherry Bomb. “Anypony wanna bet that when they get there, they’ll see the two of them right in the middle of the living room going d-”

Present...

“Nothing,” Arthas quickly told Fluttershy.

“We should really go campin’ more often,” Apple Bloom said as they trotted along the road towards Sweet Apple Acres. “It was really fun!”

“Sure was,” Applejack agreed, smiling. “Though Ah don’t quite see Rarity wantin’ to go campin’ more often.”

“Ah know, right? Have ya seen all that stuff she brought?”

“It would’ve been hard to not see that,” Applejack pointed out, smirking.

“Poor Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom giggled.

“If ya feel so bad for ‘er, ya should ‘av helped her, like Scootaloo had,” Applejack told her jokingly.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Hey, speakin’ off Scootaloo, did ya see how close she and Rainbow Dash became?”

“If Ah didn’t know ‘em, Ah would ‘av thought they’re sisters,” she said, nodding. “It was definitely a good idea to invite everypony.”

Applejack - much like everypony else - knew how much Scootaloo idolized Rainbow Dash. With the revelation of her being an orphan, Applejack couldn’t imagine how much it must mean to her that her hero took her under her wing.

“And it will probably be good for her to have a pegasus lookin’ out for her,” Applejack thought.

Last night, Rainbow Dash told her that she plans on asking Twilight if she has any book in her library about pegasi with Scootaloo’s condition and what kind of exercises can help her.

“As much as it was sweet of Arthas t’ take care of Scootaloo, that’s somethin’ he ain’t able to help her out with.”

“How do ya think Big Mac was doin’ on his own those few days?” she asked, changing the subject, as Sweet Apple Acres came into their view.

“Ah don’t know about ‘bein’ on his own’. Nymph had been hangin’ around with him a lot,” Apple Bloom pointed out. Applejack fell silent as she continued. “That’s kinda weird, come to think about it. Ah would ‘av thought she’d spend more time with Twilight in her library, talkin’ ‘bout magic and stuff.”

Applejack had her suspicions regarding why the changeling would be spending so much of her time with Big Mac, but she didn’t want to tell her little sister about them. She knew that Apple Bloom liked Nymph a lot, and tried to respect that. Plus, during their camping trip, Rarity made her promise to try and give the changeling a chance.

“Even if it does look like she’s plannin’ on seducin’ my brother and usin’ him as a snack,” she thought. “At least Ah know Big Mac ain’t stupid enough to fall for it…”

As they reached their barn, Applejack noticed something that made her frown. “Why weren’t the pigs fed?” she ask nopony in particular, looking at the enclosure next to the barn.

Indeed, the trough inside was empty, and beside it were standing hungry-looking pigs.

“Huh,” Apple Bloom tilted her head, “Ah guess Big Mac must ‘av forgot about them?”

Applejack snorted and shook her head. “We leave ‘im alone for a few days and he starts to lazy around? Apple Bloom, can ya give the pigs their food?” she asked turning the her sister. “Ah’m gonna bring Big Mac to heel.”

“Sure,” Apple Bloom replied.

Applejack took her sister’s saddlebags from her back and trotted towards their house, carrying them in her mouth and wondering what sort of excuse her brother had for neglecting his chores. “It better be a good one,” she thought as she went through a doorway.

It was when she put down her and Apple Bloom’s saddlebacks beside the wall that she heard that.

A giggle.

Before Applejack confused mind could try and process what she just heard, more sounds came from upstairs.

“You’re terrible.”

Applejack’s eyes grew wide; she recognized that voice.

“Well, who’s fault was it that we’ve overslept?” Nymph continued to say, giggling, while Applejack tried to recover. She was conscious enough to perk her ears in the direction of the stairwell to better listen, though. “I wanted to cuddle and go to sleep, but noooo, you wanted to-” the changeling cut off mid-sentence as she suddenly shrieked, then resumed giggling.

Applejack blinked, wondering if she was really hearing what she was hearing.

“Alright,” upstairs, Nymph gasped. “I’m gonna see if I can make something for breakfast. You work on getting up from bed.”

The sound Twilight’s magic made whenever she teleported herself sounded upstairs, and soon came from behind Applejack as well, accompanied by a flash of light. She looked back to the kitchen, where a changeling - not disguised as a pony, but bug-like and covered in chitin - stood, looking around.

“Oh, Applejack!” Nymph said, looking at her surprised. “I didn’t sense you. Are you and Apple Bloom back already?”

Applejack frowned at her speaking so casually. “What in tarnation do ya think ya’re doin’?!” she asked, her rage building up.

Nymph seemed taken aback. “Um… a-a breakfast? F-for Big M-”

“Ah don’t care ‘bout that! Ah’m askin what do ya think ya’re doin’ in my family house seducin’ my brother and suckin’ off love from him!”

The changeling took a step back and started to tremble, her eyes growing wide. “N-no, I-”

But Applejack wasn’t in mood to listen to her excuses and lies. “Listen here, missy!” she said, advancing on her. “Ah don’t want t’ see ya around mah family anymore, ya hear?!”

Nymph didn’t reply, and with the way she was trembling, it was hard to tell, but Applejack thought she saw her nod before she had teleported away. Probably back to Arthas’ Abbey (Applejack made a mental note to discuss with him how he keeps eyes on the changelings), back home if they were lucky.

Nodding with satisfaction that the changeling was gone, Applejack turned around…

… and saw Big Mac standing at the foot of the stairs, glaring at her in a way that she hadn’t yet seen him do.

“Big Mac-” Applejack began, but her brother cut her off.

“What did ya just say to her?” he asked in an angry snarl.

That’s what it was in his eyes. Anger.

“Now, listen here,” Applejack said, figuring that it wasn’t his fault he was angry. “That bug filly had ya under her spell so that she can feed off ya. Just like her queen had Twilight’s brother under her spell. But don’t worry-” she trailed off as Big Mac began advancing on her.

“Ya’re goin’ to apologize to ‘er,” he told her firmly when he stopped in front of her.

“Wha- no,” Applejack shook her head; if she didn’t know her brother was under effect of Nymph’s mind spell, she would be irritated at his stubbornness. “Big Mac-”

Big Mac cut her off. “Why exactly do ya think she has me under some sort of spell?” he demanded.

“W-well, um…” Applejack stammered. She shook her head and regained her composure; “For corn’s sake, Big Mac, she’s a changelin’!”

Her argument had clearly angered Big Mac even more, as he exhaled air heavily through his nostrils. “So ya don’t ‘av a proof, ya’re just bein’ racist?”

“Wha- Ah am not racist!” Applejack protested, but then she hasitated. “Well, maybe Ah am, but it’s justified.”

“When in the hay is racism ever ‘justified’?!”

“When yar brother is bein’ seduced by a buckin’ bug that feeds on love and who’s kind invaded Canterlot!” Applejack said, stomping angrily.

Big Mac groaned and took a step forward, making her back away. “Do ya understand that ponies thinkin’ like that is why she used t’ stay in pony’s form? She can sense emotions, and when she’s a pony that’s dumped or somethin’. She didn’t want to feel pony’s disgust and anger; she gets ‘nough of that from other changelin’s.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow in surprise. She wondered why the hay would other changelings think that about one of their own. However, before she could ask about it, Big Mac said something that made her concentrate on something else.

“She even thought Ah would be disgusted in her real appearance.”

“And why ain’t ya?!” she asked, not understanding. “For cryin’ out loud Big Mac, the way she was talkin’ t’ ya earlier it sounded like ya two… bleh!” Applejack shook, not wanting to imagine the two of them in bed.

“Ma and Pa always told us t’ look past pony’s appearance,” he said; his comment made Applejack flinch. “And it ain’t any of yar business, but Ah found her look cute. Also,” he added, leaning closer, “at least Ah did ‘bleh’ with somepony Ah am datin’.”

Applejack frowned. “What in tarnation is that supposed t’ mean?”

Several weeks ago...

“Hey, Big Mac,” he heard from behind him, “can we talk a moment?”

Big Mac turned away from the tree he was about to buck and looked at Matthias. He was a bit surprised to see him on Sweet Apple Acres; as of late, he had been spending a lot of time in the Abbey. Even more surprising was seeing him without his armor.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied, curious what could have brought the white earth pony all the way there.

Matthias sat down on the grass and sighed heavily. “I had sex with Applejack yesterday.”

Big Mac’s eyes grew wide and his jaw fell. “Didn’t see that one comin’.”

“Um… ya,” he asked once he recovered, not sure if he heard him right, “and Applejack.”

Matthias nodded; he had heard him right.

“But ain’t ya datin’ Rainbow Dash?” Big Mac asked, trying to wrap his head around this.

Inwardly, he added: “Even though ya have feelings for Twilight?”

The other stallion sighed. “It’s… complicated. Look, I just came here so you wouldn’t think less of her if you found out, she had some issues lately, and on top of that I had another depression bout, so-”

“Why are ya tellin’ me all of this?” Big Mac interrupted him.

Now it was Matthias’ turn to be surprised. “Well... “ he sighed again and continued. “I suppose I had hoped you’d punch me and I would feel better.”

Big Mac raised an eyebrow, coaxing him to explain.

“What Applejack and I did…” Matthias began, frowning. “I’m not going to say it was a mistake, as we both enjoyed it, but afterwards I began to wonder if that should have happened. And… I’m not sure. Besides, you’re my friend, and I think that I may have crossed some line… so if you feel like hurting me, you can go ahead.”

Big Mac tilted his head, pondering; did he want to hurt Matthias? Sure, a part of him was angry for doing stuff with his sister while not being in a relationship with her. However, it seemed that both him and Applejack had reasons for that.

After several seconds, he shook his head. “AJ’s a grown mare,” he said, “what ya and her did is yar business.” He began to turn back and return to his chores, but he stopped midway. “Also, ya might wanna talk with some psychiatrist.”

Ignoring Matthias confused stare, Big Mac turned to the closest tree and bucked it, causing its apples to fall. As he began picking them up, he heard an amused sight.

“You want some help with those trees?”

Shrugging, Big Mac replied: “Eeyup.”

Present...

Applejack felt her coat turn red. “He- he told ya? And ya didn’t do anythin’ t’ ‘im?”

“Yes. Ah admit, Ah might have reacted differently if Ah had learn in some other way. And Ah’m a bit disappointed that instead of tellin’ anypony in the family about whatever yar issues were ya went and did that.”

“W-well…” Applejack stammered; she most certainly didn’t want to bring up her issues from the time now. “That’s not what matters now,” she said, deciding it would be best to change the subject. “We were talkin’ about ya and that changelin’.”

“Ah accepted what ya did with Matthias and didn’t judge either of ya,” Big Mac said. “Ya should at least do the same.”

“But that’s like apples and oranges! What A- Matt and Ah did might not ‘av been exactly proper and all, but at least neither of us was seduced with magic by the other.”

Big Mac let out a tired groan. “Why do ya insist on thinkin’ that Nymph seduced me?”

“For corn’s sake, how about nopony knowin’ ya two are ‘datin’’?”

Her brother narrowed his eyes. “Everypony knows but ya.”

Applejack opened her mouth, stunned. “W-wha... ?” she asked after a few seconds.

“Rarity and Fluttershy spent a day with Nymph at spa with Rarity tellin’ her about ‘proper pony dates’. Ah had asked Matt about pointers for askin’ a mare out in return for giving him Smarty Pants back, so he must ‘av put the two together.”

Despite her shock, Applejack noted the rather strange name. “What the hay is Smarty Pants?” she wondered briefly. “Wait, wasn’t that the doll that Twilight had enchanted…”

She shook away those distracting thoughts and concentrated on the matter at hoof.

“And the rest of our friends must have figured out by now,” he finished.

Applejack snorted. “Oh, so Ah was the only one not knowin’?”

“No wonder Rarity kept tellin’ me t’ be nicer t’ Nymph,” she thought angrily.

“And Ah suppose that wouldn’t happen t’ have been Nymph’s idea, wouldn’t it?”

“She wanted t’ tell ya,” Big Mac told her, making her stare in surprise. “Nymph felt that it wasn’t fair t’ keep ya in the dark like that. But we had our first date just the day before ya left, and we didn’t want ya t’ ruin the campin’ trip for ya and the others. And despite all that, Nymph still felt conflicted that ya’d think she’s tryin’ t’ steal yar family from ya.” The tone of his voice suggested how stupid he thought this idea was to him.

Applejack hesitated, uncertain. “She… she wanted to tell me?” she repeated in her thoughts. “And everypony knew?”

As much as she could actually think that her brother would fall to some changeling spell, Applejack just couldn’t imagine all the others, especially Twilight and Arthas come under such spell. That, and the fact how Nymph had been worried about her…

Did she just make a terrible mistake in judgement?

She gulped, feeling suddenly nauseous. “Ah… Ah wanna talk t’ her,” she finally said. Seeing that her brother was still glaring at her, she added: “Calmly, without yellin’. And if ya’re right, Ah… Ah’ll beg for forgiveness.”

That must have satisfied Big Mac, as even though he was still angry, he nodded and smiled briefly. “Let’s go,” he said shortly and run out the door.

Sighing, Applejack rose to follow him. Whether she was going to be proven right or wrong, she wasn’t looking forward to what was about to happen.

Apple Bloom looked from behind the barn where she had hid as her siblings ran someplace. She didn’t want them to know she had been eavesdropping.

“Wow, Ah knew Applejack didn’t like Nymph, but still…” she said out loud, watching them go with a frown. “Hopefully she apologizes t’ her. And oh my gosh, Nymph and Big Mac are special someponies!” she jumped excitedly. Several pigs looked away from their food and stared at her but she ignored them. “I can’t wait to tell Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle about this!”

Fluttershy landed on the ground, breathing heavily from the exertion. “I’m so very sorry that I’m late…” she began, catching her breath.

Provato’s warm chuckle made her stop explaining herself. “There’s nothing to apologize for, Fluttershy.”

The pegasus looked at him. The great timberwolf demigod was lying beneath one of the bigger trees in White Tail Woods. Though the Running of the Leaves was a good month away, the leaves in the woods had already started turning yellow.

“I wonder if the leaves on Provato’s body will also lose their color during Fall…” Fluttershy wondered briefly before shaking the silly thought away.

However, such thoughts were sometimes impossible to keep away. Provato was just… such a magnificent creature to her. His wooden body, his leaf mane, the power that emanated from him, the way nature reacted to him… even now as she stood before him, Fluttershy spotted a squirrel running across Provato’s back before jumping to a tree, and a little bird sitting on one of his ears. She also knew that if she looked down, she’d see the blades of grass gently touching his bark, almost as if caressing him. Furthermore, during yesterday’s training he had taught her how to speak with plants (with some difficulty), and she knew that they recognized the demigod and greeted him in their own way.

But what was truly amazing to Fluttershy about Provato was that he had offered to teach her his unique magic.

Clearing her throat, Fluttershy decided to explain to her teacher just why she was late. “Well, yes, perhaps, but… I-I think you should know why I was late.” She waited for Provato to nod before continuing. “You see, my friend Arthas had left a message in my cottage to see him. He wanted my help with… um, there were eggs in Al’ar’s, the Phoenix God, nest.”

As she half expected, Provato seemed only mildly surprised. “You don’t say,” he mused, tilting his head.

“Yes, and… they seemed like eggs of a gigantic bird of prey, like an eagle for example. And nopony saw the mother or Al’ar returning to the Abbey, so Arthas believes that the mother who laid them must have been a demigod. So, um, I’ve been wondering… you spoke to me of other demigods who live in the Everfree Forest.”

She was still surprised by how many of them lived there, especially considering how big (according to Provato’s description of them) they were. And some of them weren’t “just” demigods - they were Ancient Guardians, beings as old as the world of Equestria itself.

“Compared to them, I am younger than you are compared to me,” Provato had told her.

Back in the present moment, the timberwolf demigod nodded in acknowledgement to her words. “But none of the ones I told you of are giant birds,” he said.

“Y-yes, and I also remembered how you said all of the Everfree Forest’s demigods besides you are corrupted, so they probably couldn’t have…” she blushed, embarrassed, “... um, with Al’ar…”

She was spared having to explain what she meant by Provato. The demigod undoubtedly found her embarrassment amusing as he once again chuckled.

Fluttershy took a deep breath to regain her composure and continued. “So, um, would you happen to know who could possibly be the mother of those eggs?”

Provato looked into her eyes and held her gaze for a moment before answering. “Yes. There are other demigods besides those living in my mother’s forest,” he said, turning to look in the direction of the Everfree Forest. “A lot more live in the south of this continent, and are worshipped by the zebras living near them as Spirits,” he continued, turning back to Fluttershy. “All zebras, however, worship six Great Spirits, five of which are the Ancient Guardians and became patrons of each tribe. Dowunai Tribe’s patron is Marahute the Eagle Mother. She had traveled here a few days ago and spoke to me.”

“So you think she was the one that laid those eggs?” Fluttershy asked, surprised. “But… why did she leave them with Al’ar?” she asked when Provato nodded. “If she’s their mother, why isn’t she hatching them?”

“You are forgetting, child of the skies,” Provato replied, his voice gentle, “that we aren’t…” he paused, looking for the right word, “ponies. Even I, though my father had been a pony, and I spent ages living close to ponies of Earth Postin - or Eastin as it was later called - am different. We are spirits of nature, or wilderness. Our… morals, our behaviours, might seem to your kind more akin to animals. Above that, we are attuned to this world, and often we simply do things… because they feel right to us, because they will benefit Equestria.”

Fluttershy frowned, trying to wrap her head around what she just heard. “Arthas told me that according to Doctor Angelic and Princess Celestia, the eggs would need somepony to hatch them.”

This time, Provato seemed genuinely surprised. “Really? Hm… could it be because this Al’ar is from another world somehow?” the timberwolf demigod mused. “Regardless, this would explain why Marahute left those eggs here, rather than fly back to her home and lay them there…”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked, confused. “You said that the zebras there worship her. Would they be glad to help her eggs hatch?”

Provato smiled strangely. “I think we dedicated enough of our time for this subject,” he said, changing the subject unexpectedly. “Let us return to your training.”

Fluttershy blinked in surprised, but she quickly nodded in agreement. She wasn’t sure why Provato didn’t answer her question; however, as he had just said, his behaviour was different that a pony’s.

“It won’t be long before you ponies will start preparing your land for winter,” Provato continued, looking around at the nearby trees. “Winter is a time when nature sleeps; it will be harder for you to commune with trees. As such, it is important that you get a lot of practice now.”

“Of course,” Fluttershy replied at once, nodding.

“Also, today I wanted to teach you something new.” Her ears perked in interest hearing that. “I want to show you how to heal using the power of nature.”

Her eyes grew wide. If there was something she would have to pick as the most important thing Provato could teach her, it would be definitely this.

Seeing her excitement, the timberwolf demigod smiled briefly. “What you had learned so far,” he began, “will be fundamental, because in order to heal you must ask the nature around you for help. Only life can give life.”

“Only life?” Fluttershy asked, uncertain. “Do-”

Provato raised his paw, silencing her. “The flora, the earth, they have the capability of regenerating in a manner no animal can. It would have to be a very extreme case if healing another would cause the death of nature around you. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“Oh, good,” Fluttershy sighed in relief.

“Now, for starters, I want you to relax, and focus on your surroundings,” Provato told her. She nodded and did as he asked. She sat down, exhaled, relaxed her muscles, and reached out with her mind to the trees around her…

Applejack scratched her leg, nervous. However, when Big Mac glanced back at her she quickly nodded.

They were within the Abbey’s barracks, just outside of Nymph’s room. On their way there, Applejack had a lot of time to think about everything that happened back on the farm… and although she was still concerned that the changeling might be using her brother, she also started to feel that this whole situation wasn’t showing her in a positive light.

“Dang nabbit, Ah was worse than Twilight was back before the weddin’,” she realized with shame and annoyance. “And she was at least right, sorta.”

Considering everything, Applejack was thankful that they hadn’t bumped into anypony (aside from one of the royal guards Arthas had borrowed to guard the Abbey, but he jumped away from the entrance as soon as Big Mac was about to pass him). At least this way she could try and fix everything before having to explain this situation to anypony.

She exhaled, trying to calm herself - knowing that if she’d get angry again, Nymph would react at once and Big Mac would be even more mad and disappointed - as her brother opened the door and walked inside.

“Nymph?” Applejack heard him call softly.

“B-big Mac?” came a reply from the inside.

Applejack peered inside the room just in time to see Nymph shoot out of her bed and straight into Big Mac’s embrace. Even she had to admit that it looked cute.

“I-I’m sorry,” the changeling began to sob, “I didn’t mean to make Applejack angry-”

“Oh for the love of apples,” Applejack exclaimed, entering the room, “are ya seriously gonna apologize for me actin’ nuttier than a hare in March?”

Nymph turned to her, startled. From above her (“Wow, she’s really that small?” Applejack wondered briefly, only now noticing it. “Ah bet her horn wouldn’t even reach mah muzzle, next to Big Mac she looks like a foal.”) Big Mac glared at his sister.

She cleared her throat, recalling that she was supposed to stay calm. “Ah mean… look, Nymph,” she began taking a step closer to them, taking of her heart and pressing it to her heart. “Ah wanted to… apologize.”

The small changeling pulled a bit away from Big Mac, looking at her. His forelegs still held Nymph in embrace, almost protectively.

“Ah had a talk with mah brother, and Ah came t’ understand that Ah had gone over the line,” Applejack continued. “Ah was just…”

“It’s okay, Applejack,” Nymph interrupted her. She smiled nervously and continued: “I… we changelings can sense emotions, so I understand how you feel. That’s partially why I left so quickly, your emotions on top of my own made it unbearable to stay there. Your shock, your…” the changeling shook, and Applejack found it hard not to blush in embarrassment. She knew very well what she felt back then; disgust. “Honestly, it’s my fault too, we shouldn’t have kept from you that we were dating. We should have told you.”

Applejack wondered briefly if she had learned about this in some different manner would she really react better, but she decided that it didn’t matter.

“Ya’re wrong, it is all mah fault,” she sighed. “Ah’m sorry, but Ah just… after what happened in Canterlot to Twilight, Ah’m just afraid that mah own brother might suffer the same as hers had. Ah know it’s not fair to ya. If there was some way ya could prove to me that without a doubt ya ain’t keepin’ my brother under some spell…” she trailed off, wondering if that would be even possible; she knew next to nothing about magic, so even if they asked Twilight to check, she might always fear that Nymph had simply ‘out-magiced’ her or something…

Nymph gasped. “I… I think I can, actually,” she said excitedly, much to Applejack’s - and Big Mac’s too, apparently - surprise. “You want proof that my interest in Big Mac is genuine, right?”

“Well, yeah, Ah guess,” Applejack said, curious where she was going with this.

“Alright then… when you and the others were away, Equestria and the Changeling Swarm had officially started making peace,” Nymph informed her, “and because of that I had to reveal informations about our society and biology.”

Applejack tilted her head, surprised. They were gone only a few days, after all.

“The Hivespeaker was there as well, so you can later ask him for confirmation. Anyway, Big Mac?” she asked, turning to the stallion. “You remember what you did the morning after our first night together?”

Applejack blushed. “Ah’m not sure Ah want to hear that,” she warned before her brother could even open his mouth.

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean anything like that,” Nymph assured her, then turned back to Big Mac. “Do you remember?”

Big Mac frowned, concentrating for a few moments, before nodding. “Eeyup. Ah bit the nubs of yar wings.”

While Applejack looked at her brother with confusion (bordering on mild dismay), Nymph giggled. “They are called tegula,” she told him, looking at him lovingly.

“Not t’ put us back on track,” Applejack spoke up, “but can we get back on track? Ya know, away from what ya two do in bed?”

Nymph smiled apologetically while Big Mac deadpanned. “I’m sorry. But as I was about to say… our tegula are special,” she said, turning around so that Applejack could see her back. Guessing by Big Mac’s description, Applejack assumed the tegula were those nubs connecting Nymph's wing with her body. “It’s the only part of our body not protected by chitin, aside from wings. They are very delicate and very sensitive. We don’t just let anyling touch us there, let alone bite them, even if playfully. We only let those we have deep feelings for do that,” she said, turning back to gaze into Big Mac’s eyes. The two of them smiled shily before Nymph resumed talking with Applejack. “Anyling else who would do that, and, well, the changeling would react rather violently. It’s almost automatic.”

“Wait, so ya’re sayin’ that Ah should trust ya based on how yar body works?” Applejack asked, tiling her head.

Nymph smiled weakly. “I understand it’s not really a proof, but you can ask any changeling and they would tell you the same. Actually,” she added, “nibbling on a changeling’s wing is actually considered in our society the same as in your’s proposal, so-”

“What?”

The question was asked by Big Mac. He was looking at Nymph with eyes wide as plates. Applejack was right behind him, staring at the changeling with shock.

“Ya mean Ah proposed to ya?” he asked her, staring at her.

“No- well, I mean, yes, technically, sort off,” Nymph replied, seemingly as confused as they. “I mean, it’s only my kind’s custom and you hadn’t know. So… you don’t have to worry?” she said, looking at Big Mac uncertainly.

Applejack looked from Nymph back to Big Mac. He was still looking at the changeling, but now appeared calm, and seemed to think about something. Applejack raised eyebrows, trying to figure out what her brother was thinking about… and after a few seconds, as she realize what Big Mac was about to do, he took Nymph’s forehoof into his.

“Will ya marry me?”

“What?!”

Applejack turned to Nymph who had uttered that shocked cry. She was staring at Big Mac with her blue pupiless eyes wide open and mouth hanging down, utterly surprised.

“B-b-big Mac,” she stammered, “you don’t have to... I mean, I… we’ve just started dating… this, this is...” she continue to mumble, shaking. She looked at Applejack, as if asking for help or a hint what to say, the back to Big Mac. “You really… Big Mac, I love you, but… I-I mean...”

As the changeling stammered, not knowing what to say, Applejack had started to calm down after witnessing her brother propose so blantly. She looked at him, waiting patiently for Nymph to give him an answer, then back at her, who was so confused and nervous that had no idea what to say. Applejack closed her eyes, sighed, put her hat back on her head and smiled.

“Ya know,” she spoke up, interrupting Nymph’s stammer, “our Ma and Pa always used t’ say t’ tell us t’ be honest with others and ourselves.” She opened her eyes and raised her head to look at Nymph. The changeling was looking at her, seemingly lost at what to do. “Now, Ah was too youn’ when they passed t’ have any sort of ‘fillies and colts’ talk, but Ah’m pretty sure it would be the same; that if we are with somepony, we should be honest with them and ourselves. So…” she smiled, truly meaning what she was about to say, “if ya two love each other, why shouldn’t ya two get married?”

“You… you mean that?” Nymph asked, and Applejack could swear she sounded hopeful.

“Eeyup,” she told her, smiling.

Nymph smiled in return, then turned to Big Mac. He was still waiting patiently for her answer. The changeling looked into his eyes, then her gaze trailed down to her hoof that he held. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

She opened her eyes and looked into his. “Yes.”

“Well,” Applejack thought happily as she watched Big Mac pull Nymph into a kiss almost as soon as ‘yes’ left her mouth, “Ah guess our family is gonna get a bit bigger.”

She wiped off a tear from her eye, waiting for them to stop kissing so that she could congratulate them.

148. Engaging Talk

“You’re what?!”

Twilight stared at Big Mac and Nymph, shocked. The two were still smiling, holding hooves and brushing sides, as if they hadn’t just been shouted at by eight ponies, one dragon and one changeling, all of which were staring at them now.

“We’re engaged,” Nymph repeated, still smiling happily, although this time she sounded a bit embarrassed.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac added. Unlike her, he was still smiling as widely as before.

Twilight glanced at Arthas, standing beside her, only to see him as shocked and confused as she was. When Applejack had gathered everypony and got them to come to Sweet Apple Acres, she had expected… anything besides that. She thought Big Mac and Nymph made a cute couple, sure, but who gets engaged after such a short time? Others must have been thinking the same thing, judging by their expressions, except for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Although Twilight had seen them in the corner of her eye stare in shock at the happy couple earlier, just like everypony else, now she had to cover her ears as all three fillies shrieked very loudly.

“Congratulations!” Spike, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle said in unison, while Apple Bloom first jumped around yelling: “Ah have another sister! Ah have another sister!” before she threw herself at Big Mac and Nymph to hug them.

Glancing at Applejack, Twilight couldn’t help but be even more shocked at her acceptance of that. She was certain that the farm pony wouldn’t like the mere idea of Nymph dating her brother. But now there they were, inside her family house, with Applejack smiling happily as her younger sister so quickly accepted the changeling into their family.

“Thanks girls. You too, Spike,” Nymph said, smiling gratefully at the three fillies and the baby dragon as she brushed Apple Bloom’s mane affectionately. She then turned her blue pupiless eyes to look at everypony else, her expression becoming a little awkward. “I suppose the rest of you have some questions?”

“Yeah, a couple,” Twilight thought, but before she could voice the first one - which was going to be either “Aren’t you two moving things a bit fast?” or more direct “Are you crazy?!” - Wind Reaver raised his hoof.

“Yeah, I have a one,” he said. “Can I be there when you tell Her Majesty about this?”

Nymph’s eyes went wide. “Oh no, I’ll have to tell Mother,” she said, covering her mouth, as she apparently only now realized that.

“Wait, ‘Mother’?!”

“Oh right, they already left for their camping trip when the announcement was made,” Twilight realized, looking at the shocked Cutie Mark Crusaders, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

Hearing Arthas clear his throat beside her, she and everypony else turned to him. “The day when you went on your camping trip had unfortunately been the same day Princess Celestia and Queen Chrysalis made the announcement about peace and forming an alliance between Equestria and the changelings. During it Chrysalis revealed that Nymph is her heir. We’ll catch you all up later,” he added as the six ponies made a collective ‘Oooh.’, before turning to the engaged couple. “Big Mac, Nymph, as a servant of the Light and the Princesses I have to congratulate you and commend you for setting an example for pony - changeling relations. But as a concerned friend I have to question the… pace at which your relationship is advancing.”

“Or,” Rainbow Dash added, “to put it simply, what in Light’s name are you thinking?!” she exclaimed, after which immediately her eyes widened and she facehoofed. “Oh great, I really started talking like him…”

Suppressing a chuckle at seeing Arthas roll his eyes at Rainbow’s comment, Twilight turned to Nymph and Big Mac. “What they are saying is, while we are happy for you, we are concerned about how fast you two had gotten engaged.”

“Quite right,” Rarity agreed. “While I don’t consider Twilight to be a high authority when it comes to relationships’ progression-”

“H-hey!” Twilight exclaimed, blushing.

“- she does make a good point,” Rarity continued. Deciding to forget the jibe for now, Twilight listened to what else she had to say. “You’ve known each other only a few weeks and been dating for less than a week. I’m all for romance, but that’s hardly enough time for you two get to know each other well enough to decide to marry.”

Twilight found herself surprised to hear Pinkie Pie say: “Yeah, are you sure you don’t want to pause and think about it carefully? I mean, what if a month after a wedding you’ll find out about the other something terrible? Like, that Big Mac doesn’t like cupcakes?!” she said, her eyes widening in shock at the thought. “Or, or, that Nymph doesn’t really like apples?!” Pinkie added, grasping her head.

“Why wouldn’t she like apples?” Apple Bloom asked, puzzled. “Would ‘ave been silly to hang ‘round apple orchard for so long.”

“Um, I think what Pinkie is trying to say is that there might be a lot you don’t know about each other,” Fluttershy replied before Pinkie recovered, probably sparing them from hearing about another silly example.

“Oh, I don’t really think so,” Nymph said. Somewhat bashfully, she explained: “I was speaking about myself most of the time we were together.”

“Not surprising,” Twilight thought, glancing at Big Mac. “That’s not exactly a pony one can have a good conversation with. I wonder how much he had actually spoken when they were together.”

“And I can tell how much Big Mac loves me,” Nymph continued. “Like, literally.”

“She has a point there,” Wind Reaver admitted, sounding a bit reluctant. When the others looked at him questioningly, he added: “Not getting into any details, I’m probably going to start drooling soon.”

“Awwww!” the fillies exclaimed, looking at Big Mac and Nymph. “Ya really love ‘er a lot, don’tcha Big Mac?” Apple Bloom asked, half-smiling and half-smirking.

“Eeyup!” he replied, smiling.

“You don’t seem to approve,” Nymph noted, looking at Wind Reaver.

“My intended mate and I knew each other since we were larvaes, I don’t think I’m in a position to judge,” he replied, shrugging. “Besides, I’m supposed to be your bodyguard, not your life-mating counselor. That being said,” he added, grinning, “I am curious to see how you will explain this to Her Majesty.”

“Wow, ya’re just one pleasant fella, aren’tchya?” Applejack spoke up, deadpanning at Wind Reaver. “Also,” she added, point a hoof at him, “ya guys used t’ be larvaes, really?” she asked, raising an eyebrow and glancing and Nymph.

“Speaking of pleasant,” Wind Reaver began as Nymph nodded, causing Applejack and the others who went camping to look at the changelings with surprise and curiosity, “what exactly happened to you?”

“What’dya mean?”

“Where’s all the distrust, suspicion and hate that made Nymph cringe and me roll my eyes?” he asked, sounding puzzled. “Everypony here was worried how you were going to react when you learn about the two of them dating. Why are you happy they are getting married?”

“Huh, that’s a good point,” Twilight thought, turning to regard Applejack. Shocked by Big Mac and Nymph’s announcement, she didn’t notice how strange it was for Applejack to be apparently okay with this. “She even got us all to come here.”

“Ah wouldn’t say ‘hate’,” Applejack replied, rolling her eyes, although her cheeks blushed slightly from the embarrassment. Sighing, she continued: “Ah admit, Ah was prejudiced against y’all. And Ah didn’t really take it too well when Ah found out ‘bout ‘em.”

Twilight glanced briefly at the couple. Judging by Big Mac’s deadpanning and Nymph looking away, Applejack was putting it mildly by saying that she “didn’t take it too well”.

“But after Ah had some sense talked into me by Big Mac and Nymph, Ah realized just how unfair Ah was, and how much those love each other. And how our great uncle Scrumpy Jack used t’ say: ‘if ya love somethin’, put a bracelet on it’,” she added, smirking.

Noticing Arthas’ confused expression, Twilight quickly leaned to his ear. “Earth ponies wear bracelets on hooves when they get married,” she whispered, glancing up briefly at the tip of her horn.

As Arthas’ eyes widened in comprehension, Twilight heard Nymph speak. “Your great uncle’s saying aside,” she said, smiling a bit awkwardly, “there was actually a reason why Big Mac proposed to me. An important one in fact,” Nymph added, glancing at her fiancée and smiling bashfully.

“You’re pregnant?” Rainbow Dash asked, confused.

As everypony looked from Nymph to Rainbow and back (with the Cutie Mark Crusaders gasping and staring at the changeling with excitement), Nymph, whose jaw had dropped, said: “N-no, changelings and ponies are too different to produce an offspring.”

Twilight was sure she heard a hint of regret in Nymph's voice as she said that, but it was nothing compared to the disappointed whine the three fillies gave.

“Aww, Ah would ‘ave liked to be an aunt,” Apple Bloom said, frowning.

“Ya still got another siblin’,” Applejack reminded her, deadpanning.

Eyes widening, Apple Bloom quickly explained: “No, Ah meant, like, sometime soon. Within next year ‘cause of what Rainbow said,” she added, possibly because how her first sentence could have been interpreted.

“Which, by the way, was rather rude thing to say,” Rarity said, looking at Rainbow Dash with a reproach.

“What? She said Big Mac had an important reason for proposing,” Rainbow pointed out. “What else could it be that they got engaged because of it after dating for a few days?”

As the attention once again turned to Nymph and Big Mac, the changeling’s earlier smile became even more bashful than before. “W-well, Big Mac proposed because… I told him what it means for changelings to nibble on their wings-”

“Oh, shit.”

Twilight blinked, surprised at the interruption, then she and everypony else turned to regard Wind Reaver. The changeling had covered his face with a hoof and seemed to ignore them all.

“Excuse me, language,” Rarity said, glaring at him. “There are youngster here and they don’t need to learn such words.”

“Yeah yeah, I will steal a bit from from Rainbow later and put it in a swear jar or whatever,” he replied, shaking his head.

“Wait, what?” Rainbow asked, confused.

“But back to the topic, now those two have to marry,” Wind reaver continued, ignoring her.

“Oh, right,” Twilight thought. Because of Wind Reaver’s interruption she didn’t think about it, but now she recalled what Nymph told them about changelings wings, tagula and how sensitive they were. Apparently Big Mac had proposed to her before in changeling’s manner without realizing it.

“Why?” Rainbow asked, sounding a bit annoyed (which, seeing what Wind Reaver said earlier, wasn’t surprising). “What’s the big deal about biting a changeling’s wing?”

“Nibbling on a changeling’s tegula - the part that connects their wings with the rest of the body - is considered in their society the same as a proposal in ours,” Twilight quickly explained.

“Really?” Rainbow and Rarity said in unison, as they and the fillies looked at her, then Nymph and Wind Reaver in confusion.

They weren’t the only ones confused. “Why did you nibble on her wings?” Arthas asked Big Mac in the meantime, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, like you’re one to talk,” Rainbow snorted, rolling her eyes.

Arthas’ jaw dropped as he slightly blushed. Twilight too felt heat on her cheeks and a slight pang of jealousy hearing her comment. As she tried her best to disperse that emotion, Arthas closed his mouth and cleared his throat. “What I meant was, how come you were unaware of what that meant for changelings?” he asked, ignoring giggles from others.

“I didn’t mention it,” Nymph replied. Somewhat defensively, she added, “Do you mention your race’s courting rituals in conversations?”

“Fair enough,” Twilight thought.

“So you see,” Wind Reaver resumed, “now they have to marry. If the word would get to the Swarm that the Queen’s Heir allowed someling to nibble on her wings and they didn’t become lifemates - and trust me, it would get to the Swarm - Nymph would be very humiliated. And her bodyguard possibly beheaded. So, you know,” he added, turning to Nymph and Big Mac, “no pressure.”

“You changelings are weird,” Rainbow Dash summed up.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that, they’re just… different,” Rarity said. “Regardless, now that we know that Big Mac proposed to save her honor - which is a very romantic gesture if I can say so - I believe that we cannot do anything but congratulate them and wish them a happy life.”

“Well, that’s true,” Twilight thought. “Nymph said she wasn’t really liked by other changelings, and even beside that she doesn’t deserve to be humiliated by something like this. And besides,” she added in an afterthought, smiling inwardly “they do love each other.”

“True,” she heard Arthas say; for a moment she assumed that he somehow heard her thoughts, but then realized he was talking about what Rarity just said. “And on the bright side, at least it’s not Azeroth.”

“Why is that a bright side?” she asked him, confused by the remark.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know what kind of mess it would be if a princess and a farmer were to marry there,” Arthas replied, rolling his eyes. “Seriously though,” he added, turning to Big Mac and Nymph, his expression brightening, “congratulations you guys. May the Light shine brightly upon your approaching union.”

Smiling hearing his blessing, Twilight walked over closer to the pair along with everypony to congratulate them properly.

“Oh, this is so exciting!” she heard Rarity exclaim. When Twilight glanced at her over Nymph’s shoulder, she saw her eyes shining brightly. “It’s been too long since we had a wedding in Ponyville! Darling, you must let me make a wedding dress for you!”

“Well, yes, of course-”

“And I will throw you the most super-duper reception ever!” Pinkie interrupted Nymph before she could finish.

“Ya know,” Applejack began, “Ah was thinkin’, since we’re havin’ Apple Family Reunion next month, maybe ya could ‘ave yar weddin’ then? Ah know it’s a short time to prepare, but all our relatives would be ‘ere, so-”

“Hey, take it easy everypony,” Twilight interrupted her, noticing how nervous both Nymph and Big Mac started to become as all of them began offering their services and advices. “It’s a bit early to press them into thinking about all of that. We should give them some space.”

“I agree,” Arthas said supportively, nodding at her. “However, while I don’t think you should start planning your wedding right now,” he added, turning to the engaged couple, “there are some things we should discuss.”

“Such as?” Big Mac asked, frowning.

Sighing, Arthas sat down. “Big Mac, Nymph is the daughter of the Queen of Changelings and her heir. Despite how changelings themselves see this matter, to ponies of Equestria you will be seen as a princess,” he said, looking at the changeling. “With the announcement just a few days ago and the interview you underwent, it’s reasonable to assume that changelings are the number one topic of conversations all across the realm. Similar to how Wind Reaver had said, word will get around. Even if everypony were to overlook Nymph’s status, this will be the first wedding between our two races in history. Such an event has to be planned carefully.”

Twilight couldn’t help but notice that the longer Arthas talked, the more serious and, unfortunately, deflated Big Mac and Nymph were.

“Ain'tcha overreacting’ just a nudge?” Applejack, who must have noticed that as well, asked.

“Unfortunately, I’m probably underreacting,” Arthas replied, glancing to the side. “How to put this… if the wedding were to receive too less of an attention, it could send a message to both Equestria and the Swarm that we do not respect changelings. Were it receive too much of an attention, everypony would start to wonder if all of this isn’t staged. Especially since this is happening so soon after the announcement. Furthermore,” he added, and his expression brightened, “too much attention would cause this day to no longer be your special day, and that is something that, as a servant of the Light, and your friend, I will not stand for.”

Smiling upon hearing that (along with pretty much everypony else), Twilight turned to look at Nymph, who was visibly deep in thoughts.

“He is right,” she said. Looking up at Big Mac, she continued: “This will be the first wedding between our two races. It’s… something unimaginably big. Our wedding can affect the relations between the Swarm and Equestria for many years to come. We cannot make any mistakes planning this. My duty to my people compels me to make this wedding… perfect.”

Big Mac smiled. “Ah understand. We’ll make sure it will be,” he said, putting his foreleg around her in embrace.

“Good… because I have no idea what to do,” Nymph sighed, pressing her head against his chest.

“Aww, they look adorable,” Twilight thought, smiling.

“Don'tcha worry Nymph!” Apple Bloom said, stepping up beside them. “We’ll help ya out. Right Crusaders?” she asked, turning to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

“Right!” Sweetie Belle replied immediately, while Scootaloo said: “Of course.”

“We’ll all help ya,” Applejack added.

“Duh!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“But of course,” Rarity added.

“It will be our pleasure,” Fluttershy said.

“You can count on us!” Rainbow said, puffing out her chest confidently.

“You didn’t think we would leave you to do all this by yourselves, did you?” Spike asked, smirking.

Twilight also stepped forward. “We will be glad to help,” she said, smiling. Turning to Arthas, she asked: “What do you think should be done?”

She wasn’t the only one to turn to him. Everypony else was looking at him. As she watched his eyes jump from face to face with an expressionless face, Twilight could practically hear him think: “Are they seriously asking the former Lich King of the Scourge to help plan a wedding between a talking pony and talking insect-pony that eats love?”

She almost burst out with laughter.

“First things first,” Arthas began after a few seconds. He pointed his hoof at Nymph and Big Mac. “Tell Chrysalis the good news. Family and friends should know first. Actually, it’s usually customary for the stallion to ask the family of his would-be bride first-”

“Yeah, about six hundred years ago,” Rainbow pointed out.

Arthas rolled his eyes. “Fine then, not customary but traditionally-”

“And changelings don’t really care about something like that,” Wind Reaver said, interrupting him again.

As he deadpanned at him, the changeling and Rainbow Dash raised their hooves and bumped them against each other. Letting out a sigh as the two chuckled, he continued: “Just tell her. I trust you know how to best tell her?” he asked Nymph, who nodded, although there was some uncertainty on her face. If Arthas noticed it, he chose to ignore it. “When is Granny Smith coming back?” he asked Applejack. “It would be best to wait with planning until she knows.”

“Day after tomorrow.”

“Well, seeing how I’ll be gone by then, I’ll have to do what I can before that.” Seeing the confused faces around him, he explained before anypony could ask: “My paladins and I will be gone on Order’s business, we should be back within a week after leaving.”

“So you won’t be here to see if I got into the Wonderbolt Academy or not?” Rainbow asked as everypony expressed their sadness at the thought of him being gone for so long.

Taken aback by the disappointment in her voice, Twilight was surprised to see Arthas smile. “I know you know you couldn’t have not gotten into it,” he said. “And that you don’t need my support to do awesome at the Academy.”

That brightened Rainbow right up. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” she said, smirking.

“Although you will still have my support. Back on track,” Arthas said, turning to the rest, “I will try to come up with some ideas on what could be done with the wedding and either write them down or pass them along to somepony. Princess Celestia will have the means to contact me, so if there would be something you would need from me you will be able to send me a message. Although bear in mind that from… the fifth day from now until the eighth day I will probably be busy, so it might take me a while to reply,” Arthas explained as he quickly counted the days in his thoughts. Seeing the confused gazes again, he added: “I will explain the nature of this journey later.”

Twilight certainly hoped so. He hadn’t mentioned to her that he would be leaving, and for so long too. “So soon after we finally got together too…” she thought. Even though Twilight knew there had to be a very good reason for him leaving, she still felt a pang of sadness.

“And speaking of Celestia,” Arthas continued, “it’s best that she and Princess Luna will be informed as soon as possible.”

“Do you want me to send Princess Celestia a note?” Spike asked, straightening.

“Thank you for your offer, Spike, but the Princesses will probably want to discuss this matter, so I’ll use the mirror in my office,” Arthas replied, shaking his head.

“Yeah, that sounds reasonable,” the dragon replied, a bit downcast.

“Sorry buddy,” Arthas said, smiling sadly at him. Standing up he began to turn to the door. “Oh, and Twilight? Could you come with me?” he asked, stopping. “I, um… don’t really know all the laws concerning weddings and wedding customs in Equestria,” he explained, slightly blushing from embarrassment. “Could you fill me in on the way to the Abbey?”

“Sure, no problem,” she replied immediately, smiling at the thought of them being alone.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Arthas said, turning to the rest as she trotted towards him. “It would probably be for the best for now to keep quiet about the wedding. I’m sorry,” he told Big Mac and Nymph, “I can understand that you might want to tell everypony in Ponyville, but I believe that until you have everything planned it’s best it remains a secret.”

“Hivespeaker, you do remember that you’re talking with a changeling?” Nymph replied, smirking, although somewhat awkwardly. “Remaining secret is what we do. You’ll be okay with that?” she asked Big Mac. “For now?”

“Eeyup,” he replied quietly, smiling.

“That goes for everypony,” Arthas added, gazing at all of them in turn… with his eyes resting on some longer than the others.

“Why are you staring at us?” Scootaloo asked, although guessing by her expression she already knew.

“You do have a record of getting yourselves in trouble,” Arthas said, almost innocently. “And I do know you once ran a gossip column in a school newspaper.”

“Oh for- that was ages ago!” Scootaloo said, throwing her forelegs up.

“Yeah, and we know how important this is,” Sweetie Belle added.

“Well, I’m happy to hear that,” he replied, smiling warmly at the fillies. “Because I was seriously considering asking Princess Luna to have her Night Guard tail you and stop you if you were to blurt this out,” Arthas said, smirking.

“Very funny,” Apple Bloom retorted, rolling her eyes.

“Actually, that does sound kinda cool,” Scootaloo argued.

“Well, maybe for you. I don’t want any scary looking ponies to keep watching everything I do,” Sweetie Belle said, wincing.

“Or, alternatively,” Arthas began; now Twilight was sure he was joking, “I could have all three put on house arrest and ask Chrysalis if she could send her changelings disguised as you to go to school and stuff like that.”

“Wait,” Scootaloo stopped him. “You say we could skip school?”

“Alright, that’s enough jokin’ ‘round,” Applejack interrupted her, looking at Arthas sternly.

“Very well. Oh, and speaking of Chrysalis…” Arthas trailed off, looking at Nymph.

“I will contact Mother immediately,” she replied, nodding.

“Alright then.” Turning to Twilight, he slightly bowed his head and opened the door for her. “After you.”

Although feeling slightly self-conscious about him acting like this around their friends (even if that could easily pass as something normal friend would do, let alone ever-teasing Arthas), Twilight felt warmth spread through her.

“Thank you,” she said, passing through the door.

“Oh, wait you guys!” she heard Rainbow speak from behind her. Glancing back she saw her trotting towards them. “There was something I wanted to talk with you about. Mind if I tag along?”

“And there goes our chance to be alone for a few moments,” Twilight thought, sighing inwardly, as both her and Arthas said that they absolutely didn’t mind.

Author's Note

Still working on master thesis, but almost done with it, so decided to quickly write this chapter before the Legion expansion comes. Hope you've enjoyed it. Sorry about the long delay, will try to find time in September to write a next one (which, with expansion and the real life stuff on top of it might be tricky).

149. Light of the New Dawn

“Alright,” Nymph said thoughtfully after the Hivespeaker, Twilight and Rainbow left the Apple family’s house, “I think it would be best if I ask Mother to come here so we can tell her in person.” Turning to Big Mac, she added, “Alternatively, I could teleport both of us to the Hive, but other changelings wouldn’t take too kindly to a pony being there just yet.” Big Mac nodded in agreement, trusting her decision. Smiling at her fiancée, Nymph turned to address their friends. “Everypony, you don’t have to stay-”

“I have to,” Wind Reaver cut in, deadpanning.

“- and given the circumstances of your last meeting with her, I won’t be surprised if you’ll chose to leave,” she continued, ignoring him, but she was then stopped by Applejack.

“Well, that may be true, but Ah figure we can all move past that. Besides, it would ‘ave been rude to not greet her in mah own house.”

“Doesn’t Granny own the house?” Apple Bloom asked, looking at her sister in confusion.

“Oh, hush. And anyways,” Applejack resumed, turning back to Nymph, “we’re all gonna be family soon, right?”

Nymph nodded, but inwardly thought, “Dear Ashvattha, I hope she won’t point this out to Mother quite yet…”

“I’m sure after everything that happened, this meeting will be much more pleasant for all of us,” Rarity added.

“Alright then,” Nymph said as others nodded in agreement, “just… bear in mind that my mother can get a bit… upset when things don’t quite go as she expected them to - and I am pretty sure her daughter getting engaged so suddenly falls under that category - so if she starts shouting and throwing insults don’t get offended, she should calm down soon.”

“Really?” Scootaloo asked, surprised. “It’s hard to imagine seeing her angry. Queen Chrysalis was so nice to us when saw her last time, and I’m sure we annoyed her a bit.”

“Just to be clear, you’re talking about the time she kidnapped you, right?” Spike asked, raising an eyebrow, prompting annoyed looks from the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“Don’t worry Nymphy, I’m sure everything will be fine,” Pinkie said cheerfully as the fillies and baby dragon argued in hushed voice. “It will be like a reunion with a reformed villain, we don’t usually have anything like those! You know, with Princess Luna not being a villain because she was corrupted by those dark powers that we kicked out of her, the dark powers inside Sombra being dispersed by Arthas and with Discord being turned to stone again. Although I suppose Chrysalis wasn’t a villain either as she was looking after her subjects…” she trailed off as she pondered this matter, then snapped and resumed. “But anyway, this’ll be super fun, we’ll get to reminisce about the past! And about how funny it is that the last time we met face to face she was pretending to be the bride and now her own daughter is going to be a bride!” Pinkie finished, giggling.

“Well, at least me and Big Mac won’t be the sole source of her frustration,” Nymph thought as she smiled nervously, imagining Chrysalis’ reaction to that joke.

Clearing her throat, she sat down. “I’m going to ask her to come here then, give me a moment,” Nymph said, closing her eyes and focusing as she reached to her mother.

“My beloved daughter,” Chrysalis voice filled her mind within seconds as she came in contact.

“Mother,” Nymph thought warmly. “I trust everything is alright back home?”

“Of course it is. Did you have any particular reason for contacting me?” she asked. “I’d have thought you would be too busy with that stallion to contact me.”

A wave of embarrassment washed over her. “M-mother! Were you watching?!” Nymph asked, having detected the amused note in her mother’s voice.

“No, of course not. And on a completely unrelated note, you should try holding your hips higher-”

“MOTHER!”

“Oh relax, dear. I swear, if I didn’t know you’ve always been like this I would have thought you were becoming more like a pony.”

Nymph did her best to calm down. While it was true changelings were much more open about sex than ponies, she had always found herself embarrassed when Chrysalis would talk to her about it. Actually, not as much as talk, but use their connection to experiance what she was doing during sex, even if for just a few seconds, and then talk about it. Which, thankfully, didn’t happen too often. Nymph knew that she wasn’t her only heir that reacted to that this way, so she suspected it was caused by the nature of the queen’s bond with her heir rather than her own personality.

“Mother, I do have particular reason for contacting you,” Nymph told her, wanting to leave that subject behind.

“Very well, what is it?”

“Could… could you come here?” she asked, feeling slightly silly. “I mean, there’s something I would like to tell you face to face.”

She could feel Chrysalis’ surprise. “Do you want to introduce me to your pony toy?”

“He’s not my toy, Mother, I already told you I really like him!” Nymph replied, annoyed. She did tell her that, back before she had realized what she feels for Big Mac is something much more bigger than that. “And yes, it’s part of the reason why I want you to come here. I mean, if you can.”

“I do have some free time,” Chrysalis replied, although Nymph could tell that she did so somewhat reluctant. “Very well, I will be there soon.”

“Thank you, Mom,” Nymph thought, relieved. “We’re in the Apple family’s house. Some other ponies are here too…”

“That’s alright, we are forming an alliance with them after all. It would be good to be on friendlier terms… even if those are probably the same ponies who annoyed me so much back in Canterlot…”

Not giving Nymph chance to confirm that happened to be the case, Chrysalis broke the direct connection, leaving only the faint bond that was always present between her and every other changeling.

Sighing deeply, she opened her eyes. “She will be here soon.”

As the others went about making the living room more comfortable (with Applejack and Apple Bloom picking up some snacks from the kitchen and others rearranging furniture around the table), Big Mac frowned as he looked at her. “Are ya alright?”

“Yes,” Nymph replied, smiling. “My Mother just likes to tease me from time to time, it was nothing.”

“Tease?” he asked, confused.

“Trust me, Big Mac, you don’t want to know.”

“So what did you want to talk about Rainbow?” Arthas asked as they began to make their way towards the Abbey.

Rainbow Dash, who was following him and Twilight from the air, flew down to hover before them. “Well…” she began, seeming embarrassed, as she rubbed the back of her head and flew backwards while they walked. “There wasn’t a time to tell you, but during the camping trip I sorta decided to take Scootaloo under my wing.”

“Really?” Arthas asked, pleasantly surprised. “That’s great to hear. That little filly looks up to you a great deal.”

“Yeah, I kinda noticed,” Rainbow Dash replied, rolling her eyes while smiling. “Anyways, before Applejack gathered all of us, I was actually talking with Twilight about Scootaloo’s condition and what could be done about it.”

“I see,” Arthas said, glancing at the unicorn. “I should have asked you about this when I became her legal guardian,” he added, feeling guilty.

“Contrary to what you may think, you’re not responsible for solving all the problems in Equestria,” Twilight told him, smirking. Her expression then turned more serious as she continued, “As I told Rainbow before, pegasi born with weaker muscle structure can still learn how to fly. However, that requires them to undergo a set of exercises that would strengthen those muscles for several months at least, but even then that doesn’t guarantee they would be successful. And in case of Scootaloo…” she hesitated before she continued, “She’s a bit old to start this physiotherapy-”

“So?” Rainbow asked, snorting. “That doesn’t mean Scootaloo won’t fly! It just means she would have to train harder.”

“Rainbow Dash, it doesn’t exactly work like that,” Twilight said, cringing a bit.

“Well, maybe, but it still doesn’t mean Scootaloo should just give up. And as soon as you give me a book or whatever about what kind of exercises she should be doing, I will see to it that she does them. Which brings me to you,” Rainbow said, pointing hoof at Arthas. “I was wondering… well, um…” she trailed off, suddenly embarrassed again. “I was wondering if maybe it would be best if Scootaloo came to live with me?”

Arthas’ eyes went wide with surprise. “You would want Scootaloo to live with you?”

“If that’s okay of course, with you and her,” Rainbow quickly added. Arthas noticed she was slightly blushing. “We could try first if that would work out, with her coming for a few days and seeing how she likes it. I was thinking about doing that after I get back from Wonderbolt Academy, but with you saying you are going to leave soon, I could take her in for a few days before I have to leave. Because if she was staying with me I could make sure she was doing her exercises, so it would be for the best, right?”

When Rainbow finished her monologue - during which she avoided looking at either Arthas or Twilight - Arthas exchanged a look with Twilight. She was as surprised as he was. “That’s really thoughtful of you, Rainbow,” Twilight said, turning to the pegasus. “But you do know you would have a lot more responsibilities, right?”

“Meh, I make enough bits to support at least two more ponies, and Scootaloo took care of herself for two years,” Rainbow said dismissively.

“That might be true,” Arthas retorted. “But if you are planning to become Scootaloo’s legal guardian - which if I am correct is what you meant - you would also have to attend parent-teacher meetings, make sure she does her homework, generally be responsible for her well-being…” he counted off, and as he did, Rainbow gradually grew more serious.

“Yeah, I know, and I’m probably not cut out for those sort of things,” she admitted, sighing. “But I told Scootaloo I would take her under my wing, and I think this would be the best way to go about it. Also,” she added, pointing a hoof at Arthas, “you’ve been busy with your Order as it was, and now you’re going to have about forty ponies coming here soon?”

“Actually, there’s going to be more than that,” Arthas answered her question.

“So the way I see it, you will be too busy to take proper care of Scootaloo,” Rainbow concluded.

Sighing, Arthas thought that she had a point there. “I had been concerned about it,” he admitted. “Matters of how busy I would be aside, I don’t think the Abbey would be a good place for a young filly to stay.”

“So you think this is a good idea?” Rainbow asked; Arthas couldn’t help but notice that she sounded happy.

“I think it’s good enough of an idea to see how Scootaloo likes living with you. Ultimately, the decision lies with her. Of course,” he added, “seeing how that filly nearly worships the ground you walk on, I don’t think that would be too much of a problem. Or, air you fly in or something.”

“Sweet!” Rainbow exclaimed, ignoring his - pretty bad the more he thought about it - joke. “I’ll come by the Abbey later so we can tell Scoots together.”

“Yes, that-” Arthas began, but the pegasus cut him off.

“You can deal with whatever paperwork would be necessary if Scootaloo decides to come live with me, right?”

“Um, yes,” he replied, slightly put off.

“Great! Now if you’ll excuse me,” she said, rising higher into the air, “I don’t want to miss the look on Chrysalis’ face when Nymph tells her that she and Big Mac are engaged. Remember to find me that book about exercises for Scootaloo!” she called to Twilight as she flew back to Sweet Apple Acres.

“And she was being so mature throughout this conversation,” Arthas sighed as he watched her fly.

“Well, she wouldn’t be the Rainbow Dash we all know and love if she didn’t end it like that,” Twilight replied, chuckling, as they continued trotting towards the Abbey. “Still, I’m amazed that she wants Scootaloo to live with her.”

“Do you think it’s a good idea?”

“Well… I think so, yes,” Twilight replied, after a brief hesitation. “I know Rainbow might not seem like the most mature pony, but if she’s this serious about it, she will do her best for Scootaloo. And I think it might be good for her to take on such a responsibility.”

“I guess you’re right,” Arthas admitted. “Plus, she was right that with all the new initiates coming soon, I would be too busy to properly look after Scootaloo. Not that she needed much of that, but every kid needs some attention, right?”

“I suppose,” Twilight replied, giggling warmly. “Still, I’m sure you did your best… and were quite good at it, too.”

“Thanks. So…” he changed the subject, looking back in the direction where Rainbow flew, “do you think it was alright to let Rainbow go back to the farm? I’m kinda worried she’s going to cause a diplomatic incident…”

Arthas trailed off as he heard Twilight snort with laughter. As he turned to grin at her, he saw her looking at him with a mixture of amusement and reproach in her eyes. “You’re terrible.”

“All jokes aside, I am a bit concerned,” Arthas continued more seriously. “Chrysalis doesn’t strike me as a person that would react calmly to hearing that her daughter got engaged all of a sudden. Having a pony snickering at her reaction when she finds out probably isn’t going to help the situation.”

“I’m sure the others will keep Rainbow in check,” Twilight replied. Turning to look at him thoughtfully, she added, “You know, I’ve been meaning to say, you are surprisingly good with all those… diplomatic stuff. I mean, you were the one to point out that due to Nymph’s status the wedding is going to be a delicate matter. And back during the last Council Meeting in Canterlot, even Celestia was taking your advice into consideration.”

“I lived in a world where my race lived in seven different kingdoms,” he replied, shrugging. “And we were on more or less friendly terms with three other races. Not to mention that by the time I reached adulthood and joined the Order of the Silver Hand, most of those nations were a part of the Alliance. Being a knight of a holy order meant I had to have some knowledge on diplomacy and politics.”

“And being the Crown Prince required me to know those,” Arthas added in his thoughts. He didn’t like lying to Twilight (and it wasn’t exactly a lie; higher ranking paladins in the order did have to understand diplomatics and politics), but he really didn’t want to bring that up. The situation didn’t feel right to go into that subject, either. “Besides,” he thought with a slight amusement, “if I were to say now that I was a prince, she might think I am joking.”

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense,” Twilight said, dispelling any worries Arthas had that she would linger on the subject. Narrowing her eyes and smirking, she added, “Kinda funny that you don’t know how wedding customs work then, huh?”

“I don’t know Equestrian wedding customs,” Arthas corrected her, glancing at her with annoyance, even though he was fully aware she was teasing him. “Seeing how back in Lordaeron the ceremony wasn’t performed by the ruler of the land, I’m guessing there are some differences.”

“I’m sure there aren’t too many,” Twilight said. “But since we are on the subject, who usually performs the ceremony amongst humans?”

“Most ceremonies like those are performed by priests, so it would be the bishop of the closest church from where the young couple live. In case of royal weddings, like it was back at Canterlot, it would be most likely performed by the Archbishop of the Church of the Holy Light,” he added.

“Hm…” Twilight mused. “So, seeing how your order consists only of paladins, would that mean you are the closest equivalent of archbishop?” she asked.

Seeing where she was going with this suggestion, Arthas shook his head. “It wouldn’t be wise if I were to perform the ceremony. This wedding is going to be unusual enough without such changes in the customs.”

“Yes, I think I understand. Just thought it was an interesting idea,” she added, blushing in embarrassment. Clearing her throat, she continued, “So, about those customs…

“Did I miss anything?” Rainbow asked as she burst through the door.

The Apple family’s living room had been little rearranged in the short time she had been away. Rainbow noted that several chairs had been added around the table, with Nymph, Rarity and Pinkie working on setting it.

“Are they going to have a tea party with Chrysalis?” she wondered, watching the place cups and small plates.

“Nah, Chrysalis ain’t here yet,” Applejack replied as she passed her, carrying a plate with some apple fritters on them. “Didn’t ya have somethin’ t’ talk about with Twilight and Arthas?” she added as she placed them on the table.

“Yeah, it’s already taken care of,” Rainbow replied nonchalantly. “I wouldn’t wanna miss this; can you imagine the look on bug queen’s face?” she asked in Applejack in a hushed voice, smirking.

To her surprise, instead of snickering, Applejack sighed. “Rainbow, ya heard what Arthas said. This ‘ere is a delicate matter. Try to not make fun of it.”

“Alright, I know, geez,” Rainbow replied, rolling her eyes, while at the same thinking, “Buzzkill. Should have talked to Pinkie first.”

“ Also, ya might wanna stop callin’ my brother’s future mother-in-law ‘bug queen’,” Applejack continued. “Ya know, now that we’re all suppose t’ be friends and family in this case.”

“Is that why you’re serving her apple fritters?” Rainbow asked, pointing a hoof at them. “Because I seem to remember Twilight telling us how she threw away the one you gave her back before the Canterlot Wedding.”

“Really?” Applejack asked, sounding surprised. “Ah seem to recall Chrysalis sayin’ that she ‘love-love-loves ‘em,” she said, imitating Chrysalis’ voice while disguised as as Cadance, and winked. As Rainbow snickered into her hoof, she asked her, “So what did ya ‘ave t’ talked with ‘em anyways?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Rainbow replied, not wanting to get into that right now. Instead, she once again pointed at the table. “So what are we doing?”

“Well, Nymph said ‘er mom will be ‘ere soon, so we figured we might as well all have brunch with ‘er.”

“I see,” Rainbow replied, but before she could say anything more - like how weird this all was - a green, circular, pulsing light appeared in the middle of the living room.

“Alright everypony,” Nymph called out, coming closer to the magical display together with Wind Reaver, “that’s my mother’s portal. Um… a courtesy bow of head will do in your case I think,” she quickly added before both of them dropped on their forelegs, kneeling.

Almost a second later, Chrysalis emerged from within the portal, flanked by two changelings in heavy armor. The Changeling Queen looked pretty much like Rainbow had remembered her, tall as Celestia, covered in black chitin with green parts on her back, with long green-blue mane and a crown adorning her head.

“How exactly does Wind find her hot?” she wondered, recalling what he had told Tucker when he first came to Ponyville. “I mean, I kinda see it, with that mane, slender body and kinda even with those eyes, but her back and those legs-”

Chrysalis’ voice snapped her out of this weird contemplation. “Raise, my subjects,” she told Nymph and Wind Reaver. As the two changelings rose on their hooves, the two that came with Chrysalis moved back to the edge of the living room and stood in attention. The portal, in the meantime, had disappeared. “It is good to see you again, my daughter,” Chrysalis continued, her tone becoming a touch warmer, as she took a step forward to hug Nymph. She then turned to look at everypony else. “Hello ponies. I am… pleased to see you in better circumstances.”

“We might be at peace and all, but that doesn’t make her friendlier,” Rainbow thought as she - slightly reluctantly - bowed her head respectfully.

It appeared that Applejack didn’t have such reservations. “Howdy, Queen Chrysalis!” the earth pony said cheerfully, holding her hat to her chest and coming closer to her. “Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Thank you,” Chrysalis replied. She took a quick look around and added, “You have a lovely house.”

Rainbow was pretty sure she wasn’t the only one to pick up that the Changeling Queen seemed a bit uncomfortable under all those pleasantries. “Guess we’re not the only one thinking this situation is a bit weird.”

“Aw, shucks, thank ya Yar Majesty. Nymph wanted t’ talk with ya ‘bout somethin’,” Applejack continued, glancing at the changeling in question before turning back to Chrysalis, “and the rest of us thought ‘at would be a good occasion t’ hang out with ya a bit. Hope ya ‘ave nothin’ against a little brunch,” she added, pointing at an armchair that was big enough for the Changeling Queen to sit on.

“That sounds… lovely,” Chrysalis replied, and with a brief glance at her guards, she moved towards the table.

As Rainbow and everypony else also moved to take their seats, the changeling guards disappeared in a green flash, and a second later the same flash could be seen through one of the windows near the door.

“What’s with the guards?” Rainbow wondered out loud in a hushed voice, sitting next to Pinkie Pie.

To her dismay, she was answered by the person sitting on her other side. “Praetorians are the Swarm’s most elite warriors who are the Queen’s guards,” Wind Reaver told her. “Even your Princesses bring guards when on friendly visits, don’t they?

“Well… yeah,” Rainbow said, recalling the party about two years ago they threw for Princess Celestia and the two royal guards that accompanied her. “But wait, I don’t remember seeing any changeling with an armor like that during the Canterlot Invasion.”

“Espionage isn’t necessarily their strongest asset,” Wind Reaver replied, shrugging. “The original plan for the invasion was that Her Majesty would incapacitate Shining Armor, bring down his shield, knock out Celestia when she’s distracted with the Swarm attacking. Having a bunch of weirdly behaving ponies walking around Princess Cadance would draw attention, even assuming one of them wouldn’t just accidentally change back,” he added with a snort.

“Oh, right, that makes sense, I suppose,” Rainbow said, already losing interest as she eyed the apple fritters and other snacks on the plates.

“So, my beloved daughter,” she heard Chrysalis say to Nymph after a few moments (during which Rainbow already managed to fill her mouth with food), “what was it that you wanted to talk with me about?”

Rainbow turned her attention back to the two of them, not wanting to miss this.

“Right, well…” Nymph began nervously. She stopped to clear her throat and looked to Big Mac, sitting on the couch together with her on her left, before turning back to her mother. “You know I’ve been dating Big Mac.”

“Yes, and I am happy that you are happy,” Chrysalis replied, picking up a cup of tea with her magic.

“I’m glad you say that, and I hope you will be also happy about what I’m going to tell you now,” Nymph said, pausing to take a deep breath. “Big Mac and I are engaged.”

The teacup dropped down on the table, breaking into pieces. Queen Chrysalis was staring at her daughter, her expression unchanged other than her eyes growing wider. Rainbow chuckled, finding her reaction absolutely hilarious… which resulted in her choking. She hit her chest, and at the same time Wind hit her on her back, helping her recover.

“Come again?” Chrysalis finally said, still staring at Nymph.

“We’re engaged,” Nymph repeated, reaching with her hoof to Big Mac’s hoof and grasping it.

“Eeyup.”

Chrysalis’ eyes moved slowly from on to the other, then back again. “You’re engaged?” she asked after several seconds of just staring at them like that.

“Yes.”

“After just a few days of being a couple and barely a month of knowing each other?” Chrysalis specified, deadpanning at her daughter.

“W-well, um, yes?” Nymph said, smiling sheepishly.

Her answer clearly didn’t please Chrysalis, guessing by the frown on her face. Rainbow Dash also frowned, but from another reason. “Wait, you’ve been here only for a month?” she asked Wind Reaver in a hushed voice, who shrugged and nodded. “Huh, feels like it’s been three years. Weird,” she added, confused why she thought it’s been so long since the two changelings came to live in Ponyville.

“I know, right?” Pinkie asked from her right.

“Am I the only one thinking that it’s too brief of a relationship to get engaged?” Rainbow heard Chrysalis ask. Focusing her attention on her again, she noticed that her question seemed to be directed to everypony other than Nymph and Big Mac.

“Mother, they’ve all already had expressed their concerns,” Nymph quickly told her before anypony could say anything.

“Apparently, not accurately enough, if you are still going through with this insanity,” Chrysalis retorted.

“It’s not insanity!” Nymph countered, stomping on the table and causing it to shake.wings buzzing angrily. “Mother, Big Mac and I love each other-”

“Yes, I noticed,” Chrysalis interrupted her, turning to regard Big Mac. As her eyes narrowed the stallion cringed. “It’s creepy. You’ve been together a few days, why does he love you so much?” she asked, once again turning to Nymph. “You didn’t put him under any spell by accident, did you?”

“Of course not!”

“Alright then, so for some reason he is absolutely in love with you already,” Chrysalis said, causing Big Mac to blush (and the Cutie Mark Crusaders to sigh “Aww!”). “Why are you so sure you love him the same?”

“Well, um…” Nymph began, stammering from embarrassment. “You see, I didn’t lash out at him after he nibbled my tegula-”

“He did what?!” Chrysalis shouted, staring down at Big Mac, making him slightly back away on the couch.

“Big Mac didn’t know then what that means for changelings,” Nymph quickly defended him. “We were just… playing. When I told him this morning that it’s the changeling’s equivalent of proposal, he immediately proposed properly to me.”

Rainbow couldn’t help but comment on this exchange. “Okay, this is seriously weird and borderline messed up way to propose, you know that right?” she asked Wind quietly.

“It makes more sense than exchanging jewelry that you practically never wear later,” Wind retorted with a snort.

Rainbow bit back a retort; Chrysalis continued to speak to Nymph, but now her voice was so cold that she could swear the temperature in the living room dropped. “So you’re telling me that this stallion had no idea for days that you had agreed to become his lifemate?”

“I-it wasn’t his fault…” Nymph began to say, but Chrysalis cut her off.

“Oh, I’m not angry with him,” she said, and then head turned towards Wind Reaver, her horn lighting up. Green aura enveloped the changeling and pulled him towards his Queen. “When I’d assigned you to be her bodyguard during her stay in Ponyville,” Chrysalis said slowly, glaring down at Wind, “didn’t I charge you with protecting her from any possible harm? Did you think that it doesn’t include protecting her from humiliation?”

“Y-your Majesty, how was I supposed to know what those two would do in bed?!” Wind asked; it was a surprising change of pace to hear him speak with genuine fear in his voice. “I didn’t even know he would want to sleep with her in her real form! I’ve been trying to get that one into bed,” he said, pointing back at Rainbow, much to her anger, “and she finds my looks too disgusting, so-”

“Wha- excuse me!” Rainbow interrupted him, her face becoming red from anger and embarrassment. “It ain’t gonna happen because you’re an asshole!”

He turned back to her and looked at her angrily and pleadingly. “Work with me, please!” he said, nudging his head at the Changeling Queen.

Rainbow just glared at him in reply, but before either of them could say anything else, Chrysalis turned him back around. She opened her mouth, but before she could scold or threaten him, Nymph spoke up, “Mother, this isn’t something Wind Reaver should have been responsible for, and I do not feel I’ve been humiliated-”

“You do recall that you are my heir, right?” Chrysalis asked her, releasing Wind (who promptly backed away).

“Yes Mother, but I do not care if the other changelings consider I’ve been humiliated; after all, we are going to become lifemates. Well, in a fashion,” she added.

“And you do realize all the possible… consequences?” Chrysalis asked her, narrowing her eyes.

“Yes, of course,” Nymph replied firmly, making Rainbow wonder what did Chrysalis mean by ‘all the possible consequences’.

The Changeling Queen let out a sigh and leaned back on the armchair, appearing rather tired.

“Mother?”

“I’m trying to make up some old tradition that would force your fiancé to fight a champion of my choosing if he wants to marry you,” Chrysalis replied, rubbing her eyes.

“Mom, I won’t let you make Big Mac fight Commander Unscathed,” Nymph told her, frowning. “Or that Amber Monstrosity Grand Magistrix Lucid created.”

“Amber Monstrosity?” Rainbow repeated in her mind. “Not sure if I want to know what that is actually.”

“You really want to go through with this?” Chrysalis asked her daughter, ignoring her reply.

“Yes. We both do,” Nymph added, her and Big Mac holding each other’s hooves. “Also, I think it would help improve changelings and ponies relationships-”

“If I wanted to improve them through marriage, I would just marry Celestia,” Chrysalis snorted, interrupting her. She shook her head and resumed, “If this is something you truly want to do then… fine. You have my blessing, or however it is you ponies say.”

“Thank you Mom!” Nymph immediately exclaimed, jumping at her and hugging her. She backed away after a moment. “Um, I mean, thank you, Mother,” she repeated in a more controlled manner.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac added, smiling.

“Well, I must say this is splendid to hear,” Rarity said, breaking the apparent “agreement of silence” everypony had opted for during the discussion. “I cannot wait for you two to start planning your wedding.”

“Eeyup, and Ah can’t wait for ya to become officially the part of the family,” Applejack told Nymph, then turned to Chrysalis. “Ya too, Yar Majesty. Ya’ll always be welcome at Sweet Apple Acres!”

“I’m overjoyed to hear that,” Chrysalis said in a voice almost devoid of joy.

“You know what this calls for?” Pinkie asked, suddenly appearing right between Chrysalis and Nymph (Rainbow glanced at her seat on her right where she could swear she was a second ago and found it empty). “A party!”

“You’re pushing your luck,” Chrysalis tried to say, but Pinkie already whipped out her party cannon and began to use it to decorate the living room with balloons, ribbons and confetti, causing the Changeling Queen to give a resigned sigh.

Luna looked up from Moonlight’s cradle as she heard her bed chamber’s doors open. “Hello Sister,” she greeted Celestia as the older alicorn walked into the room. “What brings you here at noon?”

“I need a short break,” Celestia replied in a tired voice, closing the door behind her, falling down on her bed and covering her eyes. “Listening to petitioners in court with signing documents in between them was all I did since dawn. And surprisingly only about a third was concerning changelings.”

Seeing her sister complain about the amount of her duties she had to face this morning made Luna chuckle warmly; it wasn’t very often she got to see her so tired. Truth be told, it was somewhat relieving; she used to think that Celestia was perfect in every way. While Luna loved her, it had made life difficult, living up to those same standards.

“I hope I am not imposing?” Celestia asked her, looking up at her from the bed.

“Of course not, Sister. Moonlight is still asleep,” she said, looking with affection at her daughter. “I swear, when that filly finally decides to go to sleep, nothing can wake her up… not even her aunt practically jumping on the bed rather loudly,” she added teasingly.

“Loudly? Are you implying that I’m fat?” Celestia asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Well, you do weigh more than me.”

“That’s because I’m taller, you runt.”

“Since you aren’t concerned about your weight, then you won’t have a problem joining me for brunch?” Luna asked as she giggled, ringing a bell to summon her servants and order some snack.

“I am perfectly secure, thank you very much. I will gladly join you,” Celestia replied, stretching out and yawning.

Seeing how tired she appeared, Luna stopped their banter and offered, “If you want, I can take over for a few hours.”

“No no, I’m fine,” Celestia said. “I just need about an hour, or even half without listening to any petitioners or reading any documents-”

The door opened once again. “Princess Luna, do you know- Oh, there you are, Princess Celestia!” her aide Raven exclaimed, relieved. Next to her hovered an important looking letter, held in her magic. “A letter bearing the reply from King Robert was just given to me by the griffons’ ambassador.”

Celestia uttered a long sigh, which caused Luna again to giggle in amusement. “That’s rather unlike him to reply so soon,” she said, stifling her laughter. “And according to the Night Guard, he was away on hunting trip when the letter arrived at Griffenhalla. Are you certain that the reply is from him?”

“The seal is genuine,” Raven replied, shrugging.

“Of course this would be the one time he hurries with a reply,” Celestia remarked in annoyance, before sighing again. “It is King Robert’s seal,” she added, showing the letter to Luna. Imprint in the wax of a griffon standing up on hind legs surrounded by twelve stars was plainly visible on the envelope. “Thank you for bringing this to us right away Raven,” she told her aid as she broke the seal.

“Not a problem, Your Majesty,” Raven replied as Celestia opened the envelope and took out the letter. “Would you like me to stay and help you with the reply?”

“No, we will need to discuss this matter with Sir Lightbringer first before replying. You may go now, I will send for you later.”

Raven bowed to both of them and was about to leave Luna’s bedchamber before she turned back. “Um, Princess Luna, if you don’t mind me asking, why is Princess Moonlight here and not in her room with her nannies?” she asked as Celestia began to read King Robert’s response.

“Because both think the the other is working while they're enjoying their free day,” Luna quickly replied. “And if you tell them that I tricked them to sneak Moonlight back into my chambers, your pay will get cut in half.”

“No it won’t,” Celestia said over the letter.

“Oh right, you sign her paycheck,” Luna realized, frowning. “Then you will be having nightmares and stuff.”

“My lips are sealed Your Majesty,” Raven replied, bowing again, before quickly leaving.

“You do know Angelic Heart and Caring Star will figure out sooner or later what you’ve been doing, right?” Celestia asked, looking up from the letter.

“I have my night guard shadowing them to make sure they won’t run into each other-”

“Usage of the Crown’s resources serving the betterment of ponykind,” Celestia commented with amusement.

“- so at this rate, they won’t figure it out until Moonlight learns how to speak,” Luna finished, ignoring her comment.

“Whatever makes you happy Little Sister,” Celestia said, returning to the letter.

Luna waited patiently for her sister to finish so that she could read it herself. A movement in the cradle caught her attention. She turned to her daughter to see her turning around through her sleep. Noticing that she appeared to be dreaming, Luna was about to take a peek into her dreams, but just then she heard her sister exclaim:

“They want him to what?!”

Luna looked at Celestia, startled. “What, what is it?”

Instead of replying, her sister passed the letter to her. Confused, Luna quickly began to read it. “To Their Majesties, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, bla bla bla, after considering your proposal together with my advisors, yada yada yada.... Hm, I don’t understand,” Luna thought as she continued to read the message, “everything King Robert wrote seems reasonable-”

Her eyes went wide.

“They want him to what?!”

“They want me to what?!” Arthas asked, sounding utterly surprised.

Not that Twilight could blame him.

“They want you to take Prince John Sandstorm as your ward and your squire,” Princess Celestia explained calmly through the enchanted mirror in Arthas’ office, “as well as his second cousin, Francis Snowpelt, young Lord of Huntford, who would become a squire for one of your paladins, and accept ten adult griffons as initiates into the Order of Celestial Lights.”

Arthas sighed, sitting down on the floor and rubbing his temples. “This is not quite how I imagined my proposition to invite griffons into the order would be accepted.”

“Yes, we must say that we’re even more surprised than you are,” Luna said, her reflection standing next to Celestia’s.

“This is an unusual situation, I take?” Arthas asked.

“You could say that,” Twilight replied, eager to share her knowledge. “While it is a common custom for Griffonia’s nobility to send their cubs away from home - usually when they are around twelve years old, and mostly for about two years - and in case of the royal family it’s practically a tradition, their princes and princesses aren’t usually sent anywhere other than within their kingdom. In the rare cases that had happened, they’d become the wards of the ruler of Equestria,” she finished her explanation, nodding at Celestia and Luna.

“You are right as always, my faithful student,” Celestia smiled at her; Twilight felt warmth spread through her body at her mentor’s praise. “There had been several cubs from the royal family sent to live in Canterlot throughout my reign and before, with the latest being Prince John and Lord Francis’s great-great-grandfather, the late King George Snowfeather. The idea behind this custom is to allow young griffons to learn the world, grow, make new friends, as well as foster alliances between their family and the one whom responsibility they’ll become.”

“So I would have to become responsible for two kids?” Arthas asked, raising an eyebrow. Turning to Twilight, he added, “Today of all days, huh? Rainbow proposed that Scootaloo would come to live with her,” he explained to Celestia and Luna. “And it was literally about ten, twenty minutes ago.”

“That is indeed a strange coincidence,” Luna agreed. “Although I am happy to hear that Rainbow Dash chose to take on such responsibility. And surely, you must agree that it would be better for Scootaloo to live with her rather than at the Abbey with all the initiates. Prince John and Lord Francis, on the other hoof, should be more comfortable living there, since they would be squires in the Order.”

“Yeah…” Arthas replied, frowning. “To be honest, I didn’t plan on recruiting squires. I’ve always assumed that in a society like Equestria it would be frowned upon to teach kids how to fight and have them serve knights. Of course, I did read than in Griffonia it is often encouraged, even if actual squires are rare this days.... ” he mused, then sighed. “I suppose I will have to decide how to work it out later. That matter aside, what would be my responsibilities if I accepted them as wards?” he asked the Princesses.

“You would be responsible for raising them during their stay,” Celestia replied. “So on top of whatever training you would deem they should receive as squires, you would have to make sure they receive proper education.” As Arthas pondered what she told him, she continued, “Also, there is also the matter of Prince John’s security. As you undoubtedly know, the royal family of Griffonia is guarded by the Kingsguard, a sworn brotherhood of knights. It is mentioned in the letter that one of them will accompany Prince John Sandstorm to ensure his safety-”

“Excuse me?” an unknown to Twilight voice suddenly interrupted Celestia. “Did you say ‘Sandstorm’?”

Quickly looking around the room to locate the source of the sound, Twilight’s eyes stopped briefly on Arthas’ cat, Spottedleaf, sitting on top of his desk behind them… only to stay on her and grow wider. Spottedleaf’s eyes were glowing with silvery light. And not only that - Twilight was almost certain that the unfamiliar voice came from her direction.

She turned to Arthas, certain she would see her shock mirrored in his reaction, but to her bafflement, he had turned to his cat to reply her question. “Yes, that’s the name of one of the griffon’s tribes from before they were all united,” he said bizarrely calmly, “and now it serves as a secondary name for griffons who have their tribal colouring, correct?” he asked, turning to Twilight. Noticing, however, how she was staring at him - and in the corner of her eye she noticed that Celestia and Luna were doing the same - Arthas asked, “Is something wrong?”

“‘Something wrong’?” Twilight repeated, feeling her eyelid twitch. “Your cat just talked!”

“Oh… is that not normal in Equestria?” Arthas asked, looking from her to the Princess in confusion.

“No, it is not,” Twilight replied, struggling to remain calm. From the mirror, she could hear a stifled snort and an amused chuckle. Blushing, she continued, “Why-”

“I’m sorry,” Spottedleaf now interrupted her, raising on the desk to move closer to her. “Before you tiny horses start bickering like always, could you tell me what other names those griffon tribes had?”

Being questioned by a cat, and having to look into those starry eyes, caused Twilight to lose her composure. “Oh, um…” she stammered, then cleared her throat and began again, “Well, there was the Snowfeather Tribe of course,the Raggedpelt Tribe, the Nightcloud Tribe, the Shellheart Tribe, the Stormfur Tribe, Silverstream Tribe, the Willowbreeze Tribe, the Heathertail Tribe, the Flametail Tribe, the Breezepelt Tribe, and the Thistleclaw Tribe,” she finished, naming the last of the twelve griffon tribes. She then frowned, recalling what Spottedleaf said when she asked her about them. “Hey, what did you mean by ‘bickering like always?!” she asked, feeling offended.

But it appeared that Spottedleaf was no longer listening to her. She was still staring at her, blinking her eyes, for a few seconds longer, before taking a deep sigh and jumping down on the floor. “This is a really strange place,” she meowed as she padded away.

Twilight watched her leave the room before turning to Arthas. “What was that about?”

“You mean her asking about the tribes or her talking in general?” Arthas questioned in turn, which only annoyed Twilight even further.

“Arthas,” Celestia began before she could say anything. “I believe I said during the last Council Meeting in Canterlot that everypony should be on a lookout for unusual occurrences.”

“How was I supposed to know that pets learning to talk is considered unusual?” Arthas asked, rolling his eyes. “If I were to be honest, I would have to say that I have no clue what is considered as ‘unusual’. By the Light, I am still coming to terms with the fact that your manes are flowing like that,” he added, pointing at their manes.

“You have to admit that he has a point, Sister,” Luna pointed up, giggling in amusement.

As Celestia rolled her eyes, Twilight took a deep breath, calming herself down. Luna was right; even if Arthas had lived on Equestria for months, there were still plenty of things he didn’t know about.

“Not to mention that on Azeroth we all would be considered as talking animals,” she thought. “I guess it’s not surprising he was so quick to accept his cat talking as something normal.”

“From what I could get from her,” Arthas continued, finally answering the unasked question, “Spottedleaf had run into that spirit beast Zecora’s sister had brought with her, and he passed unto her a blessing of speech that was given to him, saying, and I quote, ‘he never used it anyway’,” he said, shrugging.

“Huh, that’s quite interesting,” Twilight mused. “Perhaps I should finally go and meet Zahara. It has been some time since I visited Zecora anyway.”

“Pinkie is throwing a party tomorrow, I’m sure they will be invited,” Arthas reminded her. “For now, let’s get back to the subject. You said that a member of this Kingsguard will come live here along with the Prince?” he asked Celestia.

“That’s right. However, while her primary duty will be to guard Prince John, because you will be his guardian during his stay she will also obey your orders. Assuming they won’t collide with her duties of course,” Celestia added.

“I see… so there will be thirteen griffons coming to the Everfree Abbey in total, correct?” When Celestia and Luna both nodded, Arthas frowned and rubbed his chin. “Then we might have a small problem.”

“A problem?” Celestia asked.

“Well, there are four ponies coming from Canterlot to become initiates, three from here in Ponyville, four from Cloudsdale, eight from Manehattan, seven from Vanhoover, four from Baltimare, three from Appleloosa, three from Dodge Junction, and five from way over at Cockneigh, I think two are from Trottingham and three from Hoofington if you want to be specific,” he recited from memory. “And of course, thanks to Serenity, we have sixteen ponies coming from the Crystal Empire, which together with ten griffons means there will be sixty seven initiates living and training at the Abbey. The quarters for initiates, on the ground floor of the barracks, can hold fifty. Now, the quarters above them could be easily rebuilt to hold the remaining ponies, but those are reserved for higher ranking paladins as their own rooms. The fact that I will have to also accommodate two squires and a Kingsguard, not to mention a cook and blacksmith, brings me to a conclusion that the barracks will have to be enlarged,” Arthas summed up, then sighed, sounding tired. “And also that I will have to pick a quartermaster to do all calculations like that in the future.”

Twilight stared at him, surprised, but also impressed by his organization skill. “He was able to memorize all the initiates and where they are coming from, then calculate if the Abbey’s barracks can hold them with how they are currently arranged,” she thought, feeling as if it got a bit warmer in the room.

“I did not expect that,” Celestia replied thoughtfully. “It is true that we had discussed the number of possible initiates that would come to the Abbey in the future, but…”

“... but back then we hadn’t taken into account griffons joining the Order,” Luna finished. “Not to mention the Crystal Empire returning.”

“Fortunately, you and your paladins are leaving for the Dread Isle in two days, right?” Celestia asked Arthas, but Twilight missed what he said, to shocked to pay attention.

“That’s where you’re going for a week?!” she asked Arthas, interrupting whatever he was telling Celestia. When he turned to her, his face betraying his discomposure, and nodded, she couldn’t do anything but ask, “Why?”

Arthas sighed. “I want the others to gain more experience before they begin training other ponies,” he explained. “On Azeroth, young paladins would be sent to places like the Plaguelands to fight the undead. The Dread Isle is about the only place on Equestria where they could gain a similar experience.”

Having been told recently about the Plaguelands (and, more importantly, how they looked just two, three years ago), Twilight had to admit that he was probably right. Still…

“Are you sure that it’s necessary? I mean, aside from all the horrors of that island being rather… traumatic to average ponies to witness first-hoof, they’re also extremely dangerous.”

“I wouldn’t decide to bring my paladins there if I wasn’t certain they were up to it,” Arthas said in a calming voice. Smiling, he added, “And if they are up to it, you know I will be fine.”

The fact that he was probably right didn’t do much to dissuade her worries.

“Twilight,” at the sound of her mentor’s voice, she shook and turned to look at her through the enchanted mirror, “I understand that you are worried about Arthas, but both Luna and I trust his judgement. He and his paladins will be fine.”

Feeling a bit more relieved, Twilight nodded at Celestia, then at Arthas. “We’ll still talk about it later,” she thought, now feeling even more annoyed about him leaving than before when she had learned about it.

“Back to the subject,” Celestia resumed their discussion from earlier, “we should be able to enlarge your barracks within the week you will be gone. I will contact the architects that you had worked with making the original projects.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Arthas said, bowing his head.

“There are two more topics that we wanted to discuss with you regarding the Abbey,” Celestia continued. “ I was able to convince the blacksmith I had mentioned to you to come back from his retirement and come work at the Abbey; he will arrive on the same day you will return. However, when I mentioned that you are going to Dread Isle, he made a certain… request. He wants your paladins to collect armaments they will find there,” she answered his questioning gaze. “I will send you his precise description shortly through Spike, along with King Robert’s letter; it would be good if you were to write a reply to him along with ours, saying that you accept the honor of his son becoming his ward. I’m sure you understand.”

“Of course,” Arthas replied, nodding. “And I look forward to reading about this blacksmith’s request, I’m quite intrigued by it.”

“We thought you might be,” Lune chimed in. “As well as about this next part. You both remember the facility you found in the Everfree Forest?”

“How could we forget?” Twilight thought, quivering at the memory as both her and Arthas nodded.

“While we were unable to discover anything new about this Project Eclipse, the recovery teams we sent to the site found some more of those projection runes. However, among them there were some who served a more complex purpose.”

“Unicorns from my school were able to discover that those runes can create a solid image of creatures out of magical energy,” Celestia resumed after her sister. Twilight was impressed hearing about that; creating solid images of creatures from magic should require a complicated spellwork. “We suspect that they were used for training. What’s more important, one of those researches was able to construct a device based on those runes. We had hoped to incorporate it for training of the royal guards, but first we’d need to make sure this device works correctly. You seem like the perfect pony to test it out,” she added, nodding at Arthas.

“I am honored you think so, Princess. I will gladly test this device.”

“Doctor Thaumaturgical will come to the Everfree Abbey tomorrow then, three past noon. Of course, if everything will work fine, the same device will be sent to your order for training purposes.”

“I’m sure it would be useful,” Arthas replied. “Thank you, Your Majesties.”

“Think nothing of it,” Celestia said, smiling. “I will send you King Robert’s letter and blacksmith’s instruction soon, can we expect your reply to the King before the end of today?”

“Yes, of course. However, there is a certain matter we were hoping to discuss with you before you contacted us telling us about King Robert’s message.”

“Well, now it will be the Princesses turn to be surprised,” Twilight though, amused.

“Oh? Then by all means, go on Arthas,” Celestia replied, nodding at him to continue.

“Thank you, Princess,” Arthas said, glancing briefly at Twilight before he continued. “You know how Nymph, Queen Chrysalis’s daughter, began dating Applejack’s brother Big Mac, right?”

“Yes, you’ve mentioned this to us,” Luna replied, sounding confused. “Why are you bringing this up now?”

“Because the two of them just got engaged,” Arthas told them flatly.

Twilight tried to remember if she had ever seen either of the Princesses so utterly surprised, but she couldn’t, not even Celestia, whom she knew much longer. The two alicorns were staring at Arthas with eyes wide as plates, their mouths hanging open.

“E-engaged?” Celestia asked.

“Already?” Lune questioned in turn.

Both Arthas and Twilight nodded in affirmation. “They both love each other very much,” Twilight quickly began to explain, “and Big Mac accidentally performed the act that among the changelings is considered the same as how ponies are proposing-”

“You mean he bit her on her tegula?” Luna cut in, raising an eyebrow.

“Um, yes,” Twilight replied, slightly embarrassed, and a bit impressed that the Princesses had apparently already read Angelic Touch’s report. “Of course, back then he didn’t know what it meant, but when Nymph told him, he proposed to her, so that she wouldn’t be dishonored.”

“Oh, I see,” Celestia murmured, pondering what they just told them. “This… could be problematic. What does Queen Chrysalis think of this?”

“Well, Nymph should be telling her about her engagement right about now over at Sweet Apple Acres,” Arthas replied, turning his in the direction where the farm was. “Since nopony came to fetch us, and we didn’t see smoke and didn’t hear screams, I think she managed to explain everything calmly to her mother.”

Twilight looked at him with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. While she still wasn’t exactly fond of Chrysalis, she knew that she wouldn’t react so drastically.

“I hope that you are correct,” Celestia replied. “The first pony-changeling wedding in history would be an important event even if the changeling wasn’t the heir of the Changeling Queen. Chrysalis’ cooperation would be of great help. Did Nymph and Big Mac begin to make any plans?”

“Not yet,” Twilight said. “They’ve gotten engaged only this morning. But after Arthas brought to their attention just how important this wedding would be and how delicate it would be to make sure it will go perfectly, they’ve agreed that they should start planning it soon.”

“I’ve also suggested to wait until Granny Smith returns, as she is the head of the Apple family,” Arthas added. “From what I’ve heard, their weddings usually took place on Sweet Apple Acres.”

“I see,” Celestia said, humming thoughtfully. “It’s important for this wedding to retain the Apple family’s traditions. I would imagine a lot of Big Mac’s relatives will be invited?”

“Applejack suggested that they could set the date for the last day of Apple Family Reunion, so their whole family would be there” Arthas replied. “However, that’s about a month from now, I am not sure if there would be enough time to prepare everything.”

“Oh, I’m sure something could be done to help them if they chose such an early date,” Luna said, smirking.

“I’m sure they will be happy to hear that,” Arthas replied. Clearing his throat, he continued, “I had a certain idea regarding the wedding, but I thought it would be best to make sure that it would be possible before I mentioned it to Big Mac and Nymph. Twilight told me that wedding ceremonies are performed by the local representative of the Crown, meaning in the case of Ponyville it would be Mayor Mare,” he said, glancing at Twilight. “However, I was wondering if it would be possible for somepony else to perform the ceremony.”

Twilight recalled how he asked her about it before they got into his office. She found his idea brilliant, but she herself wasn’t sure if it was within the Equestrian customs.

“Sounds like you already have somebody in mind,” Luna noted.

Arthas nodded. “I was wondering if the ceremony could be performed by Princess Cadance. She is known as the Princess of Love, so nopony would argue that this wedding was just a farce prepared to strengthen the pony-changelings relationships,” he began to explain as the Princesses exchanged glances. “Furthermore, everypony knows what had happened during Cadance’s own wedding; if she were to perform the ceremony, it would send a clear message that the times when changelings were monster seeking to harm ponykind are a thing of the past.”

“Your reasoning is brilliant, Sir Lightbringer,” Celestia said, smiling; Twilight did not miss that Arthas almost rolled his eyes hearing her address him by that name. “It is allowed for a princess to perform the ceremony if she is present in a town, although often the local authorities take that as a slight insult. However, I am sure Mayor Mare will understand when it will be explained to her. Of course, we’ll need to ask Cadance first.”

“I’m sure Big Mac and Nymph will be glad to ask her personally,” Arthas replied.

“Then it is settled. There will be more to discuss regarding this matter, but it can wait until they begin making their plans. Please, do let them know that we will be glad to help with the wedding.”

“And of course,” Luna added, “pass them our congratulations.”

“I hope we will be able to congratulate them in person soon,” Celestia said. “Now that we’ve finished discussing their engagement, we can return to our duties. Sir Lightbringer,” she added, turning to Arthas, who knelt respectfully, “you have a letter to write. I will send King Robert’s message to Spike in but a few moments. Twilight,” Celestia said, turning now to Twilight, who quickly stood in attention, “I will also send a new spellbook for you to study. Something to take your mind off throughout the next week,” she added, smiling.

“Thank you, Princess,” Twilight said, grateful.

Despite knowing that Arthas would be alright, she would still worry. However, now that she could bury herself in her studies, she would spend much less time doing that.

“Also, knowing Pinkie Pie, there’s probably some small celebration going on right now at Sweet Apple Acres, so go and be with your friends,” Celestia finished, about to end the connection.

“One more thing, Arthas,” Luna stopped her. “Regarding the griffons joining your Order; it would be good if you’d start learning Griffen.”

“Of course,” Arthas replied. Turning to Twilight, he added, “I was hoping Twilight wouldn’t mind teaching me; you told me you are fluent in it?”

“Oh, I would be happy to teach you!” Twilight quickly told him, enthusiastic about the idea. “Trust me, with my teaching method you will learn it before your wards and initiates arrive. Actually,” she added, now even more excited, “with this method you could also teach me in return some of Azeroth’s languages!”

“Um…” Arthas stammered, taking a step back before recovering, “sure, of course. I think I should be able to teach you Dwarven and Thalassian easily, since I actually learned those.”

Twilight nodded, understanding what he meant; that all the other languages he could speak in he came to know because of his time as the Lich King. Not wanting to dwell on the subject, she quickly pushed it away and began to plan their teaching session.

“I’m sure you will have a lot of fun together,” she heard Princess Luna tease them as she was hardly stopping herself from jumping from her excitement. “Do not forget about writing your reply to King Robert… and deciding which one of your paladins will be given Francis as a squire.”

Arthas nodded and bowed, as the Princesses ended the connection. The mirror once again showed only his and Twilight’s reflection. Arthas sighed and turned to her. “This has certainly been an eventful morning,” he commented.

Twilight had to agree. “Day isn’t over yet,” she added, smirking. “Are you worried about the griffons?” she asked, feeling some of her enthusiasm ebb away.

“A bit,” Arthas admitted. “Call me paranoid-”

“Done,” Twilight cut in, sticking her tongue at him when he glared at her.

“- but I have a feeling that the young prince might be told to spy on me. Since I am probably mostly unknown to Griffonia, not because they might be planning something against Equestria,” he quickly explained as she looked at him alarmed.

“Oh… hm, maybe, but I don’t see how he would pass any messages secretly back to Griffonia,” Twilight said, frowning.

“Oh well, I will worry about that later,” Arthas said, rolling his eyes. “We should probably go back to Sweet Apple Acres and see how are things there.”

“Do you mind if I ask who you plan to assign Francis as a squire?” Twilight asked as they were about to leave.

“Hm,” Arthas stopped and looked down, pondering. “Well, Storm Clash is the highest ranking paladin after me, and is pretty much my second-in-command, and he is a pegasus. I will probably assign Francis to him. Alternatively I could consider Serenity, after all she had showed great initiative by staying in the Crystal Empire and helping all those ponies who lost their close ones because of Sombra, and based on what I heard she proved to live up to this responsibility. I will decide during this week I suppose,” he finished, looking at Twilight.

“I’m sure you will make the right decision,” Twilight quickly told him, smiling at him. “I just wish you weren’t leaving… you know, so soon after…” she trailed away, blushing from embarrassment.

Arthas chuckled and trotted closer. “I will be back before you know it,” he said, placing a hoof gently on her cheek. As Twilight could only blush even more in reply, Arthas leaned and kissed her. She quickly relaxed feeling his lips on hers and melted into his embrace. “We should get going,” Arthas said after a few more moments; there was a regret in his voice. “After all I have some work to do.”

Twilight nodded and they left his office, heading back towards the Sweet Apple Acres. “Changing the subject a bit,” she began as they trotted through the empty hallways, “it will be nice to see Serenity again.”

“You could say that again,” Arthas agreed. Smirking, he added, “I think she’s the only one of my paladins that hasn’t caused me any headache so far.”

Serenity sighed, looking back at the Crystal Castle, easily visible even all the way from the train station. “Back when I left the first time, I didn’t expect to return so soon,” she thought, “and now I am leaving again...”

“Ma’am?” tiny voice from beside her asked. “Is something wrong?”

“No, Liturgy, just thinking about the Crystal Empire,” she replied, turning to the white filly. “Even though I am excited to go back to the Everfree Abbey and Ponyville, I’ll still miss everypony here.”

“Everypony is going to miss you, too,” Liturgy replied, smiling. “All those ponies you’ve helped. But the Light now calls upon us to continue It’s work in Ponyville.”

“More like Sir Lightbringer calls me to return,” Serenity commented in her thoughts, but didn’t correct her.

“Would you like me to carry your bags, Ma’am?” Liturgy continued, glancing at the saddlebags she had strapped on her armor.

“No, it’s alright. You might be my squire, but you are still a little filly. You can carry my bags after you build up more strength,” she told her, hoping she didn’t took offense to her words.

Her worries were needless. As usual, Liturgy smiled and bowed her head. “Very well then, should I secure our seats on the train?”

“Yes, I will be right behind you,” Serenity told the filly, who nodded and headed towards the train.

As she watched her squire, trotting across the train station with her small saddlebag, her white with golden streaks mane waving on the winds, and with a cutie mark of a flash of golden light adoring her flank, Serenity couldn’t help but think, “I am going to be in so much trouble.”

150. Lights of the Future, Shadows of the Past

Arthas groaned as he felt Twilight stirring.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t meant to wake you,” he heard her say as she sat beside him on the bed.

“It’s alright,” Arthas replied, stifling a yawn, as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Turning to look up at her, he smirked. “And if you didn’t want to wake me, you could have stayed in bed.”

Twilight smiled as she shook her head. “I need to teleport back to my library in case Spike wakes up and notices I’m gone.”

“Or you we could just tell all of our friends that we’re a couple,” he said. “That way we wouldn’t have to sneak around like that.”

“Yeah, but then we would have to endure our friends’ snarky comments and teasing. Not to mention Rainbow asking us if sleeping together means that we’re doing it,” Twilight added, slightly blushing.

“Well, you’re the one who likes to cuddle so much,” Arthas pointed out, causing her cheeks to become even more red.

“Oh, as if you mind,” she retorted, jabbing his shoulder.

Quicker than an eye could follow, Arthas grabbed her by the forehoof she had jabbed him and pulled her down to him. Twilight only managed to utter a short meep! of surprise as he embraced her tightly and turned her around, pinning her to the bed. Before she could protest or start struggling, Arthas kissed her, immobilizing her for a while.

“Mmm…” she moaned when he released her lips, moving down to her neck, but she finally snapped and began struggling. “Arthas! I told you I need to leave,” Twilight said, trying to push him off her, but her protests were half-hearted.

“Stay one more hour,” Arthas asked, nuzzling her muzzle affectionately.

“I would love to, but I already have a prepared schedule for today,” she replied as she somehow managed to wriggle her way out from under him partially. Grabbing the side of the bed, Twilight glanced at him and added: “And I don’t want to risk Spike finding out about us.”

“I’m sure you can figure out some excuse for being out so early,” he countered, holding her waist and planting kisses along her spine.

Twilight let out a noise that was a mixture of moan and grunt as she tried to pull herself free. “You’re impossib-ua!” she exclaimed as she managed to slip away from his hold, which resulted in her falling off the bed and rolling on the floor, stopping only when she hit the chest on the other side of the room.

“Twilight!” Artha shouted in panic, earlier playfulness completely gone. He quickly jumped out of the bed and rushed to her side as she carefully rose to sitting position. “Are you alright?”

“Ugh…” she grunted, massaging the back of her head. “Yeah, just a little bruised.”

“Let me take a look,” he asked. As Twilight turned around, he opened himself to the Light. Placing his hooves on her head and back, Arthas let the healing energies travel from him to her body.

“Thanks,” Twilight said, uttering a short gasp of relief as the pain disappeared. As Arthas healed her, she eyed the chest she had bumped into. “Are those the weapons Brann had brought you?”

Glancing at the chest, Arthas noticed that when Twilight hit it she accidentally caused it to open, revealing all the weapons inside. “Yes, all the weapons I got from some of my greatest… opponents,” he finished, hesitating briefly on how to best describe all the great people he had fought and, in most cases, murdered.

“A bit of a grim gift,” Twilight commented, taking a closer look inside the chest. “Wouldn’t it have been better to return them to their original owners? Or their next of kin?”

“Well, you can blame the heroes who helped defeat me for keeping them for themselves and then selling them,” Arthas replied, shrugging.

“‘Helped defeat’?” Twilight repeated, glancing over her shoulder at him.

“I consider Tirion to be the one deserving the credit of defeating me,” he explained. And although he would be grateful for the rest of his days to the old paladin, he couldn’t help but add: “Even if that was a cheap shot.”

Despite him lowering his voice, Twilight heard him, and she snorted with laughter. “Wow, you are a sore loser, even when you are grateful for losing,” she commented, looking at him with a mixture of amusement and reproach.

“Pride goes before one’s fall. And after apparently,” he added jokingly, earning him another look from Twilight. After a few seconds though her attention turned back to the chest. “Why are you so interested in them?” Arthas asked, noticing the sparkle in her eyes.

“I can sense some powerful magic in… well, in all of them actually,” she explained, rolling her eyes as her horn lit up. Lifting some of the weapons with her magic and levitating them outside of the chest, she continued: “But there is one weapon in particular that seem to hold a great power- WOAH!”

Arthas eyes snapped wide open and he instinctively leaned back as Twilight was suddenly set aflame. Taken utterly by surprise, it took him a moment to realize that she wasn’t actually burning. Rather, it seemed like her mane and tail were turned to flames, while her coat changed color to bright orange and had a small fire-like aura surrounding her. Twilight also didn’t seem alarmed, although she was clearly as surprised as he was, seeing how she dropped her hold on all the weapons, letting them fall on the floor.

All but one.

“Wow, this is amazing!” Twilight exclaimed, inspecting the coat on her foreleg briefly before turning her attention back to Felo’melorn. She kept it levitating in the air beside her as she gave it a thoughtful look. “Just holding this… artifact had increased my magic! What is this sword?” Twilight asked, turning to Arthas.

“Um… that’s Felo’melorn, an ancient Highborne runeblade,” he replied, somewhat relaxed since he realized that Twilight wasn’t on fire. However, her change in appearance still unsettled him. “It belonged to Sunstrider dynasty, Prince Kael’thas lost it during our fight at Icecrown Glacier. I don’t remember it setting him on fire though,” he added as Twilight continued to not address this issue.

“Oh, right,” Twilight said, once again looking over herself. “I think this must have been caused by the sudden surge of magic rushing over my body… hm, if it affected my body like this, I wonder how it affected my magic,” she added, and, before Arthas could stop her, she conjured a fireball right next to her head. “Amazing! I was trying to conjure a ball of light! I wondered if it changed the nature of my magic from arcane to fire-”

“Twilight!” Arthas interrupted her. “That’s all very interesting, honestly, but could you please refrain from experimenting with fire magic boosted by a powerful artifact within my bedroom?”

“Oh, right,” Twilight repeated, now embarrassed. “Sorry, having so much more magic all of a sudden made it difficult to… stay focused,” she finished, putting the sword back to the chest. As soon as her magical hold on it disappeared, her coat and mane returned to normal. Sighing with relief, she said: “That’s much better.”

“I’ll say,” Arthas replied, smiling. “Fire hazard aside, you look much better like this,” he added, making her blush.

“Oh, hush,” she told him, pretending to be annoyed. After clearing her throat, she changed the subject: “It’s a pity this artifact has such an overwhelming power, I would love to experiment with some fire spells with it. Not many unicorns learn them, preferring arcane magic, unless some other school of magic is related to their special talents,” Twilight explained. “Of course, Princess Celestia taught me some, but I never really got a chance to try them out.”

“Really?” Arthas asked, slightly surprised. “What about when changelings ambushed you during the Canterlot Invasion?”

“I blasted them with arcane beams and missiles,” Twilight replied, her expression suggesting that she thought it was obvious. “It’s faster, more powerful, and most importantly, safer. Like how Clover the Clever used to say: ‘You blast somepony with arcane blast, they’re down for the count; you blast somepony with a fireball, and suddenly you have to pay for repairs of a castle’.”

“That... makes a lot of sense,” Arthas admitted, frowning. “I wonder how come the Alliance and the Horde never seemed concerned about so many magi adventurers relying on fire magic… Anyway,” he said after shaking his head, dismissing that train of thoughts, “you can take Felo’melorn if you want to. I’m sure Celestia will help you master its power,” he continued as Twilight looked at him with wide eyes. “Although to be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if all you needed was some practice.”

“Wow, Arthas, I don’t know what to say!” Twilight exclaimed, excited at the idea. “I mean, this is such a powerful object, and I wouldn’t even be sure where to practice magic safely with it… but wait,” she paused, looking at him. “I thought you said it’s the sword of the Sunstrider dynasty. Shouldn’t you return at least this one then? If not to whatever relatives Sunstriders have left then to Quel’Thalas because of the national history value?” Twilight added, no doubt remembering him mentioning the fates of the last two members of the elven royal family.

“Actually, it’s better that Felo’melorn stays on Equestria,” Arthas replied, shaking his head. “You see, there’s one more Sunstrider still alive, but she’s too distantly related to hold a claim to the throne. However, if she were to take possession of the royal sword, it could possibly lead to some of the sin’dorei seeing her as a rightful heir. And even assuming that the Lor’themar Theron would step down as the Regent Lord - and based on what I know of him, I think he would - avoiding any sort of unrest or civil war, such change in leadership could do a lot of harm to Quel’Thalas.”

“Hm, I think I understand what you mean,” Twilight hummed, furrowing her brow thoughtfully as she pondered that scenario. “It would be bad in any circumstances for an experienced and good leader to be replaced with an inexperienced one, let alone when the world is breaking apart, their Horde and the Alliance are at war, and their oldest enemies have resurfaced.”

“Exactly,” he praised her.

“I suppose, in this case, it is better to keep the sword away from Azeroth,” Twilight agreed. “Although I’m still surprised Felo’melorn ended up with you. I mean, I get how come the heroes who helped defeat you-”

Detecting the mocking tone of her voice, Arthas couldn’t help but interrupt: “You do remember me mentioning that I killed them all in one strike about five minutes before my death, right?”

“- didn’t return it to Silvermoon as they were all from Alliance,” Twilight continued, ignoring him, “but I just don’t understand how would they part with such a powerful weapon.”

“I didn’t question Brann about it, but if I were to guess, it was most likely taken by somebody with no magical abilities, who couldn’t sense how powerful this sword is. Probably that hunter,” he muttered thoughtfully, recalling all those champions that came to face him.

“I see. Anyway, I think I should first consult with Princess Celestia about it, if that’s okay; after all, she already has some spells planned for me to learn,” she said, giving Felo’melorn last wistful glance. “I’ll send her a letter through Spike- oh no, Spike!” Twilight suddenly exclaimed, grabbing her muzzle in horror. “What if he already woke up and noticed that I’m gone?! I need to go see you later bye!” she told him in one breath before she teleported to her library.

Chuckling and shaking his head, Arthas went about putting all those weapons back to the chest, leaving Felo’melorn on top.

“What time is it?” he wondered as he closed the chest, looking at a watch. “Serenity’s train should arrive in two hours, Storm’s going to welcome her and escort her back here,” Arthas thought, going over his plan for the day, “I’m going to debrief her, go over more paperwork, see that doctor and test his device, hurry to Pinkie’s party, enjoy myself, then after coming back brief my paladins on where we’re going and why. I don’t think I missed anything…”

*** *** ***

“You were supposed to look once again into the Book of Medivh,” Ner’zhul reminded him with a snarl from within the Lich King’s consciousness.

“And you were supposed to have a useful vision of the future,” Arthas retorted, leaning back on the chair and placing his hind hooves on the table. “I will do it,” he continued before the orc’s soul could object, “although I believe we have the ritual’s basic structure planned.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to look over it again,” Bolvar spoke up; Arthas turned his head to regard him on his seat.

Bolvar had been staying quiet as of late whenever Arthas and Ner’zhul would argue, his attention focused on regaining control over the Scourge controlled by the Cult of the Damned, with little result. The transition hadn’t been easy for him - after all, it took Arthas several years of “dreaming” before the Lich King stopped being dormant - resulting in losing those undead to the cultists, who still had their free will. Because of this, the Cult still remained a threat serious enough that even though some adventurers from both the Alliance and the Horde had been helping them, the Argent Crusade had to recall most of their forces from Northrend to help purging the Plaguelands.

Leaving Icecrown Citadel once again inhabited solely by the dead.

“Especially if we’d need to change our plans,” Bolvar continued, causing Arthas to twitch his ears.

“Why would we need to change them?” he asked.

“In case you hadn’t noticed, you have become increasingly more attuned to the Holy Light,” Bolvar replied. “As such, we think that the ritual might not work.”

“And when did you come to that conclusion?” Arthas asked, annoyed that he hadn’t been a part of that discussion.

“When you were busy with making alliances, having affairs and planning a wedding,” Ner’zhul snarled.

Arthas ignored him. “So we’ll go with the second plan then?”

“If we have to,” Bolvar nodded.

“I suppose it would be better anyway,” Arthas said, sighing. “Wasn’t really a fan of the first idea… even if it would have allowed me to avoid explaining anything… Fortunately, we have just the book to prepare for the other plan.”

“You do realize just how likely you are to die if we go with the other plan, right?”

“I had a vision of dying and failing to help save Azeroth when we went with the first plan,” Arthas pointed out. “I will feel much more confident taking matters into my own hooves.”

*** *** ***

“Besides,” he added in his own thoughts as his attention shifted back into his body, “even if I were to die, knowing Twilight I wouldn’t be surprised if she would somehow bring me back to life. And then pull my ear off for doing that to her,” he thought, amused.

Storm twitched his ears in discomfort as the train noisily rolled down the station. “Gonna hear this sound again tomorrow,” he thought. Storm Clash hadn’t been especially happy to learn from Sir Lightbringer that they will all be leaving the next day for an entire week. But orders were orders, and at least now he was following a much more pleasant one. Storm, like Tucker and Guard, was happy that Serenity was finally coming back and excited to hear how she’s been spreading the Light’s teachings in the Crystal Empire. “And there she is,” he thought a few moments later, as the bright yellow crystal pony, clad in the plate armor identical to his, approached. However, after a second he realised that she wasn’t trotting towards him alone. “Wait, is that filly following her?” Storm wondered, looking at the white filly.

It appeared so, as the filly, no older than his brother, walked beside her, and stopped when she stopped before him. “Knight-lieutenant,” Serenity greeted him, saluting.

Shifting his attention back to her, Storm noticed that she was smiling as she addressed him by his rank. Saluting back, he told her: “At ease. It’s good to have you back with us, Serenity.”

“Thank you, Sir, it’s good to be back.”

“You can disregard my rank, we’re all brothers and sisters in the Order,” Storm told her, rolling his eyes.

“Right, thank you, Storm,” Serenity nodded. Clearing her throat, she finally turned her head to look at the filly standing next to her. “Allow me to introduce you to Liturgy, my squire.”

“Squire?” Storm thought, surprised. He would have sooner expected to learn that this was her relative or something. “Are we even accepting squires into the Order?” he wondered. Storm was fairly certain that Serenity hadn’t discussed this matter with Sir Lightbringer; otherwise, he would have surely mentioned it when telling him to pick her up from the train station.

Liturgy stood straighter when Serenity had said her name. “Greetings, knight-lieutenant Storm Clash,” she said, saluting. “I look forward to learning more about the Holy Light and fulfilling Its will here in Ponyville.”

“Um…” Storm stammered, not sure how to respond. The little filly spoke in a manner that he wasn’t used to hearing from almost anypony but Sir Lightbringer, and even he seldom talked like that. It was… unnerving, to say the least, especially how calm and serene she sounded. A quick glance at Serenity told Storm that she felt pretty much the same way; she smiled awkwardly and slightly shrugged. “Likewise, Liturgy,” he said, finally regaining his composure. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m sure you two are tired after the journey,” he added, turning to Serenity, “so let’s get back to the Abbey.”

Both of them nodded in agreement, so Storm turned around and began slowly trotting towards the Abbey, waiting for Serenity and Liturgy to catch up with him. Serenity quickly fell into step beside him, but Liturgy trailed slightly behind them. Glancing back at her, Storm saw her looking around Ponyville curiously. “She probably hadn’t been outside of the Crystal Empire before,” he thought.

After making sure Liturgy was too absorbed by her surroundings and all the ponies too overhear them, he turned to Serenity. “You know Sir Lightbringer will be annoyed about this,” he told her in a hushed voice.

“I know,” she sighed. “But what else could I have done?” Storm frowned, confused what she meant, but before he could ask she explained: “Look at her cutie mark.”

Storm glanced once again at the filly, his gaze searching the symbol adoring her flank. His eyes widened when he saw what appeared to be a depiction of a golden light’s flash.

“Is that-” he began, but Serenity cut him off.

“Yep, her special talent is calling upon the Holy Light, apparently.”

His jaw dropped. “H-how did that happen?” Storm asked her, louder than he intended.

Both he and Serenity quickly glanced at the filly in question. Seeing that Liturgy was still ignoring them, Storm relaxed. Serenity, however, muttered quietly; “I honestly can’t tell if she’s just too absorbed by Ponyville or if she’s being polite and not listening in.”

“How did she learn how to call upon the Holy Light?” Storm asked again, this time in whisper. They all had to go through the ceremony before they were able to reach for the Light… and nearly die to a windigo in his case.

“I will explain it in more detail before Sir Lightbringer, but basically she’s an orphan, her parents were amongst many who lost their lives during King Sombra’s takeover. Her orphanage brought the kids a few times to the to the temporary ‘chapel’ Princess Cadance had organized for me. She would listen to me talk about the Holy Light and how everypony can find comfort in It. She was… a bit dejected. I encouraged her to try praying, and taught her how to, explaining how we paladins reach with our hearts to the Light. Then one day suddenly the Light shone down on her when she was praying,” she exclaimed, reaching out with her foreleg and shrugging. “I didn’t expect that would happen, but since it did, I figured it would be better if she came with me to the Abbey so she could learn how to control and use those powers.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Storm agreed; if he was in her place, he probably wouldn’t have left a filly that learned how to use holy magic with nopony to further teach her. Glancing briefly at Liturgy once more, he asked: “So did she start speaking like that before or after the Light embraced her?”

“Oh, don’t get me started on that,” Serenity sighed. “Ever since she learned how to reach for the Light, she gradually became more and more… pious. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy that she has a sense of higher purpose and fulfillment, but this isn’t how a filly her age should act!”

“Tell me about it; if my brother would have started talking like that I would probably think he was sick,” Storm said, hoping to ease some tension he felt in Serenity’s voice with a joke.

“That’s not really helping,” she replied, looking at him harshly, but then sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know what I should do about her. I hope Sir Lightbringer will. Or at the very least, he will allow her to stay within the Abbey, and spending time with Scootaloo would rub off on her.”

“So this would be the bad time to tell you that Scootaloo is leaving the Abbey today?” Storm asked.

“Really?” Serenity asked, surprised. “How come?”

“She’s going to live with Rainbow Dash from now on. Sir Lightbringer mentioned this last night,” he replied.

He had found himself pleasantly surprised when he learned about it. Truth be told, most of the time he and the others would forget that Scootaloo was living at the Abbey with them. She mostly kept to herself, spending most of her time out together with her friends or in her quarters. The few times Storm would see her on the Abbey’s grounds, she would be with the other two fillies or with Sir Lightbringer. However, it didn’t seem like a good place for a kid to grow up at, and he thought that it was better for her that she would be staying with Rainbow Dash now, in a proper home. “And yet it looks like there will be another filly staying at the Abbey instead.”

“Wow, that’s great!” Serenity exclaimed, clearly happy. “I’m so happy for her. It’s a pity Liturgy will be the only filly at the Abbey though,” she added, slightly frowning. “Although I suppose it will be alright as long as she attends the school here… I’ll have to discuss this with Sir Lightbringer and Cheerilee. So what else did I miss?” Serenity asked.

“Well, hmm, let's see...” Storm replied thoughtfully, recalling everything that had happened since Serenity had left Ponyville. “Um, first would be learning after we came back from the Crystal Empire that the entire town had been taken over by this performer named Trixie, who was under the influence of some evil artifact, Rarity had a birthday party - on that note, she mentioned she had wanted to invite you - and I went to the Everfree Forest to search for this extremely rare magical flower I wanted to give her as a gift, during which I met Daring Do, got scolded by Sir Lightbringer, ran into some corrupted Wild Gods which included the living embodiment of nature, helped a timberwolf demigod defeat a power-hungry centaur from Tartarus, got the flower and gave it to Rarity and now we’re dating, a zebra hunter - who later turned out to be Zecora’s older sister - attacked Nymph thinking she was feeding on ponies’ love in the middle of the town, there was a Ponytones performance, Nymph and Big Mac started dating, Al’ar had seven eggs with an unknown giant bird lady, Nymph and Wind Reaver had been interviewed about changelings society and biology and it should be published in a newspaper sometime soon, and lastly I think there was something going on at Sweet Apple Acres yesterday but I don’t know what,” he finished, still puzzled as to what could have happened there that would cause Rarity to giggle excitedly when he asked her.

Serenity was staring at him silently throughout his speech, and after he finished, she stayed so for a few seconds. “How long was I away?” she finally asked.

“Yeah, it does feel it’s been longer than in reality,” Storm agreed, equally surprised as to how many things had happened in the last month.

“Well, it’s going to be exciting catching up with everything. So, you and Rarity, huh?” she asked, smirking.

Storm blushed, although he realized he didn’t really mind a little teasing. “Yeah, I might have went to search for a special gift because I wanted to ask her out on a date,” he admitted. “Even going so far as to go into the depths of Everfree Forest for it… although admittedly, I should have taken some weapons with me.”

“I’m happy it worked out for you,” Serenity congratulated them. “I can’t say I blame Sir Lightbringer for scolding you though,” she added. “That was a really reckless thing to do.”

“I know, and believe me, I was punished for that,” he replied, not getting into details.

“I suppose I should be grateful that I was told to clean all the toilets in the barracks before the new initiates arrived.”

“Well, seeing how Sir Lightbringer is going to be annoyed with me this time, I’m pretty sure he’ll forget about his frustration with you,” she said, sighing.

“I’m sure he’ll understand,” Storm told her, turning to look at her. “Frankly, I think he would be more annoyed about the number of recruits we’ll have from the Crystal Empire thanks to you. I heard Sir Lightbringer muttering to himself how the barracks will have to be enlarged while we’re gone because of that.”

“You really know how to cheer somepony up,” Serenity replied, chuckling.

“You’re welcome,” Storm said. Noticing that strapped to her saddlebags was a different hammer than the one she wielded before, he changed the subject: “I see your squire is not the only new thing you’ve brought from the Crystal Empire.”

“Oh, yeah, it’s a gift from Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor,” Serenity said, reaching to the weapon and letting him take a closer look.

Its handle was now made purely of wood, instead of wood with steel rings like her old one. Except instead of oak wood it was plainly obvious that it was crafted from crystalwood, the wood that came from trees that grew around the Crystal Empire. If Storm recalled his mother’s book correctly, if properly worked with it could be tougher than steel. The head of the hammer, on the other hoof, was vastly different from her old weapon. Instead of steel, it was now a golden crystal.

“Its name is Heart’s Mercy,” Serenity continued, her eyes looking at the hammer with affection Storm hadn’t expected her to have for a weapon. “It was crafted in the Crystal Forge for some unicorn field medic during Equestrian-Griffonian War. Princess Cadance had the symbol of the Celestial Light engraved on it before bestowing it upon me,” she added, noticing his confused gaze on the symbol visible on the head’s bracing. “It’s said to boost the power of healing spells, and, well, I do feel… stronger with it.”

“I see…” Storm said thoughtfully, amazed by Heart’s Mercy. “That’s one heck of a gift.”

“I know,” Serenity admitted, strapping the hammer back to her saddlebags. “Looks like you’re not the only one with an amazing weapon now.”

“You forgot about Sir Lightbringer’s Holy Avenger, and the blade Tucker can create,” he reminded her.

“Oh right,” Serenity realized. “I suppose those do count as weapons… so wow, only Guard doesn’t have an unusual weapon out of all of us?”

“We don’t require weapons to drive off darkness, as long as we have faith and devotion to the Light.”

Both Storm and Serenity almost jumped as Liturgy suddenly spoke up. The young filly have been so quiet for so long, they’d almost completely forgot about her.

Serenity, who recovered quicker than Storm, turned to her. “You’re right Liturgy,” she told the filly. “The Light is what gives paladins their strength, but you shouldn’t diminish the importance of weapons.”

“Of course, Dame Serenity,” Liturgy replied, bowing her head. “I will learn how to wield them along with the Light to aid all creatures.”

“Guess so far Serenity hasn’t trained her with them,” Storm noted, his gaze going over her slender build. “I suppose she would have to build up some muscles first… then again, Serenity wasn’t in much better shape when we became initiates, and now she can handle herself. I’m sure Liturgy also just needs some training.”

The thought of her training with them at the Abbey made him think about his brother. Would it be possible for Oak Heart to become a squire as well? “His health did improve in the last few years… although Mom would have a fit if I were to suggest for him to join any military,” he thought with a roll of his eyes. “I would be able to keep an eye on him though, as little good that can do.” Some of his brother’s more memorable… exploits flashed before his eyes. “Learning about the Light and serving in the Order could help him grew out of all that… Oh who am I kidding, it wouldn’t even take him a week to try to… I dunno, tar and feather Al’ar probably!”

Not even wanting to imagine how that would end, Storm turned his attention back to Serenity and her squire… right when out of the blue something very loud and very pink appeared before them.

“Serenity!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed happily, making all three of them stop. The pink earth pony threw her head right at Serenity’s face, making her lean back. “I’m so glad you’re finally back!”

“Um-” Serenity began, but Pinkie cut her off.

“I’m throwing you and Nymph and Windy a welcoming party today! Well, welcoming them, now that everypony knows about the changelings and everypony is cool with it, and welcoming you back! I know it technically should be two parties,” she explained, looking around and rolling her hoof, “but, you know, everypony has busy schedules these days. Also there’s time restrictions and somebody’s laziness,” Pinkie added, glaring at nopony in particular.

“Wha-” Storm tried to ask, confused as to what she meant and where she was looking.

“Oh, and who might you be?” Pinkie cut him off, turning to Liturgy.

“Um…” the filly mumbled, for once the expression on her face matching her face. She had lost the calm visage she had since Storm first saw her, and instead was now staring at Pinkie unsure and confused. “I… I’m Liturgy-”

Pinkie gasped loudly, cutting her off. Before any of them could react, she rushed off somewhere, and barely a second later, as they all shared a look, she reappeared with a pink wagon that had her cutie mark on it. Without any explanation, she pressed a button on the side, causing the wagon to open and reveal a bunch of trumpets, flags, portable oven and some sweets. At the same time, music started playing, and Pinkie Pie began to dance in front of them, singing:

Welcome welcome welcome,

A fine welcome to you!

“I assume the wagon was being repaired when we came to Ponyville?” Storm wondered, having no memory of being welcomed in this fashion, as Pinkie continued her song. Not that he was particularly jealous of Liturgy. “It is reassuring to see that she can react like a normal filly,” he thought, seeing the utter bewilderment on her face.

“How could you just accept a filly as a squire without consulting with me first?” Sir Lightbringer asked, frowning at both her and Storm from beside his desk.

Serenity cringed slightly, but she had expected such a reaction from her Grand Master. “I’m sorry, Sir, it just seemed that it wasn’t a matter that should be discussed through letters.”

“If you’d ask Princess Cadance, I’m sure she could have helped you contact me through some other means,” Sir Lightbringer replied, then paused, his frown deepening. “Speaking of, was Her Highness and her royal husband aware of this when we met at Canterlot recently?”

“Um, well, yes, I did need Ca- I mean, Princess Cadance’s help with Liturgy’s orphanage,” Serenity replied, correcting herself. “That was almost two weeks ago. But I wasn’t explicit about the... the Order’s policy on squires, which might be why neither she nor Prince Shining Armor had brought it up to you.”

“I see. Although seeing the topic I’ve discussed with Prince Shining Armor and the fact how busy they’ve both been, it might be likely that Her Highness hadn’t mentioned it to him. Otherwise I’d have surely heard about it,” he added, rolling his eyes.

Serenity exchanged a confused look with Storm. She could tell that, like her, he was wondering what exactly Sir Lightbringer and Prince Shining Armor could have talked about for him to comment on it like that.

“Nevermind that now,” Sir Lightbringer said before either of them could ask; not that Serenity was going to. “Where’s the young Liturgy now?”

“She went to pray in the chapel when we arrived at the Abbey,” Storm replied. “I can go fetch her if you want me to, Sir.”

“Mm, not right now,” Sir Lightbringer told him, giving Serenity a confused look. “She went to pray in the chapel? What in the Light’s name did you tell her about me?”

“Oh no, Sir, she’s just very religious,” Serenity quickly explained.

Sir Lightbringer opened his mouth, but after a few heartbeats he closed it, apparently deciding against saying what was on his mind. Instead, he brought his forehoof to his face and rubbed his eyes. “How about you start from the beginning?” he asked, sighing.

“Of course, Sir. After you left with the changelings, I first started meeting with ponies coming to the Monument of the Fallen,” Serenity began, standing a little straighter as she began her report. “I’d also checked the records to contact the relatives of all who died during King Sombra’s takeover, and I talked to crystal ponies I’d meet on the streets whose spirits were so down they’d lost their crystal coats. And of course, I also visited the orphanage. I spoke to them about the Light and how they could find peace with the loss of their loved ones through it. After a few days though, the abandoned warehouse Princess Cadance had requested to be converted into a ‘temporary chapel’ had been prepared, and the ponies began to gather there.”

She paused to catch her breath. Memories of the past weeks flashed before her eyes; all the prayers and sermons she had conducted, all the ponies who came to her for comfort and reassurance that their loved ones were in a better place… and all who got inspired by her to learn about the Light themselves.

“The orphanage would often come with their charges every few days,” she continued. “One of the foals was... “ Serenity hesitated, not sure if she should reveal the state Liturgy was in when she first met her.

“Serenity,” Sir Lightbringer spoke up, not unkindly, “if this foal is to stay here you need to tell me what I need to know, for her sake.”

“Yes, of course Sir,” Serenity replied, shaking off her doubts. “Liturgy was a different filly back when I first met her. You can probably imagine how losing your parents affects a pony her age; and as I was able to gather, it is possible that she actually saw it happen,” she added, cringing.

“Oh, that a poor filly,” Storm said, his eyes clouded with sadness. “You told me she was… dejected?”

“Well, ‘dejected’ was a bit of an understatement,” Serenity confessed. “Liturgy was just disinterested in everything when I first met her. Even when I got to talk with her alone and brought up her parents, she wouldn’t… show sadness, or any emotion, she was just looking at me with empty eyes. The orphanage’s matron told me that she was like that all the time. When I was teaching the kids how to pray, she only repeated the words, and while I didn’t expect ponies to genuinely pray straight away, they would at least try. So I sat down with her, told her how much comfort the Light could bring her if she would put her heart into the prayer. I managed to convince her to really try, left her by herself for some time, and then suddenly a beam of Holy Light descended upon her in the middle of the room.”

“Wow, really?” Sir Lightbringer asked, sounding both impressed and concerned. “She reached out to the Light?”

“Yes, she was like a beacon of Light,” Serenity said, still awed by how she radiated with it then. “Her eyes were glowing, and her coat crystallized for the first time since I met her and stayed this way. Then when the Light disappeared, I realized that her cutie mark, a flash of golden light, had appeared.”

“Wait, she got her cutie mark by communicating with the Light?” Sir Lightbringer asked, his eyes wide in shock.

“Yes,” Serenity repeated, understanding his surprise.

“A pony born thousand years ago, was destined to have her special talent be communicating with the Holy Light? Which only recently had been introduced to Equestria?” he asked, as if wanting a confirmation.

“That is correct Sir,” she replied. “I can only assume that if King Sombra’s takeover and its aftermath hadn’t happened, she would have learned from somepony else from your homeland.”

“That’s…” Sir Lightbringer began, but trailed off and sighed. “Nevermind. Continue, please.”

Serenity was confused by his reaction, but resumed her report. “Afterwards, Liturgy had changed. She became happy, but at the same time, she also became rather pious. You will understand when you meet her, Sir,” she explained as Sir Lightbringer raised an eyebrow. “But she became far more social than before, and the orphanage’s matron considered her behaviour much improved. In any case, I’ve begun teaching her about using the powers of the Light, how we can heal others and more with Its help. I figured that it would be best if she learned how to use her gift, which is why I decided to take her as my squire and bring her back here with me,” she finished, hoping Sir Lightbringer would approve of her decision.

“I see,” the white earth pony said, sighing and closing his eyes. “Storm, could you bring Liturgy here?” he asked the other paladin. What he said next caused Serenity to smile, “I’d like to welcome her to the Everfree Abbey and the Order of the Celestial Light.”

“Of course Sir,” Storm nodded, and turned towards the the door.

As he passed her, the pegasus paladin looked at her and shot her a quick smile before leaving, clearly as happy about Sir Lightbringer’s decision as she was.

“That means she can stay my squire?” Serenity asked as Storm closed the door behind him.

Sir Lightbringer looked at her, his expression slightly stern. “You are lucky I’ve already been forced to plan how the Order should treat squires,” he told her.

“Um, apologies, Sir,” she said, knowing a squire couldn’t be treated like an initiate, who was an adult pony, and that by taking Liturgy as one she was forcing Sir Lightbringer to think of- “Wait, what do you mean by that Sir?” Serenity asked, confused.

“I will explain this in detail during your briefing tonight,” Sir Lightbringer replied. “For now I can tell you that there will be two more squires soon in the Abbey as well.”

“Really?” Serenity exclaimed, utterly surprised. “That’s… great! I-I mean,” she stammered to explain as Sir Lightbringer once again looked at her with one eyebrow raised and unamused expression, “I was worried about Liturgy being the only foal in the Abbey. I mean, I know she would have to attend the school in Ponyville, so she could befriend ponies her age there, but I thought it would be good for her if there were other foals that were here, sharing her training and duties.”

“Well, you might have to wait for that, as those two squires aren’t foals but cubs,” Sir Lightbringer replied, smirking.

“Um, cubs?” Serenity repeated, surprised and confused. “You mean griffons?”

“Yes, and before you ask, they won’t be the only griffons joining the Order. But as I said, I will give you and the others all details during your briefing for our journey. More importantly,” Sir Lightbringer said, changing the subject, “I wanted to ask for your opinion regarding their… accommodations.”

“Accommodations?” Serenity asked, still processing the news about the griffons.

“Due to the unexpected amount of initiates joining us soon, the barracks will be slightly rebuilt while we’re gone in order to enlarge them,” he said, causing Serenity to feel a slight pang of guilt; she knew she was at least partly responsible for that because of her spreading the Light’s teachings in the Crystal Empire. “However, the initiates will still be accommodated in their bedrooms, divided by gender. Because of that, I believe the squires should have similar conditions, except I am not sure how many rooms we would have available and how many squires we would have in the future. Do you think it would be alright to have all the squires stay in the same room, without dividing them by gender? Aside from the Cutie Mark Crusaders I’m afraid I hadn’t really got to know any kids,” he explained with an awkward smile, “so I’m not sure whether it’s a good idea or not.”

“Hm, I think it would be alright,” Serenity replied, pondering the thought. She didn’t need Sir Lightbringer to explain what was it that he was exactly worried about. “Liturgy is only eleven, and besides that I sincerely doubt she’s interested in, um, anything of that sort,” she finished awkwardly.” How old are those griffons?”

“Both are twelve and both are boys, so I am a bit more concerned about them,” Sir Lightbringer admitted. “I do plan to make it clear that I won’t accept any sort of dishonorable behaviour from anypony or anybody within the Abbey’s grounds.”

“Then as I said, I think it would be alright,” Serenity repeated, relieved. She could hardly imagine any kid disobeying Sir Lightbringer; he could be quite intimidating at times. “Do you expect there would be more squires joining them in the future?” she asked, curious just how many younglings there could be sharing one of the rooms in the barracks in the future.

“Seeing how yesterday morning I hadn’t planned on having any squires in the Order and now we have three? I am certain there will be at least another one before the end of this month,” Sir Lightbringer said, rolling his eyes. “Probably a diamond dog puppy or something.”

“Hm...” Chrona hummed, ignoring the growing headache.

The golden alicorn had been looking into the future, trying to scour through the infinite number of various events in time that were scrolling before her eyes, in all their possible outcomes and variations. It wasn’t the first time her visions showed her those ponies, nor was it going to be the last. And as always, she now found herself very intrigued by the future event.

“... I wonder…” she whispered to herself, allowing herself a brief respite from her search and focusing on this particular vision, following its trail with her mind through timeway…

*** *** ***

“Well, Sir,” Serenity said to Sir Lightbringer as the office’s doors closed behind them, barely able to hide her smirk, “you did say-”

“I was kidding, dammit!”

*** *** ***

“Yeah, seems about right,” Chrona exclaimed out loud in the breaks between laughter, as she laid back in her bed in the Eastin Asylum.

“Enter,” Arthas said, hearing the knock on the door.

The door opened, revealing Storm leading a young filly inside. Arthas looked at Liturgy curiously. She appeared to be a normal pony her age, maybe a little more slender than most. And of course, being a crystal pony, her white coat shimmered, along with her white-with-golden streaks mane.

“She might stand out a bit at Ponyville School,” Arthas noted as he put his hooves on the desk, sitting more comfortably. He already had planned on talking with Cheerilee about Prince John and Francis, so despite Serenity dropping another foal at the Abbey out of nowhere, Arthas had a good idea how to provide her with an adequate-to-Equestria’s standards environment. “Even assuming she won’t be showing off her powers.”

Reaching out with his deeper senses, Arthas could sense her strong connection to the Light. Despite his misgivings about having another child joining the Order, a pony at that (Arthas could already hear a few school ponies’ parents having objections to that on the next parent-teacher meeting…which he would have to attend again, despite Rainbow Dash becoming Scootaloo’s legal guardian), he had to admit that Serenity did the right thing bringing her here. Liturgy had a gift, and if she would learn how to harness those powers, she could help a lot of ponies in the future.

“And it’s better that she would have ponies who can guide her instead of experimenting with those powers on her own,” he thought as they stopped before his desk, Storm saluting and Liturgy standing straight in attention next to Serenity.

“Sir Lightbringer,” the filly said, bowing her head with respect, “it is an honor to meet you. May the Light shine brightly upon you this day.”

Arthas raised his eyebrow slightly hearing her greeting. “Huh, so this is what Serenity meant by pious,” he thought, glancing at Serenity, who smiled awkwardly.

“May the Light shine upon you as well, young Liturgy. Serenity has said a lot of good things about you, and I’m happy to hear you accepted her offer to become her squire,” he said, smiling at the filly.

“Thank you, Sir. I’m honored Dame Serenity chose me to be her squire,” Liturgy replied, turning to look at her gratefully. “She offered me a chance to fulfill the Light’s will and bring Its glory to others, how could I not accept it?”

Arthas couldn’t help but think how bizarre it was to hear such a young filly speak in a reverent manner that he had usually heard only bishops during sermons and praying sessions speak in. He hoped that the school ponies wouldn’t consider her to be too weird, even though he was sure the Cutie Mark Crusaders would surely befriend her.

“I’m pleased with your… enthusiasm, Liturgy,” Arthas said. “As Serenity has probably told you, tomorrow we’re going to leave for a week. Due to the dangers during our ‘assignment’, I’m afraid we can’t take you with us. You’ll be staying with a nearby family, they have a filly your age that I’m sure will help you get used to living in Ponyville. Would that be alright with you?”

“Of course, Sir. The Light elevated you to be the Grand Master of the Order serving It, I have trust in you wisdom,” the filly responded, bowing her head almost reverently.

“A pony who listens to what I say, without any arguments, snark comments and jests?... This feels wrong.”

“After we return, you can begin training with Serenity, as well as fulfilling your duties,” he continued. “You will be sleeping in a shared bedroom with all the other squires; we will soon be joined by two more. You will all be required to attend the local school of course, probably starting tomorrow even, assuming I will be able to talk with the teacher today.”

“Sir,” Serenity spoke up, “if you are too busy, I can go talk to Cheerilee and explain the situation to her.”

“Actually, she’s going to be at the party Pinkie Pie is throwing today-” Arthas began to explain, but Storm interrupted him.

“They already know about it, Sir. We, um, ran into Pinkie Pie on our way here.”

Knowing Pinkie only too well, he could easily imagine how that encounter looked like.

“The party starts in a few hours,” he continued after checking the time. “You should all go there and enjoy yourself, I’ll join you there an hour or two later. Serenity,” Arthas said, turning to her, “for tonight Liturgy can stay in the room previous occupied by Scootaloo. Please show her to it. That will be all, you are free to go.”

“Thank you, Sir,” all three of them said, with Liturgy adding; “Light bless you,” as they made their way out.

Arthas sighed as the door closed behind them, returning to his paperwork. He hoped that his meeting with this Doctor Thaumaturgical and testing this device of his wouldn’t take too long; he could use some relaxation at a party.

Serenity couldn’t help but smile as the party - after everypony shouted “Welcome” and “Welcome back” - started and ponies began to mingle with each other. Several had came over to her to say hello and ask about the Crystal Empire. Serenity replied politely to each of them as she scanned the Sugarcube Corner, searching for Cheerilee. She hoped to talk with her about Liturgy, just in case she would leave before Sir Lightbringer would arrive. However, when somepony whom she knew more on the personal level approached her, she stopped and focused on her.

“Nymph!” Serenity exclaimed as the changeling trotted towards her. “It’s so good to see you again!”

“Likewise, Serenity,” Nymph replied, smiling somewhat bashfully. “I trust your time in the Crystal Empire was well spent?”

“You could say that. Not as good as yours in Ponyville, from what I heard,” she said, smirking. “Storm told me you and Big Mac had began dating.”

Nymph smiled and nodded. “Yes, that’s true.”

“I assume he’s the source of the confidence that you have now? You’re you,” Serenity explained what she meant, pointing at the changeling.

“Oh, right. Big Mac loves me for who I am, and ever since our first night together I’ve been staying as me,” she explained, sounding a bit embarrassed; Serenity was certain that she would have blushed if she were able to.

“Love?” Serenity asked, a bit surprised.

“Yes, I can tell, remember?” Nymph replied. “And yes, I know it’s rather fast, but I love him too, he’s just so great, and caring, and makes me feel so…” the changeling trailed off, apparently unable to find the right word to describe how he makes her feel. Instead, she held her forehooves to her chest and her wings buzzed in excitement. “Sorry,” she said bashfully after a few seconds.

“It’s alright,” Serenity giggled, finding that adorable. “So, when’s the wedding?” she teased.

“Oh, we hadn’t picked the date yet, but Applejack has been trying to convince us about the last day of the Apple Family Reunion,” Nymph replied, oblivious that throughout that sentence Serenity had been staring at her with wide eyes. Finally, she blinked and frowned. “Wait, how did you know-”

“You’re getting-” Serenity exclaimed, cutting her off, but Nymph pressed hoof to her mouth, silencing her.

“Shhh, it’s supposed to be secret for now,” she told her in a hushed voice, waving nervously to the few nearby ponies who were giving them curious glances.

“Sorry. But… seriously? You’re getting married?” Serenity asked quietly, utterly shocked.

“Yes, seriously. It’s, um, complicated to explain,” Nymph said, rubbing the side of her head.

“But… aren’t you some changeling princess or something?” she pressed, recalling the broadcast from the announcement a few days ago. “Can you just marry whoever you like?”

“It’s Queen’s Heir, actually,” Nymph explained, sighing. “And as for marrying, um... you do realize that in modern Equestria arranged marriages are non-existent practically even among the nobility?”

“Yes I know,” Serenity replied, rolling her eyes. “And they weren’t exactly common a thousand years ago already for your information. But there’s a difference between not being told who to marry and just deciding after a brief time to marry somepony from another race and of different social class.”

“Well, changelings don’t care about social classes when it comes to choosing a mate. Big Mac being a pony is a bit of an issue, and as for the ‘brief time’… everyling seems to agree on that one,” she confessed, her ears dropping.

Feeling bad about making her sad, Serenity put a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m just concerned about if you’re rushing it. Are you sure you’re not making a mistake?”

“I can feel Big Mac’s love for me, and I know I love him too, so I am sure,” Nymph replied. “And yes, we are rushing a bit, but when I told Big Mac what it meant that he nibbled on my wings, he insisted-”

“Wait, what does ‘nibbling on your wings’ mean?” Serenity asked, confused. “And why did he do it?”

“Well…”

Guard Shield sighed, unable to find his place among the partying ponies.

He had been a royal guard for over two decades. For two decades he had been standing guard during various events, parties among them. He wasn’t used to taking part in them. Guard felt much more comfortable keeping watch, training, or being on assignment than right now. Heck, those twenty years aside, Guard was fairly sure he wasn’t much of a social pony before joining the Royal Guard. About the only reason why he had come here was because he was sure that otherwise Sir Lightbringer would just order him to come.

“A paladin should feel equally at home among the battlefield and among his fellow ponies,” he thought, recalling what their Grand Master told them. “Why do I feel that I would prefer the battlefield? May the Light spare Equestria ever having a battle, of course, but…” he trailed off as he passed short pleasantries whenever somepony spoke to him.

He was about to search for his paladin brothers, all who found mingling with the crowd much easier, when he heard a familiar accent behind him: “You be looking out of place.”

“Hello Zahara,” Guard greeted her, switching to her language as he turned around. “How’ve you been?”

The zebra smiled, while Guard found himself momentarily stunned. Zahara was naked. Of course, that was considered normal in Ponyville and most of Equestria, but when he had seen her before she was covered in her cloak. Well toned muscles rippled under her coat throughout her slender body, indicating the speed and strength she had displayed during their first encounter, and her stripes gave her an… exotic vibe, causing her to be quite pleasant for the eyes. She still wore her golden piercings and kept her mane freely falling down, but she had ditched her bone necklace, which, considering all the ponies around, was for the best.

“Fine, thank you,” Zahara spoke, snapping him back to full attention.“I’ve mostly been resting after journey here, although I did explore the Everfree Forest a bit. It has its charm. I thought about going hunting soon, too.”

“If you plan on making any offerings to the spirits, I hope you know Equestria doesn’t look kindly at hunting animals, and that you stay within the forest’s border,” Guard told her, concerned. “I would hate if I had to arrest you, again,” he added, allowing himself to smirk.

“Of course you would,” Zahara retorted, smirking as well. “Last time it took another paladin, a huge and ridiculously strong pony in his prime, two changelings and a pegasus with Marahute the Eagle Mother’s blood strong within her before you arrested me.”

Guard chuckled, despite being slightly annoyed as she reminded him just how much it took to just capture her. “You don’t strike me as somezebra who often comes to parties either,” he changed the subject, referring to to what Zahara had started their conversation with.

“That’s true,” she replied, nodding. Her head turned away towards the crowd and when Guard followed her gaze, he realized she was looking at her sister Zecora, who was talking with Twilight Sparkle. “My sister had almost dragged me here. I was never good with crowds; I prefer spending time in the wilderness, with beasts instead of zebras. Strangely, my constantly rhyming sister - that now lives like a hermit - was always the most social of us,” she added, rolling her eyes. Raising an eyebrow, she turned to ask: “What’s your excuse?”

“Over twenty years of standing in attention during events like those,” he replied, shrugging. He bit the inside of his cheek, pondering for a second, before turning to Zahara again. “Wanna grab some punch and take a toast to the socially awkward?”

“Provided you make the toast; I don’t like speaking in public,” Zahara explained, smiling.

“... and when I grabbed it with my magic, its power resonated through me, and the sudden surge of magic caused my body to adapt to it,” Twilight finished describing to Zecora what happened when she picked up Felo’melorn.

Without mentioning that it was early in the morning, of course.

“To have such an effect on your body, it must be indeed quite a powerful artifact,” Zecora replied thoughtfully. “Though one shouldn’t play with power such juicy, that it almost always backfire is a fact.”

“Well, of course I’m going to be careful if I’ll try practicing wielding it,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes. “I wouldn’t want to set Ponyville on fire… um, you know, on top of all the other things I accidentally done to it over the years,” she added in embarrassment as she blushed.

As Zecora chuckled, another striped figure caught Twilight’s eye. “Oh, is that your sister?” she asked, despite knowing that there was only one other zebra living near Ponyville. “I wanted to met her, should we join her?”

But Zecora, having turned to see where she was looking, shook her head after a few seconds. “My sister isn’t a very social fellah, and it looks like she’s already talking with somepony. Let’s stay away for now and spare her drama, so her discomfort for talking with others feel tiny.”

“I see,” Twilight said, slightly surprised.

“Wow, you would think Zecora was a ‘not very social zebra in this family’, with her living all on her own for so long in the Everfree Forest,” she thought, but before she could point it out and question Zecora about her sister, she felt somepony bump her friendly on her shoulder.

“Hi Twilight,” Rainbow greeted her. “Hi Zecora. Sorry for being a little late, I was helping Scootaloo settle in.”

“It’s alright, Rainbow,” Twilight replied. “How does Scootaloo find her new home?”

“Oh, she’s super excited!” Rainbow exclaimed enthusiastically. “Must have been a while since she’s been in a cloud house, I swear she’s been jumping on her bed for like ten minutes after I left her room,” she added, chuckling.

“I’m happy to hear that,” Twilight said, smiling. “Oh, and remind me after the party to give you the book with wing exercises for her.”

“Sweet! Thanks Twi!”

“Since the little filly requires wing exercises, does this mean she’s not flying because of their structure?” Zecora chimed in, raising an eyebrow. When both Twilight and Rainbow nodded, she continued: “Then I have a potion that might save her some bruises, strengthening her muscles and making flying her nature.”

“Wow, really? That would be awesome! Thanks Zecora!” she exclaimed, hugging the zebra suddenly

Twilight giggled seeing Zecora’s surprise and the sudden hug, while at the same time wondering why they hadn’t thought about seeing her earlier about Scootaloo.

“So changing the subject, do you know what’s keeping Arthas?” Rainbow asked several moments later, turning back to Twilight. “I wanted to go over some of those boring documents about Scootaloo with him. Tucker told me - after he stopped hitting on me for a second, ugh - that he told them all he’ll be an hour or two late.”

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna sent a doctor from Celestia’s school with this device for training that they want him to test,” Twilight replied. “I’m sure it won’t take long.”

“Huh, I see. What kind of training device?” she asked, sounding intrigued.

“It’s supposed to create magically projected holograms as opponents, but I would have to take a look at it to know how exactly it works.”

Twilight actually had been wondering about it. Was the device using stored magic to create bodies out of magic itself, or was it something more subtle, like binding light and giving it a solid form?

“Sounds neat!” Rainbow exclaimed, interrupting her musing. “Do you think Arthas would let me have a go with it later?”

“I’m sure he will, whenever his initiates won’t be using it of course. Hey, since we’re talking about ponies who aren’t here, do you know what’s keeping Fluttershy?” she asked, having noticed that the shy pegasus was absent from the party as well.

“Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked, looking around Sweet Apple Acres. “Um, I think I saw her when I was moving some clouds at the western end of Ponyville during morning shift, flying towards White Tail Woods.” Rainbow Dash frowned and asked: “Did you notice her acting weird lately?”

Twilight frowned, trying to recall how Fluttershy acted as of late. Between everything that had happened, she overlooked some things, but now that she thought back… “Hm, I think there were one or two times she acted a bit strangely…”

“I mean, come on, it’s Fluttershy,” Rainbow began, rolling her eyes, “I don’t think it’s something serious like… I dunno, she’s dating somepony and not telling her friends, but do you think she’s hiding something from us?”

“Um, yeah, hehe…” Twilight giggled nervously, unnerved by Rainbow mentioning dating in secret.

Smiling widely as she finally spotted her friends in the crowd of ponies, Scootaloo hurried towards them. “Hey girls! Sorry about being late, I was settling in at Rainbow Dash’s place,” she told Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle as she joined them… and somepony else. “Oh, hi,” Scootaloo said, only now noticing the crystal pony filly. “I’m Scootaloo.”

“Light’s blessing to you, Scootaloo,” the strange filly replied, bowing her head. “I’m Squire Liturgy.”

Confused, Scootaloo glanced at her friends, both of which were smiling at her awkwardly. “Liturgy was just telling us that she’s came with Serenity and now is living at the Abbey,” Sweetie Belle explained.

“Oh, really? Cool,” Scootaloo said, turning to Liturgy. “I’ve been living there actually, I moved out just this morning.”

“Yes, I have been told about that. May I congratulate you on the Light’s providence that caused you to find a new home?”

“Um, sure, thanks Liturgy,” Scootaloo replied, beginning to feel slightly awkward around her.

Coming here, she had expected that she could spend the entire party telling the other Crusaders how awesome it was that she was living with her idol. This new filly however made it impossible to focus on that for now.

“However, I must admit that I am slightly puzzled,” Liturgy continued. “Dame Serenity told me you hadn’t partook in the work the Order does in the name of the Light, despite having lived there for so long.”

“Well, um, Matt, I mean, Sir Lightbringer never insisted I do anything. Besides studying for school of course,” Scootaloo explained, unsure if the filly was chastening her or not. “Wait, you said you’re a squire?” she asked, recalling how she had introduced herself.

“That is correct. Dame Serenity chose me to be her squire, and-”

“Does that mean you’re going to learn how to fight and do all the cool stuff?” Scootaloo interrupted her, growing interested… and annoyed.

“Yes, I will be learning all that I have to in order to serve the Holy Light,” Liturgy replied, appearing only slightly baffled by getting interrupted.

“I lived there for over two months and Matt never let me learn anything about paladins, or even get anywhere close the armory,” Scootaloo frowned, growing jealous. “What did you do to make him and Serenity allow you to join their order?”

“I did not do anything,” Liturgy answered calmly. “The Light called upon me to serve It, and Dame Serenity saw this as a sign that I should become a paladin.”

“What'd ya mean by ‘Light called upon me’?” Apple Bloom asked, confused.

“I prayed to it wholeheartedly, and the Holy Light answered, enveloping me in Its radiance and granting me Its power.”

“Grantin’ ya Its power?” Apple Bloom repeated, exchanging look with Scootaloo. “Ya mean to tell us ya already can do all the stuff paladins can?”

“Um, girls?” Sweetie Belle called out before Liturgy could reply. When they turned to her, the unicorn filly pointed out saying: “Look.”

Scootaloo’s eyes followed her hoof, which was pointing at Liturgy cutie mark. So absorbed she was by her being the crystal pony, and her strange demeanor and weird way of speaking, that she had completely forgot to see if she was a blank flank like them. Guessing by Sweetie Belle pointing at her cutie mark just now, she figured her two friends had also forgotten about it. But all those thoughts disappeared from Scootaloo’s mind when she noticed just what was Liturgy’s cutie mark was.

“Is that the Holy Light?” Scootaloo exclaimed, shocked. “As in, your special talent is calling upon the Holy Light?”

“That’s correct,” Liturgy replied.

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom exchanged looks.

Arthas jerked suddenly, and found himself staring in the direction of Ponyville.

“Do you ever have a feeling something terrible has happened, Doctor Thaumaturgical?” he asked, frowning and wondering what caused him to feel like that.

The older pony, a maroon unicorn, seemed to ponder his question. “Does holy magic grants its user premonitions? Or are you asking me about something more specific, like divination?”

“Nevermind,” Arthas said, shaking his head. “Continue, Doctor.”

Thaumaturgical had arrived not too long ago, teleporting from Canterlot along with his device, which he called ‘Proving Grounds’. As Arthas had learned when the unicorn had introduced himself, he had a doctor’s degree in Arcane Engineering, meaning he was researching new spells and technologies that used magic. He seemed like a nice pony, aside from maybe being a little too focused on his work.

The Proving Grounds was his latest invention. It was a device the size of a desk, composed mostly of metal and crystals, currently standing now by the Abbey’s training field. A large metal box with various buttons, inside of which were runes and gears as the doctor explained, was connected with wires and tubes to a screen, and to a large crystal charged with arcane energy.

“As I was saying,” the unicorn resumed, “I’ve recorded in the device’s data banks data on various types of opponents, ranging from armor ponies to giant elementals; of course, those are mostly based on their descriptions in ancient tomes. The elementals keep largely to themselves, sea ponies, zebras and minotaurs after all, ponies hardly ever get to see one.”

“Is it easy to operate?” Arthas interrupted him, finding all those buttons and images on the screen a bit confusing.

“Oh yes, very easy,” Doctor Thaumaturgical assured him. “I will leave you a manual later, Sir. Where was I… ah yes, the opponents. I’ve also included a function that will allow you to program additional models; I’ve been informed by Her Majesty that you have a very vast experience with fighting various creatures.”

Arthas nodded absentmindedly. The idea of having his initiates face off against some of the opponents he had faced was… interesting. It was definitely something he would have to give some more thought about.

“Of course, there’s a limit to how powerful the conjured opponents could be. The Nadire Crystals are a powerful source of energy, but they have a limit of arcane magic that they can contain. So glad the Crystal Empire is back, we would burn through tons of lesser gems to use this,” he muttered to himself before resuming. “Anyway, if you do not have any further questions, we can do the first trial run.”

“Let’s get this over with,” Arthas said, feeling that he got everything the unicorn was saying.

“Splendid! Now, put this on,” Thaumaturgical said, handing him a metal band with several entombed gems. “It’s an Examining Band, it will be monitoring your vitals and your senses. In an event you were about to receive a fatal injury, it will send a signal to the Proving Grounds, causing the hologram to disappear.”

“Very thoughtful,” Arthas commented, impressed. He removed his armored horse shoe and put the band of his hoof. “How many of those Examining Bands you have?” he asked as he put the horse shoe back on.

“Only one, but before the device is declared fully operational - hopefully after today - I will prepare some more. Now, stand in the middle of the training field,” Doctor Thaumaturgical said as he began to operate the Proving Grounds. “I set it so the hologram would only move within the training field area,” he continued as Arthas made his way towards the middle. “Now, what kind of opponent would you like to first test this against, Sir?”

“I think we should try something simple first,” Arthas replied, preparing himself mentally for a fight. “An armed pony should be fine.”

“Alright,” the doctor replied as he began pushing buttons, “one armed pony it is- AUGH!” he suddenly shouted as the device emitted a strange noise and several sparks erupted from it.

Arthas wasn’t able to ask him what was wrong, as at the same time a current ran through his body, beginning at the hoof where he put the band on. It felt like a mixture between arcane pulse and electrical charge. Arthas grinded his teeth as he felt it was over his body, not exactly feeling pain by this sensation but definitely uncomfort, especially the mild headache it gave him. However as suddenly as it appeared, it also ended. Confused and disoriented, Arthas opened his eyes - that he didn’t remember closing - and turned to the doctor, wanting to ask what had happened.

Before he could say a word, his eyes snapped wide and he summoned the Holy Avenger.

He grabbed his blade in both forehooves, blocking the holographic warglaive before it could remove his head. Standing on his hind legs and calling upon the Holy Light for strength, Arthas steeled himself for what he knew was going to be a very tough fight.

“This can’t be good,” he thought, staring into blueish, ethereal-like image of his huge, towering opponent.

Turning his horned head and staring at him with glowing eyes hidden behind a ragged blindfold, the image of Illidan Stormrage grinned.

151. False Symphony of Light and Flame

“Doctor, what is going on?!” Arthas called out, keeping his eye on the conjured body of Illidan.

For the moment, it was content to just put more pressure on the Warglaive of Azzinoth he was blocking with the Holy Avenger, trying to overpower him, but Arthas knew it wouldn’t stay like this for long. Not if it was anything like the real Illidan.

And he was right. Shortly after he finished his question, the image brought its other warglaive in a horizontal slash, aiming at Arthas’ head. With his sword blocking Illidan’s right blade, he had no way of reflecting the strike. Not wanting to give the conjured image any ground and let it continue with the next attack, Arthas crouched, letting the warglaive pass over his head. Before his opponent could react, he released his hold on the Holy Avenger with one hoof, and, pleading the Light for help, pointed at Illidan. A blast of golden light struck the image right in the chest. Its face twisted in pain as it let out a silent, wordless grunt of pain as the conjured image was sent hurling backwards.

As they clashed, Arthas was dimly aware of Doctor Thaumaturgical answering his question. “I… I have no idea! Something must have gone wrong… what is that thing?!”

Unfortunately for the unicorn’s curiosity, Arthas just couldn’t spare the time it would take to explain it. The conjured Illidan had quickly recovered, spreading its wings to stop itself in the air barely a foot away. Arthas grabbed his blade again with both forehooves, preparing for it to come at him again.

The brief second when the two lights hidden behind the ethereal blindfold was the only warning he got.

As a powerful beam of energy shot from his eyes, a barrier of Light’s protection wrapped around Arthas, shielding him from the magical attack. “It’s not fel magic, but arcane,” he noted, grunting from the pressure in his head sustaining the shield caused. “Makes sense, it’s powered by that crystal. It’s a good thing, too; there’s no way this conjured image can be as powerful as Illidan was, not when its power comes from one crystal.”

But, if that was the case… why was Arthas struggling against it?

Pushing the thought away, he called out to Doctor Thaumaturgical: “Nevermind that! Are you sure your Examining Band works?!”

“Yes! W-well…” the doctor hesitated. “Seeing how my Proving Grounds is malfunctioning…”

“Great,” Arthas thought, realizing that he couldn’t risk assuming the band still worked.

Meaning the only way of dispersing the image was to defeat it.

Dispersing the shield as the fake Illidan ceased his magical attack, Arthas lunged forward, planning to slash open his opponent’s chest in a similar manner as when he had fought the real one. The image, however, had already dropped to the ground, and also lunged at him. Their blades clashed, the conjured Illidan’s strength matching equally with Arthas’, even when empowered by the Holy Light. Grunting, the paladin brushed the Warglaive of Azzinoth aside, bringing the Holy Avenger to deflect the other warglaive and attempting to drive it across Illidan’s torso. The conjured image, however, effortlessly moved out of the way, drifting off to the right, raising his warglaive as he prepared to strike. Seeing this, Arthas let his attack continue, changing it into a pirouette and using the force he put into it into defense. Successfully blocking its blow caused the image to stagger backwards, giving him an opening. Without any hesitation, Arthas brought his blade down, pointing it at its chest, about to thrust through it.

A powerful force threw him away as Illidan, spreading his wings, released a blast of arcane energy around him. Despite his armor absorbing most of the damage, Arthas grunted in pain as he rolled on the ground. When his body stopped, he hurried to stand up, despite feeling dizzy. The copy of Illidan, however, wasn’t upon him. With his wings keeping him hovering above the ground, its warglaives strapped to its waist and hands waving symbols in the air, it was casting a spell.

“Good,” Arthas thought, letting the Holy Avenger disappear as he gathered more strength from the Light, “using Illidan’s spells should drain the crystal’s power far quicker than simply exchanging physical blows.”

A thought occurred to him the next second, disrupting his concentration: was that how he was going to win this fight?

Snapping out of it, Arthas watched as the copy of Illidan released a barrage of powerful magical missiles, all surging at him. Unsure if one or two of them wouldn’t harm the doctor and damage the machine (as currently they were only a few feet behind him), the paladin stood up on his hind legs and channeled the power of the Light through his outstretched forehooves. A barrier appeared in the small area around him, big enough to shield Doctor Thaumaturgical as well. It absorbed the force of the barrage, deflecting all the missiles one by one as they smashed into it. Again, it caused an unpleasant pressure in his head, but Arthas could still easily sustain their protection against attacks like those. With his forehooves glowing brightly with the Holy Light, he waited for the barrage to end, while at the same time wondering what he could do next.

“The real Illidan and I were evenly matched when it came to melee combat,” he thought, recalling their fights. “And with the image’s power coming from the Nadire Crystal, its spellcasting abilities were very hindered. Illidan might have been a superior spellcaster, but I should be able to hold off this copy’s magic attacks with the aid of the Holy Light. I had done that with both Chrysalis and Sombra, after all…”

But a part of him… didn’t want to. It has been so long since he had a real sword fight. In fact, aside from sparring with his paladins and Wind Reaver, the only real fight he had since he was returned to life as a pony was with Sombra. when he assumed the form of his old self. True, he had been partially at fault in that; he should have grabbed some blade when he had began his fight with Chrysalis. Or demand that duel he had with Prince Blueblood’s representative be done with swords. He had almost forgotten how alive one could feel with sword in hand - or hoof - and battling a dangerous opponent.

If only he wasn’t now facing the copy of the single most dangerous opponent he had ever faced, with this invention malfunctioning and when he should be getting to a party with his friends, he would find this situation quite enjoyable.

“Even if I would want to keep my distance and make it use up all of the Nadire Crystal’s energy, I don’t think it would go with it,” Arthas thought as the intensity of the barrage lessened; he expected the image was about to either rush at him or gather its strength for a more powerful spell. “This copy fights exactly like Illidan had. It will prefer to fight in close combat. In that case, the fastest way to disperse this conjured image would be to simply defeat it.”

The attack had ended a few moments after Arthas had finished planning his strategy (assuming, of course, that just “beat him in melee combat” could be considered a strategy). Behind his barrier, he saw the image of Illidan once again drop to the ground. Letting it disappear, Arthas summoned the Holy Avenger again.

The conjured Illidan came at him swifter than he had expected. Arthas barely had the time to raise his sword and place one of his hind hooves slightly behind the other for support as Illidan rushed at him. Blocking a frontal slash from both warglaives and enduring the force of the blow without being pushed backwards, he realized that this wasn’t just a melee attack. Blue arcane flames had engulfed the fake Illidan, just how green fel flames had covered the real Illidan back when they had fought. And just like then, the sheer heat generated from them, even without any direct contact, made Arthas grunt from pain and squint his eyes.

Unlike before, however, there was something he could do to minimize the damage they were causing him. Taking a step backwards and letting the image of Illidan continue attacking, Arthas took a calming breath, then exhaled, reaching for the Light. As he blocked and deflected more strikes of the ethereal Warglaives of Azzinoth, he let the Light fill his heart and then his body, and the pain fell back before it. Now he was going to be alright, as long as his flesh wouldn’t be actually burned by the flames. The pain would still be reduced, though, as long as he stayed calm. He would require healing afterwards though.

With the advantage the image had over him removed, Arthas stopped just being on defensive. Deflecting the slash from the right warglaive and stepping sideways to the left, he lunged forward, bringing the Holy Avenger to Illidan’s exposed waist. The image, however, was quick to turn right, and partially blocked his attack with his wide weapon, and partially dodged it, jumping in the air. Turning the blade around in his hooves, Arthas followed with an uppercut, just as the fake Illidan slashed downward. Their weapons clashed, creating golden and blue sparks as the forces empowering both of their attacks collided.

The shock of the clash forced both of them back, only to quickly regain the balance and resume their fight. “It might not be able to use magic to the same level as Illidan had, but its physical strength and abilities are nearly identical,” Arthas noted as it parried his slash with the right warglaive and attacked with the left, forcing him to quickly block it. “And unlike Illidan, it won’t pause to talk during the fight. Unless I can manage to force an opening, this could take forever…”

After parrying another strike, Arthas decided to take advantage of his smaller size and slashed at the fake Illidan’s legs, expecting the image of the demon hunter to raise into the air. The conjured image, however, crouched slightly and blocked the attack with his warglaive, taking Arthas by surprise. Having not expected such course of action, it took him a split second longer to react to the second warglaive, with which the image of Illidan thrusted at him. Not having the time to push the first blade away and bring his Holy Avenger to deflect it, Arthas was forced to tilt his body slightly, letting the Warglaive of Azzinoth graze him as he backed a step.

His armor stopped the blade, but it now bore a long mark across the chestplate and right pauldron. What was worse, however, were the flames. The enchantments on the armor stopped them from harming him, but it was singed now, and the blue flames had been right before his face for a brief heartbeat. Momentarily blinded, Arthas had no choice but back further as his eyes readjusted to the level of brightness.

It didn’t appear as though the fake Illidan was going to allow this opportunity to slip. It turned around, slashing with his warglaive at the space where Arthas’ head had been. He managed to dodge it despite his hindered sight, crouching to the ground. Letting go of his blade, he dropped down back to all fours, and wrapped himself with Light’s protection. As Illidan’s image was about to plunge both of his weapons into his back, Arthas lunged, using all the strength his four earth pony’s legs could muster, and bashed his head against the image’s exposed belly.

The force of the impact had once again sent the fake Illidan flying back, but Arthas, knowing that he would quickly regain his balance and stop himself, hadn’t finished. As the barrier that protected him from the blue flames dispersed, he raised both of his forehooves and began chanting an exorcism prayer. He poured all the power the Light could grant him into the conjured image, making it roar silently in pain as its body was illuminated by the Holy Light. Its radiance eclipsed the blue flames’ glow, making it appear as if the image of Illidan had been lit on holy fire.

Arthas continued chanting the words of the exorcism, as he wasn’t certain if he could perform it on Illidan with willpower alone, even if it was just a copy of him. He doubted this would be enough to defeat it, but all the damage it would receive would slow him down, giving him-

An explosion of arcane energy, far more powerful than the one the image of Illidan caused before, hit Arthas, stopping the exorcism. He was thrown backwards again, this time several feet further. He was also in more pain than before as well. However, he got up as swiftly as before, ready to continue the fight.

“Just like with Illidan, it uses its fury to empower his spells,” Arthas noted as asked the Light to wash over him and heal his wounds. “If it was capable of speech, it would have probably roared loudly before unleashing the blast, which could have warned me. Might tell the doctor later about this design flaw.”

Turning his attention back to the conjured Illidan, Arthas realized that it had recovered from the Light’s exorcism far quicker than he had anticipated. It was already standing firmly, dark blue energies swirling around its hands as it pointed at him. A stream of ethereal energy shot from its hand, coming swiftly at Arthas. Unable to dodge or ask the Light for protection in time, his only choice was to summon his Holy Avenger and use it as a shield.

His sword intercepted the magical attack, sparing Arthas from the worst effects of the spell. Despite it, he still felt it shake him down to his very soul. It was almost as if a thousand needles pierced him and then they were grinding deeper into his weary being, tearing him apart.

“I don’t want to know what would have happened if I were hit directly,” Arthas noted, shaking his head as the sensation passed.

Shaken a bit, he stood up firmly on his hind legs, sword in both forehooves, as he readied himself for the next attack. Right in time, as it seemed. The image of Illidan had once again rushed at him, the right warglaive held before him while the left hand held the other behind him, intending to swipe it at him the moment they came to contact. Still not fully recovered after the being hit by the last two spells, Arthas raised his sword higher, preparing to parry the first blade and dodge the next one.

That was not what was about to happen, though.

Less than a second before they would engage again, the fake Illidan stopped, a mere two feet away from Arthas, turning around at the same time. Arthas heard a clang! of blades clashing, but Illidan’s huge body blocked the view of what had happened. He did notice, however, that the image strapped the left warglaive by his waist and grabbed something with the free hand.

Something that was emitting choking noises.

All that had happened in a shorter time than it takes to draw breath. Normally, Arthas would have taken advantage of his opponent being practically turned with his back to him - although it appeared that the image intended to turn around, possibly to hurl whoever he was holding at him - and rescue whoever came to his aid. However, before he could as much as take a step forward, something grabbed him and lifted him up, dragging him through the air away from the conjured image.

“What the-” he began to ask, but was cut off as he was unceremoniously dropped on the ground, after crossing maybe fifteen feet. Now more annoyed than surprised, he rose, searching for another ‘rescuer’.

She was sitting beside him, breathing heavily.

“Damn, you’re a heavy bastard,” the dark purple bat pony complained, flapping her wings carefully as rested.

Arthas blinked, surprised. “Who are you-” he began, but then remembered that somepony else must have distracted the fake Illidan earlier. “The other-” he started, turning to the conjured image, but at the same time he heard a quiet puff sound and some smoke appeared on his other side.

“Why do I feel like I’ve been the bait?” another bat pony, this one dark blue and a stallion, glared at the first one while massaging his throat.

“Oh good, you’re learning,” the mare replied nonchalantly, fixing a lock of her mane.

Arthas looked from one to the other, confused by their sudden appearance here. He was not used to seeing bat ponies when they weren’t guarding Princess Luna (aside from the memories she had showed him). Seeing two of them in Ponyville, without the armor they usually wore, was unusual to say the least.

Instead, both were clad in some sturdy looking black clothing, resembling a mix between a uniform and actual armor, with the mare’s being a little lighter. Aside from that and the coat color, there were a few more minor differences between the two. The stallion appeared younger, maybe in his early twenties, while the mare seemed to be around thirty years old. Judging by her calm demeanor and earlier comment, she was also more experienced, too. She had a single dagger strapped to her waist, while the stallion held two, one in each forehoof.

“Who in Light’s name are you two?” he finally asked, momentarily forgetting about the fake Illidan.

The stallion quickly sheathed his daggers and saluted. “Lieutenants Nightcrawler and Tempest Void, nightwatchers of the Night Guard, assigned to Ponyville, Sir!”

“Nightwatchers?” Arthas repeated, confused, but he shook his head, losing interest as he remembered what exactly the two of them had interrupted. “Nevermind that,” he said, turning back to Illidan’s image; it again held both warglaives and was running towards them, “it’s going to attack again!”

“Your profile suggested you’d be smarter,” the mare, Tempest Void, commented. Taken aback, Arthas glanced at her. The bat pony was pointing at the circular line in the ground that was right before them. “Doctor Traumatological said this thing can only move in the training field.”

Arthas looked down at the lime marking the edge of the training area. Truth be told, he had completely forgotten that the doctor had mentioned that before activating Proving Grounds. “He also admitted that his invention is malfunctioning…” he pointed out in defense, looking up at incoming conjured Illidan.

Unsure whether it would really work as bat ponies expected it or not, Arthas preferred for them all to back further away from the line. The image was still far enough to not grow alarmed, but just as he motioned for the nightwatchers to get up, the image of Illidan stopped, and threw one of his warglaives at him.

More due to instinct than precaution, Arthas tackled Nightcrawler, who was sitting closer to him, to the ground, yelling a warning to Tempest Void. A second later his cheek began to burn as the blade scraped it, leaving a shallow cut, proving he was right to do so. However, Arthas had no time to celebrate being right, as the warglaive, still flying, turned around after wounding him, returning to the fake Illidan.

Tempest Void was in its way.

Cursing, Arthas turned to the other bat pony with healing prayers at the back of his tongue, expecting to find her grievously wounded. To his shock, however, Tempest Void was nowhere to be found. In her place was now a pony-sized cloud of purple smoke. Arthas blinked in surprise, sensing shadow energies from it, but before he could react in any way, the smoke formed back into Tempest Void.

Deciding he could sort this out later and noticing she was holding her side, Arthas asked: “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just a scratch,” Tempest Void replied, keeping her eyes on the conjured image. “Guess that invention has even more bugs than we assumed.”

As Doctor Thaumaturgical, still tinkering with the control trying to fix it, voiced his protest to the comment, Arthas pondered briefly what exactly she meant.

“We can talk about this later,” he said after a second, turning his attention back to the fake Illidan. The image had caught the warglaive and strapped both to his waist, and was now standing in the distance, gathering strength for his next attack. “More importantly, it would be best for you two to leave this to me. It’s too dangerous for- That was fast!” Arthas exclaimed when, after turning to the bat ponies, he realized that they were nowhere around him, and were waving at him from beside Doctor Thaumaturgical.

“Do your best, Sir!” Tempest Void called, her expression serious while Nightcrawler smiled awkwardly. “You got this!”

Arthas tilted his head, confused by the display, but quickly shook it off as he turned back to the image of Illidan. Just as it had been gathering power, he opened himself to the Light fully, asking It to aid him in this battle with Its holy power. The Light gathered in him, giving him Its blessing and strength, and when Illidan, his body crackling with arcane magic, came at him, Arthas, the Holy Avenger in hoof, met him head on.

The fire exploded around them as two fighters, one with wings leathery and ethereal, the other feathered and holy, clashed.

“That’s weird.”

Nightcrawler glanced at his partner. “Which part specifically? And shouldn’t you do something about it?” he added, nodding at the wound at her side he could see through her torn up uniform.

Tempest pressed a hoof to the wound. “It’s a shallow wound,” she replied, then showed him her hoof. “See?”

Indeed, there was only a little bit of blood on it, despite her bleeding for a few moments now. Seeing she had convinced him, Tempest brought her hoof to her muzzle, licking the blood. Shuddering uncomfortably, Nightcrawler turned away.

Giggling, Tempest added: “But if it bothers you so much…” Shadows enveloped her hoof as she again pressed it to her side, mending her wound. “Back to what I was saying… Doesn’t Sir Lightbringer’s ‘empowered form’ mentioned in the report look different?”

Frowning, Nightcrawler focused on the paladin. He was fighting this bizarre conjured image, having empowered himself with the Holy Light. “She’s right,” Nightcrawler realized, blinking. They both had read the reports detailing Sir Lightbringer’s abilities, and knew that when he would amass such amount of power, his entire body would transform into pure Light, with the shape of an alicorn. He had done that both in his fight with Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra.

Why, then, now as he faced something apparently as dangerous (if not more), he was still an earth pony, albeit glowing with the Holy Light, and two huge Light-made wings?

“Could this be some other form or something?” he asked Tempest; after all, she had a better understanding of such powers.

“I don’t know… in any case, Sir Lightbringer doesn’t seem bothered by it,” she noted, crossing her forelegs on her chest.

She was right; the paladin was completely focused on the fight, parrying strike after strike and attacking whenever he had a chance. As Nightcrawler watched, he noticed that Sir Lightbringer’s attacks seemed to have more strength behind them, often pushing back the conjured image’s blades. He also didn’t seem bothered by wings; they didn’t hinder his movements whenever he would turn around or dodge. They would also flap, as if he was helping himself move around with them. Nightcrawler wondered if he would be able to fly with them.

“It would appear to be some form of manifestation of the amount of holy magic he had gathered in his body,” Doctor Thaumaturgical spoke up, making both bat ponies turn to him. “Fascinating.”

“Doctor Thaumaturgical, if you don’t mind me asking,” Nightcrawler began, now relaxed when it looked that Sir Lightbringer was going to beat that thing, “why did your Proving Grounds conjure… that?”

“Ah yes, that is most puzzling,” the unicorn replied, turning away from the fight and resuming tinkering with Proving Grounds’ controls. However, the only effect it seemed to have was cause a small electric-like charge that shocked him. Frowning with annoyance, the doctor continued: “The device should only be able to conjure images of creatures that had been recorded in its databanks. Seeing how that’s not what had happened, and that this creature is something I am fairly certain nopony in Equestria ever saw, I would hazard a guess that the main source of malfunction was the Examining Band.”

“Examining Band?” Nightcrawler repeated, frowning. “You mean that bracelet thingy you asked to Sir Lightbringer to put on?”

“Yes, that- um,” Doctor Thaumaturgical stopped, frowning at both of them, “how long exactly have you two been here, Lieutenant?”

“We’ve been assigned to Ponyville for some time,” Tempest replied before Nightcrawler could. She didn’t turn to the doctor, still observing the fight. “Since nothing is going on around the town, we came to see Sir Lightbringer test your device.”

“We’re… pretty bored,” Nightcrawler added to the explanation, smiling with embarrassment. “The only exciting thing that had happened since we’ve been here was a zebra shooting that changeling princess, and the situation was handled without the need for our intervention.”

“We would have stayed out of sight today as well, if Sir Lightbringer hadn’t been in trouble,” Tempest added, shrugging. “Nightwatchers of the Night Guard aren’t exactly supposed to…” she trailed off before frowning and whispering: “what?”

Worried that something had happened to Sir Lightbringer, Nightcrawler quickly turned his attention back to the fight. A moment later he relaxed; the paladin had just easily dodged the image’s strike, and raising both forehooves blasted him with the Light.

“It seems he has everything under control,” he thought, relieved. Both of them were fighting fiercely, without either gaining any serious wounds so far, but ever since their intervention Sir Lightbringer had performed far more attacks than the image had. “I don’t think he will need our help again.”

“What was it?” he asked his partner, curious what caused her to frown.

“Nothing,” Tempest retorted, shrugging. “I must have been seeing things.”

Nightcrawler rolled his eyes, ignoring her. If she had indeed was “seeing things”, then there was no way she would admit what it was she had thought she had seen. Instead of continuing the subject, he turned to the unicorn.

“Anyway, Doctor, you were saying?”

“Ah, yes, the Examining Band,” Doctor Thaumaturgical said, clearing his throat. “As I was saying, I think it is responsible for this situation. I think that it somehow, instead of scanning Sir Lightbringer’s body as it should and monitoring it, scanned his memories, and created an opponent from his memories.”

That explanation made surprising sense to Nightcrawler. He had never know of any creature like this. The closest race he knew that resembled it were minotaurs, but their horns and legs didn’t look so… twisted. Nor did they have leathery wings, that were torn on the edges.

“Not to mention that it apparently can use magic, and possesses some… unique abilities,” he thought, glancing at the blindfold covering its eyes.

When Tempest told him to incapacitate it, Nightcrawler had cloaked himself in shadows before even starting to approach it. He was certain that nopony could see him, but still, to be safe, he had made sure to stay in the conjured image’s blind spot as he attacked, aiming his daggers in where he assumed were its vital points. It was not only able to sense him, but also deflected both of his daggers with just one slash of his weird weapon, and then proceeded to choke him with its free hand. If he hadn’t disengaged with Shadowstep, he would probably be dead now.

Or indebted to Tempest Void, which in all honesty could make death seem a preferable option.

“Those lights glowing behind the blindfold… are those its eyes?” Nightcrawler wondered, recalling the unpleasant sensation he felt when it stared at him up close. They didn’t seem like eyes, more like… small flaming orbs? “Just what is this creature?”

Doctor Thaumaturgical, oblivions to his inner musing, added last one sentence to his earlier explanation: “Why this specific one, I do not know.”

“The width of the edge of its blades matches one of the scars on his chest,” Tempest unexpectedly cut in, her eyes still on the fight. “Your invention might have simply picked the memory of his toughest fight.”

Nightcrawler turned his attention back to the fight, taking a better look at the weapons the image was using. “Now that I think about it… I think they match his scars,” he thought, recalling one of the few times he had seen Sir Lightbringer without his armor since their deployment in Ponyville. Glancing at Tempest Void, he added: “Of course she would pick it up right away…”

Suddenly, Tempest’ eyes grew wide as plates. “Shit. I wasn’t seeing things…”

“What?” Nightcrawler asked, alarmed, as he looked at the fight.

As before, however, he hadn’t noticed anything wrong. True, Sir Lightbringer had been hit on the foreleg, but the image’s blade didn’t pierce his armor.

“Then why is Tempest so worried?”

“Dammit!”

That was all Arthas could think while dodging the fake Illidan’s strike as best he could. To say this day fight wasn’t going as he would have liked was a sore understatement at this point.

When he had empowered his body with the Holy Light, he had assumed that he would become this “Light-made alicorn” he had before. At first, he thought that was what had happened, as he felt his attacks as strong as back then - at least, as far as he could recall - and he almost effortlessly began to push back the image of Illidan. After a few seconds, however, he realized that his body was still made of flesh, and that only “physical” difference that had happened to him was that the Light manifested behind him in the form of two wings.

He didn’t let that bother him, as he had to focus on the fight. As their duel continued, he slowly realized that maybe there wasn’t anything to be bothered about, just maybe intrigued. True, he could no longer fly, nor could he manipulate holy magic as precisely as back when he had fought King Sombra. His physical strength however still seemed as increased as it used to be, and not having to change his physical body into pure Light should mean that he wouldn’t be as exhausted after the wings would disappear as he was when he changed back from his alicorn form.

“It has been months since the last time I had to use it. When I had fought King Sombra…” he mused when he got a short - literally three second long - breather. “Twilight will be probably more intrigued about what had changed than me.”

What happened later during the fight, though, was far more alarming.

The first time it had happened, he was certain that his eyes were playing tricks on him. After he had deflected a blow from both warglaives, for a brief moment, the Holy Avenger… almost disappeared. It started to fade, becoming transparent to the point he could easily see through it, but Arthas could still feel it in his grasp. However, he barely had time to register that, when it became fully visible again. Having lost a split second because of that, the fake Illidan had easily dodged his slash, but Arthas didn’t let that discourage him. Pushing that incident out of his mind, he threw himself fully back to the fight.

But just now, it had happened again, and the consequences were much worse.

Holy Avenger faded away, completely, just as Arthas was about to deflect one of the fake Illidan’s warglaives. As a result, the blade passed through and left a scratch on his right fore horseshoe and vambrace. Cursing, Arthas jumped back, dodging the other warglaive. Focusing, he summoned Holy Avenger again, and it appeared in his forehoof’s grasp, as always.

“What is going on?” he wondered as he went into defensive. “Is it because of the spell the image had used?” He thought back to how he felt when the spell hit the Holy Avenger; despite not being hit directly, he felt pain down to his soul. “I’ve always suspected that this blade was made out of a fragment of my soul,” Arthas recalled as he parried a series of strikes, “torn away because of what I’ve been through. If that spell was supposed to damage the soul of the target - and I wouldn’t put it past the real Illidan - it could affect the Holy Avenger. Question is, what should I do about it?”

Not much at the moment, that was for sure. He doubted the real Illidan would allow him a five minute break to consult a blacksmith, let alone his mindless image. And that was besides even the point that there weren’t any blacksmith in town, or that given the nature of this sword a mage would be of bigger help.

“Assuming I won’t be able to catch Twilight before leaving tomorrow and ask her to take a look at it, I guess I will have to wait until I meet this blacksmith Celestia spoke of. Unless I would be able to met her or Luna before that, maybe. In any case,” he thought, focusing fully on his opponent, “I’d better end this fight right now, before Holy Avenger can disappear again.”

The holy wings flared behind him; he felt that his empowered state - “I should check if in one of the librams the name of this… state is mentioned, calling it ‘empowered state’ sounds a bit… pretentious.” - wasn’t going to last long, anyway. Arthas realized that he had to finish this within the next few seconds.

With his free forehoof, he channeled the Light’s power, sending a hammer-shaped blast of Light at the fake Illidan. It dispatched it easily, deflecting it with its right warglaive that was now surrounded by a pulsing aura. Not demoralized, Arthas brought his blade down under the fake Illidan and cut upwards. The image blocked it with left warglaive, but at the same time as the blade rose, another blade, made of Light, shot from the ground before Arthas. It cut through the image’s arcane-made body, inflicting a wound across it torso. Not a mortal wound, but a wound nonetheless. The image, staggering slightly, took a step back.

“It’s over!” Arthas thought as, without wasting any time, he adjusted the Holy Avenger angle and prepared to deliver the finishing blow.

He didn’t get a chance to deliver it.

Just as his blade was about to cut through the fake Illidan’s chest, magic erupted around it. The blast was less powerful than those before, but it still caused Arthas to back away. Shaking off its effect, he was about to jump back at the image when he realized that it hadn’t been its intention to blast him away. The magical blast was merely a subsidiary effect of what it had done.

The tattoos on the chest glowed with bright, blue light, while in contrast the rest of its ethereal body became much darker. The image swelled in size, looking down on Arthas from even further high now as it spread its wings menacingly.

“Oh no…” Arthas thought as his own wings dispersed.

“This is bad, isn’t it?” Nightcrawler asked Tempest.

“Probably,” she replied. With only her ear turning to Doctor Thaumaturgical, she asked: “You’re sure you can’t turn the Proving Grounds off?”

Instead of replying, the unicorn pressed the biggest button on the control console, which only resulted in him getting shocked. “It would appear so, yes,” he said, shaking off the charge.

“Couldn’t we just destroy it?” Nightcrawler asked, glancing at Sir Lightbringer.

The paladin was being pushed back, retreating as he was resigned to merely defending himself. The larger image attacked him with barrage of strikes from his weapons, and Sir Lightbringer was barely keeping up with deflecting them. A few of the attacks managed to get past his defenses already, leaving new marks on the armor.

Hearing Doctor Thaumaturgical gasp, he turned back to him, but Tempest cut in before the unicorn could protest against destruction of his invention.

“The Proving Grounds were commissioned by the Princesses and are to become military’s property. I am not doing the paperwork for destroying something like this.”

Nightcrawler rolled his eyes. “What paperwork? You always dump that on me.”

“How long until the Nadire Crystal runs out of power?” Tempest asked Doctor Thaumaturgical, completely ignoring him.

“Assuming the energy gauge isn’t malfunctioning,” the unicorn began, tapping an indicator above the Nadire Crystal, “the power is already down to... twenty percent. Amazing how fast this model is draining it.”

“This form is probably going to consume the remaining energy even faster,” Tempest hummed, pondering. “Still, it might be better to intervene before it has a chance to inflict some serious wounds on Sir Lightbringer. Doctor,” she turned to Doctor Thaumaturgical, “this thing is supposed to react to every type of attack like a real person would, right?”

“Um, yes, that is correct,” he replied, slightly confused.

Nightcrawler frowned, having a foreboding feeling as to where this was going. “What are you planning?”

Instead of replying, Tempest Void did exactly what he had expected she would do. Shadows enveloped her, making her entire body appear slightly transparent and black, with shadowy energies surrounding her.

“Tempest,” he began as he heard the unicorn gasp in surprise, “you know Captain Nightshade-”

“Fuck him,” Tempest cut him off calmly, her voice slightly distorted.

“Pretty sure you did,” Nightcrawler thought, pouting; he would never dare to say it outloud.

“Okay then, you know Princess Luna said to not use those powers in front of ponies for the time being,” he tried differently.

“I’m pretty sure Her Majesty will overlook using the shadow magic to save the godfather of her daughter,” Tempest countered, shrugging. “Now focus. This time I will be the diversion. I will attack first, and when he tries to recover, end it.”

Sighing, Nightcrawler grabbed his daggers. “I hope you know what you’re doing…”

“I always know what I am doing. It’s a pity, though,” Tempest added before they started; when he looked at her, he saw that she was smirking. “First time to use my powers on somebody, and I won’t be able to hear its screams as its mind unfolds…”

“And she wonders why Nightshade broke up with her…”

As another of the fake Illidan’s attacks made it past his defense, Arthas was again forced to take it on his armor. However, as he was about to counterattack, he stopped, his eyes bulging from pain. This time, the Warglaive of Azzinoth dug deeper than before, slashing through his armor and biting into his flesh.

Wincing in pain at his side, he barely raised his sword in time to block the other warglaive. Immediately afterwards, he spun on his axis and slashed the image upwards, with a big blade of Light striking from the ground as well. The fake Illidan jumped into the air, however, before he could wound him.

As it further distanced itself from him, Arthas took the opportunity to heal himself. He pressed his Light-enveloped hoof to the wound, then, as he felt the wound closing, he turned to look at the Illidan’s copy. It hovered high above him, it appearance being a perfect image of Illidan’s demonic form.

This is what you have given me. This gift - this power. And it will destroy you!

Arthas clenched his teeth in impotent rage. “Just how much power is there left in the Nadire Crystal?! For Light’s sake, at this point wouldn’t it make more sense to weaponize the Proving Grounds?!”

As if to prove his point, the image of Illidan had unleashed a powerful beam from his eyes just as he finished healing himself. Cursing, Arthas prayed to the Light for protection, hoping that an attack of such scale - he was pretty sure the blue-flamed beam would cover the area within two feet radius around him - would drain the Nadire Crystal’s energy even further.

“To think that this is what I’ve been reduced to…”

With the Light’s shield protecting him from harm, Arthas was resigned to “admiring” the blue ethereal flames, as the world around him became engulfed by them. Dispersing the Holy Avenger for the moment, he put more willpower into his barrier, strengthening it as the attack continued.

Several seconds later, however, it stopped. It was so sudden that instead of following with a counter attack Arthas merely stared at the image of Illidan. It kept itself in the air with its wings, flapping the slowly as it turned its head away from the paladin. One of its hands was outstretched before it, as if having cast a counterspell. Worried that Doctor Thaumaturgical had attacked him with magic, Arthas followed fake Illidan’s gaze, words of rebuke at the tip of his tongue, but to his surprise he found himself looking not at the unicorn, but at Tempest Void.

Tempest Void in a Shadowform, to be more specific.

“I suppose this means I got to meet one of the bat ponies who became able to use void magic earlier than Luna had planned,” he thought, although at the moment he didn’t care what kind of powers she was using.

What mattered was that she just became a target for the image of Illidan.

As the fake Illidan swooped down at her, Arthas pointed his hoof at him, concentrating. He channeled Light’s powers in an effort to limit his movements. Golden, Light-made chains appeared around the image, suspending it for a brief moment. The conjured foe quickly freed itself, though, making Arthas wince. He shrugged it off almost immediately, worried what the image would do to Tempest Void.

To her credit, the bat pony didn’t seem worried. From her outstretched hoof a blue stream shot at the fake Illidan, hitting it in the head. As its head became illuminated in blue light, the image slowed down a bit, its face twisting in pain. It still continued to descend towards Tempest Void, though. The bat pony frowned - at least Arthas thought so; with her features obscured due to her Shadowform it was hard to tell - and briefly stopped her attack. She uttered a single word as she pointed at the image of Illidan with her other hoof, before resuming her earlier spell. The fake Illidan, now in even more pain, now stopped, dropping his warglaives and grabbing its head as it hovered in mid-air as Tempest used the shadow magic to assault its mind.

Almost immediately the other bat pony, Nightcrawler, rushed at it from behind, a cloak of shadows that hid him from sight disappearing as he aimed his daggers at the image from behind. The conjured image, however, must have sensed him, as he moved partially out of the way, resulting in Nightcrawler’s daggers tearing up its right wing’s membrane.

It wouldn’t cause much more than some irritation to the fake Illidan, as it was merely three feet above the ground at that point. With its left wing it easily descended down in a controlled dive. As it fell down, it grabbed Nightcrawler by his tail, and chucked him at Tempest Void. The bat pony stallion, taken by surprise, managed to pierce its hand before it threw him.

Tempest Void had to stop her spellcasting to try and dodge the incoming Nightcrawler, but she still wasn’t fast enough. The other bat pony collided with her, stunning both of them for a moment.

It was more than enough time for the image to land on the ground undisturbed and recover its Twin Blades of Azzinoth. However, it also shrank in size, reverting to Illidan’s normal form. Arthas, seeing his chance, quickly charged at him. Before he could cross the distance between them, though, it threw one of the warglaives at the bat ponies, only then turning to the paladin.

Cursing as he realized that the two were still recovering and wouldn’t be able to dodge it, Arthas stopped and uttered a quick prayer, erecting a barrier of Light around them before the warglaive could hurt them. To his surprise, however, it hit the ground, and exploded in blue fire. As the image of Illidan attacked him with the other warglaive, no less lethal than when wielding two, Arthas saw in the corner of his eye the flames, that had washed over the shield around bat ponies, took shape resembling a fire elemental.

“You two get a hold of yourself and keep that thing busy!” Arthas called out to the bat ponies as he blocked the fake Illidan's strike with Holy Avenger.

As he saw them raise to their hooves and nod, he focused on the image of Illidan, while still keeping the protection around them to shield them from the flames. The image was wounded and had only one weapon now. Despite how exhausted Arthas currently was and how he still needed to protect the bat ponies, he should’ve been able to finish this now.

However, as he exchanged a few hits with it, he soon found himself staring at the image’s outstretched hand, that was pulsing with magic. Too late did he realize that while it had to favor the wounded hand and couldn’t wield a warglaive as efficiently, it could still cast a spell.

A fireball shot at him, hitting him right at his chest and exploding, sending him hurling through the ground several feet. Slightly disoriented from that and in quite a lot of pain, despite the armor absorbing most of the damage, Arthas struggled to get up.

Trying to concentrate on the words of a healing prayer, he glanced at the image of Illidan. It was running towards him, its warglaive raised.

“Oh my goodness, I’m going to be so late,” Fluttershy exclaimed as she hurried towards the town.

She had spent the entire day again learning from Provato, as she had been for the last couple of days. She just found it all so… fascinating! Fluttershy had always felt a special connection to animals, but she had never thought that it might extend to all nature.

“That might explain why I liked to spend so much time in the backhouse with Mom’s flowers, though.”

And she would never think that she would be able to somehow draw on the powers of nature in order to help others. Not just help preserve the balance of nature, but her friends and other ponies. Provato had told her that he sensed great potential in her, and he was always amazed at the rate she would learn his teachings. If there would ever be another dangerous situation happening to them and they wouldn’t have the Elements of Harmony, like when they went to the Crystal Empire, she wouldn’t have to worry about being a burden. She could fight alongside everypony!

But because of her excitement, she had lost track of time. Again. Only when Provato had told her they would stop for today did she look up at the sun and realized how late she was. Saying a respectful farewell to her teacher, Fluttershy hurried back to her cottage to quickly freshen up, then flew to Ponyville. She was dimly aware that she was flying a bit faster than before and it was less exhausting that she was used to; Provato had told her about it.

“As you bond closer with nature and the spirits of the wild, your body might adapt to it, becoming stronger and more swift,” he had said during one of her first lessons, after which he had taught her a nature spell which could for a short time further increase a pony’s strength, agility and even resilience.

As Fluttershy pondered if she should use it on herself - whether or not it would be alright for her to use magic meant for preserving nature so that she could be tiny bit sooner on the party she was already late for - she noticed some lights from the Everfree Abbey, which was now before her.

“That’s strange, I thought Mattie would be already at the party,” Fluttershy thought, frowning. “And is that… blue fire?!”

Worried, she hurried over. What she saw as she got closer made her eyes grow wide. The fire was coming from some strange, fire-like creature, which was facing two bat ponies. Several feet away Arthas was laying on the ground, his armor singed, as some monster was about to attack him.

Without thinking, she swooped down, ignoring a surprised and alarmed coo from Al’ar - with whom, as he had been apparently observing whatever this was the entire time from the roof of the barracks and did nothing, she would have some words with - and landed not far away from Arthas and the monster. At the same time, she expanded her mind, communing with the plants around them and asking them to spread their roots where she wanted them too.

Entangling roots erupted from the ground beneath the monster, wrapping themselves around him and stopping him dead in his tracks.

“Leave him alone!” she shouted, furious that he wanted to harm one of her closest friends.

The creature turned his horned head to her… and all the fury in her dispersed, replaced by fear. Fluttershy had already considered him to be a monster, purely by the fact alone that he had harmed Arthas, although she had to admit that even she found the wings sprouting from its back to be… monstrous. But his face… its feature were so… demonic! The horns, far more curled and sharp-edged than a minotaurs were, the sharp teeth as it grinned at her, and the eyes… those burning, hidden behind a blindfold eyes…

Fluttershy tried to get a grip on herself, but as she almost calmed herself, she realized that blue fire erupted around the creature, burning the roots binding him. Almost immediately, it pointed his right hand at her, and fire shot from it.

Paralyzed by fear and reeling from the pain she felt the roots had experienced, Fluttershy could only stare at the fireball as it approached her rapidly.

“No!” Arthas exclaimed, forgetting about his wounds and getting to his hooves immediately, throwing himself in Fluttershy and fake Illidan’s direction.

He had been too late to stop it from casting the fireball. He would be too late to get to Fluttershy in time. He couldn’t ask the Light for her protection; he was still shielding the bat ponies from the flames, and as wounded as he was, he doubted he could focus on protecting somepony so far away. He was also dimly aware of Al’ar’s alarmed caw and heard the flap of his wings, but he knew that he was too far away to get to her in time either.

Arthas could only call out for help. Opening himself to the Light, he begged for help. He called out like he did when he called upon the Guardian of Ancient Kings, except this time putting everything he was to this mental plea. So absorbed he was by his concern for Fluttershy, that he ignored the burning pain around his hoof from the Examining Band.

Or that the image of Illidan, which was now right before him, had began to turn around, his blade raised.

Suddenly, his plea had been answered. By who or what, Arthas did not know at the moment, nor did he care. All he knew was that the Light suddenly erupted around Fluttershy, and the fireball that was about to hit her had dispersed.

Relieved, he finally turned his attention to the fake Illidan.

He could see the warglaive in its left hand. He knew that he couldn’t deflect it; the Holy Avenger had either disappeared again or had been dropped by him, in either case it wasn’t in his hoof. He knew he couldn’t protect himself with the aid of the Holy Light; not after the call he had made. He knew he couldn’t dodge it, too.

But he was damn well going to try.

Arthas tilted his body, hoping to avoid the warglaive at least partially, but the image was too fast. The blade struck him in his chest, piercing his armor, skin and right lung, then left lung as well and coming out through his back. His eyes bulged from paralyzing pain. Blood gathered in his muzzle and he choked on it as he tried to draw breath.

The face of the fake Illidan leaned closer, grinning at him triumphantly as it lifted him up to be on his eye level. Grinding his teeth, Arthas gathered what little strength he had left to raise his right forehoof, praying to the Light to smite it…

… and with a blue flash, it disappeared.

All of it. The image of Illidan, the flames and the creature that had been causing them, and the blade that had been in his torso and was holding him up in the air. Arthas fell to the ground, his pain only increasing as he hit the ground. Laying on his back, he focused on breathing, which with his lungs rapidly filling with blood wasn’t easy. It was all he could do to not pass out, let alone focus on healing himself.

With pain coursing through him with every breath, Arthas couldn’t focus on anything that was happening around him. It was like he was underwater, with every sound becoming drowned out, and his vision becoming blurry. Which is why, when the pain started to gradually lessen, at first Arthas thought that he was dying.

But as his head cleared, he realized the reason for that.

By his side was sitting Fluttershy, her face glistening from tears. She had placed her forehooves gently on his armored chest, and green, natural energy flew around them. As his senses slowly returned, Arthas realized that she was using this energy, this magic, to heal him.

“F-flutter-shy?” he asked, surprised, despite the pain he was still in and the blood still in his muzzle. “W-when did-”

But she silenced him. “Shh, don’t talk,” Fluttershy said, surprisingly calmly for somepony who's entire face was wet with tears.

Taking into consideration that a stream of blood ran down his muzzle when he tried to speak, Arthas listened to her. Slowly, he raised his forehoof and placed it next to his wound besides Fluttershy’s, helping her with her efforts.

With both holy and druidic magic spreading through his body, the wound began to close gradually and the damage done to his lungs was gradually repaired. As he was no longer in danger of dying, Arthas began to think about what had happened.

“The Nadire Crystal must have finally run out of power,” he thought as breathing became easier. He would have sighed if he wasn’t sure it would result in him coughing up blood. “I’m glad that it’s over-”

“Um, Sir?” he hear Tempest Void suddenly spoke up from somewhere behind Fluttershy. “You might want to get up soon.”

The alarmed note in her voice made him raise his head slightly. What he saw made his eyes widen.

Two new humanoid figures were standing, in the place where Fluttershy had been. Realization that it was them that had saved her however didn’t comfort Arthas. He knew their shapes well; he was familiar with the suspiciously sparse armor, the transparent feathered wings sprouting from their backs, and the helmets covering their eyes.

Unlike those that he had been familiar with, though, those two val’kyr weren’t blue, but golden. The Holy Light emanated from them, marking them as val’kyr of the Halls of Valor, the servants of Odyn.

Arthas frowned. What were they doing here?

As he recovered with Fluttershy’s aid, waiting until he was strong enough to rise, he was relieved that the two val’kyr hadn’t done anything to anypony, and instead stared at him calmly. Despite that, both Tempest Void and Nightcrawler stood between them and Arthas and Fluttershy, prepared to intercept them should they attack. Al’ar was also there, standing protectively next to Fluttershy and glaring at the val’kyr.

“I was not prepared for today,” he heard Nightcrawler sigh.

Placing his forehoof on the now closed wound, Arthas was forced to agree with him. “Neither was I.”

If he still had a hand, it would have clenched into a fist.

152. Spreading their Wings

Having recovered with Fluttershy’s aid, Arthas rose carefully from the ground, wincing. The wound might have been healed, but the body could still “remember” it. After his battle with King Sombra, it took him several days to make a full recovery from all the injuries he had taken. Now, after having a giant blade - one that, in the past, cut his chest open, leaving a mark so permanent that it even carried on to this new body he had, and grazed his heart - pierce through his chest, it ached slightly as he drew breath, and as blood came up his throat he realized that there was still more of it in his lungs.

“It will take me some time to get back to full strength after such an injury,” Arthas thought as he stood up. “Hopefully I will be fine by the time we get to Dread Isle… assuming, of course,” he added, casting the val’kyr a glance, “that fate doesn’t have anything else in store for me…”

He really hoped that whatever the reason behind their presence in Equestria was, this situation wasn’t about to devolve into a fight. Whatever his opinion of what he knew about the Titan Keeper Odyn whom they served and his actions was, those two were without a doubt ascendet warriors of the Light. Arthas had no wish to fight beings like those.

Also, in his condition it would be a tough fight, even if he wasn’t already exhausted after battling the image of Illidan.

“Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked him, taking his attention away from the val’kyr for a moment.

Turning to her, Arthas once again took notice of her reddened eyes and tear marks on her fur. “I must have really worried her,” he thought, immediately feeling even worse than he already had about getting so wounded by an image of Illidan.

“Thanks to you, Fluttershy,” he said, smiling. “Thank you for healing me.”

“Oh, it was nothing,” Fluttershy replied, slightly blushing. She brushed her eyes with her hoof and continued: “I’m just relieved that… I-I mean, that wound looked…” she trailed off, looking down on the ground and not meeting his gaze.

Arthas stopped smiling. “I know, but you saved me,” he told her, truly meaning it. In the state he had been in, he wouldn’t have been able to pray to the Light for healing. He had come close to passing out before Fluttershy began to treat him. “Don’t think too much about what could have been, Fluttershy.”

The shy pegasus looked up at him, his words calming her down a bit. Arthas would have preferred to stay and make sure she was fine, and then ask her about where she had learned druidism, but the silent presence of the val’kyr had became continuously unnerving to everypony.

Arthas turned to the two undead vrykul females and began to trot towards them, pausing only briefly by Al’ar. Stay close to her, he told him mentally, glancing meaningly at Fluttershy. The Phoenix God probably didn’t need such reminder, but he nodded his head ever so slightly and gazed at the val’kyr.

“Stand down, lieutenants,” Arthas told Tempest and Nightcrawler as he passed them. “Those two aren’t enemies of Equestria.”

“But might be mine,” he added in his thoughts.

As if picking up on his misgivings, Tempest commented: “Curious choice of words, Sir.”

Ignoring her, Arthas continued to walk until he stood before the towering val’kyr. As he trotted towards them, he took a quick glance at Doctor Thaumaturgical. The unicorn was still besides his invention, and, as one might expect, was currently more focused on the two unknown creatures instead of figuring out why the Proving Grounds had malfunctioned.

The val’kyr’s heads were turned to Arthas. They were standing still, seemingly unmoved by their surroundings. Which, seeing how they were on an entirely different world and surrounded by colorful talking ponies, was rather unexpected. However, Arthas did pick up on some… nervousness, emanating from them. Nervousness that he suspected had nothing to do with being on Equestria.

“They are, after all, focusing all their attention on me,” Arthas thought. Taking a brief glance at their weapons before speaking, shield and sword wielded by the val’kyr on the right, spear by the one on the left. “Then again, unlike most beings who would recognize me, they hadn’t raised their weapons at me… yet.” Sighing inwardly, he added: “I hope they aren’t as ‘fanatical’ as Annhylde and others made their former sisters be.”

“Honorable val’kyr,” Arthas addressed them finally, bowing his head slightly in respect, “you have come a long way from the Halls of Valor. Regardless of the reason for it, I offer you my gratitude for saving my friend.”

He took some satisfaction in seeing the two females exchange looks briefly. Whether they were surprised by his manners or by his knowledge of the Halls of Valor, it remained to be seen.

“It was not by our choice that we saved her,” the val’kyr on the left spoke. She had a strong, loud voice, as it was typical of the vrykul female she had been in life. “My sister and I were pulled out from the Shadowlands to the land of the living by your plea to do so.”

“We would have thought it impossible for a mortal to force a val’kyr to do her bidding… had the mortal not been you, Arthas Menethil,” her sister added, her voice nearly identical.

Not surprised that they knew him, Arthas shrugged. “I assure you, holy maidens, it was not my intention to force you into anything. My solely concern was my friend’s well being. I had intended to summon a benevolent spirit to her aid; I do not understand why you were called instead.”

“Um…” another voice spoke up before the val’kyr could reply. Everybody turned at once to Doctor Thaumaturgical, who was the one to utter that sound. “I… think I can explain it, Sir,” the unicorn said, slightly put off by the attention he received, especially from the two sisters. “Um, the thing is, I believe it was caused by the Examining Band. It might have detected your mental plea for help, and magnified it using the power of the Nadire Crystal - which explains why it ran out of power right afterwards - resulting in pulling those, um, lovely ladies from whatever those ‘Shadowlands’ are.”

Arthas frowned as he looked down on the hoof where he wore the band. “Now that you mention it, I did feel it burn a moment before the val’kyr appeared.”

“Yes, as I suspected. The Examining Band was probably also responsible for the Proving Grounds’ malfunction,” the unicorn added, nodding. “It must have somehow scanned your memories for the toughest opponent you had faced and caused the Proving Grounds to conjure the image of… that creature. And the alteration in turn also caused it to stop responding to the subject’s, meaning yours Sir, vitals, and made it unable to dispel the image. I’m deeply sorry about it, Sir, I promise I will fix this issue.”

“See that you do, Doctor,” Arthas told him; seeing how one of his best friends could have been harmed and he himself came close to dying, he didn’t bother with being polite. “I do not want my initiates to get themselves killed while fighting fake enemies.”

Of course, he wouldn’t want his initiates to die at all, but he didn’t want the val’kyr - who, as their task was bringing the souls of worthy vrykul warriors to the Halls of Valor, might appreciate honourable death more than life - to look down on him because of that. Aside from the literal sense.

“I apologise for the inconvenience you experienced, maidens,” Arthas told the val’kyr, turning once again to them. “However, if you wouldn’t mind, may I ask: why were you here?” He frowned as he continued. “There’s no way my plea, even if magnified by this contraption, could drag you all this way through Shadowlands from Azeroth. What were you doing on this world?”

Feeling the val’kyr glare at him from behind their helmets, Arthas was also aware that everypony else here must be giving him really confused looks. He would worry about them later, though. Right now determining the reason behind the presence of val’kyr on the world of Equestria was more important.

Unexpectedly, both maidens sheathed their weapon before their replied. “You speak as though you have the right to ask such questions, Arthas Menethil,” the val’kyr on his left replied coldly, crossing her arms on her chest.

“I swore an oath before the Princesses that rule this land, val’kyr,” Arthas countered in an equally cold tone. “If your presence here poses a threat to their subjects, then as their servant, as well as a paladin of the Holy Light, it will be my duty to send you away.”

The spear-wielding val’kyr grimaced under her helmet, and opened her mouth to reply in probably glowering manner, but her sister spoke first. “We did not come all this way to cause troubles for the denizens of this world, Arthas Menethil. You have our word on that.”

“I’m relieved to hear that. Could you tell me why did you come here then?”

The sword-and-shield-wielding val’kyr glanced briefly at her sister, who, while still dismayed, nodded. “In the month following the fall of the Lich King, Odyn had foreseen you returning to life, in this body and on this world,” she told Arthas, utterly surprising him. He had figured that they were here because of him, but not that the Titan Keeper they served actually knew he would be resurrected before it had happened. “He had sent us to locate your soul in the darkest, deepest depths of the Shadowlands and wait. When the Light pulled your soul away, we followed.”

“Wait,” Arthas interrupted her, his eyes wide. “Are you saying that you know who or what was responsible for my resurrection?”

But to his disappointment, both val’kyr shook their heads. “By the time we caught up with you, you were already in your new body, waking up in that forest,” the val’kyr replied.

“Figures it wouldn’t be this easy,” Arthas sighed.

“Odyn was also displeased that we weren’t able to find this out,” the spear-wielding val’kyr said. “Or how exactly they’d done it, either. That is why he had sent us back here, to observe you and see if you lead us to the answers we want.”

Arthas found himself frowning again at the two towering females. “So you’ve been here this whole time? Spying on me? Let me ask you this, then,” he added as before the other val’kyr could reply, “what were you to do if I had died? During this fight, or my fight with King Sombra or Queen Chrysalis?”

While the spear-wielding val’kyr seemed unmoved by his question, her sister appeared to be slightly uncomfortable as she gave him the answer he had expected. “We were ordered to retrieve your soul and bring you before Odyn if such thing were to happen.”

“You should feel honored,” the other val’kyr said before Arthas could reply. “To think somebody like you would be permitted into the Halls of Valor, even if for a short time only, is unthinkable.”

“I assure you, my dismay stems mostly out of worry for what would happen to my friends and ponies who I swore to protect from the hands of somebody able to kill me, all while you two would be performing your duties,” Arthas told her coldly. Ignoring the angry, thin line that her mouth had become, he turned to the sword-and-shield-wielding val’kyr. “If you had been observing me from the Shadowlands all this time, then you know the Princesses theorized I’ve been revived by something called ‘the Gate of Tartarus’. Why didn't you find it and…” he trailed off, the realization hitting him. “You’ve bound yourselves to my soul, didn’t you?”

“It was the only way to follow a soul travelling between such distant worlds, even though the Shadowlands,” the val’kyr confirmed his guess, causing him to facehoof and groan. “We can still go back to the Halls of Valor for a short time, but other than that we cannot leave your vicinity.”

“The irony is killing me…” Arthas muttered as he listened to the val’kyr’s explanation.

He didn’t know what was worse: knowing that this whole time he had two powerful val’kyr bound to him and he, the former Lich King, didn’t realize (admittedly, with his soul having been so torn and his distaste for using any abilities reminiscent of his time as the Lich King, it was understandable how he hadn’t noticed them lurking around him from the Shadowlands); how they could have helped with many battles he had faced in Equestria; that despite no longer being the Lich King he still had val’kyr bound to him; or that now there was something he and Sylvanas had in common.

Arthas should be angry. He was angry. Not only did those two do nothing but observe him for all those months, but also were basically waiting for him to die so they could drag him before Odyn to do Light knows what to him. And on top of that, that meant that for the past few months he had no privacy, even if he were to disregard Bolvar and Ner’zhul, who admittedly paid no attention to what he was doing during more private times.

“Which also means that they were the only two living beings that know about me and Twilight, probably. Well, not living,” he corrected himself, inwardly rolling his eyes. “Still, Twilight will start to panic when she learns about this. Which will be so…” he paused, trying to think of a good way to describe Twilight’s panic attacks. ‘Unnerving’ and ‘potentially dangerous’ came to mind. So did ‘somewhat amusing’, too. Finally he settled for a sarcastic: “... fun.”

He took a deep, calming breath before he addressed the two val’kyr. “Now that I know about this bond, it would be fairly easy to break it, releasing you,” he told them.

It was true. After having bound so many val’kyr - not to mention various other undead - to his will, Arthas had no doubt he would be able to break the bond, something that was impossible to do the other way around.

“But I am not going to do that just yet,” Arthas added. He could practically see both val’kyr frowning in confusion as he continued: “Whether you had done this willingly or not, the fact is that you had saved my friend’s life. In return, I will help you fulfill the mission given to you by Odyn.”

They had saved Fluttershy’s life, so he couldn’t be angry. Which they wouldn’t have been able to do if Odyn hadn’t send them after his soul. And as he calmed himself, he had to admit that considering who he had been and what had happened to him, the Titan Keeper had good reasons for keeping an eye on him. Arthas had also realized that he couldn’t really expect the val’kyr to do anything but observe him. For millennia, their duty had been to gather the souls of worthy vrykul and bring them to the Halls of Valor; not to interfere in any manner.

“Of course,” Arthas added in his thoughts, “if they would find themselves bound to somebody, that could change…”

Standing a bit straighter, he addressed the two surprised val’kyr in a strong voice: “Pass those words to Keeper Odyn, the Prime Designate of Azeroth, from Sir Lightbringer, Grand Master of the Order of the Celestial Light, paladin of the Holy Light and knight defender of Equestria. In return for the assistance your val’kyr had provided, albeit unwillingly, I will ask the Princesses I serve for a leave to examine the Gate of Tartarus, which is currently the only lead regarding my resurrection, in the days following my return with my paladins from the Dread Isle.”

“I had put that off long enough, anyway,” he said to himself. It was probably something he should have investigated right after hearing about it, after all. However, it had been over three months after he had been brought to life on Equestria before the Princesses suggested that the Gate of Tartarus might have been connected to it somehow. The initial interest he had in finding out just who did that had, by that time, mostly dispersed, and besides, he was practically constantly busy afterwards. “I wish I had some means of contacting Brann; the Gate of Tartarus might not be of titan origin - at least, I hope it’s not - but that dwarf has more experience investigating such devices. Hm, I wonder if I could get Daring Do to come along…”

Deciding to postpone planning this little expedition for later, Arthas continued to speak to the val’kyr. He suspected they wouldn’t like this next part. Especially the one wielding a spear.

“However, it wouldn’t feel right with me, to continue allowing two such valorous maidens to merely observe me. With your permission, I would like to put their skills to use through the remaining time they will spend here. Their abilities would be useful while teaching ponies in the ways of combat and Light, especially if we were to face another accident like today. I eagerly await your response,” he finished, and signaled the val’kyr that he was done.

“‘Put them to work’?!” the spear-wielding val’kyr repeated, her nostrils flaring in anger.

“Knew she wouldn’t like it,” Arthas thought, feeling a little satisfaction.

“Do we look like beasts of burden to you?” she asked, glaring at him from behind her helmet.

“Sister…” the other val’kyr began, probably in an attempt to calm her, but Arthas, doubting it would work, cut her off.

“I am merely offering you two a chance to use your powers for a useful purpose,” he told the angry val’kyr, shrugging. “Also,” he added, both his voice and his look turning cold, “it might be wise of you to remember that, since you two are bound to me, I could simply command you to do whatever I want.”

The val’kyr got really angry hearing what she perceived to be a threat. “Why you arrogant mortal-” she began, spreading her wings and flapping them once.

Her sister, however, put her hand on her shoulder, stopping her. They shared a long look, after which the calmed val’kyr turned to Arthas. “We will carry you words to Odyn… Sir Lightbringer. You will hear his answer soon.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” he replied, bowing his head politely.

The val’kyr replied in kind, unlike her sister, who scoffed. Both sisters spread their wings and began flapping them, raising into the sky. They hovered above the ground for a while as their bodies began to fade away. In a manner of seconds they disappeared.

Arthas continued to stare at the space where they had disappeared for a few more moments. To think that all this time there were beings from Azeroth so near him…

“Sooo,” he heard a pony speak from behind him, “would you like to explain that to us, Sir?”

Sighing, he turned around. “I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific, Lieutenant Tempest Void. Which part would you like me to explain?”

The female bat pony tapped her chin, as if pondering what should she say. “Well, I think I speak for everypony when I say we would like to know just what were those beings, and, hm, what was they said about you ‘returning to life”?”

“Yes, I would very much like to know the answer to the latter question myself,” Doctor Thaumaturgical added unexpectedly, as he hurried over to join them in the middle of the training field.

“I suppose I won’t get out of this without answering some of their questions,” Arthas noted, finding it a bit annoying that he had to reveal to more ponies that he had been revived from the dead and used to live on another word. Truth be told, he was beginning to lose track of who knew what about him. “Maybe I should ask Twilight to help me write a list or something…”

“I was dead and then suddenly found myself waking up in the Everfree Forest,” he said. “That’s about all I know, honestly. As you had heard, I’m not the only one puzzled by it.”

“And what was all that about ‘this world’?” the unicorn asked, not letting up.

“I used to life in a world called Azeroth, which is where the val’kyr came from,” Arthas replied calmly, despite already finding this questioning tiresome.

“Well, that would explain why there’s no information regarding you, prior to you appearing in Equestria,” Tempest Void cut in. “If I read the report correctly, you used to say that you came from a faraway land to ponies of Ponyville?”

“Would you expect anypony in such situation to say the truth?” Arthas answered with a question.

“He’s got a point there,” Nightcrawler admitted.

Tempest Void shrugged. “Perhaps. Do the Princesses know about all of this?” she asked Arthas, her expression becoming a little more serious.

“Yes, of course. Well, at least regarding me being brought back to life and having lived on another world,” he amended. “They do know the overall history of Azeroth, but such details like those val’kyr I hadn’t told them about. I would have had I knew they were spying on me from the Shadowlands…” Arthas added, still feeling a little ashamed that he hadn’t realized that.

“Oh, thank you for reminding me,” Doctor Thaumaturgical interrupted, “what are those ‘Shadowlands’, exactly?”

“The realm of spirits, where some of the souls of the deceased reside. From what I had learned, in the world of Equestria it is usually referred to as the Spirit World, mostly by the zebras,” Arthas explained, recalling what he had learned from Twilight’s books. “On Azeroth that name is sometimes used as well.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” the unicorn exclaimed. “Damn, if I had known that it is possible to travel through it between worlds, I would have researched more about it…”

“I doubt it would do you any good, doctor,” Arthas told him. “It’s a realm of spirits. The living can’t enter it easily, and even when they manage that it’s best if they’d stay for only a short time.”

“So what, were those val’kyr or whatever ghosts or something?” Tempest cut in, frowning.

“Sort of,” he answered. “It would take a while to explain, but if you want a simple answer, then yes.”

“Well,” Nightcrawler spoke up, “whatever they were, it was a good thing they were around. Despite your considerable abilities, Sir, and ours, we would have been unable to save the Bearer of Element of Harmony,” he said, turning back to look at Fluttershy.

The pegasus had been staying beside Al’ar, keeping quiet throughout the discussion that had followed val’kyr’s departure. Which, considering she already knew most of what Arthas had to explain to the bat ponies and the unicorn, was not surprising. Also not surprising was her jerking slightly in surprise as the bat pony turned her attention to her.

“We didn’t get a chance to properly introduce ourselves, Miss Fluttershy,” he said, smiling at her reassuringly. To his credit, he seemed to be only slightly bothered by Al’ar, who, still standing beside Fluttershy, was glaring at him. “I’m lieutenant Nightcrawler, and this is my partner, lieutenant Tempest Void. I’m glad that you were unharmed.”

“Oh, um, thank you for your concern,” Fluttershy replied, talking a bit more comfortably with the unknown to her pony.

“It was really brave of you to try and intervene,” Nightcrawler continued. “Although, I must admit, I have no idea what you did exactly. Did you really make those plants entangle the image, and later used magic to heal Sir Lightbringer?” he asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“And there’s the second issue I will have to resolve before we can go enjoy the party at Sugarcube Corner,” Arthas thought. “However, there’s no reason for Fluttershy to explain herself before strangers.”

“That’s enough, Lieutenant,” he told him before Fluttershy could do anything more than look away from Nightcrawler in discomposure. “I will inform the Princesses regarding Fluttershy’s powers myself later, there’s no need for you to question her.”

Nightcrawler, who turned back to look at him, seemed slightly surprised, but quickly nodded. “Right, of course, Sir. Sorry,” he added, turning back to Fluttershy, “just doing my job. And being a bit curious.”

“Yes, I must admit, I’m curious myself…” Doctor Thaumaturgical began, but then he noticed a glare Arthas shot him. “But I suppose I can find out some other time.”

Satisfied that those ponies weren’t going to bother Fluttershy, Arthas relaxed. Glancing at the pegasus, he saw her giving him a grateful smile. Replying with a smile, he hoped that she wouldn’t have any problems with revealing to just him or their friends just how she had learned druidic magic. “After all, she hadn’t spoken about it with anypony…”

Having settled this matter for now, Arthas decided to turn to the third issue.

“Since we’ve touched on the subject of unusual powers,” he began, looking at Tempest Void, “I do have some questions to you, Lieutenant.”

She rolled her narrow-pupiled eyes. “We can’t bother your friend but you can bother me?”

“My friend isn’t the one using void magic,” Arthas retorted.

To his surprise - and annoyance - Tempest Void tilted her head in confusion. “The one using what magic?”

“You mean to tell me you don’t even know what kind of magic it is that you’re using?” Arthas asked, somewhat perplexed.

“Sir, all I know is that the ritual, the Nocturnification Process, was supposed to let bat ponies tap into the power of the moon, and that the powers I’ve been using reminded Princess Luna of the magic King Sombra had used.”

“Not surprising, since I’m almost completely sure this is the exact same type of magic,” Arthas commented in his mind as the bat pony continued.

“It took the Princess and Doctor Angelic another modification into the ritual to finally get the effect they had desired.”

“Oh?” Arthas exclaimed, pulling out of his musing. “I hadn’t heard from Princess Luna about that.”

For some reason, Tempest smirked hearing that. “The Princess might have been worried you would be jealous. Those bat ponies’ powers seem to resemble yours a lot.”

Arthas was only mildly surprised to hear that. Months ago, he had told Luna that to him, the Light was like both light of the sun and light of the moon. Back when he had been on the moon, searching for Moonlight’s body, he could feel the power beneath his hooves. The celestial body radiated with awesome magic, one that, in a way, seemed holy.

“It would appear, then, that those bat ponies can wield the Light through the moon, similar to how the Blood Knights wield It through their Sunwell,” he theorised, intrigued.

“I can’t imagine such night guards to be effective in undercover missions,” Arthas said out loud, letting the conversation go down that way for now.

“Yeah, all those flashy lights would be problematic. Coincidentally, however, by the time the Princess and Doctor made those last adjustments, there was only a hoof-ful left of the Night Guard that hadn’t gone through the process,” Tempest replied, shrugging. “And most of them usually performed more ‘displayable’ duties, anyway, like guarding Princess Luna. As such, the Night Guard had been divided into two divisions. Nightwatchers, like us, who focus on the stealth missions, and Lunar Guard, with those few bat ponies that tap into the moon’s magic, that primarily guard Princess Luna now.”

Arthas began to wonder how come Luna hadn’t told him about any of that, but then he realized that despite everything, she wasn’t required to consult everything with him. After all, he served her and her sister, not the other way around.

“Guess my pride is getting in the way again,” he thought, annoyed at himself.

“Thank you for explaining this to me, Lieutenant” Arthas told Tempest Void. “However, I would be even more thankful if we could get back to our earlier topic: the void magic you’ve been using.”

“Sure,” the bat pony replied. “After all, you seem to know more about it than me. So you said it’s called ‘void magic’? Kinda like this name.”

Frowning in annoyance at Tempest Void’s attitude, Arthas decided he needed to tell her at least a bit of what he knew about void magic. “Void magic, also called shadow magic, is basically the exact opposite of the Light.”

“So you’re preadjusted?” Tempest interrupted him, raising an eyebrow.

“No, far from it. On Azeroth, there had been people wielding dark powers and had brought about a lot of good, while people wielding the Holy Light commited many crimes. As such, I value the intention of a pony more than what kind of powers they wield. However,” he added, “there are a few things about shadow magic that cause me to be wary.”

“Such as?” The question came not from Tempest Void or Nightcrawler, but from Doctor Thaumaturgical instead. “What?” he asked when everypony looked at him after he cut into the discussion. “Professional curiosity.”

Ignoring the unicorn, Arthas turned back to Tempest Void. “The source of those powers is the Void. As the Light brings about feelings of positive emotions, such as hope, courage, or just comfort, the Shadow brings about-”

“-despair, doubt, panic, and all inbetween?” the bat pony mare interrupted, raising an eyebrow again questioningly. “Yeah, I noticed.”

Arthas blinked in surprise. “And… you’re not concerned?”

“Pfft, what for?” she asked, shrugging. “I, along with other bat ponies who realized they can use those powers, am too strong willed to give in to such emotions. Instead, though,” she continued, grinning, “I get to unleash that power on enemies of Equestria and anypony who breaks the law, and they will experience those emotions.”

Arthas’ jaw dropped hearing such… sociopathic declaration, but before he could berate her, Nightcrawler stepped closer and raised his hoof. “Um, Sir? Before you criticize her… she was like this before she went through the Nocturnification Process,” he finished, deadpanning.

The bat pony’s explanation did little to sooth Arthas’ worries. “And she was trusted to serve in the Night Guard regardless?” he asked, frowning.

Nightcrawler opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut off by Tempest Void snorting with laughter. “You clearly hadn’t met too many night guards, Sir,” she said as her partner sighed and facehoofed. Ignoring him, Tempest trotted closer to Arthas. “You’d be surprised how many weirdoes there are among us. Though admittedly I’m probably the weirdest one. But you can relax,” she said as she passed him, swiping her tail by Arthas muzzle, “we’re loyal, to Princess Luna, her sister, Equestria, and to the ponies. Now,” she added, stretching her wings, “if you’re done with your lecture, Sir, Nightcrawler and I should probably report to the Princess what had happened here.”

Arthas wasn’t entirely sure whether he had emphasized enough why void magic was dangerous or not. Perhaps if he told the bat pony about the Old Gods and Twilight’s Hammer cult she would be more cautious about using her powers.

Also, Tempest Void’s demeanor and attitude didn’t exactly endear her to him. Normally, Arthas would have preferred to be sure a pony like that could be trusted before he would leave her out of his sight. However, Princess Luna must have trusted her, if she allowed her to serve in the Night Guard. If she did, who was he to distrust her?

“A paranoid paladin who had once given in to darker emotions and now suspects everypony with similar problems of turning out similar?” he wondered, rolling his eyes in his mind at the description he just gave himself.

“Alright, please do that,” he told Tempest Void. “I will later contact the Princesses and explain what those val’kyr are and who Odyn, whom they serve, is.”

“I’m sure they will look forward to it,” Tempest Void replied. “Want us to mention about your promise to the val’kyr about seeing the Gate of Tartarus, or would you like to surprise the Princesses?”

Arthas shook his head. “No, please tell them about this. We can start planning the expedition sooner if they’ll know about it right away. Assuming, of course, that they will agree to it. However,” he added, “I would like you to report that I’d like to plan two expeditions.”

“Two?” the bat pony repeated, surprised. “What’s the other one about?”

“I’d like to go to the moon,” Arthas told her, causing everypony - the suspicious Tempest Void, the resigned Nightcrawler, the intrigued Doctor Thaumaturgical and uncomfortable Fluttershy - to stare at him, shocked.

“Um, Sir?” Nightcrawler asked, trotting closer. “May I ask why?”

“There’s something I would like to check,” Arthas told him. “When I’d been on it before, I was too focused on finding Princess Moonlight Shadow’s body to realize that there must be more to this celestial body than the magic I could sense. Seeing how the ritual that was supposed to allow you to channel that magic granted you shadow abilities, that is,” he added, looking at Tempest Void. “I will talk about this in greater detail with the Princesses.”

“I had assumed that Luna becoming Nightmare Moon was somehow caused, or at least connected, to C’Thun stirring within Ahn’Qiraj,” Arthas thought. “However… logically thinking about it, there had to be some other reason as well for her transformation. And seeing how trying to tap to moon’s magic caused bat ponies to be able to use shadow magic instead…”

The two bat ponies exchanged uncertain looks before Tempest Void replied: “We’ll make sure to pass your request to the Princess.”

With those words, she jumped into the air and flew in the direction of Canterlot. Nightcrawler joined her, stopping only to salute Arthas before following her.

“One more thing,” Arthas called out before either could get out of earshot. Both bat ponies stopped and turned to him as he saluted. “Thank you for your assistance.”

Tempest Void shrugged and turned around. “Think nothing of it, Sir,” she said as she flew away. Nightcrawler nodded in agreement and flew after her.

“It was interesting meeting them, to say the least,” Arthas thought, turning his attention to Doctor Thaumaturgical. “Now, the next issue…”

“Doctor, I’m afraid your Proving Grounds need some improvements before it can be used by my Order and the Royal Guard for training purposes,” he told the unicorn.

“Yes, I’m in complete agreement with you on that, Sir,” Doctor Thaumaturgical nodded. “I must calibrate the spells in the Examining Band thoroughly before allowing anypony else to use it again. Hopefully, I will fix this issue within the next week.”

“See that you do. The disastrous consequences of this test run aside, I must admit that the Proving Grounds is amazing.” Glancing at it, he continued: “Your invention captured the fighting style and abilities of my old enemy perfectly.”

“I’m happy to hear that, Sir,” the unicorn replied, smiling. “If I may ask, though, what exactly was that?”

“A night elf demon hunter, that became a demon,” Arthas replied, knowing that his answer would mean next to nothing to Doctor Thaumaturgical. Turning to the doctor, he added: “I understand that you must have tons of questions for me regarding that creature, the val’kyr and Azeroth, but I would really appreciate if if those could wait for some other time. Understandably, I would also appreciate if you wouldn’t go around talking about it.”

“Yes, of course. I doubt anypony would believe me if I told them you were brought back to life, anyway,” he added, rolling his eyes. Clearing his throat, he trotted closer to his invention. “I will teleport back to my lab in Canterlot, I’ll need to make notes documenting today’s test and begin making corrections. I’ll let the Princesses know when it will be ready.”

“I’m sure it will be soon,” Arthas told him. “May the Light guide you.”

“Sure, thanks, you too Sir,” the unicorn replied, somewhat awkwardly. His horn began to glow as he concentrated on teleportation spell, and after a bright flash, both he and his device were gone.

“Alright, now that we’re alone...” Arthas thought, turning to Fluttershy.

“I’m sorry you had to wait, Fluttershy,” he said, trotting to her. Concerned, he asked: “Are you alright?”

“Me?” she asked in reply, confused. “O-of course! What about you? Is that wound all healed?”

“I am a bit sore,” Arthas admitted, “but the wound is healed. About the only discomfort I feel right now is because of the dents in the armor. You healed me pretty nicely.”

“Oh, I’m sure you would have been fine without me…” Fluttershy began, but he shook his head, stopping her.

“I would have probably passed out due to the blood loss if you hadn’t begun healing me. You really saved me, Fluttershy, thank you,” he told her, smiling. “Now, though, is my turn to worry about you. You just saw your close friend be pierced by a big blade,” Arthas added when she looked at him with confusion. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Oh…” Fluttershy exclaimed, now understanding. She looked down on the ground. “Well, yes, I was pretty shaken. But, earlier, when that… monster attacked me, I was paralyzed with fear,” she added, her ears dropping. “Even when those val’kyr appeared and protected me from his spell, I was too scared to move. But when I saw you… lying there, in blood, I snapped. I flew to your side right away and began healing you. I was crying, yes, but not because of your wound - well,” she amended, “not entirely that is, I was afraid I might be too late - but because… because I know you got hurt so badly because of me. I thought that now I could be of some help to you and the others when you’d be fighting, and I tried to stop that monster. But like always, I just got in the way…”

“So that’s why,” Arthas thought. He sighed, wishing he could hug her, but with him still being in his blood-splattered armor he knew it would be uncomfortable. “Great, I can add ‘making Fluttershy cry’ to my list of today’s failures.”

“Fluttershy,” he told her in comforting voice, “if anypony is to blame for me getting hurt, then it would be either that doctor for making a flawed device or myself for lacking skills to defeat that image before you got here. You were very brave for stopping it before,” he said, and finally the shy pegasus looked up at him, “and like I said, without your healing spell I might have not made it. You were great, Fluttershy. Stop putting yourself down.”

Fluttershy smiled with relief, then giggled awkwardly. “I’ll try.”

“Good,” Arthas told her, happy to see her smile. “Now, I’ll have to get cleaned up for the party… and I think one of the blows I got before damaged one of the clasps on my armor,” he added, glancing at one of the dented spot. “Could you help me take it off in my office?”

“Oh, of course. But before we leave…” she said and trailed off, turning to Al’ar. The Phoenix God stayed by her side this entire time, only now that they were about to live he turned his head back to his nest atop the barracks, ready to fly away. “Al’ar, why didn’t you help Arthas?” Fluttershy asked him sternly.

Al’ar opened his ruby eyes wider, surprised by the question, and cooed something in response.

“Don’t give me that excuse!” Fluttershy replied, frowning and advancing on the abashed phoenix. “He obviously needed help!”

Arthas was torn; on one hoof, hearing that he “obviously needed help” didn’t do wonders for his self esteem right now. On the other hoof, though, it was, as always, really amusing to see the Phoenix God submit to the shy pony like this.

“I don’t care whatever it was between you two back on Azeroth,” she said sternly when Al’ar tried to add something. “He let you stay in the Abbey, treated you with respect, and now is looking after your eggs! You really should start treating him nicer!”

Al’ar, practically huddled in discomfort because of the scolding Fluttershy gave him, nodded, cooeing apologetically.

A few minutes later, Fluttershy trotted alongside Arthas through the barracks towards his office, glancing every few seconds at him. Despite his assurance that he was fine, she was worried whether he was truly healed or not. The wound he received from the image the Proving Grounds - as Arthas explained to her - had conjured was really serious. He was very lucky the curved blade missed both his heart and spine, piercing his body at an angle that caused it to go between them.

“Or maybe, it wasn’t luck, but his skill?” she wondered. Fluttershy knew, of course, that Arthas was a great warrior, even if she hadn’t herself seen him demonstrating his skills too often. Nor did she have any experience that would let her know when somepony is a skilled fighter or not, and whether he avoided a strike at his vital areas because of skill or luck. “Maybe… maybe I should ask Provato if he could teach me about more than just healing? Maybe he could teach me… how to fight?” she wondered; she was terrified at the prospect and surprised she even thought about it, but after seeing Arthas get hurt like that… and knowing she had power to prevent it… “After all, he did teach me how to use the magic of nature to increase my strength…“

“You didn’t have to discipline Al’ar like that,” Arthas said suddenly, breaking the silence and pulling her out of her musing. “He’s not fond of me, but he does have a good reason for that. Despite that, though, if I were to ask him for help, he would help me. He did help me when I had to find Storm Clash in the Everfree Forest.”

“Yes, I know,” Fluttershy replied. “But the point is, considering everything you’ve done for him, you shouldn’t need to ask for help.”

Arthas hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose you have a point.”

Fluttershy smiled, happy that he agreed with her, and turned to look ahead, continuing to trot-

“So, are you going to explain how you learned druidic magic?”

She stopped mid-step for a moment, stunned. Fluttershy had completely forgotten that she hadn’t yet told Arthas or anypony else about her powers. True, that nice bat pony had asked her about them, but after Arthas later talked with her without bringing them up, even after she had alluded to them, Fluttershy just… talked as if he already knew.

“Oh, um…“ she stammered, thinking frantically for some explanation as to how she learned the druidic magic and why she hadn’t said anything. “Y-you see…“

“Seeing how there’s a finite number of steps it takes to reach my office, I’m gonna go ahead and guess that the demigod Provato - the timberwolf we had healed all those months ago - had been teaching you, correct?” Arthas interrupted her, glancing at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Um… yes, that’s right,” Fluttershy admitted, looking down at the floor. “H-how do you know about him?”

“Storm Clash,” Arthas explained. “He had met Provato in the Everfree Forest a few days ago.”

“Oh, right, Provato had told me about meeting him,” Fluttershy said, recalling what the timberwolf demigod had said about the night before she had first met him. Provato had said that he came to Ponyville after crossing paths with a pegasus paladin. “I should have figured that Arthas would know about Provato, then,” she realized, but quickly brushed that thought off and focused on the current matters. Turning to Arthas, she asked him uncertainly: “You… you’re not mad, aren’t you?”

“Fluttershy, you just saved my life using your new abilities,” he sighed in reply and rolled his eyes. “Why in Light’s name would I be mad for?”

“Because I didn’t tell you or anypony about them,” she explained. “I’m sorry that I didn’t, Provato had asked me to. He said that for the time being he didn’t want ponies to know about him.”

“It’s alright, Fluttershy, I understand,” Arthas replied, shrugging. “So Provato had said ‘for the time being’?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “He told me that before he had fallen into corruption, he had been friends with ponies living in the town that was here before Ponyville. I think he’d like to be a friend to ponies again, but just needs some more time.”

“Well, I suppose if anypony can relate to his situation it would be me,” Arthas said, sighing. “However, the Princesses, who also heard Storm Clash’s report, had expressed desire to meet with him. Do you think you could ask him if it would be possible for them to meet?”

Fluttershy wasn’t surprise that they’d want to meet Provato. Just hearing about him from Storm must have piqued their interest. Fluttershy, who by now had spend many days in his company, was still amazed by him.

“I will ask him,” she promised Arthas. “I hope he agrees, it would be wonderful for them to meet.”

“I can imagine,” Arthas agreed. “You will have to contact them through Spike, though. Between this, the val’kyr and the bat ponies, I’m starting to think that I’ve picked a really bad time to go on this training expedition,” he complained, rolling his eyes.

Fluttershy giggled. “Yes, it would seem so,” she said as they stopped by the door leading to Arthas’ office.

“Anyway, I won’t tell our friends about your new abilities and your training,” Arthas said as he opened them and let her through first. “If that’s what you want, that is.”

Even though Fluttershy knew that soon it would come a time when she would have to tell them, she nodded in agreement. “Yes, I would prefer that,” she told Arthas, turning around to talk to him as he enter his office after her, letting the door close behind him. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been looking forward to telling everypony, but I am nervous about admitting that I kept this secret from them for so long. Can you imagine not telling something so important about yourself to your best friends?”

To her confusion, Arthas cleared his throat and looked away. “I… suppose I could.”

Fluttershy titled her head, trying to figure out what caused such a reaction. “Oh!” she realized, embarrassed. “He must be thinking about how he kept his real name a secret. Ugh, Fluttershy, you and your big mouth!”

“So since I do know about your training,” Arthas changed the subject before she could apologize, “how is it coming along? I know you can heal even the most severe of wounds, and I noticed you caused those roots to entangle the image.”

“Oh, well...” Fluttershy hesitated, blushing; she was a bit worried that Arthas might think that she was bragging. “I think my training is going well. Provato always praises me about how quickly I learn from him. He taught me how to speak with plants, how to ask for their power to let me heal others, how to give them energy and coax them to grow as I’d like them-”

“Why do I smell blood?” a gentle voice suddenly spoke up, interrupting her.

Surprised, Fluttershy turned to the source of the voice. To her shock, it was Spottedleaf that uttered it. While she could always understand animals after spending some time with them, and now that she had started learning druidic magic from Provato Fluttershy could understand them right away, she realized that the cat had asked her question in equestrian. The tortoiseshell cat Arthas took in so long ago was not the same as she had known her, though. Her eyes shone with silvery light, and as Fluttershy tried to focus and reach to Spottedleaf with her deeper senses, as Provato had taught her, she realized that she had been… blessed by something. Or someone.

“I guess that’s another thing I should maybe ask Provato about,” Fluttershy thought as she watched the cat effortlessly jump on the desk so she could be on eye level with ponies.

Whatever the reason behind Spottedleaf’s sudden ability to speak was, it appeared to affect her in some other ways as well. Fluttershy, despite her lack of experience, could sense some power within her; nowhere near the level of Provato’s, of course, but enough to be intriguing.

Either her curiosity must have reflected on her face or other ponies had already seen her speak and Arthas was used to having to explain this to them, as he turned to Fluttershy and said: “I’ll explain this later. Because I got wounded during training and bled out a bit before my wounds got healed,” he told Spottedleaf, turning to her. “Nothing to worry about.”

The cat shot him a quite bemused expression before leaning closer and sniffing his armor along his chest. “Take that thing off,” she told in commanding tone as she backed away, grimacing and tapping his armor with her paw.

Arthas looked at Fluttershy and rolled his eyes. She giggled, finding the situation quite funny, and stepped closer, helping Arthas with a clasps of his armor. As he had guessed, one was damaged during the fight, and he wouldn’t have been able to unstrap it by himself. It took some effort on Fluttershy’s part, but she soon managed to open it, causing his chestplate to fall down, hanging out on its straps connecting it with the part protecting his back.

“Ah, much better,” Arthas sighed, taking the chestplate completely off.

Fluttershy frowned unhappily as she saw what was underneath it. The wound had been healed, of course, but Arthas’ pure, snow-white coat was drenched in blood on his back where the blade had pierced his body. As she walked around to take a look at his chest - which had an even bigger blood stain - she noticed a small line of blood along his side, probably from a wound he received earlier in battle.

“You know, having such a color of coat is a pain sometimes,” Arthas commented, ignoring Spottedleaf who began sniffing his chest. “Everypony can at once tell if I was wounded or just got some dirt on myself.”

“Yeah, I suppose they can,” Fluttershy said, recalling how back in the Crystal Empire Twilight could at once tell he had been wounded by King Sombra, despite saying he was just going to ‘keep an eye’ on him.

“I don’t even know why when I was reborn I got a body with such coat,” he continued as Spottedleaf, apparently satisfied that he wasn’t wounded, backed away. “Shouldn’t it be similar to the color of my hair? Then again, I suppose I should be grateful that it’s at least not bone-white or pale…” Arthas added after brushing his golden mane, trailing off.

Fluttershy frowned, confused by the remark, and opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but at that moment she heard some strange sound.

“What is that?” she asked, looking around the room the source of the noise.

Arthas and Spottedleaf, both surprised as well, looked around as well. “I think it’s from there-” Spottedleaf said, pointing with her paw, but she was suddenly interrupted.

Fluttershy jumped in shock as the door opened violently, banging against the wall loudly. “Matt!” Scootaloo said, looking at Arthas with her brow furrowed in determination as she walked into his office, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle right behind her with similar expressions. “We need to talk- What the hay?!” she exclaimed, her expression changing to one of shock as she and the other two stared at Arthas’ bloodied chest.

Arthas stared back her, clearly taken aback by the trio’s sudden appearance. His forehoof moved to cover his chest, but then he dropped it, probably realising how pointless it would be. “Um…” he stammered, his head turning to Fluttershy as if for advice. Unfortunately, all she could do was give him a blank and scared look. She had no idea what they could say to the three fillies. “I… fell down some stairs,” Arthas finally said, his voice sounding uncertain even to Fluttershy.

It was clear that they weren’t going to fall for that. “And what, ya landed on a spear or somethin’?” Apple Bloom asked, frowning.

“Nevermind that, I’m fine now,” he told them, apparently deciding that it was pointless trying to explain this situation. He began to unstrap the rest of his armor. “Did the three of you want something from me?”

“Smooth,” Spottedleaf told him, before her attention returned to looking for the source of the noise from earlier (just as it sounded again).

“Did she just talk?” Sweetie Belle asked, taking her eyes off Arthas’ blood-drenched chest to look at Spottedleaf.

Scootaloo waved her hoof dismissively. “Yeah, she talks now,” she said; Fluttershy had guessed that since she had lived here until today she must have witnessed it before. The filly was again focused on Arthas, and as she stood up straighter she addressed him: “Matt, the Cutie Mark Crusaders would like to join the Order of Celestial Light as squires!”

“Out of the question,” Arthas retorted calmly, not even looking at them.

“Told ya he would say that,” Apple Bloom commented, rolling her eyes.

But it appeared that Scootaloo wasn’t going to give up that easily. “You let Liturgy become a squire,” she accused Arthas.

As Arthas sighed heavily, Fluttershy frowned, wondering who Liturgy was. “How long was I with Provato today?” she asked herself.

Once again she heard that noise, this time louder. She realized it sounded like object was being shook by somepony. Worried what it could be, Fluttershy decided to let Arthas deal with the fillies while she’d help Spottedleaf look what was making that noise.

“Look,” she heard Arthas say to them, “first of all, I was practically forced by different circumstances to accept all the squires-”

“Wait, you mean you’ll have more squires than just Liturgy here?!” Scootaloo asked, sounding surprised and even more annoyed than before.

“- and second of all,” Arthas continued as if the filly didn’t interrupt him, “joining the Order means committing to it, not just using it to try and get your cutie marks.”

“We would be committed to it!” Scootaloo tried to argue, but apparently her fellow crusaders had given up and tried a different approach.

“Then maybe you could just teach us how to call upon the Holy Light?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I could teach you how to pray to it,” Arthas countered. “Or better yet, you can ask Liturgy to teach you, I’m sure she will be thrilled to pray together with you. If your special talent would turn out to be communicating with the Light, like hers, then you will find the Light on your own.”

Fluttershy turned to glance at the Cutie Mark Crusaders, curious how they’d react to those words, but at that time the rattling noise sounded again - and she finally saw what was making it.

It was the case in which Al’ar and Marahute’s eggs were in.

“Um, Arthas?” she called out as the closed case shook again, with Spottedleaf jumping on the shelf beside the it and began to sniff at it curiously.

“What is it?” he asked, while fillies murmured: “Arthas?” between themselves.

Fluttershy and Spottedleaf nodded at the shaking case. Surprised, Arthas quickly trotted to join them, and opened it. Inside, three eggs, an orange one, green one and violet one were shaking.

Arthas turned to Fluttershy, but before he could ask her anything, the three fillies squeezed between them to look at the contents of the case. “Wow!” Scootaloo exclaimed, all three of them staring at the eggs wide-eyed. “What are those?” she asked, reaching to the violet egg curiously.

“Are those three about to hatch?” Sweetie Belle asked, trying to touch the green egg.

“Shouldn’t they be in a nest?” Apple Bloom asked, reaching for the orange egg.

“Girls-” Fluttershy began, not sure if it was safe to touch the eggs, but Arthas nudged her, shaking his head and turning to look at the fillies and the eggs intensively.

The moment they touched them, on the surface of the eggs, that had been shaking all this time, appeared cracks. The fillies brought their hooves back and gasped together with everypony else as the they began to hatch, with small creatures, that were unlike any creature Fluttershy had ever seen on Equestria, emerging from them.

They were birds, that much was obvious. The hatchlings, which became more visible as they pushed away bigger pieces of the egg’s shells, resembled somewhat of eagle chicks, but only in their shape. Those three were already covered in feathers, not down feathers like normal freshly hatched birds would, but vaned feathers as well. Except… those feathers seemed like they were made ouf of flames. In fact, each hatchling seemed like they were living fire, each colored exactly like their eggs were. Fluttershy would have thought that they were exactly like Al’ar, living flames, if it weren’t for their beaks and legs. Although they too matched the colors of their respective eggs, at least they appeared to be organic. Their eyes, too, although they glowed faintly.

“Also…”

“Oh my gosh, they’re so cute!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

“Yeah, that,” Fluttershy thought, wholly agreeing with the filly.

“Aww, they’re adorable,” Apple Bloom added, leaning closer. “Hey there little ones!”

“Are these Al’ar’s eggs?” Scootaloo asked, moving her hoof to the hatchling, who turned its tiny head to observe it as it chirped. “I thought he was a guy.”

“He fathered them, their mother left them in his care,” Arthas explained, watching the hatchlings, all which began to emerge from their cracked eggs and watch the fillies curiously.

“Who was their mo-” Sweetie Belle began to ask, but she stopped as the green hatchling began to nuzzle her hoof affectionately and chirped. “Awww! You like me?”

As the orange and violet hatchlings also interacted in similar manner with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo respectively, Fluttershy finally recalled what Arthas had told her.

However, Princess Celestia, after she had read Doctor Angelic’s findings, believes that those eggs require somepony to help them hatch, just like Spike’s had.

“I guess they needed those three,” Fluttershy realized. Her gaze shifted briefly to the remaining four. The yellow egg, the blue egg, the dark blue egg, and the red egg. “I wonder who will help those little ones to hatch?”

Arthas’ voice pulled her from her musing. “They seem to have taken liking to you,” he told the three fillies. “Would you like to take them?”

They gasped in unison.

“Can we?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yes!” Scootaloo replied to Arthas’ question instead. “I always wanted a pet! Thank you thank you thank you!” she exclaimed, jumping to hug him.

He stopped her with his hoof before she could embrace him. “Maybe let’s not do that while my coat is in this state,” he said, pointing at his chest. “You can thank me later. Right now though I would like you to promise me that you will all take a good care of each hatchling.”

“Ah promise,” Apple Bloom, who was already holding the orange hatchling in her forehooves, said.

The other two quickly promised as well, taking their hatchlings and nuzzling them affectionately.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see how they’ll grow up,” Scootaloo said. “Do you think they'll be as big as Al’ar?”

“What do ya gals think we should name them?” Apple wondered, looking at her hatchlings thoughtfully. “Kinda can’t think of one for mine.”

“Hm…” Sweetie Belle mused. “I think I’ll name mine… Balefire? Or maybe Pyrelight? Hm, no, I’m not sure…”

As the three continued to discuss more trivial matters, Fluttershy felt slightly worried whether they were capable of taking care of pets of their own. She exchanged looks with Arthas and Spottedleaf, all of whom seemed to share her concerns.

“You’re going to tell their sisters to keep their eyes on them, right?” Spottedleaf asked in a hushed voice.

“Of course,” Arthas replied in a similar tone. Turning to Fluttershy, he asked in a normal voice: “Maybe you could take them to your cottage and tell them how to take care of them? And figure out what they eat,” he added.

Fluttershy nodded. “Of course. Come along, my little ponies,” she called to the fillies, who stopped their conversation. “You heard what Arthas- um, I mean, Matthias had said,” she corrected herself, recalling that the fillies didn’t know about Arthas’ real name.

“Sure, but… why did you call him Arthas?” Scootaloo asked, frowning, with her hatchlings sitting comfortably on top of her head.

The violet hatchling chirped as it flapped it tiny wings.

One annoying explanation later, the Cutie Mark Crusaders followed Fluttershy as she left his office.

“I’ll see you at the party,” Arthas called after them as he waved goodbye.

He was about to close the door when he noticed Spottedleaf sliding past his legs. “I’d better go and make sure everything is alright,” she told him as she padded after them.

Slightly surprised, Arthas shrugged. “Have fun,” he said and closed the door.

“I wonder if she’s worried about the hatchlings or the fillies?” he mused, trotting to his desk and putting his discarded armor on the stand in the corner. He frowned seeing the extent of damage. “I’ll have to get it repaired before we board the ship for Dread Isle,” he commented briefly before returning his thoughts to the hatchlings. He looked at the remaining four eggs that were in his care. “So apparently they begin to hatch when a pony they need to help them is near? Hm… I wonder if they will react to Prince John and Lord Francis when they’ll arrive? Although they didn’t react to Liturgy... “ Arthas mused. Recalling that they were the result of a union between being of Azeroth and Equestria, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “Curious things come from the interaction of those two worlds. In fact, ever since I came here, curious things had been happening. Curing a demigod, starting a paladin order, making peace with changelings… Fluttershy learning druidism, and now the Cutie Mark Crusaders taking such unusual pets under they care. I guess you could say that in time everything’s changing, everypony grows…”

He trailed off as he realized his hoof was brushing his chest, where the wound dealt by the image of Illidan had been. Grimacing, he slammed his hoof against his desk angrily, and trotted towards his bathroom to get cleaned.

153. Planning the Future

“I am beginning to think that choosing Ponyville as the site of the Abbey was a mistake,” Princess Celestia finally said after Arthas finished his report regarding the events that had transpired a few hours ago at Everfree Abbey. Keeping her voice light she continued: “Both you and that town seem to be ‘trouble magnets’ in your own rights.”

Arthas, his image as clearly projected on the mirror in her chambers as if he were right before them, sighed upon hearing the joke. He opened his mouth to reply, but Luna, who stood beside Celestia, beat him to it.

“To be fair, Sister, based on what we heard from Arthas, and earlier from both my nightwatchers and Doctor Thaumaturgical, there wouldn’t have been any trouble had the doctor’s device not malfunctioned in such spectacular manner.”

Celestia had to agree with her sister. Nodding, she once again thought how glad she was she hadn’t decided to test the Proving Grounds herself. No matter whom of the foes she had faced the Examining Band would deem as the toughest one - whether it would have been Discord, King Sombra, Nightmare Moon or Bane the Hippogriff (or Queen Chrysalis empowered by Shining Armor’s love) - a fight with either of them would destroy most of the castle.

“Well, unless it was Discord,” she added with a silent sigh, recalling how easily he’d overpower her and Luna when they were younger, before they’d found the Elements of Harmony. Rolling her eyes inwardly, Celestia added: “The Nadire Crystal would likely run out of power within a matter of seconds, assuming the Proving Grounds actually could recreate Discord’s powers.”

“True,” Celestia said, turning her attention back to their discussion. “Doctor Thaumaturgical had assured me that he will make necessary modifications to the Examining Band so that it won’t happen again. And that the safety measure won’t be disabled so easily. But let us leave this subject and turn to more pressing matters. Now, seeing how you want us to wait for a letter from Fluttershy to hear more about the powers she has apparently learned and their source, could you tell us more about those val’kyr instead?” she asked Arthas.

“Of course, Your Majesty,” the paladin replied at once. “The val’kyr are ascended warriors of the Light that serve Titan Keeper Odyn, Azeroth’s Prime Designate. As I had told Twilight once, the titans had created titanic watchers, which were led by nine Titan Keepers, empowered by the Titan Pantheon themselves, in order to defeat the Old Gods and later shape and protect the world.”

Both Celestia and her sister nodded, remembering what he had said during the Council meeting and having read in Twilight’s letters everything he had told her about the history of Azeroth. Though understandably Arthas’s knowledge regarding the dawn of his world was trifling, it was still surprisingly informative. Both alicorns found his tales to be very interesting, especially after he had suggested a possible connection between the Old Gods and Luna’s corruption into Nightmare Moon and her return.

“Among those nine, Odyn was chosen as their leader, the Prime Designate,” Arthas continued. “The Keepers would go on to create more races to help them in their task, such as earthen, mechagnomes, vrykul, and a few others. A lot of the races currently inhabiting Azeroth descended from those titan-forged after they were infected by the Curse of Flesh.”

“Including the human race,” Celestia thought; she wondered how it would feel to know you are a descendant of somebody’s creation. A creation to which flesh was a curse. “Well, their creators are considered gods… though maybe not knowing your race origin isn’t a bad thing,” she mused, thinking about how little it was known about ponies’ origin, thanks in large part to the Windigoes’ blizzard that destroyed their lands and caused them to migrate south.

“Not all, though,” Arthas continued. “Proto-dragons are one of the few races that weren’t created by the Keepers; I don’t know for certain how they came to be, though. In any case, five proto-dragons were eventually empowered by the titans themselves through the Titan Keepers, becoming Dragon Aspects and transforming their race gradually into dragons.”

“While it all sounds very interesting,” Celestia interrupted him, “we have been informed about all of this already by Twilight.”

“I’m starting to think you just like to brag about how much you know,” Luna added, smirking. As Arthas shot her a bemused stare, she turned to Celestia. “It is becoming clearer with every day why your student likes him so much, wouldn’t you agree?”

Stifling a giggle (caused both by Luna’s remark and Arthas’ poorly suppressed sigh), the older alicorn waved at him to continue.

“I wanted you to understand the… background behind the creation of val’kyr,” the paladin explained. “You see, Odyn, from what I’ve been led to understand, considered dragons to be unworthy of being charged with protection of Azeroth, as they were not a titan-forged race. He opposed the idea, but all the other Keepers had decided to go through with it. In response, Odyn had asked his daughter Helya to raise a section of Ulduar, the titan-forged complex, into the sky, creating the Halls of Valor. He wanted to create a mighty army that would defend Azeroth from threats, composed of vrykul whom he saw as the mightiest of warriors. Odyn announced to them that those who’d prove their bravery by dying a glorious death would live again in the Halls of Valor, being given new, immortal, storm-forged bodies. However,” Arthas added, pausing for a second, “he first needed somebody to bring those souls to his halls.”

“I’m guessing that’s where the val’kyr came in?” Celestia asked.

It made sense. If those beings indeed could travel freely through the Spirit World (or ‘Shadowlands’ as it was apparently more commonly called on Azeroth), they would be able to guide those souls to the Halls of Valor.

“Yes. Unfortunately, Odyn couldn’t find any volunteers to be transformed into val’kyr,” Arthas said, frowning. “Though now this charge is considered among the vrykul warrior maidens to be the greatest honor, when the Titan Keeper first introduced the idea thousands of years ago, strangely nobody wanted to damn themselves into the eternity of servitude as phantoms. And since Odyn was still determined to carry on with his plan, he decided to create the val’kyr by force.”

“Oh,” Celestia exclaimed; she hadn’t expected a Titan Keeper to something so… horrific. From what little they had learned about them from Arthas, she had thought them to be benevolent beings.

“He was opposed, however, by Helya,” the paladin continued. “She was repulsed by the idea of enslaving titan-forged against their will, and admonished Odyn for his willingness to do so. Helya argued with him and even threatened to return the Halls of Valor to Ulduar.”

Celestia shared a look with her sister. Seeing how the val’kyr were eventually created, she had a sneaking suspicion as to how this argument ended.

“So the mighty and noble Odyn struck her down, and transformed her into the first val’kyr, forced to obey his commands. The first command being to transform more vrykul into val’kyr, of course.”

Even though she had expected to hear this, she still looked at Arthas wide-eyes. “His own daughter…” she thought, feeling dread.

“I am starting to think that you are right to advise us against attempting to reach out to Azeroth,” she said after a moment, sighing. “So a very powerful being with an entire army of immortal warriors had sent two of his possibly enslaved servants to keep an eye on you and by extension us? Did we miss anything?”

“Hold on a moment, Sister,” Luna interrupted her exasperated joke, frowning as she turned to Arthas. “If that Titan Keeper had indeed created such an army, how come it hadn’t intervened during the Third War when the Burning Legion and the Scourge threatened Azeroth? Or during the War of the Ancients for that matter? Or now when the world is on a brink of breaking apart?”

Celestia blinked, then mentally cursed at herself for not thinking to ask about the War of the Ancients or the current crisis. Though Arthas never fully explained to Twilight what this “Burning Legion” was, he had told her that it was an evil force that threatened to destroy Azeroth ten thousand years ago, and because of that conflict the huge continent was sundered.

“And as for the Scourge and the Third War…” Celestia thought, glancing at her sister.

Though for a long time Celestia had been content to just trust Luna’s judgement and didn’t ask her about more details regarding Arthas’ previous life, she had to do so after the Council Meeting. Luna, albeit a little reluctantly, had told her, although avoided going into too many details, and as a result, Celestia had learned more about what was happening on Azeroth during that time rather than Arthas’ role in those events. Or, rather, she didn’t understand how he “came about“ his role, as she knew who or what he was.

She knew what name he bore for the last few years, and whom he had ruled over.

Shaking her head slightly, Celestia focused on following the conversation, “Oh, that’s because Odyn is, according to some of my sources,” Arthas paused to clear his throat before apparently reciting, “‘a short-sighted fool’. Personally, I would use some less kind epithets than what Annhylde had said” he added with a roll of his eyes, “but nevermind that. To answer your question, Princess, his army - called ‘the Valarjar’ - didn’t intervene during those events because they can’t leave the Halls of Valor. After the Old Gods had corrupted one of the other Titan Keepers,” Arthas continued as Celestia and Luna exchanged surprised glances, “named Loken, he broke the spells that forced Helya to obey Odyn, and convinced her to turn against him. Using a powerful spell, she sealed off the Halls of Valor in its own plane, along with all its inhabitants. Only those of the val’kyr that remained loyal to Odyn can leave through the Shadowlands, bringing more worthy souls to join the Valarjar.”

Celestia stared at him, blinking, not sure if she should feel pity or relief to hear what had befallen the Titan Keeper. “You reap what you sow, I suppose,” she finally said. “What happened to Helya?”

“She and the val’kyr that followed her founded a new realm, called Helheim, with the intention of continuing to care for vrykul spirits. However, the anger that festered in her heart had transformed her, her val’kyr and her realm into the stuff of nightmares, and the vrykul who end up there are either those that had dishonored themselves or were killed by the cursed kvaldir before they could have been judged, becoming kvaldir themselves.”

“Oh, for the love of-” Luna exclaimed abruptly, then brought her wing-tip to brush against her temples. “Is everything on Azeroth so easily corruptible?”

Upon brief reflexion, Celestia found herself agreeing with Luna regarding that question. And her initial reaction.
Arthas’ eyes traveled to the side before he replied. “Pretty much,” he finally said, almost casually. “Though to be fair, there are three - I think - Old Gods buried deep within it.”

Both alicorns once again exchanged looks. Celestia could easily see in her eyes that Luna agreed with her earlier statement regarding reaching Azeroth. Just the thought of risking spreading those malefic being’s influence to Equestria made her bristle.

Sighing, Celestia turned back to Arthas. “If I may ask, how exactly do you know all of that?”

“During my… um,” the paladin momentarily hesitated; it became clear to her why the next second. “During my evil reign, I had enslaved several of Helya’s val’kyr-”

“Of course you had,” Celestia thought, little annoyed at herself for not thinking of this possibility.

“-as well as some of those that chose to serve neither her or Odyn. One of them, named Annhylde, had been among the first ones forcefully transformed by Helya, and from her I learned most of that story. I also learned a lot thanks to the visions Ner’zhul had,” he added.

“Based on what we’ve heard, it’s clear that those two val’kyr that bound themselves to your soul know of your past as the Lich King,” Celestia said; she was happy to see that Arthas only slightly twitched, and didn’t appear to be either hurt or angry with Luna for telling her. “They probably know about those other val’kyr as well, then. Do you think they mean any ill will towards you?”

“Possibly,” Arthas replied, shrugging. “One of them definitely seemed hostile towards me. However, it doesn’t matter. With them bonded to me, they won’t be able to cause any harm to me or anypony. And after I release them and they return to Halls of Valor, they shouldn’t be able to cross the Shadowlands all the way to Equestria so easily.”

“That’s a relief to hear,” Luna said, then frowned. “Though why have you insisted they’d be ‘put to work’... ”

“It might have been partially because I was annoyed to find out I’ve been spied on ever since I had been resurrected,” Arthas admitted, though he appeared to be only slightly abashed by saying that. “Regardless, since they are already here they might as well do some good. As confident as I am about my paladins’ abilities, it would be a relief to have val’kyr watching over them on the Dread Isle.”

Celestia nodded, a slight frown being the only expression she allowed herself to make as the name of that island was brought up. “On that note, how are preparations for the journey coming along?”

“All four should be packed by now, and soon they will be here for the briefing. I’ve also arranged for Liturgy to stay at Sweet Apple Acres while we’re away, as well as talked with Cheerilee about her joining Ponyville School. And the two young griffons when they arrive.”

Both sisters nodded, happy that he had dealt with those matters so quickly. Though it would be some time before Prince John and Lord Francis would arrive, it was better to have assured they’ll have proper conditions (well, “proper” being an operative word, given their social status). But this young Liturgy, whom Serenity had brought to Ponyville without any warning, was a more pressing matter, and Celestia was relieved that the young filly would have a safe place to stay and wouldn’t miss out on education.

“What about you, though?” Luna asked Arthas. “Surely, with what had happened to Holy Avenger-”

She stopped talking as Arthas gave out a tired sigh. “I’ve already been lectured by Twilight during the party about how stupid if was of me to use a sword made out of pieces of my own soul and for not telling her or anypony else about it, thank you very much. My ear is still swollen,” he added, flicking his right ear.

Suppressing a giggle, Celestia spoke: “My student was right. You should have brought your suspicions to our attention regarding your blade months ago.”

Both her and Luna had read about weapons like those. They were called Spirit Weapons, and they were materialized fragments of souls capable of being wielded by mortals. In most cases, they had been created by unicorns in times before the Founding of Equestria and during the Equestrian-Griffonian War (a practice that would be banned in the years following that conflict, as it was deemed unnecessary with the advancement of metallurgy). There were a few unique ones, though, like the Spring Bringer that Knight-Lieutenant Storm Clash now carried, that the spirit of the Windigo had left him in return for freeing him. However, there weren’t any recorded occurrences of a Spirit Weapon being created from fragments of a soul of a living pony, and as such even after witnessing Arthas summon the sword several times it never occurred to either of them that the Holy Avenger was created from his soul.

“But, of course,” Celestia thought, “Arthas’ case is unique.”

“Forgive me, Your Majesties,” Arthas replied to her comment after sighing, then bowed his head and continued, “but when one has another fragment of his soul stashed in a cursed helmet on a world all the way on the other side of Great Dark Beyond, they tend to overlook such matters.”

Celestia had a suspicion that he had said the same thing to Twilight earlier. And probably got his ear pulled by doing so.

“I will look into how we can rejoin those pieces of your soul, but I’m afraid it would have to take place after you return from the Dread Isle,” she told him. “Considering the possible damage caused by the spell cast by the image conjured by the Proving Grounds, I don’t think I have to tell you to not use the Holy Avenger from now on.”

Arthas nodded quickly. “I will pick something from the armory for the time being.”

“Good,” Celestia commented, then frowned as she changed the subject: “Now, regarding your requests…”

Luna immediately intervened. “As I had told you after hearing my nightwatchers’ report, Sister, I had my own… misgivings regarding the moon and the results of the Nocturnification Process. I support Arthas’ request, and will go to the moon along with him.”

Celestia sighed. During their earlier talk, she had tried to discourage her sister from going to the moon as well. The Princess of the Sun didn’t know what kind of impact it could have on her to return to the same place she had been imprisoned on for a thousand years.

To the same place her daughter had died.

Unfortunately, Luna had made a very compelling argument that she would have the best chance of finding whatever it was they’d be looking for on the moon. Celestia was forced to concede.

Even though the mere thought of her younger sister being back there clawed at her heart.

“Very well then, if you’re both determined, I won’t oppose this,” she sighed, defeated.

“Thank you, Sister,” Luna said, smiling at her, before turning back to Arthas. “We’ll go two days after your return from Dread Isle, then. We’ll be joined by two of my guards and possibly Doctor Daring Do; she had expressed to me a desire to see the moon for herself one day,” the younger alicorn explained.

“On that note,” Arthas spoke up, “so had Twilight and the rest of our friends when I mentioned this to them.”

“Of course they had,” Celestia thought, warmly amused.

“I see no reason to deny them this request,” Luna replied, smiling. “I’m sure it would be an interesting experience for all of them.”

“So it would be for Daring Do, if my suspicious would prove correct,” Arthas remarked, frowning.

“What exactly do you suspect to find on the moon, Arthas?” Celestia asked, curious what he could be thinking about.

“Honestly, I would prefer if we were to find nothing,” the paladin replied, sighing. “But I suspect that we will find something, but what it could be…” he trailed off, hesitating before continuing, “I dunno; at this point, I expect it to be anything between a titan vault buried deep within the moon, or an outright Forgotten One. Light damn, I’m already having Inner Kingdom’s flashbacks by just thinking about it…” Arthas murmured, massaging his temples.

Taking the advantage from his distraction, Celestia leaned closer to Luna and whispered: “Was it really that bad?”

As her sister, who had seen the monster (along with everything else that was in the Inner Kingdom of Azjol-Nerub) Arthas spoke of in his memories, grimaced and nodded, Celestia briefly pondered whether or not she should give Twilight and her friends the Elements of Harmony, just in case they would indeed stumble upon such creature. She ultimately decided that there was no need, though, as undoubtedly both Arthas and Luna would be able to sense it in advance and not get close to it before coming back for the Elements.

“Also, I think somepony would have noticed if a giant beast made of tentacles and jaws was on the moon,” Celestia remarked with a roll of her eyes.

“How come you suspect a Forgotten One, instead of an Old God?” Luna questioned Arthas, causing Celestia to return her attention to the conversation.

“Because I am pretty sure there would have been a lot more conflicts in the history of this world if there was an actual Old God anywhere near here,” Arthas replied. “Especially considering the kind of power the moon radiates with… and an Old God would find a way to pervert such power in unspeakable way. Not just cause a single entity to become corrupted, however unfortunate it was,” he added with a nod at Luna. “Also, I believe your bat ponies would have several more side effects caused by the ritual that granted them void powers if it was an Old God involved. Not to mention what a thousand years on the moon would have done to you.”

“From what little you were able to tell us about them, I think you must be right in this regard,” Celestia said; she recalled Chrysalis’ reaction to the mere sight of one of the Old Gods, C’Thun. Though nopony knew what their connection could have been, if just the sight of it could cause the Changeling Queen to become deaf to the world and repeat words in that dark language… “I trust that regardless of what the moon hides, you will both be careful,” she added, banishing that dark train of thoughts from her mind. “Now, let's move on to the last issue; the other ‘expedition’ you’d want to organize.” Celestia allowed a smirk to crept on her face as she continued: “You do realize the Gates of Tartarus are not that far away from Ponyville, right?”

“It has been brought to my attention at the party, yes,” Arthas replied, deadpanning as the sisters shared a chuckle. Sighing, he added: “I suppose it’s my fault for never taking as much interest in this matter as I should have.”

“It is understandable for you to have some hesitation when approaching this subject,” Celestia told him comfortably.

“Not when we consider just how much could be at stake. Medivh had warned me that if I don’t pass all those steps to ‘heal the wound within me’ or whatever, my fate would be the same as before, and this land would fall.” It was hard to not hear the self-loathing in his voice as he had said those last three words. “Whoever brought me back from the dead had placed this huge risk on the entirety of Equestria.”

“And the fact how much you worry over it fills us with confidence that you will pass those steps, whatever they might be,” Luna retorted, echoing Celestia’s sentiment.

“While I am honored by the amount of faith everypony seems to have in me, I wouldn’t mind if I were able to ask whoever brought me back some questions,” Arthas in turn replied. “At any case, the fact that it’s so close to Ponyville means we don’t have to make any special preparations to go there… I wish we’d have some means of contacting Brann, though. On the off chance of the Gate of Tartarus actually being a titan relic of some kind, it would be comforting to have him.”

“Excuse me, Arthas,” Celestia interrupted him frowning. “But if you want to contact Brann, why don’t you just send him a letter through Spike?”

The paladin blinked, appearing confused. “I’m sorry, Princess, could you elaborate?”

Three months ago…

“And he brought the little wee one back te life?” Brann asked, clearly surprised as he looked at the napping little foal, cradled in Luna’s forelegs. As both Princesses nodded, the dwarf glanced to the side, at the half-conscious form of Matthias Lehner laying on a sofa. “After a thousand years?”

“I take it that it is unusual?” Princess Celestia asked, somehow managing to turn her eyes away from her adorable little niece and her sister, who was more happy than she could ever remember seeing her.

“Resurrectin’ an infant demigod-like being, a thousand years after she died while being born, all on the surface of the moon?” Brann summed up with a raised eyebrow. “Aye, I guess ye could say that is a bit unprecedented. Though te be fair we can't just pop up on either o’ the moons on Azeroth. Kinda makes me wish I had joined him.”

“If it is a trip to the moon you wish, Brann Bronzebeard,” Luna said without looking up from her daughter, her voice light and cheerful “if you do not lower your voice it could be easily arranged.”

The dwarf, being as intelligent as he was, easily realized that despite her tone she would follow up on this promise. “Oh, right, sorry Yer Highness,” he immediately said, his voice dropping to a whisper as he spread his arms and took a cautious step back. “At any case, I’m happy for ye… even if I have no idea how he performed such a miracle.”

“Maybe that’s what it was,” Celestia couldn’t help but chime in, “a miracle.”

At that moment, Matthias, his mind still heavily affected by the moon’s magic, exclaimed: “I am the Light!... ‘s vesel… thingy…” he trailed off as he slowly began to lose lucidity.

Brann chuckled at the paladin. “Ah, makes me wonder if I should go grab me brother to see him.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Celestia said, momentarily diverting her attention from her niece, “what are your plans, Brann Bronzebeard? I assume you’ll be returning soon to Azeroth, but will you come back?”

The dwarf grinned. “Will I return to an entire world never before explored by anybody from my world? Most certainly. If it weren’t for the Cataclysm, I would have stayed longer and already started explorin’. But, ye know, the world is breaking apart, kinda need te pitch in. Might find something that helps.”

“Of course,” Celestia immediately agreed. “That amulet you’ve got allows you to travel between our two worlds, correct? However,” she asked after Brann nodded his head, “it doesn’t allow you to communicate or anything of that sort?”

“Nay, Yer Highness, I don’t think it does,” the dwarf replied, frowning. “I might figure somethin’ out if I’d brought it over te the Kirin Tor, but I’m a bit hesitant, considering the attention ye would all gain.”

“I see,” Celestia hummed and nodded. “While I’m sure the scholars and mages of your world would be able to find something - as would we if we had more time to study it - I might be able to offer you other means of communicating with us, if you’d like.”

“Oh, really?” Brann asked, intrigued. “Aye, by all means, I’d like to. Never can’t have enough friends.”

Celestia smiled, growing to like the dwarf more and more. Her horn began to glow as she focused on a spell. A small pillar of light appeared between her and Brann, its color slowly changing from golden to slightly greenish, and soon, a small candle formed from it.

“This candle is connected to the same spell connecting me to Spike’s firebreath,” she told dwarf as she levitated it to him. “Let’s call it… a Friendship Candle. If you light it and burn a letter over it, it will send it either to me or to Spike, depending on your intention. Likewise, both myself and Spike will be able to send you messages.”

“Wow, that’s mighty clever,” Brann said, clearly impressed, as he took the candle carefully. “And it will work even between worlds?”

“While I never had to opportunity to test it, the distance doesn’t matter to this spell. Feel free to use it whenever you wish to, though I understand that you will be quite busy when you return to Azeroth.”

“Aye, probably,” Brann nodded. “Still, if ye ever need any help, or if ye stumble upon some mysterious relic from the past and need an expert, don’t hesitate te summon me, I’ll find the time somehow.”

Both Celestia and Luna nodded, then the older alicorn turned to their paladin. “Did you hear that, Sir Matthias?”

“Yes,” he mumbled, somewhat incoherently, “send letter through… smokin’ or something.”

Present…

“I’m afraid I have no recollection of that conversation whatsoever,” Arthas replied after she and Luna finished recounting (which, considered how often they had to stop themselves from bursting into laughter, took a while). Frowning, he added: “Also, I don’t believe that even in that state I would have said such a ridiculous sounding word as ‘smokin’’.”

“Well, perhaps we remember that bit wrong,” Celestia conceded, while Luna pressed her forehoof to her mouth as tried to mask her giggle. “Regardless, if you wish to invite Brann - whom I think everypony would be happy to see again - all you need to do is ask Spike to focus on him instead of me when he sends a letter.”

Sighing, Arthas nodded. “I’ll write one right after I finish briefing my paladins, then… wait, if you can communicate with Brann whenever you want, how come you didn’t use this Friendship Candle to gain more information about Azeroth?” he asked, confused. “You could just ask him to burn an entire library or something with it.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow and smirked. “I sincerely hope you never say such a sentence in the presence of my student,” she said, causing Arthas to stare at her wide-eyed; apparently only now he realized how that sounded. As Luna once again giggled, Celestia continued: “Just like Brann had mentioned, he’s been very busy, examining more titan relics at both Uldum and Ulduar, helping Ironforge with the ice trolls’ unrest, and with your requests. We didn’t want to burden him unnecessarily if we could help it.”

“I see,” Arthas said, nodding again. “Considering there are other members of the Explorer’s League that could look into those relics and Zandalari seems to be focusing on helping Gurubashi and Amani tribes instead of smaller ones such as Frostmane, I think he should manage to find some free time though. Especially when I tell him that we plan to take a closer look at something that apparently can bring people back to life in new bodies.”

“That does sound like something that would grab his attention,” Celestia agreed.

“On that note, Arthas,” she said, reminded of something she had thought of after hearing the bat ponies report, “you were surprised when, instead of becoming an avatar of the Light as you used to, when you empowered yourself the manifestation of the Light appeared in the form of two wings.”

“Um, yes, I was,” Arthas admitted, sounding confused to the sudden change of subject. “I think I recall one of the librams Brann had brought me to refer to that empowerment as ‘Avenging Wrath’.”

“Possibly a fitting name,” Celestia agreed. “However, that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I think I understand why you didn’t change into the avatar of the Light. Or rather, why you could assume that form. I think it might have been caused by your body having been recently created, by the Gate of Tartarus most likely. It’s purely theoretical, but if we assume your body was created from some pure form of energy, then due to the primordial nature of your body by gathering a massive amount of pure energy - such as the Holy Light - could have caused it to revert its state of being. Now, however, it would seem too much time had passed since your body was created, and they no longer can do it.”

Arthas, who was listening with deep concentration, nodded slowly. “I understand… I think. It didn’t really bother me, anyway,” he added with a shrug, “this form of empowerment doesn’t have such drawbacks as the previous one had. Anyway, back to the previous subject,” he quickly said; Celestia wondered if, while possessing some understanding of such precise attributes of magic, he found the topic to be complicated to follow. Hoping that Twilight didn’t go into such detail about magic around Arthas if that was the case, Celestia shook off the humorous thought and continued to listen: “as I said, I will write to Brann, and I will begin for the trip to the Gate of Tartarus once he replies. I will mention to send the letter to you due to the Order’s training expedition. And speaking of,” Arthas added, looking to the side, probably at the time, “my paladins will soon be here for the briefing.”

Both sisters nodded in understanding. “We wish you a good journey tomorrow, Sir Lightbringer,” Celestia told him, smiling.

“May the Light shine upon you,” Luna added.

“Likewise, Your Majesties,” Arthas replied as he bowed, then he disappeared. The mirror became just a mirror again, showing Celestia and Luna their reflection.

“It would be good to see Brann Bronzebeard again,” Luna commented after their connection ended. “It’s a shame we couldn’t spend more time with him when he arrived… though in my case it had been more understandable,” she added with a smirk.

Smiling at her sister’s comment, Celestia thought for a moment before speaking: “Do you think we could convince Doctor Daring Do to stay at the capital until he arrived? I feel that the meeting of those two would be very productive, for both of their researches-”

“Excuse me, Your Majesties,” a pleasant sounding voice suddenly interrupted her. Both Princesses turned to see one of the castle’s maids, Pixie, standing by the chamber’s door and bowing. “I hope I’m not interrupting?”

“No, we just finished conversing with Sir Lightbringer,” Celestia quickly assured her. “Was there something you needed Pixie?”

The maid, who had uttered a short sigh of relief upon hearing that she hadn’t interrupted anything, raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Princess Celestia, surely you didn’t forget that you asked me to make sure your chambers are clean before you’ll be spending time with Princess Moonlight while Princess Luna takes over the court?”

“Oh, right, of course I didn’t forget,” Celestia quickly replied, smiling. “Forgive me Pixie, Sir Lightbringer’s report took longer than I had thought. We will leave you to do your job,” she told the maid as she nodded at her sister, and both of them began heading for the door.

“What a dutiful mare,” Luna commented quietly, smiling back in the direction of the chamber that they left after the exchange of respectful bows from the maid and friendly nods from the Princesses. “Thank you for agreeing to look after Moonlight,” she added, turning to Celestia as she changing the subject. “She’s becoming more… active. Angelic Heart and Caring Star are having a tough time keeping up with her.”

“I can imagine,” Celestia replied, thinking back fondly to Luna’s first months after she was born. “I’m sure it will pass with time.” Her sister cast her a dubious glance. “Alright, she will grow up enough to understand what ‘grounded’ means, and then it will pass.”

Luna giggled in amusement, quickly joined by Celestia.

154. Dreading the Future

“Enter,” Sir Lightbringer called from his office as Storm knocked on the door.

With a quick glance behind him at his fellow paladins, Storm opened the door and entered the Grand Master’s office. The day so far had been great; aside from having Serenity back at the Abbey and meeting a new ‘recruit’, so to speak, they all got to enjoy a great party today, courtesy of Pinkie Pie. Admittedly, a lot of the positive moments he experienced during that party could be credited to being in Rarity’s company, but honestly, everything else had been great, too. It was fun just to hang around with so many townsfolk, not needing to care about any paladin business for a few hours. It was nice seeing Nymph being comfortable in her true form around so many ponies, and to see both her and Big Mac become more open about their relationship (not that it was that big of a secret, for if what Storm had heard from Rarity was true they only tried to keep it a secret from Applejack, but she had seemingly grown to like the changeling a lot recently). It was also nice to see Zahara again, even though they didn’t talk much; whether she was still embarrassed about the way they all first met or if there was some other reason, the zebra seemed content to just hang in the corner, talking with Guard.

“Seeing how he’s not exactly the heart and soul of the party either, one has to wonder how fun that could have been,” Storm remarked jokingly.

It was definitely a fun party. However, now it was over, and they all had to return to their duties. As Sir Lightbringer had told them, they were suppose to leave tomorrow, going somewhere for over a week, and right now was the time for their briefing regarding this mission, or whatever it was.

“Duty calls,” Storm thought, with only mild annoyance, as they entered the office.

“Reporting for the briefing, Sir,” he said when they all stood at attention before Sir Lightbringer’s desk.

The Grand Master of the Order, who had been sitting behind it, nodded. “At ease. I hope that all of you had a pleasant time at the party,” he said with a brief smile as all of them had somewhat relaxed and shifted to stand a bit more comfortably.

“Meh, it was alright,” Tucker replied, shrugging. “Would be cooler if there were a few stri-”

“Thank you for making arrangements for Liturgy during our time away, Sir,” Serenity interrupted the unicorn before he could finish. Pausing only to shoot her paladin brother an annoyed look, she continued: “I should have thought about it before I had brought her here the day before this mission.”

“Well, you can thank me by alerting me sooner in the future when you recruit anypony into the Order. Or better yet, consult with me on that matter before you do. That goes to all of you,” Sir Lightbringer said, addressing the three other paladins. “I don’t care if it would be a filly or a colt, zebra, griffon or diamond dog or whatever, just let me know in advance. And since we’re on the subject,” he added, sighing and growing more serious, “I would like to let you all know that the Order of the Celestial Light will be accepting initiates from Griffonia as well as from Equestria.”

Storm stared, surprised. In the corner of his eye he noticed that Guard and Tucker were too, but strangely, not Serenity. Putting that out of his mind for now and focusing on what Sir Lightbringer had said, he asked: “Does that mean griffons will be joining the Order, Sir?”

“How come?” Tucker asked when Sir Lightbringer nodded. “Also, will any of them be chicks?”

“Political reasons aside, the Light loves all of us equally,” the head paladin replied to his first question. Clearly ignoring the second, he added: “If they come to us to learn Its ways, I will teach them regardless of their race, and I expect all of you to do the same.”

“Of course, Sir,” Storm quickly replied, and the others nodded. “We’re all just… surprised. I mean, aren’t we serving the Princesses? How would it work, to have people from another kingdom in the Order?”

“We serve the Light, first and foremost,” Sir Lightbringer said. “But you are right, it is true we all swore fealty to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Which is why in the future we will have to divide the oath we take when we join the Order into separate oaths of loyalty to the Order and their respective rulers. Alternatively, the Princesses and King Robert could work on improving the alliance between Equestria and Griffonia,” he added with shrug, “but that part shouldn’t worry you.”

Storm nodded, a bit hesitantly, as he thought over what Sir Lightbringer had said. It seemed like a reasonable solution… and besides, it’s not like those two nations were even unfriendly towards one another. If anything, with members from both Equestria and Griffonia serving in the same paladin order could bring the two kingdoms together.

He did feel some discomfort at that prospect, though. Being the only pegasus paladin, Storm suspected he’d be responsible for overseeing their combat training.

“Guess I better get some more practice in aerial combat,” he thought, slightly moodily; despite being a pegasus, he had always preferred fighting close to the ground.

“I think I speak for everypony when I say that we will be honored to help griffons discover the Holy Light, as you had for all of us, Sir,” Serenity spoke up.

“The things I would help those chicks discover…” Tucker muttered, more to himself, then - as if sensing the annoyed glares he received from everypony - he added: “What Serenity said, Sir.”

Storm and Guard also nodded in agreement. “I am proud to hear you say that,” Sir Lightbringer said, smiling. “The initiates from Griffonia will arrive on the same day all the others will. According to the letter the Princesses received from King Robert, there should be ten of them. However, two days before that we will be receiving other guests from them.”

The Grand Master sighed, sounding very tired, as Storm and the others listened intently, confused; what other guests could they have?

“The King of Griffonia had also requested that I take his youngest son and another noble cub as my wards and make them squires in the Order.”

“Oh,” Storm thought, stunned. “That answers that question I guess.”

“Furthermore, they will be accompanied by a member of the Griffonia’s Kingsguard, whose duty will be to make sure Prince John stays safe,” Sir Lightbringer continued; it was clear from his tone of voice that he wasn’t entirely pleased with that request. “From what I understand, though, with the Prince being my ward, the Kingsguard will have to obey my orders, unless she decides they put his life in danger. Which is good, as the last thing I need is some griffon doing what she pleases and causing a diplomatic incident.”

“Wait, you said ‘she’, right?” Tucker cut in, looking at Sir Lightbringer hopefully. He then frowned and added: “And what’s this ‘Kingsguard’, anyway?”

“It’s an order of knights whose purpose is to protect and serve Griffonia’s royal family,” Serenity replied for the Grand Master.

“Oh, I think she will find some other things to do when she gets here,” Tucker said, smirking. “Or rather, a pony to do. Bow-chicka-bow-wow!”

Ignoring the unicorn along with everypony else, Serenity continued: “Usually at least one accompanies the cubs of the king when they are sent away as wards… although it is rather unusual for a prince to be sent away to Equestria. At least, it was back in my time,” she added sheepishly.

“From what Princess Celestia had told me, it’s still unusual,” Sir Lightbringer quickly assured her. “I can only assume King Robert hopes for his son to become one of the first griffon paladins… or spy on us. In any case,” he continued casually, ignoring the worried stares everypony game him, “I will be taking Prince John as my own squire.”

Having expected what came next since Sir Lightbringer mentioned squires, Storm was only barely able to stop himself from rolling his eyes as he turned to him.

“Storm, you are the second highest ranking paladin in the Order, and like Lord Francis, you can fly. It would seem like the best choice to assign him to be your squire.”

“It would certainly seem so,” Storm agreed, despite his own uncertainty whether he should accept this charge. “What exactly would be required of me? I mean, what will be the squires’ duties, Sir?”

“They will have to attend one of the praying sessions together with initiates and have an hour of combat training everyday after school,” Sir Lightbringer replied. “I’ve already talked with Cheerilee about the griffons joining her school when I told her about Liturgy,” he added, glancing at Serenity. “She of course agreed, although I think she’s understandably nervous about the prospect of teaching a prince.”

“Oh,” Serenity exclaimed, interrupting him. “That explains why she seemed a little… odd when I went to thank her for agreeing for Liturgy to join her school so abruptly.”

“She’s going to have a prince of a foreign kingdom in her school, being ‘odd’ is actually rather calm reaction,” Storm thought, himself being nervous about taking just a squire, let alone a griffon noble.

Pushing his worries aside for now, he focused on listening to Sir Lightbringer as he continued: “Aside from that, I’d like the squires to have an hour or two of individual training from their mentors. You can use that time to teach them whatever you feel like would be of use to them, or give them assignments like doing some chores at the Abbey.”

“That… shouldn’t be too hard, then,” Storm replied diplomatically; he wasn’t sure if what he said was true. His concern wasn’t caused by having other duties on top of helping to train the initiates, he was more worried about not being able to properly teach the young griffon. “What do you intend to teach Prince John, Sir? If I may ask, of course,” he added hastily.

“Various things,” he replied, shrugging. “As I’ve said, those cubs will be arriving before the initiates, so we can begin teaching them together, but we’ll discuss this at a later date. For now, I would like us to focus on the reason why we are having this briefing,” the Grand Master of the Order said, leaning closer to them against his desk.

Storm felt the others brace themselves for what they were about to hear. Pushing the thoughts about squires and griffons away, he likewise tried to prepare himself.

“I’m sure you’re anxious to know where are we heading and why,” Sir Lightbringer continued. “We’ll be leaving Ponyville by train, of course, and travel to Baltimare. There, we will board the transport ship Lady Gale as it sets sails, and after thirty-six hours of sea voyage we will reach the Dread Isle on the morning and make landfall.”

Storm’s eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. Shivers went down his spine as in his mind the name of that place echoed.

“Dread Isle?” he heard Serenity ask. Storm glanced at her; unlike him and Guard, who was as disturbed by their destination as he, Serenity was merely confused. “Why are we going there, Sir?”

“Why, what is it?” Tucker, sounding even more confused, asked her.

“Oh, of course; Tucker has no memories of anything that had happened prior to being released from that amber, and Serenity had been gone for a thousand years,” Storm realized. “There’s no way they could have just read about something like this.”

“Why don’t you answer Tucker’s question, Serenity?” Sir Lightbringer asked her, leaning back against his chair.

Serenity frowned, surprised, before she turned back to Tucker. “It’s an island between Equestria and Griffonia. During the war, the griffons used it as a naval base for transporting supplies to their forward outpost in today’s Manehatten and then their fortress when Equestria began their counter-offensive. It’s a site of the biggest battle that ever took place in history. However, there’s nothing there now, except some ruins and a memorial at the peak of the island’s mountain. At least,” she added, hesitating, “that’s how it was a thousand years ago. Did, um, something change since then?”

“You could say that,” Guard said, grimacing.

Sir Lightbringer nodded in agreement. “I’m sure you had heard, Serenity, about the Dance of the Feathers, the Griffonian civil war with a ridiculous name,” he said, rolling his eyes. Turning to Tucker, who became even more confused, he added: “It was more of a series of separate wars that lasted throughout three hundred years, starting eleven hundred years ago with a succession dispute between two brothers and ending eight hundred years ago with the death of the last Bloodfeather Pretender.”

“Okay, let’s say I got all that,” Tucker said, rolling his eyes. “What does it have to do with this Dread Isle and why are we going there?”

Undeterred, Sir Lightbringer continued, “That last pretender to Griffonia’s throne was a hippogriff known now as Bane. Like all hippogriffs, he was able to use magic like unicorns do. For some time he even attended Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, although he was eventually expelled. He continued to learn magic by himself, though, intending to one day use his powers to help him win the throne of Griffonia. However, by then no griffon would support any Bloodfeather Pretender, having enough of those civil wars, and that’s besides him being only half a griffon. In any case-”

“Here it comes,” Storm thought, curious how Serenity and Tucker would react to this bit of history that was only briefly mentioned in schools.

“- Bane had decided that if he couldn’t recruit an army or hire an army, he would just create himself an army to help him.” Once again, Sir Lightbringer leaned against his desk, propping his elbows on it and joining his forehooves before his chin. “Serenity, as you’ve said, the battle on Dread Isle was the biggest battle ever thought on the world of Equestria. The amount of ponies and griffons that died… so many people dying, all in such a brief period of time, caused the walls between the mortal plane and the Spirit World to grow weaker on the Dread Isle. Bane had hoped to use this. He traveled there and began to perform a necromantic ritual that would summon the spirits of all that were slain on that island and bind him to his will, creating a phantom army that would do his bidding.”

As both Serenity and Tucker stared at Sir Lightbringer with wide eyes, Storm couldn’t help but be amazed by his knowledge regarding those matters. In schools ponies only learned that Bane had planned to use an evil spell to summon ghosts, and even during the royal guard training it was only mentioned that it was the forbidden necromantic magic he was going to use and that he would enslave all those spirits. He hadn’t know all about those walls between planes and what not.

“Fortunately, Princess Celestia had been alerted about Bane’s plans - possibly Her Highness had him under surveillance due to the reasons why he was expelled, but I hadn’t asked Her - and travelled to Dread Isle to stop him. After trying to talk him into backing down, the two began to fight, with Princess Celestia being victorious. The memorial you’ve mentioned no longer exist,” Sir Lightbringer told Serenity. “It was destroyed during their battle, along with most of that mountain. However, that wasn’t the only aftereffect of their fight. The magical energies released by both the Princess and Bane as they fought resonated with the half-finished ritual, creating an unpleasant phenomenon.”

“Sure, that’s one way to describe it,” Storm thought.

Sir Lightbringer frowned as he began to explain it: “Ever since then, the Dread Isle had been bursting with echoes, recreating the battle in which they had fought, the biggest battle in Equestria’s history.”

Serenity’s jaw dropped as she stared at him in horror. Tucker, shocked and somewhat scared as well, asked: “You mean, like, ghosts?”

“No, fortunately,” Sir Lightbringer replied. “Ghosts are what we call the souls of actual living beings, who, for various reasons, have been brought to the mortal plane. The agony of their undeath state is torturous and maddening, and even though they might not necessarily be evil, they can cause a lot of harm to the living eventually. It is what Bane had intended to do to those that had died on that island. The echoes, however, are more of a… reflection. A literal ‘echo’, they’re not actually the ponies and griffons they look like. Princess Celestia, upon finding it impossible to dispel the magic that gave rise to them, had made sure of that. She had even asked the zebra of the Dowunai Tribe to send some of their shamans to be absolutely certain that those weren’t cursed souls. So no,” he finished, turning again to Tucker, “they are not ghost, although there are little ‘practical’ differences between them. Like I said, those echoes are locked in eternal combat with each other, and are unable to realize that the battle had been long since over and they’re all dead. In the past, the Royal Guard had been deployed several time to the island, mostly within those few first years after Bane was defeated,” Sir Lightbringer said, glancing at Storm and Guard. “Princess Celestia had sent them there to observe the echoes, and she herself led most of those expeditions. Most of what is known about Dread Isle comes from those times. Some echoes perceive the living as allies, while others see them as enemies. It is true for both sides of that phantom conflict, the echoes of ponies and of griffons. Which means that our expedition there will be the perfect opportunity for you to display your abilities to the fullest.”

“Sir,” Storm gathered his courage to ask the question that had been bothering him, “why exactly are we going there?”

Sir Lightbringer looked him in the eyes for a few heartbeats before he replied. “Paladins are warriors of the Light. We serve and protect the weak from harm and vanquish evil. Some of you had already proven to be capable of just that,” he added, looking at both Storm and Serenity, “But you need to be ready to serve in that capacity even in the darkest of times. The Order of the Silver Hand that I had been a part of had been born in the times of war,” he said; his eyes momentarily gleamed with nostalgia before he continued. “They had led the charge during the greatest conflict we had known. I want to be sure, and want you to be sure, that you’d be capable of doing the same. Which is why I had asked the Princess for permission to use the Dread Isle as… training grounds, of sorts. Starting with you four, I’d like to send groups of paladins in the future in order for them to be promoted. We can’t expect every knight to run into hate-feeding spirits of cold or power-hungry evil villains,” he added humorously, looking at Storm.

“Yeah, I think I’d rather take on Tirek again,” Storm remarked, smiling nervously.

“So, we go there and the three of us get promoted to knight-lieutenants?” Tucker asked, pointing at himself, Guard and Serenity. When Sir Lightbringer nodded, he glanced at Storm. “Sweet! Okay, I’m game. And what about Storm?”

“He’ll get promoted to knight-captain,” Sir Lightbringer replied. Storm frowned, thinking that it was a little unfair to others, but as he opened his mouth to protest the Grand Master added: “In all honesty, you should have been promoted to a higher rank than knight-lieutenant for stopping what could have become a serious threat to all of Equestria.”

Although he wasn’t entirely convinced that it was true, Storm was forced to nod reluctantly. Tirek could have become a threat to Equestria, one that possibly could have only be stopped by the Elements of Harmony. And although Storm had no doubt that Rarity and the rest of her friends would step up to save Equestria again, he was glad he had spared them from having to do so at least once.

As he mused over that, Tucker also seemed to think over something. “So, we have initiates and squires,” he began to count, “then knights, then knight-lieutenants, knight-captains… what are the next ranks in the Order, Sir?”

“The rank above knight-captain is templar, and above that is master, which is just below myself as the Grand Master. I also thought about adding the rank ‘crusader’, but…” Sir Lightbringer trailed off and rolled his eyes. “Let’s just say for several reasons, one of which was that I think it’s enough seven ranks is enough, I decided not to add that one.”

Storm and the other three paladins exchanged glances. He was certain each one of them was thinking the same thing:

“He didn’t want paladins to be confused with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

Deciding it was probably better to not ask more questions on that subject, Storm cleared his throat and asked instead: “What exactly are we supposed to do on the Dread Isle to gain promotion, Sir?”

“I’m glad you asked, Storm,” Sir Lightbringer replied, opening a drawer from his desk and pulling out a scroll. He unrolled it at his desk and motioned for the paladins to lean closer. When they did, Storm realized that the scroll was a map of Dread Isle. “We will make our landfall here, at the remains of the port,” Sir Lightbringer began, pointing at the said port. “From what I’ve read, it’s being maintained by the Royal Guard.”

“That’s right, Sir,” Guard spoke up, nodding. “I’ve been among the assigned royal guards during the last repairs eight years ago. We made sure any echoes didn’t interrupt the engineers and masons during repairs. The echoes in that area, however, are usually ‘friendly’.”

“‘Friendly’?” Serenity, noticing the strange tone with which he had said that word, asked.

“They’d keep asking us to go and join the squads defending the fortifications of the port from griffons’ counter-attack,” Guard replied. Rolling his eyes, he added: “About every ten minutes. Sometimes there would come some sergeant outright yelling at us, too. From what I heard, though, there were some times when they’d attack.”

“Well, if this time they’ll ask for help, too, then they will receive it,” Sir Lightbringer interjected. “If we come upon echoes that would see us as allies, we will aid them. Whether it would be by fighting their enemy-”

“Sir,” Tucker interrupted him, “about that; how exactly do we fight echoes?”

“Same as with windigoes, Tucker. Though those aren’t ghost, they’ve still been created in large part due to the necromantic ritual Bane had tried to perform. As such, the Light is very deadly to them. With the Light empowering your strikes, your weapons would affect them as if they were flesh and blood. You would also be able to heal them,” he added. “However, although the Light would heal their injuries, it would be extremely painful to them. You will have to judge for yourself if it’s the right thing to do.”

“Judge for ourselves, Sir?” Serenity asked, confused.

“I will be with you, but only to help you fight and advise you. I will not be leading this party.” Storm stared at him, speechless, knowing what this probably meant. “Since Storm Clash is the highest ranking paladin, it would be logical for him to lead then, but you can discuss this amongst yourselves.”

“Yeah, I knew it,” Storm thought, mentally sighing. He opened his mouth, wanting to ask Sir Lightbringer why he didn’t want to lead himself, but he was cut off.

“There’s no need to discuss this, Sir.” Storm blinked in surprise and turned to look at Guard. The older paladin continued to speak: “I have faith the Knight-Lieutenant can lead us.”

Although Storm felt touched hearing him say so, as well as seeing both Tucker and Serenity immediately nodding, he still frowned and whispered: “You guys mind consulting me next time?”

“Step up to the rank, sir,” Guard replied in the same tone.

Storm could swear he could detect amusement in the older stallion’s voice.

Sighing, Storm shook his head and turned back to Sir Lightbringer. “Why aren’t you going to lead, Sir?” he asked, doing his best to ignore the amusement on the Grand Master’s face.

“It’s supposed to be a test of your abilities,” Sir Lightbringer replied, addressing all four of them. “All of your abilities, including the ability to lead.”

“Light damn it, that makes sense,” Storm thought, resigned. Almost immediately, though, he frowned as another thought occurred to him. “No, wait.”

“Shouldn’t we then, I don’t know, take turns leading or something?”

Sir Lightbringer shook his head. “Something like that would only cause unnecessary chaos during our expedition. However, according to some older reports on the echoes on Dread Isle, sometimes they see the living not only as allies, but leaders as well.”

“So we’ll get to lead a squad of ghost-like things?” Tucker asked. “Awesome. Guess you can’t weasel your way out of this then,” he added, smirking at Storm. As he deadpanned at him in annoyance, the unicorn paladin blinked and then turned back to Sir Lightbringer. “Hey Sir, there were mares and griffon, um, girls, in those armies right? What do you call griffon females anyway?” Tucker added, turning to Serenity, who groaned and facehoofed. “Griffoness?” he looked around at everypony, waiting for anypony to reply. When nopony did, Tucker shrugged and said: “I’m just gonna call them chicks then.”

“... As I was saying,” Sir Lightbringer finally began again, having been deadpanning at Tucker, “some of the echoes will look to you for leadership. It could be that we will have to make our way across a battlefield, in which case we would have to fight our way through it. Leading some of the echoes would be the easiest way to do it.”

“So we might have to lead armies of echoes into battle?” Storm asked.

When Sir Lightbringer nodded, he couldn’t help but think: “Great.”

He did his best to push his anxiety away as the Grand Master resumed telling them about the expedition’s plan. “After making landfall, we will be heading along this road,” Sir Lightbringer said, his hoof following a trail on the map. “Our objective is the new monument, placed by Princess Celestia at the new location after her fight with Bane, before the echoes began to manifest in such great numbers. According to this map and accounting for battles with echoes, we should reach it within a day and a half. We will pay our respects to the fallen, then we will head back. The ship will be waiting for us, and we will begin journey home. Any questions?”

“Will I also have to pick a place to make camp?” Storm asked in resigned voice, looking at the map.

“Actually, I already picked a good spot to make camp,” Sir Lightbringer said, dispelling his worries. “It’s within the ruins of a tower, should be about a day away from the port.”

Taking a look at the spot Sir Lightbringer was showing on the map, Storm had to agree that it did seem like a good location for a camp. Based on the short description, it should be easily defendable, but even more importantly, thanks to its placement they would be able to use it twice, first after arriving and then after reaching the monument.

“Oh, right, there is one more matter,” Sir Lightbringer unexpectedly added, stopping his musing. He picked an open letter from his desk and glanced at it. “On the day we will return to the Abbey, we will be joined by Metal Wrangler, our Order’s new blacksmith. He had sent me this letter informing of his request regarding our expedition to Dread Isle. Apparently, some of the echoes manifest themselves around shards of steel, remains of the weapons carried and armors worn by those who had fought on that island. The ritual caused them to be drawn to them. Those ‘Ancient Steel Shards’, as they are called, will drop from the echoes after dispatching them, and you’d be able to pick them up. Metal Wrangler had requested that you bring him several of them, so that he could, and I quote,” he added, looking at the letter as he read: “‘make you something nice’.”

“So we’re also doing some fetch-gathering quest while we’re there?” Tucker asked, raising an eyebrow. “Meh, sounds boring, but okay.”

Sir Lightbringer spared a moment to glance at Tucker with mild annoyance before resuming: “I would like you all to keep in mind what I said and be on the lookout for any of those Ancient Steel Shards after we finish fighting. That’s all I have to say regarding our briefing,” he added, putting the letter away. “Finish your last preparations and have a good rest. Dismissed.”

“Yes, Sir,” Storm and the other three paladins replied, saluting, then proceeded to leave his office.

Serenity was first to speak. “So,” she began, several moments after they closed the door behind them and started to trot away, “this… this is going to be hard, right?”

“That’s not the only thing-” Tucker began, only to be silenced by Guard hitting him. “Ough, the back of my head!”

“Yes,” the older pony replied, frowning. “However, I’m sure that Sir Lightbringer wouldn’t want us to go there if he wasn’t sure we’d be able to do this.”

Storm had to agree with Guard on that, and, as he thought about it, he realized he, too, was sure they’d be able to handle going through the Dread Isle. Whether they could do it with him leading was another matter, but he tried to not focus on that.

Still, it didn’t in the slightest mean that this wouldn’t be hard. They would be trotting almost literally through war. Serenity had the right to be nervous, maybe even scared.

There was only one thing that came to Storm’s mind to say that could help to quell her anxiety.

“Have faith in the Light to see us through this, Serenity,” he told her, smiling.

Serenity blinked, then smiled back, quickly followed suit by Guard and Tucker.

Bernhard Heatherbreeze, the Royal Treasurer of Griffonia, was not happy.

One would think that, given his highly coveted position, that wasn't something unusual to him. Sure, such an important job could be stressful at times; needing to keep track of all of the crown’s finances, advising the King where the gold should go for the betterment of the kingdom and making sure it would. However, it was a job that Bernhard both excelled at and enjoyed doing it.

The problem was, however, that his advices as of late had been falling on deaf earholes.

He tapped the edge of the table with his talons impatiently as Bran Nightcloud, the Master of Crows, finished reading out loud for everygriffon in the Council Chamber the letter from Princess Celestia. Much to his annoyance, the pony princess wrote that the ponies would be more than happy with their conditions and will happily accept griffons into their order and teach them the ways of this ‘Light’. The whole idea of agreeing to send griffons to join this order was something he had strongly opposed, as well as earlier asking for zebras and minotaurs to teach them their shamanistic tricks.

“A griffon asking other races if they could learn from them,” Bernhard thought, growling inwardly. “Just the idea is an offense.”

Not that he didn’t consider ponies or any other races lesser - well, not by much anyway - or their magics to not be useful, but their ways weren’t the griffons’ way. The griffons didn’t need magic to stand proud for thousands of years. Throughout their history, they’ve needed nothing but their nature-given strength and wits. When the war with ponies had erupted, they had proven to be a match for them, despite all their magic. They could easily compete with Equestria by advancing their technological level further instead of wasting resources on attempts to learn magic, as he had tried to convince the King and the rest of the Council. They didn’t need the other races.

But even more importantly, the thought of them teaching their ways was just demeaning.

“I knew Princess Celestia would agree to those demands,” a melodic voice sounded in the chamber as Bran had finished, pulling Bernhard out of his musing. “The Grand Master of the Order of the Celestial Light’s stand on them was more of a concern.”

Although it took some effort, Bernhard managed to keep his face neutral as he looked at Princess Victoria Snowfeather. The future ruler of Griffonia was justly considered the most attractive griffoness alive, and often it caused other griffons (of both genders no less) to be a little… flustered while looking at her. Which made thinking critically of her opinion - that admittedly didn’t happen too often for Bernhard - annoyingly much harder.

It was, however, Princess Victoria who had pushed for accepting Princess Celestia offer to join the pony order, after she’d agree to a few demands, of course. She was also the one that came up with the earlier idea of attempting to convince the minotaurs and the zebra tribes to teach them shamanism, even though she herself had been sceptical of the results. Bernhard couldn’t help but find Princess Victoria’s eagerness to grow closer to other races alarming.

“Not that I would say it ever out loud,” he mused, glancing briefly at Bran.

The Master of Crows was probably the closest ally of the young Princess from all of the Councilors, discounting maybe only the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Why that was wasn’t known to him, but the fact that they’d often agree with each other and that Bran had took on that homeless orphan as a ward per the Princess’ request seemed to point out that there was friendship between them. Meaning that if the head of Griffonia’s spies would have learned of anygriffon slandering Princess Victoria, even mildly, it could spell trouble for that griffon, especially if they were of such standing as Royal Treasurer.

“No sense risking to lose all of that just to mutter some annoyed remarks,” Bernhard concluded. Glancing at King Robert, he added: “Hopefully, what I have to present to the King and the Council now would be enough to sway even Victoria Blizzardborn.”

King Robert Snowfeather, the powerfully built griffon, had nodded at his daughter’s comment and turned back to the Master of Crows. “Read his letter as well, Bran,” he commanded, leaning back in his chair.

As the Nightcloud griffon nodded and reached for the second letter, Bernhard looked at the other members of the Council. Lord Commander Gerard Snowfeather was as impassive as ever, Grand Admiral Horatio Shellheart was as bored as ever. The Court Conjurer, Erwan, who had been probably most fascinated with this new type of magic ponies had discovered, was listening attentively, the hippogriff’s face betraying great interest and excitement.

“Doubt I can count on either of them to help me convince the King to change his mind,” Bernhard concluded, disappointed, and turned his attention back to Bran as he began to read the letter from this Lightbringer pony.

“‘To King Robert Snowfeather, ruler of Griffonia; it was a great joy to learn that you had accepted my and the Princesses’ invitation for your people to join the Order of the Celestial Light. I have no doubt that the griffons Your Majesty chooses will become fine paladins, and they will soon be spreading the Light’s teachings further among Griffonians, and that this experience will bring ponies and griffons closer.”

“Hopefully not,” Bernhard remarked.

“‘I was surprised to hear about your request for me to take you son, Prince John Sandstorm, and nephew, Lord Francis Snowpelt, as wards, but at the same time I was deeply honored,’” Bran continued. “‘I humbly accept this request, and I swear by the Light that they will both be well cared for. I assure you, they will have the proper education during their stay in Ponyville, and I myself will do my best to raise them into the Light’s holy warriors. As per your request, I will make Prince John my squire, and Lord Francis will become a squire to one of the paladins already trained by me. Both of them as well as the Kingsguard accompanying them will be properly accommodated, of course. I look forward to meeting them, as well as the ten griffon initiates when they arrive. May the Light guide you’, signed ‘Sir Lightbringer’,” Bran finished, putting the letter back on the table. “There are also two seals underneath the signature, one being the symbol of the Order of the Celestial Light, and the other what my informants tell me is Sir Lightbringer’s cutie mark.”

Bernhard didn’t even bother to roll his eyes as Bran mentioned the symbols ponies carried on their flanks, and as Erwan glanced at the seals on the letter curiously.

“A rather unusual cutie mark,” he remarked; when Bernhard looked at him again, he noticed with mild interest that the hippogriff was frowning. “What exactly do we know about this pony?”

Bran spread his forelegs and shrugged. “He first appeared in that small town, Ponyville, about half a year ago, seemingly out of nowhere. From what my crows were able to gather, he seemed to claim to come from some distant land, but if he did go into more details, he must have shared them only with the Princesses and their close circles. At first he had been known by the name Matthias Lehner. He had chased out of the town three teenage dragons soon after coming to Ponyville, using his bare hoofs and a kitchen knife, and later began using this magic, this ‘Light’, to heal ponies. Two months later he was present at Canterlot during the changeling invasion, and supposedly fought off the Changeling Queen long enough for Princess Cadance and her soon-to-be husband to blast them all off with their combined magic. Some months later, a strange creature named ‘Brann’, belonging to a race called ‘dwarf’, appeared in Ponyville, and him and Lightbringer seemed to know each other. The next day the Princesses officially asked him to teach other ponies how to wield this Light, and began creating the Order of the Celestial Light, first by knighting him. Several days later, when the Crystal Empire had reappeared, he had fought with King Sombra long enough for Princess Celestia’s student find the artifact called the Crystal Heart and her pet baby dragon bring it to Princess Cadance, after which the blast weakened Sombra enough for Lightbringer to kill him.”

“I thought it is considered a high offense in Equestria to take the life of another,” the Grand Admiral interrupted him, speaking up for the first time since the meeting had started.

“Yes, Horatio, except that their law allows it in some specific conditions. In this case,” Bran paused to pick up some of his notes, “the pony known as King Sombra was actually possessed by some evil entity; dealing a mortal blow to its vessel caused the entity to escape in the shape of dark fog, that was then vanquished by Sir Lightbringer with a blast of the Light. That’s how he had gotten his name, apparently; the crystal ponies began calling him that after his battle with this evil, and he had eventually began using it as his name. He would then oversee the construction of Everfree Abbey, located on the border of Ponyville,” the Master of Crows continued, “which were ready after a month, and began training of four ponies as the first paladins. The last notable things regarding Sir Lightbringer worth mentioning are that it was apparently thanks to his efforts that ponies and changelings were able to make peace and form an alliance.”

“What about that windigo that appeared in north Equestria?” Erwan asked. His small antlers began to glow as he picked up some letter with his magic. “Didn’t Sir Lightbringer lead his paladins to deal with that?” he asked, looking up from his notes.

“He did lead them,” Bran agreed, “but it was one of the paladins he had trained than defeated the windigo, so I didn’t think it was worth mentioning.”

“Regardless,” Princess Victoria spoke up, causing everygriffon’s attention to turn to her, “I think it is pretty clear that this Sir Lightbringer is an unusual individual. He came out of nowhere, nobody seems to know where his homeland is, within just a few months he seemingly gained the equestrian Princesses’ confidence and trust, and has proven to be both a powerful fighter and a skilled diplomat, apparently. It was a good idea to send John and Francis to him as his wards, Father,” she said, turning to King Robert. “Griffons learning this new magic aside, we stand to learn much about this mysterious pony. Also, I think both of those cubs could learn much from Sir Lightbringer,” she added, smiling.

As King Robert frowned - confirming for Bernhard his guess that this ‘good idea’ came from Princess Victoria rather than from His Majesty - the Royal Treasurer decided to use this opportunity to try and avert this whole mess before it would be too late.

“Your Majesty, Your Highness,” he began, interjected as he addressed both the King and his daughter, “I feel obliged to try and convince you to rethink this course of action.”

“Royal Treasurer,” Princess Victoria said, smiling at him friendlily, “I believe we had this discussion during the previous meeting. With the Equestria’s increase of military potential, Griffonia must also grow if we are to preserve the balance of power in our world. What better way there is than to for griffons to finally learn magic?”

“I do agree with your statement, Your Highness,” Bernhard nodded subserviently. “Even if we aren’t in conflict with any other kingdom, besides maybe the skirmishes with Aaztai and Sovati zebras, it wouldn’t be good if we were appear to look weak in the international arena. For all we know, it would be like inviting the powerful entities that seemingly all set their eyes on ponies to try raise to power here,” he pointed out. “But I wouldn’t say that putting our trust in others to teach us their magic is a correct way to go. Rather, I would suggest to continue funding our archaeological organization, Artifact Hunters, in search for magical artifacts-”

It was his less preferable option, as it would still result in griffons using magic. However, if they’d indeed need to start using magic, Bernhard would prefer it to come on their terms, not ponies or whoever else. “After all,” he would rationalise to himself, “during the Equestrian-Griffonian War, King Friedrich must have used some artifact to enslave the earth elementals.”

He was about to move to his second, more preferable option, but Princess Victoria interrupted him. “The same Artifact Hunters that are being led by a pony?” she asked, the corner of her beautiful beak curving up into a smirk.

“Doctor Caballeron is doing a great job,” Erwan quickly defended the archaeologist before Bernhard could reply the Princess. “The artifacts he had recovered allowed me to craft the communication orbs that you had requested, Princess, and I can’t begin to imagine what more could come from him and Artifact Hunters’ work.”

Nodding with gratitude at the hippogriff for his support, Bernhard resumed: “- and our technological development.”

“I believe we had been over this, Royal Treasurer,” Princess Victoria immediately said, sighing. “Our technology requires oil to work. Advancing it further would cause Griffonia to become dependant on Saddle Arabia.”

Bernard smirked. “Not necessarily, Your Highness,” he said, causing her to look at him with interest. “I received today a letter from an inventor named Anthony Flamecloud in which he writes that he had discovered an alternate type of fuel. One which we wouldn’t need Saddle Arabia to sell us. The whale oil.”

“‘Whale oil’?” Princess Victoria asked, surprised, as everygriffon turned to look at him. However, the next heartbeat the Princess was frowning. “Surely, Royal Treasurer, you jest. Hunting whales has been forbidden for over sixteen hundred years.” The Grand Admiral, who bore the colouring of the tribe that had hunted whales, nodded in agreement. “How did this inventor even come about it?”

Bernhard didn’t like the subtle note of threat he detected in her voice.

“A dead whale washed up on the beaches by the Tallcoast at Refuge Rock, about a month ago, “ he quickly explained. “The inventor had been conducting research on it, and discovered that its oil is three times more efficient as an energy resource than oil. If we would lift the ban on whaling, we would free ourselves from oil dependency, and the gold we were using to buy oil from Saddle Arabia could be used for other expenses, like the technological research,” Bernhard added, his excitement on the thought creeping into his voice. “Anthony Flamecloud had also sent me several drafts of his projects-”

He stopped talking as the King raised his paw, silencing him. “It’s an interesting idea, Bernhard,” he told him; hope swelled in Bernhard’s heart, but then was immediately vanquished: “But not possible. Allowing to hunt whales again would not only put us in conflict with various environmental organisations, but also with the sea ponies of Aquastria. The latter could possibly even lead to a war,” he added, ending the discussion. “However, it is an interesting concept. Commision that inventor into doing more research into this field; if he finds some other, easier to acquire fuel, we will revisit this matter. But for now, we will see how the griffons we choose to join the Order of the Celestial Light take to learning this Light.”

Bernhard sighed in defeat. “As you wish, sire,” he said, bowing his head.

As the conversation moved to the list of candidates they would send and what criteria apparently made for a good paladin (known to the Council thanks to Princess Celestia’s earlier letter and Bran’s investigation), and then further to the rumors of a band of thieves at southern Icecliff, Bernhard was capable of thinking only one thing:

“I don’t like where the future leads.”

155. Looking Forward to the Future

“Of course Prince John, Lord Francis and the Kingsguard should travel to Equestria before the ten griffon initiates do,” Bernhard thought to himself in annoyance as he flew through the corridor, heading towards his private chambers within the Griffenhalla Keep. “It’s not that much of a problem to finance two separate flights across the world, just leave it to the Royal Treasurer.”

Admittedly, it really wasn’t a problem, basically it was the matter of signing two separate sets of documents. If it hadn’t been for the whole issue of sending griffons there to learn this new magic and ignoring his idea, Bernhard wouldn’t have put any thought into it.

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to stop mulling over it, and focus on the Crown’s other expenses. Thankfully, the rest of the meeting had concerned more day-to-day matters regarding Griffonia, meaning that Bernhard had plenty of other tasks to do that would allow him to take his mind off this Light magic thing.
He looked through several documents and notes he held in his forepaws, making mental notes on which he’d have to deal with first and which ones second. “The Prince and others won’t be leaving until the next week,” he mused, calming down. “I can take care of the necessary documents for airship flights tomorrow or the day after.”

By the time he landed in front of his chambers, Bernhard had already planned what matters he would take care of first; there were inspections he had to arrange in some building companies and in a few mines, donations from the Crown to a hospital, the new budget for the educational system, and of course, the pay for the guards, keep’s staff, and so on.

“The unpaid guards are the bureaucrat's bane, after all,” Bernhard thought as one of his own private guards opened the door for him. “That reminds me, I need to check if everygriffon working for me will get their holiday bonuses.”

As he entered his chambers, the Royal Treasurer put all the papers he had been carrying on the nearby desk and called out to a servant. Bernhard intended to eat some light snack and drink a glass of wine before he’d go over the documents that he’d need to sign (or prepare for King Robert to sign later this evening). However, nogriffon had come running to answer his call. He frowned at this.

“I sent your servants away.”

Bernhard turned his head sharply. There was a griffoness sitting in an armchair across the room, her dark colouring and dark dress making her barely visible in the shadows. Surprised and a little shaken, Bernhard frowned at the unexpected intruder.

“I hope you don’t mind, Royal Treasurer,” she continued, acting as if this was a friendly visit. “I merely wanted to talk with you in private.”

Having calmed down a bit, Bernhard took a few steps closer to her, looking at her closely. She didn’t appear to have any weapons hidden beneath her clothing, and even if she did, all it would take was a shout from the Royal Treasurer for his guards to barge through the door.

“You’re… Katrana Stormcloud, right?” he asked, recognizing the lesser noble he had seen attending the court. Recalling how often she had been seen in the company of Bran Nightcloud, Bernhard snorted and added: “If Master Bran has something to say to me, he can do it himself.”

“You misunderstood me, Royal Treasurer,” Katrana replied, her voice smooth as silk. “I wasn’t sent by the Master of Crows, I came out of my own volition. I have information I believe only you can properly use.”

Bernhard highly doubted everything the griffoness had just said. Most likely, she had been sent by that Nightcloud spook to determine if he didn’t harbor any disloyal thoughts regarding Princess Victoria. Alternatively, she came here to get into his good graces. Normally, Bernhard would entertain her in order to discover her true purpose. However, he had far too tight schedule today and he had been far too annoyed by the meeting’s development to go along with this charade.

“I don’t have time for whatever this is,” he told her, giving her an annoyed glare. “Unlike some griffons, I have plenty of work to do. Try to schedule a meeting next time. Now,” he added, pointing at the door, “see yourself out of my chambers, before I ask the guards to see to it.”

“Come to think about it,” he thought, turning to look at the door as he suddenly realized that something was off with this situation, “how come they let her inside in the first place? And why didn’t they inform me about her when I came in?”

Before he got a chance to ask the griffoness those questions, or even turn his head back to her, Bernhard felt something hit him in the chest. The force of the impact pushed him all the way across the room, then something lifted him up against the wall and pinned him right below the ceiling.

Coughing in pain, Bernhard looked down to see what was holding him (and try to figure out what the hell exactly had happened as well). His eyes bulged and his beak dropped as he stared at some magical field, very alike to the one he had seen the Court Conjurer create when levitating documents not twenty minutes ago, around his chest. What was even more shocking, though, was that the same purplish glow now emanated from Katrana’s outstretched forepaw.

She smirked at him, magical energies dancing around her talons as she held him seemingly effortlessly. “Do I have your attention now, Royal Treasurer?”

Not trusting himself to speak in a dignified manner, Bernhard nodded. It was apparently enough for Katrana, as she lowered her forepaw, causing him to be gently lowered back to the floor. As soon as his paws touched it, the magical glow disappeared, along with the force that had been holding him.

“I presume you have some questions for me?” Katrana asked, still smirking.

Too amazed to feel offended by her tone, Bernhard asked: “That… that was magic, wasn’t it? And not this ‘Light magic’ or ‘shamanistic magic’;” he added when the griffoness nodded, almost patronizingly; “that’s the same magic unicorns use.”

“It’s called ‘arcane’ magic, if you want to be precise,” Katrana explained.

Bernhard nodded absentmindedly, still trying to collect his thoughts. “But, how… griffons can’t use this magic,” he said, not understanding how it was possible.

The griffoness’ answer made everything clear to him.

“And just who had told us that?”

Bernhard Heatherbreeze, the Royal Treasurer of Griffonia, once again stared at Katrana in shock as apprehension dawned on him, then growled and grinded his beak in impotent fury. “Ponies.”

“To be fair, unicorns seem far more… natural with arcane magic,” Katrana continued, making herself more comfortable on the armchair. Her features (quite beautiful now that Bernhard thought about it) furrowed in concentration as she mused: “I think their horns allow them to channel and control magic more directly, seeing how they practically never need to speak incantations of even more complex spells, merely think them in their minds, but it might be more to that… I, on the other paw, had to use incantations even for basic spells such as the one I had demonstrated when I first began learning magic.”

“And how exactly did you learn it?” Bernhard asked, pushing his anger towards ponies for this thousands’ year long lie to the back of his mind.

Katrana shrugged. “Been on a trip to Equestria with my parents when I was a cub, bought myself a spellbook as a souvenir out of curiosity, began experimenting with spells there… took me a while to figure out that holding my paws in certain positions and bending my talons in certain ways while chanting incantations would allow me to bypass the need to channel the magic through a horn, like how unicorns, alicorns, hippogriffs and centaurs do it, but eventually I mastered it.” Probably wanting to demonstrate that she wasn’t just boasting, she flickered her paw as it briefly glowed in the same purplish light. A table materialized before her, with a bottle of wine and two glasses on it. “Care to join me?” Katrana asked, one more paw gesture causing the armchair beside hers to move around the table and stop at the opposite side.

Beginning to come to terms with what he was seeing - that before him was the first griffon in history capable of using magic - Bernhard nodded and moved to sit in the armchair. He would pour wine for both of them, but the bottle lifted itself up into the air and began to pour them their drinks.

“Thanks,” he muttered as he took a rather big sip. “So you can use magic. Why are you telling me this? Does anygriffon else know?”

She graced him with a charming smile. “You’re the first griffon I confided in.”

Bernhard felt his cheeks becoming warmer. “Why?”

“Because, Royal Treasurer, I believe you’re the only griffon that could use this knowledge as it should be used. I’ve been in the capital for some time now,” she continued, pausing only to take a sip of the wine. “I’ve been attending the court and grew close to the Master of Crows in order to get to know griffons leading our great nation. The King, his heiress, members of the Council… all of them, save for you, disappointed me.”

Bernhard almost choked on his wine. He stared at Katrana, bewildered at the words that bordered on treason. Granted, they lived in the times when griffoness of such low social station saying such things would merely result in other griffons merely frowning at her at the royal court, but it was still shocking.

And yet, at the same time… in the corners of his mind, something raised its head. The memories of the several last Council meetings, how everygriffon seemed transfixed that they needed ponies or others to show them how to wield amazing powers. How his ideas had been ignored.

The thought: “She might be right to be disappointed,” came to him almost of its own.

“All this transfixion on ponies,” Katrana continued, almost echoing his thoughts. “We’re griffons, the most noble and grand race on this world, and yet we all but subjected ourselves to Equestria. Not only do we let their princess move the celestial bodies above our world as if it is their right to do so, but also we let them talk us into obeying various international laws, a lot of them taking away our ancestors’ given freedoms.”

Immediately, Bernhard thought of the whaling ban. Though it had been sea ponies of Aquastria that were the driving force behind it, the ruler of Equestria at the time had been in talks with the King of Griffonia, convincing him to agree to it. And that wasn’t the only case when their freedoms were taken; many other species were now under protection as well, in their own lands! Torturing criminals was forbidden as well, enslaving zebras too, and several times in history did Equestria tried talking Griffonia into abolishing capital punishment.

“But that’s the mistake that had been made a long time ago,” she added, waving her paw dismissively as she pulled him out of his musing. “However, the King and his advisors - aside from you, dear Royal Treasurer - seem determined to let this continue. Even when, after all this sudden increase of Equestria’s military and magical potential recently, what do they do? They send emissaries to other races to learn magic from them, not realizing how much influence they would gain on them. And what’s more,” Katrana said, her eyes growing wider as she hushed her voice, “there had been talks at court that the King now intends to have griffons join this pony order! I might just be some lesser noble,” she continued, her voice still confidentially quiet, “but that sounds like treason to me.”

Though a part of Bernhard yearned to disagree, to defend the King he had served for years, he find out that he couldn’t. All that Katrana had just said resonated with the doubts he had harbored, some so deep that until now he hadn’t even realized that he had them. Agreeing to join a pony order was treasonous. Continuing diplomacy with the nation that, for no reason, builds up military power, puts the member of their royal family on the throne of another country (even if it had just reappeared after a thousand years) and allies closely with monsters that feed on love, was treasonous. A real King wouldn’t have stood for that. He would teach Equestria a lesson in humility they needed, and put those Princesses in their place.

“A King like that doesn’t deserve to be told about my powers, wouldn’t you agree?” Katrana’s sweet voice asked him.

With the remains of his hesitation slowly evaporating, Bernhard nodded. “Yes. But… why are you telling me? What am I supposed to do with this information?”

“I’m telling you, dear Royal Treasurer, because you’re the only griffon who sees things for how they are and how they could be. Because you have the means to help make that happen,” she added, smiling again.

“What do you mean?” Bernhard asked, feeling overwhelmed and a little hesitant… and intrigued.

“You are the one controlling the Crown’s expenses,” Katrana began to explain. “Surely, it wouldn’t be difficult for you to arrange some of the gold to disappear without anybody noticing. With my help, those funds could be used for the betterment of Griffonia. I am willing to teach other griffons how to use magic,” she elaborated as Bernhard raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Those that would be loyal to our ideals, of course. I can provide them with spellbooks and grimoires. However, that won’t be enough to change the world order. We would need soldiers for that as well, we would need to be organized, have a base of operations where we could all safely reside until we’d be ready. We’d need every advantage we could get. And with my spellwork, I will be able to mask our moves from that Nightcloud’s crows and everybody else; especially since I intend to stay in his ‘good graces’,” she added, smirking.

Bernhard nodded, agreeing with her more and more with each word. All of those things would require gold. Spellbooks and whatever else magical Katrana would need would certainly be costly, so would be the soldiers. Whether they would be mercenaries or loyal warriors, every soldier needed their pay. Bernhard also thought back to the inventor he had spoken of during the meeting. If he were to embezzle gold, Anthony could make even greater leaps in technological advancement with those funds.

“And if we could get our talons on some whaling ship…” he mused, seeing no sense in abiding to the whaling ban.

“So you want to create some private army,” Bernhard said carefully; though it sounded like a great idea to him, he didn’t want to walk into this blindly. “An organization. For what, exactly? Take over Griffonia?”

A part of him - the part that, despite all the flaws of King Robert, was hesitating to attempt a coup d'etat - dreaded what her answer could be. He was relieved when Katrana shook her beautiful head. “Despite all his flaws, King Robert might still see reason, Princess Victoria too. When they see what griffons could be, I’m sure they and the entire court will cease seeing ponies as ‘friendly neighbors’, but rather what they really are; prey. A lesser race that should be serving us.”

Bernhard nodded, a broad smile on his beak at the Katrana’s vision. “Yes,” he mused to himself, “that’s how it should be. We will teach ponies and even their Princesses their place in the world.” An idea began to form in his head, already planning how they could accomplish this. “It would only be a few months… but it would be the best moment to strike! The King and the Princess would be there to see for themselves just what Griffonia could be, see that we don’t need to rely on others or be friends with them.… and if they would not,” a sudden thought came to him, “if they’ll chose ponies over the good and prosperity of griffons, then I’m sure that our next King will.”

Arthas rubbed his tired eyes as he walked into the armory. It has been a very eventful day, and having been woken by Twilight practically at the crack of dawn meant that he had been awake for most of it.

However, before he could go to sleep, the paladin had one more thing to do.

“Well, two, actually,” he commented as he looked around the armory. “Three if one were to count ‘waiting for Twilight’, but that isn’t really something I have control over.”

Seeing how he was going to be gone for a week, both Arthas and Twilight wanted to spend the night together again (“In hindsight, maybe it is better our friends don’t know; I’m pretty sure Rainbow would say we’re being ‘sappy’.”). Unfortunately, there were several books Princess Celestia had tasked Twilight to read through today, so she was going to be a little late. Of course, the lavender unicorn, mindful that Arthas would have to get up early tomorrow as well, had told him at the party to not wait for her and just go to sleep if he’d be too tired, she’d fall asleep beside him.

“She’s so sweet,” Arthas mused, smiling in affection and amusement as he recalled their conversation. “Too bad I’m bad at following such suggestions.”

An hour or two of sleep wasn’t going to make that much of a difference to him. Besides, he could take a nap on the train to Baltimare. Spending more time with Twilight? That was much more precious to him.

Focusing back on the task at hoof, Arthas began to examine each weapon stashed in the armory. They all were of high quality; he wouldn’t have settled for less when he had been tasked with creating the paladin order. Granted, with Equestria being such a peaceful land that relied on magic far more than weapons and armies to stave off threats, Arthas had his reservations when the blacksmith that crafted weapons and armors for the Royal Guard assured him the Order would have the quality he desired. He had been pleased to discovered that the blacksmiths weren’t just boasting.

“Each looks like a good weapon to carry into battle,” Arthas mused, grabbing one of the swords and performing a few swings before putting it back on its place.

Of course, they were, mostly, just weapons. There were some spells cast and blessing placed on them (the latter by him and the former by unicorn blacksmiths), of course, but none of them would be nearly as powerful as his Holy Avenger. Or any of the arms Brann had brought him that he had collected. Arthas had briefly considering picking one of them, at least for the expedition to Dread Isle. Ultimately, however, he decided not to take any of them. True, he had taken the daggers while going after Storm to the Everfree Forest, with intention of loaning him them, and was prepared to give Felo’melorn to Twilight if she’d want it. But the thought of him actually carrying them into battle didn’t sit right with him.

“They used to be trophies,” he thought, smiling sadly. “Now they are something much more important; reminders. Reminders of everything I had done,” Arthas continued, passing stacks of weapons, his eyes travelling from one to another as he passed them, “of all the great people I had killed… of all the people I had killed. Just like-”

He stopped by the next weapon, a wave of nostalgia washing over him. He reached for it with his hoof and picked it up. “Of course,” Arthas mused, adjusting his grip as he rose on his hind legs so he could hold it with both of his forehooves, “what better weapon to travel across the sea to fight the undead? Or as close as they come in this world, thankfully,” he corrected himself.

Arthas held the weapon for a few more moments, contemplating this choice, before he came back to standing on all fours, equipping it on his back. Armed, he turned to leave the armory, his thoughts turning back to their expedition. He was certain his paladins would be able to complete this trial. After all, it wasn’t that much different from the tasks given to paladins of the Alliance and the Horde in the Plaguelands, and Arthas was sure he had trained them to be able to stand ‘hoof to toe’ with Azerothian paladins.

“Except they will be collecting Ancient Steel Shards instead of Scourgestones,” he thought as he began to head back to the barracks, slightly amused by this unexpected addition to their expedition; he had merely wanted them to travel across it to pay their respects to the fallen by the memorial. “I’m liking this idea more and more. I can’t wait to meet Metal Wrangler in person,” he added, wondering what exactly he intended to do with those shards.

Arthas was about to enter the barracks when he paused, his ears perking up. It was only a reflex motion, however; he didn’t hear anything. Rather, he sensed them nearing through the barrier between the mortal plane and the Shadowlands, like a tingling in the back of his mind. Even before he started to turn around they passed through it, their golden radiance illuminating their surroundings.

“I was wondering whether you’d be back tonight or not,” Arthas said, turning back to the val’kyr.

The two warrior maidens hovered in the air before him, their wings gracefully flapping as they slowly descended to the ground.

“We bear a message from Odyn,” the spear-and-shield wielding val’kyr spoke. “In light of all the noble deeds you had done on this world after your resurrection, he had decided to… humor your request,” she said, her voice cracking for a brief moment.

Arthas wondered if her uncomfort meant that Odyn had been amused by his request or furious. Based on what he knew of the Titan Keeper, both reactions were equally possible.

The val’kyr’s ethereal feet touched the ground, and immediately they kneeled. “We are to obey your orders as if they were Odyn’s,” the other val’kyr, the one wielding a spear, said.

As before, Arthas could easily identify her aversion to him. He decided to not incite her further by pointing out that they didn’t really have a choice in this matter.

“I am honored by Odyn’s approval,” he began, bowing his head slightly. “Could you-”

“Hey, Matt?” a voice from beside him interrupted him. Arthas turned his head to look at Sound Wave and Cherry Bomb. “What is this all about?” Sound asked, both royal guards looking at the val’kyr and back at him with raised brows.

“They really capture everypony’s attention,” Arthas thought, realizing that the val’kyr’s glow must be very visible from the Abbey’s entrance. “I guess I can’t fault them for leaving their post.”

“These are val’kyr, ascended warriors of the Light,” he explained. “They will be… joining us at the Everfree Abbey for some time.” As Sound Wave and Cherry Bomb exchanged confused glances, Arthas turned back to the val’kyr. “Tell me your names.”

The sword-and-shield wielding val’kyr spoke: “My name is Raogrior.”

“Sanngrior,” the other one said.

Arthas nodded, memorizing their names. “Very well. I’d like you to stay here and help Sound Wave and Cherry Bomb guard the Abbey while I’m gone, Sanngrior,” he said, turning to the val’kyr he expected to be glad having to stay away from him. With the helmet covering most her face it was impossible to tell, but Arthas had the weird certainty that she was frowning at him. Not letting it bother him, he continued: “Stay within the Shadowlands unless there’s trouble; there’s no need to risk commotion amongst the ponies by having them see you. Raogrior,” he said, turning to her sister, “you’ll be travelling with me to the Dread Isle. Likewise, you’ll stay within the Shadowlands; don’t interfere with my paladins’ trial unless I say so.”

Both val’kyr nodded (with reluctance in Sanngrior’s case, of course). “As you wish, Sir Lightbringer,” Raogrior said.

Having said that, both her and her sister stood up and rose into the air, their shimmering forms dispersing as they faded away into the Shadowlands.

“You know,” Cherry Bomb spoke up; Arthas turned to look at him, “I am not going to be sorry that we’ll be reassigned back to Canterlot after your new initiates arrive; this post just keeps getting crazier and crazier.”

Arthas snorted with amusement. “Tell me about it,” he said, shaking his head. “If there would be some troubles at the Abbey, you can just call Sanngrior and she will appear. Although I honestly doubt anything grievous enough to warrant her help would happen,” he added.

“Okay, we’ll make a mental note about it,” Sounds Wave said, glancing back at the spot where the val’kyr were moments ago. “Changing the subject,” he continued, turning back to Arthas, “I see you’re mixing up your battle style for that trip of yours?”

Arthas raised an eyebrow, slightly confused by his choice of words. “Not exactly…” he said slowly, not completely sure if he understood him completely. He reached for the weapon on his back and raised it into the air, a smirk on his face. “More like ‘returning to the original one’,” he explained, gazing at the enormous hammer.

“But this time,” Arthas added warmly in his thoughts, “it will lead me to a better future.”

Author's Note

For the record, I considered for a long time whether or not should it be possible for griffons to learn magic, all the pros and cons and justifications and such. Ultimately decided that, with this story operating more on Warcraft's rules than MLP's, it should be possible for them.

156. Echoed Landfall

The familiar, cold feeling of purpose took him as he passed through the portal, his grip on Frostmourne and thoughts consumed by his plans to lay waste to all life that laid on the other side… which looked not unlike some of the streets of bigger pony cities.

Confused, the Lich King stabbed the Frostmourne through the asphalt that covered the ground and adjusted his plate gloves as he looked around. His surroundings remind him of what little he saw of Vanhoover or Baltimare and, even more so, of what he had seen in pictures of Manehatten. However, what confused him even more than his surroundings was a young human, who stood calmly, almost disinterested before him, carrying some package.

Picking up the Frostmourne again, the Lich King spoke: “Um… hi.”

“Hi,” the young man replied, sounding a little surprised as well, his breath creating a small fog in the cold air.

“I seem to have ended up at the wrong place,” the Lich King stated, unsure if he said it for his own benefit or the boy’s.

If the young human was disturbed by this conversation, he hid it well. “It seems that way,” he said, almost casually.

The two of them stood in silence for several moments. Finally, the Lich King decided to break it. “Is there supposed to be a punchline or something?”

“It’s either joke about the cold or you’re killing Taniguchi and Kunikida. Either way I couldn’t care less.”

Arthas woke up and gave himself a little shake. “What an odd dream,” he thought, rubbing his eyes as he laid back on the bed. “Either Luna decided to prank me-”

Meanwhile, at Canterlot Palace…

The two Lunar Guards, standing on either side of the door leading to Princess Luna’s bedchambers, glanced at each other in surprise as they heard a very loud chortling coming from inside. “Hee hee hee…”

Back on Lady Gale, East Sea…

“- or I have to tell Captain Swift Breeze to check if their rations didn’t turn bad,” he finished as, with a sight, he rose steadily from the slowly rocking bunk bed.

Carefully, as to not wake up any of the ponies sleeping on the beds around him, Arthas began strapping his armor on. When they boarded Lady Gale on the evening of the day before yesterday, her captain had offered him her quarters for personal use while she’d stay with her sailors and his paladins. However, he had respectfully declined, finding the conditions to be refreshing. Staying with other ponies had also helped to suppress the memories of his sails to Northrend, when he had slept in his own quarters on his flagship.

“Will this whole journey be like this?” Arthas wondered as he adjusted his plated horseshoes, himself unsure as to which time he thought that. “Constantly comparing it to Northrend? At least there’s no ice and snow here,” he remarked, glancing through the porthole.

What met him outside was an endless blue sea, small waves lazily strolling across the water’s surface, with clouded sky hanging above it. Despite the chilly morning, almost the middle of autumn and being outside of the borders of Equestria, where the weather was managed by ponies, the sun promised it to be a gently warm day. If they weren’t about to arrive at one of the scariest places on Equestria (if not the scariest), these would be almost serene conditions.

Sighing and shaking his head, he picked up his hammer and strapped it on his back, then began to slowly make his way towards the stairs that lead to the deck. He made a note to wake up his paladins soon; the captain had told him yesterday that they should make landfall about an hour after dawn.

On the deck he was met with a slightly nervous atmosphere, not unusual for a transport ship going to such a dreadful place. However, it didn’t impede the sailors’ work; they continued to fulfill whatever duties each of them had with the same expertise Arthas had seen their human counterparts do. He nodded in greeting to an earth pony who was adjusting a rope and several others as they worked while he made his way to the ship’s wheel, where Swift Breeze was.

“You’re up early,” the pegasus mare greeted him, leaning against the wheel’s pedestal. “The Princess raised the sun only about ten minutes ago.”

“I had a weird dream,” Arthas replied with a shrug. “Greetings, Captain Swift Breeze.”

“Hi. You know, not many ponies would walk around in a plate armor on a ship in the middle of the sea,” she pointed out nonchalantly. “Anything could happen. One big wave and you’d be sinking right to the bottom.”

Arthas chuckled warmly. “I have faith in your ship and your crew to not let anything happen.”

“Besides,” he added to himself, “if I would fell off and start sinking, then knowing my luck a bunch of sea pony mares would just happen to be swimming by. Probably with Ripple among them.”

Swift Breeze’s question pulled him from his musings. “Not in that Light of yours?” the captain asked, almost innocently.

“If what you are asking is, should I fall off the ship, would a pillar of Holy Light shine down upon me and raise me above the water, then no, I do not expect that,” Arthas sighed; despite his and other paladins’ abilities being well-known by now across Equestria, Swift Breeze had been sceptical of the Light’s concept. To her, it was just some weird type of magic. Having no desire to convert her or continuing this argument, Arthas smirked and joked: “But I am sure it would comfort me as I slowly drown.”

Swift Breeze chuckled and waved with her wing, ending the subject. “A moment before you came up the foretopmare reported sighting the Dread Isle, Sir,” she said as she passed him a spyglass.

Taking the spyglass, Arthas used it to look in the direction the ship was heading. True to the captain’s words, he saw the Dread Isle. “So this is where the biggest battle of this world took place,” he mused, his eye taking in what little he could see from so far away. Although it was by no means small, it still seemed a little underwhelming to Arthas that such a big and tragic event had taken place there.

A brief shimmer appeared over ruins of some fortifications, catching his attention, but nothing else happened. Wondering whether he just saw a glimpse of one of the echoes fighting, he returned the spyglass to Swift Breeze.

“We should reach that old port in a little over an hour,” she continued. “Remind me, you should be back two days from now, around nightfall?”

“If everything goes as planned, yes.”

“You mean if those ghosts don’t cut you five into pieces?” Arthas didn’t bother to correct her; he had already told her that those were echoes, and not tormented spirits, back when they had embarked on this voyage. He merely nodded calmly to her question. “Well, you better make it in time then, we won’t be hanging around forever and we won’t send out a search party.”

While Arthas wasn’t sure if she wouldn’t try and risk spotting them from the air if they didn’t come back, he felt certain that she and her crew would wait for them should they take longer time getting back. And would complain to him all the way back to Equestria. He got to know her only a little during this journey, but he had seen the respect her crew had for her, and knew that they wouldn’t hold it for a pony who would just abandon anypony in a place like this.

“Trust me, even I myself don’t want to stay here longer than necessary, Captain,” he told her with a nod of understanding. “As for me and my paladins being cut to pieces… well, suffice to say that I trust my paladins’ fighting skills.”

“And I also know that, should the worst happen, we can remedy it,” he added to himself, glancing at the side, where, hidden in the Shadowlands, the val’kyr Raogrior was. She would remain there during the paladins’ trial, were she would be able to look over them all, and, as she had assured him, resurrect them should the need arise. “Although I sincerely hope it won’t come to that. I know better than anypony that dying isn’t a pleasant experience.”

“What about your fighting skills?” Swift Breeze asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

Arthas chuckled to himself as he heard her question. “Unless there will be a blind half-demon or anypony wielding a holy blade backed up by over twenty mighty heroes, I think I will be fine.”

Storm took a deep breath after he finished putting on his armor. “Well, today’s the day,” he remarked, making sure Spring Binder was strapped to his back. “The day that technically had taken place two thousand years ago, I suppose,” he amended with an eyeroll.

Closing his eyes, he reached to the Light, hoping Its warmth could calm him. As Storm felt it spread from his heart, he found himself reminiscing of all the combat training he had received, both since he joined the Order and before, in the Royal Guard. He remembered all that he had learned about the Light from Sir Lightbringer, and the perils he had overcome. Filled with new confidence, he uttered a short prayer in thanks to the Light, and opened his eyes.

He and his fellow paladins were still below the deck, by the berths they and the crew had slept in. Aside from the sailors who were sleeping in after their shifts, they were alone, the rest of the crew leaving them to prepare in peace. Storm’s eyes turned to the others, wondering how well they were coping.

Guard Shield appeared as calm as ever. He had already put on his armor and now was sitting on his bed, his eyes closed. Storm wondered if he was praying. Other than that, nothing betrayed that he might be nervous.

Tucker Out was pacing around as he used his magic to equip his armor. He was also murmuring something under his breath, so quiet that Storm could barely make out anything. What he did hear, though, didn’t exactly sound like prayer: “Block, stab, dodge, then swish swish stab...” he recited calmly, almost as if he already defeated an echo in the way he visualized.

“He’s thinking about the fights that await us,” Storm mused, not really surprised; Tucker had always been the best fighter out of them four.

The one who had always been the least versed in combat, though, was clearly having a tougher time than the others. Serenity kneeling by her bed, deep in prayer, and her short, irregular breaths betrayed her anxiousness.

Storm trotted closer to her as she uttered: “Blessed Light, may you shine upon us in this hour of trial, grant us strength to live up to Sir Lightbringer’s expectations…” He interrupted her by lightly touching her shoulder with his wing. Despite the gentle gesture, Serenity jerked as if he hurt her. “Oh, sorry Storm,” she said as she recovered, then sighed and gave herself a little shook. “I guess I’m a little jumpy.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Storm remarked wryly. “Are you alright?”

Serenity shot him an annoyed glare, a rare thing for her to do (unless Tucker was involved) which emphasized just how silly this question was. Of course she wasn’t alright; none of them were.

“I suppose as much as I can be, given the circumstances,” she said as she became her kind self again. “Back when I decided that I would join the Crystal Guard so long ago, I knew that I might end up having to fight somepony. After Sir Lightbringer offered me a place in his Order, I was even more certain of that. But I never expected that the first real fight I would actually be a part of would be against some echoes of warriors who had fought in the greatest battle that ever took place.”

“Well, to be fair, I don’t think any of us expected that,” Storm pointed out. He then frowned as a thought occurred to him. “Also, back when you’ve planned to join the Crystal Guard, the fight between Princess Celestia and Bane hadn’t happened yet, so…” Storm trailed off, chuckling, as Serenity rolled her eyes.

“Har-har,” she told him; despite her tone, Storm noticed a glint of amusement in her eyes. “I see that dating Rarity had improved your sense of humor.”

Slightly surprised by the remark, Storm wondered briefly if it was true. He vaguely recalled seldom making jokes back when he had first arrived in Ponyville, when he had been too worried about his paladin training and the Light not answering his prayers. “Maybe I have become more confident since Rarity and I began dating?” he wondered. “Well, I suppose it does give you a confidence boost if you look like me and the most beautiful mare ever agrees to go out with you.”

“Perhaps,” he agreed, shrugging. “How about you, then? I thought that your stay in the Crystal Empire would have made you more confident and more connected to the Light,” he pointed out.

“Well, it did… or I thought it did,” Serenity replied, frowning unhappily. “But this isn’t about the Light or my confidence. You know I was always the worst of us when it came to combat. I did spar with the crystal guards a few times to stay in shape, but I don’t think I’ve improved too much.”

“That may be true,” Storm began slowly, carefully thinking what to say. It helped that Serenity gave him an excuse to pause by snorting dismissively. “But you do have the strongest connection to the Light out of the four of us. You are second to only Sir Lightbringer when it comes to calling upon It for aid. I’m sure whatever shortcomings you might have with combat skills you will make up for while we’re undertaking this trial by your command of the Holy Light,” he told her, truly meaning what he said.

He was relieved to see most of Serenity’s anxiety leave her. The crystal pony smiled at him gratefully, but as she was about to thank him, another pony spoke up from behind them “And you thought you aren’t a leader material.”

Storm whirled around to look at Guard, who had stopped his meditation and was now looking at him with a smirk. Frowning in annoyance and embarrassment, he asked “What do you mean?”

“Well,” the older paladin began, shrugging, “I might be wrong, but a good leader tries to help his soldiers with their problems and encourage them.”

“I just reminded Serenity what her strengths are, I don’t think that it’s something only somepony who’s ‘leader material’ could do,” Storm disagreed, feeling hot in his cheeks.

“Maybe,” Serenity spoke up, smiling a bit sheepishly. “But, um, that is pretty much what Sir Lightbringer had told me on the train, sometime after we left Ponyville.”

“Really? Storm asked, blinking in surprise. Although they weren’t sitting next to each other during the train ride, they had been travelling in the same car. How had he missed hearing Sir Lightbringer talking to Serenity? Perhaps he had been a bit… unfocused after the goodbye kiss Rarity gave him at the train station, where she and her friends came by to see them off. Pushing the pleasant memory away for now before he’d blush again, he turned his attention back to Serenity. “If Sir Lightbringer had already spoken to you, then how come you’re still nervous?”

“Because that was on a train two days ago in the middle of Equestria, where it was safe?” Serenity replied with a question, raising an eyebrow.

“Her stay in the Crystal Empire had apparently also improved her sarcasm.”

Storm was about to voice that thought, but in that moment Tucker had decided to join the conversation. “Hey, speaking of Sir Lightbringer, do any of you know why he’s carrying around that gigantic hammer now?” the unicorn asked, trotting closer and sitting on Serenity’s bed, who rolled her eyes and scooched a bit away.

“Weren’t you listening when he explained how those Proving Grounds malfunctioned and he can’t summon his Holy Avenger anymore?” she asked with a frown.

“‘Malfunctioned’,” Storm repeated in his mind; Sir Lightbringer had explained to them what the Proving Grounds was (and excited them all at the prospect of having such a magical device helping them with the combat training at the Abbey), but didn’t go into much details about what this ‘malfunction’ was. However, it was clear to everypony from the damage it had done to his armor that it wasn’t as light of a matter as he made it sound. “It’s a good thing the Baltimare’s Royal Guard’s blacksmith was able to repair it quickly, I don’t think Sir Lightbringer could even wear it. Just what exactly was this malfunction to cause such damage to him of all ponies? And how come he can’t use Holy Avenger anymore?”

As Storm pondered those questions, Tucker continued his argument. “Yeah, I was listening, but that’s not what I’m asking about. I mean, why the hammer? He had always used that two-hooved sword, right?” he asked the others.

Storm frowned; while it was true that Sir Lightbringer had always used the Holy Avenger when fighting, he had, on a few training sessions, used different weapons, and seemed as proficient with them as with a two-hooved sword. Even as he was about to say that, however, Guard had already began to reply: “Not necessarily. You remember that ‘dwarf’, Brann? I’ve heard once that his older brother had taught Sir Lightbringer how to fight with every weapon before he had began his paladin training. And besides, during our sparring sessions, he would often pick training weapons other than swords.”

Nodding in agreement, Storm noticed Serenity frowning briefly before she added “Also, the statue of his paladin mentor is depicted with a similar hammer. Perhaps now that he is being called by the same name as Lord Uther, he decided to follow in his mentor’s hoof… um, footsteps? Or maybe to honor his memory this way,” she said, shrugging.

Storm had to agree that this sounded quite probable. After all, Sir Lightbringer had named the Lightbringer Chapel after his old mentor; something that some ponies visiting the chapel to pray didn’t know, now that everypony have began to call him by the same name.

“Yeah, about that,” Tucker spoke again, frowning thoughtfully. “Doesn’t anypony find it odd how there were no ponies besides Sir Lightbringer in that Order of the Silver Hand? Only dwarves, humans, and a few ‘high elves’. There was no mention of ponies at all in any of the books and librams that Brann had brought him.”

Jaw dropping, Storm stared at his paladin brother along with Serenity and Guard, utterly surprised.

Tucker, noticing their stares, snorted and rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’ve read them all, at least those in Equestrian and the ones Sir Lightbringer had translated. Biiiiig surprise.”

“Well, yeah, it is,” Storm, who himself had read only a few of those thought.

Serenity, who had quickly recovered from her shock, cleared her throat. “Yes, well, I am sure there is some explanation for that. Everything regarding Sir Lightbringer’s old life is… mysterious. I mean, you remember how Sir Lightbringer had told us that he had fallen into darkness, right?” Serenity shook his head. “I still can hardly believe a pony such as him could become evil.”

Nodding in agreement, Storm thought back to how the Grand Master of the Order had told them this on the day they had arrived at the Abbey. Even then he found it hard to believe, and having gotten to know Sir Lightbringer a lot more since then, it was even more unthinkable.

“Truly, everypony can became evil then, if even Sir Lightbringer could have,” he thought. “Still, for him to be now… himself, this must have been something more alike to how Princess Luna had become Nightmare Moon, right?”

He was about to bring that up (and start a discussion that they already had in the early days of their training at the Abbey), but just then one of the crew ponies came down to inform them that they would shortly reach the port. With some of their anxieties returning, they exchanged glances and rose to go to the deck.

Upon climbing up to the deck, the first thing Storm noticed was the big landmass right in front of the ship. “Last night all we could see was a huge vastness of the sea, that should have been more worrisome than seeing this little island right?” Storm wondered, a shiver going down his spine.

As he once again reached to the Light for comfort, Sir Lightbringer trotted down to join them. “I hope you had a good rest,” he told them in greeting. “You won’t get one until we return to this ship.”

“Way to calm us down,” Storm thought, his eyes on the approaching port. As it has been only a few years since the last maintenance trip of the Royal Guard, the long pier was in great condition, perfect to allow them for docking there. “At least there are no echoes here,” he thought with a slight relief as he scanned the area.

“How are you all feeling?” he heard Sir Lightbringer ask, a hint of worry in his voice.

“Is he having second thoughts about dragging us here?” Storm wondered.

“Little nervous, Sir, but fine,” Serenity quickly told him. “The Light is with us, and with It we have nothing to fear.”

Although Sir Lightbringer nodded approvingly to her, Storm noted that, for a brief second, it looked as if he wanted to say something but thought better of it.

“Did he want to say that just having the faith in the Light wouldn’t mean we’d make through it? Serenity isn’t stupid, she knows it will take more than just that.”

“We’ll arrive shortly,” Sir Lightbringer said instead, beginning to turn away. “Do whatever you feel you need to in order to prepare yourself.”

“Went over everything I’ve learned, prayed, thought of Rarity, all checked,” Storm thought; realizing that he had, indeed, done everything he needed to be as ready as he could be, he once again felt himself relax.

Glancing at his paladin brothers and sister, he noticed, with a little worry, that Tucker was looking at Sir Lightbringer with a raised eyebrow. “Huh, well, if you say so, Sir. Serenity?” he asked, turning to the crystal pony.

Surprised, Serenity looked at him. “Wha-”

She was cut off by a pair of lips being pressed against hers.

The very next instant Tucker backed away as Heart’s Mercy swung through the spot where his head had been. The kiss - if such a light peck on the lips could be called such - ended before neither Storm, Guard or even Sir Lightbringer could react to it in any way.

“What in Light’s name was that!?” Serenity demanded from Tucker, more furious than Storm remembered ever having seen her.

Storm exchanged glances first Guard, then Sir Lightbringer; he could see that they too found this situation awkward. Both of them also looked a little annoyed with Tucker. Storm also couldn’t help but notice that several of the Lady Gale’s crew had stopped whatever they were doing and were now watching the pair with amusement.

“What, Sir Lightbringer told us to do whatever we need to do to prepare ourselves,” Tucker defended himself, speaking as if that was obvious. The next second he had to actually defend himself, as Serenity once again swung her hammer at him. His energy sword sprung from his hoof and he blocked Heart’s Mercy. “Okay, starting to think you’re overreacting a little.”

“Oh, dear Light,” Storm thought, facehoofing, as Serenity’s eyes grew wider.

“Overreacting?!” she exclaimed, then put more pressure on her hammer, forcing his hoof down. Tucker backed away as she swung Heart’s Mercy again. “I’ll show you overreacting, you, you-”

“Hey!” The sharp yell startled everypony. Turning to its source, Storm realized that it had came from the captain of Lady Gale, Swift Breeze, who had just landed near the paladins, looking at Serenity and Tucker sternly. “Swing that thing at him after you get off my ship! And you turn that thing off!” she added to Tucker. “I won’t have any part of her get damaged because of the two of you!”

“Baby, I can’t turn it off,” Tucker began, smirking at Swift Breeze. Despite his words, though, his energy sword disappeared. As Storm began to wonder though what he meant then, Tucker’s next words were suggestive enough for him to figure it out, not to mention the suggestive eyebrow wiggle. “It is always on.”

Silence fell over the ship.

“Well, that’s taken care of,” Swift Breeze said a few seconds later over the loud splash sound from outside the ship as she cleaned her forehooves together.

“For the record,” Sir Lightbringer spoke up, “I would normally prefer if you wouldn’t throw my paladins out of your ship.”

“Duly noted,” Swift Breeze replied without looking back as she left.

“Did he remember he can teleport?” Sir Lightbringer asked Guard, who was leaning over the ship’s taffrail.

“No, no yet Sir- ah, there he is,” Guard reported, turning back to the other paladins. “He just teleported to the end of the pier.”

With a sigh, Sir Lightbringer turned to Storm. “Would you mind checking on him?”

“No problem, Sir,” Storm quickly replied.

Spreading his wings before jumping into the air, he managed to glance at Serenity briefly. Strangely, after Tucker had hit on Captain Swift Breeze, she had seemed even angrier than before. Now, though she still looked angry, she also seemed embarrassed.

“I suppose I would be embarrassed too if my trial had begun in a similar way,” Storm concluded as he spread his wings and flew out of the ship, heading for the pier ahead where Tucker was standing, water leaking from pretty much everywhere.

Drawing closer, he saw that his paladin brother, despite slightly shivering from cold, seemed not worse for the wear than moments before. Relaxing, he let himself grow annoyed. “So, did you learn anything new?” Storm asked him sternly as he landed next to him.

“Yeah, next time I’ll put the armor on after leaving the ship,” Tucker replied as he tilted his head, letting some water to fall out of his ear. “Let me tell you, this thing weighs a tone underwater.”

“How about not kissing mare’s out of nowhere or making any suggestions to higher ranking officers?” he tried, deadpanning at the unicorn.

“Meh, doesn’t sound like me, does it?” Tucker replied with a smirk. Before Storm could rebuke him further, he glanced at the fortifications ahead. “So, this is the place, huh?”

Realizing just where he stood, Storm forgot about his annoyance for now. Instead, he immediately snapped into full attention, checking if there were any threats around them. After making sure they were alone for now, he turned to look at the fortifications visible in the distance, outside of the port.

“So, this is where Equestria’s counter-offensive had begun two thousand years ago,” Storm thought, shuddering as he considered just how many lives were lost in that war. “I hope we won’t have to ever go through something like this again. Or at the very least,” he added as he remembered why they were here, “that nopony other than us would ever have to go through it.”

If it meant ensuring that, if not Equestria overall then ponies living there could live their lives in peace, Storm would shoulder the horrors of a war, and he knew that his paladin brothers and sister would too.

“Lady Gale’s gonna dock soon,” he told Tucker. “We should probably stand ready in attention as Sir Lightbringer disembarks. Let’s go where the ship will moor.”

Letting the Light calm her, Serenity walked down the ramp after Sir Lightbringer and Guard Shield. She did her best to not look at Tucker, who was standing beside Storm on the dock and saluting; she feared that she would lose all her concentration otherwise.

“I can’t believe he kissed me like that!” Serenity though, a surge of anger overtaking her. Realizing that she was thinking about it again, she took a deep breath and banished Tucker out of her mind. As calmness swept over her, Serenity decided to put off dealing with what he did later, possibly when they make camp for the night. “Possibly by either pummeling Tucker or smiting him…”

She snapped herself back to attention as Sir Lightbringer turned to talk to them. “From here on out, we’ll be walking through a battlefield,” he reminded them. “I have faith that you will be able to make through it and back… but only if you keep your guard up, and more importantly, work together. I expect you to be working as a team,” Sir Lightbringer added sternly, his eyes moving between Serenity and Tucker. “Do the two of you need to stay behind at the port a while to work out your differences?”

Serenity cursed herself for losing control over herself like that right in front of Sir Lightbringer. She didn’t like the idea of disappointing him. Ever since he had invited her personally to join the Order, she had done her best to not disappoint the trust he showed in her.

“No, Sir,” she immediately replied. Realizing that it came out a bit harsher than she had intended, she paused, took a deep, calming breath, and continued: “I will not let my, um, annoyance with Tucker to come in the way of our survival. I will fight alongside him, Sir.”

She thanked the Light that this time Tucker managed to stop himself from uttering any of his usual comments. “Yeah, me too, I’ll, um, behave. Ugh, feels weird to say it,” he muttered under his breath.

“I suppose that will be enough in place of apology… for now,” Serenity thought, glancing briefly at the unicorn.

Sir Lightbringer looked at them for a few more moments, before nodding in acceptance of their assurances. He then turned to Storm. “Knight-lieutenant, you’ll be in charge from now until we return.”

Serenity was close enough to the pegasus to hear the silent sigh he uttered before he stepped forward. “Alright everypony,” he began, turning around as Sir Lightbringer stepped aside. “Let’s first enter the stronghold and get our bearings. According to what we know, it is probably under attack by the echoes of Griffonian soldiers. Also, we do not know if the echoes of ponies inside will consider us friends or enemies. Be on your guard. After we secure the stronghold, we’ll move further inland.”

“Whether he admits it or not, he’s actually quite good at this,” Serenity thought as they followed Storm down the pier, towards the ruined gateway that lead into the stronghold’s courtyard. She looked around curiously; back in the days of the war, this port had been used to transfer supplies from Griffonia to Equestria for the Griffonian army. The Royal Guard now maintained only enough of it so one or two ships could safely dock, the rest of the harbor was in ruin, numerous piers half collapsed into the water and almost all of the woodwork had rotted away. Still, when Serenity looked closer, she spotted several features characteristic to early Griffonian architecture. “With some of the pre-conquest Shellheart’s architecture, too,” she added, noticing some that some shells had been paved into a half-crumbled stone pillar.

Out of nowhere, a weird sensation overtook her, causing her to stop briefly. Serenity recognized it easily; it was the same feeling she had felt back when they had travelled to Northville to face a windigo. Except this time, it felt… different. Closing her eyes to better focus, Serenity felt as if her mind expanded. She could feel what she could only describe as evil emanating from the island, most likely the remains of the necromantic magic that held the echoes on the island. Besides that, however, she could sense... presences.

“I think I can sense two of those echoes close to the ruins of the gate,” she said out loud, not sure if she should inform Storm or Sir Lightbringer. Or if she was actually right.

Storm glanced back at her, then at Sir Lightbringer, who was nodding. “I sense them too, and more further into the stronghold. Also, I can’t detect too much malice beneath the necromantic magic that binds them. I think we can assume they’ll treat us as allies.”

Serenity sighed with a relief; though she knew there would be a lot of echoes they’d have to fight, she was glad that the first one they’d meet were going to be friendly. She also felt amazed by Sir Lightbringer’s abilities; she wondered if she’d ever become as perceptive with those Light-given abilities as he, to detect even if a being made of necromantic magic would be hostile or not.

As she pondered that, Storm had took in the information they gave him. “Understood. Still, this stronghold is under attack; we might run into a group of griffons’ echoes that would be hostile. Let’s not lower our defences,” he said as he resumed leading the group further.

Storm had clearly meant what he had said, because as soon as they reached the remains of the gate he reached for the Spring Binder and unsheathed it. Serenity, being able to sense the two echoes that ran towards them, had already grabbed her Heart’s Mercy, despite Sir Lightbringer’s words. Sir Lightbringer himself had also reached for his hammer; probably he too thought that it was “better safe than sorry”.

As Tucker and Guard prepared as well, the echoes approached. Serenity couldn’t help but take a step back. She had expected ghosts, scary, white-blue, and transparent. She only got the transparent part right; the two earth ponies that stopped before them were no different from living ponies, other than the armor they wore. Serenity gazed at the plate armors she had only seen in the history books, which admittedly weren’t too unlike the ones the paladins wore, except less ornate. Also, their armor bore many patched dents and cracks, testaments to how long and violent that conflict had been.

“Finally, reinforcements!” one of the echoes exclaimed, sounding relieved. Serenity cringed a little; the echo’s voice was… echoing. Literally, there was a faint echo following every word it said. “The east wall is about to be overrun by those winged cats! We need help now!”

“Um, on it!” Storm, hesitantly at first, replied. Turning to others he commanded. “Let’s-”

Serenity looked up, sensing them in the same moment the other echo shouted: “Incoming!”

Her eyes grew wide as she saw many griffons swooping down at them. At first, the sight of them, swords in talons and their faces twisted in ruthless snarls caused her to freeze. Only when one descended upon her, slashing with his blades, Serenity snapped and prayed to the Light for protection. A barrier of golden light enveloped her, causing the transparent weapons to bounce off it harmlessly.

Still shocked, now even more as she could see the echo of the griffon warrior up close, gazing at her with hatred and loathing, it took a few heartbeats for Serenity to think about what to do next. As the griffon’s echo swords clashed against her barrier again, Serenity slowly realized that she wouldn’t be protected like this for long; she had to start her attack.

Calling upon the Light, she struck at the echo with a holy shock, causing him to stagger back. Not wanting to give it a chance to recover, Serenity raised Heart’s Mercy, and, remembering all her training, she struck. The head of the hammer collided with the griffon’s neck, killing him instantly. As the echo fell to the ground, Serenity stared at it, once again frozen, as the realization that she had just taken a life set in within her. Before she could contemplate that for longer than a second, the echo disappeared. The only thing that remained was a small shard.

“Right, they’re not real,” Serenity realized, chastising herself for forgetting about it in the heat of battle. Shaking her head, her eyes rested on the shard on the ground. “This must be the Ancient Steel Shard that we’re supposed to collect,” she thought, picking it up. “I wonder-”

She stopped mid-thought and turned around, her senses alerting her about two more echoes attacking her. Despite her quick reaction, though, the griffons moved too fast. As Serenity raised her hammer in a vain attempt to block the strike, the swords had already almost reached her. Feeling cold, Serenity tried to reach to the Light-

“Booya!” came from behind the griffons as they both suddenly fell down. Serenity blinked in surprise as they revealed Tucker standing behind them. The unicorn’s energy sword was emanating from his hoof, covered in a faint glow of the Light. “You’re okay Serenity?” he asked; there was concern in his voice.

She shook her head quickly. “Yes, I am. Thanks Tucker,” she quickly replied.

The unicorn nodded and turned his attention back to the fight. “He might be awful, but he’s a great pony to have beside you during a crisis,” Serenity thought, gazing at Tucker fondly before looking for her other allies.

It was clear that during the time she had spent dealing with one echo and being rescued by Tucker her companions had been busy. There were far fewer griffons’ echoes than before, the others having already fallen to the paladins. Storm and Guard were currently fighting together, attacking the five griffons that had surrounded the two pony echoes. As she watched, Storm whirled around, a storm of Light’s hammers erupting around him and causing the hostile echoes to cry in pain. Guard had charged in the middle of them, dispatching one with his hammer then backing away as they counterattacked, using his shield to block their swords. As Storm attacked again, causing them to divert their attention, Guard throw his Light-enveloped shield at the closest one, breaking his neck and bouncing off against another and then another, bashing their heads before returning to its owner.

“We’d better help them,” Serenity thought, noticing four more griffons descending from above right at her brothers. Even as she thought it, she saw Tucker teleport from beside her and appear next to Storm, stabbing an echo before blasting another with the Light. Before she set off to help as well, she glanced at Sir Lightbringer. Seeing him fighting off four alone, with more incoming, her first instinct was to rush and help him instead. However, the next heartbeat, one of the echoes fell beneath Sir Lightbringer’s shining hammer, which was then quickly brought up to block off a sword of another one - and effectively causing it to fly out of the griffon’s hold - as he whirled between them, the Light glowing around him as he continued to dispatch his enemies. “I guess he doesn’t need help,” Serenity realized, spending another second to stare at him in awe, before snapping herself back to attention.

As she hurried over to her brothers, she wondered how to best help them. An idea came to her as she realized that all the griffons’ echoes they were fighting had now landed on the ground; Serenity stopped and focused, praying. “Light, bless the ground beneath our hooves,” she intoned, feeling the Light spread through her to the very ground on which she stood, “so that it may cause our enemies to writhe and fall.”

The ground around her, now consecrated, glowed with a golden light. The effects were immediate; the griffons’ echoes all cried in pain. Though most managed to jump back into the air, others remained, possibly because they were in too much pain to flap their wings. Whatever the reason they were quickly dispatched by the other paladins. With the two who managed to flee and the others having been already dealt by Sir Lightbringer (who was now trotting to them), their immediate area was cleared.

“Wow,” Serenity heard one of the pony echoes exclaim as she breathed deeply. She turned to them and saw them staring at them in awe. “You guys are good!”

“Yeah we are,” Tucker replied, smirking.

As she rolled her eyes, Serenity heard Storm say. “We cleared this area, but we better get moving. You said you needed help by-”

“- by the east wall, yes,” a new voice spoke up, interrupting him.

Serenity turned along with everypony else to the newcomer… and gasped. She knew the earth pony mare, surrounded by several armed guards, quite well, having seen her depiction in numerous history books. She gazed at her bright coat, brownish mane and lavender eyes, then at her hat with a white feather that she still wore despite the war, unable to believe her eyes.

“S-smart Cookie?!” she exclaimed.

“But… she didn’t die here…” Serenity thought, confused.

The echo of one of the legendary Founders of Equestria frowned as she heard her speak her name. “Yes, Smart Cookie. Hurricane put me in charge of protecting this place until he finished routing the rest of the island from this griffon menace. You’ve got a problem with that, take it up with him, now move it!” she snapped, pointing in the direction of the half collapsed tower and crumbled wall, behind the remains of various buildings. “They need help!”

“Oh, um, on it, Ma’am,” Storm, clearly as shocked to be speaking with an echo of THE Smart Cookie as Serenity was, managed to say. “Let’s go!”

“I thought the interrupted ritual caused to bring the echoes of ponies and griffons who had died here,” Serenity said to Sir Lightbringer as they all followed Storm towards the east wall.

“Apparently not,” he replied, gazing back at Smart Cookie with great interest. “Bane had intended to bring back their ghosts, sure, but because of the interruption and Celestia’s magic… I think it was enough to bring echoes of those who had left a mark on this place, too. And those that this place had left a mark on,” he added grimly. “Strong emotions must have been surging through the survivors of this battle, it must have been enough for the interrupted ritual to create the echoes of them as well.”

“I- I see, Sir,” Serenity replied, not sure if she actually understood him correctly, but she decided to put her questions to the back of her mind for now and focus on the fighting.

Still, despite the danger they were in and how scared she had been, Serenity couldn’t help but smile. “Wow, I got to meet Smart Cookie, one of the Founders of Equestria! Well, sort of, but still!” She would have pranced if they weren’t running. “If she’s here, then maybe so will the echoes of the other two Founders that fought here…”

Serenity trailed off. The moment that thought had appeared in her mind, she realized two things. One was what Sir Lightbringer had told them and Storm had reminded them; that they couldn’t know whether echoes would be friendly towards them or hostile.

The other was that she had remembered just who the other two Founders who had fought on the Dread Isle were.

“I hope they will be friendly, like Smart Cookie,” Serenity thought, a cold feeling of dread momentarily overtaking her. “I don’t think even Sir Lightbringer could win against them… especially against him.”

Author's Note

Sorry it took so long, been writing chapters for Stars in the Making and Infinite Potential... damn, working on three stories at the same time is tough...

Special thanks to Zaleros, Sage Probo, guardianxela and Bazing for their proofread and editing work, and to TimePrincess for last check-up (thanks darlin':raritywink:).

:rainbowlaugh:Fun fact; I wrote the part of the chapter where they are getting ready to arrive at the island where a battle from 2000 years ago was still taking place as I was getting ready to journay to Cyprus (you know, an island too) for my voluntary work at an excavation at a site dating more or less 2000 years ago (raging from 3rd BC to 2 AD), then wrote the part of them being on that island as I myself was on it :derpyderp1:

Can't wait to see if somebody recognizes the reference at the beginning:rainbowwild:

157. Beings of Power

“So,” Arthas chatted up to Raogrior as he dispatched another echo, “what do you think of my paladins?”

He leaned against his hammer as he waited for the val’kyr’s answer, surveying the area. A while ago Storm had asked him to cover a group of unicorns’ echoes as they used their magic to repel an assault from the top of the closest hill. It was a plan that Arthas had approved of, as having mages deployed at this position gave them an advantage over the griffons, and also being there allowed him to keep an eye on each of his paladins and the rest of the battlefield. Now that the surge of enemy echoes had subsided for a moment, Arthas turned his attention to the others.

Storm was in the air above the other edge of the east wall, slashing through a griffon’s echo with Spring Binder, then blasting the next one with the Light. During the battle two thousand years ago, almost all of the pegasi warriors had been fighting across and above the entire island, and so only a few squads of them had been stationed in the fortress, which was reflected by the numbers of their echoes. As such, Storm Clash had his hooves full with aerial combat, helping the few pegasi’ echoes he had under his command. Aside from the two he had sent to help Arthas with the unicorns’ defense, every one of them was helping him fight griffons across the wall’s length, forcing them closer to the ground so their non-pegasi forces could engage them.

Serenity and Guard were on the ramparts, fighting together with earth pony and unicorn echoes. Every now and then, griffons, either struck by the pegasi or simply preferring to fight near the ground, would swoop down. Most of them would be immediately met by Guard’s shield, the older paladin jumping before every enemy he was close to, placing himself on the front line and protecting their allies. As he deflected their blades, he’d strike with his hammer, which shone with a golden glow everytime Guard Shield would raise it and bring it down on the enemy echoes. Of course, he hadn’t been able to defend against every blow; his armor bore several scratches and small dents that Arthas could see even from where he was, along with several blood marks dotting it. He wasn’t worried, however, because Serenity was near him. Whenever any of the griffon’s echoes would strike true she was ready with a prayer, healing Guard as well as echoes that fought on their side. Arthas found himself impressed at how easy healing of incorporeal beings came to her, especially since each of them would groan in pain as the Holy Light mended their forms. She’d also create Light barriers whenever any of their allies was about to be overwhelmed, and fight too, blasting the few that Guard hadn’t managed to stop with the Light or smashing them with Heart’s Mercy.

Tucker was further away, leading a small group of ponies’ echoes to the small camp from where the griffons coordinated their attacks against the entire stronghold. As Arthas strained his eyes, he spot the unicorn paladin swiftly dispatching griffon after griffon. With most of the soldiers off attacking the ponies’ base, it wouldn’t take long for Tucker to either claim it or force them to retreat.

All of them were doing fine when it came to fighting, which didn’t come as a surprise to Arthas; after all, he had trained them. He had been more worried how they would cope with seeing so much death, even if those weren’t really ponies and griffons and they’d disappear soon after suffering mortal wounds. Arthas knew how such an experience could break a person; the real reason why he had brought them here was for them to harden as fighters. He hoped that experiencing this with echoes instead of real people would be easier, but what if the thousands of years of peace would make even this too traumatic for them?

“They are all very well trained,” Raogrior voice filled Arthas’ mind as she replied to his question, pulling him out of his worried musings. “And they fight with brave and noble hearts. If they’d continue to gain experiences like here and hone their skills, they could perhaps stand on equal footing with the Valarjar some day.”

“Considering they are supposed to be an army of the mightiest warriors who ever lived, that’s quite the compliment,” Arthas calmly stated with respect.

“You seem to doubt that statement,” Raogrior noticed.

“Well, I hadn’t seen the Valarjar in action, hadn’t I?” Arthas countered, amused. “It would be unwise to judge the skills of somebody I haven’t seen with my own eyes.”

He would have liked to continue this discussion, but at that moment another group of echoes attacked his position. Raising on his hind legs and grabbing the hammer - which began to glow with the Light again - with both forehooves, Arthas readied himself for battle.

He swung his weapon as two griffons dived at him, but at the last moment they spread their wings and drew back, avoiding his strike. As the head of the hammer passed before them, they immediately charged at him. Arthas could see satisfied smirks appear on their faces as they thought he would be unable to break his weapon out of the arc his swing had sent it into.

They were wrong.

With his powerful forelegs he stopped his hammer mid-swing, then swiftly brought it back before him, blocking both griffons’ attacks with the long handle. Taking the echoes by surprise, Arthas leaned his weapon to the side, causing their swords to slide slightly and unbalance them as a result. Not giving them time to recover, he drew the hammer back, then slammed the head against one of the griffons, inflicting not a mortal strike but strong enough to cause the echo to stagger back. As his wings beat frantically to regain his balance, Arthas turned to his companion. The griffon slashed with his swords, but Arthas countered with the hammer, the stronger strike causing the echo to lose his weapons, leaving him defenseless. As the enemy tried to back away, reaching to his belt for a dagger, Arthas quickly adjusted his grip on the hammer, and swung it against the griffon’s head. With the echo falling to the ground, he turned around in time to deflect the other one’s attack and strike him in the chest.

As three more griffons’ echoes descended upon him, Raogrior, who had remained silent for a while, spoke again: “You do not hold the Valarjar or Odyn in high regard, do you?”

“I don’t hold anybody who forces others into an eternal servitude in high regard, by principle,” Arthas replied brittly, smashing an echo’s windpipe before blasting another with the Holy Light.

As he dealt with the next one, he noticed four others flying close to the ground as they approached the unicorns. Grabbing the hammer with his left forehoof only and breaking the griffon’s wing, he raised his right foreleg, the Light glowing from his hoof. Four blades made out of pure Light erupted from the ground beneath the four unexpecting echoes, piercing each of them through the chest.

“It is a great honor to be accepted into the Halls of Valor,” Raogrior said; Arthas was relieved to hear that she sounded more baffled than offended. “And an even greater honor to be transformed into a val’kyr.”

Finishing off the echo with the broken wing, Arthas raised a hoof into the sky, channeling a barrier of Light above the hill, forcing the griffons to strike at it in attempt to break through it while the unicorns’ echoes blasted them with magic beams. “I have no doubt that’s true,” he told the val’kyr. “However, the vrykul who had joined the Scourge thought the same of the ‘ascensions’ I would grant them. So did the Cult of the Damned and many others. Didn’t make me any less of a monster.”

“... I don’t know whether I should find this comparison to be amusing, a sign of your arrogance, or outright insulting to Odyn,” Raogrior finally confessed after a brief silence, during which the unicorns took care of the remaining attackers.

Uttering a short chuckle, Arthas dispelled the barrier. “It’s not my fault that, when one looks at it this way, there are little differences between me as the Lich King and Keeper Odyn. Except for me being outright evil, not discriminating towards every race but one, and, well, actually helping during the last Burning Legion invasion,” he added, smirking in the val’kyr’s direction.

“And which side would you be referring to when you say you’ve helped?”

Arthas laughed, detecting an amused note in Raogrior’s question. “I was wondering if you’d let me off the hook on this. I’m glad to hear you have some sense of humor. Unfortunately, I’m afraid this discussion will have to continue at some other time,” he added, noticing Storm waving at him to come back to the ramparts. Everywhere Arthas looked, the griffons were either retreating or were lying curled on the ground, the echoes who had been more gravely injured eventually fading away. “It would appear the battle is over.”

“Your second in command had shown good judgement during this battle,” Raogrior commented as Arthas began to make his way back to the others after picking up a few Ancient Steel Shards the echoes he defeated had dropped.

“I think so, too,” Arthas replied, pleased that the val’kyr thought so. He hoped that if Storm would continue to do so well during this trial, that last few confidence issues he had would be gone completely, and he could trust him with more duties in the future.

Regrouping with his paladins, Arthas reached out with his senses around the stronghold, wanting to make sure that they had successfully repelled the attack on it. Concentrating to distinguish the ponies’ echoes from griffon echoes, he soon sighed with relief as he couldn’t pick up on any enemies nearby, aside from some wounded ones the ponies had captured.

As he reached the stairs leading to the ramparts, Storm swooped down and landed next to him. At the same time, Guard and Serenity appeared on the top of the stairs, and, as they began to descend, the sudden flash of a teleportation spell announced Tucker’s arrival.

“Is everypony okay?” Storm asked, directing the question to all of them, but looking at Arthas and Tucker, who had been too far away from him to keep eyes on. As he nodded, Arthas glanced around at the others, and while he did spot a few marks on their armor, he was relieved to see that they were all alright; they had learned healing prayers well. “Great,” Storm continued when everypony nodded, “now, we should continue to go inland, but I think it would be good if we’d check with Smart Cookie; she is in charge of this place after all. Or, well, was,” he added in an afterthought. Scratching his head, he added sheepishly. “It’s a bit confusing.”

Arthas found himself agreeing with both Storm’s decision and his statement. They were about to set off to look for the echo of one of the Founders of Equestria, but it turned out to be unnecessary; said echo was already approaching them.

“I heard we have all of you to thank for holding this side of the stronghold,” she began as she reached them, sounding a lot friendlier than when they arrived. Her lavender eyes moved from them to the echoes still on top of the wall, then to the ones coming down. “And with such low losses…” Smart Cookie added, her voice trailing off for a bit. She quickly shook it off and turned back to them. “Thank you for the bravery you had showed here today, Equestria will remember this once this awful war is over.”

“It was an honor to fight alongside you,” Storm replied, bowing his head respectfully. The others, Arthas included, followed suit. “We have to leave now, though. We… our orders tell us to advance further inland and regroup with the rest of our forces.”

“With warriors like you on the front line, I’m sure we’ll soon take this island,” Smart Cookie said, giving them a half smile before sighing. “Maybe that will be enough… I hope Hurricane reconsiders invading Griffonia afterwards. They can’t attack Equestria if we hold this place… wasn’t there enough fighting already? Is vengeance all that matters to him?”

The all too familiar phrase, uttered here by an echo of a pony from before two thousand years ago, cause cold shivers to go up Arthas’ spine.

“Vengeance?” he asked before he could help himself.

Smart Cookie nodded. “For the war Friedrich started. For all the ponies that had died. For putting in danger all that we had build. But mostly… for what he had done to Pansy,” she said, her eyes dropping down to the ground. “If Hurricane kills that bastard, I will be the first to spit on his grave, but I don’t want this war to continue just because of him. Pansy wouldn’t want that, either. Not just for us ponies, but griffons too; heck, the prisoners we interrogated had been appalled by what Friedrich had done, too. None of them are as bad as he…” she trailed off again and sighed. She then shook her head and looked up, her eyes determined again. “But they’ll still try to kill us, so you better go out there and do what you have to help us secure this island. Sorry for holding you up. If you run into Hurricane or Clover, tell them everything’s fine over here,” she said, saluting.

After Arthas and the others saluted her back she turned around and began to walk away, clearly dismissing them. Arthas couldn’t help but watch her trot away, his mind lost in the many thoughts and memories her short tale awakened. He had known, of course, about what had happened during that war and in years that followed, having been told by Twilight and Daring Do, as well as having read some old books himself. He still remembered what Daring Do had told him, too, about the possibility that it could have been Commander Hurricane that was responsible for the Sundering of Griffonia. However… it never occurred to Arthas that maybe the two of them were very much alike until he had heard Smart Cookie’s echo say the same thing Muradin had asked him that cursed morning.

“If there was something I’d have in common with one of the ponies who had founded their kingdom, it had to be this,” he thought, watching as Smart Cookie barked orders at some soldiers around the fortress. “Unlike Commander Hurricane, though, I was offered another chance, a life which I can lead having learned from my mistakes. But… if I’d gone through the same thing as he, would I have acted differently, even knowing just how this could end?”

Shaking his head, he followed Storm’s lead as they headed off out of the stronghold into the dry, rocky countryside of the Dread Isle.

Even though she was tired after her late night studies and worried about how Arthas and the others were doing at the Dread Isle, Twilight immediately brightened as she saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s chariots landing beside the entrance to White Tail Wood. She hurried over to greet them, leaving Spike, Rarity and Pinkie Pie behind.

“Hello Twilight,” Celestia said with a smile as she reached them. She rose from her seat and left the chariot; the pegasi Royal Guards began to pull it away to give them more room and privacy, quickly joined by the bat ponies who had pulled Luna’s chariot. “How have you been?”

“Good morning, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna,” Twilight quickly said, bowing before each royal sister. “I’m fine, just a little worried about Arthas.”

“It’s understandable, but hopefully you remember, Twilight, that Arthas can take care of himself,” Luna told her. With a smirk, she added: “I would worry more about those echoes.”

“Oh, I know,” Twilight replied, uttering a chuckle and rolling her eyes. “But I’m less worried about something actually hurting him, and more about how being on the Dread Isle would affect him. And the others,” she added as her friends, trotting at more relaxed - or elegant as Rarity would probably say - pace, caught up to them.

“Oh, I’m sure all of them will be fine,” Rarity stated. “Good morning, Your Majesties. Not that I mind being in Your presence,” she added after everypony greeted each other, “but does anypony here know what it is that Fluttershy wanted to tell us about, and why all the way here?”

“That’s actually a good question,” Twilight thought, turning her full attention to the Princesses. On the same day they had said their goodbyes to Arthas and his paladins - with Rarity giving Storm Clash a special goodbye, one Twilight found herself wishing she could give Arthas again; only her reluctance to reveal to her friends their relationship stopped her from kissing him on the train station - Fluttershy had told them that there’s something she wanted to tell them, as well as the Princesses. She refused to reveal what it was, though, and just asked everypony to meet her by the entrance to the White Tail Woods, and asked Twilight and Spike to pass the information to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They did as she asked, of course, despite their surprise… but what truly surprised them was the Princesses’ almost immediate reply, confirming that they would join them. “They agreed to a meeting without any explanation… Did they know something about it?”

“I believe we have a good idea why Fluttershy wanted to meet here,” Princess Celestia began, “but I think it would be better for Fluttershy to tell us herself.”

“But Princess, how could you possibly know-” Twilight began, only to stop as she realized the answer to her question. Deadpanning, she asked: “Arthas had something to do with that, didn’t he?”

“Partially, yes,” Princess Luna replied, sounding almost neutral; Twilight could tell that she was amused.

Groaning, the unicorn facehoofed. “Of course that stallion had to be involved somehow,” she said, annoyed that he hadn’t told her anything. Ignoring the amused giggles her reaction had caused, she turned back to the Princesses. “So does Arthas know what Fluttershy wants to tell us?”

“Yes, Twilight,” Celestia said. Twilight ears flickered as she heard both amusement and some weariness in the Princess’ voice; was her annoyance in Arthas really starting to annoy others? “I believe he withheld the exact information from us because he wanted Fluttershy to tell us herself.”

“Well, that makes sense,” Rarity spoke up before Twilight could reply. “I just hope the others will get here quickly; I’d hate to make Fluttershy wait. She looked very excited when she asked us to meet here here. And nervous, but she’s always nervous,” she amended, waving her hoof nonchalantly.

“Looks like you got your wish,” Spike suddenly said, pointing behind them, but in a slightly different direction than the one they came from. “Applejack and Nymph are already here.”

Indeed, as Twilight turned to look where he was pointing, she noticed the earth pony and changeling trotting towards them. She couldn’t help but smile as she watched them chat friendly, sharing a laugh over something. “It’s amazing how Applejack’s view of Nymph has changed and how good friends they have become,” Twilight thought. “Although they are going to become a family soon, so maybe that shouldn’t be surprising.”

“Morning y’all,” Applejack greeted them as they reached the entrance to the White Tail Woods, then bowed her head before the Princesses. “Yar Majesties.”

“Hello, Applejack, Nymph,” Princess Celestia replied, smiling at her and at the changeling as she gave a courteous, more suitable for - practically - a princess of a foreign land bow. “We have heard the news about you and Big Macintosh. Congratulations, I hope the two of you will have a very happy life together.”

“Thank you, Princess Celestia, I’m sure we will,” Nymph said, her smile radiating happiness and her wings making a brief buzz.

Twilight had to suppress a giggle after seeing the adorable motion.

“Have you and Big Macintosh picked the date yet?” Princess Luna asked politely.

“Well, after talking this over with Granny Smith yesterday, Big Mac and I decided to have our wedding on the last day of the Apple Family Reunion. Everypony from the Apple family would want to take part in our special day, and it’s unlikely they’d all be able to make the journey to Ponyville anytime soon afterwards.” Nymph sighed, her happy mood dispersing and her eyes gazed down at the ground as she continued: “Of course, that means that we have only a month to prepare everything for the first wedding of a pony and a changeling in history.”

“Oh, darling, don’t worry about it,” Rarity said, trotting closer to the changeling and lifting her head by her chin gently. Offering her a smile, the unicorn added: “We’ll all help the two of you.”

“So will we,” Princess Celestia said after everypony nodded in confirmation of Rarity’s words. “You will have everything you need for your special day, you have my word on that.”

“Thank you, Your Highness, it means a lot to me,” Nymph replied, smiling as her happiness returned, “even though I know how important this day will be not only to Big Mac and I, but also to the Swarm and Equestria. I will contact you when we’ll decide what exactly we will need.”

“We will wait for a message from you, then,” Princess Luna said. “Also, there was a certain suggestion Arthas had made when he informed us about the wedding. We’d like to discuss this with you and your fiance, and maybe offer some other suggestions and advices as well. Would you mind if I’d accompany you back to Sweet Apple Acres afterwards?” she added, nodding at the forest behind them.

“Oh, of course,” Nymph quickly replied, sounding pleased and a bit relieved.

“I think she’s happy she will have some help planning the wedding,” Twilight thought, amused. “I wonder if I could help organize it too…”

“It will be an honor and a pleasure to have ya at our farm, Yar Majesty,” Applejack added. “Granny Smith had been baking pies when we left, so Ah’m sure ya’ll enjoy yar time with us.”

“I think I’m regretting letting you be the one who’ll go there,” Princess Celestia told her sister humorously, causing everypony to snicker. “Speaking of Granny Smith, how did she take the news?”

Applejack and Nymph, their laughter stopped, exchanged a glance.

Yesterday…

“We’re glad ya had a safe journey Granny,” Applejack said back in their living room as Granny Smith had finished telling them about how her travel went. The earth pony mare quickly swept her gaze around; all of her close family - and soon-to-be close family - had been sitting around Granny’s favorite chair. “But, um, when ya’ve been away a few things had happened, and some of us have some news for ya,” she said, slightly nodding her head at Big Mac and Nymph.

The changeling smiled at Applejack nervously before turning to Granny Smith. She and Big Mac had discussed how best to tell her, but in the end, all they could think of was to tell her the same way they had told their friends. “Granny Smith, we wanted to tell you that… we’re engaged.”

Big Mac’s hoof found her own and grasped it gently. “Eeyup!” he said, a broad smile on his muzzle.

On the other side of the room, Applejack put her foreleg around the giggling Apple Bloom, hugging her as they waited for Granny Smith’s reply.

The elderly mare blinked, stunned, then frowned. “What in tarnation-” she cut off abruptly and, with a speed belittling her age, she jumped at Big Mac, smacking him upside the head before anypony could blink. “What the heck did ya do, knockin’ up the poor lass?!”

“Um…” Nymph mumbled, stunned, then shook her head, snapping herself out of her daze. “Granny Smith, I’m not pregnant.”

“Wha- ya’re not?” Granny Smith asked, confused, letting go of Big Mac. “Then why in tarnation are ya two gettin’ married so soon?”

Present…

“She took them well,” both Applejack and Nymph said in unison, turning back to others.

Twilight frowned hearing them answer in this strange manner, and was fairly certain that the Princesses and the others were also confused, but before any of them could question Applejack and Nymph further, a rainbow-colored streak passed between them, followed immediately by a very strong gust of wind that almost toppled some of them over.

“First!” Twilight heard Rainbow exclaim triumphantly from a few feet away. “Told’ya I’m faster than you.”

Waving her hoof to disperse the dust that Rainbow’s flight had raised, Twilight turned to look in the direction from which she came. She saw Wing Reaver just as he stopped before them in mid-flight, sparing them from another blow of wind. The changeling crossed his forelegs on his chest and was frowning at Rainbow Dash with annoyance.

“Congrats,” he told her, clearly reluctantly. “But I can still beat you in fight.”

“Ha! You wish,” Rainbow replied, snickered, then finally turned to the rest of them. “Hi everypony, sorry we’re late, I wanted to do some practice before going to the Wonderbolts Academy tomorrow. Plus we needed to… establish something once and for all,” she added with a smirk at Wind.

Wind, who had landed next to Nymph, gave Rainbow a bemused glance. “Keep gleeing; I was totally checking you under your tail during the race,” he said, shrugging.

“Yeah, I- wait, what?” Rainbow asked, shaking her head as she realized just what he said.

Before Wind could reply - but just in time for everypony to grow annoyed and uncomfortable with this exchange, with Nymph even uttering a tired sigh because of her bodyguard’s attitude - Fluttershy appeared, flying out of the forest.

“Hello everypony,” she said cheerfully, but her mood slightly deflated as she glanced between Rainbow and Wind. “Um, is something the matter?”

“It’s nothing important Fluttershy,” Twilight quickly told her, not wanting for the two to continue their argument. Rolling her eyes, she added: “Trust me.”

“Oh, I see,” Fluttershy said, sounding unconvinced, but quickly shrugged it off and smiled again. “Thank you all for coming, I have something important to tell you, and, well, show you, too. If you could just follow me a little further into the forest I will explain everything soon.”

With those words Fluttershy flew back the way she came, not waiting for them to reply. Though Celestia and Luna followed her immediately, Twilight found herself hesitating. It was rare for Fluttershy to act so… resolute and mysterious. “Come to think about it, she was acting a bit odd for some time now,” she thought, thinking back to how often she was late or would sometimes make weird comments, like that day when Nymph had told them all about changelings’ society and biology. “Could whatever this is about be related to why Fluttershy had been acting this way? Must be… but why do the Princesses seem to know something about this?”

Knowing there was only one way to learn the answers to those questions and, more importantly, trusting Fluttershy, Twilight gave herself a shake and followed after her, quickly joined by the rest of her friends.

Fluttershy led them in silence to a small clearing, not far from the edge of the forest. Twilight looked around, curious what she wanted to show them, but all she could spot aside from the trees around the clearing were a few rocks here and there. Confused, she turned to her friend.

“So what exactly did you want to show us here, Fluttershy?” she asked.

The pegasus opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say anything, a deep voice came from somewhere behind her, among the trees: “I believe she wanted to introduce you to me.”

Twilight looked at the direction where the voice came from… and gasped. What she had previously thought to be a part of one of the trees was actually a timberwolf; except this wasn’t either of the two kinds of timberwolves that prowled around the Everfree Forest. This one was much bigger than a usual timberwolf, its bark that made his pelt was smooth, almost like a normal wolf’s, had a mane made up of leaves and small flowers covering part of its head, neck, shoulder and chest, and its glowing, amber gaze spoke of intelligence behind those eyes. Twilight could also sense a great power radiating from it.

However, what set it apart from the timberwolves whose depictions and pictures she had seen and read about in her books, was the kind expression its muzzle bore.

“Greetings, ponies, changelings,” he - Twilight felt certain that such a deep voice could only belong to a male - said, nodding his head in greeting. “My name is Provato, and I’m the last demigod who calls the Everfree Forest his home; or called, at least,” he added, shaking his head. Provato then turned to Applejack. “It’s nice to see you again, Applejack.”

Twilight and everypony else, even Fluttershy, turned in surprise to look at the earth pony mare. “Howdy,” she told Provato, smiling, then, noticing the stares she was getting, she rubbed the back of her head. “He, um, he came by mah farm a few nights ago t’ apologize for, ya know, almost killin’ me,” she added, pointing her her throat.

“Ow…” Twilight exclaimed, wincing as she recalled the awful wound that was there and that Arthas had healed. “Wait, that was you?” she asked, turning back to Provato. “But… you looked different. And you were smaller,” she pointed out.

“The Darkness that corrupted me, turning me into a feral animal, had caused this effect on my body,” Provato replied. “I became more… primitive. After your friend, Sir Lightbringer - or Arthas, as Fluttershy had told me his real name is - had used the Light to heal my wounds all those months ago, it caused the Darkness in me to disperse, although it still took me some time to recover to who I once was.”

“Sounds legit,” Pinkie Pie spoke up suddenly. “I mean, it does sound like something a writer would make up in a middle of a story and decided to add that, but it still makes sense to me.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at her pink friend, a little confused by her reasoning, but quickly forgot about it as she heard Celestia speak up. “Greetings, Provato,” she said, nodding her head to the timberwolf demigod along with her sister. “Me and my sister have heard about you from Knight-lieutenant Storm Clash, and we have been hoping to meet you soon.”

“And I have heard much about you from Fluttershy,” Provato replied. “Likewise, I have hoped to-”

“Wait, hold on a moment,” Rainbow interrupted the timberwolf demigod; fortunately, when after a brief moment his bewilderment had passed Provato seemed amused rather than offended. “Why was Fluttershy hanging around with you? And was that why you’ve been acting so oddly and being late all the time?” the rainbow-maned pegasus asked, turning to Fluttershy.

“Well, um, you could say that was the reason,” Fluttershy replied, smiling sheepishly and prodding the ground with her hoof shily. “I’ve run into Provato the day after Rarity’s birthday party, and, w-well… he’s been teaching me nature’s magic!” she finally exclaimed, gazing at them with excitement that was so rare for her.

“Nature’s magic?” Twilight repeated, stunned. Remembering what Arthas had told her about various kinds of magic users on Azeroth, she added: “You mean druidism? Wow, Fluttershy, that’s amazing!” she exclaimed as Fluttershy nodded, now as excited as her if not more. Running up to stand close to her, Twilight asked: “How does it work? What does it feel like to use it? What kind of things can you do?”

“Um…” Fluttershy stammered, slightly backing away. Realizing that in her excitement she had made her uncomfortable, Twilight quickly took a step back, but before she could apologize as well the shy pegasus had glanced at Provato, who nodded to her.

Puzzled a little at the sudden confidence Fluttershy gained after that small gesture, Twilight watched as the pegasus closed her eyes. “Is she casting a druidic spell?” she wondered, excited again. The very next second her question was answered. Fluttershy had raised her forelegs up, concentrating, and before Twilight’s eyes her forehooves were enveloped by swirling, green, almost emerald light. Thought it didn’t appear much different from the glow surrounding a unicorn’s horn as they’d use magic, the sensation it gave off felt slightly different.

“I wonder what-” Twilight began to think, only to have another question asked right away. Suddenly, from the ground around her vines erupted, wrapping around her body and squeezing gently. Surprised and a little hurt - some of the vines had thorns - Twilight uttered a short yelp, instinctively trying to break away. However, despite the vines not holding her too tightly, they held her in place.

Her yelp alarmed Fluttershy. “Oh, sorry, did I hurt you?” she asked, worried, and with a flick of her hooves she caused the vines to release Twilight.

“No, don’t worry Fluttershy, you just surprised me a little,” Twilight quickly replied, giving herself a shake. “Although those thorns prickled a little…”

“Oh, let me,” Fluttershy immediately said, once again closing her eyes as she placed her hoof on Twilight’s chest.

Green energy once again began to swirl around her hoof and the emerald light briefly enveloped the unicorn. Twilight eyes widened as she felt the nature magic wash over her, healing the little cuts the thorns had caused her. It didn’t feel like when Arthas would use the Light to heal her; rather, it felt more like… rubbing aloe vera against her muzzle, at least, that’s the best comparison that Twilight could think of. For a moment she even could swear she smelled the scent of leaves.

The sensation faded as Fluttershy pulled away, the glow fading from her forehoof. “There, all better now,” she said, smiling.

“Wow, Fluttershy, that was-” Twilight began, utterly amazed by what she could do now, only to be cut off.

“Totally awesome!” Rainbow exclaimed, flying closer to Fluttershy and smiling at her with excitement.

“Um, thanks,” the other pegasus replied sheepishly.

“Fluttershy has proven to be a talented and quick-learning student,” Provato said in his deep voice as the rest of their friends gathered around Fluttershy to voice their amazement; Twilight noted the warm gaze he gave the pegasus in question as he continued: “I’m sure she’ll continue to amaze you as her training continues.”

His words caused Fluttershy to become even more embarrassed. Her face became red and she prodded the ground with her hoof again.

“But how come you hadn’t told us about any of this?” Rainbow asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“That’s because I’ve asked her not to,” Provato replied for her; as all heads turned to him, the timberwolf demigod continued: “As well as Applejack when I apologized to her. I hadn’t felt confident enough to confront ponykind after so long, not after many ponies I and my offspring had harmed during the past thousand years when Darkness clouded our minds. Not then, at least.”

“We’re glad you have changed your mind, Provato,” Princess Celestia said. “If you don’t mind, my sister and I have a few questions we wanted to ask you, especially regarding this Darkness that you have told Storm Clash had befallen you and all of Everfree Forest.”

Twilight perked her ears, instantly focused. Would they finally learn what made Everfree Forest so… dark? Maybe even how to heal it?

But to her disappointment, Provato was shaking his head. “All I know about it I had already told the paladin. The Darkness was something not of this world. It came into the Forest when the Floating Island had fallen from the sky, and seeped into it as it hid from something. It twisted and corrupted everything in the Everfree Forest before it left, including all the demigods - the Wild Gods, primal manifestation of the very life and nature - who call it home, starting with my mother, Everfree, the very Spirit of Nature.”

“... Okaaaay…” Twilight thought, trying to process the amount of information Provato revealed… that was apparently known to the Princesses already. “And Arthas, since Provato had told Storm about it,” she remarked, crossed.

Princess Celestia, who had no trouble accepting the flood of information, frowned thoughtfully. “According to what you’ve told Storm Clash, the ‘Floating Island’ is the mountain near the old abandoned castle, right? We had found remains of some kind of base or research station there,” she continued as Provato nodded; in the meantime, Twilight stared at her with eyes wide as plates, “related to something called ‘Project Eclipse’. We are still conducting investigation about it, though for now we had little success. However, it’s seems safe to assume that this Darkness you speak of was connected to it.”

“A fair assessment,” Provato agreed. “This name, Project Eclipse, is unfamiliar to me, though.”

“We thought as much,” Luna spoke up, “but perhaps you do know two other names, or at least have heard of them; Discord and King Sombra?”

Twilight, already feeling confused due to trying to figure out how exactly could this Project Eclipse fit into all of this, found herself even more confused. Why would the Princesses bring up those two?

“I have heard about them from Fluttershy,” the timberwolf demigod replied thoughtfully. “To be honest… after my student had told me what had happened when this King Sombra died, I began to wonder… could the Darkness be what possessed that pony’s body? I would have to have been there to know for sure,” he decided, shaking his head. “But if it was, then Sir Lightbringer, and all of you who had helped the Crystal Empire that day had saved the world from an even greater evil than you had thought,” Provato said, gazing at Twilight and her friends with gratitude and respect.

As Twilight’s heart swelled with pride, her mentor asked another question. “And what of Discord, Provato? Surely, one as wise as you must have heard about as powerful being as him before he became known to Equestria.”

But Provato was already shaking his head. “I have never heard of Discord back before the Darkness came; not even my mother had ever spoke of him, and she knew of every living being on Equestria.”

“Wait, really?” Twilight asked in surprise, no longer able to contain the confusion that was boiling inside of her. “But in that case… where did Discord come from?”

“I do not know that, little unicorn,” Provato said. “Both him and his powers seem… unique. Perhaps he’s not even of this world? I have also not heard about changelings, either,” he added, glancing at Nymph and Wind Reaver with gentle curiosity, “and it would seem you have connections to this world of Azeroth, correct?”

As Nymph nodded in agreement, Twilight considered the theory Provato presented for a moment. It certainly seemed possible that it was the case; after all, there wasn’t any other draconequus on Equestria. And nopony could do the things he could, not even - according to Arthas - anybody on Azeroth could. However, before Twilight could voice her thoughts, Princess Celestia began to speak again.

“Nevermind then about the matters we cannot affect or learn about. Let’s discuss something we can do; namely, the state of the Everfree Forest and other Wild Gods dwelling there. Provato, do you-”

The timberwolf demigod silenced her by raising a paw. “Before we go into that, there is something I wanted to ask the two of you,” he said, looking from Celestia to Luna and back.

“Oh, of course,” Celestia replied, a little surprised.

“What exactly are you?”

Everypony stared at Provato in bewilderment.

“I know you are alicorns,” he added, as if sensing this would be an answer he would receive once they’d recover. Tilting his head, he continued: “What puzzles me is… how your powers came to be. How you can move the sun and moon, how those are your cutie marks. Because according to what I heard from my mother, there was once a Wild God who had the duty you undertook.”

Eyes of everypony switched briefly to the Princesses before going back to Provato. “That’s the first time we heard of this,” Princess Celestia said after a moment, clearly as surprised as everypony. “Before the time we were born and we discovered our special talents and destinies, the sun and moon were moved by a group of unicorns known as Arcane Council.”

“Yes, I have heard about them. Met some of them, even,” Provato added, rolling his eyes. “My mother had told me that the Wild God I mentioned had vanished without a trace long before that; unicorns must have then took it upon themselves to guide the celestial bodies, for which the entire world was grateful for them.”

“He vanished without a trace?” Twilight exclaimed before she could stop herself. “How could that have happened?”

“Not even my mother knew the answer to that question,” he replied, shaking his head. “But more importantly, I am curious how come you two possess the powers he had once been bestowed with,” he added, glancing curiously at the two Princesses.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Provato, but we do not know why we had been born alicorns with such destinies,” Princess Celestia said. “However, ever since we discovered our special talents, we’ve done all we could to uphold our duty to this world as much as our duties to our subjects.”

The timberwolf demigod chuckled warmly. “It is true,” he said, nodding in respect to both alicorns. “From what I heard, you are both more than worthy of those powers and destinies. Even though my elders from the Everfree Forest would be more than a little surprised to see ponies wield such powers…” he trailed off, shaking his head dismissively. “Speaking of, I assume that when you began to talk about them, you wanted to suggest using those Elements of Harmony Fluttershy has told me about to restore them to who they once were?”

“Exactly,” Princess Celestia replied. “I believe we could maybe even use them to heal all of the Everfree Forest with them.”

Twilight was not surprised when she couldn’t detect certainty in her mentor’s voice. While she would be glad to use the Elements to help the other Wild Gods - and knew her friends would be too - and a little excited at the prospect of meeting them, she never heard of any spell cast on such a large area as Everfree Forest.

“This would require some planning and preparation, not just have us bear the Elements and shoot with magic straight before us,” Twilight thought.

“It’s a good idea,” Provato agreed, “however, I have some… reservation against it. I’ve been told by Fluttershy about how those Elements cleansed you of the Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna,” he said, turning to the younger alicorn, “and about how you appeared initially afterwards. I don’t think my elders would appreciate if they were turned into a powerless form before ponies, no matter how long. Even though Arachnia could use a little humility…” he muttered under his breath, so quietly that Twilight barely heard him.

Ignoring that for the moment, she decided to speak up: “But surely, healing them is more important than their pride.”

“You are right, young one,” Provato replied. “Which is why, if everything should fail, we could try those Elements of yours. I’ll admit, I am a little curious to see them. However, I have my own plan to heal my elders. I believe I can do it with the help of Fluttershy.”

A little eep came from the shy pegasus. “M-mine?” she stuttered, her eyes wide as she stared at Provato with more than just a little fright. “Are you sure, Provato? I mean, I would be glad to help, but I don’t know if-”

“You are a strong pony, Fluttershy,” the Wild God told her, his voice calming and reassuring. “And you’re on your way to becoming a powerful druid. When you learn a bit more from me, I am sure we’ll manage to heal the other Wild Gods together. I doubt we’d be able to heal my mother, though,” he added, turning back to the Princesses and everypony. “She is far more powerful than any demigod who dwells here, even in this corrupted, primitive state. Healing her would require those Elements of Harmony and the Wild Gods who we’ll manage to heal by then… and maybe the Light your friends wield.”

“Then when the time comes to heal Everfree, you will have our help,” Princess Celestia replied with a brief glance around at Twilight and her friends, all who nodded in agreement. “If what you have told Storm Clash is true, it will be some time before your mother could take on a form that we could contain long enough to cleanse her, right?”

“That is correct, because of that damned centaur, her spirit is currently spread throughout the Everfree Forest; it may take months before enough of her essence could gather in one form.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Princess Celestia said while Twilight pondered what a centaur was doing in the Everfree Forest of all places and what exactly it had done.

“Regardless of how long it takes, though, healing my mother should heal the entirety of the Forest as well,” Provato added. “Her essence is present in every plant and animal living here.”

“All the more reason for us to help. Let us know when the time is right,” Princesses Luna said. “We will all come to help you.”

Twilight and the others quickly voiced their readiness to help as well. The prospect of the entire Everfree Forest being free of this “darkness” and making it safe for everypony was exciting; she wished they could do something about it right away now that they knew how. She was also sure that if Arthas was here he would offer his help, too.

“I hope things are going smoothly for him and the others at the Dread Isle,” Twilight thought. “I can’t wait for him to come back and tell him about all of this!”

“More coming from behind,” Sir Lightbringer warned them as he glanced briefly behind as they fought.

Storm cursed and disengaged from the echoes for a moment to look at incoming enemies and think. “They’re earth ponies and unicorns. Guard, help me with the rear!” he ordered the older pony.

Guard nodded and - ignoring Tucker uttering a comment regarding him handling Serenity’s rear - left his brothers and sisters to deal with the squad that attempted to stop them. They had been traveling for a few hours now, during which they often had to fight more echoes - giving them chances to gather more Ancient Steel Shards - as they headed towards remains of one of the guard towers the griffons had built on the island. They were making good time, but to reach that place before nightfall they had to take a rocky mountain pass. Thankfully, it wasn’t narrow, as they soon found themselves blocked by enemy echoes.

Enemy echoes that were ponies.

They’d already had to fight against several groups of ponies’ echoes this day already. The first they’d encountered shortly after leaving the stronghold. Despite knowing that echoes of ponies could see them as enemies, Guard still had found himself surprised and unnerved when the squad had attacked them; he was sure that they all had. Fortunately, their training had quickly kicked in and they fought them off. Still, Guard had found that fight to be tougher than when they fought the griffons, and had hoped - fruitlessly as he would soon find out - there would be less encounters like those.

However, despite his reluctance, as more ponies’ echoes approached them, he obeyed Storm’s order without hesitation and hurried back to intercept them. There was a narrowed segment of the pass a few feet behind them that would make the fight easier for them.

Storm got there before him, and he quickly stabbed the first echo with his Spring Binder. As he parried an attack from a sword wielding unicorn, though, another one attempted to blast him with magic. Guard quickly jumped next to the pegasus paladin and raised his shield, blocking the blast, then aided him by the Light threw it at the attacker. His shield struck the echo in the head, not killing it, but disorienting it and probably giving it a concussion, and then bounced off it and hit two more echoes the same way before returning to Guard’s hoof.

Armed with his shield again, Guard concentrated on the remaining echoes. Rising on his hind legs, he struck with his hammer. However, a unicorn created a magical shield around itself and slashed with its magic-held sword. Grunting, Guard raised his shield to block the attack, and tried again.

He was aware of Storm fighting off two earth ponies as he dealt with the unicorn. In the corner of the eye he saw Storm slashing them with his sword, a storm of Light erupting around him adding to the damage they already received, killing them. Not wanting to fall behind, Guard swung with his hammer again, forcing the unicorn echo’s blade down before he attempted to smash him with his shield. However, before he could get hit, the echo’s horn glowed and he disappeared. Guard cursed, annoyed that it managed to teleport in the middle of the fight (which was often referred to during royal guards sparring sessions to be “unicorn cheating”), just before he noticed a flash of light far behind them.

Turning around, he spotted the unicorn several paces behind them, the echo’s horn glowing as it readied a spell to blast them with. Noticing that Storm was too busy with his next opponent, and that Sir Lightbringer and other two were too far ahead to intercept it in time, Guard asked the Light for help. He focused as the Light began to shine around his hammer and took a swing, throwing a hammer-shaped Light blast, and then quickly lunged at the echo. His quick reaction apparently surprised the echo, as it lost concentration on the spell as it was forced to dodge the attack. Its horn’s glow dimmed, but then it swiftly reappeared again as the unicorn focused on holding its blade’s handle again to meet Guard.

The echo’s sword once again clashed with his hammer, blocking it from reaching the echo’s “body”. Guard grunted with irritation as he blocked its counter-strike with his shield, then when he attacked again the unicorn parried his strikes. This unicorn, whoever it had been, was quite a skilled fighter.

The paladin tried to open himself to the Light, intending to consecrate the ground around him to tip the odds in his favor, but before he could concentrate, the unicorn’s horn began to glow again. Guard managed to raise his shield before him just in time to block the blast of arcane energy, but just barely. Even so, the force of the magical attack was so great that it pushed him back a little. The echo immediately took advantage of that, lunging at him with his sword hovering before him, and, to Guard’s surprise, conjuring another blade, this one made from pure magic.

Parrying the first blade with his hammer and blocking the other with his shield, the paladin took another step back. Suddenly, he felt his back collide with something. Glancing briefly behind, he realized that this something was Storm. He was about to turn his attention back to his opponent, but just then Guard had also noticed that there was a big, spear-wielding earth pony attacking the pegasus paladin; and to make matters worse, just as he had glanced behind himself, Storm had also done that, and was probably unaware of the blade that was about to pierce his body.

Without thinking, Guard Shield jumped in to block the spear. He was dimly aware of Storm lunging behind him at the same time, too. Then, as he pushed the earth pony’s echo’s spear away with his shield, Guard turned around Storm, just as he turned around him, to face his original opponent. Opponent who’s both blades had been cast away from the echo, barely being held by its magic. Realizing that Storm must have parried a strike from them with his Spring Binder, Guard quickly took the advantage of the situation. First, he threw his shield, aided by the Light, to hit the unicorn square in the face. Then, as the shield bounced off the now disoriented echo and shot where the earth pony facing Storm was, Guard raised his glowing with the Light hammer, and brought it down on it.

As the unicorn echo fell to the ground, Guard turned around and caught his shield swiftly. He did it just in time to see the earth pony’s echo get beheaded by Storm. Seeing the pegasus paladin wince a little, Guard quickly stepped beside him and grunted briskly. Storm shook his head, recovering his composure, and as the earth pony’s echo disappeared they both turned towards the remaining-

“The unicorn didn’t disappear yet,” Guard realized with cold dread.

He wasn’t sure why he had thought about it, as he had been sure that the last strike he delivered upon the echo had been lethal. Guard had hit him straight in the head with a hammer; the force of his already strong swing further empowered by the Light. The helmet that the unicorn wore should have offered him little protection against such a blow. Surely, the echo must had disappeared sometime after he turned away from it. Still, whether Guard was being precocious or whether he was being warned by the Holy Light, he turned back.

The echo was still there, an incorporeal blood oozing from underneath its helmet as it tried to raise on shaky forelegs, horn glowing as it readied a spell.

Cursing himself for his negligence, Guard lunged at it, but it was already too late. Even before his hooves left the ground the light of the unicorn’s horn shot out, the magic it had gathered blasting the area around him. The paladin had barely enough time to ask the Light for protection, casting a barrier around himself that protected him from harm, and shout a warning to Storm. Fortunately, his brother had been already alerted by his movement earlier, and had similarity shielded himself from the blast.

Though the Light protected him from harm the echo’s spell would have caused, it did not stop him from being carried off by the blast’s force. To his horror, it was strong enough to cause him to fall over the edge of the mountain pass. Fortunately, he managed to retain his concentration on sustaining the the divine shield around himself, and thanks to that he wasn’t hurt at all, despite having rolled down the side of a steep slope.

As his descent finally came to a halt, Guard rose on shaky legs and shook himself to recover. Dispelling the Light’s protection as he looked around, the paladin realized that he had dropped down into a some sort of a gulch. “Damn unicorn echo… I don’t think I’ll be able to climb back up this way,” he thought as he surveyed the slope he had just fallen down. “And there’s no way Storm could carry me all the way up. Hopefully Tucker can teleport-”

The rest of his thoughts came to an abrupt halt as he jumped forward, his reaction time and battle instincts, that he had honed for a long time, saving his life as he dodged a massive mace. Grasping his weapons tighter (which he luckily managed to hold onto during his way down) and praying quickly to the Light for strength, Guard turned around to see what just tried to kill him.

His eyes widened a little. The echo before him was a huge earth pony stallion; he was fairly certain that it was even bigger than Big Macintosh, though it might have only seemed so because of the armor it wore. Guard took in the plate armor, helmet with horns somewhat resembling a minotaur’s horns, the huge mace it held in one forehoof and equally big shield with a dragon-like shield boss and runic symbols along its edge, and the paladin knew that he was up for a tough fight.

The echo glared at him and snorted angrily; Guard could swear a little smoke escaped its nostrils as he exhaled. “Another griffon filth? One more won’t make a difference.”

“So he sees me as a griffon, huh?” Guard thought, finding the convoluted magic that cursed this entire island annoying.

As he readied himself for a fight, Guard realized that the echo’s words implied that there were “other” griffons nearby who were fighting him. Glancing behind the warrior, he saw that indeed there were. However, closer to the truth would be to say that they had been fighting him. On the ground behind the earth pony echo lay four griffon echoes, all bearing clear marks of battle. With the echoes disappearing when they “die”, Guard suddenly began to suspect that there had been more the earth pony had been fighting against; also, he figured that those four were “alive” only because he had dropped in next to them and interrupted them. Which didn’t really bode well for him.

Just as he finished his observation, the echo charged at him. For a pony its size, it was surprisingly fast. Guard barely had the time to raise his shield to block its mace. Cursing in pain from the force of the blow that travelled through his shield to his foreleg, Guard raised his other hoof and threw a hammer-shaped Light at its head. The echo backpedaled as it was hit, but it merely grunted and was ready to fight again. Guard lunged to the side and tried to break one of its legs, but the echo showed once again how fast it was. It quickly whirled around after him and blocked his hammer with his shield, almost effortlessly. He was impressed; he knew from their training back at the Abbey that, despite his age, he was physically the strongest out of all of Sir Lightbringer’s paladins, and his strike had been further empowered by the Light.

As if to further demonstrate its strength, the echo hit him with the shield, pushing Guard backwards, and then brought down its mace on him. He managed to raise his own shield above him, but the blunt force almost knocked his breath out of him. As the echo moved in for another strike, it became clear to Guard that he couldn’t win the fight this way.

On the battlefield, everything is chaos, Sir Lightbringer’s words came to him. He had told them this during their days as Initiates and repeated it during their journey here. All you will have is the Light inside you, your weapons, your strategy, your skills, and your brothers and sisters beside you. However, everything can change in the heat of battle; you can be separated, your skills and strategy can fail, you can lose your weapons, you can let doubt and fear into your hearts as you bear witness to the atrocities of war. If you want to survive, you must be able to steel your hearts and to adapt to whatever happens. I know all of you are capable of that.

Guard had heard similar things way back during the drills at Royal Guard when he had joined them, but when Sir Lightbringer said them, he realized they were different. They weren’t words repeated from books describing the long forgotten time of war. Something in his voice and expression had told him that those were words spoken by somepony who lived through war.

They had already learned just how accurate they were as they made their way through the island. Though they weren’t really people and they’d disappear soon after being killed, it was still difficult to see them die. To see them suffer wounds countless times, to cause those wounds. But they had to fight on. To waiver on the battlefield would mean death. There may come a day when they would find themselves on a real one, with the fate of Equestria and ponies’ lives depending on them. They had to learn that they could do it if they would ever need to.

Now, though, it was the time for Guard to learn whether or not he could adapt to the chaos of battle. This echo was stronger than him and faster than him. It had the advantage of fighting in Light knows how many battles before the one it was stuck in. The only advantage Guard had over it was the Light, but it didn’t look like it would be enough.

Guard’s eyes fell on the wounded griffons. “Maybe they will see me as a griffon too?” he wondered; it was worth to try. “Assuming I can heal them… and that I would have the time to do that!” he added as he turned his attention back to the echo.

As the mace descended upon him again, Guard decided to abandon the idea of trying to match this pony’s echo with strength alone. Opening himself to the Light, he cast a barrier around himself again. The mace smashed against it and then bounced off. Earning a grunt of surprise out of the echo (as well as small surge of a migraine as he held the barrier against its attack), Guard dispelled his protection, and pointed his forehoof at the echo’s face. The Light shone brightly from his hoof, temporarily blinding his opponent.

The earth pony echo roared in fury as it covered its eyes, then smashed his mace at where Guard had been. The paladin had already left the spot by then, hurrying towards the closest griffon while his opponent continued to swing around blindly.

“Cheap poultry griffon tricks!” it roared. “It won’t help you any more than enslaving earth elementals had!”

“I feel like I made the right choice by not attacking him while he’s blinded,” Guard noted as he glanced at the echo smashing everything around him with his mace. “I just hope those griffons won’t turn on me too…”

Halting by the griffon, Guard placed his forehooves by its chest and intoned a healing prayer. The Light filled him and flew through his hooves to the echo, who clenched its beak in pain as the holy energy washed over its necromantic form. Guard winced a little, but having both been warned by Sir Lightbringer and by seeing the similar thing happen whenever Serenity had healed echoes today, he continued to heal it.

Soon the echo rose from the ground, its injuries gone. He looked at the paladin, his eyes a little dazed after the ordeal. Normally, Guard would have spared it the time it would need to recover from it, but his earlier grunts had alerted the earth pony echo. Already it was charging towards them, his rapidly blinking eyes suggesting that its eyesight was also returning.

“Distract him while I heal the others!” Guard told the griffon in his language, then headed towards the next echo without waiting for the answer.

Fortunately, the griffon echo obeyed. “Yes sir!” he replied and flapped his wings, raising into the air and flying at the earth pony.

As Guard began healing another griffon echo, he kept an eye on the first one. Apparently having its earlier defeat at the hooves of the earth pony clear in mind, it stayed well out of its reach, swooping down to slash with its sword only when it would turn its attention to Guard. Not that it managed to inflict any significant wounds on the pony; wherever the blade would hit, it would meet with the warrior’s dragon shield rather than its body.

Guard began to wonder whether having the advantage of numbers would actually matter.

Soon all the remaining griffon echoes were ready to return into the fight. The paladin paused for a moment; healing all of them taxed him a bit. He watched the earth pony fight against now three griffons at the same time with ease; Guard found himself again being impressed by the other pony’s skills, and found himself regretting having to dispatch its echo.

“I hope this pony had survived this battle at least,” he thought before steeling himself for the fight, resolved to survive it himself.

“Regroup!” he barked in Griffen, and the three who were distracting the earth pony broke off and flew back to where he stood with the last of the group. “I will try to keep his attention on myself,” he began quickly, hoping that his shield could handle the incoming abuse, “you two fly around him and swoop in with your swords whenever you can, and you two grab those crossbows,” Guard told the two griffons who had said weapons hanging on their backs.

All four nodded, accepting his command without any protest. Taking advantage of the fact that the earth pony echo was still some distance away (the griffons had led him a bit further into the gorge as he healed their comrades), Guard reached for the Light and asked It to bless his allies. All four grunted in displeasure as the Light washed over them, but Guard could tell that the blessings he placed on them had the same effect as if they were living beings. As they shook off the pain they must have felt, the griffons’ echoes lunged themselves back into the battle along with the paladin, now stronger than before.

As Guard ran to meet the huge echo head on, he knew he had to make sure its attention would be fixated upon him; already its head was turning to follow the griffons. “Are you so afraid to fight that you’d rather watch the sky above you?” he shouted, the Light magnifying his words.

The echo immediately glared at him with anger, while at the same time an amused chuckle escaped from it. Guard didn’t give it a chance for a witty retort; he cast another Light-made hammer at it, hitting it square in the chest.

Grunting as the Light dispersed upon its chestplate, the echo swung its mace at Guard. The paladin had been more than ready for it, and so he dodged to the left, while at the same time striking at the echo’s forehoof. However, it had quickly brought it back and whirled around, raising its shield. Guard frowned in irritation as his hammer collided with the dragon-shaped shield’s base, but the next second his frown turned into a smirk as he heard the echo grunt in pain; above the shield Guard could see one of the griffons slashing it across the back. Unfortunately, the armor it wore offered it more than apt protection from such attacks, just as it did against the crossbow bolts that would bounce off it every few moments. Smashing his shield against Guard - who managed to avoid suffering a concussion by covering behind his own shield in time - the echo turned around as the other griffon was swooping down. Guard could see the griffon echo’s eyes widen in surprise and his wings beating frantically as it tried to change his course, but the earth pony was faster. The mace swung and hit its mark true, crushing the griffon’s armor - and probably most of its ribs - and causing the other echo to drop to the ground. It gave a weak moan as the earth pony echo prepared the final blow.

“No!”

The shout escaped Guard's muzzle before he realized it; forgetting that it was an echo - or that this griffon was part of the army that invaded Equestria - the paladin lunged to the fallen griffon and stood protectively above it. For that moment, for this fight, what mattered to the paladin was that his comrade had fallen and needed his protection. He raised his shield and aided by the Light he deflected the blow, then immediately jumped into the offensive. The echo, though having lost its balance due to Guard’s action, brought his shield back, but not fast enough this time. Guard’s hammer hit it at the side, the force of the strike causing it to slip out of the the echo’s grip and one of the straps it was attached to. Seizing his chance, the paladin - after pressing himself to the ground so that the echo’s mace would pass over him, then using the echo’s foreleg for support - hit it in the armored head, first with the shield, then with the hammer.

The massive earth pony shook, and managed to stay on his hooves for several seconds, but eventually it toppled and fell down. As Guard pondered whether he should deliver the final blow (mostly because he was fairly certain that it have received a mortal wound already), the griffon echo spared him the need to make the decision. Whether it wanted to make sure the earth pony echo was dead or just wanted to vent some of its frustration on it, he brought its sword down below its helmet, piercing its neck. The earth pony twitched and gave a short pained groan, and then he was no more.

Satisfied to see the enemy echo disappear - and a little sickened at the merciless display - Guard turned back to the griffon that laid behind him, intending to heal his injuries… only to find it gone.

“No!” Guard thought, his eyes wide, but then he closed them. “It was just an echo, there’s no need to get so worked up about it,” he told himself, trying to calm down. Guard knew that he was right, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but grind his teeth and stomp the ground in impotent fury. An unwanted thought appeared in his head: “It was an echo, but I still couldn’t protect it in battle.”

He somehow managed to dispel the frustration he felt as the remaining griffons approached him; he gave himself a shake and turned to address them: “You fought well.”

What else was he supposed to say to soldiers he had almost literally dropped in on the middle of a fight?

“You too, sir,” one of them - the markings on its armor suggesting he had the highest rank among them - said, bowing his head in respect. “If it wasn’t for you, we would have all been dead.”

Although the echo was praising him, hearing him say that had immediately brought the memory of the griffon who had perished in this fight, following his plan. Clenching his teeth again, Guard managed to nod in acceptance of the praise; the last thing he needed right now is to be reminiscent before a bunch of echoes.

“We’ll have to report that the passage is clear,” the griffon continued.

“Yeah, now we can send earth elemental reinforcements to turn the strongholds the ponies captured into a pile of rubble!” another griffon, seemingly younger than the others, exclaimed with a grin.

“I feel like I really shouldn’t feel bad about one of them dying,” Guard commented, deadpanning at the young griffon’s echo.

Apparently, the echoes could recognize facial expressions about as well as recognize a living pony from a living griffon, as none of them seemed concerned about his deadpan. “We’ll fly ahead; it has been an honor to fight alongside you, sir,” the echo said, saluting.

Guard repeated the gesture, despite feeling a little conflicted regarding their objective, even if they were just echoes. He ignored it though, as they did fight with honor and deserved his respect for that; after all, they could have escaped the earth pony echo anytime they’d want during this fight.

With the final nod to him, the griffons spread their wings and flew off towards east, probably to where the closest Griffonia-controlled base had been two thousand years ago. Guard spared only a moment to ponder where exactly that could be; seconds after the echo have left, another flying shape appeared in the air, coming from above where the pass he had been just a few minutes ago was.

As he waited for Storm and Tucker to arrive, Guard glanced at the spot where the earth pony echo had been, wondering if it had left an Ancient Steel Shard by any chance. He had already collected several of those today, but being curious as to what this blacksmith that made the request have intended with them, the paladin wanted to gather as many as possible.

However, the earth pony didn’t leave behind a shard, but it did leave something. Guard frowned as he trotted over to the triangular-like shape that was bigger than his hoof. He wondered what it was. It was made of some metal unknown to him; even the Ancient Steel Shards were different from this thing. Guard grabbed it, wanting to take a closer look at it, and turned it over… and he knew at once what it was.

It was the dragon head shaped shield boss from the shield echo had wielded.

“I guess this means that earth pony had perished on this island,” Guard mused, looking over the shield base. “Pity… So the echoes can also form around bigger chunks of weapons and armor than those shards?”

Not really having the time to muse that over properly, Guard carefully placed the shield base in his saddlebag - making a mental note to show it to the blacksmith - and turned toward his paladin brothers as they reached him.

“Sorry it took so long,” Storm said as he lowered Tucker to the ground and landed beside him to rest his wings a moment; carrying down a pony in full plate armor while himself wearing full plate armor couldn’t have been easy. “There were two more waves after that last one. Tucker will teleport back with you,” he told him and with those words he rose back into the air, flying back to where they left Sir Lightbringer and Serenity.

“I hope you didn’t grow bored while you waited?” Tucker asked as he trotted over to stand beside him.

Guard found himself chuckling. “Let’s just say that I found something to entertain myself,” he told the unicorn as his horn began to glow.

Sanngrior found her new duty to be extremely annoying.

In the days that followed Raogriors’ departure together with the paladins, the val’kyr found herself envying her sister. As unbearable as Sanngrior found Arthas’ presence to be, having gone on this trial he prepared for his paladins would have at least been interesting. Certainly a lot more than being stuck watching over the Abbey. Most of the time nothing of interest was happening, occasionally a few ponies would come in to visit the chapel, and a few times the two guards would spar for a few minutes, but that was it.

“And he wanted me to help guard it,” Sanngrior thought to herself, snorting in contempt in the Shadowlands. In the mortal plane, four young ponies (whom due to her long observation of Arthas at Odyn’s command she knew to be Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and squire Liturgy) trotted past her into the chapel. “Guard it from what, exactly?!”

If she could still draw breath, she would have sighed as she continued to hover around the Abbey.

As she reached the entrance, she noticed absentmindedly a pony talking with one of the royal guard; from what she overheard it appeared that the guard had stopped him more out of curiosity that concern, as apparently he didn’t recognize him.

With literally nothing better to do, Sanngrior flew closer, reaching with her senses into the mortal realm to listen in.

“You’re right, my good pony, I am not from Ponyville,” an ebony-colored unicorn in some fancy-looking barding was replying to guard’s question. “However, a certain business, so to speak, had brought me nearby, and I figured that since I’m already in the area I should visit this Abbey I’ve been hearing so much about at Canterlot.”

“Ah, I see; I’m sure Sir Lightbringer will be happy to hear that even ponies from Canterlot began visiting his Abbey,” the royal guard - Cherry Bomb - said, smiling at the unicorn friendly.

Sanngrior looked closer at the unicorn. She thought that, for a moment, he scowled hearing Cherry Bomb’s words, but as she drew closer she found only a smile on his face. Convinced that she must have imagined it, she pulled back.

“The entrance to Lightbringer’s Chapel is free for everypony,” the guard was continuing. “Feel free to stay as long as you want, mister,”

The unicorn’s orange eyes gleamed as he nodded. “Thank you, but I don’t think I will be long.”

“I see. Well, anyway, enjoy your visit.”

Sanngrior’s gaze followed the unicorn as he trotted towards the chapel. Already her interest in him was waning. “Just another pony, curious about the Light,” she mused, disinterested. Something in the way he looked and walked told her that, if he were to join the Order of the Celestial Light, he could become a powerful warrior, but she doubted that would happen. She have noticed that most ponies liked having comfortable lives.

She was about to resume her “patrolling”, but at that moment the unicorn had caught her attention again. He smirked. And not just “smirked”; when Sanngrior peered closer, she realized that he was smirking with amusement and almost malicious contempt, all while looking at the statue of Uther the Lightbringer.

The val’kyr gazed at him with contempt in return. Having heard that the unicorn was from Canterlot and seeing the clothes he wore, she easily figured that he must be a part of the pony capital’s aristocratic elite, which was the same in almost every culture of every race. Realizing that the pony was probably a snobbish bigot, Sanngrior withdrew her attention from him and flew away.

However, when several seconds later she felt a brief but strong surge of magic, she found herself heading immediately towards its source.

She landed besides the chapel’s entrance, confused. The sensation she had felt had already disappeared. Seeing the scene before her made Sanngrior doubt if she had even actually really sensed that; all that she found were the four fillies and this ebony unicorn, standing by the holy water font.

“Sorry mister,” Scootaloo was saying, “I didn’t see you there; I didn’t mean to sprinkle your suit.”

“Oh, it’s alright, little one, you just startled me,” the unicorn replied, holding one hoof close to his side.

Convinced that the boredom was beginning to turn her insane, the val’kyr spread her wings and flew away again, returning to patrolling the Abbey’s borders.

If she had stayed a bit longer and paid a little more attention, she might have seen that, after the fillies had left, the unicorn had brought his hoof before his face to examine the lightly fuming decay mark on the spot where the filly had accidentally sprinkled holy water on him.

“Alright,” Storm said after consulting the map, “that abandoned tower should be right on the other side of that ridge.”

“Ugh, finally,” Tucker exclaimed. “My hooves are killing me.”

Although he knew that as the “leader” he shouldn’t show weakness before others, Storm privately agreed with Tucker. They must have been traversing through this island for eight or nine hours at least, most of which they had spent fighting. They’ve only made one short break a few hours ago to eat something and drink before resuming their journey. Despite all five of them drawing their strength from the Light they were all tired; even Sir Lightbringer appeared so.

“We still have about an hour before Princess Celestia lowers the Sun,” Storm continued, “so I think we should easily reach it before it grows dark. Still, we better get a move on; we could always run into more of those echoes.”

Everypony nodded in agreement. Storm glanced at Sir Lightbringer, but the head paladin appeared as calm as ever, not showing any signs of what he thought.

“Would it kill him to say ‘good thinking’ from time to time?” Storm thought with slight annoyance as they set out. “True, he nods now and then, but still…”

Shaking his head he banished those thoughts. He had to stay focused; not only was he leading them, but as a pegasus he had a better view on the area that others, even if he couldn’t fly too high due to risk of the echoes battling high above the island deciding to swoop down for an easy kill. He flapped his wings and flew a few feet above the ground, looking around; this part of the island had a bit more vegetation than the ones before, but it was nothing but grass and some bushes as far as an eye could see, nothing that would help any echoes to blend in.

“The area looks clear,” he mused as he landed back on the ground and resumed trotting up the ridge with the others. The ridge wasn’t steep, in fact the road they had taken would lead them through almost flat terrain, allowing them for almost a pleasant stroll. “Maybe we can get through the rest of the day without anymore fighting?”

Some capricious higher power - Storm’s bet was on Discord - must have heard his thoughts, because the very next second a very loud explosion shook the ridge. They all fell to the ground for safety, but fortunately nothing followed the explosion. Storm exchanged a glance with Sir Lightbringer, unsure what to do. They had heard similar noises as well as different ones through this whole day; after all, this was a battlefield. But this time it appeared that the source of whatever had caused this one was waiting atop the ridge.

“Is it too late to change our route?” Storm wandered; he was about to ask Sir Lightbringer that, but a sudden gasp Serenity had uttered stopped him.

Glancing at her, he saw that she was staring at the top of the ridge. Following her gaze, Storm realized that there was an echo standing on top of it now. It was a unicorn, a female one if Storm’s eyes were right; she was wearing a brown, ragged cloak, underneath which Storm could see light gray coat, and her dark spring green mane. He was about to ask Serenity why she gasped at the sight of her, but something… struck him. For some reason, the mare seemed familiar from somewhere, but he couldn’t put his hoof on-

Serenity's stammering voice put a stop to his musing. “C-Clover the Clever?”

Storm’s eyes grew wide. Of course, one of the Founders of Equestria! Of course she seemed familiar; he had seen likenesses of her in history books and in some paintings at the Canterlot Castle.

Her echo had obviously noticed them as well, as she had began trotting towards them. “Reinforcements, huh?” Storm heard her say despite the distance that laid before them. “How unfortunate.”

Storm frowned. “What does she-”

“I’ll make this quick for thee,” he heard right behind him.

His eyes bulged. The spot where Clover the Clever had stood was now empty; as he began to turn his head back, he realized that she must have teleported to stand in the middle of their group. “I didn’t even notice her horn glowing!” Storm thought, awed by her mastery of magic… and more than a little scared as he noticed her empty expression as she stood between them, her horn glowing with magic.

“It’s not personal,” she said before spears of ice erupted around her.

158. The Clover of War

“She’s fast!” Arthas realized as he jumped away immediately after Clover the Clever appeared between them all, an instant before he sensed that she was readying a spell. “She cast that teleportation spell so quickly that I hadn’t even noticed her horn glowing; she’s as good with it as Luna and Celestia’s father was…” he noted, thinking back to how Luna had showed him briefly how Prince Yellow Flash fought in that memory dream.

If he would have had more time to think, he would’ve rolled his eyes at himself for referring to Clover the Clever in present tense instead of past, but the echo was almost equally fast when it came to casting other spells, too. Spears of ice erupted around her, intending to pierce through him and his paladins. Already having moved, Arthas only needed to jump a bit farther back, so instead of worrying about himself he quickly glanced around at the others, words of blessing and protection already at the tip of his tongue.

However, as he turned his attention to his paladins, he was relieved to see that they didn’t need his help, at this moment at least. Both Storm and Tucker had moved out of harm’s way, Storm jumping into the air with a flap of his wings while Tucker dodged the ice spears with the speed and agility belying the plate armor he wore. Guard and Serenity weren’t as fast as the other two, but they both dealt with the danger in their own way; Guard had brought down his shield between himself and the ice, successfully blocking the attack (although Arthas noticed that there were now small cracks running through his shield), while Serenity didn’t move an inch, instead wrapping herself in the Light’s barrier that protected her.

Seeing how they all avoided the attack, Arthas allowed himself a brief moment to feel satisfaction with his paladins’ skill, and a touch of pride. But it lasted less than a second; they were in a battle, after all. Focusing once again on the unicorn echo, Arthas grabbed his hammer, and, filled with the Light’s strength, smashed through the ice, then, after taking a leap forward, he aimed another strike at Clover’s head.

Except the strike missed. Just as the head of the hammer was about to smash against her, the unicorn disappeared, teleporting again.

“Thou art fast,” he heard her speak from further ahead; she had retreated by several yards with the teleportation spell. Arthas immediately turned his full attention to her as the echo regarded them in turn. Gone was the emptiness he had spotted in her eyes, the look that he had seen and knew to be common for those who had seen the horrors of war; now she was staring at them with grim interest. “And possess intriguing powers… all of ye, actually,” she added, her gaze sweeping over the other paladins. She then sighed and closed her eyes. “I’d better-”

Arthas didn’t give her time to finish. As soon as she closed her eyes, he cast a Light-made hammer at her, then hurried after it, doubting it would be enough to take her down. Indeed, before the holy attack could harm her, it dispersed against a magical barrier that appeared around Clover. The unicorn, her horn now alight, opened her eyes slowly as Arthas brought his glowing with the Light hammer against the arcane shield.

The head of the hammer smashed against the barrier, emitting a vibrating sound… and save for sending a few small ripples across it, it did nothing.

“- study ye,” Clover finished her earlier sentence, the echo looking him straight in the eyes.

“Light dammit…” Arthas thought, grimacing; he had thrown all of his strength behind that blow, and yet it had no effect. What’s worse, he could sense that the barrier’s power hadn’t even diminished by much, meaning it would take a while to weaken it enough to break through it, even if all of them were to strike at it. “I doubt she’ll just stand still while we chip away at her defenses… still, better than doing nothing,” he added as he readied another strike.

But this one didn’t even hit the barrier. Just as before, when his hammer was about to make contact, Clover disappeared. His senses alerting him that she was behind him, Arthas jumped forward and turned around.

Indeed, she was there, looking him up and down. “Pray tell, what is this magic?” she asked him, tilting her head a little. Around her, Arthas’ paladins began to position themselves for an attack, but she ignored them; based on what he had witnessed of her abilities so far, rightly so. “I have grown familiar with the elemental magic some of thy people have stolen from the earth elementals, but this… this is something else.”

“‘Thy people’… she sees us as griffons,” Arthas thought, having already suspected that when she had attacked them. “Great, of course this had to be the case with probably the most powerful echo on this island.”

“Tell me what this magic is, and I promise I shall grant ye a quick death,” Clover’s echo continued. “I would have offered to take you prisoners, but… after what thy king has done to Private Pansy, the prisoners we take don’t survive for long.”

“I don’t suppose telling you that we’re not griffons will do much, won’t it?” Arthas asked with a sigh; he was sure such thing never worked.

“Nay, it won’t,” Clover the Clever replied; a faint smile appeared briefly on her muzzle. “Though it is somewhat heartening to see that some people managed to retain their sense of humor… while not having lost themselves to the bloodlust both sides often exhibit.”

At that moment she came under simultaneous attack of all four of Arthas’ paladins. Guard and Tucker came at her from her sides, Guard bringing down his hammer upon her barrier and Tucker his sword, both weapons glowing with the Light. Storm dropped on her from above, using the diving maneuver’s momentum and gravity to further empower the strike of his Spring Binder. Serenity remained further behind Clover, forelegs raised with the Holy Light burning around her hooves as she gathered Its energies in order to smite against her barrier.

Arthas, doubting that it would be enough to break through echo’s defenses, gathered the Light’s energies within himself and released it through his forehoof, launching a valley of holy magic against Clover. Having seen Serenity attempt similar kind of attack, he wondered if it would be more effective; Clover’s unfamiliarity with holy magic could maybe disrupt her concentration when they’d collide with her magic.

As their combined attacks reached her barrier, Clover’s brow furrowed from the strain. However, the barrier held. The echo spared a few seconds to glance around all of them, before her horn began to glow brighter as she cast another spell. Arthas’ eyes widened as he felt a surge of energy an instant before an arcane explosion erupted around the barrier, throwing Storm, Tucker and Guard away from the echo. Arthas, being the furthest from the epicenter, managed to wrap himself with Light’s protection before the explosion reached him.

Behind Clover he saw that Serenity, too, stood her ground, the Light’s shield around her. However, there was a pained expression on her face; Arthas guessed she must have been partially hit before she could protect herself. The Light was already washing over her, though, healing whatever injuries she might have received, and her gaze was turned to the other three, who were all lying on the ground, shaking as they tried to pick themselves up. Serenity swiftly pointed her forehooves at them and uttered a short prayer, and the Light illuminated them, healing their wounds.

“Hm, curious…” Arthas heard the echo murmur, drawing his attention back to her. Clover was observing Serenity’s efforts (with almost academic curiosity, similar to the one he had seen often on Twilight’s face), still safe behind her barrier. Her eyes turned back to him as Storm, Tucker and Guard rose, healed, and she added: “Most curious… alright, how will ye deal with this?”

Her horn’s glow once again increased briefly, and several blades, made out of pure arcane energy, appeared around Clover’s echo. Arthas blinked in surprise, then quickly counted them; there were ten of them. As he watched, the blades moved, positioning themselves so that each of his paladins was about to face two.

“Now,” Clover said, narrowing her eyes, “display the skills of ye further.”

Arthas cursed as two blades launched themselves at him. Dropping into defensive stance, he swung his hammer to knock one away and dodged the other one. Having gained himself a spare second, he risked a glance at the others; he was relieved to see that everypony was holding their ground, each fending off the arcane blades attacks, although with some difficulty.

Assured that his paladins didn’t need his help, Arthas focused on the immediate threat, while at the same time kept Clover’s echo in the corner of his eye, in case she’d cast any more spells. As he blocked the blades that unleashed a series of cuts and slashes at him, he found himself… confused. He had heard that some unicorns would prefer to use their magic to hold weapons instead of hooves, as such basic spell would cost them almost no effort at all and this way they wouldn’t have to practice keeping their balance while fighting. However, from what Twilight had explained to him, this variation of telekinesis spell felt to the unicorn as if they were actually holding the weapon, as magic was a part of them as much as a foreleg was. As such, controlling such a weapon required a similar level of focus as fighting while holding the weapon in hooves.

And yet Clover the Clever was fighting with ten blades, and most of the time half of them were out of her sight.

Arthas’ musing was interrupted by the sounds of battle… and of his paladins’ complains. “Okay, what the-” he heard Storm exclaim, before he was cut abruptly as he was forced to jump into the air to dodge a strike. “Since when was Clover the Clever an overpowered master swordmare?!”

Arthas wasn’t sure to which of them the question was directed to - probably to Serenity, who seemed to know the history of Equestria the best - but he figured it wasn’t to the one who replied.

“I’m not a master swordmare,” Clover the Clever corrected him. “I have taken to studying Commander Hurricane’s fighting style and created an enchantment that... replicates it, so to speak, in the blades I conjure.”

“So they fight remotely…” Arthas mused, hitting one with his hammer and frowning in frustration as the arcane blade blocked it.

He had heard of a similar feat before, back on Azeroth. The most notable feat in this field belonged to none other than his old foe in that wretched life he had led: Kael’thas Sunstrider. Though he hadn’t displayed this particular ability during their final battle at the Icecrown Glacier - favoring his dynasty’s Felo'melorn, possibly believing that it would be enough to slay him and that it would be only just if Arthas fell by this blade - Arthas had learned thanks to Scourge’s various spies that the elven prince was capable of controlling in this fashion several weapons, too, all of which were very powerful at that.

However… according to the reports he had gotten, by the time Kael’thas had been attacked at Tempest Keep by brave adventures (most of whom would go on to participate in the War against the Lich King, and some even being a part of the group who would fight him at the Frozen Throne), he was able to control seven weapons at the same time.

“But Clover the Clever could control ten… also, she created them out of her own magic rather than used this enhancement on actual weapons imbued with magic. Does it make it harder or easier, then? And are they more dangerous than Kael’s weapons would have been? I wonder… in any case,” Arthas thought, deflecting the blades and gazing at the echo of Clover the Clever, “she seems to be as skilled a mage as he was.”

His grip on the hammer tightened, and he clenched his teeth. He had beaten Prince Kael’thas. He defeated and forced to retreat the much older and experienced man that at one point of his previous life had almost intimidated him. But… he hadn’t defeated him as the paladin of the Holy Light.

He had defeated him as the Lich King’s death knight.

And this echo of a mare who possessed similar level of skills as him caused Sir Lightbringer the paladin and the four paladins he trained trouble.

With a howl, he swung his hammer with all his might, shattering both conjured blades in a single strike. Satisfied, he took a breath to calm down, realizing that he was letting his pride and anger get the better of him.

“You were surprisingly forthcoming with information regarding your skills, Lady Clover,” he told the echo, using the chance his brief respite offered him to converse with reflection of one of the Founders of Equestria.

Clover the Clever, who’s eyes slightly widened in surprise as he addressed her as ‘lady’, looked at him sadly. “I am going to kill ye after I finish assessing your powers. What purpose would it be to hide my abilities? Thou knowest why they remain a secret to thy kind, dost thou not?” she asked, tilting her head. Her eyes became blank briefly as she explained, “Few griffons who have faced me in this war have escaped. Very, very few.”

A wave of sadness and pity washed over Arthas, completely removing whatever remained of his anger. He had read up quite a bit on all the Founders - he had lived in a library with Twilight for months after all - and learned even more interesting facts - and theories - after meeting doctor Daring Do. Though of course writings hardly focused on their personalities, describing mostly the historical details, Clover the Clever always struck him as a compassionate and sensitive pony. She was the first of the unicorns to befriend the other tribes, with Private Pansy from the pegasi and Smart Cookie from the earth ponies. Her very magic responded to that compassion, giving her the power to banish the windigos.

What could a war do to such pony? War during which, due to her power, she had to take part in, in order to protect the nation she had help to found? War during which she was required to kill?

War in which one of her closest friends - whom she herself had performed a post mortem examination - died a death so horrible nobody ever made an official record of its causes.

Arthas lowered his hammer ever so slightly. He really, really didn’t want to fight this mare, even if what stood before him was just her echo.

He opened his mouth, hoping he could find words that would make her realize they weren’t griffons - or maybe even that the war was long since over, though he felt conflicted whether or not it wouldn’t be a cruel thing to do - when a pained shriek caught his attention. Turning his head sharply, he saw Serenity reaching to her right foreleg, her hoof already glowing with the Holy Light as she held it above her elbow. One of the blades managed to get past her defenses swiftly enough that she hadn’t had the time to ask the Light for protection, and struck her at the armor’s weak point with enough force to cut her through her crystal coat.

The wound Serenity had received, though painful, wasn’t big enough to be of concern, but her shriek was like a wake-up call to Arthas. Forgetting about his hesitation, he focused and cast hammer-shaped Light energy at the blades that were fighting her, intending to eliminate this threat first before dealing with Clover’s echo.

“One way or another…” he thought grimly; he had no intention of fighting her, just like Clover herself had no intention of fighting the griffons. But she did, to protect her nation and fellow ponies, and like her, he would fight to protect his subordinates.

As the Light-made hammer spun around its own axis as it shot towards Serenity, Arthas turned his attention to the other blades, but just as he moved his eyes away, his attack was intercepted. Looking back at it, he saw the Light now entrapped in a magical sphere, similar in hue to the barrier around Clover.

“Hm, interesting…” the echo murmured as she brought the sphere closer to her. By then the Light lost the shape Arthas’ will had given it and became just a mass of magical energy. “Yes, I think this is-”

Arthas didn’t give her time to finish that sentence. Taken aback that she had managed to ‘capture’ his attack and angered that by doing so she had stopped him from aiding Serenity, Arthas momentarily forgot about the blades. Gathering Light’s strength, he leaped at her, taking another swing against her barrier.

However, again, it brought little effect, aside from making her eye twitch slightly. It did cause her to look away from the Light she had captured to glance at him, thought. “Whether thou took part in the siege of Cloudsdale or just heard of it, surely thou must have heard about the barrier that protected the city from thy kind’s army, true? That barrier had been cast and held by me alone,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “What chance do ye stand at breaking through this one, then?”

“She can cast a protective barrier around an entire city like Shining Armor?” Arthas thought, both impressed and alarmed. “If she’s so skilled with this spell, it’s no wonder she’s so calm while standing right between us while protected by her magic… dammit, I wish now that I had sparred with Shining Armor a few times, maybe I could figure a way to dispel this barrier…”

As he mused, Clover’s echo continued to speak. Her next words made him stop and turn to her with anger.

“Focus on saving thy companions,” she added, turning away from him as she resumed studying the holy magic.

Arthas once again found himself grinding his teeth. “And now she’s lecturing me?!” he thought, growing angrier again… then closed his eyes, slowing down his breathing. “I cannot let anger control me. Remember: ‘if we allow our passions to turn to bloodlust,” he recited what Uther had once told him, “then we will become as vile as’... well, as great many things I suppose,” Arthas finished instead, allowing himself to smirk.

Having calmed down, he reached out for the Light, and the Light answered. He raised his forelegs, concentrating, as he gathered the power Light poured into him and used it to attack. Blades made out of holy energy emerged from the ground, eight of them, each striking the arcane blades Clover’s echo had conjured and shattering them.

Arthas exhaled, realising that he has been holding his breath. Though the holy blades disappeared almost immediately and he had to exert himself, he had managed to best Clover’s echo.

For now.

Smirking, he turned to her. “I don’t think you can allow yourself to focus on other things while fighting me,” he told her as she looked away from the sphere with holy energy.

Clover looked around appraisingly before addressing him. “Indeed, I can’t. This magic…” she added, glancing briefly at the sphere before releasing it, causing the Light to disperse. “Thou art similar to the shaman I have read about; thou tap into energies and use them for combat and healing, to empower yourself… except this magic is different from elemental magic,” she added, frowning as she looked at Arthas. “It feels… greater, as if beyond the powers of a single world... indeed, it feels as if its source was from beyond our world. My old mentor Star Swirl the Bearded had speculated about the existence of magic like this. He had called this ‘holy magic’; would that be it?”

Arthas stared at her in surprise. Before he had been brought back to life on Equestria as a pony, this world had never known the Holy Light. Of course, the records of the past further than two thousand years ago were scarce (and beyond few thousand more practically non-existent), but it would have seemed reasonable that if there ever were any practitioners of holy magic on Equestria, there would be some trace left by them. And yet…

“Star Swirl the Bearded had theorized Its existence, and Clover - or her echo, whatever - was able to deduce Light’s nature in mere minutes after first witnessing it,” Arthas thought, both surprised and impressed. “Can’t wait to tell Twilight about this…”

Pushing the thoughts of the loving lavender unicorn to the back of his mind, he noticed that Clover had managed to read his expression. “So I am right… We had no reports of any other griffon using such powers. Thou art possibly one of the few who managed to learn how to use it, I assume?” However, the echo didn’t wait for the answer. She sighed and shook her head. “I suppose this does not matter anymore.”

And with those words, she was gone.

“No, not gone,” Arthas thought, sensing her presence further up the ridge. “What is she-”

His eyes grew wide as he noticed the amount of power she was gathering, as well as how brightly her horn was glowing.

“Paladins to me, now!” he barked an order, ignoring the fact that, technically, Storm was supposed to be leading them; this was an emergency.

Either they all sensed that, or simply they had great trust in him, as all four of them jumped to him before he could even finish that sentence. Normally, Arthas would nod with acknowledgment at their fast reaction, but there was no time; hastily, he raised his forehooves into the air, channeling a prayer of protection, as a dome of Light surrounded all of them… just mere seconds before the barrage of arcane missiles would have pulverized them.

Grunting from the strain, Arthas banished all distracting thoughts and emotions from himself, focusing only on the Holy Light and the barrier. His breathing slowed as he continued to hold it while Clover continued to blast wave after wave of arcane missiles against it. She was powerful, Arthas had to give her that, incredibly powerful even; he had began to suspect that she could easily measure up with some of the greatest mages of Azeroth, such as Kael’thas, Khadgar, or Jaina.

But her power was still nothing against the Light.

Calm and concentrated as he was, Arthas could easily channel the Light’s power into protecting the five of them, even from such powerful attack. He suspected the area outside of the barrier was slowly being turned into a wasteland, but he had no time to look or even worry about it. After all, there wasn’t much wildlife on this island to being with, and every animal that had been close to them when they’d begun this fight must have long since fled.

Clover’s echo must have realized that her attack wasn’t working, as soon Arthas had sensed that the pressure against the barrier had increased. Opening one eye to asses the situation, he realized that not only was the echo shooting arcane missiles at them, she had also conjured a blizzard around them, and now big icicles were dropping down on them.

Still, it wasn’t enough to break through or to make him let go. Focusing on the Light solely once again, Arthas held the barrier.

It didn’t become really strenuous until flaming, exploding orbs had also began to fall on it.

“Oh for the-” he began to think, annoyed with the amounts of spells the unicorn threw at them, before he caught himself on wavering and pushed all of this down, regaining his composure before he would let the barrier drop.

Which for all he knew he could have very well done, for the pressure of holding against such barrage was becoming unbearable. However, he wasn’t alone; he felt somepony's strength adding to his, aiding him. As his eyes were closed and senses focused on the barrier, he couldn’t be sure, but Arthas guessed it to be Serenity. Not that it soon mattered, as the other three too began to chant prayers of protection; even though they weren’t as skilled as Serenity - not to mention Arthas himself - when it came to channeling the Light, their strength was greatly appreciated in this situation. Together, they held the barrier through the worst of Clover’s attack, until it had stopped.

Opening his eye once again as she felt the barrage of magic that shot at the shield had stopped, Arthas looked around. The air was full of smoke and dirt, obscuring his view, but there was no denying that Clover’s echo had stopped casting spells at them.

Slowly he allowed the barrier to disperse; even without arcane missiles, blizzard and flamecores smashing against it holding it still took effort. Since he was given the opportunity to rest a moment, he was going to take it.

“Alright, new plan,” he told the others after taking a few deep breaths. “The four of you will retreat and try to find another way to reach the abandoned tower. I will join you after I deal with this echo.”

As he caught a glimpse of his paladins confused and borderline shocked expressions, he briefly asked himself just why he wanted to stay. Surely, it was only because otherwise Clover’s echo would follow them all, and not because he wanted to prove anything to himself?

It annoyed Arthas that he couldn’t be so sure of that. His practical loss and near death at the hands of Illidan’s image back at the Abbey still stung, and to now find himself facing a foe with similar abilities to Prince Kael’thas…

“I am better than I was back then,” he thought firmly and decisively, images of the past life in which he had faced those two flashing before his eyes. “And I am stronger. I can defeat her.”

But even as he reassured himself that he could do it, his paladins were still doubting him (which was understandable given the circumstances). “Sir, with all due respect…” Storm began to say, clearly opting for diplomatic approach and to adhere to protocols.

“Have you lost your mind!?” Tucker cut him off. The others all shot him warning looks, but the unicorn continued to speak his mind - and probably the others’, too - unabated. “It took all of us to keep up that shield from her attack! And that’s besides the fact that she can teleport before a guy can blink, conjure impregnable shields and create ten freaking swords out of thin air that fight by themselves, and Light knows what else! You can’t fight her alone. Sir,” he quickly added as he realized the way he was speaking to him. “She’s too powerful!”

Arthas blinked in surprise, momentarily stunned. “There must be some truth to that if it caused Tucker to be serious for a moment,” he thought, surprised with the knight’s concern. Pleased, true, but surprised.

“Power isn’t the only factor that decides the outcome of the battle,” he told all of them. “I am confident I will be able to defeat her, but with her teleportation spell I am not sure if I’ll be able to protect you at the same time.” He shook his head and added more gently. “This isn’t a part of your trial. Now go,” he added, turning in the direction where he could sense Clover’s echo presence; her form was still made of necromantic magic, even if she was able to use arcane, frost and fire spells with the same ease the real Clover the Clever must have had in life. The dust scattered because of her attacks had already almost completely either fallen on the ground or gotten blown away by the wind, letting him see her outline. “I will rejoin you shortly.”

“Raogrior,” he added, turning to with his thoughts to the val’kyr, “if Clover comes after them as they retreat, protect them, please.”

“It will be done, Sir Lightbringer,” Raogrior promised.

The echo of Clover the Clever suddenly appeared right before him. “Who did thou just talk to?” she asked from behind her barrier, tilting her head curiously. As Arthas instinctively backed away out of surprise, she pressed “I sensed thee communing with something in the Spirit World; does thy similarity to shamans extends to communing with spirits, too?”

“S-something along those lines, I suppose,” Arthas replied, simply because he didn’t know what else he should say.

“Hm…” Clover hummed in reply, tapping her chin as she pondered that. “Interesting… I should inform ye that thou cannot escape,” she added, glancing briefly at the others. Sadness flashed behind her transparent eyes as she continued “I cannot allow ye to cause harm to our forces here.”

“Meh, it’s good, we weren’t planning on obeying that order anyway,” Arthas heard Tucker reply nonchalantly behind him.

Despite their situation - and the fact that their enemy was standing about half a yard in front of him - Arthas rolled his eyes at his paladin’s refusal to obey his command. Because of that he had almost missed Clover teleporting away; he still would have if the echo hadn’t waited a second longer to smile at Tucker sadly before casting her quick spell.

Because he didn’t, though, he was able to pick up her presence immediately. Spinning around, Arthas threw a hammer-shaped Light once again, right at one of the three blades of frost that were surging at them. The hammer struck against the middle one, then after shattering it upon collision it bounced off into the rightmost one, destroying that one as well. The remaining frost blade continued to fly in its tracks, almost hitting Tucker. In the last second Arthas wrapped him in Light’s protection, saving him.

In the next second, as his paladins recovered from the surprise attack and began to take on battle stances, Arthas realized that Clover was no longer standing where she had cast that last spell from. Indeed, now he could feel her back behind him, further away… and with another spell already firing.

Literally.

Cursing as the giant pyroblast surged in their direction, Arthas jumped in its path, wrapping himself in Light’s protection. The force of the impact almost threw him off his hooves, but the Light shielded him from the worst of the attack. And from the fire.

The downside to this quite effective method of blocking the magical attack from harming everypony was that his vision was momentarily impaired. The explosion had once again send dust into the air, though far less than the barrage from earlier. Being in the center of it though caused Arthas to miss the commotion that followed Clover’s pyroblast. Perking his ears in the direction of Tucker’s cursing from where the echo stood - “Guess he had teleported there.” - he run out of the dust cloud, ready to fight…

Except there was no fight. Clover was now a few yards away, staring in utter surprise at Tucker, who stood where she had been just a few seconds ago.

“Dammit, she’s fast,” the unicorn paladin cursed again, his energy sword held where, Arthas was sure, the echo’s chest had been.

“How did thou do that?” Clover in turn asked, bewildered. “That was teleportation… arcane magic! Griffons can’t do that!”

Arthas stared at her, his eyes widening briefly… and then he sighed, relaxing. “Now we might be able to talk sense into her… I should have thought before about getting her attention with Tucker’s magic…”

“Oh, I’m full of surprises baby.”

His jaw dropped as he turned to stare at Tucker as he began to flirt with the echo.

“How about we take it somewhere private so I can show you how impressive my skills are?” he continued, his sword disappearing as he walked towards Clover with a smirk. “You leave the others and I show you some good time for… let’s say the rest of the night?”

Clover’s echo blinked rapidly, clearly confused. “Um, art thou…”

“Offering you the time of your life? Hell yeah baby.”

Arthas facehoofed. Hard.

“Um…” he heard Clover stammer, causing him to lift his hoof a bit and look at her. To his bewilderment, the echo was fiercely blushing. “Um, I t-thank thee, but I… um…” she stammered in embarrassment, looking everywhere but at Tucker.

Arthas facehoofed again. “I made him a paladin…”

“Um, Sir?” he heard Storm ask in a hushed voice. Glancing to his right, he saw that the pegasus approached him. “Clover… that is the echo, is distracted. Shouldn’t we be taking the opportunity to-”

“No,” Arthas told him firmly, pointing with his forehoof at Tucker, “I refuse to win a fight because of that. Or to retreat thanks to that for that matter.”

“Yeah, I’m going to agree with Sir Lightbringer on this,” he heard Serenity mutter behind them; glancing back, he saw her staring at Tucker with disapproval and aversion.

Arthas turned his attention back to Clover and Tucker right in time to see her recover most of her composure. “T-thou dost remember that we’re enemies, right?” she asked, finally looking at him.

“Meh, make love not war,” Tucker replied, still smirking.

Clover, though still embarrassed, seemed almost amused by his response. Then, however, she grew rapidly sad. “Unfortunately, I can’t forget this so easily…” she said, lowering her horn that rapidly began to glow brighter.

Fortunately for Tucker, it gave him enough of a warning to teleport himself out of the magical beam’s way. “Are you done?” Arthas asked him as he appeared beside them, staring at him with a deadpan. As the unicorn paladin shot him a grin, Arthas realized that maybe it would be better to not hear his answer. “Forget it, just focus on the enemy.”

“I’m surprised you managed to remember to get away from her,” he heard Serenity told Tucker, almost scathingly.

“Pff, I always remember to pull out before I get into trouble. Bow-chicka-bow-wow!”

Arthas groaned and rolled his eyes to the back of his skull, praying to the Light for patience.

“Can the chatter,” he told his paladins, himself focusing fully on Clover again.

The echo - who by then had stopped blushing - regarded them with thoughtful expression. “How interesting are ye… especially thou,” she added, her gaze locking with Arthas’. “Thou not only possesses greater powers than thy companions, but art also quick and resourceful. To be able to react in time to so many of my spells, not to mention block them… I definitely cannot allow thee to escape with thy life,” she finished, taking a battle stance.

Arthas narrowed his eyes; whatever she was planning, it couldn’t be good for them. “You four, stay together and watch each other backs; she could teleport behind you in any moment. I’ll...”

He trailed off as Clover began casting a new spell. However, the magical energies that emerged from her horn were moving too slowly to be another attacks. As Arthas and the others watched, they floated around them, slowly changing their shape…

Four more unicorns - that is, the echoes - surrounded them. All were light gray with green manes, clad in brown cloaks and all conjuring the same arcane barrier around themselves.

“My duplicates shall occupy thy companions while I deal with thou,” Clover’s echo, the real one, spoke.

“This just keeps getting better and better…” Arthas muttered grimly. “Don’t panic,” he added in normal voice, turning to the others, “those… duplicates, I guess, can’t be as powerful as the real one.”

“Also,” he thought to himself, “creating them must have weakened Clover.”

“I will deal with the real one, you four fight together against them,” he instructed his paladins before he started to walk slowly towards Clover’s echo, gathering Light’s power.

“With her teleportation, she can easily get out of my reach and attack me from long distance,” he thought as he walked, preparing a strategy for the battle. “I might be able to call upon the Light to attack in similar manner, but my attacks lack her destructive power, and it takes longer for me to channel Light than for her to cast spells. So a fight in close range is the only option… however, the only reason why she allows us to get close to her is because of that barrier. She probably wouldn’t even be doing that if she wasn’t so intrigued by our powers… and because attacking from longer distance gives me enough time wrap myself with Light’s protection; I might not be able to keep it up as long as she keeps up her barrier, but she must have realized by now that it makes me immune to damage for those short periods… Still, if it would look like I’d be about hit her barrier with enough force to break through it, she would probably use teleportation to get away.”

“Thy subordinates might have a chance against my duplicates,” Clover spoke up as he stopped about a yard away from her. Arthas didn’t miss how she’d stressed the word ‘might’. “But even after sparing some of my power to create them, thou still stands no chance against me.”

“I’ll have to take her by surprise, then, and act fast after creating an opening,” Arthas finished, the plan already formed. “And it would be best if I would settle this quickly.”

“Well,” he said out loud, allowing himself to smirk with confidence, “I’ll guess we shall see about that.”

Basking in Light’s power, he leaped at her, swinging with his hammer.

As he expected, the barrier stopped his strike. A slight twitch of echo’s eyes betrayed that it did put some pressure on her briefly, though. Arthas would have smirked if he had the time, but Clover acted fast; her horn’s glow increased an instant before she fired a magical blast. Barely moving out of its way in time, Arthas brought his hammer for another strike. Instead of taking it on or teleporting away, Clover simply backed away, the hammer missing her barrier by a hair, and readied her next spell. She stopped, though, as a blade of pure Light emerged from the ground beneath her, making her rise on her hind legs as the barrier that was wrapped around her didn’t let it get through. Having made her lose her balance, Arthas came in for another attack, but before he could finish his swing, Clover was gone.

Without giving it much thought, he continued the swing along its arc, spinning around and letting the hammer’s head strike behind him… right at Clover’s barrier.

Taking advantage of having caught Clover by surprise which had temporarily stunned her - though honestly, Arthas thought she should have figured out he would have figured out she would attack him from behind - and caused her to drop the spell she was about cast, Arthas focused on the Light, channeling it through him into the ground on which they fought, consecrating it. Clover’s eyes snapped wide as she glanced down, cracks and streaks of gold light run through the earth, emanating holy energies that would be causing her excruciating pain if it weren’t for her magical shield. As it was, though, her shield would be constantly draining more power should she have remained within the range. Clover must have realized that, and so she teleported further away before Arthas could deliver another attack.

Frowning as he spotted her appearing away from the consecrated ground, Arthas readied himself for her next strike. He wasn’t given much time; already the echo was lowering her head, her horn glowing brightly as a beam shot from him. Gathering his power, Arthas channeled the Light through his forehoof, shooting a beam of golden Light that collided with it. Almost immediately he grunted as his attack began to be pushed back by Clover’s. He emptied his thoughts and focused on the Light, trying to pour more of it through him, but to no avail; he was still being pushed back.

Just as he predicted.

As Clover’s beam drew closer and closer, Arthas opened himself fully to the Holy Light, basking in Its power and letting him surge throughout his entire body. The familiar sensation, identical to the one he felt when he faced the image of Illidan, returned, and his power increased. His entire body began to glow with the Holy Light, and he guessed the wings made out of the Light must have manifested again on his back, but he didn’t bother to check. Now able to pour more power into his attack, he did just that, blasting the approaching beam with a new surge of Light, causing the two colliding beams to create an explosion.

Though he was closer to it than Clover and suffered some of the blast’s force, Arthas didn’t let it bother him, and immediately leaped forward. Using the cover provided by the dust stirred by the explosion, and Clover’s surprise, he managed to cross the distance between them before she could react, and brought his hammer upon her barrier with a mighty roar, shattering it and reaching the echo it protected.

The barrier took the brunt of the attack, which was why the blow that reached Clover hadn’t killed her, but only merely threw her several yards across the ground; if she was a living pony, that blow would have quite possibly broken a few bones. Regardless, Arthas felt confident that he would reach her to deliver the final blow before she could concentrate enough to cast another spell. He jumped after her, hammer raised.

When Clover gave him a sharp stare, he knew that it wouldn’t be the case.

Her horn began to glow as he swung his hammer, and it struck something that appeared between him and the echo. However, it wasn’t another barrier, but… water. In a brief instant, Arthas thought that she had somehow conjured a wall of water between them, but as he looked up, taking in the figure before him, he know that it wasn’t the case.

He didn’t managed to get a good look at water elemental before it retaliated. Its ‘fist’ struck him across his chestplate with what felt like the full power of a raging river. At the same moment Arthas felt the hit, a stream of water shot from the limb, blasting him away. An unpleasant shock went through him as the cold water washed over him, but he did manage to notice shards of ice appear in the air around the elemental a moment before they were launched at him.

“Raogrior!” he called out mentally, unable to focus enough to call upon the Light.

The ice shards almost reached them when suddenly a golden shield, held by a golden glowing arm, appeared between him and them. Arthas fell to the ground as the val’kyr also blocked the stream of water that was pushing him away. He grunted and got up on his hooves, shaking slightly and already healing himself with the Light.

“If it weren’t for my armor, my chest would have been caved-in by that attack,” he noted as the Light spread through him.

“Thank you, noble val’kyr,” he told Raogrior, standing beside her and turning to regard the water elemental the echo had summoned.

Not that he could take a proper look at her, Arthas realized that it wasn’t just some run-of-the-mill water elemental magi on Azeroth would often learn how to summon (the one Jaina would summon being the most familiar example for him). Instead of roughly-humanoid shaped blob of water he had expected, he found himself staring at a shape similar to the sea ponies he had become familiar with, except made of water. It was easily two times bigger than a pony, if not three. It stood upright, with its tail serving as a stanchion; instead of ending with a long fin it had droplets of water surging around its base where it would connect with the ground. What he had previously taken for a fist was in fact a long fin. There was a necklace around its neck, made out of seashells and pearls, and a tiara adorning its head with a pearl in the middle of it. Its ‘mane’, made out of water of a slightly darker colour, waved behind it as it regarded them in turn, then glanced back at Clover’s echo and smirked.

“My my, isn’t this nostalgic,” she - as her voice coupled with feminine look suggested - remarked with amusement, her voice resonating like a ripple across the surface of water.

Clover, who was staring at the val’kyr, her expression a little pained after Arthas’ strike and favoring her left foreleg, turned to glance at the water elemental with confusion before shaking it off and speaking “Apologies for summoning thee so suddenly, Lady Coralia; I had to improvise.”

“It’s fine,” the elemental answered, waving off her water-made fin.

“I didn’t expect her to summon a water elemental,” Arthas mused, slightly unsettled; it was clear that it was quite a powerful elemental on top of everything. “I was under the impression that unicorns didn’t know this particular trick… not to mention that she is an echo while the elemental clearly isn’t...”

“You’re welcome, Sir Lightbringer,” he heard Raogrior replying to him. “I assume you wish for me to aid you in the battle?”

“Well, there are two of them now,” he said, feeling a little annoyed that he had to resort to asking for the val’kyr’s help. The fact that Clover had also summoned an ally was his solace in this. “If you would be so kindly, take care of this water elemental, Lady Coralia; I will finish my fight with Clover.”

The echo and the elemental could clearly hear them from this short distance, as evident by the latter’s laughter. “You think this… weird, glorified ghost can take me on?” Lady Coralia asked, tilting her head playfully as she took in Raogrior. “That’s rich.”

Whether Clover didn’t share the water elemental’s opinion or she was simply less boastful, she didn’t support her claim. Instead, her gaze was travelling between Arthas and the val’kyr. “Curious… I guess I underestimated thou a touch,” she said, turning to Arthas. “I had hoped to save most of my power in case Hurricane would need my aid against King Friedrich, but I have to take thee down now.”

For the first time since they began to fight Arthas started to really worry. “She… she wasn’t fighting at her full power?!” He clenched his teeth and took his battle stance; he would have to give his all if they were going to survive this.

Clover closed her eyes as her horn began to glow, and with a bright flash, a staff appeared next to her, enveloped in her magic. Not an transparent echo of one, an actual staff. It was long, made out of three entwining poles, with its top adored with a crystal on which a symbol was carved. It showed three spirals that were connected to each other by their lines in the middle that formed a small triangle, all surrounded by a circle.

“I…” Clover began, only to trail off as she shook. She then blinked rapidly, looked at the staff, then back at him. She raised her hoof and pointed at him. “You’re not griffons!” she exclaimed, her eyes wide… then grew even wider as her gaze travelled to her outstretched hoof.

“I… guess the power of this staff made her break through the bindings the ritual that created her forced on her mind?” Arthas wondered, confused by what was transpiring.

“I did try to tell you that, Lady Clover,” he tried, unsure of her reaction.

However, the lack of noises of fighting behind him indicated that the fight had reached its end.

“Y-yes, I remember…” the echo murmured, still staring at her transparent hoof, then over the rest of her body. For a moment panic spread on her face, but it was soon replaced by a look of resignation. “I see… necromantic magic. But this spellframe… hm…” she mused, some of her curiosity returning, as she glanced at her stuff. Planting it at the ground, she caused a wave of energy to emanate from it, which passed Arthas and his paladins harmlessly.

Seeing that the echo of Clover no longer seemed hostile in any way, Arthas let the accumulated Light’s power leave his body, dispersing his wings.

As Clover concentrated on whatever she was doing, Arthas noted that the water elemental was looking at her with a strange, difficult to describe expression (the fact that her face was made of water did not make reading it easier), before letting out a sight. “Just when it was looking to be fun…” she muttered; Arthas could swear that she pouted.

Arthas glanced behind him as he heard his paladins approach. “So…” Storm began, “is it over?”

“It would appear so,” he replied, still unsure what was going to happen.

“More importantly,” Tucker spoke up, “why is there a giant chick here on our side? Not that I mind,” he added, winking at the val’kyr. “And what’s with the water chick?”

“I will explain this when we make camp for the night,” he said, not bothering to rebuke the paladin. Turning to the val’kyr he said “Raogrior, you may return to the Shadowlands for now. Thank you.”

Raogrior nodded and spread her wings, ascending into the air as she flickered away, disappearing from the realm of the living.

“Somepony attempted a necromantic ritual… and it failed, giving the raise to beings such as me,” he heard Clover speak. Turning to her, he saw that she had closed her eyes as she examined the magic around the island, apparently. As she spoke, though, she opened them. “Echoes. Reflection of those who were on this island once. I understand now. I have to apologize again, Lady Coralia,” she said, bowing her head to the water elemental, “that a thing like me summoned thou-”

She was cut abruptly by the elemental’s laughter. “You are indeed just like Clover; only she would have bothered with something like that. You have the same memories up to that battle, same skills and personality; why would you think of yourself less is beyond me. Especially since you can’t die now;” Lady Coralia added, smirking, “pretty sure that’s an upgrade for you fleshlings.”

“Um… I suppose so,” Clover replied, seeming both confused and amused by the elemental reply. She finally smiled at her. “Thank thee, Lady Coralia. And thank thee for coming to my aid.”

“My pleasure. It’s been fun to see you again; I had hoped we’d get to relieve some of the good times,” she added, glancing towards Arthas and the rest, “but I guess you no longer want to fight them?”

“No, I…” Clover said, looking at them as well, then hesitated and turned back to the elemental. “It… it has been a long time since I died, I take? The real me that is.”

“Short time for me, for you fleshlings…” Lady Coralia replied, then shrugged and shook her head.

From beside him, Arthas noticed Serenity shift. “Um… Lady Clover, ma’am?” she spoke up, taking a step towards her. “It… it has been about two thousand years since your passing.”

Clover’s eyes widened. “Really? That is… a long time… how does Equestria fare?” she asked, worry in her voice.

“Great,” Arthas replied. “We have known only peace for a long time, minus a few, um, incidents. Actually, we came here so these paladins could gain some battle experience because it’s one of the few places left on this world where they could.”

Clover’s expression brightened. “I see… that’s great to hear. Would thou…would thou mind if I accompany thee for a while? I would like to learn more of what had transpired since the battle of this island.”

Although slightly surprised, Arthas was happy to nod in agreement. “Of course; we were about to reach the site we have selected as a camp for the night, we can share stories there.”

Clover smiled and bowed her head. “Thank thee, noble warrior. And, um… I apologize for attacking thee,” she added, looking away in embarrassment.

She looked as if ready to explain herself further, but Arthas wouldn’t have any of that. “It’s alright, we understand; on our way here we have already passed many similar cases,” he said, not wanting to use the word ‘echo’.

Smiling at him gratefully, Clover glanced at her stuff. “Yes, I suppose thou had to… fortunately, Triskelion’s power allowed me to snap from it-”

“What?!” a sudden exclamation from Serenity cut her off. “That’s Triskelion?! The staff of the Archmages of Unicolt?! B-but… it was supposed to have disappear after Star Swirl the Bearded’s passing!”

“Um…” Clover stummered, brushing the back of her head with slight embarrassment. “Yes, well, my old mentor had a different opinion as to whom should succeed him than the king, and so he had hidden the staff. I found it shortly before the exodus down south.”

“Not that this exchange hadn’t been entertaining,” Lady Coralia suddenly spoke up; her tone of voice didn’t quite much to what she was saying, “but I was in the middle of something in the Endless Ocean when you had summoned me.”

“Oh, right, forgive me,” Clover quickly replied, her horn starting to glow as she began the spell to send the elemental away.

“Summon me sometime soon, Clover, we’ll catch up,” Lady Coralia added, winking at the unicorn, before disappearing.

Arthas couldn’t help but feel a little relieved that the elemental who had managed to wound him so was gone. He pushed those thoughts aside and trotted towards Clover the Clever.

“It won’t be long now before Princess Celestia sets the sun and Princess Luna raises the moon,” he said, talking to her and his paladins. ”Let's try to reach the campsite before that.”

As Clover nodded along with everypony else, she suddenly stopped and blinked rapidly. “Wait… who does what?”

Author's Note

So sorry that it has been so long since last chapter; I've been working on my two other stories, Fallout: Equestria - Infinite Potential and Stars in the Making (you should totally check those out ^^; ;p), hope this chapter has made it up^^

159. Revelations under Moon

“I… see,” Clover’s echo murmured as Serenity finished telling her the last two thousand years of Equestria’s history. “Equestria hath certainly changed from my times.”

“Well, it has been about two thousand years,” Storm thought, rolling his eyes as he and Tucker carried the dried up bushes and small branches they’ve collected over to the center of their makeshift camp, not far from the campfire. Taking a look at their surroundings, he couldn’t help but add “As one could tell by looking around…”

The watch tower they had chosen for their camp based on the old maps was in… slightly worse condition that they had anticipated. The fortifications surrounding it where all but gone, with only a few bigger stone blocks remaining. As for the tower itself, only about half of it was still intact; the other half had long since collapsed, leaving them with the Moon shining brightly upon them from the night sky that hung over their heads. Still, the surrounding, circular walls with only one entrance offered a good protection should they come under attack (overlooking attacks from above, of course, which with all the griffon echoes and pegasi echoes on the island was quite possible), and they had easily enough room for all of them to rest.

“It’s hard for me to believe that there art actual, living alicorns ruling Equestria,” Clover continued. “And that they come from Platinum’s line at that. She’s not even expecting… I mean, wasn’t expecting a foal around the time the real Clover was here,” the echo corrected herself, frowning briefly.

Storm looked briefly at Serenity as she nodded and began to reply that Queen Platinum’s son would be born about ten years after the war had ended, then at Tucker who added some of the ‘timber’ they brought to the campfire, then at Guard Shield, who’s attention was switching between the history conversation and scanning their surroundings for any enemy echoes, then finally at Sir Lightbringer.

The head paladin was laying beside Serenity, his ear perked to the conversation, too, but he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts as he stared into the fire. Storm wondered if he hadn’t been more wounded in the fight with Clover that he let on; he hardly spoke a word after healing the echo’s injuries that he himself had caused her (and then forgot about; only when Clover gasped when she tried to trot after him had he realized she was still wounded), letting Serenity answer Clover’s questions.

Storm thought back to that moment briefly, thinking of how weird it was to see the Light heal an injuries of a creature that was basically a ghost. The pained expression on Clover’s face had also indicated that it was… unnatural. As Sir Lightbringer had explained to them earlier and to the echo before he began healing her, as her form was made of necromantic magic, coming into contact with the Holy Light would be painful for her, even if used for healing.

Clover had agreed to be healed, out of curiosity.

Afterwards, though, Sir Lightbringer remained silent, aside from giving a few commands to set up a camp. A part of Storm wondered if that meant he had been relieved of command that he was given for the duration of this trial, or had Sir Lightbringer simply forgotten about that after the battle. Not that he minded, or that the head paladin had taken charge during the fight with Clover’s echo. However, this prolonged silence… unsettled him.

“It couldn’t be that he was wounded, he would have healed himself by now,” he realized. “So he must be thinking over something… but what?”

Although he was reluctant - really reluctant - to disrupt him, Storm trotted over to Sir Lightbringer and cleared his throat. “So, um, Sir, am I still in command of our group or…” he initiated, saying the first thing that came to his mind.

Sir Lightbringer’s other ear perked and he finally took his gaze off the fire. “Of course you are,” he replied, frowning slightly, as if surprised that the pegasus had asked. “I only assumed command because of the direness of the situation we had found ourselves. Assuming we won’t run into an echo as powerful as Clover, you will still be in charge until we get back to the port.”

Storm nodded, having more or less expected that. He opened his mouth to ask in turn if everything was alright with Sir Lightbringer, but he hesitated, not sure how to best do that, and in that time the head paladin had turned to Clover.

“On that note, do you know if anybody else could possess such threat to us as you had, Lady Clover?” he asked when she and Serenity had taken a pause in their conversation.

The echo turned to him and nodded. “Yes, but, um, couldst thou just call me ‘Clover’? It feels odd to be addressed as ‘lady’.”

Sir Lightbringer frowned, and for a brief moment it looked to Storm as if he wanted to say something, but he must have changed his mind if that was the case, as he merely nodded.

“How about ‘Archmage Clover’ then?” Serenity chimed in. “You were the Archmage of the Magic Corps, after all.”

“I suppose… though I still prefer just ‘Clover’. Especially since now my rank holds no meaning. But to answer thy question, Sir Lightbringer,” she resumed, turning back to the white paladin, “there would be two echoes who could cause you as much troubles as I had; Commander Hurricane and King Friedrich of Griffonia.”

“I know that Commander Hurricane was a great warrior and him and the first King of Griffonia were considered almost equal, but I don’t see them being as powerful as her,” Storm thought, but chose to keep that comment to himself.

“The two of them should be locked in battle,” Clover continued. “Now that I am aware of the magic binding me and the other echoes, I’ve began to recollect the memories of the last eight hundred years… in any case, they and the divisions under their direct commands have been fighting through most of the day in the sky above and now are resting, and will resume the battle on the morrow. By evening tomorrow, Hurricane shall force Friedrich to retreat… and starts making preparations for Equestrian Army to chase after him,” she finished with a sight. “It is hard to believe ponies and griffons had mended relations since those days, even if it had been two thousand years… art thou honestly planning to allow Griffonians to join thy order?” she asked, looking from Sir Lightbringer to Serenity (who had told her about that) and back.

“Griffonia and Equestria are now on friendly terms,” Sir Lightbringer replied, “and I believe this way our two kingdoms will only get closer. That being said,” he added, looking away, past the ‘walls’ of their camp, “I can understand why it would seem near impossible. War is… an ugly thing to experience.”

The tone in which he had said those words unsettled Storm even more than his earlier worries, but it was Clover who asked the question: “Hast thou experienced war?”

As if it was his intention to confuse everypony even further, Sir Lightbringer snort and nickered: “I suppose you could say so, yes.”

“I’m… a bit confused. I had thought that there had been no war in Equestria after this one?” Clover asked, glancing at Serenity with confusion.

“Um, yes, but you see, Sir Lightbringer here is not from Equestria,” the crystal pony hastily replied, a bit awkwardly. As Clover’s eyes slightly widened she explained further, casting Sir Lightbringer questioning glance, as if wanting to make sure it was okay for her to speak more about him; the paladin though ignored her, staring into the flames again. “He came several months ago from a different land, due to some… magic accident?”

“Come to think of it, it was never really clear to me exactly how he came to Ponyville either,” Storm realized as Serenity glanced at Sir Lightbringer again, now with uncertainty, and tried to think back if that had ever come up.

Clover the Clever, who’s ears perked slightly at the mention of ‘magic accident’, turned to him with intrigued expression on her transparent face, but before she could ask him what did that mean Tucker sat beside her.

“If that captures your attention, babe, let me tell you how I came around here,” he said, smirking at the echo, who had slightly drew away from him out of surprise. “You see-”

“Tucker!” Serenity hissed at him. “She’s one of the Founders of Equestria, lived over two thousand years ago, and she had been stuck relieving the same few days over and over for the last eight hundred years! Stop hitting on her!”

“Seems like about time something worth relieving happens to her,” Tucker countered, raising an eyebrow. “Besides, I might very well be from her times, remember?”

“W-wait, what?” Clover, who had been slightly abashed by his advances, now turned to him curiously. “What dost thou mean?”

“Oh, I’ve been stuck in this weird amber-like thingy for nopony knows how long inside an abandoned research facility that there are no records of, and have completely no memory of my life before,” Tucker replied, almost nonchalantly. “Aside from how to be so kickass that is.”

“And how to speak,” Serenity pointed out, staring at him through narrowed eyes. “Clearly, your manners of speaking prove that you cannot be from the same time.”

“So? I still dig older mares if they are as fine looking. I mean, considering you’re over a thousand…”

“Oh for the love of Light!”

As those two bickered, Clover’s echo had continued to gaze at Tucker curiously, more precisely at his forehoof, probably recalling the energy blade she had seen emanate from it and now pondering what this ‘research station’ could have been about. Storm was curious as to what she could think of it, as she was one of the brightest unicorn minds ever, but before he had a chance to talk to her - or to stop Serenity and Tucker’s arguing, which he felt was happening at hardly the right time or place - he felt Sir Lightbringer’s hoof on his armored shoulder.

“I cannot sense any presence other than Clover’s around,” he whispered. “I don’t think we need to worry about getting attacked, so you can call Guard to join us; we will assign watchers for the night when we go to sleep.”

Storm nodded, seeing no sense in keeping the older paladin away from the company when it was safe, and quickly called him. As Guard joined them beside the campfire, Tucker and Serenity had calmed - actually, Serenity was the only one who was angry, so only she had calmed - and ended their argument - which meant that Serenity had given up on trying to stop Tucker from hitting on the echo (which Storm had no idea if it would… yield the results Tucker apparently expected) - allowing them all to enjoy a moment of silence as they took out their rations and began to eat.

“So, changing the subject a bit,” Tucker spoke up after a while, glancing at Sir Lightbringer, “Sir, what was with that winged golden chick?” Sir Lightbringer swallowed his food to reply to him, but first he paused to roll his eyes, which Tucker used to add “‘Cause she was hot!”

Sir Lightbringer glared at him before replying “Her name is Raogrior, she’s an ancient spirit of an ascended warrior of the Light; recently she and her sister, Sanngrior… came into my service, so to speak, for the time being. Her sister is currently protecting the Abbey during our absence, while Raogrior watches over us here from the Spirit World. I am fairly certain she does not appreciate your compliments,” he added.

As now it was Tucker’s turn to roll his eyes, Storm turned to Sir Lightbringer before the unicorn paladin could say something in response that would only annoy him or Serenity further. “When did that happen, Sir? Them coming into your service I mean.”

“And how?” Serenity added.

“If I may…” Clover spoke up before Sir Lightbringer could reply to either of them, “I am curious as to what that being was before she became this ascended warrior? I do not recognize her species, and I know of every race living in this world. Or, well, had thought I knew of every race,” she added, frowning. “Those changelings thou hast mentioned of are a mystery to me as well.”

“She sorta resembled the statue of your mentor,” Serenity interjected as Sir Lightbringer uttered a tired sigh. “Um, I mean, that she looked human like him, except female… and bigger.”

“Actually, she’s of a race from which the human race had descended from, called vrykul,” Sir Lightbringer replied.

“Huh, there sure are a lot of races in that land where you have come from Sir,” Tucker pointed out, while Clover frowned thoughtfully. “Humans, vrykul, dwarves like Brann… and all those mentioned in the librams you had Brann bring, high elves, blood elves, draenei, trolls…”

Recalling their short discussion back on Lady Gale, Storm wondered if Tucker was about to use this opportunity to question Sir Lightbringer about the lack of ponies in the Order of the Silver Hand that so bothered him. Truth be told, Storm was also curious about that, so he observed the Grand Master curiously to see if he would explain that. However, before Tucker could develop his thoughts further, Guard spoke up.

“So many races… I guess it somewhat explains how come there have been wars there?” the older pony asked, raising an eyebrow. “Different people with different views and all that.”

Sir Lightbringer snorted. “Sounds about right… though not all wars start because of those reasons…” he muttered, his gaze once again travelling to the fire.

“Sir…” Guard began, but hesitated briefly. “The things we have seen on this island… all the fighting and death… I think I’ll speak for all of us that it was very unsettling.”

“More like fucking messed up,” Tucker remarked, snorting as an unpleasant grimace crossed his muzzle.

“I cannot imagine what it must have been to actually live through those events,” Guard continued, nodding respectfully to Clover’s echo before turning back to Sir Lightbringer. “Sir, you have said that you want to be sure we are capable of serving our purpose as paladins even in darkest of times. You have clearly picked the right place to test that. But I wonder… in your old land, are there places like this?”

Storm felt taken aback by the by the gentle tone of the older paladin as he asked that question, and the compassionate look he was giving Sir Lightbringer. He realized that Guard was worried if being in this place was causing him to relieve some of the horrors he had seen in his homeland.

“Could that be the reason why he has been so quiet and keeps staring into the fire?” Storm wondered. “Although he had only become like that after the fight with Clover… then again, after that we hadn’t run into any more echoes, so before that he had been focusing on fighting…”

He stopped his musing as he realized that Sir Lightbringer had began to say something. The Grand Master of the Celestial Light was still staring into the flames, and what he was saying - in a hushed tone, requiring Storm and the others to perk their ears to better hear him - didn’t sound like an answer to Guard’s question.

“‘Be wary, child, of Plaguelands plain. Be mindful, child, of the infected grain. For if throat is parched and of infected water sip, forever your soul will be in cursed Scourge grip. So heed this warning, child, and if far from mother stray, let light from home's hearth guide you back your way.’ It’s a nursery rhyme, told among humans," Sir Lightbringer added in a normal tone. “The place it speaks of, Plaguelands… it’s far worse than Dread Isle is. By far. This place was uninhabited before the war. Everybody who had perished here was a soldier or alternatively a laborer. The Plaguelands… they were once a normal land, called Eastweald, part of the Kingdom of Lordaeron, with towns, villages, and farms. Seven, eight years ago, though, they’ve became the land of the death, with only a few living people remaining there.”

Storm shared a look with the the others. That indeed sounded a lot worse than the Dread Isle. Especially since whatever the hell happened there was so recent. And it was impactful enough to have a nursery rhyme created about it in just a few years!

“What happened to that place, Sir?” Serenity asked, fear and concern in her voice.

The answer Sir Lightbringer gave her had definitely not calmed her, or anypony else.

“I happened.” As everypony stared at him with wide eyes - and all felt a chill run down their spines, although Storm couldn’t be sure if that wasn’t just him that experienced that - Sir Lightbringer gave out one last tired sigh and finally looked up from the campfire, meeting his paladin’s gazes. “I had told you once that I had fallen into darkness. That I was evil. That I had commited many unforgivable sins, the murder of my own father being only one of them.” He paused again as Clover uttered a short gasp; Storm wondered very briefly if he had forgotten that they had company, but he quickly pushed the thought away, too engrossed by what Sir Lightbringer was telling them. “I hadn’t told you much other than that, though, not even the very nature of my actions, or their reasons. But… I believe that now has come time for you to learn everything there is about me. The four of you are the closest ponies to me after my closest friends; I like to consider you too as friends, even if being your superior requires me to be more detached from you. I would like to be able to confer with you openly, without all those secrets. Well, some of those secrets,” Sir Lightbringer added, a little of his usual humor flashing briefly, “but I can’t expect you to trust me if I’ll continue to keep things from you. More importantly though,” he continued, his voice becoming even more serious than before, “the four of you are the first pony paladins. I had passed on to you the virtues I had been taught by my mentor, Uther the Lightbringer, and if you are to be the true heirs of his legacy, you need to know… just how far his worst student has fallen,” he added, sighing again, his gaze downcast. He then snorted and added, amusement creeping into his voice, “Also, Brann will be possibly visiting Equestria soon, for a longer period than his last two visits. I can’t help but think that, unless you all know about my past, this will lead to either a lot of confusion and questions, or me ‘jumping through hoops’ to keep everything secret from everypony, and I really am too busy as it is to worry about that as well.”

As he listened to Sir Lightbringer’s half-hearted rant about Brann’s incoming visit, Storm found himself speechless. He really had no idea what to say… or if any of them should say anything, for that matter. He had never seen Sir Lightbringer like this, and he doubted any of the others had. “Maybe Rarity and his other friends had though,” Storm thought, recalling how close he was with them (especially Lady Twilight). Regardless of that, it clearly showed how much trust and respect Sir Lightbringer had for them, to open up so much… especially considering what he was about to open up about.

“Do I really want to learn about that?” Storm wondered; it would be nice to learn more about Sir Lightbringer, sure, but the way he spoke about his past… Storm worried if knowing that would change the way how he looked at him.

“I would also like to hear what one of the Founders of Equestria thinks of me after hearing my tale,” Sir Lightbringer said, turning to look at Clover’s echo. “In this world, only three people know everything about my past, and only two of them I am certain that know it in almost every detail. All three however got to know me before learning about it, and I would like to see how a pony of great wisdom would react to it after having met me so recently.”

“Sir Lightbringer is… a paragon, champion of the Light,” Storm thought as Clover nodded back at him with understanding. “Whatever he might have done before, the Light had forgiven him, and he strives to be better than he had been. But… will we still see him like that after learning about his past?” he wondered, then realized what Sir Lightbringer had said.

“Sir, did you say three?” he spoke up. When the earth pony paladin nodded, he added: “Does that mean that your friends do not know what you’re going to tell us?”

“The three I’ve talked about are Princesses Luna and Celestia, of course, and Lady Twilight,” Sir Lightbringer replied. “Rarity and my other close friends… are aware that I had been evil and commited a lot of atrocities, but I never went into… details when I would talk about it with them, not like I’m about to talk with you,” he explained, his gaze returning to the flames. “Whether I kept that to myself out of shame or concern for them I don’t know… probably both. They even claim to not being interested in it, as they are content with just knowing me as I am now. But… I believe that time had come that I should reveal this to them as well, once we get back to Ponyville. After how Twilight reacted… maybe I’ve been being unfair to them, by keeping this all to myself? Who knows…” Sir Lightbringer trailed off, then, to Storm’s confusion, he snorted with laughter. Shaking his head and chuckling, he muttered “Being on this island must have made me… almost sentimental. Still, if that was the push I needed…” he added, shaking his head again and sighing.

Storm couldn’t help but feel a little relieved to hear that Sir Lightbringer planned to tell Rarity and the others what he was about to tell them as well. He didn’t think it would bode well for his and Rarity’s relationship if he knew about her friend’s past and she didn’t. Even though she had apparently already known about him being evil (only later had Storm realized that he should have realized this before, as Rarity and the other Bearers of the Elements were with Sir Lightbringer in the Crystal Empire when King Sombra had used his magic to repeat Sir Lightbringer’s statement about some of his crimes), he knew he would feel weird whenever he would find himself in the company of both of them at the same time, for whatever reason.

“Um, Sir?” Serenity spoke, snapping Storm back to attention. “I-If I may… I think I understand why you want to tell us this. I-I just want to tell you, Sir, that you most certainly aren’t the same pony as you were then.” A ghost of a strangely amused smile appeared at Sir Lightbringer’s muzzle, but he didn’t stop her. “I’m sure Lady Twilight has said this as well, knowing you far better, but… the pony you are now would most certainly not murder his own father or kill thousands.”

“I’ve been made aware of that,” Sir Lightbringer replied, chuckling warmly as he confirmed Serenity’s guess about Twilight Sparkle’s opinion on this. “Thank you, Serenity. However, your words only confirm that I should tell you; continuing to keep my past secret would be like… hiding from it.” He paused to sigh and shake his head again, then fell silent for a brief moment. Finally, he opened his mouth, but before he spoke he frowned and turned to Clover’s echo. “Actually… do you happen to know of a spell or a ritual that would make them see my memories or thoughts?”

Clover blinked, then frowned, pondering his request. “Hm, well, there is one spell that comes to mind… however, since those aren’t mine thoughts, I would need some… conveyor from thee, to conjure a vision for all of us to experience.”

“Conveyor?” Sir Lightbringer repeated, tilting his head with confusion and interest.

“Something that would resonate with my spell in order to create the vision,” Clover elaborated. “I believe a song should do.”

“A son-” Sir Lightbringer began to repeat, but then abruptly stopped as the word registered with him. “Why does it have to be a- oh who am I kidding, of course it has be song!” he exclaimed, facehoofing. As Storm and the others exchanged a glance, both amused and slightly concerned by his reaction, he sighed and said “Alright, but none of you are to say a word about it to Brann or anybody else who could come here from Azeroth, as unlikely as it would be. Not so unlikely with my luck, of course...” he added under his breath so quietly that Storm had barely heard him.

However, the Sir Lightbringer then added something back in the normal tone that made little to no sense to Storm.

“I think I would honestly prefer to die again than to explain to anybody why I made song about my life…”

“‘Die again’?” Storm repeated in his thoughts. “I get it that he considers his past as ‘previous life’ or something, but isn’t this sorta… exaggerating?”

He guessed by the expressions of the others that they thought more or less the same way, but nopony spoke up, letting Sir Lightbringer concentrate. He soon nodded to himself, and, after briefly frowning, he turned to Clover and nodded again, letting her know he was ready. The echo closed her eyes as she focused, her horn glowing as she channeled her spell. Sir Lightbringer uttered another sigh and closed his eyes too as he began to sing:

There once was a paladin of golden hair and heart,
with the Light at his side he fought for the welfare his people.
Yet his path had led him into a darkness Light couldn’t pierce,
his fate bound into the death and ice, and horrors unspeakable.

As the words of the song reverberated around them, Storm realized that their surroundings slowly changed. The magic seeped from Clover’s horn and began to create transform everything around her, expanding further to engulf them as well. Storm blinked and saw that they were no longer in the ruins of the tower and beside the campfire. Rather, they were at a crossroads…

With a mission given by the King and the master of mages,
the paladin and his men joined with a sorceress on a chilly day.

Storm turned to look at the shapes that stood beside them… and frowned, confused. They were all humans - at least, he assumed so, as their bodies bore a resemblance to Uther’s statue. But there were horses behind them, except they weren’t like any horses from Saddle Arabia; their faces were weird, and their entire bodies seemed… primitive, like mere animals. Which was further evident by them being tied to trees and them simply eating grass from the ground.

“I don’t get it,” Storm thought, looking around. “Where’s Sir Light-”

He’s eyes stopped on the huge man leaning against a tree. He wore an armor much more ornate than the other men, and his massive hammer quickly made Storm suspect that he was a paladin. But what grabbed his attention was the man’s hair, identical in color to Sir Lightbringer’s mane, and his face, which, while different, bore this weird resemblance…

They searched through villages, looking for signs of a plague,
suspecting foul magic was at play…

“Ya didn’t add nothin’ t’ this punch, did ya Pinkie Pie?” Applejack asked, looking at the pink pony in question with an eyebrow raised.

Pinkie giggled from beside the punch bowl she had just brought from the kitchen before replying. “Nah, I wouldn’t do that. Not after last time,” she added, giggling and blushing.

Twilight also blushed recalling that last slumber party, on the night Arthas had moved out of her library, and what happened back then. And the mild hangover they all had the next morning. Although not nearly as bad as the one she had after Rarity’s birthday party, Twilight had made a mental note to be careful when drinking anything.

They were all - all meaning Twilight herself, Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy - in Rainbow Dash’s living room. Due to the cyan pegasus receiving tomorrow morning the letter that would confirm whether she had been accepted into the Wonderbolt Academy or not, they had decided to have a slumber party. The plan was for all of them to get up early and eat breakfast at a picnic below Rainbow’s cloud house, near her mailbox, and wait for the delivery pony. Also, due to Rainbow almost certainly getting into the Academy, she would have to leave tomorrow for an entire week, so they all wanted to spend some time together.

“First Arthas leaves, now Rainbow,” Twilight thought, a bit unhappy about her friends (one of them being also her secret coltfriend) leaving, even if only for a very short time. “Oh well, I suppose at least thanks to that I will more time to study… What happened to the times when I’d gladly sacrifice social life for studying?” she wondered with amusement when she realized that her earlier thought didn’t fill her with as much excitement as it usually would.

Not wanting to dwell on such thoughts for too long, Twilight focused herself back into attention. Scootaloo, who had recently moved in with Rainbow, had retreated for the night along with her pet fire eagle (as they had decided to call the offspring of Al’ar) she had named Glory, a few moments ago, a bit begrudgingly. Twilight suspected that if it weren’t for tomorrow being a school day, the little filly would have tried to stay longer with her idol and everypony else (or rather, if it weren’t for that, Rainbow wouldn’t have told her to go to sleep). Regardless, now that she had left after wishing them good fun and good night, Twilight suspected that the topics of their conversation were about to start centering around more mature subjects (as they usually would on their slumber parties as of recent times, for whatever reason; already, the discussion about the punch was proving that point). As she still didn’t feel ready for her friends to know that she and Arthas were together, finally, Twilight knew she’d have to remain focused throughout the night. Last thing she needed was to let a little something slip (like it happened to Arthas with his real name); she was sure her friends would be able to pick on that something and learn their secret.

“And ya?” she heard Applejack ask Rainbow Dash now.

“You do remember that I didn’t exactly enjoy that one time either, right?” their hostess retorted, deadpanning. Her muzzle then broke into a grin, though, as she added “I mean, now I wouldn’t mind, but I would prefer to both of us to be clear-headed and stuff. Speaking of…” she trailed off, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“Nope,” Applejack replied her firmly, though she gave an amused sigh as Rainbow broke into chuckling.

“‘Sides,” Rainbow continued later, “I wouldn’t want to oversleep and miss getting the letter with my acceptance into the Wonderbolt Academy-”

“Assuming you get in!” Pinkie Pie interrupted her, pushed her face against hers in panic. “What if you don’t!?”

Rainbow paused to push her face away gently and to deadpan at her, conveying perfectly to everypony just what did she think about the possibility of her not being accepted.

“- or worse,” she resumed, “show up at the Academy with a hangover. Can you imagine how that would look?”

“Yes, that would be quite an awful first impression, darling,” Rarity agreed. “Though I would say a glass of wine would be appropriate, considering how many occasions for celebrations we have. Like our Fluttershy learning from that magnificent demigod,” she added, beaming at the pegasus proudly, who blushed from the embarrassment of being brought up into the spotlight. “Or the upcoming wedding. We really should invite Nymph over next time,” Rarity said, glancing at Applejack.

“Hey, I did ask her if she’d like to come,” Rainbow spoke up, then smirked. “But she mentioned that she and Big Mac had ‘plans’,” she accented suggestively.

“Well, they had only recently become intimate after all,” Rarity said, giggling. “I’d imagine being in love as much as they are they’d want to spend every waking moment together.”

“Yeah, well, Ah hope they’d remember they ain’t the only ones in the house,” Applejack replied, slightly frowning. “Granny’s hearin’ ain’t quite as bad as she lets on, and Apple Bloom’s room is opposite of Big Mac’s. And just ‘cause Ah’ve changed mah opinion of Nymph, it doesn’t mean Ah wanna hear her and mah brother ‘bein’ intimate’ either.”

“Oh, hm, I think this might by why Nymph had asked me recently about sound-proofing spell,” Twilight revealed, blushing; she was so excited to speak about spells and magic - a topic which before Nymph arrival in Ponyville she didn’t have too many occasions to approach - that it didn’t even occur to her as to why the changeling could have asked about that particular spell.

Applejack glanced at her as Rainbow and Pinkie giggled. “Yeah, sounds ‘bout right,” the farmer pony said after a second.

“So, speaking of couples,” Rainbow spoke up after a while, looking at Rarity, “how are things between you and Storm Clash?”

“Why, thank you for asking, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity replied, smiling. “I believe ‘things’ are progressing quite nicely between us, so to speak. Storm is a real gentlecolt, strong and kind, and funny. And he looks just handsome in that armor of his,” she added, winking and causing several giggles. When they toned down, though, she sighed and added with a little pretense “I wish Arthas hadn’t had to drag him off to that awful island on this ‘trial’ of his, or whatever, but I suppose dating a paladin requires you to be prepared for your special somepony to be send off on a mission from time to time.”

“Well, it’s not like we don’t get send off on a mission from Princess Celestia from time to time,” Twilight couldn’t help but point out.

“True,” Rarity agreed. “But with them it seems more… what’s the word I’m looking for, official? With them being knights I mean, they are sworn to obey the Princesses. Which has its allures, of course, knights are quite a romantic idea after all,” she added, giggling briefly, “and of course I am quite proud to carry out whatever task the Princesses gives us from time to time. But I just wish I could spend more time with my coltfriend, is that a crime?” she finished, pouting.

“To be fair,” Rainbow spoke up, “you did go on a camping trip, like, right after you and Storm began dating.”

“Oh, that was Sweetie Belle’s fault,” Rarity huffed. “That little manipulative filly just had to come upon me with that request while I was in such a happy mood that I’d agree to almost everything…”

After everypony laughed for a bit, amused by Rarity’s annoyance at her little sister, Rainbow resumed: “Still, you’ve been with him for quite some time now.”

“Why, even if we’d count the time we’ve spent away from each other on accounts of camping trips and expeditions to haunted islands, it would be little over a week now,” Rarity corrected her, at the same time gazing at her suspiciously, probably trying to guess where she was going with this.

“Hey, some ponies decide to get married in that time,” Rainbow exclaimed humorously, earning a good-natured shove from Applejack and causing Pinkie to fall off the couch in a fit of laughter. “But anyway, I was wondering if you have some juicy stories to share,” she said, grinning.

“Oh Rainbow Dash, honestly,” Rarity sighed disapproving, “a proper lady doesn’t share her bed with her special somepony after one proper date; a lesson that I had quite thoroughly beaten into Nymph’s head prior to her own date with Big Mac actually. Though I suppose I should have emphasized that it doesn’t exactly mean that she should make him her lover after the second date…” she added, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

“Yeah, would have saved mah family some trouble,” Applejack replied, chuckling. “Like plannin’ a weddin’. But oh well, guess that couldn’t have been helped.”

“You guys are talking like having a bit of fun is wrong,” Rainbow pointed out, frowning.

“Oh no no no, Rainbow, of course we don’t mean that,” Rarity quickly disclaimed, shaking her head. “But, um, ‘having a bit of fun’ with a pony that I am not sure I’d want to spend a long time together with, simply isn’t something I’d do. Since Nymph came to me for advice - albeit she was sort of forced by her mother - I shared with her my point of view on this matter. As for Applejack’s comment, I am certain she had mostly referred to what her brother did that had resulted in him and Nymph becoming engaged,” she added, glancing at the earth pony, who nodded.

“Eeyup. Ah mean, why did he have to bite on her more insectoid bits of all places?!”

Now it was both Rainbow and Pinkie who fell off their seats while laughing. Twilight, who opted to listen to the exchange in silence - fearing that participation would lead to the matter of her and Arthas being brought out - had to agree that it was somewhat amusing, to hear Applejack voicing her frustration at her brother for something like that.

“Speaking off ‘insectoid bits’,” Rarity spoke up when Rainbow had recovered, “what exactly is between you and Wind Reaver, darling?”

“Wha- Wind? What are you talking about?” Rainbow asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“Well, dear, you have been spending an awful lot of time with him,” Rarity pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh please!” Rainbow snorted. “If you are trying to say that there is something between us, then I’m sorry to disappoint you but there isn’t. For starters, he’s taken; you do remember that the whole thing with his mate missing is the reason why he’s here to begin with right?”

“Yes, of course. However, such things… didn’t seem to trouble you before, so to speak,” Rarity explained, giving a not-so-subtle glance at Twilight’s direction.

Rainbow paused to glare at the white unicorn with annoyance before retorting. “Okay, first, kinda low blow; second, that was totally different! Twilight and Arthas weren’t - and still aren’t, for whatever reason - a couple! If they are going to be idiots about the whole thing, then… they’re both fair game, actually,” she said after a brief pause, as if only now realizing it. Twilight felt herself blush as Rainbow playfully winked at her. “Let me know if you wanna ‘get back at Arthas’,” she said with a smirk before turning back to Rarity, frowning. “Now, back to Wind; changelings don’t really have problems with stuff like casual sex, like basically all of their relationships are open relationships, so even if-”

“So you admit that that your previous point doesn’t really matter?” Rarity asked, smirking and lifting an eyebrow.

“Um…” Rainbow blinked, confused for a few seconds as she slowly realized that she had just made her point for her instead. By the time several other ponies had began to giggle she sighed and frowned. “Oh, dammit. Okay then, next thing; he’s an asshole! I only occasionally hang around him because racing him is somewhat challenging, and it is very satisfying to beat him every time. Seriously,” she continued angrily, snorting and rolling her eyes, “I do feel sorry for his girl being gone and all, but the guy is so annoying! He thinks he’s so great, seems to think that he knows how I think and feel about everything, constantly hits on me or makes comments like the one he made before the Princesses today… which is, by the way, mostly the reason why I’m around him, cause he keeps getting around me! And did I mention how he has this huge ego about his abilities!? I mean, even after I beat him several times, he keeps thinking that he is better than me! Seriously, hanging out with this guy is like-”

“Like looking into a mirror?” Twilight couldn’t help herself from not saying that, looking at Rainbow slyly.

Rainbow gasped and for a second stared at Twilight, her embarrassment, over what the unicorn’s comment must have reminded her of, resurfacing briefly. However, the pegasus quickly regained her composure and stared at her with narrowed eyes. “Oh, you wanna play like that Sparkle? How about we get back to you and Arthas?”

“Oh, crap,” Twilight thought, already regretting opening her mouth.

She hoped that the others would remain focused on Rainbow Dash and Wind Reaver subject (as her and Arthas were talked over to death already), but unfortunately for her everypony, even Fluttershy, turned to her, more than one smirking almost maliciously.

“Why, an interesting idea, darling!” Rarity exclaimed. “Especially considering the recent development?”

“The recent… what?!” Twilight replied, her eyes wide; for a brief moment she thought that Rarity somehow knew, but then realized that it couldn’t be it. Or at the very least she should play dumb and pretend she didn’t know what she meant.

“Stay calm, Twilight, you can do this: just talk to your friends calmly and be smooth.”

“W-what are you talking about? What new development? Hadn’t we talked over the subject of me and Arthas many times already? A-and didn’t you guys say that you’d leave us alone after that mess in Altomare?” she added, pointing her hoof accusingly, but in her nervousness it brought about only a half-hearted effect. She then pointed at Rainbow “Why not get back to Rainbow and Wind? This is much more, um, interesting thing to discuss!”

“Smooth, Twilight, real smooth… Is it getting hot in here?”

“Why so nervous dear?” Rarity asked, her interest piqued. “Do you have anything to hide?”

“O-of course not!” Twilight immediately replied. “I wouldn’t hide anything from my friends.”

“And now you’re straight out lying. Great… maybe Arthas was right and I should just tell them…” she considered briefly, but then inwardly frowned. “Then again, I really don’t wanna tell them while they are being so pushy like now…”

“Well then,” Rarity continued as Twilight finished her mental discussion, “you won’t mind telling us what happened in Canterlot?” Twilight’s heartbeat had slightly increased. “I’ve been told that after the Princesses announcement after changelings you’d spend an entire day and night there together.”

“Yes, that’s true,” Twilight replied slowly, careful to not make any mistake. “Princess Celestia requested that we’d take part in the council meeting after the announcement. After it turned out that Princess Luna needed us to fill in for her nannies and take care of little Moonlight; we were busy until the evening.”

Rarity hummed. “Hm, and where did the two of you spend the night, if I might ask?”

Twilight narrowed her eyes at her before replying, wondering if she somehow know that they’ve spend the night at her old house before asking that question. “At my old house in Canterlot.”

“Really?” Rarity exclaimed, her eyes wide. “How peculiar; after all, it surely would have been easier for you to stay at the royal palace. The Princesses could have easily arranged rooms for you… unless of course,” she added, narrowing eyes at her playfully, “there was some reason why you’d wouldn’t have wanted to be… interrupted?”

Twilight felt her cheeks slightly blush as she easily figured out what Rarity was insinuating, which actually happened (unless she was also suggesting that they’d planned to become physical on that night as well). She opened her mouth to denying her accusation… then closed, thinking back to that moment; she had hoped to spend some time alone with Arthas, after all, to talk about his past. But was that why she had suggested that they’d spend the night at her old house.

“No,” she slowly replied, her confidence returning. “There was no special reason why we went to my old house instead of staying at the palace. I just… thought that it would have been nice to spend the night there, and show Arthas where I used to live,” she said, speaking from her heart. She might not have thought that back then, but now she realized that this was mainly what she had wanted when she had suggested this to Arthas. “Come to think about it, I hadn’t showed you girls that place either; it’s decided then, next time we’re all in Canterlot we’ll be staying there!” Twilight exclaimed, smiling brightly.

Her friends quickly joined in, even Rarity, despite her appearing a bit disappointed that her guess hadn’t been correct. Although Twilight was quite happy to elude the other unicorn’s suspicion, she knew that she wouldn’t give up so easily. Even if she had defended her motives for bringing Arthas to her old house for the night, soon the questions of what happened there would start. The only way to prevent that from happening - and risking her slipping up on something - was to… tell them.

Sighing, she looked down at the cloudy floor and said: “That being said… while I hadn’t invited Arthas over there out of some ulterior motive, I… had hoped for an opportunity to speak with him alone,” she confessed.

“Sorry Arthas,” she thought, even though she knew only too well that the human-turned-pony would forgive her for this without even batting an eye.

“Oh?” she heard Rarity exclaim, not even trying to hide glee from her voice; a quick glance around her friends informed Twilight that everypony was looking at her expectantly.

If what she was about to tell them wasn’t so serious, she would have smirked.

“You see… back at the council meeting, Arthas had to explain the current world politics of his original homeworld, Azeroth,” Twilight began, a bit uncomfortably. Her friends’ expression slowly changed into confused; clearly, her tale wasn’t going the way they’ve expected. “The Princesses requested that due to the connections between that world and the changelings… anyway, one thing that he had mention made me think of something he had once said months ago and, well… I figured out what exactly he had done in the past.”

Her friends all stared at her, their eyes wide. “... Oh…” Rarity muttered after a few moments.

Twilight nodded and elaborated a little. “Well, not exactly exactly, just the general, um, thing. However, I… I had to know everything after that. It didn’t make sense to me, not without knowing the whole story and Arthas’ reasons. So… I asked him. And he told me everything.”

“Really?” Rainbow asked after everypony exchanged looks. When Twilight nodded, she added “Wow… so, um, was it as bad as he makes it sound? I mean, you know, I know what King Sombra said or whatever, but…”

Twilight sighed. “Well, it was bad enough that I really regret ever berating him for how he would mope around at times. And… it was difficult to hear. Arthas… Hm, how should I put it…” she paused for a moment, thinking for an appropriate allegory to describe Arthas’ past. “Imagine all that King Sombra had done a thousand years ago to the Crystal Ponies, just magnify the… area which he affected, and make it all worse, add to that a backstory similar to Nightmare Moon, and… the sheer power of Discord,” Twilight added after a bit of hesitation. As her friends looked at her with shock, she amended “Okay, he wasn’t quite that powerful, and he certainly didn’t have that draconequus’ abilities, but nobody could simply stand against him. It took over twenty six champions to finally defeat him, and even then they won only because of a fluke!”

While Twilight considered Arthas’ comments about Tirion’s strike that shattered Frostmourne being “a cheap shot” to be an example of his reluctance to admitting defeat, she had to admit that there was some truth in that. The Lich King had won. If it weren’t for his arrogance… Twilight didn’t even want to think what would have happened to Azeroth.

“Or to Equestria,” she added in her thoughts, knowing that it would have meant that Arthas would have never been reborn here if it weren’t for his death (obviously).

“That bad huh?” Rainbow commented, getting annoyed glares from the others for summing it up like that. “I mean… it’s kinda hard to wrap your head around that all.”

“I know. I would just tell you what happened, to try and rationalize just why he became evil if nothing else, but… it’s not my tale to tell,” Twilight explained, to which her friends nodded, all agreeing with her. “You should ask Arthas to tell you,” she continued. “You are his friends as much as I am, you should hear it from him. I think it would be better for all of us if we all knew it; now that I know what had happened I understand Arthas a lot more.”

“And you still feel the same way about him?” Rarity asked, a little smirk on her muzzle; Twilight suspected that she couldn’t have helped herself from asking that question.

“I’m not going to address that,” she told her flatly, before turning to the rest. “Also, Brann will be coming to Equestria soon again,” Twilight reminded them what Arthas had shared with them when they went to see them off at the station and they’ve made a brief small talk while waiting for the train (though Twilight herself had been told about it already the night before). “I think it’s for the best that we all know everything about Arthas before we have another visitor from Azeroth here.”

“Would be great t’ talk with everypony without ‘em dancin’ around the subject like last time,” Applejack agreed. “But do ya reckon Arthas will tell all of us? Ah mean, it took him over five months t’ tell us his real name, and that couldn’t be as traumatic as his past sins.”

“I think that after revealing everything to me and seeing me still accepting him as a friend Arthas has been more… comfortable,” Twilight replied after she found the right word. “Not that it will be much easier. Not that it should; it was some… really awful stuff to hear,” she confessed.

“I’m sure there must have been reasons for what happened,” Fluttershy unexpectedly spoke up. When everypony turned to her, she added “I mean, we all know Arthas; we know he wouldn’t have done all those horrible things, now matter how awful, if there wasn’t something that had caused all of that.”

“Seeing your homeland threatened, people suffer fate worse than death and then losing your soul; I’d say that’s more than enough to break even the best ponies,” Twilight commented in her mind. “Not that it makes it easier for Arthas to live with everything he has done…”

But that was why he had them. Friends who would listen and understand him, who knew the real him. They would help him through it. And if Arthas could never forgive himself, then, well, Twilight would just have to continue helping him through it all for the rest of their lives.

“Guess it’s decided then,” Pinkie spoke up. “After Arthas gets back and Rainbow Dash returns from the Wonderbolt Academy, we’ll have a private ‘Lay-everything-on-the-table’ party! Will we need a lot of tissues?” she asked Twilight.

Twilight needed a moment before she replied; something in the way Pinkie had said all of that bothered her, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it. It did not help that Rainbow Dash had snorted with amusement.

Arthas’s throat felt sore when he finally sang the last note, depicting his end. The vision provided by Clover had already began to dissipate, the last image of him being comforted by the spirit of his father. He reached for a bottle with water as he waited for the others to recover. They’ve all listened and watched in attention, not wanting to miss anything, even Clover’s echo. They’ve all been horrified of the undead, and of his decision in Stratholme (as they should be). They were shocked to see him kill the King of Lordaeron and Uther, and everything else. Now all that remained was to see how they felt after learning everything.

“Not everything everything, I suppose,” Arthas noted; he had somehow managed to compose the lyrics in a way that hid the fact that Terenas was his father; he hadn’t even planned that, it was just the way the words had rolled down his tongue. “Why am I starting to feel like this will someday come to bite me?”

“So…” finally somepony broke the silence that followed his song. To Arthas’ surprise it was Tucker who spoke first. “... you composed all of that just now? Really?”

Arthas stared at him for a few second before replying “Not the immediate reaction I was expecting,” he said, choosing to ignore his question; partially because it actually amused him a little, and given the gravity of the situation he didn’t want to show it.

“Forgive us, Sir,” Serenity was the next one to speak. “It is… a lot to take in.”

“Yeah, exactly,” Tucker agreed. “I mean, being the ultimate evil is one thing, but on top of that you also tell us that you weren’t a pony - which, by the way, explains a lot - but also that you were dead.”

“There is nothing to forgive, Serenity,” Arthas replied first to her, then turned to Tucker. “Trust me, the opposite, of me being alive and a pony, was even more difficult to grasp for me when I was resurrected.”

“I figure,” Tucker commented, snickering.

“How exactly wast thou returned to life?” Clover the Clever asked next, looking at him with puzzlement. “Resurrections are possible to some extent, but then there is the matter of thou changing species, and, even more shockingly, of being from an entirely different world. The stars that the vision had displayed were different from those visible from Equestria,” she explained when the others looked at her with confusion (as it hadn’t occurred to Arthas to add into the song a line saying ‘Oh, and this all took place on another planet’). “Not to mention that I believe even two thousand years ago we’d hath known about so many different continents on our planet.”

“I see you are true to your name, Clover the Clever,” Arthas replied, bowing his head with respect. “Yes, it is true, I come from the world known as Azeroth, which I am pretty sure is on the other side of the Great Dark Beyond.”

“Couldn't you have added a line about that, Sir?” Tucker asked, eyebrow raised. “Something like: ‘In the world of Azeroth, where there’s always war and most horrifying things happening one after another’?”

If it weren’t for Arthas having just contemplated that he hadn’t added anything about having come from another world (and that, admittedly, Tucker’s comment regarding Azeroth being pretty accurate) he would have berated the paladin.

“The Princesses believe that I have been brought back to life by somebody somehow using the Gate of Tartarus, somehow,” he continued to speak to Clover instead. “Brann, whom I and my paladins have brought up earlier, is a renowned explorer and historian back on Azeroth, and has probably the most experience when it comes to researching mysterious artifacts. The reason why he will be coming to Equestria soon is because the Princesses asked for his aid with examining the Gate of Tartarus.”

The echo nodded as he spoke. “The Gate of Tartarus… a peculiar construction, that’s certain. I had been thinking about examining it myself a few times… that is, the real Clover had, of course, but I, like everypony, had been busy building our new nation together. There was also the issue of this powerful creature called Cerberus guarding it. I wonder if the real me had ever figured out the way to get past him…”

“Probably not, unless there was another pony as talented when it comes to handling animals as Fluttershy back two thousand years ago,” Arthas commented, recalling how Twilight had told him about how the shy pegasus had calmed down Cerberus when it came rampaging through Ponyville shortly before he had been resurrected.

“I know that Star Swirl hadst encountered the Gate of Tartarus during his travels back in his younger days,” Clover continued, “though he had hardly ever brought up those days, and his journals and notes regarding them were scarce… and really difficult to read through,” she added, uttering a short giggle, before immediately growing serious. “Regardless, the Gate of Tartarus radiates with intriguing power. It very well may hath played a part in bringing thou to life.”

As Clover fell silent, appearing to be musing over the matter, Arthas turned to look at his paladins. They’ve began to recover, having been given a few more moments to contemplate everything that he had told them, but he suspected that it would take a longer time to properly ‘digest’ all of it.

“If there is one thing that I’d want you to take from my tale,” he spoke; immediately, he had their full attention, “is that I was convinced that only I myself knew the best way. That I hadn’t listened to anybody, not my mentor, not my friends.”

He had almost added ‘not even my lover’, the pain he had felt that day when she turned away from him (despite knowing she did so rightly) slightly refreshed in his chest due to the visions and his own song. But it wasn’t really necessary for them to know… also he had enough teasing from Rainbow and the others when it came to those things, he didn’t need his subordinates to join in on it.

“I hadn’t been able to call upon the Light on that day and afterwards, because even though in my foolishness I believed I was doing the right thing, there was too much conflict in my heart,” he continued. “But that wasn’t the only power that I had been missing. I was also missing… the magic of friendship.” Arthas allowed himself a brief smile before resuming. “Always pay attention to your friends, and work together with them. Together, you will be able to prevent even the greatest tragedies, but more importantly, you will be able to prevent each other from falling into darkness. You saw the reasons why that had happened to me,” he added, his ears dropping as he looked down on the ground. “I am not trying to defend myself by any measure. What I did is beyond forgiveness. But… everybody could be forced into situation where they would have to make drastic choices. A lot of people would probably make better choices than me, but what I want you to understand is… that you don’t have to face those choices alone, that you’d have your friends with you, and that you’d truly work together with your friends, instead of just barking orders.” He shook his head and rose to his hooves. “Now then, we are still in the enemy territory. Though I cannot sense an hostile presence nearby, the night on the battlefield is the time of subterfuge and guerilla tactics; we’d be fools to not expect that neither side hadn’t send any squad to this location back then. I’ll take the first watch.”

“Actually,” Clover spoke up, “since I don’t require sleep - now that I’ve realized what I am, that is - I could keep watch for all of ye for the rest of the night.”

“Thank you for your generous offer, Clover,” Arthas replied politely, “but those four are still undergoing a trial. Bearing through requirements of a military campaign such as keeping watch is a part of it,” he explained, a bit humorously, as he began to turn around, intending to keep watch from outside of the tower’s interior. “You are welcome to keep the watchpony company, though.”

“Sir?” he heard Serenity call from behind. Arthas turned back to them and looked at her; she was standing in attention, and was looking at him with determination. “Thank you for telling us about your past, Sir, and for your advice. I promise I’ll live by it,” she said, saluting. Then, as if unable to stop herself, she rolled her eyes and murmured “Even if it means putting up with Tucker…”

As the others all also rose and saluted, voicing their agreements with Serenity - though Tucker had done so while giving her a wink - Arthas felt a sudden warmth spread through him, a sensation that felt not unlike the Light that much.

“Maybe the Magic of Friendship and the Light aren’t much different?” he wondered, smiling at his paladins before he turned away; it wouldn’t do for the head of the order to be seen tearing up by his subordinates.

“Rest well,” he told them as he stepped outside, the echo of Clover following him.

Arthas looked up at the sky as he sat not far from the tower’s ruins. Outside of the campfire’s light, he could see the stars better; his eyes followed the ‘lines’ between them, recognizing constellations from some of Twilight’s books he had briefly read. Clover’s comment earlier made him realize how alien they were from the ones he had grown with.

“It must be hard to imagine,” he heard Clover say as she sat near him. “That thy homeworld must be somewhere out there, I mean.”

He nodded at first, then frowned and looked down at the ground. “I’ve lost any claim I had to call Azeroth home,” he said. “Equestria is my home now.”

Arthas was curious what Clover would say to that, but she remained silent after his reply. He once again looked up to the sky, giving her time. He knew this had to be a very, very weird day for her. He would let her start the conversation.

“I would have done the same.”

His ears perked. Arthas turned to her, blinking, not sure if he hadn’t misheard her.

The echo wasn’t looking at him. Clover’s gaze was directed at her hooves, as if not wanting to meet his. “In Stratholme, I mean. After witnessing how fast the Plague works in Hearthglen… Killing them was the logical thing to do. If that entire city would hath been turned, there’s no knowing how much damage such an army would have done to the rest of the kingdom.”

Arthas stared at her, at a loss for words. He hadn’t ever expected to hear such words, and, he realized, a part of him wanted to believe in what she was saying. That it was the logical thing to do. Except… another part knew that it didn’t matter. Clover must have known it too, seeing how she refused to meet his gaze.

“It doesn’t matter if it was the logical thing to do or not,” he said finally, looking away. “It was the wrong thing to do.”

“Indeed,” Clover agreed. “I am glad I hadn’t been in thy horseshoes… or, um, shoes I guess?” she asked hesitantly; Arthas saw in the corner of his eye her finally turning to him, uncertainty on her transparent muzzle.

Chuckling, he nodded in reply to her question. He then sighed and looked back at her. “I hadn’t expected to hear such words from anyone… and especially anypony.”

“Well, I’m not a pony.”

Arthas didn’t know what upset him more; the blunder he had unintentionally committed, or the calm, matter-of-fact way she had replied.

“That wasn’t what I meant; all the ponies I’ve met so far are peace loving and good-natured… well, most of them,” he amended, thinking back to Prince Blueblood, or those few nobles the changelings had mentioned back during the council meeting.

Clover smiled sadly. “I guess two thousand years of peace hath done wonders for us… or perhaps the war hadst done horrible things to my real self. And others,” she added, her gaze turning deeper into the island, where, Arthas assumed, Commander Hurricane’s echo was.

“War brings out the worst in everybody,” Arthas retorted. “We paladins should be the exception of that, we should conduct ourselves always with honor and act with Light in our hearts. It didn’t always work out like that on Azeroth… I’m not speaking solely of myself, mind you,” he added. “I’ve never considered myself to be the paragon of paladin’s virtues. But there were others; the Scarlet Crusade and the Scarlet Onslaught… even Blood Knights when they were first created.” Arthas shook his head and sighed. “Of course, none of those would have come about if it weren’t for me.”

“Thou hath affected thy world greatly. Curious how one individual can change so much…” she trailed off, letting the thought wonder.

“Yeah, I changed Azeroth with my actions,” Arthas thought bitterly. “Destruction of my father’s kingdom aside, they also lead to the second invasion of the Burning Legion! What was it that Kel’Thuzad had said? That the entire history had been shaped by the upcoming conflict? Maybe so, but the ‘upcoming conflict’ had shaped the entire world in the aftermath. And I had played such an inglourious part in it…”

“Thou art even changing another world, too,” Clover resumed, snapping him out of his dark musing. As he turned his attention back to her, he noticed her smiling sadly once again; he wondered if she knew where his thoughts had drifted off to. “Teaching ponies about the Light, helping those changelings, bringing the daughter of an alicorn princess back to life… Thou hath done so much good since thy coming here,” she added, shaking her head. “Not everything that thou hath done was evil.”

“I am aware of that,” Arthas replied, the chuckled. “My friends repeatedly point this out for me. It does not erase all the things that I had done, though… and worse, I wouldn’t have been able to do all the good I had done in Equestria if I it weren’t for my death after that lifetime of mistakes. But I try to have a more… optimistic outlook on everything. I know how much it pains those that are dear to me when I allow such dark thoughts to circle around in my head. It’s just… difficult at times,” he confessed, a bit awkwardly.

Clover nodded with understanding. “I wonder how the real me had coped with what she had done and bore witness to during the war after it was over. According to Serenity, Clover had led a long life afterwards. It’s hard to imagine that she’d eventually become a tutor to future rulers of both Equestria and Griffonia,” she said, smiling brightly.

“Fate has a tendency to surprise us,” Arthas summed up, then looked at her closely. “If I may ask, Clover… how do you feel? After… everything that happened today, I mean.”

Clover gave him a brief quizzical look, then smirked as she realized what he meant. “It’s rather difficult to describe how I feel, to be honest. It’s rather… overwhelming. But I am glad that in thy struggle against me thou hath awakened me. Worry not,” she added, “I will get used to this existence in time… though I fear that even finally conscious, I will still be bound to this island, along with all the other echoes. Then again, with Triskelion’s power I should be able to create brief windows in the bindings…” Clover began to say as she glanced at the staff she had strapped to her back (with magic of course) after their fight, but then she trailed off, frowned, and finally facehoofed and groaned.

“What?” Arthas asked, confused.

“I’ve just realized… if Triskelion was still believed to have been lost after Star Swirl the Bearded’s passing, then that must mean I hadst kept it hidden… which means that I hath very likely taken this out of my own grave.”

“Oh,” Arthas exclaimed, not having thought of that. “Well… it’s not like I am in any position to judge grave robbery,” he replied, hoping his humorous remark would cheer her up.

Clover did chuckle briefly, but then she remained silent, staring at the staff she now placed on the ground before her, her eyes thoughtful and sad.

Arthas let her stay like that for a long while, allowing her to think in peace. If she wanted to talk about the idea of having a grave while still being sort of alive, even if after a fashion, then she would speak up. She’d know that he is probably the only pony who could understand that. “Assuming that I actually have a grave,” he noted, actually surprised by the thought; he hadn’t put much thought into what had happened to his body after his death. “Actually, all things considering, Tirion had probably seen to it that it was burned. No sense in risking anybody trying to resurrect me…” Arthas had to put an actual effort into not snorting with laughter while thinking something along the lines of ‘Showed him!’. “Loyal cultists and others aside, due to the raw necromantic magic that my body had been soaked in it could be used for all manner of evil purposes… and the idea of my body parts being reagents in some dark rituals aren’t comforting.”

Needing a distraction to banish an unpleasant image of a troll witch doctor making various fetishes out of his internal organs that this trail of dark thoughts had conjured, Arthas, noticing that Clover had finally put her staff away, had decided to break the silence first after all.

“Do you think we’d be able to reach the place where Commander Hurricane and King Friedrich will be fighting tomorrow and still make it back here by the end of the day?”

Clover blinked as she turned to him, surprised. “I suppose so… thou hath mentioned that thou plan to reach some memorial, correct? Where is it located?” Arthas pulled out the map of the island and passed it to the echo, pointing with his hoof at the spot where the memorial was. Clover nodded and studied the map for a bit before replying. “Yes, they won’t be far from it… may I ask why do you want to know that?” she asked, returning the map to him.

“I was thinking about battling them,” Arthas replied.

He was rewarded with the sight of a very shocked echo. To Clover’s credit, she had very quickly recovered. “Thou art strong,” she said, a slight frown on her face. “Thou art a mighty warrior and clearly a powerful paladin. I can see why thou wouldst think thy chances in a fight with either of them would be greater than against me, as I fight with spells and magic. However, Commander Hurricane is more dangerous an opponent to have than I was.” Her frown deepened as she continued. “And King Friedrich is almost as strong and lethal. I really don’t see thou having a chance of winning. Why wouldst thou think of battling them, anyway?” Clover finally asked, tilting her head in confusion. “I was under the impression that this expedition was supposed to serve as thy subordinates trial, not thine.”

“I… wish to challenge myself,” Arthas confessed. “You’ve seen in my memories how powerful I was. Though I would never, ever, want to have that kind of power again, it… Before we came to this island, I tested this magical device,” he began to explain instead. “It conjured an image of Illidan Stormrage, and fought with me with almost the same strength as the real one had. Back then, we were equally matched, and yet I had won. But now that I fought this mere image of him… I almost lost. Even with the help of others, I sustained a grave injury before it was defeated.” Arthas saw no point in admitting that it wasn’t exactly defeated, that the device had simply run out of power. “And then as we fought with you, I was reminded of Prince Kael’thas, whom I defeated far more easier than Illidan. I know that he has been capable of similar feat of magic as you had displayed, and yet I couldn’t defeat you. I’m... not as strong as a paladin as I was as a death knight,” he had to admit. “I need to become stronger. Not just to better protect Equestria and other ponies from whatever threat we could face in the future; I don’t want to risk feeling…” Arthas trailed off long enough to look in Clover’s eyes before he put his fear into words “tempted by any dark force, ever again. And one of the few ways for me to become stronger is to challenge myself by fighting one of the mightiest warriors this world had ever known, if not the mightiest.”

Clover held his stare for several seconds, as if measuring him, before she slowly nodded. “I can follow such logic… regardless,” she added after a pause, looking away, “whether the fight wouldst happen wouldst depend on how they wouldst see thou. To me, all of ye were griffons,” Clover reminded him. “It could be that Hurricane and King Friedrich will see ye as ponies, or griffons. One can only wonder what will happen.”

Arthas nodded, also troubled by the unpredictability of the island’s echoes.

“There is a way, though,” Clover spoke up unexpectedly. “I should be able to break the binding on them with Triskelion; that way, we could all defeat Friedrich together, and afterwards, Hurricane would surely agree to spar with thee. Would thou be happy with such an outcome?”

“Yes, that does sound like a better idea,” Arthas slowly said, frowning; for some reason, he had this sense of foreboding, even greater than when he had originally thought about just barging between the two fighting warriors. “Would you be okay with doing that, though? To free Commander Hurricane, I mean. You admitted that this isn’t an easy transition.”

To his surprise, Clover had snorted with amusement. “I’m quite certain that he wouldst be most thankful. The magic that binds him makes him fail to kill King Friedrich and allows the griffon to escape. Hurricane would relish a chance to change that, and then repeatedly kill him until the end of time.” She smiled sadly at her words, then shook her head. “Oh well, we shall see how it goes… and in any case, it would be… nice to talk with my friend again,” she confessed. “I would hesitate to break Smart Cookie free, but Hurricane… I know he would be able to cope with realization that we’re just echoes.”

Arthas frowned hearing the tone she had said the last part with, and tried to think of something to say that would brighten her mood up a bit. Before he got a chance to say anything, though, the echo once again turned to him.

“It is a pity thou aren’t a pegasus, though,” she said. “Thou wouldst have been able to fight with Hurricane where he’s strongest, in the sky.”

“Well, I do have a flying mount,” Arthas replied jokingly. When Clover once again looked at him with confusion, he shortly told her about Al’ar, whom she had seen during the vision in his memories of his fight with Kael’thas, and how he had come to live at the Everfree Abbey. “But I doubt that I could fight effectively while on his back, or that he would carry me into a battle only because of my whim. Not to mention that he’s back in Ponyville.”

Clover, who listened with great interest as he described the Phoenix God, eyed him thoughtfully. “Thou means thou wouldn’t be able to summon him like Raogrior?”

“No, it… The Light doesn’t work this way,” he explained. “I was able to summon Raogrior out of the Spirit World to help me because she’s bound to me. I mean, I could use the Holy Light to make it easier for her to cross from one plane to the other, as she is an ascended warrior of the Light, and I had summoned ancient spirits to help me in the past, but… they are empowered with the Holy Light. Al’ar is a fire elemental. A mage or a shaman perhaps could maybe summon him… and I believe that would only work if he was in the Elemental Plane of Fire, at least in the shaman’s case.”

“Not necessarily,” Clover replied, humming a little. “And as for him being a fire elemental… I know of a ritual that would let thou infuse him with the Holy Light, if thou wouldst so wish. My mentor had researched ways for infusing unicorns with arcane magic in his later years,” she explained, slightly uncomfortably, as Arthas raised an eyebrow at her. “He wasn’t successful due to mortal bodies’ properties, but on an elemental a similar ritual wouldst work. This way thou wouldst be able to summon him in the future in situations like these.”

“That would indeed be useful…” Arthas mused, finding the idea intriguing. “Though of course, only if Al’ar would agree to this… still, it is worth thinking over…”

“Would you tell me about this ritual?” he asked Clover. “I’m not saying I will attempt to conduct it, as I would have to first check this with the Princesses and ask Al’ar for his permission, but it seems like an interesting idea.”

“Of course!” Clover explained happily.

“Thank you, Clover the Clever,” Arthas replied, bowing his head.

“Oh, thou doesn’t have to thank me. I mean, it will help me get my mind off of… everything,” Clover admitted, smiling sheepishly, then cleared her throat and began: “Alright, so…”

Rainbow groaned as she was stirred from her sleep. She kept her eyes closed, though, hoping to fall back asleep; she was having such a pleasant dream…

Her ears twitched as the gentle snoring of her friends caused the opposite, further pushed her back into being awake. They were all in her living room, as Fluttershy and Rarity had fallen asleep as they played a board game late in the night, and they didn’t want to risk waking them by moving them to Rainbow’s room. They all soon had joined them, each finding a comfortable spot for herself with ease; considering that the house was made out of clouds. It would have been harder finding an uncomfortable spot for sleep.

Which is why the gentle prodding against her back felt really out of place. Finally abandoning her plan to slip back into sleep, Rainbow opened her eyes… and found herself staring into blue, pupiless eyes of a changeling.

Rainbow blinked, utterly surprised, as Wind Reaver’s head hovered above her while he sat behind her head. She very quickly shook off her drowsiness and was about to yell out angrily, but then the changeling covered her mouth with a hoof. Which of course only made Rainbow even angrier, but before she could push the hoof away, Wind nodded with his head in the direction of her friends, who were still asleep, then took the hoof off her muzzle by himself.

Rainbow rolled her eyes before she hissed quietly, getting up to her hooves “Seriously?! You break into my house but you’re worried that I wake up the others?!”

“Honestly, considering they’ve managed to sleep through your snoring, they would probably be still sleeping even if a tornado went through your living room,” Wind replied, smirking. Rainbow felt an even greater urge to punch his fangs out, but before she could do that (or deny that she snores, which she doesn't!) he continued “I was more concerned how that filly of yours would react if she’d suddenly hear you screaming. By the way, she’s still not sleeping,” he added, shrugging.

Rainbow frowned, forgetting about her anger at the changeling for a moment. “Scootaloo is still not sleeping, at this hour?” she thought, concerned, as she checked the time. “She can’t be sick or anything, she was fine when she left us earlier… Maybe I should check on her after I get rid of Wind…”

“Whatever;” she finally said in a hushed voice, “what do you want?”

Wind Reaver shrugged. “I wanted to wish you good luck at the Wonderbolt Academy before you leave tomorrow.”

That… took Rainbow Dash aback. She stared at Wind again, surprised. “Um… thanks?” she said, blinking in confusion. “Wait, couldn’t you just come by at the morning? The mail pony won’t come until noon with the letter.”

“Queen Chrysalis will be coming to Sweet Apple Acres tomorrow to talk about the wedding preparations with her daughter and the lucky groom’s family,” he replied, shaking his head. “As Nymph’s bodyguard, I will have to be there too. Joy,” Wind commented, rolling his eyes. “Didn’t your Apple friend mention this?”

“Um… she might have,” Rainbow told him evasively; now that he had mentioned it, she did recall hearing something about it from Applejack earlier. “Anyway, um, thanks for wishing me good luck. Not that I need it of course,” she added, smirking. “But still, thanks. Wish you hadn’t woke me up for that, though,” Rainbow said, frowning a little. “Or broken into my house.”

“Yeah, well, I might have hoped to see some… interesting things by coming here, too,” Wind admitted, looking at her with a smirk, then, as she tilted her head in confusion, he nodded his head at… Applejack.

Rainbow immediately turned back back to Wind, glaring daggers at him. She wanted to know just how he could possibly know what he was insinuating to know, but she doubted she would have been able to keep her voice down if they’d start discussing about that. So instead Rainbow contented herself with replying appropriately.

“You’re an ass.”

Green flash engulfed Wind Reaver for an instant. “Racist,” the donkey that now was before her countered, one eyebrow raised.

A snort of laughter escaped Rainbow’s muzzle before she covered it with her forehooves. It was too late, though, Wind knew he made her laugh, causing his donkey form to grin. Rainbow rolled her eyes and chuckled quietly as he changed back, surrendering.

“Alright, that was funny,” she admitted.

“I have my moments,” Wind Reaver replied, shrugging. He got up and shook a little. “Anyway, I should be going, I'll let you get back to sleep. Well,” the changeling said as he was about to turn away, stopping and glancing at her nonchalantly, “unless you’d wanna bump uglies that is.”

Rainbow found herself speechless, her jaw dropping out of sheer surprise at the brazen proposal. “Oh, you…” she managed to say, stammering little in her embarrassment and anger. “Why the heck I’d wanna do that with you?”

“I dunno, because of boredom or being pent up?” Wind said, once again shrugging. His calm reply only made Rainbow even angrier. “Alternatively so you could use it as a sort of ‘good luck’ ritual?”

“Oh for- Since when having sex is a good luck ritual?”

“Are you saying having sex isn’t good luck?”

“I didn’t say that-” Rainbow began, but she shook her head as she had realized just how pointless this part of the conversation was becoming. “Look,” she started instead, frowning at him, “I don’t know what you’re thinking but-”

“I was thinking that you might wanna,” Wind replied. “And that I'm hungry. Also I thought that it would be fun,” he added just as Rainbow was about to reply.

Annoyed with being interrupted, the pegasus waited a second before she tried again “Okay, if you are hungry, why won’t you try to pick some mare up in a bar or something instead of constantly trying to get under my tail?”

“Hm, maybe because I actually like you?” Wind said, raising an eyebrow. Rainbow flicked her tail, irritated by the response; both because she couldn’t ridicule it, and because it made her slightly blush. “And trying to get into bed with you has been a fun game, honestly. In comparison, trying to get with a random mare would be a troublesome drag,” he added, rolling his pupiless eyes.

“Gee, you sure know how to woo a mare,” Rainbow replied, deadpanning.

“I thought you’d appreciate honesty; though I suppose that’s your friend's thing, right?” he added, glancing at Applejack. “Anywho, I’m surprised you are so reluctant; I’d have thought you’d jump at the occasion to have a lover that can be anypony you’d want.”

“‘Jump on’?” Rainbow repeated, her frown deepening. “Just who do you take me for?”

Wind took a step towards her, pushing his muzzle close to hers. Rainbow leaned back, taken by surprise; when did he get so close to her? The changeling wasn’t concerned by her discomfort, and continued to stare into her eyes from up close, half-closing them even in a relaxed manner.

“For somepony who appreciates a good fun between two… um...” Wind hesitated, pulling his head back a bit. “Help me out here, are we acquaintances or friends? Kinda hard to get a read on your emotions.”

Rainbow opened her mouth to reply… then closed it, sighing and facehoofing. “Friends, I guess,” she confessed, a little irritated that she had to admit it. For all the annoyances that he had caused her, Wind Reaver was a fun company to have, and she did care for him (to some degree).

A brief buzzing noise pulled her out of her musing; Rainbow managed to get a glimpse of Wind’s wings flapping very quickly, similar to how Nymph at times would do so when she was happy about something (usually involving Big Mac). “See, you like me too,” the changeling said, smirking as he once again drew closer to her.

“Yeah, well, I don’t sleep with everypony I like,” Rainbow countered, feeling a little heat on her cheeks.

She expected him to utter some snide comment, but instead Wind merely snorted. “Yeah, because you ponies are so prude about sex. Your friends would be very reluctant to engage in one time things and bang buddies deals - aside from Hivespeaker, but everyling is sure that he was going through whatever - and you, out of respect to them, wouldn’t try to initiate things. But I happen to have different outlook on those matters,” he added, now drawing so close to her that his chitin brushed against her coat.

“So, the question is, will you overlook the less charming aspects of my personality that annoy you so much and overlook the fact that I am a changeling which admittedly can bug you a bit,” he paused to smirk as Rainbow rolled her eyes hearing the bad pun, “no shame in that - to indulge in some highly enjoyable activity between two friends? Depending on your answer,” Wind continued, pulling away from her slightly, “you will either watch me fly away, or spend a very pleasant night in your room - though I don’t mind if you’d want to do it here - followed by a pleasant early morning. And possibly attempts at hiding me in a closet if your friends or your new sister were about to see me,” he added, looking to his side thoughtfully. “That’s usually how during our training such scenario would go.”

Rainbow decided to not admit that, if she would accept his proposal - which, to her embarrassment, she was actually considering - she would totally hide him in a closet rather than admit to her friends that they had slept together, especially after Rarity questioned her about him.

“So?” Wind asked, tilting his head as he waited patiently for her answer.

160. Desires

The knock on the door caught Scootaloo by surprise, almost causing her to drop down to the floor.

“Who the heck is up at this hour?!” she wondered, slightly annoyed.

That question was quickly answered.

“Scootaloo?” Rainbow called in a hushed voice from the other side of the door. “Can I come in?”

“Um…” Scootaloo mumbled, glancing at the book before her. After brief hesitation, she swiped it and hid it under her pillow. Her pet Glory opened one violet eye to look at her from its perch; Scootaloo could almost swear there was a ridicule in that gaze. Ignoring it, she turned back to the door. “Sure, it’s your house after all. What are you doing up so late, though?” she added as the older pegasus entered.

“Me? What are you doing up so late, squirt?” Rainbow Dash countered, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

Her question - which in all honesty she should have expected - made Scootaloo even more confounded. “Um, well…” she mumbled awkwardly, trying to think of a good excuse.

“And why are you all sweaty?” Rainbow asked, now even more confused.

“Crap!” Scootaloo cursed in her thoughts, now trying to come up with an excuse for that.

She would never know if she would think of a plausible explanation, as the next second her idol pointed with her hoof at the pillow.

“And why is there a book sticking out from under your pill-” Rainbow began, dispersing any hope Scootaloo had for hiding what she had been doing, only to stop abruptly. “Um… is that what I think it is?” she asked.

For some reason, Rainbow seemed now embarrassed too, much to Scootaloo’s confusion. However, it was no doubt in the young filly’s mind that the older pegasus had figured out what she’s been up to.

“Yeah, it’s that book from Twilight with all those wing exercises for pegasi like me,” she admitted, hanging her head in defeat. “I’ve been… trying them out.”

Oddly, Rainbow Dash seemed to be actually relieved hearing her answer. “Thank Celestia,” she sighed, brushing her forehead. “Did not want to deal with that tonight…”

“Wait, was she thinking of something else?” Scootaloo thought, surprised, then grew annoyed at herself for jumping into the conclusion. “What the heck could I have been doing?! Oh well, I guess there’s no point in backing away now...”

“I know that Zecora had said that I should wait until she’ll finish her potion for helping with my wings,” Scootaloo continued, expecting Rainbow to soon recover and reprimand her anyway, “and that you told me to wait until you get back from Wonderbolt Academy so that you could make sure I am doing those exercises correctly.”

“And the fact that Zecora won’t be able to get the last ingredients until a week from now, when you will get back, is just a weird happy coincidence,” she commented in her thoughts, inwardly rolling her eyes.

“But I can’t wait that long!” she continued. Rainbow frowned slightly and trotted closer as she talked. “I’m long overdue on this physical therapy if I want to fly, and a week more-”

“Week more or less won’t make a difference,” Rainbow told her, sitting beside her. “And those therapy recommendations don’t account for using zebra’s alchemy as well. You've heard Zecora, she was confident that with her potion those exercises will help you. So there’s no point by overtaxing yourself or worse, risking an injury by doing them wrong,” she pointed out.

“I… guess you’re right,” Scootaloo admitted reluctantly, her ears dropping and looking at the floor downcast. “Sorry.”

“Hey, no need to apologize kid! It’s awesome how eager you are to start exercising your wings,” Rainbow told her. Scootaloo felt a hoof on her head and looked up to see her idol smiling at her. Her smile slightly faltered as she added: “I'm sorry thought that I have to leave you for a week because of the Wonderbolt Academy-”

“Are you kidding?!” Scootaloo immediately interrupted her. “There’s no way I would have you miss out on the Academy!”

“Heh, I know you wouldn’t, squirt,” Rainbow said, ruffling her mane affectionately and causing Scootaloo to giggle happily. “So,” she said after a few seconds, “since you already ignored doctor’s recommendations-”

“Zecora’s not a doctor,” Scootaloo spoke up, then tilted her head, pondering what she just said. “Is she?”

“Oh who knows with her. Also, I meant me,” Rainbow corrected her, pointing at her chest.

“Yeah, pretty sure you’re not a doctor either,” Scootaloo couldn’t help but point out.

She was rewarded with a good-humored boop on her muzzle. “The point is, since you already went and started doing those exercises, you mind showing me what you got so far?”

“Oh, of course!” Scootaloo exclaimed, excited at the prospect of showing off to Rainbow. She jumped away from her to get some more room, then spread her forelegs for better stability as she stretched her wings as wide as she could, then slowly raised them up as high as she could before gently dropping them down against her sides, and repeated doing that ten more times. She had to hold her breath as she was doing that from the strain, then released it as she was done. “Whew… how was that?” she asked, panting slightly.

“Wow, you’re already doing great kid!” Rainbow exclaimed, clopping her forehooves. “Which is good; I am going to put you through serious training regimens once I get back,” she added as she trotted closer to her again, narrowing her eyes and smirking.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less, Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo replied confidently, smiling.

Rainbow giggled and extended her foreleg around her, pulling her into a hug. Scootaloo happily replied in kind, spreading her forelegs around the older pegasus.

“We’ll get you flying in no time with this enthusiasm, squirt,” Rainbow said, patting her on the head. Releasing her from the hug, she added, a little sternly “Now, for the love of Celestia, go to bed already. After you get showered maybe,” she added, pushing her away playfully and overdramatically swiping Scootaloo’s sweat off her chest.

“Yeah, I will get right on that,” Scootaloo replied, slightly embarrassed as she chuckled. “Sorry for making you come up here in the middle of the night right before you’ll leave for Wonderbolts Academy.”

“Meh, it’s alright,” she said as she turned around and began to leave, “something else woke me up a few minutes earlier, and I literally had nothing better to do.”

For some reason, Rainbow Dash seemed highly amused as she said that.

Sanngrior turned her head sharply as she noticed something approaching the Abbey in the middle of the night. However, as the dark shape grew closer, she realized that it was just one of those two aqir-like ponies that lived on the Abbey’s grounds, and let herself relax.

“Even when something approaches in the middle of the night, it cannot be any enemy in this place,” the val’kyr summed up as the changeling flew towards the entrance. “By Odyn, this is boring!”

The two pony guards also finally noticed him. Sanngrior, who, out of boredom, stayed close to them while within the Shadowlands so that she could find some diversion in their conversations to pass the time, reluctantly listened as they greeted the changeling. “Oh hey Wind, didn’t know you were out,” the one called Sound Wave said.

“Where were you?” Cherry Bomb inquired, tilting his head curiously.

“Been flying around, then looked for some fun and grub,” the changeling - Wind Reaver - replied, shrugging, as he landed before the guards and walked past the entrance.

The two unicorns exchange a look, then both smirked. “You were out at Rainbow’s, huh?” Cherry asked.

“Maybe,” Wind Reaver replied, stifling a yawn.

“And got rejected,” Sound Wave added, not even asking.

The changeling jerked, stopping, and glanced at the royal guard with annoyance. “‘Rejected’ implies that I’ve actually tried and gave my best effort into the hunt.”

“I think you meant ‘courting’ there buddy,” Sound commented.

The changeling waved his hoof. “Same thing. I merely been there to make her a friendly offer, as she’s leaving. I will give it my A game when she gets back,” he added, turning around and heading towards the barracks.

“You know, some would say there’d be easier ways for you to get ‘food’,” Cherry called after him. Grinning, he added: “Why are you so fixated with Rainbow Dash?”

“You do know that I can sense your amusement, right?” the changeling asked, turning his head back to deadpan at them. “Let me explain a changeling’s mindset to you two; what you apparently interprate as ‘fascination’ or even ‘crush’ is nothing more as a hunter’s determination to get the prey he had set his eyes upon. I want to see that prideful mare become putty in my hooves,” he said as he licked his lips lasciviously, his fangs flashing in the dim light the unicorn’s produced from their horns, “and have her become reduced to a mess of moans and sweat… and other bodily fluids you ponies have. She’s a worthy prey to hunt, I will give her that much. But nothing mo- okay, she’s also a good friend to have,” he added, motioning his head as if he was rolling his eyes. “I’ll give her that too. But having a ‘fixation’ on her? Please,” Wind Reaver snorted, resuming heading towards the barrack. “I’m a changeling with an intended mate; the best Rainbow could hope for was to become our pet.”

The two guards waited for the changeling to disappear behind the barrack’s doors before they turned to each other. “Dude, he has such hots for her,” they commented at the same time, both unicorns chuckling.

In the privacy of the Shadowlands, Sanngrior, one of the val’kyrs of the mighty Keeper Odyn, facepalmed and sighed with despair. “This is my existence now.”

“We’ll be back here by nightfall, so leave non essential equipment,” Storm called as they began to get ready to leave. “Anything that would only slow us down. Take about a third of your rations… actually, make that half, just in case,” he corrected his order in an afterthought; there was always a chance that something unexpected would happen and they would get stuck out there longer.

It was already morning. Celestia’s sun had barely showed itself over the horizon when Storm woke everypony up for a short breakfast. Having taken the last watch, he had a ton of time to think, and - after quiet consultation with Clover’s echo, who had kept each of them company during their watches - the pegasus paladin was fairly certain that he had came up with the best plan for today’s journey.

“Accounting even for a slight detour,” he added, glancing at Sir Lightbringer.

Or rather, at Arthas.

Clover had mentioned about his desire to fight the echo of Commander Hurricane. Considering her opinion of the Commander’s fighting skills, Storm thought that desire to be bordering on masochism. However, he wasn’t about to try and talk Sir Lightbringer out of that idea. He had to admit, he was a bit curious to see who would win in a fight between the two of them, not to mention just about seeing Commander Hurricane. Furthermore, he had learned recently far more… unsettling things to focus his mind on.

Sir Lightbringer’s past was… well, literally not of this world. If it hadn’t been for the Grand Master telling them about it himself, Storm would probably not believe it, even if it did explain a ton of things, like how he was mentored by a weird creature belonging to a human race, and how there apparently weren’t any ponies in the Order of the Silver Hand. Even so, it was difficult to grasp the concept of Sir Lightbringer having been dead or being from another world... or how one person could be responsible for so much evil, let alone that it had been Sir Lightbringer who had done that.

“It’s almost as if those were two different people,” Storm commented, then pondered the thought. “Well, I suppose in a way they were… and not just because of the whole ‘race change’ thing. He didn’t have a soul when he joined this Scourge, and couldn’t feel any remorse or pity or any other emotion of that kind… Does having a soul, or just having all those emotions, are really all that keeps us from committing horrible acts?”

“You’re struggling to accept what you’ve heard.”

Storm almost jumped at the sound of Sir Lightbringer’s voice. He was so lost in thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed the head paladin approaching him.

“No Sir, I… um, I mean, sort of,” he admitted, turning to address him. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, Sir, it’s just… really hard to imagine you doing all those things.”

Sir Lightbringer shook his head as he gave out a sigh that was laced with both amusement and sadness, then turned away and trotted through the ruined tower’s entrance. “Why is it that everytime I tell you ponies about my past you all find it hard to believe?” he asked as he walked, motioning for Storm to follow him outside.

“Well, to be fair, you start by saying that you weren’t a pony, that you lived on another world and you have died,” Storm couldn’t help but point out as he caught up with him.

“I suppose that’s fair,” Sir Lightbringer replied, chuckling.

“But more importantly, Sir, it’s that you are one of the best ponies in Equestria,” Storm continued, meaning the words he spoke. “You are a good pony, a champion of the Light. The person you were the last few years… was not you,” he finished a bit awkwardly, not knowing how to best put his thoughts into words.

“If only Azerothians would look at this matter the same way,” Sir Lightbringer sighed. “I fear even those few that would actually wait for an explanation before straight out attacking me and would hear me out would still wish me dead.”

“Brann Bronzebeard seemed to be fine with you being alive,” Storm pointed out.

“Brann is… an understanding sort. Focusing more on the bigger picture of things. And he knows all too well how terribly cursed some artifacts might be; it was the Explorer’s League that first searched for Frostmourne.”

Storm felt a shudder go though his body despite himself at the name of that blade. The blade that had turned his mentor into a monster, that destroyed kingdoms and killed thousands of innocent.

“Plus, when he first visited this world, he was immediately surrounded by my friends who all rushed to defend my now good nature,” Sir Lightbringer added, smiling nostalgically. If he had noticed Storm’s reaction, he did not show it. “And then of course there was this entire emergency with Apple Bloom straight after that, so we were all too busy to focus on my life on Azeroth.” He turned to Storm and added, half-humorously and half-dead serious, “I would rather not rely on ill fate befalling an innocent foal the next time a new visitor from Azeroth arrives.”

“O-of course, Sir,” Storm replied, not sure if he should laugh or not; the remark was pretty funny, or rather would be if it weren’t for the actual danger Apple Bloom had been in. “Do you think there will have more visitors from Azeroth?” he asked instead to change the subject.

Sir Lightbringer snorted. “With my luck, there probably were some in the Everfree Abbey already since the time we have left it.”

Storm rolled his eyes; Sir Lightbringer’s opinion regarding his luck bordered on paranoia.

“Might I ask what do you plan to do if we indeed receive more visitors like Brann, Sir?” Storm asked, curious about the answer.

“Are you wondering if I’d just let them do as they please to me, seeing their retribution as a just punishment?” Sir Lightbringer asked in turn, raising an eyebrow and smirking. Before Storm could reply - which, considering that such a thought indeed had crossed his mind, he didn’t really want to - the older paladin chuckled shortly. “Don’t worry, I know how much I mean to my friends. I would spare them any pain, let alone one caused by the death of such a wretched creature as me. Also, since I count the rulers of Equestria as my friends, I would fear sparking a war,” he added, his brow furrowing. Whatever dark thoughts had crossed his mind, he quickly dispersed then and continued, “To answer your question, I would most likely try and talk with them, and pray to the Light for them to give me the chance to prove myself in their eyes.”

Storm nodded, accepting such answer. Especially the earlier part, about not letting Azerothians just kill him. Though Storm prayed that if there would be additional visitors from that world in the future, they would be as understanding as Brann Bronzebeard, he knew that there could be more than a few individuals on that war-torn world that would just attack him on sight, before any words or acts could sway them. The pegasus paladin was confident that Sir Lightbringer would be able to subdue any potential attackers… especially with Storm and the other paladins’ help, not to mention his friends.

“Sir, I must confess, the more I listen to you, the less believable your story becomes,” Storm commented, hoping a joke would lift the mood of their conversation.

Sir Lightbringer indeed laughed briefly, but he also soon turned to him with a serious look. “Storm, if a terrible threat would emerge in Equestria, if horrors such as the ones you’ve seen in the vision of my past or even here on this island would take place in ponies’ lands, would you try to do everything you could to put an end to them?”

“Of course I would, Sir!” Storm immediately answered, passionately and truthfully… and as a knowing smile appeared on Sir Lightbringer’s muzzle, he had realized what was he referring to.

“That’s a good answer, but learn from my mistakes; stay true to the Light, yourself and your friends. But enough about that,” Sir Lightbringer added, waving his hoof. “I didn’t pull you out here to lecture you or to discuss my past.”

Realizing that there could be only one other thing he could have in mind then, Storm nodded and spoke up, “If this is about you wanting us to make a detour so that you could spar with the echo of Commander Hurricane, Clover the Clever already told me about it.”

“There’s a sentence I never thought I would say,” he commented in his thoughts, rolling his eyes inwardly. “So casually talking about two of the Founders of Equestria…”

“Ah, I see,” Sir Lightbringer nodded with understanding. “Tell me, what do you think of that?”

“I’ve already planned our way so that we’ll have the time for that after reaching the memorial. I… believe it would be an interesting sight to witness,” he said diplomatically.

Sir Lightbringer smirked. “You disapprove of the idea.”

“It’s not that I disapprove, Sir,” Storm quickly replied. “It’s just that… it seems excessive to me, especially since it was supposed to be our trial.”

“Are you saying it’s wrong for me to put myself through a trial as well?” Sir Lightbringer asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I suppose if you put it like that, Sir, then no,of course not,” Storm replied.

Privately, though, he added “But it does speak about your ego that you’d want to test yourself by fighting the mightiest pony warrior.”

“Good, then that’s settled,” Sir Lightbringer said, accepting Storm’s surrender.

Despite having agreed to the detour, there were a couple more things Storm wanted to discuss with the head paladin regarding the issue. However, before he could speak, the others had began to emerge from the tower’s ruins, ready to continue the journey. The presence of others alone hadn’t stopped Storm from speaking; after all, they weren’t going to keep that detour idea a secret, and he expected that others would also have slight worries regarding it. What had stopped him, was that while Serenity and Tucker were engrossed in another discussion with each other - or simply put, they were having another argument - Guard and Clover approached him and Sir Lightbringer with a determined yet troubled expressions on their faces.

“There’s something I would like to discuss,” Guard begun as they reached the, speaking to both of them. He reached for his saddlebags and pulled out a metal object. “You remember I told you about fighting an earth pony’s echo when I got separated from the group and finding this after defeating him?”

Storm nodded, recalling his paladin brother’s tale, as he looked down at the dragon head shaped shield boss.

“That was an echo of the pony called Rockhoof,” Clover spoke up, glancing at the shield boss with sadness. “He was a strong warrior, possibly the physically strongest pony. Hurricane and his pegasi warriors held a lot of respect for him, which speaks volumes of his fighting skills.”

“It certainly does,” Sir Lightbringer said while Storm nodded in agreement; he remembered what Guard had said about his battle with the echo, and the older paladin was not one for embellishing stories. “Sadly, if this is a part of his shield, then its presence on the island means he must have perished.”

“Yes, it does,” Clover agreed. “He hath been assigned with guarding a narrow passage so that the griffons couldn’t call for the enslaved earth elemental reinforcements on that front. Based on what Guard Shield hath told me, the passage must hath been blocked since then, possibly the earth elementals hath caused an avalanche during the fight. Regardless of Rockhoof’s precise fate,” Clover added, shaking her head a little before nodding at the shield boss, “what I am interested right now is this shield.”

“What do you mean?” Storm asked, intrigued.

“The shield of Rockhoof was a family heirloom, dating back several hundred years to the times the earth ponies were ruled by kings,” Clover began. Storm’s eyes widened in surprise as he listened; she was speaking of a time from which only very faint legends had remained. “It’s Salvation, and according to the legend it was given to the younger son of the last king of earth ponies by Sue’ning, the two-headed king of the diamond dogs, so that he could defeat the dragon Ancalagon. It was said to defend its wielder from every attack, be it a blade or magic; or even the dragon’s flames. For the Salvation to be shattered like this…” she trailed off, troubled, as she shook her head.

Storm stared at her, his mouth hanging open as he tried to process what the echo had said. Noticing that the others were also looking at Clover, though, he recovered, still being a little self-conscious about his crooked jaw. He closed it, then asked the first of the many questions that he milled around in his head “What was that about a two-headed king of the diamond dogs?”

Clover turned her gaze away from Salvation’s shield boss and looked at him, blinking in surprise. “The ruler of the diamond dog subterranean kingdom under the Ōu Mountain? The diamond dogs hath closed their tunnels and borders when the windigos' blizzard came, and they remained in the Frozen North while we left, but surely, thou shouldst hath some knowledge of them.”

Everypony turned to Serenity, who knew the most when it came to history. For once, though, the crystal pony seemed unsure of herself. “I… I had heard some stories about the diamond dogs kingdom in the north,” she admitted, looking at Clover with puzzlement, “but I thought them to be legends. The diamond dogs who live everywhere else are… well, suffice to say that they that they wouldn’t exactly be able to run a kingdom,” she explained, trying to remain civil regarding the diamond dogs’ intelligence and civility.

Storm nodded, and was about to voice a similar opinion, but he paused when he caught Tucker’s expression in the corner of his eyes. The unicorn paladin looked… confused. He was looking at Clover and Serenity, his ears perked, and as Storm watched him his brow furrowed, as if thinking deeply about something.

“I recall hearing Doctor Daring Do mentioning having found evidence of a city of diamond dogs in the Frozen North and of trade between them and earth ponies,” Sir Lightbringer spoke up, causing Storm’s attention to this shift briefly to him; when he glanced back at Tucker, his brother had already recovered, apparently having worked out whatever had bothered him. “There was also a mention of a two-headed diamond dog that could use magic… so I guess those revelations were indeed true,” he added, nodding at Clover.

“I hope they’ve been doing well, living alone those past two thousand years,” the echo murmured, more to herself, clearly troubled by what she had heard. However, she quickly brushed it off and resumed her earlier disposition. “However, the fate that hath befallen Salvation is of more interest to me at the moment. When Guard Shield brought its shield boss to me a few moments ago, I cast a spell to see if I could find the remaining pieces of it. I… managed to locate four more pieces of it,” she added after a brief hesitation, seeming troubled. “I don’t think it’s the entirety of the shield, so it would seem the rest got completely destroyed. Those pieces aren’t far from here,” Clover continued. “I thought thou could help me find them. I could piece together what had happened to Salvation, and thou would get to keep the shield; assuming it could be put together of course,” she added, nodding at Guard Shield.

“Interesting thought,” Sir Lightbringer commented, gazing at the shield boss in Guard’s hoof with renewed interest. “If this Salvation was as formidable shield as you have said, it would be good for it to be wielded in defense of Equestria again. I believe we should look for those other pieces,” he said, turning to Storm.

Even though this wasn’t technically a command, Storm nodded; he was of the same opinion on the matter. “Alright; can you lead us towards the closest piece?”

“Yes, they are all in the area between us and the monument, so thou won’t lose too much time,” Clover said, her horn surrounded by magical aura as she began to turn in the direction where they were about to set of. However, she stopped mid-turn. “Um… I should probably mention first that those pieces seem to be… moving.”

“Of course they are,” Storm commented in his thoughts, deadpanning at the echo out of exasperation, and noticed that he wasn’t the only one to react this way.

Lord Victorious Blackhorn’s brow furrowed as he passed through the portal leading to his private chambers within the Castle Blackhorn. Although he was glad to be away from those obnoxious ponies from Canterlot and back in the privacy of his sanctum, there were a many matters that troubled him.

“Took you long enough,” a familiar voice rang out, pulling his mind out of his musings.

Slightly annoyed at not noticing he wasn’t alone, the ebony unicorn turned to the source of the voice. Its owner, the black and pale gray griffoness called Katrana Stormcloud, was leaning against a half open window, as if she had been gazing through it at the sea or the rocky terrain of the Magmarock Island.

“Apologies,” Lord Victorious spoke, trotting towards her, “I decided to take the opportunity my trip had provided and take a look at this ‘Everfree Abbey’, since those paladins are currently away.”

“Ah, I see,” Katrana replied, her eyes shining with interest. “Well?”

“Your guess was right, it most certainly is him; he even had a statue made depicting his old mentor,” he added, rolling his eyes. “Clearly, he lost some of his subtlety along with all his powers…”

“So do you still think him to not be a threat to our plans?” the grifoness asked.

“He is some of a threat,” Lord Victorious agreed, slightly reluctantly. “Far smaller than those princesses could potentially be; I don’t think even they realize just how much power they have.”

He couldn’t stop himself from scowling; it was ridiculous. To think that such pathetic looking creatures could command such powers… it was ludicrous! And it wasn’t just those two alicorns; ponies overall possessed intriguing innate magics.

“Then you will be happy to know that I have succeeded in my task,” Katrana said, a smirk appearing at the edge of her beak. “I have found a perfect puppet at Griffenhalla. It will take some work, but soon we will have the means to get rid of those pony princesses. And after you finish your work here…”

“... then we will have the means to take this weird little world for our own,” Lord Victorious finished her thought, smiling. “Can you see it?” he asked, raising his forehoof to brush the griffoness cheek affectionately. “No more Father, no more whispers, just you and me, my beloved sister.”

161. Rockin' through the Battlefield

“Well,” Arthas began, frowning as they gazed down from the top of the ravine’s side, “I guess we know now why your spell revealed that the pieces were moving…”

As Clover’s echo nodded, Tucker asked what Arthas suspected most of the paladins were thinking, “What exactly are we looking at?”

“It’s an earth elemental,” Arthas replied, although the same question rang in his mind, with an emphasis on the ‘exact’ part.

Just like the water elemental that Clover had summoned, this elemental was unlike its counterpart from Azeroth or Draenor that Arthas was familiar with. It was a quadruped, with four massive legs made out of boulders that connected to the torso-like boulder, atop which was a smaller boulder that acted as the creature’s head. However, unlike Lady Coralia, who’s face had clear pony-like features, the light brown earth elemental appeared as if somepony had began to chisel a pony’s face into a rock, and then gave up halfway. Two small crevices marked where it eyes were, and under its head levitated a smaller boulder, imitating a pony’s jaw.

“Judging by its size, I’m guessing it must be a lesser earth elemental,” Arthas noted, observing as it slowly trotted down the ravine; the elemental was roughly only slightly bigger than an average pony. “Apparently, similar to Azerothian elementals, those also become more distinguishable the more powerful they are…”

“But how is that possible?” Serenity spoke up, diverting his attention from the elemental. The crystal pony was looking from him to Clover’s echo. “The Equestrian Army had made sure that all of the earth elementals had been returned to the Undercave after the island had been seized. There shouldn’t be any here.”

That was indeed a good point. “Could the piece of Salvation be somehow related to that?” Arthas turned to Clover.

“Tis most likely the case,” the echo replied thoughtfully. Her horn glowed again and she closed her eyes, concentrating. “It must have lodged into its physical body somehow, then after our forces destroyed it... the power of the shield’s enchantments might have caused this elemental to reform here.”

It made sense to Arthas, but something about what Clover said troubled him. He turned his gaze back on the elemental, sizing it up. It was certainly dangerous, capable of defeating many of Equestria’s soldiers. “However, Rockhoof wasn’t just an ordinary soldier, not if what I heard from Clover and what Guard witnessed his echo do is true,” Arthas thought. “This earth elemental shouldn’t have been able to defeat him… The other three pieces Clover was able to locate must be lodged into elementals as well, but if they are the same as this one, then even if they fought Rockhoof together I doubt they’d been able to defeat him… let alone shatter a shield she believes to be nigh indestructible, for that matter.”

“Wait, what do you mean by ‘reform’?” Arthas heard Tucker ask the unicorn’s echo, and pulled himself out of his musings.

“When an elemental is 'killed’ on the mortal plane, in truth it only destroys their physical form,” Clover the Clever was quick to answer. “Their spirits return to their respective Elemental Kingdom - Undercave for the earth elementals, Endless Ocean for water elementals, Flamelands for fire elementals, and Skyfields for air elementals - where they reform. Well, usually,” the echo amended, glancing at the earth elemental.

“It clearly hadn’t been the case with this one,” Arthas finished her thought. “The elemental might even still be under the effect of whatever Friedrich’s griffons had done to enslave them two thousands years ago. And even if it’s not, I can’t help but think it will be hostile. Still,” he added, turning to Storm, “ I would advise to first approach it and try to speak to it. Resort to violence only if it turns hostile.”

“Of course, Sir,” Storm replied calmly, probably having thought the same already. “Does this mean you won’t be joining us?”

Arthas shook his head. “I trust that you’ll be able to defeat it together without my help. Besides, I wanted to admire the scenery for a bit.”

Storm and the others gave him a look suggesting that they thought he was kidding, but all quickly shook it off. “As you wish, Sir,” Storm replied as all of them saluted, then prepared to make their way down the ravine leaving Arthas and Clover alone.

“How exactly do you defeat one of those, anyway?” Tucker asked before they left, glancing at the other paladins then at Arthas.

It was Clover who replied: “If thou inflicts enough damage to the elemental’s body, it will cause its physical form to break. Striking at its 'joints’ might result in the creature losing a limb, making combat easier, just like when fighting a being of flesh. Both physical damage and magical will suffice.”

Guard, who had already starter walking away along with Storm and Serenity, glanced back over his shoulder. “Hit it until it stops moving,” he simplified for Tucker who continued to look at Clover with confusion.

“Ah, okay, got it, thanks babe,” Tucker said, nodding to Clover before he hastened to caught up with the others.

“What a peculiar pony,” Clover commented, her gaze following the paladins, as both she and Arthas sat down.

“Yes, peculiar is one way to describe it,” Arthas replied, sighing. “I am deeply sorry if his behaviour is making you uncomfortable. I’ve been trying to make him act more respectfully, but it’s tougher than making somepony a paladin.”

“Oh, it’s alright,” Clover quickly said, waving her hoof dismissively; despite that, however, Arthas noticed a slight blush spread across her transparent cheeks. “I’ve experienced worse behaviour than thy paladin’s from some of our soldiers. I am just… not really accustomed to such attention. Especially from unicorns…” she added in a quieter voice, trailing off.

Sensing that it was a sensitive subject, Arthas didn’t pry, and instead turned his attention to his paladins and the earth elemental, then after noticing that they still had a short distance to cross to reach their mark, he did as he told them he would: admired the scenery.

“Thou weren’t jesting,” Clover spoke up as he began to scan the surrounding them area. Arthas glanced back at he to see the echo was giving him a mildly surprised look. “Might I ask why hast thou taken such interest in our surroundings?”

“We are now far from the site of the battle between Princess Celestia and Bane the Hippogiff,” Arthas replied, shrugging. “I was wondering if the land arounds us still bears any mark from that fight.”

He hadn’t forgotten the power he had briefly felt when Princess Celestia let him know just how upset she was because of the whole situation between him, Twilight and Rainbow. Arthas would lie too if he said that he wasn’t curious at the prospect of seeing what the full extent of her power could do; especially when he wasn’t its target.

“Oh, I see,” Clover’s echo replied, sounding a little surprised, then looked down at the ravine, her brow furrowed. Arthas was about to follow her gaze, worried that she spot something that was about to become a problem for his paladins, but she raised her head to meet his gaze the next second. “Then I suppose this explains why I have no memory of seeing this ravine, even though from my point of view I had crossed it yesterday on the morrow?” she asked, her hoof pointing below.

Arthas blinked, then looked back at the ravine, his gaze slowly travelling down along its length. It was about twenty yards deep and appeared to be at least several miles long. He had known that the mountain where the memorial had stood was destroyed during the battle between Celestia and Bane, but he had thought that it was an exaggeration. But to create a ravine like this, with just a magical beam that most unicorns were capable of casting… Despite knowing how kind-hearted the Princess was or that she considered him a friend, he felt the fur on the back of his neck stand up as he recalled her irritation from that memorable moment, or how she had blasted him when he had interrupted Shining Armor and ‘Cadence’s’ wedding saying that it was a warning.

“Had I really believed once that nothing in Equestria could stand against the power I wielded as the Lich King?” Arthas thought, conflicted emotions surging through him.

“Those eight hundred years did well to mask that it wasn’t nature that formed this landform,” Clover continued, either oblivious to his inner conflict or choosing to ignore it. “But if thou look closely at the walls, thou would notice sections that are too smooth and at an angle that would not be possible unless they had been shaped by magic. And… now that I’m here, I can feel a faint trace of strange magic that looms around it, much brighter than the one binding me and the other echoes on this island. Perhaps this could be the reason why this elemental chose to remain here?”

Arthas began to nod, only to stop as sounds of battle had reached his ears. Even though he wasn’t worried about the outcome of the fight - and that Raogrior was watching over them from the Shadowlands - he still wanted to see how well they could fight a foe like this. He turned his attention towards them just in time to witness the earth elemental charge at his paladins while roaring in fury.

“So much for diplomacy,” he thought calmly, undisturbed; he had expected just as much. Whether it was still bound by griffons’ commands from two millennia ago, or had the piece of Salvation affected its mind, or had it simply grew insane due to the isolation, time, or all of the above, it was far more likely that it would react hostile to their approach. “Well, I suppose we wouldn’t be able to take the the fragment of that shield out of its body without damaging it, anyway…”

As the elemental neared the paladins, Guard, bathed in Light, stepped forward, his shield raised to meet the hoof-like boulder as it smacked down upon them. A loud resonating sound erupted from the ravine as the paladin blocked the attack. If the earth elemental was surprised by a creature of flesh withstanding the strike, it did not show it; it merely reared on its hind legs, aiming to bring both of his forehooves on Guard Shield.

His paladin brothers didn’t give it a chance. Both Storm and Tucker jumped at its hind legs, slashing at them with their Light-empowered swords. It wasn’t enough to damage them, but it did give the elemental a pause. It turned its head around as it backed away and dropped down to all-fours, apparently having a difficult time deciding upon its next target. Before it could pick one of the paladins, Guard charged at it, bashing its head with his shield. Storm and Tucker use this chance to once again attack it. Even from where he and Clover stood, Arthas could see small pieces of the elemental’s rock body being chipped away.

The elemental roared in fury and swung around with its hooves at all three of them. Guard blocked the attack, and Storm and Tucker evaded it with ease. However, this gave the elemental a very brief moment of respite, enough to rear on its hind legs again and slam its forehooves onto the ground.

Arthas felt a slight tremor of the ground from where he stood as three giant stalagmites erupted from the ground beneath the three paladins. At the same time, though, barriers of golden Light enveloped them, shielding them from harm. Arthas smiled as he looked at Serenity, who held back from the fight, held up her forehooves that glowed with the Light. It was a sound strategy, to have the one who was most attuned with the Light stay back, ready to intervene if her comrades needed protection or healing.

She wasn’t content with just protecting the others, though; as soon as the three paladins were out of danger, she stopped holding the shields around them, and instead turned the Light against the earth elemental. A blast of Light shot from her outstretched hoof, smiting the creature’s head. At the same time, Guard, Storm and Tucker renewed their attacks, all three putting even greater strength into them, both physical and Light-infused. As they brought their weapons down on their foe, a white light flashed, and the body of the earth elemental fell to the ground, breaking apart.

Arthas nodded with satisfaction. As he expected, the earth elemental, while still a formidable enemy, was no match for all four of them. Even if they would each fight such creature one-on-one, Arthas suspected that all of them would have managed to win; the fight would just be far more challenging. He had trained them well.

That wasn’t to say that he enjoyed that they had to “kill” the elemental. If it weren’t for the fact that, similar to Azerothian elementals, Equestrian elementals were also bound to another plane, he would have intervened and tried his damn hardest to resolve this fight without destroying it. Even as it was, even though the elemental would recover in the Undercave, Arthas still couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret. He knew first hoof that dying wasn’t a pleasant experience.

“But it couldn’t be helped. It attacked us on sight, like a rabid animal,” Arthas thought, saddened. He wasn’t a shaman - although thanks to Ner’zhul’s memories having been practically seared into his mind he wouldn’t be surprised if he knew more about shamanism than half of all shamans in existence - bound to honoring the elemental spirits, but he would grieve seeing any kind of creature being reduced to such state. “Hopefully, its mind will recover upon its return to the Undercave.”

“Thy paladins are great fighters,” Clover commented, sounding impressed. “Most of our soldiers had great difficulty facing their first earth elementals. Even if it was four of them against one, they had done well.”

“That they did,” Arthas agreed, watching as they searched the elemental remains - with Tucker poking one of the boulders that made its body suspiciously, as if expecting it to rise again - looking for the fragment of Salvation. “Hopefully, it will be as easy to collect other pieces.”

It turned out that it was.

“Huh,” Arthas thought, looking at the remains of the final earth elemental that his paladins had just defeated. “I honestly half expected that at least one of them would turn out to be bigger or something…”

But none of them were. The other three elementals were all of the same size as the first one his paladins had fought; not only that, they all looked identical, even to him. Each of them had also reacted the same way to the sight of them, by charging to attack, and although the battles that followed varied from one another a bit - at one point Arthas had to raise a Light’s shield around him and Clover as the elemental cast a giant boulder in their direction (or rather, at Tucker but missed) - all had concluded the same way; with the four paladins being victorious and reclaiming another fragment of Salvation.

“Oh well, no point at looking a gift horse in the mouth I suppose,” Arthas concluded, mentally shrugging, as he trotted closer to see Guard pick up a slightly bent piece of white metal with barely visible, worn-away lines on side. “Just like the other three… as Clover had said, it’s not enough to recreate the shield completely on their own,” Arthas mused, frowning as he pictured all the fragments they had found, “but a skilled blacksmith should be able to reforge it…”

Assuming they could find more of the metal Salvation was made from in the first place. It was clearly not steel, or any metal Arthas was familiar with; though to be fair, he hadn’t really looked up Equestrian’s metallurgy.

“I’d better ask Clover if she knows something about it,” Arthas decided. “For all I know, this metal’s ore can be only found in the Frozen North, where those diamond dogs lived. Would be better to learn that while we have here the only pony who lived in that area - well, after a fashion - that’s still around.”

“That makes all four, right?” he heard Tucker ask, interrupting his musing. The unicorn paladin had turned to Clover. “Are you sure there isn’t any big last boss or something that we have to fight next?”

The echo gave him a puzzled look as she replied. “Um, no, that should be-”

“Lady Clover?” Guard’s question cut her off. “Should those fragments be doing this or…”

Arthas turned to the earth pony, first with confusion, and then with alarm; the single fragment of Salvation that Guard was just about to put away into his saddlebag was now instead levitating above him, vibrating. And it wasn’t “single”; the other fragments had also risen from the saddlebag, along with the shield boss, and hung in the air together.

At the same second Arthas exclaimed: “Guard move away!” the remains of the earth elemental also flew up towards the pieces of the shield.

He didn’t need to repeat his order to the others; everypony was already moving away as the boulders began to circle around in the air. They weren’t just rocks that made the body of the elemental; patches of the ground around them also rose, as if drawn by a magnet, and flew towards the fragments, melding together with them and the remains of the elemental.

“You just had to say it,” Arthas heard Serenity mutter to Tucker as they backed away.

“Oh, how is this my fault?!” Tucker defended himself, pointing at the floating rocks and boulders before them.

He had a point; whatever was happening, it was very unlikely that it was caused by his comment. Still, Arthas couldn’t help but say “Tucker, you are forbidden to speak until we leave the island, that’s an order.”

The unicorn left out a groan, then mumbled something incoherent that sounded awful lot like “This is bullshit.”

Having dealt with that matter, Arthas glanced at Clover, who was looking at the event before them studiously. “Clover?” he asked, reaching for his hammer.

“I haven’t seen anything like this,” she replied to his unspoken question. “I would think that might be how an elemental would reform itself, but…”

She trailed off, her expression a mixture of perplexed and fascination. Arthas, who was far more worried than curious at the moment, focused on the floating mass of earth and rock that kept growing bigger. Within seconds the fragments, which had stopped circling around the remains of Salvation, began to meld together, forming a shape. Before Arthas could blink, they also created four shapes around that, becoming legs that dropped to the ground and causing it to shake just as a head began to form above its torso.

An earth elemental, about five times bigger than the ones they had faced, now stood before them.

Arthas did a double take of it. It wasn’t that it was just bigger; it also resembled a pony far more than the previous ones. He would almost take it for a sculpture of an earth pony if he hadn’t seen it form just before his eyes. All of its very dark brown body, four legs, torso and head, were physically connected together, and on top of that, it had a mane and a tail, made out of grass and moss that covered the rocks it had absorbed to reform itself.

But its appearance wasn’t all that was to it: Arthas could sense primal power stirring within the elemental, and had the feeling that it was about to unleash it upon them.

Beside him, Clover uttered a surprised gasp. “A Boulder Duke?”

Arthas would have loved to ask just what the hell a “Boulder Duke” was, but as Clover’s echo spoke, the elemental’s head turned to them. With a groan, it - “Or rather ‘he’ if it’s a ‘Duke’,” Arthas mused - raised his massive foreleg. He did likewise, uttering a quick prayer of protection, and in the corner of the eye saw Clover’s horn had started to glow. As two layers of barrier, one made out of Light and the other of pure arcane magic formed around them, the elemental’s forehoof slammed against it, faster than Arthas would have expected.

Wincing a little from the effort to keep up his barrier through that attack, he turned to Clover. “What’s a Boulder Duke?”

“They are one of the most powerful earth elementals;” Clover explained, frowning; considering how effortlessly she had kept her barrier through her fight with them, Arthas assumed it was due to her contemplating what had just happened rather than a sign of exertion; “there hath been only a few of them in the Griffonian army, and each wrought devastation on the battlefield.”

“Lovely,” Arthas couldn’t help but comment. A grunt escaped him as the elemental struck again. “Any idea as to why he suddenly reformed around the fragments of Salvation?”

“I think… he must have fought with Rockhoof and won, but just as Salvation was shattered, so was he. The event must have caused the essences of the elemental and the legendary shield to intermingle with each other. It must have resulted with the Boulder Duke to be bound to those fragments, but… He hadn’t had enough power to reform completely, and it resulted in splitting into smaller earth elementals, thou might say shards, around fragments of Salvation. Now that we brought together the fragments of Salvation together…” she trailed off, finally pausing after having told them what she has deduced so quickly that the Boulder Duke only attacked four more times during her speech.

“Will you be able to do something with the fragments to prevent him from reforming again?” Arthas asked her.

“I should be able to separate the Boulder Duke’s essence from Salvation’s fragments... but first we’d have to shatter his physical form,” Clover pointed out.

“Yes, I figured that part out already,” Arthas muttered with an eyeroll, then louder he added, “Alright, I’ll draw his attention, and my paladins will protect you while you channel a spell strong enough to shatter him; I trust you know a spell or two that would do the trick?”

Clover nodded. “Yes of course, but art thou certain-”

“Wait,” a voice from behind them spoke up, interrupting her.

A little surprised, Arthas glanced at Storm, whose voice it was. The pegasus was standing beside his paladin brothers and sister, the others behind him and Clover but still within the protective dome they had conjured. Arthas had been dimly aware of the four muttering something among themselves while he and Clover had talked, but as the Boulder Duke occupied his attention, he hadn’t bothered listening in. It appeared though that he was about to learn what his paladins have been discussing.

“Sir,” Storm began, turning to Arthas, “the four of us would like to ask your permission to deal with the Boulder Duke ourselves.”

Apparently, they’ve been discussing ways to commit a mass suicide.

Arthas was so taken by surprise by this request that it took him a moment to consider his request. He managed to suppress the first reply that came to his mind - “Hell no!” - and the desire to yell it immediately; instead, he wondered why in Equestria would they ask for this. He could tell it wasn’t just Storm who wanted them to fight the powerful earth elemental; the other three were looking at Arthas now with equal determination as the knight-lieutenant.

“Why?” he simply asked Storm, not having the time to ponder this by himself.

“You’ve sent us here on a trial, Sir. You wanted to be sure that we would be able to serve Equestria even in the darkest of times, and wanted us to be sure as well,” Storm reminded him, then nodded and the Boulder Duke. “True, you didn’t mean for us to face such beings, but if something like this creature would attack Equestria while you were away and Rarity, Lady Twilight, and their friends were out on another world-saving adventure? We would face it, regardless if we’d feel like we could defeat it or not. But a little boost of confidence and some experience wouldn’t hurt.”

Arthas bit his lip, finding it difficult to come up with any counter arguments. He was right; this was their trial. The whole reason for them being on this Light-forsaken island was so that they would be ready for whatever future might hold in store. Light forbid there would be a war anywhere in Equestria’s future, with one side enslaving elementals to do their bidding to boot, but what if that would happen? Or what if somepony would just enslave a being like this for nefarious purposes, or if one of the Wild Gods from the Everfree Forest would stray into Ponyville? What if they would have to face more foes as dangerous as this one or worse?

Those four were warriors of the Light, each of them already capable fighters in their own rights. As Arthas glanced at the Boulder Duke, he thought carefully about how well they fought so far, and what he knew them of being capable off. They could defeat this elemental; it would be a tough battle for sure, way tougher than anything they’ve faced so far (aside from Clover’s echo), but they could defeat it.

The question was, was Arthas going to still hold their hooves, or would he believe in them?

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, then exhaled. “A blow from such creature could crush your entire body,” he said, giving them this one final warning to change their mind. “It would be out of Raogrior’s powers to bring you back, not to mention mine. Are you certain you still wish to fight it?”

“With all respect, Sir,” Guard spoke up, “when I decided to join the Royal Guard, I hadn’t expected to be brought back to life if I would die on the line of duty. I didn’t expect it when I joined the Order of the Celestial Light, either. None of us expects that. Also,” the earth pony added while the others nodded in confirmation of his statement, his lips curving up to a smile,“we don’t plan on letting him hit any of us. Well, not our bodies at least,” he amended, raising his shield a little.

Arthas locked eyes with him, then with the others. Everypony, even Serenity, was still determined to defeat the Boulder Duke by themselves, without his help or Clover’s.

Sighing, he gave up. “Could you teleport us - on my signal - about thirty yards away from here?” he asked Clover. “Far away to not get get dragged into the fight but close enough to interfere if they’d need saving?”

The echo looked at him for a second before answering, considering his request; as well as his paladins’, no doubt. “If that’s what thou thinks is best,” she finally replied, turning her attention back to the Boulder Duke. “On thy signal.”

She wouldn’t have to wait long; keeping up his barrier for so long while the powerful elemental kept slamming its rocky hooves - even if half of the strengths those punches had had been absorbed by Clover’s barrier - had been more taxing than Arthas would have liked to admit. He would be able to hold it for only a few more moments.

“Light,” Arthas prayed, looking back at his paladins,“please, don’t let my choice be wrong.”

“You’d better stay alive,” he told them, his glare inviting no argument or humorous reply. “I might not be able to resurrect you if you’d die, but I will still be able to summon your spirits. And as you know, I once excelled at tormenting souls.”

Despite how threatening this might have sounded - Arthas himself wasn’t sure if he wasn’t kidding - the four paladins all smiled as they stood up straighter in attention and said: “Yes Sir!”

A ghost of a smile crossing his lips, Arthas turned to Clover and nodded.

For a brief instant, he saw the echo’s horn’s glow increase, and suddenly their surroundings have changed. Arthas didn’t even feel anything as Clover teleported them a safe distance away. His concentration disrupted, he had stopped channeling the barrier. Putting his hoof down to the ground, he looked at his paladins as they dropped into battle stances while the Boulder Duke loomed over them, with nothing between them.

“Art thou sure this is a good idea?” Clover, standing beside him, asked.

Arthas didn’t reply immediately. “How many ponies have died in the war because they weren’t ready?” he finally asked.

“... thou haven’t really answered my question,” Clover countered.

He didn’t reply to that, but somebody decided to do it for him. “They charge bravely into combat with valorous hearts, eager to prove themselves,” Raogrior said, her golden wings flapping as she landed behind them. “What right would you have to deny them this battle?”

“I could think of a few,” Arthas commented in his thoughts, “or make some up, whatever.”

Turning his attention to the fight that has began in front of them, he once again prayed to the Light to watch over his paladins.

162. Battle Worthy of Halls of Valor

“Alright, here’s what we’re gonna do,” Storm quickly began after Clover’s echo teleported herself and Sir Lightbringer away and the barrier that shielded them from the Boulder Duke dispersed, “Guard, keep its attention on you,” he said, knowing that the sturdy earth pony had the highest chance of withstanding the earth elemental’s attacks. “Serenity, stay behind ready to heal or shield us,” he told the crystal pony; she was the least skilled in combat out of them, but her strong connection with the Light would aid them far more than another weapon would. “Tucker, teleport behind it and attack from the back,” he said; being the most skilled in combat, the unicorn paladin could safely fight from the position farthest from Serenity and therefore farthest from her aid, “while I…”

Storm had to pause as at that moment the Boulder Duke had charged at them, both stone forehooves raised. As they were about to crash down on them, the paladins assumed their positions. Tucker’s horn glowed with magic and he disappeared, while Guard and Serenity jumped away, with Guard staying just outside the elemental’s range with his shield raised, and Storm spread his wings, soaring into the sky.

“... attack it from above!” he shouted, evading the Boulder Duke’s forelegs and raising safely out of their reach above the elemental.

The Boulder Duke’s head had began to turn after him, but Guard threw his shield at it, causing him to divert its attention. As the earth pony grabbed the Light-enveloped shield as it returned, he slammed his hammer against it in taunting manner. The elemental took the bait, and swung its massive foreleg against Guard.

“According to plan so far,” Storm mused briefly as he reached for Spring Binder, then cased flapping his wings and let himself plummet down, opening himself to the Light as he readied to strike.

In mere seconds of his descent, Storm had kept his eyes on the earth elemental, not daring to let any part of it out of sight even for an instant. However, he managed to notice in the corners of his eyes that Guard had succesfully eveded the Boulder Duke’s attack by ducking, and on the opposite side of it Tucker had began his attack (while saying “Now this is something I can get behind, bow-chicka-bow-wow!”), slashing with his Light-enveloped energy sword across its hind leg. The very next second, Storm finally fell on their enemy, swinging the Spring Binder with all his Light-strengthened might, right against the creature’s head.

As the force of the strike shook his bones, he realized that he could see only the barest of cracks on the elemental’s head, beneath the mane-like moss.

“If at first you don’t succeed…” Storm thought, undeterred, as he proceeded to deliver blow after blow against the stone head.

The Boulder Duke ignored both him and Tucker, its attention apparently focused solely on Guard; whether it meant that the earth pony was doing that good of a job taunting it or they were doing that poor of a job causing it damage was unknown to Storm at the moment. The elemental swung its hoof against him again, and this time Guard had to block it. Glowing with Light, he raised his shield and braced himself. The force of the blow had moved Guard half a yard to the side, but as the Boulder Duke brought his hoof back, Storm saw that his paladin brother was unharmed. More importantly, he recovered quickly after taking on that strike; as the rocky foreleg had receded, he struck against it with his hammer, leaving a small crack along its edge.

The earth elemental, who had begun to turn around, apparently thinking that it had killed Guard, once again focused on him. Raising its other foreleg, he struck again, with the same result.

Its inability to crush something so much smaller than itself must have angered it, as after another blow it raised its rocky muzzle into the sky and gave out an almost deafening roar; a sound that resembled more of a rockslide than a sound made by a living creature. Being so close to its head, Storm had to fly slightly away from it; only by sheer willpower he had stopped himself from dropping Spring Binder to cover his ears. It did stun him for a moment, though; long enough for the Boulder Duke to rise undisturbed on its hind legs, and, after a second, stomp with his forehooves at Guard.

Fear gripped Storm’s head as he stared down, searching for Guard among the cloud of dust the elemental’s attack had created. His worries were quickly dispersed as he noticed a glow from within the cloud. Relaxing, Storm resumed striking against the Boulder Duke’s head. At the same time, a glowing shield shot out from the cloud, hitting it square in the face.

The shield was followed closely by its owner. Guard jumped at the elemental’s forelegs, the angle at which they laid allowed him to climb effortlessly up, even catching his shield as he ran. Storm smirked with satisfaction as he noticed what he assumed was a bemused expression on the Boulder Duke’s face. With it momentarily confused - and about to be hit in the face again - he backed slightly away from it, needing a moment to utter a prayer to the Light for more strength.

His concentration was almost broken as the ground below them was filled with golden cracks; cracks that emanated holy energy. Storm didn’t have to look around to figure out what was causing this. From the four of them, only Serenity had strong enough connection with the Light to consecrate the ground in the midst of a battle like Sir Lightbringer could. He was a bit surprised that she had decided to channel the Light to attack the Boulder Duke, but considering that neither of them needed her aid at the moment he couldn’t see a reason to complain. Especially when her attack had caused the elemental to shake, losing its balance; just as Guard lounged at its face, swinging with his glowing hammer. At the same time, Tucker, who had continued to strike against its hind legs, slashed across where a creature of flesh would have had tendons.

Not to be outdone, Storm channeled all the strength the Light had granted them into a single strike; gripping the Spring Binder tightly, he howled and swung the blade against the elemental’s neck.

Of course, he hadn’t expected that his strike could severe it. It actually surprised him to see how deep had his sword cut into the earth elemental’s neck. What he had actually hoped for though was that the force of the blow, coupled with all the damage others had caused it would be enough to topple it.

At first, it looked as if that would happen. The Boulder Duke wobbled, its hind legs caving in, causing the entire hind half of his body to fall. However, although it forelegs staggered, the elemental managed to stop itself from falling over completely.

“Keep hitting it!” Storm ordered, not wanting to give the Boulder Duke any moment to recover.

He pulled it his sword back, intending to strike again… and found that he couldn’t. Spring Binder stayed buried with the elemental’s neck.

Storm blinked as he looked at the sword, surprised. “You’ve gotta be kidding me…” he murmured.

Snapping himself out of his bewilderment, he pulled again, this time harder. When it still did nothing, he changed his position, bracing his hind hooves against the elemental’s neck before pulling even harder while at the same time flapping his wings (and doing his best to not think about how ridiculous it must have looked). After a few moments he finally began to feel Spring Binder’s loosening; at the same time, though, the Boulder Duke had noticed the commotion by its neck and began to turn its head towards Storm.

It really said something about just how annoyed Storm was at his current situation that, as the huge elemental’s face bore down on him from a mere a sword’s length, instead of getting scared he merely shouted “Oh piss off!” while releasing one forehoof’s grip from Spring Binder’s hilt and gathering Light to strike the elemental with a hammer-shaped blast.

Not surprisingly, all it seemed to do was piss off the elemental more; however, the attack had distracted it long enough for Storm to pull Spring Binder free. Relieved, he adjusted his grip on the sword as he fell down… then cursed, raising a shield of Light around himself an instant before the Boulder Duke’s stone hoof bashed against him.

The Light had protected him, but the force of the impact threw him down into the ground. What’s worse, it also broke his concentration, causing the shield to disperse. Not eager to hit the ground with such force, Storm tried to beat his wings and fly up, but he didn’t make it in time. He hit the ground… and felt nothing.

Or rather, almost felt nothing.

Recovering from the ground quickly, Storm realized that a barrier of Light was protecting him again. Sighing with relief and uttering silent thanks to Serenity and the Light, he flew into the air again as that shield too disappeared, focusing again on the elemental.

In the short time that he had been distracted, Guard had once again focused the Boulder Duke’s attention on himself. The elemental had bashed its hoof against his shield, though now with even greater strength than before, as It caused the earth pony paladin to stagger back a little. However, he quickly recovered, and threw a hammer-shaped blast of Light at the elemental as he pulled back out of its reach.

Satisfied to see that the battle was still going well despite his momentary troubles, Storm was about to join Tucker in dealing damage to the Boulder Duke, when a sudden movement from it caught his attention. The elemental had brought its foreleg back and looked as if it was reading to throw another punch at Guard; except, the paladin was still out of its reach.

“Is it going to attack Tucker, or…” Storm wondered as he flew above the earth elemental, observing it carefully. Before he could even finish that thought, though, the Boulder Duke swung his foreleg in the air… and pitched its stony hoof with great speed at the earth pony paladin. “Shit!”

“Guard!” Storm cried, but even before he finished saying his name, the projectile hit its target with a resounding clang!, shattering on impact.

It appeared that Guard managed to raise his shield before the boulder struck him, but it looked to Storm that it didn’t do much for him; the force of the strike threw him backwards several yards. As the boulder’s pieces fell to the ground, so did he.

Almost immediately Serenity was beside him, her hooves glowing with Light as she began healing him. “I’ve got him!” she shouted back; she didn’t sound alarmed, which must have meant that his injuries weren’t too serious. Storm allowed himself a sigh of relief as Serenity turned to him, but then her expression changed. “Watch out!” she warned him, alarmed.

Eyes widening, the pegasus paladin turned his gaze back on the Boulder Duke, just in time to see him once again swing his foreleg, his stony hoof having apparently “regrown”, as it had cast it again, this time at Storm.

Not having time to curse, let alone pray to the Light for protection, Storm cased beating with his left wing while flapping with his right one more strongly and twisting his body, making him veer to the side. The maneuver allowed him to dodge the projectile by a hair’s length; he could swear that the boulder had brushed against his wing as it passed him. However, while he managed to avoid it, the gush of air left in its wake made him lose his balance and sent him plummeting to the ground, spinning around his axis.

Grunting, Storm tried to realign himself and stop his descent, but just as he finally managed to unfold his wings and catch himself in the air, he realized that he had fallen into the Boulder Duke’s attack range.

And it was already bringing down upon him its recreated hoof.

“Shi-”

“That’s two down,” Raogrior commented as the Boulder Duke’s punch threw Storm across the battlefield, incapacitating him.

Arthas clenched his teeth, barely snapping himself from snapping at the val’kyr. It didn’t sit well with him to see his subordinates fight for their lives and not do anything to help them. He had already almost intervened twice, first when Guard had been wounded, then when Storm had been about to be hit. However, just as how Serenity beat him into healing the earth pony, so was she faster in blessing the pegasus paladin with Light’s protection. Unfortunately for Storm, while the barrier was strong enough to withstand the Boulder Duke’s attack, it immediately shattered afterwards, letting him get injured as he crashed against the ground.

“Still, with Serenity there to heal him, he should be capable of fighting soon enough,” Arthas thought, staying his hoof in the end. “Both he and Guard are in good hooves. Of course,” he added, turning his eyes to the elemental, “I doubt it will just stay still while they recover.”

“I’m starting to think that this was a bad idea,” Tucker thought with annoyance, blasting the Boulder Duke with the Light to get its attention while he raced around it to where Storm had fallen.

The elemental, having lost interest with Storm, turned its head to regard him, then raised its foreleg and attempted to crush him by lunging to slam its hoof across his path. However, Tucker had predicted such maneuver, and having more or less gotten used to the speed of the attacks by the Bouder Duke, he had a moment before the stony hoof would descend on the spot where he would be if he continued to run - which most likely would have resulted in him being pulverized - so he jumped upwards. With his movements perfectly timed, he landed on top of the earth elemental’s hoof right as it slammed against the ground.

“Sorry buddy, I’m not into that kind of pounding!” he yelled at it as he immediately lunged from its hoof towards Storm.

The pegasus paladin was laying on the ground, his body having left a short trail after he crashed into it. When Tucker had seen that, he was really worried about his brother, but to his relief Storm was already attempting to rise, although his forelegs wobbled and it was clear he required healing.

“Talk about taking a hard one to the face, huh?” Tucker joked as he landed right beside him, his horn already glowing as he prepared a Teleportation Spell for both of them.

Storm, probably suffering a concussion if the unfocused gaze he turned on Tucker was of any indication, looked up at him with mild annoyance. “It didn’t hit my face, Serenity protected me from its attack,” he explained, spitting out bits of ground and grass. Despite his words and his state - with both his armor and face being smeared with mud and dirt after his collision - Tucker noticed a brief smile cross his crooked muzzle.

“Yeah, well, ground is hard too I guess,” Tucker replied, his spell finally ready, and with entire seconds to spare before the Boulder Duke could attack them, he teleported the two of them further away to where Serenity was busy healing Guard Shield.

The pretty crystal pony didn’t look from her task, but she acknowledged their presence with a flick of her ear. “Do you also feel like this was a bad idea?” she asked, nopony in particular, but considering that she asked that question after the two of them teleported and the possible concussion of Storm, Tucker assumed it was directed to him.

“Nah,” he lied, smirking, “it’s alright babe, I’ll protect you.”

That prompted a bigger reaction out of Serenity. She looked away from her patient to give him that annoyed glare of hers. “Can you make yourself useful and distract the Boulder Duke before it gets here?” she asked, turning her attention back to Guard.

Tucker glanced over at the huge elemental that was charging straight for them. “Probably,” he replied, managing to sound casual; they had about twenty seconds before it would reach them. “How much time do you need?”

“As much as you can get me,” Serenity replied. “Guard’s left foreleg is broken, and so are five of his ribs. Storm must have had at least a concussion,” she added, glancing at the pegasus. “Probably worse. I’m not sure how long it will take me to heal both of them.”

“Say no more,” Tucker said, swinging his foreleg and making his sword emerge, reading himself for battle. As he began to channel one more teleportation spell, he couldn’t help but glance at Serenity and ask with a smirk, “Will I get a kiss if I kill him by myself?”

Serenity once again glared at him, but he teleported away before she could reply.

“YEEEEEEHOW!” he howled as he appeared above the Boulder Duke, falling down right on top of him and shoving his energy sword - which was now clad in the Light’s glow, empowering the strike - into the base of the elemental’s neck. “Eat Light motherbucker!”

The Boulder Duke roared in pain as it tried to reach with his foreleg for Tucker. Fortunately, its stone body wasn’t limber enough for it to manage that. “Still, it is a bit unsettling,” Tucker remarked as a rocky hoof scratched over the elemental’s shoulder, right next to him.

Much to his relief, it brought the hoof back, giving up. Instead, though, it rose on its hind legs, then proceeded to fall down on his forelegs, intending to stomp the ground with both of his forehooves.

“Does it really think that will be enough to shake me off-” Tucker began, only to trail off as he was shook. His entire body was shaking. “Scratch that,” he noted, raising his free hoof to his head in an attempt of stopping it from spinning, “everything is shaking!”

It wasn’t an exaggeration. Everything was indeed spinning. As Tucker looked around, he saw that the ground around them was shaking. Serenity, despite being a safe distance away, had to stop healing their brothers, and was now lying on the ground with her hooves above her head.

“Is he creating a freaking earthquake?” Tucker wondered, a moment before he lost concentration and his sword disappeared, causing him to slide off the Boulder Duke. “Oh shit…”

As he fell to the ground, he realized that the quakes had stopped. The Boulder Duke must have stopped creating them as soon as he freed itself from Tucker, figuring that it could just smash him from so up-close.

It was wrong.

The moment Tucker’s hooves touched the ground, he pushed himself up and jumped, avoiding the Boulder Duke’s foreleg as it swung at him. He even remade his sword and slashed the elemental for good measure.

“Missed bitch!” he called tauntingly as he backed away, intending to lead it further away from the others.

Oddly, it didn’t work; the elemental had stayed in the same spot it was. It wasn’t coming after him, or even raising its foreleg to cast its hoof at him like he had at Guard and Storm. However, its gaze never left Tucker, and its head turned after him as he tried circling around it.

“Okay, so it's definitely planning something-” Tucker began to think, just to be interrupted by tons of massive rock spikes that started rapidly coming out of the ground all around the Boulder Duke. “Son of a-”

Again, his train of thought was interrupted as he noticed a small crack appear in the ground right below him. Realizing immediately what it meant, he jumped backwards right as another spike erupted where he had stood a split second ago. As few more appeared around him, Tucker looked around to see where he could safely move next, only to feel his flank bump into something. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that it was another spike that had cut his escape off.

It was then he realized he was trapped. The spikes were all around him, the gaps between them were not wide enough for him to squeeze through beside one, which so happened to be the one to which the Boulder Duke was heading too.

Of course, Tucker could always teleport to safety. However, magic was never his strong point; those few teleportation spells he had performed in this fight so far had really drained him. He could still do it, but considering the way this fight had been progressing, he preferred to save what little magic he had and see if he could get out of this with just his skills and the help of the Light.

Also, while the spikes had trapped him, they also protected him.

Tucker couldn’t help but smirk as the Boulder Duke (once it finished navigating between all the other spikes between them) stared at the rocky cage with a clear frustration.

“Huh, guess it can’t just smash them,” Tucker remarked, examining one of the spikes quickly; the ones around him were bigger and more sturdy-looking than all the others, not to mention that none of them had appeared so thickly like those trapping him. “So that spell closes in on enemies around it? I doubt it serves to capture them though, considering how I barely avoided becoming a ‘Tucker-shishkebab’ there...”

As he tried to analyze how the elemental’s spell had worked, the Boulder Duke had decided upon its next course of action. As Tucker returned his attention to it, he saw that the earth elemental pushed its massive hoof against the gap between the spikes in front of it, trying to squeeze through it to get the paladin.

Once again, Tucker found himself smirking. “Aw, your dumb fat hoof doesn’t fit?” he asked mockingly, then uttered a short laugh. “You can’t just force the whole hoof, bro! You’ve gotta slide it in, starting with the edge of the hoof!”

The Boulder Duke rearranged its hoof so that now the edge of it slipped past the spikes.

“THE FUCK it speaks Equestrian!” Tucker exclaimed as the edge of the hoof almost brushed against him.

Taken by surprise and fear, he backed away as far as he could as the rocky hoof crept closer, the elemental’s strength causing the spikes to be pushed apart letting him shove its hoof deeper.

“Light dammit…” Tucker muttered in annoyance, reading the teleportation spell.

Before he could cast it though, a very bright light began to emanate around the Boulder Duke. The elemental had seemed to notice it shortly after Tucker, as it took its gaze off the unicorn and looked around… and then up. Following the earth elemental’s gaze, Tucker realized what was the source of the brightness.

A giant, Light-made hammer was slowly descending upon the Boulder Duke. It was seconds away from crashing into it. Even from where Tucker stood he could feel the holy magic contained within that attack; it was almost on par with the power of similar feats Sir Lightbringer had showed them during their training back in the Abbey.

“Wow, you’re fucked,” he told the Boulder Duke, without any maliciousness or any mocking; he was too astonished.

The elemental must have realized just how hurt he would be when that hammer dropped (or maybe it really understood Tucker) as it tried to retract its hoof, probably wanting to better defend himself. However, it had shoved it so deep into the gap between the spikes that when it tried to bring it back, it was stuck.

This time Tucker did snort with laughter, though mostly because it reminded him of how Storm got his sword stuck earlier. His amusement faltered though as he noticed the cracks appearing on the spikes where its hoof was being held.

“I could try holding it with the Light’s chains, to make sure it wouldn’t be able to defend itself, but I doubt I’m strong enough to keep it longer than a second when push comes to shove,” Tucker remarked, frowning. A heartbeat later that frown turned into a smirk as he realized what he could do.

Turning around, Tucker jumped on the spike that was behind him, then used it as hoofing to bounce off and land on top of the earth elemental’s hoof. Steading himself upon landing, the unicorn quickly began to climb up the foreleg, easily passing between the gap now that the Boulder Duke had widened it, and charged at the head.

Feeling him run up its leg, the Boulder Duke turned its attention instinctively back to him, despite the fact that the giant Light hammer was about to blast him from above. Its stone-made muzzle opened, and the creature spit out what looked like huge ball of mud which plummeted at him with great speed.

Fortunately, Tucker had expected some sort of counterattack from the elemental, and had his teleportation spell ready. The moment he saw the Boulder Duke spit the mud ball at him, he cast it, making himself appear right before its face.

“Surprise motherbucker!” Tucker exclaimed, grabbing the elemental’s mane with his left forehoof so he wouldn’t fall off as he extended his right hoof, the energy sword already there and infused with the Light.

At the same time as the giant hammer fell down upon the Boulder Duke, causing an explosion of Light on the creature’s back, and as - for whatever reason - its hind legs buckled, Tucker shoved his sword through the earth elemental’s face.

The Boulder Duke uttered a single, painful cry… and then it fell silent. As Tucker stared, the two small lights that shone from crevices that imitated a pony’s eyes had dispersed.

The earth elemental was dead.

“Huh,” Tucker exclaimed, looking at the unmoving statue the elemental had apparently become as he still hang by its face by holding onto its mane. “I sorta expected…”

With a mild rumble, the elemental fell apart.

“OH SHIT!” Tucked shouted as he fell down, the Boulder Duke’s head having simply disconnected from its body and falling at him from above.

Before he could even think about teleporting away, which he probably couldn’t do at this point anyway, at least not without channeling the spell for longer than his violent descent to the ground would allow, but thankfully, before he could fall down to the ground with the earth elemental head and other remains crushing him, something flew from his side and grabbed him in the air, pulling him away from danger.

“Oh hey, you’re feeling better?” Tucker asked Storm jokingly, trying to sound casual as the pegasus hauled him to safety from the elemental’s remains.

“Serenity healed Guard and I,” Storm replied, either missing or ignoring the joking note of his voice. “We charged in and managed to cut both of the Boulder Duke’s hind legs when the hammer fell… which was probably why it fell on top of you,” he explained, smiling sheepishly as he slowly landed beside Guard who waited for them safe distance away from the elemental. “Sorry.”

“Meh, it’s fine,” he replied, shrugging, then looked over the pile of rocks that had been the Boulder Duke. To his relief, there was no movement from it, no stone was raising and reforming into a new elemental. “So, did Sir Lightbringer decide to join the fight?” Tucker asked, turning back to Storm.

The pegasus stared at him with confusion for a heartbeat before he exclaimed “Ah, the giant Light hammer? No, Serenity had made it descend on the Boulder Duke.”

“Wha-” Tucker began, only to stop, speechless. He turned around, searching for the crystal pony, and spotted her as she trotted towards them. She was moving slowly, probably due to her mind feeling taxed after channeling the Light during the battle. “She can do stuff like that?”

“I might have to rethink the ways I hit on her…” he thought, a little bit nervously.

“I guess we did it,” Serenity said as she reached them, glancing briefly at the pile of rubble that had been Boulder Duke with pity before examining each of them. “Are any of you injured? Again?” she added, clearly doing her best to deadpan but unable to as a corner of her smile curled up in amusement.

“Nah, we’re all good,” Tucker replied, shaking his head along the other two. “But damn was that guy strong.”

“And yet you’ve won,” the familiar voice of Sir Lightbringer came from nearby.

Looking around, Tucker realized that Clover’s echo had teleported the two of them to stand beside them. The echo then immediately disappeared again; in the corner of his eye he saw her appearing among the Boulder Duke’s remains.

“It was a hard battle,” Sir Lightbringer continued, nodding with respect, “you have all impressed me with your skills. You can be proud of them… but of course,” he added, smirking as he looked at Storm, “I expect we’ll all be making fun of Storm for getting his sword stuck like that.”

At the same time Storm deadpanned at Sir Lightbringer, Tucker chuckled, his words having reminded him of that again. The glare the pegasus then gave him had only made him more amused. As Serenity and Guard had also joined in laughter - although Serenity had covered her mouth and was looking at Storm apologetically - he gave out a tired sigh and shook his head.

“It was indeed a glorious battle,” a booming voice erupted above them. As Tucker looked up, he saw the golden val’kyr reapper again, hovering on her massive wings a little behind Sir Lightbringer. “Worthy of a tale among the Halls of Valor. You can be sure I will pass it along to the Valarjar when I return there… along with the detail of getting a sword stuck,” Raogrior added, glancing at Storm, her lips - the only visible part of her face - slightly twitching.

“Oh come on!” Storm exclaimed as everybody else laughed.

163. The Power of the Sun

“It is finished,” Clover’s echo announced as she returned; the bright glow that surrounded the remains of Salvation (which were held by her magic) had dispersed. “I hath successfully separated the Boulder Duke’s essence from the shield’s shards. The elemental’s spirit hath at last returned to the Undercave, and the shards are finally safe for thou to carry,” she added, levitating the fragments over to Guard, who nodded and placed them safely into his saddlebags.

“Good, the last thing we needed was that elemental popping up again,” Arthas thought, satisfied. Although his paladins had just demonstrated that they could defeat such an opponent, he was worried about time; it was already past noon. They still had some ground to cover before they would reach the memorial, and Arthas was still planning on seeking Commander Hurricane’s echo afterwards. “We should get going if we want to return to our campsite at nightfall. Although I guess this isn’t up to me,” he added in an afterthought, glancing at Storm.

Before the pegasus paladin could as much as begin giving orders, though, Tucker spoke up. “So what you’re saying is,” he said, looking at Clover, “that as soon as the Boulder Duke reforms in that Undercave place, every earth elemental will hear how Storm got his sword stuck?”

Arthas stifled a snort of amusement and turned his gaze upwards, worried that seeing Storm’s expression would cause him to chuckle. Although he had technically been the one to start those quips, it was time to return to seriousness.

“Right,” he heard Storm say, his voice exasperated, “finally being home after two thousand years of being split into four earth elementals that wandered aimlessly around this Light-forsaken island, the first thing Boulder Duke will talk about will certainly be the fact that I got my sword stuck in its neck.”

“Well, I would talk about it if it happened to me,” Tucker countered.

“Yeah, but you’re not-” Storm began, only to stop himself, close his eyes and sigh, then rub them with his wings. “Nevermind. Is everypony capable of continuing?” he asked instead, looking around at the others. “We should get going if we want to reach the memorial, search for Commander Hurricane’s echo and make it back to our camp at a reasonable hour.”

“All good,” Guard replied stoically, quickly followed Serenity nodding.

Storm spared a moment to glance at Tucker then at Clover and Arthas before saying: “Alright then, let’s get moving. Remember to keep watch of our surroundings,” he added as they began moving to the north-east, in the direction of the monument. “We might have dealt with the earth elementals, but there will probably still be echoes in the area.”

Arthas nodded with satisfaction, pleased that he had remembered that. Assured that Storm had things under control, he allowed himself to relax and focus on other matters. He slowed his pace, intending to fall back alongside Clover so that he could ask her about the metal used in the creation of Salvation, but he was surprised to find that Serenity had beaten him to it.

“I’ve been wondering,” the crystal pony had began; Arthas noted that she was still a little overwhelmed when talking with the echo, “that earth elemental, he was almost pony like, and it looked like an earth pony. And that water elemental you had summoned resembled a sea pony a lot. So would an air elemental resemble a pegasus?”

Arthas perked his ears in their direction, intrigued by her question.

“I hath not seen any air elemental, nor were there any records of them being met by anypony,” Clover started to answer. “At least, by my- the real me’s time.”

“I’ve been told that’s still the case in today’s era,” Arthas chimed in, recalling Princess Celestia mentioning this.

“But that seems to be a reasonable assumption,” Clover continued, giving him a nod in acknowledgment. “However, please bear in mind that elementals come in many different shapes; during this war we had fought with various earth elementals. And the Elemental Lords and their direct offspring, well…”

“Offspring?” Guard cut in, taking the opportunity presented when Clover had trailed off. Storm and Tucker - “Of course Tucker,” Arthas thought - also looked back in interest. “You mean those creatures can reproduce?”

“They can,” Arthas replied before Clover could be distracted from her train of thoughts. Forestalling the next question, he added, “As to ‘how’, I defer you to Tucker’s imagination.” Turning to the echo, he asked, “What about the Elemental Lords, Clover?”

“And what are those?” Storm spoke up.

“They are the rulers of the Elemental Kingdoms, the four most powerful elementals of Equestria,” Clover replied. “They and their offspring - or most of them at least - are actually shaped like draconequi.”

“Draconequi?” Storm asked, wide-eyed. “You mean like Discord?”

“Yes, according to how thou describe him. In fact, before ye told me last night about Discord, I theorized that the legends about the draconequi must refer to the Elemental Lords instead of beings of flesh. Although considering the theory proposed by Star Swirl the Bearded after his journey to the minotaurs - that ponies might in fact be descendants of those lesser, pony-shaped elementals - this Discord might be their descendant as well. There haven’t been sightings of any other draconequus beside him?” she asked, looking from Serenity to Arthas.

“None that I’m aware of,” Serenity replied, voicing Arthas’ thoughts, and the others shook their heads. “Did Star Swirl really think we might be descendants of the elementals?”

“Would explain a few things,” Arthas commented in his thoughts. “Especially how pegasi can control the weather.”

“Only theorized,” Clover said, shrugging.

Serenity frowned thoughtfully, then spoke again. “How would fire elementals integrate into this theory? I mean, are there even pony-shaped fire elementals? It’s not like there is a tribe of ponies with fiery magics that could be their descendants.”

“That is true. Regarding the fire elementals themselves, actually…”

Fluttershy flew through the White Tail Woods, easily maneuvering between the trees. She wasn’t nearly as fast or agile as Rainbow Dash, of course, but just as Provato had said, this new spell he had taught her, the Mark of the Wild, allowed her to draw upon Nature to empower her body, increasing her swiftness, agility and strength, among other things. She was now racing back to him, having been asked to test what her body was capable of by flying to the forest’s border and back.

A smile crept on her face; although she still preferred moving (whether by flying or running, with the latter being her preference) at her normal, casual speed, a part of her now could understand why Rainbow Dash liked to race so much. Maybe it was in part because of the wilderness’ magic surging within her, but she found the sensation of racing through the forest quite thrilling.

“I suppose a little thrill from time to time isn’t so bad…” she mused, closing her eyes as she broke into the clearing where Provato had been awaiting her and rolling in the air around her axis… only to stop abruptly upon opening her eyes and realizing that she was about to collide into the timberwolf demigod.

“Oh, I’m sorry…” she began after barely managing to come to the halt. Landing before Provato, she continued, embarrassed, “I, um, I sorta lost myself in the… um…”

She trailed off as the Wild God chuckled warmly. “In the moment? You certainly must have; you seem to have forgotten that you were supposed to fly into me so that you could also see how much stronger and sturdier you body is when drawing upon the power of wilderness.”

“Oh!” Fluttershy exclaimed, having only now remembered that part of her task. Although it hadn’t been something that she wanted to do, she would’ve still obeyed Provato’s command had she not forgotten about it. “Oh, you’re right, I’m sorry…”

“It’s alright,” Provato interrupted her kindly, raising a paw to forestall any further apologies. “I think it’s safe to assume you have seen for yourself what your body can be capable of with nature’s strength within it.” He rose to his paws and slowly began to walk further into the clearing; Fluttershy hastily followed him. “I believe there is a way for you to, let’s say, gain even greater physical strength, but we’ll leave that part of your training for later.”

Fluttershy nodded in acceptance, not without some relief. She hadn’t decided to learn the Druidic ways from Provato because she wanted to make herself stronger, but to be able to help others. While being physically stronger could certainly help with that, if she would ever have to protect somepony from the likes of King Sombra for example, she much more preferred to learn ways to heal rather than fight.

“When would that be?” she asked, a little cautious.

“After we rescue the first Wild God from the Darkness that befell Everfree Forest and I convince her to aid in your training,” Provato replied as he reached the middle of the clearing and sat down to address her. His words surprised her, which the demigod must have noticed as he smirked warmly and continued: “The other Wild Gods have lots of things they can teach you that I can’t. Although in the past they have rarely interacted with ponies, I believe that they will see wisdom with sharing our secrets with your kind; after all, I wouldn’t be here speaking with you if it weren’t for you and your friend, and we wouldn’t be working on freeing the others.”

Fluttershy nodded, smiling happily. She found it hard to believe that there could be something about the nature and wilderness that Provato couldn’t teach her, but of course she trusted his assessment and was looking forward to learning even more. And regardless of that, she would still want to help the other Wild Gods, to free them from this Darkness and heal the entire Everfree Forest from the taint that had overtaken it.

“I’ve managed to locate the lair of a Wild God that I think will be the easiest to free,” Provato continued, making her eyes light up. “Before we try, though, I would like to teach you some more… offensive abilities. I plan to subdue her myself if it comes to a fight,” he quickly added; apparently, some of the worry she had felt must have reflected on her face, “and your role will be primarily to help me heal her, but it would be best if you were capable of fighting back if it came to it.”

“I… I suppose,” Fluttershy said quietly in reply, really hoping it wouldn’t come to it.

Provato seemed amused by her hesitation. He smiled briefly before he resumed speaking. “As you know, everything in nature exists in balance with each other. Some animals eat plants, others eat animals, and in death their bodies provide nutrients for plants to grow.”

A little confused, Fluttershy nodded; of course she knew that, but where was Provato going with this?

“Even the elements that carve form into the universe are fluid forces of nature,” the timberwolf demigod continued, looking up into the sky. Following his gaze Fluttershy realized that he was pointing at the sun. “They provide energy for plants to grow and warm us. The Wild Gods that dwell within this forest had been named Ancient Guardians because we took it upon ourselves to help uphold this balance; unlike all the Wild Gods that live down south and were content with just looking after their own, until they became worshipped by the zebras,” he added, rolling his glowing amber eyes a little before clearing his throat and resuming, “This was when my mother attacked the ponies two thousand years ago when they carved too deep into her forest; we understand the need for ponies and other creatures like you for wood, but taking too much from the forest caused chaos for everything that lives in it. When that happens, we fight, with fangs and claws, by poisonous bites or stings or by urging nature to fight back. But tell me,” Provato added before Fluttershy’s mind could dwell on the thought of fighting anypony (especially ‘with fangs and claws’), “how should one fight against forces that are not of this world, whose very presence on Equestria threatens the balance? Had this Darkness that corrupted us been given form, for instance?”

“Um…” Fluttershy hesitated, perplexed. That was really a question somepony like Arthas or Twilight could answer, but not her. “C-couldn’t we just talk to it, if it was given form? Ask it nicely to leave?”

Provato chuckled warmly. “I don’t think that would work on the Darkness any better than it would have worked on King Sombra or Nightmare Moon. It is a part of nature to fight,” he added, not unkindly, “for survival, to defend your young or pack. You will learn that sooner or later following this path, dear Fluttershy.”

The shy pegasus nodded again. She of course knew that, but it was one thing to know and another to actually think about fighting. “Um… then, couldn’t we still fight with, um, fangs and claws? Or, hooves I suppose,” she meekly joked.

“Well, it is my preferred method to be honest,” Provato confessed. “But no, there is a better method to combat the forces from outside our world; by calling on the forces of nature not of this world. Look,” he told confused Fluttershy, raising on his paws again and turning a little.

Quickly glancing in the direction where Provato was now looking, Fluttershy realized that now in front of him, several yards away, was a small boulder. Focusing back on the demigod, she saw him part his jaw, and to her amazement almost immediately golden energy began to form in his open muzzle. It sort of resembled the Holy Light, but not quite, the color was more akin to Provato’s eyes. It was almost like… like…

“Like the sun,” she realized.

Before she could digest this thought, Provato had cast the orb of energy forward, sending it right at the boulder. Upon collision, it blasted it apart with a resounding crack!

“By leveraging the sacred powers of the sun, the moon and the stars,” Provato resumed, turning again to her, “we’re able to channel their power to aid in the fight against imbalance that threatens the natural order of all things.”

“You… you mean you can use the power of the sun and the moon?” Fluttershy repeated, shocked. “Like the Princesses?”

“Not quite,” Provato replied, frowning. “The two of them are bonded with those celestial bodies, they aren’t exactly using their powers but rather are infused with it. What I just did - and plan to teach you now - is far inferior to what they are capable of. I’m not even that proficient with this particular trick,” he added, smiling again, this time a bit sheepishly. “I’ve learned it from the Ursas and their demigod, but was never able to channel as much power as they were able to.”

Fluttershy’s eyes went wide at the name of the mentioned creatures. “Y-you mean the Ursas are capable of blasting things apart just like that?!” she exclaimed, terrified at the thought of such huge creatures wielding such powers to boot.

“Were,” Provato corrected her. “They had lost their ability to call upon the sun and moon when the Darkness corrupted them. Also, they used to be smaller,” he added. “For some reason, the Darkness, instead of making them smaller like myself, had caused them to grow to such ridiculous size… perhaps it is because of their natural affinity to astral magic, maybe the Darkness had to exert greater influence on them. The Ursa demigod, Polaris, the Lady of the Stars, was actually smaller in size than what you today refer to as ‘Ursa Minor’.”

“Oh, I see…” Fluttershy murmured, intrigued. “But wait, didn’t you tell the Princesses that the demigod responsible for moving the sun and moon had disappeared?”

“Polaris wasn’t that demigod. She and her progeny were blessed with their powers by him, though they aren’t bonded to the sun and moon like he was, or how your Princesses are. And they are not nearly as powerful as them, I might add.”

“Oh,” she exclaimed hearing the explanation. “I see…” A question formed in her mind, born out of curiosity, but she hesitated, unsure if she should ask something like that.

However, it was no use trying to hide anything from the timberwolf demigod. To Provato, she might as well be an open book. “Something on your mind, dear Fluttershy?” he asked, a note of amusement in his voice.

His kind and gentle voice gave her the strength to voice her curiosity: “Um… how powerful are the Princesses, exactly?”

Provato hummed to himself before answering. He sat down and looked up in the sky, which was now directly above them; the noon had come.

“It’s difficult to say, especially since I met them so briefly…” he slowly said. “But if I were to make a guess…”

“Hooooly FUCK!” Tucker exclaimed, his voice echoing.

A part of Arthas wanted to frown at the paladin, but every other part was preoccupied with staring at the humongous crater left in the place of where over eight hundred years ago a mountain stood.

“At least now I can be certain that if I were to somehow become the Lich King again Celestia would definitely deal with me,” he thought, simply in awe. “To think I considered that Equestria had no chance against me… I just hope that if it came to this, there wouldn’t be anypony alive within…” he paused in his thoughts as he tried to measure the crater’s length; “a five mile radius of me?”

Clover’s voice pulled him from his musing. “This Princess Celestia is simply amazing,” she said, admiring the crater and looking up, probably recalling the mountain that she had known to be in its place.

“That she is,” Guard agreed. “It’s no wonder why there was nothing left of Bane.”

“I am so never going to hit on her again,” Tucker said, shaking his head in disbelief. “I mean-”

“Wait, what?” Serenity turned to him, frowning. “When did you ‘hit’ on Princess Celestia of all ponies?”

“It was literally the first thing he did after he was released from that crystal,” Arthas replied for the unicorn.

Serenity deadpanned, first at him, then at Tucker. “Of course it was,” she said, her voice seething with annoyance.

“Aww, are you jealous?” Tucker turned to her, smirking. “Don’t worry babe, I-”

“Serenity!” Arthas called her name as he sensed her channeling the Holy Light (and noticed Tucker backing away from her); Storm did too at the same time. Turning to the crystal pony Arthas could see faint glow around her head, most likely meaning that her eyes had glowed with the Light; Storm, who stood on the other side of Tucker from her, didn’t have to rely on his deeper sense to notice what could happen. Satisfied, Arthas let him deal with the issue. “The edge of a huge hole in the ground in the middle of the island haunted by wartime echoes isn’t the place for this sort of thing,” the pegasus added, more calmly but firmly as Serenity took a step away, the holy magic dissipating.

“I know... sir,” Serenity corrected herself.

“You were totally jealous,” Tucker told her, his smirk returning to his muzzle.

“Stop provoking her,” Storm told him less politely, frowning at the unicorn. Clearing his throat, he raised his voice. “Enough… admiring Princess Celestia’s, um, craftwork. The memorial is right over there, let us go pay our respects,” he said, pointing at the small monument further up the edge of the crater.

As they trotted over to the memorial, Arthas kept glancing at the crater. Celestia’s power just kept exceeding his expectations. “Is her power on par with that of the Dragon Aspects?” he wondered, not knowing of any other beings capable of destruction on such scale.

His mind drifted as memories that were not his own resurfaced, that of an orcish tale of a war with the ogres and an ogre capital who had been annihilated by the fury of the elements; the crater left by Celestia was comparable (albeit it was smaller) to the one in the story (vague memories of some draenei he had raised told Arthas that upon their arrival on Draenor the draenei had picked the location for their capital Shattrath, giving him a more or less good grasp on its size). Ner’zhul had been an elder by the time the Horde was born; for him to know of such event by only a tale must mean that it was indeed an old one. And yet, despite the orcs relying almost solely on oral lore, the story survived, a testament to how horrific such an event must have been. And here on Equestria a similar destruction (fortunately wrought upon a desolate island instead of a city) had been caused by a single pony Princess, not by the elements or however many shamans it must have taken to urge the spirits to such actions.

“If she has so much power, I cannot imagine how she can restrain herself from using it,” he mused, shaking his head as they reached the memorial. “One thing for sure, I am bowing lower to her from now on.”

The monument, placed on Celestia’s orders after the destruction of the original during her battle with Bane, consisted of two huge plates that depicted two armies, ponies on one and griffons on the other, both sides ready for battle. The tablet at the bottom read:

In memory of all the souls, both pony and griffon, who lost their life on this island, in what is known as the bloodiest battle of the only war our world has ever known. May such a tragedy never take place again.

“It’s a little different from the original one,” Serenity commented after everypony read it. “The first one had supposedly started by stating how this was a place of Equestria’s great victory before honoring the fallen.”

“I think I prefer this one, then,” Clover replied, the echo’s gaze on the depictions of two armies. “Tis a memorial to the fallen from both sides of this terrible conflict. It shouldn’t matter which side won here for that. There are other means for recording victory.”

“Well, you can’t really blame ponies from your time for mentioning that they won this battle,” Tucker pointed out, frowning a little at the echo. “Considering that the griffons attacked first and until now all the fighting took place in Equestria. This battle was the turning point, right?” he asked, looking at Serenity, who nodded (albeit reluctantly, clearly still upset at the unicorn). “After that Equestria-”

“This wasn’t the turning point.”

Everypony looked at Clover with confusion as she interrupted Tucker. The echo was still staring at the monument, but her gaze grew distant, as if watching something none of them could see.

When after a few silent seconds Clover hadn’t elaborated, Arthas took it as sign that she didn’t want to talk about this subject further at this moment. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “You are both right in my opinion,” he said, opening his eyes to look at Tucker, “but personally I agree with Clover, as I am sure Equestria’s victory had been celebrated and their soldiers honored by your ancestors enough within Equestria. This place honors the fallen,” he continued, pointing at the memorial. “Which is what we came here to do. We’ll take a minute of silence to honor those that gave their lives for their country, because for whatever reason they fought,” Arthas added as his eyes briefly darted to the griffon side of the monument, “especially at the beginning of the war, nopony, or rather no one can deny their bravery and valor they displayed while making the ultimate sacrifice.”

All four paladins immediately nodded in agreement, then turned to the memorial, all falling silent. Arthas briefly wondered what each of them was thinking before deciding that he didn’t need to know that. He knew them well enough to know that they wouldn’t be waiting impatiently for the minute to end; all of them, even Tucker, would contemplate the memorial in their own way. Whether they would do so by praying the souls of the departed found peace or wondering if they would someday have to lay down their life as well, they would all benefit from this moment.

As he himself gazed at the memorial, he found his thoughts drifting away to different soldiers. Soldiers who died on the land distant from their homes, too, all because of him. “Except their fate had been much worse,” Arthas thought, grief and guilt swelling in his heart. “Falric, Marwyn… the entire 1st Legion… all those good men had been damned because of me. Are any of them even remembered for what they went through? At least Thassarian had seemed to find his place among the Alliance… May the Light have mercy on their souls, for so few have on their memory.”

By the time he finished uttering a similar prayer for the ponies and griffons this memorial had been erected for, the minute of silence had passed. Everypony rose to their hooves and looked around, some slightly uncomfortable as if unsure if they were allowed to speak quite yet or what was the proper way to break the silence.

Rising, Arthas caught the eyes of Storm. The pegasus paladin nodded to him, letting him take charge for the moment. Nodding in return in acknowledgement, Arthas turned to Clover.

“Now then, Clover the Clever,” he began, “how about we see if we can aid Commander Hurricane and free his mind from this spell?”

“Concentrate…” Fluttershy thought, her eyes closed and forehooves before her chest. “Focus…”

She had grown used to drawing on nature’s power, but although Provato had assured her that drawing on the power of the sun wasn’t much different, Fluttershy found herself struggling.

“Stop,” the voice of the timberwolf demigod sounded from somewhere nearby. Fluttershy wondered how he knew she was still trying; there certainly wasn’t an orb of swirling golden energy forming between her forehooves. Regardless, though, she stopped trying to draw on the power of the sun, and let her forelegs fall down to her sides. “Calm your mind,” Provato further instructed her. “Take a deep breath, then exhale. Now, I want you to spread your wings, Fluttershy, as far as you can.”

A little confused, Fluttershy did as he asked. After she had calmed, she spread her wings as far as she was able to.

“Can you feel the warm rays of the sun touching your feathers?” Provato asked. “Can you feel them upon your coat? Focus on that. Like a plant who must absorb those rays to conduct photosynthesis, you must also draw on them with your whole body.”

Fluttershy’s ears perked; she hadn’t thought of it that way. “Alright, focus on the warmth…” she thought. She could feel it upon her feathers and coat, upon her whole body. The sun was basking everything with its energy, including her. All she had to do was channel it. “Concentrate on this feeling, the feeling of the sun’s warmth…” Fluttershy intoned, once again raising her forehooves to her chest, “... and channel it through your forehooves.”

It was indeed like drawing power from the wilderness, but instead of reaching to the nature surrounding her, she focused on the warmth spreading across her body, and through it she imagined herself reaching through the rays all the way to the sun. Fluttershy could feel the rays travelling through her body to her forehooves, and when she opened her eyes, she saw to her amazement a swirling orb of energy between them.

“Now, cast it in front of you,” Provato instructed.

Fluttershy obeyed without much thought, too overwhelmed that she had actually did it. She hadn’t even looked up from her forehooves as she threw the orb, sending it flying… right into Provato. Before she could even gasp, though, the orb hit him square in his leaf covered wooden chest without as much as phasing him.

“Well done, Fluttershy,” the timberwolf demigod said, smiling at her and padding over to her. “Don’t worry, you haven’t hurt me,” he quickly added, no doubt knowing what she would say next. “It would take you a longer practice to manage to wound me this way.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Fluttershy sighed with relief.

A warm chuckle escaped Provato. “You did very well for your first time, Fluttershy. We’ll practice some more for the next hour so you can get used to using sun’s magic, after that you can rest until nightfall.”

“Nightfall?” Fluttershy asked, confused.

“We will practice then calling upon the power of the moon and the stars,” Provato told her. “It is possible to draw on their powers, as well as the sun’s, all the time, but for somebody who is only learning how to do that it will be easiest during the time you can see them in the sky. You will notice the difference when calling upon the sun’s magic at night, but only at first.”

Though she of course trusted his wisdom, Fluttershy couldn’t help but think how impossible it seem to channel the sun’s power before Provato had told her about concentrating on the feeling of sun’s warmth. How could she do it when there was no sun? “A-are you sure?” Fluttershy asked, stammering a little. “I mean, how can I draw upon the sun’s power if I won’t feel it on my coat?”

Provato smiled down on her. “The sun is always there, little one, whether we see it or not. It basks this world in its rays, providing us with warmth and life. You felt it when you drew upon its power, did you not? And think about how far away the sun is from Equestria; when it’s on the other side of Equestria, the distance is only insignificantly longer. Practice channeling its energies now, Fluttershy, under the noon sky,” he told her, stepping away to give her more space, “and you will be able to find the sun even during midnight.”

164. An Unbendable Will

The sounds of clashing blades reached Arthas’ ears even before they made their way out of the small forest that grew in what used to be the shade of the mountain. It appeared that Commander Hurricane’s plan - to separate King Friedrich from the rest of his army and force him to one-on-one battle in this secluded area - had succeeded; even Serenity, with her admirable historical knowledge, didn’t know if such details of the campaign had come to pass.

“Seems the Commander’s plan had worked,” he commented out loud in a hushed voice, slowing down.

His paladins and Clover followed his lead; this was a hostile territory, and they could hear the sounds of combat.

“Of course it did,” Clover commented, a odd note of warmth in her voice. Arthas caught her giving him a side-wise glance as she asked, “Art thou still sure thou wants to do this?”

“You can ask me that question after we free Commander Hurricane from this spell,” Arthas countered. “After that I might reconsider my idea. Now,” he added, turning to address his paladins, “remember the plan; we take out the echo of King Friedrich first. Depending on how he and the echo of Commander Hurricane react to our presence, we might have to account for the possibility of the Commander attacking us. If that happens, you will have to restrain him with your magic,” Arthas told Clover, who nodded. “He won’t be expecting that. However, this will mean that we have to deal with Friedrich on our own. Serenity and I will try to use the Light to limit his movements, but if we don’t defeat him quickly he will most likely run. Storm, you will have to make sure he doesn’t fly away.”

“Yes Sir,” the pegasus paladin replied, without much enthusiasm in his voice, “I will do my best.”

“Good,” Arthas said, nodding, then sighed. “Of course, there is also a chance that King Friedrich will see us as griffons and won’t attack us. It… would be problematic.”

“Why is that?” Clover’s echo interjected, tiling her head as she voiced her inquiry. “I would have thought such turn of events would make this easy for thee.”

“Because we’re paladins. Killing somebody who isn’t attacking us would be dishonorable. We could take advantage of this and capture him instead, but I suspect Commander Hurricane would demand we kill the griffon king or let him kill him himself, but we couldn’t allow either.”

“Oh,” Clover exclaimed, looking at him with mild surprise. She fell silent for a few seconds, then added, “Thou couldst just tell King Friedrich thou want to kill him, then. Even if he sees us as griffons, he will move to kill thee without any hesitation.”

Arthas looked at her in silence for a few moments, finding himself surprised by the certainty in her voice, as well as the fact that a king would be so willing to kill his subjects, even if they had betrayed him. “Then again,” he thought, “based on what little I have heard about King Friedrich, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.” By all accounts, King Friedrich was a monster; apparently, even in Griffonia he was considered such. Killing a traitor in the midst of battle didn’t sound like something a griffon like him would lose much sleep over.

“That sounds… perfect, I guess,” he replied to Clover’s suggestion. Arthas couldn’t help but notice that the others looked slightly less enthusiastic to the prospect of urging the griffon king to try and kill them. “We will have to see what happens and act accordingly,” he told them, and was proud to see them nod in affirmation, dispelling their own private doubts. Smiling, he nodded as well and turned back towards the sounds of battle. “Let’s go.”

They resumed trekking through the woods, making sure to not make too much noise, although considering the frequency of weapon clashes they kept hearing, neither of the two warriors would hear them from this distance. Said distance, however, kept growing smaller, and very soon a strange sound had been made audible.

WHIISS!!!

“What’s that?” Arthas asked Clover in a hushed tone as they’ve heard two more of those.

“Hurricane’s sword, Windtear,” the unicorn echo replied. “It’s the sound it makes as it cuts through the air.”

With his question answered, Arthas nodded in silent gratitude. “Windtear, the so called masterpiece of Crystal Empire’s Crystal Forge,” he thought, recalling what he had heard previously about Commander Hurricane’s weapon. “I’m curious to see if an echo of that weapon will still have its properties…”

His musings were interrupted by a brief, small flash that shone through the treeline, and was soon followed by the dimmed sound of what sounded much alike to a thunder.

“What the…” Arthas thought, confused, his initial assumption - that it was lightning - being contradicted by the lack of storm. The very next heartbeat, however, the part of his mind who had gotten used to living with ponies reminded him that they could create their own lightnings. “But… there shouldn’t be any pegasi echoes above us, and there are no clouds at this height…” he countered himself in his thoughts. “There cannot be. Clover had said that King Friedrich knew Hurricane would have natural advantage anywhere near the clouds and wouldn’t get lured into a one-on-one combat with him unless it was this close to the ground, where Commander wouldn’t be able to use pegasus’ weather magic…” Arthas recalled, giving the echo a questioning stare.

Clover noticed his gaze, but rather than reply she strangely glanced at him and smirked briefly, before turning her attention towards the fight. Surprised by her reaction, Arthas followed her example, as they made their way to the end of the woods… and noticed two shapes moving not far from its edge.

Signaling to the rest to move even more carefully, Arthas crept from tree to tree, trying to get a better look of the situation before deciding to intervene. He also tried to catch a better glimpse of the two fighting warriors, which wasn’t easy; they moved fast, their figures quickly disappearing and reappearing behind each tree that stood between them and Arthas’ group. It didn’t help that, being echoes, they were partially transparent. Eventually, though, he was able to make them out.

King Friedrich was a powerfully built griffon, easily the biggest one Arthas saw. Of course, prior coming to this island, he had never seen any griffon, so all he had to compare to him were other echoes. As far as he could see, they were different from Azeroth’s gryphons almost as much as Equestria’s ponies differed from Azeroth’s ponies. Aside from the obvious (sapience, speech, and everything like that), they were also smaller, although still bigger than ponies. Friedrich, however, was as big as an Azerothian gryphon. Looking at him through the trees Arthas noticed that he flew almost effortlessly despite the heavy plate armor he wore, which covered everything except his wings, tail and head, speaking of his physical strength. He carried to battle two swords with slightly curved blades, similar to those Arthas had seen many griffon echoes carry; he suspected that such shaped blades made it easier to fight with them in mid-air.

Commander Hurricane, in contrast, wasn’t so physically impressive, at least from so far away. It was hard to tell from such a distance, but to Arthas it seemed that the pegasus was shorter than him. Despite that, he carried a sword - the famous Windtear - that was almost as big as himself with ease while flying around the bigger griffon, and parried each strike of Friedrich’s swords. Unlike the griffon king, he wore a lighter armor, which allowed for a greater mobility, and a helmet.

Arthas continued to observe their fight as he reached the edge of the treeline, signaling for the others to stop. He wanted to assess the situation before taking action. As he noted earlier, Commander Hurricane all but danced around in the air around King Friedrich, he was in constant motion as he struck with Windtear, trying to reach any vital area or the griffon’s wings to limit his movements. To the monstrous king’s credit, he proved almost as equally fast as the pegasus; his eyes almost never left Hurricane, everytime Windtear would come at him, either one of Friedrich’s swords would meet it or he would turn and let the strike hit where his armor would protect him, and then would conduct his own attacks, even if none of them could reach the pegasus. Each time, Hurricane would either move out of the way or parry, moving his sword so quickly that even when Friedrich brought both blades at him he would be unharmed.

“It seems Hurricane has an advantage,” he mused quietly. A thought occurred that this situation felt unusual to him; he was not used to merely observing a battle while hiding practically in the bushes. Banishing the distracting thought, he focused on the combat before him. “I can see clear marks on Friedrich’s armor, but not a single scratch on the Commander…”

His brow furrowed as he observed another exchange of strikes between them. Something felt… off to him, and it didn’t have anything to do with him all but peeping on them. No, something fell off to him about their battle, but for the life of him he couldn’t put his hoof on it…

Beside him, Clover uttered a short sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear. Even knowing Hurricane’s battle skills, I considered it dangerous for him to face Friedrich alone…”

Arthas listened to her with one ear, keeping his attention on the fight, trying to realize what was it that caught his attention. It seemed as if the very history of this battle wanted to deny him that, as the two flying warriors parted, landing on the ground within several yards away from each other. Both were breathing heavily and were in need of a momentary break.

Friedrich, whose face was visible, sneered and growled something at Hurricane in the griffon language while pointing one of his swords at him threateningly. Arthas frowned; the night before they left Ponyville Twilight had loaned him some basic book about Griffen for him so that he could start studying it during the journey to Dread Isle and back, but he had been too busy making all last minute plans and discussing them with his paladins and only browsed through the book. As such, he only understood two words from what King Friedrich had said.

“Skin,” and “mate”.

Coupled with what he had heard about King Friedrich, and that Private Pansy, Hurricane’s mate, had died at his paw in an unspeakably cruel manner, Arthas could easily imagine what the remark had been referencing. He wasn’t surprised when Clover - who obviously knew the language better than him - looked on at the griffon’s echo with shock, which quickly turned into rage, something he hadn’t seen her exhibit before. He doubted she had even realized that her horn had began to crackle with magic.

He was about to address her, wanting to calm her down - not because he feared she would attack Friedrich recklessly (although it would solve a lot of problems if she were to blast him with the full power of her magic), she was far too level headed to do that, even when enraged; Arthas was merely concerned about her - but then something happened that caused his attention to remain on the two warriors. Hurricane straightened, and turned his head towards them, lowering his sword.

Arthas was dumbfounded. He wouldn’t have be surprised if Hurricane had merely glanced in their direction, alerted by the sound of Clover’s magic she unintentionally unleashed in her anger, but the pegasus all but lowered his guard, as if forgetting about the griffon before him.

And said griffon was certainly too experienced warrior to miss this opening. As soon as Hurricane lowered his sword, King Friedrich lunged at him, reading his blades to swing at him.

This happened so fast that Arthas - still in shock after seeing Commander Hurricane look away from Friedrich - and Clover both didn’t have time to react, whether to shield the pegasus or attack the griffon. They were standing too close, and King Friedrich was too fast. By the time they’ve recovered, it was too late for them to interfere.

Not that they’ve needed to. Just before either of the blades could strike him, Hurricane flapped with one of his wings, causing him to raise into the air while spinning around his axis, his sword raised. To his credit, King Friedrich stopped and tried to defend himself, but he moved too slow. In a swift, clean motion, Windtear sliced right through his neck, separating his snow white head from the rest of his body.

As they watched King Friedrich’s headless body fall down in shocked silence, Commander Hurricane flew towards them, sheathing his sword over his back, as if having completely no interest in the fate of his heated enemy. “Clover?” he called out as he landed, his voice puzzled. “What are you doing here?”

Clover stepped out from behind the trees. Arthas, recovered from his shock (at least to some point) signaled to the others to follow her.

“What-” Clover began to reply, looking at Hurricane wide-eyed. “Thou- Thou just killed Friedrich!” she finally exclaimed, pointing at the already disappearing remains of the echo. “Like it was nothing! Why aren’t thou-”

Hurricane, who had removed his helmet, snorted. Underneath it was a face of a dark gray pony, with three scars (looking as if made by griffon’s talons) on the left side of his face over one of his blue eyes, and partially bitten off ear.

“We’ve been fighting over and over forever in this loop, I’ve memorized every way he moves while fighting. Do you know how many times I’ve killed him already?” he asked, shaking his head, then looked at her with renewed interest and mild excitement. “Nevermind that bastard, have you finally woken up? And who are they?” he added, briefly glancing at Arthas and the other paladins.

Clover continued to stare at him for a moment longer, a moment in which Arthas began to piece together what was happening here. However, it was still the echo of the unicorn called “the Clever” who said it out loud, after sighing in both amusement and resignation and facehoofing.

“Of course this spell couldn’t hold thee.”

“So…” Hurricane slowly said once Clover had finished talking. “We’re ‘echoes’ of the real Clover and Commander Hurricane.”

They were all sitting down in a circle at the spot they’ve met. In the short time after Hurricane had killed Friedrich’s echo, Clover had briefly introduced the paladins, then had proceeded herself explaining the cause of their existence and its nature.

Now that he was so close, Arthas could see that while indeed Hurricane was slightly shorter than him and more lean, he wasn’t by any means“physically unimpressive”. He was broad shouldered, and there were very powerful muscles clearly visible underneath his armor; in fact, he seemed more muscular than Arthas was.

“No wonder he could swing that sword so effortlessly”, Arthas mused, briefly glancing at Windtear; though transparent like its wielder, he could see that it appeared as if the blade was purely made out of crystal, with the exception of its hilt. “How does one make such a sword, exactly?”

When Clover nodded in reply, the Commander - to Arthas’ (and everypony’s else by the looks of it) surprise - uttered a calm, relieved sigh. “Well, that’s a relief.”

“Um…” Clover stuttered, a little perplexed. “‘Relief’?”

“Yes, I thought we were ghosts,” Hurricane replied, shrugging. “I thought I’d died to that piece of shit Friedrich here. I’m much happier knowing that I’m some... magical copy, or whatever you’ve called us, rather than having died here. I didn’t die here, right?” he then asked, looking at the living ponies with a frown. Serenity, probably slightly taken aback by Hurricane’s slightly threatening gaze, hesitated before answering, causing the echo to lose interest in them and turn back to Clover. “How long ago did you say that was?”

“Um, it hath been about two thousand years since we- I mean, the real ‘us’, had fought on this island, apparently,” Clover replied with a quick glance at Serenity. “And the ritual that had been disrupted by the ruler of Equestria which hath given rise to us hath taken place about eight hundred years ago.” As Hurricane’s eyes slightly widened for a moment as he learned how long they had been stuck on this island in the constant loop, only to return to normal as he looked away thoughtfully, Clover added, sounding sheepish, “I hath known thou to possess unimaginably strong will, but for thy mind to remain free and stay sane for eight centuries… that’s really amazing. Thou…” she continued, hesitant and looking at him closely, “actually seem… um, a lot… calmer, than before.”

“Apparently, killing Friedrich over and over for eight hundred of years in increasingly more imaginative ways did wonders for my sanity,” Hurricane replied with a shrug. Sighing, he added, “Though admittedly, even that became boring eventually. What you saw now was just me going through the motions, I lost interest in that fight long ago.”

“So that’s what seemed off to me when I watched their fight,” Arthas realized, “that he was bored… well, I suppose I would be too if I fight over and over again the same battle for eight hundred years…”

“So how exactly did the war end?” the Commander asked, changing the subject.

“Well…” Clover started, looking meaningfully at Serenity.

Clearing her throat, the crystal pony replied, “Equestria had pushed on into the heart of Griffonia and won, and you had taken King Friedrich captive.” Hurricane’s brow lifted in silent surprise, but he didn’t interrupt her. “Afterwards, Equestria had made him sign a peace treaty that ended the war and gave Equestria some of Griffonia’s territory.”

“I somehow doubt the real me would take Friedrich captive and just let him go after signing a piece of paper,” Hurricane said, turning over to Clover and crossing is forelegs on his chest. “Or that Friedrich would agree to surrender anything, even if we’d torture him.”

“I’d assumed the real me hath been able to convince the real thou to spare him,” Clover said.

“More like physically stopped me,” Hurricane snorted.

“As for Friedrich… I thought that maybe after his final defeat he realized that he had no hope of winning and wanted to save his subjects from further bloodshed?”

“Nay,” Hurricane replied, frowning. “Friedrich would have gladly sent every single griffon to their deaths before admitting defeat.”

“Well, if thou say so… ” Clover remarked, unsure what else to say.

Hurricane, however, quickly dropped musing on this subject. “Oh well, he’s dead by now. More importantly, did you say ‘ruler of Equestria’?” Commander Hurricane asked Clover with renewed interest… and a frown on his face.

“Yes, apparently…” Clover replied, then turned to Serenity, silently asking her to explain.

“Well, the war and several smaller conflicts that happened in the following decade had showed citizens of Equestria that the Council you had established could work, um, too slowly, so they decided to chose to have a single leader to rule the country,” Serenity said. “Ponies had wanted to choose between you, or um, the real Commander Hurricane, and the pegasi’s form of government, and Queen Platinum and unicorn’s form of government. Aand, um...” she hesitated, no doubt not really wanting to tell Hurricane’s echo that the real him had died before the ponies had decided. (“At least according to the known history,” Arthas thought, recalling what Daring Do had told him.) “Queen Platinum was chosen as the Queen of Equestria.”

Hurricane, who’s brow had slowly risen as Serenity explained, hummed. “Better her than me. Or her father,” he added, with barely hidden disdain in his voice; Arthas noticed how Clover’s eyes went up to the the back of her skull at the remark. “So the current ruler of Equestria is a unicorn that’s Platinum’s descendant?”

“That’s right, Commander,” Arthas spoke up. “Except Princess Celestia - as well as her sister, Princess Luna, as they now rule together - isn’t a unicorn, but an alicorn. And it had been Princess Celestia who had disrupted the ritual on this island eight hundred years ago that created you.”

For the first time Hurricane looked on without masking his surprise. “An alicorn? Huh, I guess that explains what had happened to the mountain,” he added, calming down as he glanced at the spot where said landform had been. Turning his attention back to Arthas, he asked, “And you said you four are?”

Since Clover had introduced them only briefly as “four ponies who had helped her regain her senses”, so Arthas wasn’t surprised that eventually Hurricane wanted some further explanations.

“We’re paladins of the Order of the Celestial Light. I’m Sir Lightbringer, Grand Master of the Order,” Arthas began; he decided to not go into further explanations regarding his names or himself, “and those are my subordinates, Knight-Lieutenant Sir Storm Clash and Knights Dame Serenity, Sir Guard Shield, and Sir Tucker,” he introduced each in turn. “We came here for… well, basically, a real combat experience. Barring a few incidents, Equestria has known only peace since your time,” Arthas explain as Hurricane raised an eyebrow questioningly. “The current Equestrian military has an adequate combat training, but training cannot replace experience.”

“So you took those four here so they could gain some experience,” Hurricane finished for him, smirking. “Good thinking. What are paladins?” he added, tilting his head in interest.

“Warriors who wield a special kind of magic,” Clover explained before Arthas could.

“Oversimplified, but accurate I suppose,” Arthas mused.

“They’ve actually been able to stand against me in combat, Sir Lightbringer especially,” Clover added, nodding at the paladin as she praised him. As Hurricane lifted an eyebrow, though, she blushed and cleared her throat. “The magic that binds us hath caused me to see them as griffons, actually. Fighting against them hath forced me to summon Triskelion, and the power of the staff broke me free.”

“Really?” Hurricane asked, sounding intrigued. “You stood against Clover and survived? I’m impressed.” His eyes briefly slided to the hammer strapped to Arthas’ back. “Actually… I have spent the last eight hundred years fighting the same foe; it would be interesting to face against somepony new.” Smirking, he added, “And I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious to see how somepony who can stand against Clover fights.”

Arthas, slightly surprised by the sudden proposition, quickly regained his composure and smirked back. “Testing myself against the greatest warrior ponies ever knew? It would be an honor, Commander,” he said, nodding in respect.

“I suspect that had been the reason why you came here seeking me,” Commander Hurricane remarked, standing up. Arthas followed his example as the pegasus turned to Clover. “Clover, please teleport to a safe distance with our new friends,” he asked her, putting his helmet back on.

“Of course,” Clover replied, her horn glowing.

“Good luck Sir,” Storm told Arthas, with others nodding, a moment before they all disappeared together with the unicorn echo.

“Ready to see how the greatest pony warrior fights?” Arthas asked Raogrior as he stretched his legs a little. As he sensed the val’kyr nodding, he added, just to be safe, “Make sure to not interfere… and watch over the others in case any echos appear.”

He had recalled how, according to history, King Friedrich had been able to escape Commander Hurricane because griffon reinforcements arrived and distracted the pegasus warrior. Although he couldn’t sense any echo now, during the fight he would be too distracted to pay attention to this possible threat.

“Of course,” the val’kyr replied.

Commander Hurricane, who was fresh from a fight, didn’t need to stretch, and merely stood upright on his hind legs, his wings outstretched for better balance, and drew his sword. “Feel free to come at me, Sir,” he said as Windtear cut through the air, nodding respectfully. “And no need to hold back; even if you’d seriously harm me, by tomorrow’s dawn everything will start anew on this cursed island.”

A slight furrow crossed Arthas’ mien at the slightly protectional tone he sensed in the echo’s voice and in his stance. Despite unsheathing his sword and standing up, he kept his sword lowered, and he almost looked relaxed.

“Well, if half of what they’ve said about him is true, he has every right to be,” Arthas mused. He also recalled how he had seen the Commander fight the echo of the griffon king. “Is he planning to dodge around me too? That would explain why he’s not bracing himself for an attack...” It wouldn’t be the first time Arthas had to fight somebody faster than himself, so despite what he had seen he felt confident he would be able to keep up with Hurricane enough to defend himself and wait for an opening. “With the Light’s help, it will be even easier… but I’d like to see how I measure to him with just my warrior skills alone.”

Having decided that, Arthas quickly lunged at Hurricane, shifting his body weight to his hind legs at the just precise time to land on them in upright position, while with his free forelegs he brought his hammer against Commander from the right.

Quicker than the eye could follow, the echo passed the sword from his right forehoof to his left and raised it in defense. The hammer stuck it… and stopped. Arthas’ eyes bulged as he felt the force of his blow stop, with Hurricane not as much as budging.

“Is that all?” he asked, his tone a mixture of amusement and disappointment.

165. The Fury of Hurricane

Snapping himself out of the utter shock, Arthas took a step back and brought the hammer back for another strike from the echo’s other side. As Hurricane shifted Windtear back to his other forehoof and raised it to block again, he paused mid-strike, brought the hammer back and delivered a weaker blow, but one that his opponent couldn’t defend himself from.

Indeed, Hurricane didn’t have time to raise Windtear in defense. However, as the head of the hammer was about to smash against his ethereal face, he leaned to the side, dodging it, then whirled around, swinging his sword against Arthas. Acting quickly, the paladin retreated his hammer and swung against the blade; even though Hurricane was apparently far stronger than him, he still wielded a heavier weapon and his attacks had greater momentum, which allowed him to deflect Windtear.

With Hurricane’s blade out of harm’s way for a second, Arthas took a step forward, intending to headbutt his opponent. However, with a beat of his wings, Hurricane moved backwards before he could hit him, and slashed with his sword. Fortunately for Arthas, he jumped back the moment Hurricane dodged his headbutt, so Windtear cut through empty air where his head had been.

A gasp escaped Arthas as he felt a sudden pain coming from his muzzle. He resisted the urge to bring his hoof to it to check what was wrong and kept his attention on the fight. However, he did spare a heartbeat to stare at the blade, confused.

“What the… I definitely dodged his strike,” he thought, licking the blood that dripped down his lips. The pain was ebbing away; it must have been a shallow cut, enough to draw only a little bit of blood. Still… “The blade that cuts the air,” Arthas mused, the odd WHIISS!!! sound resonating again as Hurricane swung the sword again, “does it make the air cut his opponent in short range or something?”

Stepping to the side, Arthas brought his hammer down on Windtear, deflecting Hurricane’s strike again. This time, though, the Commander didn’t even give him the time to try and tackle him; beating his wings, he circled around him, briefly disappearing from his line of sight. Acting quickly, Arthas spun around, grasping his hammer in both forehooves as he swung it at the angle so it would strike right where he guessed Hurricane was most likely to attack him from.

His entire body shook as their weapons met. The force of the impact made Arthas take a step back, and he looked at Hurricane attentively, his hammer raised defensively. The Commander landed with his hind hooves back on the ground. Their clash had only made his sword bounce away; Arthas had a feeling that even that was only because the pegasus continued to hold it with just one hoof.

“You’re quicker than I would have thought a pony wearing such armor and wielding such a weapon could be,” Hurricane spoke up, giving him an appraisingly look; his voice no longer carried the trace of disappointment Arthas caught on earlier. Instead, he could hear a little respect in it, and the echo seemed somewhat satisfied. “And your skill with that hammer is quite impressive.”

Arthas in turn found Hurricane’s remark about his speed to be amusing. He had grown used to the Light flowing through him, empowering him as he fought. Now that he was fighting without drawing on Its strength, Arthas could actually feel the true weight of his armor. He could still fight of course, he had been quite strong as a human and was brought back as an earth pony after all. However, it took more effort, and, without the Light refreshing him, he would tire eventually.

Despite that, he wanted to continue fighting with his own strength a little longer. Arthas could tell that so far Hurricane had been taking their fight easy; he hoped he could make him put in a little more effort before he’d fight as he had grown used to.

Cracking a small smile, he replied to Hurricane, “And you’re far more physically stronger than I had expected you to be. Between that, your speed, and your sword skills, it’s no wonder you’re considered to be the greatest pony warrior.”

Hurricane snorted. “I suppose that’s flattering, though I can’t help but feel a little disappointed that nopony in Equestria had ever surpassed me in two millennia.”

“Well, this millennium is only just beginning,” Arthas replied, smirking.

His words amused the echo. “Oh? Am I to assume you believe you can surpass me?” he asked, raising Windtear and pointing it at him, ready for battle.

“Maybe,” Arthas replied, shrugging and reading the hammer. “Though to be fair, I’m not just a warrior. And I suppose I’m not really a pony…” he remarked; though Arthas now considered himself as a pony (as he wasn’t one to deny facts), he was unsure if that would ‘count’ in this case. Seeing Hurricane raise an eyebrow in confusion, he shook his head and added, “It’s a long story, I’ll explain later.”

The echo again snorted. “Good, it’s probably boring anyway,” he remarked, and almost immediately began an attack.

Arthas was ready for that though, and as Hurricane slashed with Windtear, he had already taken a step back (and crouched down for good measure). As the sword was about to pass over him, he swung with his hammer while lunging forward, pushing the blade again, then as he drew closer to the echo he adjusted his grip and brought his weapon back in a powerful swing, aiming for the Commander’s head.

With his blade rendered useless for those next few seconds, as he wouldn’t be able to pull it up in time to block his attack - not to mention that there wasn’t enough space between the two of them for Hurricane to raise the sword in defense - Arthas had expected the pegasus echo to duck beneath it. Instead, Hurricane’s free left forehoof shot towards the hammer and turned a little, and before Arthas realized what was happening, he caught his weapon by the shaft, just below the hammer’s head, stopping his attack just before it could reach him.

“What?!” Arthas thought out of sheer shock, scarcely comprehending that Hurricane had stopped a hammer with just a bare hoof despite seeing it with his own eyes.

He was snapped out of his daze by a strong pull upwards. Hurricane flapped his wings while still holding his hammer, raising the both into the air. Not only that, he had also lifted the hammer high above his head, and brought Windtear back, reading to thrust it through Arthas.

“What?!” Arthas repeated in his thoughts, this time not out of shock but out of sheer ridiculousness of this situation.

However, despite said shock, he remained relatively calm and was able to act. And where most would have let go of their weapon - or allowed themselves to be impaled - Arthas heaved himself up above his weapon, turned slightly and bucked with his hind legs, aiming at Hurricane’s head.

But the Commander was too experienced to give him such an opening. Even before Arthas tried to buck him, he felt the echo release his hammer, causing him to fall down. As he fell, the paladin whirled to the side to avoid Hurricane’s sword. Windtear’s blade scraped against his chestplate, but didn’t cut through it.

A grunt escaped Arthas as he landed on the ground, slightly awkward, but he quickly recovered and readied himself to resume fighting. He managed to do that just in time; Hurricane was already above him, Windtear ready to strike. Arthas dove to the side, avoiding the blade, and, as Hurricane descended, he swung his hammer, his eyes locking with Hurricane as they briefly widened.

Arthas froze. To his shock, he felt as if an invisible force had taken a hold of him; he could not move a single muscle. His hammer stopped before it could reach Hurricane. The echo in turn brought his blade back for another attack.

Almost instinctively Arthas reached for the Light. It filled his heart and spread through him, the unspoken prayer breaking whatever chains had taken a hold of his body and freeing him.

A part of him felt disappointed that he had only lasted this long without the aid of the Holy Light, but the feeling didn’t last long. He might have wanted to try fighting Hurricane equally, as a normal warrior, but Hurricane had clearly not been a “normal” warrior. He was ridiculously strong physically, and Arthas suspected that this wasn’t the only asset he had. So instead of regretting calling upon the Light, he bathed in Its strength, and continued their fight.

Hurricane’s eyes once again widened, this time in surprise, as he saw a soft glow envelop Arthas’ hammer. The paladin swung his weapon to counter Windtear, and he succeeded, striking the legendary blade with force so great that Hurricane’s arm practically flew backwards. Now wanting to give the echo time to recover, Arthas lunged forward and swung again, this time to attack.

Hurricane though had expected that. The moment after Arthas countered his strike he leaped back, helping himself to maneuver with his wings, and as the paladin attacked, he grabbed Windtear with his other hoof, landed placing his hind hooves firmly on the ground, and brought it against the glowing hammer.

Their weapons clashed with great force, almost causing Arthas to release his hold, and they both stopped, each trying to overpower the other.

“Even with the Light’s aid, I can only barely match his strength,” Arthas mused. “At least I managed to get him to use both forelegs.”

“So this is the power Clover spoke of,” Hurricane said, smirking with satisfaction as he looked at head of Arthas’ hammer, enveloped in Light’s glow. “I was wondering how long you were going to hold back.”

“I wanted to get a better measure of your strength and skill before calling upon the Light,” Arthas replied; if he wasn’t trying to overpower Hurricane, he would have shrugged. He avoided direct eye contact as he talked; he wasn’t sure what exactly the echo had done, but he was certain that his glare had immobilized him for a moment. “You know, somepony once told me how not even dragons could look you in the eyes,” he said as he recalled what Daring had told him, making sure to keep his gaze away from Hurricane’s; he focused it below his eyes. “Now I know why it was.”

Hurricane’s echo let out a chuckle. “Useful little trick, huh? Don’t worry, I can’t do it to somepony who’s expecting it. And besides, those with strong will can break relatively quickly, though not as quickly as you had.”

“To be fair, I had a little help,” Arthas admitted with a smirk, thanking the Holy Light in his mind.

His opponent’s muzzle once again curled up into a smirk. “My other tricks, however…”

Arthas frowned as Hurricane had trailed off, but wasn’t given time to ask what he meant. Suddenly, the echo broke away from him, almost unbalancing him in the process. Recovering, Arthas brought his Light empowered hammer to counter Hurricane’s strike as Windtear slashed at him from the side. Once their weapons clashed again, the pegasus whirled around faster than Arthas had expected, attacking him from the other side. The paladin backed away with his hammer pulled back, blocking the strike just in time. However, by doing so he was left slightly unbalanced, and Hurricane immediately took advantage of that. He pushed Windtear down along with Arthas’ hammer, then placed a hind hoof on its shaft to keep it lowered. With the pressure taken off his forelegs for a moment, he let go of Windtear with his right forehoof, and brought it up, apparently intending to punch him.

Frowning, Arthas raised his left foreleg to block his punch. He didn’t need to ask the Light for protection; Hurricane might be incredibly strong, but he was quite sturdy and was wearing plate armor. A mere punch wouldn’t cause him much harm.

It wasn’t until a split second before Hurricane’s hoof collided with his foreleg, when he noticed small cracks of lightnings surround his leg, that he began to reconsider, but it was too late.

With a loud noise that resembled a thunder - only much quieter - Hurricane punched him in the leg he had raised in defense. A current of electricity went through Arthas’ body as he was thrown back, numbing his body. Rolling backwards on the ground, with great difficulty he dug his hind hooves in, stopping himself.

Breathing heavily in pain, Arthas propped himself up, staring at Hurricane. The echo didn’t press his attack, instead he remained where he was, waving the hoof with which he had punched him with slightly pained expression (he had punched solid metal after all), and his hind hoof still on his hammer. As that… lightning from Hurricane’s punch had struck him, Arthas had let go of it from the literal shock, and now he was standing before the pegasus weaponless.

“But not powerless.”

Still shaking off the effects of that lightning, Arthas lifted his numbed foreleg upwards, summoning the Light and gathering Its power in the palm of his hoof. Then he brought it down in throwing motion, blasting at Hurricane with the Light-made hammer.

The echo’s eyes widened in surprise as the hammer surged at him with great speed. He raised WIndtear in defense as he tried to fly away, but the attack came at him too fast. The hammer-shaped Light’s blast smashed against Windtear, the strength of the strike pushing Hurricane backwards.

Not waiting to see how quickly the pegasus warrior would recover, Arthas leaped back to his weapon, picking it up. Keeping his eyes on Hurricane, he noticed that the pegasus managed to stop himself after a mere two yards. However, he flew slightly further back, his gaze on Arthas.

“Impressive offense,” he praised him, nodding in acknowledgment. Narrowing his eyes and smirking, Hurricane added, “How’s your defense?”

Arthas’ eyes widened as he raised Windtear into the air, but not because he was readying for an attack; what shocked him was that the sword was now glowing with the Holy Light. Not like his hammer; it wasn’t enveloped by Its glow, but rather the blade itself emmanated it, as if had captured it.

With a jolt, Daring Do’s words came to him:

And Windtear was the masterpiece of the Crystal Forge; a blade that could cut through everything, as long as it’s wielder’s foreleg had the necessary strength, and was able to absorb magic and blast it back at the attacker.

“Oh…” Arthas exclaimed in his mind, the realization what had happened dawning upon him.

Hurricane didn’t give him much time to ponder and act, though. As soon as he raised the blade, he brought it down; a blast of golden light cast from Windtear, directed right at him. Finding himself in the same position Hurricane had been a moment ago, Arthas raised his forehoof, uttering a silent prayer for protection. The Light began to glow from his hoof, and a barrier appeared around him. As Hurricane’s attack blasted against it, doing him no harm, Arthas channeled the Light again to heal his body from the lasting effects of Hurricane’s punch.

When a few seconds later he was done, he allowed the barrier of Light to disperse. Hurricane, who had been waiting patiently, smirked as Arthas rose on his hind legs, raising his hammer.

“That’s quite impressive as well,” he said, before narrowing his eyes and charging at him.

“Anypony wanna bet one of them gets killed?” Storm asked as they watched from their vantage point on a hill about fifty yards away as the battle between Sir Lightbringer and Commander Hurricane continued, finding himself amazed and intrigued… and a little exasperated.

It was certainly a sight to behold, to see the two of them exchange blows like that. Having heard more than a few tales about Commander Hurricane both back at school and during his Royal Guard training, Storm, like most ponies, had considered him to be an undefeatable warrior. Having heard the echo of Clover the Clever say how he was more dangerous in combat than her had only cemented that opinion. And Sir Lightbringer was amazing as well; he was an excellent fighter, and his connection to the Light was stronger than anypony’s (though to be fair, there were a total of six ponies on their world who could call upon the Holy Light).

However, at the same time, Storm couldn’t help but feel a little upset. Not because he considered the whole fight to be kind of pointless; he still did, though less dangerous when they had thought that Hurricane’s echo would be still bound by the magic of the disrupted ritual. He could understand Sir Lightbringer’s desire to test himself against Commander Hurricane. No, what was making him a little upset was seeing just how far they outclassed him.

Storm didn’t have any special ambitions to be some glorious, heroic warrior or anything; sure, it would be nice to be considered such, but he had joined the Royal Guard and then the Order to protect other ponies, and that was his main desire. But watching Sir Lightbringer and Commander Hurricane, first a paladin and second a pegasus, made him realize how much he would have to train before he could hope to match either of them.

Which, aside from any possible feelings of inadequacy this could stir up, didn’t bode well when confronted with what Sir Lightbringer had revealed about his past last night.

“Oh, stop that,” he scoffed at his own thoughts when he realized where his train of thoughts was taking him. Derailing it, he added, “That was in the past. Sir Lightbringer wouldn't turn away from the Light again. Stop being so pessimistic!”

But if somepony as evil and powerful as the old him came around…

“Are you kidding?!” Tucker replied to his earlier question. “I'm hoping one of us doesn't get killed just by watching! I-” he suddenly trailed off, his expression widening in confusion. “Oh wow, I just had the weirdest sense of déjà vu…” he muttered, scratching the side of his head.

Storm glanced at him, wondering just how exactly one could have a déjà vu to something like this, but at the same time Clover spoke up, “I doubt thou need to worry about that, even when he hath been consumed with rage Hurricane would take care to not harm his allies by accident… and besides, I should be able to protect thee if he loses himself in the fight,” she added, as if in an afterthought.

“I would ask how he could possibly harm us by accident when they’re so far away,” Storm began to reply, frowning, “but I’ve just watched him punch Sir Lightbringer with lightning, so I’ll take your word for it.”

Clover let out a brief chuckle. “Yes, his abilities are quite unique. There are- I mean, were, a few pegasi other than him that could use the pegasus’ weather magic without channeling it through clouds, but not on the same scale as Hurricane. Although…” she hesitated, looking at the two fighting ponies thoughtfully, “that punch had less strength in it than I hath seen before… I suspect the necromantic magic that makes up our forms might be interfering with his pegasus’ magic,” Clover said, raising up her ethereal hoof and examining it.

“It didn’t seem to affect you when you had fought with us,” Guard pointed out.

“The pegasi and earth ponies channel their respective magic through their entire bodies to affect weather and earth, while unicorns use their magic through their horn to manipulate energies and giveth them desired form,” Clover replied. “My spells wouldn’t be affected much, and with my mind bound by that interrupted ritual I wouldn’t hath noticed such miniscule difference.”

“So there had been some ‘miniscule difference’?” Storm thought, recalling how easily she had fought all five of them at the same time.

“Anyway,” Clover continued, “as for thine concern, Sir Storm, I would not worry about either of them. Between his fighting prowess and skills with holy magic, Sir Lightbringer would be difficult to critically injure even for Hurricane, and he would stop the fight before it would go out of hoof so badly. Hurricane, on the other hoof… well, he’s Hurricane,” she finished, sounding oddly sheepish and, to Storm surprise, slightly blushing. “‘Tis hard for me to believe that he could lose this fight. I hath never met anypony who could match him in combat, though I will admit it looks as if thine Grand Master is giving him trouble.”

“He’s not yet tapping fully into power of the Light, though,” Serenity spoke up, her gaze not leaving the clashing ponies. “Sir Lightbringer can empower himself further. But… this isn’t the full potential of Commander Hurricane, is it?” she asked, turning to Clover, who shook her head. “So I thought. I’ve read some… hard to imagine stories about the Commander, how he had once fought against a thousand griffons at the same time…”

“Just one of the many amazing feats of Hurricane,” Clover said.

“It's no wonder he's regarded as the greatest warrior of this world.”

Storm almost jumped; Raogrior had been hovering behind them in silence for so long that he had forgotten about her. Glancing at her after she spoke, he saw that the val’kyr was staring at the fight even more attentively than all of them. At least, it appeared so; with her helmet covering her eyes, it was difficult to tell.

“Even though this echo of his isn’t giving his all in their battle, he’s already displayed more skill and strength than most of warriors of the Valarjar,” the val’kyr continued. Nodding thoughtfully, she added, “He might be a greater warrior than any stormforged champion in the Halls of Valor.”

Sir Lightbringer had explained to them briefly how this Valarjar was supposedly a mighty army of great warriors of the vrykul (which they had seen when he “sang” his memories for them; huge, towering people who were ancestors of humans like Sir Lightbringer had been), who were trapped in those Halls of Valor. Now Storm couldn’t help but draw parallels between them and Hurricane’s echo; even though he had been aware of this loop that keeps all the echoes on this island, he too was trapped.

“Would he have been strong enough to defeat the Lich King?”

Serenity’s question caught him by surprise. He glanced at her as she looked at Raogrior, awaiting her answer. After a moment, he also turned to the val’kyr, curious what she was going to reply.

“Well, at least I know I’m not the only one still thinking about what Sir Lightbringer had told us,” he thought, a little heartened.

The val'kyr continued to watch the battle, before slowly turning to Serenity. “I had not seen Sir Lightbringer fight as the Lich King, but it was well known to anybody on Azeroth that his power was only matched by his cruelty. However…”

Raogrior trailed off, looking over at the fighting ponies; following her gaze, Storm watched as Sir Lightbringer leaped forward to avoid Hurricane’s blade as he slashed at him from above, then dug his hind legs into the ground and swung the Light-enveloped hammer behind him at the pegasus, who blocked it with some difficulty, then pushed away and attacked again. Sir Lightbringer brought his hammer back to deflect Windtear and shoved it at Hurricane, who jumped into the air and flew over him to try and stab him from behind; the paladin whirled around to dodge it and brought his weapon down at the echo, forcing him to block.

Storm noticed that a faint glow surrounded Sir Lightbringer now, and his eyes all but burned with the Holy Light, a clear sign of being empowered by It. Being a paladin too, he knew just how much channeling the Light through your body in battle strengthened you (even if, aside from their time on Dread Isle, he only had done so during training at the Abbey). And yet Hurricane seemed to be keeping up with Sir Lightbringer with little effort.

Raogrior began again, causing him to turn his attention back to her, “I believe, if they had fought as they fight now… the Commander could win. However, such a fight wouldn’t have taken place. On Azeroth, your Sir Lightbringer had been known not only for his unimaginable power and cruelty, but also for his cunning,” the val’kyr explained as Storm and others looked on with confusion. “If there would be a chance for somebody to defeat him in combat, he would have struck preemptively in a manner that would have sufficiently weakened his enemy before engaging them in battle, or lured them into a place where he would have had an advantage over them… or he simply would have fought alongside his most powerful minions. As mighty as Commander Hurricane might have been, neither he nor this echo of his could defeat the Scourge.”

“Aside from maybe that last one,” Clover’s echo spoke up, “he hath tried all that thou hath mentioned before facing Highlord Fordring, and yet he hath fought the Lich King and won.”

“As you have seen in his memories, you know he was beaten more by his arrogance than by the Highlord,” Raogrior replied.

Storm could swear Clover had rolled her eyes before turning back towards the fighting ponies. He himself didn’t comment on what either had said, as he had to agree with both; that paladin, Tirion Fordring, had been targeted by the Lich King since before the war on that frozen continent, and yet prevailed. But at the same time, as they had seen in Sir Lightbringer’s memories, as the Lich King he had imprisoned the old paladin with ease and then struck down all those mighty champions with one blow. Had he first killed the Highlord before attempting to raise his allies…

“Then none of us would be here,” he remarked, finding himself very grateful for the arrogance Sir Lightbringer had in his previous life.

However, this wasn’t the only issue that occupied his mind. What Raogrior had said about his cunning… the ways Sir Lightbringer as the Lich King would go about defeating his enemies sounded dishonorable. Which of course wasn’t surprising, given how he controlled legions of raised dead that were enslaved and bent to his will, but what made Storm wonder was if those strategies, of first weakening the enemy and fighting in an environment when one had advantage, were wrong.

“A paladin has to act with honor at all times… but if we were to face some great evil, wouldn’t it be more important that we defeat it before innocent suffer? But what could be considered-”

“Uh oh,” Serenity suddenly exclaimed, bringing him out of his reverie. Glancing at her, he saw her turning towards the north, and followed her gaze. “We’re going to have company…”

Storm’s eyes widened; “company” was quite an apt description. A company comprised of around one hundred griffons was flying towards them, intent on helping their king. The king that was already dead.

“They’re not gonna be happy about that.”

“Battle positions,” he told the others calmly.

It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve faced the echos in greater numbers - though admittedly, not THAT great - and this time they had the support of Clover the Clever, and Commander Hurricane, as surely he and Sir Lightbringer would put their battle on hold…

Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind, a third of the company broke off from the rest and headed for the fighting ponies, while the remaining continued to charge at them.

Sensing the echoes approach, Arthas disengaged from Hurricane and turned to look at them. His eyes slightly widened from surprise as he grasped their number.

“I knew King Friedrich had escaped from the real you because his reinforcements had arrived,” he spoke, turning back to Hurricane; the pegasus echo had sheathed his sword and was hovering beside him, his wings slowly flapping as he crossed his forelegs on his chest, “but you could have mentioned that they would be here so soon and in such great number.”

“Ah, sorry, it slipped my mind.” Arthas narrowed his eyes in borderline annoyance at the pegasus. “What?” he asked, acting really surprised… and a bit amused. “It’s not as if they were ever that much of a problem to me, even the first time around.”

Normally, Arthas would assume that whoever said that fighting a hundred enemies at once wasn’t “that much of a problem” was boasting. However he still remembered how Daring Do had told him about how Commander Hurricane had once fought of against a thousand griffons by himself. If that had been indeed truth, then a hundred must had seemed easy when compared to that.

And he could believe that. Though they hadn’t been fighting for too long, Hurricane had more than proven himself to be an outstanding warrior. Not only was his mastery of the blade impressive, he was quick and unimaginably strong. Throughout their fight Arthas had been letting the Light strengthen him more and more, and yet Hurricane continued to match his blows. Combined with his innate pegasus magic and Windtear, he could have very well fought off a hundred griffons easily.

Arthas turned back to the incoming company, finding himself a little frustrated. He knew that as mighty as he was, he would certainly not be able to fight against a hundred enemies at the same time. He wasn’t worried; between himself, his paladins, Raogrior, and most of all, Clover and Hurricane, they would all make it through. It was only his pride that stung.

It was probably because of that that before he could stop he bit back to Hurricane. “And yet their interference allowed King Friedrich to escape.”

To his mild surprise, Hurricane let out a burst of laughter. “Well, you certainly best me when it comes to fighting banter!” he explained, chuckling. No doubt noticing Arthas’ surprise, he added, “Don’t be so surprised, I had eight hundred years to work out my frustration for letting him escape. The real me would have kicked your teeth in for that comment,” he added, smirking.

“Guess we better hope if I become evil again I will try to raise the real you from the dead,” Arthas retorted before he could help himself. “Seeing how this island’s magic couldn’t hold you, you’d probably break from my control too.” Now it was Hurricane’s turn to look at him with surprise. “Long story.”

Hurricane raised an eyebrow at that. “Seems less boring, I’ll give you that,” he commented after a second.

The griffon’s echoes had reached them by then; instead of attacking straight away, they encircled them, closing off any possible way of escape (with over half taking up position above them so that Commander Hurricane couldn’t get away). There was only a little over thirty of them, though. The rest had similarly surrounded Arthas’ paladins, Clover and Raogrior.

Knowing that even so outnumbered, with both the val’kyr and Clover’s echo alongside them his paladins were more than fine, Arthas focused on his and Hurricane’s opponents. He probably couldn’t fight a hundred griffons, but thirty something? That was manageable. He had fought against similar numbers, even if he had done so as the Lich King, and he wasn’t fighting alone.

“Think you’ll be alright?” Hurricane asked as he leaned to him, smirking.

Arthas deadpanned at him. “I’ll be fine,” he retorted, a little offended by the echo patronizing him. “Though I’ll admit I have no idea how you dealt with them by yourself.”

“It helps that there’s a limited number of foes that can gather around you to be able to actually swing their weapons at you.”

About ten of the griffons, which stayed a yard behind their comrades, raised crossbows.

“Those are a bit more problematic though,” Hurricane admitted as Arthas raised an eyebrow at him.

Sighing, Arthas concentrated, praying for Light’s aid.

As the griffons finally finished taking up their positions around them, one moved a bit forward. His colouring underneath the armor seemed to be light gray, almost blue, marking him as a member of Stormfur Tribe if Arthas recalled correctly.

He frowned as he got a better look on the griffon’s armor. It was... strangely ornate. It had several strange small crystals imbedded into it in several places.

“They remind me of crystals I’ve seen in the Crystal Empire… could they be some sort of trophy from their siege?” Arthas wondered, before he glanced at the other griffons.

His frown deepened as he realized about half of them wore similar armors.

“We’ve got you surrounded, Monster!” the leader of the company called out, grasping his sword and brandishing it threateningly. His voice was thick with griffin accent. “Where is our King?

A strange sensation went through Arthas. He felt his senses drawn to the sword; it was similar to the ones King Friedrich’s echo had been wielding, slightly curved so it would be easier to use when in the air. Unlike his weapons, however, this sword had a much thinner blade. Arthas tried to get a better look at it, but it’s ethereal nature made it difficult to see anything distinguishable.

Regardless, the sword emmanated a subtle energy that was barely noticeable. In fact, Arthas would most likely have brushed off the sensation he picked up from it, if it wasn’t for one thing; the resonance he felt within his soul. Somehow, this sensation was familiar to him, but from where…

“You mean your tyrant of a ruler?” Commander Hurricane’s reply to the griffon broke Arthas’ musing. He shook himself back to reality just in time to see the pegasus smirk as he continued, “I cut his head off. You should have seen his corpse running around like a chicken,” be added tauntingly as the griffons around them gasped.

Observing the griffon’s reaction to the news of the death of their king (in such a manner no less) proved quite interesting. All of them looked on with shock, but only some (most of whom bore white colouring of the Snowfeather Tribe) quickly became furious. The majority of echoes exchanged uncertain glances, and a few appeared to be relieved and even hopeful.

However, none of them lowered the weapons directed at Hurricane.

The company leader with his unusual sword also seemed uncertain and shocked, but unlike the rest of the griffons he recovered quickly, his eyes narrowing at Hurricane. “Even if that’s true, it changes nothing. Prepare to die!”

As those words left his beak, he swung his sword, signaling the crossbow wielding griffons to shoot. However, they were still shaken after the news, and it took them a second longer to snap out of it and pull the triggers. It was all Arthas needed. Raising his hoof, he summoned the Holy Light through it, blinding every echo around them. As they all yowled in surprise and pain, grasping their eyes (and a few crossbow wielding griffons shooting, but with their aim thrown off their bolts passed around him and Hurricane harmlessly), Arthas outstretched his hoof in front of him, sending a wave of Light at his opponents. Getting hit by such force, while too weak to kill them, would be enough for them to fall to the ground, where he would hold the advantage. Such an attack would also serve to push through their encircling line, letting them escape and fight from a better position.

Arthas was about to leap forward to do just that, but to his surprise the griffons echoes didn’t fall down to the ground as the wave of Light passed through them. It shook them a bit, but that was all.

“They’ve embedded their armors with Radiant Crystals that they mined from the Crystal Empire’s mines,” Hurricane chimed in, continuing to hover calmly in the air; it looked as if he had been admiring Arthas’ hoofwork. However, he was now finally reaching for his sword as he added, “They deflect magic. You might want to do this the normal way.”

And with those words he charged at the griffons, just as they started to recover their sight. As such they were unprepared to dodge Hurricane’s attack, though Arthas doubted that they would have been able to, regardless. The pegasus moved so quickly and swung his sword so precisely, cutting right through the exposed parts of their bodies and weak spots in their armor, that in the moment that it took Arthas to blink, two griffons were already falling to the ground, blood gushing from their wounds.

Even as they recovered, the griffons proved too slow for him. Hurricane turned his body around, dodging underneath the echo’s sword, then stopping in mid air and immediately shooting upwards, dodging a crossbow bolt while bringing Windtear through the griffon’s windpipe in the process, only to quickly pull it out and block sword strikes from two of the soldiers behind him. Using his monstrous strength, he pushed their blades away and whirled around, slashing their throats.

Amazed that Commander Hurricane took out five opponents in such a short time, Arthas almost forgot that he was also in this battle. He snapped out of his thoughts just in time to dodge a griffon’s axe, grab it, and pull the echo down to the ground, quickly bringing his hammer against its chest and cracking his ribcage. Hearing a griffon attacking him from behind, he swung around, using the hammer’s head to deflect the blade, then quickly parrying another blow from the side. He was about to lunge at one of them afterwards, but in the corner of his eye he noticed an echo further back, lining his crossbow right at him. Arthas raised his armored leg just in time for the bolt to hit it instead of his head.

A memory of his attack against Quel’Thalas when he had come under similar attack from Sylvanas surfaced on its own; back then though he had used Frostmourne to cut her arrows in the air, before they could harm him.

Grunting at the unpleasant flashback, Arthas swung his hammer against a griffon’s side, pushing him out of his way and into another echo, and lunged for the crossbow wielding griffon. Not expecting the paladin to break out of the group that had surrounded him or that he would move so far and jump so far away, he tried to fly away, but it was too late. Arthas’ hammer slammed into his head, crushing his helmet.

As they both fell, Arthas felt a cold air on the back of his neck. Instinctively, he turned and swung his hammer back, just in time to block a sword strike; the leader of the company had attacked him.

Finally able to take a better look at the sword that had unsettled him, Arthas’ eyes widened in surprise. The sword appeared to be made of some strange, white metal, and what was stranger still, it softly glowed. Not like his hammer, which shone with golden glow because of the Light Arthas was channeling through it; the glow was clearly coming from the blade itself, or rather, the metal from which it was made.

Except it wasn’t a metal. At least, Arthas had thought so; now he wasn’t so sure. Because now that he had seen it so up close, he recognized both it and the strange, soft energy that the sword emenated.

The sword had been made from the same substance that he had seen everywhere on the moon.

“How in Light’s name could a griffon get their paws on a mineral from the moon two thousand years ago?!” the thought rang through Arthas’ mind as he blocked more attacks, both from the leading griffon’s echo as well as the others. “And it can be used to forge weapons?!”

That was certainly a thought he would have to talk with Luna about…

The wielder of the blade proved to be quite a strong fighter, too. His unusual blade kept slashing against Arthas, and because of all the other griffon echoes attacking him, the paladin couldn’t even block them properly and had to resort to allowing the strikes to fall on his armor. Fortunately, it also meant that the crossbow wielding griffons couldn’t fire at him. Finally, as he dodged underneath an axe wielding griffon and crushed his shoulder with his hammer, he was able to deflect the company leader’s sword and lunge at him, smashing the hammer’s head against his beak.

As the echo fell to the ground, clutching his face in pain, Arthas heard another griffon coming from behind. Immediately, he spun around, bringing his hammer against him.

His eyes widened in surprise though as he looked at his attacker; compared to all the other griffons he had seen, this one’s features were much softer and his body smaller.

He was a little more than a child, clad in armor, and his eyes were full of fear.

With great difficulty, Arthas stopped his hammer in it’s momentum, then jumped away from the young griffon.

“They are a nuisance to you too, I presume?”

Hurricane’s comment took him by surprise. Arthas glanced to the pegasus echo, who was now beside him, easily parrying spears of two griffons and dodging weapons of two other. At first, he had assumed that Hurricane was referring to the youth he had barely avoided killing, but it didn’t appear to; his - somewhat disinterested - gaze was focused on the echoes he was fighting. He seemed to be talking about the griffon’s in general.

Parrying another strike, he lunged forward, cutting off the griffon’s head, then continued to fly past him. “Everything on this island will reset itself soon,” he told Arthas, glancing back. A smirk crossed his muzzle. “So let's just enjoy ourselves,” Hurricane added, sheathing Windtear on his back. As the nearest griffon was about to attack him, he beat his wings, dashing high up into the air. “I’ll clear the battlefield! Take cover!” he called down before he got too far away.

“What does he mean by that?” Arthas wondered, confused, keeping a one eye on the pegasus as he resumed defending himself from the echoes.

It seemed, though, that his attacker had some idea as to what Hurricane was about to do. Those of the griffons that had kept their attention on him continued to attack, but others, those that were further away from him, had kept their eyes on the flying pegasus. Some gave chase, but most just stared, their eyes widening with fear.

His confusion increased, Arthas watched as Hurricane stopped ascending, and instead began to fly around in a large circle very quickly. Almost immediately he became a blur, following his own trail in the air perfectly; to Arthas’ eyes it almost looked as if solid gray ring had formed above them. Having seen Rainbow Dash perform a few of her aerial tricks, he knew that it wasn’t an easy feat. Except Hurricane was flying in a much larger circle than Arthas had ever seen Rainbow do, and seemed even faster. It hadn’t been long before a torrent of wind began to form inside of it...

It wasn’t until the leader of griffon company, who had recovered and stood up from the ground, gave out a panicked order in griffon’s language to retreat that Arthas realized what Hurricane was about to do.

“He can’t be serious!” he thought, urgently channeling the Light into a barrier around himself. Turning his gaze away, briefly stopping on the retreating griffons with pity, he looked on where his paladins, Clover and Raogrior were.

Storm parried a strike from a griffon echo, then leaned down so another one couldn’t cut off his head and whirled around, bringing Spring Binder against him, cutting just above the elbow. The griffon roared in pain as he lost the foreleg, grasping at the remaining stump and backing away. With that one out of the way temporarily, Storm made quick work of the other echo, then, catching his breath, he looked around to see how the others were doing.

To his relief, they were all doing well, none of them seemed wounded and they were beating back the attacking echoes. It had helped that most of the attention of the griffons was focused on Clover from the start; fortunately, even though they had apparently embedded into their armors some crystals that absorb magic, as Clover had quickly told them, she had still proven more than capable of fighting them off (Storm was fairly certain she had taken out the most echoes out of all of them). She couldn’t blast them away with any spell directly, but they still couldn’t get past her barrier, and her magically created blades could still slice between crevices in their armors.

If any of them could compete with her in terms of fighting, then it would be Raogrior. Within seconds, it had been made abundantly clear what Sir Lightbringer had meant when he said the val’kyr were spirits of great maiden warriors. Her blade made quick work of the three echoes that attacked her at first, and then she continued to battle the next wave that came after her, easily breaking through them as they tried to surround her.

“If there weren’t so many of those echoes, I would probably feel embarrassed about how many the two of them had defeated,” Storm reflected, blinding two griffons that charged at him with the Light before flying around them and slashing at them. “But given the circumstances-”

“Is he serious?!”

The shout had pulled Storm from his musing. Recognizing Clover’s voice, he looked at her in alarm, only to see her looking somewhere beyond the line of griffons (safe within her magic barrier) with great worry on her face. Confused what could possibly worry her, Storm followed her gaze.

At first, he had no idea what they were looking at. To him, it appeared to be a sort of large ring that was suspended in the air for some reason. Only after a few seconds had passed did he realize that said ring was actually a pegasus flying around in a circle so fast that he all he could see was a blur. It wasn’t that much of an unusual sight; he had taken out his little brother to few Wonderbolts performances, so he had seen pegasi create similar “rings” before.

“Except for them being much smaller and they would quickly move on to some other aerial tricks. The only time I’ve seen pegasi fly in such a huge circle was when-”

His eyes widened. The only time he had seen that was when pegasi of Manehatten had created a tornado to lift up water to Cloudsdale from a reservoir. And just as he had recalled that, he realized a tornado had began to form.

“But a tornado this big needs over a hundred pegasi working together!” Storm’s brain tried to argue logic with his eyes, as well as with the rest of his body. Already, he felt wind pulling him towards the tornado. “How is this possible?!”

By then, the others had also noticed what was happening, the griffons included. As they echoes looked on in fear at the growing tornado and flapped their wings harder to regain their balance, a shout from the other group that had fought Sir Lightbringer and Commander Hurricane made them all abandon the fight and flee.

As he looked in their direction, Storm realized that though he couldn’t see Sir Lightbringer, a small dome of Light glowed where he had been. No doubt the older paladin had realized what was happening and channeled the Light to protect himself.

“Think we should follow suit?” Tucker asked out loud what no doubt they were all thinking, though Storm didn’t know if he meant the griffons or Sir Lightbringer.

“Stay close!” Clover said instead, concentrating. The magic barrier that surrounded her had expanded, enclosing around all six of them, and seemed to grow stronger, its prismatic glow becoming brighter. Immediately, Storm stopped feeling the pull of the wind vortex. “There, that should suffice,” the echo said, exhaling heavily, then looked in the direction of the tornado with an expression that Storm almost wanted to call a pout. “I cannot believe he would use that with us so close, without any other pegasi to support him.”

Storm felt like he should clear his throat, but at that moment, the tornado had reached the ground. And as he watched the ground break apart and rise up into the vortex, a little sting on his not very big to begin with pegasus pride was the least of his worries.

It wasn’t only the ground that was being pulled into the tornado, too. The echoes of the griffons, though they had tried to fly away, were being slowly dragged back into it. Some had already lost their balance and flipped over in the air and were now falling into the tornado. Others continued to beat their wings frantically, but it was clear to everypony that it was futile effort.

The ground, the boulders, the echoes, even the trees from the forest behind them, it was all being ripped from the earth and pulled into the tornado the echo of Commander Hurricane had just created.

“Very good Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy had barely caught her mentor’s warm voice. She was exhausted; throughout the day, with only a break so that she could eat and tend to the animals in her care, she had been trying to harness the energy of the sun, just as Provato had showed her and to hurl it against some rocks (after making double sure that there wasn’t any little creature hiding in any crevice or that there wasn’t anything growing on it). She had grown gradually better, but her progress was slowed by the setting sun; it became harder and harder to draw upon it.

However, she had finally done it. Despite that it was already nighttime, she had just blasted apart a rock with the perfectly harnessed sun’s magic.

“Thank you, Provato,” she replied after a second, slightly panting from exhaustion and blushing from her mentor’s praise. “I, I’m sorry it took me so long to learn how to do that.”

A smile appeared on the timberwolf demigod’s muzzle as she stammered an apology. “My dear Fluttershy, you had learned in a day what would took others months to learn. What nopony before had learned. You are doing very well.”

His words only caused Fluttershy’s blush to grow hotter.

“We’re done with our training for today,” Provato continued. “You deserve a rest. Seek me out tomorrow before midnight, so that we can-”

Provato stopped abruptly, his ears perking up and eyes widening and turning to the side, towards east. Fluttershy looked at him in confusion, not understanding what caused the Wild God to be so alarmed. She hadn’t heard anything; was she so tired that she hadn’t heard some dangerous sound?

“W-what is it, Provato?” she asked, beginning to grow worried as he continued to stare into distance.

However, just as Fluttershy asked her question, Provato looked away, his expression changing from alarmed and surprised to… something Fluttershy couldn’t quite decipher; his face was a little different from pony’s, after all, and he was much older and composed than her or almost anypony she had ever met (with the Princesses being the only exceptions). But to her, the timberwolf demigod appeared saddened, and almost nostalgic.

“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head and smirking. “Just… an echo.”

The wind was raging all around him. The hateful air thrashed against him, dragging him one way and then the other and threatening to tear him apart, and all he could feel was this huge, overwhelming fear.

But before he could understand what was causing this, Alilaaniwa woke up with a startle.

The zebra colt breathed heavily, feeling as if his heart would burst from his chest. He looked around his room as he tried to calm down, hoping the familiar sights of his modest quarters (not that he could see much in the middle of the night with his sight no less) would assure his mind body that what he had experienced wasn’t here.

But even when his body would calm, his mind would not. For he knew what he had seen wasn’t a dream, but a vision.

“What could it mean though?” he wondered, his breathing finally slowing down. “That fear I felt, and that wind thrashing me around, so full of hate… is the Spirit of the Air afraid of something?”

Almost immediately, he wanted to dismiss that thought. What could the Spirit of the Air possibly be afraid of? And yet…

Frowning, Alilaaniwa turned towards the doors. Despite his young age, he had already gone on a vision quest, the traditional rite of passage that marked a zebra as a full-fledged shaman. Not only that, he considered himself more skilled and powerful that most of the tribe’s shamans. The dream he just had hadn’t been his first vision; however, it felt far more important. Overwhelming, even. Should he go wake his former mentor, the Dowunai Tribe’s chieftain and Elder Shaman P’aqo, and discuss this vision with him?

“Nah, Gramps is about the only zebra in the entire tribe with a stronger bond with the elements than me. If they granted me this vision, then surely they granted him too. No need to wake him up, we can discuss this in the morning… and in the meantime…” he thought, glancing over to the covered window, smirking, “I can try and see if I can learn more on my own…”

Already having decided on what he was going to do, Alilaaniwa jumped off his bed and turned towards the window. The easiest way to find out what his vision could mean was to communicate with the elements and ask them. And while he could do that from the confines of his room (or anywhere, really) he had always found the elements easiest to reach when his body was exposed to them. This meant a trip to the peak of Mount Talon, the highest mountain in the Eyrie Mountains range, on which slopes the capital of the Dowunai Tribe, High Slope, was.

Before he trotted over to the window, though, the young shaman stopped by the nightstand next to his bed. On it were his shamanistic beads representing the elements of wind, fire, water and earth, as well as a necklace, representing the Spirit of the Wild. They were every shaman’s physical links to the elements; he could commune with them without the beads easily, as their purpose was to help each shaman call upon the elements and direct their powers, but Alilaaniwa always wore them.

Quickly putting the beads on each of his hooves and the necklace around his neck, the zebra trotted over to the window and pulled away the curtains. Immediately, he hissed in pain and turned away as the moonlight hit him right in his sensitive eyes.

“Spirits bring pox upon you, Moon Princess,” he cursed angrily as he squinted his eyes (which he usually did whenever he left his room) and slowly turned back to the window, getting used to the brightness.

Shaking his head a few moments later, he jumped up to the window sill and jumped out, channeling the Spirit of the Wild. Within a second a soft glow engulfed his body, transforming him into a Ghost Eagle. In this transparent, half-spirit form, he easily soared up into the sky above High Slope, the winds parting around him as he reached the peak.

The snow-covered peak of Mount Talon had a big, flat, circular ledge right underneath it, perfect for shamans to meditate. Alilaaniwa landed right at the edge of it and shifted back to his real body. As he turned around and looked down upon the city and the surrounding land, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He could feel the cold air fill his lungs and brushing against his coat, but it didn’t bother him; the Spirit of Fire burned in his heart, warming him up.

Sitting down and crossing his hind legs, Alilaaniwa focused on the cold wind around him. Through him, he reached the Spirit of the Air.

“Spirit of the Air, into my dreams had crept the vision you’ve sent. I had seen strong winds blowing around me, threatening to tear me apart, and I had felt your fear. I implore you, tell me more of what is to come, show me what caused such fear in you,” he intoned, his heart filled with concern.

“It was nothing.”

Air’s brief reply caught him by surprise. He opened his eyes and blinked; for the first time since he had first heard the element’s voice, Alilaaniwa was utterly confused. To say this reply was weird was an understatement, especially given the fear he sensed in the vision. Only his deep respect for the elements had prevented him from outright asking “Come again?”.

Instead he asked, “What do you mean, Spirit of the Air? Why did I have this vision if it was ‘nothing’? What was this vision showing me?” he repeated, putting more of his will into the query.

The Air remained silent for several seconds; if he was talking to another zebra, Alilaaniwa would have thought that they were embarrassed. “It was an echo,” the voice of the wind finally carried over to his ears. “The vision you had was an echo of the fear all of the air, all of the elements had felt, a long time ago.”

“An echo?” Alilaaniwa repeated; the wind’s reply did little to dispel his confusion, but at least it was elaborating. “What caused this echo?”

“An echo of the one who had caused this fear.”

It took some effort for the zebra to not roll his closed eyes. “And who was that?”

“One who had been denied his destiny by hatred and pain,” the wind sung in his ears. To Alilaaniwa’s dismay, he realized that the voice was growing quieter. “He’s long gone, his fury spent in times gone by, and only an echo of his remain.”

“But who was he?” the shaman pressed. “Who could have caused all the elements to fear him?”

But the Spirit of Air had shared all that it wanted. The wind no longer carried any words to him.

Alilaaniwa cursed under his breath. He had come seeking some explanation regarding his vision, and all he got was more questions! How could anyzebra (“Or anybody,” he corrected himself, realizing that the Spirit of Air hadn’t specified if that was a zebra.) cause all the elements to feel fear? And how could an “echo” of it remain?

He took a deep, calming breath. “Alright,” he thought as he cleared his head, “if speaking to the very element directly didn’t work, how about I ask somebody who should know more?” the shaman asked himself, glancing at the air beads on his right forehoof.

Extending is foreleg, Alilaaniwa focused and channeled his power through the beads. The small carvings on them began to glow with soft, dark blue light. A crack of thunder suddenly exploded before him, and as he opened his eyes a little, he was faced with a familiar friend.

“Hi Ali!” the four legged, winged mass of dark clouds and wind surrounded by tiny veins of lightning greeted him excitedly. “Whatch’ya want?”

“Hi Mistral,” he replied, smiling at her. “Listen, I’ve got to ask you about something.”

“Yes, you look dumb when you keep your eyes squinted like this.”

Alilaaniwa paused to furrow his eyebrows at her. As the air elemental giggled, he resumed, “Do you know if there was somebody the elements, especially of air, was ever afraid of?”

Now it was Mistral’s turn to frown at him. “That’s why you summoned me?” she asked, disappointed. “For some history trivia? Boring!”

“It’s important! I think,” he amended, uncertainly; after all, the Spirit of the Air had said that it was ‘nothing’. “I had a vision, and in it I was inside a raging tempest, a tornado that wanted to tear me apart, and I could feel this great fear…”

“Well, most fleshlings would feel fear when inside a tornado,” Mistral replied, rolling her glowing with lightning eyes. “Although,” she added, hesitating, “now that you mention this vision… back in Skyfields, the Anemoi Council had been worried about something, but whatever it was they seemed to quickly dismiss it.”

“Really? What could it have been?” Alilaaniwa asked, grateful for another clue.

But Mistral was already snorting. “How should I know what got those old farts all twisted in knots? They-” the air elemental cut off abruptly, staring wide eyed at something over his shoulder.

“What?” he asked, confused, not having heard or sensed anything behind him, and turned around.

A talon as big as he was right behind him.

Even though there was only one possible being this talon could belong to, in his schock, Alilaaniwa still looked up before doing what any sane zebra should, that is to stand up and bow down. Marahute the Eagle Mother, the Great Spirit of Dowunai Tribe, stood before him, gazing down at him with curiosity.

“Great Marahute!” he exclaimed, practically jumping up into the air. He almost instinctively backed away, but he remembered in time that he had been sitting at the edge. So instead, he bowed down. “It’s an honor to be in your presence.”

It was indeed an honor. Although he was a shaman (one with exceptional connection with the elements at that), Alilaaniwa, like everyzebra, worshipped the Spirits, the patron of their tribe especially. Not only that, during his apprenticeship, as the student of the tribe’s chieftain, he was granted the right to follow Marahute as his patron Spirit, an honor usually restricted to only the chieftain’s line and her priests.

The irony of which was not lost upon him.

However, despite that, he had seen Marahute only a hoof-ful of times, and never before had she come to him like this.

Before he could ask to what did he owe this honor, though, or before Marahute herself could reply to his greeting, Mistral spoke up. “H-hello, Eagle Mother,” she stammered a greeting, sounding a little nervous; Alilaaniwa had realized that she had moved to cower behind him. “You didn’t happen to overhear me talking about the Anemoi Council, hadn’t you?”

In response, the Eagle Mother merely tilted her head a little, her attention now shifted to the air elemental.

“Later Ali!” Mistral suddenly exclaimed.

Aliliaaniwa had barely glanced back in time to see her disappear back to her Elemental Kingdom. The shaman was slightly taken aback, even though he had gotten used to Mistral’s antics; however, his attention quickly shifted back to Marahute as he heard the great eagle utter a chuckle.

“Honestly, I hadn’t even spoken to them in eons,” she said, shaking her head, before spreading her wings and flapping them once, gracefully flying up into the air and landing several yards behind. Alilaaniwa sighed with relief (despite having to brace himself earlier so that the wind caused by Marahute wouldn’t push him off the ledge), glad that he could move further from the edge and speak to the Great Spirit without cranking up his neck. “I don’t think you’d gain much by asking such a young air elemental,” Marahute spoke to him; immediately, Alilaaniwa stopped squinting his eyes, despite how the moonlight hurt them. There were few beings he wouldn’t show such disrespect to, and Marahute was definitely on top of it. “What you had asked her about happened centuries before she had come to be.”

Alilaaniwa nodded, knowing (only too well) that Mistral was young for an elemental. However, he then blinked in surprise as the meaning of the Great Spirit’s words hit him. “W- I mean, Great Marahute, does that mean you know who was it that caused the elements such fear?”

“Of course I do, little one,” Marahute replied, amused. “As well as why you were woken up by that vision.”

“Could you tell me?” the young shaman asked, then, realizing that his plea wasn’t polite enough, he amended, “I mean, Great Marahute, I beg of you, help me understand my vision. Tell me more of what has happened in the past and what is happening now.”

Marahute’s eyes narrowed at him, as if weighing his request. “Such knowledge will come at a cost,” she finally said after a few seconds.

Alilaaniwa swallowed nervously. The Spirits usually granted the zebra favors after receiving offerings. Usually. It wasn’t unheard of them granting them for free, too, especially to their devout followers. Honestly, the young shaman believed it mostly depended on the Spirit’s whim.

“One of the reasons I prefer working with the elemental spirits.”

“I had been making offerings regularly to you, Eagle Mother, without asking any boon,” he tried, speaking as politely as he could. “And I am asking you of little more than… than a history lesson.”

The Great Spirit tilted her head a little. “You are asking me about events that transpired tens of generations ago, in the middle of the night, to do little more than satisfy your curiosity. You know that this isn’t important; and if you had doubts, you could wait and ask P’aqo. That is why this knowledge will cost you.”

Alilaaniwa was certain that she was amused.

“What would you require of your follower for this knowledge, Eagle Mother?” he asked slowly, wondering if he really needed to know right now and then.

Marahute was a reasonable Spirit, even if she had an reputation of being capricious at times. She wouldn’t ask of him something that he wouldn’t be able to give her. At the same time, the offering had to mean something, so he might be reluctant to give it away to just satisfy his curiosity. Because she was right, of course; the Spirit of the Air had said that this wasn’t important. His former mentor P’aqo was very wise and knew a lot; there was a very big chance that if he were to wait a few hours, he could just ask him. And yet Alilaaniwa was still on top of the mountain. Was his curiosity really that great?

A chuckle rumbled in Marahute’s throat. “I would make a request for you, one that I think you’d actually enjoy.”

Sensing that Commander Hurricane had finally dispersed that tornado he had created, Arthas stopped channeling the Light, letting the barrier around him disappear. The task of sustaining it had been tougher than he had expected; the wind continued to assault it, threatening to tear the paladin apart.

Just as it did the area around them.

As his shield had dispersed, Arthas was greeted with the sight of a wasteland. There wasn’t a plant left rooted for almost a mile around, all of it, from grass to trees had been pulled from the ground; actually, the ground too had seemed to be torn away, as well as rocks, and…

“Why am I standing in a shadow?” The thought crossed Arthas’ mind, almost ‘in passing’, a moment before he jumped away, realizing what could it mean. The next heartbeat a tree fell down right at the spot he had been standing, which was the only untouched patch of ground left in the area, thanks to the Light’s protection. Alarmed, he looked up, seeking any more falling debris, but fortunately it didn’t seem like there were more trees or rocks falling anywhere nearby. Turning his attention to where he saw Clover’s magical shield, he saw that they too weren’t in any danger. “Well, that was close… would have been a stupid way to die,” he added in an afterthought, deadpanning at the tree.

“This is a view I hadn’t enjoyed in a while.”

Arthas’ ears perked up hearing Hurricane. The echo was descending towards him, also looking around the devastation he had wrought, despite his comment seeming neither pleased or displeased. Arthas had a hard time trying to decide what emotion the Commander was feeling… as well as what he himself was feeling. He just watched a single pegasus kill an entire company of griffons, and had no doubt that he would have killed more if they were just nearby. Hurricane also destroyed the entire area just like that; it was fortunate that there wasn’t any wildlife on the island.

Arthas couldn’t decide if he was more in awe of Hurricane’s power, or dismayed at the amount of destruction he had caused.

The face of that young griffon’s echo flashed before his eyes.

“I don’t think this was necessary,” he began. “We would have dealt with them by ourselves just fine.”

“I know,” Hurricane replied, shrugging. “But it would have taken a while, and it won’t be long before the magic resets everything; I would have to fly all the way over here from the other side of the island. I’d prefer if we would settle our fight before this happens,” he added, reaching for his blade.

Despite having just seen what the pegasus was capable of, Arthas smirked, and, letting the Light flow through him, he rose on his hind legs. “I’m finding it hard to believe that the griffons could have been winning the war at the beginning,” he offered Hurricane a praise.

“Well, I couldn’t very well do that within our borders,” Hurricane replied, smirking as well. Narrowing his eyes, he pulled out Windtear and dove down. “But enough reminiscing!”

Opening himself to the Light, Arthas swung his hammer against him. The Commander blocked it as wings of Light manifested from the paladin’s back; he was grinning, as if he was excited.

And Arthas realized that he was too.

166. Heart of Frost

Silence fell around the camp as the five paladins sat down to rest, disrupted only by the crackling of the campfire. Which was fine with Arthas, at least for the moment; the trek back to the ruins of the tower after his fight with Commander Hurricane, with all the bruises he had gained, had been taxing. Even if he were to ask the Light to heal and refresh him, which he didn’t intend to, the few dents in his armor would still continue to irritate him whenever he moved.

“Guess that’s what I get for challenging the strongest warrior this world has ever known,” Arthas thought; now there wasn’t any doubt in him that Commander Hurricane fully deserved that title.

His musing was interrupted by a bright flash of light next to them. Slightly startled along with everypony else, Arthas turned to look as the glow of the teleportation spell faded, revealing the two familiar echoes.

“That took longer than expected,” Hurricane’s echo commented as they trotted over to the fire, sounding almost nonchalant. “Sorry, had to see the landfall through, then make some plausible excuse for flying away. The few times I did things too differently from the first time, well, the others never took it too good,” he explained, noticing Arthas’ raised eyebrows. “One time they even tried to restrain me, thinking I lost my mind.”

“Thou should hath talked with me,” Clover said at the two sat beside the paladins. “Perhaps I would have broken free of the spell as well.”

“I did talk with you, you were the one who tried to restrain me,” Hurricane deadpanned at her after removing his helmet, a hint of amusement in his tone. As the unicorn echo blushed in embarrassment, he chuckled, and turned back to Arthas. “You’re not too sore about losing I hope?” he asked with a grin, now clearly amused.

Even though he knew how it sounded (not to mention that he would have almost definitely lost if their fight had continued) Arthas still replied, his pride stung, “It was a draw.”

After Hurricane and him had resumed their battle, it hadn’t lasted long. They had exchanged a quite a lot of blows, but only Hurricane’s had reached his opponent’s; all of Arthas’ heavier attacks had been either blocked, parried or dodged. Of course, Arthas, knowing that he was the slower of both of them, had focused on defending his vital areas, resulting in a few of Windtear’s strikes landing on his legs and shoulders.

However, after several minutes, the two of them had clashed they weapons for the final time, and Hurricane’s Windtear had cut through his hammer. Realizing that he was wielding a hammer with only less that half its head, Arthas had taken an immediate leap back; Hurricane hadn’t pressed his attack though.

“Disappointing,” he commented, lowering his weapon and staring at Arthas’ hammer. The pegasus then shrugged and sheathed Windtear on his back. “We’ll have to pick up where we left off when you get a better weapon.”

And with those words, he had disappeared. The magic that bound all the echoes on the island reset them, and Hurricane and Clover were returned to wherever the real them had been at the start of this battle two thousand years ago, leaving the paladins alone in the hurricane-desolated area.

Now back in the present, Hurricane chuckled. “Sure it was,” he said, smirking.

Arthas shrugged. “Well, I suppose since you were the one to stop our duel, one could say that you had surrendered,” he said, smirking back in kind.

Hurricane neighed with laughter. “Oh, I am going to enjoy our next bout. What do you think?” he asked, turning to the other paladins. “Who won, me or him?”

As Storm at the others quickly glanced at Arthas, he found that he couldn’t help himself. He had to give the four paladins a stern look, daring them to try and answer that question the way he might not like.

The eyes of all four immediately widened. “Um…” Storm began, hesitantly, looking from his Grand Master to the echo of Pegasus Commander.

Arthas raised an eyebrow at him, waiting a few seconds to see if he, Serenity or any other would come up with an answer, then finally turned back to Hurricane, exchanging a look with him… and a grin after a few heartbeats, then a chuckle.

“Your subordinates need to grow more spine,” Hurricane commented in good-natured tone. “They seem quite afraid of you and me.”

“I believe it’s more that they respect us that much,” Arthas countered, shrugging. Smirking, he added, “Still, you better not torture them with such questions.”

“Bah, fine,” Hurricane said, shaking his head in amusement.

“If I may…” Serenity spoke up suddenly, taking the opportunity that they finished their conversation. She hesitated slightly as Hurricane turned to her, but then quickly recovered and continued, “I must say, Commander Hurricane, sir, I-I’ve read about you in history books, about your feats and best known battles, and, well, I have to say that all of them hardly do you justice,” she summed up, slightly awkwardly.

“Read about me in history books, huh?” Hurricane repeated, looking at her questioningly.

“Yes, well, I happen to find history very interesting,” Serenity explained, brushing the back of her head in embarrassment.

“Guess that explains why you were the one answering my questions about the end of the war.” Hurricane tilted his head. “Out of curiosity, then: how did I die? The real me, that is,” he amended, rolling his eyes.

“Oh, um…” Serenity trailed off, clearly uncomfortable discussing something like ‘how you died’.

Arthas, obviously not having such a problem, decided to interject, “About ten years after the war, a conflict ensued between Equestria and dragons, and you took the fight to them. You’ve won, but lost your life during the fire that consumed their valley.”

“Or so they say,” he remarked privately, again reminded of what Daring Do had told him.

He watched curiously as Hurricane’s echo reacted to the news about the - alleged - death of the real him. The pegasus looked slightly surprised. “Huh, death by dragon fire? Could have been worse I suppose,” he summarized, shrugging.

“What exactly do thou consider worse than, most likely, being burned alive?” Clover questioned, looking at Hurricane with surprise.

“Being killed by Friedrich?” Hurricane replied, frowning, then looked away, an angry scowl crossing his face. “I might have dealt with my hatred for him over those eight hundred years, but still… It was annoying enough to hear that I hadn’t killed him. How did that bastard die?” he asked in turn, looking from Arthas to Serenity. Frowning again, he added under his breath, “I swear by the ancestors, if he died from old age…”

Serenity cast Arthas an uncertain look before answering, no doubt slightly put off by the rather grim nature of the conversation and Hurricane’s comment. “Um, a natural disaster had struck the continent of Griffonia, known as Sundering of Griffonia, within a little over a year since your death. King Friedrich had died, along with thousands of griffons.”

The echo of Commander Hurricane gave out sigh. “The ghost of the real me must have been angry in the afterlife for having missed seeing it,” he said, shaking his head, sounding both disappointed and a little amused at the same time.

Serenity and others looked on at the him in mild shock after hearing such a heartless remark.“M-most of those who died were innocent civilians…” she began, but Hurricane raised his hoof to silence her.

“Yes, I realize, that is tragic. But the real me… while he wouldn’t kill civilians, I doubt that he would have cared much that they’ve died in a catastrophe along with their king.”

As Hurricane snorted at the word ‘king’, Arthas furrowed his brow in contemplation. Daring Do, after finding evidence suggesting Hurricane had survived the Dragon Hunt, had suspected that he had something to do with the Sundering of Griffonia, as unbelievable as it sounded. To Arthas that also had seemed highly possible. But Hurricane’s echo just said that he wouldn’t had killed civilians; surely, he must have known that triggering such cataclysm would do just that?

“But if that’s true, would it mean that there wasn’t any connection between the Sundering of Griffonia and Commander Hurricane?” he pondered. “Or… does it mean that during those ten years something else had happened to him, something that increased his hatred for Friedrich and griffons even more than the death of Private Pansy had?”

“It took me hundreds of years of killing Friedrich over and over to get over my hatred,” the Commander’s echo continued. “The real me had some measly ten years of not killing the bastard. You’ve said you read history books,” he turned to Serenity, “surely, you know how we pushed the griffons out of Equestria. You can’t be that surprised by the real me’s mindset.”

As Serenity blinked, uncertain, Arthas caught a quick glance Clover had cast Hurricane before she looked away, her gaze full of regret.

“Um, w-well…” Serenity began after a second, “the texts I’ve read were always very vague about how it had happened-”

“They launched an all-out attack the day after they killed Pansy,” Hurricane interrupted her. Snorting, he turned his gaze to the fire. “Friedrich thought the sight of her mutilated body would shatter our morale, he thought it would break me. So I broke his entire army,” he said, his words more like a growl than actual speech. “I knew all our outposts and forts would be attacked. I gave orders and had our army prepare through the entire night. On the morning, our camps were blocked from sight of the enemy by the clouds and fog our pegasi had brought down, and the unicorns used their magic to obscure the sounds. The griffons couldn’t see or hear anything until they got really close. When they did, they saw all the thousands of prisoners we had captured during the war impaled around our camps, slowly dying.”

Arthas turned to him in shock. To say that was a brutal tactic was an understatement; it was brutal by his standards! Only the atrocities he and the Scourge had committed could be considered worse, as well as the Burning Legion’s, but here, in Equestria… Arthas glanced at his paladins. They were staring agape at the legendary Founder of Equestria, as if not believing what they’ve just heard.

“As they all stopped and stared in terror, we launched our counter-attack,” Hurricane continued, ignoring their stares; his gaze was still on the fire. “They were too shaken to fight, a lot had fled from the battle. We pressed on, took back all the land they’ve occupied, and eventually pushed them out of Equestria. All within a matter of weeks.”

Storm was the first to speak up. “They… they were prisoners. How, how could you?”

Hurricane turned his gaze on him. “Do you have a mate?”

Taken aback, Storm hesitated. “Um, well, yes, sorta, but-”

“Well then,” Hurricane cut him off, his gaze hardening, “once your mate has been captured, tortured, then brutally murdered, then you’ll know ‘how could I’.”

Everybody shuddered uncomfortably, looking away from Hurricane. Arthas noticed Serenity casting him a sympathetic glance, but his attention was more focused on Clover at the moment. Out of everypony here, he would have expected her to show most sympathy at the mention of Pansy’s death. Instead, though, she continued to look away from the group; he couldn’t see her face, but he could see her forehoof, grasping her other foreleg tighter.

He also noticed that their campfire had began to die down. He rose quietly and trotted over to where they kept branches for the fire.

“Would you like me to list the things they did to her?” Hurricane continued, his hard gaze still on Storm.

Arthas had enough. “I don’t think we need the precise description,” he said calmly, his back turned to the echo, as he bent down to pick up timber for the fire.

Turning around, he saw that Hurricane’s gaze had turned to him. Undisturbed, he trotted over to the fire, and only when he dropped the fuel into it, he nodded towards Clover; with his back turned to the paladins, they couldn’t see it, nor could they see Hurricane glancing in her direction. Immediately, the pegasus’ expression softened, and as Arthas finished rearranging the branches on the fire so they would burn longer, he resumed staring into it.

“With the benefit of hundreds of years, I do regret it,” he said, shrugging. “Doesn’t change the fact that I did it, of course.”

“It’s still hard to believe that you had done it,” Serenity spoke out uncomfortably.

“Using shocking brutality to terrify enemies is an effective war strategy,” Arthas replied to her, reluctant, as he made his way back to his spot around the campfire. Turning around and noticing that his paladins had turned their gazes on him, he added, “Don’t give me those looks, you know now that I have done worse. Obviously, it’s not a strategy Equestria will ever use again.”

“What do you mean by ‘worse’, exactly?” Hurricane asked, turning to him, his expression calm but Arthas noted a slight frown on his face.

“I slaughtered every man, woman and child in a city of twenty five thousand citizens, denied the king’s orders to return to the country by burning our ships then blamed it on the mercenaries who fought for me. And that was before I lost my soul,” Arthas replied in a voice devoid of emotion; now it was his turn to stare into the fire. “All that came after was only worse.”

He didn’t need to look at Hurricane to know that the pegasus echo was staring at him intensively. “Well, I certainly feel better about myself,” he commented after several long seconds. “Clover had told me on our way here about how you… used to live on another world as some different creature, then died and was brought back to life as pony here. I take it’s all related to that?”

Arthas chuckled without humor and nodded. “Yes, I was killed for my sins, and brought back here for some reason. Still sounds like a boring story?” he asked, finally glancing at Hurricane.

The echo snorted in amusement, recalling their earlier conversation. “No, not really.”

The cold winds assaulted him from everywhere as he pushed forward. The blizzard seemed almost intent on stopping him, but step after step, he neared his goal, reaching with his claws and finally grabbing-

“Spike!”

With a jolt, Spike woke up from his slumber. He shook his head, disoriented by such a rude awakening, and look for the source of the noise.

“Apple Bloom?” he asked, having recognized the voice. He rubbed his eyes to clear them out of the sleepy sand, then finally spotted the red-maned filly on the ground floor of the room of the library that he and Twilight used as a bedroom, along with the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders and the golden crystal pony filly Liturgy. “What are you all doing here so early? Shouldn’t you all be at school?”

“Um, early?” Apple Bloom asked, tilting her head in confusion and amusement while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo giggled.

“You do realize it’s already noon, right?” Scootaloo asked, still giggling.

Spike blinked in surprise, then looked over at the clock. The fillies were right, it was indeed already noon. “Oh wow, I really overslept,” he finally said bashfully, blushing in mild embarrassment. Shaking his head, he got out of his bed and stretched a little. “So, what are you guys doing here?” he asked them as he quickly walked down the stairs to join them on the ground floor.

“Well, we were sorta hoping ya knew where Applejack, Twilight and the others had gone off to,” Apple Bloom replied.

“They went to see Rainbow Dash at the Wonderbolts Academy. They’re curious how she’s doing, and they wanted to give her a care package.”

“Aww!” Scootaloo suddenly exclaimed, disappointed. “Why couldn’t they tell us? I would have totally wanted to come!”

“Probably because they wanted to avoid the three of you running around a military academy?” Spike deadpanned at them.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders deadpanned back at him, but the fourth filly calmly said, “All had happened as the Light willed it.”

Spike tried to not roll his eyes; since Liturgy came to Ponyville with Serenity a few days ago, he had learned that she was far more pious than even Arthas had ever been at his most pious. It was beginning to border on slightly uncomfortable and annoying at times.

“Yes, well, I don’t know about all that,” he murmured uncomfortably, then quickly changed the subject. “Now if you excuse me, I need to eat some breakfast… or, lunch, apparently,” he amended in embarrassment.

As he headed for the kitchen, the fillies followed after him. “How come you didn’t go with them?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Twilight asked me if I wanted to come, buuut I didn’t really feel like it,” Spike replied, shrugging.

“You didn’t want to see Rainbow Dash as she’s training to become a Wonderbolt?” Scootaloo asked, staring at him as if he was crazy.

“It’s not that, it’s just…” he hesitated, reluctant to talk about the reason why he decided to stay. However, he knew way too well just how persistent those three could be. “I wanted to sleep in.”

“Well ya nailed it,” Apple Bloom commented.

“I haven’t been sleeping too good as of late,” he continued, ignoring the jibe. “I keep having this weird dream.”

“Weird dream?” Liturgy asked, her eyes all but glowing with interest. “What kind of dreams? Perhaps they are premonitions from the Holy Light?”

“Yes, well, I keep dreaming about a blizzard, so unless the Light decided that a fire breathing dragon needs to be reminded that winter is coming in just two months, I don’t think that it’s a premonition or a vision or anything,” Spike replied, barely managing to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

“A blizzard?” Sweetie Belle asked, tilting her head in confusion. “Why would you dream about a blizzard?”

“I dunno,” Spike sighed as he entered the kitchen. Getting ready to make some late breakfast, he looked over his shoulder and asked: “Do you want anything?”

As the fillies all asked for sandwiches, Spike started making food for all of them. “So what are you doing today?”

“Well, we’ve showed Liturgy about everything there is ‘round Ponyville,” Apple Bloom replied, shrugging. “So… maybe we should go hang out by the lake? Ah mean, it will start getting colder soon,” she added, glancing at her friends.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Scootaloo said, smiling, with Sweetie Belle and Liturgy nodding. Turning to Spike, she asked, “Spike, you wanna come?”

Spike hesitated for a second before replying; on one claw, it wasn’t everyday that he had the library to himself (even if about the only thing he would want to do that he couldn’t while Twilight was home was watching television). But on the other, going out to hang out by the lake sounded quite fun… as long as the fillies wouldn’t try doing something that would get them their cutie marks. He was still annoyed at having to clean the mess they’ve made in the library about two years ago.

“Sure, why not,” he finally said, placing a plate with sandwiches for them on the kitchen table.

“Guess this is it, then,” Hurricane commented after a few seconds of silence.

Arthas nodded, looking at the ship that awaited them almost longingly. Though he enjoyed the company of Hurricane and Clover, he would be glad to be back in Ponyville with his friends.

He, his paladins and the two echoes had just arrived a few moments ago at the port, having trotted and often fought their way through the battlefield through the better part of the day. As they signaled to the ponies at the ship that they were back, they had paused before the pier, saying their goodbyes to Hurricane and Clover.

“It was an honor meeting you,” Storm said, with the others nodding in agreement.

“The honor was ours,” Clover had replied. “Especially because thou broke me free from this magic. And after seeing what are thou capable of and hearing about the Princesses and friends of thee, we can rest easy knowing Equestria is in good hooves. We thank thee,” she added, nodding respectfully, with Hurricane joining her.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, they began to leave, with Storm, Guard and Tucker already heading towards the ship. Only Serenity stayed behind talking with Clover about something, and Arthas, giving the fortifications behind them a last glance.

“Are you thinking about breaking more of them free?” he asked Hurricane, recalling the look both he and Clover had given the echo of Smart Cookie when saw her in the distance after reaching the fortifications.

But the pegasus’ echo shook his head sadly. “Free them to this existence? Of not being truly alive, of being stuck on this island, repeating everything we do every few days? Nay. Even if Clover were to figure out a way to break us free… I don’t think they would be capable of dealing with this. Of knowing that everypony they knew and loved is long gone, that the world they knew is long gone.”

Arthas nodded thoughtfully, understanding his reasoning. “We will be bringing new paladins to this island in a few months, hopefully,” he said more briskly, hoping to lift the mood a little.

“Maybe by then you will get yourself some good weapons and we can finish our duel,” Hurricane replied with a chuckle and a smirk.

Chuckling as well, Arthas was about to respond in kind, but at that moment Clover approached them. “Sir Lightbringer, may I have a word?”

“Of course,” he said, frowning; the unicorn echo was levitating beside her a piece of paper. Intrigued, Arthas nodded at Hurricane. “It was an honor to clash blades with you, Commander. Until we meet again, Light be with you.”

As Hurricane gave him a curt nod in reply and turned to Serenity, who followed after Clover and now came over to the other echo to exchange a few words, Arthas trotted after the unicorn a few steps so they could talk.

“Could thou arrange for the ingredients on this list to be delivered here?” she asked, passing him the piece of paper she was levitating. “Dame Serenity hath been kind enough to offer me something to write them upon.”

“Um, sure,” Arthas said, accepting the list in confusion. “But wait, what do you need them for?”

“Hopefully, with those ingredients, I should be able to free myself and Hurricane from this island.”

Arthas’ eyes widened. “Really? Such a feat would require a powerful ritual…” he said, trailing off as he looked over at Clover’s list.

Being the former lord of the dead, Arthas was far too familiar with bound spirits and other specters. Breaking their bounds was almost always a complicated matter, and in most cases it resulted with the spirits being free from the world of the living and allowed to move on. He was curious how exactly was Clover going to free them from the magic that bound them to the island.

His curiosity quickly turned to confusion as he read the ingredients she wrote down. Water, carbon, ammonia, lime, phosphorus, salt, saltpeter, sulfur… Arthas wasn’t an alchemist, but a lot of the dead under his control as the Lich King were, so he was fairly familiar with alchemy, enough at least to deduce what certain ingredients could be used for. However, nothing came to his mind as he looked over Clover’s list.

“How exactly will those help you break the magic that binds you?” Arthas finally asked, turning back to her.

“Oh, I am not going to use these to break our bounds,” Clover replied, shaking her head. “I need those to create physical bodies for us. When we’re no longer echoes the magic of the island will no longer bind us.”

Arthas once again gazed at her with surprise. “I see your name is well deserved, Clover the Clever,” he finally said. That was definitely a sure way to break free from the island’s magic. Of course, the execution of this plan… “I’m sure you know though that just creating physical bodies won’t work, for you to no longer be echoes you’d have to actually… well, be alive.”

Clover nodded. “I am aware. But I hath a theory that should make this work… though just for myself and Hurricane. I won’t be able to do the same for any other echo, even if we’d free their minds,” she added, saddened. “Hurricane agrees with me that it’s for the best to leave them as they are, unaware of… everything. But it still doesn’t feel right.”

“I wouldn’t expect it to,” Arthas replied, unsure of what else could say.

Trying not to dwell on the thought - as he had enough souls on his consciousness that he could do nothing to help that he was actually responsible for - Arthas focused on the aspect of Clover and Hurricane being returned to life; or rather, turned into life, as odd as that sounded. Equestria would certainly benefit from the two legendary heroes returning to them. Having fought both of them, Arthas couldn’t help but consider that ponies could learn a lot from their ancestors.

“And yet…” he thought, concerned, as he glanced over at Hurricane’s echo and Serenity talk. Though the crystal pony was, as always, very polite, and was talking with the Commander with respect, but Arthas noticed the slight unease in the paladin. “No doubt because of what he said he had done to the griffon prisoners during the war… or what the real him had done, whatever,” he amended; he was starting to find this distinction more and more annoying.

This observation gave him pause. He had fought with Hurricane, and knew first-hoof just how dangerous he was. After hearing the story, and knowing what he knew from Daring Do… a slight seed of doubt crept to his head regarding Hurricane’s return to Equestria.

“One would think that giveth what thou hast been through thou wouldn’t hath such worries,” Clover’s soft voice broke him out of his musings.

Arthas looked back at her. The unicorn echo had spoken quietly, so that Hurricane and Serenity wouldn’t hear them; she maintained a calm demeanor, but there was a certain steel in her gaze that almost made Arthas back away.

Reaching to her shoulder calmingly. “I’m worried because of what I’ve been through,” he told her kindly. “Do you think I’m not worried about myself?”

Clover’s gaze softened, then she closed her eyes. As Arthas brought back his hoof, she opened them and said, “For all his… failings, and temper, I trust Hurricane with my life. The real me trusted the real Hurricane two thousand years ago, and his echo… is so much calmer. He resembles him from before the war much more. You have nothing to fear, I promise.”

Hearing such declaration, Arthas couldn’t help but smile. “I’m really glad to hear that, then. I’ll make sure those ingredients will be delivered here,” he added, hiding Clover’s list into his saddlebags. “And I’ll look forward to introducing the two of you to the Princesses.”

Spike gave out a long sigh of content as he laid down the blanket he had set up, reaching to his bag for a comic book. The five of them had just arrived by the lake, and while the Cutie Mark Crusaders decided to go and cool off in the water, the young dragon was mindful that it has been less than an hour since he had eaten; he didn’t want to get cramps.

Liturgy apparently shared his worries, as she was sitting beside him, reading Arthas’ Order’ libram. Or she just preferred studying the Light over swimming, Spike had no idea.

“The girls had a good idea to come here,” Spike thought, lazily turning over the pages of the comic book. “It’s nice to relax on such a warm day and do nothing, just enjoy the peace and quiet… I just hope the three of them won’t start any ruckus-”

“Well well well, look what we have here!”

“I knew it,” Spike sighed in annoyance, but the next second a realization hit him. “Wait, those weren’t their voices.”

Raising up to a sitting position, Spike followed the source of the voice. It came from one of the two fillies that were now approaching the lake, one gray and the other pink, and both the same age as all four of his friends.

“Oh brother,” Spike though, already knowing trouble was brewing. Well, maybe not trouble, but annoyance. The pink filly, easily recognizable by the tiara she wore (and the slightly arrogant way she talked and walked) was Diamond Tiara, who, along with the other filly - Silver Spoon - were in the same class as Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Liturgy. Like pretty much everypony in Ponyville, Spike knew the two fillies and the Cutie Mark Crusaders weren’t exactly… fond of each other. To put mildly. “Well, there goes peace and quiet.”

As he didn’t really know either Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon, Spike didn’t bother greeting them; besides, the attention of the two was focused on the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were playing in the lake. The three fillies had by then realized that they had company, of course, and were already waddling up the lakeshore.

Diamond Tiara was looking at them with dismay. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the crystal weirdo,” she said, continuing and glancing briefly at Liturgy. Spike had no idea if he should be offended or relieved that she apparently hadn’t included him in… whatever this was. “Just what are you doing here?”

“Hi Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon,” Apple Bloom greeted them politely, although her voice was completely lacking any sort of cheer. She quickly shook herself to dry her coat and mane - causing Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to back away as droplets of “What do ya think we’re doin’, we’re havin’ fun on probably the last warm day for awhile.” She paused for a second, then, hesitantly she asked: “Ya guys wanna join us?”

“Ha!” Silver Spoon snorted, “as if we’d spend time with blank flanks like you.”

“Good, she was just trying to be polite,” Scootaloo retorted, standing beside Apple Bloom. “And on that note, what are you doing here?”

“I don’t-” Diamond Tiara began to reply, but Scootaloo cut her off.

“Just to clarify; I mean what are you doing here without your butler carrying all your stuff,” she said with malicious grin.

Indeed, instead of using the poor old pony Spike had seen in passing once or twice in Ponyville, the fillies themselves were carrying some bags (with Silver Spoon carrying a distinctively bigger share of the baggage), most likely containing blankets, drinks, maybe an umbrella, because what else could the two fillies be planning to do at a lakeside than relax and have fun like they were already doing?

Diamond Tiara’s frown deeped and she replied after a second, “Not that it’s any of your business, but Randolph has a free day today that he requested a month ago to buy new suits after I threw away all his clothes.”

Spike shook his head, not sure if he had heard her properly. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one confused, as Sweetie Belle soon asked, “Why would you throw away your butler’s clothes?”

“It was his punishment for ruining my breakfast. Honestly, how hard is it to poach an egg properly?!” Diamond Tiara snorted and stomped, then shook her head.

“Yikes, not gonna complain when Twilight has me working overtime again,” Spike thought, feeling pity for the old pony.

He could feel Liturgy tense slightly beside him. “The Light teaches us to be considerate to others,” she said, looking at Diamond Tiara disapprovingly.

“Yeah whatever,” the pink filly replied, glancing at her briefly before turning back to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Anyway, you guys are in our spot, so I’m afraid we have to ask you to leave, now,” she said, waving her hoof dismissively.

“Your spot?” Scootaloo replied, ridiculed, all but throwing herself at Diamond Tiara’s face. “Funny, I don’t see your name on it.”

“Funny, just how nopony can see cutie marks on your flanks,” Silver Spoon chimed in, with a mock surprise. “Oh, that’s right, it’s because you don’t have any!”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Sweetie Belle asked, confused, as the two other fillies giggled.

Spike - suddenly feeling really glad that he didn’t usually hang around with ponies that were supposedly closer to his age - decided that he would intervene; the way things were progressing, it almost looked as if the fillies were about to come to blows. Jumping up to his feet, he ran to the fillies and pushed Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara apart.

“Hey, calm down everypony,” he tried, “it’s no reason to-”

“Tell them that!” Scootaloo interrupted him, while at the same time Diamond Tiara said, “Stay out of this!” with both fillies trying to push him away.

At that moment, just as Spike was about to try and defuse the situation again, and just as Liturgy trotted over, presumably in order to help him (though by what he had seen so far, citing Light’s teachings would have little to no effect on the two unfriendly fillies), a very loud noise came from behind Spike, from the direction of the lake.

Turning around in surprised fright, he managed to see a very tall splash of water, as if something had fallen into the lake from a great height. Spike was about to ask the others (who were all also looking at the lake, their argument forgotten momentarily in the confusion) if they saw what happened, but just as the water fell back down, he realized he could hear somebody coughing and gasping for air.

In the next heartbeat, he spotted the source of said gasp, as they jumped into the air, above the water’s surface. Spike stared, utterly surprised; it was a dragon. And more than that, unlike all those other dragons he had seen before, it was more or less the same size as he, meaning it was a baby dragon too. Except where he was purple and green, this dragon was all light blue… and had wings.

That was all he managed to notice within the second after the other dragon flew above the water, because what happened next immediately captured his attention (and made him utterly forget any possible feeling of inadequacy from the sight of the stranger having wings). The dragon breathed down at the water right below him, causing the entire lake to freeze in a matter of seconds.

Spike was agape. “This dragon… breathes ice?!” he thought, shocked; he had thought that dragons only breathed fire. Sure, Arthas had told him about dragons that breathed ice (and magma and some other, even weirder things), but those were Azerothian dragons, not Equestrian.

The fillies around him had also expressed their disbelief, but Spike was too busy staring at the other dragon to hear whatever they were talking between themselves. Said dragon had landed back on the now frozen lake, still coughing, then breathing heavily after several seconds. As Spike observed the mysterious dragon, he realized - suddenly feeling strangely warm - that this dragon was a female. At least, he suspected as much; he had seen only other male dragons before, except maybe some grown up dragons in the distance during the dragon migration, but this baby dragon had much softer, elegant characteristics than any of them.

And she was quite pretty, which was probably the reason why he felt so hot; he hoped he wasn’t blushing.

The dragon, slowly recovering upon the frozen lake, had risen up on her feet… then almost fell backwards. She had to help herself with her wings to regain her balance, then carefully straightened out. Once she recovered, she began to… stare at her claws? Spike tilted his head in confusion as he then observed her pressing a palm to her chest, as if checking her heartbeat. The next thing she did, though, seemed even weirder; she began to flex her wings, then brush her arms together before jumping back into the air and hovering above the ice silently, as if contemplating something.

A snort from beside him finally made him return his attention to the ponies around him. “Great, as if this place wasn’t crowded enough, somepony else came and froze the lake!” Diamond Tiara huffed angrily, then turned around. “Let’s go Silver Spoon, I’m gonna go ask Daddy to just build a swimming pool back at our mansion.”

“Oh, coming Diamond Tiara!” Silver Spoon called after her as she followed her, both fillies utterly ignoring everypony else.

Spike overheard Scootaloo muttering “Good riddance,” but he was already not paying any attention to the departing ponies. The other dragon had finally turned her head to them, then, after a brief hesitation, flew over towards them.

As she landed near them (losing her balance again briefly), Spike realized that up-close she was even prettier. Her body was covered in light blue scales as he had already noticed, but the scales on her stomach were gray-blue, the spikes on her back even brighter shade of blue (they almost seemed to glow), and she had two sets of horns protruding from the back of her head, the higher set growing upwards with the horns slightly curving by the end, and directly below them shorter two, both dark blue. He also managed to get a glimpse of her eyes, even though she wasn’t looking directly at either of them; they were icy-blue.

“Hello,” she said slowly and with some hesitation; it sounded to Spike as if she wasn’t expecting them to answer for whatever reason.

He wanted to reply in kind, but just as he was about to he found the words to be stuck at the back of his throat. He gulped nervously, trying to say hello again, but only a quiet grunt escaped his lips.

“Hi there!” Sweetie Belle greeted her instead, smiling at her pleasantly. “What’s a dragon like you doing all the way over here? We don’t see many dragons other than Spike here,” she added, nodding at Spike. “And how did you freeze the lake?”

Spike, nervously (and feeling even hotter) waved his claws at her, but the other dragon ignored him. “That’s actually a very good question. The first one,” she told Sweetie Belle, then pointed around her. “What exactly is this place?”

“Um, Ponyville?” Apple Bloom replied.

“Right, that doesn’t tell me anything,” the blue dragon concluded, almost snarling in reply. Calmer, she added, “And what exactly are you?”

“Um, we’re ponies,” Scootaloo told her, amused. “What, are you blind?”

A snort escaped the dragon. “Well, as a matter of fact…” she said, turning her sight to them and opening her eyes wide while pointing at them.

Spike covered his mouth to not gasp. Her eyes weren’t just icy-blue as he glimpsed, they were also clouded; her pupils were barely visible.

This dragon was blind.

“Oh…” Scootaloo stammered, horrified. “I’m so sorry, I, I didn’t mean-”

But the female dragon had already turned away. “Forget it, I have more important issues to deal with that the fact that I am blind again,” she said dismissively as she began pacing around, then snorted in annoyance. “Though I suppose I was blind all this time I guess…”

“Blind again?” Spike thought, sharing a confused look with the fillies.

“May I ask what those issues might be?” Liturgy unexpectedly asked, trotting over the dragon calmly. “It is my duty as a servant of the Holy Light to help those in need. Though it is beyond me to help with your blindness, perhaps we can help you with those other issues?”

The blue dragon had continued her pacing as Liturgy talked, as if ignoring her, but at the mention of the Holy Light she turned to her sharply, then stared at her with her blind eyes in surprise. After several moments she uttered a chuckle.

As Spike and the others once again exchanged confused glances, the dragoness spoke. “Oh, the irony… I appreciate the offer,” she added, though her tone didn’t quite sound honest, “but I doubt you can help me.”

“You won’t know for sure until you tell us what’s bothering you,” Liturgy calmly replied.

The blind dragon snorted again, amused. “Ok, fine. One of the issues is that for whatever reason I am about a hundred times smaller than I should be. Instead of being a giant adult dragon I am the size of a whelp,” she continued, ignorant of the surprised stares she was receiving. “Actually, I seem to actually be a whelp, although… a weird one,” she added, looking over her body despite not being able to see. “My spine, my claws, my wingspan… it’s all different. Did whatever send me here age me backwards… and mutate my body?” she hummed to herself, grimacing in disgust.

“Wait, something sent you here?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Did you think I dived into this lake and tried to drown myself?” the dragon replied, deadpanning. “Yes, something… sent me here. One moment I was… um, somewhere else, let's say somewhere colder, and the next thing I knew I was in the water choking on said water. Which is another problem altogether, but one thing at a time…” she muttered, resuming her pacing.

With each word she said, Spike grew more and more confused. However, a thought began to form in his head. It was bluntly obvious that whatever was responsible for what happened to this dragon it was magical in nature; not a few weeks ago he had seen a mare perform an Age Spell on two ponies after all. And her being thrown into the lake from somewhere clearly far away could have only been done via a Teleportation Spell.

(Spike had also calmed down and gotten used to the presence of the pretty female dragon enough that he could speak.)

“I got an idea!” he exclaimed, a little loudly. Embarrassed, he cleared his throat and continued: “It’s obvious something magical has happened to you. We have friends that know a lot about magic,” he added, ignoring the eye roll she did when he said the earlier part. As she looked on with interest upon the latter part, Spike realized he had to amend. “Um, although, they’re both away right now, Twilight won’t be back until evening… but there’s still Zecora!” he realized in mid-sentence.

“Oh yeah,” Apple Bloom agreed. “She’ll probably have some idea as t’ what happened t’ ya.”

“It’s certainly worth a shot,” Sweetie Belle added.

The female dragon didn’t show any signs of having heard what the fillies had said though; he attention was focused on Spike. It was enough to make him nervous again, but fortunately she quickly said, “And what exactly are you?”

Spike blinked in surprise, but then quickly relaxed. “Right, she’s blind… but wait, how does she know I’m not a pony then?”

Shaking off the confusing thought, he replied, “Oh, I’m a dragon too. I’m Spike,” he added as she looked at him with confusion, extending his claws to her.

As seconds slowly passed, Spike realized that it was stupid to extend his claws in greeting to somepony who couldn’t see it, but then the other dragon uttered a soft sigh and, with some reluctance, reached for his claws to squeeze it.

“Sindragosa.”

167. Canterlot Triple Surprise

“This concludes our report, Your Majesties,” Arthas finished, bowing his head before Celestia and Luna.

Both alicorns nodded thoughtfully. “It’s a pity the storm delayed your return, preventing you from informing us sooner about the developments on the Dread Isle,” Celestia remarked. “We would have liked to know about the echoes of Clover the Clever and Commander Hurricane sooner.”

Arthas of course had expected as much, but it couldn’t have been helped. This storm had caught them halfway back from Dread Isle to Baltimare. Thanks to the experience of Lady Gale’s crew they were able to easily evade it, but the storm proved too big to navigate around safely. Of course, since all Equestrian ships that travelled beyond Equestria’s territorial waters (which by extension meant leaving the area where the weather was controlled by ponies) were required to have at least one pegasus on board for precisely such occasions (a practice that reminded Arthas of the Kul Tiran fleet and their tidesages), they had tried to disperse it, but it was too wild for the crewmembers to deal with, even with Storm Clash’s help. Eventually, after losing two days at sea, they had been forced to sail to Manehatten’s harbor instead, extending their trip for another two days overall. The storm had also interfered with their attempts to contact the mainland; all they could do was send a very brief message saying that they weren’t in any danger and would take longer to return.

Due to the complexity of the events on Dread Isle, Arthas decided against trying to inform them about the echoes through such means, and, due to the distance between them, he was unable to reach them mentally. After arriving in Manehatten he considered sending a message, but at that point they were less than half a day's travel from Canterlot; a few hours difference hardly mattered, and he knew the Princess would prefer to get detailed information right away rather than incomplete information sooner.

The prolonged return also upset him for other reasons of course. Aside from missing Twilight and the rest of his friends (he missed out on Rainbow’s return from the Wonderbolt Academy and he was sure she would bring this up next time she’d want something from him), he had wanted to prepare the Abbey for their new arrivals; the new initiates would be arriving three days from now, and his wards from Griffonia would arrive tomorrow. He still needed to meet the blacksmith Celestia had promised to provide for the Order. The renovations for the Abbey done during their absence needed his final approval. They had already made plans to visit the moon again and try to find out the reason behind the bat ponies’ shadow powers. Princess Celestia had also mentioned about the possibility of rejoining the piece of his soul that the Holy Avenger was made from into the rest of it. And to top it all off, they were all waiting for Brann’s reply regarding his next visit to Equestria to go and examine the Gate of Tartarus; Light knows when that would happen.

Overall, because of his tight schedule, those four days they lost felt more like at least half a year to Arthas.

“Oh well, I guess it couldn’t have been helped,” Princess Celestia concluded, sighing, then brought up the same thing that bothered Arthas, “Other problems caused by your delayed return are more pressing anyway. Do you think Clover’s idea will work?”

“It definitely seems possible,” Arthas answered, eager to see that the Princesses wanted to hurry this part of conversation up. “As I mentioned, Clover hadn’t shared the details of her plan with me. However, I had quickly learned during our brief time together that her nickname was very accurate; if she thinks it will work, then I won’t be surprised if it does. And besides,” he added with a little smile, “considering my own particular circumstances, I think we can agree that the creation of a physical body and giving it life isn’t a stretch around here.”

That comment surprised both of the Princesses; their eyes slightly widened, and they quickly glanced at other ponies that were in the Throne Room with them; the four paladins that stood silently behind Arthas in attention. As the alicorns looked back at him, the former human merely shrugged in reply to their unasked question.

The sisters smiled and recovered. “Ah, so you have shared your history with your paladins,” Luna said. “That certainly will make our future briefings easier, since we won’t have to dance around the subject whenever it appears. How much has Sir Lightbringer told you?” she asked, turning to the paladins.

He could hear Storm clearing his throat. “If you are referring to him being a human from Azeroth, Your Majesty, and the Plague of Undeath, his fall from the Light, actions as a death knight and becoming this ‘Lich King’, then I believe Sir Lightbringer has told us everything,” the pegasus paladin recited in a steady voice, with barely noticeable hint of nervousness (which Arthas suspected was more due to him addressing the rulers of the land rather than his past).

At once, both alicorns turned to Arthas, each raising a single eyebrow. Arthas suppressed a sigh; clearly, Celestia and Luna considered it a very big omission to not tell them about him being the Crown Prince of Lordaeron, which Storm would have certainly mentioned too.

Reaching to them with his mind, he deadpanned and said: I really fail to see how mentioning or not mentioning that is necessary for the story.

“And yet he doesn’t say so out loud,” Luna commented in amusement, glancing at her sister.

Rolling her eyes, Celestia turned back to the paladins. She resumed the conversation, not addressing the two-second long intermission: “I see. And may I ask, knowing everything about Sir Lightbringer’s past, how do you feel about him?”

While Arthas’ eyes went up to the ceiling in exasperation, he found himself surprised to hear Tucker to be the one to respond, “We did follow him into a warzone after hearing that, I think it’s self-explanatory.”

The metal clang and grunt that followed had most likely meant that one of the others had elbowed him for that slightly inappropriate way of replying to Princess’ question.

“I believe what Sir Tucker was trying to say,” Serenity began in somewhat annoyed voice, “is that while it was of course shocking to learn, we all trust Sir Lightbringer and will gladly continue to follow his teachings and command.”

Arthas couldn’t help but softly smile hearing that, and wasn’t surprised to see the Princesses do so as well. “We are glad to hear that,” Princess Luna said. Turning to Arthas, she added, “Though I believe you made the right choice by not telling anypony the… specific circumstances that led you to Equestria, it would be best to slowly untangle this web of secrets and borderline lies you weaved.”

Celestia nodded and continued, “Aside from honesty being an important virtue - which I am sure Applejack would agree with - between your return to life as a pony and Brann Bronzebeard’s artifact that lets him to teleport freely from your original world to ours, it is safe to assume that there is some connection between them. Quite frankly, the more time has passed since your rebirth, the more evidence of that had resurfaced. With Brann’s upcoming visit, I fear that we might even find ourselves involved in Azeroth’s affairs… or that Azeroth would find itself involved in Equestria’s affairs.”

“And when that happens,” Luna added, “we would undoubtedly start hearing about the old you, Sir Lightbringer. It’s better that we all learn of your past first from you.”

“Which is one of the reasons why I decided to reveal that to my paladins, Your Majesties,” Arthas agreed with a nod. “I am also planning on telling everything to my friends in Ponyville. Although if you mean for it to become a public knowledge in Equestria… I’m not sure if that would be a good idea, to be honest.”

“Neither are we,” Celestia said, “and it is something we still need to think about carefully. Perhaps it would be best to leave such discussion until after affairs between our two worlds become more intermingled.”

“An equally important matter would be what we would reveal to Azerothians,” Luna chimed. “If we’re to make contact on a larger scale, then they would no doubt eventually figure out who you are even if they hadn’t known you personally. That statue of your mentor in the Everfree Abbey isn’t exactly subtle,” she remarked with good-natured smirk. “It wouldn’t bode well for the relationship between our two worlds if we concealed it from them. On the other hoof, though, it is safe to assume that most Azerothian’s denizens would call for your death if they knew, wouldn’t they?”

Arthas flicked his tail in irritation. “Definitely. The Alliance, the Horde, Kirin Tor, Argent Crusade, basically every major force on Azeroth that Equestria could make contact with would want me dead. For good reasons of course,” he quickly added, realizing how what he had said could sound.

“Damn, I always wanted to be popular like that,” Arthas heard Tucker remark from behind, which was followed by another clang and grunt as he was hit again.

“Suffice to say,” Arthas continued, ignoring the interruption, “forging diplomatic relationships with any of Azeroth’s factions would be difficult. Unless of course you presented them my head on a platter, which-”

“- which is out of the question,” Luna interjected before he could finish the remark that was only half-jesting, clearly annoyed by the suggestion.

“I’m merely informing you of your options, Your Majesties,” Arthas said. “I know you well enough to realize that you wouldn’t consider this one.”

“Even if it would be the best option,” he remarked privately; while he wasn’t keen on dying again, especially knowing how much pain it would cause to his friends, he would be willing to if it meant averting any possible threat to Equestria that could come from Azeroth due this his past.

“It’s not only our future diplomatic relationships that I fear we should worry about,” Celestia spoke up, ending the discussion about the possibility of his sacrifice decisively. “I’m unsure how the return of Commander Hurricane would be accepted by Griffonia; even if the war happened over two thousand years ago, his actions during it could cause them to be worried. I can’t say I would blame them; even though Equestria’s historians have made a lot of rather accurate theories about what had happened to Griffonians prisoners, it is shocking to hear what the Commander precisely did to them,” Celestia said, shaking her head sadly.

“Since we are on the subject,” Luna said, turning to Arthas questioningly, “are you sure if this echo of Commander Hurricane was freed from Dread Isle he wouldn’t pose threat to anypony?”

Arthas knew very well what she meant. Hurricane actions during the war aside, it was very possible that he had caused the Sundering of Griffonia. His echo would of course have no memory of that, since it had happened a good decade after the battle on Dread Isle, but if that pony had really broken apart a continent, what else could he do? And if he could, would he?

“I had considered this as well,” Arthas replied. “But I did not sense falsehood in him when he said that he regretted what the real him had done. It would seem that those eight hundred years he spent trapped in an endless loop has indeed helped him. I have also questioned Clover’s echo about this, and she seemed to have faith in him.”

“It is reassuring to hear,” Luna remarked, “though we would still have to convince Griffonia that he bears no ill will towards them.”

“Which is why it is even more important that we strengthen our relations with the griffons,” Celestia noted. “We’re fortunate that they accepted your offer to invite them into the Order. Hopefully, when the Light’s teachings spread between both our kingdoms we’ll become closer friends, though this would understandably take some time.”

The Princess had made excellent points. The shared faith in the Light was one of the reasons why the Alliance’s kingdoms were able to live so well with each other. Unfortunately, it would be months before the griffons' initiates would become paladins and he would be able to send some away into Griffonia to spread Light’s teachings. Even if they were to think of some way to hasten this, it would still take time, and Hurricane would be freed in a matter of days. This would very likely cast a great shadow on the relations between the two kingdoms.

On the other hoof, though, Arthas couldn’t with clear conscience suggest that Clover should wait before freeing them from the Dread Isle’s magic. Reliving the same battle over and over again was a dreadful concept, and Hurricane had endured it for over eight hundred years already. He deserved to be freed.

“I’ll make sure the initiates from Griffonia, especially my two new wards, are well trained, and ensure they’ll consider ponies as friends,” he said, unsure what else he could do at the current time. “As for Commander Hurricane and Clover the Clever’s echoes, I left instructions at Manehatten Harbor to send a ship with the ingredients Clover requested. They are only waiting for your command, Your Majesties.”

Although they still looked troubled, both nodded. “I will send the order immediately. Regardless of what may come, nopony deserves such a fate, and the experience of those two might prove useful if we come in contact with Azeroth.”

“I suppose two one-pony-army ponies would be useful indeed,” Arthas remarked to himself, not without some amusement. “If worst case scenarios should come to pass, Clover could deal with the Alliance, and Hurricane with the Horde.”

Though he didn’t believe that, in the event of a proper contact between the two worlds, it would come to an armed conflict because of him, and even less so that those two would be able to stop entire armies just by themselves, the idea of Azeroth’s mightiest armies being defeated by two ponies was simply hilarious to him.

“Then again, considering that one of them apparently destroyed a continent…”

“As will all of you, no doubt,” Celestia continued, her gaze shifting to the four paladins behind him. “My sister and I are pleased to hear how satisfied Sir Lightbringer has been with the skills and valor you displayed on Dread Isle. We see no reason to withhold any of you from being promoted,” she added, nodding at Arthas.

At this sign, he turned around to this paladins. Even though they had been standing in attention for the better part of the last hour, at once all four of them stood up even straighter. Arthas spared a second to look at each of them. Serenity, calm and determined. Guard, stoic and patient. Tucker, proud and serious. And Storm, earnest and responsible.

On Azeroth, he might have left nothing but pain, misery and death. That was his legacy there, personified in the Knights of the Ebon Blade.

But on Equestria, his legacy was these four.

His heart swelling with pride, Arthas addressed them. “Serenity, Guard Shield, Tucker Out. In recognition of the valor and skills you’ve displayed, as well as your diligent service to the Holy Light, the Princesses and the Realm, you are each hereby promoted to the rank of Knight-Lieutenant. Storm Clash, in recognition of your leadership skills you’ve displayed along with your martial prowess and connection to the Light, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Knight-Captain. Congratulations,” he finished, saluting with respect.

All four of them repeated the gesture. Arthas was pleased to see that, unlike how when he had given Storm Clash his first promotion, none had showed any hints of doubts they could harbor about their new ranks. Although of course, this was a different situation, as they had known what would happen once they returned, while previously he pretty much sprung it up on Storm.

And of course, to some ponies confidence came much more naturally.

“Awesome,” Tucker uttered during salute, smirking.

Arthas rolled his eyes and decided to let him have that one. Serenity and Guard, who were placed on Tucker’s each side, must have thought the same, as both had looked ready to elbow him again.

“Congratulations to all of you,” Celestia said as they resumed standing in attention and Arthas turned back to the Princesses. “It pleases us to see Equestria’s first paladins advance so quickly. We are fortunate to have you, and we expect you to play significant roles if the troubling events we expect should come to pass. We would like to discuss them with you in greater detail… but that can wait,” she added, warmth and amusement creeping into her tone. “You have travelled a great distance and deserve some rest. Guards will show you to the quarters that were prepared for you where you can freshen up and recover. We will send for you to meet us in two hours. You can leave your armors and weapons in those quarters, they will be taken for repairs.”

Although slightly surprised, Arthas quickly approved of the idea. A time, however brief, for the paladins to get used to their new ranks, and to rest a little, not to mention getting themselves properly presentable for being in the presence of their lieges. Arthas was also looking forward to getting out of his armor; although he had the worst dents straightened out in Manehatten so that he could move comfortably in it, there were still cuts in a few places that scratched against his coat.

“As you wish, Your Majesties,” he said, bowing.

“Well, that was fun,” Tucker commented once the door of the Throne Room closed behind them. “Standing around and not talking was a nice change of pace from the standing around and talking or fighting for our lives that we usually do.”

Arthas gave him a sidelong glance. “I’m amazed how hard it is to tell that you’re being sarcastic,” he said as they began to follow the royal guards as they escorted them to their quarters. Looking at the others, he added, “Take this opportunity to rest, you’ve earned it. I expect you all to be of sharp minds when we resume our talk with the Princesses.”

“Sir, what exactly do you think Their Majesties want to discuss with us?” Storm asked. “I mean, I get that they want to talk about what could be done in the event of Equestria making a bigger contact with Azeroth, of course, but how seriously do you think the Princesses believe that would actually happen?”

“I’m sure the Princesses are mainly concerned about taking precautions if that event would come to pass. However, I would say that they are treating this matter very seriously.”

“How can you tell, Sir?”

Arthas chuckled in amusement. “Because Princess Luna hadn’t mentioned that I should come and spend some time with Princess Moonlight instead of resting.”

“Well, if you don’t mind me saying, Sir, you probably should spend time with your goddaughter since you are in Canterlot,” Serenity pointed out after she an amused hum spread through the group.

“Yes, I know,” Arthas replied, sighing, “and I would normally look forward to it. Except thanks to that delay at sea I now have a whole lot of matters to deal with in a very short time.”

“Sir?” one of the guards spoke up, then nodded at the door beside him. “We have reached your quarters.”

“Ah, excellent, thank you.” Turning to the paladins, he added, “See you in two hours.”

Entering his room, Arthas closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh, leaning against the door softly. He could hear his paladins talking among themselves as they trotted away - with Serenity and Tucker already getting into another argument - but he tuned them out, letting himself relax before what would likely be the only free time he would have for the next few days.

Which very soon he realized would not be yet, as when he opened his eyes he realized that Princess Luna was present in the room.

Taken by surprise, Arthas shook his head before standing up. “I’m guessing there is something you want to talk in private, Your Majesty?”

Luna’s eyes narrowed. “That’s correct, although now I would want to rebuke you for that comment I’ve overheard… as well as give Dame Serenity another promotion.”

“You are probably the most advanced magically and technologically society I know, and yet the walls in your palace aren’t soundproofed?” Arthas retorted, deadpanning.

“They are in the more secluded parts of the palace,” Luna replied, then waved her hoof dismissively. “But let’s get back to more important matters. I trust that you recall the investigation my Night Guard had launched after you stumbled upon a certain object in Crystal Empire?”

At once, Arthas grew serious. “Yes of course. Did they have any luck?”

The Princess nodded, then pointed at the small table next to the bed… or rather, at the envelope on it.

“I thought you’d want to take a look at their findings, considering it was thanks to you that we found out about it,” Luna said.

Curious, Arthas walked over to the table, but then hesitated. “Who else knows the contents of the envelope?” he asked her cautiously.

“Myself and my sister, of course, Captain Nightshade, three nightwatchers that had been conducting this investigation, Doctor Angelic Touch, and a professor of archaeology that helped them restore old documents they found,” Luna replied; Arthas couldn’t help but notice that she seemed amused by his question.

He, on the other hoof, wasn’t. “Literally every spy worth their salt among the human kingdoms could tell you that that’s too many people to know about such a delicate matter,” he said, still not reaching for the envelope and instead beginning to finally unstrap his armor. “I understand that Equestria hasn’t had to worry about such things for a long time, but you should have learned by your neighbor Griffonia’s past problems.”

“I’m sorry, I was under the impression that paladins should strive for truth and justice?” the Princess asked, clearly pretending to sound serious.

“I was also raised to be the next king, I was taught to have a broader view on certain matters. And I was a tyrant bent on taking over the world, but that is actually irrelevant,” Arthas murmured under his breath, his eyes returning to the envelope as he removed pieces of his armor.

Something was off. Clearly, the situation wasn’t so bad as he had worried; Princess Luna wouldn’t be treating this matter so casually. But this was strange; considering what else this should mean, then she wouldn’t seem so amused by his reactions.

Luna’s sigh pulled him out of his musing. “Just read it already, Arthas. You’ll then understand why neither I or my sisters are worried about what you found,” she added with a smile, as if reading his thoughts.

Now even more intrigued, Arthas reached for the envelope and opened it. There were a lot of documents inside. He pulled out what looked to be the official report of the Night Guard and began reading it.

A few minutes later he was staring at the piece of paper, stunned.

He quickly looked back at earlier pages, then went to the next one and quickly finished reading the report.

“Well,” he said slowly, still shocked, “I can honestly say that even with all the knowledge I have I hadn’t seen this coming.”

About two hours later Arthas walked down the corridors of Canterlot Castle along with his paladins, he was still deep in thought about what he had learned. Even after discussing it with Princess Luna it was still… hard to grasp. It took some effort for him to pull himself out of those musings and focus on the present; they were about to talk about the problems that he was responsible for, after all (even if by only being alive).

He looked around; his paladins seemed to be in even brighter spirits now than after they had been freshly promoted. Clearly, the brief rest served them well.

Going through all the tasks that he would have to deal with in the coming days, a thought occurred to him. “Serenity?” he asked, falling back to match her step. “You plan to visit the Crystal Empire again, right?”

“Um, well yes, Sir, at least for a short time,” Serenity replied, slightly surprised. “But I understand that with all the initiates arriving I’ll be needed here for quite a while.”

Arthas nodded thoughtfully. “True. I’ve been thinking about the future of the order,” he continued, raising his voice so the other paladins would hear him too. “On Azeroth, the Church of the Holy Light had spread through all of the Eastern Kingdoms, from Quel’Thalas to Stormwind, with most of the kingdoms having holy sites each of their own. In the future, when the Light gains more followers, we should spread likewise. Of course, I would imagine that a first cathedral would be constructed here in Canterlot, but the Crystal Empire should have one too, wouldn’t you say?”

“Certainly, Sir,” Serenity agreed immediately. “I know a lot of ponies there would be grateful to have a proper place to come to pray. Though I would think that would be months away at least.”

“Yes, unfortunately. Still, I should probably talk about it with Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor when I get the chance…” he mused, trailing off, as the guards escorting them stopped by a big door. “Here?” he asked the royal guards, a little confused.

He had expected them to be taken to the same chamber where they’ve talked with Chrysalis and other changelings’ representatives not so long ago. He had been so lost in thought earlier that he hadn’t paid attention to where they’ve taken them, but now that he looked around he realized that was an entire other part of the castle.

But the royal guards nodded. “Yes Sir, the Princesses requested we bring you here.”

Confused, Arthas glanced at his paladins and shrugged, then reached for the door to open them.

“SURPRISE!”

Arthas was still staring in shock when a roar of party cannon firing confetti at them sounded. Inside the room - which he now realized was the ballroom - were all his friends from Ponyville. Not just Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Spike, but also the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Liturgy, Big Mac, Nymph, Wind Reaver, Zecora and Zahara. And of course, Princess Celestia and Luna, too, both trying to hold back grins.

“Well, that’s twice today that I had been taken by surprise,” Arthas commented, smile spreading on his muzzle as he and the paladins walked into the ballroom that several tables in the middle of it with lots of food and drinks on them. “Did you put some warding on this room so I wouldn’t sense any of you?” he asked, looking from the Princesses to Twilight; he was certain he would have sensed if she was near at the very least.

The lovely lavender unicorn smiled. “Yeah, we thought we should welcome all of you properly after your journey to a place literally with ‘dread’ in its name, and we didn’t want you spoiling the surprise,” she explained, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks as she looked at him. “It’s good to have you back.”

As everypony began greeting them, Arthas felt a foreleg drape around his shoulders. “Heh, if you think that’s surprising, wait until you see this!”

“Hello Rainbow,” Arthas greeted her as the pegasus pulled him to the side to show him whatever it was that she wanted to show him. “How was Wonderbolts Academy?”

“Awesome, totally aced it, broke all the records, and almost got our friends killed.”

“I- wait, what?” Arthas exclaimed, blinking at her as he wondered if he misheard her.

But the pegasus rolled her eyes. “I’ll tell you all about it later, now look,” she said, pointing with her hoof and letting him go.

Arthas’ gaze followed her hoof… and to his surprise, he realized that there was another person in the ballroom besides his friends, one that he was unfamiliar with. And it wasn’t a pony; it was a dragon, a baby dragon like Spike, although she was a female, was a bit older, blue and with wings.

He was about to greet her and ask politely if somepony could explain who she was, but then the words fell on his tongue. Arthas stared at the dragon as shock, disbelief and dread slowly spread through him.

He couldn’t tell when he was outside the warded ballroom and after he entered, his senses were overwhelmed by everypony else. But now that he was staring at her, her presence became as obvious to him as if a sun would be if he stared right at it.

Except, this shouldn’t be possible. Her presence here shouldn’t be possible. And even if it was, it didn’t make sense.

“Sindragosa?!”

Author's Note

Yeah, so, I had no way to one up the previous chapter, so I just said "F*ck it, I'm just gonna end it on the same word!" :derpytongue2:

Sorry for the long wait, I promise the next chapter will be much, much sooner.

168. A Cold Reception

“Dang it!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed from beside him, only adding to the surrealness of this situation.

Absorbed by Sindragosa as he was, Arthas didn’t think about asking his rainbow-maned friend why’d she said that. As confusing as that was, it rated pretty low on the list of things he wanted explained to him. Far more important questions were: why was Sindragosa alive? Why was she here? Why was she a baby dragon? (which oddly was the most confusing part of this situation), and why wasn’t she… Arthas might not have killed her, but he still had risen her from the dead into his service. While she had harbored a certain… resentment towards mortals, he would have thought she would be a little more aggressive towards him.

Of course, that would require her to know who he really was. And seeing how she wasn’t staring at him in surprise like he began to as he recognized her (and he was certain that she would recognize him in turn), Sindragosa had come to Canterlot already knowing. Which, Arthas had to admit, wasn’t difficult to figure out, considering the statue of Uther in the Abbey; even though he hadn’t raised the dragoness until years after the great paladin’s death at his hand, as frostwyrm she had retained enough intelligence to be able to learn about some parts of history she had missed out on, especially regarding the Scourge. It wasn’t a stretch to imagine that she knew Uther had been Arthas’ mentor. She also undoubtedly heard the rumors his cultists would discuss in Icecrown Citadel, about the ghost of a little boy, Matthias Lehner that wandered around that damned glacier, and even though he was now most commonly referred to by the name crystal ponies so ironically gave him, Sir Lightbringer, there would be quite a few ponies in Ponyville that would call him by that name. Sindragosa, like all blue dragons, was incredibly intelligent, and would easily put two and two together.

(Also, Arthas could easily imagine that one of his friends had simply blabbed about his real name to her. Probably Spike.)

And yet, the incredibly ancient dragoness who now appeared as a baby didn’t seem to harbor any visible ill will towards him. She turned her strange, unfocused gaze to Rainbow Dash. “I told you he would recognize me,” she said in barely invested voice. “I believe you owe me ten bits.”

Arthas decided he had enough. Looking from Sindragosa to Rainbow Dash, then at the Princesses, he finally broke his silence, “I’m sorry, can somepony explain?”

While some of his paladins voiced similar requests, Sindragosa growled quietly a few words in Draconic, which Arthas overheard (and was the only other person in the room that could understand them), “Somepony, by the creators…” before she jumped down from the table she was sitting on and glided down to stand in front of him.

Gazing into her milky eyes, Arthas immediately recalled what he had glimpsed in her memories after he had raised her into undeath, how the blast from the Dragon Soul, that had nearly annihilated the Blue Dragonflight and mortally wounded her, had also blinded her. “I guess she was brought back in a similar state she had been in the moment of her death?” Arthas wondered. “Sort of like the scars on my chest..”

“To be succinct, about a week ago I just appeared near Ponyville, alive and in this ridiculous body,” the blue dragon began, almost impassively. “After conversing with Spike, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Liturgy for a bit I pieced together that you were also brought back to life here - ah yes, on that note,” she added with a quick eye roll, “I told the fillies that you were dead, my apologies-”

“I’m still not convinced you didn't make that one up,” Scootaloo interjected, glancing at the young dragon with a raised eyebrow, her violet phoenix-eagle hatchling Glory perched on her head chirping in agreement.

Sindragosa barely acknowledged the comment with a wave of her claws and continued, “- I was kind of surprised everybody else knew, I’ve got to admit - and then I told them that we know each other and how we’ve basically been through the same fate.”

“I’m pretty sure I have more innocent lives on my conscience,” Arthas argued in his mind, but didn’t interrupt the dragoness. If that was all she had told his friends, then she had omitted a great deal; how he was the one who raised her, how he preyed upon the anguish and hate she had felt in her dying moments to bend her to his will and used her as a tool of war. “Could it be that she doesn’t remember?”

“They were confounded, of course,” Sindragosa continued, “but also thrilled for you to have somebody from your past here, and were kind enough to provide me with food and shelter until you came back from your journey, and all of them decided to surprise you with a party. And during the preparations I had an argument with Rainbow Dash on whether you would recognize me or not, and so we made a bet,” she finished with a shrug.

“That about sums it up,” Twilight added as she trotted over. “We're all excited that you’d now have a friend who understands what you’ve been through, even if it makes the whole issue about you being brought back to life here even more puzzling than it already was,” she said, raising her eyes briefly to the ceiling in mild annoyance.

As her gaze returned to Arthas’, though, he noticed a slight worry in her eyes, an unspoken question. Of course, Twilight knew what exactly he had been through, and as such she probably harbored some misgivings regarding Sindragosa’s story. Arthas could imagine that Celestia and Luna, who also knew about his past, were also worried, and he wouldn’t be surprised if they had brought this up to the others. Of course, they didn’t know who Sindragosa was; while telling Luna or Twilight about his past he never saw any specific reason to mention the name of the mighty frostwyrm he had raised or her story (or even mention that at all, to be honest, since it didn’t play such a big part in his life). If they knew, they would both know that Sindragosa was omitting a great deal from them, as well as that technically they shouldn’t have anything to worry about, as anything “evil” she might have done before coming to Equestria had been done while under his control. Honestly, whatever power had decided to resurrect people who had been a part of the Scourge could have picked much, much worse, like Kel’Thuzad for example.

While on the other side of his soul he could sense Bolvar, Ner’zhul and the piece of his soul discussing this new development and what it could mean for the damned still chained to the Lich King’s will, Arthas turned back to Sindragosa. “Indeed. Though I must say, I am relieved to know that I am no longer the only being I know of that has been so mysteriously resurrected. Especially since for all we know whatever brought both of us back could have picked somebody who could have spelled trouble for this world instead,” he added humorously, while at the same time giving the Princess a quick, meaningful glance.

They smirked, understanding what he meant, he heard Apple Bloom exclaiming, “Wait, so ya two really were dead?!” By the time Arthas turned to her and other other fillies, she was already looking at everypony else with a pout along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, “And all of ya knew it?!”

“As entertaining as that conversation would be,” Sindragosa spoke up, her wings spreading, “I think Arthas and I have some quick, um, catching up to do. You wouldn’t’ mind if us Azerothians would talk for a few moments in private, would you?” she added, turning her head slightly towards the Princesses.

Although the question was directed to them and everypony, her blind gaze didn’t leave Arthas. “Is she threatening me? Or am I just being paranoid?”

One thing was for certain; she wanted to talk alone, without others overhearing them. Arthas couldn’t blame her: he had been in the exact situation she currently was. He knew how alien this world could seem, even with everypony being so welcoming. He would have given much all those months ago to have somebody going through the same thing and talk about it with them.

Also, she could be trying to kill him or exact some other form of revenge.

“Well, I would be delighted to reminisce with you in peace, if nopony minds,” Arthas replied, glancing at the Princesses who nodded in permission. “We won’t be gone long. In the meantime, why don’t you tell our friends about how your trial at Dread Isle went?” he added, turning to his paladins. “I’m sure they would be very interested in hearing about everything that happened there.”

“Um, sure, of course Sir,” Storm replied, his eyes on Sindragosa who was already in the air, flying towards one of the ballroom’s service doors.

Arthas began to make his way after her, and was almost immediately joined by Twilight. “So, is Sindragosa, well…” she began in a hushed tone and trailed off as she fell in step beside him.

“I did not kill her, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Twilight’s eyes widened slightly. “I wasn’t going to ask that!”

“You really should, though,” Arthas remarked to himself. “Considering how many I actually killed, there would be a good chance that an Azerothian returned to life on this world would be one of my victims.”

Guessing by the look Twilight was giving him, she must have figured out what was going through his head. “What I wanted to ask is if she’s really, well, ‘not bad’. I would have thought that most ‘good’ people would try and tell everypony about who exactly you used to be, but she didn’t mention a word to anypony, just that you both had similar fates in past lives.”

“I’m confused why she didn’t reveal more, myself,” Arthas agreed. “Her words aren’t exactly true, as she hadn’t committed any crimes before being turned into an undead, though I’d imagine that she had meant it in a sense that we were both part of the Scourge. I would say that… she’s complicated,” he finally said after a brief hesitation; that was all he could reveal in such a brief time. “But she won’t bring harm to anypony, and as for me, well, blue dragons are known for their logic,” he added hopefully. “She probably already realized that taking revenge on me would be pointless.”

Twilight released a sigh. “Well, I’m glad to hear that, because we really grew to like her! She taught me quite a lot about magic in just a few days! And Spike and the fillies were almost inseparable from her for most of this week, even if it was clear that they were annoying her a little.”

“I’m glad to hear she started getting along this well,” Arthas replied, easily imagining how annoyed she must be after being treated like a child when she was easily older than all of them put together. Finally reaching the door, he nodded at his paladins. “You should really listen to what they’re telling the others, instead of trying to listen in on us.”

“Oh, stop it, I wasn’t going to listen in-” Twilight began, but Arthas cut her off.

“We bumped into the echo of Clover the Clever.”

Twilight’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. “Wha- why didn’t you say that earlier!”

And like that, she was gone, racing back to everypony. Chuckling, Arthas followed through the door after Sindragosa…

… only for the door to shut behind him while an invisible force grabbed him and shoved him against the wall, knocking the wind out of him. In the precious second when he was incapacitated, Sindragosa flew up towards him, her claws glowing with arcane magic that held him now, and breathed. Cold enveloped him, freezing his body and forming a prison of ice around it. Within mere heartbeats, he was frozen against the wall, with only his head free.

The tiny dragon allowed herself a triumphant smirk for a few moments, before frowning, and uttering a groan. As Arthas watched, confused by her behaviour even more so than her sudden attack, watched as she pressed her claws to her face.

“How are they so… friendly, and happy, all the time?!” Sindragosa finally let out an annoyed growl, releasing her face to turn her blind gaze towards the door.

Arthas stared at her, as the comprehension regarding what she had said and his current situation slowly dawned on him, and before he could help himself, he threw his head back and started laughing.

“I knew you had to hold some resentments,” he explained as she sensed Sindragosa’s attention on him. “Thank the Light, I was starting to think that I was just paranoid. Oh, and since you brought it up, if you don’t like them being friendly and happy, you can call everypony here and see what their reaction would be to you freezing their friend to the wall,” he added with a nod towards the door.

Sindragosa smiled nefariously in response. “Oh, really? I would have thought you’d want to keep our conversation private. I mean, unless you want everybody to learn what you really are,” she said, shrugging as if nonchalant.

Likewise, Arthas also shrugged nonchalantly; that is, he would have if he wasn’t encased in ice from neck down. Despite it, though, he ignored his predicament - after all, this paled in comparison to the icy powers he had once commanded, even though he was now alive he still found the ice’s cold to be a mere inconvenience - and replied calmly, “If you are referring to the fact that I was an evil mass murderer, they already know.” He would have lied if he said he didn’t take a little satisfaction in watching Sindragosa’s surprise. “The Princesses, Twilight, and my paladins even know all the specific details, about the Scourge and the Lich King.”

“They know?!” Sindragosa repeated, shocked. She quickly recovered, though, and frowned at him. “If they know, why are they… friends with you? I could maybe understand not killing you, but… seriously?!” she finally exclaimed, throwing her arms out in exasperation.

“Yeah, I find this confusing too,” Arthas confessed. “I suppose it’s largely because none of the atrocities I commited affected them, and that they don’t really have any point of reference with them being such a peaceful nation on a mostly peaceful world. Also, I did spend most of my time here helping everypony.”

His remark caused the young dragoness to once again press her claws against her face. “Ugh, this world is so annoying… if you told them about your past, shouldn’t they know who I am?” Sindragosa asked, resuming her frown. “Or at least, Twilight and their Princesses?”

“Please don’t take it the wrong way, but when telling them about my horrifying past I didn’t see much reason to tell them the names of my every minion.”

Sindragosa’s frown turned into a deadpan. “So if I’d ask them who Kel’Thuzad was they would also not know that name?”

“Well-” Arthas began to reply, then stopped as he realized how pointless this conversation was. “Wait, is this really something you want to argue about?”

“Of course not!” Sindragosa hissed, her anger flaring up.

As the dragoness didn’t continue immediately, content for the few seconds to give him a blind, angry glare, Arthas assessed his situation. Despite her seemingly feeble form, Sindragosa was clearly dangerous. Even though she was now an Equestrian dragon, she retained an Azerothian blue dragon’s frost flame, but even more importantly, she retained the ability to use magic. Which, now that Arthas thought about it, he really shouldn’t be too surprised about it; there wasn’t any particular reason why Equestrian dragons shouldn’t be able to use magic. They just didn’t, as odd as the thought of a race capable of using magic never using it was. His mind went back to how humans were first taught magic by the high elves; could it be that the dragons never had anypony to teach them? And what did it mean for other races of this world? As far as Arthas knew, only unicorns, alicorns, changelings and half-pony hybrids, the hippogriffs and centaurs, were capable of wielding arcane magic, channeling it through their horns. But what if other races could learn to wield it like Azerothians, though concentration and hand gestures?

“So only griffons, minotaurs, dragons and diamond dogs in this case I guess… Didn’t Daring Do mention something about two-headed diamond dogs that were capable of using magic? Huh, guess she might not have been too far off...”

Leaving that musing for later, Arthas turned his thoughts back to Sindragosa. She wielded magic. That made her very dangerous; being a blue dragon, an incredibly old one at that, meant that she - in all likelihood - knew more about magic than anypony on this world. If she’d decide to kill him, she would very likely succeed.

Of course, though, there was a matter of her possessing a body of a baby dragon. Not only did it mean that she didn’t have much in the way of physical strength (or claws or teeth), logically she should also be weaker magically. Even now, Arthas felt certain that if worse came to worse he could still easily break the ice around him and incapacitate Sindragosa.

“I was planning to threaten you with revealing all I know about you to those ponies,” the dragoness resumed, calming down and spreading her forelegs, magical glow surrounding her claws, “but I suppose I can improvise.”

Four big shards of ice appeared around her, all pointing their razor sharp ends towards his head.

“I assure you, you don’t have to threaten me,” Arthas replied, remaining calm but also alert.

“I’ll be the judge of that. Now,” Sindragosa said in a harsher tone, as with a flick of her claw one of the shards floated closer to thim, “tell me, why did you bring me to life in this ridiculous body?”

“What?” Arthas exclaimed, surprised. “Why would you think I did it?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Master,” Sindragosa replied sarcastically, sneering at the last word, “maybe because the other time I've risen from death it was because of you? Or maybe because I find it odd that I, the most powerful being you ever raised, am the only one - so far - other than you to be brought back to life on this ridiculous world?”

Her arguments were valid enough that they actually gave Arthas a pause. “Hm, yes, it is indeed strange,” he admitted. Putting away any musings about why that was, he continued, “But I assure you, I had nothing to do with you returning to life, not to mention my own return. Think about it,” Arthas urged her, noting that the shard of ice itched closer to him. “I’ve raised you once, yes, but as an undead, after finding your actual body while wielding the very powers of death. Both of our bodies are alien to us, fully alive; neither of us carries necromancy taint; and when you were brought back I was practically on the other side of this world. And most importantly, but all that is holy, why would I bring you back to life as a baby dragon?!”

Sindragosa’s eyes slightly narrowed, but to Arthas’ relief, it wasn’t out of anger, but out of consideration. “If you didn’t resurrect me, then who did?”

“I’d assume the same being that brought me back,” Arthas retorted with what was the only guess he had regarding this matter.

The dragoness snorted. “So does it mean that some unimaginably powerful and knowledgeable being is determined to reassemble the Scourge on a world of magical talking ponies? Who do you presume it could be?” she immediately asked, not waiting for a reply to the first question.

“I don’t know. But I might have some clue as to ‘how’,” Arthas added. “I’ve been told about a strange construction called ‘the Gate of Tartarus’, that supposedly is a portal to a prison housing the greatest evils Equestria has known. Shortly before I was brought back to life, its guardian left his post for several days. The Princesses theorized that it might have something to do with it, and after hearing from both me and Brann Bronzebeard about titans, they began to suspect that this might be tied to them somehow. We are currently waiting for him to arrive on Equestria so that we could go examine the Gate.”

Sindragosa listened carefully to him. “Twilight mentioned some of this to me,” she finally said. Finally, she waved her claws, and as their glow disappeared, so did the ice shards. “But since you hadn’t checked it in those six months you had been alive, I assumed this couldn’t be really related. Why didn’t you examine it?”

“I’ve had other things on my mind.”

A part of him enjoyed the look of utter bemusement on Sindragosa’s face.

“Are you jesting?!” she exclaimed after a few seconds. “Were you too preocupied starting this little cult order and making friends to look into who brought you to life here?!”

Taking offense to the ridicule in her voice, Arthas replied coldly, “I have quite likely committed more atrocities than any mortal ever. Excuse me if I had some issues I needed to work through.”

“Ah, how could I forget, I feel so sorry for you,” Sindragosa snorted, but instead of continuing the argument, her attention shifted away from the ice-bound Arthas. She began to slowly fly around the kitchen, scratching her chin while deep in thoughts. “Hm… the titans - or their constructs - are about the only ones I could think of that could be responsible for resurrecting us,“ she said after a few moments. Frowning, she added, “Well, them and the Burning Legion.”

“The Burning Legion?” Arthas repeated, a little surprised. “What makes you say that?”

The young dragoness glanced at him briefly before replying, probably wondering if she should explain this to him or not. Finally she shrugged and turned her head away as she said, “The Highborne councilor of the night elf queen that was responsible for bringing them to Azeroth named Xavius had his entire body completely destroyed shortly after the demons invasion began. Sometime later he returned as a demon creature called a ‘satyr’.”

Arthas’ eyes widened. Of course, he knew that (he had the very memories of Sindragosa within his mind - or rather, the Lich King had but part of his soul still made him but whatever - after all), but until she pointed this out he hadn’t considered that Xavius return as the first of satyrs was eerily similar to what happened to him.

“The Burning Legion must have the ability to bring back others in different bodies too, clearly,” Sindragosa continued. Raising one foreleg, she examined as she added, “Of course, that night elf was a demon when he returned, and neither of our bodies has any of their fel magic, so they can’t be responsible. As for the titans… I find it hard to envision them returning anybody to life in a body made of flesh, as all their creations were made of either stone or metal.”

“Those are interesting points,” Arthas said thoughtfully. “I hadn’t even considered the possibility of demons being capable of something like this; if I had, I would have investigated this Gate of Tartarus sooner… hopefully, it won’t be long before Brann arrives in Equestria again and we’ll get some answers as to who’s responsible for bringing us here.”

Sindragosa snorted. “Brann… That’s the dwarf who investigates titan relics, correct? Hm, well, I would say that I’d be enough to examine this gate and we should go straight away, but the few experiences my flight had with titans’ creations taught me that it’s preferable to be cautious.” She then turned her head towards him, measuring him with her blind gaze. “I suppose we shall call a truce for now.”

As she said that, Arthas sensed some of her hostility disperse, enough that he didn’t think releasing himself to be unwise. Opening himself to the Light, he breathed deeply, then directed it’s energies to his body and the ice around him, using his strength to break the weakened prison easily.

He fell down to the floor, landing on his hooves a bit awkwardly; his body felt a little numb after being encased in ice for several minutes. Nevertheless, he rose to a standing position and looked back at Sindragosa. The dragon was good at masking her emotions; Arthas knew she had to be surprised by how easily he had escaped his prison - otherwise she wouldn’t have bothered trapping him in the first place - but she showed none of it.

“I didn’t realize we were at war,” he responded to her words.

Sindragosa’s features hardened. “You raised my corpse and cursed my spirit. You enslaved me,” she hissed. “Your only saving grace is the fact that you weren’t the one who killed me. I told your friends that we had similar fates but that was a lie. We have nothing in common.”

Arthas met her anger steadily. “We both suffered, and had our lives stolen from us. We have that much in common.”

The dragoness didn’t reply to his words, just continued to stare at him angrily, then finally snorted and turned away.

Arthas didn’t press his luck. “What about everypony else?” he asked, glancing at the door. Judging by the fact that nopony came to see what was going on, he assumed that the warding placed on the ballroom so that he couldn’t sense his friends worked both ways, and probably also dampened sounds. “I was under the impression that you were getting along with them.”

Sindragosa once again glared at him for a few seconds before replying, “They are aggravating, but became much more tolerable once they finally comprehended that contrary to my ridiculous body I am not a child. I suppose you could say that I grew to find their company enjoyable. And I won’t lie, both them and this ridiculous world intrigues me. So no, you don’t have to worry about them,” she finally said, shrugging. “I won’t try to harm them.”

Arthas nodded slowly. He could sense that there was something Sindragosa wasn’t telling him, but in all honesty he wouldn’t expect her to open up to him about her feelings regarding his friends. For now, he was satisfied with her reply.

“Then let us return to our friends before they start to worry,” he said, taking steps towards the door. “I’m afraid we’ll have to explain that you lied a little; they’d be surprised when they’ll notice that you and I aren’t exactly friends.”

“Well if they knew about you as much as they say they do, I am sure they won’t be surprised,” Sindragosa snorted. Arthas stopped and looked at her. The blue dragoness stayed still, a little confused, then after a few seconds she got the message and groaned. “Fine, I will apologize.”

Author's Note

Special thanks to Time Princess, Zaleros and guardianxela for editing and proofreading the chapter^^ Hope everybody is staying safe and healthy during those difficult time (will be making a blog post sometime soon and will talk about this briefly if you'd feel like discussing it).

Oh, and hope you enjoyed the chapter^^

169. Dark Bargain

“What I am trying to say is,” Sindragosa said as she brought her explanation to an end, “I am sorry that I had embellished a little when telling you about my relationship with Arthas… or plainly lied to you about our supposed friendship, I suppose. I hope you will keep in mind the particular situation that I had found myself in and forgive me for this deception.”

Arthas could sense a slight annoyance in the little dragon as she apologised, but all things considered he couldn’t blame her. In fact, he was satisfied that Sindragosa did seem earnest despite her annoyance, even if the apology had to be forced out of her.

Everypony else in the room also seemed satisfied, and aside from Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, not at all surprised.

“Aww, it’s fine, we forgive you,” Pinkie Pie was the first one to exclaim, quickly appearing next to Sindragosa and giving her a friendly hug. “No hard feelings, Sindy!”

“T-truly?” Sindragosa asked, staring at her in bemusement. “Just like that? And did you just call me ‘Sindy?” she added, frowning and getting out of her hug.

“Well, it ain’t like we aren’t used t’ ya Azerothian folks lyin’ a tad when first meetin’,” Applejack spoke up, with a meaningful glance at Arthas. As he chuckled sheepishly, she turned back to Sindragosa. “Plus, considerin’ Arthas’ past, it had been somewhat alarmin’ t’ hear somebody say that ya were good friends and not try t’ warn us or anythin’.”

“Oh?” Arthas thought, though the fact that the remark was amazingly accurate kept him from feeling hurt.

“Wow, AJ, that’s a bit harsh,” Rainbow Dash commented, although Arthas knew her well enough to know she was amused.

Applejack raised an eyebrow at her. “It’s also the exact same thing ya said after meeting the lass,” she pointed out.

Arthas was about to join the few others ponies who started chuckling at the remark, but just as he was about to Scootaloo spoke up, “Wait a second, what exactly do you mean by ‘Arthas’ past?”

Everybody exchanged hesitant looks at the question. Apparently, all had forgotten that while the majority of those gathered here knew very little about Arthas’ previous life, the fillies didn’t even know about him being evil. The only one of them who knew was Liturgy, who had heard about it before with the rest of the Crystal Empire due to King Sombra’s spell, and it looked like she had kept it to herself.

“I really should have just told the entire truth about myself after arriving in Equestria, instead of revealing different amounts of information about my past life at different times to different people,” Arthas commented, sighing mentally.

“Ummm…” Applejack hesitated, glancing at Arthas.

He turned to the fillies, opening his mouth-

“Oh, that he was evil,” Spike replied to Scootaloo’s question, waving his claws dismissively.

“Oooof course,” Arthas thought, not even annoyed, unlike Twilight who pulled him over with her magic with a disapproving hiss. “Spike!”

The three fillies, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, stared at Spike with their eyes and mouths wide open in silent shock, then glanced around at everypony else, as if wanting a confirmation. When nopony corrected the young dragon or laughed to show that it was a joke, Apple Bloom finally regained her voice. “Horse Apples.”

Now it was Applejack’s turn to hiss in disappointment, “Apple Bloom!”

“What? Ya can’t expect us t’ believe that Matt was evil?” Apple Bloom asked, then rolled her eyes and amended, “Or, Arthas, whatever.”

“I mean, it is odd how he didn’t say what his name really was,” Scootaloo spoke up. “Or how he never really talked about his past- wait a minute,” she suddenly said, frowning. “Why does it look like everypony else besides the three of us already knew?” she asked, giving Liturgy in particular a stink eye.

“Because they do,” Arthas replied before anypony else could. He walked close to the fillies, at the same time taking a glance around the room to see if somepony had any objections to this; noticing that they all seemed to agree that he should tell the young ones too, he continued. “I had told almost all of them myself, actually. Liturgy learned about it along with the rest of the Crystal Empire because of King Sombra’s spell, and Zachara was told by Zecora, I assume,” he added, shrugging; he didn’t really care about it. “I did not tell you three because I thought you shouldn’t be bothered with the problems I’ve dragged along from my previous life… although fate clearly had some other plans,” he said with a glance at Sindragosa, who shrugged, “seeing how you stumbled upon some of them. Regardless, I am really sorry for not telling you so much about myself.”

The three fillies exchanged looks. “So…” Sweetie Belle said, looking at him with a troubled frown. “You really were… evil?”

He let out a heavy sigh. “‘’Evil’ doesn’t even begin to describe what I was, I’m afraid,” he confessed. Looking around the room at all his friends, he continued, “You have known peace for so long in this world that I don’t think you could even begin to imagine all the things that I did. There were some… reasons why I ended up the way I did, reasons that one could say alleviate some of my responsibility, but I assure you, those reasons matter little to my entire former world, nor do they matter to me. I will always feel more guilt than I could possibly convey in words,” he added quietly, averting his gaze from his friends for a moment, then turned back to the fillies with a calm expression. “Does that answer your question?”

The fillies stared at him for a few seconds in numb silence before the three of them all snorted and frowned. “No it doesn’t ‘answer our question’!” Apple Bloom exclaimed in annoyance.

“Yeah, we want some actual explanation!” Scootaloo added. “The same one you gave everypony but us, apparently!”

“Wait in line, Scoots,” Rainbow spoke up, snorting. “He didn’t tell us much more than that, actually. Well, most of us,” she added; Arthas caught her giving Twilight a playful smirk.

“She’s right; I actually haven’t told much more about myself other than what you know,” Arthas admitted to the fillies. “Over time they did learn a thing or two more, but I never told most of the gathered here the whole story of my former life. I told Princess Luna after agreeing to serve the kingdom by establishing the paladin order, and she told Princess Celestia. Twilight basically figured it out after I slipped about something, so after she asked I told her as well. I revealed it to my paladins during their trial, as I thought it was appropriate for them to know,” he added with a shrug. As few ponies glanced at the paladins, who all gave different degree versions of awkward smiles, Arthas continued, “However, for some time now I had been thinking about telling all of you about my life as well, and I think now would be the perfect time to do it. Everypony except Princess Cadance and Shining Armor is here, we had another Azerothian here to confirm for you that all I say is true… and actually, exactly because of Sindragosa you should all know; if she has been brought back to life too, then Light knows who else could be brought back in this fashion on Equestria. And that is beside my fears about having more guests from Azeroth like Brann in the future.”

“You actually ‘fear’ that?” Fluttershy asked, sounding a little surprised and concerned.

“What I meant by that is that each visit forces Equestria more and more to get dragged into Azeroth’s problems, and that is something I would prefer to avoid,” Arthas explained. “I’ve committed enough evil on that world that I don’t want to feel responsible for another one getting engulfed in war and misery. Regardless,” Arthas continued after sighing deeply, “I suppose I should consider myself fortunate that the first other Azerothian you met was somebody as reasonable as Brann. Before anybody else comes along at whatever point in the future, I would prefer that you’d all learn the truth about my past from me. I know that, considering how much I have lied or hid from you in the past, it might be presumptuous of me to think that you would all believe that what I’ll tell you will be the honest truth, for worse and better, but-”

“Oh dagnabbit, of course we’ll believe ya,” Applejack interrupted him, rolling her eyes. “Would ya quit dancin’ ‘round the subject already?”

“I think what Applejack is trying to say,” Twilight began with a brief sheepish smile at the earth pony, “is that we understand that this isn’t something that is easy for you to talk about, for numerous reasons. But over the months you've spent here we got to know the real you, and at the very least we know that what you tell us now will be nothing but the honest truth.”

Arthas’ eyes lingered a moment on the lovely lavender unicorn, then scanned the rest of the room. All of his friends matched his gaze with trust and encouraging smiles. The sight of that felt as if the very Light was touching his heart… but at the same time though, he couldn’t help but notice that his paladins exchanged somewhat awkward glances, and his happiness evaporated. He knew very well that his friendships could be ruined by what he was about to tell them. Twilight could accept his past, but would the others?

“Well, regardless, I cannot hide it from them forever,” Arthas thought, glancing at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “From any of them.”

He heard Luna clear her throat. “While I agree that it is about time for you to tell all your friends the whole truth about your past, I must add that I am not quite sure if everypony present is of the right age to hear everything.”

“I don’t plan going into very specific details,” Arthas replied before either Apple Bloom, Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle could voice their outrage (Liturgy in contrast remained calm and compliant as ever). “What I am about to say is pretty much known on Azeroth to children younger than them.”

“Yes!” Scootaloo exclaimed happily, then cleared her throat and added in a calm voice, “I mean, thank you M- Arthas.”

As the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders voiced their thanks as well, Arthas turned back to address everybody. “This tale will take some time, so perhaps it would be best if we would all sit down. But before I start, there are two things I want to tell you,” he stopped them before they could move to sit on the cushions around the tables with snacks. Only Sindragosa ignored him and flew over to one table, though Arthas could sense that he still had her attention. “First, as I said, it’s a long tale, so I would ask that you don’t interrupt me until I finish. I expect that, even though I’ll do my best to explain everything as I tell it to you, you will have many questions and many comments, so please hold onto them until I finish.”

To his confusion, as soon as he finished that sentence, Pinkie Pie raised her hoof into the air.

“Um, yes Pinkie?”

“Yeah, question: how will we know that you finished telling us about your past?” the pink pony asked, tilting her head.

Arthas blinked in surprise, then resisted an urge to deadpan at her. “I die at the end,” he stated, hoping he didn’t sound like he was pouting.

“Oooh, right, gotcha,” Pinkie replied, giggling a bit nervously.

Ignoring the interruption, Arthas resumed, “The other thing I would want to ask of you is…” he paused, hesitating as he searched for the right words to convey what he meant. “What I will tell you, it… it’s a lot to take in. I understand if any of you need some time to think about what I will reveal and how it makes you feel about me. All I want you to know is that whatever you may think about me, I won’t blame you; after all, I’ll probably still be thinking worse of myself than that anyway. Now then,” he added, before any of them could speak up, as he trotted over to one of the tables, “why don’t we get comfortable? Sindragosa.” he turned to the blue dragon; she had taken a bite out of one of the gems that were most likely prepared for her and Spike to eat. Upon hearing her name, she turned her head slightly to the side, to show she heard him. “If I omit anything, feel free to interrupt me.”

Sindragosa narrowed her eyes, but she quickly shrugged. “As you wish,” she said, before finishing eating the gem.

As everypony picked a cushion to sit on and formed a small circle, Arthas risked one more glance at Twilight; even though she had accepted him after learning about his past, he couldn’t be sure how the others would react. There was a small strain between him and his paladins after they learned. It was only natural that he was having doubts about what he was about to do.

However, one encouraging look from those lavender eyes were all he needed to be reassured that this was something he needed to do, both for everypony, and for himself.

“As you know by now,” he began, “I had originally been a human, a paladin of the Silver Hand and of the Kingdom of Lordaeron. A strange sickness had begun to spread through the land…”

The dim light seeped through the crack in the door, accompanied by the shuffling of paper. A smile spread across her face. Not because they had been right; she knew that the moment her wards had alerted her.

She was smiling in excitement, in anticipation of what was about to happen, like a predator when it knows a prey is within its reach.

Walking softly through the door, the noises her steps could make muffled by her magic - and by the ridiculously ornate rug for a library, she spared a moment to make a mental note of this pony noble’s pointless extravagance in case they’d want to use him one day while glancing at said rug with disinterest. She was pleased to find that her “prey” had her back turned to her, sitting beside the desks and going over a big rusty tome. Enticing mortals was always easier when one makes a powerful entrance, after all…

Sitting down a few yards away from the intruder and wrapping her long feline leg around her hind paws, she glanced at the books and scrolls she had gathered from the shelf onto the table. Most of them were ancient (at least, by ponies’ standards), the kind of texts one wouldn’t find in this land outside of their capital city’s archives… and the private libraries of a few noble families.

A loud CLAP! sounded through the library as the intruder closed the tome she had been reading and put it away, grabbing the next. “So, she’s looking for something specific…” she mused. They had figured as much, but it was about all they knew about her.

She had to be careful. Unlike those mongrels she had been dealing with, this one was skilled in the arcane crafts; and, as she realized being so close to her, quite powerful too. Powerful enough that she couldn’t risk relying on subtle spells to hypnotize her and manipulate to serve them, like that Royal Treasurer. It would be best to use the old fashion way: entice her with the promise of whatever she wanted. Which was going to be difficult without knowing what it was, so…

“I’m not sure Lord Goldwatch is going to appreciate the way you throw around those ancient tomes,” she mused out loud, causing the intruder to shout and actually jump up in alarm.

She suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. “How in the world she evaded ponies’ notice…”

The glow around the intruder’s horn became much brighter as she turned around, but the sight of her gave her pause. “A griffon?” she exclaimed, her fright giving way to confusion. “What’s a griffon doing in a unicorn noble’s castle?”

“Oh, I have my ways of getting around,” she replied with a smirk, casually flexing her talons in the air. “Like you, I would think. Tell me, is Lord Goldwatch the third or fourth noble who’s library you have raided in the past few weeks?”

The unicorn blinked rapidly in surprise, even more confused. “H-how do you know that?”

Smirking, she rose and walked slowly around the library. “One of your previous victims noticed their wards had been tampered with, and mentioned it to… an associate of mine. A little bit of investigating told us that he hasn’t been the first noble that somebody had probably visited. This was intriguing enough that I decided to approach you.”

The pony, shaking off her confusion, had kept her eyes on her as she circled around her. Narrowing them, she asked, “Why would you want to approach me? Can’t be that you wanted to rat me out to Lord Goldwatch or have me arrested,” she added, “if that were the case, you would have come together with his household guards or the Royal Guard.”

The unicorn was catching on quickly. She masked her annoyance; of course she had to be somewhat smart.

“Breaking into the secret library of a noble,” she started to list, ignoring her question for now, “breaking all the magical wards-”

“Or what passed here for magical wards,” she snorted in her thoughts.

“- and leaving without taking anything. That says quite a lot about you,” she told her, finally stopping and looking straight at her. “Well, for somebody who can think, which I find to be quite rare. It told me that you are looking for something. Something that cannot be found very easily, but what you think can be found in a private library of a noble. Why a noble, though? What could be so specific that you think it could be found in the possession of a House descending from the Arcane Council, unicorns that used to move the sun and the moon before the Royal Sisters came to power?” She allowed herself a smirk. “Magic. Some spell, perhaps? But what kind of spell could it be that you couldn’t just find in the Canterlot Archives, that a noble couldn’t report being stolen because it shouldn’t be in his possession?”

“Is there a rest-stop between now and the point?”

Her eyes widened as the pony spoke up. Staring at the deadpanning face of the unicorn, it took all her self-control to not smear her against the wall of this pitiful library.

“Not one for long-winded speeches, I take? Fine then,” she replied,remaining calm and pleasant as she reminded herself how useful this arrogant mortal could be. She could always kill her later. “You are looking for some powerful, ancient, possibly even somewhat evil spell. And it so happens that I know an abundance of those. Perhaps the prize you seek isn’t in the ponies' possession, but mine?”

The unicorn smirked and rolled her eyes, “Yeah, I don’t mean to sound racist, but I kinda doubt that? Especially in regard to what I am searching for. Besides, you still haven't answered my question: what do you want with me?” she asked, narrowing her eyes and sounding a little impatient.

“So arrogant… well, fortunately, arrogant mortals are even easier to manipulate…”

A smirk appeared on her beak. “I happen to be in need of the services of another one who knows a thing or two about magic,” she told her truthfully. “It’s a, shall we say, delicate matter, which is why I’d rather not use official channels to hire some wizard.”

“Ah, a delicate matter, that explains this,” the unicorn remarked, still insolent, but now at least she sounded intrigued as well. “And what this delicate matter would be, exactly?”

She was a little surprised that this was the first question she asked. Considering the disregard this unicorn had displayed to her kind’s own laws, she had assumed she would be more interested in what she would get in return.

“Then again, she’s still a pony, I suppose.”

“Nothing drastic, I assure you. Not even of… well, this kind,” she explained, waving her talons around the library they both had sneaked into. “I merely require your help to teach griffons about magic.”

An amused snort escaped the unicorn. “Good one. No really, what do you want from me?”

“I’m beginning to understand why even other ponies call unicorns arrogant.”

“Try teleporting away,” she told her, sitting on the other side of the table from her. When the unicorn raised an eyebrow questioningly, she smiled and added, “Humor me.”

The pony frowned, but a subtle change crossed her features as she focused on performing a teleportation spell. Or rather, tried to. If this pony wasn’t so inferior to her, she would probably feel immense satisfaction at the sight of her eyes practically bulging out of their sockets in shock.

“Wha- what did you do?” she demanded from her.

“I’m just preventing you from teleporting away,” she replied, taking a sip of wine from the goblet she just conjured in her talons. With a flick of her other paw, another one and a bottle of wine appeared beside the pony. “Wine?”

But the unicorn was completely disinterested in drinks. “You- you just used magic!”

“Indeed, and I intend to teach other griffons how to use magic, too. However, once they learn, I would like somebody else to continue teaching them spells and more, as I’m afraid I would be far too busy with other endeavours to devote myself to this task,” she said, taking another sip of the wine.

“And… you want that to be me?” the unicorn had realized. “Why me? I only know how unicorns use magic. Wouldn’t some hippogryph be a better choice?”

“Magic is magic, no matter who uses it,” she told her. “Once the other griffons learn how to focus their minds and channel the arcane energies, they will be able to learn from you. And I believe you would have a lot to teach them; surely, figuring out the right spell to bypass all the wards the nobles put around their castles couldn't have been easy, let alone casting it so skillfully that your presence would be untraceable. Well, almost,” she amended with a smirk. “As for why I won’t look for some hippogryph to help us, well, aside from the few who have come to the service of the crown or some lord, none possess the skill and power I’d require. That, and I prefer if this little project would remain secret for some time.”

“Why’s that?” the pony asked, frowning. With unexpected interest, she added, “Wouldn’t it make sense for all the griffons to know that they can learn magic? How can you hide something like this from them?”

Though on the outside she remained as calm as it befitted an experienced politician as her, on the inside she thought over the unicorn’s words. She hadn’t expected her to be so invested into this matter. She even sounded angry.

“It must be easy for you,” she told her, placing the goblet on the table and sighing. Her reply confused the pony, causing her growing anger to disperse. “To be a pony, where everyone can use magic. Even non-unicorns have magic, even if they cannot cast spells. And now there are rumors of some ‘holy magic’ being taught somewhere near Canterlot. But griffons? We never knew magic. Aside from maybe an artifact or two, our only experiences with magic come from dealing with ponies. Even hippogryphs, as rare as they are, come from… well, different kind of dealings, I suppose,” she allowed herself a joke. The unicorn briefly snorted in amusement while blushing. “Services of wizards are sought by the king and nobles because of its usefulness, but a lot of griffons distrust magic, some even fear it. Can you even begin to imagine how the discovery that we can actually learn magic would affect our society? How many would want to use this for their own ends, and how many would wish to stop us from spreading magic through the kingdom? Some among my friends even fear that the king himself would want to take drastic actions if he would find out about my ability to use magic.”

“Ugh, never liked politics,” the unicorn remarked, annoyance clear on her muzzle, though directed at the ‘plights’ she had told her. “You really think even the King of Griffonia would be against it? But… if that’s so, why would you want to teach griffons how to use magic? You’d be putting yourself in great danger.”

She nodded, looking down in a fake display of worry. “Indeed, but it’s the price I’ll have to pay for bringing my people the gift of magic. For at last making us truly equal to our pony friends.”

Looking up back at the pony, she was almost stunned at the dumbfounded expression on her face. Before she could ask what exactly caused her such surprise, the unicorn was already looking away, frowning and covering her muzzle while in deep thoughts.

“I… never thought about it like this,” the unicorn finally said. “You’re right, ponies have magic, something no other race can do. And we all should be equal, right?”

“My thoughts exactly,” she replied, smiling graciously, though inwardly surprised how eager she sounded.

“Well then, I- no wait, hang on,” the unicorn stopped, just when, as it looked about, she had accepted her offer. But she continued to be in the same eager mood as before. “Earlier you said that you know ancient spells that I might be looking for. Assuming that I was really looking for one of those, was this what you were offering in return for my help?”

“But of course,” she told her. “You would be compensated for your time as you help with our efforts, too, but primarily I intend to repay you by teaching you what I know about ancient and powerful spells and rituals.”

Her eyes were all but glowing. “You know a lot of those, I take?”

She chuckled. “Oh, you have no idea. Does this mean we have a deal?”

The unicorn laughed as well. “Well, it certainly beats breaking into libraries of some nobles. Yes, we have a deal, miss, um…” she trailed off awkwardly, only now realizing that they never introduced themselves to each other.

“Lady Katrana Stormcloud,” she told her in reply, extending her forepaw.

The unicorn grabbed it with her hoof. “Starlight Glimmer.”

Sindragosa had to give him credit, he actually told them the entire truth. And them, too; they actually stayed and listened.

After what felt like hours, the former-human’s tale came to an end. He told them the story that was pretty much known to everybody on Azeroth, of how he had encountered the Scourge and what measures he took to stop it, slowly losing his humanity, only to pick up the Frostmourne and lose it completely.

Sindragosa had known all of this; even if she had been enslaved to the Lich King’s will, she had retained enough of herself to learn about what happened on Azeroth before she was raised into undeath. As such, she paid little attention to Arthas, focusing instead on everybody else, curious how they were going to react.

As it was predictable, given how peaceful the world they lived in was, the description of the undead alone had scared them (especially the young ones, as much as they protested that they weren’t afraid). The concept of people rising from the ground, of loved ones coming back to attack their families, was admittedly unpleasant.

Stratholme was when they had all begun to really realize just what kind of tale this was going to be.

Only after hearing what he had done there did they stop trying to interrupt him and listened in silence. Although, it had looked as though Applejack and Rainbow Dash were about to speak up when he got to the part where he lied to his soldiers and betrayed the mercenaries who fought for him, but in the end they let him explain his thought process and continue on.

When he had gotten to Frostmourne, Sindragosa actually paid attention. Though she felt an unpleasant shiver go down her spine at the name of the blade, she was intrigued at the concept of a living being having his soul removed. After all, blue dragons were curious about all forms of magic, even about schools of magic that they would never experiment with, such as necromancy. And so she turned her head towards him, to better hear him describe what he became after Frostmourne stole his soul, being unable to feel anything aside from the briefest of emotions.

“I wonder how exactly the blade's magic worked,” Sindragosa had mused. “It couldn’t have been just a simple matter of it ‘sucking out his soul’; it wouldn’t leave such marks… unless that was done to him in the Shadowlands?”

In the week before this meeting, she had overheard Twilight mentioning that Celestia and Luna planned to use some spell to “mend his soul”. She wondered if they actually realized just how much it needed it.

One of the few benefits of being a part of undead army for a while, an army that consisted of a large number of people who lost their eyes due to rot and decay was that, even after being brought back in this ridiculous body, she retained the ability to see the world around her through “the eyes of her soul”, or simply put, through the Shadowlands. It was a very useful ability to have if somebody was blind, but it also caused her to see everybody not as they appeared in the living world, but as their souls. Which, admittedly, in most cases didn’t make much difference. The two alicorns were the only ones really that differed, both appearing larger and glowing with light, the younger one mixed with a bit of shadow. But of course, there was also Arthas.

The best description that came to Sindragosa was that his soul looked like that of a young colt who had only recently regrew his skin after it had been removed. Suffice to say that, if it hadn’t been for all the horrors she had seen, she probably couldn’t look at him for too long.

Such were the matters she mused over as he continued his tale. Once he explained how he couldn’t feel any remorse or pity, his friends had an easier time to accept all the deeds he had done later, even though each was more horrible than the other, until finally they came to an end, thanks to Fordring and the Ashbringer.

Silence fell after his tale ended. Sindragosa found herself hoping he would have continued, explaining a bit what exactly happened to him after he died, so it could shed some light on how they were both brought back to life. However, it didn’t look like it would happen, and considering what everybody was trying to process now Sindragosa couldn’t blame them for not thinking about such matters.

“Wow,” the changeling, Wind Reaver, finally broke the silence. “You were not kidding about this being a lot to take in.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow agreed. “I mean… if this was a book or a game this would all sound cool and exciting, but since it really happened and to somepony we know… just, wow,” she ended awkwardly, smiling sheepishly.

“I can understand that this isn’t easy to wrap your head around,” Arthas said. “If you have any questions, I will answer them.”

It didn’t appear at first as if anybody was about to ask, until finally Scootaloo raised her voice: “Soo… that’s the whole truth about your past, right? You told us everything now?”

Arthas nodded. “Yes. Um, well,” he added suddenly, hesitating for a bit and looking to the side. “I mean, I suppose…”

“What is-” Sindragosa wondered, but then she recalled herself. “Oh, that.”

“You forgot to tell them that you are the rightful King of Lordaeron,” she answered the question for him nonchalantly.

Author's Note

Sometimes I feel like name-dropping is the only thing that keeps new chapters exciting...

Anyway, sorry for the long wait, real life stuff kept piling up. Big thanks to TimePrincess, Zaloros and guardianxela for their work on proofreading, editing and overall polishing of the chapter^^

Already started working on the next chapter, so at the very least it should be out in the beginning of August.

Hope you all enjoyed it^^

170. Royal Issue

“How do you not mention that you’re a prince?!” Rarity asked him with a frantic anger, her forehooves on his shoulders and shaking him back and forth.

She was stopped by a familiar lavender aura of magic as it surrounded her and pulled her back a little. “Yes, I would like to know that too,” Twilight said, clearly on the verge of being annoyed with him.

Not that she and Rarity were the only ones upset with him. Everypony else, except for Sindragosa, Luna, and Celestia (the latter two appearing mostly amused, actually), was staring in disbelief mixed with annoyance. “Well, at the very least it got their minds off from all the terrible things I had done,” Arthas mused.

To be honest, he in turn found their fixation on that part to be actually annoying.

“You don’t go around saying that you’re the sister of a prince,” he pointed out to Twilight.

Both unicorns snorted. “That’s probably because I am not the heir to the kingdom he and his wife rule,” Twilight told him.

Arthas rolled his eyes and opened his mouth with a retort ready, saying that it wasn’t the point, but he hesitated as her remark registered in his mind. “Well, actually, seeing how they don’t have children yet, as the closest relative you are- augh!” he yelped in surprise and pain as Twilight suddenly pulled him by his ear with her magic, almost down to the floor.

“This is a really bad time for you to try and change the subject of the conversation,” she told him with an icy cold calm as she released his ear.

“Duly noted,” Arthas remarked as he picked himself up and massaged his ear, seeing no point in adding that he wasn’t trying to change a subject but correcting her.

“Alright, calm down sugarcube,” Applejack spoke up, trotting up to stand between Twilight and Arthas. “You too, Rares. Ah’m sure that Arthas has some good explanation why he never told us he’s a prince; even if he was s’pposed t’ tell us everythin’ just now,” she added with a disappointed glance at Arthas.

“You know, he didn’t tell us about it either when we were on Dread Isle,” Tucker said. “We even got to see visions of his past thanks to Clover’s spell, and yet they all somehow omitted, the…” he trailed off as he noticed the glare Arthas gave him, then turned around and began walking away. “Oh hey, is that a cake?”

Storm and the other paladins exchanged looks. “Yeah, I feel like this affects you more than it does us, so we’ll wait over there,” Storm said to Arthas’ friends as the three paladins followed after Tucker.

“I guess I should be glad that not everypony is mad at me,” Arthas mused, turning his attention back to the others.

“Well?” Twilight said, raising her eyebrow.

Arthas opened his mouth, but before he could start, Sindragosa spoke up: “Honestly, I do not understand why you're making such a commotion out of it. Considering how many royal families there are among the mortal denizens of Azeroth, the fact that Arthas is one; even if he had been supposed to be a king, is not that important.”

“Um, I’m sorry Sindy,” Nymph turned to her, confused. “If that’s what you think, how come you brought it up?”

If he wasn’t in trouble, Arthas would probably smirk in amusement as Sindragosa’s eyelid twitched hearing that nickname. However, the blue dragon didn’t comment on it, and instead just shrugged. “I thought that he had forgotten to mention this. Everyone would think that you would care more about him slaughtering innocent people and raising them into undead slaves, including Arthas, so I assumed in his haste to tell you everything he omitted the part about him being of royal blood. That being said,” she added shrugging again while she shifted to sit more comfortably and grabbed the bowl with gems to place it on her lap, “I do have to admit that this is rather entertaining.”

Arthas took a moment to deadpan at the resurrected dragoness, then rolled his eyes and sighed, turning to his friends. “Can I just point out that Sindragosa is right, that you should all be more concerned about all the things I’ve done rather than me not mentioning my title.”

“Yeah, well, maybe,” Rainbow Dash snorted, “but since we’re not all eggheads like Twilight or the Princesses- um, no offense,” she quickly added, turning to the Princesses with a sheepish, somewhat scared expression, only relaxing when the two amused alicorns waved her worries off. “Um, so yeah, we kinda need more time to wrap our heads around that, unlike you hiding stuff from us which at this point we have a lot of experience with, so we’d rather deal with that first.”

“I… can’t really fault this logic,” Arthas admitted reluctantly.

“Well?” Rainbow prompted, raising an eyebrow. “Spill it!”

Uttering a sight, Arthas began, somewhat awkwardly: “It wasn’t like I intended to hide this from you-”

Cough cough.

Arthas and everypony else turned in surprise to the two Princess as they cleared their throats. “Oh, apologies, allergies,” Celestia replied gracefully.

Luna nodded. “Yes, we’re, how does the expression go? We’re allergic to cow’s droppings.”

“Oh,” Rainbow exclaimed, “you mean bullshit? Yeah, seems pretty accurate.”

Arthas deadpanned at them, but quickly sighed in defeat. “You’re right, that was a lie. I should explain that at first that hadn’t been my intention. Just like with my real name, when we met, I hadn’t told you that I am a prince simply because I didn’t want to admit that I was myself. You can probably understand why, now that you know of all I had done. Looking back, I’d say it was somewhat petty and cowardly of me, and perhaps I should have told you all of this when I first told you that I was resurrected and was evil once. However, admitting that alone was hard enough, and it was easy to just let you think that my name was Matthias Lehner, and that I’m not a prince... which was easier since it never came up.”

“Oh for- and how would something like that come up?” Rainbow snorted.

“See, this right ‘ere is one of the reasons why Ah always say the truth,” Applejack remarked. “Ya tell one or two lies and then ya have t’ keep ‘em up for months because ya don’t wanna hurt nobody. And then ya slip up like Arthas at Rarity’s Birthday party,” she added with an amused smirk at him. “Just like mah favorite author said: “A pony who always says the truth doesn’t have t’ remember what they said.’”

“Weeell,” Pinkie Pie unexpectedly spoke up, “that same author also said ‘There was once a donkey called Jack Ass’, so I don’t know if everything he said was all that great.” When everypony turned to look at her, she added, “What? Cranky once told me about this.”

“... Anyway,” Arthas resumed after a moment. “I probably should have told you about this after I slipped up about my real name, but I still didn’t. And the reason behind this... well, aside from wanting to avoid situations like this,” he added, hoping that a little humor would alleviate his friends’ mood, but judging by their expressions that didn’t work; hastily, he continued. “Even though I’d imagine you’d all be less upset with me if I had told you myself. However, the real reason why I hadn’t told you that I am, or was, the Prince of Lordaeron…” he hesitated, then looked away, not wanting to meet their gazes, “is because I am ashamed.”

His words were followed by a confused silence, with Twilight finally asking: “Ashamed?”

“It goes without saying that I am deeply ashamed of what I’ve done and what I became, but… I was their Prince. I was to be their King. It was my duty to protect them, to care for them.” Memories flashed in his mind, thoughts he had as he led his raised subjects across Lordaeron; he had thought he was taking care of them, too, curing them of the ‘fragility of life’, of indecision, giving them all a higher purpose and direction. Anger rose in him, but he swallowed it down and continued, “My father, King Terenas, was considered the greatest and most influential monarch the human kingdoms had seen since the height of the Arathi Empire; so, in three thousand years. He was the driving force behind founding the Alliance at the outbreak of the Second War and kept it together in the years after, in the midst of all the political issues that arose in the years following. He ruled Lordaeron for over fifty years, bringing peace and prosperity to the realm that had only been interrupted by a war that had engulfed the entire continent. All my life, I felt as if I was falling short of his expectations of me, no matter how well I had done in whichever task I had been given. Well, now you know only too well how well-deserved this feeling turned out to be,” he remarked, snorting in contempt. “This is why I avoided telling you that I am a Prince, let alone the ‘rightful ruler of Lordaeron’. It’s because I am ashamed, and I don’t deserve my father’s name, let alone any claim to his throne.”

Silence fell after his words. Arthas, who continued to keep his eyes downcast, didn’t know how his friends reacted to his explanation, but at the moment it didn’t matter to him. Admitting how his status as a prince or rightful king had made him feel in light of what he had done wasn’t easy for him. Nor was thinking about his father. Right now, he wasn’t sure if he was ready to continue talking to them; he wished he could just leave for a few moments, to meditate and collect his thoughts.

“That was certainly a lot of information.” Arthas’ ear perked. It was Celestia’s voice. He finally looked up to look at his liege; the white alicorn was gazing and him gently. “I think it would be best if everypony would have some time to think over everything you said, Arthas. Would you mind if we take a little break, let’s say, about an hour-long, before we continue?”

Did Celestia realize what Arthas had been thinking, or did she simply want to give the others some time to consider everything? “Well, probably both knowing her,” Arthas decided.

“I agree, Your Majesty,” he replied courtly, bowing his head. “If it’s alright with everypony, I would like to take this hour to meditate in peace,” he added, his gaze shifting from Celestia to Luna and then finally to his friends.

It seemed that, fortunately, his explanation had at the very least alleviated his friend’s annoyance with him. They were looking at him with pity and sorrow, knowing now why this felt more like a personal issue than his own name.

As nopony objected, he gave them a small smile and bowed his head. “See you soon,” he said, and with another bow to Celestia and Luna he began to turn away.

“Actually, Arthas, there is one more thing,” Celestia spoke up, stopping him in his tracks. “I will use this hour to teleport to the Crystal Empire, I happen to have a matter I need to discuss with Cadence.”

Arthas’ eyes widened slightly in comprehension. While Celestia’s voice was very leveled and not betraying that there was any significant reason behind this brief visit, he knew what it had to be about; he hadn’t expected that the Royal Sisters would go talk with Cadence so soon.

“I guess I better get a move on, too…”

“I wanted to ask you if it would be alright if I would use this opportunity to inform her and her husband about your past as well,” Celestia continued. “Of course, I’ll understand if you’d prefer if you could tell them yourself.”

“Thank you for your consideration, Princess Celestia, but I would rather not keep them in the dark any longer now that I shared everything with everypony else,” Arthas replied. “Seeing how I do not know when exactly I would see them again, it’s best if they could learn this from you now.”

“That, and Shining Armor strikes me as about the only person with a sane enough mind to blast me across the room after hearing about all the atrocities I’ve committed,” Arthas added to himself in dry humor.

Princess Celestia nodded. “Very well then, I will tell them.”

Bowing his head again, Arthas resumed leaving, only to be stopped again.

“Arthas, wait,” Twilight called out.

He turned around, half-expecting that she called out to him to reassure him that everything was still the same between them - he did say he was a prince, he never considered it before but the knowledge of that could affect their relationship - but while she did smile at him briefly, her brow quickly furrowed ever so slightly.

“That’s everything, right?” she asked, suspicious, admittedly justly so. “You’re not hiding anything else?”

“Um…” Arthas hesitated, thinking quickly. “Nothing related to myself, at least nothing that I can think of.”

Twilight gave him a half-smile. “Had to make sure. See you in an hour.”

She almost took a step forward, as if wanting to embrace him, maybe even kiss him, but at the last moment she seemed to remember about everypony else in the room.

Making a mental note to tease her later about keeping secrets, Arthas returned the smile, bowed, and finally left the chamber.

“Well, an hour for them to discuss between themselves about all the horrors I committed,” Arthas mused. “It’s probably for the best, and I can catch a breather before I return to them… of course, I will have to take care of one more thing…”

As he passed the royal guards that stood near the door, he paused. “Guard, I have a favor to ask.”

“Yes Sir, what is it?” she asked, standing straighter.

“In about twenty minutes I would like you to go in there and inform Dame Serenity that I wish to speak with her.”

As the guard saluted, Arthas resumed walking away.

“What is it with today and revealing secrets?”

“Enter,” came a reply as soon as Serenity knocked on the door.

She wasn’t surprised to see Sir Lightbringer sitting on the floor on the other side of the - only a little larger than hers - room, eyes still closed despite having been stirred from his meditative trance. Considering everything that he had told all of his friends, Serenity had expected that he would need such a respite.

What did surprise her, though, was that he wanted to see her.

“You wanted to talk with me, S- um, Sir?” she asked as she trotted over to stand before him. Noticing her stumble, Arthas opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow questioningly. Serenity flicked her ear nervously and started to explain, “Um, the other paladins and I were wondering if we should still address you as ‘Sir’ or ‘Your Highness…” she trailed off as her superior covered his face with a hoof and made a noise somewhat between a sigh and a yelp. “I-It’s just because you’ve always told us to address officials by their correct rank… sorry Sir,” she quickly added as he still appeared annoyed.

Uttering one more sigh, Sir Lightbringer rubbed his temple. “Sir is fine, but you can call me whichever you prefer. Just not in front of anypony from Azeroth!” he added sternly, gazing at her seriously. “Trust me, you address me ‘Your Highness’ in front of somepony from Azeroth and you’ll have an international diplomatic incident on your hooves.”

“Yes Sir, I can imagine that,” she replied, smiling awkwardly. “Speaking of, Sir, if I may ask, are you… alright?”

“You mean am I alright after pissing off and possibly traumatizing all of my friends?” Sir Lightbringer asked with a raised eyebrow, then shook his head and waved his hoof dismissively before replying, “I’m as alright as is possible for somepony with a past like mine. Now, please sit down. I called you here because I wanted to discuss with you a certain issue related to the Crystal Empire.” He paused, and it took Serenity a few seconds to realize that he was waiting for her to sit down. Quickly dropping down on her hindquarters, Serenity perked her ears as he resumed: “Do you remember how a few weeks ago we escorted Nymph and Wind Reaver there?”

“Of course Sir,” she replied, then exclaimed: “Huh, it was just a few weeks ago, wasn’t it? Seems like much more time had passed.”

“Yes, I hear that a lot,” Sir Lightbringer agreed, frowning. “But back to the matter at hoof; I didn’t tell you or Storm that at the time, but when we stayed in the Crystal Palace for the night, by accident I had found a hidden compartment in my quarters. Inside it was a diary that belonged to Princess Blue Hope.”

Serenity felt her jaw hang open. “What… diary of Princess Blue Hope?” she repeated, numbly. “The Princess Blue Hope?”

Sir Lightbringer nodded. “Daughter of Queen Azure Crest, the last ruler of the Crystal Empire before King Sombra took over and everything that followed. Yes, the very same.”

“B-but… we weren’t staying at the royal quarters,” Serenity said, trying to make sense of what she was hearing. “Why would she hide her diary there? It doesn’t make sense…”

“Well,” Sir Lightbringer began, looking to the side; Serenity blinked in surprise, noticing much to her surprise that he seemed embarrassed, “based on what she wrote, I’d have a few guesses as to why she hid it there…”

Serenity was about to ask what he meant, but then she realized just what he had said. “Wait a moment, Sir, are you saying that you read her diary?!” she asked, stunned.

The older paladin quickly raised his forehooves defensively. “Only the last pages. I had already been told that she disappeared shortly after King Sombra had taken over the Empire, and I had hoped it would shed some light on her fate.”

Serenity calmed down and nodded in understanding. While it was indeed a great violation of privacy, of the last member of the royal house that had ruled her homeland for longer than it was remembered no less, it was about the only way to find out what had happened to her.

“And did it?” she asked, in her eagerness forgetting who she was speaking to. Quickly realizing it, she added, “Sir?”

“Yes and no,” Sir Lightbringer replied, ignoring her slip-up. Frowning, the white paladin continued. “She had planned to escape the Crystal Empire, and seek out help from Equestria to drive out King Sombra.”

Serenity frowned. That couldn’t have ended well. The crystal ponies had learned since their return that there hadn’t been any mention of Princess Blue Hope in Equestria’s records following the fall of Crystal Empire; they knew even less than they had. Her plan to call for help must have failed.

“On the last page, she wrote down the route she planned to take,” Sir Lightbringer continued, “and a plea to follow after her.”

She blinked in surprise. “Wait, that… so she expected somepony to find that diary?”

Sir Lightbringer nodded, and then spoke with surprising gentleness, “Serenity, tell me, did you know that Princess Blue Hope and your brother had a secret affair?”

Her eyes bulged in surprise. “Oh… yes I- I mean,” she shook her head, feeling herself blush in embarrassment. “I didn't know at the time, Sentinel didn’t tell me anything. But, um, Nymph told me one of the changelings in the Crystal Empire had seen my brother and the princess together once,” she explained awkwardly.

At the very least, now it was Sir Lightbringer that was surprised. “The changelings knew?”

“Yes, or, well, they didn’t seem to think much of it. Nymph almost treated it like historic trivia.”

Not that Serenity could blame her, seeing how from her point of view all of that had happened over a thousand years ago. She had been too absorbed by the possibility of her brother in a secret relationship with the Princess to think about that then, anyway. And now, to hear it confirmed in Princess Blue Hope’s diary…

“I see…” Sir Lightbringer replied, sighing thoughtfully.

“So, the Princess had hoped that my brother would find the diary and go after her?” she asked, her ears dropping.

Being closed off in the palace, she would have no way of knowing what had happened to all the guards who had tried to stop King Sombra. And even if she had known, she probably would have hoped that Sentinel had survived.

“I wish he hadn’t died that day… did he even know how much he meant to the Princess? I have no idea how close they were, even Sir Lightbringer and Nymph know more about it than me!”

“Yes, she specifically wrote so on the last page of the diary,” Sir Lightbringer replied, his brow slightly furrowed. He fell silent for a few moments, then sighed. “So, the changelings didn’t know everything…”

“‘Everything’?” Serenity repeated, confused.

Sir Lightbringer looked her right in the eyes. “Serenity, Princess Blue Hope was pregnant.”

She stared at him agape. “Wha- what?!” she exclaimed, shocked. “No that- what?!”

The older paladin noded. “She was pregnant. Your brother was the father.”

It was a good thing she was sitting down, because she felt as if her head was spinning. “It’s… just… d-do you know what happened to her? You said that you found this diary all those weeks ago, and-” She blinked. A thought just occurred to her. “Sir… you found that diary all those weeks ago. You… Why didn’t you tell anypony in the Crystal Empire about this? I’ve stayed there for weeks, I would have known if they started some…” she paused, looking for the right way to describe a thousand-years late investigation. “An archaeological criminal investigation!” Serenity finally spouted, stomping her hoof.

The calmness in Sir Lightbringer’s eyes was almost unnerving. “Princess Blue Hope was the rightful heir to the throne. If crystal ponies would have learned that she had survived King Sombra’s take over, escaped from the Crystal Empire, and was pregnant, they might have started searching for her descendants to put them to replace Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. Regardless of how long it would take, it would weaken their leadership when the Empire needed stability and recovery after what you had all been through.” Serenity blinked as she followed this train of thought; what he was saying did make sense. Sir Lightbringer leaned closer to her, narrowing his eyes slightly. “As paladins, we strive for preserving justice and truth, but also order and peace. And order and peace were the things the Crystal Empire needed more back when I found the diary. Revealing it would just stir up troubles.”

Serenity could agree with that. It was hard to imagine how her fellow crystal ponies would react if they had known what she knew now, but they would have wanted to find what happened to the Princess and her foal, even if to the outside world it had been a thousand years ago. And she could understand that Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor’s legitimacy as rulers would be questioned. It was based almost entirely on the prophecy of a Crystal Princess helping to save them from great darkness; or rather, that prophecy and the supposed extinction of the Crystal Empire’s Royal House.

“I can understand that, Sir,” she finally said, still frowning. “But… Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor have been good for the Crystal Empire, nopony would argue that, but even so, if there is a rightful heir… this would be something the crystal ponies should have to decide, not you. You had no right to make any decision.”

“I didn’t make any decision,” Sir Lightbringer replied calmly, confusing her. “I might be the Royal Couple’s friend, and I might be a paladin of the Holy Light, but I also swore an oath to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna; given the gravity of the situation and potential threat to the rule of their niece, I was obliged to bring the diary to them first and let them decide.”

Once again, Serenity, despite being angry, found herself agreeing with Sir Lightbringer. He was right, all of the paladins swore an oath of loyalty to the Princesses, and as such, each of them would be required to inform them about the diary if they were in Sir Lightbringer’s place. Except Serenity wouldn’t have thought about not informing Cadance.

Sir Lightbringer must have figured out what she had been thinking, as he said, “But it is true that I withheld the information from Princess Cadance, and didn’t inform you despite your personal connection to this matter. You are right to be angry with me. I am sorry.”

Before she could stop herself, Serenity snipped at him angrily, “Twilight even asked you if you were keeping any more secrets.”

“I am obliged to keep state matters I was entrusted by the Princesses secret,” Sir Lightbringer pointed out. “Besides, I wanted to discuss this with you in private.”

Serenity closed her eyes and breathed deeply, reaching for the Light for calmness. She felt as if she was about to burst. Within just a few minutes, she had learned that her mentor had been keeping a huge secret regarding her homeland from everypony, and that… that she could have been an aunt.

“Why are you telling me this now?” she asked, still trying to calm down.

Instead of replying right away, Sir Lightbringer continued, “After I reported this to Princess Luna, she had arranged a secret investigation to discover what had become of Princess Blue Hope. She sent several members of her Night Guard, aided by several researchers that were sworn to secrecy, to scour the area around the Crystal Empire, especially where the Princess had written she would be travelling through.”

“So did they find something?” Serenity asked, finally looking at him.

The other pony, who hadn’t always been a pony, was still sitting calmly before her. The murderer of thousands of people whom she had always thought she could trust completely. The one who had made her a paladin who hid the knowledge about her family from her.

He nodded… then sighed.

Dread filled her.

“I had been shown their final report they made to Princess Luna today. They finished their investigation just a few days ago. They consulted many documents and maps from both Equestria and the Crystal Empire, and after starting several digsites there were able to find a site just outside of the Empire where a thousand years ago a small farm stood. The Princess had reached it sometime after escaping; they were able to confirm it thanks to the notes they had found and managed to restore and decipher. And they were able to determine that it must have been shortly before the Crystal Empire disappeared because… the Princess never left it.”

Her crystal coat dimmed and disappeared. “Light, no…”

“Why?” she asked.

She could guess, but… she needed to know. She needed to know what had happened to the mother of her brother’s foal, to her homeland’s Princess.

“Apparently, when the Crystal Empire disappeared, and with it the magic that shielded its territory from the elements, blizzards raged across it for months. Equestria had sent help to all the farms and villages within the area of the Crystal Empire that hadn’t disappeared together with it, but… not every farm can be found on a map. And with the weather in the state it had been, even with legions of pegasi combing the area, some farms must have been missed. Unfortunately, the farm where Princess Blue Hope had stayed at was one such farm.”

Serenity covered her eyes. She didn’t expect that her brother’s foal would be alive, not a thousand years later. But to hear that… was it even born?

She didn’t realize Sir Lightbringer was calling her name until she felt him grab her shoulders. A gentle, familiar warmth spread through them. Serenity wanted to push it away. She didn’t want to feel the Light right now.

“Serenity, look at me,” she heard Sir Lightbringer’s voice. Reluctantly, she dropped her hooves down; she realized her eyes were wet. When did she start crying? Sir Lightbringer brought a hoof to her cheek and gently wiped away a tear. “What I’m about to tell you is… painful, and confusing, but please stay strong. I know you are strong enough to bear it.”

She frowned, not understanding what he meant, but nodded nonetheless.

Sir Lightbringer stayed close to her as he resumed, “The notes they found inside the remains of the farmhouse…the Night Guard and researchers weren’t sure why she wrote so much, but their best guess is she realized they would stay trapped there and wanted to leave some record. In any case, in their report they wrote that they were harder to decipher the later they were written, and they suspect that the Princess was growing delirious the longer they stayed trapped under the blizzard. But they stayed alive for months; the farmer had a large supply of provisions. Serenity, she gave birth to twins, a filly and a colt.”

Serenity noded absentmindedly; inside she felt nothing. “What does it matter? They died-”

“Serenity…” Sir Lightbringer cut her off, but then hesitated. “Serenity… in her notes, the Princess wrote down what her foals looked like. They were pegasi, both of them.”

A little spec of interest awoke in her. “Oh… our father was a pegasus. Since the Crystal Empire was gone when they were born, there was a chance they would inherit his pegasus’ genes.”

“Yes, so I have been told. But Serenity, more importantly… the filly, your niece, was a pink pegasus, with the edges of her feathers colored purple, and a mane with pink, purple and creme colors.”

Serenity frowned. Pink, with purple feathers, and mane… that sounded like-

She pushed herself away from Sir Lighrbringer, staring back at him with clear eyes. “No.”

“It would appear so,” he replied, his face still a mask of calmness.

“No, that’s… you’re saying Princess Cadance is my niece?!” she exclaimed, raising her forehooves to her temples. “But that’s… that’s impossible!”

“Serenity, the Crystal Empire disappeared for a thousand years. When you returned, none of you realized how much time had passed. Is it really impossible that something similar could have happened to Princess Blue Hope’s daughter?”

“But King Sombra was gone at that point!” Serenity argued, but almost immediately the thought occurred to her. “Unless… unless the disappearance of the Crystal Empire wasn’t his doing?”

Sir Lightbringer nodded. “That’s what the Princesses think, yes.”

Serenity shook her head. This was insane. Yes, she knew Cadance used to be a pegasus, and yes, she knew she was found alone on the border of Everfree Forest, but… why?

“And what about the Princess’ notes? Did she write anything that could prove that her daughter was… sent almost a thousand years into the future?” she asked Sir Lightbringer.

He shook his head. “The researchers haven’t found anything of the sort yet. They’re still deciphering those notes, but… as I said, they believe the Princess was becoming more and more delirious, and must have been growing weaker, as their food supply diminished her writing became less and less readable. Almost everything that she wrote down after her twins were born is unintelligible. However, inside the farmhouse were remains of only three adult ponies, the Princess’ and the owners of the farm. There was no sign of the foals.”

“Twins,” Serenity repeated. She had to focus on something that she could understand. “You said she gave birth to a colt, too. What about him?”

Sir Lightbringer hesitated again. “He was also described… and his description matched another foal that was found on the edge of Everfree Forest. Serenity, the other foal of your brother was Shadow Bolt, consort of Princess Luna and father of Princess Moonlight Shadow.”

...

“... okay, what?”

“Wha- what?” Serenity finally asked, shaking off her stupor. “I.. what?! Shadow Bolt, he- that happened decades before the Crystal Empire had disappeared! He was older than my brother! How- what?!” she finally demanded, feeling as if she was losing her mind.

“It would appear that, whatever was responsible for sending both the Crystal Empire and Princess Cadance into the future, also sent Shadow Bolt several decades into the past,” Sir Lightbringer told her. “I’m not going to pretend that I understand this, but… Serenity, apparently, in Equestria there are ways to determine if two ponies are related. They conducted this on the remains of Princess Blue Hope and Princess Moonlight Shadow, and they matched. She was her grandmother. Moonlight is your great-niece.”

Serenity moved her mouth, trying to speak, but… she had no words to speak. What could she say? This was insane, this was impossible…

“Is… is that why Princess Celestia said she was going to the Crystal Empire?” she asked, recalling what she overheard just a… half an hour ago? Was it really such a short time ago? “Is she going to check Princess Cadence if she’s Princess Blue Hope’s daughter?”

“Princess Celestia went to inform Princess Cadance about everything that I had just told you,” Sir Lightbringer corrected her. “Yes, this same test will be conducted on her at a later time, but at this point, it’s mostly a formality.”

She nodded absentmindedly, trying to put all of that into her head. Princess Cadance, the ruler of the Crystal Empire, was the rightful ruler. She was her niece. She had a twin brother who was Serenity’s nephew. Serenity had a dead nephew. Her nephew had a daughter with Princess Luna. Princess Moonlight Shadow was her great-niece.

Once again, she felt a comforting hoof gently squeeze her shoulder. “Serenity?” Sir Lightbringer asked, his voice concerned but gentle.

“Why?” she asked; she realized her voice cracked, but she didn’t care. “Why did all of this happen?”

“I don’t know,” Sir Lightbringer replied sadly. “I wish I could understand… For all the knowledge I came to possess, I cannot understand why something did this any better than I can understand why I had been brought back to life on this world. The Princesses don’t understand this either.”

Serenity bit her lip. “I should be happy,” she said after several long seconds of silence. “I should - I have a niece and a great niece, they are both alive and happy. My nephew is dead, but he lived, and I had never met him. Why… why am I not happy?!” she demanded from her mentor.

“This is a lot to take in, Serenity,” he told her. “A lot of… impossible things to take in such a short time. You need to think this over. You need time. Once you come to terms with everything, you will be happy. I know you well enough to be certain of this,” he told her with an encouraging smile.

Serenity wanted to smile back… she thought she did, even, But the last few minutes had been so emotionally vexing, she felt as if she was hollow.

“I think I need to be alone now,” she blurted without much thought.

But Sir Lightbringer nodded with understanding. “I thought as much. Take all the time you need.”

She nodded back, stayed still for a few seconds, then realized she just said she wanted to leave. She rose from the floor and slowly began to walk away.

“You can talk to me whenever you feel like it,” Sir Lightbringer said. Serenity nodded numbly. “Every other paladin in the order would tell you the same, as will your friends.”

“Yes, I know…” she replied, not quite sure what she said anyway, then left the room.

Author's Note

I think I said this chapter would come up at the beginning of August... 25th is still "the beginning of August", right?

Special thanks to TimePrincess, Zaloros, guardianxela and Sage Probo for their work on proofreading, editing and overall polishing of the chapter^

171. Ruminations of Lives Past

“I still can’t believe he didn’t tell us he’s a prince,” Rarity scoffed again, shifting to sit more comfortably on her pillow.

“Really?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head. “What part of that was out of character for him?”

Twilight had to agree with Pinkie. Considering how much Arthas had kept to himself for so long, it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise that he still had kept something secret about himself.

“Although it would have been nice if this wasn’t about a big part of his life from before he turned evil,” Twilight thought with mild annoyance.

Everything that happened after had left such a big impact on Arthas’ personality that - much to her embarrassment, now that she considered it - she had never paid much thought to his life before that. Of course, there were bits and pieces he revealed here and there over those months since he came to Equestria… which now made a lot of sense to them.

Princess Celestia had been right to suggest they all take a little break; they had a lot to discuss regarding Arthas. So they all sat around and recalled what they had known about his life before becoming evil and him in general, and suddenly it wasn’t that weird that he had been taught how to fight, be a prince/ambassador of a different nation, a student of the head of the paladin order, why he was so eloquent, why he understood diplomacy and international relations so well, why his sister had been pressured at one point by their father to marry somebody, why she had such beautiful jewelry that Arthas, after having Brann recover it, gave it to Rarity, why he was such a natural leader, and - which was the latest thing most of them had learned about him - why he had so many soldiers under his command when the Plague of Undeath swept through his kingdom, and why he had felt so personally responsible to try and stop it.

In all honesty, Twilight felt a little stupid for not connecting all the dots before.

They only paused their discussion twice within the half an hour since Arthas' and Princess Celestia's parting, the first time when a guard had come in asking for Serenity, saying that ‘Sir Lightbringer’ wanted to see her, and the second time about ten minutes later, when Nymph had suddenly lifted her head, looking to the side in confusion, then excused herself, saying that she wanted to check on Serenity.

Which had been the moment when Rarity decided to repeat her remark from earlier.

“Yeah, gotta agree with Pinkie,” Rainbow spoke up after Pinkie’s comment. “I mean, I don’t exactly blame him for keeping some things to himself, considering all that he’s been through, but honestly that’s classic Arthas. Heck, I think the more surprising thing is that he’s a prince, actually.” Smirking, she added “You know, cause, ever since we’ve met him he has occasionally done some rather un-princely things. I mean, some of the stuff that he and I did-”

“Yeah, Ah don’t think the youngin’s need t’ hear what exactly y'are talkin’ ‘bout, sugarcube,” Applejack interrupted her, nodding in the direction of the four fillies. Then, with a smirk of her own, she added, “‘Sides, whatever nasty things ya two did Ah reckon ya were the one who came up with ‘em.”

Rainbow Dash snorted in reply. “Oh, right, because you’re one to talk.”

Applejack frowned and opened her mouth to retort, but at that moment Princess Luna spoke up, so she resorted to giving the stink eye to the grinning pegasus. “I suppose I should consider it a good thing that royals have opinions of being prudes,” the Princess said with an eye roll and a humorous chuckle that others quickly joined in.

“Everypony is susceptible to desires, Rainbow Dash, as I’m sure you’d agree,” Rarity chimed in, glancing at her reproachingly. “Whatever you two were doing, I’m sure it’s no reason to doubt Arthas’ royal upbringing and demeanor because of that.”

Rainbow snorted. “Oh please, you’re just jealous you didn't do anything more with Arthas besides kissing.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Storm cut in before Rarity could reply, looking at her in surprise. “You kissed my mentor and commanding officer?”

Rarity paused to shoot Rainbow an annoyed glare before turning to her coltfriend. “Oh, don’t get the wrong idea, darling; for starters it was before you and I even met, and more importantly, a kiss between good friends doesn’t mean anything.”

“Exactly,” Wind Reaver chimed in, quickly swooping in between Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “Allow me to demonstrate,” he added, then with a grin he lunged head first towards Rainbow… only to smash his muzzle into her hoof.

“Shouldn’t you be bodyguarding Nymph or something?” she asked, annoyed, as everypony chuckled. “You know, doing your job?”

The changeling snorted as he backed away and massaged his muzzle. “Oh please, why would she require a bodyguard while in the middle of the royal palace? We’re still allies right?” he asked sarcastically, glancing at Princess Luna, who nodded in amusement.

Storm leaned over Rarity deadpaning ath the changeling. “Don’t you recall those goons Prince Blueblood hired to attack you two right in this very palace?”

Hearing that, Twilight blinked and looked at Storm in surprise and she was far from being the only one; Big Mac even rose to his hooves asking: “Wait what?!” Only the other paladins didn’t seem surprised, and Princess Luna groaned and rolled her eyes.

Wind Reaver merely snorted again. “I have a spell placed on my brain that will go off the moment Nymph is in danger,” he explained, knocking against the chitin covering his head. “If something were to happen, I’d just tell Her Majesty over here and she could teleport all of us to her right away. Also, she is Queen Chrysalis’ heir. I know she doesn’t look like it - like, at all - but she could easily mop the floor with probably over half of the people in this room. Trust me, some low life hench ponies attacking her would end up trapped within green amber before we could get to her,” he said, shrugging.

“That’s an… interesting piece of information,” Twilight thought, curious. She had talked a bit with Nymph about magic, so she knew she was a capable mage, but it hadn’t occurred to her how well she could defend herself. “Although it does make sense she can, seeing how her mother sent her to a formerly hostile nation with just a single bodyguard.”

This information didnt seem to make Big Mac calm down much, though. He was still standing, and turned his head towards the door.

“Seriously, relax,” Wind Reaver said, no doubt sensing his anxiety. “With the amount of love you’ve been spoon feeding her, Nymph could probably take out a full grown dragon. And yes,” he added with a smirk as Big Mac, although reluctantly, sat down, “the ‘spoon’ part is a metaphor, I’m trying to keep things safe for the kids. You know, unlike some ponies.”

“Bite me,” Rainbow told him nonchalantly, snorting.

The changeling grinned in response. “Just tell me where.”

“Nice,” Tucker snickered.

“As charming as this is...” Rarity began after the few seconds everypony in the room spent either chuckling or rolling their eyes at the exchange, then turned to look at her coltfriend. “As I was going to add before this distraction, I’m sure you had your fair share of female friends kissing you too.”

Storm Clash raised an eyebrow, then wordlessly pointed at his crooked jaw.

Rarity blinked several times, then asked, “What is your point?”

“Cute,” Storm commented, rolling his eyes. “I’m not upset about you and Sir Lightbringer kissing, I’m just surprised. And, glad that you didn’t know he was a prince, clearly some things would be different right now,” he added with a playful smirk.

“Wha- no they would be not,” Rarity replied, frowning in indignation, which only deepened as everypony began chortling. Huffing, she crossed her forelegs on her chest and told Storm, “I don’t think I like the direction this conversation has taken, darling.”

As Storm snorted and replied to her, Twilight found her attention drawing away from them and towards another pony: Fluttershy. Unlike everypony else, she wasn’t partaking in the general amusement at Rarity’s expense; actually, now that Twilight thought about it, Fluttershy hadn’t spoken much in… a very long time. “I don’t think she said anything since Arthas started telling everypony about his past,” she realized. And ever since he had left, she had been sitting there staring at her hooves.

“Fluttershy, are you okay?” she finally asked. As the shy pegasus jerked at the sound of her name and looked at her, she added, “You’ve been quiet for a very long time.”

“Oh…” Fluttershy exclaimed quietly. “Y-yes, I suppose I had been… I’m sorry, I just… couldn’t stop thinking about all the things Arthas did,” she said, her voice growing quieter as she looked away again.

All the laughter died as if cut by a blade. Silence followed Fluttershy’s words that reminded everypony just what they had listened to before they got themselves distracted with Arthas’ former status of a crown prince.

“Got ourselves distracted, or wanted to distract ourselves?” Twilight wondered, looking from Fluttershy to her other friends. “I knew way longer than them, and yet still I would rather think about other things…”

“Come on, Fluttershy,” Rainbow was the first to speak up, looking with slight annoyance at the other pegasus. “I mean, yeah, it was terrible, but you heard what Arthas said, it wasn’t exactly him. That stupid sword stole his soul and then he was under the control of that Ner’zhul guy.”

“Was that how that worked exactly?” Applejack asked, frowning quizzically. “Ah didn’t really get how he explained it.”

“Yes and no,” Princess Luna spoke up, drawing everypony’s attention. “Thanks to my dreamwalking ability Arthas shared his memories with me, which is why I have a better understanding of what transpired in his past. And yet even I don’t understand everything.”

Twilight perked her ears in attention. Since her and Arthas’ talk about his past had been private, just between the two of them, she got to ask many questions that helped her to better understand his story than her friends. However, Princess Luna had seen his memories. Considering that, and that she knew far more about magic than her, then between the two of them she probably understood what had happened to Arthas better.

“When Frostmourne stole his soul, at first, the effects were unnoticed by Arthas,” Luna began, repeating partially what Arthas himself had told them. “He didn’t realize that he had lost the part of himself that allowed him to feel love for others, for his father, his family, his friends, his people. And with that gone, when he achieved his vengeance on Mal’ganis and erased what he thought was the threat to his people, and the Lich King began to whisper through the blade promises of great power, it didn’t matter to Arthas what he was being taught was evil, because on a very fundamental level, he wasn’t able to tell. I saw it in his memories; as he killed his father, he did it because the Lich King commanded it, yes, but he also considered it a mercy, that he was sparing his father from the ravages of age and the weight of his crown. When he raised his people into undead slaves, he thought that he was making them better, because now they would never die, succumb to diseases or age. Then later after witnessing a high elf betray his people, he would come to believe undead slaves were better because they were subjects that would never betray him, then after those dreadlords took control of part of the Scourge, he came to view them as tools. It was a long process that slowly, but ultimately, deprived him from the few remaining vestiges of his soul, leaving only a tiny spark once he woke up as the Lich King and waged his war on Azeroth. So to answer your question, Applejack,” Luna said, turning to her, “yes, he was under Ner’zhul’s control after Frostmourne stole his soul, but it was because it deprived him of his soul that he allowed himself to be controlled in return for power.”

“Yeesh,” Scootaloo exclaimed after a few seconds had passed. “I kinda liked Rainbow’s explanation better, it made Arthas seem practically innocent,” she added as others looked at her; her pet, the half-phoenix hatchling Glory, chirping in agreement.

“Indeed,” Princess Luna agreed, “and Arthas would be the first to argue against such a view on his life. That being said, the blame on those horrific events cannot be put solely on his shoulders, as he had been led down this paved path by forces far beyond him. There are certainly valuable lessons we should all take from Arthas’ tale,” she added, her gaze travelling over them, “one of them being that, no matter what danger we face, we should not rush into confronting them head-on, heedless of any consequences.”

“Why are you looking at me right now?” Rainbow Dash, Wind Reaver and Tucker Out said in unison, with only Rainbow and Tucker ending their question with ‘Princess’.

“I think I understand, Princess,” Fluttershy replied to Luna, ignoring (along with Luna and everypony else) the trio’s question. “Or, well, at least, I’m trying to. I know that Arthas wasn’t himself after taking that awful blade. But… what about Stratholme?”

Twilight winced, and she was far from the only one. She didn’t like thinking about Stratholme, even less so than all the other horrific things Arthas had done as death knight and later as the Lich King.

Princess Luna let out a deep sigh. “I won’t try to justify what he did, and neither would Arthas, ever. But it’s important we try to understand why he did it. Arthas had always cared deeply for his people, and seeing what the Plague of Undeath was doing to them affected him greatly, and then at Hearthglen he witnessed firsthoofedly just how fast the infected grain turned them. He knew when he reached Stratholme that it was too late. They had mere hours before the citizens would be turned, and there was no cure at the time; only about a year before Arthas’ death they had developed the cure for the Plague, a good six years after those events. There was no way for them to help the citizens of Stratholme, so Arthas did what he believed was their only option. He prevented the Scourge from increasing their ranks exponentially and gaining a stronghold, while at the same time preventing his people from a cursed existence, freeing those who would turn during the… culling.” Luna paused after uttering the word, scowling unpleasantly and sighed. “It is not a choice that I would have made if I were in his place, but I wasn’t, and we can all pray that none of us would be. But I can understand why somepony could make it, as well as why it can be hard or even impossible for some to do likewise,” she said, looking at Fluttershy gently. “There is one thing that Arthas had omitted-”

“Of course,” Twilight snorted in annoyance before she could stop herself, interrupting the Princess. She quickly covered her mouth as Luna glanced at her with amusement while others giggled and said, “Sorry.”

Winking, Princess Luna turned back to Fluttershy. “When he told you about Stratholme, Arthas hadn’t mentioned that he was unable to call upon the Light to aid him in this horrific task. Do you know why?” she asked as everypony looked at her in surprise.

“Ooh, that makes sense,” Twilight thought; Arthas had briefly mentioned that his control of the Light had waned as they searched for Mal’Ganis in Northrend, but he indeed had omitted that it had begun in Stratholme.

“Um… well, because that was an evil thing to do and Light is good, right?” Fluttershy answered, sounding confused as she looked from the Princess to paladins.

But Storm frowned, and shook his head. “No, that’s not it. Sir Lightbringer had told us about paladins who abused the Light to commit evil acts. Calling upon the Light requires two things: willpower and faith. So it would be fairly easy for a paladin to use the Light if they believe what they are doing is right,” he finished, looking at Princess Luna questioningly. “Like Sir Lightbringer in Stratholme.”

Now it was the Princess’ turn to shake her head. “He believed what he was doing was necessary, not right. Furthermore, those were his subjects, the people he was sworn to protect, who weren’t at fault for what was about to happen to them. Arthas was in too much turmoil over what he was doing to call upon the Light. It was... plainly easy to see within his memory,” she finished, looking down at the floor sadly before returning her gaze to Fluttershy. “Arthas had committed terrible deeds on Azeroth, but he deeply regrets every single one of them. You all have seen him express that more than once over those past months, and now you know why.”

“Yes, but…” Fluttershy began, then hesitated briefly. “I know that he regrets all of it and that he would never do such things again, but I can’t stop thinking about… everything,” she finished, wincing.

“Fluttershy-” Rainbow started, but Princess Luna silenced her with a look.

Without looking at anypony, Fluttershy rose. “I… to be honest, I’m not quite sure how I feel about it, though. If it’s alright with everypony, I would like to return to Ponyville. I… I don’t think I want Arthas to see me until I know how I feel about his past,” she added, her ears dropping. “He’s still my friend, I would hate to see him hurt because I’m so undecided about how I feel about… all of this”

Twilight winced and exchanged looks with her other friends. They were all unhappy with Fluttershy’s decision, but they couldn’t really argue with her about it. Arthas would too, all of them knew him well enough to know that he would likewise want to spare any of them any discomfort that he himself had caused.

As they exchanged farewells with Fluttershy, Twilight couldn’t help but wonder two things: if anypony else would decide to follow her example and leave before the hour of respite was over, and how long will Fluttershy avoid Arthas.

After a brief flight through the palace, passing a few surprised ponies, Nymph’s eyes widened as she finally found Serenity. She was in the gardens, looking at the petrified body of Discord, lost in musing; that was a rather odd thing for her to do, but it wasn’t what surprised her.

Her crystal coat had disappeared.

“She really must be distressed,” Nymph thought as she flew over to her. A crystal pony’s coat changed depending on their mood; when they were happy, or just felt positive about their life, their hair crystallized and formed a protective and rather pretty layer. When they were depressed, sad, generally unhappy, this layer was gone, rendering them with this gloomy appearance Serenity was now sporting. “What could she and the Hivespeaker have talked about?”

Serenity turned her head as she heard her approach. “Oh, hey,” she said in surprise as Nymph landed beside her. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you; I sensed that you suddenly became very, well, distressed,” Nymph replied a bit awkwardly. “What happened?”

Serenity snorted. “What happened, funny, I’ve been wondering that myself,” she said; despite her words, there was no amusement in her voice. Glancing at the statue again, Serenity added “I was wondering if he was responsible for this, but…”

“Discord?” Nymph asked, confused. “Responsible for what? What’s going on?”

The paladin let out a sight. “Let’s go somewhere else, I would rather not talk in front of the Lord of Chaos about… family matters, I guess…” Serenity muttered as she began to trot away, only deepening the changeling’s confusion.

Falling a step beside her, Nymph listened - with gradually widening eyes - as Serenity recounted what the Hivespeaker had told her. Suddenly, the reason why Serenity felt the way she felt became very apparent.

“I think this makes the Hivespeaker being brought back from the dead in a pony’s body across the cosmos believable in comparison,” she said when Serenity finally finished. “I mean, travelling between worlds and resurrections are one thing, but splitting twin foals through time, one into the future and another to the past… it certainly explains why you thought Discord would have done it,” Nymph added, frowning.

“Yeah… your people didn’t know anything about this?” Serenity asked. “I mean, you did tell me that you knew about my brother and Princess Blue Hope being in a secret relationship…”

Nymph quickly shook her head. “No, we didn’t know anything, I swear. We didn’t even know what had happened to Princess Blue Hope. Such a tragic fate…” she trailed off, a cold chill travelling through her as she briefly imagined what she had suffered. She shook it off, though, and focused back on Serenity. “No wonder you are in such turmoil.”

Serenity snorted again. “Yeah… It feels like I shouldn’t be, though, doesn’t it?” she asked. They were now in another, more secluded part of the gardens; they sat down on a bench beside two trees and continued their talk. “I mean, I never really knew the Princess all that well, and I never met my nephew so it shouldn’t bother me that they’re dead, and I already got to know Princess Cadance rather well. And yet I…” she trailed off, unable to find the right words.

But Nymph was. “You are in shock. Of course this is overwhelming.”

“Sir Lightbringer said something similar.”

“Well, if there is a pony who knows what ‘overwhelming’ can mean it would certainly be him,” Nymph pointed out, a bit humorously. Serenity gave a brief chuckle in response. “But I don’t think there is much he could tell you about how to deal with it, and neither would I. Such things take time. Though if I can give you some advice…” she hesitated, but then Serenity nodded so she continued, “... this is something you should talk with Princess Cadance and Princess Luna. Especially Cadance, as she must be going through the same thing you are right now.”

“Yeah, I guess so…” Serenity said slowly, then sighed. “By the Light, that will be one awkward conversation. ‘Hey, dear niece who is older than me and is the ruler of my country’, ‘oh hello aunt, how are you?’”

“You know, this might be awkward at first, but this means that you have living kin,” Nymph pointed out to her. “I could feel your pain back in the Crystal Empire when we visited the memorial for all those who were killed by King Sombra. Your brother’s daughter and granddaughter won’t replace Sentinel, but they could be your connection to him. They could be your family if you let them.”

Serenity nodded to her words. Slowly, a small smile appeared on her muzzle. “I guess you’re right. I’ve been so focused on how… unexpected this is that I hadn’t even considered this.”

Nymph was happy to see her friend brighten up a bit, even if her crystal coat hadn’t yet reappeared. However, the talk about families made her recall something she had been considering for a couple of days now…

“Well, no time like today I guess…” she mused, making her decision.

“Actually, Serenity? Since we are speaking about connections and families…” she began slowly. The paladin gave her a curious look as she continued: “I’ve been meaning to ask you, but I hadn’t exactly had the time since you got back from the Crystal Empire.”

“Ask me what?” Serenity asked, raising eyebrows.

“Would you be my mare of honor at my and Big Mac’s wedding?”

Her eyes almost bulged out and her jaw hung open. “Me?” she asked after a few seconds, sounding surprised but happy. “Really?”

Nymph smiled, a little embarrassed. “Of course. If it hadn't been for your encouragement back in the Crystal Empire to walk around ponies in my real form, I would have probably not bumped into Big Mac when I did, and this wedding wouldn’t be happening. So you are the only choice. If you want to, of course,” she quickly added, but to her pleasure the paladin was already nodding.

“Of course I want to!” she exclaimed; her coat once again shone with a golden sheen as it crystallized. At the same time, a wave of happiness washed over Nymph, emanating from Serenity. “I’m really honored! I can’t wait to help with everything!”

Nymph giggled to herself happily as the crystal pony embraced her into a warm hug, happy that, at least for the moment, she was able to bring her friend back to her usual self, and that her request meant this much to her.

Author's Note

Special thanks to TimePrincess, Zaloros, Bazing, guardianxela and Sage Probo for their work on proofreading, editing and overall polishing of the chapter^^

172. The Price of Knowing - Part I

Arthas wasn’t surprised to see that Celestia had already returned from the Crystal Empire; he had sensed her on his way back to the ballroom they had previously occupied. The power she radiated, even though not nearly as strong and intense as when she had threatened him, was easy to pick up even without extending his senses.

Neither was he surprised to see that the group waiting at the chamber was missing one pony.

He tried to imagine how he would have reacted, back in his old life, if any of his close friends - Jaina, Muradin, Varian, Falric, Marwin, Balnir, or even his sister - had revealed to him some unthinkable secret. Arthas knew he would struggle with coming to terms with it, and he came from a much more violent world. How could he be surprised that in a world of peace loving ponies, his most gentle friend needed more than an hour to contemplate what she had heard?

Honestly, the only thing that mildly surprised him upon his return was seeing that Sindragosa had dozed off on a pillow, though she stirred awake as he entered.

As if sensing his amusement at the sight, the blue dragon snorted, “When you get brought back to life in the body of an infant, we’ll see how often you would need to take a nap.”

“I’m pretty sure you falling asleep has less to do with your body’s age and more with the fact that you spent all night up reading my astronomy books instead of going to sleep like I kept telling you,” Twilight remarked, with a slight frown.

Sindragosa narrowed her blind eyes at her and stared in quiet indignation for a few seconds, during which Apple Bloom asked in a hushed voice “How the hay can she read, anyhow?”

“I am hundreds of times older than your entire civilization, young lady,” the blue dragon finally replied. “I do not require bedtime.”

Arthas hid his amusement as Twilight didn’t back down, “That may be so, but your body clearly does.”

“Word of advice,” he chimed in before Sindragosa could reply, “don’t get into arguments with that mare, I hardly ever won any in the past six months.”

As Twilight smirked in amusement, Arthas heard Sindragosa whisper to herself, “The Lich King, everybody.”

“Well,” Twilight said at the same time, “being on the wrong side of an argument doesn’t usually do any favors.”

“Hey Arthas!” Rainbow Dash greeted him as he sat beside his friends. The pegasus mare looked at him sheepishly. “Um, Fluttershy had a- a thing, one of her animals- ugh!” she grunted as Applejack nudged her roughly, disapproval clear on her face.

Arthas chuckled warmly. “I am heartened by your attempt to spare my feelings, Rainbow, but I am not hurt by Fluttershy's decision to leave. I understand that what I revealed to you can require time for some of you to think over what I said. I wouldn’t blame anypony if they’d decide right now to follow Fluttershy’s example and contemplate about it. And speaking of,” he added immediately - forestalling any assurances from his friends that they didn’t need to - as he looked at Celestia, “how did Cadance and Shining Armor react to the news?”

In the corner of his eye he noticed Serenity straightening slightly. Other than him, though, only the Princesses and Nymph had paid that any attention.

“So, she told Nymph?” Arthas wondered, somewhat surprised. “I would have thought she would prefer to keep it to herself for now… then again, I suppose she’d need to confide in somepony, for if left alone it would overwhelm her.” His paladin indeed seemed much calmer than when she had left him; clearly, talking about those bizarre circumstances had helped her get a better grasp on the situation. “But how did she manage to talk with Nymph in private?”

Celestia’s voice pulled him out of his musings. “They were surprised and shocked, so about as well as one could expect. Of course, they both agree that your past life doesn’t diminish all the good you’ve done for the Crystal Empire and Equestria. Oh, and Shining Armor wanted me to pass along that now he is VERY happy you’re not living with his sister anymore,” Celestia added with a smirk.

As a few of their friends snickered, Twilight let out a groan. “Spike, remind me to have a talk with my brother next time I see him,” she said to her assistant, her brow furrowed.

Arthas, who was also amused, couldn’t help but speak up, “Honestly, I don’t blame Shining Armor. After all I was sort of almost in the same position as he,” he added as the thought occurred to him while Twilight glared at him sharply.

“Wait,” Rainbow Dash chimed in, “how exactly were you almost in the same position as ‘sister living with a former corrupted by evil super villain’?”

“Well-”

“‘While also having a crush on him?” Rainbow Dash added with a smirk, then stuck her tongue out when both Arthas and Twilight deadpanned at her.

“So glad I added ‘almost’,” Arthas sighed, then continued, “I mentioned that my sister had been almost betrothed, right?”

“Actually, it was Brann who brought it up,” Twilight pointed out, then added “You know, now that whole part about her being forced to marry makes way more sense, now that we know you were a prince.”

“My father wouldn’t have normally arranged Calia’s betrothal,” Arthas immediately explained, feeling slightly defensive. “Actually, that whole thing seemed weird and out of character for him, but it wasn’t until I became the Lich King that I figured out what exactly had happened; and, of course, by then I didn’t care. I suspect that my father - and, in fact, probably every leader of the Alliance - was under the spell of Lord Prestor.”

“Under his spell?” Twilight asked, surprised. “Who was that guy?”

“Deathwing.”

CRACK!!!

Startled, Arthas turned his head towards the source of the noise. Remains of a shattered glass laid on the floor around Sindragosa, but for a moment it didn’t look like the blue dragon cared.

“Held the glass too tight,” she finally said, releasing her clenched claws and waving them, an arcane glow surrounding them.

As the pieces of shattered glass floated up and reassembled themselves on the table, Arthas cleared his throat and turned back to the conversation. “So yes, even though that betrothal never became official, I would say that I can understand Shining Armor’s concerns.”

“Wait, hold on a second!” Applejack exclaimed, bewildered. Glancing around, Arthas noted that she wasn't the only one. “The giant, world-destroyin’ death dragon was almost yar brother-in-law?”

Arthas opened his mouth to reply but Sindragosa cut him off. “Azerothian dragons can change their shape - much like your changelings - and pose as mortals. A pity the dragons of this world don’t possess that ability.”

“How do you know we can’t do that?” Spike asked, frowning.

“Because even though I retained my frost breath somehow, I cannot change my shape,” Sindragosa retorted. “I assumed I would draw less attention to myself if I was walking around Ponyville as a filly instead of a dragon so I tried to change but nothing happened. Returning to the subject,” she continued, turning her blind gaze away from Spike, “on Azeroth dragons would use this ability to better observe mortal races in case any of them would pose a threat to our world. However, we’d never influence mortals with our powers or attempt to force them to become our mates… but of course, if it's him we’re talking about…” she trailed off, snarling.

“I assume he was attempting to destroy the Alliance from within,” Arthas spoke up, careful to not call Deathwing by name and upset her further. “Probably at the order of his Old God masters. I recall hearing rumors around the court that ‘Lord Daval Prestor’, as he called himself, was to be named the King of Alterac - the previous king, Aiden Perenolde, had betrayed the Alliance in the Second War, and my father and the other leaders were attempting to depose him, long story - which would give him tremendous power in the Alliance, and by marrying a princess from the House of Menethil he would solidify his position. That’s the best idea I can come up with regarding his actions, which are subtler than what he’s up to right now,” he couldn’t help but remark. “I only know about this because I know from Ner’zhul’s memories that he had approached him in the form of Daval Prestor while forming an alliance between the orcs and his Black Dragonflight.”

An angry snarl came from Sindragosa’s direction, though at least this time she hadn’t broken anything. Arthas made a mental note to avoid mentioning Deathwing and his flight in the future around her.

“Geez,” Wind Reaver exclaimed, shaking his head, then turned to Twilight, “if you two would have gotten together, you’d have the weirdest combined family ever.”

Both Arthas and Twilight glared at the changeling, but then quickly turned their gazes at Rainbow as she snorted and covered her mouth. Rarity, on the other hoof, chastened him, “Really, that’s your take away from that?”

“Hey, I’m just stating the obvious. Admittedly, in a very humorous way, but I thought all of us could use some humor after those dark revelations.”

“Perhaps we’d best move the conversation along now,” Luna spoke up before an argument could break out. As everypony turned their eyes towards the royal sisters, the alicorn continued, “There was another important matter we wanted to discuss with all of you after you’d heard Arthas’ story.”

“When Arthas came back to life on Equestria,” Celestia began, “we had assumed that it was a singular, one of a kind occurrence. Admittedly we should have given such an unheard of event more thought, but we can’t do anything about that. Now,” she said, nodding at Sindragosa, “we know of another such ‘occurrence’.”

“You’re worried that there could be more like us coming,” Arthas easily figured out. After all, that had been on his mind as well after meeting Sindragosa.

“Or if they had already come,” Celestia replied with a serious expression.

“Oh, come on,” Rainbow exclaimed, rolling her eyes. “I think we would have noticed some clueless, cutie mark-less adult ponies walking around Ponyville, not to mention different creatures. I mean, sure, Gilda was awful enough to be from Azeroth, but I knew her since she was a kitten…”

“I have no doubt that you would, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia retorted with a smile, “but that would only happen in case other Azerothians would be returned to life somewhere around Ponyville, too. For now, we don’t know enough to make an assumption that this is indeed the case.”

An unpleasant shiver went through Arthas’ spine. He hadn’t thought about the possibility of other people being brought back somewhere else on this world than near Ponyville, like he and Sindragosa; even if in his case it was near the Everfree Forest’s border with Ponyville, to be precise.

“Fortunately,” Princess Luna spoke up, “the Night Guard had confirmed that there hadn’t been any cases of adult ponies without cutie marks or unusual creatures appearing out of nowhere aside from Arthas and Sindragosa. But even though those fears were put to rest, we cannot exclude this happening in the future going by just what we know now.”

“The Gate of Tartarus will now be under constant observation until Brann Bronzebeard will join us to examine it,” Celestia declared, then her eyes scanned over everypony in the room. “In the meantime, I would ask all of you to be on a lookout for ponies acting oddly and seemingly not knowing anything about our world.”

“But what’s the big worry about?” Pinkie Pie questioned, puzzled. “If more people like Mattie or Sindy show up, wouldn’t that mean we would have more unfortunate people who died tragically redeem themselves?”

Ignoring the annoyed growl from Sindragosa, Arthas spoke up, “It’s not that easy, Pinkie. We not only don’t know how or why the dead of Azeroth are being reborn on Equestria, we also don’t know how the forces behind this choose who gets to be reborn again. Which means we wouldn’t know who else could be brought back. I know it might seem harsh considering what I had done, but there were people on Azeroth that entire worlds are better off with them staying dead.”

“You were extraordinarily fortunate that the two beings brought back to life from Azeroth are us,” Sindragosa added, pointing at herself and Arthas. “He had quite possibly committed more evil than any mortal had ever had, but all of that he had done under the influence of powerful, dark forces. And myself, well…” she hesitated for a second before continuing, “I have some issues, issues exploited by Arthas to bind me to his will when he was the Lich King, but I am wise enough to not act on them.”

Arthas frowned slightly; what she had said wasn't entirely true. As wise and logical as blue dragons were, knowing what he knew about those ‘issues’ of hers, Arthas knew that there was one specific issue she would most definitely act on, and considering that they were talking about the dead being returned to life…

“That brings us to our next point,” he heard Celestia say. Turning his attention back to her, he realized that the Princess was addressing him. “Do you think you would be able to predict who we could expect to appear on Equestria next, and who among them we should be concerned with?”

“I might have some ideas,” Arthas admitted thoughtfully. Glancing back at Sindragosa, he continued, “What Sindragosa and I have in common, aside from having died obviously, was that we were both members of the Scourge. Based on what we know so far, it would be reasonable to assume that the next person who would be brought back would also have been a part of the Scourge. On one hoof, it would be fortunate for us, as I not only know every being who had served the Scourge - willingly or not - but also I’d know pretty much everything about whoever would be brought back to live.”

“And on the other hoof?” Luna questioned, even though she most likely had figured it out.

Before he could open his mouth, Sindragosa replied for him, “If the person brought back to life had been forced to serve the Scourge, they would very likely want to kill him. I assume that would inconvenience you?” she added quizzically, though without much interest.

“Heck yeah that would inconvenience us!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at the blue dragon in clear annoyance.

Arthas smiled briefly at her before continuing, “Regardless, the fact that both myself and Sindragosa were also not willing members of the Scourge - or entirely willing in my case, I suppose - could have been another reason why the two of us had been brought back to life first. However, there is one more thing we have in common, that could have also been a deciding factor: we were the two most powerful members of the Scourge. And if that had indeed been the case, then that would mean that the next person who would be brought back would be Kel’Thuzad.” Scowling at the thought, he crossed his forelegs on his chest. “And that would be a whole world of problems.”

“Wait, Kel’Thuzad?” Twilight asked, frowning in confusion. “I thought you said liches like him can’t die, that they regenerate themselves after a while.”

“Yes, a lich can regenerate their corporeal body as long as their phylactery is intact,” Arthas confirmed, nodding. “That’s how Kel’Thuzad was able to return after his first defeat in the Plaguelands two years ago. However, something happened when adventurers of the Alliance and Horde stormed Naxxramas in Dragonblight. Kel’Thuzad had hid his phylactery somewhere in his chamber in the necropolis, but it must have been damaged during the fight somehow, as he wasn’t able to regenerate again.”

An unpleasant pang coursed through him. Arthas ignored it. He didn’t want to think about what Kel'Thuzad's phylactery used to be.

“And now that Naxxramas was shot down by the Alliance after the war, it must have been destroyed,” he resumed, his voice surprisingly calm. “In any case, it would be better to assume that he could be reborn on Equestria due to just how dangerous he would be.”

“How so?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “I get that he’s powerful and what-not, but if he would appear we could just grab the Elements and blast him back into a pile of bones.”

“Ah have’ta agree with Rainbow,” Applejack added. “Surely he wouldn’t be so powerful the Elements of Harmony couldn’t defeat him, right?”

“I realize this might come as a surprise to you, considering your past experiences, but not every evil can be defeated by a magical beam,” Arthas retorted seriously. “In terms of raw magical power, yes, from what I heard about the Elements of Harmony’s power you would be able to defeat Kel’Thuzad with ease; you would have been able to defeat my old self, even. However, there are many ways one could neutralize you. From what I’ve heard, Discord did just that,” he added, looking from each of his friends that was a Bearer of Elements of Harmony, all five of them that were present here looking a bit sheepish after his remark. “Thank the Light he turned out to be even more arrogant than I had been.”

He ignored that Rainbow rolled her eyes and muttered “Had been?” under his breath.

“I can assure you, Kel’Thuzad would be cunning enough to find a way to neutralize you, too, and unlike Discord he would attempt to make it permanent,” he said, knowing it wasn’t ambiguous enough that anypony in the room - aside from maybe the fillies and Spike - wouldn’t realize what he was suggesting. “Not only that, he was very powerful, even before he had heard the call of the Lich King and learned the dark art of necromancy from him, not to mention before his transformation into a lich. In life he had been a member of the ruling body of Dalaran, the city that served as a focal point of study of magic on Azeroth for thousands of years. In death, he…” he hesitated briefly, finding the words he was about to utter surprisingly unpleasant. “He was my most trusted advisor, basically my right hand- hoof, whatever. And considering what you now know about my past you can guess that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of his character. Kel’Thuzad engineered the Plague of Undeath that swept through Lordaeron by finding a way to infect the grain with it, he created the abominations, monstrosities made from multiple corpses, studied the very Book of Medivh that I am keeping for Dalaran in the most secure vault of my Abbey as per Brann’s request, and summoned probably the most powerful demon ever to Azeroth using practically nothing but incantations from that book. But the worst thing is,” he paused, just so they realized how worse it was, “he’s very charismatic.”

Wind Reaver scoffed, interrupting him. “How is that ‘the worst’? And how can a floating sack of bones be ‘charismatic’, exactly?”

“I was referring to the time before I had killed him, obviously, when he was still a mortal man,” Arthas retorted with a roll of his eyes. Pointing at himself and Sindragosa, he continued, “Seeing how the two of us had been returned to life in actual living bodies, I’d assume that Kel’Thuzad would be as well. And as for ‘how is that the worst’: it’s because of that quality and his cunning that he was able to start the Cult of the Damned, by playing into people’s fears and hardships, promising them equality, power and eternal life. Both the overworked laborers, burdened by the taxes necessary for the upkeep of the internment camps, and the rich nobles that were always hungry for more power, were either fooled to join his cause or joined it willingly. Within just three years, many of Lordaeron’s northern towns were under the complete control of the Cult of the Damned.”

“So he started his own religion?” Wind Reaver interjected again, his eyebrow - whatever changeling’s equivalent of an eyebrow was - raised. “Damn, no wonder you two were friends.”

As Arthas glared at him, finding the remark utterly unamusing, Celestia spoke up, “I agree with your assessment, Arthas, that this is the most dangerous quality of an already dangerous individual.”

“I will instruct the Night Guard to investigate any individual that would start any new movements in Equestria,” Luna said. “Of course, it would have to be done carefully, as ponies have the right to create various forms of organizations, clubs, even religions if they’d want to,” she added, with a nod at Arthas.

Arthas nodded, deciding not to point out the fact that it was the Princesses who had asked him to teach ponies about the Light. “Other than Kel’Thuzad, the majority of the most powerful members of the Scourge - at least, those who had died their final death - were the ones who had been forced into serving it. Many of them had been noble people in life, but even if we’d overlook how they would react to meeting me, there’s the problem of how much their death and enslavement had affected them.”

“If they were of noble heart, I’m sure they could overcome the shadow that death had cast on them,” Luna replied. “After all, you had.”

“Yes, well, my case was a bit different than theirs had been,” Arthas retorted politely, not wanting to start an argument. He had been corrupted by the Lich King, yes, but he was never controlled. He was never made to do all those atrocities… He rubbed his temple and focused on the task at hoof. “Anub’arak, the King of Azjol-Nerub. If Kel’Thuzad had been my right hoof, he would have been the left one. Like many nerubians, he was killed in the War of the Spider, and was later raised by Ner’zhul. He was chained to the Lich King’s will, but he was never completely broken. Even when I first met him I had my doubts if he wouldn’t turn on me.”

Sindragosa snorted with amusement. “It would be ironic if he would be brought back to life on Equestria and turn on you here, wouldn’t it?” she asked with a smirk.

“Wait,” Twilight interjected. “If Ner’zhul was the one who killed and raised him…”

Arthas interrupted her, already seeing where she was going with this train of thoughts. “Ner’zhul wasn’t really Ner’zhul at this point, he was the Lich King. And then I became the Lich King, so I’m positive that for most people there wouldn’t be much difference. Also…” he hesitated. “Anub'arak had been defeated by the Horde’s adventurers soon after the start of the War for the Northrend. He was too valuable to leave dead, however, so I had crypt fiends collect his remains and I raised him again, and when doing so I broke his mind further. I even forced him to be happy about his renewed servitude,” he added, grimacing in dismay at the memory.

“What?!” Pinkie exclaimed, looking at him in shock. “You FORCED him to be HAPPY?!”

“I believe I had said that after losing my soul every aspect of my personality had been twisted,” Arthas replied calmly, though not without regret and shame. “In life, I wanted my subjects to be happy, so in death I had made them happy. Really fleshes out how much of an arrogant and petty bastard I used to be, wouldn’t you say?”

“Well, Ah would say so without usin’ crude language in front of youngin’s,” Applejack said, with a nod at the fillies, who all - except for Liturgy - groaned.

“Sorry,” Arthas replied, raising a hoof in an apologetic gesture. “In any case, Anub’arak has more than enough reason to despise me. More importantly, though,” he added, turning to the Princesses, “nerubians aren’t exactly the most pleasant of people, even if they are by far the most reasonable of aqir offshoots. It’s hard to predict how Anub’arak would react to finding himself in the world of Equestria but I can’t help but think it wouldn’t turn out good.”

“If I may interject…” Nymph spoke up unexpectedly. When Princess Celestia nodded that she can continue, she began, “I think there could be an additional problem to consider when talking about this Anub’arak. Hivespeaker, you were a human and were brought back as a pony; Sindragosa, on the other hoof, who was an Azerothian dragon, was brought back as an Equestrian dragon. Clearly, whatever brought you both back to life had given you bodies that bore some similarities to the ones you had in previous life.”

“Some more than others,” Arthas remarked privately, glancing at Sindragosa. Physically, there were very few similarities between ponies and humans; one could argue that earth ponies were more alike to dwarves. “I miss having fingers.”

“It would only make sense that whoever would be brought back to life next would follow suit. Even disregarding the Hivespeaker’s belief that there is a connection between the changelings and Azerothian’s aqir, it’s clear that out of all Equestrian races, we bear the greatest resemblance to nerubians. Which means, if Anub’arak would be returned to life with the ability to change his shape. Finding him would be much more difficult,” Nymph said, turning to the Princesses.

Luna’s brow furrowed. “Don’t all changelings have a telepathic connection with Queen Chrysalis, though? Surely-”

A cough interrupted her. Everypony turned their eyes to Wind Reaver as he cleared his throat, glaring at Luna in annoyance.

“As we've learned, there are ways to disrupt this connection,” Nymph spoke uncomfortably after a brief silence. “But more importantly, the bond all changelings share with our Queen develops over time, from the day we hatch from our eggs as larvaes. It would be unlikely that a person brought back to life in the body of a changeling would be in any way be connected to my Mother.”

“Since we are on the subject,” Wind Reaver spoke up, his eyes still on Luna, “have there been any news regarding my mate?”

“If there had been any news, you would be the first to know,” Princess Luna replied, not unkindly. Ignoring his dismissive snort, she continued, “The Night Guard has been continuing their search for your missing mate throughout Equestria, cooperating with the changelings your Queen delegated this task to. They’ve been methodically investigating any area that could be used to hold somepony in secret, searching for any signs of magical wardings, any rumor, going through various accounts and asking any informant they have to find anything suspicious that could point to a changeling being imprisoned. They are doing everything in their power to find her. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for you, but please be patient.”

The changeling snorted again but nodded in agreement. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t already know that this is the best way to find her.”

“Um, Sister?” Princess Celestia spoke up, troubled. “Some of what you just said doesn’t sound legal.”

“Oh, doesn't it?” Luna retorted, surprised. When her sister opened her mouth to reply, she cut her off by adding “Well, Sister, rest assured that it is. But we have gotten off topic,” she said, turning pointedly to Arthas.

The paladin’s eyes shifted between the two alicorns, with the older sister frowning in annoyance at the dismissal and the younger acting as if there wasn’t any problem. Quickly deciding to not dwell on it - and understanding that intelligence agencies could sometimes cross the border of their country’s law - he resumed, “After those two the most powerful members of the Scourge would probably be other frost wyrms - that is, blue dragons - like Sindragosa. Out of them the most notable would be Sapphiron… like Sindragosa, the blue dragons are creatures of logic, so he could follow the same trail of reasoning as her and not cause any problems. That being said, I had actually personally killed Sapphiron, raised him as a frost wyrm, and then gave him to Kel’Thuzad to serve as his personal guard dog, so I can’t imagine him not holding a grudge,” Arthas said, frowning in self-disgust.

“Weeell…” Tucker said after a brief silence, “you’ve also killed that Kel’Thuzad, sir, so it evens out, right?”

Arthas glared at him. “How would that…” he began, trailing off as he realized that his paladin attempted to disperse the mood with humor. He shook his head and sighed.

“It would be great if the next people from Azeroth to come back were dragons, too,” Spike spoke up. As Arthas looked at him, he saw the purple dragon looking at Sindragosa. “Maybe it would be some of your kin, even?”

“Oh, damn it,” Arthas thought in alarm, noticing a slight furrow of the blue dragon’s brow and nostrils flaring.

“Death knights,” he quickly said, redirecting everypony’s attention back to him, before Sindragosa could lash out in anger. Noticing in the corner of his eye that she calmed down, he continued, “It would be very likely that some of them would be brought back, considering how powerful they were. I myself was one, after all… Fortunately, their power stemmed from the necromantic magic they could wield while undead, so they would pose less of a threat than others. Most of them had been paladins or simple warriors.”

“It is fortunate to hear,” Celestia said. “Can you think of any particular former death knights that could appear on Equestria?”

Arthas frowned thoughtfully. “The most powerful death knight, after myself, had been an orc named Dranosh Saurfang. Commander of the Horde’s vanguard during the War for the Northrend, son of famed orc veteran Varok Saurfang, a strong, honorable warrior and charismatic leader. Killed by yours truly,” he added, trying - and failing - not to grimace; if he was going to take a pause every time they were to talk about somebody he killed… “Dranosh Saurfang is the first person I had named so far that Equestria would actually benefit from if he would be brought back to life.”

“What do you mean, exactly?” Luna asked.

“Well, in case we have more interactions with Azeroth, as we seem doomed to have, I had stated before it would be beneficial if we could form amiable relationships with the two greatest powers in that world, the Alliance and the Horde. Now, the Alliance would be easy to befriend, as your culture, customs and laws bears strong resemblance to most of its nations. Plus, you’d have Brann to speak on your behalf, so even if you refuse my suggestion to offer them my head on a platter- augh!” he yelped as Twilight pulled his ear.

“I think we have established that we don’t find that amusing,” she said, ignoring a few snorts - ironically - of laughter. Releasing him, she sighed and continued before he could speak, “Yes, we do understand that your entire world had been hurt by you. But doing something like that would be against everything Equestria stands for, and it would not mend the wounds you caused. So please stop making such suggestions, even jokingly.”

Arthas, massaging his ear, sighed. “You are right, I’m sorry. To all of you,” he added, glancing at everypony else. “This is no joking matter and I know fully well that you wouldn’t accept such a suggestion. The point I was going to make, though, is that I believe even with the Alliance knowing you’re harboring me you could still form friendly relations with them. The Horde, though… the cultures of most of the nations that comprise the Horde are vastly different from Equestria.

“The only one who resembles your country is Quel’Thalas, and I had caused too much damage to this kingdom for the elves to befriend you easily while I draw breath. Lordaeron suffered even worse because of me, obviously, and the Forsaken are ruled by somepony who hates me with every fiber of her being, so there goes the entire eastern half of the Horde. As for the western half, they hate me for the indignities many of their dead had suffered, for denying them the peace of death and enslaving them, with Dranosh Saurfang being the most notable one. But, if he would come back to life, they would get one of their heroes back and he could speak on behalf of Equestria. Although, for the life of me, I can’t imagine an orc being reborn as a pony,” Arthas added, scratching the side of his head. “The Saurfang family comes from the Blackrock Clan, who used to live in caverns… diamond dog, maybe? The orcs do use wolves as mounts, so considering a human was reborn as a pony it would make sense…”

“Interesting thought,” Princess Luna said. “I’ll instruct the Night Guard to check with the few diamond dog packs that occasionally trade with pony merchants if they had been recently joined by a confused new member. We’ve been so worried about cutie mark-less ponies appearing out of nowhere that we hadn’t even considered searching for other races that live in our kingdom.”

“An unfortunate omission,” Celestia agreed, nodding. Turning to Arthas, she asked, “What of Saurfang’s reaction to you, though?”

“Obviously, he wouldn’t be happy,” he began. “I killed him, tortured his spirit, and bound him to my will. Fortunately, if that word can be used here, the orcs consider death in battle to be very honorable, glorious even, and he hadn’t been a death knight for long. I finished breaking him only shortly before the Ashen Verdict’s assault on Icecrown Citadel, the only people he fought were the adventurers who had helped Tirion Fordring defeat me. I don’t think he even killed anypony. So, yes, even considering his reaction to me, he might be literally the best person for Equestria to be brought back to life.”

He ignored the annoying, pessimistic voice at the back of his head that said that, given their track record, it is very unlikely for something that fruitful to happen.

Princess Celestia nodded thoughtfully. “That’s good to know. Who next comes to your mind?”

“There were many powerful death knights among the Scourge ranks. But the most powerful after Saurfang would have been… the Ashbringer,” he said, smirking at the name. “The first wielder of the blade that freed me from Frostmourne. Highlord Alexandros Morgraine, former paladin of the Silver Hand and its leader after the death of Uther, death knight and leader of the Four Horsemen in undeath.”

“The Four Horsemen?” Rainbow repeated the name, her eyebrow raised in amused surprise. “You do know how ridiculous that name sounds, right?”

Rolling his eyes in response, he began to explain, “They were a group of the most elite death knights. Each of them was powerful, but together? As I am now I would have lost to them, maybe even with the help of all four of my paladins,” he added truthfully, glancing at them. Storm frowned in concern, Guard was looking at him thoughtfully, Serenity bit her lip nervously, and Tucker rolled his eyes, as if thinking he was joking. Turning back to the Princesses, Arthas continued, “And Morgraine was the finest warrior of them all. When he was alive, with that blade in his hand, he turned entire legions of undead into ashes; when he fell, his death had corrupted the sword, turning into a weapon of darkness. For better or worse, though, after Kel’Thuzad had raised him and made him the leader of the Four Horsemen, he kept them in Naxxramas, as his royal guards, so he didn’t have much opportunity to cause harm to the living. Sometime later a small group of Argent Dawn members had infiltrated the necropolis and killed him.”

“Buuut let us guess,” Wind Reaver exclaimed, his head resting on his forehoof, “you were the one to kill him, right?”

“No, he was murdered by his son, actually.”

His reply caused Wind Reaver to lift his head up in surprise. Everypony else was equally shocked and stared at Arthas, some agape.

Scootaloo was first to break the silence. “Your world sucks.”

Arthas didn’t try to deny it. “Why do you think I keep trying to discourage everypony here from further interacting with it? But to be fair, the current state of affairs on Azeroth is largely my fault,” he admitted, sighing. “Even this can be easily traced back to me.”

“Why would his own son kill ‘im?” Applejack asked, bewildered.

“Like myself, he was corrupted,” Arthas replied, frowning at the thought. It hadn’t occurred to him how oddly similar his and Renault Morgraine’s life had been. “His life too had been steered by a dreadlord. Balnazzar, the last of the Lich King’s jailors left on Azeroth - or at least, so I had thought at the time - had infiltrated the Order of the Silver Hand by possessing the corpse of paladin Saidan Dathrohan.”

He paused at the mention of that name. Saidan Dathrohan. One of the five first paladins. One of the four that were present at his ceremony to become a paladin. A hero of the Second War, a paladin that had been challenged by Archbishop Faol to become the embodiment of Libram of Holiness.

Killed by a damned demon, his remains desecrated and used to split the Order he had served and turn half of it into a mockery of itself.

Rage like he hadn’t felt in a long time fired up in his heart. “I should have killed Balnazzar when I had the chance,” he thought, recalling how the dreadlord had fled from him along with his two brothers upon his return to Lordaeron. Almost immediately, though, he replied to himself, “Right, because that has worked so well with Mal’ganis, hasn't it? Killing him wouldn’t have changed a thing…”

“Arthas?”

The sound of his name broke him out of his musing. He shook his head and looked at his friends, who looked at him with concern. “Forgive me, Dathrohan… he was a good man. He didn’t deserve that. Balnazzar posed as him to corrupt what had been left of the Order of the Silver Hand, but he found Alexandros Morgraine to be impossible to twist to his service. So he conspired to have him killed, and manipulated Renault Morgraine, his son, to do it. After it was done, Balnazzar took control of the Order and remade it into the Scarlet Crusade, while those who noticed that they were straying from their noble purpose left and formed the Argent Dawn.”

“Now, wait a moment,” Twilight spoke up. “This Balnazzar is the same one you’ve mentioned who had taken control of part of the Scourge after the Lich King - Ner’zhul - had begun losing power, right? But you said he had been killed by Sylvanas,” she said, tilting his head in confusion.

Arthas nodded and opened his mouth to reply-

“That’s because demons can’t be killed.”

Blinking in surprise as he heard the disinterested voice, he turned his head to Sindragosa, who was still sitting beside the table. Her blind gaze was not even focused on them, despite speaking up, as if she found the conversation boring. Arthas stared at her in silent confusion… confusion that only grew deeper as the precise meaning of her words had registered with him.

He opened his mouth to question what exactly she meant, but a gentle cough from behind caught his attention. Arthas turned his gaze to Celestia, who had cleared her throat. “Perhaps this would be a good time to approach the second subject we were hoping to discuss today.

“Namely, the Burning Legion.”

173. The Price of Knowing - Part II

“So,” he quipped, as he rode atop his loyal horse, Invincible, through the snowy pass, “you’re not upset about me killing you that one time?”

“Don’t be foolish,” the undead necromancer replied. He glided beside him almost serenely, if such a word could ever be applied to a lich. “The Lich King told me how our encounter would end.”

That surprised Arthas. “The Lich King knew that I would kill you?” He frowned, glancing down at the blade that stretched across his lap. It was silent now, dormant. No whispers came from it, nor did the runes pulse with power.

“Of course,” Kel’Thuzad responded, a hint of superiority in his sepulchral voice. “He chose you to be his champion long before the Scourge even began.”

Arthas’ unease deepened. No one had asked him, or even told him about his destiny. But would he have embraced it, had he known? No, he decided. He did not like being manipulated, but he knew that he had had to be tempered if he was to be a formidable weapon. He had to go step by step to his fate, otherwise he would have rejected it. He would then still be with Jaina and Uther and his father would-

“If he’s so all knowing, then how can the dreadlords control him like they do?”

“They are agents of the one who created our master: the fiery lords of the Burning Legion.”

The words sent a shiver through Arthas. Burning Legion. Two words only, but the power they promised was heady, somehow. In his lap, Frostmourne flickered.

“It is a vast demonic army that has consumed countless worlds beyond our own.”

Kel’Thuzad’s voice was almost hypnotic, and Arthas shut his eyes for a moment. Behind the closed lids, scenes played out in his mind as the lich spoke. He saw a red sky arcing over a red world. Over a ridge poured a wave of creatures. They ran like hounds, but no natural beasts were they - they had fearsome jaws crammed with teeth, and strange tentacles sprouting from their shoulders. Stones crashed to the earth, leaving trails of green fire, to come to life as animated rock that marched on their foes.

“Now, it comes to set this world to the flame. Our master was created to pave the way for its arrival. The dreadlords were sent to make sure he succeeded.”

The scene in Arthas’s mind shifted. He was looking at an ornate carved gateway. He knew it to be the Dark Portal, although he had never seen it with his own eyes. It radiated green fire, and a host of demons were clustered around it. Arthas shook his head and the vision evaporated.

“So the plague in Lordaeron, the citadels in Northrend, the slaughtering of the elves… it was all just to prepare for some huge demonic invasion?”

“Yes. In time, you will find that our entire history has been shaped by the coming conflict.”

“Namely, the Burning Legion.”

Even after everything he had been through, everything he had seen and done, a shiver went through Arthas at the sound of that name, like all those years ago. Just two words, two words that reflected an unimaginable power and evil… uttered in a world where they should have never been uttered.

“Why would you want to discuss it?” Arthas asked, despite knowing all too well why.

Celestia’s brow furrowed. “Well, you said that they were a massive army of demons that has conquered many, many worlds, ended all life on them and consumed their magic,” she pointed out; indeed, Arthas had recounted his conversation with Kel’Thuzad as well as the Third War while telling everypony about his past. “I think that would warrant a discussion.”

“Especially considering that the spellbook that helped them start their latest invasion on your world is being kept here,” Luna chimed in, her horn glowing.

With a flash, the Book of Medivh appeared right beside the younger Princess, floating in her magic. As always, the sight of the damned spellbook brought great discomfort to Arthas. He didn’t like Brann’s request to keep it hidden on Equestria for the time being, but at the same time he liked the thought of leaving it in the Everfree Abbey while he was away even less. That’s why before he and his paladins had set out on their expedition to the Dread Isle he had left it in the care of the Princesses.

He hadn’t thought about them using it as an argument in a discussion about the Legion.

Luna’s magic opened the book, rummaging through the pages. “We have skimmed through it briefly,” she continued, her gaze turning to the book before returning to Arthas, “and what was written here about demons only increased the unease we've had about the Burning Legion since you showed me your past in your dream.”

“W-wait, Princess,” Twilight spoke up, looking from Luna to Celestia with worry, “you don’t think that this Burning Legion could attack Equestria?”

“It is a possibility,” Princess Luna replied, closing the book and teleporting it away.

“And while we’re being honest,” Princess Celestia added, “my sister and I have also been concerned how you never brought this subject up yourself.”

Despite that there was no accusation in Celestia’s voice, Arthas winced. They were right, he should have spoken to them about this sooner. However, before he could say anything in his defense, another voice spoke up.

“He probably deduced how very unlikely it would be for your world to be invaded by the Burning Legion.”

Once again within such a short span of time, Arthas found himself staring at Sindragosa in surprise. The blue dragon appeared as disinterested as before, even annoyed.

Turning briefly to the Princesses, he said, “Before I explain myself, can we all listen to what Sindragosa has to say?”

“But of course,” Celestia replied. “Sindragosa, as heartlifting as that thought is, could you explain why you think it’s unlikely that the Burning Legion would invade our world?”

Sindragosa finally turned her blind gaze towards them. “Because if they were to invade this world, they would have done it a very long time ago already. It is not surprising you hadn’t realized this,” she added, then turned to Arthas, “but surely you have noticed how unusual this world is, correct?”

“Of course I have,” Arthas replied, frowning. “But what does that have to do with the Legion not attacking Equestria?”

The blue dragon sighed. She raised one paw, her claws glowing with arcane energies, and waved it. “This is Azeroth,” she said as a big glowing globe appeared before everypony. As everypony looked at it curiously, Arthas noted that this projection had only a single huge continent, the ancient Kalimdor. As if sensing that, Sindragosa added, “Or rather, Azeroth as it was back when I was alive. I’m more familiar with this state of the planet, and for the purposes of this conversation it really doesn’t matter if I show you how it appeared then or now. Regardless,” she resumed, flickering her claws again, “those are Azeroth’s ley lines.”

The projection rippled, and a series of bright blue lines stretched out from the middle of the Kalimdor, where the Well of Eternity was, throughout the entire planet. Turning and zigzagging, the ley lines run, some bigger and more explicit, some smaller and barely visible, and they crossed each other at many nexuses across Azeroth.

“The ley lines are channels of immense power that course through the planet,” Sindragosa said, forestalling anypony’s questions. “You can think of them as blood vessels, except they carry arcane magic instead of fluids. The places where they cross are called nexuses, and beings can tap into them to gather more power at those locations, cast more powerful spells, conjure portals to other planets, and many more. And now that you have a comparison of how a planet should appear, here you have your world.”

Waving her other paw, a second globe appeared beside Azeroth’s projection. Equestria, with the two continents on the opposite sides, one of which was shattered at the northern half.

“Or, more or less, I am not yet quite familiar with its geography,” Sindragosa admitted. “However, this is the point I am trying to make.”

She waved her claws again… and the entire projection of Equestria began to glow.

“So, my assumption was correct,” Arthas mused; he had also sensed that magic flew differently in this world, but as he himself didn’t dabble in arcane magic, he couldn’t be sure if his hunch was correct. “But why would Equestria be like that? What does this mean?”

“Your world, as far as I am able to tell, does not have ley lines. Instead, your planet just sort of… pulses with magic,” Sindragosa explained, briefly looking for the right word. “Radiates with it. Doesn’t make you ponies or any other magic user more powerful than you would be on Azeroth, but makes your planet easier to sense. This is why I think Equestria should have been invaded by demons a long time ago, a world pulsing with magic should be like a beacon among the Great Dark Beyond for them. But they haven’t, which means-”

“Now, hang on a minute there,” Applejack spoke up, interrupting her. “Ah might not know much ‘bout magics and whatnot, but how do ya know it’s our world that ain’t normal and not yars?”

The dragon, visibly annoyed at the interruption, turned to Arthas. “You and the previous Lich King were one being at some point; I assume you have his memories. Didn’t Draenor also have arcane ley lines coursing through it?”

“Yes, it had. Ner’zhul conducted his ritual at a nexus point of the ley lines to tap into Draenor’s power in order to open portals across the planet to different worlds,” he added, looking at everypony. “The energies he unleashed by doing so tore the very planet apart, so you can see what Sindragosa meant when she said that you can gather more power from such places. Anyway, she is right, worlds are supposed to have ley lines like Azeroth.”

“How can you even tell that Equestria doesn’t have them?” Princess Celestia asked.

“I’m a blue dragon, we are the guardians of magic on Azeroth. If my eyes still worked I could plainly see ley lines under the ground, but even without my sight I can sense them. Or rather, should be able to sense them, instead I can sense this magic pulsing everywhere I go. Now, granted,” she said, waving her claws and dispersing the two projections as the glow around her paws disappeared, “I can’t be completely certain that this is the state of your world, as I haven’t been here a long time and didn’t have an opportunity to conduct any research yet. I could do it, though, if you’d like,” Sindragosa told Celestia and Luna, “it is quite intriguing and I don’t have much to do, the matter of our rebirth aside of course.”

“We would be most grateful for any information you could provide us with regarding this interesting issue,” Celestia replied, nodding. “How would you go about conducting this research?”

Sindragosa shrugged. “You don’t have to worry, it would be the most basic of things. Placing several beacons around the world and gathering readings from them would be enough, I would be able to tell you exactly how the magic is spread around Equestria thanks to that.”

A slight furrow crossed Celestia’s brow. “We will have to return to this topic to discuss it in greater detail. For now we’d best continue the subject of the Burning Legion.”

“As you wish, Princess,” Sindragosa replied with a tiny nod of her head. “As I was saying before, the Legion hasn’t found your world despite how it emanates magic. The fact that they haven’t makes me think that they can’t. Or more precisely, that there is something preventing the demons from sensing it.”

“‘Preventing’? What could possibly prevent them from discovering Equestria?” Arthas asked, frowning in confusion.

“There is something far more obvious that is different about this world from Azeroth or any other world,” Sindragosa replied, then turning her blind gaze to others she added, “Which is something you ponies know too, considering what’s written in your astronomy books.”

Once again, arcane energies danced around her claws as she waved them, conjuring an image of Equestria. Except this time, it was smaller, and it was accompanied by projections of the sun and moon, circling around the planet.

“This world has a sun and moon rotating around it, moved by the two Princesses here,” Sindragosa said, with a tiny nod to the alicorns. “The fact that those two celestial bodies need to be magically moved aside, normally, it is the planet that rotates around the sun,” she added, waving her claws, and the projection of Azeroth, with its two moons, circling around much bigger and much further away sun. Sindragosa allowed the ponies to look at the conjured images for a few seconds (with the fillies being especially ensnared) before with a flick of her claws they dispersed. “My theory is that this circular movement of the sun and moon around Equestria somehow hides the unusual pulsing of magic from anybody who could pick it up from the Twisting Nether,” the blue dragon said, crossing her arms on her chest. Arthas frowned slightly, but before he could voice his concern Sindragosa added, “Yes, this theory is a bit of a leap, but it’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Arthas wasn’t completely sure that she was right… but she had a point about this world making no sense, and she understood magic far better than anypony in this room. “Far be it from me to argue with a blue dragon about what makes sense and what not,” he agreed respectfully (“Malygos’ case notwithstanding,” he privately remarked.). “But why would this world… be like this?”

Sindragosa frowned. “As someone who spent about a week on this world,” she began sarcastically, but then she shrugged and continued in normal voice, “between all of that and the fact that we were brought back to life in these bodies, I would risk a guess that this world, like Azeroth, had been visited by the titans, and for some reason they got really creative with it.”

“Oh, wonderful,” Arthas snorted, shaking his head. “Because when they stick to their norms, it works out so well for the planet. How many of Azeroth’s current problems are the result of titans’ mistakes or miscalculations?”

Sindragosa murmured something under her breath (which Arthas could swear sounded like: “Said a vrykul runt,”), her blind eyes rolling upwards in exasperation. Before he could comment on her remark, Princess Celestia spoke up.

“We know nothing about those titans, aside from what Arthas has told us about them,” she began calmly, with a glance at the paladin, “but based on that I would have to agree that this seems to be the most logical assumption. However, I must ask you, is there any way for us to confirm that this is indeed the case?”

Sindragosa scratched her chin thoughtfully. “Assuming that, despite this unusual creativity, the titans hadn’t differed too far from how they ordered Azeroth, there should be some titan constructs, titan-forged and titan facilities around the planet. If this Gate of Tartarus that possibly brought me and Arthas back to life is indeed some titan creation, we should be able to learn more, and maybe use it to track down some titan keepers - construct sapient beings they’d left to protect Azeroth - they would have left behind to look after Equestria, and hopefully get answers from them.”

“That was a lot of ‘assuming’, ‘shoulds’ and ‘ifs’,” Arthas commented, but before Sindragosa could retort he added, turning to Celestia and Luna, “but it does seem like the only way to discover, at the very least, why your world is so unusual.”

“That’s assuming that there are some ‘titan keepers’ on Equestria,” Luna pointed out.

“If the titans shaped your world, they would have left somebody to protect it,” Sindragosa assured her.

“I’m sure we will have our answers once Brann Bronzebeard arrives and we examine the Gate of Tartarus,” Princess Celestia chimed in before her sister could reply to the dragon. “But right now what concerns me most is still this Burning Legion. Even if we were to believe that they cannot find our world, I think they warrant further discussion.”

“Especially since this isn’t the reason Arthas hadn’t brought them up before.”

Surprised, Arthas turned to look at Twilight. The purple unicorn smirked at him.

“Come on, I know you. Even if it did cross your mind that those demons cannot find Equestria, you wouldn’t just leave it at that. You are way too paranoid to think that it would mean we’d be safe from them,” she explained, rolling her eyes.

Arthas sighed while their friends snorted in amusement. It was indeed not his reason for not discussing the Burning Legion properly with ponies before and he was about to explain it regardless. Twilight was also probably right that he wouldn’t have just been content with the thought of the Legion never being able to find Equestria.

“You are right, of course,” he began with a nod to the unicorn. “Sindragosa’s reasoning, while sound, wasn’t shared by me. I have my own reasons as to why I hadn’t approached the subject of the Burning Legion before.”

Rainbow Dash snorted. “Arthas keeping secrets, stop the presses.”

Knowing only too well that she had a point, Arthas didn’t argue. Sweeping his gaze through the ponies, he began, “Initially, I hadn’t spoken of the Burning Legion because I was in shock after being brought back to life. I was confused, and it took me a while to adjust, even with all of your and the Light’s help. The threat of worlds-destroying demon armies…probably should have been the first thing I should have told you about, ignoring the risk of sounding like a doomsayer,” he allowed himself to add humorously, making a few of his friends chuckle, “but I was of no mind to think about such matters.”

“But you eventually found your place among us,” Princess Celestia pointed out, “and some peace, I hope.”

Indeed he had. Thanks to Twilight and everypony else he had found, while maybe not exactly peace, something to anchor himself to. Something that made life not just bearable, but worth living. And then later, while being initially hesitant about training paladins and becoming the head of the order, he had gained a purpose.

Nodding to Princess Celestia in silent reply, he then frowned and resumed, “Once I had, shall we say, sufficiently recovered… I hadn’t spoken about the Burning Legion mainly for two reasons. The first being that…while I hadn’t assumed, like Sindragosa, that the Burning Legion couldn’t find your world, I had found it nearly impossible that the demons could ever start a large, open conflict with Equestria.

“To explain my train of thought,” Arthas quickly added, forestalling questions he could see both princesses, Twilight, Nymph, and few others already had, “I’ll quickly summarize the Burning Legion’s attempts to conquer Azeroth. The first time they invaded my homeworld was over ten thousand years ago, starting a conflict known as the War of the Ancients. It was during that time that Sindragosa died,” he said with a nod at the blue dragon, who could barely stop herself from snorting in annoyance.

Arthas couldn’t blame her reaction to him mentioning her death. After all, it wasn’t demons who had killed her.

“The Burning Legion had been defeated by the combined forces of the kaldorei, tauren, furbolgs, earthens, ancient Wild Gods and dragons, after a long and very destructive war,” he continued, “But even though the demon invasion was fought back, they weren’t defeated. Since they dwell within the Twisting Nether, the plane between the worlds, as well as on the various planets they have conquered, they required a portal. The defenders of Azeroth merely managed to last long enough against the Burning Legion to close the portal before the demons managed to cross in numbers that would overwhelm them. And in the aftermath of the war, the source of practically unlimited magic that the demons had used to create the portal to our world, the Well of Eternity, had been destroyed. With it gone, the Burning Legion couldn’t launch a full scale invasion on Azeroth again.”

“But, they did, didn’t they?” Applejack asked, frowning in confusion. “Ya just told us how-”

Arthas raised a hoof. “Yes, Applejack, I am getting to that. While I said that the Burning Legion couldn’t invade Azeroth again in the same manner, they had other options. As far as I am aware, after their loss in the War of the Ancients, they attempted to invade my world five more times, only succeeding during the Third War, which again ended up in their defeat. As I told you briefly when recounting my past, they created the Lich King and ordered him to engineer the Scourge in order to weaken the defenders of Azeroth and to open the path for the demons. Using the incantations within the Book of Medivh - the same one,” he added with a tilt of his head at Princess Luna,” ironically, that Brann had left for my safekeeping - Kel’Thuzad had been able to create a rift linking Azeroth to the Twisting Nether, and through it demons started to pour, including one of the leaders of the Burning Legion and several other powerful Legion commanders. However, their overall numbers were small. This is what I meant when I said that they hadn’t launched a full scale invasion, even a rift created through this spellbook could only open the path for so many demons. This is why the Legion relied on the Scourge to serve as their army.”

“Which came to bite them in the tail,” Rainbow remarked, smirking.

“Yes, it did,” Arthas retorted, not smiling; while Ner’zhul’s betrayal had indeed sealed the defeat of the Legion in the Third War, it didn’t erase the fact that they had helped to usher them to Azeroth.

“And what about those other four attempts by the Burning Legion to invade Azeroth?” Twilight asked.

“They were stopped,” Arthas answered, shrugging. “The demons constructed an artifact for the master of the Legion, the Scepter of Sargeras, that had the power to tear rifts between the worlds for a short while, to allow an avatar infused with a portion of his soul to go through them. Though he wouldn’t have his full power, he would have been able to summon more demons and lead another invasion. However, Guardian Aegwynn - the mother of Medivh - defeated this avatar.”

Arthas decided to omit the tale of how apparently that was the Legion’s dark master’s true plan. How the fallen titan’s soul - or rather, the portion of it that was inside the avatar - had leaped out of its destroyed vessel and into Aegwynn, infused itself into her womb and then possessed Medivh even before he was born.

Was that always Sargeras’ plan? To discard his own avatar to possess a human, even if it was the Guardian of Tirisfal? If indeed it was, then the Legion’s master was truly tenacious, to commit to a plan that would take a thousand years to yield results. Or maybe he decided that Aegwynn would be more useful to him alive during their fight and just improvised? Discarding even the Scepter in the process, the very weapon demons created for the purpose of starting another invasion?

Arthas knew very well just what power dwelled within that artifact. Through the memories of another, he felt as if he had held it within his own hands.

It was, along with the Book of Medivh, one of the three artifacts that Ner’zhul had used to tear Draenor apart.

“Then again, he was probably going to reclaim it anyway,” Arthas remarked in his thoughts, banishing the memories of the long, ornate scepter, crowned with a floating purple orb decorated with nathrezim wings.

“That was their first attempt at launching another invasion of Azeroth,” he resumed. “Another came a thousand years later, using people from another world. The demons corrupted the orcs of Draenor and bound them to their will, then used them to invade Azeroth, starting the First War. The plan was to weaken the various kingdoms that would oppose the Burning Legion and eventually to open the way for them. However, the orcish Horde was stopped by the Alliance in the Second War, the Legion’s plan was thwarted, and the orcs would eventually free themselves from the demon’s influence.

“Then they came up with the Scourge,” he added reluctantly. “Obviously, that plan worked and the second invasion of the Burning Legion came about, but as I’ve already mentioned they were defeated again. Another two attempts would be made about six years later.”

“Ten thousand years between their first and second invasions, and then they tried again only a few years later,” an alarming thought rose within him. “How long before they’d come up with a new plan? Assuming they aren’t already working on one…”

“The demons had somehow convinced an elven prince to ally with them when he was on Outland,” he said, choosing to not dwell on those dark thoughts. “Prince Kael’thas had attempted to use the Sunwell, the same fount of magical power of the elves that I had used to raise Kel’thuzad years before, to summon another lord of the Burning Legion to start yet another invasion. Fortunately, they were stopped by the Shattered Sun Offensive, a coalition of forces that fought against both Kael’thas and the Burning Legion on Outland. Then within the next year, Varimathras, one of the Lich King’s former jailors, who had allied with Sylvanas and the Forsaken, had staged a coup d'etat and after gaining control of the Undercity attempted to open up portals to start the next invasion, but he was stopped by the Horde as they fought to reclaim the city.”

He tried to ignore the irk or irritation about the Horde reclaiming his father’s kingdom. Arthas knew that this Horde was different from the one corrupted by demons that had fought them in the Second War, and the Forsaken who dwelled in the ruins of Lordaeron were still his people, so he thanked the Light that they had allies, whoever they were.

Didn’t make the thought of Horde’s banners flying over Lordaeron any less irritating, though.

“That Sylvanas really trusted a demon?” Serenity asked, frowning.

Arthas snorted. “I highly doubt Sylvanast trusts anybody. Least of all that she actually trusted Varimathras. But she had probably assumed that if he would indeed plan to betray her she would see it coming. Of course, this happened during the War in Northrend against me, so Sylvanas had been too occupied with the thought of killing me to notice a giant demon standing behind her with a knife.”

He wondered… at Angrathar, when the Forsaken attacked him - and the forces of Alliance and Horde - with their New Plague… on whose orders had they done it? At the time, he had been certain that Sylvanas had been behind it. Even the Scourge hadn’t known about Varimathras’ coup in Undercity, which took place at the same time, and he knew the Grand Apothecary Putress who had unleashed the plague was the demon’s ally. Later Sylvanas had claimed that Varimathras had been behind that…

… except Arthas knew Sylvanas would have stopped at nothing to kill him, and the plague that she had prepared for him had nearly done it.

Seeing no point in dwelling on that, he shook his head. “As you can see, each time the Legion tried to invade Azeroth, they were stopped.”

“So you thought that if they would try to invade Equestria,” Princess Celestia interjected, frowning thoughtfully, “we would have been able to stop them in time as well?”

Arthas nodded. “Creation of a portal for the Burning Legion to send any significant force through would take a very big amount of power. Considering this kingdom is the greatest concentration of magic in this world - and that there aren’t exactly many other nations who can even use magic - it would be easy to detect any disturbances that would alert us that somepony was attempting to open a way for the demons to invade. Even without myself and the other paladins you seemed to be able to handle occasional crises now and then,” he added with a smirk at Twilight and the rest of his friends, “so I assumed that we’d be able to stop any agents of the Burning Legion before we’d have to worry about an invasion.”

“I suppose I can’t fault you for that logic,” Princess Celestia replied before anypony else could interject; he knew Rainbow well enough to know she was about to boastfully claim that Arthas was totally right. “You do have far more knowledge on the subject of demons, not to mention experience. And it would be indeed preferable if we could prevent the Legion’s invasion in the first place. However, it still doesn’t answer the question why you hadn’t warned us about them before.”

“Because there weren’t any signs that we should worry about such things,” Arthas answered. “I’ve been in Equestria for months now, I’ve been reading your newspapers and talking with ponies. There was no strange plague, no mysterious signs in the sky, no sightings of any otherworldly creatures skulking around, nothing pointing out to the work of demons. And if somepony attempted to meddle with the fabric of reality to create a portal for demons, it would create a huge disharmony that I, Sindragosa, and I suspect you too, Your Majesties, could easily sense. So since I expected that we would have plenty of warning signs in case of a Burning Legion invasion, I chose to focus on more immediate matters.”

Princess Celestia nodded with understanding, but her frown betrayed that she wasn’t entirely convinced. “That might be so, but it’s still borderline reckless to not discuss this threat with us. Surely it would have been better if we’d also been on the lookout for any sign of demon activity.”

“He did say he had two reasons, Sister,” Princess Luna pointed out. Turning her gaze to Arthas, she added: “While his first one seemed to be dictated by logic, perhaps we’ll find the second one more illuminating?”

Arthas suppressed a sigh. He had hoped to avoid this. But he had sworn fealty to the Princesses, and those were all his friends. He couldn’t have lied to them, so he said that he had two major reasons, which was true. Still, he had hoped that the lengthy explanation of his train of thoughts behind the first reason would be satisfying enough, or that it would throw them off and they’d forget that there was another reason.

But he should have guessed Princess Luna would have remembered. Hell, she had probably figured out what the real reason was why he had kept them all in the dark about the danger they faced. She had seen his memories, after all… starting with the very first time the darkness that he wanted inhabitants of this world to be spared from had first entered his life.

Seconds passed, but he found himself unsure how to start. Arthas found himself turning his gaze away from everypony, towards the nearest window. Slowly, he rose and began to walk towards it.

“Um, Arthas?” he heard Applejack call, her voice surprised.

He didn’t reply, and ignored the murmur of confusion behind him. Instead, he focused on the sight beyond the window once he reached it.

Canterlot.

The capital of Equestria. City of talking ponies, as ridiculous as it sounded to a part of him even now. And beyond its border, further away, the barely visible outline of Ponyville. Two places filled with ponies walking around, thinking only about their daily lives, of their families and friends.

“Do you know what I think about when I look at Ponyville and Canterlot?” he finally asked in a raised voice so that everypony could hear him. He didn’t wait long for them to answer, not wanting an interruption (and half-expecting Sindragosa to offer a snide comment), “I think about Lordaeron. How it used to be. Not before me, but before the Second War.

“Everything was at peace then. People could walk around towns and villages without having to worry about things that were out of their control. Sure, there were problems, bandits, wild animal attacks, occasional forest troll incursion, but they were rare and were easily handled by the standing army. Which didn’t have much to do otherwise, as whenever there would be some disagreement with the neighboring kingdoms my father would solve them all diplomatically. Then again the only nations that would fight each other at that age were Stromgarde and Alterac,” Arthas amended, shaking his head and snorting softly. “Trollbane and Perenolde… but then, the news came.

“Stormwind has fallen.” Those were the three dreaded words Uther had said to him that day oh so long ago, words that heralded the change of everything. “King Llane was dead. The survivors sailed through the sea and landed on our shores. Anduin Lothar, the onetime Champion of Stormwind, the mage Khadgar of Dalaran and Prince Varian were traveling to the Capital City bearing news of what destroyed the mighty kingdom and threatened everybody.

“Nothing was really the same after that. Even before they reached us with the news of the Orcish Horde. Dread fell over the entire capital, everybody wondering and whispering what could have caused all of this. And then we knew. Just like that, we started preparing for war. Forges were lit and clangs sounded as they produced armors and weapons. Chapels were filled with people praying. Emissaries were sent out to gather provisions, mounts, food for mounts, carts, tents, everything an army would need. Conscription was introduced, for the first time since my great-grandfather’s rule. Rulers and emissaries from the neighboring kingdoms arrived to discuss how to combat this threat, decisions were made… and then silence. The soldiers left to gather with the rest of the army, leaving behind basically a skeletal crew to protect the Capital City. Citizens had left too, many having joined the army, blacksmiths, leatherworkers, or simple workers went with them, leaving behind almost exclusively children and the elderly. Even with the refugees of Stormwind and some Lordaeronians who fled to the capital from the surrounding villages, the city seemed empty. Everybody tried to carry on through the days, waiting for the news from the battlefront and fearing for their brothers, sisters, husbands, fathers, sons and daughters.

“You haven’t known war for two thousand years,” his voice slightly raised, he finally addressed the ponies. Without turning his head, he continued, “You had your share of trials and problems you have faced, and I know you ponies are brave and would rise up to face any challenge… but a war is something completely different. Since I came here, you have learned from me about alien worlds and various powers that were common knowledge on them, and you had to cope with that. But bringing the specter of war against the Burning Legion, not just to you but to all those ponies living their peaceful lives?” Arthas turned his head, looking at his friends with sorrow. “It might have been irresponsible or even selfish of me, but I would rather have spared your entire kingdom this fear.”

They now looked at him with understanding. He had told them before about how his homeworld seemed to be in a constant state of war, but he wondered if they ever thought about how it affected the common people, the civilians. How fear and uncertainty had been thrust upon them and how little they had to say on this matter.

After a few moments of silence, Princess Celestia stepped forward. “I am thankful that you wished to preserve the happiness of my subjects, Arthas. You are right when you point out how those trials we have faced pale in comparison to a real war. But this isn’t something that we could be protected from forever. While I dearly hope that there would never come a day when my sister and I would have to lead Equestria through war, I would much rather that our ponies were prepared to defend themselves against the demons rather than live in a fool's paradise. Your own people suffered uncertainty and fear, but they faced it bravely. Ponies, and other people of this world, would do the same if such time would come.”

Arthas sighed and nodded in what was both agreement and defeat. Celestia was right, he knew that. It would be far better for ponies to know what threats they might face in the future than for them to remain ignorant and lead happier lives. And after living among them for so long, he had a feeling that they indeed would face adversities bravely, even such as the ones that seem intent on plaguing his homeworld.

“Now then,” Princess Celestia added in a briskier tone, “I assume that you don’t have optimistic views on our chances if the Burning Legion would invade Equestria directly?”

“Forgive me, Princess, but no,” Arthas retorted, turning fully around. “I won’t claim to be awfully familiar with your military prowess, but if the Legion were to invade you… it’s not even the matter of experience, your army is in dire need of reorganization if you’d want it to be on par with Azerothian’s armies, let alone combat the armies of demons.” This Arthas could discuss. Military strategies. Increasing ponies safety by improving their defenses, not just traumatizing them by the tales of war and the Burning Legion. “Of course, if you’d begin improving your military, other kingdoms would grow uneasy, as Griffonia had recently once the Order of the Celestial Light had been formed. That being said, the Burning Legion would want to conquer the entire world, so this would affect them too, obviously.”

“Then perhaps this would be the time to reveal to our neighbors how we’ve recently started making contacts with people from another world,” Princess Luna chimed in. “With griffons coming to join the paladin order they’re bound to find out sooner or later. And with the threat of the Burning Legion… Even if Sindragosa is right and they cannot discover Equestria, we should let the other nations know about them and make plans to defend each other just in case.”

Yes, that was a good idea. The Alliance was originally born to combat the Horde. Maybe in this world a similar coalition could be made to prepare for alien threats as well?

But how to convince all those other nations that he was speaking the truth? His friends knew him, which is why they trusted him, and they had met Brann Bronzebeard, a dwarf from Azeroth. Cadance and Shining Armor would believe him, too, and it seemed that he had the trust of Queen Chrysalis as well, but what of other leaders of this world?

“Once the griffon initiates arrive I can use the Proving Grounds to make them face projections of demons, they could tell their people just how dangerous they are…” Arthas mused out loud, wondering how his initiates would fare against fellguards and fellhounds… when he realized there was something nagging him at the back of his mind, but what that was…

Demons.

Arthas turned his eyes toward Sindragosa. Before the whole discussion about the Burning Legion had started, she had said something that had deeply unsettled him, but Celestia redirected the conversation before he could question her.

“What did you mean when you said that demons cannot be killed?” he asked the blue dragon. Sindragosa, who seemed to be paying only half-attention for some time, turned her blind gaze towards him. “I’ve learned that the dreadlords seem particularly tough to completely kill, but I hadn’t heard of any other demon doing the same.”

Sindragosa crossed her arms and shrugged. “The soul of every demon is tethered to the Twisting Nether. When they are killed, they just return to it and reform there.”

His eyes widened while dread crept into his very soul. “What?” he asked numbly, which was all that he was able to muster.

“How would you even know such a thing?” he heard Twilight ask; glancing at her, Arthas realized everypony else was equally surprised, though it was clear that they hadn’t realized the full implications of this.

“Because I’m a blue dragon,” Sindragosa snorted. “When we don’t know or understand something, we observe it and study it. If that something happens to pose a threat to the world, we capture it and study it thoroughly. When the War of the Ancients began, we captured several demons of different species - fellhounds, infernals, mo’args, satyrs, ered’ruins, nathrezim, eredar, an annihilan - and examined them. We have discovered that they were all infused with large quantities of fel magic that warped their bodies and souls, tethering them to the Twisting Nether. We speculated that to completely kill a demon they’d have to be killed within the Twisting Nether or alternatively places where its chaotic energies have leaked into. And as for the nathrezim - the drealords - surviving their deaths on Azeroth and returning,” she added, turning to Arthas, “there was something… unique about them, compared to the other demons we’ve studied. When we’d strip their beings down to their basic elements, we’ve discovered that the demons were either composed solely of the energies of the Twisting Nether - meaning they came to be within it - or that they had traces of elements that pointed out to them to originally being mortal, living beings like us who were infused with fel magic and turned into demons, like Azeroth’s own satyrs. But the nathrezim… we were never really able to discern what their structure was composed of. Of course, we were forced to halt our research once- once we had to join the war,” Sindragosa half-stammered, for a brief moment intending to say something else. Clearing her throat, she finished, “I suspect that might have something to do with how they seem to be able to make their souls linger on the world they had died and possess corpses.”

Arthas didn’t really care about that, or that Sindragosa seemed really reluctant to talk about what had happened to blue dragons during the War of the Ancients. His mind was still reeling at this newest, dreadful revelation.

Beside him, Celestia turned a worried gaze to him. “What does that mean?”

Arthas swallowed. “It means…”

It meant the Burning Legion isn’t just a huge, extremely big army, composed of very powerful creatures bent on destroying all life. It meant that they couldn’t be simply bled out before closing their portals on Azeroth, Equestria, or any other world they’d invade. It meant that all of those commanders of the Burning Legion who were destroyed during the Third War - Archimonde, Tichondrius, Mannoroth - were alive and would one day attack again.

It meant that their armies were infinite.

It meant that they would never stop.

It meant… that there was no hope…

“No,” a soft but firm voice spoke in his head. “There is always hope.”

His conviction reaffirmed, Arthas fought back against his fear. Sindragosa’s revelation might have made the Burning Legion seem invincible, but they had always seemed as such, and yet Azeroth had defeated them twice already. As long as they’d cling to hope and not give in to despair, they’ll always find a way to beat them.

“It means,” he finally said out loud, “that I’ll need Spike to send a letter.”

“Huh?” the dragon asked, blinking. “A letter to who?”

“To Brann Bronzebeard. I need to write to him to hasten his visit to Equestria. He needs to hear what Sindragosa said and inform Azeroth about it.” Even as he said those words, Arthas started to realize that just informing people of Azeroth about demons’ immortality wouldn’t solve much, and even that alone wouldn’t be easy to do. In his mind he began to work on what else could be done while continuing to explain, “Nobody in Azeroth knows that all the demons they defeated during the Third War will be back one day…”

“But, wait,” he heard Nymph interrupt him. “What about the other blue dragons? Sindragosa said ‘we’ when talking about how they examined demons-”

“They all died,” Arthas cut in, in a voice that bordered on curtly. He didn’t have time to dance around the subject to spare Sindragosa’s feelings. He just had an idea. “With your permission, Your Majesties,” he began, turning to Celestia and Luna, “I would also like to ask Brann in the letter to bring along another, if it would turn out to be possible.”

“Another?” Celestia repeated, intrigued.

“Brann is respected among the people of Azeroth, but his voice wouldn’t reach everybody. In order for the information to reach the leaders of the world quicker and more efficiently, we’d need somepony with even more connections and diplomatic experience. Furthermore, considering that the threat of the Burning Legion is even bigger than I had previously imagined, it would be better for Equestria to gather more information about demons than I could provide on my own. Also, since it’s a threat that affects both our worlds, it wouldn’t hurt to start making long-term strategies involving both Equestria and Azeroth. What better way would it be than to have somepony capable of all that coming to this world?”

Princess Celestia nodded thoughtfully. “You seem to have somepony specific in mind,” she noted.

“Yes, Princess-” he began… only to pause.

That name came almost immediately to his mind, and he had almost said it without realizing. But he stopped himself. Earlier, when he talked about his intention, he had been thinking about somebody else, somebody who was more qualified for the task he had in mind. And yet when he was about to name him, he almost said her name.

Did he stop himself because he was thinking logically, or because his emotions got involved? After all, while his initial pick was more qualified, she would also excel in spreading the word, sharing knowledge with ponies and helping strategise.

Except… Arthas really didn’t feel he could face her again.

Shaking his head briefly, he made his choice. “Archmage Khadgar.”

174. The Price of Knowing - Part III

Shining Armor uttered a deep sigh as Cadance’s aide placed another stack of documents before him.

“This is the last batch, Your Majesty,” the crystal mare said apologetically, though not without amusement in her eyes.

Shaking his head, Shining Armor grabbed the document on the top with his magic and laid it before him on his desk. “Bla bla bla, the Crown hires company yada yada to construct the Crystal Stadium- ouh, that’s for the Equestria Games!” he thought, finally getting excited in what felt like hours. Rubbing his tired eyes, he looked over the document carefully.

It was still months before the Equestria Games Committee would begin interviewing locations that want to host the biggest sporting event in the world, but if the Crystal Empire were to have a chance to be even considered, let alone chosen, they had to start making preparations right now. And they needed to host it. With the Crystal Empire gone for so long, all its diplomatic and economic relations with other nations were non-existent, Equestria being the only exception for obvious reasons. For this nation to bloom once again, Cadance and Shining Armor needed to fix that. Diplomacy could only do so much, though; however, an event like the Equestria Games being hosted in the Crystal Empire would reintroduce this nation to the entire world, lure business partners and investors, and equally as important, help the crystal ponies open themselves up to the world.

“The Crystal Empire must integrate itself back with the world again,” Shining Armor thought, then frowned inwardly. “Especially if Princess Celestia is right and we can expect our world to have even more interactions with Azeroth in time…”

And just like that, he got reminded of what Princess Celestia had told him and Cadance during her short visit earlier today. Shining Armor grimaced. Throughout the rest of the day, he had tried to put aside all the thoughts about…

“About the mass murderer living within the walking distance of my little sister,” Shining Armor finished his thought grimly.

Shaking his head, he refocused on the documents before him. Quickly scanning them, he saw that everything was in order, just as he and Cadance had worked out. And the cost was…

“… about enough to put a dent in the Crystal Empire’s budget the size of Aquestria,” Shining Armor remarked, rolling his eyes. Putting aside the document for now, he quickly browsed through the pile of the documents he had just signed minutes ago, looking for- “Ah, here it is, the loan from Equestria First Bank.”

Once again he sighed. This loan would make it possible for the Crystal Empire to cover all their projects and leave the treasury secured in case of any unexpected disasters. More importantly, he knew the deal they'd negotiated was extremely good.

“Still, returning the loan with thirty percent income in ten years… I wish we could have extended that to twenty years. Oh well,” he summarized, then put the signed document away. Leaning over the contract with the construction company, he quickly made sure once again that everything was in order before leaving his signature, then grabbed a seal of the Crystal Empire and left it beside his signature. Lastly, he pressed his hoof against an ink pad and stamped over his signature and seal. “And done,” Shining Armor thought, wiping his hoof on a brush.

The next few documents were less important, one about hiring a new cook, another about a ball, and so on. Finally, one last document was left. Shining Armor grabbed it quickly, eager to be done so he could go to Cadance already… but realizing what he was holding made him pause.

The agreement between the Crystal Empire and the Order of the Celestial Light.

“‘The Crystal Empire pledges to the construction of a cathedral of the Order, where ponies could gather and pray to the Holy Light,’” Shining Armor read, despite already knowing the contents of this document; he had helped devise it, after all. “‘The Empire will cover all costs of the construction and upkeep of the cathedral. The Order of the Celestial Light, who shall use the cathedral as their headquarters within the Crystal Empire, pledges to assist the Empire with helping their subjects and defending their borders, as well as returning all of the Crystal Empire’s expenses eventually.’”

Until a few hours ago, the most worrisome part was the use of the word “eventually”.

Shining Armor sighed and rubbed his temples. He knew he was being at least a bit unfair. Ever since Arthas came to Equestria he acted with honor and in the best interest of everypony. He was also upfront about his past as an evil monster, to some extent.

Said “extent” ended before any details of his past.

“I suppose knowing just what he had done in his previous life is a bit shocking… and the knowledge that - considering his Order already has a similar agreement signed with Canterlot and probably soon will have with Griffenhalla - he’s going to practically have small armies in three of the four biggest cities in this world in just a few months isn’t helping!”

“Your Highness?” Cadance’s aide’s voice pulled him from his musing. “Is there something wrong?”

“Yeah, three or five things,” Shining Armor wanted to snort in reply.

“No, everything’s fine,” he said instead, his long years as a Royal Guard helping him keep his face neutral and stopping him from betraying his misgivings.

Unfortunately, it seemed the crystal pony wasn’t convinced. “Are you sure, Your Highness? Princess Cadance always signs documents herself unless she is attending to her other duties, and I know she hadn’t had anything scheduled to do right now. Does Princess Celestia’s unscheduled visit earlier have… anything to do with this?”

“Damn she’s smart,” Shining Armor remarked, making a mental note to talk with Cadance about giving her a pay raise.

Faking nonchalance, he waved his forehoof. “Princess Celestia just wanted to inform us about some events and celebrations she wants to hold in the future. Cadance is making plans on how best to prepare for them.”

“Oh, I see. Well, if Your Majesties need some help I will be more than happy to lend a hoof.”

Despite the crystal pony’s reply, Shining Armor could see that she still had some doubts. Not wanting to give her another chance to ask about Princess Celestia’s visit, he quickly pushed away his misgivings and signed the document.

“There,” he said, grabbing all the documents with his magic and stacking them up neatly before passing them to the mare. “That was the last one, right?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. If there’s nothing else you wish me to do-”

“No, you’re free to go.”

“Then I wish you goodnight, Sire,” the crystal pony said, bowing.

“Goodnight.”

As she left, Shining Armor sighed and leaned back in his chair. He was still getting used to crystal ponies calling him ‘Your Majesty’ or ‘Sire’; it had been weird enough when after their wedding ponies would start to address him as ‘Your Highness'.

“And then we became the rulers of the Crystal Empire,” Shining Armor mused, looking at the picture of Cadance on his desk. “How ironic.”

Their bedchambers within the Crystal Palace were located far above the Throne Chamber. It was a spacious room, so large that it took most of the floor they were located on, the rest was basically just the staircase. Walking into it, Shining Armor couldn’t help but think about how now they knew that this chamber used to belong to Cadance’s grandmother. And every ancestor before dating back to who knows how many generations.

“Certainly doesn’t make things awkward,” he remarked as he walked through the empty room towards the balcony.

Cadance was standing there, leaning over the balustrade, her gaze firmly on the city below. She hadn’t turned to greet him, even though she had no doubt heard him come in. Hoping she had felt a little better than when he had left her to deal with the state matters, Shining Armor trotted over to stand beside her, his coat brushing hers.

“Hey,” he said softly, kissing her cheek. “How are you?”

“About a thousand years older,” Cadance replied dryly.

“Well… you don’t look a day over nine hundred.”

A snort escaped her. “Thanks,” she said, sounding a little happier, as she leaned against him.

“I finished all your duties,” Shining Armor told her after a brief silence. “Signing the documents took a bit longer than I thought.”

Cadance nodded absentmindedly.

“How are you?” Shining Armor repeated his question again.

“I’ve been thinking if this is how Arthas feels.”

That was not an answer he was expecting. Leaning back a bit, Shining Armor gave his wife a quizzical look as he tried to figure out what she meant, but ultimately he gave up. “You’re going to have to walk me through that one.”

“I mean…” Cadance began, her brow furrowing. “He had a life. He had friends and family- as it turns out he even had an entire kingdom, too. Really feels like we should have figured that out in his case…”

Shining Armor had to agree with her on that. Considering how knowledgeable in politics and diplomacy Arthas was and how many prominent figures of his world he knew, it really hadn’t come as that much of a surprise when Celestia had told them about him having been the crowned prince of Lordaeron.

“Not to mention the massive guilt he feels over the Forsaken…”

“Anyway,” Cadance resumed, “he had a life. And then because of things beyond his control - or, well, mostly beyond his control - he had lost it all… and now he has a life here. A pretty good life. He might no longer have any of his family, but he has friends and loved ones, and in time might find a new family.”

An image of Twilight popped in Shining Armor’s head. “Hopefully NOT.”

“So he must be happy here. At least, I hope he is. But at the same time, he wouldn’t have this life if he hadn’t lost the one he had in Lordaeron.” Cadance laid her head on her forehooves. “I can relate to that, now. I too have a life. A quite good one,” she added with a mischievous glance at Shining Armor. “It’s the life I love. But… I could have had a different life. I would have had parents, a grandmother, a twin brother…” Cadance trailed off, sighing sadly. “All because of something beyond my control, too.”

“That might be true,” Shining Armor agreed, understanding now what she meant. “But to be precise your and Arthas’ situations are a bit different, for starters he-”

But Cadance was already waving her hoof dismissively. “Yes yes, I know. And we’ll have to talk over all of that eventually. But right now I need to get over this, then we can talk about the past of the guy who will most likely eventually end up being our brother-in-law.”

“Yes, of course-” Shining Armor began to agree but then it registered within his brain what she had said. “Wait, what?!”

Cadance gave him a look in which amusement and affection mixed with annoyance and exasperation. “Shining honey, please, it’s pretty obvious how those two feel about each other.”

“Sure, but it’s not so obvious to me if that's how it should end up,” Shining Armor thought privately, but he kept that to himself; indeed, this wasn’t the time to discuss that… also, even he could see that he was probably a bit overprotective of his sister in this subject, even after learning everything about Arthas.

“Whatever,” he waved aside her remark, causing her to roll her eyes in amusement; no doubt she had figured out what he thought about it. “Back to the important matter… I know this is a lot to take in, and quite honestly I can’t even imagine what you must be going through, but… there are some good things in all of this. Like you having a niece and an aunt.”

“I know, and I’m happy about that,” Cadance agreed, but then to Shining Armor’s sadness she sighed. “But I had already befriended Serenity, and I already loved Moonlight even when I thought she was just my adopted aunt’s daughter. Has something really changed now that I know that the former was the sister of my father that died before I was even born and that the latter is the daughter of my twin brother? Who also died before we were born?!”

“Actually, that was after you were born, Shadow Bolt hadn’t died until Nightmare Moon and that was years after the Crystal Empire disappeared.”

“Oh right, because that’s the important part of this time traveling nonsense,” Cadance snorted, swishing her tail angrily. “Why did somepony do that?” she asked, frowning. “I can understand somepony taking us away from Prin- our mother, considering she was most likely dying - though you’d think somepony capable of time travel would be able to help her - but why did they separate us? Why put us in completely different ages, in the same damned forest?”

He knew the question was rhetorical. Shining Armor had no idea why, nor did anypony else who knew about this.

Cadance took a deep breath, calming down a bit. “I suppose I should be happy that once we prove it’s true, our rule over the Crystal Empire will be secured,” she muttered, though her tone betrayed how little she had cared about it; their subjects loved and accepted them regardless already, so what was the point?

Shining Armor knew they should probably start making plans regarding announcing that to the Crystal Empire, but there was time for that later. Now all his wonderful wife needed was his support.

“I’m sorry you will never know what could have been,” he told her softly, brushing her cheek, “but I promise I’ll do all I can for this life we share to be amazing.”

Cadance hummed happily. “You better,” she replied mischievously, bumping her flank against his.

Happy to see her brighten up a little, he kissed her cheek again. “Anything I can do to make you feel better?”

Cadance sighed and turned to gaze at their city again, falling silent for a few heartbeats.

“Do you still have that firefighter uniform?”

Author's Note

Sorry about the long break. And that this chapter is so short, but I'm hoping to write shorter chapters from now on, to avoid burning up. Got the next chapter ready, gonna post it in two days, and I'll try to get the next one after that done before the end of September.

175. The Price of Knowing - Part IV

Fluttershy paced around her cottage.

It’d been several hours since she had returned from Canterlot. Most of which she had spent pacing around, except for feeding her animal friends. Several hours since she had welcomed back Arthas and his paladins along with the rest of their friends. Several hours since he had told them who he really had been and what he had done before his death.

Try as she might, she could not outpace what she had heard.

Fluttershy had known before that Arthas had been evil, of course. He had made it clear to them almost as soon as she and her friends had first met him. However, he had mentioned that his situation was somewhat similar to what Princess Luna had gone through. And in many ways it was.

However, never in her worst nightmares could Fluttershy have imagined the horrors Arthas had unleashed upon Azeroth as the Lich King.

Fluttershy understood that this wasn’t Arthas. Not completely. The best parts of him, the parts that made him him, had been consumed by that awful blade. Hearing about his past was… unsettling, but it didn’t change how she felt about Arthas. No, Fluttershy knew that her friend wasn’t that person, and he would never be him again.

But what she had learned filled her with such unrest that she needed to get back home to think about it in peace. Or at least as close to ‘peace’ as she could manage.

The destruction, the countless deaths, countless being bound to his will, the undead…

The mere idea of dead creatures rising would have been horrifying and repulsive to Fluttershy even ages ago; indeed, she had vehemently refused to go to a movie theater with any of her friends to any movie featuring ‘zombies’... or ‘infected’, ‘trotters’ or whatever else those were called now (as well as any horror movie in general, of course).

However, since she began learning nature magic from Provato, she started to better understand and appreciate the balance of life and death, and now could fully 'comprehend' how much of an… abomination the undead were. Their existence wasn’t just horrifying, it was a blasphemy in the eyes of nature.

But… was it alright to think of them as such? Many of those undead had regained their free will and fought against the Lich King’s evil. And she understood that those unfortunate creatures had no say in what they’d become, even less so than Arthas had. Certainly they had a right to exist, even in that state, right?

Fluttershy wanted to ask Provato what he thought about it… but she dreaded the answer.

Finally, she stopped her pacing. She had trotted in circles for so long that her legs started to ache a little. But she didn’t stop for long. She took a few deep breaths, then walked outside, ignoring her animal friends’ worried gazes. She let the cool air of the late evening wrap around her as she breathed in deeply.

There was something else that unsettled her, even more so.

For all of those horrible things Arthas was responsible for as the Lich King… he didn’t have a soul. Nothing but a tiny speck of who he had been was left to stop him from committing the worst acts imaginable.

The things he had done before he took up that horrible sword upset her much more. Stratholme…

“So much death…” Fluttershy thought, recalling that Arthas had told them how big the population of that city had been. “I can’t believe that Arthas could’ve done this…”

It was… unimaginable. To think that her friend, her caring and valorous friend, could have done something like this. It was horrifying, terrible, sickening what he had done…

But what unsettled her the most… was that she could understand.

Days ago…

“Let nature’s energy flow through you,” Provato had told her as she concentrated. “Focus on the bunny, feel his pain, and then channel the energy to heal him.”

Fluttershy barely heard him, she was too focused on the task at hoof. Before her was a tiny little bunny, laying on the ground and groaning in pain. They found him shortly after they began their training session, and the timberwolf demigod urged her to try and heal him.

Tapping into the life energies of the flora surrounding her, Fluttershy let energy flow through her, then directed them to the bunny. She could feel his pain, emanating from its belly. Poor little thing probably ate something bad and now had food poisoning. Fluttershy concentrated on that pain, weaving the life energies into the little animal, and dispersing its ailment.

Almost immediately, the bunny got up. It twitched its ears, looking up at her as she moved her forehooves, then jumped up to hug her in gratitude.

“Oh, you’re welcome little one,” Fluttershy giggled, hugging the bunny back, then let go of him as she felt the animal pull away.

The bunny started jumping away towards the meadow, only stopping to bow before Provato and wave at Fluttershy. A few hops later and he was gone.

“You have done well,” Provato told her.

As always, hearing praise from the magnificent timberwolf filled Fluttershy with pride. She was still amazed that he had decided to teach her the magic of nature, and even more so how quickly she was learning from him.

“Thank you,” she replied, smiling. “Helping little animals will now be so much easier to do since I can just heal them with nature magic.”

Provato nodded, but to her confusion, Fluttershy realized he was frowning. “Yes, though you would be wise to remember that not everything can be cured so easily as that little bunny’s food poisoning. Wounds that are beyond healing. Diseases that cannot be cured. The latter is far worse, as they can spread. The entire population of a species within the ecosystem could be wiped out, and with one species gone, the balance of nature would be broken. What do you think should be done to prevent that?”

Surprised by the sudden question, Fluttershy hesitated. “W-well, I, um… I could try healing them-”

“The disease cannot be cured,” Provato reminded her. “Magic isn’t enough to cure it, nor can it be treated through conventional means. What can be done to stop it from spreading to the rest of the species? What if there is an even worse scenario?” Provato added, tilting his head. “Imagine this disease causes animals to be violent. That it causes them to attack other animals, even ponies?”

“You mean like what happened to you?” Fluttershy interrupted.

Provato nodded. “Yes. What if it’s not exactly disease, but some dark, ancient evil that corrupted the minds of innocent creatures? What can you do to stop them from inflicting harm on others, if there is no cure?”

“W-well…” Fluttershy stammered. “I… I’m not sure.”

The Wild God sighed sadly. “There is only one thing that can be done. To protect the balance, to save the wilderness, and ensure the safety of innocent creatures, we’d have to end the infected animal creatures' suffering.”

It took Fluttershy a second to realize what he had meant. “But… that’s horrible!” she gasped, covering her mouth with her forehooves.

He nodded in agreement. “Yes, but necessary. It would be far worse to let a disease run rampant, causing irreversible damage to the wilderness.”

“But there are so many ways to cure animals!” Fluttershy argued, deeply disturbed that her mentor, this magnificent protector of nature, would speak of such things. “You have been cured from this dark influence that corrupted the Everfree Forest! Are you seriously saying there could be some worse alignment than what had befallen you?”

“My situation… was a bit unique,” Provato explained. “The exact nature of this ‘influence’ is still something that I don’t quite completely understand, but I would wager that the reason why it was possible for me to be cured had less to do with it and more with me being what I am. A Wild God, a powerful protector of nature. I fear that weaker creatures wouldn’t be as easy to cure. And as for worse ailments,” he added, changing the subject just as Fluttershy was about to question him, “I actually had seen some examples in the past.”

“You have?”

“A long time ago, a few hundred years after you ponies came to this land, a unicorn came to live in the town of Earth Ponistin - or Eastin as it quickly became known - where Ponyville now stands. He had wanted to conduct magical experiments that had been frowned upon in New Unicolt. And for good reason; those ‘experiments’ had caused an arcane surge across the area surrounding Eastin that affected the wildlife, mutating them and causing them to be aggressive to others. They had to be put down,” Provato said, closing his eyes as if relieving the sad memory.

Fluttershy looked down. She could see what Provato meant, but it didn’t make it any easier to accept. She wasn’t sure what horrified her more; the fact that some innocent creatures had to die, that a pony had been responsible for it… or that one day she might have to do the same.

“But… to kill them…” she began, then trailed off, unable to voice her despair.

She felt something touch her head gently. Raising her head, she saw that Provato had leaned forward to brush her with his muzzle gently. “Oh, little one,” he said, sympathetically, “death isn’t something to be afraid of. It’s not an ending, it’s part of a great cycle, just like birth is. Nothing is gone forever. But the cycle will continue only if it’s maintained,” he said, more assertively, “which is why, if there ever comes such a time when it’s threatened, we’d have to do what’s necessary. Do you understand?”

She did. She might not agree, not completely, and certainly, she wasn’t happy about it, but Fluttershy understood.

Now…

“Was there any difference between what Provato had faced hundreds of years ago and what Arthas had dealt with in Stratholme?” Fluttershy thought, then answered her own question. “No, there wasn’t. Animals, ponies, humans, people… we’re all living beings. There’s no difference.”

But if that’s what she believed… then did it mean that… she agreed with what Arthas had done?

Would she have done the same thing?

“No,” Fluttershy realized. “I wouldn’t have been able to…”

But she would know she should.

“Why?!” she thought, angry, as she grabbed her head. “Why are such awful things necessary?!”

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair what Arthas had to go through, it wasn’t fair what happened to the citizens of Stratholme, to the people of Lordaeron, of Azeroth! It wasn’t fair that crystal ponies had to disappear for a thousand years, it wasn’t fair that Princess Luna had lost her lover forever and had to see her daughter die! It wasn’t fair that Princess Celestia had to banish her sister! It wasn’t fair that the Everfree Forest had been corrupted!

Why was the world like this?!

She clenched her teeth.

The Lich King. The Burning Legion. King Sombra. Nightmare Moon. All part of the unfair system that plagued the universe and innocent living things in it!

It. Made. Her. Furious.

A growl escaped her. Why should she be responsible for putting down innocent creatures when they’d get sick or corrupted when she should rip apart those responsible? She could imagine their bodies shredded by her as she clawed the ground beneath her, her fangs sinking into their throats, the scent of blood filling her-

“Fluttershy?”

She turned sharply at the sound. Her eyes widened. It stood before her! The creature that ripped her friend’s throat open!

With a roar, she lunged at it. It raised a wooden paw in defense, blocking her from its throat. Fluttershy grabbed it with her paws and sank her fangs into its leg, drawing blood. She must have surprised it as it stumbled back. With her heartbeat drumming in her ears, she pushed forward, making it fall, and then pulled her head back, ripping a big part of its leg away.

She stared down at the creature, her thoughts becoming hazy. It was beaten, but it didn’t quench her fury. Howling, she went for the throat.

Suddenly a gust of wind took a hold of her. She barked in confusion, thrashing around and trying to flap her wings to get away, but she had been pushed away through the air, away from the creature. Recovering after a few heartbeats, she landed on the ground, angry. She raised her head to smell the air, but then she stopped as a rustling of nearby bushes alerted her.

Licking her lips, Fluttershy lunged after her prey.

Provato watched as Fluttershy, now far away, raced deeper into the Everfree Forest. He had sensed something was troubling his pupil so he sought her out. Despite all his wisdom, though, he couldn’t have predicted what he had found.

He couldn’t have predicted that in her fury she would subconsciously call upon nature's magic, that it would warp her body and mind. He never could have imagined that the rage that had overtaken her would be so great that it would cause her to attack him, nor that she would have been able to actually wound him so deeply.

The Wild God raised his leg, now missing a good portion of its wooden body, and started to lick it as he watched the yellow and pink timberwolf disappear in the distance.

“Teaching is hard.”

176. The Price of Knowing - Part V

“Could you explain to me one thing?”

“Certainly.”

“How in the Aspects’ name were such spells created in a world of peace-loving, colorful ponies?” Sindragosa asked as she studied the scroll she held in her claws, a spell enchanting the writing to be visible to her blind gaze.

Twilight found herself echoing the question in her thoughts, though perhaps not word-for-word. The spell was very complex, and it was a kind of magic that she had never encountered before. From what she managed to understand of it so far, it was undoubtedly fascinating… and horrifying.

The four of them were now in a circular chamber deep within the palace. It has been hours since they had written a letter for Spike to send to Brann, asking him to come to Equestria again, with archmage Khadgar if possible. Since then they had resumed speculating about who else from Azeroth could be brought back to life on Equestria. It had been a long discussion thanks to Arthas' extensive knowledge of many of Azeroth’s damned. Twilight was glad they had it, as now they were better prepared for the possibility of anybody else appearing than they had been with Sindragosa… but still, even hours later, she couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of some of the people they had talked about actually coming to Equestria.

“Although, I suppose even they would deserve a second chance,” she mused, not entirely believing her own statement.

She shook her head to banish those dark thoughts and focus on the present. Once they had finished their discussion, they left to eat and rest before the trip to the moon. Most of their friends that came with them to Canterlot had gone back to Ponyville, leaving only Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Sindragosa, and Arthas with his paladins. The plan was that they would go together with Princess Luna to the moon and explore it, searching for… whatever it was that worried Arthas.

However, before they could do it, there had to be a ritual conducted on Arthas that couldn’t wait any longer.

“You’ll be surprised how often I had similar thoughts,” Arthas told the blind dragon before Princess Celestia could answer her question. “It’s really mind-boggling how many powerful spells and other things there are in this world, when you compare it to Azeroth.”

Twilight joined Celestia in giving him an annoyed look, then turned to listen eagerly to her mentor as she replied to Sindragosa’s question.

“The origin of this magic lies in the distant past. Very distant… and little known, thanks in no small part to a certain Spirit of Chaos,” the Princess added, glancing to the side; although the circular chamber had no windows, Twilight knew Celestia was looking in the direction of the castle’s garden, where the statue of Discord was.

Sindragosa’s blind gaze followed Celestia’s. “I have questions about that one, but they can wait for a later date,” she remarked.

“From what little record of those days remain,” Princess Celestia continued, “we know that the ancient unicorns were greatly interested in all kinds of magic, and especially in the ponies’ cutie marks. As a cutie mark is an innate part of a pony’s being, their attempts in discovering their nature lead them to, unintentionally, develop the magic that would affect a pony’s soul. Being as curious as they were, those ancient unicorns would study this magic as well, inventing some… uses for it,” the Princess remarked, frowning in dismay. Shaking her head, she added “Suffice to say that in time they also created this ritual that would allow mending a pony’s soul, and while it was meant to be used to reverse the effects of that magic, it should work just as well in Arthas’ case.”

“Yes, and I have to admit that the ‘should’ part makes me a bit uneasy,” Arthas commented, then turned to Sindragosa. “Do you think it’s safe?”

“As far as I can tell,” the blind dragon replied without turning back, still examining the scroll. Arthas frowned hearing the answer, and as if sensing that Sindragosa added “Even if it wasn’t, it couldn’t possibly do more damage to your soul than you already have done yourself.”

“That’s not exactly reassuring,” Arthas told her, his brow still furrowed. “And magic like this can destroy a soul.”

“Some would say oblivion would be preferable to one such as you,” Sindragosa remarked calmly, with a hint of amusement. “No more guilt, no more shame-”

“Whoever would say that is a bucking moron!” Twilight interrupted her angrily.

She then froze, realizing she cursed right in front of Princess Celestia, and glanced back at her, embarrassed. To her relief, the Princess seemed amused by her words as she walked around the chamber lighting the small pyres in preparation for the ritual.

Sindragosa waved her claws dismissively. “In any case, the spell should work as it’s intended to, you don’t have to worry about anything.”

Arthas uttered a sigh, but apparently, her answer satisfied him enough as he didn’t press the subject further. Twilight was glad to see him reassured as she herself believed there was nothing to worry about. While she wasn’t familiar with this magic enough aside from the quick glance she took, she was confident in Princess Celestia’s assessment.

“Still, the sooner we get it over with, the better,” Twilight thought, hurrying to help her mentor with the preparations.

Standing in the middle of the ritual circle, surrounded by incense and ethereal flames, Arthas took a deep breath. He still wasn’t thrilled about what was about to happen, but the damage the projection of Illidan had done to the portion of his soul that formed the Holy Avenger needed to be reversed before it could get worse.

“Especially considering everything else my soul has gone through,” Arthas remarked.

“Are you ready, Arthas?” Princess Celestia asked from the outer border of the circle.

“Yes ma’am,” he replied, raising his forehoof.

Holy Avenger appeared before him. Arthas, who hadn’t tried summoning it since his battle with Illidan’s image conjured by the Proving Grounds, frowned. The blade was flickering as if phasing between planes, and it was broken now in the middle, the other half hovering above the hilt.

Turning his eyes to Celestia, he watched as the alicorn’s horn started to glow with golden light. Lowering her head slightly, she let out a beam of magic that struck Holy Avenger first, and then him.

Arthas shuddered as the magic enveloped him. He didn’t feel pain, but it was still a strange sensation. He could feel a warmth inside of him, different from the Light, slowly spreading. As Arthas watched, the Holy Avenger stopped flickering and appeared stable now, except that it was slowly disappearing-

“What-” Arthas gasped inside the frozen hall, watching his disappearing forehoof.

From the other side of the table, Ner’zhul turned his white-painted head to him. Bolvar, sitting on the throne, looked down. Both wore expressions of utter shock.

“Arthas?” Bolvar asked, raising up.

“I don’t-” Arthas tried to reply, watching as more of his foreleg crumbled away into nothingness. The rest of his body started to face away as well. And yet… he wasn’t afraid, nor was he in pain. As if sensing his acceptance, the process sped up rapidly, with now his chest disappearing. “I think this is-”

Uttering a yell, Arthas grabbed his head. His mind felt as if overloaded with images and sounds, and where just a mere moment ago he felt warmth, he now felt deep cold.

He was barely aware of somebody calling his name. Everything around him, sounds and touch seemed distant. Grinding his teeth, Arthas tried to break through this fog of stupor, and with great effort, he opened his eyes.

Twilight and Celestia were leaning over him; he realized that he was lying on the floor.

“Arthas?!” Twilight repeated his name, this time more urgently.

“I’m here,” he replied, raising himself up to a sitting position.

“What happened?” Celestia asked, sounding concerned. “Restoring a soul could be a draining experience, but I hadn’t expected a reaction quite like that.”

“Did it even work?”

“Yeah, it did,” Arthas replied. He pressed a hoof to his chest. “I’m… here. Fully here. The ritual didn’t just restore the portion of my soul that formed Holy Avenger, it also restored to me the part of my soul that was bound to the Helm of Domination.” He looked up to meet the two mares’ eyes. “I’m… free from the Lich King.”

Twilight’s eyes brightened. “That’s great! Isn’t it?” she asked, noticing Arthas’ troubled expression.

He closed his eyes. “Yes, of course, it’s just… I’m going to need some time to… get used to this,” he finally said, not wanting to explain further just yet.

Fortunately, they didn’t want to press him. “Of course,” Princess Celestia said. “Perhaps it would be better if we would move your trip to the moon to a further date then.”

“Yes, I don’t think I’ll be of much help, assuming I could even take part in it.”

“Well,” Twilight spoke up, concern still in her voice but now tinged with humor, “Rarity will be happy about it, she hoped she and Storm Clash could use the opportunity to go on a date in Canterlot.”

Arthas murmured something in reply, not really paying attention. He struggled to contain the maelstrom of thoughts and memories surging in his mind while not betraying that something was wrong with him; he didn’t want to worry them, especially Twilight, until he got a grip of himself.

His eyes darted to Sindragosa. The young dragon had stayed where she was, by the chamber’s wall. Her blind gaze was directed at him, her expression studious. Arthas had an unpleasant feeling that she had figured out that there was more than he had told the ponies.

Fortunately, whatever she might know she didn’t share it with them yet. Instead, she merely turned around and started to walk toward the chamber’s doors. Rising to his hooves, Arthas started to follow after her, Twilight, and Celestia.

Before he could take more than two steps, though, something grabbed him by his hind leg. Arthas stopped, barely stopping himself from falling on his face, and turned his head.

There were shackles on his leg, with a long, jagged chain. Arthas’ eyes widened as his eyes followed the chain to the dark corner of the room, the walls metallic and twisted-

“Arthas?”

Arthas shook his head and turned to Twilight. The purple unicorn was looking at him from the exit. “Sorry, just spaced out,” he said with a weak smile and trotted forward.

The door closed behind him. Arthas walked through the small quarters he was given for his stay in Canterlot, glad to be alone. He jumped on the bed and sat down, then looked at his forehooves.

Out of nowhere, flames erupted. Arthas watched as his fur caught on fire, grinding his teeth from the pain.

“This isn’t real,” he hissed as the flames spread.

Chains shot out from the walls and shackles clamped on his forehooves, pulling them apart. Arthas grunted in pain; the sudden movement would have sent him down to the floor if it weren’t for those chains holding him.

“This isn’t real!” he repeated. With great difficulty, he raised his head to look up. “You’re not real!” His eyes hardened with hatred. “You still rot in the Maw!”

1. Awakening

He awoke.

Immediately, he realized that something was amiss. In fact, the entire situation before him was all wrong.

For one thing, he was alive. That much was impossible; he clearly remembered dying... as well as a few things that happened afterwards.

“Did someone... bring me back?” he wondered, but he quickly brushed off that idea. There wasn't anyone left that would want him back. “Not even her.” he lamented, and the very thought hurt him more than pain of death.

The second thing that was wrong, was noticed by him when he first opened his eyes. He was surrounded by a dark, shaded forest. And by dark, he meant REALLY dark. Not by only the lack of sunlight, but also... the seeming wrongness of this place. As if this forest, and whatever might be in it, didn't belong here. It made HIS blood run cold, and that's saying something!

As the impact of that internal assessment hit him, he noticed something else was very wrong.

He put his hand upon his chest.

...ba-dump...ba-dump...ba-dump…

“I have a... heart...?”

That was even more absurd than the fact that he was even alive. Not only because he personally cut out his own beating heart, but the fact that it was physically destroyed before his own eyes, mere months before his defeat, and death. He shivered, as he remembered the sheer pain he felt that day.

He looked down, towards his chest. There were two huge scars; one stretched across his rib cage as a painful reminder of a wound that was so deep, it had actually grazed his then-living heart. That near-death blow had prompted him to physically cut it out of himself in the first place. The second one...was from the weapon strike that had ended him, delivered by the runeblade created as a sister blade and direct counter to his Frostmourne; Shadowmourne. And the former was shattered.

“Why am I alive...?” he wondered again, staring at his scars. After a moment, he noticed that where there weren't scars, there was a coat of fur; A white-colored fur coat.

“Did somebody turn me into one of those mongrels when I wasn't looking?!” he thought angrily, as he started to panic, only to notice that whatever had happened to him, was far more disturbing, insane, odd, and possibly idiotic than anything he knew of. The realization hit him hard, as soon as he shifted his gaze towards what was originally one of his hands.

“What...? By all that is holy, is this...a hoof, instead of my hand?!” he uttered to no one in particular, speaking for the first time since he had first woken up.

He stared at it in disbelief for what felt like hours to him, until he finally broke his stupor, and tried to get up. Only to struggle without result. Bending his head, he gave himself a good look at his body. As he had suspected, he had been turned into a horse. A small, white horse.

“Is this some bizarre version of… hell...?” he muttered to himself, while attempting to stand up again, and succeeding the second time. “If it is some sort of hell, then I don't understand it. I mean, it's unusual, but I've always liked horses...”

Memories of his late beloved steed washed over him, but he promptly shook them off. Now was not the time to lament what he had done to him. “It doesn't feel like that much of a punishment... Wait a second… am I… talking?? How the bloody hell I can be a horse, and still talk?!” he exclaimed, using one of his old mentor's favorite verbal curses.

As he tried to figure out how he would walk on four legs (which was surprisingly difficult), he noticed a small pond nearby. Deciding that he would take a good look at himself, he carefully, and awkwardly, walked towards it.

The face that returned his gaze from the surface of the pond was both odd and...disturbingly familiar. It had obvious horse features, but they appeared to be toned down to humanoid facial standards, if the dumbfounded expression it wore was any indication. However, what struck him the hardest was the color of his hair (“Er… mane” he mentally corrected himself), as well as his tail, which he hadn't noticed earlier. They both wore the same golden color that his hair used to have.

“Indeed, 'used to have'… before all of the unspeakable things I did back then...”

He peered sadly into his sea-colored eyes (which, he noted, were ridiculously large), as they were reflected in this small pond, and pondered out loud:

“What am I? Who am I?”

Three loud shrieks pierced his thoughts from somewhere nearby, as though to answer his pondering questions.

Instantly, he stood up. Some people were in trouble, and that was the only thing that was clear to him, so far; he could sort out his identity problems later. And with that set in his mind, he started to run towards the direction of those screams...only to fall on his face.

Frustrated, he stood up once again, but this time, he focused himself. He closed his eyes, and tried to recall how his dear steed had moved, how he ran, how he jumped…

“Bah! There's no time for this!” he suddenly scolded to himself. Having thought this through, he started running once more (or, galloping, rather), with far more success this time. Feeling a small amount of relief after this small personal victory, he tried to focus towards the direction of the screams, and they were heard once more.

He quickened his pace in response.

If it weren't for the fact that this entire situation didn't make any sense to him to begin with, he would have believed that he was seeing things.

In front of him was a clearing in the forest, where three little horses were screaming for help. They were surrounded by wild creatures, which appeared to be something out of some lumberjack's twisted nightmare; a pack of wolves...that appeared as though they were made out of wood.

This image before him was so unbelievable, that he nearly stopped. But, he somehow managed to get a hold of his uncontrolled chain of thoughts, and quickly charged towards the unusual wolves.

When he slammed his body against the closest wolf, he noticed that they didn't just look as if though they were made of wood, they felt like they were made of wood. Nonetheless, he struck the wolf with enough force to hurl its body right into the wolf next to it.

With two of the pack out of the way (at least for the moment), he stood protectively in front of the little ones and called out towards them: “Stay close to me!”, after which he returned his attention to the wolves.

There were five of them, including the two that were already getting back up off the ground. They appeared to have been staggered by his sudden attack, but were quickly recovering their original intent. Already, they began to encircle around their prey, attempting to surround them again.

Not that he planned to ever give them a chance to do that. He quickly leaped next to the closest wolf, whirled around, and kicked it forcefully with his hind legs. Judging from the painful-sounding whimper that the wood-like creature produced, it was apparently quite effective, even with its hard outer skin. Wasting no time to glance at it, he dashed back next to the little ones, and headbutted the wolf that was attempting to bite them, perhaps thinking that it would have time for such a bold move. The creature was proven painfully wrong.

He quickly turned around in time to see another wolf leaping towards him, with teeth bared. This time, he stepped to one side, dodging it, then back-hoofing it at the back of its skull. He made a mental note to himself that it was probably a good thing that he had hooves right now – had he tried something like this against a creature like this just bare hands, he was fairly certain he would have broken a few bones in it, and the wolf would probably have barely felt it. For now, it awkwardly stumbled away; seemingly dazed and dizzy from the harsh impact strike against its head.

He looked towards the wolves. There were two left that hadn't attacked him yet. Among them was the wolf he had charged into at the beginning, or at least he thought so; he couldn't really tell, either way. Besides them, the only wolf still present was the one he rammed with his head.

He stomped one hoof forward, harshly. If it had just been him, then he had little doubt that he could defeat them, even with this weird body he found himself in. But with the little ones behind him, he preferred to not take his chances.

“GET LOST!” he shouted harshly and angrily at them, trying to intimidate them.

The display appeared to work, at first. The two wolves that he had already hit started to back away in evident fear; they were clearly not terribly keen on being injured by a capable combatant again. However, the largest wolf, which had kept itself towards the back of the pack when they had attacked, now stepped forward.

He frowned with annoyance. Guessing by how much larger this one was, along with the fact that it had waited for the rest of the pack to create an opening for an easier killing blow towards the stronger individual – him – must have meant this was the alpha member of this pack. This did not bode so well for him. For one, it probably wouldn't be so quick to show weakness to its pack by surrendering to its apparent prey, so it wouldn't be simple to intimidate. And two, noting the scars that stretched across its muzzle and body, it was probable that this wolf was a veteran among its kind, and familiar with situations where the prey fought back. The one good thing amidst it all, was that it appeared to have focused solely on him (for obvious reasons), so the little ones were probably out of harm's way for the moment.

Uttering a silent prayer for the safety of the little ones (not for himself, for he very well knew that he deserved a fate far worse than death, even now), he focused his gaze upon the alpha wolf. It was pacing slowly, while attempting to approach from his left side. The without further warning, the alpha suddenly pounced at him. Having anticipated that much, he quickly pressed his body closer to the ground, intending to hopefully cause the alpha to overshoot its target, while preparing to strike his skull with his hind legs as it flew over in midair.

But he didn't get the chance to do the last part…

Instantly, the alpha wolf grasped at his neck with all four of its paws, halting its flight. Without even missing a beat, the alpha instantly landed on the ground, then immediately followed it up by harshly kicking the pony head-first into one of the many trees with its hind paws.

"Since when can wolves do something like that?” he briefly wondered in shocked astonishment, before impacting against the tree.

Attempting to stand, the force of the impact had left him dazed. He nearly collapsed towards the ground, when he heard the three voices of the little ones call out simultaneously:

“Look out!”

He managed to react just barely in time to throw his front hooves between the open jaws of the alpha wolf.

Seeing sharp teeth so close to his throat – and once again being thankful for the hard hooves he currently had instead of soft hands – he curled his hind legs, and (desperately hoping that the creature on top of him of him was a male) kicked into it with all his might, aiming at one spot that he was pretty certain wouldn't have as durable skin.

The contrasting screech of pain that the wolf produced was loud enough startle everything in the forest. Taking advantage of the overwhelming pain the wolf was immobilized by, he quickly dashed away, and grabbed a tree branch that had likely broken off from his previous impact with his teeth. He then swung it with as much speed and force that one could muster after fighting in many battles, and the strike made contact with the alpha wolf's forehead, just as the alpha wolf had finished recovering itself and had attempted to turn its head towards him. He finished by using the momentum to whirl himself around again, and kicked him hard, again in the head. The force of the impact hurled the alpha wolf some distance away from its former quarry.

He glanced around to be sure that the young ones were safe, and ensure that the wolves hadn't gotten any bold ideas while he was dealing with their apparent leader. The kids were staring at him with wide eyes, but otherwise appeared to be unharmed. The remaining wolves, on the other hand, (“Or other hoof” he mused) were visibly terrified, and were fearfully backing away.

He turned his attention back towards the alpha wolf, which was attempting to stand up, while trembling. He then noticed that a few of its teeth had been scattered on the grass. Just like before, he harshly stomped his hoof on the ground and shouted, attempting to be as loud and forceful as possible:

“I will not say this again; GET LOST!!”

This time, the message got through. The alpha wolf, having recovered to its feet, quickly turned away and hastily scurried off, with its tail between its legs. The rest of its pack quickly followed the example.

“That. Was. Awesome!!!” erupted three voices behind him, which was followed by two similar cheers.

He smiled, briefly. How long had it been since he had heard someone proclaim such things about him? He turned around, amused that he wasn't even surprised at this point that they could talk.

“I guess nothing can surprise me now.”

He would regret making that thought the moment it concluded in his mind. Now that he was able to get a good look at the three fillies (not knowing how the hell he could know they were girl-horses), he noticed that the orange one with purple mane had wings, and the gray one with pink-purple mane had a horn. The only 'normal' one out of the three was the light yellow one with red mane with a pink bow.

“...This is going to be a long day.” he mused wearily, feeling quite dizzy.

“I'm glad that you think so.” he said aloud to the three fillies. “Are any of you hurt?”

“No, mister, and its all thanks t'ya!” said the yellow one.

“You were so awesome!” added the gray one with the horn.

“Yeah! I mean,” the orange one with wings rolled her eyes, “you weren't as awesome as Rainbow Dash, obviously, but still...”

“Putting aside the heroism of this 'Rainbow Dash',” he started, while at the same time, wondering:

“What kind of name is ‘Rainbow Dash’, anyways?”

“Do the three of you mind explaining to me; just what are you all doing in a place like this?” he finished, with a stern expression on his face.

The three fillies looked at each other, with a guilty look in their eyes.

“We were gonna visit Zecora...”

“... to see if she could teach us her native language...”

“... and then we... kinda got lost.”

“Why am I not surprised by the last one...?”

“Ah, well...” he said, dropping the stern expression, “I suppose I'll leave the scolding to your families. And I can't really hold against you the fact that you're lost, since I am as well.”

“Really? How did'ya get lost, mister?”

“Long story. Maybe I'll tell you about it some other time. But for now, we should get out of this forest. Let’s try that way.” he added, while pointing with one hoof.

“How do you know Ponyville is that way?” asked the filly with wings.

He was about to snort a laugh on that name, until he remembered that his own hometown's name really wasn't any more original, either. Instead, he chuckled in his thoughts:

“So we are ponies, then? Damn...I liked it better when I was a horse!”

“I don't.” he answered, truthfully. “But the wolves went in the opposite direction.”

It seemed to sound like a good enough reason for the fillies, since all at once, they started walking in the direction he had suggested. When he was certain that they weren't watching him, he pressed a hoof to the back of his head, and then stared at it.

There was fresh blood on it.

“Well, damn. No wonder I'm feeling so dizzy...” he thought to himself, and briefly wondering if he could do something about it, only to notice that there wasn't anything there he could use as a bandage. “I could have healed a wound like this in the blink of an eye, at one point.” he thought, and also realized “Hell, back then, I wouldn't have even been injured that easily.”

He shook the thoughts from his mind, and continued to walk with the fillies at his sides. Right now, his top priority was to get them out of this forest. After that, he could bleed out until he died again, for all that he cared. Although, he would probably pass out first, due to the concussion.

“Why did you want this 'Zecora' to teach you her language?” he asked out of curiosity after few moments, trying to distract himself (and them) from this whole situation. “Seems unnecessary for kids your age to try and learn a second language.”

“We thought that maybe our special talent would turn out to be language learning, or something.” explained the one with a horn, as her head was hanging down

“Yea, we could get a 'language learning' cutie mark!” proclaimed the one pony with a pink bowtie on her head, as she agreed with her friend that had a horn.

“What’s a 'cutie mark'?”

He already knew that he had said something weird the moment he finished that sentence. All three fillies had turned their heads towards him simultaneously, and were looking at him with wide-eyes and gaping jaws, and a shared expression of disbelief.

“Err, sir, are you jokin'...?”

“No, why?”

“HOW CAN ANYPONY NOT KNOW WHAT A CUTIE MARK IS!?!?” the three fillies all shouted in painfully loud unison.

“First off, not so loud,” he said, massaging his aching head (the shouting wasn't helping that, either), “and second...”

“Look girls, he has a blank flank!” exclaimed the one with wings that had crept closer to him.

“Does she mean that I'm naked...?” he wondered briefly, just realizing that only now.

“What!? How can a pony be this old and not have a cutie mark!?!”

“Oh my stars, does this mean we could be blank flanks...forever!?!”

“Hey, is that a road?” he started, briefly regretting that he was trying to distract them, only to suddenly notice that he actually was pointing at a road of sorts.

“Huh, would you look at that...”

“You're right, mister. That’s the main path of the forest... oh! I can see the entrance from here!”

“We're saved!”

“Good.” he replied wearily, feeling even dizzier from all of their shouting earlier. “Do the three of you think you could...”

“Apple Bloom!!!” some voice from ahead exclaimed, both relieved, overjoyed, and upset.

“Uh oh...” the one with the bow quietly whimpered.

“Seems like someone is in a bit of trouble.” he guessed, amused. While the filly was probably uncomfortable that somebody had found them, he for one, was relieved; for some time now, he was keeping himself conscious and standing with only sheer willpower. Now, he could finally let go, and collapse…

*Thump*

The darkness… closed around him… once more...

5. Books, owls, and hay

"What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked.

"It would take me too long to explain ." Matthias sighed. "Let's just say that this is a story without happy ending. Not for me, at least." He shrugged, as if trying to rid himself of his past. "So, how far is this house of yours?"

"It's actually over here." Twilight said, pointing at huge tree.

"Where, behind this tree?"

"No, this tree is my house. See the door and windows?"

"You... live inside of a tree."

"That’s right."

"First moon goddess/princess, and now house inside of a tree. Night elfs would love this place."

"Looks nice." was all he said.

"Wait until you've seen it from the inside." said Spike, who until now have been quiet for some reason. "I've just finished cleaning it this morning."

"So your Miss Sparkle's... housecleaner?"

"No. I'm her number one assistant."

"Maybe the two of you should continue this discussion inside?" interjected Twilight, opening the door. "It's getting chilly."

Until she mentioned that, Matthias didn't notice it. It was indeed rather cold, which he nearly forgotten how that felt. Since he took that cursed blade he couldn't feel cold, and as a testament to that, he spent later six years sitting quite literally on an iceberg. To feel cold again was... almost pleasant.

"Are you coming in?" asked Twilight, noticing he was still outside.

"Oh, right." he said, shaking his head.

As soon as he was inside, he saw that Twilight really did read 'tons of books'. Her whole house was practically filled with them. Of course, Matthias has seen bigger collections, but those were usually in libraries.

"That's a lot of books."

"Well, this is Ponyville's library." Twilight said, pride in her voice.

"Wait, what?" asked Matthias, sure that he misheard. "Did you just said that this is a library?"

"... Yes?" answered Twilight, not understanding why he reacted like that.

"So you live in a library."

"Yes."

That was too much for Matthias. He dropped on the floor and burst into laughter.

Twilight looked at the weird pony who started laughing for no apparent reason other than her living in a library. She felt offended and a little embarrassed, to her surprise. Twilight shook her head and stood next to Matthias, who was currently lying on his back, still laughing.

"Mind telling me what's so funny?" she asked, looking down on him.

Matthias looked up and Twilight gasped. For the first time she could see something in those sea-colored eyes (which were, as Twilight noticed, blushing, quite beautiful): happiness.

"I didn't mean to offend you, Miss Sparkle." he said in apologetic tone, still chuckling. "You just reminded me of... an old friend."

And as Matthias finished that sentence, all that happiness evaporated. Once again, his eyes were emotionless. Empty.

"You would have liked her." he said, picking himself off the floor. "You are very alike: you both like magic and to read. I once told her she should live in a library, considering how much time she spent studying. I'm sure that if you two ever meet, you will be best friends in an instant."

"Well, I, eee... I hope I'll meet her someday, then." Twilight blurted out, unsettled by those changes in his behaviour. "You know, you can just call me Twilight." she said, trying to be friendlier.

"Well, in that case, you can just call me Matt." he said with a smile which didn't reach his eyes. "It's easier to say than Matthias, anyway."

"Sound like a plan. Speaking of plans, do you want something to eat? I'm can make some dinner for you, I already ate with my friends when we waited at the hospital."

"Considering how long it has been since I last ate, I won't refuse. Thank you."

Matthias looked as Twilight went to what he assumed was a kitchen. She really was a lot like Jaina, but there were plenty of differences, too. Like that she was a pony. But she also was more naive and innocent than her: when he first met Jaina, she already lost her older brother to the Horde. She knew what pain and lost felt like, even before he became...

He shook his head, not wanting to think about this for a moment. He noticed that Spike was still here, although he looked as if he would fall asleep standing up.

"Shouldn't you go to sleep?"

"And leave you alone? I don't think so, buddy." said Spike, straightening up.

"So, you don't trust me?" Matthias said, surprised.

"Well, it's not that I suspect you to do something bad, but I don't know anything about you, right?"

"You are right." he said, pleased that at least this dragon hatchling showed some common sense. "However, if I was going to do something 'bad', as you put it, a dragon that is almost sleeping while standing up wouldn't be able to stop me. I'm sure that if you were at peak form, I would have a problem, though" he added, noticing Spike's expression. "Don't worry, I swear by the Light that I won't do anything 'bad'. Now please, go to sleep, before you fall over and Twilight will think that it was my fault."

"I guess you're right." said Spike, yawning. "Good night"

"Good night." replied Matthias, watching him go. He was so different from his world's dragons; he had no wings, he was walking on two legs... maybe he was a drakonid? He would look into it later.

He looked around at the books. Unlike the library in Dalaran, this one seemed organized; from what he could see, they were put in order on the shelves based on their topic: history books together, philosophical...

Matthias's train of thoughts was interrupted by a sound of wings coming from the opened window. He turned around swiftly and saw an owl sitting on a bird perch. He was about to return to examining the books, when he remembered that so far, the only creatures that didn't talked to him were those timberwolves, and even they were smarter than wolves should be.

"Hi there." he said, coming closer to the owl. "I'm Matthias."

"Who?" asked the owl.

"Matthias Lehner." Matthias replied.

"Who?"

"Eee... I just said, Matthias, didn't I?"

"... Who?"

"Wait a moment. Can you talk, or are you just making some noises?"

"Who?"

"You."

"Who?"

"Oh for Light's sake!" he snapped, losing interest.

"He's not going to reply to you, you know." Twilight said coming into a room, levitating a plate with...

It took every bit of self control out of Matthias to not roll his eyes around.

"A sandwich with hay in it. I really should have seen this one coming, shouldn't I?"

"I assume there is a reason you keep this owl around other than annoying your guests?" he said, trying to stay in the current topic.

"He helps me with my late-night studies, when Spike is sleeping." answered Twilight, chuckling. "His name is Owlowiscious."

"Owle-what?" Matthias thought. "Honestly, I know of Nerubians with easier to pronounce names!"

"Cute name." he lied through his teeth. He decided to change the subject. "This looks really delicious." he said and he meant it. Apparently, becoming a pony automatically switched him into a vegetarian. "Thanks."

"It was nothing." said Twilight, slightly blushing. "I'm a bit tired, so I'm going to hit the hay. Your bed is the one on the first floor in this room." she added, pointing at the room she was going into, same as the one Spike went into earlier.

Matthias nodded and said: "Good night."

"Good night."

Turning his attention back to the sandwich, Matthias thought "How long it's been since last I ate anything? Must have been that morning before Mal'Ganis attacked...", and took a bite.

"Why does it taste so good?!"

19. Nightfall

"Well..." said Twilight after the waiter took everypony's order. "As we wait, could you tell us more?"

"Of course." replied Matthias, deciding not to ask why Spike asked the waiter if they had any rubies. "You wanted to know about that dragon from the vision, correct?"

As Twilight nodded, Matt thought for the moment how he should start.

"Long ago, Azeroth was ruled by beings know as the Old Gods." he said at last. "I don't know how many were there, but I know of three: C'Thun, Yogg-Saron, and N'Zoth. They were beings of unimaginable evil, and when the world of Azeroth attracted the attention of the titans, a race of extremely powerful, majestic creatures, akin to gods, they fought them. They managed to beat the Old Gods, and sealed the entities away within the deeps of the world for the remainder of its existence. The titans rebuilt Azeroth, and, as they began to depart, they left many guardians to protect it in the future, the most powerful ones being the dragons."

"You mentioned that name, Yogg-Saron, when you fought the dragons." noticed Rarity.

"Yeah, you said something about fighting it, and walking away." added Rainbow.

"Walking away alive. And it wasn't the Yogg-Saron itself, it was just an avatar of him, a mindless minion of his that he empowered and controled." Matthias corrected, shrugging. "If it wasn't for the fact that I was already mad at that point of time, I doubt I could beat it, even with Anub'arak's help."

"Who?"

"Long story."

"What did you mean that if you weren't mad you couldn't beat it?" asked Twilight.

"The Old Gods are beings of unimaginable power, and even more unimaginable hatred towards everything that lives. You could fall into madness just by looking at them, let alone because of their whispers in your head. But we're getting off topic." Matt said, changing the subject back to the dragons. "As the titans were preparing to leave Azeroth, they tasked the dragons with protecting that world. In that age, there were many dragonflights, yet five flights, red, green, bronze, blue and black, held dominion over their brethren, and were chosen to shepherd the budding world. The greatest of titans imbued a portion of their power upon each of the flights' leaders. For red dragongflight, Alexstrasza the Life-Binder; for green dragonflight, Ysera the Dreamer; for bronze dragonflight, Nozdormu the Timeless One, for blue dragonflight, Malygos the Spell-Weaver, and for the black dragonflight, Neltharion the Earth-Warden. The Dragon Apects weren't just some bigger dragons with greater powers - they were the embodiment of the world's aspects: life, dream of creation, time, magic, and earth. Together, they were suppose to be able to guard Azeroth from every danger."

"I'm guessing that didn't work well." interjected Twilight, probably figuring out the black dragon's identity.

Matthias nodded.

"Over time, Neltharion began to hear whispers. I don't know how long did it go on, but eventually, Neltharion fell into madness that destroyed his mind, changing him and his kind forever. Since then, he has been known as Deathwing the Destoyer, and originally, he worked toward the goal of the world ruled only by dragons - black dragons. As of now, however, he is so lost in his madness that he just wants to destroy Azeroth and every living being in it."

Everypony shook.

"You said that the Dragon Aspects were the emobidements of the world's aspects." said Twilight slowly. "So because he became evil and insane, this... Deathwing, now looks as if he was about to blow up?"

"There was also other reason, but yes, mostly." replied Matthias, not bothering to mention about the Demon Soul, which was destoyed, first by Rhonin a decade and half ago, and the remanents of it by Alexstrasza's prime consort, Korialstrasz, over a year ago. "He is like earth; it's disturbed by what's inside, so it's about to erupt like a volcano."

"You seem to know a lot about that, despite saying you're not a scholar." noticed Twilight.

"It's... complicated." said Matt uncomfortably.

"How could I explain it to them that I know all of this because I have access to the memories of beings that soul's have been claimed by Frostmourne?" he thought.

Indeed, most of what he just said to them was coming from the memories of Sindragosa, the former prime consort of Malygos, that he ressurected as a frost wyrm. Matthias uttered a silent prayer that after she met her end at the hands of Ashen Verdict, she found peace at last.

"So... do'ya think those other four Dragon Aspects gonna beat the Deathwin' fella?" asked Applejack.

"Three." corrected her Matt. "Malygos also went insane and tried to kill all magic users on Azeroth, and so few months ago the other dragonflights and some mortals killed him."

"Your world is really brutal." commented Rarity. "Couldn't they have found a different solution?"

Matthias shook his head, saddened, but at least that was one of few tragedies that had happened during his reign as the Lich King that wasn't his fault.

"Out of the other three... I heard that Nozdormu has been missing for some time, and when somepony that is supposed to manage the timelines is missing for some time, you really start worrying. So that leaves just Alexstrasza and Ysera."

"Well, its still two to one." commented Rainbow.

"Deathwing has allies." dismissed her enthusiasm Matt. "His own flight, the... Twilight's Hammer cult..." he said with an amusement.

"Twilight has a hammer cult?" asked Pinkie.

"No, it's just some band of lunatics that want to see the world end, and they happened to name themselves Twilight Hammer. You know, because twilight is the time of day when the sun sets and night begins."

"Wait, I don't get it; what does Princess Luna's ticks have to do with that?"

Matthias facehoofed himself.

"Anyway... it's not going to be easy beating Deathwing. Still, the mortal races has some great heroes among them, so I'm sure it will all end up alright." he said, trying to sound convincing.

At that moment, the waiter brought their meals, so everpony started eating. After about twenty minutes of munching, there was nothing left.

"Well, that was satisfying." commented Matt, pushing away an empty platter that a few moments ago stil had haywitches on it.

Applejack supported his claim with a burp. As Rarity shot her a glance, the pony farmer said:

"Pardon." as Matthias chuckled.

"You still haven't told us what magic was that that you used to heal Applejack and Dash, and calm everypony." reminded him Twilight.

"Right." agreed Matt, trying to remember how did Uther described the Light. "What I did earlier was what on Azeroth we call a 'holy magic'. It's a kind of magic one can use through channeling the strength of the Light, or, in case of some other races, whatever they worship. The Holy Light is... it is a philosophy, training its followers to seek perfection within themselves. It is very much an active practice of virtue rather than a passive worship. Those who follow it closely gain spiritual awareness and guidance, allowing them to lead others. Those like me, who use its connection for healing and fighting, are called paladins. The paladin is a 'warrior of the Holy Light'. We uphold all that is good and true in the world and revile all that is evil and sinister."

"Weren't you evil?" interrupted Rainbow.

"When I was evil, I couldn't use my Light given powers." replied Matthias, giving her a stern look. "That's why it took my so long to heal Applejack, it was the first time I tried to ask the Light for anything in a long time."

"So... you can do all that by... praying?" asked Twilight in disbelief.

"It's a bit more complicated than that, but basically, yes."

Twilight rubbed her head, thinking it through. At that time the waiter brought the check and Matthias realised something.

"Eh... It's kind of embarrassing, but I don't have any... what do you use for currency here, anyway?"

"Bits." replied Applejack. "And don't worry, Ah got'ya covered. It's the least Ah can do after'ya saved me."

"It was the Light that saved you, not me." he tried to protest.

"Come now, that's stinkin'thinkin. Ya deserve some credit too."

"Well... If you insist on paying for me, then I must at least pay you back somehow."

"It's bad enough that everyone I ever knew hates me, I don't want to think how would they reacted if they knew I let some girl to pay for me."

"Ya sure are prideful, aren't'ya?" chuckled Applejack. "If'ya insist, ya can help me on a farm tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me." replied Matt.

"So those vision were granted to you by this Light?" asked Twilight, who was still thinking about what he said.

"No, that was because of Ner'zhul. He was once a shaman..." noticing a blank expression on everypony's faces, he added. "Shamans gets their power throught spirits of the elements: fire, water, earth, and wind. They can see into the world of spirits and communicate with creatures invisible to eyes of normal beings. Shamans are beset by visions of the future and use their sight to guide their people through troubled times. The visions are about the only thing Ner'zhul has left of his powers, although he still has some connection to the elements, guessing by how we all - me, Ner'zhul and Bolvar - felt the pain of the earth the moment Deathwing caused the Cataclysm."

Twilight nodded thoughtfully.

As they were leaving, they all noticed for the first time how late it was.

"Oh my gosh, it's already night!" gasped Twilight.

"Oh no, I have to go feed my animals!" said Fluttershy, flying away faster than Matt ever saw her.

"With all that was happenin today, we all lost track of time, Ah guess."

"Well, I best be going. I have a lot to do tomorrow. Good night, everypony." said Rarity.

They all said their good byes and went their separate ways.

Twilight tossed in her bed, unable to fall asleep.

She could hear Spike quiet snoring, and there were no voices coming from Matthias bed, so she assumed he was also sleeping. She couldn't understand how could he fall asleep so easily. They both saw the same destruction; since she has trouble sleeping because of it, shouldn't he as well?

Twilight whirled again. While Matthias helped her calm down with the Light, she still couldn't get those pictures out of her head.

"Can't sleep?" suddenly said Matt.

He wasn't surprise that she couldn't. That was why he didn't fall immediately asleep, he wanted to make sure Twilight was alright.

"No." answered Twilight.

Matthias wondered for some time what he should do. There was only one thing that came to his mind.

Dormite liberi,

Dulci pueri dormite, caloria et,

Comodus Vester lecti boni.

He sung quietly, to not wake up Spike, a lullaby that his mother sung to him few times when he was a child, mostly when his father was away from Capital City, because then he had some nightmares that Terenas couldn't protect him from something scary.

Osservo te, semper te,

Latus tui costa te, autem solus, mitite,

Latus tui hic sum.

In Somninum plati

Floridus plena, dormite liberi

Dulci mei dormite

Mitite liberi,

Sine pater autem, mitite, liberi,

Visi te tua mater.

Osservo te, semper te,

Latus tui costa te, liberi sine sentite,

Momentum dormite.

In conclave sine mater.

Conclave dum dies saperis...

When he finished singing, he listened very carefully, until he heard Twilight's steady breathing. Satisfied, he fell asleep himself.

31. Wine, innuendo, advice and revenge

Matthias suspected that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna thought that he was going to party with his friends. However, while he still had that in his plans, the middle of the dance floor wasn't his first destination.

First, he went to drink some alcohol.

Not that he planned to get himself drunk. Matt just wanted to boost his courage before he would talk again with Twilight.

"I hope she didn't see that I left during her song." he thought, shrugging at the thought about how she would react to that after everything.

He trotted over to one of the tables with food and drinks, and found what he's been looking for. Well, something close to it, anyway. He hoped to find some ale, or at least, something along those lines, but instead found wine.

"I forgot that this is a royal wedding." he commented in his thoughts, not really feeling bad about it.

He was pouring himself some wine into one of the glasses, when he heard somepony call him.

"Hey, Matt!" said Spike as he came closer to him. "Where did you disappear to?"

"I needed to talk to the Princesses about something, so Princess Celestia teleported us to her private chambers for a few minutes." explained Matthias, taking a sip of the wine. "Eee... did anypony else notice that I disappeared?"

"I don't know, maybe. Why?"

"Nevermind." answered Matt, looking around.

Twilight and the others got off the dance floor and were talking with Cadance on the other side of the courtyard. Matt looked at them, admiring once again the beauty of both the dresses and the mares, while wondering where was the groom, until he noticed that said stallion was coming his way.

"So, how does it feel like to be married?" Matthias asked Shining as he joined him and Spike near the table.

"As if I was the luckiest stallion in Equestria." replied the captain with a smile.

"I had a friend that would jokingly object to that." Matt chuckled.

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind, it would take a while to explain the dwarfs’ sense of humor." he replied, shaking his head.

He noticed that Spike turned around.

"Catch you guys later." he said to Matt and Shining as he went over to where Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were dancing.

"Did he just ditch us?" asked amused groom.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing that he hangs out with ponies his age." Matthias replied, also amused, wondering if Shining knew about Spike's crush on Rarity.

He finished his drink and poured himself a new one, as well as one for Shining Armor.

"Anyway, congratulations for entering a new chapter of your life." he said, giving him the drink.

"Thanks." the groom replied, tapping his glass with Matt's.

They both took a sip of the wine, but after that Shining stared into his glass for a moment. Finally he said:

"Can we talk a moment? Alone?"

"Sure." answered surprised Matthias, moving away from the crowd of ponies and into the garden, still keeping the glass of wine in one hoof.

Shining Armor followed suit and soon they were out of anypony earshot.

"What's going on?" he asked, worried that something bad happened.

The captain was looking weirdly uncomfortable.

"Eee... you see..." he stammered. "Twilight's friends mentioned to me earlier that you had a girlfriend once..."

"Yeah, I had." said Matthias, wondering where he was going with this...

And then his eyes went wide as a suspicion arose in his mind.

"Oh, Light, please tell me this isn't going where I think it is..."

"So, umh, did you and your girlfriend ever, you know... been intimate with each other?"

"... Yes..."

"So..." said the Captain of the Royal Guard, looking even more uncomfortably. "... Could you give me any advice?"

Matthias facehoofed himself, and this time, he actually heard Bolvar and Ner'zhul laugh in the back of his soul.

"Don't you think you had enough for now, sugarcube?" asked her a slightly worried Applejack.

"It's only the third one." muttered Twilight as she emptied her glass.

She couldn't believe that Matt had the gall to just leave after she started singing. She was beginning to think of him as her best friend after she saw him at the hall confronting not only the fake Cadance, but also Princess Celestia, because he was the only pony who took her fears seriously and figured everything out in time. Sure, she was a little angry at him after she heard that he kissed the Changeling Queen, healed her, and said she wasn't a monster after everything she put her and Cadance through, but she was willing to put that behind her, especially after she heard from her friends how Matt had yelled at everypony and how he tried to look for her, but now...

Now he was going to pay.

"I need to get back at him somehow!"

She thought back to the 'treatment' she gave him after he embarrassed her on purpose. This time, however, she couldn't count on him getting himself so injured, as he could simply heal his wounds now. Maybe if he was knocked unconscious...

Twilight shook her head as she realised that she was wishing Matt to get severely injured and to lose consciousness because of a song!

"Okay, maybe I did drink a little too much." she thought, putting the glass away.

"I think I had enough for now." Twilight said as she noticed her friends glancing at her.

"Good." replied Cadance, grinning. "This day had enough disasters without the Best Mare getting herself drunk."

Everypony laughed, causing Twilight to blush.

"I didn't drink that much!" she protested.

"But enough for the rest of us to worry, dear." said Rarity.

"Ya wouldn't wanna cause any worries to the groom that would trouble him enough to make him unable to... fulfill his duties, right?" added Applejack, winking at Princess Cadance.

Cadance chuckled at that, blushing a bit, and the others followed suit. Except for Twilight.

"Gee, thanks, that's what I needed: a mental image of my brother and my old foalsitter..." she shivered out of embarrassment.

Everypony laughed at her comment as well.

"Sorry, Twi." apologised Applejack. "But seriously, why does it bother ya? Ah mean, they must have already..."

"Stop it." told her Twilight.

"Actually..." said Cadance, still blushing. "Shining Armor and I haven't yet..."

"Really?" asked surprised Twilight, forgetting about her embarrassment.

"Yeah, since I'm a princess, it is expected of me to keep my virginity until the wedding night." Cadance explained, half annoyed, half embarrassed. "Although, it was your brother who insisted on respecting that, I wouldn't have minded..."

Everypony chuckled at her discomfort.

"Well, Ah suppose we can't really laugh at ya for that." said Applejack after a while. "Seein' as we haven't got much experience with stallions... unless one of'ya was keepin' secrets?" she added, looking at the others.

Twilight was a bit relieved as she saw that all of her friends shook their heads, blushing. She was afraid that she was the only one who hadn't got any 'experience with stallions', as Applejack had put it.

"How much wine did they drink?" she thought, wondering about how they started talking about those things.

Suddenly, she noticed Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders passing by.

"Shhhh!" she quickly said to others. She turned to the young ones. "How are you enjoying the reception?"

"It's great!"

"Yeah, it's so fun!"

"I'm glad to hear it." said Cadance. "Did you happen to see where Shining Armor went?"

"Last I saw him, he was talking with Matt." answered Spike.

"Oh, Matthias' back, isn't he?" Twilight asked, barely stopping herself from voicing her anger. "Did he happen to tell you where he went?"

"Oh yeah, he said that he was with both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in Celestia's private chambers."

Everypony, aside from the young fillies, looked at him with wide eyes, all thinking the same thing.

"Wh... wha... what?! Celestia... and him... and Luna too..." thought Twilight, feeling dizzy.

"Now, wait a second." said Rarity in a few heartbeats. "Did Matt tell you why he and the Princesses where there?"

"He said that he had to talk to them about something." Spike replied with a shrug.

"Oh, thank goodness." said everypony besides Twilight.

"Right. Talk." she muttered instead.

"Eh... would the four of you mind leaving us for a moment?" Rarity asked the baby dragon and the fillies, noticing what she said.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike exchanged surprised glances, but didn't object.

"Twilight, you can't seriously think that Matt and the Princesses... I mean, they weren't even gone that long!" told her Rarity as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Can we please stop talking about it?" asked Princess Cadance, pressing her head with her hoof. "The last thing I need right now is the mental image of my aunts and Matthias..." she trailed off and shook.

Twilight twitched her tail in annoyance. She knew that Rarity was right, but still, she was pretty mad at Matthias. What could have been so important that couldn't wait until tomorrow?! Twilight once again started thinking about how she could get back at Matt.

"If only I could find some way for him to make an idiot of himself..." she thought, and grinned as an idea hit her.

"Hey, Cadance..."

"How come you've never been intimate with Cadance? You knew each other since foalhood, for Light sake!" asked Matthias, irritated.

"She's a princess!" replied Shining Armor, offended.

"And I was a crown prince, and Jaina was the daughter, if not of royalty, of nobility and of a ruler." thought Matt, emptying his glass.

"I apologize for my reaction." he said, forcing himself calm. "But I wasn't expecting to be asked for any advice about the wedding night. Honestly, if somepony would have told me five months ago about this, I would have died out of laughter."

"Sorry." apologized Shining Armor, still embarrassed. "I just... after everything that happened, I just want it to be something Cadance will never forget." he explained, raising his glass.

Matt sighed.

"Advice number one: don't drink too much." he said, taking the glass from him and drinking it himself.

"So... you'll help me?"

"I suppose I can give you a few pointers, but do both of us a favor and don't mention it to anypony." Matt said, and thought for few moments about what he could tell him.

"Concentrate on her." he said finally. "Try to keep the foreplay as long as possible, but not too long, or you will be too tired for anything else. You do know what foreplay is, right?"

"Of course! I mean, we did play with each other a bit..."

"Well, good." Matt replied, still not believing they had this conversation. "You know what both of you like, then. Anyway, when you move on to the intercourse, try to keep yourself from finishing until she finishes first, or maybe even after. If you have a problem, try thinking about something disgusting, like..."

"Okay, no need to explain further." Shining Armor interrupted him. "Anything else?"

"Nothing that comes to my mind. I wasn't always a pony, mind you: I can't give you any ideas about positions and such, seeing as I didn't have any 'intimate moments' with mares."

He glanced at the captain and noticed the strange look he was giving him.

"What?"

"Nothing, just... having second thoughts about you living with my sister."

Matthias chuckled, and soon Shining joined in.

"Seeing how she was angry at me, I doubt you have to worry about anything. And besides," he added, growing serious, "she was the first one to befriend me out of them all. I didn't have a real friend in a very long time. Our friendship is too important for me to risk it. You have my word on that."

Shining Armor looked at him and saw on his face that he spoke truly. He nodded.

"But honestly, thank you, I..." he started to say, but stopped as he looked behind Matthias.

Matt followed his gaze and saw the bride coming towards them.

"Princess Cadance." he greeted her, bowing. "Please, accept my congratulations as well as my wishes of good health in the new chapter of your life."

"Thank you." she replied, surprised but pleased. "For that, as well as for everything that happened today."

"Think nothing of it, Your Highness."

"You don't need to call me that."

"Beg your forgiveness, Princess, force of habit." Matt replied, shrugging. "I hope you don't mind that I took Shining Armor away for a while? I was curious about what kind of training the royal guards go through."

He figured it would be better if he came up with the excuse for the groom.

"Not at all." she said, and then sighed, looking both annoyed and amused. "Twilight happened to point out that you haven't given us a wedding gift."

"I would beg to differ." Matt thought, but didn't want to argue.

"He doesn't need to..." started Shining Armor.

"Oh, come now, Captain, don't start arguing with your wife over something like this." Matt interrupted him. "Remind me to thank Twilight for pointing this out, it had completely slipped my mind. However, I can't think of anything that I could give you, but, knowing how smart Twilight is, she has probably suggested something already, am I right?"

"She mentioned you have a beautiful singing voice."

Matthias eyes went wide, and his jaw dropped.

"She said that it would be a great idea to have some songs from your world heard here, at the reception." finished Cadance, looking at him sympathetically.

"Did she mention that the only songs she heard me sing was a lullaby and a song so sad that it made them all cry?" asked Matt, getting a hold of himself.

"Why were you singing a lullaby?" asked the confused groom.

"Now?! Seriously?" replied Matthias, then turned to Cadance. "You seem to not be bothered by the fact that she uses your wedding party as a way to get back at me."

"Well, she did save me, and revealed the Changeling's Queen..."

"So did I..."

"... and I actually want to hear you sing. But, if you don't want to, I understand." she finished, frowning sadly.

Matthias sighed.

"Either I cause the bride a displeasure, or make a fool out of myself. Your sister can be cruel." he told Shining. "Why is she so angry at me?"

"Well, she seemed to be over those things things with the queen, but then you disappeared during her song..."

Matthias cursed in his thoughts.

"... and then Spike came and said that you were with my aunts in Celestia's private chambers."

Both Matt and Shining Armor stared at her, although after a moment the Captain of the Royal Guard was staring at the Knight of the Silver Hand.

"You... and the Princesses..."

"No! For Light's sake, we weren't even gone that long!" Matthias replied, facehoofing himself. "Remind me to have a talk with Spike later; I think this is the third time he did something like this."

"Of course, he added that you were just talking about something with them." she reassured him Cadance. "Although, at first we thought..."

"For Light's sake! That's just ridiculous!" Matt said, shaking his head. "I've been called the most eligible bachelor in Lordaeron, but this-"

"Lordaeron?"

"A kingdom on my world that I lived in." he replied, sighing. "I will go talk with the musicians."

"So you will do it?" asked both bride and groom.

"Sure, why not. I know of a few songs that you and everypony might like - but just to be safe, you're not going to blame me for anything?"

"No." they promised him.

Matthias nodded to them and turned toward the musicians, who were currently having a short break.

"This is going to be a long night."

49. Birth of the Nightmare - part I

The pain was unbearable.

The little pony wanted to scream as the darkness tried to rip it apart, but at the same time, it felt six familiar presences, urging it to not give up. Their strength was its. The small pony bit back the cry of agony that was building inside its throat and fought with this terrifying being.

The monster responded by attacking it more ferociously. The pony grin its teeth, as he felt its body melt, its bones fracture, and its mind unravel. The presences, alarmed, shared even more of their power with it, strengthening the bond they shared, and with their help, he reformed his body and mind. Again, they broke, and again, they reformed, and again and again... over and over, causing the pony to...

“Luna, wake up!”

The small, dark blue alicorn woke up with a jolt, breathing heavily. She was laying on her bed, in hers and Celestia’s bedchamber, which now was lighted by few candles.

There was no darkness around, besides that outside the windows. For now...

“You were screaming.” her big sister, that was standing next to Luna’s bed told her, nuzzling her in attempt to sooth her nerves. “Were you having a nightmare?”

Luna nodded, shaking.

“It was so scary!” she cried, hugging Celestia, afraid to go back to sleep. “It was dark, and something was trying to hurt me, and and...”

“Shhh...” her big sister said, climbing up her bed and wrapping her wing around Luna as she settled besides her. “Don’t worry, little sister, I’m here. I won’t let anything harm you, I promise.”

Luna smiled, as she nuzzled her sister’s warm body’s side, already feeling better. As she closed her eyes, she whispered:

“Don’t blow the candles, Tia... dark is scary.”

Luna heard Celestia giggle, and then, covering them with quilt, she began to sing in a hushed voice:

Don’t you worry about a thing,

Luna, close your eyes.

I’ll be here for you,

‘till the end of time, that’s what I’ll do.

What the years to come may bring,

is a guessing game.

But I’ll always be here,

so don’t you worry about a thing.

As Luna listened to her sister’s self-made lullaby, her mind drifted off into sleep.

Luna woke up and stretched her hooves, forgetting that Celestia was sleeping with her.

“Auu!” she heard her sister shriek. “My eye!”

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Luna exclaimed, standing up and looking at her frantically. “Are you okay?! Please tell me you’re okay!”

“Of course I am.” Tia replied, rubbing her eye and giggling at her panic. “You just surprised me; that’s all.” she grabbed Luna with hooves and hugged her. “Good morning, little sister, how did you slept?”

“Good morning.” the smaller alicorn responded, relieved that she didn’t do Celestia any harm. She moved her sister’s pink mane with her hoof so she could breathe easier. “I slept fine after that... nightmare.”

Her voice grew darker as she recalled that scary dream. It was so scary, and it seemed so real... then again, all her dreams seemed real.

“Luna, maybe you should tell about this dream doctor Horn?” Tia suggested.

The dark blue alicorn looked at the bigger white one, confused.

“Why would I tell the Royal Physician about something like a silly dream?” she asked her ten years older sister.

“Because maybe it’s wasn’t such a ‘silly’ dream. Luna,” Celestia said, brushing her younger sister’s mane, “you’ve always had dreams that seemed real. Once or twice you have even had the exact same dream as I had. And you are an alicorn. Perhaps that is your special talent?”

“But... I thought that my special talent is supposed to be raising the moon, like you raising the sun!”

“One doesn’t decline other.” Tia replied, and glancing at the window, she added: “And my talent is pretty match useless, as long as that nasty Discord still does as he pleases.”

Luna frowned, looking at the moon outside, despite the grandfather’s clock saying it was past nine in the morning already. Neither she nor Celestia ever met the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, that took over Equestria thirty years ago, few days after their grandfather, King Brom, died after a long sickness, and just before their mother, Princess Platina, then barely six years old, even younger than Luna now, could be crowned. The dark blue alicorn knew all of that from their grandmother’s, Queen Sundancer, stories, as well as that it was their father, Yellow Flash, who was then their grandfather’s apprentice (well, used to be), took their mother and their grandmother (who was then still ‘carrying’ their aunt, Twinklestar, although Luna had no idea what that meant), gathered few other guards and castle’s staff ponies and teleported them all to an abandoned castle within the Evergreen Forest, now called the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Luna didn’t know if it was because of her and Celestia, or their mother and aunt, but she liked that name.

As the little princess recalled all that, the night turned suddenly into day.

“What exactly is so amusing about this?” she thought, irritated, as she yawned.

“Fine, I will go tell doctor Horn about this dream.” Luna managed to say through the yawn.

“Then you better get up, quickly.” Celestia told her, rising from the bed. “I heard from Father yesterday that they were going to look for some medical supplies in one of the cities. If you don’t catch him now, then you will probably have to wait until tomorrow.”

Luna growled, annoyed, as her sister’s magic pulled her up from her bed and to the bathroom. She wouldn’t have minded to wait a day or two.

Outside, the day turned back into night.

The alicorn princess took a deep breath before she knocked on the door. Celestia insisted that she should go to the Royal Physician before breakfast, due to the possibility of him and their father leaving.

“She’s making me skip breakfast because I have stupid dreams.” Luna thought, shaking her head in annoyance, but then stopped. “Although, this means that I won’t have to bother with our cousins until dinnertime.”

All three of her cousins were older than her, and... well, they weren’t mean or anything like that, but they were so... uptight. Even the youngest one, that was only five years older, was boring to hang around. In fact, there wasn’t a single pony within the castle that wasn’t boring; everypony was so serious all the time. Even her sister was almost all the time busy with her studies. There was only one other pony that she could consider to not be like all the others, but he was the most annoying colt there ever was.

Taking her mind away from useless thoughts, Luna knocked on the door.

“Royal Physician?” Luna asked, clearing her throat and switching to the ‘royal speech’. “Thou assistance is required by us...”

“Oh, for crying out loud!” a stern voice cut her off. A white glow surrounded the door-knob and the door opened. “You know I hate that gibberish. Come in.”

Luna gulped nervously as the black unicorn looked at her sternly from across his office, sitting behind a desk. Truth to be told, she hated speaking that way even more than he hated listening to it, but her aunt always coached her to speak that way whenever dealing with official matters or when speaking to important ponies.

She shook and entered. The Royal Physician’s office was a mess, as it always was. There were various books about medicine, gathered by her father over the years of teleporting in and an out to cities of Equestria. Luna could see also quite the number of bottles, vials, plants, and herbs, all being either medicines or components of medicines.

Princess looked at Dr. Horn. He was an elderly pony, about the same age as her grandmother, and had his mane grey, although she heard it used to be black.

“Ah, good morning, one of about fifty reasons why I drink.” the unicorn greeted her. “What do you want?”

Luna straightened up. She was a princess, and she wouldn’t get talked down... not so easily.

“We had a dream.” she told him, deciding to talk to him in the royal speech. Pity she couldn’t quite yet do the ‘Canterlot voice’. “Our sister told us to tell thee about it, due to how real it seemed to us.”

The doctor frowned at her, but beckoned her to sit on the sofa near his desk (and picking up the mess from it with his magic).

“Another dream that seemed real?” he asked, taking some notes. “What this one was about?”

Luna gulped and closed her eyes, trying to recall.

“I was in some dark... room, I guess. I couldn’t see much.” she said, forgetting to speak using the royal ‘we’. “There was... something in there with me. It tried to hurt me. Rip me apart. I felt as if I was on fire, and my head hurt like crazy. But there was - were - something else there as well. About six different... I don’t know what they were, I didn’t saw them, but I felt them. It was... something like what I feel when I’m playing with Celestia, only... different. It’s as if they weren’t just my friends, or other ponies, but... extensions of me. They urged me to not give in, and continue to fight this monster. And so I fought, while using my magic to heal myself, and it began to destroy it again, and that happen over and over, until Celestia woke me up.”

Luna opened her eyes and saw that Dr. Horn was still writing notes in some notebook. He stopped, and looked at her.

“That was quite a dark dream, but I don’t think there’s a special reason to worry about that.” he said. “As for this dream, along with most of your dreams, it seems so real. I would guess that, since Celestia talent is rising the sun, she could be called the Princess of the Sun or Day; then your talent, which we all suspect will be rising the moon, gives you the title of the Princess of the Night.”

The alicorn repeated that in heard mind. “The Princess of the Night.” She liked that title.

“As such, maybe it is within your powers to have... unusual dreams.” the doctor carried on and shrugged. “I suppose when you grow older, you will learn how to stop unpleasant dreams such as today's.”

“‘When you grow older’!” Luna frowned, hearing the old excuse again. “You can stay up until late when you grow older! You can start learning more advanced spells when you grow older! You need to be a little older before you try to raise the moon! Isn’t there anything a pony can do around here before they get wrinkles?!”

She knows better than to say that aloud, of course. Instead, she was about to ask if the doctor had any potion that would make her sleep dreamless, but before she could, the door opened again. Luna glanced at them and saw her father standing in the doorway, his lean, but muscular bright yellow body making him stand out from all the other stallions that were living in the castle (the majority of them being royal guards, and having either white or dark grey coats due to the enchanted armors they wore all the time). His mane, very short and spiky, had an even brighter color that his coat and saw was his cutie mark - a swirling flash of yellow light that was almost white.

“Knock next time,” Dr. Horn snapped at him, and pointed at Luna. “Patient confidentiality and all. Although, at least you stopped teleporting here whenever you felt like it.”

Yellow Flash rolled his eyes and smiled to Luna.

“Morning, Little Princess.” the unicorn said and the small alicorn felt something nuzzle her head affectionately a moment before she saw her father disappear.

“Good morning, Father.” she replied happily, nuzzling him back, not at all surprised by the speed of his teleportation spell.

“Your sister told me you had a bad dream.” Yellow Flash said and Luna could hear his voice growing slightly worried. “You’re alright now, I take?”

“Yes, Father.” she lied. The dream still troubled her, although not as much, and she was annoyed by the words ‘when you grow older’, but she wouldn’t trouble her father with such nonsense. “I think I will go eat breakfast now.”

“Well, you’re out of luck, the breakfast is over.” Yellow Flash said, with his face stern. He managed to keep it for whole two seconds, before he broke into smile. “But your mother saved you some, so go to her chambers.”

Luna nodded happily before she gave her father a hug and run away from the Royal Physician’s office.

“Ugh, you two are so cute that you almost made me gag and vomit at the same time...” she heard the doctor say as she was leaving. “I almost gavomited.”

“Come in, darling.”

Luna opened the doors and entered the chambers that her parents slept in during what was supposed to be a night-time if it wasn’t for some meanie that took over their kingdom long before she was born. Her mother was lying in a huge bed, which almost took half of the space in the room.

Princess Platina smiled to her. She was a beautiful unicorn, whose coat was in a pretty shade of silver-white, and her long mane that’s tied into a ponytail, was pure white.

“Hi, Mommy!” Luna exclaimed as she was about to bounce at the bed right next to her, until she remembered how weak she was. Instead, she trotted over to her. “How do you feel?”

“Better, now that my Little Princess is here.” Platina giggled as she pulled her daughter up the bed into a weak hug. “I’m just a bit tired, that’s all.”

Luna nuzzled her mother carefully, not even frowning at her words. She was always tired! Another pony that wouldn’t play with her...

The small alicorn pulled away and moved to the other side of the bed. She noticed a tray with oatmeal on the nightstand.

“Ugh, suddenly, I don’t feel so hungry anymore.” Luna said and started to back away. “So, I’ll just...”

Her stomach growled.

“Et tu, stomach?” Luna thought, as her mother giggled.

“I know you hate oatmeal, but this is all we have at the moment.” Platina said, looking at her daughter sympathetically. “We need to ration our food, because...”

“... Because we live in the middle of the forest, and can farm a limited space outside of it.” Luna finished with a sighed as she lay next to Platina.

The small alicorn was about to reach for the tray, but her mother lifted it with her magic, and put it in front of her. She then lifted a spoon, gathered some of the oatmeal into it, and moved it in front of Luna’s mouth.

“Now, open wide...”

“Moooom!” Luna protested. “I can eat by myself.”

“I know.” Platina replied, giggling. “But humor your tired mother, pretty please?”

Luna gave annoyed grunt, but allowed her mother to feed her, blushing.

Luna sighed as she gazed at the Everfree Forest from one of the balconies.

She just finished her lessons with her aunt. Luna briefly wondered why she couldn’t learn with her sister, but Celestia, being so older than her, studied more complicated things. The dark blue alicorn once took a peek into one of her books, but couldn’t understand much from it, except that it was about ‘magic theory’ or something along those lines.

“I wish there was something to do around here that didn’t involve studying or reading.” Luna thought, bored out of her mind. “Seriously, I don’t care what it could be, anything would be better...”

“Hi Luna!” a familiar voice called behind her.

The young princess facehoofed herself.

“Hi, Bolt.” she sighed as she glanced at the small grey pegasus trotting over to her.

Shadow Bolt was the only pony within the castle that was her age, and was about the only one that wasn’t boring. Luna wondered if it was because he wasn’t born here. One of the guards found him a few years ago by the border of the forest, and brought him here. Bolt has been living here ever since, and wanted to become a royal guard once he grew up. Luna didn’t know why she found him so annoying, everypony else liked him...

“Do you know where Celestia is?” the colt asked, brushing of some of his dark violet mane from his face.

Luna rolled her eyes as she now recalled. The thing that annoyed her in him was that he had a crush on her sister.

“She’s still probably studying.” she told him, glancing back at the forest. “You do know that you don’t have a chance with my sister, right?”

“Oh, very funny.” Shadow Bolt replied, blushing, as he joined her at the balcony. “What are you looking at, anyway?”

“Don’t change the subject. My sister is a princess, she will rule Equestria one day; and you, at best, will be her guard.”

It wasn’t the first time they had a discussion like that. Luna was determined to make him see that this relationship that he hoped to have with Celestia was never going to happen, while Bolt bounced back all of her arguments, by saying things like...

“Ah, is somepony jealous of her sister again?”

“Jealous?” she snorted. “Of what? Of having the most annoying colt ever making big eyes at her and barely stopping himself from singing serenades under her balcony?”

“I know it must be painful for you,” the pegasus replied, trying to keep a serious and compassionate face, but failing as a smirk appeared on it, “but my heart belongs to Celestia. Don’t worry though; I’m sure you will meet some nice stallion one day. Obviously, he won’t be as great as me, but...

“Are you two teasing each other again?” the voice of Celestia came from the entrance of the balcony, interrupting their argument.

“We’re not teasing.” Luna told her sister, turning around to regard her, and noticing that Shadow Bolt was already at Celestia’s side.

“Well, I am, it’s borderline treason otherwise.” he said, chuckling, but quickly stopped as he bowed dramatically. ”But I will stop, it that is the wish of the most beautiful princess.”

Luna rolled her eyes as she heard her sister giggle at the compliment. As Celestia engaged with Bolt into polite conversation, asking him about the training few of the guards were putting him through, she returned to gaze as the forest and let her mind wonder.

“It’s so boring in here!” she pouted mentally. “I wish I could go outside of the castle, I bet it’s exciting out there!”

She continued to stare at the Everfree Forest for few heartbeats, before the she realized what she just thought.

“Hmm...” she mused as she rubbed her chin, a happy grin on her face. “Perhaps when once again Discord changes the day into the night, I will go for a little... walk, in the forest?"

Author's Note

Sorry it took so long to write this one, but as I said, I have to study now, and there were other reasons. One of them being the fact that I wanted to update some other stories, but mostly, the reason why I didn't started right away, is that as I finished the previous chapter, I literally had no idea what I wanted to write here. It took my mind a whole week to came up with this mini arc, which kinda irritated me. I was originally planning on finishing Luna's story in one chapter, so that Arthas' confession would take place at chapter 50, but... I figured that Luna deserved to have as complicated story as Arthas. I mean, it wasn't just the matter of him picking up Frostmourne and having his soul stolen.
Oh, and on a side note: I told my parents that I watch My Little Pony, which took a lot out of me (remember, my country is practically stuck in medieval times in terms of 'global culture', or whatever it is called). They were surprisingly understanding, although, considering the fact that they know I still played Pokemon, I guess I might have expected that. It's a pity they don't understand English and can't read this story. The one that does understand English is my 30 year old brother. As you might remember from one of my earlier comments, he was searching for this story, and I was afraid of showing it to him, knowing he would be... well, difficult. But lately, I decided I would send him a link to this story, probably the pressure of the incoming exams took some toll on my mind. He still haven't read it, he's too busy, but took a glance at it and asked "Is it something warcraft related?" to which I responded "Yes... and something else related...". Bottom line is, I still await information from him about cutting me out of his will.

69. Search for intel begins

69. Search for intel begins

As they trotted through the streets of the empire, passing many houses made out of crystals, Matthias would shook his head from time to time in hopes to completely shrug off the effects of Sombra’s attack. He had not expected him to just stay in his smoke form around them or that would it be so damaging to body and mind. It was good thing that Matthias managed to quickly cast Light’s protection on Shining Armor, for as sturdy as he was, chances that he would withstood that were too low for comfort.

“Are you sure you’re fine?” Twilight asked him after another shake.

“Yes, I am.” he replied, carefully trying to not sound harsh. “And if I weren’t, I would have healed myself, so don’t be concerned.”

He spoke truly, as he was already healing himself as he and Shining Armor run for the empire, and now was merely in pain from the ordeal. And while he appreciated his friends concern, it was unnecessary. So instead of healing his body, he concentrated on the fallen unicorn.

Matthias could still sense him, although his presence was now much weaker; either because of the distance, the fact that they were safe thanks to Cadance’s magic, or that maybe Sombra has simply lost interest. And while for the moment nothing threaten them, he was far from comforted by it.

“The only good thing at the moment is that finally have an idea what this sense is.” he thought as his friends continued to glance at their surroundings. “But if my guess is correct, then... who was that in Ponyville, then? And what about the-”

“It's gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous!” Rarity’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

Matthias looked up in annoyance, and realized that they reached the crystal castle, which seemed to be bigger and more magnificent up-close. It appeared like a spire and was supported by four columns, which also served for entrances, as the main part of the castle was above the ground.

“There are no words!” the fashionista added after she finished making incoherent mumbling.

“Focus, Rarity.” Applejack brought her back to reality. “We're here to help Twilight, not admire the scenery.

“Eh, I don't see what the big deal is.” Rainbow, who was passing by them, added nonchalantly. “Just looks like another old castle to me.”

“Seriously?” Matthias wondered, slightly taken back.

But not nearly as Rarity.

“Another old...!” she repeater in disbelieve and pressed on Rainbow (quite literally): “Have you lost your mind? Look at the magni-”

She stopped notice when Dash started laughing, followed by Applejack, with whom she bumped hooves.

“Very funny…” Rarity said after few seconds, once she and Matthias realized that the cyan mare has been merely pulling a joke on her.

He shook his head and head for the doors in one of the supports, like everypony else, expecting to see behind it-

“Stairs?” Matthias asked, confused, then looked at Shining Armor. “Seriously?”

“What do you mean?” the other stallion replied with raised eyebrow.

“This castle’s main part is high above the ground level, and it doesn’t have teleporters or elevators? I would expect at least Sombra to make those in his evil lair. Here should be elevators, and there,” he added, pointing at the base under the castle. “A teleporting pad.”

“Who puts any of those in a castle?” Shining Armor said, and begun to climb the stairs.

“My evil lair had those...” Matthias thought, as he felt hurt by that statement.

“Cadance!” Twilight exclaimed happily at the sight of her old foalsitter.

The Princess, who was sitting on a throne made of crystal, had her head lowered; she glanced up and immediately brightened, as she trotted over to meet her.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” they recited and both laughed once they finished they greeting.

“Told you they would do that.” Twilight heard Matthias say to the others, with both Rainbow and Applejack snickering.

She was about to frown at them, when Cadance shook as if her head hurt, and the light around her horn (which she just now noticed) almost faded.

“One of these days we need to get together when the fate of Equestria or lives of ponies aren't hanging in the balance.” Cadance said once the seizure ended, and then sighed.

It then hit Twilight that she wasn’t looking well. She had bags under her eyes as if she didn’t sleep for days, and appeared to be dead tired.

“Are you okay?” the lavender unicorn asked, despite seeing that she was not.

“Cadance has been able to use her magic to spread love and light.” Shining Armor replied for his wife, as he trotted to stand by her side. “That seems to be what is protecting it. But she hasn't slept, barely eats. I want to help her, but my protection spell has been countered by King Sombra.”

“It's alright Shining Armor, I'm fine.” Cadance said in, trying and failing to convince anypony.

“She's not fine. She can't go on like this forever, and if her magic were to fade… well, you saw what's out there waiting for that to happen.”

Yes, Twilight saw. A terrible monster that was powerful enough to be of trouble for both her brother and Matt.

“Matthias,” Shining Armor asked the other stallion, “could you-”

“No.”

Everypony glanced at the owner of the voice. Matthias was standing further from the group, and was looking through the window. He had one ear perked at them, but other than that and the reply, he seemed to be concentrated on something else entirely.

“While I can ask the Light to refresh my allies from weariness, I cannot do the same if the reason for it comes from overusing magic.” he continued calmly. “It’s different from simply body exhaustion. And no,” he added, as if reading everypony’s mind, “I cannot use the Light to protect the empire like Cadance can with her magic. I’m sorry, but we have to find another way to solve things”

“That's why we're here.” Twilight said, dispelling the fear she felt as she recalled King Sombra, and trying to sound confident.

“Why we're all here.” Applejack added, as she and the rest of her friends trotted over and nodded.

“Any idea where we should start?” Twilight asked her brother, knowing that the time was precious.

“Well,” Shining Armor began, “with Cadance putting all her strength into keeping her spell going, and me trying to keep an eye on signs of trouble in the arctic, we haven't been able to gather much information from the Crystal Ponies.”

“Crystal Ponies?” Rarity erupted at the thought, and then laughed in ecstasy, pulling her hair. “Hahaha, there are Crystal Ponies?!

She then realized the stares everypony was giving her, as if she lost her mind (which, Twilight was certain, happened for a moment there), and tried to recover while looking dignified.

“Umm, hmm. Please continue.”

“And that is why I haven’t mentioned the empire after Brann and I came back from Canterlot.” Matthias interjected, still gazing at the empire.

Twilight shook her head and glanced at Shining Armor, inclining him to speak. She knew that it was no use prying on his thoughts now, and besides, she had more important things to do.

“But we have to believe one of them knows how we can protect the empire without having to use Cadance's magic.” her brother finished the thought he started before Rarity interrupted him.

It then hit her.

“A research paper!” shouted Twilight.

“Huh?” Shining Armor asked, but she wasn’t listening anymore.

“That must be part of my test; to gather information from the Crystal Ponies and deliver it to you!” she added, pointing at her brother. “This is gonna be great! I love research papers!”

Her friends begun to muttering something between themselves, but Twilight wasn’t paying attention, as she is too engrossed in her thoughts. If they all would spread out through the empire, and ask all the crystal ponies about a way to protect the empire, and then would compare notes...

“... Mattie?” Pinkie Pie asked, which brought Twilight back to her senses. She saw her pink friend keeping in tights embrace on Matt, Rarity and Fluttershy for whatever reason, with no less puzzled expression that the other three.

The lavender shook her head, not bothering with trying to understand what that was about, and instead turned to Shining Armor.

“Don't worry, big brother.” she said, putting her foreleg on his shoulder reassuringly. “I am really good at this sort of thing. Okay everypony,” Twilight addressed her friends, “lets-”

“If I may interrupt,” Matthias said, stepping forward (and away from Pinkie Pie), “I think it would be best if I would go and do something else.”

“You just want to get out of the research paper.” Dash smirked at him, but he just glared at her.

“I want to go back to the arctic and keep an eye on Sombra.”

Twilight eyes widen. He wanted to get back there?! And had the gall to tell them that he merely wanted to ‘keep an eye on Sombra’?! She was not going to let Matt go fight the unicorn King again after he got his flank handed to him.

“Are you insane?! You can’t go back there and fight him again!”

“I said ‘keep an eye on’, and I meant it.” Matthias replied calmly. “I have no desire to repeat what happened with Chrysalis.”

“Oh, so you’re not going to kiss him.” Rainbow asked, now grinning.

That got bigger reaction out of him, as he quickly glanced at her with a surprised look, while a few ponies giggled. Twilight, on the other hoof, remained silent; as a familiar rage she felt that day almost reawakened, which looking back was caused by her being in love with him.

Matthias was not amused by that, of course, and glared again at Rainbow seriously.

“I fought her not having any idea of what she was capable off.” he said, and his calm, calculated voice made all the giggles stop as they listened to what he actually meant. “That almost got me killed two times, not to mention that she had control over battle the whole time, and I managed to land few blows on her only because she was also unaware of my powers.”

Everypony exchanged glances, for the first time hearing some details about his battle with the Changeling Queen, since they were busy after that with wedding or - in case of Twilight - pissed off at him, and later... well, they were busy again.

“I would prefer to know something more about Sombra in case I’ll have to fight him again, which would happen if Cadance’s spell should fail.” he continued. “I would either beat him, or at least buy you all enough time to figure out the how to protect the empire.”

“But what if he attacks you out there in the arctic?” Twilight pointed out. “King Sombra could caught you by surprise, and-”

“That won’t happen.” Matthias said, and glanced once again at the window. “I can tell where he is. Somehow, I seem to gain the ability to sense an evil in heart of others.” he paused while the others dwelled in confusion at his statement, as if thinking over his words. Twilight in the meantime recalled how he suddenly reacted back on the train, and realized that was the reason why. “I heard about paladins being able to sense beings of pure evil, but this...”

“What’s the difference?” Shining Armor asked.

“You would know that if you would saw what my homeworld considers as beings of pure evil. Anypony can have an evil heart, but appear normal.”

“Okay then.” the unicorn replied, slightly put off by the comment. “Then how come you know that this is different? I mean, King Sombra is definitely such a being, right?”

“Yes, but... I felt the similar presence, but much weaker in terms of both malice and power, in Ponyville some time ago, but only for a brief moment, and somepony would have noticed something along the lines off giant black smoke there.”

“What?!” Twilight gasped. “When were you plan on telling us about it?!”

“As I said, it was only for a brief moment that I could sense whoever it was, so I dismissed it as my imagination.” the stallion explained, despite having a angry look to himself. “Rest assured that I will look into it once we get back to Ponyville. But now then, this new ability of mine brings up another question.”

“Such as?” asked everypony in unison.

“I can sense Sombra, despite the distance.” Matthias told them, with his eyes closed. “But... I cannot sense anypony else with evil heart.”

“Eh... ain’t that good?” Applejack words expressed everypony’s confusion.

The paladin shook his head and opened his eyes.

“When Sombra took over the Crystal Empire the first time, he was accompanied by his minions, the Six Shadows of the King.” for some reason, he snorted at the last word. “But when Celestia and Luna fought with him, they were nowhere in sight. I assumed that they were inside the empire and disappeared with it, but if that was the case, I would definitely sense them by now.”

Twilight pondered on his words, recalling that the illusion spell with which Princess Celestia showed her the past of the empire she saw some nasty looking ponies keeping others in chains and shoving them around. What could have happened to them?

“Maybe they were outside of the empire?” Shining Armor suggested. “King Sombra could have send them on some kind of mission.”

“Perhaps...” Matthias said thoughtfully. “But I would have expected the night guards to find them at some time. Either way, they seem to not be here, so it doesn’t matter. What matters is Sombra, and what he can do.”

“Since you seemed to know more detail about what happened at the time of the empire’s fall, you must know something more.” Twilight told him, a bit smarting from that fact.

“Yes, but it’s hardly enough.” Matthias replied. “And the fact that he is now without body only serves to make him more mysterious. What I do know is that he can make you see your worst nightmare. He did that to Princess Luna over a thousand years ago, and to me few moments back.” seeing their scared and worried expressions he added. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. It would take more than a mere illusion to keep me down.”

Despite his reassuring words, Twilight felt a chill at the thought of what his worst nightmare could be about.

“Sombra also seems to know a lot about offensive magic.” Matthias went on. “He bent the blizzard to his will, and back when he was in full power, he was able to hold his own against Celestia.”

“That seems to be a lot to know about somepony.” Rarity pointed out.

“Maybe, but I would prefer to be certain. I have no desire to beaten by some pretentious ghost.” he added, smirking.

“But are you sure you want to back there?” Twilight asked. “Maybe somepony should go with you?”

“No.” he answered. “If you would get caught in your nightmares, it could be all over for you. I am the only one that can fight him without worrying about that.”

“Oh yeah?” Dash asked, offended. “How so? You know, you’re not the only one around here with guts.”

Her question had an unusual effect: Matt became uneasy, and looked around, as if looking for a way out.

“Well...” he stammered and, after few heartbeats, sighed. Then he looked at them once again. “I didn’t tell any of you, but until recently, I was having very realistic nightmares pretty much every time I closed my eyes.”

Everypony gasped; shocked that he didn’t tell them.

“So that’s why you looked so sleepy every morning.” Twilight realized. “Why didn’t you tell m- us?!”

That was close. She almost said ‘me’, and that would not bode well with her brother in earshot.

“Sorry.” Matthias replied, appearing to be genuinely sorry. “I thought that it was just my problem. I know, I know:” he rolled his eyes seeing they were about to interrupt him: “friends help each other and such. Don’t worry; I’m already better, courtesy of Luna.”

“Oh, right, she can help others with their nightmares.” Twilight recalled, and wondered why she didn’t do it sooner.

“But getting back to the subject,” Matt said, dispelling her thoughts, “thanks to that, I’m better prepared to face Sombra. I already pulled myself out of his spell, so I don’t expect that to be of much problem. And besides, I don’t plan to let him caught me. If he and I are gonna fight, it will be on my terms.”

Twilight had to admit that it made sense, and that she was more than impressed with his plan for dealing with Sombra. So far, it was better than her to find the way to protect the empire.

“Okay then, you go and do that, while we’ll see what the crystal ponies know.” she said, and once everypony nodded, they headed towards the door.

Matt, however, moved back to the window.

“What are you...” Twilight was about to ask, but stopped once he jumped out of it.

Matthias wrapped Light’s shield around himself as he landed, refusing to waste time for stairs.

“I really don’t understand why they couldn’t put elevators there.” he thought as he trotted towards the empire’s limits.

“Hey, Matt, wait up!” he heard Dash call after him, but didn’t bother with slowing down, knowing how fast she was. The pegasus caught up with him in a matter of seconds. “Cool move by the way.”

“Thanks.” Matthias replied, grinning. She could be annoying at times, but she was a real friend, not to mention her other qualities. “But shouldn’t you be asking the crystal ponies around? Like that one?”

He pointed in the direction of a mare on the other side of the street... who, while had strangely colored coat, was definitely not made out of crystal.

“Take that, Brann.” Matthias thought

“Well, yeah, in a minute, but, um...” Dash began and stuttered. “You don’t think we have time to...”

“Dash, we have an evil unicorn on the other side of a fading barrier.” he reminded her gently. “I hardly think this is the time... and the middle of the street is hardly the place, too.”

“I know, I know.” Rainbow rolled her eyes and sighed. “It just feels like forever since we did it last time, and it feels great.”

“Now that you mentioned it, it does seem like it’s been awhile.” Matthias chuckled, surprised at her... enthusiasm for bucking, but not at all at her overall attitude. He quickly pulled her for a kiss, also not happy about this. “Don’t worry, after this is over, we’ll definitely buck for all the time.”

“I’ll hold you on it.” she replied, grinning, and then pulled back into the air. “Well, I’ll better get started. See ya.”

Matthias spared her rump a glance as she flew over to that crystal pony that they passed earlier, before he shook his head and continued marching for the border. He briefly wondered how the search would go, and what secrets could the Crystal Empire hold. Matthias also wondered should he mention to others about checking out the library, but figured that it would most likely the first place Twilight would go.

Rainbow was irritated that Matt refused her proposition. True, he was right, and she knew it. But if he would agree then, well, they would only lose few minutes and then it would be his fault, not hers.

So to say that she was a bit cranky was an understatement.

“A way to protect the empire! You know anything about it or what?” she asked the crystal pony (who wasn’t exactly what she expected) a bit aggressively, wanting to be done with it quickly.

“I wish I could help you. Really.” the mare replied and, looking as if depressed, tried to trot away.

Rainbow wasn’t going to let her off that easily.

“Hold on!” she told her, landing before her and hitting her lightly in encouragement. “You gotta know something!”

“But... I don't have any information.” the crystal pony said, once again in this weirdly sad tone.

“Oh, great!” Rainbow thought as she facehoofed herself.

74. Getting back

Digging in the frozen ground, covered in snow no less, and without any shovels was not the best idea Matthias had. Luckily, his body was still crystallised so, thanks to his stubbornness, his crystal hooves managed to dig up a grave within about an hour. The paladin then carefully put the corpse of an earth pony in it and, sparring few moments to look at him for the last time as he burned dead’s face into his memory. Finally, Matthias moved the earth back, burying the pony known as King Sombra.

“To think that among this paradise that is Equestria, I would meet a being so closely resembling me is...” he trailed off, unable to express what he felt as he gave the fallen pony an eulogy. Matthias sighed and carried on: “I can only pray that afterlife is more forgiving to you than it was to me, or that you will be granted a chance for redemption, like me. Good bye... my friend.”

Despite his words, Matthias stayed for few more moments; lamenting over the fact that he wasn’t able to help him, and wondering how it all came to this. That shadow... it so much resembled what he faced in depths of Azjol-Nerub, but at the same time, it was different. And those six ponies with strange powers...

“Could it be all connected to Nightmare Moon, changelings, and perhaps, Tucker Out and Project Eclipse?” the paladin mused, trying to connect everything in his head, make it whole, but failing. “I cannot make anything out of it, not without further leads. If only I was able to talk with So-... whatever his name was, a bit longer. Without him, there is nopony left who could tell me something about the past.”

Matthias pondered the thought. While it was true that there was nopony alive he could ask for, there might be another option. After all, who said he needed a pony to talk to?

“Chrysalis.” he thought, recalling the Changeling Queen. However, Matthias had no way of contacting her and even if he had, he wasn’t certain she would tell him anything, provided if she knew about all of this in the first place. “I wonder how long changelings live, anyway?”

Sighing for the last time, feeling hopeless about finding the answer for all his questions, and dead tired after long day, Matthias turned back and trotted towards the Crystal Empire.

The events of past hour were not less surprising to Princess Cadance than everything that happened prior to that.

She couldn’t understand at first why did all the crystal ponies started calling her ‘the Crystal Princess’ and bowing to her with respect. It only became clear to her, her husbands and their friends after an elderly mare, one that Twilight and others mentioned that worked at the library, explained that it was once prophesied long ago. A prophecy that one day, after a rule of shadow and fear, the Crystal Empire would be ruled by not just a non-crystal pony, but an alicorn whose cutie mark looked exactly like the Crystal Heart, alongside her husband.

The idea of her and Shining Armor ruling an empire was scary, to say the least. However, being a Princess of Equestria for years, and performing some royal duties along her aunt Celestia and later Luna as well, gave her some ideas as how to act the part. No, act was the wrong word here - live the part. Her husband would quickly learn to do so later. Her first royal order was to send ponies to gather ashes of the ponies from crystal guard; as Matt asked her. Shining Armor took few volunteers and went to the site of battle between the paladin and King Sombra. After that she officially thanked Twilight and the others for their aid, as did the crystal ponies, and offered them rooms in the crystal castle to rest as long as they needed before they would have to get back to Canterlot, adding in quieter tone that she would join them in short time.

Next she had a long discussion with few left ponies that worked in the castle prior to King Sombra’s takeover, getting to better know them, and then asked to find her some records of the crystal guard, so that she could prepare a proper ceremony for them.

Having dealt with that, Cadance finally headed towards the room where Twilight and everypony else was. She absentmindedly noticed that her body was still crystallised, although the librarian mare assured her that the effects that the Crystal Heart had on bodies of ‘non-crystals’ should pass in about an hour or two. While her coat looked astonishing, and more like her new subjects’, the Princess far more preferred her normal look.

As she neared them; she wondered if she would manage to find a way to ask Rarity as to how the plan worked. She didn’t noticed Twilight and Matt acting like a couple, although they might have been cautious of Shining Armor. Cadance sighed at the thought. She knew very well that her husband cutie mark meant that he was protective of others, but this case was becoming more and more ridiculous.

Finally she reached the doors to a huge room where, after opening them, Cadance found the five mares and one baby dragon. All of them for some reason, instead of resting like she suggested, or celebrating, appeared to be trying to cheer up the sixth mare. Strangely, she looked as if she was depressed.

“What’s wrong, everypony?” she asked as she trotted closer to them, currently more worried about her sister-in-law’s mood than the fact that everypony was still crystal.

“Oh, hi Cadance.” Twilight replied, for a moment brightening up, and then lowered her head down. “It’s... I failed Celestia’s test.”

“What?” the alicorn asked surprised. “I don’t understand. Weren’t you supposed to recover the Crystal Heart?”

“Yes, but it was Spike who brought it to you, though.” Twilight told her. “And the Princess warned me that in the end it must be me and me alone who ultimately assist you and my brother with protecting the empire. I might have found the Crystal Heart, but since it wasn’t me who gave it to you, it doesn’t count.”

Cadance opened her mouth to object, but found that she had no words. The lavender unicorn was right: she didn’t do as Celestia told her, and because of that, she failed. Knowing how much it meant to her to pass this, to prove to her aunt that she was a worthy student, the Princess of Love hugged her sister.

“Don’t get me wrong, if I had to choose once more between me passing Celestia’s test and everypony, I would have chose you all again.” the younger mare said as she returned hug. “It’s just...”

“I know.” Cadance finished for her as Twilight trailed off. “And I am proud of you for that. I know this couldn’t have been easy.”

The others joined them and they stayed like this in group hug for few moments, before everypony pulled back.

“So when do you think you’ll be returning to Canterlot?” the Princess asked them, trying to not sound sad.

“Now, if you don’t mind.” the lavender mare response took her by surprise; she hoped they would stay at least a day. “I’m sorry, I wish we could stay longer, but Princess Celestia would want to hear what have exactly happened.” Twilight said, looking out of the window.

Cadance followed her gaze. The aurora that shot out of the crystal castle once the Crystal Heart was powered was still there, and they knew it must be visible across all of Equestria. Looking back at other ponies, the Princess nodded for understanding Twilight’s reasoning, and admired her dedication to her duty as Celestia’s student.

“You are right, Twilight. But remember, you can come to visit whenever you want, and the Crystal Empire will welcome you with open hooves.” she said, addressing everypony. An idea struck her. “Also, before you go, I would advise you take few moments to eat something. I’m sure you will all be more comfortable going to Canterlot with full stomach.”

“What an excellent idea, Princess.” Rarity supported her. “I think I’ll speak for all of us when I say that we’re slightly winded from this long day.”

“I’ll go to the castle’s chief, then.” the Princess told them, and added, looking articulately at Rarity. “Does one of you want to come and pick what you want to eat?”

“I’ll go!” Rarity volunteered, understanding what she meant. “I wanted to see more of this magnificent castle, anyway.”

Together, they made their way out of the room, and once Cadance was sure they were out of everypony earshot, she asked: “So how did it go in Altomare?”

The look Rarity gave her in response already told her that things did not go as planned.

“Oh, Cadance, it all went wrong!”

For next couple of minutes as they trotted the Princess heard everything: how they made their way through Altomare towards the beach house, how they went for sightseeing and Matt stayed with fillies, how Rarity’s sister had her period when there was no other grown up other than the stallion, how the next day he and Twilight finally talked, only to come to the conclusion that they while they had feelings for each other, they were better off as friends, how Rarity tried to give the love potion, which horribly backfired, and how before they left Matt managed to have a thing with some random sea pony and finally, that he and Rainbow Dash became ‘friends with benefits’.

Cadance was unable to do anything but stare at the unicorn as she recounted all of that. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised by the decision Twilight and Matt took, especially after Rarity told her their reasoning for it, but... he didn’t struck her like the type of pony who has flings with random mares. Matt seemed to be more of a ‘traditional’ type, like Shining Armor, seeing how he insisted on addressing her by her title. This... relationship, if it could be called as such, with Rainbow was much more believable to her than that ‘thing with some random sea pony’..

“Rainbow Dash told me that, besides having... ugh, fun, with Matt, she hoped that it would make Twilight jealous, and that it would made her take some action.” Rarity finished, and looked apologetically at Princess. “I’m sorry, I...”

“Don’t apology, Rarity.” she told her, smiling gently. “If that’s what they chose, then it cannot be helped. And who knows? Maybe that’s what’s best for them? Or maybe they will yet be together?”

“You really think so?”

“If being the Princess of Love taught me anything, it’s that love is mysterious.” Cadance replied, chuckling. “Anyway, lets...”

She trailed off as she noticed in the corner of her eye a slight change that befallen Rarity. The alicorn brought her own hoof to her face and saw, to her pleasure, that it was her normal coat that covered her.

“Aww!” her ears caught a disappointed exclamation, and Cadance barely stopped herself from giggling.

As the group of ponies came into his sight, Shining Armor among them, Matthias noticed that his body was once again made off flesh instead of crystal. Relieved that it wasn’t permanent, he almost bounced like Pinkie Pie the rest of the way.

Almost. He was still overall sad about today’s events, not to mention nearly exhausted.

Shining Armor who’s also back to normal, noticed him approaching, and trotted some distance.

“You’re okay?” he asked, concerned. “You look as if you were to fall over.”

“Having a mental battle with that thing wasn’t the highlight of my trip here.” Matthias replied, shrugging. “But I am fine. What are you all doing here?”

“Cadance send me and some crystal ponies to gather all the ashes we could.” Shining Armor told him, much to his surprise. Mostly because the last time he was here, this place (which he now realised was the site of his battle with ‘himself’) was under the sea of ashes, and now there was no sign of it. “Believe it or not, but the crystal ponies had a prophecy about her and me ruling the empire.”

“Really?” the paladin asked, now even more surprised. “I... suppose congratulations are in order, then?”

“I guess.” other stallion replied, lowering his voice so the nearby crystal ponies (who, as Matthias noticed, were still crystal) wouldn’t hear him. “I never expected something like this. I knew I would have some more important duties once I married Cadance, but ruling an empire...”

“You’ll do fine.” Matthias assured him, truly believing it. “Just remember that good of your subjects is most important, and everything will be fine.”

He ignored the pang in his head. This was an Equestria, not Azeroth; Shining Armor wasn’t going to be put in the same spot he was.

Matthias would say something more, but he noticed a group of crystal ponies approaching them, and decided to do so later.

“We scouted the area, sir.” said one of the three, a blue stallion with a bow for a cutie mark reported to Shining Armor. “There is no more sign of ash anywhere, Prince.”

“Good, and please, Shining Armor is enough.” the unicorn replied, a bit uncomfortable.

“We’ll try, sir.” the second pony, a tan pony with a chess figure for a cutie mark, said.

Matthias was glancing at their surroundings, and wondering how they got all of the ashes with just one unicorn among them no less, he almost missed that the third pony asked him a question.

“Um, excuse me, sir?” she asked uncertain, and as Matthias glanced at her, she continued. She was a pretty mare, somewhere around his friends age, perhaps a little younger (although technically past thousand). She had a bright, yellow coat, a slightly brighter mane, and a cutie mark looked like a lily, but with something added to it. “You are an earth pony, right? But you used this light magic...”

“It wasn’t magic, not the same kind unicorns can use.” he interrupted her, quite automatically. “It was the Holy Light.”

“Holy Light?” all three of them exclaimed with puzzled expressions.

“It’s difficult to explain, and I am a bit exhausted, so you will have to excuse me when I tell you only that it’s a force beyond this world. One that unifies everything that lives and some ponies, through willpower and faith, can tap into it and gain those powers you saw.”

The expressions of the stallions’ faces stayed puzzled, but the mare had a certain... wonder in her eyes, which made Matthias rethink his earlier statement and continue the discussion.

“Those like me, who work with Light, are called paladins. Through the Light, I can fight the evil, but also protect the innocent and weak, and heal the wounded.”

“Oh, right, you were severely wounded by K- that pony.” she said, and a shadow crossed her features. It did not escape Matthias notice that she decided to not use the name that pony was known by. “That’s really amazing, sir Lightbringer.”

It took a whole second for him to realize what she just called him, and all he could do for another second was to stare at her, making everypony look at him confused.

“What... did you called me?” he finally asked, not sure if he wasn’t going insane.

“Um...” she stammered uncertain, so Matthias forced whatever it was that he felt down and nodded at her encouragingly. “Sir Lightbringer? Few of us started calling you that as we talked about you earlier between ourselves. Your real name is Matthias, right sir?”

He nodded absentmindedly to her, looking away, trying to process just how in Light’s name they have come up with this name, out of all they could had come up with.

“Is something wrong?” the mare asked him, probably fearing that she angered him.

“Lightbringer...” he started, painful memories resurfacing by themselves, all within a matter of second: his childhood and making fun of the knight’s piety; his training on his road into adulthood; the ceremony in the Cathedral of Light in Stormwind; the battle against the orc near Strahnbrad and undead in Hearthglen... He shook his head before he could recall once again today the old paladin’s last battle, afraid tears would come to his eyes. “It was a title my old mentor have been known by.” turning back to the mare and others he asked more gently. “What is your name?”

“Serenity.” she replied, a bit surprised at the change of subject.

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna of Equestria asked me to teach other ponies the ways of paladins.” he told her. “Would you be interested in learning?”

His question shocked everypony, but mostly the mare. However, at the same time, she was the first one to recover and bowed her head. “I would be honored to. But I would need Princess’ and Prince’s permission...”

“I don’t think there’s going to be a problem with that.” Matthias replied, glancing at Shining Armor, who after a second nodded, probably reminded that he was the Prince she spoke off. “Your training, which should start in about month, will be among three other ponies. I will send you a letter shortly with more details. However, I can tell you now that you will be expected to move into Ponyville, among other things. The life of a paladin is a life of dedication to helping others; whenever it is with healing or combating evil. You will have to learn how to fight, and one day you might find yourself in similar position I was not so long ago. Are you still interested?”

Serenity hesitated only for a brief moment before she nodded.

“I wanted to join my brother in the crystal guard, before... everything.” she said, and the reason why shadow crossed her face earlier as well as now was clear to Matthias. “I can learn how to fight.”

“Great, then.” out of corned of his eye, he saw his friends that is leaded by the bouncing Pinkie Pie, are heading straight towards the train station. “I will see you soon. May the Light be with you all.”

He nodded his head to her, as well as two other crystal ponies, and trotted to join the group along with Shining Armor.

“I do so wish it was permanent.” they heard Rarity complain as they approached them. “Did you see how my mane just absolutely sparkled?”

“But...” Applejack told her warmly. “... good things are better when they're a rarity.”

“Aww.” Rarity exclaimed, touched, and her and few others giggled.

“You’re leaving already?” Shining Armor asked as he squeezed between Twilight and Cadance.

“Yes, Princess Celestia would want to know all the details as soon as possible.” his sister replied, and Matthias, who opted to stay at the back of the group, couldn’t help but notice that there was some sadness in her voice. “Besides, you seem to have everything under control here; you don’t need further help... for now.”

Her brother chuckled at the jibe.

“Everything's gonna be okay.” he told her, and added in quieted tone: “You've gotta stop saving my rump like this, it's starting to get embarrassing.”

“Just now?” Matthias added his own jibe, making the other stallion look back at him with an all-too-familiar glare, much to his amusement.

Twilight, who also smiled at that, quickly grew sad.

“Wasn't me who saved you in the end. It was Spike.”

Those words almost made Matthias stop dead in his tracks.

“That’s what all this moping is about?!” he thought, understanding at once what exactly she meant..

“It's just a test.” Shining Armor stupidly tried to cheer her up. “Maybe she'll let you retake it.”

“I don't think she's gonna give me a new test.” Twilight replied in almost broken voice, while Cadance signaled for her husband to not say another word, as the lavender mare followed her friends into the train.

Much to Matthias annoyance, the same thought seemed to be on everypony’s face, even Cadance.

“Does everypony actually believe that Celestia is going to fail her?” he asked the two rulers of the Crystal Empire in hushed voice.

“What do you mean?” Cadance asked, confused. “Twilight didn’t bring the Crystal Heart, so she failed.”

“I find it both amusing and annoying that after knowing Celestia for about a month, I can tell better than any of you how she thinks.” he said in return as he began to trot into the train. “As new rulers, you must learn how to see a bigger picture of things. May the Light bless your path.”

And with those words, he left two ponies on the station very confused.

79. Book, librams, and letters

“Aw, me face...” the strange being Sir Lightbringer just called ‘Brann’ - a name that for some reason, Serenity could swear she heard somewhere before - mumbled as it attempted to get up from ground. “Why is it always on face?”

She stared at him, noticing some resemblance to Uther’s statue, until her sympathy kicked in a heartbeat later as she realised that the creature was hurt. Serenity made few steps towards it, but already the other mares, with Twilight being the first, reached Brann and helped him up, while at the same time saying their greetings.

“Thanks, lasses, pleasure to see’ye.” he said, using his... apparently, hand, to brush off some dirt from his clothes. Doing that, Brann also threw curious gazes around, and stopped once he noticed her. After a second, during which she managed to register surprise on his weird face, he asked: “Hello there, lassie. Tell me, would’ye happen to be a crystal pony?”

“Err...” she stumbled, a bit put off by this whole situation, but quickly recovered as replied. “Yes, I’m-”

“HA!” the creature exclaimed, and then turned to Sir Lightbringer. “I told’ja, ye prissy little horse!”

The earth pony sighed heavily before he turned his head to Brann. “Yes, you were right.” he admitted calmly, but Serenity detected a bit of resignation in his voice.

She recalled at that moment that after shortly before Sombra’s final defeat, Sir Lightbringer was a bit unhappy with his change into crystal form, and asked about it by his friends he replied that they ‘will understand once Brann will get back.’

“Was the existence of my kind a subject of a bet?” Serenity thought, confused, and not sure if she shouldn’t feel offended.

“Ha.” Brann said once more, but this time with much more controlled tone. “So, I take the Crystal Empire returned, right?” he asked, looking from her to Sir Lightbringer.

“Yes, and I will fill you in about that later.”

“Bow-chicka-bow-wow.” Serenity heard Tucker murmur, but then he continued: “He just fell from the sky, aren’t we gonna address that?”

“That’s actually a very good question.” she thought, curious as well.

Brann appeared to be curious about them, too, for he looked at her and three other initiates with new interest.

“I would like you all to meet Brann Bronzebeard.” Lightbringer introduced him. “Prince of Ironforge and High Explorer of the Explorers' Guild, younger brother and heir apparent of Muradin Bronzebeard, High Thane of the Bronzebeard clan and Bronzebeard representative in the Council of Three Hammers.”

Serenity blinked as Brann took off his hat and bowed his head slightly in greeting. She didn’t understand meanings of most of those words the earth pony just said.

“Brann, these are the first four ponies that are going to join the Order of Celestial Light.” her superior continued. “Serenity, Tucker Out, Storm Clash and Guard Shield.”

She replied with similar gesture to Brann’s.

“As to answer your question, Tucker, he is in a possession of an amulet that allows him to teleport between my old homeland and Equestria.”

“And somehow, that blasted thing always make me fall on me face.” Brann added, massaging his face.

“Don’t swear; you’re on a holy ground.” Lightbringer reprimanded him, but this time there was a hint of amusement in his tone.

Brann shot him a glare, but then rolled his eyes.

“Listen lad, while I find being ’ere pleasant, I dropped by only fer a moment. I’ve got things to do.”

“Aww...” Pinkie Pie pouted, clearly unhappy.

“I understand. Initiates,” Sir Lightbringer said, turning to them, “go to the barracks. Set in and get some rest after journey. I’m sure you would like to spend some time in Brann’s company, but I want you to have sharp minds as I begin explain to you what Light is. Report to me in the Chapel within two hours.”

“Yes, sir!” Serenity and others replied, and quickly turned towards the barracks.

She was a bit saddened by the fact that she wasn’t going to meet this strange being better, but that feeling dwarfed in comparison to the excitement at the prospect on learning more about the Light.

“Wantin’ to keep some things secret?” Twilight heard Brann asked, once the four ponies were out of earshot.

“It will be enough to explain to them about the Light.” Matt replied, sighing. “I would prefer to leave out the topic such as ‘I’m from another world!’ or ‘I died!’ for some other time. Anyway, what do you think of the Abbey?”

“I must say, despite helpin’ye plan this, I’m impressed.” the dwarf commented, taking another look around. “Though, I donna remember hearin’ about this.”

Twilight followed his gaze, which led to the statue of Uther. Glancing at Matt, she saw that he did so as well, smiling.

“I decided to add this after the events of Crystal Empire’s return.” he replied, turning away with closed eyes. “I realized that some memories, even if bitter, are worth remembering.”

The unicorn raised an eyebrow, wondering what exactly he meant - granted, she knew that he was responsible for the deaths of thousands, his father included, but she was curious as to how did his mentor add into this - but she stopped when she noticed that the stallion gaze hardened as he looked at Brann.

“I cannot help but notice that this bag on your back cannot possibly contain all the books I asked you to bring.”

“Books?!?” Twilight exclaimed in excitement, cutting off Brann’s reply before it even left his lips. “What books?!?” her enthusiasm dwindled once she realised that everypony was looking at her, most of them amused. “Sorry.”

“That’s alright, Twilight.” Matt replied, smirking. “Although thanks for reminding me why I chose to not mention before what exactly I asked Brann to do. And as for your question, the books he was supposed to bring where about Light nature, it’s spiritual and psychological aspects.”

“And I brought them, lad.” Brann interrupted, reaching to his backpack.

Everypony glance with confusion at what the dwarf held now on the palm of his hand. It was... a sack, with strange green-and-black pattern all over it.

“It’s a Portable Hole.” Brann began explained. “I got it from a friend’at bought it from some woman in Shattrath... Anyway, those bags were crafted by ethereals. They are much bigger on the inside than on the outside, and able to contain many items.”

“Wow, really?” Twilight gasped, her curiosity about magic overwhelming the curiosity about books. “How did they make it?”

“No idea, lass.” Brann replied with a shrug. “One of few thin’s only th’ ethereals know how tae make ‘em.”

“What are these ethereals?”

“A race of astral travelers, that could be best described as bunch of smugglers.” Matt replied.

Twilight gazed at him a second longer, a bit curious about the ‘astral travelers’ part, but then she realized that it was most likely on the lines of Brann, who had an artifact that allowed him to travel between worlds.

“Putting that aside, let’s go put those books you brought in the Chapel’s library.” the stallion added, beginning to trot in the direction of said chapel.

“Hold for a bit there, lad.” Brann stopped him, raising hand.

“What is it?”

“Well, ye see...” the dwarf began, seeming troubled. “When I searched through Dalaran’s library for some of the thin’s ye asked, the Kirin Tor took notice...”

“Oh, s-” Matt almost cursed, at once seeming worried. “Didn’t I mention that you can skip that part of ‘order’ if you would think it would attract their attention? What did you tell them?”

“Eee... what’s a ‘dalaran’?” Rainbow Dash asked, confused.

“City of mages, ruled by the Kirin Tor.” the stallion replied, before he quickly turned his attention back to Brann. “Well, what happened?”

“I was asked why did I searched for all that, and why did my body had strange magic residue or somethin’. One thin’ led to another, and I mentioned about Equestria-”

“YOU BLAST-” Matt began to screech, but stopped as he tried to calm himself. “I asked you to not say a word about Equestria, and you go around telling Kirin Tor about it. Didn’t it occurred to you what Aethas Sunreaver, a blood elf, would do if he heard about world filled with magic?! Or even worse, tells his bloodthirsty warchief about it?!”

“Thirs’ off, yer frettin’ over nothin’.” Brann replied calmly, in contrast to more and more agitated Matt. “Secon’, I didn’t say that I’ve spoken with the Council of Six; I had this talk just with Rhonin.”

Twilight exchanged glances with the rest of her friends. Despite hearing some bits about Azeroth’s history from Matt, she was almost as confused as they were.

“Well...” the paladin murmured, beginning to calm down. “I assume you didn’t say anything about me, seeing as there is no giant city hovering above us...”

“Nay, although in about thirty secon’s ye will think I should’ve, considerin’...” Brann said uncomfortably. He cleared his throat and resumed his explanation before anypony could inquire what he meant: “Ye see, lad, when I mentioned how peaceful this world was an all that, Rhonin asked me if I could bring somethin’ over here for safekeepin’... And, well...” the dwarf cut off, reaching to the sack.

Twilight, who, upon hearing the previous sentence, expect him to take out of it some sort of weapon (and subconsciously moved slightly behind Matt, along with the others), but it turned out to be just some old book. Why would-

“No.” Matt immediate reply, clearly oozing with anger, made her rethink this book being ‘just some old book’. “Get that back to Azeroth at once.”

“Ye know, I was asked tae give this the ruler of this land, so it’s really not yer place to say it.” Brann said with a shrug, obviously having expected such reaction.

“What’s this big deal?” Dash once again interrupted them. “It’s just a book, for pony sake.”

This time, Matt didn’t answer her question, and instead continued to stare at the book Brann held in his hand. There was something strange in his eyes, one of which Twilight couldn’t exactly put her hoof on. She knew him well, and seen him react with various emotions: amusement, sadness, playfulness, regret, anger, even fear... but this face he now bore... it was as if he was seeing ghost.

He finally sighed, and looked at Brann. “You’re right; it’s not my place to decide this. Spike, you mind taking a note?”

The question took everypony by surprise, but the baby dragon quickly recovered and pulled out a small scroll and a quill.

“Before that, though,” Matt said, turning to Brann, ”do you mind explaining why exactly Rhonin felt this book to be in need of being kept hidden on entirely different world?”

“He mentioned that there have been reports about few really powerful warlocks snoopin’ around some places, all bein’ centers of dark powers, although for now they all appear to work alone. One of them was spotted around Black Temple, even.”

“Which was also the last place where an individual that had managed to break into Dalaran’s Arcane Vault in the past was located.” Matt added more calmly, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Bah, you’re as paranoid as Rhonin.” Brann chuckled. “Teron Gorefiend was killed by the adventures of the the Alliance and the Horde.”

“True, but he also died twice before that. I wouldn’t be surprised if he would somehow return. For Ligh’s sake, even I’m alive-”

“Can somepony please explain what the heck you two are talking about?!?” Twilight erupted, interrupting Matt. When he and Brann looked at her, surprised, she continued: “If you want to argue over something while standing right in front of us, you could at least have a decency to include us in discussion. And why you freaking out over this book?”

“Sorry, Twilight.” the paladin replied, a bit ashamed over this situation. “But this book contains a lot of knowledge about dark powers, which were used for evil purposes on Azeroth before. But you’re right, I shouldn’t have, as you put it, ‘freak out’, nor should I ignore you.”

The unicorn noticed that what he said made him uncomfortable. Twilight more than suspected that he must have come in contact with this book before in some manner.

“Anyway, back to the subject...” he said, turning to Spike, who in reply nodded and raised his quill. “From Sir Matthias Lehner, Grand Master of Celestial Light, to Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia.” he began dictating, but then noticed the strange glanced everypony gave him, save for Twilight, who was expecting something along those lines and was now highly amused. “What?”

“Nothing.” they replied, although now they were snickering at him.

Matt looked more annoyed than offended. He cleared his throat as Spike got ready to return to writing.

“Your Majesty, I have important news for you. Brann Bronzebeard arrived in the Everfree Abbey a few minutes ago, bringing many books on a subject of Holy Light per my request, as I have mentioned previously to you. However, he also brought one special book that the leader of the Kirin Tor wished to be hidden in Equestria. This book contains many dark secrets about magic, and was used for evil purposes in the past. Archmage Rhonin feared that certain individuals, which some were seen searching around places of dark powers would eventually sought it. I would advise you against agreeing to this, as it could potentially put Equestria in danger, but the decision is yours and Princess Luna’s. I await your further instruction.”

Spike finished writing and glanced at Matt, who nodded. The baby dragon then rolled the scroll and breathed fire at it, sending it straight to Princess Celestia.

“Hmph. That’s useful.” Brann, who - as Twilight realised - for the first time witnesses how Spike send letters, commented

“Indeed.” Matt said. “Although I’m currently preparing an alternative method of communicating with Canterlot, so that I won’t have to bother Spike every time I’ll have something to report. Now then, as we wait for Celestia reply, why don’t we go place those other books in the library?”

His suggestion was met with overall enthusiasm, everypony eager to put this a bit grim experience behind them. And all of them were curious as to how the chapel looked from the inside.

Once she entered it, Twilight realized it was worth the short wait.

The big space inside had enough benches to allow at least a hundred of ponies to sit comfortably while a prayer was conducted. There were six columns supporting the roof, each beautifully melding with it. And the dais at the end! There was a glass window there, similar to those in Canterlot Castle. This one, however, instead of presenting some important fragment of Equestria’s history, portrayed a beam of Light, descending from the sky upon a pony-shaped figure.

“Wow.” was what everypony could say.

“Indeed, the workers have really outdone themselves.” Matt commented, heading towards the right side of the wall, where at the end Twilight spotted an entrance to another room. “Follow me.” he said, passing by a small basin that was carved into wall and filled with water.

The room he led them to turn out to be a library, but much smaller than the one Twilight lived in, and mostly empty. Few shelves that we occupied contained books and scrolls she kept for him during construction of the Abbey.

At nod from Matt, Brann once again pulled out his Portable Hole, and much to Twilight’s excitement, began to pull Azerothian books from in it. She quickly snatched away the first one from his grasp and brought to her.

“‘The Light and How to Swing It’.” she read out loud.

“That one was written by Uther.” Matt said, his gazed warmed at the sight of it.

Twilight put the book on one of the free shelves, already making mental notes as to how organize this library. The few next books had titles that she would expect, like ‘Tome of Valor’, ‘Libram of the Eternal Rest’, ‘Tome of Righteousness’, ‘Libram of the Lightbringer’. She put them on shelves as well in order, sometimes switching their places with each other. Twilight didn’t pause until the book Brann took out of that was covered in strange, unreadable letters.

“What’s this?” she asked, confused.

Matt, who glanced at the book, also appeared to be confused.

“Zandali?” he inquired, looking at Brann. “Since when do trolls worship the Light?”

“Well, they don’t, but this one troll does, and tried to spread it amongst his people. I think his name is Zabra Hex.”

“Hmm... Now that you mentioned...” Matt said thoughtfully. “I think I do recall hearing something about a strange troll roaming around... This book’s name is ‘Atal’, by the way.”

Twilight nodded, but instead of placing it under ‘A’, she moved it to a separate shelf. The next book, however, also was unreadable to her, although the symbols on it looked somewhat familiar...

“And that’s in Thalassian.” the paladin explained.

“Oh, right, like that short note Medivh gave Pinkie to give Matt.” the unicorn thought, realizing why this writing seemed familiar.

“Aye, ye asked about few of those blood elves books, some written before, and some after the mess on Quel’Danas. This copy yer holding was actually recovered from Tempest Keep.”

As Twilight recalled that Quel’Danas was an island that was part of Quel’Thalas, a kingdom of elves, she noticed a scowl that appeared on Matt’s face.

“I hope after they cut his head off, and the Shattered Sun Offensive decided to shove it up some demon’s backside.” he snarled with contempt. “A fitting end for him.”

Everypony looked at him, surprised. For the first time they saw him being angry about somepony (“Someone.” Twilight corrected herself) from his past other than himself.

“Aren’t that a bit unfair, lad?” Brann asked. “Ye know, considering.”

“I might have ruined his life, granted, but I didn’t make him commit all those crimes.” Matt snorted. “And mind you, I at least didn’t try to destroy Azeroth. But enough about Kael, I prefer not to think about that hypocrite anymore.”

“You really hated that guy, huh?” Twilight asked him, worried about his sudden bursts of anger today.

Her question made him realize the others were in the room, judging by the way he snapped, and looked at them troubled.

“Well, I...” he stuttered, before he regained his composure. “When I was still... myself, I disliked him. And after I became evil, I did some things to him, but... not out of spite. I later didn’t care that much about it, just since I woke up in Equestria and recalled few things from the past; I found out that I have little pity for him. By the time he died, he deserved it as much as me.”

He looked at them once again troubled, but everypony gave him comforting glance. They knew that his past was morbid, but they all long since decided that it didn’t matter to him. Twilight pitied the fact that Matt still had trouble remembering that fact. She was thinking about voicing her thought, when suddenly, a burst of green flames escaped Spike’s mouth, materializing into a letter.

Everypony’s attention turned to Spike, as he unsealed the letter and began to read.

Dear Matt,

There is no need for a letter to be so official while sending it through Spike-

“It’s the principle that matters.” Matt muttered, while others, Twilight included, laughed at his expend.

- though I suppose that’s the only chance you’ll get to use that style of message, considering the idea you proposed. On that note, you can expect it be ready in few days.

Everypony glanced at Matt, who just smirked in reply. It was clear that he was planning on holding to himself whatever Princess Celestia just wrote about, in revenge for all the laughter.

When I read about this book, I grew worried. I share your fear that it might put Equestria in danger. I’ve discussed this matter with Luna, and we’ve decided that, despite your advice and our own worries, we will let the book to be safekeeped in Equestria. It is our country’s way to help those in need, and we your old world debt, for giving us you.

For the time being, hid this book in the vault you had build beneath the Chapel. Later we shall decide if it should remain there or be moved somewhere else.

“Ugh, for the love of...” Matt muttered to himself, but was cut off as Spike continued to read.

PS: You need to come to Canterlot sometime soon. Princess Moonlight Shadow demands more piggyback rides.

Rainbow Dash and Brann burst with laughter in unison, and others giggled, making the situation much more annoying to the paladin than it was before. Twilight looked at him apologetically, unable to contain her laughter. The thought of Princess Celestia writing something like that in the letter to the Grand Master of the paladin order was just too much!

“Brann, once you’ve had enough, follow me into the vault. Take the book with you, leave the sack. The rest of you,” he motioned at still laughing ponies, “if you would be so kind, finish putting those books here.”

“Wait, how will I organize the books written in different language?” Twilight inquired, lifting up the book from Tempest Keep, and noticing how dusty it was. She wondered if she should clean it a bit, but the unicorn figured it would be better to just leave it like this for a moment, as maybe cleaning holy books by somepony who isn’t a paladin could be interpreted as an offense of some kind.

“Just put them on different shelves. If it helps you, order them by how thick they are, or by color.” Matt said, and turned around before she could ask him about it.

Brann quickly followed him, leaving six mares and a dragon baby in the library. Twilight shrugged and returned to her self-appointed job.

Author's Note

I'll be going to Greece for a vaction, which means I will be stuck in a bus for about one and half a day. As such, don't expect another update within the next few days.

95. Day worth remembering

“Excuse me, sir...” Serenity began, clearly thinking that she had misheard him. “Did you just say that we have… a free day tomorrow?”

“Why is this so surprising to all of you?” Matthias asked, not sure if he should be amused by the four disbelieving faces turned to him, or be confused as to why they thought it to be so weird for them a to have free day from training.

It was the second evening after the day of their Initiation. Matthias has joined the four paladins in the mess hall for supper, being almost as tired as they are. While they were now officially paladins, they still had a lot to learn when it came to asking the Light for aid. Because of that, they'd spent the past two days on even more excessive training, for aside from working with the Light, Matthias had to make sure his knights will stay fit.

Their day started as it did before: they woke up at dawn, eat a small breakfast, and then they proceeded with exercises, which ended with weapon training. Once they were done, they took quick showers, spent a while praying and meditating to collect their thoughts, after which they ate a midday meal, and followed Matthias to the Ponyville Hospital. Inside, the four paladins were praying to the Holy Light so it might heal the sick or the wounded... with interesting results.

Matthias wasn't surprised at all when the Light replied almost immediately to Serenity's prayer, when she asked it to heal a pegasus with a broken wing. She asked for the Light's help so sincerely and so certain that it was a right thing to do that Matthias, if he hadn't know better, would have thought she was a seasoned paladin or priest.

Nor he was surprised when Guard managed to accomplish the similar feat, although it took a longer prayer for him. While Matthias himself could ask the Light for aid with mere thought at this point, not everypony had such strong connection to it, or such strong willpower. Those had to concentrate through the prayer, which lengths varied on the believer's faith, willpower, and what was asked.

What did surprise him, though, was Tucker. The unicorn paladin also managed to quickly heal a patient, just as quick as Serenity. Matthias knew he had a lot of confidence in himself, but even so, that the Light responded to it...

In contrast to Tucker, however, was Storm. He’s the only one that still couldn't reach the Light with his heart, despite his honest efforts. Matthias wasn't exactly surprised with that, as he knew that the pegasus paladin had a lot of doubts about himself, but it was... saddening. Not disappointing, but saddening that despite his efforts to give Storm more confidence, the younger stallion still had problems.

It happens to be one of the reasons of why he decided to give them a free day.

“I know I've been rather strict with you ever since you've came here.” he said, glancing at all of them. “But I decided that since you're now officially paladins, you deserve some breather now and then. So, tomorrow I want you go have some fun in Ponyville.”

“Some fun, huh?” Tucker asked, already warming up to the idea.

Too tired to argue with him, Matthias just rolled his eyes. He was sure that every mare in Ponyville would turn him down, and in contrast to what he originally thought of the stallion, he knew Tucker would never try forcing himself on a mare.

“Will you be coming to Ponyville as well, sir?” Guard asked as he rose from his seat.

“Maybe later.” Matthias replied. “I have some paperwork to do in the morning.”

“Hehe, sucks to be you.” Tucker said, levitating his and others knights’ dishes, besides Matthias's who still hadn't finished.

“What did you say to me, Knight?” Matthias asked, raising an eyebrow threateningly.

“Sucks to be you, sir!” the unicorn replied seriously.

Covering his smile with a hoof, Matthias waved goodbye as the three knights left the mess hall. The only one that stayed was Storm, which looked as if something was on his mind.

“What else is new?” the earth pony thought sarcastically.

“Something on your mind?” he asked aloud.

“Well... yes, sir.” the pegasus began, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably. “I... well...”

“Storm.” Matthias interrupted him, knowing exactly what was on his mind. “Don't worry. You will find your faith in your own time.”

“But I do believe in the Light!” Storm protested, and then looked away. “I just...”

“You know what is written on the plaque on the statue in the park, right?” Matthias asked after few seconds of silence.

“Um...” Storm mumbled, put off by the change of subject. “It says: 'Uther the Lightbringer, First Paladin-'”

“When Uther was made a paladin,” Matthias interrupted him, “four other men were initiated into the Order as well: Tirion Fordring, Saidan Dathrohan, Gavinrad, and Turalyon.”

He paused for a moment, recalling his own initiation into the Silver Hand; Uther and the former three were there. Matthias bit back tears as he recalled how he had repaid them: Uther and Gavinrad both died by his hand, and Tirion was sentenced to be banished by the court Arthas was part of for freeing an orc named Eitrigg, and the whole Order of the Silver Hand being disbanded by him, when in his rage and foolishness he thought Uther's refusal to slaughter the citizens of Stratholme to be a treason. Saidan wasn't treated better by fate: he was slain by Balnazzar, a dreadlord that was left by the Burning Legion to command the Scourge in Lordaeron with his brothers, Detheroc and Varimathras, and took part in the 'civil war' between theirs Legions Loyalists, the Lich King's Scourge, and Sylvanas' Forsaken. The demons ultimately lost; Varimathras, when faced with death, chose to side with Sylvanas; Detheroc was ripped to pieces; and Balnazzar was killed by Varimathras, from whom Sylvanas demanded a last proof of loyalty. The dreadlord did as she bade him, despite Nathrezims' (the other name for dreadlords) code of honor saying that it was forbidden for them to kill each other. However, what Sylvanas – and, in truth, no one on Azeroth – didn't know, was that it wasn't that easy to kill a Nathrezim. Balnazzar survived and killed Saidan, and then hid in his corpse, wearing it as a disguise. His necromantic powers kept the body from decaying, while Balnazzar corrupted the Scarlet Crusade from within.

Matthias shook his head, pulling himself from his dark musing.

“Turalyon was the youngest from the group; in fact, he was younger than you. And, like you, he couldn't get in touch with the Light.” Matthias recalled how Uther explained to him that Turalyon couldn't understand why the orcs were so evil, if the Light touched everything. While the conclusion he eventually came to was flawed (that the orcs were not from Azeroth, and as such they were not of the Light), it allowed him to use the paladin's power to its fullest. “But that didn't stop his from being an honorable paladin, an inspiring leader, and a skillful warrior. And when he did found his own faith, he became one of the greatest paladins there ever were.”

As he talked, Storm had listened, speechless. Matthias suspected that it didn't occur to him that there could have been another paladin who had similar problems to him, and not just any paladin, but one who became so great and noble.

“So I will repeat again: don't worry.” he told the pegasus, smiling.

Storm looked at him thoughtfully, and nodded.

“I won't. Thank you, sir.” he said, saluting, and turned to leave. At the doors, though, he paused and looked back: “Sir, if you don't mind me asking... when did this Turalyon reached the Light?”

Matthias thought for a moment, wondering how it would be best explained to him, but the concept of 'worlds' was a dangerous topic when he was involved. So, instead he told Storm about what else motivated Turalyon in that crucial moment during the Assault on Blackrock Spire.

“He saw his Supreme Commander fall in battle.”

Storm's eyes widened hearing that, but he nodded after few seconds and left. Matthias smiled bitterly, wondering if it was a good thing to mention that to the young paladin.

“Guess tomorrow's making me nostalgic.” he thought as he finished eating and left the mess hall as well.

Matthias went to check on Scootaloo, who was just getting to bed. He wished her good night and then went to his own bed. He paused in his office for a moment, pondering if he should check the notes Brann brought him. He, Bolvar and Ner'zhul had come upon an unexpected problem; one that threatens everything they hoped to accomplish would be nothing but a wild dream.

“Although, 'wild nightmare' would be more appropriate.” he joked darkly.

Ultimately, he moved to his room; he had a feeling that the solution to that problem lies not within Brann's notes, but somewhere else. There were a few ideas he wanted to check, but those would have to wait for another day.

His bed seemed cold when he slid under his covers by himself after removing his armor. Rainbow had decided that she missed her own bed, and today she slept in her house.

“Considering what day is tomorrow, I suppose it's fitting for me to be cold and alone...” Matthias mused sadly as he drifted into sleep.

Irritated, Matthias slammed shut the Book of Medivh.

“Well, that was a dead end.” he thought, disappointed. He had hoped that perhaps the answer to the problem he, Bolvar and Ner'zhul encountered would be found there, but...

Sighing, he put the spellbook back on its pedestal and left the Chapel's Vault, closing it behind him. The book of the Last Guardian did manage to shed some light as to how they should proceed. Overall, Matthias couldn't say that he had wasted his time.

“Although, it is getting late.”

When he exited the Lightbringer's Chapel, he spotted Sound and Bomb leaving the barracks. The two stallions noticed him heading towards them, and waited for him to catch up.

“Considering I told you can have free time starting half an hour ago, I must say I'm surprised to find you here.” he told them.

“Well, we needed to freshen up a bit.” explained Sound

“Are you sure it's okay for us to go?” Bomb asked. “I mean, with both us and the paladins out-”

“You don't honestly expect that there could be some sort of danger to the Abbey?” Matthias replied, pretending to be surprised. “Yes, I'm sure. Go have fun. As for myself, I plan to meditate in the park, so I should be able to keep an eye on everything.”

“Well, if you say so... see you later!”

Matthias nodded to them as they waved at him while went their way, and he himself trotted to the Uther's statue. As he walked towards of it, he heard a movement of wings above his head. Not glancing up, Matthias continued to walk, until he was in front of the statue. He sat down, as Al'ar landed besides him.

“You know what day is today on Azeroth, don't you?” Matthias asked the phoenix, who cawed in response. “That's right.” he said, glancing up at Uther's face. “It’s the Remembrance Day.”

Remembrance Day, the day when the people of Azeroth honored the heroes of old.

“Remember well, Al'ar.” he told the giant bird next to him, using the traditional greeting for the holiday. He heard Al'ar caw in response, and turned his attention back to the statue. “In Stormwind, Varian should be wrapping up his Remembrance Day speech. If things had turned out differently, my father would be making one in the Capital City as well...”

He paused, the guilt over his past making him choke.

“I...” he continued, trying to hold himself together, feeling Al'ar's gaze. “I wonder: What names are being called right now in the Stormwind's Valley of Honor? Yours, of course.” Matthias told the statue, smiling bitterly. “You were humanity's greatest champion, even if you... failed to kill me. But you aren't the only hero the Alliance can honor today, aren't you? Anduin Lothar,” he thought back to the old knight he saw when he was nine years old, who led the Alliance through the Second War, until the Assault on Blackrock Spire, where after an intense duel with Orgrim Doomhammer, Warchief of the Old Horde, he fell; “also has done great deeds in life. And...”

Matthias again choked. He wanted to say the name of his father, Terenas Menethil, King of Lordaeron and the leader of the Alliance for years after the Second War. But he couldn't.

He couldn't bring himself to say his name.

“I... I...” he managed to stammer, bowing his head,. “I'm sure my father is honored, too...” the stallion felt unwanted tears beginning to gather in the corner of his eyes. “Unlike me, huh?” Matthias asked, looking up.

And stared speechless.

He was no longer within the Everfree Abbey, nor in Ponyville, or anywhere else in Equestria.

Matthias found himself in a cemetery, which is surprisingly busy, considering they usually were places when people came to pay their respects to the deceased. Several armed men, bearing golden lion on a blue field on their tabards, scuffled around, checking bodies of dead humans. Not far away stood a much different body; a huge one, that looked like a mixture of human's and dragon's features.

Drakonid.

The beast was far greater than Matthias heard them being and, what's worse, it was adorned with Twilight's Hammer markings. Before the paladin could ponder how did it found itself upon the cemetery, and how did it die, he noticed a small crowd of humans.

And one of them was Jaina.

For what seemed to be eternity, everything disappeared to Arthas besides the sight of the kneeling woman he once (and maybe still) loved, one who he thought he would one day marry. She was as he remembered her, with her golden hair and blue eyes teary in sadness-

“Wait, sadness?” he thought, snapping out of his trance, just as the one of the armed men that looked like their leader, reached down to help the youth beside her raise up.

“Come, Anduin,” she spoke, “we must get you to the safety of the keep. The heir apparent must be protected.”

“Anduin?” Arthas thought, looking at him closely; this could be only Prince Anduin Wrynn, the son and heir of his former friend, Varian Wrynn, King of Stormwind. He sure has grown since the last time Arthas saw him, as a young baby.

“Let us leave this place.” Jaina pleaded, also reaching for him.

Arthas was confused. “What is going on here? Why do those two want Anduin to leave? And what are they doing in Stormwind's Cemetery, surrounded by corpses of-”

And then his eyes slid off to what was lying beside Anduin.

A bloodied body of his old and familiar friend.

“Varian!” Arthas cried out, not caring about the attention he was bound to drag by doing so, as he run up to stand by his boyhood friend.

The dark haired man bore a huge, deep wound across his chest. Arthas eye recognized it to be after the strike of drakonid's axe that’s laid beside it.

“No, this can't be...” he thought, unable to believe that Varian, King of Stormwind, the leader of humanity and rock of the Alliance, lies dead at his hooves.

“What- Who are you?” a sudden question next to him make his stop gazing at the body before he could start grieving.

Anduin was looking straight at him. Arthas stared back at him, only now noticing that the young man – so different in appearance than Varian – had an aura of Light around him.

“Anduin,” Jaina gentle and confused voice sounded next to them, “there's nothing there. Come-”

For all that she once was to him, Arthas had stopped paying attention to her.

She, and everybody else, couldn't see him.

Yet Anduin could.

Arthas understood what had happened. This was a vision; a vision the Light granted him, of what was happening at this precise moment on Azeroth. And at the same time, the Holy Light granted Prince Anduin a vision... of Arthas being there.

And there could be only one reason why the Light would do that.

“Listen to me, young Prince.” he said, and felt a strange surge as he saw attention in Anduin's blue gaze. “Your father can still be saved.”

“Will you save him?” Anduin asked with hope in his voice.

“No.” Arthas replied, shaking his head. “You will. All you have to do...” he said, reaching for his hand with a hoof, “is to ask the Light with all your being and it will respond.”

Arthas placed his hoof on Anduin's hand, and grabbed it. Absentmindedly, he noticed that he also glowed with the Light. Arthas lifted the prince's hand, and placed it upon his father's chest.

As the stallion glanced at the young man's face, he saw him concentrating with eyes closed, as he began to chant. At first it was a soft and gentle sound, but as his voice rose in crescendo, it became a beautiful and powerful song. As the words came, his hands began to glow with light, faint at first and then brighter and brighter at each passing moment, until it was competing even with the setting sun, bathing the entire cemetery in the shadowless light of midday. The song reached a fever pitch, and the young priest lifted his eyes and voice to the heavens, calling to the very heart of the cosmos for a source of divine power. Suddenly, liquid rays brighter than a thousand suns burst from Anduin's fingertips, penetrating the king's body and painting everything in a brilliant yellow glow. The guards gasped and stepped back, shielding their eyes as Varian's entire being was rocked by an influx of pure light. And at the center of it all was Anduin, holding his father close while a vortex of infinite beauty danced between them. Then, in sharp contrast to the intense swirling energy billowing all around, the prince began to speak with a melodious and gentle voice as he carefully laid his hands on the immobile king's forehead and quietly, peacefully, began to pray.

As Arthas watched the son bring his father back to life, he placed his head next to the prince's ear. “Remember, young Prince:” the pony told him, “no matter how dark the day may seem, the Light will always shine through it.”

Arthas blinked... and was once again in front of Uther's statue.

He shook his head, amazed at what just had happened, and looked around. Al'ar was still gazing at him.

“It's been a second since I stopped talking, hasn't it?” Matthias asked.

The phoenix, not showing any signs of being surprised by the question, nodded. He then sprouts his wings and took off. Matthias followed him with his eyes; he knew Al'ar understood what had happened to him, and now has left him alone so he could think about it by himself.

“Unbelievable, isn't it?” Matthias asked aloud, looking at his mentor's face. “To think that I helped Anduin save Varian... and that no one will ever know about it.” his happiness dispersed as he lowered his gaze. “No one will ever mention my name on this day, or any other. I am no hero like you, not there at least. On Azeroth, I am nothing but...” he choked, and closed his eyes. “... a monster... a monster... I... I wish I could fix all of that, I truly do. I would gladly give my life just to... to see you again, and my father, and everybody... and just beg for your forgiveness, even though... I don't deserve it. I... I just...”

“Matt?”

Matthias raised his head and blinked, looking to his side. So lost he was in his dark thoughts that he hadn't notice when Applejack approached him.

“Oh, hello, Applejack.” he greeted her, wiping his face; when did those tears came? “I... it's the Remembrance Day on Azeroth. It's... the day when we remember the heroes of old, and... and...”

It was ridiculous. He’s a stallion; the Grand Master of the paladin order; in his past life, he was the single most terrifying being on Azeroth. Why, then, did Matthias found himself crying and being comforted by a mare the next second?

Thankfully, his mental breakdown lasted shorter than his previous, when it was Twilight comforting him. This time, it only took Matthias few minutes of crying on Applejack's shoulder, while she patted him on the back and whispered: “There, there, sugarcube... let it all out...”

“This is really silly...” Matthias murmured when he finally took a step back, wiping his tears away. “I keep getting comforted by all of you... and you don't even know what I am crying for.”

“Ah don't need to know that to know ya're sad.” Applejack told him smiling. “Friends are always there for each other, ya'know.”

“Yeah, I do.” he replied, giving her a half smile. “And thanks, you know. I owe you one.”

“Yeah, about that...” she started to say, looking uncomfortable, but then shook her head. “Never mind.”

“What do you mean?” Matthias asked, puzzled, although he had a suspicion.

“Nothin', just... ya kinda seem to have a lot on yar head, so I will just leave...” she replied, turning around.

“It's about what we talked about not so long ago, isn't it?”

Matthias knew that Applejack could sense that it wasn't really a question. It was a statement. Even though he was in emotional turmoil barely moments ago, he was prepared to help her.

“Well...” Applejack said, stopping. Matthias noticed that she was blushing. “Mostly.”

He recalled what Rainbow Dash told him two days ago, and winced inwardly. And yet, despite a part of his mind telling him it was a bad idea...

... he still trotted closer to Applejack...

... and kissed her.

Matthias was not sure how it had all happened. The last hour seemed to him to be a dream.

But here he was now, in his bed with Applejack.

“If they didn't have better reasons for it already, I would say that my parents are rolling in their graves right about now.” he thought darkly, wondering how it had come to it that he would have slept with two of his friends. Granted, he didn't have many female friends in his previous life, but...

He stopped his inner musing when he noticed something that made his heart skip a bit.

Applejack was crying.

“Applejack...” he started, not sure what to do, but the mare smiled and shook her head.

“It's not that, sugarcube... Ah’m just... happy, I guess.”

The paladin lifted himself up to look at her questioningly. A part of him noticed how beautiful she looked without her hat and her hair loose.

“Ah...” Applejack elaborated, seeing his gaze. “Ah'm sure ya must've already realized that what Twilight told me... well, it was a big pile of horse apples. Ah don't blame her or anything, but... Ah was kinda sad.”

“And now?” Matthias asked, placing his hoof on her side. He could feel her muscles under her skin.

“Now, it... doesn't seem to be such a big deal, ya know?” she said, smiling, and hugging him closer. “Ah had two wonderful first times, both with my friends that I love- not in that way.” Applejack immediately added, her brow furrowing as if threatening him to think otherwise.

“I know. I love you too – in that way.” the paladin told her, smirking. Inwardly, he pondered if she looked at the matter because it was a different world, or simply because she was female, and hence thought a bit differently. “You know, you look astonishing this way.”

“Well, look until ya can, partner.” Applejack told him, blushing and laughing. “Ah'm not like RD, ya know. All you get is this evening; nothing more.”

“I wouldn’t presume otherwise.” Matthias replied, smiling, as the mare leaned closer.

105. Preparing for the future, learning about the past

“After you, Princesses, Lady.” Matthias said, bowing, as he held the door to his office open for Celestia, Luna, and Twilight. The last mare was shooting daggers at him.

He chuckled in his head upon seeing that, but soon his good humor evaporated when he entered the room himself. The Princesses and Twilight were already seated in front of his desk on pillows conjured by Celestia; which, of course, left him with…

Matthias caught an amused smirk from Luna, as he made his way around the desk and jumped into his seat. The swivel chair, as usual, made a circle around itself, before it let him face the writing table. Just in time to witness Twilight and Luna snickering with laughter, and Celestia’s eyes gleaming with amusement.

“Now I know you had this chair enchanted to do that every time.” Matthias groaned inwardly, glaring at Princess Luna.

“If you could stop fooling around,” Celestia said, only hints of twitches on the edges of her mouth betraying that she knew it wasn’t his doing, “maybe you could start telling us about everything that happened after Twilight took the fillies to safety?”

“Before that,” Twilight interrupted, “if you wouldn’t mind, Princess, could you tell me why you wanted me here? I mean, it’s kinda of state affair. You hardly need -”

“I asked you to join us because I want you to hear what the Changeling Queen told Matthias, and tell us your opinion on it, as the pony that was harmed by her the most out of everypony here. And besides,” Princess Celestia added in a warmer tone, “you are my precious student. Your opinion always matters to me.”

Matthias allowed himself to enjoy the view of Twilight blushing fiercely (she looked so cute!) for a few seconds before he closed his eyes and concentrated. He didn’t want to give Luna more reasons to make fun of him, and he needed to focus on the task at hoof.

“I imagine that the unexpected absence of both of you from Canterlot for too long might be problematic.” he said. “So I would ask you to hold out with your questions until I’ll finish.” Seeing the three mares nod, he began: “Once Twilight was gone…

“I don’t understand why I couldn’t guard the female.” Rainbow Dash overheard a certain annoying stallion complain from behind the corridor.

The cyan pegasus hesitated before she took another step. She really, really didn’t want to do this. The mere thought of apologizing to a changeling was making every part of her body scream in protest. And even that matter aside… she felt guilty. Rainbow Dash told him something horrible, not even realizing how much it would hurt him. But… if she knew about his marefriend beforehoof, would she hadn’t say that? She was pretty pissed off at that moment, and it was a changeling, of all things…

“Ugh, why apologizing has to be so complicated?!” she hissed quietly.

“You do realize that you guarding her would most likely had resulted with her consuming your…” Storm replied to Tucker’s complaint, but then hesitated. “Well, not love, I guess. Can changelings feed on lust?”

“Hey, she can eat me out all she wants, as long as I can do the same. Bow-chicka-bow-wow!”

Rainbow would have joined Storm Clash in the tired grunt he gave, if it weren’t for Pinkie Pie, who came here with her and now was nudging her shoulder.

“Come on, Dashie, its easy!” she said enthusiastically. “All you need to do is say you’re sorry, and give him a cupcake.” Pinkie finished, pulling out from behind her a plate with a cupcake on it.

The pegasus mare decided to not question as to from where her friend got the treat. “I don’t think it will be that easy.” she said instead.

“Nope.” Pinkie Pie shook her head, and then embraced her shoulders with a foreleg. “Give him a cupcake and you will be the bestest of friends! Trust me on that one.”

“Is there a point in telling you that I don’t want to ‘the bestest of friends’ with him?” I just want to apologize for what I said.”

“Really? I would have thought you would like Windie as a friend. You’re very similar.”

“What?!” Rainbow stared at her friend, offended, the snickering she was about to utter from hearing Pinkie Pie’s nickname for Wind Reaver completely forgotten.

“Well, you both are super-duper fast, strong, loyal to your friends, act before you think-”

Rainbow Dash pushed a hoof against Pinkie’s lips, interrupting her counting. “I am nothing like that bug. And I’m way more cooler as well. Alright?” she asked, forcing herself to be calm. Not because she thought her friend was right, she was dead wrong, but because she didn’t want to let Storm and Tucker overhear their argument.

“Okay!” Pinkie Pie nodded enthusiastically.

Rainbow sighed with relief, happy that for once she made her see sense. Knowledge that she managed that gave the cyan mare enough confidence to go towards the door guarded by two paladins. Oddly, Storm looked as if he was about to leave.

“Hi, you mind if Pinkie and I talk with Wind Reaver?” Rainbow Dash asked, glancing curiously at Storm.

“I was heading out to get some shut-eye, so that I could change with Tucker later.” he explained, noticing her gaze. “Why do you want to speak to him?”

Rainbow opened her mouth, but before she could come up with an excuse (as she didn’t need those two to know she wanted to apologize to a changeling) Tucker cut in: “Hey, if you want to use him for some kinky/celebrities’ fantasies you have, you can just ask me, you know.”

Both pegasi just glanced at him, before deciding to not dignify his comment with a response. “I suppose you can go speak with him, but don’t start a fight in there.”

“Sure.” Rainbow Dash told the stallion with the crooked jaw, not bothering to remind him that the changeling was the one that attacked her. Granted, she might have given him a reason, but even so…

She stopped her inner musing, as Tucker horn glowed, and the doors behind him unlocked and opened. Exchanging a look with Pinkie Pie, Rainbow nodded thanks to the two paladins, and then both mares entered.

The inside wasn’t exactly comfortable. Not really a surprise, since they were inside the barracks. The quarters to where Wind Reaver is confided were the same size that the ones of Nymph, which they had briefly visited, and where they left the others. He had a small bed, a table, a drawer and about enough room to house for ten ponies, although they would have to really squeezed themselves into it.

Wind Reaver was lying on his bed with eyes closed. However, as soon as the door closed behind Rainbow and Pinkie, he opened them. “What do you want?” he asked coldly, his face (as far as Rainbow could tell) twisted into a scowl.

The cyan mare took a deep, calming breath, as she didn’t trust herself to not reply in kind to his tone. “I… I came to apologize.” Wind Reaver continued to stare at her with the same expression, not even blinking. “You know, for what I said. Matt… you know, the Hivespeaker,” she added, barely containing a snicker at the thought of Matt’s newest title, “he told me about... your marefriend.” Damn, she was really bad in the sappy stuff. “I guess that’s why you reacted that way to what I said. I… look, I wanted to say that I’m sorry for saying something like this. I was really ticked off at you, and…”

“Damn, you’re bad at this.” Wind Reaver interrupted her.

Rainbow gulped, feeling her cheeks turning from cyan to red. She would have liked nothing more than to punch him for his comment. “Yeah, well… I’m sorry. Here’s a cupcake.” she added, giving him the plate with the treat, and trying to ignore Pinkie Pie’s grin.

That finally had gotten some reaction of out him. He raised an eyebrow, and his gaze traveled from the cupcake to two mares. “Oh. That’s… nice. Thanks.” he added, as his twisted horn glowed with green aura, embracing the plate in the same light and taking it from Rainbow’s hoof.

“So… we’re good?” Dash asked, unsure.

“Yeah, I guess. No hard feelings,” he shrugged, “And sorry for tackling you.”

“Told you!” Pinkie Pie sang, but was ignored by the two.

“You don’t mind if I shapeshift?” Wind Reaver asked, glancing at the cupcake. “It would be easier for me to eat it.”

“Oh, sure.” Rainbow Dash mumbled.

She took a step back as green flames appeared around Wind Reaver, and then took a curious peek at him. After seeing Nymph walk around as a black unicorn, Rainbow had expected him to do change into something along those lines.

She most certainly did not expect to see herself lying on a bed with a cupcake in her hoof.

Rainbow Dash blinked in dumbfound, seeing a grin on her face. Only Pinkie’s giggle managed to bring her back to her senses. “Very funny.” she snorted.

“Thank you.” Wind Reaver replied in guise of Rainbow Dash, happily devouring the cupcake.

“Aren’t you bothered that you’re in a mare’s body?” Rainbow asked.

“Not really. Everyling has to take different shapes of ponies.” he said with a shrug, then shook. “I even had to buck with some stallions. No offence, but I didn’t like it.”

“Would you mind not being me when you say something like this?!” Rainbow exclaimed angrily, imagining all the ponies from Cloudsdale Academy grinning from ear to ear right about now.

Wind Reaver and, to her annoyance, Pinkie Pie both laughed at her expense. Thankfully the changeling at least changed back. The pink pony, on the other hoof, began happily bounce around the room.

“Yay! I knew you had to laugh at some point! You changelings can’t be mopey-dopey twenty four - seven!”

He stopped laughing and his gaze followed her with his neutral face. “Most changelings aren’t like that.” Wind Reaver confessed with a shrug. “I myself am normally rather… playful, so if it weren’t for my intended mate being Ashvattha knows where, I suppose we would have gotten from a better start. Even if I am not that friendly towards you ponies.” he admitted.

You could almost taste the change in the room’s atmosphere once he had mentioned his marefriend being missing. Pinkie Pie stopped bouncing and looked at him with a sad frown.

“That’s why you volunteered to come here, isn’t it?” Rainbow asked, not even bothering to question about whatever that Ashva-something is. He would have most likely said that he cannot tell them.

“Yes.” Wind Reaver replied, growing sadder. “Finding her is one of the conditions my queen wants Equestria to fulfill before we can talk about any alliance. We haven’t found her by ourselves, and changelings are the best there are in espionage. However, your night guards are also exceptional, and they would have a much easier job searching for her in Equestria.”

“Aw, don’t worry, Windie old buddy!” Pinkie giggled, pulling the changeling into an unexpected hug. “You’ll see, we will find your girl and we will throw you two a big party here in Ponyville!”

Rainbow chuckled in amusement, as Wind Reaver shot her a look that was all but begging for help. “Oh no, buddy, you made fun of me, now you’re on your own.”

“Um… thanks, I appreciate it.” he finally managed to stutter, making the pink pony drop him.

“Perhaps I should get around to planning it right away!” she said, full of optimism. “What’s her name? I will need to write it on the banners and cake along yours!”

“She doesn’t have a name yet. And besides-”

“Wait, back up!” the cyan pegasus interrupted him, believing she misheard him. “Did you just say that your marefriend doesn’t have a name?”

“Oh, buck it…” the annoyed changeling grabbed his head. “I wasn’t supposed to say that… Look,” he sighed, “we changelings don’t choose a name for ourselves until we are considered mature.”

“And you are?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t you say that you’re sixteen?”

“Ugh… that’s the age of maturity for changelings.” Wind Reaver explained with a pout. “More or less.”

“Okay then, but what’s the point of naming yourselves once you are old enough to drink alcohol?”

“For the record, I drank my first beer when I was seven by that count. And the point of doing that is… we want to define ourselves.” he said as he rose to his hooves and turned around a bit. “Out of all beings in this world, ponies and zebras are the ones that resemble us the most. But look.” Wind Reaver pointed at his flank. “We don’t have cutie marks, where you do. They define your special talent, what you do in life, an aspect of your personality… or something along those lines; I’m a bit sketchy on those details. But anyway, once we grow up, we want to define ourselves, and we do that by choosing names for ourselves. I chose Wind Reaver, for I am one of the best fighters within the Swarm.”

Okay, that made sense… somehow. “Ghh, why cannot a smart pony like Twilight be here? I’m getting a headache already!”

Wind Reaver’s head twitched to the side. “Your friends are slowly getting around to returning to their homes.” he said. “They are already parting with Nymph, although the fillies wanted to have a sleepover with her.”

“So what, is she speaking to you like your queen?”

“Only Queen Chrysalis can speak like that. But somelings can emulate her ability by using a spell, which is what Nymph just did.”

“Guess we better go, too.” Rainbow Dash said, accepting his explanation with a yawn; clearly, this was beyond her head. “I’ve got some weather duties in the morning.”

“It’s been fun talking with you, Windie.” Pinkie Pie told the changeling, giving him a hug for farewell. “Maybe we can hang out tomorrow?”

“Umh… we will have to wait and see.” Wind Reaver replied uncomfortably; Rainbow was surprised to not see any sweat dropping down his face. “I still don’t know what your Princesses plan to do with us.”

“Oh, okay. See you later, then.” Pinkie said, and bounced through the door that Rainbow opened and held for her.

Rainbow was about to follow her and say something for goodbye, when suddenly the door closed, and she felt something tapping her on her shoulder. She turned around… and was kissed by herself.

To be fair, it was a very unique thing that happened to her. It was no wonder then that it took her a whole five seconds to snap and pushed Wind Reaver away.

“The buck do you think you’re doing?!” she screeched, scrubbing her mouth and tongue.

“I said I am rather playful.” Wind Reaver replied with a smirk, changing back to himself.

“Didn’t you also say about missing marefriend? What would she think about this?!”

“We changelings don’t see physical acts such as kissing to be exclusive to your partner. If we did, we would have starved to death, since we often have to do them to gather love. And as for her… missing...” he trailed off, looking at the ground. “I… Look, I cannot tell you ponies anything, and I am already in trouble with my queen for all the things I let slip and attacking you, but… let’s just say that pretty much every changeling would tell you that I am mentally unstable, so… I might be coping with this situation in an odd way.” he finished uncomfortably, looking at her sadly.

The cyan mare had no idea how to respond to that. He just said her that he was considered by his own kind to be crazy (at least she thought so)!

“I’m sorry.” she said after a heartbeat or two. That was all that came to her. “But if you do that again, there will be definitely something wrong with your head.” she added.

Wind Reaver grinned in response.

Both Princesses were lost in thoughts when Matt finished his recount of the events that took place beside the lake. Twilight herself was also processing everything. The Changeling Queen was manipulated into attacking Canterlot. Somepony was spying on them, and used Apple Bloom as a diversion to keep them out of the town, nearly killing her. A changeling was missing, and even their own queen couldn’t find her.

“No wonder Queen Chrysalis wants to ally with us,” Princess Celestia finally said. “We have an enemy in somepony who managed to make a fool out of both the most powerful nation in this world, as well as the most elusive one.” Turning to Princess Luna, she asked: “Sister?”

“I already informed the night guard.” Luna told her, opening her eyes. “They will start gathering information about any strange activities, and will be on a lookout for this missing changeling. Even if we won’t become allies in the end, we cannot allow her to suffer from our enemy, and most certainly not in our land.”

Celestia nodded approvingly, and then turned to Matt. “Are you certain that the changelings and their queen can be trusted?”

He mused her question for a few seconds before he gave his answer. “There is a chance, even if it’s slim, that this is all a part of some greater scheme. But… I believe what Chrysalis told me. I believe that we truly have a common enemy. I also think that she was speaking truly when she said she wants peace between our races. With the aftermath of their invasion on Canterlot, they must be having problems with gathering love. And in that case, they have two options: try to negotiate peace, or fight. And I believe the Changeling Queen was honest about her intent of protecting her subjects from suffering.”

Celestia once again nodded. Then she turned to the last pony in the room. “And you, Twilight? What do you think?”

Twilight took a deep breath. Princess Celestia told her that she values her opinion, both due to her being her student, and due to what she’s been through because of Chrysalis. If she wanted to voice some arguments against the Changeling Queen, now was the time. But… would it be worth it? It didn’t even take her a second to decide that it wouldn’t be. The fate of Equestria was by far more important that her personal hatred for what Chrysalis had tone to her and her family.

“If there is a chance to make peace with changelings, then we have to take this risk.” she told her mentor. “They’ve been feeding on our love for at least a thousand years, even if they did so a lot subtler than they did in Canterlot. And if we have to fight somepony who would not hesitate to place the lives of foals in danger… the changelings kidnapped the Cutie Mark Crusaders, yes, but they made sure that they were safe, and the girls treated this whole day as an adventure. If what Matt said is true, the Changeling Queen is disgusted about the actions of whoever this mysterious figure was.”

She was rewarded with the sight of her mentor gazing at her with an approval, and caught Matt smiling at her from behind his desk, clearly happy that she managed to look past her hatred.

“It will take some time to convince everypony, thought.” Celestia said quietly.

“I’d imagine that the nobles will be less taken with it.” Luna added with dismay.

“And on top of it all, I have to leave for Saddle Arabia tomorrow.” Princess Celestia sighed. “Of all the times this could happen… I had originally wanted you to accompany my trip to Saddle Arabia, Sir Lightbringer, as my guard and advisor; but in light of this new development, I have another mission for you. I will, however, ask you to spare two of your paladins to join my envoy.”

“Of course,” Matt replied, and then thought about it for a few heartbeats, “I believe Guard Shield and Tucker Out should prove worthy of protecting you there.”

“I wouldn’t have expected you to trust Tucker Out so quickly.” Celestia noticed with a smile.

“It’s not an issue of trust, Princess, but of me disliking him,” the stallion smirked, “But as long as he’s on duty, he will keep his comments to himself.”

“Very well then, they will leave for Canterlot tonight, and return three days from now. In the meantime, you will have to travel to the Crystal Empire, along with Nymph and Wind Reaver.”

Twilight stared at her mentor as if she had lost her head. Did she just say that she wants Matt to take two changelings to the kingdom ruled by two ponies who’s happiest day of their lifes was nearly ruined by them?!

Even Matt seemed surprised. “Could you explain the reason behind it, Princess?”

“Luna and I will deal with convincing the important ponies here. However, the Crystal Empire is our very close ally, and an alliance with the changelings would affect them as well. They have a right to have a say in this matter. Furthermore, Cadance is still Equestria’s Princess, and my and Luna’s niece. She deserves to know about it, and she and her husband need to see for themselves that the changelings can be trusted.” Celestia frowned a bit. “I know that Cadance will probably also come to the same conclusion as we had, but considering that it was her wedding that was nearly stolen from her… she might have some problems seeing past that.” gazing at Twilight, she added: “And please don’t take it the wrong way, Twilight, but your brother-”

“Can be a bit of a dork sometimes,” Twilight said instead of her teacher, rolling her eyes. Seeing everypony glance at her, she explained: “I grew up with him. Just because we were such close siblings doesn’t mean I was blind to his faults.” She frowned as she remembered some of his less impressive moments, his constant prying to wherever Matt and she were in a relationship taking the lead among them. “You know what, scratch what I said; he’s always a bit of a dork.”

“Gee, thank you, Twilight; you make my job sound so much easier.” Matt commented, making her giggle. “Although to be fair, I hadn’t expected it to be easy. Few things can be more dangerous than a stallion’s wounded pride.” turning to Celestia, he said: “If I’m lending you Guard and Tucker, then I will have to take Sound and Bomb with me, along with the remaining paladins, to escort Nymph and Wind Reaver. It means that Abbey will be left unguarded.”

“I think that if you’ll ask nicely Al’ar will gladly agree to keep an eye on Everfree Abbey.” Celestia smiled. “He seemed to be ready to do anything I’d have asked him when I patted him while waiting for you.”

“Of course he would. You’re the Princess of the Sun. He must feel some sort of kinship towards you. But I guess I will manage to convince him, as well.”

“Excellent.” Luna said. “There is one more thing left for you to do, though. You must inform the citizens of Ponyville that there will be two changelings living here for the time being. They have the right to know.”

“This will go well.” Matthias sighed, sounding tired.

“Mayor Mare is supposed to announce at nine o’clock tomorrow to the town about the visit of Princess Celestia with Saddle Arabia’s delegates.” Twilight remembered. “Maybe you can talk with her and ask her to let you speak as well?”

“Oddly, I happen to have a scheduled meeting with Mayor Mare at eight o’clock, so I think this will work. After that will be over, I will board the train to the Crystal Empire. Is this acceptable?” he asked the Princesses.

“Yes, I believe so.” Celestia replied, and Luna nodded.

“Good, good…” Matt murmured, sighing again.

“Are you alright?” Twilight asked him, concerned at how tired he looked.

“Just missing few hours of sleep.” he said, dismissing her worries with a wave of his hoof.

“Speaking off, would you mind explaining why did you stay in Northville?” Princess Celestia asked. “Your paladins’ report was rather vague about it.”

Matt sighed. “There was this elderly mare there, Granny Rags. She was really old, and her health was scathed by the windigo. I sensed that she didn’t have much time left in the world of the living, so I decided to keep her company, as she had nopony else.”

Twilight gasped. None of the paladins had mentioned anything about that. She immediately felt sad for the mare that she hadn’t met, and fiercely proud of Matt for staying with her.

“I see.” Celestia spoke, her voice saddened. “Was she at peace when she died?”

“Well, she died with a smirk on her face after making a joke at my expense, so I assume she was.” Matt replied, smiling briefly.

She couldn’t help herself. Twilight chuckled quietly. Trust Matt to be made fun off by a dying mare.

“I’m glad for the care you showed for one of our subjects.” Princess Luna said. Turning to her sister, she added: “Now, as it looks like everything’s settled-”

“Actually, there was something that I wanted to ask you, Princess.” Matt interrupted her.

“Yes?”

“What is up with your guards?”

Twilight blinked. So she wasn’t just imagining things? “I thought they looked a bit different than those that escorted you on the Nightmare Night, Princess Luna.” she said before she could help herself, earning a surprised glance from the Princess of the Night.

“I’m impressed, Twilight Sparkle.” she said. “I did expect Sir Lightbringer to take a notice of it, but not you. Clearly, you are becoming more perceptive.”

Princess Celestia rewarded her with a warm smile for earning her sister praise that made Twilight blush with embarrassment. She had no idea this would’ve turned out to be a big deal or anything, there was just something funny about those night guards.

“As to answer your question, Sir Lightbringer...” Princess Luna paused, exchanging a glance with Celestia. When her sister nodded, she continued: “For some time now, my sister and I felt that… something is in the air, as if something is about to happen.”

“What do you mean?” Matt asked, with his attention focused.

“We are not sure.” Luna replied. “We think it is a similar feeling that you had when the Light was subtly warning you about the upcoming confrontation with the windigo. But, even if we were to overlook our premonitions, then with everything… this Project Eclipse, your discovery of the link between the changelings and the aqir… you being brought back to life in our world, and now with this new information provided by the changelings…”

“You fear something bad is about to happen.” the paladin nodded.

Twilight gulped. Indeed, it made sense to think that, when looked at everything the Princess had mentioned. Heck, a single thing out of those events was enough to worry, with all of them combined…

“Yes, that’s exactly what we fear.” Celestia replied. “Luna and I began thinking about possible ways to prepare for what future holds, and one of the ideas we had is to increase Equestria’s means of defense. The creation of the Order of the Celestial Light was the first that came to our minds in that regard.”

“But not the last,” Luna continued. “I had an idea for making night guards even more formidable force that they already were. As you know, the enchantments on their armor grant them their looks, along with boosting their sight and hearing, but that’s all.”

“So you decided to do something better than just enchant their armor.” Matt said, having his expression unreadable.

“Yes, and before you try to make any accusation, know that nopony was hurt.” Luna told him, and then looked to the side. “Although, the process was a bit painful…”

“Wait, what process?” Twilight asked, then immediately remembered herself. “Your Majesty.” she added hastily.

Luna smiled briefly, amused by her reaction. “A process that we called the Nocturnification Process. It was based on the effects of the treatment Shadow Bolt had gone through when he was a foal, which resulted in his appearance. Of course,” she added, glancing at Matt, “it would have been impossible to mimic that process. However, by injecting a pegasus with various potions and other chemicals, prepared by myself and doctor Angelic Touch, in addition to subjecting his body to the moon’s magic, the Nocturnification Process allowed to permanently change a pegasus into a new kind of pony - a bat pony.”

Twilight felt her jaw drop. “She means that they now really look like that? And is such a thing actually possible?”

“Of course, all night guards had volunteered for the process.” Luna added. “They were quite taken with an idea, I assure you.”

“Interesting,” Matt murmured, although Twilight noticed that he relaxed thanks to Luna’s words. “I assume the Nocturnification Process did more than just alter their bodies?”

“Yes.” Luna said, visibly invigorating to the discussion. “Sadly, we weren’t able to recreate Shadow Bolt’s increased strength and magical resistance. I would also say that he was even more perceptive and stealthy, although those might be due to his own skills rather than his changes.”

Twilight noticed a note of sadness when she spoke about her consort. She felt for her. Shadow Bolt seemed to care a great deal about Luna and their unborn foal. Even when she became Nightmare Moon, he still gave his life to protect them.

Princess Luna continued, “We also failed to invoke within the bat ponies an ability to use the energies of the moon, which was one of the objectives of Nocturnification Process. I suppose they would have needed horns to channel such powers. They did, however, gain unique abilities. They are able to teleport for a short distance by using a shadowstep, making them disappear in a cloud of smoke. They can also use residual moon magic from the process that created them to boost the strength of their attacks. And while they’re nowhere near Shadow Bolt’s level, they now have naturally better senses of vision and hearing.”

“All which are beneficial in their line of work.” Matt concluded. “It’s impressive how you were able to come up with such a process.”

“Well, I was the one that made the healing potion with the side effects that changed Shadow Bolt.” Luna replied, accepting his praise. “And I had doctor Angelic Touch checking if everything was safe before we administered the first volunteer to the Process.” glancing at Celestia, she added: “Even if someponies had they worries if it was a good idea-”

“I already admitted that you were right and this is a brilliant idea, little sister.” Celestia said, with a slight hint of annoyance in her voice; Twilight wondered in amusement how many times they had this conversation already.

Princess Luna smirked, while Matt rose from his chair. “If something is waiting for us in the future, then we will need all the help we can get.” he said as he jumped down to the floor.

“My thoughts exactly,” Luna nodded as she also rose, “Which is one of the reasons that we will attempt to make peace with the changelings. And since we’re back to it, then I need to remind you, Sister, that we have a lot to do in Canterlot.”

“I am aware of that.” Celestia replied, but unlike the two, she did not rise from her seat. “However, I wanted to talk with Twilight.” Twilight eyes widened, but then she relaxed; she probably wanted to speak to her about the magic presentations she was supposed to prepare for the delegates from Saddle Arabia. “In private?” the Princess added, looking at Matt and Princess Luna.

“Of course, Princess,” Matt replied, while Luna just nodded.

“Shall I tell your guards to wait for you?” she asked.

“No, tell them to return to Canterlot, I will just teleport there once we’re done.” Celestia replied.

“Very well. Don’t stay too long, though; you will need to rest before traveling to Saddle Arabia.”

“Thanks for your concern, little sister.” Celestia told her warmly. “But I think I know how to take care of myself.”

Luna shot her a smile as she passed through the doors that Matt held open from her. He followed her shortly, after bowing to Celestia and smiling to Twilight.

“I’m sorry, Princess,” Twilight began as soon as they were alone, “I didn’t have the time today to think of anything to show for the delegates.”

That was only partially true. Before the events that started by the evening, she had a lot of time, but she spend it on worrying about Matt and chuckling at Rarity and Storm Clash. However, Princess Celestia seemed to not care about that at the moment, as she raised her hoof to stop Twilight.

“That is not why I wanted to speak with you, as I am sure that whatever you prepare will be most spectacular.” Celestia told her, which caused Twilight to again blush with embarrassment.

“So… what did you want to talk about?”

“How are you?”

Twilight blinked. “Huh?”

“It’s been a while since we just talked.” Princess Celestia explained in amusement, no doubt due to her shock. “I was curious as to how are you doing.”

“Oh…” Twilight exclaimed, thinking what to say. “I’ve been fine, Princess, thank you for asking. I had less free time as of late, of course, but I’m not overworking myself, and still meet with my friends regularly.”

“I am happy to hear that.” Celestia paused. “How are things between you and Matthias?”

Twilight’s jaw hit the floor. “Ough, Princess,” she exclaimed, facehoofing, “not you too!”

“What do you mean?”

“You too think that Matt and I should get together, don’t you?! And you want to talk me into it!” Twilight began to shout accusingly, and for the first time ever she was actually angry at the Princess. However, she soon trailed off when she noticed that Celestia was barely containing laughter.

“I will admit that I think you and Matthias would make a cute couple.” she said once Twilight had calmed down. “But it came to my attention that you had decided to remain friends, and I will respect that.”

“Oh… well, thank you, Princess, for… wait. ‘Came to my attention’?”

“I have my sources.” Celestia replied with a wink. “But let’s leave that for now. I wanted to ask you how are you dealing with this… relationship Matthias has with Rainbow Dash?”

Twilight felt her coat again take the redder shade, especially around her cheeks. Why the hay was Princess Celestia asking her for such things?!

“How should I be dealing? They’re both their own ponies.”

“Twilight, the stallion that is so dear to you is rutting with one of your best friends,” Celestia said bluntly, making Twilight gap in shock. “You won’t convince me that you are truly alright with it.”

“But I am.” Twilight replied, feeling really awkward about this talk. “Few weeks ago I even listened to Rainbow as she described… some things.” Okay, she did not actually say that outloud, did she? Gulping, Twilight added. “We were a bit tipsy…”

Princess Celestia stared at her for a long time, but finally she closed her eyes and gave a tired sight. “I guess that’s all I would hear from you, isn’t it?” Odd, why did Twilight felt as if she was… disappointed with her? “Alright then. But Twilight, if you ever want to talk to somepony about this, you can always send me a letter. I will respond back as soon as I can.” Princess smiled shyly. “I might not be the best pony to consult with when it comes to relationships, but I want your happiness, and I am a considered to be rather smart.”

Twilight chuckled. “Of course you are considered to be smart, Princess. And… sure, if I feel like confinding with somepony, I will send you a letter.”

It felt weird to her to think that she would be talking about those matters with Princess Celestia, of all ponies, but her alternatives were hardly acceptable. Matt was out due to obvious reasons; their friends were all convinced that they should be together, no matter what they said; her brother thought of her a little filly; Cadance was too busy with ruling the Crystal Empire; her parents… “Okay, there is no way in Tartarus I would talk with Mom and Dad about Matt!”

“Thank you.” she told Celestia.

“Think nothing of it, Twilight.” the Princess replied, rising from her pillow. “Now then, is there anything else you would like to talk with me about?”

“Nothing that I can think off,” Twilight mused. Normally, she would have used the chance to ask about some spells, but she was too tired for that. “Just… be careful in Saddle Arabia.”

“Of course,” Celestia said warmly, “Don’t worry.”

“Good night, Princess.”

“Good night…” Celestia began to say, but her voice trailed off as her horn glowed while she cast teleportation spell.

Matthias yawned as he watched the barely visible carriages of the Princesses flying back to Canterlot, surrounded by their escort. One was bearing Princess Luna, and looking after her the stallion rolled his eyes as he recalled all the complaints he got from her for not visiting his goddaughter.

“Maybe on my way back from the Crystal Empire I will stop in Canterlot.” he mused, turning his head to look at the other group leaving the Abbey, those by hoof.

His friends stayed around long enough to hear what the Princesses had decided. They told him they went to speak with the changelings while they’ve discussed things in his office, and Rarity and Applejack admitted that Nymph wasn’t so bad once you’ve gotten to speak with her for few minutes (although Applejack actually phrased it as: “Well, for a back-stabbin’, love-stealin’, no-good, foal-nappin’ changelin’, that Nymph gall ain’t too bad.”). Matthias also properly introduced himself to Babs Seed, and expressed his disappointment that they couldn’t have spent more time.

After quickly taking care of his duties - informing his paladins and Abbey’s guards about their new orders, letting Scootaloo know that she would have to spend two more days at Sweetie Belle’s house - Matthias got a moment to relax as he waited with Spike for Twilight.

“So, crazy day, huh?” the little dragon asked once they were alone in front of the barracks.

“Yeah… and I suspect it’s not over yet.” Matthias replied unenthusiastically. “I requested the Princess for some documents a while ago, and now I have them on my desk. Since I will be busy tomorrow and for about two days after that as well, I decided to pull all-nighter and read them now.”

“Gee, who dyed Twilight white?” Spike snorted.

“Did somepony say my name?” Twilight’s voice sounded from behind them, making them both turn around.

“Spike said you’re white, or something.” Matthias replied, as he was too tired to pay attention to what the dragon had said. Another yawn escaped him.

“You really should go to bed.” Twilight told him.

“When I tell you that I actually plan to spend the night reading some old documents and catch some sleep on the train tomorrow will you be angry?”

Twilight facehoofed. ‘You’re impossible.” she mumbled. “It’s your call; I know I will have a great time watching you fall asleep while introducing Ponyville to the changelings.”

“Oh please, I can go days without sleep.” Matthias boasted. “On that note, though, you should really go home.”

The unicorn just gazed at him, probably wondering if she shouldn’t pull him by his ear again. “Come along, Spike.” she finally said.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” the paladin offered.

“No, but thanks,” Twilight rewarded his offer with a smile. “Good night.”

“Good night.” he replied, and for few minutes he watched both of them leave.

He sighed as he turned around and went back to his office. He needed some shuteye, but he need to know if Chrona was in some way involved with anything that was going on even more. The duality of his needs made him almost gallop to his office, slam the door shut and pull out those documents from his desk. If he would read them fast enough, he would still have time to rest.

The documents Princess Celestia sent him consisted of a bunch of loose pages, written in what Matthias had recognized as the Princess’ writing, and one small notebook. Leaving the latter for last, the paladin gazed at the pages.

Name: Chrona

Kind: Alicorn

Cutie Mark: A golden hourglass within a golden circle, twisting around

Parents: Dr (?) Hooves and Rose Charm

Spouse: Constant Sigil

Foal: Twilight Star

Additional notes: Mother died at foalbirth, father disappeared once she reached adulthood. Once Equestria learned of her birth, she was granted a title of a noble. Studied magic and history since an age of eight. Discovered a spell to allow time travel, but a few months afterwards she cast a counter-spell, making it impossible to change the events of history.

Met her future husband during her studies in Canterlot. Their wedding that took place few years after that had caused an outrage amongst the nobles due to Constant Sigil’s low social rank. One the summer next year she gave birth to a unicorn filly Twilight Star.

Gifted with seeing the vision of time since little. She could see both past and future. Some events she was unable to describe in any language known to ponykind, and when written down, she did so in runes nopony could read. It is unknown if it was due to the counterspell Chrona herself had cast. She could speak off the events that happened recently or where about to happen soon without such problems. Suffered increased headaches, diagnosed to be caused by her visions. When in her twenties, she expressed symptoms of growing anxiety and paranoia. Administrated to Eastin Asylum at the age of twenty eight. Spent her time painting the already mentioned mysterious runes over the walls of her room, at times with her own blood. Died year after being placed there. According to asylum’s staff, during her last few days she was never seen with open eyes.

Her last known words, spoken to one of the nurses, were: “I need to see it… how to... the end… I have to…”

Matthias rubbed his eyes to make sure he hadn’t fallen asleep.

“By the Light…” he thought, sorrow for the mare gripping his heart.

An alicorn with the gift of seeing time. One could wonder what things did she saw; the past or the future? Could she have foreseen the rise of Discord? Nightmare Moon? Or… even something that hadn’t happen yet...

The paladin took a deep, calming breath. There was nothing he could do about it. To him, visions were granted by the Light, and he had no control over them. Unlike Chrona, who apparently, spent her last days trying to force them to show something. But, for all he knew (as did Celestia and Luna, and they weren’t worried) this could happen a billion years from now on, or could have already happened.

What mattered was this moment.

The other loose pages were less informative. They seemed to be taken from newspapers, and had each article about Chrona encircled. They didn’t give him any new information.

Finally, Matthias took a glance at the notebook… and gasped.

...and when written down, she did so in runes nopony could read.

The notebook that lay on his desk was covered in the same runes that Storm Clash’s sword had embedded to its blade. It’s the same runes that he recognized from somewhere else. The title, however, was written in the letters anypony could read.

“Compilation of prophecies made by Chrona, gathered and translated by Yellow Flash”.

Author's Note

Before any of you start: no. I am not making this story into a massive-crossover, so no Doctor Who references there. I dislike giving anything away, but I preferred to avoid unnecessary confusions.

Also - no, Arthas is not being an idiot by ignoring Chrona's last words, he's being practical. Take, for example, what Murozond says in "The End Time" instance. So far, nobody in World of Warcraft seems to care, as we don't know how many thousands of years the End Time is going to happen (or, you know, 2-3 expansions).

126. Rarity's Birthday, Part III

Applejack’s gaze followed the changeling in disguise as she left Twilight and Matthias to talk with Rarity. Beside her stood Dash, Pinkie, and Fluttershy, all engrossed in conversation about something that the farm pony had stopped paying attention to. However, at some point, the three ponies must have realized that she wasn’t listening. When Applejack was trying to listen in (from across the room) on what Rarity and Nymph were talking about, she felt a hoof touch her shoulder.

She turned to see all three of them looking at her. “Why are you shooting daggers at her?” Rainbow Dash asked, raising an eyebrow.

“She wasn’t shooting daggers at her, silly,” Pinkie Pie interjected before Applejack could answer. “She was just staring at her with a suspicion that she was up to no good. Although, that would be cool, to shoot daggers through her eyes!”

After she rolled the not dagger-shooting eyes, Applejack replied to Rainbow’s question: “Ah’m not shootin’ daggers at her. Ah’m just keepin’ an eye on her.” She turned back to watch Nymph. “Ain’t nothing wrong with ‘em changelins all runnin’ around…”

“Oh, come on,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in a hushed voice. “You don’t still think that this whole ‘we want peace’ thing is a part of their master plan or something, don’t you?”

“Well, why wouldn’t Ah?” Applejack asked defensively, taking a sip out of the glass of punch she held in her hoof. “Or anypony else for that matter?”

“Because we had already established that Nymph would be a pretty crappy spy,” Rainbow replied. “She is practically afraid of talking to ponies or just being around them.” She then wrinkled her nose as if she smelled something awful or remembered something unpleasant. “And Wind is just a plain ol’ asshole.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy spoke up, “that’s not a nice thing to say!”

“Yeah, well… trust me, he fully earned that title.”

Applejack’s thoughts strayed away from Nymph for a moment as she observed Rainbow. For some reason, when she brought up Wind Reaver, a slight hint of red appeared on her cheeks. Since the male in question was a changeling, it was not hard for Applejack to figure out what that reason was.

“He changed into Matt and kissed ya, didn’t he?”

Rainbow looked at her and answered after a second: “Sure, let’s go with that.”

Applejack gasped: “Wait, he didn’t-”

The cyan pegasus snorted. “Oh please, if he would have tried something more, you could have smelled a burned bug from your farm.”

“Well, whatever. But that’s exactly what Ah’ve been talkin’ about; those changelings can’t be trusted.”

“C’mon, AJ, get real. What he did was more like a prank than anything else. Heck, if I could change into other ponies, I would have probably done worse things than that.”

Though reluctantly, Applejack had to admit she had a point there. “Okay, but what about that Nymph gal? She keeps comin’ over to mah farm, talkin’ with mah brother, playin’ with mah sister… she even ate dinner once with us!”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “So you think her evil plan iiiss…?”

“Ah don’t know,” she snorted. “Maybe she wants to poison our apples or somethin’? We do supply about half of Equestria, after all…”

“Or maybe she just likes spending time with your family?” Fluttershy suggested timidly.

Applejack snorted again, not believing that this could be the only reason behind the changeling’s visits. She was about to voice those thoughts, but Pinkie began speaking enthusiastically: “Why wouldn’t she?! Apple family is a great family! I sometimes wish I could be a part of it!”

Rainbow snickered. “You could always marry Big Mac,” she said and grinned at Applejack when she glared at her.

“Aw, that would be nice,” Pinkie giggled. “But he’s not my type.”

For the first time since the start of this conversation, Applejack and Rainbow Dash found themselves on the same page. They both looked at each other, and then back at Pinkie.

“You have a type?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Of course, silly! Everypony has their type, don’t they?”

“Technically…”

“Well, yeah…” Rainbow said slowly. “But I just can’t imagine what’s somepony like you type could be.”

“Weeell…” Pinkie began, slightly blushing. “He would have to be a bit older than me, so that when we would get old I could feel young by comparing myself to him. You know, just in case. And he would have a beard so that it would tickle me whenever we would kiss and make me giggle. Also, I think I would like him to be a meanie-pants on the outside, but on the inside he would be sad and lonely and just want a hug from somepony. I would give him hugs anytime he would have wanted! Oh, oh, and he would have to have a cool sounding laugh! Oh oh oh, and a long, serious sounding name that I could shorten into a cute nickname!” Pinkie Pie finished her description of her dreamed stallion, took a deep breath, and looked expectantly at the three mares. “So, what about you girls?”

Before Applejack could even grow uncomfortable, not to mention about blushing, something draw everypony’s attention. They looked, startled, at Rarity, who had just uttered a very happy sounding shriek, and currently had her forehooves wrapped around Nymph’s neck.

“What in tarnation?” she asked the other three out loud.

“Either Rare is strangling Nymph and is very happy about it,” Rainbow replied, looking at the pair confused, “or…”

“... or maybe Nymph told her she has a date with Big Mac and Rarity is just happy for her?” Pinkie suggested, grinning at Applejack.

While Rainbow and Pinkie burst with laughter and Fluttershy just giggled, Applejack just snorted. Her brother might have liked that changeling for some reason, but she really doubted he would work up the guts to ask out anypony on a date, least of all a changeling. She took another sip of the punch, regrettably noticing that she would have to refill soon.

“Hey, might watching out with the drinking?” Rainbow Dash asked her suddenly. “I am way too sore for any action, and I think you wouldn’t want to wake up in the same bed with me again, right?”

“Of course!” she quickly replied, glaring at her. “And Ah reckon ya wouldn’t either- wait a minute!” Applejack hissed when she had realized what her friend had just said. “What are ya sore from? Didn’tya say that ya stopped ‘rolling in the hay’ with Matt? Or, Arthas, or whatever!”

“Yeah, I did,” Rainbow replied, slightly uncomfortable and blushing. “But last night I kinda… ugh, look, can we talk about this tomorrow?”

“Why?” Applejack asked, becoming worried. “Did somethin’ happen?”

Rainbow opened her mouth to reply… but then she closed her eyes as her ears perked up in the direction of the punch bowl. As she turned to look there, Applejack followed her gaze to see Twilight and Arthas standing there. Both of them were deeply absorbed into a conversation.

“Oh, this will be fun!” she heard Rainbow mutter mischieviously, beginning to trot towards them.

Applejack, who reluctantly followed her, wondered what the cyan mare had overheard them talk about.

“R-Rarity, please, you will choke me!” Nymph whispered urgently, despite that being actually impossible.

She could not believe what Mother had done. How could she just… blurt it out like this?! And how did she know, for that matter? Nymph was certain that until just a few moments ago Mother hadn't contacted her directly…

The changeling facehoofed mentally. No, Queen Chrysalis hadn’t contacted her… but she had possessed her body for a few minutes. She must have read her memories then. It was a bit trickier for a changeling to pay attention to what was happening with their body and mind in that state, after all. Nymph must have not realize what Mother was doing.

And now she was at the mercy of this disturbingly happy pony.

Thankfully, her plea managed to reach Rarity’s ears (for a second there, she wasn’t sure of it). “Oh, I’m so sorry darling,” the white unicorn said, quickly letting go of her. “But I am just so excited! Finally I have a chance to advise somepony about dating. None of my friends have even begun thinking about it,” she paused to look with disappointment - and, as Nymph had sensed, a borderline frustration - at the other ponies, “despite some of them having already started… an active night-life. And don’t get me started on those two,” Rarity added with a glare at the Hivespeaker and Lady Twilight. For a moment Nymph was sure she would rant about them, but the pony took a deep breath and looked back at her, smiling again. “Nevermind all that, dear. We have you to think about now.”

“Please, Rarity,” Nymph tried to talk her out of this. She was really uncomfortable with the idea. Of course, she knew that Rarity had grown to like her, but the same couldn’t be said about Applejack. “There is no need-”

“Hush!” Rarity silenced her. “Listen: you like this stallion?” she asked her, looking her into eyes. Nymph nodded almost on reflex. “Do you want this date to go well?” Another nod, “Are you confident that you know everything there is to dating a pony?”

Nymph hesitated. Technically, she knew. During her training, she had impersonated a pony on a date once or twice. But this was different: this time, she would be herself (albeit in a form of a pony). She wasn’t sure she would do everything right… so maybe she should take Rarity up on this offer of help?

According to the Swarm’s profile of her, the white unicorn had been only on few dates, all that took place a couple years ago. However, it also stated that she had a vast knowledge on the subject. That she could turn that knowledge into practice was proven by the fact that none of dates had repeated. Rarity was looking for a serious relationship. During just one date she could tell whether the stallion was a good material for a life-mate and if he was a good match for her.

Nymph decided to that making sure the date with Big Mac went perfect was more important than her being uncomfortable. Looking at Rarity, she shook her head in answer to her earlier question. “Can you help me?”

Rarity smiled, and Nymph could feel a surge of nothing but a positive emotions. “I will be glad to. Now, who is this stallion?”

Nymph once again found herself hesitating. “What if she will refuse to help me once she’ll learn that this is her friend’s brother? Or worse, tell Applejack?!” she thought in alarm, and she couldn’t help but throw a quick glance at the direction of the mare. Applejack and the other three were now surrounding the Hivespeaker and Twilight. “I mean, she’s bound to learn sooner or later… but I don’t want to deal with this right now!”

Unfortunately for her, Rarity caught the quick glance. Nymph watched, horrified, as the white unicorn’s eyes moved to the small group. When she looked back at her, she was smiling knowingly. “It’s Big Mac, isn’t it?”

“P-please don’t tell Applejack,” Nymph begged quietly. “I know she doesn’t like me-”

She was cut of by a hoof placed gently on her lips. “First off, Applejack doesn’t hate you; she’s just having a difficult time trusting your kind. She is the Element of Honesty, after all, and changelings, well, you sort of live by deception.” Nymph nodded reluctantly as her ears dropped. “Second, I am not going to tell her that.” Rarity smiled as Nymph felt her ears perk up again. “Normally, I would try to talk to her about it, but you and Big Mac have a terrible timing.”

Nymph raised an eyebrow questioningly. She had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

Rarity blinked, then realized that Nymph hadn’t understood her. Sighing, she lowered her voice even lower. “She’s in a less agreeable for a mare time of the month.”

“What do you- oh!” Nymph exclaimed quietly, finally understanding. “Does that really affect you mares that much?” she asked out of curiosity.

“You don’t go through it?” Rarity asked in return. There was a disbelief in her voice. When Nymph shook her head, she asked: “But how… pardon my question, where do the little changelings come from?”

Nymph pondered for a second how much was she allowed to reveal at this point before she answered. “Female changelings are fertile all year, ever since reaching maturity,” she finally said. “However, we all have a protection spell inherently placed on us. We lift it when we decide to try and produce an offspring for the Swarm.”

Rarity stayed silent for a few moments, no doubt processing the information. “One of the perks of the entire population being able to use magic, I suppose,” she finally said, shaking her head. “Anyway, back to the subject… since your date is tomorrow, I suppose this means that it will take place after the Ponytones performance, right?” Nymph nodded once again, remembering that the unicorn was also a part of this quartet. “Well, I suppose it would be best if I distracted Applejack while you two will slip away… or come up with a good speech about love and tolerance.”

“That’s right! I completely forgot Applejack would be there as well!”

“Sorry for the tro-” she tried to apologize, but Rarity cut her off.

“Never fear, dear. I am happy to help. Now, on to the date; do you know what Big Mac has in mind for it?”

“I… I think he just wants us to have a walk in the park,” she confessed, slightly blushing.

“Ooh, romantic,” Rarity commented, smiling. “Rainbow Dash had mentioned to me that tomorrow night there will be a clear sky…”

She trailed off for a moment, probably picturing the scene in her head. However, before Rarity got a chance to speak her mind again, both her and Nymph’s attention was drowned to the eruption of laughter on the other side of the room.

They looked, confused, at the group of ponies laughing. Or, more specifically, a group of mares laughing. The Hivespeaker, who appeared to be the cause of their laughter, was currently chugging a rather large gulp of punch from his glass.

“It would appear that we are missing on some fine joke,” Rarity said and giggled. Nymph turned to her, also amused. “You remember how Fluttershy and I had tried to coax you to come with us to a spa tomorrow?”

Confused at the sudden change of subject, Nymph nodded.

“Now you are definitely coming,” Rarity declared with a voice that left Nymph no room for any objection; oddly, it resembled to her a lot how Mother spoke. “We will make sure that you’ll look simply divine for your date. I will also use that time to give you a few tips and guidelines. Sounds great?”

There was no mistake in Nymph’s mind. Rarity was visibly excited at the idea. Far more than Nymph herself. But she really appreciated the offer of help, and she also really wanted to date to go smoothly.

“Sounds great,” the changeling replied, smiling.

Rarity’s smile broadened, and she quickly pulled Nymph into another hug. This one, however, was mercifully much shorter than the previous one. “Oh, I feel we will become good friends,” the unicorn said happily as she pulled back. “Now, what do you say that we will go and join them? It sounds like our dear Sir Lightbringer is in quite some distress.”

Nymph, who felt a way of happiness swept through her at Rarity’s words (and fed a bit on the love she emanated) nodded, quite curious as to what was causing the Hivespeaker to be so perplexed. However, before the two of them could go and join the bigger group, something caught Rarity’s attention.

“Spike! There you are!” the white pony exclaimed. Nymph followed her gaze and spotted her looking at the dragon coming out of the kitchen.

It was weird seeing a baby dragon, let alone being in the same room with him. Every few years, the Swarm had to chase off mature dragons that would try to fly into the Dread Wastes. The changelings wouldn’t be affected by the smoke if they would try to settle in some of the empty caves, that was true. They had no real need for sunlight. In fact, having the dragon smoke would only serve to even further discourage any sentient creature from venturing into their lands. However, there was too big of a risk of a dragon stumbling into the Hive to allow them remain within their domain. The potential damage they could cause…

Spike, however, seemed truly harmless. Nymph knew a few things about him from the reports on the Elements of Harmony the Swarm had gathered. She was also told some interesting details by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He has some flaws, but overall his behaviour resembled more that of a pony than a dragon. She wondered if every baby dragon was like him.

“Spike, what were you doing in there for so long?” Rarity asked, trotting towards the dragon. “Cleaning the dishes, as you had offered, shouldn’t have taken that long.”

“More like insisted, actually,” Nymph thought, recalling how Spike (taking the plates on which they ate the cake) had told Rarity that he would do that now quickly so that she wouldn’t have to worry about them.

The baby dragon looked at the mare he adored (which was clear to Nymph from Day One of her stay in Ponyville) with a tired and embarrassed expression. “I’m sorry, Rarity… I kinda… dozed off for a moment.”

“Dozed off? Oh my goodness, is everything alright? You aren’t sick, are you?” the unicorn asked caringly.

“No, nothing like that,” Spike quickly replied. However, he seemed to not be in a hurry to remove the hoof Rarity placed on his forehead to check his temperature. “I am just tired. I couldn’t sleep last night because somepony was studying…” he said, glancing briefly at Twilight’s direction. “And it’s getting rather late, I suppose.”

“Oh my goodness, you’re right!” Rarity gasped, looking at the time. It was only a little past eight, but with the days becoming shorter it was already well past sundown. While it was still rather early for most of the party’s attendants, Spike was a baby dragon. He needed his sleep. “You should be in bed. Come along, you can sleep in Sweetie Belle’s bedroom, she’s not here tonight,” she said, picking him up with her magic and placing him on her back.

“Al-aaauuoowwh-right,” the dragon yawned in the middle of the reply, already falling back asleep.

“And I’m going to have a talk with Twilight about the consequences of lack of sleep,” Nymph heard Rarity mutter as she began marching off. “I knew I saw bags under her eyes… oh, Nymph,” she called out, glancing back at her. “By a dear and tell the rest of the company that I will join them shortly.”

Nymph nodded and turned around, heading towards the group.

“I can’t believe them!”

Arthas was looking concerned at Twilight as she banged the now empty glass on the table. He had just finished recalling for her just what exactly had her parents talked to him about that night over two months ago. He had some problems remembering every detail (and left out that Night Light and Twilight Velvet had showed him pictured of her as a baby), but she had learned enough to grow angry at them.

“You know I had always thought that I have the best parents ever?” she asked as she poured more punch to her glass. Arthas, surprised at sudden statement, perked up his ears. “I’ve read all about how some mothers start to worry about their daughters, when will they get married and to whom. I’ve also known about the traditions of the past among Canterlot’s unicorns like arranged marriages. However, my mom and dad had never even once tried anything like that. But now I hear-

“Twilight, they were just concerned,” Arthas tried to calm her down. “There was a grown stallion living in you house for a few months. They had a right to ask me what exactly our relationship was.”

“Maybe,” she muttered, taking another swing. Arthas, who remembered what had happened when she drunk too much, was starting to get really concerned. “But they had no right to tell you that they had hoped I would meet… what did you say they said?”

He sighed, regretting telling her that. “A nice stallion, and that I seem like a perfect match.”

“Yeah, that-” Twilight began, pointing a hoof at him, but before she could finish the thought, both of their attention were drawn by the sudden shriek from the other side of the room.

Arthas blinked, confused by the sight, but it was Twilight who voiced the first thought that came to his mind. “Is Rarity... strangling Nymph?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Seeing the happy smile on the mare’s face, Arthas shook his head. “No, I think she’s just happy about something.”

It didn’t take him long to figure out what that something could be. He smiled, surprised that the shy changeling had mustered enough confidence to tell Rarity about her date.

“What are you smiling about?” he heard Twilight ask him. Arthas turned to her, wondering how should he explain it, but the momentary hesitation caused the Twilight to snort, albeit somewhat humorously. “Oh fine, keep more secrets.”

“It’s not a secret…” he started.

“Oh please, everything about you is secret,” she giggled. “I didn’t even know how much Rarity reminds you of your sister, you only said there are some resemblance between their interests. Which reminds me…” she said, glancing at him with an almost malicious smile. “Rarity reminds you of your sister, right?”

“Well… yes…” Arthas said, confused as to why Twilight was repeating herself and where she was going with it.

“So those few months ago, when Rarity asked you to kiss her to make things okay between the two of you… you were basically kissing your sister?”

“Ugh, that was a part of why I was so uncomfortable… when… wait a moment,” he suddenly trailed off. “How do you know about that?”

He vaguely remembered Applejack mentioning it to him, but back then he hadn’t questioned it. Now, however, it struck him as really odd that Twilight would know that. Rarity didn’t strike him as a pony who would have mention it… and he had definitely not mentioned it to Rainbow Dash…

As if thinking about her had summoned her, Arthas suddenly found himself with her foreleg wrapped around his shoulders. “Aw, come on, ‘Matt’,” Rainbow exclaimed, grinning. “Don'tcha know that girls talk about everything?”

Arthas did not know that.

“Eee… everything?” he asked, looking from Rainbow, who’s grin grew wider, to Twilight, who was still smirking, but was also now blushing, and to Applejack, Pinkie and Fluttershy, who must have come with Rainbow. All three, though slightly embarrassed, nodded.

The consequences that this fact could cause hit him almost immediately. “W-wait, you aren’t serious, aren’t you?!” Arthas asked pleadingly, looking back at Rainbow.

“Oh, I’m afraid I am. I told them plenty of interesting bits on that slumber party when you had moved out of Twilight’s.” She snorted with amusement. “Pity that ex-girlfriend of yours is on another world, we would have so much to talk about…”

“Please tell me you’re kidding!” Arthas exclaimed, looking around. “I… on the very off chance that somehow the few female friends I had in my previous life were to come to Equestria, I don’t want you to befriend them and start talking- and this is going to happen,” he said in a monotone and resigned tone, having the sudden epiphany; “whether I like it or not and no matter how unlikely this scenario is, won’t it?”

“You betcha!” Rainbow laughed, joined by the other mares.

“Ugh, Light blind me…” Arthas muttered, rubbing his temples. Trying desperately to not think about what he had just said, he turned towards the punch bowl. “I need a drink…”

“Thanks for the party, Rarity,” Arthas said a few hours later.

Due to the few drinks he had, his mood had improved and he was able to enjoy the rest of the party. However, as with all things, the time had come for it to end. Every guest was currently leaving, thanking the hostess and saying goodnight as they began to head home.

And some needed a bit help with the last one.

“Yeah, it was great…” Twilight muttered sleepily, leaning against his shoulder.

Just like Arthas had feared, she drank too much, and now nopony trusted her to make it back to her library safely by herself. Arthas had offered to make sure she would, though he guessed that if he hadn’t, he would have been unanimously appointed to do so by the rest.

“I am happy to hear you had a good time,” Rarity said, smiling. She looked a bit concerned at the state Twilight was in, but it wasn’t really that serious (after all, she had seen Rainbow and Applejack way more drunk than that). “And don’t worry about Spike, he will be fine here.” She turned to Applejack: “Applejack, are you sure you won’t need help as well?”

Applejack, who had also drunk quite a bit, rolled her eyes. “Ah am fine, sugarcube. It would ‘ave taken a bit more than yar punch to get me drunk.”

“Fine, just take care,” Rarity said. “See you all tomorrow… oh, and Fluttershy, Nymph, remember that we are going to the spa tomorrow!”

Chuckling inwardly at Nymph’s ‘misfortune’, Arthas wished everypony goodnight and began guiding Twilight to her library.

“Quite the party, huh?” Twilight murmured after a few minutes, slightly brushing against his neck.

“Umh…”

“Pity you had to send Storm away… It would be fun to make jokes out of him and Rarity,” she snorted.

“I didn’t send him away,” Arthas, who also was a bit tipsy, confessed before he stopped himself. “I mean… he had a slight problem with his gift for Rarity,” he amended.

Twilight giggled and blushed, but didn’t say a word as to what she found funny about that. Both of them stayed mostly quiet after that, until they reached the library.

“There you go,” Arthas said, opening the doors and looking at Twilight expectedly.

“Thanks…” she hummed, taking a step forward, the turning back. “Won’t you come in?”

“I-” Arthas started.

Before he knew what was going on, Twilight’s hooves were wrapped around his neck, and her warm lips were pressed against his.

“What am I thinking?”

There was an easy answer to that question.

He wasn’t.

Arthas was definitely not thinking when he replied to Twilight's kiss at the threshold to her house. He was definitely not thinking when he let her lead him deeper into her house and closed the door behind them. And he was as sure as hell not thinking when he pushed her into the bed and laid on top of her.

Some alarms - slowed down by the alcohol and hormones - had finally began to go off in his mind as he continued to kiss Twilight within her bed, his hooves trailing down her body. But he wasn’t listening. He finally had what he’s been craving for all those months. Twilight. He had her.

And she had him. She wasn’t exactly passive, as he would have expected. Her tongue all but danced in his mouth, and her hooves were brushing his back. At one point, Twilight had suddenly turned them around, making her be on top.

Looking down on him, she smiled. Arthas had never seen this, this... predatory side of her. But it was still her, his Twilight. He could see the blushes on her cheeks, the slight embarrassment behind the smile.

“Twi-” he tried to say, but she again cut him off.

“Shhh…” she whispered, her head lowering to lick his ear.

Twilight then whispered three words that had completely erased any intelligent thought from his mind.

“I want you.”

Arthas kissed her neck, making Twilight moan and arch her back as his hooves traveled up and down her spine. She looked down once more and leaned for the kiss…

What happened next would be very hard for Arthas to describe. Even if he wasn’t slightly intoxicated, he would probably not be able to find the exact words. Nor would his mind was able to register every detail.

Suffice to say: Twilight puked into his mouth.

And passed out.

As weird as it may sound, when twenty minutes later Arthas had finished cleaning (his mouth, himself, Twilight, the bed and the floor), he was actually grateful for what had happened. He loved Twilight. He wanted her; of that there was no doubt. But he didn’t want their first time to happen due to a drunken spur.

Arthas smiled looking down on Twilight. She was now fast asleep, and with any luck she would not recall anything of what had happened. A part of him wanted to lay beside her and sleep with her. But he know he couldn’t. Not just due to his belief that they shouldn’t be together - if it was just that, he would have bucked his conscience and followed his heart. Nor was it due to the memory of what had happened the last time they were both drunk and fallen asleep together.

His primary reason was that he might have to mount a rescue party by sunrise.

“Storm is so dead once I’ll get my hooves on him.”

Arthas banished the thought, wanting to enjoy the peaceful moment for just a couple more seconds. He bend down to kiss Twilight just below her horn… and then on a cheek, muzzle and mouth, before he could stop himself. Wrinkling his nose a bit due to the lingering scent of what had happened, Arthas made his way to the door, trying to not look back.

Once outside, he closed the door and began heading home. “Not home,” he corrected himself. “To the Abbey.”

He sighed and looked at the clocktower. It was fifteen until midnight.

Rarity’s birthday would last for only fifteen more minutes.

“Storm, where are you?”

Author's Note

Because I can.