The world zipped by as Mathew sprinted through the Apple Family property. With just the faintest touches of his magic he had modified his previous spell to use up only a fifth of the power needed to increase his speed. As he ran, he thought about how he would try to address the mares at his destination. Applejack would see his intentions, no doubt, but the others were iffy at best.
I’ve been relying on Applejack too much, I think, Mathew thought. Her Element has been a great help in getting my intentions across to the others, but this time won’t be as easily mollified. If Rainbow Dash jumped to the wrong conclusion then this is going to be a very unfavorable encounter… and I can’t pit Applejack against her friends any further than I already have.
Up ahead the farmhouse came into view. Within moments he drew close enough to spot a group of seven ponies. Mathew cursed under his breath and flicked his legs forward, skidding to a stop. He came to rest just a few meters away from Twilight and her friends, Big Mac holding in the back.
Mathew stared at them calmly as the dust settled in a gentle morning breeze. One look at them was all it took to know what he was up against. Twilight’s gaze was cold and hard, filled with a hostility that could have sent a lesser being fleeing. Rainbow Dash shared the look but with a fierce fire burning in her gaze as she hovered in the air. Rarity seemed to be more indifferent than the other two, but the distrust was clearly evident in her eyes.
A small feeling of relief filled Mathew’s heart as he noticed Applejack’s look of worry. At least she had not let Rainbow’s words deter her heart. Fluttershy hung back, a look of unease filling her expression. It hurt Mathew to see the poor little yellow Pegasus looking so lost with her ears pinned back.
Last, but not least, stood Pinkie Pie. At first she had smiled upon seeing Mathew arrive, but with such hostile glares and uncertainty radiating off of her friends she soon deflated, bouncing between two conflicting feelings. Big Mac would have been included with them had Mathew not caught the tell tale sign in the red stallion’s eyes that said he was only there to watch. It was hard to blame him since the last time he jumped to a conclusion it had ended poorly.
“Good Morning, Twilight,” Mathew said after a letting the stare down go on long enough.
Twilight arced a brow slightly. “Good morning… Mathew,” she said.
Mathew caught the pause when she addressed him. He fought off a frown; instead doing his best to remain cool and collected. “So… shall we resume where we left off last night?” he asked.
Twilight’s body flinched and Rainbow suppressed a small growl while Rarity glanced at Twilight. “I think not,” the purple Alicorn said in a low voice. “I think we’ll be starting a new discussion – one that explains why you were seen with Discord… twice.”
It was obvious that Applejack had talked to them that night, but Mathew doubted such hostility would have stemmed from her explanation. His eyes flicked over to Rainbow, who bristled at the act, and Twilight took a single step forward – an act of intimidation, given the amount of magic she had circling around her horn.
Mathew sighed and fixed Twilight with an intense glare. “Discord was helping me,” he said.
“With what?” Twilight instantly asked.
“Getting control over my powers,” he answered. “I’m not sure how much any of you truly care, but I’ve been struggling with coming to grips with some things ever since I got here. Discord helped me with that last night,” Mathew finished, crossing his arms.
Rarity took a step forward, a look of suspicion etched across her muzzle. “And what, exactly, were you struggling with?” she asked in a surprisingly blunt fashion.
It was Mathew’s turn to bristle and his hair flicked about angrily as his eyes flashed golden. “How about the part where I was unsure of whether or not my Dad was alright. He’s dead – in case you wanted to know,” he growled. His heart ached again, but he was too angry to cry.
Mathew’s words shifted the feeling in the air from hostile to shock. Rainbow Dash sank down to barely hover off of the ground while Rarity simply balked, lost for words. Fluttershy sank into her long pink mane, crossing one hoof over her foreleg. Pinkie’s hair deflated some as a sad frown took hold of her. Appljack simply sighed and tried to give Mathew a sympathetic look.
Twilight showed no signs of caring. The only change to her demeanor was the slight narrowing of her eyes and the deep frown that slid down her face. She took two steps closer to Mathew and stomped her hoof into the ground. “How convenient that Discord, of all beings, helped you out. Why don’t you tell us what he meant about helping you to stop Celestia?” she said coldly.
Mathew opened his mouth to reply, but Twilight had not finished. “Because I think you’ve been acting this whole time. It’s no secret that Discord wanted to rule over Equestria and he can’t have been as forgiving as we were, since his return from his stone prison. Ever since you came to our world, he’s been acting weirder than usual. What are the two of you plotting?” she asked, words faintly laced with venom.
Mathew’s glare intensified, his eyes glowing steadily golden as he struggled to contain his building anger. “I think the only one of us that’s planning anything is you, Twilight. After all, you have the greatest reason to want me gone…” he said almost menacingly.
“What do ya mean by that?” Rainbow asked, rising up in defense of her friend.
Mathew couldn’t help it and a dark chuckle escaped his lips. “What, you didn’t know? It’s pretty obvious when you think about it. I just told you all a magnificent tale last night that turned Twilight’s idol into a virtual villain! She has every reason to hate me for making her feel like she’s betrayed that pretender,” he explained harshly.
Twilight’s horn lit up and she fired a beam at Mathew’s face. Mathew reacted instantly, throwing up his hand and catching the magic and causing it to build up into a ball of raw power. He held it there as he grinned at Twilight, who promptly proceeded to rear up and slam her hooves down in anger – much to the bewilderment of the others.
“Don’t you DARE insult Princess Celestia like that!” Twilight yelled furiously. “She would never do such a thing! I can’t believe I even thought you could possibly have been right – even for one instant. I won’t make that mistake again,” she declared and turned her head back to the others. “We need to use the Elements.”
Rainbow stared at Twilight with wide eyes. “What? Why?” she asked.
“Indeed!” Rarity chimed in. “Using them seems most unbecoming of this situation.”
“Rarity’s right!” said Applejack adamantly. “He hasn’t done anythin’ worth killin’ him for!”
Twilight ignored her friend’s protests and locked her eyes on Mathew. Her horn lit up again and she covered her friends in her magic. Pinkie Pie shrieked and asked, “What the hay is happening?”
“Ah think she’s tryin’ ta force our Elements to work!” Applejack yelled, trying her best to fight against the force of Twilight’s magic.
Rarity gasped as she saw her Element’s symbol appear in front of her. “Twilight, dear, you’ve got to stop this at once! Think about what you’re doing!” she pleaded desperately as she tried to force her magic to overpower Twilight’s.
The world around them flashed brightly and their Elements glowed gloriously. Rainbow tried one last time to break free, but her attempt fell through half way when their powers launched into the air as a rainbow beam of death. Her eyes dropped down to helplessly watch the innocent human be killed.
Meanwhile, Mathew simply watched the display, his eyes never leaving Twilight’s. He watched as Twilight’s friends struggled against her efforts. Applejack did her best to use her Earth Pony strength, while Rainbow Dash fought like a champ, both succeeding in small movements while under the effects of the overwhelming magic. Pinkie struggled as best she could, but she just lacked the same strength as her athletic friends. Rarity’s horn flared, gaining a layer of overglow, but even that could not counter Twilight’s might. Then there was Fluttershy… the poor Pegasus could only cry silently as she gazed at Mathew with a look of sorrow. In the background, Big McIntosh could only stare in disbelief.
When the beam of elemental magic shot into the air, Mathew broke his gaze to watch it ascend into the sky. He watched it climb high before it arced downward on a direct course to hit him. A sinister grin spread across his face and he threw up both of his hands – the ball of Twilights beam magic floating around him as a cloud of purple vapor.
The rainbow beam slammed into Mathew and his form was lost amongst the vibrant assault of color. A near blinding flash of light erupted from the impact point soon after… and was then engulfed in darkness that fed off of the prismatic beam. The pitch black magic surged up, eating away at the elemental attack, and reached Twilight in a matter of seconds.
Twilight had been so stunned seeing the Elements of Harmony fail, that she did not register the impending attack until it was almost too late. At the last second she teleported herself and her friends away to a safe distance. The shadow slammed into the ground, causing the soil to buckle and split from the sheer force of the impact.
Everypony stared in utter shock at what had happened to the ground. The shadows swiftly receded and returned to their source. Mathew’s body stepped out of the darkness as it coalesced into his chest. His grin was gone, a look of unadulterated anger replacing it. “Lesson one, Twilight: the Elements of Harmony won’t work unless all of you want them to,” he said firmly, his voice dripping with barely restrained malice.
“Lesson two: Never let your emotions blind you,” he continued, “because you’ll never see the truth. You just lost all of my trust, even though I knew you’d be the first to turn against me. Just because of some little misunderstanding, and your petty feelings of utter devotion to your princess, you let your loyalty and anger blind you to what Discord and I were truly trying to do. Playtime is over. The next time we meet… you really won’t like what I do. Because it seems the ex-villain and the evil human are the only ones trying to prevent a catastrophe. Good bye.”
Twilight stood stock still as Mathew’s shadow surged up and enveloped him. In the instant it took to blink his form and magic presence vanished without a trace. She slowly took in what Mathew had said. She did not want to believe it, but he had been right... she did let her anger blind her. Never in her entire life had she willingly tried to end a life. Yet, for whatever reason, she had been so quick to do so to Mathew’s.
She turned her head slowly to look at her friends and her throat tightened. Sad disappointed faces stared back at her, some filled with sorrow, some with tears, and in Rainbow’s case… shame.
~~***~~
Shadows suddenly swirled into existence and formed into the shape of an elongated sphere. The opaque bubble then popped and settled on the ground to form a proper shadow. Mathew stood in its place. His gaze trailed over the details of his surroundings.
Looks like it worked, he thought. So this is that old castle. Time has not been kind to it.
Mathew had teleported to the old castle that Princess Celestia and Luna had once lived in. It was a place of significance for them and Nightmare Moon. It was there, in that very place, where Nightmare had given a part of herself to Luna. Mathew examined the remains of the garden, noticing that much of it had either died or simply became assimilated into the foul magics from the Everfree Forest.
In a small sense it was sobering to see what it looked like in Nightmare’s memories and what had become of it over the past thousand years. Mathew’s expression shifted to melancholic as he realized something. That’s another issue they’d never comprehend… he thought to himself, having memories that are yours, even though they belong to another.
A slow sigh escaped Mathew’s chest and he turned away from the castle. His sights were set on a small mountain in the distance. Given the circumstances, it was highly unlikely that he’d be found, but he had other motives behind seeking the higher vantage point. From the top, he would be able to monitor Ponyville and the surrounding areas.
~~***~~
The top of the mountain was chilly with a semi-constant breeze that licked at Mathew’s magic-infused hair as he sat on a flat stone. It had taken the better part of the day to get there, but it was worth the view. The land beneath him stretched on, yielding a sight that Mathew would never have been able to dream of. To the north, resting oh so peacefully, was the town of Ponyville – a virtual little paradise on the edge of the Everfree Forest. A simple glance to the west yielded an almost endless expanse of lush green grassland, with a backdrop of another beautiful forest. And to the east, resting beyond the old castle ruins, was a unique slanted formation of tan stone.
The spectacular views had helped to put Mathew’s mood back in acceptable ranges. He needed the calm that came from such natural beauty, even though he was subconsciously aware that magic had played a major role in shaping the land, it was still natural for the pony world.
Mathew’s gaze soon drifted toward the horizon. He began to notice the tell tale signs that it was nearing that time when Celestia and Luna would set the sun and raise the moon. It was easy to notice once you picked up on the subtle clues; the most notable being that the sun would come to a stop, just as it got around to twenty degrees in the sky as it waited for the final push below the horizon.
He took in a deep breath. Mathew was all too aware that Luna would be able to find him once her moon rose up into the sky. The only question on his mind was whether or not she’d come to him. He had some hope, but most of him doubted she would… especially once she saw his appearance again. Despite the opposing feeling within his chest he resigned himself to keeping his hopes lower, so as to avoid being disappointed.
Mathew started to let his mind wander. His thoughts had tried to bring him around to contemplating his current set of problems, but he had forced such things out of his head just to avoid them. He really did not like the way things had ended between the ponies and him. Still, it was something he needed to think about.
So… what should my next step be, I wonder, Mathew began, I could try to talk things out with Twilight… but I doubt it would do any good. It’s too soon, I think. She needs time to process everything that she did, plus she needs to apologize to her friends first. Applejack would hear me out, but I’d be willing to bet that she’s in need of some time to herself as well after that. Heh, he chuckled to himself, I bet she’s either out bucking a few trees to get some of her anger out or she’s sitting near the orchard I was fixing… thinking about me.
Mathew’s mood shifted as a soft frown creased his lips. A new wave of regret swept over him as he realized that he had not done enough to explain things to Applejack. He had shrugged her off a little too carelessly for his taste, and left her to worry about him. I really am such an ass, he thought.
While he pondered further, thinking about the other bearers of the elements, the sun had taken its leave of the sky. The moon had risen and he completely missed the chance to enjoy it. His thoughts had just gotten around to contemplating the true extent of his next move when a sudden soft flash of light distracted him. He instantly went rigid as he recognized the magic that accompanied the flash.
“’It seems that we have caught thee while thou art deep in thought,” came Luna’s voice from Mathew’s right. “We do hope that thou hast an explanation for thine acts this day.”
Mathew quickly noted the low tone of Luna’s voice, but he also caught the tightness in her throat. Slowly, ever so slowly, he turned his head to gaze at her. His blue eyes met hers and he instantly saw the pain that tore at her heart. A deep sorrow filled Mathew’s own, but he steeled himself against it – having just come to a conclusion regarding his next move.
Mathew turned his head away from Luna as he calmly prepared his answer to her. “I made a small mistake in putting my trust in friendship,” he began. “I thought that things would work out, but it seems all it took was for my appearance to change and for Discord to get involved with me to put an end to it all. You’re probably aware of it, but just how much do you know of the events from earlier today?” Mathew asked.
Luna was quiet for a moment, most likely doing her best to steady her resolve enough to speak to her friend. “I know that Twilight had gotten rather upset with you about something involving my sister. She let her feelings control her, something I am too familiar with, and she tried to use the Elements against you. Though I would like to know more details, my greatest concern lies in something you said before you left them,” she said and paused as she carefully selected her words. “What kind of catastrophe are you trying to stop?”
Mathew sighed gently as he brought his hands up and clasped them beneath his chin, resting his elbows on his knees. “The deaths of innocents… would have been a good answer, but it’s probably not as grand as that – in retrospect,” he replied before lowering his hands as he looked back to Luna. “Let me add something more to the mix. How much do you know about your origins?” Mathew asked.
Luna’s eyes widened and she took a half step back, lifting a foreleg from the ground. “Why would you ask that?” she asked, almost sounding alarmed.
Mathew resisted a smirk as he thought, bingo. “Because I know the answer. So does your sister, though I don’t know why she would never have told you anything about it. She didn’t even give you a sugar-coated version of it. You two have been around for a few thousand years and you’ve never known a single detail about how you came into existence. Is there anything about that that strikes you as odd?” he said.
Luna’s shock melted into confusion. “How do you know so much about us?” she asked.
Mathew shook his head slightly and offered up a small smile. “Because I have memories that were once somepony else’s. A part of me wants to tell you everything right now… but the other wonders if you’re even ready to hear it,” he said and turned his gaze away.
Luna took a step forward, not even realizing she had done so. “Tell me,” she said, almost pleadingly. “Tell me everything.”
A sigh escaped Mathew as he stood and faced Luna. He struck an intimidating pose, widening his shoulders and taking a single step closer to her. Mathew eyed her with a firm glare. “Back on Earth, there’s a little saying that goes, ‘knowledge is power’. By telling you what I know – what your sister has hidden from you – your view of this world, life even, will change. Are you truly prepared to hear something that monumental?” he asked her, his voice low and serious.
Luna swallowed. The look she saw in Mathew’s glowing gold gaze told her his words meant more than what he wanted to let on. He was trying to scare her and for good reason, she presumed. Still, she had longed to know about her long forgotten past. She had to know. There was nothing that would sway her. She rose up to her full height and stared at Mathew, unwaveringly. “Tell me,” she commanded.
Mathew inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a moment before reopening them to reveal glowing bright blue eyes in a very serious expression. “You and Celestia, unlike the rest of all life on Equus, were born. Everything else was created. Equus, itself, was made by an old god, of sorts, while a younger goddess, the Life Giver, created the life that, even now, flourishes on it. The Life Giver gave birth to Celestia. You… you were born from another such deity. Your mother… is Nightmare Moon – or more accurately, Abyss,” he said and eyed Luna critically.
Luna… was speechless. Her mind raced as she finally put together the last of her missing memories. She finally remembered everything. From the very beginning, Abyss had been there, high in the sky, watching over her. The goddess of the dark had given Luna her name in honor of the moon and granted her the power over it and the night that followed. Abyss had continued to watch her grow, until one night when the moon had turned red. The sight had filled Luna with such a deep sadness… a sadness that had been forgotten because of what Celestia had done.
Luna’s eyes grew even wider as she recalled the next part of her foalhood. Celestia had become consumed with such anger that her power had surged forth. The impact had been so strong that it sent Luna flying through the air until she slammed into a tree. That was when everything changed for her. Her mind had been jolted so violently that she had suffered her first fit of memory loss. To make it worse, though, Celestia had started the first of her lies at that same moment.
Celestia had used a spell… a blinding light that pierced into Luna’s mind. The spell made her forget everything about Abyss. Over the next few months, Luna had spent a lot of her time relearning about herself… all courtesy of her caring sister. Celestia taught her about her unique magic, re-educated her in the ways of how the world worked, and guided Luna through their first few years of life.
From then on the two sisters traveled the world. Celestia had been very vague at the time, saying they had to find somepony strong enough to help them. It took them nearly two hundred years before they found their first “mentor,” a unicorn by the name of Astral Cycle. He had a way of seeing small glimpses into the future and celestia had been… unusually excited about that. They traveled with him, but only long enough to learn how to use his power.
After parting ways with Astral, Celestia had gained a new drive in life. She would babble about things she had seen, but would purposely avoid specific questions about why they had to meet with so and so. Luna had thought it strange, but had too much trust in Celestia to ever doubt her. History eventually led them to meeting with Starswirl the Bearded, a very interesting unicorn that had taken quite a liking to the two sisters.
Looking back on their time with Starswirl, Luna started to see why he grew so distant. He had always said that the pursuit of magic was admirable, but to never let it get the better of you. He must have seen something in the way Celestia sought after and mastered so many magic spells, because it did not take him long to start reprimanding her for some of the things she had learned. Especially when she had destroyed an entire forest with a beam of light she had called down from the sun.
Things started to make more sense now. The reason why Starswirl had taken Luna aside to warn her of the consequences of misusing magic, his eventual parting with them, and his eventual disappearance all together. Celestia had driven him off. Their constant arguing and banter had only built up to that point. A pang of guilt filled Luna, since she had felt that she could have stopped their fighting, but she always sided with Celestia’s point of view.
Luna’s empty gaze suddenly came to life and she focused on Mathew. Her eyes had misted as she recalled her lost past, but there was one thing that came to the forefront of her mind. She ground her teeth together and steeled herself before she asked, “And what does any of this have to do with the catastrophe? How does all of this play into the grander scheme that you seem to be aware of?”
Mathew returned Luna’s gaze, only with less emotion. For some reason he felt a little hollow at that moment. “The catastrophe has to do with Celestia. Everything points to her. For whatever reason, she’s the trigger for that vision I witnessed.”
“And how do you know it was truly a vision?” Luna interrupted firmly.
“Because I experienced another one!” Mathew snapped, slamming his foot down hard enough to crack the stone of the mountain. His eyes glowed brighter in that moment and a wave of power coursed through him, filling the air around him with a visual representation of his seething anger. What that anger was directed toward, Luna could only guess, but she did know that it frightened her.
Mathew took a few calming breaths after his outburst before he spoke again. “Dreams and wild imagination don’t give you actual sensations. I could feel the heat in that vision. I smelt the smoke and tasted the ash. And I’ve never liked the sight of dead bodies, but seeing those pony corpses, charred and partially disintegrated… was unlike anything my mind could possibly hope to conjure up! When I asked you if Celestia had the same ability, it was to see if my gut was right. You know it’s possible to see into the future. Why is it so hard for you to believe me when I say I’ve seen such a horrific thing?” he said heatedly.
Luna stomped a hoof and glared at Mathew. “Because you’re telling me that my beloved sister is responsible for such a thing!” she retorted.
Mathew stepped closer and placed a hand over his chest. “Because it’s exactly what I saw! I wish I was lying! I wish I had never seen anything like that, or what I saw afterward, but it doesn’t change the fact that Celestia is about to make a grave decision. She has to be stopped before she can do anything like that – think of how much death she could cause if she ever let herself lose control!” he pleaded with her.
Luna balked at his words, but then something clicked in her head. She withheld her remark and chose to say something else entirely to sate her concern. “Why have you revealed this to us, then? What do you hope to achieve?” she asked.
Mathew sighed and turned away from her. He walked a few steps and turned to face Luna. “Because fate is cruel? I don’t even know why I wasted my time waiting for you. You and I are supposed to be friends… but I guess that was too much to hope for. I thought you’d see the truth for what it is. Instead, it’s just like with Twilight, you are doing your own part to defend Celestia. What do I have to do to make you see that I’m telling you the honest truth?” he asked, deflating slightly.
Luna thought on his words carefully. It had hurt to hear him say such things about their friendship, but something told her he did not really mean much by it. If anything, it was just him losing himself to his own emotions – something that had been happening a lot to everypony around him recently. Even Celestai had changed since… it was then that something clicked again.
Luna stared at Mathew for a long moment. “If… if what you say is true. Then what would your method be to stop her?” she asked slowly.
Mathew shrugged and crossed his arms. “Not a clue. It’s why I needed to talk with Discord. This talk with you has also given me a small tidbit of information as well,” he said.
Luna eyed him curiously. “And what, pray tell, did you get out of our conversation?” she asked.
A weak smirk crossed over Mathew’s lips for a moment before vanishing. “That you really love your big sister. And that she isn’t as evil as I’ve been, unintentionally, making her out to be. I didn't mean to portray her as a villain, or anything. I just want to stop her from making… a very big mistake. None of you know what it means to end a life when you let your hatred fuel the act,” he said as a sad look crossed over his features.
Luna took a step closer, noticing the deep emotions play behind the fading glow of Mathew’s eyes. “And… you do?” she asked softly, almost regretting the question as it left her mouth.
Mathew’s eyes glanced at her and everything became clear in that instant. Mathew had killed before. He let out a slow sigh and looked at the cracked ground. “I once had a pet dog, when I was young. A few years back he went missing. I went out to look for him… and came across some fresh bones. Among them… I saw a collar. Coyotes had killed and eaten him. I was so angry, I… I went to the shed, took a machete and a piece of rebar, and went out to find them.
“I looked for the creature responsible, nonstop. I eventually found one around dusk and I ran after it through the woods. Somehow I caught up to it, threw the rebar like a spear, and hit the coyote on its rear end. I knew I had it, in that moment, but I watched it struggle and cry out in pain. It’s still sickening to me, but I found its suffering and pain to be satisfying – like it was a symbol of what I went through when it took away my beloved pet.
“When I got bored of it’s struggling, which was around the time it had gone lethargic from blood loss, I ended its life. I sent the machete strait down and cleaved the thing’s head open. As its blood splashed on my hand and face I knew… I knew I had made a terrible mistake. That weight, the weight of ending the life of another being, and doing so in such a cruel way… it’s really a lot harder to handle than you might think. The saddest part is that there are plenty of other humans that would have been perfectly fine with what I did. Humans… can be pretty ruthless when it suits their purposes. Unfortunately, it seems that Celestia is capable of making the same mistake should she be left alone to continue down her current path,” Mathew finished.
Luna took some time to digest that lengthy bit of Mathew’s past. It was a lot to take in. It was not an unheard of thing, murder, but it was so rare that those whose professions required them to know about such a thing generally only knew about it. Even then, murders were merely unfortunate accidents. Never had anypony sought to end another’s life in the manner Mathew had described.
A deep sigh suddenly came from somewhere above them. “Well that sure was depressing,” Discord said as he floated in the air. His complexion had turned to a literal blue and he eyed Mathew with a melancholic expression on his face.
Mathew sighed gently and looked up at the Draconequus. “Yeah… not my finest moment. I’m surprised to see you here. I thought you’d hide until Luna was gone,” he said.
Discord smirked and his skin returned to it’s normal coloring. “Why would I hide from an ally?” he asked.
“What?” Luna asked, clearly surprised by Discord’s words.
“Oh come now, moon butt, I can tell you’ve already fallen for our little hero here,” Discord chided. “You may not like the idea, but Mathew’s got the right stuff to make this whole thing turn around for the better. And, since I’m the most dashing of our little group of misfits, I’m the number one sidekick… you can be number two, but you’d probably have a better shot at competing with Applejack in the ‘damsel in distress’ department.”
Mathew groaned and reached up. He took hold of Discord’s tail and yanked him down. Discord found himself face to face with him. “Discord…” Mathew said in a warning tone.
Discord put up his hands and grimaced sheepishly. “Alright, alright… I get the message. I’ll refrain from such jokes for the time being. Besides,” he paused and glanced at Luna, “we do have more important things to discuss.”
“Indeed we do,” Mathew replied. He released Discord’s tail and walked a few paces away from the other two as he crossed his arms. He then turned back toward Discord. “I’ll need to know more about Celestia, but there’s something I want you both to know first,” he said.
Discord cocked an eyebrow and grinned while Luna stared in slight confusion. Then Mathew placed his hands on his hips. “I’m going to play the part of the villain!” he declared, a cheesy grin playing across his face.