Three days passed by at a crawl for everypony. The level of anticipation for the human’s return was incredible, especially once the rumor started spreading after Rainbow Dash made the mistake of accidentally admitting where her latest piece of fashion had come from. A curious guard wondering why the non-feminine cyan pegasus mare was wearing such a pretty crystal necklace was all it took to set the rumor mill alight.
Everypony, from the maids and guards of Canterlot to the ponies as far out as Appleloosa, knew of Mathew’s revival. The tales of how he had stopped Princess Celestia, whether she was seen in a positive or negative light, had migrated across all of Equus over the years. Many eagerly awaited his return for they knew him as a hero – especially the citizens of Ponyville.
News of the leak had not been a welcome subject for Twilight and her friends. As soon as it was learned that Rainbow had been the reason for the latest turn of events, Princess Luna had approached them and ordered all of the Element Bearers to stay within the castle. Rarity had taken that news the hardest as she had been quite keen on visiting the local spa with any of her friends that wanted to accompany her.
Rainbow Dash had been lightly reprimanded for revealing something so important, but since there was little that could be done about it she was let off easy. She had been ordered to stay indoors, effectively grounding the energetic mare, which drove her nearly insane a few times as her wings itched to feel the wind between her feathers.
The rest of the group had handled the news rather well. Twilight was the easiest to satisfy since all she needed to be content was a few good books. Spike found contentment in doing what he always did, tending to his big sister, Twilight, and hanging out with the royal guards nearby.
Fluttershy had wanted to go out into the gardens to visit her animal friends there, but was denied that chance a few times. On the plus side, her friends were allowed to enter the castle to spend some time with her, so her situation had turned out… nice.
As for Pinkie Pie and Applejack, they found themselves making things a little easier for the castle’s kitchen staff. The two baking mares wound up whipping together quite a few dishes of delectable treats while they passed the time, though Applejack did take time away from the kitchen to visit Mathew. Just like many of her previous visits, Applejack found her way to Mathew’s bedroom to find Nightmare Moon standing by the open window.
“Good afternoon, young Applejack,” Nightmare greeted without turning to look at the orange farmpony.
Applejack bowed her head slightly in respect. “Afternoon to you too, Nightmare. Ah take it there’s still been no change to the crystal yet?” she asked as she looked to the floating pale blue gem.
Nightmare sighed slowly as she looked over to Applejack. It had been all too obvious why the young mare kept visiting. Though her daughter, Luna, also showed signs of wanting to have confirmation, it was even more evident in Applejack that she truly wished to know how Mathew felt about her. It was torturous, not just to watch, knowing that the answer was so close and still so far away. Nightmare slowly walked over to stand beside the orange mare.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re quite persistent when you have your sights set on something?” Nightmare Moon asked casually with a small smile.
Applejack chuckled gently and shook her head. “Yeah… a few times at least. But ah just can’t help it, ya know? He’s finally comin’ back…”
“Indeed… but just because he’s returning doesn’t mean that you’ll get what you desire. If I know Mathew the way I think I do, then it will be a little while before he musters up the courage to finally speak with you. Once he is back, I know he’s going to devote everything he has at his disposal to prepare you all for Absolution. I know that it is difficult for mortals… but try to be patient. He’ll come to you when the time is right,” Nightmare said calmly, doing what she could to pass on a little of her wisdom to Applejack.
The Bearer of Honesty could only sigh and hang her head as she took in Nightmare’s words. She knew what the dark goddess was trying to do, but her feelings were just too strong to ignore. Applejack slowly walked over and pressed her hoof to the side of the prism. “Ah know he will… but ah’m just so afraid of losin’ him again. What if somethin’ happens to him? Ah’ve finally gotten a second chance to know what he feels fer me… and this time we’re going up against a god, of all things; the very same one that happens to be Princess Celestia and Luna’s father. Ah just can’t stand the thought of never knowing if he loves me…”
Nightmare watched Applejack quietly for a few moments. In a way, she knew exactly what the poor earth pony was going through. She had felt similar feelings before she had been reunited with Luna. Many nights had gone by where Nightmare wondered and feared what could happen if she never got another chance to make things right with her daughter and Celestia. There was little doubt in her mind that finding the answer meant more than anything else in the world to her at one point in time.
“I understand what you mean, young Applejack… but you must not try to rush something as monumental as love. Especially with someone like Mathew… pushing him for an answer will only make him slip further away. I’m almost certain that he feels guilty with how he left things. He needs to become content with himself first, before he can move forward in life. He is… someone with secrets. You know just how much he’s held back from everypony, and he only shared what he was comfortable with at the time. There is much more to him, but it will take time before any of you can be allowed to learn of such things,” Nightmare said before she walked back over to the open window.
Applejack let her hoof slowly drop to the floor. A small part of her wanted to spin around angrily, but the more logical part of her knew that everything that Nightmare had said was true. Nopony knew so much about Mathew except for Nightmare. She looked over her shoulder at the stoic expression on Nightmare’s face and stared for a time. Thoughts bubbled in Applejack’s mind, but her voice refused to cooperate. Eventually, Applejack sighed quietly and made her way to the door to leave.
“There is one more thing you should know, Applejack,” Nightmare said just before Applejack’s hoof reached the handle. “Mathew does care for all of you. Even if he fails to tell you his feelings properly, you were always his closest friend… and that will never change.”
Applejack stared at Nightmare for a long moment before a small smile graced her lips. She nodded gently and opened the door. “Thank you, Nightmare,” she said softly and left.
Nightmare Moon held her gaze upon the fading light of the sky for a while. Once she was sure there would be no further interruptions, Nightmare calmly approached Mathew’s crystal. She stopped just close enough that all she needed to do was tilt her head forward and her horn would touch the side, but she refrained from doing so. There was no need.
Mathew’s magic reached out to her instead, pulling Nightmare into his void. The familiar darkness of the realm greeted the goddess like an old shirt that fit just right. She opened her eyes to see Mathew again, only now there was no window of magic to filter out her influence. A small smile graced her face as she looked into Mathew’s eyes. “I have to admit… I did miss this feeling,” she spoke softly.
Mathew smiled gently as well and shook his head. “I’m afraid our bonding will have to wait just a little while longer,” he admitted with a sigh. “You know why I forced you to wait for three days.”
“Yes. Tonight is the night of the full moon when my powers gain a slight boost from the orb I created. You wished to monopolize on that effect, correct?” Nightmare asked to confirm.
Mathew nodded and stepped closer to his pact partner. He could already feel their hearts beating as one again… and slight bits of his mind began to feel tighter as her mentality started to mold and combine with his. The feeling was strange… and also familiar in a way that made it almost feel right. Mathew sighed as he gently placed his hand on Nightmare’s cheek. “Are you absolutely certain you want to do this, Nightmare?”
“As certain as I’ve ever been, Mathew,” she answered instantly and honestly. “But if it helps you to accept this, then permit me to request another promise from you.”
Mathew looked into Nightmare’s eyes for what felt like an eternity before he smiled and closed his eyes. “I promise that no harm will come to either of them. I’d sooner die than allow that to happen.”
Nightmare smiled as well as she placed her hoof to the hand on her cheek. “Thank you, Mathew.”
Mathew slowly opened his eyes and he looked up as a massive window to the outside came down. On the other side of the window stood Celestia and Luna as they prepared to lower the sun and raise the full moon. “Looks like it’s almost time…” Mathew said softly. “Do you want to say anything to them before we begin?”
Nightmare looked to her daughters as tears slowly formed in her eyes. Silence followed as she watched them perform one of the most beautiful spells she had ever seen. Time and time again, the sight of Celestia and Luna working their magic upon the celestial bodies had been awe-inspiring and gorgeous. That still applied, but there was considerably more meaning to it this time. Her children were about to be without their mother again.
Mathew watched the moon crest over the horizon before he felt a wing wrap around him as Nightmare placed her head on his shoulder and cried as quietly as she could. The human felt her pain and fought back his own tears, knowing that he had his answer. Being respectful of his partner, Mathew waited for Nightmare to let her eyes run dry before he gently embraced the dark goddess. The moon reached its peak in the sky, joining the twinkling stars above.
In a single swift motion, Mathew stepped forward and Nightmare’s form melted into a midnight black mist that quickly flowed into his body. Warmth spread throughout Mathew as Nightmare became one with him once more. That warmth rapidly became a burning inferno of power and the void around them started to swirl and glow with a pale blue magic as their bond went into the most important stage of combining the two once more…
~~***~~
Twilight jolted out of her reading mode and the book she had been reading hit the floor. Raw power filled the air like smoke from a fire, rolling and billowing out from an unknown source. Within moments, the purple Alicorn put the pieces together and she ran from the room with her little assistant tailing right behind her, a look of shock on his face.
As the two ran through the castle, the rest of Twilight’s friends joined her from adjacent hallways. There was no need for questions as they all ran to the only place they knew that could generate such a powerful source of magic – a magic that they knew all too well.
Crashing through the door, Twilight, Spike and the others arrived in Mathew’s room to see a bright ball of energy swirling and contorting where the crystal once hovered. Standing on either side of the vortex of power were Celestia and Luna, doing everything they could to contain the tendrils of magic that threatened to destroy the room further than what had already been done. Twilight acted instantly, jumping to a point nearby that allowed her to form a triangular approach to containing the unstable magic.
With a precise burst of magic, Twilight sent out her power to form another layer to the containment field the princesses had constructed. The instant her magic made contact with the swirling vortex within, the Princess of Magic found herself being forced to concentrate as hard as she possibly could. Never had she encountered such incredible power. Though her time spent as a container for the power of Celestia, Luna and Cadance during the short time Tirek had been loose had been mind boggling, the sheer amount radiating off of Mathew’s crystal easily dwarfed that amount. Twilight had no idea that the human could wield so much magic!
Suddenly, Twilight realized that there was somepony missing from the picture. Fighting through the effort was difficult in itself, but she managed to yell out over the roar of magic, “Where’s Nightmare?”
Luna simply ground her teeth as she focused more of her magic into the containment, but Celestia did manage to grunt out a response. “We don’t know, Twilight! Keep focusing on containing the magic!”
Twilight grit her teeth and she pressed harder into subduing the magic. Then, as quickly as the power had come, the swirling vortex condensed into a ball the size of a hoof before a force pushed everypony back firmly. The push made the three Alicorns lose their focus and the containment spell collapsed. All eyes stared at the glowing orb of light as it hovered over the decimated remains of a bed. A few castle guards filed into the room to assess the situation, only to come to a halt at the sight before them, their jaws on the floor.
A sudden pop of magic drew everypony’s attention to the newly arrived form of Discord, who narrowed his eyes as soon as he spotted the orb. “I knew I felt something strange…” he mumbled as he crossed his arms and watched the energy ball with a firm expression.
In the blink of an eye, the white energy of the orb flashed to the deepest black you could imagine and it exploded into a mist that filled the room. Darkness engulfed everything, not even the light from the torches or the horns of the princesses could pierce it. The mist slowly receded, releasing everypony from its fear-inducing grip as it slowly formed into a human sized sphere. The dark ball of shadow gently popped and dispersed into nothingness to reveal the form of Mathew… or was it Nightmare?
A black-coated Alicorn stood on its hind legs where the orb once did. Its eyes were golden brown slits like a dragon’s and its smoky light blue mane and tail flowed in an ethereal wind like a slow burning flame. Slowly, its body lowered down to stand on all fours and it began to inspect itself. It stood taller than Celestia by a few sizable inches and massive feathered wings slowly unfurled to reveal light blue feathers on the undersides of them to match its mane.
Everypony held their breath as they stared at this new form… until Discord slapped his paw against his face and sighed heavily. “Oh no… he just had to go and follow through with that idea, didn’t he? I can already feel the hate messages being written by this point,” he grumbled as he glared at something on the ceiling.
“At least some of them kinda like the idea,” Pinkie chirped happily.
Everypony else simply stared at the two of them for a moment before shrugging it off as Discord and Pinkie being Discord and Pinkie. Mathew’s voice suddenly redirected all the attention back to the new Alicorn in the room. “This… was not what I had been expecting.”
Luna’s eyes widened slightly and she took a tentative step closer to the black Alicorn. “Mathew?” she asked.
The Alicorn turned its head to her and smirked. “You do realize that I could simply say no to that and pull your leg, right?” Mathew replied.
Twilight and the others slowly stepped closer; inspecting the new form Mathew had taken on. Upon closer inspection, it was clearly evident that the Alicorn in front of them was indeed a male – much to the embarrassment of a few of the mares. Discord suddenly snapped his fingers as a sly grin plastered itself across his face. Mathew’s expression quickly turned to shock as he found Luna and Applejack right in front of him.
The dark Alicorn lifted his hoof in a swift motion and then stared blankly as realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Without hands, he had no way of snapping his fingers to counter the lord of chaos, and as such lacked the necessary means to fend off the oncoming chaotic development. Another snap had Mathew’s lips a mere breath away from the two mares in front of him. Mathew’s eyes widened considerably as he saw the love and longing build up steadily in Luna and Applejack.
Mathew went to pull his head away, but found that an invisible force kept him from getting far enough away. The poor Alicorn gulped and his eyes darted back and forth between the lunar princess and the farmpony. Luna glanced to Applejack and Applejack returned the look for a brief instant. Teasing grins slowly spread across their faces as they returned their lustful gazes to their prey. Just before poor Mathew could react accordingly, the two mares swooped in and pecked him on each cheek – with Luna sneaking in to lick the end of his muzzle affectionately.
“Ugh! Okay, seriously, why the lick? That was the weirdest feeling ever!” Mathew said as he scrunched up his face at the slimy sensation on the end of his muzzle.
Luna simply giggled and eyed Mathew playfully. “Because I knew you’d react like that… you look adorable when you get a scrunchy face,” she teased.
Applejack giggled as well and brought her hoof up to her lips. “Yeah, he does look cute like that, huh. Kinda makes me wonder what else we can do to make him react like that…”
Awkward silence filled the room as those words, and their implications, set in for everypony. “Um… Applejack,” Fluttershy said softly, “I think that might have come out wrong…”
A fierce blush took over the orange mare’s cheeks as she stuttered, “T-that wasn’t what ah meant at all! Ah o-only thought that, well, m-maybe he’d look funny if we licked his neck or something!”
Rainbow Dash managed to suppress her snickering to minimal levels while Twilight simply blushed along with Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie and Discord exchanged mirthful glances and Rarity just eyed the scene in front of her as levelly as she could manage. Celestia, however, decided that there had been enough time spent with joking and she stepped closer to Mathew and bowed her head softly.
Mathew instantly noticed the action and slowly turned a disapproving stare to the solar princess. The temperature of the room dropped down low enough that everypony could see their breath in the air. “Raise your head, Celestia,” Mathew commanded hollowly.
Celestia obeyed, lifting her head high to look Mathew in the eye. She showed no fear of his ire. “Yes, Mathew?”
Rainbow Dash’s fear of Mathew’s power jolted her body rigid, but she remembered the crystal around her neck and steeled herself as she slowly walked to stand beside him. The rest of the girls could only stare at the ominous display, though Twilight did manage to compose herself more when she noticed that the look on Mathew’s face had been more displeased than hostile.
Sensing her trembling feathers, Mathew slowly reached his wing over and gently brushed it against Rainbow’s shoulder, his eyes never breaking contact with Celestia. He eyed her for a time, carefully measuring his words before he spoke what was on his mind. “I cannot, and will not, command you, Princess Celestia. I know what your mother’s memory contained… she did not mean for you to throw away your free will to blindly follow every whim of mine. The Life Giver wished for you to heed my words and to consider what I have to offer you in your travels. Do not give up who you are just because you’ve felt lost without me here to guide you…”
Celestia’s ears wilted as her head lowered with the weight of the truth behind Mathew’s words. There had been many times since that fateful day that she had wished Mathew had been there to tell her what to do… what to say… and how to act. To this day she still could hardly hold her composure in front of some of the petitioners who came to the castle from Ponyville. The looks they still gave her broke her heart and chipped away at what was left of her caring spirit. She feared the ponies she had wronged deeply.
Mathew slowly walked over and awkwardly lifted Celestia’s chin so that she could see his face. Kind golden brown eyes, full of sympathy and warmth, looked down at her and Mathew’s smile slowly melted the icy grip that had tried to seize her heart. “Celestia… don’t look at me as if I’m a miracle worker. I’m not perfect in any way. My very existence makes me a flawed individual… it’s what makes me human, or used to, that is. My point is… you are not the only one responsible for what happened three years ago. I know you’ve tried to muster the courage to properly apologize to the ponies of Ponyville, but at least now you won’t be alone. We can make amends, together. I can never be better than you… but we can walk as equals. Will you permit this lowly creature that simple blessing?” he asked with a gentle bow of his head.
Celestia stared at Mathew with widened eyes. She could not believe that he would dare to call himself lowly! Yet, any rebuttal she may have had died on her tongue as Mathew lifted his head and smiled again for her. She could not resist as the corners of her mouth tugged upward as she returned the gesture genuinely. “I would like that, Mathew,” she said happily.
Mathew’s smile warmed a little more as he gave Celestia a small nod. “As would I,” he said and then turned a friendly look to the others in the room, the chill in the air slowly warming back up. “Now… I know I said to be ready to leave as soon as I awoke, but with this slightly unexpected change I think I’d like to postpone our departure. If you don’t mind, everypony, I’d like to take a few days to get used to being… a pony. I could also use the rest to recover some of my magic.”
“Wait a sec… you mean that after all that, you still aren’t at full?” Rainbow asked incredulously.
Mathew chuckled and grinned at her. “Believe it or not, I’m probably almost out of magic right now. The amount I used to break out, reconnect my bond with Nightmare, and then fuse her body into mine again was very substantial. You’d be able to kick my butt pretty easily if you wanted to… you know, in case you still held enough of a grudge and wanted to get me back for what I put you through,” he said half teasingly.
Rainbow grinned and lowered her stance slightly. “Oh yeah? Well in that case…” In the blink of an eye, Rainbow swooped forward embraced Mathew. “It’s good to have ya back, big guy.”
Mathew sighed with a smile as he returned the hug, noting how much nicer it felt for his new form. “Yeah… I’m glad to be back.”