//------------------------------//
// 15. Compassion 
// Story: Rebirth of the Damned 
// by Borsuq 
//------------------------------//

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."