"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."