"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.