//------------------------------//
// 24. Discorded 
// Story: Rebirth of the Damned 
// by Borsuq 
//------------------------------//

Prince Blueblood stared at his dented into the wall friend, speechless.
"How could he lose to that commoner?" he thought.
As the crowd started cheering, one of the Grand Arena's ponies came closer to him.
"Prince Blueblood," he said, turning the royal pony attention away from the fighting stage, "there's a letter for you."
Blueblood frowned, and took the letter.

I hope you remember what you are supposed to do now. You don't want me to go to you, don't you?

The prince glanced at Matthias, who was bowing before the crowd. As if sensing this, the earth pony looked back at him. Blueblood found himself quivering from that look. He quickly returned to reading the letter.

Seeing as you are too frightened to properly think, I took the liberty of writing for you what you are about to say.

As Prince Blueblood read the other part of the letter, he blushed out of embarrassement.





Matthias once again bowed before the cheering crowd.
"I'm beginning to understand why it took so many years for Thrall to run away from Durnholde." he thought, waving. "How long has it been since I heard such large group cheering for me?"
He frowned as he remembered. 
"It was the moment before I killed my father."
He stoped reacting to the crowd as his thoughts once again turned dark. With his good mood dumped, he was about to turn around and leave, when he heard Blueblood's voice.
"If I could get everypony's attention..." he said, clearing his throat. " I have an important announcement to make."
Matt, who completaly forgot about this, glanced at him. Even from here, he could see that the 'prince' was all red out of embarrassement.
"I, Prince Blueblood, would like to publicly and officially apologise to every mare that I ever offended. My behaviour is beyond forgiveness, unless one can count being a self-center snob as an excuse. Truly, it's a wonder that I haven't been yet accused in a court. I hope that I never put any lady in any discomfort by being a jerk. Once again, I apologise."
Hearing the murmur of laughter that went through the Arena, as well as seeing Blueblood leave in a hurry, made Matt feel better as he left the fighting stage.





Twilight laughted with the others as the prince said his apology, knowing that it was because of Matt that they could hear it. She was about to call him, when she noticed that he no longer was where he stood a moment ago. She looked around and saw his tail disappearing in the exit of the stage.
"I will go talk with Matt. Can the rest of you go back to the castle and check on everything?" she asked her friends.
"Be sure to give him my thanks." said Rarity as everypony nodded, and Twilight went looking for the entrance to the locker rooms. 
She needed to talk to him.





Matthias stared at his reflection in the mirror, wondering how would his father think of him now.
"Oh, for pony sake!" he heard Twilight say behind him.
"Well, it's rather a long way to my usual pondering place, isn't it?" he chuckled, turning around.
"You know that you technically cheated, don't you?"
"Technically, this isn't magic as you understand it in Equestria, so I didn't cheat. And besides, would you prefer me to get hit by his spell?"
"Well, no." she said, looking at the floor. "You scared everypony, you know that?"
"Sorry." Matt replied, trully regreting worrying his friends, especially her. "I didn't mean to make it look so... dramatic, but he really caught me off guard."
"Oh, now you really calmed me." Twilight chuckled, then sighed. "I'm just glad that you're okay."
"Once again, I'm sorry." Matt said. "So, how are the preparations for the wedding going?"
His question had an unexpecting result. Instead of brightening up and telling him how great everything was going, Twilight looked distraught.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I... I'm not sure there should be a wedding." Twilight said, staring at her hooves.
Matthias wasn't sure what to say. He recalled how unhappy she was earlier today, but he thought she had gotten over it by now.
"Why?"
"Because she's mean!" Twilight started shouting. "She's been horrible to everypony: she threw away the snacks Applejack gave her, after saying that she 'love, love, love them'; she was being so demanding about her dress; and she insulted Pinkie Pie's party!"
"What did the others say?"
"They are so too caught up in their wedding planning that they didn't even noticed!" replied Twilight, starting to pace around.
"Um... Twilight?" asked Matt, mentally going over the prayer for protection, just in case. "Don't you think that you're maybe... overreacting?"
"What!?" she shouted, looking at him in disbelieve.
"Princess Cadance is getting married, of course she's going to be a bit..."
"Urghh, you'r just the same as everypony else." said Twilight, turning around.
Matthias knew he couldn't let her go like this.
"Twlight wait!" he shouted, and noticing her glowing horn, he spoke fast, before she managed to teleport herself. "Remember what you told me after that dragon incident?"
That got her attention.
"You said that if you have your friends with you, they can tell you when what you're about to do is wrong. Being surrounded by ponies you trust and have them advising you will alway make you take the right course of action."
"You... remembered it all?" she asked with wide eyes.
"What you're about to do is the same what I did." Matt continued, not bothering to reply. "You're turning your back on a friend that is trying to advise you."
Twilight, looked at the floor.
"You're right. Sorry." she sighed.
"Twilight, I have no right to judge somepony because she's trying to do what she believes to be right." Matthias said, coming closer to her. "But I would prefer to not see you suffer as I did when I watched my friends turn their backs on me."
"But... what am I going to do?" Twilight asked, tears forming in her eyes. "If I am right, she's going to ruin Shining Armor's life! I can't..."
"Talk with your brother." told her Matt. "I've met him today, and he seemed to me happy about getting married. But maybe you are right. If the two of you talk - calmly - I'm sure that the truth about Cadance and the wedding will come out."
Twilight looked into his eyes and smiled.
"I will do that. Thanks." she said, whipping out tears.
"You want me to come with you?"
"No, I... I will be fine." she said, taking a deep breath. "You'd better go and take some rest. I will tell you tomorrow how it went."
"Very well, see you tomorrow. And remember, stay calm!" he shouted after her.





Matthias trotted toward the castle. Everypony he passed greeted him with a smile. News about Blueblood apology traveled fast, and everypony, even those of the same social class as the 'prince' seemed glad about it.
As he was approaching the castle, he noticed the entrance to the castle's gardens. Thinking that it would be a good way to calm himself after all that happened, he entered the gardens.
The flowers and trees looked a bit scary, now that it was night. Matthias found that refreshing. He was still unused to the way everything screamed 'happiness' in Equestria.
He bent over to smell few flowers. He remembered snapdragon at the Balnir Farmstead, the pride of Vera Balnir. He loved spending time there as a child, whenever he didn't have any lessons, and play with Jarim. He whirled as the memory struck him, but soon was repleced by another, as he saw a lilies. They looked a lot like flowers once called Stratholme's Lilies, before their name was changed.
Into Arthas' Tears.
Matthias wondered how come he hadn't gone insane with all those memories.
He began to regret the idea of coming here and looked for exit. As he walked, he passed few statues, not paying them much attention, until he came across the last one.
"What by all that is holy is this supposed to be?"
It was... Matthias couldn't even find a proper word to describe it. The abominations that Putricide made could at least be described as that, but he couldn't help but feel as the statue was based on the living creature. The expression of pure fear on it's face, that looked a bit like pony's, told him that. Other than that, the creature had a body of a cloud serpent that Matt knew to exist in Pandaria, two wings - one pegasus', other bat's - that were too small to lift this body, a mountain cat's paw, eagle's claws, dragon's paw and and pony's hoof. Even it's face was weird, had a goat-like horn and deer-like antler, one eye bigger than the other one and a giant tooth.
Matt stared at the creature, his thoughts about his past evaporeted.
"What the bloody hell are you?" he finally asked.
"This is Discord." said a serene voice behind him.
Matthias turned around and gazed at her.
Like Cadance, she was beautiful, but while Cadance beauty was a simple, mortal beauty, she emanated a godlike beauty. She was a lot bigger than other ponies. Her coat was white with a slight pink tinge, and her mane and tail... Matthias thought he saw four different colors of the sky on them, but he couldn't be sure, because they were constantly flowing, despite that there was no wind. She wore similiar regalia as Cadance, but they were a lot bigger and valuable, and her cutie mark was the symbol of the sun.
Matt quickly took a hold of himself and kneeled before her.
"Princess Celestia, it's a pleasure to meet you. Please, pardon my previous words. I had no idea I was in your presence."
"That's quite alright, Matthias Lehner, there's no need for you to apologise. And it's a pleasure to meet you, as well. Please, stand up." as Matt did as Celestia told him, she continued: "I read quite a lot about you in Twilight's letters."
Matt smiled sadly.
"Normally, a pony would say: 'all things good, I hope?', right Your Highness?"
The Princess nodded.
"Normally, yes." she replied and glanced at the statue.
"You said that this is discord." Matthias said, "What did you mean by that, Your Highness? Was it the name of this creature, or is this all symbolic?"
"Both statements are true in this case. Discord is a Spirit of Chaos that once ruled over Equestria, before my sister and I defeated him and imprisoned him in stone."
"So... that's not really a statue?"
"No."
"What did you mean by Spirit of Chaos, Your Highness?"
"Discord in chaos incarnated. He can warp reality to his own amusement, and he doesn't care that it hurts other ponies. Quite the contrary, he finds great delight in their suffering. And he has a terrible sense of humor. I'm surprised Twilight didn't mentioned him to you." added the Princess.
"Why would she mention to me about some creature that you and Princess Luna defeated more than a thousand years ago?" asked surprised Matthias.
"Because it was her and her friends that defeated Discord when he broke free few month ago with the Elements of Harmony."
Matthias eyes went wide and he almost let his jaw drop.
"You mean the Elements of Harmony, Princess? The ones that changed your sister back to her old self?"
Princess Celestia chuckled.
"Yes, and that was also their doing. It would appear that Twilight kept a few secrets from you."
Matthias looked back at the statue.
"Well, it would seem that it's only fair, since I keep a few secrets away from her as well."
"So they can use the most powerful artifacts on this world... Looks like I really don't have to worry about hurting anypony if I ever become evil again."
Thinking about it made him ask the Princess something.
"Why did Discord became evil?"
"I'm sorry?" asked Princess Celestia.
"Why did he became evil? What was the reason that triggeret it?"
Princess looked at him with wide eyes.
"He always was evil, ever since he came to Equestria. He's the incarnation of chaos."
"I beg your forgiveness, Princess, but he couldn't always be evil. Nopony is born evil, of which I am the prime example of. There must have been a reason for that, but if what you say is true, then it must have happened before he came to Equestria."
Princess Celestia looked at him thoughfully.
"You know, Matthias, I have never thought of that." she said finally. Glancing at the statue, she added: "I guess to me, he was always the monster from the stories my mother told me and Luna. But there is nothing we can do about it, unless he would break free again, but that would be most unfortunate."
"I guess your right, Princess." replied Matthias, pitying the creature.
Princess Celestia turned away, signaling for him to follow her. Matt walked beside her.
"You haven't told much to anypony about yourself from the time before you came to Equestria."
"Am I right to assume that Twilight wrote you everything I have told her or said in her presence?"
"Yes."
Matthias chuckled.
"It looks like I have to apologise to Shining Armor for saying that you don't have a very good spy network."
"It's not exacly spying." said the Princess a bit . "Twilight is just..."
"... observing me." finished for her Matthias. "And I don't mind, honestly. I'm actually grateful."
"Because you're afraid you will become evil once again."
"Yes."
"Is there a reason why would that happen?" asked Celestia, glancing at him.
"There are may reasons why one would became evil." replied Matt. "Hate, fear... duty to protect others..."
Princess stared at him few moment after that.
"You are an interesting pony, Matthias. Why would the duty of protecting others could make somepony evil?"
"You don't want to know, Your Highness." Matt sighed.
He doubted that Celestia agreed with him, but she didn't press the matter.
"Twilight also wrote me that you constantly meditate, trying to find the answer to why you are here."
"Unfortunately, without luck."
"Why is it so important to you to know why you are here?" the Princess asked. "It's clear that there must by a reason for such thing, but I don't understand why you need to know it as soon as possible."
Matthias hesitated. This was another thing that he hasn't told Twilight.
"Twilight's letter mentioned to you the name Medivh, right?"
"The raven that gave you some message through Pinkie Pie that is actually a human from Azeroth, and some sort of prophet?"
"Yes, but I haven't told Twilight everything. Medivh warned me that if I don't do what I'm supposed to do here, this land would be lost."
Princess Celestia stopped, and so did Matthias. As she looked into his eyes, felt as if she was scanning him with magic, which, for all he knew, could be true.
"Why haven't you told Twilight about this?" she asked at last.
"Because I didn't want her to worry about something she had no influence over."
Celestia nodded.
"Then you should do the same."
Matthias stared at her, sure that he misheard her.
"Forgive me, Princess, but..."
"You don't have the influence over this, either. When the time comes for you to do whatever this is that you are supposed to do, I trust that you will know by then what it is."
Matthias was speechless. He hadn't thought about it.
"In the future, don't waste your time meditating when you could spend it with your friends." she added, resuming her walk. "And since we're already talking about it, I can tell you why you haven't been able to fell into a complete trance and get in contact with Light."
"How could you know?" asked shocked Matt. "I mean no offense, Princess, but before I came here nopony knew what Light was. How could you..."
"You don't always need to know something to understand it." replied Celestia calmly.
"You are indeed as wise as Twilight made you to be, Princess." said after a while Matthias. "Please, if you would be so kind, Your Highness, could you tell me why am I failing?"
"Because you're in conflict with yourself. I don't know if this is because you can't forgive yourself for what you did or for some other reason, but as long as you are like this, you won't be able to succeed."
Matthias glanced at the floor. He didn't even notice when they entered the castle.
"How could I ever forgive myself?"
"You gave me a lot to think about, Princess. Thank you."
"You're most welcome, Matthias. It was the least I could do after you stood up for Pixie, not to mention the fact that you're one of Twilight's friends."
She stopped in front of the door that, as Matthias recalled, led to the rooms that he and others were staying in.
"I hope you will have peaceful dreams, Matthias Lehner. Good night."
"Likewise, Your Highness. Good night."
As the Princess left, Matt entered through the door into the hallway, and saw five of his friends...
... wearing beautifull dresses.
"So thats how ponies look like in them, huh..." he thought as all he could do beside that was stare at them.
He has seen dresses in Equestria, of course, but they were always on the dress forms in Rarity boutique. To see them on his friends...
"Oh, Matthias!" said Rarity, stopping her discussion about Applejack's hat. She came over to him and hugged him. "Thank you so much for making Blueblood to apologise like this!"
"You're welcome." Matt replied, blushing. "Might I say, those are beautiful dresses. You all look astonishing."
"Thank you very much. We are going to be beautiful bridesmaids, don't you agree?"
"Of course you... wait, you're the bridesmaids?" Matt asked, confused. He knew from Spike that Twilight was the best mare (on which he rolled his eyes), but... "When did this happen?"
"Oh, about the time we came back from the Arena." replied Rarity. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza came to us and asked us if we wanted to be her new bridemaids."
"'New' bridesmaids? What happened to her 'old' bridesmaids?"
"That's funny, it's exactly the same thing Twilight said." replied Applejack.
"Twilight is here?" Matthias asked, wondering how her talk with Shining Armor went.
"No, ya missed her. She went off somewhere."
"Hmm..." Matt said, trying to imagine how it went. If there was still wedding tomorrow, that must have meant that her brother convinced her that everything was fine. "Well then, I guess I'm off to sleep. The wedding is somewhere around the noon, right?"
"Yes, although we have the wedding rehearsal few hours before that."
"Isn't this all exciting?" asked Pinkie.
"Yes." replied Matt, smiling. This was the first wedding he attended in fifteen years, and he couldn't help but feel a little excited at seeing how different weddings were in Equestria. "Have fun with the rehearsal, everypony. Good night."