//------------------------------//
// 25. Revelation 
// Story: Rebirth of the Damned 
// by Borsuq 
//------------------------------//

Matthias stretched as he woke up. While he had nothing against the bed Twilight gave him, it was refreshing to sleep in a king-sized one. Yawning, he got up, glad that he didn't have any dreams this time. Judging by the fact that Bolvar and Ner'zhul haven't summoned him, he quessed that things were quiet on Azeroth... as quiet as they could be on the world that was literally falling apart.
He entered the balcony and gazed at the city. He had to admit, Canterlot looked beautiful, even more so during a morning like this.
"What a beautiful day." he said aloud. "On a morning like this, you can't help but think that this day is going to be perfect."
"And it is going to be perfect." he reflected. Shining Armor and Princess Cadance were getting married, and Twilight had gotten over her silly fear that Cadance was going to ruin her brother's life. He gazed at Canterlot, allowing himself few more moments of happiness, and after a while he went into the bathroom.
It took him about ten minutes to refresh himself and he was about to leave his room, when he heard voices on the other side.
"Can ya'll believe what she did?!"
"I must say, that was..."
"What are you guys talking about?" interrupted Matthias, coming in.
The five mares and dragon glanced at him.
"We were at the wedding rehearsal, when suddenly..." said Rarity and trailed off.
"Suddenly what?" asked Matt, sensing that something terrible has happened.
"Twilight barged in and started accusing Princess Cadance of being evil!" said Applejack.
Matthias stared at her, and then at the others. They all nodded.
"Damn it!" he thought, mad at himself. "I should have gone looking for her yesterday!"
"Tell me exactly what happened." he asked the girls.
"Well, when Twilight came in, she said that she wasn't going to stand next to Cadance, and that neither should Shining Armor."
"We tried to stop her..." added Fluttershy.
"... but she wasn't listening!" finished Rainbow.
"Then she started accusing Cadance of being evil..."
"... that she was horrible to us..."
"... that she did somethin' to her bridesmaids..."
"... and in the end, Twilight said that she saw her put a spell on her brother that made his eyes go [bells jangling]!" ended Pinkie Pie, rolling her eyes in opposite directions.
"Wait, what? What spell?" asked Matt, immediately on alert.
"Shining Armor later said that the princess was using her magic to heal him. He's been having some terrible migraines as of late."
"'Later'? What happened in between?" he asked, fearing worst.
"What'ya think happened?! The princess burst into tears! She asked Twilight why she was doin' it to her, and as she run away, cryin', Twilight was shouting after her that's because she was evil! Can ya belive it?!"
"Actually, I can." Matt thought, puttin his hooves over his eyes. He knew how Twilight was upset about this whole wedding, and still he didn't do anything to help her. "I should have gone with her to talk with Shining Armor!"
"After that her brother yelled at her, dismissed her accusations, and told her that she could forget about being his best mare, or coming to the wedding at all."
Matthias started pacing around, trying desperetly to think of something to fix this all. The thought of Twilight, who loved her brother so much, hearing Shining Armor say that, was causing him greater pain than any physical injury, even the one that killed him.
"Even Princess Celestia was mad at her." added Rarity. "I hear her say to Twilight that she 'have a lot to think about' as we all left."
Matt forgot that the Princess would be there. Not only was Twilight rejected by her brother, but by her mentor as well...
"Wait..." he stopped, noticing what Rarity said. "What do you mean by 'as we all left'?"
"Well, we all went after the princess, of course, to check if she was alright."
Matthias stared at them as if they all had suddenly grown second heads.
I can't watch you do this.
"But don't worry, Princess Cadance feels better now. The weddin' is still goin' as planned." quickly said Applejack, thinking he was worried about that.
"You mean to tell me... " he finally said, barely keeping the fury away from his voice. "... that when your friend was being rejected by both her brother and her teacher, you were all worried about somepony you met yesterday?!"
His voice was raising as he talked, and his last words were practically a scream. Everypony looked at him, scared at confused.
"What the hay is your problem!?" asked Rainbow Dash, the first one to react. "Twilight was going crazy out there, and deserved to hear what they said to her."
"I must agree with Rainbow Dash." supported her Rarity. "As bridesmaids, it was our duty to make sure the bride was alright."
I would prefer to not see you suffer as I did when I watched my friends turn their backs on me.
Matthias snorted at them all and made his way to the door.
"Where are you going?"
"To find Twilight and figure out a way to fix this whole mess." glancing back at them, he added with venom: "You are obviously too busy to help a friend in need!"
Having said that, he slammed the door behind him with his tail, before the shocked ponies could answer him, and he ran toward the hall that the wedding was supposed to be held. Twilight, however, wasn't there.
He backed away, trying to think. He knew Twilight. He knew how she was thinking. Where could she go?





He couldn't find her.
He looked for her everywhere. Inside the castle, in the gardens, at her parents' house (luckily, they didn't know about what happened and Matt didn't tell them). He also asked few royal guards if they saw her, both in the castle and in the city, but nopony saw her since the wedding rehearsal. He checked even the train station and asked ponies working there if they saw a mare matching her description board the train leaving to Ponyville, but they also said no. 
"As if she sank underground!" he thought in frustration.
The only place that he didn't check was her brother's house, doubting that she would find by herself courage to go and apologise, and Princess Celestia's private chambers, knowing better than to disrupt her.
Finally, thinking that maybe Twilight would come to the wedding after all, he went back into the castle, took quick shower and went there as well, only to see no sign of her.
So he sat there, resigned, as he watched the young couple getting married, wishing that Twilight was here to see it, as she should have.
"Why... Why do I always have to fail?" he asked in his mind. "I couldn't save Invincible, my resolve to save my homeland has made me into a monster... I can't even help one friend."
He shook slightly and returned his mind to the present moment.
"Mares and gentlecolts," was saying Princess Celestia, "we are gathered here today to witness the union of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor.
He didn't look at Spike and the girls, still mad at them for abandoning Twilight, as well as feeling guilty for his outburst. After all, most ponies would do the same as them. It was unfair of him to yell at them like that.
He glanced at the groom and the bride. He noticed a weird expression on Shining Armor's face.
He's been having some terrible migraines as of late.
"Why would he be having migraines?" he asked himself quietly, while at the same time wondering how could Twilight mistake a spell for healing headache for some mind hurting one.
"Hm?" asked the stallion sitting next to him.
"Oh, sorry." he apologised, whispering, just now realising that he said that aloud. "I heard that the groom was having migraines lately, and I was just wondering why. I mean, I know stallions can feel a bit sick before the wedding, but headaches are more of a mare's thing, right?" he asked, trying to make a joke out of it.
The stallion, that, as Matthias realised, was the sergeant that was on a patrol yesterday with Shining Armor, smirked and covered his mouth with a hoof.
"Good one. But it's not really a surprise that he's been having migraines lately. After all, keeping up this barrier around Canterlot by himself can't be easy."
Having said that, the sergeant returned his attention to the ceremony, so he couldn't see Matthias staring at him with eyes round as plates, as his mind whirled.
... she walked by me indifferently!
A threat has been made against Canterlot.
And three: take care of those that are sustaining the barrier.
... Twilight said that she saw her put a spell on her brother...
As if she sank underground!
"Princess Cadance and Shining Armor..." said Princess Celestia as she prepared to pronounce them as mare and colt.
"No!"





Queen Chrysalis could barely keep her expression as cute as if she really was Cadance.
How easy it has been to fool those ponies! Only one had realised that something was wrong, but Twilght Sparkle has been dealt with. Now, nopony could stop her.
Soon, this city would be hers. Her subjects would devour all of Equestria's love. They would all feed as they have never fed before. And then...
... then she could look for him.
"Princess Cadance and Shining Armor," said the pony princess, that wasn't much smarter than the rest of her species, even if she was an alicorn with astonishing powers, "it is my great pleasure to pronounce you...
"Yes!" thought Chrysalis, savoring her victory.
Out of nowhere, golden chains surrounded the Queen of the Changelings.
"What is that?" she thought, suprised as everypony, exluding Shining Armor, who she fed off so much that at this point he was almost a doll compered to other ponies.
She has never seen something like this. Those chains looked as if they were made not of gold, but rather some kind of solidified light. She felt the heat emanating from them, and she knew that if it wasn't for the fact that they were few centimeters away from her body, they would probably burn her.
"What the are you doing?!" said few of her new bridesmaids with fear in their voice. She looked in the same direction as they.
Coming up the walkway that she herself went through moments ago was an earth pony, the one that, as she recalled, was friends with those ponies that helped prepare the wedding, and was yesterday the talk of almost whole Canterlot. But he was different now. His whole body glowed with the same light as the chains that trapped her. But the worst were his eyes.
They shone like two miniature suns, and were looking at her with such righteous anger, that despite herself, Chrysalis felt herself shrunk.
"Where are they?" he asked, and despite how quietly and calmly he said that, everypony heard him...
... and feared.