"So, ye're thinking that this zhevra can help?" Brann asked when everypony was in the living room.
"Zebra." Matthias corrected, glaring at the dwarf.
He was extremely irritated that he couldn't do anything for Apple Bloom, even with Princess Cadance’s help, and although when Zecora asked them all to leave so she could examine the old filly, he walked out of the room without any complain (and practically dragged Applejack away), he didn't have much self-control left.
"And she better help, otherwise I have no idea what to do." he added, stomping the floor angrily.
"You know, it wouldn't hurt to show a bit of optimism." Twilight scolded him.
Matt could see that she was about as angry as he was. She had teleported herself (and with Big Mac and Spike) back shortly before Zecora and Rainbow arrived. Twilight said that she couldn't find anything in her books about aging a pony other than what she already knew. Seeing her better handling this situation made Matthias ashamed.
"Sorry." he apologized, looking at the ground. "I just don't take well the fact of being useless."
Twilight was about to reply, but Brann cut in.
"Yeah, I'm gonna move away a bit..." he said, taking a few steps away from Matthias.
Matt, along with everypony else glanced at him, not understanding, when suddenly he realized what the dwarf meant.
"Oh, very funny." he snorted. "Since you have time to crack jokes, maybe you could tell me how in Light's name did you get here?"
"Oh right, I haven't told ye that." Brann said, scratching his beard. "Well, to put it bluntly, I'm here because of... this."
Everypony looked at the necklace he took off from around his neck and now was holding it in his palm. It was shaped like some kind of golden coin, that was slightly smaller than his hand, attached to a leather rope that Brann must have added recently so that he could wear it. From the center, which bore the symbol of a heart, circles were coming out, and between them, strange glyphs shone.
"It's Titan's." Matt said more statement than question.
"Aye." the dwarf confirmed.
"You mean the race of god-like beings that shaped Azeroth?" Twilight asked, looking mesmerised at the necklace. When Brann and Matthias nodded, she added: "What do those symbols on it say?"
"They say..." Brann started
“'Whosoever binds with this necklace will be granted a passage to and from the land of eternal peace and happiness'." Matt read, tilting his head so he could see the whole message.
"Ye... know Titan?" Brann asked, surprised. "How?"
"I will tell you some other time." he replied, rubbing his chin. "You found it in Uldum, I take, or in Ulduar?"
"Eee... Uldum." the dwarf said, still a bit astonished. He glanced at the necklace. "I've stayed there behind to do some more research, while Junior went back to Stormwind."
"'Junior'?" Matthias asked him, before he realized: "Oh, you must mean Harrison Jones, right?"
"Aye, that's right. Anyway, as I was searchin' through the Halls of Origination, I found this." he lifted the hand holding the necklace. "I performed some ritual to bind it to me, used it, and... here I am."
"Let me get this straight:" Matt said, holding up his hoof: "you used some artifact that you found in an ancient temple guarded by timeless titan constructions, after what happened to Magni? It could have killed you, for all you knew!"
“Well...” the dwarf replied, cringing a bit from his words. “I didn't think that it would work like this. I... might have mistranslated that part about 'a passage to and from'.”
Matt facehoofed himself, wondering how comes Brann was still alive after all the things he'd done. He was about to ask another question, when he heard the sound of hoofsteps behind him. He turned around, with everypony else, to see Zecora, a pony-like creature in white and black stripes on both her coat and mane, with gold braces on her hoof and neck, gold earrings and a cutie mark like a spiral sun, trotting up to them.
"Well? What is it? Can it be cured?" Applejack immediately asked the zebra.
Zecora lifted a hoof to silence her, before she spoke.
"I gave her a sleeping potion, to ease her tension. This case is rather dire, but I can do what you desire. Little Apple Bloom can be cured, although the medicine won't be easy procured."
Matthias rolled his eyes. He already met Zecora a few times during the last three months, but still didn't get used to the strange way she insisted on speaking. Still though, if she knew the cure for whatever it was that happened to Apple Bloom, he could deal with that.
"I'm sure you all remember the plant called poison joke?" Zecora asked, and Matt saw that the Ponyville's friends nodded. "Well, what happened here is quite the same, only this time, there's no 'joke'."
"Aaaand I'm lost." Matt said, raising an eyebrow. "What's a 'poison joke'?"
"It's a plant that's sort of like poison oak." Twilight quickly explained to him, Shining Armor, Cadance and Brann. "This plant does not poison its victims; rather, it plays practical jokes, which manifest as physical afflictions. The jokes magically match the victim's personality and traits."
"So... it turned Apple Bloom old because she's young?" Matt asked, wondering how comes he never heard from Twilight or the rest about this 'poison joke'.
Zecora nodded.
"Well this would explain why it seemed natural..." he murmured, and noticing that Brann was about to say something, he told him: "Don't ask how something like this can work. Trust me, there are stranger things in this world."
The dwarf glanced at him and closed his mouth.
"Great." exclaimed Applejack. "So all we need to do is to get Apple Bloom into that herbal bath?"
Zecora shook her head.
"What? Why not?"
"Sometimes, when a poison joke grows in a place filled with magic, it mutates." the zebra explained. "When that happens, the effect of the ‘joke’ escalates."
"Stop speakin' in fancy and tell us what's wrong!" demanded Applejack.
At the same time, Matt, along with Twilight, and Brann stared at the zebra, all thinking:
"Oh, no..."
"So, ye're sayin' that this is gonna..." Brann started.
"... get worse?" Twilight finished.
Zecora nodded.
"So, basically, Apple Bloom is going to get older, until she..." Matt said and trailed off.
The zebra nodded with sad eyes.
Twilight stared at Zecora, processing what she just heard. Applejack summed it up for her.
"Ya're sayin' that my younger sister is gonna die of old age?" she asked with wide eyes.
"She's not going to die." Matt said before anypony could answer, with confidence in his voice and eyes. He turned to face Zecora. "You said you can cure her, but you need some medicine, right? Tell us what it is so we can go find it, and please, tune down the rhyming, we have no time for that."
Zecora rolled her eyes, half amused and half annoyed by his comment.
"What I need is the mutated poison joke, to add to the herbal bath."
Twilight was relieved; this should be easy. They just needed to find this plant.
"Okay then." she said, gaining everypony's attention. "Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, we will need the two of you to show us where all three of you played yesterday. Zecora, can you describe how this mutated poison joke looks like?"
"The poison joke that has grown with mutation, will look like the one that it lacks. Except for where there is blue, dominates black."
Twilight noticed that Matt glared at Zecora, who smirked, and she had to suppress a giggle. She herself has long since gotten used to the way the zebra talked, so it didn't bug her as much as him.
"Now, wait a moment." Brann interrupted. "Didn't ye say that this weed grows in area that was filled with magic, right?"
Zecora nodded. Being once feared by citizens of Ponyville due to being an outsider, she was quick to get used to dwarf appearance, and greeted him politely as soon as they were introduced to each other.
"Well, are there any places like this around this town?" Brann asked everypony.
Twilight pondered on that. She completely forgot about that until the dwarf pointed it out.
"There aren't any places like this around Ponyville." she realized quickly. "Only in the Everfree Forest! But they said they had played yesterday within Ponyville's borders!"
"Girls," she asked them. "Did you go to the Everfree Forest?"
"No." they both said, shaking their heads.
"This is important." she reminded them.
"Why do you not believe us? We swear; we played near our clubhouse!"
"But that's impossible! If it grows only around places that have a strong magical aura around them, then it couldn't grow anywhere in Ponyville, only in the Everfree Forest."
Everypony glanced at each other. Twilight had no doubt that they all thought the same thing as her.
"Where could have Apple Bloom got in contact with the mutated poison joke?"
Twilight glanced at the Apple's grandfather clock. It was already after five pm. In a few hours it would be dark.
"Ah hate to point it out, but mah sister isn't gettin' any younger." Applejack said suddenly. "Quite the opposite, in fact. So what are we goin' to do?"
Twilight bit her lip, thinking. She wondered if they should first check around Ponyville and the Cutie Mark Crusaders’' clubhouse, or go straight to the Everfree Forest. She was about to suggest something, when Matt spoke up.
"Zecora, I have a question." he asked the zebra, who turned to him. "Earlier, when Princess Cadance and I were trying to heal Apple Bloom, she said she was feeling better. Do you think that there is a chance that while either of our powers couldn't heal her, we could have been..."
"... slowing down how fast the mutated poison joke's effect escalates?" Zecora finished for him, and pondered on it for a moment. "Yes, I believe that Light and love is what the affliction hates. I also know a potion or two that relates."
"Okay then: three teams." Matt said in commanding tone.
Twilight looked at him, amazed. Until now, she hardly ever heard him talk like this. He probably spoke with that confidence after he healed Applejack, or when he chased off the dragons, but she had more important things on her mind at the time back then to take a notice of his voice.
"Team One stays here and looks after Apple Bloom. Team Two looks around Ponyville for that stupid weed. Team Three goes into the Everfree Forest for the same purpose. Any objections?" he asked, looking around, mostly at Shining Armor. Twilight guessed that was because her brother was the Captain of the Royal Guard, and Matt wanted his opinion on the matter. When everypony nodded, he carried on: "I want Princess Cadance, Zecora and the Apple family on Team One."
"Now, wait just a minute!" Applejack interrupted him. "Ah think it would be better if I went to the forest..."
"No, it wouldn't be better." Matt cut her off, and explained in a gentler tone. "While Apple Bloom doesn't know what's happening, she is still scared. She needs her family right now to be with her."
Applejack looked at him, and finally nodded, although reluctantly. Twilight briefly wondered if Matt had another reason for wanting her to stay; so that she could say her goodbye in case they wouldn't make it in time, but brushed that thought off as soon as she recalled how confident he was earlier when he said that Apple Bloom wasn't going to die. Twilight realized that she believed him, despite the odds.
"Excuse me, Matt dear, but you didn't count yourself in 'Team One'." Rarity pointed out, interrupting her train of thoughts. "Didn't you just asked Zecora if your powers could slow down Apple Bloom's... aging?"
Matt smirked in response, but didn't answer her question. Instead, he carried on with his plan.
"Team Two: Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, of course, as well as Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Spike."
The ponies he mentioned either nodded or saluted.
"That leaves me, Shining Armor, Twilight and Rainbow for Team Three." Matt finished.
"Wait, why do you want to drag mares into that forest?" Shining asked him, obviously concerned for his sister. "Isn't it very dangerous? I think it would be better if we would go by ourselves."
Twilight rolled her eyes. She had faced Nightmare Moon, Discord and changelings, for pony's sake! She could handle herself.
"Am I to assume that you know how to detect an area with a large magical resonance?" Matthias asked her brother. "Look, as much as I hate to go to that forest myself, let alone drag others into it, we have little choice in the matter."
Shining Armor glared at him, but nodded.
“Wait. Why do you want me to go there?” Rainbow Dash asked.
"Because I know you would get bored if I tried to put you on Team Two and you would follow us." Matt smirked and her.
"And what about me?" Brann, who's been forgotten, asked.
"Well, I was hoping you would join Team Three." Matt confessed, glancing at the dwarf. "I could think of nopony else better for the job of finding something in a dangerous place. The question is: can you bear working alongside with me?"
Everypony glanced at Brann.
"Well, I dunno." the dwarf replied, stroking his beard. "How dangerous is it?"
"There are wolves made of wood, wyvern-like beast, giant sea serpents and hydras, snake-like things that can turn you into stone, dragons and bears bigger than Ursoc and Ursol combined." Matt told him, grinning.
Twilight looked at him, confused, until Brann started laughing.
"Well, I always say: 'Ye'll find me wherever the action is'." he said, picking up the strange long rod from his back and cocking it, making a strange clicking sound.
"Oh, and before I forget; Equestria has a very strict policy against killing." Matt told Brann.
"How strict?"
"They will throw you into prison if you kill anything in self-defense." he replied, chuckling at the sight of dumbfounded expression on the dwarf’s face. "Everypony, let’s go!"
"Wait!" Twilight stopped him. "What about you helping Apple Bloom?"
"I never said anything about me helping her." Matt pointed out, amused. "I only asked about the Light's effect, didn't I?"
Twilight was about to ask him what he meant, when suddenly, a familiar figure made out of Light appeared suddenly next to Matthias, armed with a different looking mace and shield than the last time.
"You can summon the Guardian of Ancient Kings?" Brann asked whistling, impressed.
"This spirit can heal with Light as well as I could." Matt told everypony, ignoring the dwarf's question. "Okay, let’s go!"
The ponies left the Apple's house and split into two groups: one that went deeper into the farm, and the other, smaller, with that galloped in the direction of the forest's entrance. Both groups were accompanied by two non-pony creatures.
None of them noticed a shadowy figure that detached itself from the shadow of the tree and, glancing at the smaller group, turned to Ponyville.