//------------------------------//
// 40. Search and chit-chat 
// Story: Rebirth of the Damned 
// by Borsuq 
//------------------------------//

"You know, I've been meaning to ask for some time." Matt said as they passed the boundary of the Everfree Forest: "How come there is no warning sign here?"
"Well, I guess it's because everypony in Ponyville knows how dangerous this forest is." Twilight replied.
"Really? Because I could swear I saw three fillies here a few months ago."
"They were going to visit Zecora and got lost." Twilight told him, glancing at him sternly. "It's mostly safe when you stay on the road."
"Right. Trust fillies to stay..."
"Could the two of ye quit flirting?" Brann asked.
Both of them gazed at the dwarf with a look that could kill, who grinned, along with Rainbow. Matt rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Would you please not joke like this in front of her overprotective brother?" he asked Brann, noticing that Shining Armor wasn't amused.
"Why? Ye're 'fraid of him?"
"He is strong enough to keep a magical barrier around the city of a size of Stormwind by himself, so while I'm not especially terrified of him, I would prefer if he wasn't angry at me. Which reminds me:" Matt added as Brann looked at Shining Armor astonished: "Have Twilight explained to you what exactly happened?"
"She did." Shining Armor said, and sighed. "I suppose I should be thankful to you for taking care of my sister, but it doesn't justify that you kissed her when you woke up."
"That I..." Matt started to reply, surprised, but stopped as he glanced at Twilight. "Oh, right, how could I forget?"
"Either she still refuses to believe that she kissed me, or this is my punishment for running away."
Guessing by the look Twilight gave him, it was the latter. Matt replied with a look of his own.
I will get back at you for that.
Just try.
Matt turned his head, breaking the eye contact, and cleared his throat.
"Moving on... Rainbow, fly above us, and warn us if you notice any strange movement."
"On it!" Dash saluted and flew above the trees.
"Twilight, start scanning the area for any magical residue."
"You know, the whole Evertfree Forest is a giant magical residue." Twilight commented, lightening her horn.
"Then look for the highest points around." Matt added, although he knew he didn't have to. "Shining Armor, be ready with your protection spell in case something jumps on us. And Brann, remember, no killing."
"Aye, I heard ye the first time." the dwarf rumbled, lifting his rifle gun. "If somethin' attacks, I'll just scare it off."
Matt nodded and for few minutes they ventured deeper into the forest in silence.
"So..." Twilight broke the silence. "Have you learn how to give orders when you were a Knight of the Order of the Silver Hand?"
"I suppose you could say that."
"Wait, hold on." Brann interjected. "They know ye were a part of the Silver Hand? What else they know about ye?"
"Well, they know I was a human, I am a paladin, I was mentored by Uther and Muradin, I met Varian, I beat Magni at Brewfest nine years ago, that I became evil, and that I died."
"That's a bit... an understated story." the dwarf commented.
"If you’re referring to the 'evil' part, I mostly didn't elaborate out of fear I would scar them mentally." Matt replied.
"Well, what about..."
"I don't think it matters, doesn't it?" Matt said, glancing at Brann.
Brann took a moment to look at him, and shrugged his arms.
"I guess it doesn't."
"What are you two talking about?" Shining Armor asked, with Twilight and Rainbow glancing, interested.
"Nothing." Brann replied, coughing. "So, what's with those tattoos on yer butts?"
"Those are cutie marks." Matt answered quickly. "And while we're at it, use the word 'flank'. Anyway, the cutie marks are symbols that appear on ponies when they discover their special talent. Mine, for example, is the symbol of Silver Hand, due to me being a paladin."
"That's a bit... weird." the dwarf commented.
"Tell me about it." Matt replied, rolling his eyes. "You wouldn't believe what kind of headache I got from just that on my first day here."
Twilight and Rainbow giggled, no doubt recalling his reaction to their questions about his lack of cutie mark. Matt glared, silencing them.
"Anything else I should know about?" Brann asked.
"Hmm, let’s see... the ponies with horns, like Twilight and Shining Armor, are called unicorns and can use magic, although their magic revolves around their special talents. Ponies with wings, like Rainbow, are called pegasi, and they can control the weather 'manually'. As for those like me, without either horn or wings, are Earth Ponies and we have  greater physical strength and ingrained connection to the Earth that makes us better at working with plants and animals."
"But wait," the dwarf said, turning to Shining Armor, "doesn't your wife have both horn and wings?"
"Yes, because Cadence is an alicorn." Twilight replied for her brother.
"Twilight, focus on the spell, leave explaining things to Brann to me." Matt scolded her. "Alicorns are a special kind of ponies. Their wings are bigger than pegasi, and their magic is more powerful than that of unicorns. I'm not really sure how it is with Princess Cadence, but Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are practically goddesses."
"Really? Would they beat ye... in yer prime?"
"He wants to know if they could beat me if I become the Lich King again." Matt realized.
"Considering how arrogant I was, I guess the answer would be yes, because I would have most likely started laughing the moment they challenged me." he replied. "But, other than that... I think that together they would stand a chance. It's difficult to say, since I saw just Princess Celestia 'in action', once. Anyway, alicorns are extremely rare. I think that since the founding of Equestria, there have only been those three princesses."
"So, if ye're royal ye get to be an alicorn?"
"Oh, no, Equestria's royal family is mostly composed of unicorns. According to legends, an alicorn can be born even in earth ponies family, and there was one legend that mentioned a pony becoming an alicorn later in his life."
"You mean like you do?" Rainbow Dash asked from the air.
"No, in that legend, they became permanently." Matt answered, and noticing Brann curious glance, he explained: "I can use the Light to change myself into an alicorn for a short period of time. However, in this form, I'm mostly composed of Light instead of flesh and bones, so I suppose you could say that I become an avatar of Light that happens to have a shape of an alicorn."
"So, it's somethin' like the elemental ascendants things from Twilight's Hammer cult, only with the power of the Holy Light, and temporary."
"I guess so." Matt replied shrugging, and turned to Twilight. "Can you sense something?"
"I... think so. But it's much deeper in the forest."
"For every good news there's bad news."
"So ye must be pretty good sweet talker to have a wife like that, heh?" Brann asked Shining Armor.
"I wouldn't know anything about that." The captain replied, blushing slightly.
"This reminds me: what was that ye and Twilight were arguin' earlier? About 'wasn't your business who I was marryin', or somethin'?"
"Oh, that. There was a little... problem during the wedding."
"Remember the 'queen of shapeshifting race that feeds on love' that Twilight mentioned?" Matt asked. "Well, she abducted Princess Cadence, and pretended to be her, so that she could weaken him and his protection spell around Canterlot - the capital. Twilight, who knew Cadence, noticed that there was something off about her, confronted her and everypony at the rehearsal... long story short, she ended up being sent to the same place Cadence was, but together they escaped."
"And later ye fought this queen?"
"To be honest, I started 'fighting' her earlier, because I happened to notice that few things were off, and that Twilight was missing, and that somepony finally told me that it was Shining Armor that kept that protective spell around Canterlot, which made me realize that this was an imposter. Just in time, too: I managed to interrupt the wedding before the Captain of the Royal Guard over here got married to an overgrown pony-like bug."
Shining Armor rolled his eyes.
"That's a funny way of speaking about somepony you kissed." he said back at him.
"Oh, no you didn't..."
Brann laughed.
"What?" he asked through tears.
"It was part of my strategy." Matt replied, glaring at the captain.
"Sure it was." dwarf replied, winking at him. "Although, to kiss a bug..."
"That's a funny comment, coming from the dwarf that slept with the nerubian queen in the Sundered Monolith." Matt talked back at him with a grin, which turned into horror as he saw Brann blushing. "Wait, that wasn't just a rumor?"
"Well..." Brann said and trailed off.
"What in Light's name is wrong with you?!" Matthias exclaimed, staring at him.
"What's a 'nerubian'?" Rainbow asked, confused at his reaction, as well as Twilight and Shining Armor.
"Imagine a changeling with eight legs, an abdomen, and a chelicerae for a mouth." Matt explained, shaking his head. "I have no idea how is it even possible to..."
"Look, I'd really not talk about this." Brann mumbled, and he cleared his throat and glanced at Twilight. "So, when ye confronted everybody, they didn't believe ye?"
Twilight sight shifted between Matt and Brann, probably wondering what was wrong with everypony form Azeroth.
"Yes, but I was acting as if I was crazy, so it was quite understandable." she explained to Brann
"Pity I wasn't at the rehearsal." Matt commented, muttering. "That farce would've ended a lot faster."
"You would have believed her?" Shining Armor asked him.
"Maybe not, but I would have kicked Chrysalis in the face when she tried to teleport her into those caverns." he replied, shrugging. "And I would consider the possibility of her being right, on account of her being so smart."
Matt winked at Twilight, who blushed, and returned to concentrating on her spell.
"Well, it's not as if ye didn't have a similar experience." Brann said. "I recall hearin' from Muradin that Calia was supposed to marry somebody she didn't like, right?"
"Who's Calia?" Twilight asked, breaking her concentration again.
Matt glared at the dwarf, but sighed, realizing he should be happy that he didn't add 'Princess'.
"My sister." Matthias answered
"You have a sister?!?" Everypony, save for Brann, asked.
"How come you never told us about this?" Twilight added, being surprised that Matt haven’t told her about having a sister.
"You've never mentioned to me that you had a brother until a month ago." Matt reminded her. "Besides, I had no reason to tell you; it's not like you're gonna meet her someday."
"Why?" Twilight asked. "I mean, since Brann could come here, she could..."
"You misunderstood me." Matt interrupted her, closing his eyes.
Everypony looked him, not understanding, until Twilight gasped.
"You mean she's... she's..."
Matt sighed and looked at the ground.
"To be honest, I have no idea. She... went missing when I became evil. Nopony knows if she's dead or alive."
"And if she's dead, then it is my fault."
"I'm so sorry." Twilight said, dropping her eyes.
"Don't be."
"So, aah... what was that about her marrying somepony she didn't like?" Rainbow asked.
"Rainbow!" Twilight scolded at her, most likely trying to spare him remembering his sister.
"You should really concentrate on that scanning spell, you know?" Matt half-smirked at her, amused, but grew sad again soon. "To answer your question, Rainbow Dash, Calia was supposed to marry 'Daval Prestor'." he sneered as he said that name.
"So... what happened?" Shining Armor asked, unsure if they should continue.
"Ye know, I was never clear on that part." Brann interjected. "I only heard rumors that he disappeared under unusual circumstances."
Matthias wasn't surprised. Even after a decade and a half, few knew the real identity of the first 'Prestor'.
"Yes, thankfully for Calia."
"Why was she going to marry him if she didn't like him?" Twilight asked.
"Err... Did I mention that among humans daughters often marry somepony that their parents choose?"
"What?!?" everypony, again save for Brann, asked.
"Well, maybe not every family does that." Matt admitted in his thoughts, apologizing to the human kind for his friends' new view on them.
"That's the most ridiculous thing about your world I ever heard!" Rainbow exclaimed loudly.
"I know."
"What about sons?"
"That... depends. But in most cases, they have more freedom in the matter."
"Well that's just..." Rainbow Dash started and went on for few minutes how unfair something like this was.
"Matt, you didn't happen to have anything to do with that Davel Prestor’s... disappearance, now would you?" Shining Armor asked coldly.
For some reason, Matt felt a chill run up his spine.
"Sadly, no. I was fourteen, mind you - there was hardly anything I could do back then." He admitted, recalling how distraught Calia was when father told her what he planned for her. Matt felt a great deal of rage and he said, clenching his teeth. "You know, I wouldn't have minded if that 'role I have to play in Azeroth' that Ysera talked about happens to put me and him on the same path."
"Why would it?" the confused dwarf asked. "It was just some human, right?"
"Surely you recall the name Katrana Prestor, right?" Matthias answered his question with a question of his own.
"Ye mean Onyxia? Aye, everybody figured she chose to pretend to be a daughter of Daval Prestor, since nobody could prove her wrong."
"Well, now think of somepony else that disappeared around the same time as Prestor from the face of Azeroth, and add one to the other."
Even before he finished speaking, Brann's eyes widen.
"Ye mean..."
"Yes, it’s Deathwing." Matt immediately replied, switching into dwarven. Ignoring confused gazes of his friends, he continued: "Please, don't mention that name, I will explain later. Call him Xaxas, if you have to."
He preferred to not have Twilight inquiring why the insane Dragon Aspect wanted to marry his sister.
"What the hay are you talking?" Rainbow asked.
"I described to Brann what I'm going to do to Prestor if I see him." Matt replied casually. "I thought I would spare you the gruesome details."
That seemed to convince Rainbow and Shining Armor, Matt noticed, however, that Twilight glanced at him suspiciously.
"Perhaps we should change the subject." He said. "All this talk about that pony and my sister is making me... uncomfortable." Matt twitched his tail in annoyance. "So Brann, what exactly did you and Harrison Jones discover in Uldum? I'm a bit sketchy on the details."
"There." he thought. "This should get Twilight off the topic."
Unfortunately, his plan was about to backfire.
"Wait." Rainbow said, flying up closer to them. "Didn't you say that this Harrison Jones was like Daring Do?"
"Daring Do? Who's that?" Brann asked, interested.
"Oh no..."
"Well..." Rainbow started.
"This is going to take some time." Matt commented in his thoughts as he trotted up to Twilight.
"Feeling something?"
"Yes, but it's a bit further away. Probably somewhere around that mountain over there."
"Actually, that looks more like a plateau." Matt replied, frowning.
"What's the matter?" Twilight asked, as Rainbow continued to tell Brann about Daring Do.
"It gets old the tenth time you hear it." he replied, pointing at them.
Twilight chuckled in response.
"Well, she would have stopped telling you about this if you have finally read at least one book."
"Fine, I will read one, stop badgering me as well." Matt groaned.





"Did you find anything?" Rarity asked.
"No." Fluttershy, Pinkie and Scootaloo replied together. "Did you?" Scootaloo asked as they looked at Spike and Sweetie Belle
"No." Spike and Sweetie Belle said simultaneously.
"W-What now?" Fluttershy asked.
"Let’s see." Spike said as he started counting. "We've checked the school, Sweet Apple Acres, everything between the school and Sweet Apple Acres..."
Rarity sighed and looked at the sun. The day was about to end within an hour.
"I hope the others have better luck."





"So you’re saying that area with high magical residue is up there?" Matt asked to be sure as he regarded the plateau... or mountain, whatever.
"Seems so." Twilight replied, glancing at the abruptly ending forest path, and at the mountain.
It wasn't very steep, they could easily walk to the top, but there was something... weird about it.
"That's strange." Twilight said thoughtfully. "I didn't know there were other ruins within the Everfree Forest, besides the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters."
Matt looked at the direction she was glancing, and noticed that she was right. There were a few ruined buildings above them.
"Are they crooked?" he wondered, but shook his head. "It doesn't matter. The cure for Apple Bloom may be up there. That's all that is important right now."
"Why the base of those trees isn't growin' up straight from the ground?" Brann asked.
"Who knows?" Twilight replied. "Everything in this forest isn't natural."
"Alright, everypony, enough with the chit chat." Matt said as he started moving. "Let’s go."