“Ye’hav got ta be kiddin’ me!”
“For the last time,” Matthias sighed, tired, as he pointed at the flying chariot, to which two pegasi guards were strapped on, “it’s perfectly safe. Now get on!”
“As if I didn’t have enough problems as it is.” he grumbled in his thoughts.
Just this morning, he had the displeasure of talking with Tucker Out again, explaining to him his situation of how the Princesses couldn’t just let him go free unless he would be supervised by somepony who could handle him. After that, Matthias had to hit him as the unicorn began to joke - and that with his predispositions, he could either become a paladin or the royal guard, with the latter requiring him to stay still and quiet. The earth pony had to explain to him who exactly paladins are and what they do. Matthias was pleased to see that Tucker was actually listening to him while he told him about the Light, and finally, agreed to the idea. As much as he disliked the uncouth unicorn, there was a chance, albeit small, that he would make a good paladin.
Much more pleasing was saying his farewells to the Princesses, during which he was officially named the Grand Master of the Order of The Celestial Lights, and was forced to promise to visit his goddaughter from time to time.
But, those weren’t his problems he recalled making. What plagued his mind was what happened yesterday.
Matthias didn’t expect the side effects from his trip to the moon, so he was that much less prepared for them when they struck. He had trouble now remembering everything that he did or said, but one act was burned to his mind.
He kissed Twilight.
The earth pony couldn’t believe himself. Even if it was just a little peck on the lips, it was still a kiss. And just after he narrowly avoided kissing her when they were trapped in the debris!
“I guess she and I will have to talk about it.” he thought unenthusiastically.
Matthias shook his head and returned to the present moment. Even if he wanted to avoid it, he wouldn’t get the chance to talk to her (and mess things up as usual) if they couldn’t get to Ponyville.
“Don’t cha boss me around just because ye’r a prince now.” Brann replied to his earlier command.
“No, I’m not.” Matthias said, already feeling tired. “Being the godfather of the Princess doesn’t make you a prince.”
When Luna asked him to be her filly’s godfather, he was shocked, but honored, so he gladly agreed. He still didn’t regret this, even if it cost him few of Brann’s jokes at his expense. The paladin was glad he reunited the Princess with her daughter; he liked the foal with mutual affection, and was proud to call himself her godfather.
“Can you please get on the carriage?” he asked the dwarf, shaking his thoughts away from Moonlight. ”I promise, it’s safe.”
“But the damn thin’ doesn’t even have any safeties!” Brann objected, testing the stability of it with his hands. “Even goblins put safeties on their constructions!”
“Yes, but goblins’ safeties usually explode on touch.” Matthias reminded him. “Just get on it already, I would like to be on the way.”
As the dwarf, muttering something under his nose, jumped on the carriage and began to settle down, the paladin trotted over to the two pegasi.
“It IS safe, right?” he whispered so that Brann couldn’t overhear him.
The two guards chuckled at his question.
The fly was much swifter than ride by the train, and within about ten minutes they arrived in Ponyville.
“Thank you, sirs.” Matthias told the pegasi politely as he and Brann stepped off from the carriage, which was parked near the Twilight’s library.
The two guards nodded in response and flew away.
“Let’s go get this over with.” the paladin said, trotting towards the library’s entrance.
“What’ye mean?” Brann asked, following.
Instead of answering, Matthias just opened the door.
“SURPRISE!!!”
The party that Pinkie Pie just knew when to throw was to celebrate three occasions: Brann arriving in Ponyville, Matthias becoming the Grand Master of a paladin order, and the resurrection of Princess Moonlight Shadow. Most ponies of Equestria knew about the last two due to the Princess announcing it yesterday, which caused most of the party guests to be in awe of his power to bring somebody back to life after a thousand years.
“Had I know that the news would have spread so quickly, I would have stayed inside the safety of the castle.” Matthias joked many hours later, once it was only him and his friends (the girls, Crusaders, Princess and Prince, the Dragon, Big Mac and the dwarf) left.
“Right, because ponies admiring you all the time is the most horrible thing ever.” Rainbow Dash retorted, causing everypony to laugh.
“So anyway, what’s this about the order and all?” Applejack asked once they calmed down a bit.
“Well, as you know, Celestia and Luna asked me to train ponies to become paladins.” he explained, as he stroke the fur of the napping Spottedleaf next to him. “I’m first gonna start with three ponies, and later once they are full-fledged paladins, they will help me with the new ones.”
“Interesting.” Shining Armor said thoughtfully. “When do you start?”
“In about a month or so, once they finish building the abbey.”
“The what?”
“The Everfree Abbey, construction should begin at the next week. It will be build by the edge of Ponyville, so I figured the name ‘Everfree’ will be just.”
“Ah hope it won’t budge my family’s farm borders?” Applejack asked, with a barely detectable hint of worry in her voice.
“Don’t worry, it won’t.” Matthias chuckled, and added: “That reminds me, would you have anything against me sending some paladins to do some chores on your farm as a form of punishment at some point, from time to time? Because I’m pretty sure there is a limit as to how many times the floors in the chapel and barracks could be polished.”
“Well...” Applejack stuttered, confused at the idea. “Ah suppose it would be nice to have some ponies help out. Sometimes Big Macintosh and I can barely keep up sometimes. Right Big Mac?”
“Eeyup.”
“You expect to have that many disobedient paladins?” the Captain of the Royal Guard asked, surprised. “You will start with only three, right?”
“Yes, but I had the displeasure of already meeting one.” the paladin explained, shaking at the memory of Tucker. “Trust me, he will earn a punishment on the first second he arrives, and nopony will complain.”
“Do I know him?” the other stallion inquired. “I would’ve expected the first paladins to be guards, so that you wouldn’t have to teach them how to fight as well, but I do not recall any stallion like that.”
“Well, you don’t know him, but your sister does.” Matthias chuckled, pointing at Twilight, who had been awfully quiet since all the guest had left.
“I do?” the surprised unicorn asked.
“It’s that pony that you saw trapped in the amber back in that facility.” the earth pony said, growing more serious. “He was actually alive, and unfortunately, Celestia and Luna decided to free him.”
“He’s alive?!?” Twilight practically screamed in excitement. “How long was he in there? Did he say anything about Project Eclipse? Why are you going to train him to become a paladin; wait, what do you mean by ‘unfortunately’?!”
“I would say ‘you’ll understand once you meet him’, but I’m going to personally make sure neither you, nor any other of my female friends meets him, until some discipline will purge him of that attitude of his.”
“What d’ya mean by that?”
“Nevermind.” Matthias replied, not wanting to dwell into the subject. “Let’s just say that if I ever send him to your farm to do some chores, make sure that it’s only Big Mac nearby. Light forbid Apple Bloom should be anywhere... although, to be fair, I have no idea yet if he acts that way near little fillies as well.”
“Err... what?” Apple Bloom asked, with the other Cutie Mark Crusaders exchanging confused glances.
“Forget I said anything, I will keep him locked in a dungeon.” noticing the stares they gave him, he added: “Um... I’ll have a dungeon, too? Anyway, to answer your question, Twilight,” Matthias said, hoping to divert their attention away, “he has almost a complete amnesia, and doesn’t remember a thing from his past. And I’m training him, because for one he has the potential, and for two, because I would prefer to keep my eyes on him.”
“Okay, seriously, what is up with that pony? Cadance asked. “You speak of him as he was some sort of monster, or other threat.”
“Oh, for the love of...” Matthias sighed as he covered his eyes. “Twilight, do you mind casting some spell so that the little ones won’t hear it?”
“Hey! We want to-” Sweetie Belle started, but was cut off as the purple bubble appeared around her, Spike, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.
Everypony watched for few moments as the fillies began pounding on the barrier from the inside, only to stop after three seconds, discuss something between themselves, after which they started to pretend they are mimes, to which Spike faceclawed himself.
“Matt?” Rarity’s voice pulled them all away. “That pony you mentioned?”
“Oh, right. Well, to be blunt, he tries to flirt with every mare that is in his sight.”
...
“Gee, Matt’s even worse that you bother.” Rainbow rolled her eyes as she looked at Twilight, making the unicorn snap at her angrily.
“Matthias, I don’t see if that is such a big problem...” Cadance began, but Matthias cut her off.
“Let me tell you one of the first things he said once Celestia and Luna released him. He looked at Celestia, and asked: ‘Wait, are you an alicorn?!? Because I always wanted to bone one!’.” as his friends (safe for Brann) stared at him, he cleared his throat and added: “Pardon my words. After that, it only got worse, trust me.”
“I wish I was there to see it, sounds really funny.” Brann said quietly to himself, chuckling.
“Eh... just to be sure:” Pinkie Pie raised her hoof: “does ‘bone’ somepony means that ‘turtles and bees’ thing?”
“Yes, Pi- wait, ‘turtles’?” the paladin asked, but shook his head: “You know what, never mind that.”
The others have started to come out of their shock.
“Well, I can understand why that was irritating...” the Princess stuttered, astonished that somepony could talk that way to her aunts.
“So...” Twilight coughed, getting everypony’s attention. “... the Princesses didn’t found out anything about this ‘Project Eclipse’?”
“Actually, there were... few things.” Matthias said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. While Celestia has given him the clearance to tell them about it, he was still unsure if that was a good idea. He sighed, knowing he had no choice. “You might want to sit comfortable, it will take a while.”
And so he told them. About what that rune that they found showed them, about Eastin that once stood where Ponyville was, about the similarities between the amber in which Tucker was trapped with the one that changelings made, and about that unicorn unusual ability. He skipped that part about Crystal Empire, not wanting to dwell on the subject of those so called ‘crystal ponies’ with titan-obsessed dwarf and crystal-obsessed unicorn around. But, he did mention to them about what he and the Princesses really talked about after the wedding.
“Why didn’t you tell us about it!?!” Twilight asked accusingly.
“Hmm, let me think about it.” Matthias hummed, being well prepared for THIS part. “Maybe because I didn’t want to disrupt the reception? Or maybe due to the fact that Celestia asked me not to until we had more information?”
“Okay, I get-”
“Or simply because the next day I had some other problems on my head?” the paladin finished, hoping to irritated Twilight, but instead she looked the other way.
“She’s been like this almost all day.” he noticed, blaming himself. “See what you’ve done, idiot!?”
Matthias made a mental note to talk with her, once her brother left, and as soon as they were alone. He didn’t want to lose a friend in her just because he couldn’t control his urges.
“So, you think that maybe this Project Eclipse had something to do with the changelings somehow originating from those silithid or aqir?” Shining Armor asked.
“I don’t know what to think, to be honest.” the white earth pony sighed. “But, I do now when kids fall asleep.” he added jokingly pointing at the sleeping Crusaders and Spike.
They kept them within the bubble Twilight conjured, mostly because the fillies didn’t know yet about Matthias being from a different world. Big Mac knew about it for a while, due to Applejack accidentally mentioning that when the paladin once came to help with the farm. Everypony agreed that it would be best to keep that a secret from younger ponies, which, as Spike repeatedly showed, sometimes didn’t know how to keep quiet.
“Well, Ah guess we’ll be goin’ then.” Applejack said, raising up from her spot. “It’s gettin’ late, anyhow.”
“Eeyup.”
Everypony had agreed on that and soon, Matthias found himself saying goodbyes and goodnight to most of them, save the ones that were sleeping in the library as well.
“Oh, and Fluttershy, thanks for taking care of Spottedleaf for me.” the paladin told the shy pony. “I hope it wasn’t too much of a problem.”
“Not at all.” the pegasus assured him. “In fact, she was quite helpful with other animals, and she and Angel had become such good friends!”
“They... did?”
“Yes, they even slept cuddled up together. They looked soo cute!”
Matthias did his best to not let it show how much disappointed and disturbed he was. Once it was they were all gone, however, he looked sternly at the sleeping form of Spottedleaf.
“You useless cat.” he muttered, annoyed.
“What’s yer beef with this Angel guy?” Brann asked.
“It’s Fluttershy pet bunny, and the most annoying critter there ever was.” was all Matthias was going to say, not wanting to dwell on how Angel tried to whack him with a carrot every time Fluttershy looked the other way.
He glanced absently as Twilight put Spike to bed, wondering how to best handle this situation tomorrow.
“Something on your mind?” Cadance asked, trotting up to him, while Shining Armor and Brann started to chat on the other end of the room.
“Not really, Your Highness.” Matthias replied, immediately looking the other way, concentrating on the picture of Twilight and the other five mares that was hanging on the wall.
“Matthias, now that we are technically a family, you really should stop addressing me that way.” the Princess sighed.
“Maybe, but as a part of Equestria’s military, I am now going to be much more formal.” the paladin smirked. “And besides: being a godfather of your - minus tens of generations - cousin...”
“I'm adopted.” Cadance corrected him.
“Oh. That explains a couple of things. So, you two are returning to Canterlot tomorrow?” Matthias asked, as he once again glanced at the picture, when something hit him.
“She... looks different on this one from the ones her parents showed me.” he realized, frowning. “But I cannot put my hoof on what it is... Maybe the fact that she’s surrounded by friends here, instead by books? No, it’s not that... It’s as if... something changed about her...”
“Matthias, is something wrong?” Cadance asked him when she noticed he stared weirdly at Twilight’s picture.
The earth pony shook his head and turned to regarded her.
“Forgive me, Princess, I must have dozed off.”
“Well, considering the time and the party earlier, I’m not surprised.” she replied, figuring it would be pointless to ask him what it was really about.
Instead, she decided to get to better know him. After all if the plan would work, he would become Twilight special somepony or maybe even husband right away, judging by the way he acted, so it would be appropriate to be more acquainted
“You know, Matthias, I - and, to be honest, everypony else - know very little about you. I know you have your reason, but you could at least tell some things, right?”
“I suppose.” the paladin answered, surprised. “What would you like to know, Princess?”
Cadance noticed by the corner of her eye that the other ponies began to pay better attention as to what they were talking about.
“Well, for example, how old are you?”
Matthias opened his mouth to reply, but it quickly closed as his eyes widen.
“I’m... err... I honestly don’t know how to answer that.” he stuttered, and then he frowned, deep in thoughts. “I mean, I died and was brought back in another body, and while I’m not biologically three months old... Hmm, I guess this body is about the same age that I was in when I died, which would mean... oh, for Light sake... let’s say I’m around twenty-fourish, and drop it at that.”
“Twenty-four?” Twilight asked in surprise. “I thought you were at least ten years older than me!”
Cadance looked at her, amused. She noticed that Twilight was acting strangely when she caught up with them as they trotted towards train station, and now she continued to not look directly at Matt as often as possible.
“I wonder what happened in Matt’s room... maybe he woke up and she asked him something? Or, maybe just another embarrassing situation like the one after wedding?”
“Why did you thought of that?” the paladin asked, pretending to be offended. “Do I look that old to you?”
“No, I- it’s just...” Twilight stuttered, suddenly unable to look at him. “You just have this... air around you.”
“Air?” Brann butted in, amused. “Lad, ye’r not decayin’, ar’ye?”
Everypony laughed, knowing the dwarf was referring to the fact that Matthias had died, to his expense of course.
“So, skipping all the jokes Brann could make about the dead people...”
“Hah, wait until-”
“Brann, I can use the power of Light to put you in a state of meditation to silence you.” Matthias reminded him, annoyed about being interrupted. Once the dwarf rolled his eyes, he turned back to Cadance. “As I was saying, skipping all the jokes, you wanted to know something else?”
“Yes, I do, I wanted to ask you about your sister, if that’s okay.” Cadance said, unsure if that was safe subject.
A shadow passed Matthias features, but he shrugged and replied.
“There is no much to tell, honestly. We weren’t nearly as close siblings as those two are.” he pointed at Twilight and Shining Armor. “Calia was two years older than me, had blonde hair and blue eyes, and was really beautiful by human standards. She was also a bit like Rarity, I guess, as she really loved beautiful dresses, although not as obsessively as our fashionista. Still, I do remember how she reacted when I accidentally spilled tea or something on one of her favorite gowns, way back when we were kids, Calia was really furious then.”
The memory forced some laugh out of him, but he quickly calmed down.
“You spoke of her in past tense.” Shining Armor noticed.
“I already told you that she is most likely dead, didn’t I?” Matthias answered, his ears dropping. “I’m sorry Princess, but recalling all this made me feel a bit... tired. If you’ll excuse me...”
“Of course, I’m sorry that my curiosity caused you pain.” Cadance immediately replied.
She was actually only half-sorry. While it didn’t bring her any joy to make him recall that, she hoped that if he would get emotional sooner, the plan would go more smoothly.
“Don’t worry, it was actually kind of nice to talk about Calia.” the paladin replied, bowing, and made his way to his bed.
Twilight tossed and turned around in her bed, once again unable to sleep.
“Tomorrow. I will have to talk to him tomorrow, and I still have no idea what to say! Even if he does feel that way, what if it won’t work out?! All books I read so far point out that it won’t!”
She was freaking out.
“Well, I’ll be goin’ then.” Brann said as everypony from the late-night part of the party (minus Big Mac, who stayed back at Sweet Apple Acers) stood in front of the library early in the morning.
Matthias had to admit that it was fun to have somepo-body from Azeroth here to talk to, but understood Brann’s desire to go back, as much as interesting Equestria was.
The dwarf wasn’t the only one who was leaving. Near them, a carriage stood, with two guards who would pull it back to Canterlot, with Cadance and Shining Armor. Everything seemed to return soon to its usually routine.
Except it wasn’t going to; In a week, the construction of the Abbey would begin and the workers will build it fast enough to have it done in less than month, after which Matthias would began training the new paladins.
“And have less time for my friends.” he thought unhappily.
“Good bye, Brann Bronzebeard, it was a pleasure meeting you.” Cadance said.
The others also said their farewells, and once they were done, the dwarf turned to Matthias.
“So, lad, ye’r sure ye don’t want me to say a word to anybody?” he asked.
“I already told you, I don’t want either Horde or Alliance anywhere near Equestria.” the paladin reminded him, after which he facehoofed himself. “The entire world breaks apart around them, and they go around fighting each other.”
“Well, okay, but what about my brother, or Varian... or Jaina?”
Matthias shook at the mention of her name, and for few seconds, he hesitated.
…she hates you.
“Anything that could be said could only bring pain to them.” he answered, almost coldly, but then forced a smirk. “Besides, I would prefer if there was no chance of the information of me being alive leaked out. Can you imagine how would Sylvanas react?”
“Who’s Sylvanas?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously, but then smirked as well. “Some other girlfriend you had?”
“…”
Matthias managed to keep a straight face until he exchanged look with Brann, but after awhile they both burst into laughter, much to confusion of other ponies. The paladin was thankful that Twilight was in a half-awaken state, probably due to a lack of sleep, and didn’t manage to pick up on that information.
“Sweet Light...” he said as he barely kept himself from falling on the ground. “... it would be almost worth to have her here just to see her reaction to hearing that!”
It took them few more minutes to calm down, much to annoyance of other, who didn’t understood why it was so funny. Finally, Brann stood up straight, and took the necklace out of his pocket.
“It’s been fun here, but I really need to get goin’. See ye back in a month.”
As he said that, he gripped the medallion tighter, and, within a flash of light, he was gone.
Meanwhile, on the snowy mountains of Dun Morogh in Azeroth…
“Hey.” one of the two dwarven mountaineers that stood in front of gates of Ironforge asked the other.
“Yeah?”
“Ye ever wonder why-”
Whatever else the mountaineer was about to say was cut off, as they both suddenly heard a very loud scream coming from above. They looked up and saw a dwarf shaped form falling down, and ultimately landing on its face right in front of them.
“Ow, that gotta hurt.” the first mountaineer said, shocked, until they both recognized Brann.
As soon as they did, they burst into laughter.
“Why on the face again...” he muttered, staying on the ground.
“Go tell the Council that Brann ‘dropped in’!” commanded the second guard, grinning as he moved to help the explorer up.
“What did he mean by ‘see ye back in a month’?” Applejack asked.
“I asked him to bring me some things.” Matthias replied nonchalantly.
“Oh, like candies? And cookies?” Pinkie asked hopefully.
The paladin was about to shoot her a glare, but reminded himself that she wouldn’t get it.
“No, Pinkie Pie, he’s not bringing any candies.”
“Cookies?”
“No.”
“Chocolate?”
“No snacks of any kind!” he snapped.
“As much as it is fun to watch Matt get brain aneurysm,” Shining Armor chuckled, “I’m afraid we need to get going as well.”
“Well, goodbye then.” Twilight said, hugging her brother, and then Cadance. “You should drop again sometime.”
The rest also said their goodbyes, thanking them for visiting, and for helping with Apple Bloom’s problem.
“That was no problem, really.” Cadance replied to filly’s thanks, smiling.
“If going into dangerous forest in search for a cure is ‘no problem’...” Matthias thought jokingly.
“Say hello to my goddaughter for me. Oh, and I almost forgot:” he added, pointing at Shining Armor: “Your parents wanted me to tell you two to visit them for a dinner soon.”
“Wait, what?” the Captain asked, surprised. “When the hay did you meet them?”
“I bumped into them few days ago, when I stayed in Canterlot?” the paladin replied with raised eyebrow. “They invited me over for a tea. I must say, they are really nice, no wonder you two grew up so well.” he told him and Twilight.
“Thanks.” Shining Armor said. “I guess we could make a detour on the way back to the castle, right dear?”
“Absolutely.” the Princess replied, smiling. “I missed mom’s cooking.”
“I guess we should go then. See you again soon everypony.”
They entered the carriage and waved to them through the window as the two guards began to pull them towards Canterlot. The ponies and one dragon, who also waved, continued to follow them with their eyes until they disappeared on the route.
“Now that everypony is gone...” Spike began, turning to Matthias and Twilight, while crossing his arms on his chest. “Can somepony please explain to me why you all freaked out when I said you slept together?”
Everypony looked at him, shocked that he brought it up for a second time, while the Cutie Mark Crusaders exchanged surprised glances, not understanding their reaction. Twilight was snapped out of her half-asleep trance with wide eyes by that question, as it focuses on her and Matt’s… incident back on Canterlot
“Oh joy.” Matthias commented as he noticed that fillies were just as clueless.
“W-well... ah... you see...” Twilight stuttered, red on her face, as she tried to think of a good answer, but failing. Clearly her mind is not fully awakened yet to make a proper explanation.
“Ah don’t git it.” Apple Bloom said, walking up to them. “What’s so shockin’ that you two slept together?”
“Yeah! Why are you ALL freaking out about it?” Scootaloo inquired.
Matthias cleared his throat and spoke up:
“You see, Spike, girls, sleeping with somepony else, who happens to be of the opposite gender, is considered very... rude, if you do it before you are after twenty-second year of life.”
“Really?” Sweetie Belle asked confused. “Why?”
“It’s just how it is. So remember, girls: no sleeping or dating with colts until you are older!”
“Okay.” Scootaloo shrugged, not caring. “No idea why, but if that’s how it is... hey, I have a great idea!” she beamed up. “Why don’t we try to get our cutie marks for sleeping?!?”
“Yeah!”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders, having picked their next activity, run off. Spike, on the other hoof, yawned.
“Sleeping... hmm...” he murmured as he walked back to the library.
As soon as the doors closed, Matthias decided it was about time he addressed the dirty looks the mares were giving him.
“What?!? I haven’t seen you coming up with any better explanation.” he tried to defend himself.
“That wasn’t an explanation, that was tellin’ them to not date any colt!” Applejack stomped the ground to back up her words.
“Firstly, it’s a good thing, now at least you’ve got good ten years before Big Mac starts traumatizing every colt that would try to date Apple Bloom,” noticing that she was about to protest, he added: “Trust me, I know him well enough to know he would not only be much more unpleasant than Shining Armor, but probably he would back it up with his hooves, get a date and wait if you don’t believe me. Secondly, I can just picture all of you while talking about ‘birds-
“‘Turtles’!”
“- and bees.” Matthias finished, not minding Pinkie Pie, after which he switched to much gentler tone. “Although, to be fair, you should talk to them about things like that soon, they are growing up. And since Spike does this on monthly basis, he should have this talk as well.”
“Spike happens to be still a baby dragon, so I do not think that will be necessary anytime soon.” Rarity replied uncomfortably, but brightened up. “Speaking of talks, however, there is something I would like to discuss with all of you.”
“Hmm? What d’ya mean, Rarity?” Applejack asked, tilting her head in confusion.
The fashionista almost screaming in excitement as she said her next words:
“How about we all go on vacation together?!?”