Matthias slumped down beside Rainbow Dash. Shortly after he had send Storm off, chuckling to himself quietly for the uncomfortable situation he was bound to find himself in, he finished up checking the notes Brann brought him (or rather, found himself unable to focus on them), and went back to his room. He gently woke up Rainbow Dash, seeking her company.
Now that Matthias laid down on the bed, making sure to not crush Rainbow's outstretched wing, he looked into Rainbow's eyes. He smiled to her, and they hold their eye contact for a long time. They both saw in the other's playfulness, content, friendship, and yes – even love. Not the kind one can have for a life mate, but a love two friends shared.
As Matthias continued to smile at her, Dash, realizing that he caught her on being 'sappy', had quickly blushed. The stallion chuckled and leaned over to her before she could pull away, kissing her.
“So, what's bothering you?” Rainbow asked once they parted.
Matthias sighed and rolled over, so that now he rested on his back.
“The ceremony today...” he began. “I know that they are all ready. Serenity, who until she first came here, never had a weapon in her hoof; her brother only showed her some self-defense moves. Tucker, who by the measure of every organization of paladins on Azeroth, should be the worst possible candidate. Guard, in contrast, would be considered a perfect paladin, but seems to know close to nothing about friendship; which, after hanging out with all of you, I came to value much more. And then there’s Storm, who is full of doubts about himself. They all are ready.”
“So?” Rainbow Dash asked, confused.
“Even if I think they are ready, I should prepare them for at least another week.” Matthias continued. “They should know more. But... for some reason, I feel as though they need to become paladins today, not a week from now.”
“Why? Do you think something is going to happen?”
“I... don't know.” he confessed. “The Light... Rainbow Dash, even before my fall to evil, I wasn't as connected to the Light as I am now. The Light speaks to me now, not literally, but in a subtle way. I wasn't prepared for such things. And now, I feel as if...” he paused, searching for a way to make her understand. “... it's like this: you could be preparing yourself for some flying competition, but... you wouldn't know what sort of challenges this competition would include... or when it would happen.” he finished his explanation.
“Hmm,” Dash hummed, rubbing her head. “Sound freaky to me. So you don't have any idea as to what this will be?”
“None what so over,” Matthias said thoughtfully, “But... I don't think that this will be entirely 'bad' thing that's about to happen. If it were, and the Light would want to warn me about it, I would have a bigger sense of urgency than just 'I should make them paladins a week earlier'.”
“Maybe the Light wants you to have paladins build your own float for the Summer Harvest Parade?” Rainbow suggested with a smirk.
“If that would turn out to be the case, I will be happy.”
Storm Clash had thought that this day couldn’t get any weirder. First, he had a nightmare about the Light rejecting him, only to be saved by Princess Luna herself. Then, he talked to Sir Matthias about his doubts and fears, and later even exchanged jokes with him. And just a few minutes ago he saw Princess Cadance, ruler of the Crystal Empire, bounce on her hooves and clap them with Lady Twilight, while reciting some foalish chant.
But the sight of his mother approaching as she called his name, followed closely by his father and brother, made him reconsider his earlier perception of how the world worked.
“E-excuse me.” he managed to stammer to the nearby ponies.
There was no way he was going to greet his family while in the presence of the royal couple, the Prince's sister and Celestia's pupil, one of the best fashion designers in Equestria, and his fellow initiate in the order. He made his way towards his mother, hoping to intercept her.
Lily Stem, his mom, was trotting to him with energy of a mare half her age. Years have been gentle on the earth pony mare, and her pale gray coat and red mane didn't show any sign that she was in her early forties. She wore a white-and-pink traveling vest, concealing her cutie mark.
“Hi sweetie!” she greeted him cheerfully and immediately pulled him in a hug. “Long time no see! I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am that you're about to become the member of the Order of Celestial Light!”
“Um...” Storm tried to say something, despite his mom's efforts to crush his chest. “Thanks, but... how do you know about that?”
“Why, Sir Matthias send us a letter with an invitation to the ceremony.” a pegasus, his father Wind Clash, answered as he came closer.
As he greeted his equally darkly colored pony to his father, Storm Clash couldn't help but curse at his Grand Master for not telling him that, as well as sending him here.
“Looking at your reaction, I guess you had no idea about this, huh?” Serenity's voice sounded behind him as he was about to welcome his younger brother, also a pegasus.
“You knew?!” he asked, whirling around.
What he saw made his heart skip a beat.
It wasn't just Serenity that trotted after him (which was terrifying to him enough), but also the others. Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor, Lady Twilight and Lady Rarity were just a step behind the crystal pony.
“Oh Light, why?” he thought miserably.
“Sir Lightbringer asked both me and Tucker how would we feel if he invited yours and Guards families.” Serenity replied, glancing curiously at his parents and brother. But Storm, who got to know her quite well during the time in the Abbey, noticed a hint of sorrow in her eyes.
A deep feeling of shame and self-loathing consumed him as he recalled what she told him about her family, her parents and brother. And he was momentarily feeling ashamed of his?
“You Majesty, everypony...” he started. While his kin, staring curiously at Serenity a second ago, and now bowing in shock to the Princess. “Please allow me to introduce to you my family: my father, Wind Clash; my mother, Lily Stem; and my brother, Oak Heart.” he pointed at his younger brother, who inherited their mother's color scheme. “This is Princess Cadance; her husband, Prince Shining Armor; his sister, Lady Twilight Sparkle; their friend, Lady Rarity; and my fellow initiate in the Order, Serenity.”
“Hello.” Princess Cadance said, smiling. “It is nice to meet you. Please, accept my congratulations for how well you raised Storm Clash.” she added, concentrating on his parents. “Surely, for him being chosen by Princess Celestia to train under Sir Matthias was in some part due to you.”
“T-thank you for your words, Your Highness.” Storm's father managed to say.
His mother, however, while also replied with respect, was already concentrated on somepony else.
“So you're the Rarity?” she asked the white unicorn. When the mare failed to respond immediately, due to shock at the sudden attention, Lily Stem continued. “I'm a big fan of your designs, but we don't get many of them in Manehatten. Could I please buy few of your beautiful dresses?”
“Oh, mother...” Storm Clash thought, barely resisting an urge to facehoof.
“W-why, of course!” Rarity replied, her shock being replaced by cheerfulness. “Why won't you come to my boutique right now, so I can take your measurements? We have few hours before the ceremony starts.”
“Oh, what a wonderful idea! Thank you so much, Miss Rarity!” turning back to others, she said: “Storm Clash, I will be back for your ceremony. See you later. Goodbye, Your Highness, everypony!” Lily Stem then looked expectantly at Rarity, who also said their goodbyes and they went away.
Storm's father sighed uncomfortably. “I hope my wife's enthusiasm hadn't offended you, Princess, or anypony else. She just loves fashion, and-”
“Don't worry, Mister Wind Clash, no offense was taken.” Princess Cadance replied. “I assume you would like now to catch up with your son now.” when he nodded, she continued: “Then we won't trouble you anymore. Enjoy your time in Ponyville.”
Both Storm and his father bowed to her and the others as they turned to leave. Storm Clash could have sworn that Lady Twilight was smirking in a strange manner, but before he could have put too much thought on that, he felt his brother land rather heavily on his shoulders.
“Hey, am I being ignored?” he asked in annoyed voice. “Nopony said anything to me!”
“Well, you were unusually quiet for yourself.” Storm replied with affection. “How much damage did he do since my last visit?” he asked their father.
“Why do you assume-” Oak began, but quickly stopped as two older ponies looked at him sternly. “Oh, whatever.”
“Hey, Matt?”
“Mm?”
They were again resting on his bed. Now she was lying on his chest, her wings brushing his sides. She lifted her head as she spoke up.
“I need to talk to you about something.” she said uncomfortably. “You mentioned to me that Applejack asked you if she could kiss you, once she think this over again.”
“Yeah.” Matthias confirmed, uncertain as to where this was going.
“As I said, I won't have problems with that, but... do you remember what I told you about how Twilight and I managed to calm Applejack?” she waited for him to nod. “Well... Rarity talked to us few days later and told us that Applejack still lost her virginity to me, hymen broken or not.”
Matthias again nodded, not wanting to tell her that he kinda thought so, and he was only not sure because of the possible differences as to how communities of Equestria and Lordaeron could look upon such things.
“Twilight was just looking at it from the 'technical' point of view, and I am dumb. So, we've talked about it; me, Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy...” Rainbow trailed off, not meeting his gaze. “And... we kinda thought that it would be best if you would buck with her.”
Matthias stared at her, aghast.
“I...” he stuttered, unable to think clearly. “I can even begin to tell you on how many levels it's wrong for you to ask me to do this.”
“Why?” the cyan mare asked, although the hit on her cheeks betrayed that she understood what he meant. “You're already bucking with one friend, and-”
“First of all, there is a difference between you and Applejack.” Matthias stopped her. “You two look at such matters in different way; for you, it can be just fun, but Applejack was raised in a family-”
“Are you gonna say that my folks were worse parents that AJ's?” Rainbow asked, her tone of voice playful despite the words.
“Of course not.” Matthias replied calmly. “But what I meant was that hers is a different kind of family, one with many traditions-”
“Okay, I know what you mean.” she interrupted him again. “But the damage was already done...” she trailed off, and Matthias, to his surprise and sadness, saw that there were tear in her eyes. “Matt, I... I know she and I were both drunk that night, but I shouldn't do something like this! Losing virginity should be something special, not a result of a drunken night! What kind of friend am I?!”
“Shh.” Matthias told her gently as he hugged her tighter, one hoof patting her head gently.
“I- I just... I want to make it up to her.” Rainbow mumbled, her face pressed against his chest. “AJ's bound to realize this if she thinks about it, and... and I don't know what to do.”
“But why do you think that if I would sleep with her would somehow make everything better?”
“You would understand if you were me,” she replied playfully, “but... we think it would be better is she could have a proper first time with you. I'm not telling you to just do it the next time you see her, but... maybe you could talk about it with her, or something?”
She looked at him, wanting his assurance. Matthias realized that she was afraid: afraid that she was going to lose Applejack's friendship, afraid how the farm pony might feel once she comes to the conclusion her friends came to. And, despite not wanting to have his life even more complicated, he wanted to help. Both Applejack, with however she was going to react; and Rainbow Dash, who was looking at him pleadingly.
“I will talk with Applejack.” he finally said. “That's all I can promise.”
“Thanks.” she smiled at him nonetheless, and then smirked. “Wow, you're really a sucker for seeing a mare crying, huh?”
“Oh, hush.” he told her, kissing her and making the last bits of her sadness disappear.
“So tell me a little bit about yourself, Miss-” Rarity begin to ask as she levitated a measuring tape around Storm's mother, but she was quickly cut off.
“Just Lily Stem is fine, Miss Rarity.”
“Then you'll have to just call me Rarity.” the white unicorn replied, smiling.
After the initial surprise has passed, Rarity was very pleased at Lily Stem's near adoration of her. So far, Manehatten was one of the towns her designs earned a little attention; so far, at least. To hear how much a pony from there loved her work brightened up Rarity's day. Because of that, she had offered to make a completely new dress for Lily Stem, on a huge discount no less. When the older mare began to protest, Rarity told her that she can tell everybody in Manehatten where she got her dress, and they would be even.
“So, Lily Stem,” Rarity began again from where she left off, “tell me a little bit about yourself. I do enjoy talking with my clients as I prepare dresses for them.” she added, pulling out some materials from one of the drawers.
“Oh, there's not much to tell, I'm afraid.” Lily Stem replied. “I own a small gardening shop at Manehatten. It doesn't earn much bits, but my husband earns a lot since he came to be in charge of the weather team in the city, so I run it mostly for pleasure.”
“I see...” Rarity murmured, navigating her needle. “Well, it's important to do what you love.”
“I couldn't agree more.”
“I have one more question, if you don't mind...” she trailed off, unsure if it was proper for her to ask about that, but Lily Stem nodded happily, so she took a deep breath and asked: “Would you mind telling me what happened to Storm?”
The older mare flinched a bit. “Oh, you must mean his jaw... my poor son...” Lily Stem paused, and Rarity could almost see the unpleasant memory being played in front of her eyes. “He was showing off to his friends, but one of his flying tricks went wrong and he crashed into the school wall. He broke his jaw, and while healing it wouldn't be too much of a problem, we... didn't have bits for it.” she lifted her head to look at Rarity. “You see, I used to be part of wealthy family, until my father disowned me after I married Wind Clash. So he had to provide for both of us and later our son, as I knew close to nothing about how real life worked, and-”
“Hush.” Rarity interrupted her gently. “You don't have to explain yourself to me, Lily Stem. I know that you've done what you could for Storm.”
“You say that as if you hadn't noticed how crooked his jaw is.” the mare replied, on a verge of tears.
“Oh, I've noticed.” the white unicorn told her, shame filling her once again at the memory. “I was scared of him the first time I saw him, to be honest. I quickly apologized, of course, and found him to a good pony to talk to.”
“Most ponies didn't want to talk with him after his accident. The other colts laughed at him, while fillies run away.” Lily Stem said, shaking with regret for not being able to protect her son. “But,” she shook, smiling honestly, “that's all in the past. He grew up so well, first becoming a royal guard, and now this... paladin of the Order of the Celestial Light, whatever that means.”
“It means he will be able to use the power of the Holy Light.” Rarity explained, happy to further prove to her how well her son turned out to be. “Storm's mentor and head of the Order, Matthias Lehner, is a dear friend of mine, and I've seen him work with that mysterious force before. It gives him abilities to heal wounded, protect the innocent, and fight the evil. And even allows him to bring the dead back to life.”
Lily Stem's eye has gone widened in surprise. “I've heard about Princess Luna daughter, of course, but I found it hard to believe... and my Storm is now going to be able to do such things as well?”
“With further training, I'm sure he will.” the white unicorn replied, honestly believing that.
“My little Storm...” the older mare murmured, her gaze growing distant for a moment. “I'm glad to hear about his accomplishments. And,” she added, smiling, “glad to see he managed to befriend a mare such as you.”
Hearing Storm's mother said that, Rarity couldn't help, but blush. She was right; despite talking to him just a few times, they already considered themselves to be friends.
“Twilight and the others be damned.” she thought angrily, returning to her sewing, as the memories of her friends teasing her because she spoke to Storm few times flashed before her. “It's true that he is a handsome stallion, despite his jaw, and good-mannered, kind and funny, caring for his little brother, and so strong, but that doesn't mean I'll have automatically a crush on him... Wait, what?” she paused, realizing how many of Storm's virtues she listed.
“So...” she said, desperate for new topic, to distract her thoughts. “Storm told me that Oak Heart is a bit of a trouble maker.”
“Ugh, yes, he kind off is.” Lily Stem murmured, blushing with embarrassment.
“Oh, don't worry, I can understand perfectly.” Rarity explained. “My own sister and her friends are also unpredictable and destructive. Although, what Storm told me about the Statue of Liberty...”
“I know!” Lily Stem replied, both angry at the memory and confused. “I don't even understand how that happened. I mean... where the heck did he find all that roil paper? Or oil, for Celestia's sake?”
“I will go help Spike wash the dishes.” Shining Armor said as he rose, helping Spike with picking them up as well.
Cadance smiled to him, and then glanced back at Twilight. While the breakfast at her home was great, as well as it was to hear how well she was doing with her studies under her aunt, Cadance was a bit disappointed to see that she still was just friends with Matt.
She sighed, wondering how the ceremony will go today. From what she learned from Serenity, before they reached Twilight's library and the initiate had returned to the Abbey, all four of them were prepared for what was about to come. Cadance did pick up a small sense of worry from her, but it was always normal to be nervous at things like those. Much more worrying was the brief feeling of sadness when Serenity saw Storm's family.
As much as Princess Cadance wished she could do something about it, there was nothing. Only Serenity herself could find a way to fill the void her brother's death left in her heart. Maybe the Light would prove enough?
“I've noticed you were smirking back at the station.” Cadance spoke up, wanting to both distract herself and talk with her sister in-law. “Any particular reason?”
“Oh, I was just thinking how much I'm going to tease Rarity.” Twilight replied with a grin the Princess hardly ever saw on her muzzle. “You see, I think she might have a little crush on Storm Clash... so her running off with his mother was utterly hilarious to me.”
“Twilight!” Cadance exclaimed, surprised at her old charge. “If Rarity really has a crush on some stallion, you shouldn't tease her about it.”
“Well, she deserves it.” Twilight replied. “For all those comments of her about me and Matt being destined for each other...”
“She was doing that out of care for you.”
“Oh, I know I know...” Twilight murmured, and then sighed. “Okay, just few more jokes, and that will be it, okay?”
“Sound reasonable.” Cadance replied, happy to hear that the Twilight could come to such conclusion almost by herself. “Now, since your brother is still busy in the kitchen... how about you tell me everything you know about Rarity and Storm Clash?” she asked with a grin.
Twilight smirked in reply.