//------------------------------//
// Chapter 23: Meeting Matt 
// Story: The Lockseed's curse 
// by Equestriasservant 
//------------------------------//

he natural cavern was a darkened place. Abandoned for several years, a silence filled the chamber, a silence so thick that if any creature did venture into this place, they could cut it with a knife. Though it was not dark. Large clear crystals shone from the high, stone walls, providing an almost unnatural light into the cavern. A larger crystal, stood rooted in the center of the chamber. The giant crystal was twisted into the shape of a five branched tree and glittered madly in the light, as though it was covered with diamonds. The silence in the Chamber was shattered as a sudden wind picked up inside the chamber. There was a flash of light. A large golden circle, decorated with intricate markings appeared, floating a few centimeters above the ground. A human appeared, as though stepping through a doorway. The human was dressed in a short white robe, that ended in  several flaps covering certain parts of the long black trousers the human wore over its legs. Two thick silver straps covered the humans chest, upon which were several rings embedded with several colored gems and upon one of the humans hands was another ring. This one had a golden gem embedded in it with several silver lines cast around it. Around the human's waist was secured a black and silver metal belt, upon which was inscribed a human hand pointing downward to the left. A hood covered the humans head covering everything but a shred of pale skin and lips. The human looked around as the golden circle faded into nothingness, before moving to the giant crystal tree and bowing to it slowly.Then the human straightened suddenly, as a rough male voice sounded.

"You shouldn't have done that Matt." Another human stepped out from behind the giant crystal. This human was not cloaked in robes, but was clad in a thin silver suit, over which was a thick, metal armored chest-plate and armored shoulder pads colored in a light purplish color. The new human had shoulder length blonde hair, though his eyes were covered by dark glasses, completely hiding the humans eyes. The new arrival lent against the side of the crystal tree, watching the white robed human, with his mouth fixed in a downward grimace. "You know it was a stupid idea Matt and yet you still think it's the right way?" The White robed human, Matt shook his head, a small smile gracing the pale lips. The other human gave a soft snort of annoyance before pushing himself off the crystal before striding around it. Matt, who had not moved from the same spot, simply turned his head to watch the other human. "Honestly," The other human said exasperatedly, wheeling round to face Matt, "Did you ever stop to consider that his sister, who is possibly still out there, might be watching?!" The white robed human chuckled, though Matt did not see nothing funny about the situation. "And Eclipse..." At this, the two humans fell silent. That word was enough to fill the cavern with an icy silence. Matt shook his head, pulling back his lips over his teeth, in a tight grimace of anger. Immediately, the crystal tree behind the pair of humans began to emit a loud groaning noise and some of its luster began to fade. Matt allowed what features his hood showed, to relax and immediately the crystal tree returned to its normal state.

"I'm going." Matt said coolly. The other human opened his mouth to speak but Matt held up his hand. "Robin we need to act. If Eclipse comes back, we won't last long without Jay. You know it to be true." Robin, frowned, though it was impossible to tell what was going on behind those dark lensed  glasses. Finally, Robin nodded. Matt reached down and plucked one of the rings from the straps across his chest. Holding it up, Matt examined the ring in the light of the crystal tree. Embedded in the ring was a purplish crystal, over which was embossed the golden symbol of a crescent moon. Robin raised an eyebrow. "No." Matt said coldly, placing the ring back on the strap, where it hung, swinging slightly. "Not yet." Matt said shaking his head at the hard look Robin was giving him. "Eclipse won't have this ring while I still draw breath. Or at the very least," Matt fixed Robin with a very thin smile. "Not as long as the situation denies it." Ignoring the snort of indignation that Robin chose to respond with, Matt turned away from the other human Matt pushed one of the paddles on his belt. The hand part of the belt flicked over to point to the right. Matt placed his hand over the hand symbol. There was a flash of golden light and then Matt was gone. Robin shook his head, giving another sigh of annoyance. He turned to give one last bow to the crystal tree before making his way back behind the crystal.




Jay smiled lightly as he wandered through Ponyville. The sun was out, the birds were singing and best of all, He, Twilight and Discord, had finally made it back to Ponyville. Or rather, he and Twilight had finally made it back to Ponyville. Discord, still deprived of his powers, had been locked in a jail cell by several angry ponies, AppleJack, Rarity and to Jay's immense surprise, Fluttershy. Since being brought back from the Ever-free forest, Jay and Twilight had been treated to several rounds of welcome home parties, courtesy of Pinkie Pie. Jay, who had declined being detained, had taken his leave after the fifteenth round of drinks and party poppers. Twilight was still stuck in the hospital though, alongside Rainbow Dash, who Jay and Twilight had been horrified to learn, had been attacked by some weird stranger who resembled Shadow and who had released Trixie. Though most of Twilight's friends were also concerned with the amount of problems that had been springing up. Apart from some Unicorns having problems with their magic, not to mention the unraveling of the spell that Spike usually used to transmit mail. Though the ponies had been able to make do with several harassed looking messengers traveling from Ponyville to Canterlot and back again. Then there were several reports of unrest springing up around the kingdom. Everything from small groups complaining of natural disturbances to large scale geological disasters. Jay frowned at this thought. He wasn't really sure why but this made him feel uneasy. Though he had other thoughts on his mind. The dream...His doppelganger. That was something he hadn't stopped thinking about. Was it just a product of his own, tired mind or...was it something more? Jay rubbed the chafing marks around his wrists. The local Nurse, an earth pony by the name of Redheart, had assured him that the marks would vanish eventually though she'd been unable to heal the welts and cuts using their traditional methods. He supposed it wasn't bad. He'd just have to put up with the occasional stabbing pains across his wrists. In any case, the new clothes that Rarity had provided for him, a pair of silken tracksuit bottoms and a silken shirt, as thanks for rescuing Twilight, had long sleeves which were perfect for hiding the wounds. His walk, had taken him to the Ponyville town square. The human, distracted for a brief second due to the gigantic, almost majestic town hall, did not see the black furred Unicorn that had walked out in front him.

"OOF!" Jay yelled as his legs hit the Unicorn. Jay, not prepared for the collision, stumbled and hit the floor. He rolled over, feeling annoyance building inside of him. "Really?" He demanded at nothing in particular. He knew that the residents of Ponyville could be slightly absent-minded, Twilight had warned him so during one of his first excursions out of the library. But this was ridiculous. Couldn't he go five minutes without running straight into something...anything? But the annoyance faded as he noticed who he had actually walked into. It was Shadow. The black furred Unicorn looked worse for wear than the last time Jay had seen him. At that time, Shadow had been drunk. Though this time Shadow looked slightly worse than that time. His fur was sticking out in odd places. Patches of it seemed to have something sticky in it. Indeed, the fur was so utterly unkempt that the Cutie Mark on his flank  was barely visible. Shadow's eyes looked sunken, bloodshot and slightly faded. The Unicorn's front legs were shaking heavily rather as though Shadow had just gotten up or as though he had barely enough energy to keep himself up. "Oh. It's you Shadow!" Jay said, smiling as he stood back up again, brushing the dirt from his clothes. "What are doing out here?" Shadow didn't seem to hear him however and continued walking. The Unicorn's head continued to swing from side to side, his bloodshot eyes sliding rapidly, seemingly unable to focus on anything. Jay frowned as he watched the Unicorn. He tapped Shadow slightly on the shoulder. "Shadow?" Jay asked uncertainly. The Unicorn's head whipped round so fast, Jay jumped backwards with a shout of fright. Shadow's wide eyes were starting to frighten him. 

"Huh, who, what?!" The Unicorn shouted, his head whipping round from side to side. Finally Shadow's eyes seemed to focus on Jay. Even then, the eyes focused on the human for about  second, then slid over to the nearest shop. "Oh...h-hello Jay. I didn't see you there." Jay could tell that was the case. Something was obviously distracting the Unicorn. He figured asking Shadow outright what the heck was bothering him when Shadow suddenly smiled wide. The transition from depressed, distracted Shadow to madly happy Shadow was slightly unnerving. "Well...I'll see you later then Jay...I have to...go do something." Jay watched Shadow walk shakily away. He shook his head. He supposed that Shadow was just having an off day. He couldn't exactly blame the poor guy. The Unicorn must've been worried sick about Rainbow Dash after her attack, not to mention Twi...Jay stopped. He felt the twinge of annoyance again. That was the main reason he'd gone for a walk. Not only that dream, he'd needed time to think over Twilight's story. He'd noticed that Twilight had been extremely distant with him, ever since they'd gotten back. He'd tried to catch her eye all the time they'd been together at the hospital but she completely ignored him. He supposed he couldn't really blame her though. He had practically forced her to relieve one of her old dates, admittedly over something that Discord had told him. And anything that Discord said could be a bare-faced lie. Jay smirked to himself as he realized the idiocy of his situation. He risked his friendship with the Unicorn on something that for all he knew, could've been over for years. Feeling slightly better about himself and finally making up his mind, Jay spun round....and almost collided with the human that had been standing silently behind him. Jay, caught off-guard, tripped over his feet and toppled to the ground again. In an attempt to recover himself, Jay staggered back to his feet, fixing the human in front of him with wild eyed look. The other human was dressed in a pure white robe with gold edgings. His face, which was hidden mostly by the large white hood, was set in a thin smile.

"Geez Jay you really have lost your touch huh?" Jay stopped dead. This human knew his name. Not to mention the fact that  the human was now holding out his hand to Jay, as though...."Names Matt." The other human said, with a soft chuckle. "I'm glad I managed to find you in this lot. But let get somewhere private." Several ponies were starting to stare in the direction, with  slightly curious looks on their faces. He reached for Jay's arm. Jay who was still staring dumbfounded at this possibly miraculous new arrival allowed this Matt to take his arm. Matt guided him into one the slightly less crowded side street and smiled at Jay. "So, where do you wanna start?" The white robed human asked.