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Chapter 14,296 words
Chapter 25,123 words
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Chapter 64,214 words
Chapter 73,653 words
Chapter 85,961 words
Chapter 93,685 words
Chapter 103,328 words
Chapter 113,157 words
Chapter 125,097 words
Chapter 134,755 words
Chapter 142,886 words
Chapter 153,472 words
Chapter 163,564 words
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Chapter 182,422 words
Chapter 193,796 words
Chapter 202,790 words
Chapter 2184 words

Chapter 14

The Mayor had made good on her word to Matt to get the plans for his new house written up. She also wrote up some papers to have some landscapers fix up the ground that was torn up by the dragon carrying the Ursa's body back to his cave. Per his request, she had the a lot reserved near the library. The construction crews began their work on Matt's home right away. It took them about two fast months to finish with a full crew, but his house was simple enough.

On Earth, what he had would have been considered small, possibly 'cozy'. All he had was a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room. An entertainment area wasn't going to be on the list since they didn't have computers or television. Most of his furniture came from custom made donations from the citizenry, who were more than happy to help after what he did for them. He was grateful for the unexpected amount of generosity from the town. Their sentimentality would have likely been considered something that uppity folks back on Earth did to make themselves feel superior, but here it was completely genuine.

The library had become a much more frequented place as he told many of the ponies in town where he was staying as they were working on his house. Twilight and Spike didn't mind the extra business he brought, even though most of the time, their guests were interested in seeing Matt. The other girls all also received a noticeable increase in attention, whether personal or business related. Being close friends with Matt had their benefits all around, it seemed.

He got many requests for assistance with various tasks, but he didn't mind in the least. Having extra size and fingers turned out to be more useful than he anticipated. It gave him something to do most days and sometimes he was given a few bits for his trouble. He never asked for them, but the ponies he was helping were more than happy to pay him for his time. He had to remind himself a few times that he was going to need to be fending for himself soon and having a source of income was going to become something to think about. He wasn't about to let himself freeload groceries and the like. Matt even started putting together weekly schedules just to keep up with all the requests, prompting Twilight to joke that she had been rubbing off on him.

The Mayor had a small ceremony when the house was finally finished, complete with a ribbon to cut. Normally, building a new home wasn't a big deal, but after everything that had happened, she felt it necessary. Plus, it was a nice little boost in the polls for her, and there wasn't any reason to pass that up. The Elements bearers and Spike helped him move his stuff into his new home, and good to her word, Pinkie had a party ready to go once they were finished. It was just the eight of them this time though. Moving was quite the workout for everybody and a relatively quiet party was all that was needed.

Even after he had gotten settled in, Matt still had many visitors asking for some form of assistance. The only time he ever said no was when he already had something else set up on the day they needed him. They were never disappointed though and completely understood that he was pretty busy. Matt got the occasional visitor who just wanted to come say hello, but the townsponies respected his personal space. Even his wide-eyed admirer only stopped over once in a while and, much to his relief, never attempted to tie him up.

He always was ready to welcome Twilight and her friends and their families over, however. They never needed an invitation and could stop by any time of the day. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were fairly frequent visitors and he did what he could to make some time for them, much to the appreciation of Applejack and Rarity in particular. They also had enough respect to honor his busy schedule and stopped over only when he had some time available, which surprised their big sisters to no end but made them very proud of their maturity.

Matt had reserved one particular Monday per Cheerilee's request to visit the elementary school as a surprise guest. His visit took most of the day but none of the kids cared. They bombarded him with another set of nonstop questions, much like his three little friends in the class did. The Crusaders relished in the fact that Diamond Tiara in particular resented that he was a personal friend of theirs. They figured she probably would be begging her dad later in the day for her very own human 'Nooooow!' to boss around and wait on her head to hoof.

-----

This particular Saturday, Twilight had made a late house call to Matt. She was in some need of help the following morning after breakfast and was hoping he was free. It wasn't an emergency, but she was getting desperate for some help. He had always kept his Sundays open so he could relax at least one day a week. Thanks to this schedule, he had no issues with assisting her.

He decided to go to bed early that night so he was well rested for whatever Twilight needed. She didn't go into detail, but for her, Matt didn't need to hear what the issue was. There were only six mares in town he was always ready to lend a hand to, regardless of the situation. As he slept though, Matt heard a quiet but noticeable laugh echo through the room. He sat up and looked around the darkness. He didn't recall dreaming at the time. He called out, looking for a response that ultimately didn't come. He saw no shadows at the windows either.

He glanced at the clock on his nightstand. 3:17. He sighed and laid back on his pillows. He utterly hated his sleep being interrupted. It always seemed to make his brain restart. Even though he'd been asleep for about five hours, now that he woke up, his body would likely demand a fresh eight hours he wasn't going to give it. He yawned and rolled over, closing his eyes, begging to get right back to sleep. Unfortunately, this didn't happen for about another half hour.

-----

"I'm so glad you had some free time today, Matt," Twilight said. He was waiting for in the lobby of the library as she made her final preparations. "I've been meaning to visit Zecora for some time now and it seemed everypony's been busy almost every day for the last couple of weeks, and when they're not, I'm too distracted myself." She paused, spotting the bags under his eyes. "You look kind of out of it. You okay?"

"Yeah, just had a little trouble sleeping," he said with a yawn. "Who's Zecora?"

"Oh, that's right! We've never mentioned her to you. She's a zebra that lives in the Everfree Forest. She's really nice. You'll like her."

"Isn't the Everfree Forest supposed to be all dangerous and stuff? Wait a second, wasn't that Ursa supposed to be from the Everfree Forest?" he asked.

"It can be dangerous, yeah. That's why I was hoping you'd come along. I hate the idea of going alone and Spike absolutely refuses. As far as the Ursa goes, its cave is further north of where we're going, so hopefully we shouldn't be seeing any of them. Besides, nothing seems to scare you." She gave him a friendly nudge as she lifted her saddlebags onto her midsection and floated a pack up to Matt.

Matt smiled and puffed his chest a bit at the compliment. "Well, y'know, if we do..." Twilight glared at his implications. "I'm just teasing!" he said, gently backhanding her flank. "What are we going out there for anyway?"

She rolled her eyes, shook her head and sighed at him. "What am I going to do with you? Anyway, I need some special herbs and potions for some spells I've been wanting to try out. Zecora always seems to have a myriad of such things and I wanted to see if she could help," Twilight explained, a smile returning to her face.

He threw the pack around his shoulder and extended an arm toward the door. "Then, shall we?"

-----

Twilight and Matt had reached the treeline to the forest after about an hour and were deep enough into the woods that they couldn't see any sign of civilization behind them. The sun poked through the few spaces overhead, leaving most of the forest as dark as it usually is, even during the day.

A faint howl in the distance caught Twilight's attention and made her jump nervously, unconsciously leaning toward Matt. Despite hearing it as well and taking notice of it, Matt didn't seem bothered. Every crack of a dead branch spooked Twilight, even if it was only the wind that made it snap. Matt suddenly stopped in his tracks and rubbed his chest. The pain was back again, but nowhere near as violently as before. It was a steady, annoying throb this time, but it wasn't going to be enough to bring him to his knees as it had before. He hadn't felt it in nearly three months but it was a sensation he wasn't likely to forget.

Twilight turned around a step when she saw Matt wasn't beside her and saw his annoyed look and his hand at his heart. She remembered the last time Matt was in such a position, too. "Oh no. You're getting that pain again?" He nodded and smirked. She huddled up against him in fear, scanning for any signs of danger. They'd be in a world of trouble if something like a timberwolf or manticore decided to show up when Matt was in pain. Even though her magic was incredibly powerful, she knew Matt was more tenacious than she ever could be.

His chest pains cleared up after a moment as it had in the past, just as unexpectedly as it had appeared. He looked around for a few minutes, poised for something to leap out at them, but fortunately nothing ever came. He relaxed his posture and put an arm around Twilight's shoulders. She looked up and saw he was alright again. He nodded at her reassuredly. "How much further is Zecora's from here?"

Twilight looked around one last time for any trouble. Nothing. When she was finally sure it was safe, she pointed in the direction of her friend's hut. "About fifteen minutes that way."

They took only a few steps into a clearing when they heard a gutteral crowing sound nearby. Twilight instantly recognized it and froze. Matt continued a few more feet before he realized the hoofsteps next to him had stopped. He turned around and saw Twilight shaking. She dropped to the ground and put her forelegs across her face.

Matt raised an eyebrow in concern. What in the world would make Twilight simply duck down and cover her face instead of running for her life? He looked forward and saw a chicken's head pop out of a bush in front of them. It looked at him and lifted the rest of its body into the air, cawing maliciously. It looked like a small dragon, which took Matt by surprise. He tilted his head in confusion. This was a new sight.

Twilight peeked out from under a hoof and gasped at the cockatrice that was making a beeline for Matt. "Cover your eyes!"

He spun around and faced the terrified mare. "What? Why?"

"It's a cockatrice! It'll turn you to stone if it looks in your eyes!"

Matt turned back and looked over the weird creature as it got closer. A purple glow grabbed hold of his hand and slapped it onto his face. "Ow!"

The demon bird flew right up to Matt's face. He could feel it breathing on his hand as it crowed and screamed at him, trying to get his direct attention. It was succeeding, but not how it had hoped – Matt was getting annoyed. The cawing was like fingernails on a chalkboard and getting louder. He slowly bared his teeth and when he finally had enough, he balled the hand on his face into a fist.

"Shut...up!" he yelled, backfisting it to the ground, snapping his eyes open in rage. The cockatrice crashed hard and shook itself off. Matt stared hard as it charged back toward his face. It was stopped short by a sudden grip around its neck. It scratched at Matt's arm, lacerating it with its claws, drawing blood in a desperate attempt to get loose. Its wings weakly smacked at whatever they could as it tried to get away.

"What? Do you have a problem with me, you little shit?!" The cockatrice had only one option when it realized Matt wasn't letting go, even after being torn up. It glared into his eyes and Matt's feet started turning to stone. The unusual sensation prompted Matt to look down and realized Twilight was telling the truth. "How very cute. Sure, go ahead! Turn me to stone! See if I care! I'll just be sure to squeeze a little harder right before my arm goes too! What do you think about that?" he yelled, becoming more consumed by his fury as his legs became stone.

The cockatrice saw his work slowly crawling up Matt's body and redoubled its efforts, glaring hatred into Matt's eyes and digging its talons in harder. It hurt like hell, but Matt was too infuriated to notice or care. The monster's clawing had allowed it to begin to slip out of the hand choking it. As Matt's midsection turned to stone, he reached up with his other hand and cradled the creature's backside, forcing it back into his tight grip. There was nowhere for it to go now.

"Won't this be amusing? You kill me, and you choke yourself to death afterwards! Go ahead, finish it! Finish it!" Matt strangled the cockatrice harder and it emptied its bladder onto the arm below in panic. Matt's arms had begun to change. The beast shot its gaze between the hand around its neck, Matt's murderous eyes and his arms several times as it shook in fear. Only a few more seconds and it wouldn't be able to get free. The cockatrice shut it eyes and Matt's stone form cracked and shattered, leaving his body unharmed.

Matt smirked, almost annoyed that cockatrice couldn't go through with it, and flung it violently toward the ground. It rolled away from him for several feet before coming to a stop. He marched over to it and knelt down, leaning his head in to meet it face to face. He squinted ominously at it and sneered.

"Run."

The cockatrice backed away, rolled over and sprinted back into the jungle. Matt's eyes followed it until the sounds of bushes being torn through in retreat had subsided. He got up and went to check on Twilight.

The unicorn was still laying on the ground, huddled in terror and trembling. Matt knelt and leaned his shredded arm in, grabbing onto her shoulder. She jumped at the sudden feeling and slowly removed a hoof from in front of her face to see Matt looking down on her. She scanned the area for the cockatrice, uneasy of how quiet it was after all the screaming she just heard.

"It's gone. Trust me, that stupid thing going to bother us again," he said with disdain.

Twilight saw his bloody arm and gasped. "You're hurt!"

"It's nothing. I'll be fine."

"It's not nothing! You're a mess! We've gotta get this taken care of!" Matt started to think she may be right, though he was unlikely to ever admit it. Now that he was calming down, the scratches were starting to sting pretty badly.

He sighed in defeat. "Well, you said this Zecora has herbs and stuff. You think she'd have anything for this?"

"Probably. Come on, we're almost there anyway. I just hope we can get you cleaned up before it gets infected." She got up and doubled her speed from before, anxious to get to her friend's hut. Matt rolled his eyes and followed a few steps behind her.

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