I am so very sorry for the long wait; I hate it when I take too long. I don't want any of you to think I'm giving up because I'm not.

I would also like to apologise for any bad grammar that may have been on my previous chapters. It may be because I'm British and the laptop I'm using may have a British spell check. So that may be why some of the words are miss-spelt or it may just be me. I don't know.

Enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 18: Darkness rises (part 2)

Twilight, Spike, Jeff, Peewee and the rest of the main 6 backed away as the mind controlled ponies approached them. Thorn was still laughing evilly as he hovered above his new army.

Thorn then looked down at Twilight and the others "Why so frightened? You're going to be part of something marvellous…the end of Celestia and the birth of the new age of darkness. Imagine the look on Celestia's face when her most faithful student and her friends burst into her throne room and attack her…..oh, it'll be priceless. Hahaha."

Twilight and the others gasped in horror before turning around and galloped away.

"GET THEM!" Thorn commanded before three earth ponies galloped after them.

As Twilight and the others were galloping through the streets of Ponyville, Rarity turned her head around to see the three red eyed ponies chasing them. Rarity gasped before turning her head back around. "We seem to have a problem."

As they kept galloping, Jeff saw a wagon full of apples up ahead and got an idea. "Peewee, you're with me, come on!" Jeff said before he and Peewee flew on ahead of the others and landed behind the wagon.

After Twilight and the others galloped passed the wagon, Jeff and Peewee use every ounce of their strength to lift up the side of the wagon until it tipped over and spilled apples all over the ground.

As the three ponies galloped through the apple covered ground, they stepped on a few of the apples and lost their balance which ended with them falling to the ground with hard thuds.

"Yeah, don't mess with the birds." Jeff cheered before he and Peewee followed Twilight and the others. After Jeff and Peewee caught up with them, they all headed for Sweet Apple Arches.

Meanwhile, the three ponies got up off the ground and continued to chase them.

Sweet Apple Arches

After a short gallop, they reached the farm and jumped into a hay stack to hide in. "Do we really need to hide in this filthy hay stack? What's wrong with the barn?" Rarity asked.

"Because, that's the first place they'll check." Applejack answered in a slightly irritated tine.

"Still, we could have found something more suitable to hide in." Rarity said. Applejack gave her an annoyed look "Then why don'cha just get out and find somewhere else to hide?" she snapped.

Rarity gave her an angry look. "Well I nev-" Rarity was cut off by Twilight covering her mouth with her hoof. "Shshsh, I hear something." She whispered.

Twilight then looked through the hey with one eye to see the three ponies entering the farm. "Oh no, they're out there…we're trapped." Twilight whispered.

They all looked at each other with worried faces until Spike had an idea to get rid of the ponies. He got out from the back of the hay stack (so the ponies couldn't see him) before he looked around on the ground until he found a rock.

Spike then picked up the rock and threw it towards the bar. The rock hit the barn; creating a loud bag noise which got the three ponies' attention. The three ponies then galloped towards the barn to investigate; allowing Twilight and the others to quietly step out of the hay stack and gallop back to Ponyville without being seen.

Ponyville streets

After a long gallop, Twilight and the others finally came to a stop behind one of the houses and tried to catch their breath

Applejack looked down at Spike. "That….was some pretty smart….thinkin' back there Spike." She said between breaths with a smile.

Spike looked up to her. "Thanks." He said while panting.

Jeff finally caught his breath and stepped forward. "Ok, is everypony here?" he then looked around at everypony. "Ok, we've got…Applejack, Pinkie pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Peewee and…..wait!...where's Twilight?"

Everypony looked around for her but couldn't find her. Applejack then walked around the house and to the streets of Ponyville before looking around for Twilight.

She was then surprised to see Twilight galloping down the street towards the dirt road. Spike, Jeff, Peewee and the rest of the main 6 then walked up beside Applejack and also saw Twilight galloping away before they all sprung off after her.

As they were galloping after Twilight, Rainbow Dash flew ahead of the others through the air before finally catching up with Twilight and landed in front of her; causing Twilight to skid to a stop.

"Where are you going?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight gave her a serious look. "I'm going to find Matt." At that moment, the others finally caught up to them.

"But…he's probably already left Ponyville. Who knows where he could be by now." Fluttershy said as she walked up beside Twilight.

Twilight then continued to walk to the dirt road. "I don't care if I have to search all of Equestria…I'm gonna find him."

Rainbow Dash then pounced in front of Twilight; causing her to stop again. "Why are you so eager to go after him?" Rainbow Dash asked in a slightly aggressive tone.

"Because, he's my coltfriend and I care about him…and he cares about us." Twilight answered.

"Oh yeah?...well if he cares about us so much why did he lie to us and why is he leaving?" Rainbow Dash said with a slight glare.

"He lied to us because he thought that if we all knew what he really was, we wouldn't like him…and the only reason he's leaving is because he thinks everypony hates him for not being honest." Twilight explained with tears forming in her eyes.

Everypony then looked at each other before looking back at Twilight. "I can't lose him….I just can't." Twilight said with her head hanging and a single tear tripping off her face.

Applejack then walked up to Twilight and placed her hoof on her shoulder. Twilight turned her head to see Applejack had a sweet smile on her face. "Does he really mean that much to ya sugar cube?" Twilight slowly nodded.

Applejack's smile grew. "Alright then…we're gonna go after him and bring him back." She said in a confident tone.

Everypony accepted Rainbow nodded in agreement. Rainbow Dash then crossed her hooves. "Fine…he's just lucky he's cool."

Twilight then had tears in her eyes as a large smile came on her face. "Thank you….thank you all so much."

Rarity then walked up to her. "Your quite welcome darling. Now come on! We have to catch up with Matt." With that, they all galloped towards the dirt road leading out of Ponyville.

Meanwhile: field outside of Ponyville

All the ponies just stood in rows while Thorn looked upon them. "Glorious….just glorious." He said with an evil smile.

The three ponies then entered back into the field and bowed to Thorn. "They got away?" Thorn said while still looking at his army.

"We are afraid so…lord Thorn." One of the ponies said while looking up at Thorn.

Thorn then looked down at them and growled as his horn began to glow. The three ponies were then lifted off the ground and were sent flying backwards until they crashed to the ground; knocking them all unconscious.

"Idiots….no matter; those ponies will never stop me. Oh, they can try but they will fail." Thorn said to himself before turning his attention to his army.

"My minions….the time has come for Celestia to fall and for me to rise. Quickly!..To Canterlot." Thorn yelled out to the hypnotized ponies before they all started marching into town with Thorn leading the way.

Meanwhile: On the road out of Ponyville

Liar….traitor….fake….coward. These were all the word running through my mind as I walked away from Ponyville with tears pouring down my face. The further I got away from Ponyville the more I felt my heart break.

"I just lost everything…my friends…my new home...even the only girl I ever loved….and it's all because I was too much of a coward to tell them the truth. I just wish I could see Twilight one more time….look deep into her beautiful eyes….and tell her straight up how I feel about her." I thought as I slowly kept walking.

"MATT." A familiar voice yelled from behind me. I turned around to see Twilight galloping up the road.

"Twilight?" I said as I squinted my eyes to see her better in the distance. When Twilight finally reached me, she was hanging her head while breathing heavily.

Twilight then pulled her head up and looked me deep in my eyes. "Matt….please….don't go." She said between breaths with begging eyes.

"Twilight, did you not see what happened back there?...everypony knows and I can tell by the looks on their faces that they all hate me now….they'll never forgive me." I said in an upset tone with my ears down.

More tears started forming in my eyes before I hung my head. "You deserve better than me Twilight….I'm nothing but a lying fake…a disgrace to ponies everywhere." I then felt Twilight place her hoof under my chin before she raised my head back up so she could look in my eyes.

"You're not a disgrace, you're a caring and loving pony….and even if I searched all of Equestria for a hundred years, I'd never find anypony better than you. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me Matt." She said with a sweet smile while a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Really?" I said quietly.

"Really." She said back before she leaned her head towards me, closed her eyes and pressed her lips against mine. I then closed my eyes and started kissing back.

After a few seconds, we broke the kiss and smiled warmly at each other. I then wiped the tear gently off her face with my hoof as we continued to stare into each other's eyes.

At that moment, Spike, Jeff, Peewee and the rest of the main 6 finally reached us. They all had sweet smiles on their faces once they saw Me and Twilight staring dreamily at each other. "Awww, aren't they just adorable together?" Rarity said sweetly.

Me and Twilight snapped out of our trance and turned to look at them. I then felt a cold shiver run down my spine as I feared that they were here to say they would never forgive me for lying to them for. I then felt a hoof on my shoulder and turned my head to see Twilight's sweet smile.

I then took a deep breath before I walked up to the others. I looked at them all to see they were waiting for me to speak. There was a moment silence before I decided to break it. "What are you guy's doin' here?"

"We're here to tell you that you don't have to go." Fluttershy said.

I was slightly surprised that they didn't want me to go. "But…I lied to you all about everything…how can you not hate me?" I said with my ears slightly low.

"How could we hate you darling?" Rarity said in her sweetest voice.

"Because Thorn was right….I'm nothing but a fake and a coward….I don't deserve your friendship." I said with my ears hanging low.

Applejack stomped her hoof down on the ground. "Now that's not true sugar cube. He just said all those things to get in your head."

"You really shouldn't bring yourself down like that sweetie. Think of how much good you've done for Ponyville!" Rarity said.

"Like what?" I said in a depressed tone.

"Like your job. Nopony I know can deliver apple supplies as good as you can…and let's not forget how you took that manticore." Applejack said.

Jeff then flew onto my back and I turned my around head to face him. "Yeah, and If it weren't for you I'd probably still be in that cage with that Analog guy. You basically saved my life."

"And Discord would still have control over the castle if you hadn't stood up to him and you helped Discord prove to everypony that he's changed." Fluttershy said with a small smile.

"And you helped me become more confident. If it weren't for you, I would've never had the guts to….you know!" Spike whispered but everypony still heard him.

Rainbow Dash looked down at him. "Had the guts to do what?" she asked with a raised eye row.

Spike blushed until his face was completely red. "Errr…..nothing."

Rainbow Dash gave him a surreptitious look before looking back at me.

"And most importantly, you came to Twilight when she felt lonely and you changed her world for the better…and if that's not good, I don't know what is." Rarity said with a sweet smile.

I then turned my head to see Twilight with a warm smile on her face before I smiled back.

"Yeah, so what if you're not a pony, so what if you lied to us about yourself, so what if you've just been forced to tell your deepest darkest secret to of al of Ponyvi-" Pinkie Pie couldn't finish her sentence as Rarity covered her mouth with her hoof again.

Applejack stepped forward. "What she was tryin' to say was, so what if you told a little tall tale. You're still the best colt we've ever met."

"But….I'm not a real colt." I said with my ears still down.

Applejack stomped down her hoof again. "Oh who gives a flyin' feather? You're our friend Matt and nothin' gonna come between us. Not your past, not Thorn, not anythin'." She said in an assertive voice.

I then grew curious about what they saying and my hopes sparked up. "You mean….you forgive me?"

"But of cause Matt, we never thought any less of you." Rarity said sweetly.

"There was never anything to forgive." Fluttershy said with a smile.

"Yeah, you're the bestest best colt we've ever met." Pinkie Pie in a happy tone.

Rainbow Dash then walked up in front of me. "Fine….I forgive you. But I just want to do one thing." With that she shot her hoof towards me and stopped it right in front of my face which made me flinch.

She then gave me a playful smile. "Two for flinching." She said before she playfully hit my shoulder twice with her hoof.

"And please…don't think badly of Twilight. I trusted her to keep my secret and you all know that losing a friends trust is the fastest way to lose a friend." I said.

"Forever." Pinkie Pie said quietly.

"We don't think badly of her darling, and we don't think badly of you ether. We just want you to come back." Rarity said with a sweet smile.

I was stunned by what I was hearing, I lied to all of them and they still like me. I then felt a lump in my throat as I felt warm inside, nopony could asked for a better group of friends.

With tears forming in my eyes, I sat on the ground and opened my arms and everypony (including Rainbow Dash) came up to me and we all shared a group hug.

"You guys are the best, you know that?" I said with a tear rolling down my cheek.

Everypony remained silent as we all continued hugging each other.

We all then broke the hug and I started realizing what I was doing and couldn't believe myself. "What am I doing? I'm running away from my new home and friends because I was too afraid that they wouldn't like me anymore because of what I use to be? Thorn was right…I am a coward." I said to myself out loud.

Twilight came up to my lift side and placed her hoof on my shoulder, I turned my head to her to see a warm smile on her face. I then smiled back as I placed my hoof on top of her's.

"Ok, hate to interrupt the special moment here but Thorn's still got all of Ponyville under his control and he's probably half way to Canterlot by now. So what are we going to do?" Peewee asked.

I then got a serious look on my face. "I'll tell you what we're gonna do, we're not gonna let Thorn win. We're gonna beat him to Canterlot, get the Elements and use them against him."

"But Matt, the Elements have now effect on him. Remember what happened back at the castle?" Fluttershy said with a slight concerned look.

I placed my hoof on her shoulder. "I know, but what else do we have? We have to try….who's with me?"

"We are." Applejack said before everypony nodded in agreement.

I nodded back before walking up to Twilight. "Twi….we can't all fly up there and it'll take too long to get the hot-air balloon or catch a train. So I need you to teleport us there."

Twilight's eyes grew wide. "But….I can't….I'm not powerful enough to teleport that far. What if I mess up and we end up somewhere like a remote desert or something?"

I then placed both my hooves on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "You have to try. I know you can do it, I believe in you."

Twilight looked deep into my eyes before she nodded slightly and everypony gathered up to us. Me and Twilight then locked each other in a hug with our eyes shut tight as Twilight's horn began to glow. We all then disappeared in a flash of light.

Canterlot Castel: Outside Celestia's bedroom

Celestia and Luna were in the hallway outside Celestia's bedroom. Luna was sitting by the wall calmly while Celestia was pacing back and forth with a worried look on her face.

Luna then watched her sister pace and decided to break the silence. "Sister….are you alright?"

Celestia stopped pacing and looked towards her sister. "I'm so worried about Discord. The doctor's been in there for almost an hour and he hasn't said anything about Discord's condition. I mean, what if?...what if he?" Celestia didn't finish her sentence. Instead, she laid her hoof over her eyes.

Luna then walked up to Celestia and placed her hoof on her shoulder. Celesta then removed her hoof and looked down at Luna. "It'll be ok sister. If it'll make you feel any better? I now see that Discord has changed." Luna said with a sweet look on her face.

Celestia's eyes widened slightly. "You do?"

Luna nodded. "Yes, he saved your life. The old Discord would've never done something like that. So now I believe him."

Celestia smiled down at Luna. Suddenly, there was a bright flash behind them and they turned around fast to see Me and Twilight hugging with the Spike, Jeff, Peewee and the rest of the main 6 beside us.

I opened my eyes to see we were in a hallway in the castle before Me and Twilight broke the hug and we all looked around our surroundings. "Twi you did it." I cheered.

"Yeah….I guess I did." Twilight said quietly. She then stumbled slightly and I caught her in my hooves.

"Are you alright?" I asked in a concerned tone.

"Yeah, I'm just a little dizzy." She said quietly while rubbing her head with her hoof.

"Twilight? Matthew?" a familiar voice said across the room. Me and Twilight looked in the direction the voice came from to see Celestia and Luna looking at us with confused looks on their faces.

Me, Twilight and the others then galloped up to them. "Princess…how's Discord doin'?" Applejack asked in a worried tone.

Celestia gave me a slight upset look. "He's….still unconscious. The doctor's in my room taking care of him. Anyway, what's wrong?"

"Princess, we have to hurry! Thorn's put all of Ponyville under his mind control spell and they're on their way here, they'll be here any minute….but we have a plan." I said.

Celestia gave me a curious look. "What do you plan to do?"

"We're gonna use the Elements against him. If we defeat him, maybe everypony will be snapped out of his spell." I explained.

Celestia thought about it for a second before she nodded. "Follow me!" with that, she walked passed us and down the rest of the hallway with all of us following behind.

After a long walk through the castle, we finally came to the castle vault where the Elements were kept. Celestia then walked up to the vault and stuck her horn into the small hole in the middle.

The vault then glowed before it started to open revealing the small box floating in mid-air inside the vault. Celestia's horn then glowed before the box started to glow and levitate out of the vault. She then hovered the box in front of us.

The box lid then opened; revealing the Elements of Harmony. The Elements then levitated out of the box and the tiara placed itself on Twilight's head while the five necklaces placed themselves around the necks of the rest of the main 6.

Celestia then walked up to us. "Are you sure this is going to work? I saw what happened last time you used the Elements."

"I don't know, but we have to try. Otherwise there might be no way of stopping Thorn." I said while looking up at her.

Suddenly, one of Celestia's guards burst through the door and galloped up to us. "Your highness, there's an unknown army of ponies heading this way…and there's a large alicorn leading them."

Twilight then stepped forward. "Then we'd better get going."

"You're all doing a noble and brave act this day and I'm proud of you all." Celestia said in a calm tone.

"Yes, good luck to you all." Luna said with a small smile.

I gave them a confident smile and nodded before turning my attention back to Twilight and the others. "Ok, remember….we're going to do this together, right?"

Everypony nodded in agreement.

I then turned my head to face Twilight. "Ok then, Twi….can you teleport us in Thorn's path?" she gave me a small nod before her horn glowed and we all disappeared in a flash of light with Celestia and Luna watching us go.

Dirt road near Canterlot

Thorn was walking up the dirt road towards Canterlot with his mind-controlled army marching behind him. "We're almost there, soon the throne to Equestria will be mine…and there's nopony who can sto-" Thorn's train of thought was broken when a bright flash of light appeared a few feet in front of him which caused him and his army to come to a halt.

When the light faded, Me, Twilight and the others were standing on the dirt road blocking Thorn's path while giving him sharp glares.

Once Thorn saw it was us, he grinned evilly. "Matthew….I'm surprised to see you're still here."

"You'll have to do better than that to get rid of me." I said while still glaring at him.

Applejack stepped forward. "That's right, we don't care what Matt used to be. He's our friend and we're gonna stick by him."

"How touching, you all forgave him and now you're all here to try and stop me….good, it just gives me the opportunity to kill you all right here. I know, let's start with the boy who started it all." Thorn said darkly.

Twilight stepped forward. "You'll have to get through me first." She said confidently.

Thorn then glared at her. "My pleasure." With that, his horn glowed violently white and a bolt of black lightning burst out his horn and shot towards Twilight.

I went wide-eyed at the sight of this before I pushed Twilight out the way and the bolt hit my arm which caused me to yell out in pain "MATT." Twilight screamed before she got up off the ground and galloped up to me while everypony else had a shocked look on their faces.

Me and Twilight looked down at my arm to see it was slightly blackened with black smoke coming off it. And it stung like hell.

Thorn then grinned again. "You haven't experienced true pain yet." With that, his horn started to glow white again.

I then noticed that I was starting to glow white before I felt a shooting pain in my head. I fell to the ground yelling in pain while everypony came up to me with worried looks on their faces.

The pain was unbearable, I felt like my brain was on fire. But I knew that if we lost, Equestria will become a hellish nightmare. So I fought the pain and weakly picked myself up off the ground.

Thorn then had a look of wonder on his face before his horn glowed bright and the pain in my head got worse. I grunted while trying to fight the excruciating pain but I didn't back down and started walking towards Thorn one hoof at a time.

Thorn gave me a sharp glare before his horn glowed even more violently. I was in so much pain and I was fighting it back so much that I felt like I was going to collapse out of exhaustion but I didn't stop slowly moving towards Thorn.

Thorn's horn then stopped glowing and all the pain in my head finally went away, I then lowered my head while panting.

Thorn kept glaring down at me. "How is it possible? Nopony can take that much pain and still stand. How are you capable to resist my spell?"

I then forced my head up to face him. "Because….I have a purpose….to protect my home….and my friends…and as long as I live and breathe….I will NOT let you hurt them." I said between breaths while glaring at him.

An evil smile then appeared on Thorn's face. "Then I'll have to take care of that, won't I?" Thorn's horn then stated to glow violently again.

I then tensed myself up, closed my eyes and waited for Thorn to strike me down. After a few seconds, the blow never came and I opened my eyes to see Thorn's horn wasn't glowing anymore and he had his eyes wide open.

At that moment, I noticed a glow behind me and I turned around to see the Elements had lifted themselves off Twilight and the others and were now hovering in mid-air.

I then walked up beside Twilight. "What's going on?" I asked quietly.

"I don't know, I've never seen them do this before." She whispered as we continued to watch the Elements float in the air.

Suddenly, the Elements formed a circle and started to rotate, they then started to go faster until small sparks started to flicker in the middle of the rotating Elements. And with a small flash of light, three green crystals appeared floating in the middle of the Elements.

The Elements then stopped rotating and returned to Twilight and the rest of the main 6. The three green crystals then hovered towards me. I stared at them in wonder until they shot themselves onto my chest.

I looked down at my chest to see a blinding glow which forced me to close my eyes. When the glow died down, Twilight and the others gasped loudly at what they saw.

I opened my eyes and looked down at my body to see I was wearing a golden metal armoured vest with a large green crystal in the shape of my cutie mark attached to the chest area with wavy carvings around it.

My eyes were wide with amazement at the sight of what I was wearing. "What the hell is this thing?" I said slightly frightened.

Twilight walked up to me. "I can't believe it….I think it's….a seventh Element."

"That's not possible…there's no such thing as a seventh Element." Thorn said darkly with a glare in his eyes.

I then turned around to face Thorn. "Well apparently there is….and I'M WEARING IT." I yelled in amazement.

Thorn growled viciously. "It doesn't matter; you will all still die tonight." With that, Thorn's horn glowed violently and another bolt of black lightning burst out his horn and shot towards us.

Suddenly, the green crystal on my armoured vest start to glow green and a green shield appeared in front of me and deflected the bolt up into the sky. "WHAT?" Thorn yelled in anger.

I was stunned by what I just saw and looked back down at my armoured vest. Thorn then shot more bolts at me and the green crystal glowed again before another green shield appeared in front of me and deflected the bolts in multiple directions. One of the bolts even reflected off the shield and hit the ground next to Thorn's hoof which made him flinch.

After a moment in thought, I finally understood what to do. I turned around to face Twilight. "Twi, I know what we need to do. You and the others need to use the Elements now."

Twilight gave me a worried look. "Are you sure Matt? What if it doesn't work?"

I then placed my hoof on her shoulder and gave her a trusting smile. "This Element will help us, trust me!" Twilight looked deep into my eyes before she smiled and nodded.

I then looked towards Spike, Jeff and Peewee. "You three better stand back, I could get rough."

Spike, Jeff and Peewee nodded in agreement before they took a few steps backwards. The rest of the main 6 then gathered up to Me and Twilight.

"Everypony ready?" I said while looking at everypony's concerned faces. They all nodded.

"Then let's do this thing." I said in a confident tone before I turned around to face Thorn.

Me, Twilight and the rest of the main 6 then closed our eyes before each of our Elements started to glow. Twilight and the others then levitated off the ground and hovered in mid-air while I stayed on the ground in front of them.

Thorn then chuckled evilly. "Oh, you have to be joking. That's your big plan?...to use the Elements on me?...Hahaha." as Thorn laughed, all the male-controlled ponies laughed with him.

Thorn then stopped laughing and his horn glowed again. At that moment, black thunder clouds started to form above him and a bolt of lightning shot out towards us. Just as it was about to hit us, I opened my eyes to reveal them to be glowing white before a green forcefield formed around Me and the others.

The bolt hit the field but it couldn't break through to us. Thorn saw this and growled in anger before his horn glowed brighter; causing the lighting to come out the clouds more violently.

As the bolt tried to push its way through the field, Twilight opened her white glowing eyes before a rainbow beam shot up from the Elements, broke through the field and dove down towards Thorn.

"NOOOOO." Thorn yelled in terror before the beam slammed down on top of him; causing the clouds to disappear. Suddenly, a rainbow sonic wave burst out around where Thorn was standing and created a cloud of dust.

The forcefield disappeared before my eyes returned to normal. I groaned and rubbed my head before I turned around to see Twilight and the others float to the ground with their eyes closed.

I walked up to Twilight with a concerned look on my face. "Twi…are you alright?" she opened her eye and smile sweetly at me. "Yeah, I'm fine." I smile back at her while the others watched us.

"Why can't they just admit it?" Rarity said to herself while smiling at us.

Spike, Jeff and Peewee then ran up to all of us. "Wow, that was….you where….and the forcefield….so cool." Spike said in an excited tone.

I smiled down at him. "Thanks buddy."

The dust then started to clear and we all looked to where Thorn was. Once the dust cleared, we were all shocked by what we saw. Thorn was lying on the ground not moving while all the ponies were standing behind him with all their eyes back to normal and confused looks on their faces.

"What…what happened?" the Mayor said in a confused tone.

I then became nervous again before I felt somepony's hoof wrap around my arm. I look turned my head to see Twilight with a warm smile on her face.

I smiled back before I turned my head back to everypony and gulped hard. I then approached everypony while they were looking at me with confused faces. "Matthew?...what's happening here?" the Mayor asked me.

I held my hoof up. "Look! Before you or anypony else says anything, I want to say I'm sorry for lying to everypony. I just wanted everypony to accept me and think of me as a friend and I hope you can all forgive me for it….I'm truly sorry." I said with my ears low.

"Well, that's very noble of you Matt but we have no idea what ya talkin' about." Big Macintosh said with an eye brow raised.

I then gave them a confused look. "What do you mean? Don't you remember what I said back in the field?"

Everypony shook their heads. I was shocked by this; they don't remember me telling them that I wasn't a pony. "THAT'S GREAT….I mean, Thorn's spell must of erased your recent memory….oh well." I said.

Miss Cheerilee stuck her hoof out. "Wait Matt! What did you mean when you said you lied?" she said with a raised eye brow.

Think Matt! Think. I then came up with something to say. "Emmm…I lied to you about….Jeff eating all the cupcakes in Sugar Cube Corner. That was really me….sorry."

Everypony looked at each other in confusion before turning their heads back to me. "Well…err…just..don't do it again." The Mayor said. I then saluted to her. "You got it."

With that, everypony turned around and headed back towards Ponyville. Twilight then walked up beside me and I turned my head to see she had a smirk on her face. "Jeff eating all the cupcakes?"

I smirked back. "It was the only thing I could think of." She then shook her head while smiling.

My smirk then faded away once I remembered Thorn was still here. I looked over to where he was and saw him still lying on the floor. I then slowly walked over to his body and once I reached it, I carefully poked his hip with my hoof.

Suddenly, Thorn's eyes shot open and he smacked me away with his wing. Thorn then got back on his hooves with a shape glare in his eyes while he was growling and bearing his teeth.

I backed away as he slowly approached me with hate burning in his eyes. "You miserable little runt, I'll make you pay for this." He growled.

My eye widened at the sight of his horn glowing again. "And now boy….YOU…WILL…" Thorn couldn't finish his sentence before a light started shining on half of his face; causing him to shut one of his eyes and shield his face with wing. We looked to see where the light was coming from and saw the sun rising up from the horizon.

Suddenly, Thorn's wing started to give of smoke while making a sizzling noise. Thorn looked at his wing and yelled in horror before he looked around his entire body to see it was doing the same.

He then looked back at me and glared. "This isn't over Matthew." With that, his horn glowed again and a bolt of black flames formed around him and when the flames disappeared, Thorn was gone.

I was still looking at where thorn was while breathing heavily. I then turned around and walked back to Twilight and the others.

Once I reached them, I hung my head. "He got away."

"But he's gonna come back….I know he will." Rainbow Dash said while glaring at the ground.

I then placed my hoof on her shoulder and she looked up at me. "And we'll be ready." Everypony else then nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, a thought returned to my mine and I gasped. "Aw man Discord, we have to see if he's alright." Twilight nodded before her horn started to glow and we all disappeared in a flash of light.

Canterlot Castle: Outside Celestia's bedroom

Luna was staring out the window to see that the sun was now high in the sky while Celestia was once again pacing back and forth. They then noticed a flash of light and when the light faded, Me, Twilight and the others were standing at the end of the hallway.

We then saw the two princesses and galloped up to them. "Princess…we did it…everypony's-"

"Back to normal." Celestia interrupted.

I then gave her an awkward look. "Yeah….and guess what-"

"You've discovered a seventh Element." Celestia interrupted again.

I raised my eye brow. "Right…and-"

"Thorn got away." Celestia interrupted for the last time. I looked at her wide-eyed in amazement. "You're good…..but anyway, how's Discord doin'?"

Celestia gave me an upset look. "The doctor hasn't come out yet…frankly, I starting to fear the worst." We all looked at her with devastation in our eyes.

At that moment, we all heard a door creek open and we all looked at the door to Celestia's room to see a light brown pony with a doctor's cote walk towards us.

Celestia turned her body all the way around to face him properly. "How is he doctor?" the doctor let out a small sigh. "He's still alive…but I hate to tell you this your highness but….he is gravely wounded. Most ponies don't survive an electrical shock like that…if he doesn't wake up soon, I'm afraid we've lost him."

We all then galloped passed the doctor and into the bedroom to see Discord lying on the bed with his eyes closed and bandages wrapped around his chest. We all gathered around the bed with worried looks on our faces.

Celestia leaned her head closer to Discord. " Please…don't die Discord. I've only now realized how much you've truly changed and I'm sorry for not seeing it sooner. I promise to make it up to you….just please wake up…please." Celestia then closed her eyes and a tear rolled down her cheek and dripped onto Discord's face.

Twilight nuzzled her head into my shoulder before I wrapped my hoof around her to comfort her while still looking at Discord. I could feel her tears running down onto my shoulder.

Just then, we all heard a slight grunting sound and Twilight removed her head off my should and we all looked towards the bed to see Discord's head moving on the pillow. After a second, Discord's eyes started to open and our frowns turned into cheerful smiles.

Discord's eyes where now fully open and he leaned his head up off the pillow and looked at us. There was a moment silence before Discord broke it. "Ok…that hurt."

We all then burst out into cheers and walked up closer to Discord. "Welcome back buddy." I said cheerfully.

"Thanks….where've I been? OW." Discord yelled as he tried to lean up off the bed. Celestia then placed her hoof on him and gently laid him back down. "Don't try to get up Discord. You got hurt pretty bad." She said in her calm voice.

Discord looked up at Celestia and smiled. "Well…at least it was worth it." After hearing this, Celestia smiled back down to him. "By the way….thank you….for saving me. I owe you my life Discord."

Discord placed his talon hand on her hoof. "You owe me nothing, my dear Celestia." He said quietly.

I then noticed that they were looking in each other's eyes before I suddenly knew where they were going with this and smiled. Celestia then removed her hoof off of Discord and walked towards the door. "Come now everypony, we should leave him to rest."

With that we all followed her out of the room; leaving Discord to rest his head back on the pillow and close his eyes.

In the hallway, we gave the Elements to Luna before her horn glowed and she disappeared with the Elements. Twilight was about to teleport us back to Ponyville before Celestia tapped her hoof on my shoulder and I turned around to face her. "I know what you're wondering Matt…you're wondering what that new Element was and why it chose you."

I nodded. "Yeah. It made shields and stuff like that."

"There's only one Element that has that kind of power…The Element of bravery. It is said that the Element will give itself to the one pony with the bravest heart. And aberrantly, that pony is you." I gave her a confused look.

"When you confessed the truth about yourself, you were afraid that everypony would resent you for lying but in the end you faced your fears and stood up against Thorn and you were willing to give your life to protect your friends. That's why the Element chose you." Celestia explained with a warm smile.

I was amazed by this news; I'm now one of the Elements of Harmony. I couldn't believe it.

"By the way, the Element doesn't just make shields for protecting. After you master the Elements power, the shields can be used as weapons in combat." Celestia said.

My eye's widened. "Whow really?...that's cool."

Celestia giggled at my comment. "Yes, it's very cool. But if you're going to use these powers against foes like Thorn, then you need to learn to control these powers. That's why I've authorised Luna to teach you. Do you feel up to it?"

I turned my head to face Twilight to see she was nodding her head with a large smile on her face. I then turned my head back to Celestia and nodded. "Ok, I'll do it."

Celestia's smile grew bigger. "Very well, your first lesson with start in a few days. I'll send you a letter when it's time to begin."

"Thanks Princess." I said before turning back to Everypony to see the large smiles on their faces before Twilight's horn glowed and we all disappeared in a flash of light; leaving Celestia alone in the hallway before she turned around to go back into her room to tend to Discord.

Meanwhile: Far away dark mountains

A bolt of black flame burst out the ground and Thorn collapsed though them and onto the ground while panting. He looked at his wing to see it had stopped smoking and exhaled in relief.

"I take it your plan failed." A dark voice said across the room. Thorn looked up to see one of the other silhouetted alicorns sitting on the throne glaring down at him.

Thorn got up off the ground and bowed to the alicorn. "My brother, I have grave news….there is a seventh Element…and Matthew represents it."

The alicorn growled viciously before his horn glowed and Thorn was lifted off the ground and pinned to the wall. The alicorn flew down to him and glared sharply at him. "A seventh Element? How could you let this happen? What was its power?" he yelled.

"Brother…please..." Thorn begged. "You dare beg for mercy from ME YOU COWARD? I asked you what does the Element do?" the alicorn yelled louder.

"It…it creates shields brother…my powers couldn't break through them." Thorn said with slight fear in his voice,

The alicorn hummed slightly before dropping Thorn to the floor. "The Element of bravery….the one Element that's strong enough to fight us…and you say Matthew controls this Element now?...this could mean trouble for our plan." He said darkly

Thorn got up off the ground. "Brother…let me destroy Matthew and this Element….give me a second chance, I beg of you."

The alicorn raised his eye brow. "And why should I give you a second chance after you've already failed me once?"

Thorn then glared sharply. "Because now I have a new purpose in my plan….to get revenge on that little green runt and his friends…even if I have to destroy all of Ponyville and Canterlot, I will see Matthew die."

Again, sorry for the long wait and hope you enjoyed this chapter.

By the way, I've been waiting to introduce one of the mysterious alicorns for a while now so please tell me what you think about Thorn.

Please remember to review.

Next chapter will be up soon.