Hey everypony, I'm really proud of how fast I've done this chapter. I've had a good day at collage today, so I hope you like this chapter and make my day even better. :D

Ok, votes are once again in. And we have an obvious winner. The traitor alicorn's name will be revealed in this chapter at some point.

I had to change some lyrics in the song I used in this chapter so they'd make sense.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter! It's one some of you have been waiting for.

(Warning: long chapter.)

Chapter 33: Family matter (part 1)

It's been a week since Miss Cheerilee returned to teach the kids again.

Twilight was happy when I returned from the camping trip, but she wanted me to do one thing if I ever went far away again…she told me to never leave her with Jeff again.

Afterwards, Me and Twilight went to Sugar Cube Corner where I was caught off guard by a surprise party to celebrate our engagement. Which of course, was hosted by Pinkie Pie.

I was slightly upset that I wouldn't be teaching the kids as often anymore, but at least I didn't have to wear that bow-tie anymore either.

Ponyville library

It was night time in Ponyville and everyone in town was fast asleep, including Me and Twilight.

However, I was having another nightmare and I was tossing and turning in the bed.

I was in the Ever Free Forest, it was darker than usual and all the tree branches looked like claws ready to grab me. I breathed silently as I walked slowly through the forest, shifting my eyes in all directions to watch out for danger.

Suddenly, I heard a twig snap behind me and I spun around fast. I looked closely into the darkness in the trees before I saw a shadowed figure move from behind one tree to the other.

I knew it was getting closer, so I did the one thing I could think of in that time of panic. I ran.

I galloped through the forest as fast as I could. I tried to flap my wings and fly away, but for some reason my body felt really heavy and I couldn't even lift off the ground. So I kept running.

As I ran through the trees, I kept looking back to see the shadowed figure still lurking in the darkness, I galloped my legs as fast as I could to get away. As I did, tips of low tree branches and bushes scratched against my coat, it felt as if I was being clawed by sharp nails. Some of them left small cuts on my body which started to bleed.

I also tripped over a curved log and fell into a puddle of mud, I quickly got up and continued galloping with the shadowed figure still following closely behind.

I finally ran out of the other side of the forest covered in mud and a small amount of my own blood, I breathed heavily as I began to tire out from running so much.

But suddenly, I was forced to stop running by coming up to a cliff. I looked down from the ledge to see a deep chasm with nothing but a cloud of fog at the bottom.

I then heard a crushing noise behind me, I sounded as if a tree was being forced to fall over. I turned around to see two trees fiercely bent apart to reveal a silhouetted alicorn standing between them with glowing red eyes.

A first, I thought it was Thorn again. But then I looked closer and saw that it was a female with a familiar figure. The silhouetted figure looked like Nightmare Moon.

"Nightmare Moon?...Luna?" I asked as I slowly backed away.

She didn't say anything, she just grinned evilly as she began to walk closer to me. I backed away more before one of my hind-legs slipped of the edge of the cliff and the rest of me fell.

I held myself on the edge of the cliff with my front arms as my legs dangled, I felt myself become heavier as I tried to pull myself back up. Until, the mysterious female alicorn came up to me and looked down at me.

I couldn't see if it was Nightmare Moon, she only had the same figure as her, but I couldn't see her face, and her mane and tail looked more like fire than ripples.

"Luna…if that's you…please, snap out of it! Don't let it control you again!" I said while struggling to keep myself up on the edge.

Just then, the alicorn's horn glowed purple. My eyes widened before a purple bolt of lightning shot down and struck me; forcing me to let go and fall off the cliff.

Hopelessly flapping my wings, I yelled in fright as I fell down the cliff and into the thick fog below. And then everything went dark.

"Matt, wake up! Please, wake up!" a familiar female voice said with worry.

My eyes shot open and I quickly leaned up on the bed breathing heavily, I looked around to see I was in the library and I calmed down.

I then turned my head to the side of the bed to see Twilight also leaned up on the bed; she was looking at me with worry in her eyes. "Are you ok? You were whimpering in your sleep again." she said.

I then slowly rubbed my face with my hooves as I exhaled loudly. "Yeah…I'm fine…it was nothing." I said before I removed my hooves and looked down at the covers covering my legs.

"You were having a nightmare again, weren't you? That's the third one this week. Matt, I'm really starting to worry about this." Twilight said in a concerned tone.

I then turned my head to face her. "Don't worry, Twi! They're just nightmares…I'm sure they'll go eventually." I said.

"That's like what Rainbow Dash said last week. Yet night after night, I always wake up to see you rolling around in the bed with a scared look on your face. If this keeps up, you'll soon be afraid to even try to sleep." she said.

"Look, I know it's getting kinda strange, but-" I was then cut off by Twilight.

"It's getting more than strange, Matt. Nopony has ever had nightmares for this long before, especially when it happens almost every night. I think we should tell the Princess about this." Twilight said.

"Are you sure, Twi? What if it's just a case of normal bad dreams? Then we would've bothered the Princess for nothing." I said.

"Matt, when it first started, I also thought it was nothing. But now that it's happening almost every night, I'm starting to think it's a bit more serious than that. Also, doesn't it bother you that your nightmares always involve some dark pony trying to kill you?" Twilight asked with a raised eye brow.

I thought about what she said and she was right, my nightmares always had a silhouetted alicorn chasing me through some dark land…namely, Thorn. "Well…yeah, it's a coincidence. But that doesn't mean that-"

"And what about that Mount Forbidden place you told me about? Most of your nightmares involve you being there; doesn't that strike you as a bit strange too?" Twilight asked.

I then held my hoof up. "Ok, I get it. Now you put it that way, it does seem a bit odd….so what should we do?" I asked.

"I'll write a letter to the princess tomorrow, but it's too late to do that right now, so let's just try and go back to sleep!" Twilight said.

We then laid back down on the bed with our heads on the pillows, I nudged up closer to Twilight and wrapped my arms around her. I figured I would have less chance of having another nightmare if I was closer to her.

We both then went back to sleep in each other's warmth and comfort.

Then next day: Ponyville streets

With Cheerilee teaching again, I got my delivering job back. I was walking through the streets pulling my delivery cart behind me with Jeff on my back.

However, I was really sleepy due to last night's problems. I kept dozing off at some points; I forced my eyes to stay open when they really wanted to shut. In fact I was so sleepy; I was even falling asleep while walking.

And to make matters worse, my job was only halfway done. I still had a few more deliveries to make.

"So Matt, I heard you've been having bad nightmares lately. Wanna tell old Jeff about it?" Jeff asked but I didn't answer, he raised his eyes brow. "…Matt?"

He then climbed on top of my head and looked down at my face to see my head was hanging with my eyes closed. Jeff rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Oh, not again! MATT, wake up!" he yelled as he stomped his foot on my head.

My eyes shot opened and I lifted my head up. "WHAT?...oh sorry, Jeff. I'm…err…kinda sleepy today." I said as I kept walking.

"I know, this is the third time you've fallen asleep today. Dude, if this keeps up, Applejack's gonna find out and you'll be in trouble. You know how she is about her business, she'll probably fire you." Jeff said.

I shook my head slightly. "I doubt she'd do that." I stated. I then gave it some thought and Applejack does act more serious when it comes to her farm work. "…Well, just to be safe, I probably should find something to wake me up." I said.

Jeff then looked around before he saw a wooden bucket of water sitting beside a nearby well, he then grinned. "I'm on it." he stated before he flew off my head.

He flew over to the bucket before he grabbed the handle with his talons and carried it back to me.

Once he was close enough to me, he swung the bucket back and forth before he swung it forward and let go of the handle.

The water in the bucket came out and splashed on top of me, followed by the actual bucket hitting me on top of my head. "OW." I yelled as I rubbed my soaking head with my hoof.

I glared up at Jeff. "Damn it, Jeff. What was that for?" I yelled in an irritated tone.

Jeff then landed in front of me and crossed his wings. "Well, you said find something to wake you up, so I did. Throwing a bucket of water over your head wakes you up when you're sleepy."

I then face-hooved myself before I looked down at him with an annoyed look. "Jeff…when someone says throw a bucket of water over them, they mean the water in the bucket, not the whole bucket." I said loudly.

"Now ya tell me." Jeff said as he turned around and walked away.

I groaned in annoyance before I followed him to continue my job. Despite the small pain now on my head, I was now more awake because of the water. I could now continue my work without falling asleep.

Later that day: Library

After finally finishing my work, I returned back to the library to have a rest.

"I don't know about you, Jeff. But I'm so taking a long shower; I need one to calm my nerves." I said in an exhausted voice.

"Yeah, I'm probably gonna take a bird-nap." Jeff said as he laid back against the back of my neck and closed his eyes.

I turned my head around to look at him. "You can take your bird-nap, just not on me!" I said.

Jeff then leaned back up and crossed his wings. "Fine." He groaned.

I then walked up to the front door and pushed it open with my hoof before I walked inside; I looked around the room to see no one was in the room. I then closed the front door.

"Twi?...I'm home, you here?" I called, I got no answer.

Jeff also looked around. "Weird, she was here when we left."

Just then, I heard another door open and I looked in the direction the noise came from to see Twilight walk in from the other room. I smiled warmly at her. "Hey Twi, I was starting to wonder if you were gone for a moment there?"

I looked closer at the expression on Twilight's face, she looked troubled…more troubled then usual. "Twi, is everything ok?" I asked.

Twilight then came closer to me. "Matt…while you were gone, some ponies came to the house…they're in the other room." she said.

I leaned my head to look behind her but I couldn't see into the other room. "Really, who are they?" I asked calmly.

Twilight then placed her hooves on my shoulders. "Matt, wait!...it's gonna be a bit of a shock."

"Twilight, you're starting to worry me. Who's in there? Are they trying to hurt you?" I asked with concern.

Twilight shook her head. "No, they're not. You should probably go in and see them…they've been waiting for you." she said as she removed her hooves from my shoulders and stepped to the side to let me pass.

I looked at the door to the next room in wonder before I slowly walked towards it. Once I reached it, I slowly placed my hoof on the door and gently pushed it open.

As the door opened more and more, I soon saw three unfamiliar ponies each sitting on a chair.

One was a large light blue male Earth pony with glasses and a bold head; he had a small amount of dark hair at the back of his head though. He had a shaved beard, and blue eyes.

The second was a white female Earth pony with short dark brown hair; she had blue eyes as well.

And the last was a light velvet female unicorn pony with long dark brown hair, she too had blue eyes.

I looked at them with confusion. "I'm sorry, can I help you three?" I asked.

They looked at me with wide eyes before the unicorn got up and walked up to me, I was starting to get uncomfortable with the way she was looking at me. She was looking at me dead in the eyes. "Emm…do you mind stepping back? You're a bit too close." I said.

She looked at me as if she'd seen a ghost. "…Matt?...is that you?" she asked in what was surprisingly enough, a British voice.

I looked at her with surprise. "How do you know my name?" I asked.

"Matt…i-it's me…don't you remember?" she asked. Her voice sounded so familiar, I just couldn't put my hoof on it.

I then looked closer at her and I looked into her eyes. It then hit me like a ton of bricks, the voice, those eyes, it all pointed to one person. My eyes grew widener. "…J-…Jess?" I said.

She then nodded. I couldn't believe it…Jess, my older sister, was here. I was frozen with complete shock, tears started to form in both our eyes before we moved closer and shared a large hug.

We both hugged each other tightly before I opened my eyes and looked at the other two ponies now standing behind Jess. We broke the hug and they came closer. I looked at the white Earth pony. "…Mum?" I said; she nodded.

I then looked at the large light blue Earth pony. "…Dad." I didn't even have to make it sound like a question. He nodded too.

We all took a moment before ,Me, my mother and my Dad shared a large tight hug. I could hear my mother trying to hold back from crying. I hugged her tighter as a tear rolled down my cheek. "We thought you were lost." I heard her say.

"It's alright…I'm here." I whispered.

Jess then joined in our hug, now we were sharing a large family hug. I was reunited with my family that I hadn't seen is months.

Twilight stood by the doorway with a warm smile on her face. However, there was something about this that made her wonder what would happen next.

After a few minutes, we broke the hug and wiped the tears out of our eyes. "I-I can't believe you're all here…how'd you get here?"

Jess then stepped forward. "After you disappeared, we had the police looking for you. I wanted to tell them you fell through some sort of hole in the air, but no one would ever believe me. But I knew what I saw…I missed you, we all did…we wanted to see you again so bad, that I did something that I didn't believe would work."

"And what was that?" I asked curiously.

"…I wished on a star…I wished for that thing to open again and take us to wherever you were…the next morning, we were in the living room. Then that black hole thing opened again in the middle of the room and we were all sucked into it. When we woke up, we were lying and on a road not far from here, we also found out we were turned to ponies. I knew that wherever we were, you'd be here because I wished to be where you were." Jess explained.

"Then what happened?" I asked.

"Well, it was morning. We found some sort of farm near the road and we saw this…orange pony with a cowboy hat. I recognized her though; she was a character in that show you like. We asked about you, she said she knew you and that you lived in the library in town with someone named Twilight." Jess explained.

I then turned my head around to look at Twilight who was still standing in the door way. Jess then continued. "We came here this morning and Twilight said you were busy working, so we decided to stay and wait for you to come back."

I then looked back at them with sorrow in my eyes. "Look…I'm sorry I was gone for so long…if there was any way to contact you, you know I would've-"

I was cut off by my mother. "It's alright, Matt…what matters is you're safe…" she said sweetly before she hugged me again. I hugged her back.

After a few seconds, I broke the hug and looked back at Twilight. I smiled warmly at her before I held my hoof out to her, Twilight smiled warmly before she took my hoof and came closer. I looked back at my family. "Guys, this is Twilight Sparkle. She let me stay with her when I first arrived." I said.

Twilight smiled nervously at them. "Hello, it's nice to meet you all." She said.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you too." My mother greeted kindly.

Jess looked closer at Twilight. "Hey, isn't she one of the main characters from your show? I recognize her." She said.

I shifted my eyes left and right nervously; Twilight looked at me with confusion. "Matt, what's she talking about?" she asked.

"Oh, it's nothing, Twi. Excuse me for a second!" I said before I quickly walked over to the other side of the room while gently pushing my family to come with me. Once we were on the other side, I started to whisper to them. "Ok, here's the thing. Please don't talk about the show around anyone here!" I said calmly.

"Why?" my Dad asked.

"Because none of them know about it, they have no idea that back home they're characters in a TV show. So could you all please keep the show on the down-low?" I said, they all then nodded in agreement.

"Alright, but Matt, how is this place real? How are we here?" Jess asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know, but it is. I know it's strange, but it's real. And let me tell you this, everyone in this world is as real as the world itself." I said.

They all looked at each other before they looked back at me, I then turned around and walked back up to Twilight. "Is everything alright?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine, sweet-heart." I said sweetly.

Jess gave me a confused look. "…Sweet-heart?..." Her eyes then widened as if something was wrong. "Matt…what exactly have you been doing while you've been here?" she asked.

Me and Twilight then looked at each other before I looked back at them with a serious look. "…There's…something I need to tell you." I said.

Meanwhile: Rarity's boutique

Rarity was working on a new design for Twilight's wedding dress, the floor was covered in scrunched up paper with old designs of the dress drawn on them.

Her mane had small strings of hair sticking out of it, she was putting every ounce of her concentration into her work,

She drew the design slowly with a pencil that she was holding with her magic. "Careful…carful…" she repeated to herself.

Suddenly, WHAM, the front door swung open and Pinkie Pie came rushing in with an excited look on her face. "Rarity, guess what! Guess what! Guess what!" she yelled.

Rarity was over startled and dropped her pencil, she shot Pinkie Pie an annoyed look. "Pinkie, freeze!" she snapped.

Pinkie Pie then stopped frozen on the spot just in front of Rarity. Rarity then looked back at her design with worry to see that nothing went wrong, she then exhaled in relief.

She then looked back at Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, you nearly made me ruin my design. This had better be important." She said firmly.

Pinkie then muffled something with her lips closed tight; Rarity looked at her with confusion. "Excuse me?"

Pinkie muffled something again, Rarity then realised why she was doing this and rolled her eyes. "You can un-freeze now."

Pinkie Pie then smiled. "Thanks. Anyway, I just heard some great exciting news." She cheered.

"Oh? What is it?" Rarity asked curiously.

"Well Applejack told Fluttershy, who told Bon Bon, who told Cheerilee, who told Derpy, who told Mr Waddle, (big inhale) who told Mayor Mare, who told Rainbow Dash, who told me…Matt's family's in town." Pinkie said with a large smile.

Once Rarity heard that, she grew a cheerful smile. "Really, Matthew's family here? Where?"

"At Twilight's place, we should go over there and say hello." Pinkie said while jumping up and down on the spot.

"Oh no, Pinkie. I can't, I have a lot of work to do if I'm ever going to finish Twilight's dress. It must look fabulous for her when she sees it, and it's hard enough as it is." Rarity said as she turned her attention back on her work.

"Come on, Rarity! Your design isn't gonna go anywhere, and we've never met Mattie's family before, aren't you curious to find out what they're like?" Pinkie asked.

Rarity then gave it some thought before she made her decision. "Well…I guess there's nothing wrong with taking a little break, especially when it's to meet Matthew's family." She said.

Pinkie Pie nodded. "Yeah, so you're in?" she asked with a large smile.

Rarity smiled as she let out a sigh. "Very well, I'm in."

"Yay, but first we have to get the others, they'll want to see this." Pinkie Pie stated cheerfully as she and Rarity walked towards the door to leave the boutique.

Later that evening: Library

Me, Twilight and my family were in the living room. Spike, Jeff and Peewee had already introduced themselves to my family, they were startled by the fact Jeff could talk.

However, I had to point out they were in a world filled with talking ponies, so a talking parrot shouldn't be too shocking.

After a long nervous talk, I told my family everything about what happened after I arrived here. How I had a job working for Applejack, how I was a substitute teacher at the schoolhouse, even the dance where Twilight and I first kissed. And believe me, they were more than shocked to find out that I was engaged to Twilight.

Me and Twilight chose it best not to tell them about the incident with Thorn, we didn't want them to freak out about me nearly getting killed by a blood-thirsty alicorn.

Jess was pacing around the room trying to think about all this, none of them look very happy about this.

"So let me get this straight, Twilight let you stay in her home, you two started to like each other, and now you say you're in love with her and want to marry her?" Jess asked with a shocked look.

I smiled nervously. "Err…yeah." I said.

"…I don't know what to say, I don't even know what to think." Jess stated loudly.

"Matt, you're too young to get married. You don't know that much about a married life." My mother said calmly.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, I do. And don't worry about the age thing! In this world, we are old enough to get married. There's loads of married ponies our age." I stated.

"Well what about bills? How are you going to pay them?" my Dad asked.

"Never had any so far. Plus, if we do get some, I have my pay from my job at Applejack's farm." I said.

"And how much does it pay?" My mother asked.

"One hundred bits per-day, and I work there five days a week." I said with a cheeky smirk.

My family looked at me in surprise. "Really, you get paid that much. That Applejack person must be loaded." Jess said.

"Well, she does own her own business with her family. So yeah, she would have a lot of money." I said calmly.

"Well, what about school? You need to be at school to learn how to live your own life." My Dad said.

"Dad, I live here and it's been easy. I've got a job, I've got a house, I've got everything I need to live my own life. And also, I work as a substitute teacher at the schoolhouse down the road and the kids say I'm the best substitute they've ever had." I explained.

"What about your eczema and asthma? You need to have your inhaler and your cream. If you don't have your cream, your skin will get itchy and dry, then it'll get raw and you'll be in a lot of pain. And if you don't have your inhaler, you'll get really wheezy and you could have an asthma attack." My mother stated.

I gave her a pleased smile. "That's the best part, Mum. I'm cured." I cheered.

She gave me a confused look. "You're cured? You can't be cured, you've had them all your life, they don't just disappear."

"They do if you use magic like Twilight did a while back. She used her magic to cure my diseases, have you noticed I haven't scratched once while I've been sitting here?" I asked with a proud smile.

My mother then thought about it and her eyes widened slightly. "No…you haven't, have you?...oh my god, I think you really are cured, but how?" she asked in shock.

"One thing you should know about Twilight, never underestimate her magic skills." I said with a smirk.

"You have an answer for everything, don't you?" Jess said with a raised eye brow.

I shrugged. "Pretty much." I said.

"Well how about this one, what about us? We haven't seen you in months and you've been here the whole time building your own life without us in it." Jess said loudly.

"Jess, there's no need to shout." My mother said calmly.

Jess then turned her head to face her. "Yeah, but he-"

"Let us talk to him!" my Dad said firmly. Jess then sat down on a nearby chair and crossed her arms.

After a moment of silence, my mother spoke. "Matt…we don't know what's happened; we don't know how we're here. All we know is that you've obviously formed your own life together and you like it. Believe me, I'm happy for you…it's just…it's a lot to take in and we don't know what we should do about it." She said.

I then thought of a suggestion, but I was afraid they wouldn't agree to it. "Well…you could always…let me continue it." I said nervously.

They all looked at me with silent stares; I was beginning to worry what they would say next. "You mean you want us to let you stay here with these ponies?" my Dad said.

I didn't say anything, I just nodded. The moment was once again silent; I was worried that they would refuse. "But Matt, what about back home in England? Don't you miss things there?" my mother asked.

I looked at her. "I do miss things but…I have so many things here that I didn't have back home." I said calmly.

"Like what?" Jess asked.

"I didn't have any real friends back home, but here everypony in town is my friend. I didn't have a job, but here I have one that pays really well….And I didn't have a girlfriend back home, let alone a fiancée. Twilight is everything I wanted in a girl, she loves me and I love her. She's the only girl who's ever liked me, I…don't want to leave her." I said with slight sadness.

Twilight kept looking over to my parents with worry in her eyes; she was worried that I would have to go back with them and leave her.

My mother then got up off her chair and sat down beside me, I saw slight sadness in her eyes. "Matt…I don't know…you're our son, we love you…you know we'd do anything to make you happy…but…"

I couldn't help but notice she was having trouble saying what she wanted, so I quickly locked her in a hug and she hugged back. At that moment, my Dad got up and stood in front of me.

"Matt…I know you've grown to love this world and Twilight…I know you don't want to lose it all, but do you want to know what I think you should do?" my Dad said calmly.

I looked at him, my body temperature raised as I began to worry about what he might say. "I think you should-"

My Dad was interrupted by the front door opening; revealing the rest of the main 6 behind it. "Hi, Mattie." Pinkie Pie yelled cheerfully.

They all then entered the library and my family looked at them with wonder. "Who're these girls?" my mother asked.

"These are my closest friends here." I said as I walked up to them and introduced them. "This is Applejack, this is Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash." I said as I pointed to each one.

Applejack walked up to my Dad and shook his hoof fast. "You must be Matt's daddy, I'm glad to finally meet ya'all." She said with a friendly smile before she let go of his hoof.

"Emm…nice to see you too." My Dad said awkwardly.

Jess then gave me a smirk. "So…these girls are your friends, hmm? Well you've diffidently had some good company while you've been here; I bet you've enjoyed it too."

I knew what she meant and I blushed deeply. "Hey, I'm a one-girl kinda guy. I mean, I love them as friends, but I don't love them as in I'm in love with them." I quickly protested.

Jess still had her smirk. "I know, I was just messin' with ya."

"You know I don't like being teased." I said in a winey voice, Jess laughed.

"Matthew, who's this you're talking to?" Rarity asked as she walked up to us.

"This is my sister, Jess." I said to her.

Rarity smiled at her. "Oh, what a lovely name. And I just love what you've done with your hair." She complimented as she pointed at Jess's hair.

Jess gave her a thankful smile. "Thanks, I like yours too." She said; causing Rarity to smile proudly.

I smiled at this. "I can see you two are gonna get along nicely." I said.

While Rarity was talking to Jess, my mother walked over to the rest. Fluttershy then made the first move. "H-Hello, I'm Fluttershy. Are you Matthew's mom?" she asked with a small smile.

My mother smiled at her. "Yes, I am." she then noticed the shy look on Fluttershy's face. "Are you alright, did I do something?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh no, I'm just really shy when it comes to…first meetings." She said shyly.

My Dad then walked up beside my mother and Pinkie Pie looked at him. "Oh, you must be Mattie's dad. It's great to meet you, it's always great to meet new ponies." she said loudly with excitement.

My mother and Dad didn't know exactly how to respond to her, so I came in to help them. "Sorry, this is Pinkie Pie, she's kinda over hyper most of the time." I explained.

My Dad looked down at me. "It looks like you got some interesting friends here, Matt. You've really got something here."

I was about to say something before I was interrupted by Applejack wrapping her arm around me. "He sure has, and we're lucky to have such a hard workin' sport like him as our friend. He's the best delivery pony Sweet Apple Arches could ask for, he always focuses on his work and does it with smile." She said.

"And he's an awesome flyer, you should've seen him when he won a big race in Cloudsdale. He was totally cool, and he performed a Sonic Rainboom to shoot passed the finish line." Rainbow Dash added.

"And he is just a dear when it comes to the care of the colts and fillies of the school. Sweetie Belle told me how you let her sleep beside you when she was scared at that camping trip you went on." Rarity added.

Jess looked at me with a raised eye brow. "Since when did you like little kids that much?" she asked.

I remembered back home how I didn't like little kids because of how immature they were. I definitely didn't teach at my school, but I did observe all the trouble little kids got into when they misbehaved. The thing that annoyed me about them was the fact they always tried to fight back against the teachers, they also swore at them and sometimes tried to hurt them. They made me so mad when they did that.

I looked over to Jess. "These kids are different than the ones back home, the ones I knew back home were pain in the ass, these kids are not." I stated.

"And since when did you want to teach anyway? Last time I checked, you hated school all together." Jess said.

"Hey, it wasn't really my choice. I was making my deliveries to the school, Miss Cheerilee had an accident…which mostly was my fault, she couldn't find anyone else on short notice, so I had to fill in for her. And you what? It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, I liked being with those kids." I said.

Jess just looked at me with surprise before I looked up at me Dad. "Anyway, Dad, you were saying something about what we should do next…you said I should-…and that was it." I said.

Everyone looked over to us with wonder, especially Twilight. My Dad sighed before he spoke. "Matt…usually I would say you'd have to come back home, but after seeing how happy you are here and all the friends you have, I want you to stay happy. That's why I'm giving you the choice on what you want to do…you should make your own choice…that's what I was going to say before." He explained.

I was really surprised by this; he was giving me the chance to stay here with Twilight. Now there was only one problem, how to choose. If I choose to go home, I break Twilight's heart. If I choose to stay, I break their hearts. I really wanted to stay with Twilight, but I didn't know how to tell my family that.

I kept looking back and forth from my friends to my family, breathing heavily as I began to sweat. At that moment, I snapped. "I need a minute." I said before I shot out of the library and flew off into town.

Twilight's mouth hung open before she looked down at the floor with sadness; Rarity came up beside her and hugged her softly.

My mother then noticed her and gave her a concerned look. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Twilight looked at her. "…Matt doesn't know what to choose…if he chooses to go home, I'll lose him…I don't want to lose him…I…I love him." She said.

Jess walked up to her. "You really do, don't you?" Twilight nodded.

Twilight, my family, and all our friends stood there in silent as they looked out of the doorway into town.

Later: Road outside Ponyville

I was sitting on the bench next to the tree beside the road outside Ponyville, it was the same bench Me and Twilight sat on when we first kissed after the Ponyville dance.

I hanged my head as tear by tear rolled down both my cheeks, the soil beneath the bench had small wets spots because of my slow dripping tears falling down from my face.

I didn't know what to do, no matter what I would choose, someone will have a broken heart by the end of the day. But who will I choose? And whose heart will I break?

I didn't want to go back to the library after running away like that, I just wanted to stay on that bench for the rest of the day and avoid it all.

Just then, I felt someone sit beside me. I opened my eyes and turned my head to see Twilight with a sweet smile on her face, her eyes were slightly red and her bottom eye-lids were wet.

"Twilight…(sniff)…w-what're you doing here?" I asked wiping away my tears with my hoof.

"I came to check on you, I thought I'd find you here." Twilight said calmly with a smile.

I smiled back before we sat there in silence, Twilight then broke it. "Remember this place?" she asked.

"…How could I forget?...this is the same bench we sat on when we first kiss after the dance…we're even sat in the same places…that's the night that started something new and wonderful in my life." I said.

I looked at the warm smile on Twilight's beautiful face before I noticed the red in her eyes. "Twilight, have you been crying?" I asked with concern.

Twilight then wiped whatever tears she had left away with her hoof before she spoke. "Oh…yeah, I just…made a hard decision." She said with slight sadness.

I budged up closer to her. "What was it?" I asked quietly.

Twilight then looked me straight in the eyes. "Matt, I want you to know that…whatever you choose…I…I'll support you all the way…so if you want to go back with your family…I…I'll understand." She said with tears forming in her eyes.

I felt devastated; I wrapped my arm around her and wiped away her tears gently with my hoof. "Twilight…why would I want to leave you? I love you, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me…" I said quietly.

"So…you want to stay with me?..." Twilight asked.

"Of course I do, I just…don't know how I can tell them…I don't want to upset them, I don't want them to think that I don't like living with them, I love them." I explained.

"Well…if you do decide to go back with them, I want you to know that…no matter where you go, or how far you are…I will always love you, Matt." Twilight said with a warm smile that I knew she was forcing to stay up.

I smiled warmly back, Twilight moved closer to me and placed her hoof on my chest. As we looked deep in each other's eyes, Twilight started to sing.

Twilight: "Angel in disguise…Stories in your eyes…

Love for every true heart that you seeee…

Was it just a lucky daaaay…that you turned and looked my waaaay?

Or is it heaven right before my very eyes?

You showed me all new things…a shimmer of moonbeams…

I was blind, but now you've helped me seeee…

I was lost, but now I'm foooound

Your happiness surroooounds

And now I find that my dreams can come truuuuuue

'Cause I'm gonna love you…for the rest of my life

I'm holding you safe here…in this heart of miiiiine

I can't live without you…'cause my soul would die

You know I'm telling the truth…

I'll spend the rest of my life…loving youuuu….

I didn't start this way…it happened just one day

You smiled at me, and I saw ya differentlyyyyyy…

Now I would travel just to beeee…a part of you as weeee

Begin a life that's sure to never eeeeeend

'Cause I'm gonna love you…for the rest of my life

I'm holding you safe here…in this heart of miiiiine…

I can't live without you…'cause my soul would die

You know I'm telling the truth…

I'll spend the rest of my life…loving youuuu…

The rest of my life, babe…

Loving you…"

I was more than heart warmed by her song. I had truly found the love of my life, and she loved me just as much, he song made that clear.

We moved closer and held each other in loving warmth. At that moment, I thought about what would happen if I left her and my heart broke like a sensitive stick. Me and Twilight then looked into each other's eyes before we shared a loving passionate kiss.

My heart melted as we kissed, I could feel her cold leftover tears on her mouth. We then broke the kiss before we went back to cuddling each other.

Unknown to us, my family were standing a few feet behind us, they had seen and heard everything. They each had a sad look on their faces, especially my mother who was on the brink of crying.

They all looked at each other before they quietly turned around and walked back towards town. "Whow…I know Matt said he loved her, but I didn't know he loved her this much." Jess said.

My mother managed to get a hold of herself before she spoke. "We…we can't take him away from this, taking him away from that Twilight girl will leave him in a total mess."

"Well…what should we do?" Jess asked.

"…We'll wait for him back at the library, then we'll tell him what we think he should do." my Dad said as they kept walking back to town.

Meanwhile, I was still holding Twilight as tight as I could. I didn't want to let go; I wanted to hold her forever. And in that moment, I made my final decision. "I'll…I'll tell them." I said.

Twilight broke our cuddling and looked at me with wide eyes. "What?" she whispered.

"I'll tell them I want to stay…I'll try and let them down as easy as I can, but I'm not losing you, I can't lose you, not after everything we've done together." I stated.

"Will they listen? I mean, what if they decide against your choice?" Twilight said in a worried tone.

"They said it was my choice to make, they wouldn't tell me that if they were gonna do that." I said.

"…Ok, Matt, I trust you. I just hope they'll understand." Twilight said softly.

I looked down at the ground with my ears low. "So do I, Twi." I said quietly.

Twilight then came closer beside me and laid her head on my shoulder, I then wrapped my wing around her and pulled her closer as I thought about what I was gonna say to my family.

That night: Library

After a few long moments of thinking, we returned to the library.

I stopped in front of the front door and I didn't know if I could go any further, I then felt a hoof on my shoulder and I turned my head to see Twilight with a sweet smile on her face. "…We'll go in together." She said.

I smiled warmly back as I nodded; I then looked back at the door before I took a deep breath and pushed the door open with my hoof.

The door slowly opened to reveal my family and all our friends sitting in the living room, they all looked at us in silence as we entered the room and closed the door behind us. I looked over to my family before I walked over to them.

I didn't know where to go from there, I felt as though the words I wanted to say were stuck at the back of my throat. But after building enough confidence, I finally spoke. "Guys I…I know that you all love me…and I know you'd like me to go back with you…but…I…I don't know how to say it, but I-"

"Matt, it's alright…we know you want to stay with Twilight…you obviously love her, and she loves you…we don't think badly of you, we know you were happy living with us. But you'll be heartbroken if you left Twilight, won't you?" my Dad said.

I remained silent as I nodded.

"We love you, Matt. And we want you to be happy. So if being here with Twilight and your new friends makes you happy…then we'll understand if you want to stay." My mother said in an understanding voice.

I was surprised how they understood my feelings without me even telling them, I then looked at Jess. "Jess…how do you feel about me staying here?" I asked.

"It's your life; it's none of my business." Jess answered with a shrug.

I then looked at Twilight and my friends for a few seconds before I looked back at my family, I already made my decision, now I just had to tell them. "I…I want…I want to stay here…with Twilight…I'm sorry…" I said with tears forming in my eyes again.

My mother walked up to me and hugged me tightly. "It's alright…shhh…it's alright, Matt…we understand, we know you love them…calm down." My mother said sweetly.

I hugged her back. "I…I don't want you to think I'm not grateful for everything I had back home, I loved living with you…it's just I love Twilight, I've never met anyone like her…she's…she's" I tried to say.

"We know, we know…we'll let you stay, but on one condition. We get to visit you now and then, ok?" my mother said while continuing to hug me.

"…ok, I'm alright with that…" I said.

Me and my mother then broke the hug before Twilight stepped forward. "So, does this mean Matt can stay?" she asked with a smile growing on her face.

My mother then nodded to her. "Yes, it does." She answered.

Twilight, the rest of the main 6, Spike, Jeff and Peewee then smiled largely before Pinkie Pie shot up to me and hugged me tightly. "YAY, you get to stay with us." she cheered.

Her hug grew tighter and I felt like I was getting crushed. "Pinkie…choking, not breathing…" I managed to get out, Pinkie then released me and I inhaled loudly. She smiled sheepishly.

Just then, all the others ran up and formed a group hug around me with large smiles on their faces, my family smiled at this sight.

We all then broke our friendly group hug and I looked at Twilight, the sweet overjoyed smile on her face made me feel warm inside.

Our friends took a few steps back to give us room, there was a moment silence. "Well…she's your fiancée, isn't she? Kiss her already!" Jess said with a pleased smile.

I looked over to her before I looked back into Twilight's eyes, she placed her hoof at the back of my head before I leaned my head closer and we kissed deeply.

My family smiled warmly at me and my mother wiped a tear from her eye, it was a tear of happiness.

"Awww." Rarity said out loud as she smiled at the sight of us.

Me and Twilight then broke the kiss and smiled sweetly at each other, Applejack then turned her head to face the rest of the main 6. "Come on, ya'all! Let's give them all some privacy." She said as she walked towards the door.

The rest of the main 6 then followed her. But just then, someone wrapped their arms around my neck and hugged me from behind.

At first I thought it was Pinkie again, until I turned my head around to see it was Fluttershy. "I'm so glad you're staying, Matt." she said sweetly.

I just smiled at Fluttershy as she released me from her hug and calmly walked out of the library to catch up with the others, she shut the door behind her; leaving Me, Twilight, my family, Spike, Jeff and Peewee alone in the library.

I then looked at my family and gave them a thankful smiled. "Thank you, thank you so much for this. It means a lot to me." I said kindly.

"It's alright, buddy. But there's one thing we need to take care of." My Dad said in a serious voice.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"Well, you might want to live in this world, but we don't really want to. We want to go back home to England, we can't restart a life here, we have responsibilities back home." My Dad explained.

"Yeah, I have to go back to University soon." Jess added.

I then nodded to tell them that I understood. "Alright, I understand. Well, you can always visit anytime you want to, we'll always welcome you." I said.

"Hold on, Matt! We don't know how to get back; you need to show us how to open that…portal thing." Jess stated.

My eyes then widened slightly. "…You're…asking me to re-open it?" I asked, Jess nodded.

"…Oh dear, we have a problem. You see…I don't really know how to re-open it." I said before I smiled sheepishly.

They all looked at me with wide eyes. "…What?" Jess asked.

I became worried. "I don't know how it works, I've never thought about it until now." I stated.

"You mean we're all stuck here as ponies?" My Dad asked loudly.

I thought hard about it until I got an idea. "Wait, Princess Celestia might be able to send you back. She said she could do that once before." I said.

"Who?" my mother asked in confusion.

"Princess Celestia, she and her sister, Princess Luna, rule all of Equestria together. She's also my teacher. And I'm sure if anyone could send you home, it's her." Twilight explained.

"Well, can you call this…Princess Celestia and ask her to send us back?" Jess asked in what sounded like a frustrated tone.

"We can't right now, it's too late and she'll probably be asleep. But I can write a letter to her tomorrow, you can stay with us for tonight." Twilight suggested with a kind smile.

My family looked at each other before they looked back at us. "Well we don't really have much of a choice, do we?" my Dad said with his arms crossed.

"Doesn't look like it." I said normally.

My Dad then let out a sigh. "Ok, so where do we sleep?" he asked.

"Well, there's a guest room upstairs, but it only has one bed. Jess could sleep there." Twilight suggested.

"And what about us?" my mother asked.

"Well, I could use a spell to make a bed built for two appear. It'll have to go in the other room, there's more room in there." Twilight said before she walked over into the other room.

We all followed her and we watched as she closed her eyes and her horn glowed. With a large flash of light, a large bed built for two appeared on the other side of the room.

My mother and Dad's eyes widened with their mouths hanging. "How…did she…" my mother trailed off.

"Amazing, isn't she?" I asked with a large smirk, Twilight then walked out of the room.

"Ok, your room is ready." Twilight said with a smile.

My mother smiled back at her. "Well, umm…thanks, Twilight. You're good." She said; causing Twilight to blush slightly.

My mother then walked up to me. "I know you've had a hard day, Matt. But remember, we understand and we're not upset with you. Goodnight, Matt." she said sweetly before she kissed my forehead and walked into the other room.

My Dad then walked up to me. "Goodnight, Matt." he said with a proud smile as her rubbed my back. He then walking into the other room to join my mother and closed the door behind him.

"Well, I'm gonna head up to bed. See you all in the morning." Spike said as he made his way up the stairs with Jeff and Peewee following behind.

After a few minutes, Me, Twilight and Jess went up the stairs and showed Jess to the guest room. Jess looked around the room and saw the bed, she liked it.

"Goodnight, Jess." I said as I stared to shut the door.

Jess turned around to face me. "Wait, where're you sleeping?" she asked,

"With Twilight in her bed, why?" I asked curiously.

"You sleep with her?" Jess asked with a raised eye brow.

I knew what she thought and I rolled my eyes. "It's not what you think. Besides, she's my fiancée, it's not that surprising." I stated before I closed the door to leave Jess to settle in her room.

"Well, goodnight to you too." Jess joked to herself before she walked over to the bed and lied down on it to relax.

After that, Me and Twilight got into our bed. I looked over to Spike's basket to see he, Jeff and Peewee were already asleep under the covers.

I smiled at this before I laid my head on the pillow and pulled the covers over us, I then turned my head to face Twilight lying beside me, she gave me a sweet smile. "Goodnight, Matt. I love you…I love you so much."

"I love you too, Twi. And I always will, and nothing will ever change that." I said sweetly.

We then shared one last loving kiss before we broke it and closed our eyes. We then fell asleep in each other's warmth and love.

Meanwhile: Mount Forbidden

The leader alicorn sat on his throne looking down at Zelga and his last brother.

"So brother, you tell me the location spell is the only way to find the location of the artefact?" the leader asked with a raised eye brow.

The other male alicorn bowed his head. "Yes brother, the forger we once intrusted it with had no information on who he gave it to. At this point, it could be anywhere in Equestria." He stated.

"And just...what were you doing asking the forge about it?" the leader asked with a small glare.

The alicorn became worried. "Well…you see, I was…errr…trying to get it back, of course. I know how important it is to our cause…how important it is to you. Haha, I was merely trying to serve you, my lord." He said as he bowed lower.

The alicorn then got off his throne and quickly shot right up to the alicorn's face in an instant; causing him to go wide-eyed with fright.

"If I wanted it back, I would have kept it instead of forcing other ponies to keep it hidden. You know exactly why I did that, because…I don't trust you with it. Ever make a move without my authorisation again, it'll be the last move you'll ever make…am I clear, Rage?" the leader said darkly.

The alicorn (now known as Rage) nodded his head. "Yes, my brother…crystal clear, even." He said nervously.

At that moment, Zelga stepped in. "To be honest, brother. Even though Rage's actions were…suspicious, he makes a valiant point on this matter. The artefact is the key that holds everything together, if we have any chance of finding it, maybe the spell…should be considered." She said.

The leader looked at her with a raised eye brow. "The spell requires a magic far greater than even Celestia's. I would do it myself, but my powers won't let me use the spell to find the artefact. It'll let me find anything else, but just not that. We need something else, and then we need someone to perform the spell. So…any of you two have any ideas?"

Zelga and Rage were silent. After a moment, Rage spoke. "I…have something in mind, though it's very risky…not to mention, difficult." He said; causing the leader to look back at him.

"Well, Rage. I'm sure we're all curious to find out what you have to suggest." He said in a dark voice.

Rage then leaned his head closer to the leaders and started whispering in his ear. After hearing his plan, Rage pulled his head back and the leader looked at him with dark look. "Are you curtain that will work, Rage?"

"I'm am, bother. You said we needed a power far beyond Celestia's, they have more power than she could ever have." Rage stated with a serious look.

The leader then growled slightly before he made his decision. "Very well, Rage. We shall make it our next operation." He stated, Rage then nodded.

"Perfect, everything is going just as I planned." Rage thought with an evil grin on his face.

The leader then turned his head to face Zelga. "Zelga, this operation will require…our secret weapon. You must tell…him...he is the only one capable to pull it off without us having to reveal ourselves." He said darkly.

"I will inform him at once, brother." Zelga said with a bow before she flapped her large feathered wings and flew out the mountain.

The leader then turned to face Rage. "…Well, don't you have work to do?" he snapped aggressively.

Rage then turned around and walked towards the cave, growling under his breath with his teeth grinding together; leaving the leader alicorn alone in the throne room.

The leader then turned around and flew back onto his throne before his horn glowed green, a large book on a stone table then lifted up and hovered towards him.

Once in front of him, he then used his magic to open it and flip through the pages before his found the page he wanted.

"…A power far beyond Celestia's, hmm?...haha, these will do." the leader said darkly to himself as he looked at the page that had a picture of all six of the Elements of Harmony on it.

Hope you liked the chapter.

The song used in this chapter is called I'm gonna love you from the cartoon Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2. I don't own anything.

I don't know if it matters to you that the song's sung by Jennifer Love Hewitt, but it's probably just nice to know.

Note to guest: To the guest who asked if I take OCs, I don't take OCs like the ones you described. The character you described resembles one of my future OCs too much; I'm not saying which one, I have many in mind. So sorry, and I hope you can forgive me.

Please remember to review!

Next chapter will be up soon.