Welcome back again, everypony.

I'm very pleased with how my last chapter went and I hope you enjoy this one just as much. I looked at the poll and the results are…

19 people want us to have a foal, and 1 person doesn't. I suppose we have a winner. Sorry to that one person, but this won't take the coolness out of the story, trust me, there's a lot in store *Chuckles deviously*

Just a warning, this chapter will contain heart-breaking and conflict scenes, so…yeah, you were warned.

I went to Greece for a week a while ago, it was good, not as good as my holiday lat year, but it was good. I'll tell ya something, I wish a never went on those trips to the museum, it was more focused on Greek History than Mythology, we also had to go to like 4 different places after that with a tour group, it was a complete nightmare full of sweat and boredom, the rest of the Holiday was fine after that day though.

Anyway, I'm probably boarding you with this. On to what you came here for, please enjoy.

Chapter 58: Alone and Untrusted

The Grey Horse-Shoe bar

It was raining outside the local night bar known as the Grey Horse-Shoe, I've never been here before, but there's a first time for everything, there's even a first time for things to go completely to hell.

Inside the bar was a few ponies, some old and some young, but they all had one thing in common, they all looked like they went through hell and back, they were tired and looked as if they didn't care for their messy appearance.

Especially me, I was sitting on one of the bar stools in front of the counter with a half empty cup of cider beside me. My head hung over it as tear after tear dripped off my face, making the wood on the counter damp. My mane and coat was all scruffy, like I'd been in a fight and lost.

All I could think about was the things that have happened in the last few hours, the heart-breaking things my friends said to me, the look on Twilight's face when she closed the door on me. It was all so painful to remember, my life was no officially over.

The bar-tender pony walked over to me, he had a dark-brown coat with a well-combed black mane and had an eye-patch over his left eye. He noticed my cub and looked at me noticed my cup. "Another round, kid?" he asked in his deep voice.

I couldn't bring myself to look up at him, I didn't want him to see my sad eyes. "Might as well." I said with a weak voice.

The bar-pony then used his magic to pick up my cup and refilled it with cider, he then gave it to me and I soon took a sip out of it. The bar-pony noticed my sad look and sighed. "So, is this the part where you tell me how you got in this mess?" he asked as he sat down.

I put my cup down and looked at him. "I'm sorry?" I asked.

"Usually new ponies that come in here always have a story to tell, mostly about how they ended up coming here. You're not the first one to come in with a face like that, half the sad-sacks in here right now had the same deal." The bar-pony said out-loud, gaining the attention of the so-called 'sad-sacks'.

The bar-pony noticed this and spoke out to them. "You can deny it all you want but in my eye, you're all sad-sacks!" he said, making the other ponies look away with more depression than they already had.

The bar-pony then returned his attention to me. "But unlike them, you're younger, so your story must be interesting. So go on, tell me everything." He said, preparing to hear my tale.

I managed to lift myself up before I began. "Well…everything bad that's happened was during the last few hours, but I think it started just the day before yesterday."

Yesterday: Ponyville Library

7 weeks ago, my wife, Twilight, had to go to the hospital because she was ill. That's when the doctor told us that she could be in the early stages of pregnancy, but nothing was set in stone yet.

That was until the last Saturday when we got the results back, it revealed that she was indeed pregnant. At first, we were a loss for words, didn't know if we were excited or worried, but we soon felt good about it, we wanted this.

Twilight felt scared half the time, she had read up about pregnancy and what the mares go through during the stages, but I told her I'd help her through them in any way I can, she felt much better after that.

After telling our friends, Pinkie Pie spent her whole day going around town telling everyone the news, after that we started to get countless visitors congratulating us, it was starting to get tiring until it finally came to an end.

I stood in the Library doorway as Cheerilee stood outside. "I still can't believe you and Twilight are having a little foal of your own, it seemed like only yesterday that you two were married." She said with a kind smile.

"Yeah, Twi thinks the same thing sometimes." I said, returning her smile.

"Anyway, it's getting late so I better get home. Again, congratulations to you and Twilight, I'm really happy for you both and I can't wait to see the little one when it comes." Cheerilee said before she turned around and walked away. "Goodnight, Matthew." She said.

"Night, Miss Cheerilee." I responded before I closed the door and turned to face the living room. "Twilight, that's the last of them." I called.

With that, Twilight came down the stairs that led to our room and walked over to me.

"I appreciate them for congratulating us, but did every pony in town have to come over and say it all in one day?" I asked as she reached me.

"Some of them could've left it until tomorrow, but I suppose they were just really excited for us." Twilight said with a sweet smile.

"Hmm, yeah, that could be it." I said before I walked over to the table with the horse-head statue and rested my head on it, I put my hooves on my head and sighed heavily.

Twilight walked over to me and placed her hoof on my back. "Something wrong, Matt?" she asked with slight concern.

I turned my head to face her and smiled. "I'm alright, I'm just tired…I'm so damn tired." I said as I rubbed my eye with my hoof.

Twilight gave me a sweet smile as she nuzzled her head against mine. "Let's go to bed, it's getting pretty late anyway." She said as she walked with me towards the stairs.

I smirked at her. "You're the who's pregnant, I should be saying that to you." I said as we made our way up the stairs.

Once we reached our bedroom, we went up to our bed and got into it. As Twilight lied down beside me, I couldn't take my eyes of her, she looked at me and noticed my stare. "What?" she asked.

"I still can't believe we're having our own child, it seems like only yesterday since we met." I said with a warm smile.

Twilight returned it. "I know, I still remember how we did meet. You came to the Library looking for someone to give you the tour." She said.

My smile grew as I remembered that day. "That reminds me, I should thank Applejack for telling me to find you for that tour." I said.

Twilight leaned forward and kissed my cheek. "I should thank her too, if she hadn't told you to come, we probably wouldn't be together right now." she said with a sweet smile.

"Maybe, but I have a feeling that we would've ended together anyway." I said as I placed my hoof on top of hers.

"Same here." Twilight said before she nuzzled her head beside my neck and closed her eyes, it wasn't long before she fell to sleep smiling.

I smiled at this before I wrapped my arm around her and fell to sleep in her warmth. A part of me still couldn't believe I was going to be a father, but the other part was overjoyed by it. I was starting to think things might finally be turning around for us.

That was until the next day.

The next day: Streets of Ponyville

After my usual morning routine, I went to Applejack's place and she set me up with my delivery cart. I then set out to do my job and deliver the Apple Family's goods around Ponyville.

An hour or so later, I finished my rout and returned the cart to Sweet Apple Archers, now I was making way back to the library through the streets of Ponyville.

Along the way, I noticed Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell in an open field just outside town. Applebloom and Scootaloo watched as Sweetie Bell bounced on a large trampoline, it looked like she was trying to perform jumping tricks while in the air.

As I approached them, Sweetie made a false move while jumping up and she nearly dropped to the grassy ground, which I stopped by catching her on my back. I looked turned my head around to look at her. "Are you alright, Sweetie Bell?" I asked in concern.

Sweetie Bell nodded. "Yeah, thanks Matt." she said before she climbed down off of me and the others came over to us.

I turned around to face them all of them. "What are you three up to this time?" I asked with a raised eye-brow.

"We're trying to get Cutie Marks for trampoline jumping." Scootaloo stated with a bright smile on her face.

"But it's apparently more difficult than it sounds." Sweetie Bell said with a small frown on her face.

"You tend to learn that with a lot of things." I said as I rubbed her small head with my hoof. "But what have we said about trying to get Cutie Marks for things that can hurt you?" I said as I placed my hoof on the ground.

"Try not to." the three of them said at the same time in groan tones as they rolled their eyes.

"That's right. Now, I'm not gonna stop you for doing your trampoline thing, but be careful on it, ok? Maybe put some safety mats around it so you'll have something soft to land on if you fall." I said.

"Yeah, maybe we should've thought of doing that first." Applebloom said as she rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof.

I smiled kindly down at them and placed hoof under Applebloom's chin and tilted her head up to make her look at my face. "Like I keep saying, you'll get your Cutie Marks eventually, all of you." I said gently.

Applebloom grew a small smile. "Thanks Matt." she said before she turned her head to face Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo. "C'mon Cutie Mark Crusaders! We gotta get some mats and place them around this here trampoline." She said.

Sweetie Bell then gasped with a large smile on her face. "Wait! That's given me an idea. We can get our Cutie Marks as Safety Instructors, we can probably make all of Ponyville safe." She said with slight excitement.

Scootaloo smiled at this. "Yeah, that's not a bad idea. Forget this trampoline stuff, this sounds much cooler." She said.

"Then let's go!" Applebloom said before they all shot off into town.

I smiled and shook my head. "Those three are a mystery wrapped around an enigma." I said before I walked back to the street and attempted to head home.

However. "Brave, kind, charming and good with kids. You're just every girl's dream, aren't you?" a familiar voice said behind me. I turned around to see Zelga walking up to me with a smirk on her face. "What are you doing out here all alone, Matt? Is Twilight slowing down too much to be with you in the streets now?" she said.

I shook my head. "No, she's just tired lately. I'm not sure if you've heard, but…she's pregnant…with my foal." I responded.

Zelga smiled with her teeth bearing, trying to hide her frustration. "Oh really? I had no idea, how lucky for the both of you." She said through her teeth.

"Yeah, I was just on my way home now. Maybe we can talk some more tomorrow, ok?" I said with a small smile.

Zelga remained silent as she gave me a sly grin. "Or…we could talk now, back at my place. I don't think you've ever been to my house since I came here, it'll give us time to talk about some stuff." She said as she walked around me with her tail brushing under my chin at one point.

I chuckled nervously and stepped away a little. "Umm…sorry Zelga, I'd like to, but I need to get back home before Twilight starts worrying about me." I said.

Zelga raised her eye-brow. "Did she even know how long you'd be out here?" she asked curiously.

I looked down at the floor before I looked back up to her. "Well, no, there's specific time for when my job ends. It could take an hour, could take two, it all depends on how much needs to be delivered." I explained.

Zelga's grin returned. "Well it sounds to me like she wouldn't know if you came to my place or not, she would think you were still working." She leaned her head towards me. "C'mon Matt, be bad for once." She whispered.

I smiled slightly with amusement over the sound her last few words, but part of me was unsure about it. "Well…I'm not sure if I can, it doesn't seem fair to Twilight."

"Don't worry, you'll be back for her in no time." Zelga said before she smirked. "I have fresh cider at my place, I've been saving it for you and the others if any of you ever dropped in." she said with a gentle voice.

With that, I gave her another small smile. "Well I suppose I can spare a few minutes." I said.

Zelga smiled at this. "That's good to here. I'll lead the way, wouldn't want you to get lost along the way." She said as she turned around and walked away with me following behind.

As we walked, Zelga grew a devious smile and chuckled in silent yet dark way.

If only I had noticed that, then I probably would've refused the offer again…and maybe I wouldn't be in this horrible mess.

A few minutes later: Zelga's cottage

After arriving at her cottage, Zelga showed me around and some of rooms were unbelievable, one of them even had a personal Jacuzzi bath.

The living room was a sight as-well, Zelga took me over to the sofa and I sat down on it while she went into the kitchen to get the cider she promised. She soon came back with two cups of cider and sat next to me.

As time went on, we started talking and laughing about things. Zelga took another sip from her cup as she started laughing slightly. "So you actually got locked inside your own bathroom when you were a kid?" she asked with an amused smile.

I nodded. "Yeah, the lock was all rusty and it got stuck when I tried to get out. I had to wait god-knows how long before I Dad came home and broke the door down. Guess where I was when that happened…taking cover inside the fecking bathtub! Hahaha!" I laughed.

Zelga laughed with me before she sighed. "Matt, you never cease to amuse me with stuff like this, do you ever have a normal day?" she asked.

I took another sip from my cup before I answered her question. "Only on rare days." I said before chuckling slightly.

Zelga giggled before she put her cup down and scooched over to me. "Matt, can I ask you something personal?" she asked.

Her words caught my interest and I gave her a nod. "Sure, what's on your mind." I asked before I took another sip of cider.

"Have you ever…turned your attention to another mare besides Twilight?" Zelga asked slowly giving me a sly smile.

Once I heard that, my eyes shot wide open as I gulped my mouth-full of cider down and looked at her. "No, I've never done that…at least, I don't think I have." I said as I thought back to when I first met Princess Cadence.

Zelga lied down beside me and rested her head on her front-hooves as her silky tail swayed left and right. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, Matt, but…I have been sending off messages, giving you hints, if you know what I mean." She said with her sly smile growing.

I thought for a moment before I finally realized what she was getting out, now this whole thing made sense. "Oh…umm…I'm sorry Zelga, but I'm married." I said as I stepped down off the couch and backed away slightly. "Besides, aren't you with Big Macintosh?" I asked.

Zelga jumped off the couch and walked towards me, with me backing away with each step she took. "He's getting boring, it was cute at first but now I want a stallion more…exiting." She said.

I yelped slightly as I back finally hit the wall. "Well there's loads of stallions in Ponyville, maybe I can help set you up. We'll go out into town, you find a stallion you like and we'll see what we can do." I said as she approached me.

"No need, already found one." Zelga said as she got closer to me.

Before she could get any closer, I quickly slipped away from the wall and back away towards the arm-chair. "But I'm married to Twilight, I'm not that kind of guy, I'll never be that kind of guy." I said firmly.

Zelga shook her head. "Matt, can't you see Twilight is just holding you back? You could be so much more fun if you just move on and let her go, you can finally be your own pony if you just forget about her." She stated as she took a step towards me.

I gave her a sharp glare. "That's not true, Twilight loves me and lets me do anything I want, I already am my own pony and she supports me. She's not holding me back like some sort of controlling maniac, she lets me do whatever I want. True, she has her firm side, but that's because she wants me to be safe when I'm making dangerous decisions, like when I went after Jersey Devil. If I had talked it over with her, she would've gone completely against it and I would've missed out on getting answers from him, but that would've been because wouldn't have wanted me to get hurt." I said, defending Twilight with every word in my body.

Zelga stared at me with wide eyes before I sighed. "If you think she's like how you described, then you don't know her at all…and I think it's best if we don't see each other anymore. I'm sorry Zelga." I said before I walked past her and went over to the front door.

In that instant, Zelga became angered by my refusal to leave Twilight and she turned to see me heading towards the door. "Well it doesn't matter anyway, after all, why would she still want to be with you after what you did?" she asked.

With that, I came to a halt and turned around to give her a confused look. "What I did to her? What do…what do you…ahh." I said as I suddenly became light-headed and dizzy, my vision began to turn blurry as Zelga approached me.

Zelga gave me a smug smirk. "You'll find out soon enough. I the meantime, I have a certain pony to talk to."

Those final words were all I heard before I collapsed down onto the floor and blacked out.

The next day

My eyes slowly opened as the sun filled the room I was in. I rubbed my hooves against the surface I was lying on and it felt soft and springy, I was obviously on a bed.

As I leaned up, my head spun and I was near to vomiting, but I managed to get a hold of it. I then looked around the room and noticed something that shocked me, it wasn't mine, I didn't recognize it. I tried to remember what happened and how I might've got here, but it all I could remember was talking to Applebloom and her friends, then I went over to Zelga's place and the rest is blank.

I looked up at the clock on the wall and saw it was very late in the day, it was half-way through the afternoon.

I slowly got out of the bed and left the room in a wobbly mess, I made my way through the house until I finally found the front-door. After I opened it, the sunlight stung my eyes as I walked outside to the front yard. I looked back at the house and saw that it was Zelga's cottage. I wondered why I was sleeping here and what happened after I arrived.

I decided to solve that mystery later and made my way to the town to go back to the library, she must've been worried sick about me.

Streets of Ponyville

After reaching town, I walked through the streets and looked around at everypony. When they noticed me, they just remained silent and looked at me with disapproval, as if I did something that offended them.

I kept going until I finally saw a friendly face, Rarity, she was coming out of her Boutique. She might be able to help me with this whole thing and maybe tell me why everypony is acting weird around me. I trotted up to her and smiled. "Rarity, you don't know how glad I am to see you. I need your help, something's happened and I don't-"

"Something certainly has happened, Matthew!" Rarity interrupted in a strange tone before turning around to face me with a glare in her eyes. "How could you do this? How could you do this to Twilight? She's your wife who's carrying your child and you think you could just…Grr!" she growled before she stormed past me.

I watched as she did and I tried to follow her. "Wait, what are you talking about? What did I-"

*SMACK!*

My sentence was forced to a sudden stop by Rarity spinning around and slapping me in the face with her hoof, making me stumble slightly as I placed my hoof on my now soar cheek. i stared at her, gobsmacked by her action.

Rarity stared right back, with a firm look and tears in her eyes. "You know very well what you did." She said before she turned around and walked away.

Part of me felt crushed by this. Rarity slapped me, one of my closest friends actually slapped me, and over what? What did I do to make her so angry? I soon noticed a few ponies staring at me and I quickly started walking away, trying to find some else who could help.

It wasn't long before I found Applejack and Rainbow Dash in the café. I quickly trotted over to their table and they both noticed me. "Applejack, Rainbow, you'll never guess what happened to me just now. I saw Rarity, tried to talk to her, and she goes off saying I did something to Twilight and she slapped me! Why the hell did she slap me?!" I asked.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other before they returned their attention to me. "Well, by the sound of it…you got what you deserved, you two-timing worm!" Rainbow said with full anger.

"Rainbow, please, I'm sorry about what happened on my birthday, but can we forget about that for the moment and focus on what the hell's going on?" I said, beginning to feel upset by this whole thing.

"She's not talkin' about your birthday party, Matt, she's talking about what happened last night." Applejack said firmly before she sighed. "And I have to agree with her. I thought you'd never do something like this, Matt, but I suppose I can't be right all the time." She said.

I turned my head to face Applejack. "But…what did I do?" I said, feeling a lump in my throat.

"If we told you, you'd probably start saying you didn't do it." Rainbow Dash said before she flapped her wings and started flying into the air. "Sorry, but I think I'll skip the innocent act." She said before she took off into the cloudy sky.

As I watched her fly away, Applejack suddenly appeared beside me and looked down at the ground. "Seems she was right about you all along, Matt. I always thought she was just blowing all smoke and no fire. But when I heard about what you did…I had to face it." she said as she began to walk away.

My eyes began to water as I began to watch Applejack walk away. Suddenly, she stopped and turned her head slightly to look back at me. "Sorry Matt, but…our business doesn't take kindly to acts like the one you did. Guess what I trying to mean is…you're fired." She said with slight sadness before she continued to walk away.

I just stood there, feeling the life being sucked out of me. I sat down on the grass, feeling completely helpless. I looked down at the ground and tried to make sense of things. Did this have something to do with me being in Zelga's cottage? Zelga wasn't anywhere to be found inside the cottage, did I do something to her? Did I hurt her?

I felt a wave of doubt, I couldn't have done anything to Zelga, I surely would've remembered if I did. Plus, there were no signs of a struggle on my body, no bruises or anything like that. But whatever's going on, it has something to do with whatever happened at that cottage.

I part of me thought of going back to see if I could find any clues, but there was something more important to do first, I needed to check on Twilight. If she feels the same way as everyone else so far…I can't even think of what I'll do.

I stood back up and started trotting, but the thought of Twilight possible leaving me replaced it with galloping. I went as fast as I could, I even started using my wings to gain more speed.

But as I did, I was suddenly stopped by a wet object exploding against my head, causing me to tumble down. With a groan, I brought myself back up and the object fell off my head and onto the ground. I was surprised to see it was a piece of a broken balloon.

I looked around for the pony who threw it, but as I turned my head, I was met with another balloon smacking against my and covering me with water. After wiping the water off my eyes, I looked and saw Pinkie Pie up on the balcony of Sugar Cube Corner with a bunch of water-balloons beside her.

"Pinkie? What are you doing?" I asked in shock.

Pinkie responded by throwing another water-balloon down to me and I moved out of the way to avoid getting hit. "I'm giving you what you deserve, Mattie." She said as she picked another water-balloon up with her front-hooves and threw it down at me.

I moved out of the way again and spoke up to her. "Pinkie, I don't know what's going on, why are you and everyone else so angry with me?" I said.

"Nice try, but she said that he said you'd try and deny it. Well I'm not falling for it!" Pinkie said as she picked up another water-balloon and threw it down towards me.

Again, I moved away. "Who's she and he? Who's been saying things about me?" I asked, desperately wanting an answer.

At that moment, Pinkie covered her mouth with her hoof. "Oops, I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Later Mattie." She said before she went back into her room and left my question unanswered. Suddenly, Pinkie came back out and looked down at me. "By the way, I'm never throwing you another birthday party again." she said before going back inside.

There was a silent moment before Pinkie came back out once again. "Ok, I'll keep throwing you parties, but no cake!"

Pinkie went back inside, only to come back out a moment later. "Ok, there'll be cake, but no presents."

Went back inside and, you guessed it, came back out again. "Ok, you'll get presents, but only one…from all of us." she said before going back inside.

I waited a good few minutes in case she had anything else to add, she didn't. I looked down at the ground with an upset face before I started galloping my way to the library again.

I began to see the library up ahead, I started to gallop faster to get there quicker. But suddenly, something caught my eye in one of the allies, I stopped and looked down it to see a pony sitter there alone, it looked like she was crying. I looked over to the library before looking back at the weeping mare, I sighed before I walked into the ally and approached the mare.

As I got closer, her weeps started to sound familiar, it was only when I reached her did I finally recognized her. It was Fluttershy with her back turned to me, her hooves were on her face as she cried gently.

A part of me was scared to talk to her, all the others had yelled at me and hurt me, I didn't want to see Fluttershy do the same. However, Fluttershy was never the angry type, if there was any pony that could help me now, it was Fluttershy. "F-Fluttershy?" I said, trying to get her attention.

Fluttershy then stopped crying and removed her hooves from her face, she turned her head around to reveal her teary eyes and sad look, she remained silent as she sniffed and wiped her eyes with her hoof.

"Are you alright, Fluttershy? Why are you all alone here?" I asked.

Fluttershy remained silent as she looked down at the floor, her eyes began to tear up again until she couldn't bear to look at me and turned away.

"Fluttershy, please, talk to me." I begged.

With that, Fluttershy burst out into tears before she quickly flew away into the sky. "Fluttershy, wait! Please!" I called, but she disappeared into one of the high clouds.

I sighed with sadness before I turned around and walked out of the ally. I was scared of her yelling at me like the others, but she didn't say a single thing, somehow that was even worse. Obviously Fluttershy had heard whatever it is everypony's saying about me, now she doesn't even want to speak to me.

As I got back into the streets, I looked over to the library and gulped. Twilight was my only hope now, everyone else has abandoned me and I feel almost empty inside. I prayed for Twilight to make this better, like she always dose.

I began making my way towards the library with a heavy heart, hoping she wouldn't be as upset as the others.

This part is the hardest to talk about.

Library

After finally reaching the library's front-door, I reached my hoof for the doorknob and grabbed it, but the door wouldn't open and I stopped trying. I released the doorknob and breathed in as I did the only thing I could do, knock.

A moment later, the door opened slightly as I saw Twilight look through the gap. A chill went down my spine as I made the first move. "Twi? Are you alright?" I asked.

"M-Matt?" Twilight asked quietly before she opened the door all the way and we stood facing each other probably.

I looked at her face and my heart grew heavy over the sight of her red eyes and wet cheeks, she looked as though she had been crying for hours. "Twi, what's happened? Why are you so-" I said as I reached my hoof towards her face, but was stopped by a see-through pink wall between us. I pulled my hoof away before I placed both of them on the strange wall, it was like some sort of shield in the doorway and I couldn't get through. "Twilight, what's with the forcefield? How do I get in?" I asked.

Twilight gave me a sad look before she looked down at the floor. "…You don't…" she said quietly.

My ears dropped as I placed my hooves back down at the ground and stepped away. "W-What?" I asked, almost struggling to talk.

Twilight looked back up at me. "I'm sorry Matt, but…but I can't see you at the moment. I have a few things to think over." She said.

I instantly realized why she was doing this. "No Twi…no, please, not you too." I said as I felt another lump in my throat. "What happened? Why is everypony so angry with me?" I asked.

Twilight sniffed. "I should be the one asking you what happened…between you and Zelga the other day." she said.

"Twi, nothing happened with me and Zelga yesterday, she wanted to talk about something and I stopped by her place for a bit, I don't remember anything after that." I stated in my own defence.

Twilight gave me a firm face. "Really? Because everyone keeps saying that you stayed there…all day and night. Is it true? Did you…did you cheat on me with Zelga?" she asked, becoming more sad with each word.

I shook my head fast. "No, of course I didn't! How could you think I'd do something like that?" I asked, refusing to believe I did something so despicable.

"…Because…because of the baby. You've been scared ever since we found out I was pregnant, I've noticed it a few times. They say you're not interested in me anymore, that you think I'm not exciting enough anymore." Twilight said, turning her head away as tears began to swell up in her eyes.

I couldn't believe all these lies I was hearing. "Twi, I'd never think that way about you. You're the most exciting and precious thing that's ever happened to me. And why would I lose interest in you over the baby? I want this baby as much as you do. How could you believe all this?" I asked.

A tear ran down Twilight's cheek as she forced herself to face me. "I'm sorry Matt, but how do I know anything you say is true? They said you'd try and deny everything." She said.

"Who did?" I asked.

"I don't know, Applejack told me everything, I have no idea where she heard it from." Twilight said.

I gently placed my hoof on the forcefield. "Please Twi, let's try and fix this, we always try to fix stuff like this. None of these things are true, someone is spread a lie about me." I said, hoping she would at least try and help.

But my hopes died when she looked down with her ears dropping. "I'm sorry Matt, but…you can't come in. If I were you, I'd stay somewhere else for the time being." She said.

Tears filled my eyes. "Twi…please…don't do this. I need you." I said with a chocked up voice.

Twilight started crying before she used her magic to slowly close the door. "I'm so sorry." She said before the door closed all the way, locking me out.

I placed me hooves on the door. "Twi?...Twi?!" I said loudly as I banged my hoof against the door. "Twilight please! You have to trust me! Please…don't abandon me." I said as tears ran down my face and my body slid down to the ground, I sobbed in front of the door as everything around me fell apart.

I lost my job, my friends, and now I may have just lost the love of my life. I couldn't believe any of this was happening, it had to be another nightmare, soon I'd wake up in my own bed with Twilight beside me, but I knew this was really happening.

After almost half-an-hour later, it was starting to get dark and I was still lying hopelessly in front of the Library's front-door. I soon pulled myself up and looked at the door, it was obvious that Twilight wasn't going to open the door again. So after taking one final look at my home, I turned and made my way to the cottage nearest to the Library.

Just then, I felt a drop of water drip down onto my nose, followed by another on my back and two more on the ground next to me. Then came the thunder and a shower of rain purred down on top of me.

I rushed over to the front-door of the cottage and knocked a few times, but I got no answer. My body quivered over the cold rain as I walked away from the cottage and looked around for something to take shelter in, that's when I found a cardboard box next to the trash.

I went over to it and crawled inside it. I sat down inside the dry box as I looked out at the Library, knowing Twilight was somewhere inside it, she may even be watching me right now from one of the windows. I felt sadness take me over again. "Goodnight Twilight…I love you." I said before I lied down and closed my eyes to try and get some sleep, which was difficult with the thunder and lightning making me jump at some points.

The next day

And that brings us to earlier this morning, I woke up feeling close and some of the mussels in my body ached from the position I was lying in.

I dragged myself out of the box and stood up before looking over to the Library, once I did, everything came back to me. I remembered how my friends treated me, I remembered Twi's face as she closed the door on me, it was all so painful to remember.

I knew I had to make this right, there had to be someone who could help me. Then I remembered what Twilight said about Zelga, no one will believe me if I said nothing happened, but maybe they'll believe me if Zelga backed me up. Feeling a small speck of hope, I took off into the air and flew across the town to find Zelga.

It wasn't long before I saw her in the market, I dove down to the ground and landed behind her. "Zelga, thank Celestia I found, I really need your help." I said.

Zelga turned around to face me and acted surprised. "Why? What's wrong Matt?" she asked.

"Something really bad has happened, someone's going around saying that I cheated on Twilight with you the other day. Everyone's mad at me and Twilight's thrown me out the Library, I need your help to clear this whole thing up." I said.

Zelga tapped her chin with her hoof before she spoke. "I suppose I could, but I don't think I will." She said with a raised eye-brow.

I was slightly surprised by this. "What? Why not?" I asked curiously.

"Because this is what you get for being so naïve. If you don't recall, I gave you the chance to dump Twilight and be with me, but you turned me away. I've always thought she would do something like this, and now it's finally happened." Zelga said as she began to walk around me. "I don't know who starting this rumour, but I won't have any part in fixing it. You want to done so bad, do it yourself." She said.

"Please Zelga, I've lost almost everything, you need to help me." I said, almost begging.

"Sorry Matt, but this is your problem not mine." Zelga said before she turned and walked away. As I watched her, she suddenly stopped and turned her head around to face me. "However, if you don't want to live life alone, you can always be with me. It's your choice, be with me or be alone, that's all I gotta say." She said before she continued walking.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing from her. She's always been like a friend to me, but now when I need her most, she abandons me. I felt the last bit of hope I head wash away before I sat down on the grass and thought about what she said, I loved Twilight too much to be with someone else, but I didn't want to be alone either.

I sighed sadly, unable to even stand, I saw no point in doing anything anymore, I didn't even see a reason to leave the spot I was sitting in right now, it all seemed pointless. I needed to get out of Ponyville, I needed to clear my head and set things straight.

I stood up and walked through the streets of my once beloved town until I left. I made it halfway up the dirt road until I found this old bar. I figured I could use a drink right about now, so I walked over to it and went inside.

Present time

"And the rest you already know." I said as I placed my elbow on the counter and rested my chin on my hoof.

"Hmm, well that's quite a story, kid." The bar-pony said as he used his magic to clean an empty glass with a cloth. "Best I've heard in this line of work." He said.

Everyone else in the bar heard him and looked over to him like they did before. "What? This kid has a real problem! You guys are just wining over things no-one else cares about!" the bar-pony said to the entire bar, making them look away in depression again.

The bar-pony then returned his attention to me. "Now kid, I'm not an expert on this kinda thing, but who knows…maybe this'll get fixed somehow. If not by itself, then by somepony who knows the truth about what happened." He said.

I grew a smile for a second before it went away just as fast. "There's no-one who knows what really happened, the only pony who dose has abandoned me…some friend she turned out to be." I said before I took the last gulp of my cider until it was gone.

"How about another round? On the house." The bar-pony said, earning a silent nod from me. He then looked down the counter before he looked back at me. "I'll get it in just a moment, there's another customer I need to tend." He said before he walked away.

I continued to stare down at the counter as I listened in on what the bar-pony was saying. "Hey darling, what can I get ya?" he asked.

"Nothing, thank you. Listen, I'm looking for my husband, a friend of mine said he'd be here, have you seen him? His name is Matthew." A familiar female voice said.

Recognizing the voice all too well, I looked over to them and saw Twilight standing in front of the counter. "Twilight?" I said, gaining her attention.

Twilight looked over to me. "Matt." she said before she rushed over to me. "Matt….I need to talk to you, it's about what happened yesterday." She said.

"Of course it is, it's the talk of the town." I said before I turned to face my empty glass again. "Twi…if you're here to say you don't want to be with me anymore, then…I get it." I said, feeling pain in my heart.

Twilight took a step closer. "No, no, no, Matt. I didn't come down here to do something like that, I'm here to bring you home." She said as she placed her hoof on the side of my body.

"I don't have a home anymore, Twi…I don't have a job…I don't have any friends. By now, the whole town would probably like to see me leave on the train." I said in a sad tone.

"Matt, that's not true." Twilight said before she walked around to my other side to try and see my face better. "I was wrong, Matt, we all were. We should've known you wouldn't have done such a thing, I should've known you wouldn't have done such a thing. Somepony came to the Library this morning and told me what really happened at Zelga's place, she swears to it. I told our friends what she said and they think the same way, they feel really bad about what they did to you, and so do I."

I listened, but I didn't know if I wanted to respond. "Matt, please…look at me." Twilight said with slight desperation in her voice.

With that, I slowly turned my head around to face her. Twilight gave me a look of pure sorrow before she gently placed her hoof on my cheek. "I'm so sorry…I should never have doubted you like I did, I should've trusted you. I love you, Matt." She said with a small amount of tears swelling in her eyes. "Please…come home."

I looked into her eyes for a moment and saw real sadness in them, placed my hoof over her's on my cheek before I shed another tear. "…I love you too, Twi." I said as I began to choke up.

Twilight managed to grow a smile before she hugged me tightly around my neck. I wrapped my arms around her body and rubbed my head against her neck. "Zelga knew…Zelga knew nothing happened, but she refused to help me…you were right about her, Twi…you were right all along and I didn't listen." I said as more tears ran down my face.

"We'll take care of her later." Twilight said before she pulled away and looked at my face. "But right now, all I care about is getting you home." She said in a sweet tone.

I wiped the tears from my eyes and nodded. "Alright, lets go." I said before I got down from the stool I was sitting on and I looked back at the bar-pony. "Thanks by the way, for listening." I said with a thankful smile.

"Anytime kid." The bar-pony said as he took my empty glass with his magic and placed it in the sink.

Twilight and I then left the bar, leaving the other ponies with their own problems. The bar-pony saw them watching us and did what he usually did. "Don't get your hopes up, that only happens rarely in my bar!" he said loud enough for everyone to hear, making the ponies all depressed yet again.

Half-an-hour later: Library

Twilight and I approached the front door of the library and she opened the door with her magic. She had told me that Spike, Jeff and Peewee were going to stay with the Cakes until this whole matter had been resolved.

When we entered the front room, Twi gave me a sweet smile as she rubbed the tears off my face with her hoof. "Let's get you in the shower. Once that's done, we'll fix everything that's happened." She said.

"But Twi, I need to ask you a few things. Who sent you to the bar? Who told you what happened at Zelga's?" I asked.

"I promise I'll answer all your questions, but you seriously need to wash." Twilight said before she escorted me to the bathroom and I went in alone.

I went into the shower and washed myself real good. It felt nice having warm water raining down on me, washing all the filth and cleaning my body, it felt like being refreshed. Once I was done, I got out and dried myself with a towel before leaving the room and re-entering the living room.

I saw Twilight sitting in front of the table with the wooden horse-head on it and I came up from behind her. From there, I surprised her by wrapped my arms around her body and hugging her. "Thanks Twi, for trusting me again…I was scared that I lost you." I said lovingly.

Twilight smiled warmly at this. "I was scared that I lost you, I'm glad you're back." she said before she moved away and turned around to face me. "We'll make up for it later, but right now…you want answers." She said.

With that said, I nodded. "Yeah...you said somepony saw what really happened at Zelga's and then told you about it, who was it?" I asked, curious to find out.

Twilight remained silent as she walked over to one of the other doors and looked back at me. "This…may be a bit of a shock." She said before she used her magic to open the door and reveal the mystery pony behind it.

I was indeed shocked by who I saw. "Applebloom?" I said in surprise as Applebloom stepped into the room, she had a nervous smile on her face as she stopped in front of me. "You saw what happened at Zelga's place?" I asked.

Applebloom nodded. "I saw you and Zelga talkin' after me and my friends got back into town. I remembered how Applejack kept saying how she wasn't somepony to hang out with, but I wanted to see if she really was…you know…bad, so we decided to follow ya. We watch ya both through one of the windows and I saw ya movin' away from Zelga, ya looked like you were tellin' her off and went towards the door, but you collapsed before you could get there." she explained.

I was surprised by this, I didn't even know she was spying on us at the time. "But…what happened after that?" I asked.

"Zelga dragged ya into the bedroom and left out the backdoor, I dunno where she went after that, none of us do." Applebloom said.

"Applebloom heard all the things that happened to you yesterday and came over here straight away to sort things out, she told me everything that happened." Twilight said as she walked up beside Applebloom. "After that, I left straight away to find you. Moleyair told me where you'd be, that's how I found the bar."

After hearing all this, I silently walked up to Applebloom and hugged her gently. "Thank you so much, Applebloom. You saved everything. If our baby turns out to be a girl, I hope she'll be like you." I said with a warm smile on my face.

Applebloom hugged me back. "It's ok, Matt." she said before she went wide-eyed with excitement. "Hey, maybe I could get my Cutie Mark in bein' a detective!" she said.

I grew an amused smile. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, sweetheart." I said before I pulled away and released her from my hug.

Just then, we heard a knock on the door and Twilight walked over to answer it. "That must be the others." She said before she opened the door to reveal the rest of the Mane 6 behind it. They all came inside with looks of sorrow, even Rainbow Dash looked disappointed in herself.

I watched as they all stopped in front of me. "Guys…what are you all doing here?" I asked, trying not to get too worried about this.

They all stayed silent until Applejack stepped up to me and took her hat off with her hoof. "Matt…Twilight came to us earlier today and told us what Applebloom said and…well…we honestly can't tell ya how deeply sorry we are, otherwise we'd be here for days. We said real horrible things and we don't know if anything we say will make it right, but…can you ever forgive us?" She asked as she held her hat against her chest.

I then gave them a gentle smile. "Sure I can." I said before a thought came to me. "But does this mean I'm still fired?" I asked.

Applejack smirked. "Are you kiddin'? I expect ya to be at work first thing on Monday, Mr Delivery Pony." She said as she came up to me and rested her elbow on one of my shoulders.

But then something unexpected happened, someone over kissed my cheek softly. I turned my head around to see Rarity. "That was my way of apologizing for that horrible slap I gave you. I'm sorry if I hurt you, I was just upset." She explained.

I nodded. "It's ok Rarity, it didn't hurt so bad." I said as I felt Applejack remove her elbow from my shoulder.

Suddenly, I was tackled to the floor by Pinkie Pie who was now hugging me tightly. "I'm sorry for all those water-balloons I threw at you, I should really learn to use my 'water-balloon throwing skills' for good instead of bad." She stated with an upset look on her face.

I would've hugged her back, but she was hugging my arms against my body. "It's alright Pinkie, none of them hit me…but can I expect one of your famous parties at my next birthday?" I asked, remembering what she said yesterday.

Pinkie then pulled her head off my chest and looked my straight in the eyes. "You can expect one of my parties tomorrow! And maybe the day after that! Oh, and maybe the day after that! Then the next day, and the next day, and the next day." she said in repeat.

Eventually, Twilight used her magic to pry her off me and move her aside so Rainbow Dash could approach me. We both stared at each other, neither of us knowing what to say. But surprisingly, Rainbow made the first move. "So umm…I suppose this means you didn't cheat on Twilight with Zelga." she said.

I nodded. "Yeah." I responded.

"Then I suppose I should say…*sigh* I'm sorry for what I said yesterday…I'm sorry I've been acting like a complete jerk to you in the past few weeks. After what happened between us on your birthday, I just felt like…you were willing to kiss almost any mare and not care if you were married to Twilight, I felt she deserved better than that." Rainbow Dash said as she looked away with her ears low.

I understood what she was saying and was quick to respond. "But Rainbow, the only pony I was willing to kiss other than Twilight was Luna, and that was just to help her get over me. When we kissed at my party, I wasn't as willing, you heard me try and get out of it. You're the one who kissed me Rainbow, not the other way around." I stated.

After hearing that, Rainbow Dash's eyes grew slightly wide. "Umm…no I didn't." she said while shifting eyes back and forth.

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity said with a firm tone.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she scoffed. "Ok, I kissed you! There, everypony happy?" she admitted before she sat down and crossed her arms. "But it still didn't feel right." She said.

I could see by the look on her face that she was upset, things like that are always noticeable on ponies like her. I could also read her like a book, I think she was more upset that her first kiss was forced onto me than anything else. I tried to think of a way to make it up to her until I came up with something. "Say Rainbow, I think I may know a way to make this better." I said with a small smile.

"Yeah? How?" Rainbow asked, still facing away from me.

I then continued. "Because of my, umm…big reputation so-to-speak, I have a lot of big connections, including the Wonderbolts. Now if you want, I could go to Cloudsdale and ask if you could hang out with them for a day or so and-"

But before I could finish, Rainbow Dash spun her head around to look at me with a large smile on her face. "You'd do that for me?! Really?!" she said loudly with excitement.

I stared at her wide-eyed as I nodded silently.

"Matt, if you pull that off, I'll personally forget everything that happened at your birthday, it all would've never happened." Rainbow Dash said with the large smile still on her face.

I smiled at this. "I'm sure I can pull it off…so, are we cool again?" I asked as I lifted my hoof up to her.

Rainbow Dash looked at it and smirked before she gave me a hoof-bump. "We're totally cool." She said before we both placed our hooves back on the floor.

After that, I noticed Fluttershy beside me with tears in her eyes. I was about to say something to her, but she stopped me by hugging me tightly and weeping into my chest. "I'm so sorry, Matt, I'm so sorry." She cried as her tease damped my chest fur.

I gently stroked her soft pink mane as I smiled sweetly down at her. "It's alright, Fluttershy…it's alright." I said as she continued to weep.

At that moment, Applejack spoke up. "Well now that we're all friendly again, maybe now's a good time to focus on the problem with all of this." She said with a serious look.

We all drew our Applejack. "What do you mean, Applejack?" I asked curiously.

"If nothin' happened between you and Zelga at her place, then somepony out there is spreadin' a rumour around Ponyville." Applejack explained.

"A rather nasty rumour at that." Rarity added.

At that moment, Rainbow Dash shot into the air. "I say we find the pony who started it and show 'em what happens when they spread lies about our friend!" she said in a firm tone.

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Rainbow." Applejack said before she looked at the rest of us. "But we can't just go around town asking everypony if they were the ones that started it, we need to know who it is we're lookin' for." She stated.

"But that could be anypony in town." Applebloom said, making it sound almost impossible to find out who it was.

"What we need to do is find out who heard it first, then find out who told them." Twilight said before she went on to add. "I heard it from Applejack."

"I heard it from Rainbow Dash." Applejack said.

"But I heard it from Rarity." Rainbow Dash said as she pointed her hoof down at Rarity.

"And I heard it from Pinkie Pie." Rarity said as she did the same as Rainbow and pointed her hoof at Pinkie.

"Well I heard it from Bon Bon." Pinkie Pie responded.

Twilight gave her a confused look. "Bon Bon? Who'd she hear it from?" she asked.

Pinkie Pie shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno." She stated.

With that, Twilight looked over to the only pony who hadn't said anything, Fluttershy. "So who did you hear it from, Fluttershy?" she asked.

As everyone else turned their attention to her, Fluttershy stayed silent as she made a high-pitched whimper before covering her eyes with her hooves and cried into them. Seeing this, I walked up beside her and placed my hoof on her back gently. "It's alright, Fluttershy, you can tell us." I said with a kind smile.

Fluttershy removed her hooves from her face and looked at me with her teary eyes. "I…I didn't hear it from anyone." She said.

"But then how did you know about it? You obviously knew." I said as I gently rubbed her back.

Fluttershy wiped a tear from her eye with her arm. "I mean…I…I didn't hear it from anyone, because….because I'm the one that started it! *Cries hard*" she said loudly before she started crying over my shoulder.

Everyone gasped over this shocking reveal while I was just stunned. If any of us were to be responsible for this, I would've expected it from Rainbow Dash or something, but Fluttershy?...It was almost hard to take in.

I continued to rub her back with my hoof while her read rested over my shoulder. "Fluttershy…what do you mean you're the one that started it? Is this the reason why you didn't talk to my yesterday?" I asked.

Fluttershy sniffed as she moved her head back away from my shoulder to look at my face and nodded. "I was too ashamed of myself to say anything. I'm sorry Matt, I'm so sorry…I had no choice." She said.

Everyone started to listen carefully when she said that. "What do you mean you 'had no choice'?" I asked curiously.

"A-Angel…she has Angel…she said if I didn't start that rumour, she would…" Fluttershy said as she began to choke up and cry again.

"Who? Who has Angel? Who told you to do this?" I asked, desperately wanting a name.

Fluttershy managed to look at all of us one more time, seeing that we were all ready to hear what she had to say next. She turned her head to face me before she managed to say a name, a name that wasn't surprising to most of us.

Later that day: Zelga's cottage

I pounded my hoof against Zelga's front door in anger, Twilight and the others were standing behind me waiting for an answer. But this wasn't our first stop, we dropped Applebloom off back at Sweet Apple Arches before we went to the Town Hall to bring the Mayor with us.

Twilight turned her head around to face the Mayor. "Thanks for coming with us to do this, Mayor." She said.

The Mayor looked at her and nodded. "Of course, if what you're saying is true, then Zelga can't be allowed to get away with it. Once we're done here, I'll make a full announcement to the town's folk and clear Matthew's name." she said.

I turned around. "Thanks Mayor, that means a lot. I'll be glad once this is all over, but there's still one problem in our way." I said calmly.

"What's that?" Applejack asked curiously.

"We won't be able to get that far if Zelga doesn't answer the bloody DOOR!" I yelled in anger as I continued to pound against the front door of the cottage.

"Maybe she's not home." Pinkie Pie said.

"And maybe we don't care." Rainbow Dash said before she walked up beside me and moved me aside with her hoof. "Step aside, junior, let momma handle this." She said.

With that, she spun around and gave the door a strong buck. The door broke and swung open, smacking against the wall hard and making us all tense up.

As we entered the home, Twilight walked up beside Rainbow Dash. "Was that really necessary?" she asked with a raised eye-brow.

Rainbow turned to face her with a firm look. "Hey, you wanted to get in here today, didn't ya? We don't have time to wait for her to come home." She said.

"I'd say that was gonna be a long wait. Check this out." Applejack said as she looked through the entrance to the front room.

We all walked over to her and looked into the room only to see that it was completely empty. It was filled with furniture the other day, and now there's nothing but dust and scraps of cotton.

We entered the room, our hoof-steps echoing through the wooden floor, looking around at the nothingness within. It was as if she was never here, that nothing was ever here. "What happened here? Where'd everything go? There was an entire living room here the other day, how can it all suddenly be gone?" I asked out-loud as I continued to look around the room.

"Maybe Zelga caught on to what we were up to and flew the coop." Twilight said as she walked up beside me.

I turned my head to face her. "She couldn't have left, not that fast anyway. A single Pegasus wouldn't have been about to shift everything out, it would've taken a few ponies." I said to her.

"Well she got everything outta here somehow because there is nothin' left in here." Applejack said as she walked over to the kitchen and looked inside. "Or in here." she added.

"But where's Angel?" Fluttershy asked as she began to panic. "What if she took him with her? What if he's gone forever?" she said before she started to tear up again.

I turned around to face her. "Don't worry Fluttershy, it's a big cottage, he's probably here somewhere, we just need to find out where she might've been keeping him." I said, trying to reassure her.

For the next few minutes, we searched the cottage from top to bottom.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash searched the kitchen.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie searched upstairs

And myself, Twilight, the Mayor and Fluttershy searched the rest of the downstairs area.

Every room was completely empty, I don't know how Zelga did it, but she got herself and everything else out of her in a hurry. My only explanation is that she did this on the day I saw her last, I don't know why she would leave so fast, but she did.

We all gathered at beside the staircase to share information. "Find anything in the kitchen?" I asked.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash shook their heads. "Nothin', not even any kitchen stuff." Applejack stated.

I turned my head to face Pinkie Pie and Rarity. "Anything upstairs?" I asked,

Like the others, they shook their heads. "No, I'm afraid not. I thought I heard Angel up in the attic, but it was just a bat." She said before she looked at Pinkie. "By the way, do I have a cobweb in my hair?" she asked, sounding more concerned for her hair than anything else.

Pinkie stretched her head up to look down at Rarity's hair, she then brought it back down and gave her a small smile. "No, it's clean." She said.

"Thank goodness, I just washed it this morning." Rarity said as she flicked the back-curl of her mane with her hoof.

I then cleared my throat to regain their attention. "*Clears throat* If we can get back to the matter at hand." I said before I looked around at everyone. "We still need to find Angel."

Just then, Fluttershy's ears perked up. "Wait…do you hear that?" she asked as she looked around.

"Hear what, darling?" Rarity asked.

Fluttershy ears picked up a faint squeal and eyes were drawn to the wall under the stair case. "I hear Angel! But it sounds like he's behind this wall." She said as she placed her front-hooves on the wall.

I walked up to the wall and tapped my hoof against it. "Is it fake?" I asked out-loud as I tried to listen to any hollow sounds, but there weren't any, it was a solid wall. "Are you sure you're hearing right?" I asked Fluttershy.

Fluttershy turned her head to face me and nodded. "Yes, I know Angel's cries when I hear them, he's behind this wall. But how do we get to him?" she asked.

Twilight then stepped forward. "Hold on, I have a spell that will allow us to see through the wall." She said before he horn glowed and zapped the wall with her magic, the wall glowed before we were able to see through it like glass.

We were all surprised to see that behind the wall wasn't another wall or a hidden room, but instead another staircase going downward. Twi and I looked at each other before we look back at the staircase.

Twilight used another spell to make the entire wall disappear, allowing us access to the staircase. With me in front, we went down the stairs to see another empty room, inside it were a bunch of wooden shelves and an empty caldron in the centre of the room.

As we looked around the room, we suddenly heard a high-pitched squeal, we all looked to where it came from and saw Angel in a cage on one of the top shelves, his paws grabbed the bars and shook the cage to try and get out.

"Angel!" Fluttershy gasped before she flew up to the cage and tried to open it, but she couldn't. "I can't get the lock open!" she said in a panicky voice before she brought the cage down to us.

Twilight then stepped forward again before she lowered her head down to the cage. "Stand back Angel, I'll get you out of there." she said to the trapped bunny.

Angel nodded before she moved back against the back of the cage. Once he did that, Twilight used her magic like a blowtorch to burn the lock apart. When she was done, Twi used her magic again to open the cage and pull Angel out.

As soon as he was out, Fluttershy swooped in and hugged Angel lovingly in her arms. "Angel! I was so worried about you!" she said before she started kissing his small head repeatedly. Angel smiled as she did, if he could thump his leg right now, he'd be doing it.

I then walked up beside Twilight and looked down at the cage. "So Zelga kidnapped Angel, used him to force Fluttershy to spread that lie about me, took off afterwards and left Angel trapped down here…what the hell kind of pony dose this?" I asked without taking my eyes off the cage.

"The kind none of us should've ever trusted." Twilight responded before she turned to face the Mayor. "Miss Mayor, I know Zelga isn't here to confess all this, but you have to believe me when I say this is all true, Zelga tried to turn the town against Matt by forcing Fluttershy to spread that rumour." She said, hoping she'd believe her.

"It's alright, Miss Sparkle, I believe you. This secret room, Fluttershy's bunny in the cage, the suddenly empty house, it all points to her being up to something." The Mayor said before she looked over to me. "I'll have the word spread right away, Matthew. Soon the whole town will know the truth." She assured me.

With that, she turned and went back up the stairs to leave the cottage, Fluttershy followed her in the air while still holding Angel in her arms. "Don't worry, Angel. As soon as we get home, I'll brush you, puff your tail, and make you your faverate Sunday recipe." She said with a soft smile on her face.

As we all followed them, I looked back at the secret room and felt a cold shiver down my spine. "What do you think she was doing down here anyway?" I asked, expecting someone to answer.

That someone turned out to be Applejack. "I dunno, that girl was more mysterious than a racoon gatherin' in a haystack. But whatever she was doin', I can't say it would-a been good." she said before she continued to go up the stairs.

After giving the room look, I turned and followed everyone out. We didn't even bother to seal the room back up, we just wanted to get out of the cottage before anything unexpected happened. As the Mayor made her way to the Town Hall, we all stood outside the cottage to talk. "Sorry we didn't find Zelga, Matt, we could've really stuck it to her." Rainbow Dash said as she hovered in mid-air.

"It's alright, besides, she couldn't have gone far with all the luggage she took. Maybe you and some of the other Pegasi can catch up with her, if you're fast enough that is." I said, not really expecting her to do it.

But I was proven wrong by the smirk that appeared on her face. "Challenged accepted!" she said before she shot off into the clouds and disappeared into the sky, most likely to Cloudsdale.

We all watched her until she was out of site before returning our attention to each other. "Ok…well, I suppose that deals with that problem, but what about the damage Zelga? The entire town wants me out, or worse!" I said as I began to panic a little.

Twilight placed her hoof on my shoulder and I turned my head to face her. "The Mayor said she'd handle that. By the time this day is up, they'll know the truth and everyone will be your friends again." she said with a reassuring smile.

I smiled back. "Yeah, you're probably right…as usual. Thanks Twi." I said before I looked at everyone else. "And thanks for all of this guys, I'm really glad you all came back to me." I said.

"Sure we did, you're our friend after all." Pinkie Pie said as she hopped up and down on the spot.

"True, we were a little upset by what we heard, but we didn't know it was a lie at the time. Once we did, we felt awfully bad about everything we said and…we just had to make it right." Rarity said with all honesty.

I smiled warmly at them. "And you did. I thought everything was lost, but it's all come back now…my home, Twilight, you guys, everything. I owe you all a lot for this." I said.

Applejack shook her head. "No ya don't…you owe Applebloom a lot for this, if it weren't for her, none of us would-a known the truth." She said with a small smirk.

I thought about it for a moment and realised she was right, Applebloom was the one who saw what happened and she told Twilight everything, which led to her telling the others. Applebloom saved my marriage, my friendship, everything I care about was saved by that one filly. "My god, you're right. Huh…its surprising how someone so small can do big things." I said.

"Yeah, it is." Fluttershy said as she stroked Angel head with her hoof. "How are you gonna repay her?" she asked curiously.

"I'll think of something." I said before I looked at Twilight. "Twi, do you think we can go home? I don't really want to be out here while the whole town still hates me." I said, starting to feel a little on-edge about still be out in public.

Twilight nodded. "Sure thing." she said before she looked at everyone else. "Do you all wanna come with us?" she asked.

Fluttershy shook her head. "I would usually, but I just wanna get Angel home, I think he's been through enough." She said as she hugged him again.

"The rest of us would come too, but I'm sure we all have stuff to do back at our own homes." Applejack said before she smirked. "Besides, I'm sure you two have a lot of making up to do, right?" she said.

Twilight and I looked at each other and grew nervous once we got what she said. We looked back at them and tried to think of a response. "Umm…well, I…there's been a lot of drama lately and we…ummm." Twilight said, trying come up with something to say.

All I came out with was. "What she said." As I pointed my hoof at her.

Everyone chuckled at our struggle. "No need to say anything, we'll just let you two get home and work stuff out." Rarity as she walked away to go back to her house.

"Catch ya later." Applejack said as she followed her.

"Bye Mattie, maybe tomorrow you won't be so scared to show you face in public. But if you are, come to my place, I'll give you the best disguise ever." Pinkie Pie said as she hopped after them.

"It's not just a moustache, is it?" I asked with a raised eye-brow.

"Lucky guess!" Pinkie called back as she continued to head back to her place.

Fluttershy was the only pony who left without saying anything, she must've been too concerned for Angel to do so. Knowing her so well, I didn't blame her, she loves that bunny more than anything.

Once they were gone, I turned to face Twi. "So, walking or teleporting?" I asked.

Twilight thought for a moment before she answered. "I'd rather walk, it's easier." She said with a gentle smile.

I gave her a single nod. "Alright then, lets go." I said before we both made our way back home to the library.

That night: Library

Twilight and I had spent the rest of the day in the safety of the Library, I didn't want to be outside until I knew it was safe to go out in public again.

During that time, Rainbow Dash had gathered up a group of Pegasi and searched the land for Zelga. But from her report, they haven't found her yet, but they'll keep looking until tomorrow night, then we'll have to assume she got away somehow.

From the Library, I saw all the ponies gathering at the Town Hall, the Mayor must've been informing them of the Zelga's attempt to set me up and turn them all against me. Hopefully by tomorrow morning, everyone will know the truth and everything will go back to normal.

Soon, nigh-time came and me & Twilight were now in bed getting ready to end this tiring day. I fell down on the bed with my head landing softly on the pillow and I groaned. "*Groan* Jesus…what a day." I said to myself.

Twilight, lying beside me, turned her head to look at me. "Matt, my name is Twilight, not…what did say? Jesus?" she said with a confused look.

I looked at her. "No Twi, that name's just used as a saying, like 'Oh Jesus, I can't believe this'. You see, Jesus is the name of…" I stopped once I realized how long this might take. "You know what, never mind, forget I said anything." I said as I looked up at the ceiling.

Twilight smiled sweetly as she scooched up to me and snuggled her head against my neck. "I'm sorry." She said softly.

"You don't need to be Twi, I just don't feel like explaining the whole thing at the moment." I said, thinking she was talking about the Jesus thing.

"Not the name, for everything that's happened." Twilight said before she lifted her head up and looked at my face. "For everything I did to you, everything I said…I should've trusted you more…I'm the worst wife ever." She said, feeling bad about herself.

I leaned up on the bed and placed my left-hoof on my body. "No you're not, Twi, you were just confused by a lie. But you came back to me, you convinced our friends to see the truth and now everything's going back to normal. In my opinion, you're the best wife ever." I said, trying to make her feel better.

And it worked, Twilight smiled lovingly at me. "So you forgive me?" she asked.

"Of course I do, I forgave you after we left that dirty bar." I said, letting out a small chuckle afterword.

Twilight giggled a little before her smile disappeared. "But…I still feel bad about everything I did." She said as we both lied back down on the bed.

At that moment, an idea popped into Twilight's head and she smirked at me. "Maybe…there's a way I can make it up to you." she said as she placed her hoof gently on my chest.

Looking at the sly look on her face, I could tell what she meant and I smirked at her. "Baby…I think that'll totally work." I said.

With that, Twilight used her magic to turn out the lights and we began our night of 'forgiveness'.

Meanwhile: Mount Forbidden

Zelga, now back in her hidden Alicorn form, slammed against the stone wall hard before dropping to the floor, only to be lifted back up by powerful magic.

The Leader Alicorn approached with a dark look in his eyes. "Your 'great plan' failed, Zelga. I warned you what would happen if you failed me again!" he growled before he tossed her at another wall and she crashed into it.

As the Leaper approached her, Rage stood between them and spread his large wings out. "Stop this, brother! This is madness!" he roared.

"This is earned punishment and you'll do well not to interfere, unless you wish to share it!" The Leader said before he smacked Rage aside with his powerful wing, knocking him away.

The Leader's horn glowed and Zelga rose off the floor again, her body battered and bruised. The Leader raised a wing before one of the large feathers detached itself from it. As it came into the light, it revealed itself to be completely made of metal with the tip sharpened into a crooked blade. The tip of the sharp object hovered dangerously close to Zelga's throat.

"This was meant to be your son's punishment, you know. But you're pathetic feelings for him forced you to take it in his place…weakness if there ever was any." The Leader said darkly before he looked across the room to see the mysterious hooded pony watching in silence. "And you stand by and watch your mother take your own punishment instead of taking it yourself…cowardness!" he said before he growled in anger.

"Cowardness and weakness will not be tolerated here! Not under MY ROLE!" The Leader yelled as he threw Zelga down towards the hooded pony, he remained silent and still as Zelga coughed on the floor in front of him.

As the metal feather reattached itself to his wing, the Leader took some breaths and calmed down. "Now then, it is clear that Matthew and Twilight are difficult to separate, so we'll just have to forget about that. Instead, we'll focus on the more important objective, claiming the rest of the Elements. Once they're ours, we'll finally find what I've been seeking for so long." He said.

Zelga managed to pull herself up before she weakly looked at the elder Alicorn. "And we will, once I've reduced Ponyville and its residence to dust! Matthew has won the fight, but he hasn't won the battle, let alone the war." She said.

The Leader turned to face her. "So sorry, Sister, but seeing you failed so often is starting to lose its humor." He scoffed.

"I won't fail, not with what I have next in mind. Once I have Matthew where I want him, he'll be lucky if he survives. No tricks, no lies, just him and me...but I'll win." Zelga said before she grinned evilly. "I will avenge Thorn. I was older than him, which makes me more powerful than him, I'm more than a match for Matthew." She said strongly.

The Leader listened as she continued. "He thought Thorn was bad, wait until he gets a load of me, he has no idea what's coming for him…especially with my son here posing as one of the Guards." Zelga said as she looked at the hooded pony.

The Leader raised his eye-brow before he chuckled darkly. "Very well Zelga, one last chance. But after you execute it, you better not come back without proof of Matthew's dead corpse." He said before his eyes glowed a terrifying red. "Otherwise, I'll spare Matthew the trouble and kill you both myself…am I clear?" he asked.

Zelga nodded. "Yes Brother." She said.

"Good." The Leader then made towards his throne. "But first, I want to make sure you're blood-thirst for revenge hasn't blinded you from our true goal." he said before he looked at the hooded pony. "I want you to steal another one of the Elements before Zelga goes through with this plan. I don't care how long it takes, just make this your top priority." He ordered.

The hooded pony nodded. "Yes Master." He said in a deep voice.

The Leader sat on his throne. "Excellent." He said before he looked at the 2 ponies staring at him. "Well then? Get to work on it!" he yelled.

With that, Zelga and the hooded pony rushed out of the throne room doors. Once they were gone, the Leader looked over to Rage. "You go as well, I'm sure you'll be more used to someone else. Go associate with those friends of yours in the wastelands." He snapped.

Rage growled angrily before he disappeared in a giant bolt of red flames.

Now alone, the Leader used his magic to create a miniature sea-through version of myself in front of him, kind of like a small hologram but made of magic. He leaned closer as he stared at the mini-me. "You're becoming a real pain in my flank, Matthew. You're determined, you never give up, you never surrender and you're willing to do almost anything to achieve your goals." He said before he grinned. "You remind me so much of…myself. I'm starting to think you and I have more in common than I thought."

The Leader leaned back on his throne as he continued. "But continue to get in my way, and I may have to…put you down." he said before his horn glowed and he shot a small bolt of green lightning at the mini-me, destroying it.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

That one took me a while, but can you blame me, look how long it is. Anyway, I hope the ending was satisfying enough for you all.

Pony News:

Episode 14, 15 and 16 of FIM Season 5 have been announced, two of which star Rarity and I think the other stars Fluttershy. Anyway, I'm looking forward for the rest of Season 5.

Poll: Please pay full attention to this part, it's important.

Question: Who would you like to see as a Vinyl Collectible Funko figure?

If you know Funko, then you probably know about the Vinyl Collectible figures of characters they make. I've been starting to collect them and you can see the progress of my collection on my Twitter page.

But anyway, I looked at the figures they've made so far and I was surprised that they haven't made some characters that I thought for sure they would've made.

But I think I may have found a way to contact them, so I'm gonna run this poll to see who you would like next as a VCF (Vinyl Collectible Figure). Be noted that there's only a few characters to choose from, but I think they'll be characters we'd all want. I'll then send the results to Funko and with any luck, you'll make the most popular one.

I won't put the character list down on here because I want to test if any of you know how to actually vote on a poll list, the character list will be on the poll itself. Votes from reviews and DMs won't count. If this has any chance of working, we need to do this properly.

You can find the poll on my profile page. Go to the top of the page and click on my user name "Frontdoor6", that'll take you to my profile page. From there, you'll see the poll at the top of the page and click "Vote Now" then, of course, you vote.

I'm not sure if Guest Readers (Readers without a FanFiction account) can vote, but they're welcome to try.

The poll needs as many votes as possible, so everyone needs to try and take part. The poll will be up for a few weeks before I send the results to Funko, until then, vote. It's only 1 vote per-reader, so choose well.

If I receive anything from Funko after sending the results, I'll let you know in my next chapter.

Please remember to review and PM

Next chapter will be up as soon as possible.