Howdy everypony, and welcome back to another chapter.

I'm glad everyone liked the other chapter and the S6 premiere was awesome. Flurry Heart was so cute, the wings were a bit freaky, but still cute. Hopefully she'll have some interaction with Discord in a future episode.

Anyway, this chapter will have a shocking reveal and ending, so hang on to your chairs, beds, toilet, or wherever the hell you're reading this lol

Enjoy.

Chapter 62: Painful truth

It has been one and a half months since Hearths Warming Day, so we were in late February and everything seemed fine.

None of the Elements of Harmony had been stolen in a while, there were no problems or issues, and everyone was happy. I could be jinxing it, but everything seemed like it was calming down.

In other news, Twilight's belly had finally started bloating up, the baby was growing inside her. Her vomiting had reduced a bit, but only a bit, she still puked a lot while sounding like a Raptor from Jurassic Park, but her moods swings had stopped at least.

Jeff was really starting to hit it off with Philomena, something must've happened between them during Hearths Warming Day to get them this far. Jeff always was one for smooth talk.

Discord was still going around doing unnecessary kind acts, no-one knew what's gotten into him, but at least he's doing this instead of causing damage…at least, not much damage.

And as for myself, I was going fine as well. True, the thought of being a dad soon was a bit worrying, but I could handle it, Twi and I know what we're getting into and we were prepared. I worked hard and an extra hour to earn more money from my job to get everything we'd need.

Ponyville streets

I was in the streets doing my delivery run, throughout the entire day I've had a song stuck in my head, that's probably what I get for listening to the Countess Coloratura CD so many times. Dammit Pinkie!

"Razzle dazzle…glits and glam…turn it all up, it's a spectacle." I sang under my breath so no-one would hear me. Just then, I noticed Applebloom and her friends coming over to me, but there was something different about Applebloom, I couldn't put my hoof on it.

"Hey Matt, have ya seen my new bow?" Applebloom said as she pointed her hoof at the new glittery bow on her head.

Oh, the bow, of course. I looked at it before I smiled down at her. "It's nice, very pretty, where did you get it?" I asked curiously.

"Rarity made it for me, it's gonna be my Birthday next week and she gave it to me as an early present. I was so excited that I decided to test-wear it today." Applebloom answered, smiling with excitement over the thought of her Birthday.

I was surprised by this, I didn't know it was gonna be Applebloom's Birthday soon. "That's great, sweetheart, I'll be sure to drop by Sweet Apple Archers with something for you." I responded.

Applebloom smiled largely. "You're gonna get me a present?" she asked.

"Of course I am, I wouldn't let a special day like that go by and not get a present for the birthday girl." I said as I tussled her head with my hoof, being careful not to ruin her bow.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other before they looked up at me. "Would you do that for us on our birthdays?" Scootaloo asked with a raised eye-brow.

I removed my hoof from Applebloom's head and looked at them. "Sure I would, but you're birthdays are a while away, aren't they?" I asked.

They both looked at each other again before they returned their attention to me. "Yeah…" they both answered as they looked down at the ground.

I felt for them for a moment before I took a step closer to them. "How about, during Applebloom's birthday, I get her a present and you two some surprise goody-bags. That sound good?" I asked with a hopeful smile.

They both looked up at me with surprise before they nodded. "Yeah!" they both said with large smiles.

"I'll be sure to do that then." I said before I looked back over to Applebloom. "And I'll see you on the big day. Now I better get going, your sister has a lot of deliveries for me to make. Nice seeing you three." I said before I started walking away while pulling the delivery cart behind me.

"See ya, Matt." Applebloom called as she waved her hoof while watching me leave.

"That bow really is pretty, Applebloom." Scootaloo said as she walked up to her. "I wish we were just as good as Rarity at making things like that." She said.

At that moment, Sweetie Belle gasped and smiled largely. "That's given me a great idea, lets go to Rarity's boutique and see I she can help us get our Cutie Marks as designers!" she said.

Scootaloo looked at her with an unsure look. "Didn't we already try that?" she asked.

"I don't remember, maybe Rarity dose, lets go ask her." Sweetie Belle answered before the three of them walked away to go to Carousel Boutique.

Later: Library

After doing my runs, returning the cart to Applejack and getting paid, I had finally returned home to the Library where Twilight would be waiting for me.

I entered the Library and looked around to see no-one was in the living-room. "Huh, I wonder where Twi is." I asked myself before I heard someone coming down the stairs. "Twi?" I called.

"Yeah, it's me." Twilight's voice said before she appeared half-way down the stairs.

As Twilight reached the bottom of the stairs, I couldn't help but notice her slightly round stomach, the foal was finally starting to grow inside her, I wondered if it would be a filly or a colt, either would be a blessing. "So…I was looking through some of the old books we have and I found something very interesting." She said with a small smile as she came up to me.

"Really? What is it?" I asked curiously.

Suddenly, Twilight's smile disappeared and her face turned firm. "This!" she said as she used her magic to hold something in front of me, something I hoped she wouldn't find, Grimerd's journal. "What is this and why have I never seen it before?" she asked in a strong voice.

I was stunned, I didn't know where to begin. "W-Where did you find that?" I asked, a little frightened.

"In the guest room, hidden between some books I forgot I had. To think, I wouldn't have been able to find it if Spike didn't tell me where it was." Twilight said, keeping her firm look.

Shocked by this, I looked behind her and saw Spike standing on the stairs, watching us. "Sorry Matt, the guilt was killing me, I had to tell her." He said in his defence.

"Spike!" I whined before I sighed hard and returned my attention to Twilight. "Ok, I'm sorry that I kept that a secret from you, but it's just a book, what's the big deal?" I asked.

"The big deal is that this isn't just any old book, is it? It's a journal that belonged to some guy named…" Twilight said before she used her magic to open the journal to read the name. "Grimerd, whoever that is." She said before she closed it.

I could feel my body heat rising as I became more nervous and frightened. "I…I can probably explain that." I said, not sure if that was the right thing to say.

"Unless you wanna sleep down here in a cardboard box tonight, I suggest you do." Twilight said firmly.

"Ok…I'll try." I said. I tried to think of a way to explain it to her, this was something involving Celestia's old relationship, a story she wanted to keep secret, but Twilight would get really upset if I didn't tell, it wouldn't help her or the baby. "Grimerd was once an Alicorn who apparently knew Celestia in a…certain way…she didn't really give much info on his personal life. Then one day, I stumbled across the journal and it's revealed a bit more about him…I haven't reached the last page yet though." I explained the best I could without revealing too much about him.

Twilight's firm look went away a little, but she still looked pretty mad. "Well…how long have you had it, Matt?" she asked.

"Well…If I'm putting it roughly…since we came back off our honeymoon." I said, scared of how she'll react to that answer.

"You've had it since then?! Matt, that was months ago and you've been hiding it all this time?" Twilight asked loudly.

"Only because Celestia wants to keep it a secret, I couldn't go against her. But when I found that, I figured I could learn more about him and know what went wrong." I said, trying to make the right excuse.

Twilight then raised her eye-brow. "What do you mean 'what went wrong'? Did this Grimerd guy do something?" She asked curiously.

I cursed myself to saying that. "I think I may have said a bit much." I said before I tried to walk past her.

But I was stopped when Twilight used her magic to grab my tail and pull me back in place. "No, tell me what happened, you owe me an explanation." She said strongly.

"Look, I don't really know what happened, things just fell apart with Grimerd. What's important now is he's gone, I've told you everything I could and we can just put it behind us." I said, trying to end this before it could get worse.

"Matt, you kept this a secret from me for a long time, you've basically been lying to me for months…I don't know how to deal with this, I don't know what I should feel." Twilight said, looking away with an upset look.

Feeling bad, I took a step closer to her. "Twilight, I-"

Twilight stepped away before I could finish my sentence. "I need a moment to myself." she said before she went into the other room, slamming the door behind her.

I sighed heavily before I stomped my hoof against the floor. "Dammit!" I growled before I sat down. "If she tells Celestia about that journal, I'm so dead…but now that I think about it, I suppose I'd deserve it." I said to myself silently.

Just then, Spike came back down the stairs slowly. "Is she gone?" he asked nervously.

I looked over to him and nodded. "Yeah, she's in the other room." I said calmly.

With that, Spike came over to me and stopped beside me. "I'm sorry Matt, I didn't mean to get you in trouble, I just thought it was right if she knew." He said in his defence.

"It's alright Spike, I suppose she needed to know eventually." I said before I looked down at the floor with a troubled look. "It shouldn't be like this, I can't put her through this sort of thing while she's pregnant." I said before I sighed, feeling bad about what I've done.

Spike then placed his claw on my arm. "It'll be alright, Matt, just give her some time to cool down, she'll probably feel better later." He said.

I was silent for a moment before I nodded. "Yeah, you're right…she needs time." I said before I turned my attention to Spike and change the subject. "So, anything else happen today?" I asked curiously.

Spike thought about it for a moment before he shook his head. "No, I don't think so." he said. But suddenly, his eyes widened. "Wait, I did get this letter from Princess Celestia." He said before he pulled out a small scroll.

Spike opened it and held it in front of my face for me to read. "You have been invited to the annual gala to celebrate the founding of Canterlot." I read before I looked at Spike again. "How many gala's do they have up there?" I asked.

"A lot." Spike answered, not sounding surprised at all.

I then looked back at the letter and thought about whether or not we should go. "Do you think Twilight will be up for it?" I asked.

"Maybe, she tends to like Canterlot parties, especially when Princess Celestia is there." Spike said before he pulled the letter away and read it himself. "By the sounds of it, it's gonna be one of those quiet classy parties." He said.

"Maybe something like that is what Twilight needs, some quiet time out of the house, and maybe seeing Celestia will ease her or something." I said before I looked over to the door which Twilight went through. "But I'm just wondering if she's up for it." I said.

"I'll go ask her, don't worry about it." Spike said before he walked over to the door with the scroll and entered it, closing it behind him.

I waited as Spike spoke to Twilight. My hoof tapped against the floor nervously, I just hoped she wasn't too upset with me. This party sounded like something that could really ease her a bit, I'd ask the others if they'd like to go, but I doubt any of them would be up for something like this.

That night: Road to Canterlot

It took some doing, but Twilight eventually agreed to come with me to the party, but she was still in a bit of a mood. We managed to get ourselves a carriage with two other ponies to take us up there, we were riding in it right now.

Spike decided to stay behind and watch the place with Jeff and Peewee, you know, to give us some time to sort things out.

Oh, and remember when I said none of our friends would be interested in going? Well… "This is going to be wonderful! A gala to celebrate the founding of Canterlot, I didn't know there was even such a gathering." Rarity said, wearing her dark purple gala dress.

I was wearing a black suit and Twilight was wearing her dark blue gala dress. "Neither did I, I'll need to ask Celestia how many parties and galas they have, it's like they have one for everyone." I said before I turned my head to face Twilight. "What do you think, Twi?...Twi?" I said, getting no answer.

Twilight stared out of the side window, looking away from me. "Twilight, are you still not talking to me?" I asked quietly, trying to not attract Rarity's attention.

Twilight remained silent as she continued to look out the window. Unfortunately, Rarity did notice and leaned her head forward to talk to me. "Is everything alright with you and Twilight?" she asked with a concerned look.

I turned my attention to her. "We've just hit a little snag, nothing big or anything." I said.

At that moment, Twilight spun around to face me with an angry look. "Nothing big? You lied to me for months!" she said loudly.

I turned to face her. "Technically, I never lied, did I ever say I didn't have that thing?" I said, trying to make a point, a bad one at that.

"No, you just locked yourself in the guest room and every time I asked 'what are you doing in there?', you'd say 'Nothing'. But you weren't doing nothing, you were doing something. Therefore, you lied." Twilight argued, making a better point than I did.

This began a long argument that lasted ages, much to Rarity's misfortune….in fact, the ponies pulling the carriage weren't very happy either.

A while later, we finally arrived at Canterlot Castle, but that didn't mean our argument ended. Rarity pushed open the carriage door and exited looking glad to get out, while we got out still arguing with each other. "I don't get what the big deal is, Twi, it was just a journal." I said loudly.

"Journal, necklace, ancient relic that could wipe out all of Equestria, it doesn't matter! We're supposed to be honest with each other, not keep secrets like this. If it was in the interest of a surprise, sure, but when it's stuff like this, we should tell each other stuff." Twilight said before she sighed hard. "Don't you trust me?" she asked.

"Of course I do, but I didn't want to stress you while you're carrying our foal, it could be harmful to you and the baby." I said strongly.

"Well you're doing a great job at that now, aren't you?" Twilight said sarcastically before she stormed off to join up with Rarity who was half-way up the path.

I groaned in frustration as I rubbed my eyes with my hooves.

"You're in the pit now, dude." One of the ponies who were pulling our carriage said.

I then turned my head around to face him. "Do you mind?" I asked in an annoyed tone.

With that, they both remained silent and started walking away down the road, taking the carriage with them.

After that, I started making my way up the path to join up with Twilight and Rarity, wondering how this night could get worse.

-A few minutes later-

After entering the castle, Rarity and Twilight entered the lobby and saw Celestia standing on top of the stairs greeting everyone who arrived. With me not far behind, Twilight and Rarity went up the stairs to greet her.

Once she noticed them, Celestia smiled. "Twilight, I'm glad you got my invitation." She said with a warm smile.

Twilight returned it. "Glad to have been invited, Princess, it's always wonderful to see you." she said.

Celestia then looked over to Rarity. "I didn't know you were bringing one of your friends, what a nice surprise." She said with the same smile.

Rarity bowed her head before looking back up at Celestia. "It's nice to see you again, Princess." She said before she leaned her head in to tell her something quietly. "Watch out, Matthew and Twilight are in a bad place tonight." she whispered.

Celestia's smile disappeared. "What do you mean?" she asked curiously in a whisper.

At that moment, I caught up to them and looked at Twilight. "You could've at least waited for me to catch up." I said.

Twilight looked at me with a small glare. "I don't know, Matt, I could've been hiding something I didn't want you to see." She said, finishing in a quiet growl.

I exhaled hard and threw my eyes. "Seriously? We're doing this here?" I asked.

"Yes we are and don't you take that tone with me, mister." Twilight said firmly as she turned to face me more.

This started yet another argument, Celestia and Rarity watched us with wide eyes as we went at each other like a pair of hissing cats. Celestia decided to take a stand and stop this. "*Clears throat* If you're both quite finished." she said calmly but firmly.

Hearing this, Twilight and I stopped fighting each other and looked up at her. "Sorry Princess, but I really need some time to myself." Twilight said before she stormed off to go to the ballroom.

Once she left, Celestia looked back down to me. "Why are you two fighting anyway? You're both usually the calmest couple I know." She said.

"It's complicated." I said before I looked over to Rarity. "Rarity, can you keep an eye on her for a while. I think we both just need some time apart." I said, calming down a little.

Rarity nodded. "Of course." She said before she turned and walked away to follow Twilight.

I then returned my attention up to Celestia. "So…how's Luna and Discord doing?" I asked curiously, trying to get my mind off our argument.

Celestia was silent for a moment before she answered. "Luna is doing fine, she won't be attending this party tonight, she has some work to do in her castle. As for Discord, he's been busy trying to do 'extra good' things for every pony in the city." She said before she looked down at the floor in front of her. "I still don't know why he's acting like this, it's like he's become a completely different person." She said.

I titled my head. "And…is that a good thing?" I asked, unsure if she was glad or upset by this.

Celestia looked at me again. "It's not a 'good' thing, if I'm being honest. I mean, I know I've said Discord could try to be better, but I didn't think I'd actually miss the old troublesome Discord he used to be." She said, sounding a bit troubled.

I thought about it for a moment before I thought of a way to help. "Maybe later, I'll go talk to him and see what's going on, if you want." I said, giving her a small smile.

Celestia raised her eye-brow. "You'd do that? You know what he's like." She said.

I waved my hoof. "Don't worry, I'll handle it. He and I have a connection when we talk serious." I said with a confident smile.

Celestia thought about it for a moment before she smiled. "Very well then, thank you." she said.

"No problem." I said kindly, I then looked over in the direction Twilight and Rarity went. "I better join the girls, I'll catch you later, Princess. And don't worry, I'll talk to Discord." I said before I went away to go to the ballroom.

"I hope so, thank you again, Matthew." Celestia said as she watched me go, she then went back to greeting the ponies who arrived.

An hour later

I was in the ballroom watching all the ponies talking amongst each other and dancing to the high class music played by a string quartet, two of those ponies were Twilight and Rarity. I didn't know what they were talking about, but I hoped it wasn't about me.

I stood next to the food table with a glass of water in my hoof, I took a sip as I kept my eyes on them. I would've joined them, but I felt Twilight and I needed some time away from each other to let things cool.

At that moment, Star Beam, the leader of the new recruits, came over to me. "Mr Matthew, its been some time." He said with a cheerful smile.

I turned my head to face him and tried to return it. "Hi Star Beam…" I said before I returned my attention to the ponies. "So, everything going smoothly?" I asked curiously.

"No sign of trouble yet, but the night's young." Star said before he got himself a cup of punch and stood beside me with it in his hoof.

"Any news on the case? Clues? Anything?" I asked, curious on the progress of the investigation.

Star Beam took a sip of his drink before he answered. "Nothing, no clues, no leads, completely nothing." He said as he turned his head to face me. "Blaze Horn is always off somewhere with the captain and Sunray's no help." He said.

Curious by this, I turned to face Star with a raised eye-brow. "Don't tell me he's still in the hospital after that Fear Hex thing." I said.

Star shook his head. "No, he came out months ago, he just doesn't remember anything that happened before it, it's like an after-effect." He said before he took another sip off his drink.

I exhaled through my nose before I looked out to the ponies again. "This fella…the one stealing the Elements, he's smart and dangerous, he covers his tracks like a pro and beats down anyone who gets in his way, there's also a possible he might be an Alicorn…I don't like any of it." I said before I took a sip of my water to calm my nerves.

"Same here…but don't worry, we'll get him, one way or another." Sunray said before he looked over to two of his teammates. "I've heard whispers that it's someone on my team…I think that's a load of horse pie." He then returned his attention to me. "My team isn't dirty. We've worked together for years, now with all these rumours, even I'm starting to wonder if I know them as well as I think." He admitted.

I looked at him. "You shouldn't think like that, not until you have some strong evidence at least." I said before I thought back to the early days of the investigation. "In fact, some part of me thinks it's one of Luna's new recruits, one in particular." I said.

Sunray raised his eye-brow. "That Dusk guy? Didn't your investigation get him suspended once?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, he wasn't happy about, probably the type who holds a grudge as well." I said, thinking about how rough it might be when I see Dusk again, god forbid.

"Don't worry, he'll get over it…provided he isn't the one doing it, of course." Star said before he looked over to Illume, who gave him a charming smile.

Star, feeling rushed by this, looked at me. "If you'll excuse me, Matthew, I see something over there I really must inspect." He said before he walked away to catch up with Illume.

I shook my head with an amusing smile. "I bet." I said under my breath before I returned my attention to the ponies again, however, there was something different.

There was a pony, standing within the crowd, I couldn't see his face, but he was wearing a black cloak with a hood. He slowly lifted its head up and revealed it's glowing yellow eyes. "You can't protect them all, Matthew." He said in a dark whisper.

My eyes widened in fright, I kept my sight on him until I felt a hoof tap my side. "Hey, what's wrong?" a familiar voice said. I turned to where it came from and saw Twilight. "Why are you staring at everypony like that?" she asked with a confused look.

I looked back to where the hooded pony was and saw that he was gone, I wondered if he was even there to begin with. "I thought I saw…n-nothing, it must've been my imagination." I said, trying not to look weird in front of her.

At that moment, Twilight huffed. "Is that true or are you just trying to hide something again?" she said with a raised eye-brow.

I then sighed heavily. "You're not gonna get over that any time soon, are you?" I asked, not looking at her.

"Let's just say I hope you find the guest room bed comfy." Twilight said before she walked away to join back up with Rarity, not feeling any better about anything.

With that, I did everything I could to swallow my frustration, I slammed my glass of water down on the table behind me before I stormed towards the doors to the gardens. I opened one of the large doors before I went out into the air, I took a few deep breaths to calm down. "…Dammit…this is the worst day ever." I said under my breath.

After a few minutes, I exhaled before I started making my way back inside. But before I could, I heard a strange noise, it sounded like something magically appearing in a poof, I looked around to see if I could see anything. I then heard it again, it sounded faint, like it was in a faraway distance.

Then, from the corner of my eye, I saw a small light above, I looked up and saw only one of the towers of the castle. I heard the noise again and saw a small light shine through one of the windows of the tower, one of the high ones at that. Curious, I went back inside and tried to find a way to that room.

I wondered the castle halls for a while, following the noise that made me do a lot of twists and turns. Eventually, I found the room, the noise was louder and a light shine under the door. I put my ear to the door and listened for anything inside, I heard a strange chuckle that was very familiar. "…Discord?" I said to myself.

But before I could pull away, the door quickly opened and I fell through, but not onto a floor, I fell from the doorway floating in a sky-like surrounding and started plummeting down. I yelled loudly in fright as I feel, hitting a few cotton-candy clouds along the way.

About halfway down, I started flapping my wings and I soon stopped. Hovering where I was, I looked around the area I was now in.

It was weird, like Ponyville when Discord nearly took over. Cotton-candy clouds, flying pigs, tap-dancing fish, you name it. It was like an entire world in one room, Discord must've been working on this for ages…or just a few minutes ago, he's a fast worker.

But then it came to me, Discord said that Thorn took away half his magic, but all this didn't look like the work of someone who only had half his magic. Something was afoot, I had to find out what was going on.

At that moment, I heard Discord chuckle again and I looked down to see him on his chaos throne with a glass of chocolate milk. "What is he up to?" I asked myself before I flew down to him.

Discord laughed loudly as books, flapping their pages like wings, flew past him. He made a large crazy straw appear and put it in his drink. "Oh how I've missed this so." he said before he started to suck the chocolate milk through it.

"And what would that be?" I asked as I hovered in front of him with my arms crossed.

Discord's eyes shot open before his ears did a spit-take, shooting out the chocolate milk. Discord was stunned for a moment before he spoke. "Umm…is it possible one of us is dreaming?" he asked.

"Not likely." I said with a small glare. "Care to explain what's going on here?" I said, sounding firm.

Discord tried to think of an excuse, but couldn't, he was caught red-handed. Discord sighed before he snapped his fingers, turning the room back to normal instantly. "I suppose someone had to find out sooner or later." He said with his ears low.

"Find out what? What was all that? I thought you weren't as powerful as you were before." I said, not sure whether or not I wanted to know.

Discord looked at me with guilt. "I lied, Matthew, I didn't lose half my magic and I didn't lose my title, I'm still the Spirit of Chaos. When Thorn tried to take away my magic, he only wounded me and made me weak, I only said I lost my magic so you'd give me a chance." He admitted.

I didn't know how to respond to this and I didn't know if I should hear any more, but I had to get the whole story. "But…if you still wanted to cause chaos, why didn't you? Why did you play the good guy for so long?" I asked.

"Because I wanted revenge on Thorn, I was using your home as a place to heal before I'd go after him." Discord said before he looked down and played with his fingers. "But after that day we spent together, I started to…you know…bond with all of you, Fluttershy especially. I realized it was nice to actually have real friends, that's why I stayed, even after you defeated Thorn." He confessed.

I knew it was stupid, but I actually felt a lump in my throat over this, I tried to keep myself together as I continued to speak. "So…all this time, you've been lying to us? Secretly pulling off all this stuff behind our backs, dreaming of causing chaos again?" I said, getting louder as I felt more upset.

Discord put his hands out. "No, I've only done this stuff here in this room, it's one of the rooms no-one has used for, you're probably the first pony to come in here in years." He said in his defence.

"But still, you lied to us, Discord! Friends don't lie to each other for that length of time, you couldn't have come clean sooner?" I said, giving him a firm look.

"I couldn't, especially not now, I've already got everypony looking at me weird as it is. That's why I've been doing all these good deeds, to prove I've changed for good and I'm not going back to the way I was before." Discord said, trying to explain.

At that moment, I remembered that Celestia wanted me to talk to Discord about this and find out why he was working himself so hard. "Is that why you're doing all this? To prove you've changed?" I asked.

"That, and to prove I'm not the one stealing the Elements." Discord said before he sighed. "Ever since the break in, I think Celestia has been suspecting it was me. So I've been trying to do good deeds to prove it isn't, I've been trying to clear my name. If I was to tell her that I still have my magic and title, she's never trust me again." he said.

I thought about it for a moment before I shrugged. "Ok, that I understand, but you've lied to us for basically a year! If you were a true friend, you would've told us sooner, not keep it from us for this long." I said.

Discord then gave me a slightly firm look. "Oh come now, Matthew, surly you've done something similar. Hide something from those you love to spare their feelings, to keep them from worrying about it." he said, believing everyone has done those at least once in their lives.

I thought about it before I knew the perfect thing, the thing that happened only a few hours ago. I was hiding that journal from Twilight and Celestia from months, I didn't want them to worry about it so I kept it hidden. "Actually…I've done something like that recently."

"And with my history, you should know how I feel about this secret." Discord said, stepping closer.

"I do know how you feel." I said before my ears dropped. "And now that I've heard it…I now know how Twilight feels about me hiding my secret from her for so long." With that, I placed my hoof on my chest. "Wow…that hurts a lot." I said, feeling bad about what I've put Twilight through.

Discord then gave me a looked of sorrow. "I'm really sorry about what I've done." He said.

I then looked up to him. "We'll discuss more about this later, Discord…but right now I have to find Twilight," I said before I turned and rushed out the room, leaving Discord to wonder if he'd heard the end of this.

-A few minutes later-

After rushing through the halls for a while, I finally found my way back to the ballroom. I pushed my way through the crowd, desperately looking for Twilight, but I couldn't see her or Rarity anywhere.

I searched for a few minutes before I finally found them, they were both standing by the stained window talking to each other. But something was wrong, Twilight looked upset, like something happened while I was gone. I started to make my way over to them until I was suddenly stopped by a large guard. "Mr Matthew, Princess Celestia has requested that you meet her in the throne room immediately." He said in his rough voice.

Stunned by this, I looked past him to see Twilight and Rarity hadn't noticed this, I returned my sight to him. "Sure, but I need to talk to my wife first, it's really important." I said, trying to convince me to let me pass.

But the guard put his hoof up. "I'm afraid she insists." He said before he put his hoof back down. At that moment, another guard walked up behind me and I noticed this.

Seeing there was no way out of this, I sighed before I looked at the one in front of me. "Alright, but can we make this quick please?" I asked,

"Follow us." The guard said before he and the other one led me out of the ballroom and into the halls.

Twilight noticed this, as did Rarity before she placed her hoof on Twilight's shoulder, comforting her as a look of guilt consumed her face.

A few minutes later: Throne room

After leaving the ballroom, the guards led me through the halls until we eventually came to Celestia's throne room, where she was apparently waiting for me. All the while I wondered why she wanted to see me, was it about the case? Was it about Discord? Only one way to find out.

I stood in front of the large double-doors before I looked over to one of the guards. "Do I just go in or…?" I asked, not sure what to do next.

The guard nodded. "She's expecting you, so you can go right in." he said.

I nodded before I pushed one of the doors open and walked into the room, the door closing behind me. I looked around for a moment before I saw Celestia standing on the right side of the room, looking up at one of the stained windows.

I took a breath before I walked over to her and stopped a few feet away from her. "Umm…Princess?...You wanted to see me?" I asked.

Celestia was silent, continuing to stare up at the window of her and Luna defeating Discord, but she soon replied. "Yes, I did…and I wish I could say it was on good terms." She said, sounding upset.

By the looks of things, I wondered if she found out about Discord on her own. I thought about what I was going to say before I attempted to speak. "Look…about Discord…I spoke to him and I think there's-"

"This isn't about Discord, Matthew…it's about you." Celestia said, turning to reveal she had a firm look rather than an upset one.

I was surprised by this before my ears lowered. "Me?...W-What do you mean?" I asked nervously.

"I think you know what I mean." Celestia said before she used her magic to hold something beside her, she moved it in front of me to reveal it was Grimerd's journal, this shocked me even more. "Do you mind telling me how this came into your possession?" she asked, sounding slightly angered.

I stared at it for a moment before I looked at her. "H-How did you get this?" I asked curiously, probably knowing the answer.

"While you were who-knows-where, Twilight came to me with this and told me you found it, that you've been hiding it from her for some time." Celestia said before she looked at it. "She brought it to me saying that it had something to do with me…at first, I didn't believe it, but then I read some of it." she said as she returned her sight to me. "Now I'm going to ask you again…where did you get this?" she asked.

My ears dropped all the way before I tried to explain. "I found it in an old tower outside the Canterlot, I read through some of it and found out that…it was Grimerd's…I didn't want to ask to tell me more about him, the memories would probably hurt…so I took this journal home and tried to learn more about him on my own." I explained the best I could.

Celestia didn't look at all better about this. "Matthew…don't you realise what you've done? What you've found? What you've brought into the open?" she said.

I was starting to feel a little frightened by her tone. "But…it's just an old journal, w-what harm can it do?" I asked, backing up a little.

"This isn't just any old journal, it's Grimerd's journal! He didn't just write his history in here, he wrote every spell and potion her ever mastered, it's full of all the dark magic that turned him into the monster we had to put down." Celestia said, waving the journal in front of me with her magic.

I honestly didn't know what she meant, I had read the journal for months and I've never seen any spells or potions. "But I've read almost every page, I've never seen anything like that." I claimed.

"You wouldn't have." Celestia said before she opened the journal and looked inside. "To the eyes of a Pegasus, Unicorn or Earth pony, these pages are blank…but to the eyes of an Alicorn like him, like me, they're there clear as day." she said, seeing the words that I couldn't.

I stayed silent as Celestia closed the journal and looked at me. "Do you realize that in the wrong hooves this journal could be a key to bringing the apocalypse? What I Thorn got hold of this?" she asked.

"But Thorn's dead, Princess, he's never coming back." I said, trying to ease her worries.

"True, but what if there are more like him? What if there are more Alicorns that would do anything to get their hooves on this?" Celestia said before she sighed. "I didn't know there were more Alicorns in Equestria…I thought Grimerd was the only other Alicorn outside the royal family, but when I saw Thorn for the first time…it made me question everything I knew. How could there be more Alicorns out there? Are some ponies born as Alicorns? And most importantly, are there more like him out there in the darkness? That one worries me the most." She said deeply.

Understanding, I gave her a nod. "Ok…I get it, the books a threat to all of us, but I didn't know there was something so evil inside it, I thought it only had his story. I swear!" I said, hoping she'd understand.

"I believe you, but even after everything I told you about Grimerd, you still kept this from me, you kept it from Twilight." Celestia said before she gave me a firm look. "Now I don't know when exactly you found this journal, but frankly I am deeply disappointed that you didn't hand this in to me. Grimerd isn't meant to be understood, he's meant to be forgotten." She said strongly.

"I know…I'm sorry, Princess." I said with a strong look of sorrow on my face.

After putting the journal down, Celestia lowered her head down to me to show she had a calmer look, like she was trying to be gentle. "Grimerd was a very dangerous pony, Matthew…I should know." She said before he horn glowed.

At that moment, her neck piece came lose and slowly lowered down, revealing her bare neck to me. I then gasped quietly when I saw what she wanted to show me. A large grey scar going across the right side of her neck, she must've got it during her final fight with Grimerd. Celestia remained quiet as she used her magic to put her neck piece back on.

Speechless, I remained quiet as Celestia spoke again. "Now Matthew, I understand that you didn't know what you were doing, but I'm afraid that isn't an excuse…For the time being, I'm don't think I can trust your words." She said, sounding calm but firm.

I looked at her with fear in my eyes. "W-What do you mean?" I asked, almost scared to ask.

Celestia sighed again before she continued. "I'm sorry Matthew, but until further notice…you're off the missing Elements case." She said.

Just like that, I felt my head spin, I didn't feel very good. "W-What? But we're starting to get close, we know a lot more about him because of my investigation." I said, trying to get her to change her mind.

"But what have you uncovered? Things we already know, plus the disappearance of another Element?" Celestia said with a raised eye-brow.

"He came in the night while we were sleeping, we didn't know he knew we moved the Elements." I said in my defence.

Celestia then raised her hoof up to silence me. "I'm going to assign Shining Armor to take the lead in this investigation…I'm sorry Matthew, but that's my final word." She said before she placed her hoof back down and looked away. "Now please…return to Twilight and Rarity." She said, now looking upset.

I was frozen at first, unable to believe any of this. I was off the case, all the work I put into it and now it all just ends like this. Not wanting to argue, I turn and make my way towards the room's exit, leaving Celestia troubled…but feeling she did what she had to do.

After leaving the room and closing the door behind me, I sat down and rested my back against it, feeling sorry for myself for what I did. "What have I done?" I said to myself.

Later that night: Ponyville Library

After my talk with Celestia, I went back to the ballroom and re-joined Twilight and Rarity, I practically begged them for us to go home, so we did. Along the way, I told them what happened and they were just as shocked as I was, especially Twilight. Once we got home, Rarity went back to her house and we went back to the Library.

I sat on the bed in the guest room, looking down at the clovers and thought about the mess I was in. Celestia was right, I put us all at risk keeping that thing, now I'm off the case and lost Celestia's trust.

I then heard the door slowly open, but I didn't care, I was too busy wallowing in shame. "Matt?..." Twilight said gently.

I heard her, but I didn't look, I just kept staring down at the covers.

Twilight walked over to the side of the bed and placed her hoof on the side of it. "Matt, I'm so sorry…I just thought Celestia should know, it did involve her after all…I was worried about you, that journal must've been something bad if you thought you had to hide it from me." she said, getting no response. "*Sigh* I had no idea she would take it so hard, especially enough to take you off the case…I'm really sorry Matt." she said.

I then turned my head to face her. "No, Twi…you were right to do that…that journal was full of dark magic and I took it from its hiding spot just to learn more about the pony it belonged to. What if the pony stealing the Elements got hold of it? Imagine all the stuff he could do with it, it'd be absolute chaos." I said before my ears dropped. "I went out of line doing all this…taking something I didn't understand, lying to you for months, hiding it from Celestia even though I knew it would've been important to her…I really screwed up this time." I said in shame.

Twilight then hopped up onto the bed and sat beside me. "No Matt, you just made a mistake, we all do that sometimes." She said before she tried to make a joke to cheer me up. "But next time you do, try not to involve an old magical book that could destroy everything." She said with an amused smile.

I then looked at her and gave her a small smile. "…no promises." I said in amusement.

Twilight giggled before her amused smile went away. "I'm really sorry for telling on you." she said.

I placed my hoof on top of hers. "As far as I know, you did me a favour…I hated lying to you like I did, but I just wanted to keep you out of it, I didn't want to worry you in any way." I said before I lightly rubbed her belly. "Especially now." I said as I looked into her beautiful eyes. "I'm sorry I lied to you." I said deeply.

Twilight then used her magic to pull a torn coupon from behind her back, it was one of the coupons Twilight gave me for Christmas. "Another fun fact about these coupons, some are blank so you can write new ideas into them." she said before she held it out in front of me.

I saw this before I smiled at her. "I know, I made it myself to give to you, no better time than now I suppose." I said before I reached over to the bedside-desk and opened one of the draws, I soon pulled out another torn coupon. "I wrote it before we left for the party, I put it in here for safe keeping." I explained.

Twilight and I then took each other's coupon in our hooves and read them.

Twilight's said. "Forgive Twilight for telling on you to the Princess."

And mine said. "Forgive Matthew for totally screwing up."

Twilight and I then looked at each other with loving smiles and said the same thing. "Accepted." We both said. We then proceeded to throw the coupons away before we moved closer to each other. "I love you so damn much, Twilight." I said.

"I love you too, Matt." Twilight said as we wrapped our arms around each other.

But as we were about to share a long awaited kiss, we heard a pounding on the front door down stairs. We pulled away from each other before I chuckled. "Every time, right?" I said before I stood up and jumped off the bed. "I've got it." I said with a calm smile before I walked out of the room to head down stairs.

As I went down stairs, the pounding continued, I thought the door would eventually give way and fall off. Whoever it was, they wanted an answer badly.

I then placed my hoof on the doorknob before I pulled open the door, I was shocked to see Applejack standing behind it. She looked like she just received a savage, he hat was ragged, her mane was a mess and she had a black-eye. "Matt…ya gotta get over to Sweet Apple Arches right away!" she said with a frightened look on her face.

I was about to say something until Twilight came down the stairs to see us. "Matt, who is it?" she asked before she saw Applejack in the state she was in and rushed over. "Applejack, what the hay happened to you?" she asked, going past me and helping her stand.

Applejack looked at her before she looked at me again. "We were attacked…" she answered, making Twilight and I look at each other with extreme panic in our eyes.

Later: Sweet Apple Archers

We rushed over to Sweet Apple Arches as quick as we could, Twilight stayed the same speed as Applejack as we did, she had a bad limp in one of her hind-legs. "Who attacked you?" I asked, not looking away from the house.

"I dunno…he was wearin' a hood…I think he's the guy who's been stealin' the Elements." Applejack answered, walking up beside me despite her limp.

Hearing that, I turned to face her. "Where did you leave yours?" I asked, worried that we've lost another one.

Applejack turned to face me. "Under my bed in my room, I thought it'd be the safest place. I locked in in a small chest." She said.

As Twilight walked up to my other side, I turned to her. "Let's go in and check things out." I said, receiving a nod from Twilight. I then returned my attention to Applejack. "Applejack, you're too injured to do anything if he's still in there, you're better off staying out here." I said.

Applejack then smirked. "Like hay I will, that guy's in my home, I'm gonna defend it no matter what." She said before she started limping over to the front door.

Not arguing with her, Twilight and I followed until we reached the door.

Upon entering, we saw that the place had been ransacked, broken pictures, knocked over furniture, scorch marks on the walls, it was like a bomb hit.

We slowly walked through the living room and into the hallway, where a tall figure surprised and startled us, our fear was however eased when we saw it was Big Macintosh, but he was frozen in solid ice, stuck in a frightened pose. "Big Mac…" Applejack said under her breath, feeling the cold breeze coming from his body.

Twilight tapped him with her hoof. "He's been frozen solid." She said.

I walked up to her. "Think you can thaw him out?" I asked, concerned for his safety.

Twilight turned to me with an unsure look. "I think I can, but with ice this thick, it might take me a few minutes." She said before she returned her attention to Big Mac and started shooting a warm beam from her horn.

It struck Big Mac's frozen body and steam started to rise from that spot.

Just then, Applejack and I heard a noise from the kitchen and we slowly approached to investigate. Once inside, we looked around and saw the table had been broken in half and there was pans and stuff everywhere. "He must've done this while looking for the Element." I said.

"Matthew? Is that you?" Granny Smith's voice said.

Applejack and I looked around to try and find her, but we couldn't see her. "Granny Smith? Where are you?" Applejack asked, looking for her.

"Up here." Granny Smith's voice said.

We looked up and saw Granny Smith, stuck to the ceiling with some kind of net. We gasped. "Granny Smith! How'd you get up there?" I asked, flapping my wings to hover up to her.

"That no-good hooded fella threw me up in the air and shot this net at me, next thing I know I'm stuck here and he's trashing the kitchen, looked like he was lookin' for somethin'." Granny Smith said before she smirked. "The yella-belly ran off before I could get outta this and really give show 'im what I could do." she said.

I then grabbed the net with my hooves and used all my strength to rip it open, Granny Smith fell out but Applejack caught her and put her back on her hooves, she then proceeded to hug Granny Smith. "I'm so glad you're ok." She said, receiving a hug back from her.

Once I landed back down in front of them, a frightening thought came to mind. "Granny, where's Applebloom?" I asked.

Applejack and Granny Smith then separated and looked at me. "I told her to hide upstairs when that hooded guy broke through the door, I think she's still up there." I said.

I nodded. "Ok, I'll go find her, you two stay here." I said before I turned and rushed out of the kitchen.

Once back in the hall, I rushed around to the stairs and went up as quick as I could. After I reached the top, I looked down the hall and saw Applejack's room. I knew Applebloom should've been my top priority, but I had to be sure.

I went over to the room and slowly went through the doorway, looking around to make sure I was alone inside. Once I saw it was clear, I went over to the bed and looked under it, but the chest Applejack kept her Element in wasn't here. Seeing this, I stomped my hoof against the floor. "Dammit! Not again!" I growled before I stood back up.

I paced for a second, trying not to lose my cool again. I was so frustrated, I could feel my body temperature rising and I didn't know what to do. I then stopped once I remembered what I came up her for. "Applebloom." I said quietly before I rushed out of the room and went to her door.

But as I was about to open it, I noticed something that made my heart heavy. The door latch was broke, like it was forced open. I then placed my hoof on the door and slowly pushed it open, afraid of what I might see inside.

When the door finally opened all the way, I started to breathe harder at what I saw. The room was trashed, the bed covers were ripped, one of the columns on her bed was broken in half, the window and mirrors were smashed, almost everything was broken.

I walked inside and looked around. "Applebloom? Applebloom?!" I said, starting to panic that something happened to her. I rushed up to her closet and opened it, but she wasn't in there, I didn't bother to close the doors, I just cared about finding Applebloom.

But as I walked across the room, one of my front-hooves hit something. I looked down and saw a small empty chest, it must've been the chest Applejack kept her Element in. "I knew it." I said under my breath.

At that moment, I saw something sparkle in the corner of my eye, I looked to where it was coming from and saw that it was Applebloom's new glittery bow.

I slowly went over to it and looked down to see it was slightly ripped. Upon seeing this, I sat down and kept my eyes on it, I slowly scooped it up in my hooves and felt my heart grow even heavier. "…No…" I said as tears formed in my eyes.

Applebloom wasn't here, she wasn't anywhere near here, the one who stole the Elements took her along with the Element of Honesty. I cared little for the Element, all I really cared about was Applebloom, knowing that he had her was crushing me right there.

As tears started rolling down my face, I buried my head in the bow and started crying into it. "I'm sorry Applebloom…I'm so sorry…" I said before I started sopping a little harder.

After a minute, I started to think about the pony responsible for this. He comes out of nowhere, beats down a number of guards, steals some of the Elements and now he kidnaps an innocent filly? Who was this guy? How is it he was so tough to find? It was then I finally reached my peak, I've had enough of this crap.

All my sorrow and sadness soon turned into anger and rage, I slowly lifted my head up out of the bow to reveal my dark glare, filling with more anger by the moment. I clutched the bow in my hooves as I vowed to find this ass at any cost, no more playing nice.

I'll find him, get Applebloom back…and then he'll pay for this.

Meanwhile: Mount Forbidden

The hooded pony stood in the throne room, looked up at Applebloom who was floating inside a magic bubble, she appeared to be unconscious.

He continued to stare up at her as Rage come up behind him. "Why did you bring her here?" he asked in a growl.

The hooded pony turned around to face him. "The little brat took off my hood, she saw who I was, I couldn't leave her there after that." He explained.

"Then why didn't you just kill her? That would've made it a little easier?" Rage said firmly with a glare.

"Because…because…" the hooded pony said as he looked back up at Applebloom.

"What? Because she's just a filly? You were just a filly when your real parents left you alone to die, it didn't seem to stop them!" Rage said before he walked up beside her. "If you want to rule by my brother's side as his heir to the throne, you must be willing not to show mercy, even to such fillies at this." He said darkly as he looked up at Applebloom.

"But I'm not his heir yet." The hooded pony said before he turned and started walking away.

Rage saw this and disappeared in a bolt of red flames, the suddenly reappeared in front of him. "Give me one good reason why we should keep this filly alive?" he asked.

"Because she could be useful." A familiar voice behind him.

They both looked to where it came from and saw Zelga walked up to them. "I know this filly, she and Matthew have a strong bond, almost like brother and sister. I bet he'd do anything to get her back." she said with a devious smile.

"Are you suggesting we set a trap for Matthew using this filly as bait?" Rage asked, questioning her.

Zelga looked at him and nodded. "No, we're gonna take her back and say we're sorry before we kill ourselves to spare Matthew the trouble." She said sarcastically. "Of course we're gonna set a trap for him! Stop being such an idiot, Rage!" she said, getting a growl from him.

Zelga then walked past them to look up at Applebloom. "Oh yes…once Matthew knows where we're going to take her, he'll rush right over…where we'll be waiting." She said.

"But how will Matthew know where we're gonna take her? I can't exactly tell him, otherwise he'll suspect something." The hooded pony said.

Zelga turned to face them and smirked. "Don't worry about that, dear, he'll find a way…he always does." She said before she glared sharply. "Only this time, we'll be expecting him…and he won't have a happy ending." She said with a dark grin, setting a plan in motion.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

As you've probably guessed, the next chapter will show a much darker side of me, so expect to see some really chilling stuff.

Pony News:

New Season 6 episodes have been announced

One is another Hearths Warming episodes, Twilight tells Starlight one of the holiday tales to cheer her up.

The next stars Rarity where, after opening her new boutique in Manehatten, she becomes a victim of libel…whatever that means.

And the last is called 'Applejack's day off', there's no plot put its safe to assume it stars Applejack.

End of Pony news.

Please remember to review or PM.

The next chapter will be up as soon as possible.