Chapter 3: Old Wounds Never Heal

A bright light appeared in the front doorway of Twilight's castle, and moments later, the Princess of Friendship and Element of Loyality appeared. Behind them were their four human friends. They stared in amazement at their surrondings.

"I can't believe we're actually in Twilight Sparkle's castle," gasped Emily. "This is so amazing, it's like a dream come true. If I'm dreaming, do not wake me up."

"Well don't wake me up either," chuckled Ryan.

Matthew was happy to be in the castle, but he remained focused on the task at hand, or hoof in the ponies' cases.

"Guys, need I remind you of why we're here?" he called out to them. They stopped looking around and looked back to Twilight, Rainbow and Matthew, "we're here to stop Chrysalis and her army."

"Of course, sorry about that, I just can't believe we're actually here."

"You got that right Ry," nodded Patrick, "It's something every My Little Pony fan wishes they could see with their own two eyes, and not just through a computer or television screen."

"Believe me, I'm excited too, but think of their safety first."

"You're right Matthew. So where we do we go from here?"

"We go to the throne room, follow me."

The small group walked their way down the hallway until at last, they reached the throne room where they were greeted by many happy faces. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy all ran to their human friends.

"It's good to see all of you again," Matthew smiled, "I've missed you all."

"Oh shucks, we've missed you too Sugarcube," said Applejack, "and your friends too. Sorry we haven't really dropped in on you, it's just that we've been busy since we got back."

"So we've seen," said Ryan. "Helping Rarity with her new shop in Canterlot, helping Coco in Manehatten and even stopping a feud with the Hooffields and McColts."

"Wow, you guys really do know about our adventures," gasped Rainbow Dash.

"Well we do watch your stories everyday," said Matthew. His attention was then shifted over to Princess Celestia. He bowed to show respect, "it's an honor to see again Princess Celestia, and it's also an honor to meet your sister; Princess Luna."

Patrick, Ryan and Emily bowed to show respect.

"And what am I? Just some discarded gem or something?" grumbled Spike.

"Of course not, how could we forget our favourite dragon?" smiled Emily. That made Spike feel a little better.

A firm look came to Princess Celestia's face, "it is wonderful to see you all again, I only wish our meeting was under happier circumstances." This stopped all the chatter as all eyes turned back to the princess.

"Yes we heard, Queen Chrysalis is back," said Matthew. "May I see the note?"

Using her magic, Celestia brought the note over towards Matthew and he read it out. Emily shuddered just hearing the words while Ryan shook his head.

"Villians, they never do give up do they?" groaned Patrick.

"Afraid not," answered Applejack. "But it's not them we're going after, it's the secret weapons she was talking about."

Celestia nodded in agreement, "once Discord arrives with the location of the Changelings, you will go there and get rid of the weapons."

"But just in case, if anything goes wrong, we'll need your help aganist the entire army," added Rainbow Dash.

"It's a tall order right there, but I think we're up to the challenge, right guys?" Matthew asked. All of his human friends nodded in agreement.

"Still though," said Patrick, "these three weapons she was talking about, what could they be?"

"They could be anything," answered Princess Luna, "though I must confess, it is something both my sister and I have been worrying about since we got here."

"Well be thankful you don't have the weapons that our world has," said Matthew.

Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement, remembering when she and her friends got their first chance to get out of Matthew's house, and some hunters went after her.

"Maybe Chrysalis has teamed up with other baddies we've faced before to get even with us," suggested Rarity.

Celestia shook her head, "I don't believe that is it Rarity. Nightmare Moon is gone, Sombra is still missing and Tirek is still locked up. We personally checked to make sure."

It was only then that Ryan remembered something, "hey guys, do you remember hearing on the radio that a military base was missing a few weapons of their own?"

"Yeah, why did you bring that up?"

"Well think about it. Chrysalis says she will unleash three secret weapons, and if I remember correctly, the base said they lost three weapons of their own. I believe she has those weapons."

Matthew gulped before he asked; "what kind of weapons were they?"

"Nuclear bombs."

Matthew smacked his forehead, "oh that's just great. Just great," he grumbled unhappily.

All the ponies and one dragon looked at each other in confusion. Finally Fluttershy asked the question; "what are Nuclear bombs?"

"Very dangerous weapons," answered Patrick. "If unleashed, they could destory an entire town and possibly a few more in the process."

All the ponies gulped and Spike had another fainting spell. Matthew though was confused, "Chrysalis couldn't have gotten her hooves on those bombs though. News reports would've come in if there were sights of a strange flying creature."

"You got a point there Matt," agreed Patrick with a nod. "And it would be all over the internet if she was there."

"What's an internet?" asked Luna.

"It's uh...well it's hard to describe, we'll try and explain it later," said Matthew. "However, you are correct Patrick. If Chrysalis was on Earth, she would've been spotted quite easily. Besides, it's not easy to sneak into a military base."

"Well there goes my theory," said Ryan. "Maybe they were stolen by someone else."

Everyone agreed with him, then it suddenly hit Matthew and an angry scowl came to his face, "you might be right Ryan, someone else could've stolen them, but it's next to impossible for any human to sneak into a military base and steal from them, at least as far as I know. Now the theft, when was that reported?"

"About a few days after Twilight and the other ponies left for Equestria."

"So the theft had to have been done during the time period they were on Earth. I know though that Twilight and her friends were at my house the entire time, and Princess Celestia along with Sunset Shimmer and Moondancer didn't arrive until we were halfway through the battle, and my back had been broken," he muttered the last part. "There was however a tenth pony on Earth, and she's the only one that could sneak in without being noticed and steal bombs before anyone noticed. It's of course none other than..."

The conversation was haulted at that moment as the pony of their discussion walked into the throne room.

"Twilight, I finished reading all the books you wanted me to read. I think I learned alot from...uh oh," gulped Starlight when she noticed the humans there.

"YOU!" snapped Matthew.

He pulled out his paintball gun and pointed it right in between Starlight's eyes. The whole room went silent, even after Spike awoke from his second fainting spell.

Starlight tried to put on a brave face, but it was obvious to see that she was scared of being face to face with Matthew.

"Uh hi there, uh Matthew is it? It's been a while since I last saw you, how are you doing?"

"Oh I'm fine, but there is a small problem."

"Oh? What is it?"

"I'm haunted by the memories of you attacking my world, hurting my friends, and oh yes, let's not forget how you threw me into a tree and broke my back in the process!"

"Oh yeah, that," Starlight groaned. "And I really regret doing what I did."

Matthew shook his head, "you may have been able to fool Twilight with that 'I'm a Nice Pony' kind of attitude, but you can't fool me Starlight Glimmer. Now there's one question left. How many paintballs will actually hit your face this time?"

"Yikes, I've never known Matthew to be like this," gasped Applejack.

Ryan rolled his eyes, "we've known it ever since we first met the guy."

Twilight walked over and lowered Matthew's gun with her hoof, "you will not be attacking my student Matthew, and she's not acting, she's serious about feeling regret."

"Oh yeah sure, like how she feels regret over attacking you through space and time," he said sarcastically.

"Well I believe her, and I'm willing to give her a chance."

Starlight smiled, grateful that her teacher wasn't going to let her human friends attack her. However, she was confused by their presense, "excuse me Twilight, but why are Matthew and his friends here? Is this part of a friendship lesson?"

"I wish it were, but that's not it. No, an old enemy of ours has returned and is threatening all of Equestria. We need them in case we come face to face with the enemy."

"An old enemy? Who would that be?"

"Chrysalis," Twilight grunted threw her teeth. She started shaking again and angry snarls could be heard. The looks from her friends though calmed her down again.

"Whoa, Twilight has a temper? I never knew that," said Patrick.

Applejack explained about what was said during the earlier conversation. She had just finished when, with a pop and a bright beam of light, Discord the spirt of Choas and Disharmony appeared in the doorway behind Starlight.

"Ohh, is Twilight going to have a temper tenturm? Oh I have to see this. Does anypony have popcorn?"

Twilight stared coldly at Discord, as did everyone in that room, minus Fluttershy and Starlight Glimmer.

"Discord, have you found the location of the Changeling's secret weapons?" Celestia asked.

Discord shook his head, "the location of where the weapons are is unknown, it seems Chrysalis doesn't trust every changeling to give away the location of where they will be."

"Oh nuts and shoes!" exclaimed Rarity.

"However," Discord continued, "I did find where they are hiding." He walked over towards the map and after making it spin for some strange reason, he placed a claw on one spot and made it stop spinning. "The downtown area of Las Pegasus."

Celestia was surprised to hear this, "she and her changelings have been hiding in plain sight this whole time?"

"They sure have. They just take on the appearance of any pony there and they blend right in, except for Chrysalis as she wants to remain hidden."

"So how in tarnation are we suppose to find these secret weapons without alerting the changelings?" Applejack asked.

"No problem, we'll just have to be sneaky as we follow them," said Rainbow Dash. "One of them's bound to slip at some point, and we'll get the location without alerting them."

"You know Rainbow, I like the way you think," smiled Matthew.

"Right then, let's get going."

They all started for the door, but stopped when they heard Starlight say, "it'll be more difficult to stop them than you think."

Everyone stopped and looked over towards the unicorn pony, "and what the heck is that suppose to mean?" Matthew asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Starlight, do you know something about those bombs that we don't?" Twilight asked.

Starlight nodded and admitted everything, "once I got out of the cells, I went back to the cave where I hid the bombs and I started fiddling around with them."

Matthew kept his eyebrow lifted up, "you fiddled around with them? You're lucky you didn't set them off."

"That wasn't my intension at the time." She took in a deep breath and said; "you see, when we were on Earth, I decided to take the bombs as a back up plan in case I failed, which we all know I did. Anyways, I found the bombs in the cave and made sure that only I could disarm them. Also..." she paused.

"What? What did you do?" Twilight asked.

"I kind of made them more powerful than they actually were."

The room went silent as everyone stared at one another, like they couldn't believe what they just heard.

Finally Matthew broke the silence with his voice raising in volume, "so let me get this correct Straight, you modified them and made them stronger?! ARE YOU INSANE?!"

"I was then, yes."

Matthew slapped his forehead, "and the mission just got harder. I don't believe this, she made the dangerous bombs even more dangerous."

"How dangerous would they be now?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"Not sure, no one's ever modified them before and then unleashed them," said Patrick. "My guess though, with the power of three bombs, it would be enough to destory all of Equestria."

"All of Equestria?!" the ponies cried out in unison, and for the third time that day, Spike had a fainting spell.

"Like I said, it's just a guess."

Twilight sighed, "well since the bombs have been modified, I'd say we're going to need one more pony to help us. Starlight, would you like to come along and help us?"

"And make up for the mistakes I made? Well I..."

"Twilight, a moment please!" Matthew called out to her.

Twilight sighed and walked over towards Matthew. The look on his face made it clear that he wasn't happy with her decision, "you can't just ask her to join us. She can't be trusted."

"Well I trust her."

"Really? And that's after she stole your cutie marks, enslaved villages, nearly ruined your history, nearly destoryed Equestria, set houses on fire in my world, attacked police officers, derailed a freight train and she threw me into a tree, let's not forget that."

"I know of what she's done, but I do believe she is working hard to make up for her mistakes, and this trip to Las Pegasus is an excellent way for you to see that she's a different pony."

"Or prove that she's still the same as she was before."

"She's coming with us and that's final. That is," she said as she looked back to her student, "if she wants to join us."

"Of course I'll join you. This whole mess is my fault, and I got to do my part to clean it up."

"Good to hear, now let's get going to the train station." And with that, the mane 6 and their human friends ran out the door and towards the front enterance way.

Starlight was about to walk out too when she noticed Matthew glaring at her, "don't think you're getting off the hook just yet Starlight Glimmer, I'm going to be keeping my eye on you the entire time."

Starlight gulped and followed far behind Matthew.

Spike finally awoke from his fainting spell, "what did I miss? Where did everypony go?"

Naturally going through Ponyville, ponies were surprised to see Matthew and his friends with the Princess of Friendship and her friends. They wondered of what they were, and some of the mane six replied by saying; "we'll let you meet them when we get back."

Thankfully at this time of night, there were still some trains running, one of which was for Las Pegasus.

Of course, Matthew had to look at the engine at the front since he was railfan, "a classic four-four-zero design with a big wide funnel, very impressive. Although, where does it keep the water? It hasn't got a tender."

"Hey Matthew, get on board or you're going to be left behind!" Rainbow Dash called out.

Matthew hurried to the third last coach and took his seat. The conductor checked his watch and called out; "next stop; Las Pegasus! All aboard!"

The steam locomotive's whistle sounded, the wheels started to turn and the train puffed into motion.

"That whistle," sighed Matthew, "it's got such a beautiful sound, much better than a diesel horn if you ask me."

While the group had a small chat, Twilight walked up to the front of the coach. Her student was sitting in the front seat all alone and looking sad, "hey Starlight, why are you sitting over here?"

"I thought it was best to give Matthew some space, considering everything that happened." She sighed unhappily, "so much for forgive and forget."

"Well you did quite a bit Starlight, and not everypony, or everybody is going to forgive you right away. Remember that story I told you about how I missed Moondancer's party and how that affected her?"

"Yeah I remember."

"Well this is just like that. Just give Matthew a little time, and before you know it, you two will be talking like old friends."

Starlight looked back to the group talking, "now is it true?" Matthew asked, "that the Cutie Mark Crusaders got their cutie marks?"

Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack all nodded in agreement, "it is indeed true Sugarcube," smiled Applejack. "We're all so very proud of them. They deserved their marks."

"Well that's good to know. Say, when this is all said and done, is there a chance that maybe we could meet them?"

"I see no reason why not," smiled Rainbow Dash. "The CMC love making new friends, no matter who they are."

Matthew and his friends smiled. Starlight though sighed unhappily, "I sure hope you're right Twilight."

"Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on Matthew, just in case. As you long as you can do me one favour."

"Name it."

"Should anypony mention the changeling Queen, or if I see her, try your best to calm me down okay? I'm so angry towards her that it could be disasterious for our mission."

"I'll do my very best Twilight," she said, trying to show a smile.

However, with Matthew's glare constantly on her, she didn't feel like smiling. Now she wished she'd never come up with her plans. Especially the back up plan.