The Unsung Hero

by Blackshadow999

The world of Equus is facing growing dark times. Lone Human in the world of Equus returns to the land which he had been exiled from to investigate strange incidents. What he finds isn't what he expects. How will Matesis face the darkness he finds or his past which comes back to haunt him?

1. Chapter 1

The Unsung Hero
by Gleaming Rey
My Little Pony is solely owned by Hasbro. I only own my OCs and my musings. I will explain more about this story in the closing notes for you readers.

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I:

A New Chance at Something Different

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The sound of a low, rhythmic squeak brought an individual at the back of the train out of his thoughts. Matesis Solum felt the rhythmic squeak vibrate in his ears and it transitioned to his entire body as it grew and waxed in volume for a long moment. He just didn't want to be bothered for the rest of the train ride to his destination. The ride on the train along with the switching trains had been long already. There was also a lot on his mind which was making it hard for him to sleep to begin with, he didn't need more keeping him occupied. So, he didn't move from his chosen seat at the back of the car. Instead, he shifted and wrapped his black cloak tighter around his muscular body. It was Matesis's hope to drop off to sleep until the train reached its destination and not be noticed by any on the train. Matesis wasn't interested in the odd looks or other responses that he got from others, especially ponies. The less attention he drew to himself, the better things tended to be for Matesis.

Matesis had unfortunately become accustomed to the responses he received, being as different as he was from the rest around him. He was the only "Human" in the world of Equus after all, though that fact had been forgotten over the centuries. And the myths and legends there used to be of humans had fallen into obscurity once more. Now, Matesis was often referred to as a "unique Minotaur" or "by the inhabitance of the world. That was what Matesis had told others and it had stuck over time. It had been the best way to explain himself to others he encountered along his travels. Being seen as a Minotaur had been beneficial to Matesis with his start to something different to what his travels had become. It served to sever connections to what Matesis had taken from him long ago. The other thing he'd done was forsake his old name and go with the current one he had. He'd found it was much easier to blend in among the races of Equus if he was just referred to a species they knew of. His name he'd gone by now was odd enough by what others said. Plus, Matesis had done things which had gotten his name notoriety with many.

His outfit was just about as recognizable as his name had become with what he'd done during his travels. Matesis was wearing his customary long, black cloak with a hood that covered his head and a portion of his face. The hood contained the vast majority of his golden blonde spiky hair which went to his neck except in the front. His blonde hair did compliment his aqua-green eyes as many said which Matesis wouldn't disagree with. What was visible of his skin which was mostly his face was somewhat tan. He had a black form-fitting short-sleeved shirt with a zipper on the front. Matesis's leather mid upper-arm-length gloves were a dark gray and nearly skin-tight which he kept on most of the time. His pants were dark blue and were in fair condition with the time he'd had them during his travels. The knee-high boots he wore were travel worn even with the metal plates on the front of them. His ensemble kept most of his body hidden from the outside besides his face and neck.

Overall, most would call him handsome even if ruggedly so. At least, that was what Matesis got told commonly by those he came across on his journeys. There was also supposed to be a charming mystery about Matesis by what he was told, though he didn't think that was the case. Those who had known and knew Matesis had said something to that effect to him. And his reputation, which he'd earned during his work around the Equus's eastern nations added to that mystique about him. Although his body was mostly covered by his clothes, others could see his body was strong, yet graceful. That mixture seemed to make others see him as some sort of ethereal individual though Matesis couldn't say precisely why. Females of Equus did beckon to him often enough to get a better glimpse of him from his experience.

Beside Matesis sitting against the wall of the train car, acting as a kind of pillow was the "sling pack." The bag/pack had been a "parting" gift for Matesis from some of his friends long ago back in the very country he was heading toward. The pack had been enchanted in several ways which had served him amazingly during his journey. It was tougher than any normal pack or saddle bag Matesis had seen or come across. The pack was also enchanted to be far bigger on the inside than the outside through "spatial" magic. The spell which made that possible was done by one of his friends by the name of Starswirl. Starswirl had been seen by some as a crazy nut or quack, but Matesis had seen the genius potential the stallion had back then. The spell's effect was nothing short of incredible as Matesis still hadn't managed to "fill" the pack up to its fullest.

The sling pack contained the things which Matesis valued and used regularly which he had acquired. There were the weapons he had to work with should problematic situations come up which he could summon from the pack. There were some extra clothes in there for him to wear. Then there were some objects inside which others wouldn't believe were stored in a sack at all. That category included furniture and other large objects which Matesis had picked up during his travels. Next, there were some other trinkets that had sentimental value to Matesis which he kept. Most of those were reminders of those he'd gotten to know during his travel across the world. They were mementos since he'd changed his name to Matesis Solum to have a fresh start from what had happened to him back around Equestria. And lastly, there was the category of items which were dangerous in some way or form he kept in the pack to prevent their abuse or misuse.

Matesis had been trying to drop off to sleep to make the train ride pass by faster, but his attempt didn't go the way he wanted. The noise on the train was just annoying enough that it wouldn't let his mind quiet down enough to fall asleep. Matesis opened his right eye lazily and shifted the cloak so he could get a view of the train car. He swept his gaze around and saw the waitress mare making her way down the car asking the passengers if they wanted anything. That wasn't out of the ordinary as that had been going on from the eastern continent even if travel was done differently. And yet, Matesis couldn't see anything else which should be holding his attention and keeping him from going back to sleep. Matesis shifted in his seat moving the cloak over himself and closed his eye again. He would work on finding his way to the embrace of sleep and dreams. He lay there for what felt to be an eternity with his mind wandering to a place of serenity where friends were there to greet him warmly. Matesis smiled a bit, breathing contently into the crevice through his cloak as his mind began quieting down.

As the train whistle echoed outside, Matesis sunk to a small piece of heaven. From there, Matesis would find his way to the oasis of sleep and dreams which was a dependable escape from memories which haunted him. But this time, memories from long ago came to his mind. Images of the land he'd once known came to him as the embrace of sleep came closer. The land was none other than Equestria and Matesis hadn't seen it for over a thousand years. The reason memories of Equestria haunted him was mostly due to his "exile" and what had preceded it. Equestria had been a beautiful place from what he remembered. There was a place in Matesis's heart which had him missing the land of Equestria. He had good memories of Equestria, few as they were unfortunately. But those who he'd shared those good times with were essentially gone now with the time that had passed. There was only one left who could potentially remember Matesis. And if they happen to figure out who he was after he'd gone through the efforts of changing his appearance and name, he doubted things would go well for him or anyone else. Matesis didn't kid himself, he wouldn't be welcomed warmly by the one he once knew, not with how their relationship had ended. And he feared another had been working to poison things further while Matesis had been away. Those were the major motivations Matesis had for not wanting to see that individual.

Yet, with his efforts of changing his appearance and name along with severing his connections to his past that had been in Equestria, Matesis could've come back to the land. Any who had known him wouldn't recognize the individual he had become through his travels and journey. However, Matesis had other reasons not to return to the place which had been home when he first arrived in this world. One of those "reasons" hadn't cared about borders though, it had kept pursuing and searching for him to end him. That party had made it necessary for Matesis to take drastic measures to shake off. It was a reminder he couldn't go back to the life which had been wrenched from him over a thousand years ago. That had forced the needed transition which his name change had come with. They were also likely responsible for trying to keep Equestria's ruler the selfish one they were along with poisoning their mind.

T he train jerked as it slowed down and came to a halt. The stopping of the train got Matesis to turn away from the embrace of sleep and come out of the wrap of his cloak somewhat. He looked out the window and took in the scenery outside. Matesis blinked for a moment before realizing he wasn't seeing things as he thought he was for a moment. Outside of the train was the heart of the Crystal Empire. It had been the first place Matesis had gone after being driven out of Equestria by the ruling party. It had been the closest country he could go to get away from those who pursued him. Memories of his friend Queen Jade welcoming him came back to Matesis bringing warmth to his heart. He'd had friends in the Empire back at the time and they had welcomed and wished to help him in the plight he had been in just as Jade had. If only things had continued like that at the time, Matesis couldn't help but wonder how his life would have been now.

However, things hadn't continued as they had been as would've been ideal. It was another lesson that Equus wasn't as kind as it had seemed when he'd first arrived from Earth. It had been around two or three weeks after his arrival that things changed and took a bad turn. That had come in the form of a stallion named Sombra coming to the Empire. At first, Matesis had thought it would be the same as the previous times Sombra had come to try and establish his control and rule over the Empire. It certainly hadn't been the first time the stallion had come to try and take over the Crystal Empire from Jade. Matesis had helped the Empire in the previous times by bringing others to help in its defense. However, Matesis couldn't do that when Sombra had come after Matesis's exile from Equestria with the lack of getting soldiers from Equestria to assist. That wasn't to say that Matesis hadn't done all he could to help defend the Empire from the mad stallion, Matesis had fought Sombra back then and led troops against him.

However, Matesis couldn't help but remember how different Sombra had appeared and seemed back then. The stallion had been crazy the times before when Matesis had encountered him, a certifiable nut case if ever Matesis had seen it. Yet, Sombra had gained powers that he hadn't had the previous times he'd come around to usurp power from its rightful place. Those dark powers had been able to overcome Matesis back at the time, which had given Sombra the advantage. Then the terror the mad stallion had rained down on the citizens of the empire had stabbed Matesis's heart. His failure had been much to the pleasure and enjoyment of Sombra who had been cackling with glee. If it hadn't been for Jade, Matesis would unlikely be free or where he was right now.

Jade had stayed behind to fight Sombra telling Matesis to go and do what he could. Matesis hadn't wanted to leave Jade to fight the stallion. Sombra with his newfound power would win against Jade as he had against Matesis, that had been obvious. As much as Matesis hadn't wanted to admit it back then, the Empire would be lost to Sombra. But Jade had made him promise to get some out before things ended the way they had. And Matesis was the kind of individual that did his utmost to keep promises he made. So, as much as it pained him, he had to leave Jade to fight against and be killed by Sombra. Matesis hadn't gotten far beyond the city when it had vanished, being sealed away with Jade's dying breath. Watching the empire being sealed away while knowing that Jade was giving her life had torn at Matesis's heart.

Matesis looked out the window and saw it certainly appeared that the terror Sombra had brought with his coming had faded from the empire. He stayed where he was and drank in the view of the country, gazing happily to the snowy regions of what had felt like a real home after being chased out of his first one on Equus. To have a winter that surrounds them with lush and beauty warmed his heart for it had its own beauty. The Crystal Empire was just as dazzling as he remembered it with the crystals tall and glowing in the sunlight. Matesis hoped with all of his heart its citizens could forget the nutcase and insane pony who had tried to take the Empire as his own and live in peace. If there was anything which he could do to help bring that about, then he would do it. It was the least he could do for the friends he had within the empire and them opening up their home for him. Matesis couldn't think of anything better in which he could do to earn forgiveness from Jade. He'd failed to defend the Empire and left her behind to die by Sombra's hooves, and he cursed himself for that.

Matesis had managed to get Jade's daughter away from the empire before it was sealed away as Jade had asked, but it wasn't enough. He'd still left one of his best friends behind to die for the Empire and that hadn't sat right at all with Matesis. Matesis had faced some of Jade's descendants bowing his head asking for their forgiveness for what happened to Jade and the Crystal Empire. The vast majority of them hadn't blamed Matesis for what fate had befallen the Crystal Empire. That bloodline was one of those he tried to keep in contact with over the years. It was his way of honoring the genuine friendship he'd had with Jade. However, he'd lost touch with the last few generations much to his shame. It had become harder to keep up with the line in the last two centuries, though that hadn't stopped Matesis from trying.

Matesis noticed a small aurora in the sky as the train was briefly stopped to board some ponies which said the Empire was doing fine. He sighed contently, holding his gaze for as long as the train remained still. If only Jade was still alive to greet him with a warm smile and an embrace, then Matesis would've gotten off the train and stayed in the empire. He'd missed the Empire since it had vanished. But he was grateful to see the rumors about the empire returning were true. The rumors which had come to Matesis had been of a small drake saving them from Sombra's madness. It had sounded fantastic when they'd been reported to him in Griffonia. So fantastic had they sounded, that Matesis asked some of them to check and see if it was true. They had confirmed the rumor much to Matesis's relief before he'd departed from Griffonia. Many had begged him to stay around Griffonia and keep leading the army and protecting the kingdom. Matesis promised he would return in time, but he missed traveling as he'd done before settling for a time in Griffonia.

He watched and waited for the departure of the train, settling against his pack again softly while the snowfall became gentle. Matesis couldn't help but voice his thoughts at that moment, "It's wonderful to see that everyone is alright." He was ignoring how the boarding ponies were shuffling down the aisle "If I didn't already have a destination, I would seriously consider stopping and visiting. I would love to see if any still remember me and if friends I had are still around." The faces of those friends came to Matesis's mind bringing a smile to his face. The welcome which he had gotten when he'd arrived in the empire after being "exiled" from Equestria had been unforgettable, Jade and others had made sure of that.

Jade had listened to what had befallen Matesis shortly after he arrived around the Empire. He'd had broken down recounting how he'd essentially lost everything he had gained since coming to this world. It had been one of the last times he'd fully broken down since being chased out of Equestria. There had only been a few other times over the last thousand years and the last had been around two centuries ago. It was one of the reasons he missed Jade so much, she had been one of the closest friends he'd had in this world he had left back then which he could reach out to. Matesis had to leave what other close friends he had right before being exiled and reaching out to them would cause trouble for all. And they were long dead now with the years that had gone by since he'd left Equestria.

Matesis had to hold in the laughter as he remembered Jade's reaction when he'd told her what had brought him to her realm. Oh, to say Jade had been angry with Celestia and her father for chasing him out would've been an understatement. She had snarled that she intended to give her a piece of her mind when next Jade saw Celestia. Jade had not held back in describing how selfish, blind, and foolish Celestia had been at the time with chasing Matesis away. That had been a mood booster for Matesis back at the time which words couldn't describe how grateful Matesis had been with Jade. However, the threats that she had hissed out about Noctis were so much better to Matesis. He would've done almost anything to see the dressing down Jade would have done to the stallion. It had done wonders at improving Matesis's state back then. He'd needed with all which had gone down with his "family" back at the time which had led to his exile. His life had essentially been shattered and wrenched away from him for a second time by none other than Noctis, which more than irked Matesis.

After ten minutes of waiting the train began to move forward with its whistle sounding. Ponies from different families waved at their friends and family until the speed mixing with the snowfall blinded them from the world. Matesis had become a clever individual which words came easily to over the time of his travels. It came from the wisdom he'd gained from his experiences that came from his journeys. However, his humility conflicted with his need to say something in this instance and just leaving things as they were. The sight of the Empire doing well warmed his heart without the need to say anything. Whether it was to himself or to a pony, he wanted to remove the weird giddiness in his chest and talk to one of the Crystal Ponies. It had been so long since those who had openly welcomed him to their land. And he wanted to converse with them about Jade and others who he missed. What mattered to Matesis was the Crystal Ponies were alive and healthy. When he faced the soul of Jade, he could tell her that the Empire was around and thriving as she had wished it to be. They no longer had to worry about their home being a wasteland in some sort of realm that prevents time from affecting it.

Yet, none approached his seat, though he got some odd stares from some as he had during his ride from Griffonia. Matesis didn't mind that much, he was content with finding out the truth for himself. Matesis had some from the group he had started look into the rumors about the Empire. Matesis had created the group centuries ago, called the "Shadow Blade" which the intelligence agents were a part of. He hadn't doubted the reports from the intelligence agents, he knew they were good. The Shadow Blade group or organization as it had become over the near two centuries it had existed had grown. It came from him stressing how important it would be for the nations he traveled through and helped to have some join the group. His wisdom had been taken seriously and he'd been proven right time after time. Thus, the Shadow Blade organization happened to be something Matesis was proud of for the good it did.

The Shadow Blade organization did many things outside the public eye which worked out for the best. And all in the growing organization reported to him and those he delegated to. It was the Shadow Blade which did what was needed to protect the world from the evil it contained. It operated outside the control of nations and so didn't have to heed laws though they tried when it was possible. It made getting things done more straightforward when it was less nice work Matesis would admit. And Matesis knew personally the work wasn't always pretty, he'd see that as fact through experience. But the organization protected Equus from the evils that tried to do harm, even if the work was normally unseen. That was the goal Matesis had when it had created the group, a defense against the evil the world had.

Nevertheless, before Matesis could settle back in and fall asleep to make the rest of his ride pass, there was a disturbance. The rhythmic squeaking from the train turned into a thud and clutter, so loud now that he could not deny it being next to him. The clutter slowed down after a couple of minutes as the train got up to traveling speed. The sound died down to be much quieter, but that transitioned into a low shuffling of hooves and a whimper from one of a young age. Matesis could feel through the magical sensory he'd developed over the years that a pony was putting off a strong air of sadness. That sadness was quickly morphing into despair which caught his attention as it didn't happen without reason. Matesis sat up and peeked into the aisle to see if he could narrow down where the feeling was coming from. He found the source of the feeling he was sensing within seconds in the form of the sight of the young pony. Seeing the filly in the aisle caused Matesis to pause for a moment. The young filly was certainly adorable upon first glance, Matesis wouldn't deny that since it plucked at his heart strings.

T he filly's fur was an almost magenta pink which glistened with the melted snow as her wings fluttered in grief. Her horn was short yet seeable through the candy color of her purple and yellow mane. What was the most surprising to Matesis was the young filly was an alicorn. Matesis was well-aware that ponies were divided into their three "tribes" or races now, those being Earth ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi. He also knew there was a fourth type which was alicorns that had the abilities of all three. However, alicorns were supposed to be extremely rare and still were as far as Matesis knew. He'd heard nothing to the effect of that changing since he'd begun his journeys, nor from the Shadow Blade's intelligence agents.

To Matesis's knowledge, there had only been four alicorns since he'd arrived from Earth. Supposedly, there had been others before them according to some history books Matesis had read. Of those four he was aware of, one wasn't available, that mare being banished to the moon a little over a thousand years ago. Two of the remaining three Matesis had no interest in seeing as they had been the ones who had chased him out of Equestria. The last one of the four, which was the one Matesis could stand being around had been roaming the world much as he had been doing shortly after his exile had started. However, in front of him was proof that he'd been out of the loop more than he'd thought with what could be happening on the western continent where alicorns were. And it wasn't that Matesis didn't think there couldn't be more alicorns, it was just he didn't think Celestia would get together with another and bear a foal. Yet, apparently, there were other alicorns which Noctis nor any other had mentioned to Matesis.

Matesis spotted tears running down the filly's cheek and falling onto the floor. Emotions from this mysterious filly fluttered wildly as if answering the deep despair that Matesis had been sensing. The sound of whimpering grew louder, no longer a soft moan over the whistling of the train, but a rush that swelled with the same ebb and flow as sorrow he'd felt himself and from others. Matesis had a special place in his heart for children. It had developed during his journeys and had grown over time. Children had helped him keep kindness in his heart and warmth in his soul along with the friends he had made during his life. It had helped him let go of what he had back on Earth and what had been around Equestria. And so, seeing a filly sad was something Matesis couldn't ignore and be able to live with himself.

At the same time, the young alicorn filly, by the name of Skyla was sad and panicked. Her crystal doll which she had brought along had broken. It was one of the few things she had taken when her mommy had said they had to leave the empire. Skyla's mommy had said they couldn't take Flurry Heart with them as they had been making their way to the train station. The rush they had been in to get on the train had jostled the doll in Skyla's hold. That had ended up with Skyla dropping the doll to the floor and it breaking into pieces. "Oh no," Skyla cried softly. She then turned her head to look up at her mother, "Mommy, my crystal doll just broke."

Matesis was listening in as he watched the filly. The filly's voice was high-pitched and cracking, like all children that were upset about something. One moment she was whimpering about her shattered doll, and the next she was sinking deeply into the fur of the mare next to her. Matesis assumed the mare was the filly's mother as the fur color was similar from the glance he got. The filly began crying to her heart out while a purple hued wing rested around her to hide the tears. Matesis felt for the filly, her distress was something he couldn't ignore, and he not want to help.

Matesis then shifted his gaze to the mare with the filly who he assumed was her mother and his thoughts came to a halt. The pink mare was incredibly beautiful, Matesis would admit as she was comforting the filly. In fact, the beauty got Matesis's heart to speed up somewhat which was kind of rare for him. The feelings that were coming to Matesis, he realized he was experiencing attraction toward the mare. He pushed the attraction aside for the time being and focused on studying the mare. From what Matesis could see, the mare was an alicorn which kind of mystified him. Alicorn were rare to come by, essentially exclusive to Equestria as far as Matesis was aware. The mare had a shape similar to the female alicorns he'd met before though smaller than any of them. Her lashes were perfectly smooth and very dark, surrounding her light purple diamond eyes. Matesis brought his hood down so he could get a better look at the mare who had such beauty. Her bow of a mouth was a stallion's perfect fantasy of kissing, her lips full and naturally pink.

It had been quite a while since Matesis had seen such a beautiful mare he had to admit. And he'd seen plenty of mares during his travels around the eastern continent of Equus to compare this mare with. Granted, alicorns seemed to have a level of beauty that other ponies almost never did, and he'd not forgotten the alicorns who he'd encountered during his lifetime. However, the beauty was still something to see after the time which had gone by for Matesis since the last alicorn mare he'd seen. Memories of that mare did flash through Matesis's mind, but he quickly dismissed them. That there was an alicorn around the Crystal Empire was odd since Matesis couldn't come up with a valid or logical reason for that to be.

Matesis wasn't the only one staring, the pink mare whose name was Cadance was doing the same with him. She had been comforting her daughter Skyla when she had felt somepony staring in their direction. However, she had been surprised to find it was what appeared to be an odd Minotaur staring back at her. Cadance had seen a few Minotaur before now while around her aunts who governed Equestria. The species tended to be muscular and bulky with their build by what Equestrian texts said about them. The reason Cadance thought the stallion was a Minotaur was he had a similar type of solid build, even if he was smaller than the Minotaurs she'd seen before. It was possible the stallion was a runt of some kind of the species or was an unknown subspecies, Cadance didn't know enough about Minotaurs to say. The other thing which stood out was the stallion was wearing clothes like some Equus species did. Minotaurs didn't wear much with clothes beyond pants or shorts that Cadance was aware of.

Nevertheless, the scan over the male that Cadance drank in had her pausing with what she was seeing. Regardless of whether he was a runt or a special type of Minotaur which Equestria wasn't aware of, Cadance could not miss the solid muscles that looked like they were chiseled in stone on his body. She felt her cheeks flushing as she kept staring at the Minotaur stallion. Pony stallions just didn't generally have the muscular build that the Minotaur she was viewing did, which was impressive. Even Celestia's guards didn't have a build as good as the one Cadance was drinking in with the Minotaur stallion. And those stallions had decent builds with the training they were required to do regularly. With the blush Cadance was experiencing along with her heart pounding as it was, told her that she was extremely attracted to this strange stallion.

Matesis forced his gaze to move back to the filly who was still crying about the doll. He glanced at the floor where the pieces of the said doll were spread. Fixing objects which had broken was normally a simple task for Matesis with the skills and powers he had to work with. When it came to "restoration," Matesis was one of those that was hard to equal with the skill and capabilities he had. However, there were materials that were more difficult to manipulate and put back together than others, which magic crystal was one of those. And as Matesis studied the pieces of the doll with a critical eye, he found it was indeed made of magical crystal, which was normally found around the Crystal Empire. Yet, even with the doll being made of magical crystal, Matesis didn't see that being a serious issue that would prevent him from restoring it. It would be more a matter of choosing the method and skill to use to fix the doll.

Matesis looked back at the crying filly and the sight tugged at his heart. There was no reason for the adorable filly to be crying when the broken doll could be restored to its former state and even strengthened so it wouldn't break as easily again. Matesis had always had a special place in his heart for children, regardless of what species they were members of. It was one of the reasons why kids seemed to love Matesis as they did among other things. With that mind, Matesis rose from his seat and moved forward toward the doll. He scooped up the pieces of the doll, making sure he didn't miss a single one so he could get to restoring the doll. Matesis was fully aware that his action would likely make the mare and filly either scared or curious of him. Yet, he was sure that the filly would appreciate what Matesis was doing to the doll once he was finished.

Matesis had decided to use the magic he knew that would look the least suspicious to those that were watching. It was similar to what was supposed to be commonly used by unicorns that lived in Equestria, though not the exact same. It was a free forming spell that he'd come up with through what others referred to as "spell crafting" some time ago. But Matesis couldn't really use the "common" or "normal" spells ponies did which they didn't understand. Matesis was whispering words to direct his magic into the target in his hands. The crystal pieces of the doll appeared to take on a life of their own as they were surrounded by a soft light and began moving. He ignored the whimpering coming from the filly who was telling her mother he was "taking" her toy away. Matesis continued to work on fixing the doll so the filly could discard the sadness she had been experiencing.

Cadance was doing what she could to keep Skyla calm with the change of the situation. The stallion moving forward and gathering the pieces of Skyla's broken doll had taken Cadance by slight surprise. Then for him to use magic on the doll got Cadance's surprise to change into curiosity. The magic the stallion was using seemed similar to what any unicorn could use, but what Cadance was sensing told an entirely different story. There was a light bluish aura around the pieces of Skyla's doll which was why Cadance believed he was using magic. And it did look much like how unicorns and alicorn would used their telekinesis. Yet, the odd feel to it wasn't obvious or something impossible to miss, it was faint but there enough it stood out to Cadance. Plus, Cadance had never heard of a Minotaur showing they could use any kind of magic. However, there was the chance that this odd Minotaur was a sub type of their species that could wield magic. Minotaurs were one of the species that Equestria didn't know a great deal about and what was known was from centuries ago.

The stallion's action weren't one of a thief, of that Cadance was sure. So, he wasn't trying to steal Skyla's toy as her daughter was saying he was. Cadance was softly telling Skyla that the stallion wasn't taking her doll to try and comfort her, but it wasn't doing a great deal. Yet, as Cadance glanced back at the stallion, her eyes widened seeing the pieces of the doll move to form one piece as it had been before it had broken. The scene seemed so "natural" that it caught Cadance's attention. The magic hadn't seemed all that out of place even if it had felt different than the magic ponies used. And magic used for repairing things did exist but was a specialized skill which most didn't go into as they were supposed to be difficult to learn. Cadance had seen magic which did repairs before, and it hadn't looked anything like what she'd just seen. She would challenge any who did practice repair magic to watch what she had and not gape at the sight.

Now Cadance was all the more curious about the Minotaur stallion in front of her. He'd used a spell or magic that may look similar to what ponies' magic, but it wasn't the same. His magic didn't stand out or conflict with the magic around it like odd magic tended to. Whatever spell he'd used appeared like it had been designed to do what it had, which would suggest some sort of spell crafting. Cadance hadn't heard of a living genuine spell crafter, and the last recorded one had lived centuries ago. Twilight may become a spell crafter given time, Cadance couldn't say. Not only had the Minotaur stallion used magic, but he'd done so without a horn or something similar. A magic user that didn't have a horn or some other visible medium for magic was beyond rare as far as Cadance knew. The more she saw of this stallion, the more mysterious he seemed to be.

Matesis had taken a mere minute to restore the crystal doll to its original state. The free form spell he had used had made the restoration a very smooth task. Matesis had also added a piece to reinforce the doll so it wouldn't break anytime soon in the near future. He wouldn't doubt it would help the filly since her doll wouldn't break easily and so she wouldn't need to shed tears about that. Matesis was glad when he could help a child have one less reason to cry about when he was able to. The genuine smiles of children had a way of making Matesis's day when he was about to help them show them. The world was already a harsh enough place without ignoring the needs of children that others may wave off. Matesis glanced over the doll to make sure his work had done as intended and found his spell had taken hold. With that done, he held out the doll to the filly for her to take it back.

Skyla had been crying into her mommy's front when her doll had broken, and she had continued when the strange stallion had picked up the pieces of her doll. She had glanced at the stallion intermittently after he'd picked up the pieces before turning back to her mommy and saying the stallion was taking her doll again. But after a minute, Skyla found the stallion was holding out her doll toward her. She blinked as she stared at her doll which wasn't broken into pieces anymore. Skyla didn't know how her doll could've been fixed by the stallion, but he had somehow put her doll back together. She had to admit she'd been wrong about this strange stallion trying to take her doll away. He had fixed her crystal doll and that meant so much to Skyla. It proved to her that not all stallions were mean like her father, that some could be nice. Perhaps this stallion could help Skyla and her mommy with getting away from her father and not having to go back to the Empire. Skyla gazed up at the stallion with a growing smile as she took her doll back. "She shouldn't break again," he said kindly, "Just wouldn't recommend going out and trying to figure out ways to break it were I you."

Skyla was happy that this strange stallion had been so nice to fix her crystal doll. While he may be strange with his looks, he was not a bad pony or whatever he was. He kind of looked like a monkey she'd seen in a book or something like that. She couldn't help but giggle as she took back her doll and hugged it. Skyla then put down her doll and rushed forward and hugged the stallion to express her gratitude for what he did. Matesis was a little taken aback at the response as he hadn't expected the filly to hug him since he was a complete stranger. Kids sometimes did such things, yet in this kind of situation that wasn't he expected response. The filly kept hugging and nuzzling his arm as Matesis kept still, yet his body felt extremely tingly and warm as the filly nuzzled his forearm. "Thank you, mister," Skyla said lovingly. "Thank you for fixing my crystal doll!"

Cadance couldn't stop staring at the stallion who had fixed her daughter's doll. She was entranced by the strange Minotaur in a way which she couldn't logically explain. When he had come into full view, his handsomeness only became harder for her to ignore. Cadance was feeling things she hadn't for a long time, and it was still different than had happened with Shining Armor. She couldn't help the thoughts which were running through her mind. I've never seen a Minotaur like him before. But judging from his voice and the magic he used to fix Skyla's doll, I can only guess he must be some sort of unknown type of Minotaur which Equestria hasn't seen before. And yet, he is so handsome that I don't know how to describe it. Those thoughts were somewhat embarrassing to Cadance, but one which had her blushing was, Why do I think he's so cute?

There were more thoughts whispering through her mind, but those were the main ones. The issue with that was she couldn't seem to retain a clear head with the stallion near by. When Matesis glanced at her with a slight smile, it had her heart skipping beats and tingling with warmth before racing. It was as if she was infatuated in an instant which didn't happen to her often if at all. She pressed a hoof to her chest and breathed lightly. The sensation of attraction smashed into her before she realized her wings had sprung out and ruffled. Real attraction filled her, burning, swelling within her unlike what she had felt with Shining Armor. Cadance's heart refused to slow down, to let her calm down and think where she would be staying for the time being. She was frozen staring at the stallion unable to break the gaze.

Matesis blinked for a moment, before he gazed at the mare next to the filly. He was a tad surprised to see the mare's wings spring out and ruffle a moment later. As far as he knew, a winged-pony mare only had them out and stiff when they were attracted or aroused. At least, that was what the first Pegasus he'd been with had told him. They had said something to the effect of the wing muscles being sensitive and connected somehow to what ponies had that came into play with arousal. The explanation hadn't made a great deal of sense to Matesis, but he hadn't questioned it. He'd seen proof of the point countless times since that Pegasus had told him about the point.

It certainly wasn't the first time that a female had shown signs of attraction toward him during his travels. It came up often enough, though it normally wasn't as serious as Matesis was seeing with this alicorn mare. However, Matesis didn't have the feelings of attraction toward the mares that found him handsome and flirted with him. He'd developed a tolerance to the flirting which came his way in general. But it had been a while since a mare had caught his attention as this mare was. They had just met and haven't even introduced themselves to one another, let alone knew much about the other. He wouldn't hold the mare's wings popping out against her, it was an involuntary response. Matesis returned his gaze to the filly with a slight smile. He reached down and petted Skyla's mane gently with his free hand, "You're quite welcome," Matesis replied. "One as young as you shouldn't be grieving over things like a toy being broken when it can be fixed."

Cadance snapped out of her trance realizing what she'd been doing and how she was reacting to the stallion. Her wings had snapped out and were stiff enough that Cadance couldn't get them to fold back to her sides at the moment. It was embarrassing for her to react like a teenager and openly show she was attracted to a stallion. Cadance was a mother and a grown mare, she should not be fluttering and fawning over a stallion, let alone one of a different species. She hardly knew this Minotaur stallion, as much as Cadance would love to get to know him. Cadance grabbed Skyla and moved to a seat more toward the center of the train car. It would hopefully be enough distance for Cadance to calm down and ignore the stallion that was getting a rise out of her. If she could get her wings to fold back to her sides, she could show she had the power to resist an amazing-looking stallion.

Matesis watched as the pair moved away from him and hadn't moved while it occurred. He was accustomed to others being apprehensive of or avoiding him upon the first encounter face to face. It was something which occurred more often than not during the last five hundred years if not slightly longer. Most on the eastern continent would change that tune once they knew who he was. His name was known by most of the inhabitants of the eastern nations. That was the case as stories of his travels and accomplishments were told far and wide on the eastern continent. The stories of the "hero" were popular as far as Matesis had been told, and he was fine with that. Once most knew he was the hero, they were much less apprehensive around him and were happy to meet him in person.

Still, Matesis accepted the ending of the interaction even if it wasn't the ending he would've liked. He rose and returned to his seat as those on the train were shifting their attention away from him as he sat and leaned up against his pack. However, Matesis was uncomfortable now with the train car heating up shortly after the stop in the Crystal Empire. So, he stood up and removed his cloak leaving him in his skin-tight short sleeve shirt and mid upper-arm-length gloves. While he knew the shirt showed off the muscles he'd developed during his journeys, it didn't bother him. He stretched while he was standing before he moved back into his seat. If others were looking, they were welcome to since it didn't matter to him. As long as they left him alone for the trip to his destination of Ponyville, he was fine with that. He'd worked for the figure and form he had, there was nothing wrong with displaying it.

Cadance had gotten her wings to fold back to her sides after a minute. She had turned her head to get just one more view of the Minotaur stallion before she could force herself to not do such things. Cadance had then reasoned that she could let that be the end of her fascination with him before moving forward. However, she had to look his way when he had moved into the aisle and taken off his cloak. She couldn't help her eyes locking on his chest quicker than whatever had been going through her mind could stop her. The sight of his solid muscles was impossible for her to not look at. While some stallions had a nice build, it was not the same as what Cadance was taking in. Shining Armor hadn't had a build like she was seeing and his had been "okay" but not impressive. And Cadance was sure she wasn't the only mare who was watching the stallion as he removed the cloak.

She leaned out into the aisle to get a better look at Matesis. Cadance knew her staring could be seen as rude, but she couldn't help herself. Besides, her rude staring was covered by the many quiet sighs from the other mares confirming her expectation that there were others staring as she was. To tell the truth, Cadance wanted to have something like him in her life, even more so with recent events involving Shining Armor. Somepony that was a stallion with good-size muscles to go with his kindness, it was the perfect package as far as Cadance was concerned. And this Minotaur stallion as far as Cadance could tell fit that bill better than any other stallion she met. Cadance breathed in his direction and watched his arms stretch in the air, straining the veins and muscles to bulge for a second. Once again, she felt her attraction spike to her wings as they sprung out against and became stiff. He was just so exactly what Cadance wanted in a stallion she couldn't deny that and be honest with herself.

Matesis moved back into his seat leaving Cadance's heart stuttering from the view she had gotten. She hadn't seen him for long, a brief minute really even if it felt shorter than that. But it was the best minute she had experienced for a while and Cadance couldn't truthfully deny that. His muscles were nothing short of exquisite. They were large but nowhere close to the equivalent of other Minotaurs she'd seen, yet better than pony stallions tended to possess. He was a real fantasy for a mare like Cadance, though she wouldn't admit it out loud at this point. And his chest, dear Celestia, that oddly muscled chest just reeked of masculinity, even if he was a minotaur. Cadance's lips went dry over what she had seen of him. Cadance had to force herself to calm down, which took some work. She was a princess and a mother, she couldn't just go drooling over a stallion as she pleased even when Shining had been such an idiot. The last thing she wanted was Skyla to think she was pining for another stallion after what had happened between her and her father. Cadance tried to look elsewhere, oh did she ever try, but it was extremely difficult to do. Due to that, she knew it would be a long train ride to Ponyville.

Hours went by before the announcement of the next stop being "Ponyville." That brought Matesis out of the light dose he'd been in during the rest of the train ride. His destination was Ponyville due to the request he'd come to look into that had him leave Griffonia. The request had been for "tasks" which needed specific skill sets by what the form had said. The combat skills suggested to Matesis that one of those tasks was likely some sort of guard or protector duty. That in itself was fine and wouldn't necessarily catch his attention as it was common enough around Equus. Yet, to also want investigation skills had perked Matesis's interest and had him wondering what could be happening in this "Ponyville." He had decided to accept the interview after his intuition told him there was more to whatever was going on and that he should look into it.

His intuition had brought back to mind some incidences of "foalnapping" which had been happening as of late. There had been such incidences happening around the nations on the eastern continent. However, the leaders of those nations had been cracking down on those crimes which had minimized the occurrences. Matesis had assigned some from the Shadow Blade organization to look into the occurrences and how they could be related. But they hadn't been able to come back with solid evidence to connect any groups that Matesis knew of which may do such things. However, this was somewhat familiar to other times which there had been disappearances. Matesis hoped that he was just being paranoid about current events and not seeing something more.

Nevertheless, there hadn't been any word that the same type of thing had been happening in Equestria that Matesis could recall. In fact, there had been no signs that such might be happening around the western continent. He made a mental note to reach out to his "right hand" individual again in the organization and have them have some get what info they could about Equestria which was up to date. If such was happening around this Ponyville, Matesis assumed such was happening in other areas of Equestria and the western continent. Should that be the case, Celestia was slacking on the job she was supposed to be doing in Matesis's view. With Matesis's experience with Celestia, it wouldn't be shocking or a surprise for the mare to be slacking with her duties. She tended to be selfish more than Luna had been which had frustrated Matesis at times. Matesis had hoped the mare would do more and actually do her duty she had for her subjects. But it may be the case the mare was not doing that which would annoy and seriously disappoint Matesis.

Once the train came to a stop at the station, Matesis exited the train, his sling pack hoisted onto his back before turning toward town. He did catch a glance of the pink alicorn mare and her filly before as he was leaving the train station. He couldn't help but wonder what the two could be doing in a small town as Ponyville was supposed to be. Not that it was his business what they were doing around the town, but Matesis was still curious. He shook his head and put his hood up as he came out into a blizzard Ponyville was experiencing. Matesis had an interview to attend and likely look into whatever was happening around the town. Maybe he could find out what the two were doing later if the opportunity came up.

Cadance had guided Skyla off the train onto Ponyville's train station. She had kept an eye on the minotaur as he got off the train. She had tried to follow him as he headed toward town, but the crowd they had been in had made that impossible. She'd felt some sort of need to follow him and see where he was going in Ponyville, though Cadance couldn't explain why. However, after losing him, Cadance knew there were more pressing matters for her to attend to than following the minotaur stallion. She still couldn't figure out why she was so interested in him logically, but the feeling was still there and wouldn't leave her mind completely. Cadance hadn't even gotten the male's name or thanked him for fixing Skyla's doll. She had let her apprehension of the minotaur get the better of her at the time. But there was nothing Cadance could do at the moment about that with the minotaur disappearing off into town. Instead, Cadance guided Skyla into town to meet up with some that would hopefully help them. They would be going to Sugar Cube Corner a little later so she and her daughter could get something to eat before seeing Twilight Sparkle for more long-term help.

Matesis trudging down what seemed to be one of the main streets of the town from the station. He was searching for a building that could pass as a city hall which his "interview" was to take place per the request's information. It was supposed to be done by one "Mayor Mare" by what the form had stated. Matesis had Shadow Blade agents see what they could dig up on the individual in question before he had headed to Ponyville. What he'd been told was they hadn't gotten much on the mare other than she was the one who ran Ponyville and had been doing so for a while. There were no outstanding marks against or for the leader of the town which could be found. That wasn't a bad thing, but it didn't give Matesis much to go on for the interview he would be attending. He could only assume whatever was going on had this Mayor Mare worried enough to do something. Assumption was all Matesis had to go on as he didn't have the facts yet, so he would hold his judgment until he knew more.

However, Matesis was brought to a stop as he took in the general feel of the town. The last time Matesis had been in the nation of Equestria it had come off at first glance as a friendly place. It was what the dictating tyrant Noctis had wanted, though the background had been completely different. But as far as Matesis knew, Noctis was not running things anymore having given that job to Celestia. Thus, the feel of the nation should've changed drastically from what it had been when Matesis had lived around it. From what information Matesis had, Celestia had supposedly made Equestria into a peaceful and friendly place since taking over. However, this town was telling a completely different story to Matesis than the place Celestia was supposed to have made.

The air alone had Matesis falling back onto his warrior instincts. He became more alert and was taking in every little thing he could to build an accurate picture. Matesis scanned the area around him as he kept moving further into the town. What he saw was some ponies walking around town with expressions of concern and worry. That only fed the unsettling air that Matesis was picking up on. There were other signs that things weren't as "peaceful" as general facts he'd been told suggested it was. Granted, the relations between the eastern nations and Equestria weren't the best from what Matesis understood. But with him avoiding politics, he wasn't privy to what that entailed. He could say there was definitely a bad taste in the air of Ponyville. Matesis didn't like that point since it had a somewhat familiar flavor to it which he hadn't felt for a time. It made him all the more determined to see what was going on and have whatever it was looked into.

Matesis's intuition once again told him rather firmly things were more than just not right in this town and likely around Equestria. His intuition and warrior instincts had served him well during his journeys and he didn't see a reason that should change. The unsettling air motivated him to make his way through Ponyville to the city hall as efficiently as possible. Thus, he ignored the attention he was drawing from those he passed for not being a pony like them. Matesis knew his presence would be a mystery for a time until the town's inhabitants got used to him or he left. He didn't know how well-known the reputation he'd gained with his travels around the world had reached Equestria. He didn't doubt there would be some that would've heard of him with events such as Jaypan's fighting tournament he fought in. And with the nations of the eastern continent calling him a hero, that was yet another reason he could be known around Equestria. But Matesis focused on finding his destination and didn't pay attention to the weird stares and gazes that came his way.

However, along his way, Matesis came across a scene that brought him to a halt. In front of him was a unicorn mare with a white coat and an indigo-colored mane. She had azure eyes from what Matesis could see. What had brought Matesis to a halt was the mare was having a problem in the form of a stallion pulling on her satchel. The mare was fighting against the stallion who was trying to steal her satchel. Yet, it was obvious to Matesis that the stallion was winning the tug of war that was going on. While theft and the like weren't uncommon for Matesis to see, it wasn't something he personally got to see much anymore. The stuff he'd done around the eastern continent had revolutionized laws and more their enforcement for the eastern nations. Theft was a rarer thing to occur because of that and when it did, it was quickly dealt with. With Celestia in charge, he would've thought Equestria would not have the idea happening in broad daylight like this. In any case, Matesis wasn't one to leave one who hadn't chosen their situation to be what it was if he could help them with it. So, he began moving forward toward the two intending to break up the issue and send the stallion on their way.

Rarity had been out to do some shopping originally before she found herself in the situation, she was in. Her sister Sweetie Bell had asked for some things, and Rarity had agreed to retrieve the items. The snow was getting deep from the "blizzard," and it was certainly cold outside so Rarity couldn't blame Sweetie Bell for not going out. Plus, with the rumors of foalnappings going around, so Rarity was worried about Sweetie Bell's safety and didn't want her out alone. Rarity had thought it would be a quick errand, but it had taken a turn that she hadn't expected. A pegasus stallion had come up and had grabbed the strap of her satchel and had tried to pull it away from her. Of course, Rarity had held onto her satchel and hadn't let it be taken from her, "Release my satchel, you ruffian," she had snapped at the pegasus. However, the response she had gotten had been for snow to be thrown in her face. "I said let go. This is a one-of-a-kind satchel signed by Sapphire Shores herself!"

Matesis had almost reached the pair when he heard the mare's voice. It had a French-like accent in it which stood out to him or Prance as was the equivalent on Equus. She sounded panicked and aware she was losing the fight she was in. The pegasus kept pulling on the strap, "All the reason for me to take it," the masked stallion chuckled. His hoof reached for a small knife while the mare tugged harder before falling on her rump into the snow. Matesis wasn't going to let the stallion hurt the mare, that wasn't a part of his character. Whether the stallion had to be scared to some degree or was smart and left, that would be up to them. Matesis waved a hand to have snow rise to mask his approach to the pair. He got behind the pegasus and grabbed the stallion's hoof before they could use the knife.

Rarity had blinked as she had thought the knife would be coming down at her. Yet, then there had been a blast from the blizzard which had blinded her for a moment. When that had cleared and she gazed in front of her, she saw was the last thing she had imagined she would witness. A different creature had appeared and was holding the stallion which had been about to attack Rarity. She glanced over the stallion she was unfamiliar with and couldn't say what he was. He kind of looked like a Minotaur which Rarity had seen in a book once. However, he was preventing the Pegasus from doing Rarity harm so she wouldn't be complaining about that.

Matesis kept his grip on the stallion's leg firm so they couldn't use the knife. "I would suggest that you drop the knife and leave while you still have a chance," Matesis stated calmly. He normally didn't seem intimidating to most, more so with the "hero's persona" many said he had. However, with his lack of verbal aggression in his voice and hollow look in his eyes currently, he came off as scary individual. When he still had little emotional control before what had occurred during his journeys, especially the stuff around two centuries ago, his composure would have been strained by this point. Noctis had really tried the patience that Matesis had when he'd arrived on Equus. Some may say he was almost too calm and collected for his own good in situations like this one. Most would instinctually react to his persona and back down the majority of the time which worked out for all parties concerned.

The different voice had drawn the pegasus stallion's attention. The unfamiliar creature holding his hoof right now was putting off an aura that sent serious chills down the Pegasus's spine. The stallion couldn't help but think, "Where the hay did this freak come from?" The pegasus did try to break the hold on his hoof but the strength of the strange creature was beyond his own. By the Princesses, the hold didn't budge in the slightest against the stallion's efforts. It felt stronger and colder than steel shackles. That increased the fear that was flowing through the stallion at the appearance of the creature. The chances of the stallion being able to best this freak was slim to none, the pegasus could see that in seconds. So, with his fear screaming at him, he quickly chose the best decision he could and dropped the knife. Once the knife fell into the snow, Matesis let go of the stallion. The pegasus stumbled back a few steps from Matesis staring at him with wide eyes. All the signs which had been shown said he had essentially no chance to overcome the unknown creature. It was far more likely the pegasus would be hurt or killed if he stayed around this stranger.

Matesis merely kept gazing unfeeling toward the Pegasus, waiting for whatever the stallion would do. It was clear to Matesis that the stallion had figured out their current situation was bad and if he stayed it wouldn't get any better. It was a normal reaction to fear Matesis after he "stepped in" to correct some sort of behavior. Ponies of other nations besides Equestria had one of two reactions. Those that followed rules and laws appreciated his presence around, while those who did the opposite feared him. It came with him being seen as a hero and his efforts to make the eastern continent's nations safer.

It seemed a long moment later before the pegasus scrambled and got away from Matesis. Matesis watched as the stallion running, still amused at the speed ponies could seem to have when they were "properly" motivated. He still couldn't help but wonder how a stallion could run so fast with his tail tucked between their legs and not trip or get caught up in it. It was something to see which Matesis had never thought he would witness before getting to Equus. He couldn't help the soft chuckle at the fear bullies showed when they faced someone who was stronger than them. "Seeing bullies flee in fear after being stood up to never gets old," Matesis said to himself. "It serves them right for the choice of what they do to others."

Rarity was still trying to process what had just happened. One moment, a pegasus stallion was trying to mug her. She had tripped on her own hooves trying to get away from the stallion and ended up in the snow. The next, that same stallion was racing away from a strange creature which had seemingly just appeared out of nowhere from the ongoing blizzard. She hadn't lost her satchel because of the stranger, and that was something good to work with. The odd laugh which had come from the stranger at the stallion running was a tad unsettling. But as the stranger had helped Rarity, they couldn't be all bad. Rarity couldn't help but think, well, it's certainly nice to know that somepony has gallantry in their heart.

Matesis shifted his attention to the mare that was still sitting in the snow. If he'd seen correctly, she had stumbled over her own hooves trying to back away from the stallion. It was a classic "damsel in destress" scene for Matesis. He came across such from time to time, though it had been a while since the last time. While living in Griffonia, there had been a lack of what one would call damsels in destress. Female griffons didn't do the damsel in destress thing, they saw such as embarrassing, a shot to their natural pride, and a show of weakness. They were more inclined to claw any that thought they couldn't take care of themselves. And Matesis had seen clawing from female griffons could give and it tended to be worse than their male counter parts. "Are you alright, miss," Matesis inquired. "You did just go through quite an experience."

Rarity glanced up at the stallion and found kind eyes in the stranger. While she may not know what the stranger was exactly, he had helped her against the pegasus mugger. Matesis held out a hand to the mare to help her up from the ground. Rarity looked at the offered "appendage" curious since she didn't know what it was. It appeared similar to her dear Spikey-wikey's claws but without the talons. Yet, Rarity put her hoof in the appendage and the stranger pulled her gently up from the ground and out of the snow. Once on her hooves, Rarity smiled in thanks to the stranger. Matesis blinked at the smile since he was used to odd and bewildered looks. "Thank you, darling," Rarity remarked while dusting herself off. "If you had not come to my rescue, I would have been short of my prized satchel and groceries."

Matesis didn't mind helping as he could, it was kind of second nature for him and one of the reasons he was called a hero by many. It had become so over the countless years he'd had journeyed since his exile. And helping others had the tendency for them to be willing to return the gesture should he needed it. Plus, it set him apart from the "family" he had after arriving on Equus being much different than they were outside the public eye. However, Matesis didn't know the way to Ponyville's city hall which he was supposed to meet for his "interview." He'd just been wandering around hoping he would find the place, but that hadn't happened thus far. Perhaps, this mare could direct him to where Ponyville's city hall was. Matesis at least hoped the mare could, he was running out of time before the appointment. The time his interview was set for was not that far away. "It's no trouble at all, ma'am." Matesis returned. "I certainly hope you weren't hurt."

Rarity couldn't explain what it was about this stranger's voice. His voice brought a calming sensation to her which she appreciated after what had happened to her. A small wave of peace ran through her body as they shook hoof and hand. The wave went up, surrounding her entire body somehow. She could feel something about him that made her stress disappear, and wouldn't you know it would be his friendly smile under that hood? Matesis continued, "Again, it was no trouble at all." He lowered his cloak's hood, "But would be so kind as to tell me where City Hall happens to be?" Matesis smiled a little, "I'm supposed to be there in the next ten minutes or so to meet someone known as Mayor Mare."

The unicorn nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving his for the simple fact of curiosity. What could've brought a creature such as the stranger to Ponyville? And why would he be meeting with Mayor Mare for? Not that it was any of Rarity's business to know the reasons the stranger was doing around Ponyville. Yet, she just couldn't help but wonder about the questions. However, as the stranger had asked where City Hall was, she could give him that information. "Yes, I can tell you where City Hall is," Rarity answered. She turned from Matesis and pointed to the tallest building in the short distance still visible through the blizzard. From what Matesis could see, the building which the mare pointed to was in some sort of square or plaza the town had. The structure certainly fit the image of a "town or city hall" in Matesis's mind. "Go straight down this path and walk towards that building. There you will find Mayor Mare."

The mare had done him a service by pointing him in the direction he needed to go. And yet, now that Matesis thought about it, he didn't know the name of the mare he'd helped out. "Thank you, Miss," Matesis started, leaving the phrase open for her to supply her name. It wasn't strange to Matesis talking to someone he had little to no idea about. While it was rarer for him to do that than it used to be decades if not a century or more ago, he knew it was the opposite for others. And Matesis wasn't the only one who realized names hadn't been exchanged between them. Rarity was a tad embarrassed that she hadn't given her name to the one who had saved her. "Forgive me," Rarity started, "Rarity is my name, Mister..." Matesis bowed slightly, "Matesis Solum."

"Matesis Solum," Rarity repeated, tapping her chin with her hoof at his name. The name was definitely an unusual one that one didn't hear every day around Equestria. And while she wasn't one to ponder names normally, the one she'd just heard bounced around her head. There was something about it which was ringing a bell of familiarity which Rarity couldn't dismiss. He wasn't a previous customer or a friend of the past, Rarity was sure she would recall one such as him. His clothes stuck out from what was normally seen around Equestria. Not that Rarity didn't think his outfit didn't fit him somehow, for it certainly did. But somewhere in her past was a vague memory of a client talking about someone by that name, she was relatively sure of that. "Now where have I heard that name before?"

Matesis felt it was best for him to move along and "vanish" from notice while there was the opportunity. He knew the reputation he'd gained along his journeys was known by enough to draw attention. Matesis didn't want to deal with any potential "fans" he may have around this town if there were any. Not that he had anything against his fans, but they were clingy from past experience and Matesis wasn't interested in dealing with that right now. What was worse, Matesis didn't want to have a chance of standing out enough for Celestia to notice and look into his presence. So, as Rarity was musing about hearing his name somewhere, Matesis took that chance to leave. He turned and headed down the road the mare had gestured down before he slipped behind a building along the road.

"Certainly, we've never met before, have we?" Rarity thought she was talking to Mr. Solum as she had been asking her question. However, when she looked back to where Matesis had been, she found herself talking to the air. It alarmed her that she might have pondered his name a little longer than usual, but how was the stranger there when she took a moment for herself but gone the next? Maybe he went his way after giving his name, but there was no way to tell. Rarity frowned after spinning in place to see which direction he could've gone, but, alas, he was nowhere to be found. "I know I was not imagining things. He was here a second ago," she said to herself before shrugging the confusion. "Oh well, I need to get back to my store and cook. Sweetie Belle is probably hungry by this point."

Matesis weaved between the buildings to avoid drawing too much attention to himself. He'd already done more than enough for that for himself by taking care of the pegasus mugger. A job around here shouldn't be doing things which made them stand out too much. There had been no mention in the letter which Matesis had seen as to what type of tasks would be expected. All that had been written was "to be discussed" about what he could be doing should he accept the post. Matesis couldn't see any job or tasks around this Ponyville requiring him to be an all-out hero as he was required to be sometimes. However, he didn't take that as the final word on whether he would have to do things he'd had learned on his journey. Strange things did have a chance of happening around Matesis which required him to do "unexpected" or "odd" things. Matesis approached City Hall ignoring the ponies that were giving him apprehensive looks along the way.

M atesis entered the building and glanced around as the sun was setting. He spotted what appeared to be some sort of desk secretaries would use. There were seats in front of the desk with an Earth Pony mare behind the desk. Matesis assumed the mare was the city hall's secretary or something akin to a receptionist. Since his interview was in a little over five minutes, Matesis moved to the collection of chairs. He slipped off his pack and sat in one of the chairs, letting out a sigh. Matesis wondered if it was wise of him to accept this interview in Ponyville. He had planned to leave Griffonia to take up traveling again, for a change of pace. He could've kept going and gotten off somewhere before Las Pegasus or even Seaddle. There was also the southern route which Matesis could've gone down. The jungles to the south and even Hilltop were interesting and then there were the seas beyond them.

Nevertheless, something in him said this Ponyville had need of him. What that whisper could be, Matesis couldn't begin to guess. He hadn't even considered coming back to Equestria once since their Illustrious Princess Celestia had chased him out and into exile. That day had hurt Matesis, not just because the irritating dictating fool had obtained a couple of solid victories against him and others, though that was harsh enough. No, it had been because Matesis had been betrayed by those he'd come to care about. Those he thought had come to love and accept him for who he was and wanted to be had turned on him. Luna had been corrupted into a monster through her "exploring" the dark arts. He'd tried to help Luna see what Noctis had been doing, but the stallion had gotten ahead of him. Matesis fully blamed her father Noctis for Luna becoming Nightmare Moon coming to pass. After all, the stallion had made it clear he hated Matesis even if Noctis and his loyal lap dogs denied it when any mentioned it.

When he had first arrived on Equus, Matesis had thought ponies were different than humans. It had seemed so with what Matesis had seen back then at first glance. However, it hadn't taken long observing Noctis to see the assumption couldn't be further from the truth. Noctis had been a shoe in for the definition of a dictator and tyrant. Yet, Equus didn't seem to know about dictators in the way humans had learned of them. They didn't see the signs nor the dangers of such types of individuals. After seeing that with Noctis, Matesis had started seeing other similarities with the inhabitants of Equus and humans. And Noctis had proven the point over and over again. Case and point, Matesis had watched Noctis lead his own daughter into being a corrupt monster without her seeing it. And with how Luna and Celestia believing their father over essentially everyone else, nothing Matesis and others had said had helped prevent crap Noctis had done.

If what happened to Luna and then Nightmare Moon then stabbing him in the chest hadn't been horrible enough to deal with, what had come after that had only made things worse. Matesis had thought he would die that day, only to find out later Nightmare Moon had used her magic to make him immortal. As Matesis had been dealing with being stabbed by Nightmare Moon's horn and the dark magic she had injected taking hold, Celestia had appeared. Matesis had tried to tell Celestia to stop and not do anything rash, but the mare hadn't listened to him. No, Celestia had banished her own sister after her father had ordered her to do so. While the "relationship" between Matesis and Celestia had been going badly at that time, she was on good terms with her sister Luna. With the bond between the two sisters, Matesis would've thought Celestia would question Noctis with his order or hesitate at the very least. That was be the logical and expected response to being told one that you love can't be saved. However, Celestia hadn't hesitated, just done what her "daddy" had told her as she tended to.

Matesis had managed to shake off the effects of Nightmare Moon's attack, but when he did, Nightmare was gone. It had taken a moment for him to process at the time what had occurred to Luna. It had been Celestia demanding to know what had happened which had the whole situation to sink in for Matesis back at the time. Celestia had been waved off by her father as Matesis had slipped away from the two. Matesis then sought out and confronted Noctis to get his reason for corrupting Luna out of the stallion. The answer was what Matesis had expected, but it had still hurt with the way it was delivered. Noctis had knowingly led his daughter to be "corrupted" in order to separate Luna and Matesis from one another. He had stated the point with an infuriating smirk on his face. That smirk had snapped something in Matesis, and he had lost his temper completely at the time. That had led to a fight between Matesis and Noctis with Matesis trying to do whatever he could to injure and make the stallion pay for what he'd done.

That fight hadn't lasted long before Celestia had come upon it. And much like the previous issue with Luna, Celestia hadn't helped anything. Granted, she had managed to separate Noctis and Matesis, but that was when everything went to hell. Matesis would've fully explained to Celestia what Noctis had done and the reason he was out to do him harm if he had the chance. He'd hoped that Celestia would perhaps believe him for once and see her father for the horrible individual he really was. However, before Matesis could say anything in his defense or an explanation, Noctis had spouted lies. It was normal for the stallion from what Matesis had found. The issue was his daughters took Noctis's word over others the majority of the time. Thus, Noctis had thrown Matesis "under the bus" back then. The point was something Noctis seemed to go out of his way to do when it came to Matesis.

With how things had been going between Celestia and Matesis, he knew things wouldn't end well at the time. That wasn't an excuse, nor did it make her complete betrayal any nicer nor easier to experience. Their strained relationship Matesis attributed that to Noctis's efforts which he cursed. It was a sort of gift that Noctis seemed to have, the stallion could ruin and corrupt nearly anything he touched. But the stallion's inclination to lie was the main standing issue with Matesis, Luna, and Celestia when it came to their relationships with one another. Celestia and Luna trusted and essentially worshiped their father while Matesis didn't in the slightest. Matesis had seen the stallion for what he'd really been and likely still was wherever he was now. It hadn't taken long after Matesis's arrival to Equus and being taken in to see the point. Celestia's father was a horrible dictator, plain and simple, even if a subtle one.

The other "side" thing which the betrayal had affected were the plans which had been in the works to change things for Equestria back then. Noctis's way of ruling had been catching up with the stallion even if he didn't know it. The majority of Equestria's citizens didn't want the stallion leading the nation. There was even the majority of Equestria's nobility that wanted Noctis dethroned. The plans which had been in the works had been working toward dethroning the dictator through an uprising and rebellion. Key individuals were being put in place so that when the rebellion started, none of Noctis's loyal dogs would be able to do anything to help him. Heck, the soldiers around the capital back at the time were on the side of the rebellion and were ready to participate. Noctis showed no signs of knowing anything about the planned rebellion which was coming. Matesis was to be the leader of that and spearhead dethroning Noctis.

However, thanks to Celestia siding with Noctis, the rebellion plan had been thwarted. Instead, Celestia had to deal with the exodus that happened over the next few years of many of Equestria's citizens among other things. It showed Celestia just how much Matesis had been doing a lot to keep things running somewhat smoothly for the nation. The fallout as a whole that had come Matesis saw as consequences Celestia suffered for not listening to him trying to tell her the truth. And from what he'd heard, the mare hadn't learned the lesson of the truth being better than lies since she had taken control of Equestria.

Originally, Matesis had avoided Equestria to not have to deal with the stallion that was Celestia's father or Celestia herself. There were just so many old wounds that he had let go of to move forward from he didn't want to deal with again. He didn't doubt Celestia would be more than happy to rip back those wounds open with him without hesitation. The time away from Equestria had been what Matesis needed to be settled and let go of the betrayal and upheaval his life had been shoved into. The years of traveling and journeying had done wonders, both good and bad. Matesis had been forced to see many things. Equus wasn't the "peaceful" and "nice" place he had thought upon arrival. It had around as many problems as Earth did, just in different forms.

That was what Matesis had become involved in off and on for the last millennium, trying to improve things around Equus with the knowledge he had and acquired. And while it may have seemed a lost cause for a long period of time, Matesis didn't think he did half bad at the idea. He'd made life-long friends which their descendants now carried on said friendships. Matesis had helped countries transform into the powerful nations they were today, even if he didn't take the credit for the work. The eastern two continents were far better after Matesis and others hard work. And Matesis couldn't help but smile slightly at the thought of the countries over there could wave off Equus's "council" as they pleased. It was Matesis's way of telling the council to go buck themselves for their illusions of power they fooled themselves they had. Plus, the council was Noctis's work which Matesis was happy to wreck as he could. That seemed to get under the stallion's fur better than anything else.

As Matesis was lost in his thoughts, the mare who was Mayor Mare's secretary and receptionist couldn't help but stare at the stranger who had come into city hall. Sure, Mayor Mare had said something to the effect that a "different looking minotaur" had shown interest in the job offer she had put out. The stranger did bear some resemblance to minotaurs, but he was certainly different than any of the pictures of minotaurs in general. Heck, the secretary didn't even know what the job offer Mayor Mare had put out was for. All that had been said was to put the envelope which Mayor Mare had given her in the outgoing post. Only later had the secretary found out she was looking into getting a town guard to help comfort some of the citizens in town. Sure, there were the rumors of foalnappings as of late around Equestria recently supposed to have happened close to Ponyville. Yet surely Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends would deal with that should it be true and become a real problem.

The secretary did offer the stranger a cup of hot chocolate to be polite. Matesis accepted the offer without getting up, still thinking about what could be ahead. As the mare had gone off to assumedly make the cup of hot chocolate, Matesis glanced at the desk's surface. What caught his interest was a folder which had his name on it along with several seals on it. A moment after glancing at the seals, Matesis couldn't hold in the sigh which escaped him. He knew the seals as he had traveled through and helped each of the countries they represented. The folder seemed rather thick, which suggested there was a lot of information within it. That could cause issues depending on what could be inside that folder.

Matesis's image may not be as known in Equestria as other places. The Griffons had grown to respect him, and many had tried to emulate him the best they could. The dragons had called him friend at one time, but it had been a while since Matesis had been around the Dragon Lands so that could've changed. But the last he was around them, they had treated him as one of their own per the dragon lord's insistence. All Felines seemed to know who Matesis was even if he'd never met them face to face. They were willing to do whatever he asked them to help without question as a sign of their respect and admiration for his work in Panthera. Then the hippogriffs and sea-ponies had always loved him visiting their lands and asked him to see them often.

Matesis knew his reputation was hard to argue, but it would've been nice to not have it broadcast to this town. He didn't want the attention of Celestia or those like her to come onto him. That would make the amount of the work he'd done in the last thousand years go to waste. Her father Noctis had been a real pain to shake off of Matesis. The stallion was a stubborn one, Matesis would give him that. However, with the help of some, Matesis had made it appear he'd died then changed his name and appearance. As far as Matesis had been able to tell, Noctis had bought his fake death and thought he gotten rid of Matesis. The fact that Matesis was human didn't come up anymore after his "death," which helped Matesis not be found out for who he used to be.

Even after all that happened, Matesis still cared about Celestia and Luna even if others said he shouldn't. He had loved Celestia, one could say unconditionally, and that was still true even now to an extent. However, the "romantic" feelings and relationship there had once been had become but a smoldering ember if not less. He didn't want to deal with Celestia being as she had been right before his exile. She and Luna had come off as piners which would latch onto that which they knew and wanted if given the chance. Should or he feared rather when their paths would cross again whenever that was in the future, things would be different. Matesis had been nice and "coddled" them since he really had loved them. But he wouldn't do that for them anymore, they had shown such wouldn't help. They needed the truth and not "white lies" that had been fed to them for much of their lives. If that hurt their feelings, that was their issue, not his anymore.

The other reason Matesis hadn't come back to Equestria was it served as a reminder of Luna turning into a corrupted monster sealed in the Moon more than just looking at the moon. He had tried to save Luna from the effects of dark magic, oh had he tried to save her from the coming corruption. It was his way of trying to come to terms with the loss of another who had been corrupted by Noctis before her as well as loving her. Matesis had gotten close to pulling Luna out of the path she had been on, but Noctis had wrecked those efforts. And with Luna banished, that left Celestia alone to brood about things which rarely if ever went well for any around her. Matesis wasn't feeling inclined to give that mare the chance to try and force herself back into his life anytime in the near future. She would unload and complain before there would be any potential change would come for her.

That led to the main personal issue Matesis had with Celestia. She was the type that held grudges and wouldn't let them go, even when it would do far more harm than good to hold onto them. The "grudge" which came to mind the most centered around the death of another which had been connected to them. It had been Noctis's fault as it normally was, but Celestia wouldn't hear ill of her father. Matesis had no interest in those wounds ripped back open after he had let them go. She really should move on from someone like him so she could potentially improve herself. To tell the truth, Matesis could be dangerous to Equestria's standing should he wish to be. He could turn other countries against it should he have a reason, not that he did right now. But he had more influence than Celestia did, even when she would deny that.

But perhaps he could take a simple job in this little quiet town and get a break from the multiple crises the world seemed to create and host. At least, things should be quiet since Matesis and some others had sealed the back entrance to Tartarus which was on an Island in the Crystal Sea. There was now only the main entrance to the hell-like place which happened to be in the Northern Wastes. And that way into Tartarus was guarded by the "dog" which contrary to general belief was trained by Matesis himself. Most said it was Celestia or something like that which Matesis shook his head at. Creating Cerberus hadn't been an easy thing, it had taken Matesis and other a lot of work and the training of the dog had been just as involved. But with Tartarus essentially locked down, the past "evils" the world had forgotten were not an issue for the time being.

The secretary returned with the cup of hot chocolate which shifted Matesis's attention off the folder with the seals. He thanked the mare for the cup though when he tasted the liquid, he was left to wonder. How could a pony take a drink which Matesis had come to love and twist it into something that tasted so horrible? Hot chocolate shouldn't be that hard to make, especially if it was made from a mix as it tends to be these days. And yet, somehow, Ponyville's city hall's secretary had managed to take a beloved drink and made it into something hard to get down and not shutter with how it tasted. It took control to not let his gag reflex to hit him and show the drink was horrid. However, as the mare had been nice enough to get him the drink and more with her still in the room, Matesis couldn't in good conscience dump the cup's contents out into something. It was one of those times in which Matesis wondered if the manners that he'd developed over the years were worth using.

While Matesis was sipping the "hot chocolate," the secretary mare opened the folder which contained information on city hall's guest. The mare began scanning over the pages the folder had inside. The first pages got the mare to wonder just who the stranger sitting across from her. There were references from several countries among the nations on the eastern continent Equus had. The references alone were odd as any that could have such potential recommendations wouldn't have a reason to be around Ponyville. The more the secretary read, the more she was impressed at what was in the folder. There was also a list of "skills" the minotaur was supposed to have and was able to use. Some of them were believable, but there were others which just seemed impossible to be true.

There came a point where the secretary looked up from the file and stared at Matesis. He could feel the gaze being directed his way, but he ignored it. The mare couldn't figure out why the stranger who was clearly powerful and had influence would come to a town like Ponyville. This minotaur would fit more in a place like Canterlot talking with the Princesses. The collection of titles in the files said he was more than he seemed. Thus, there had to be a reason behind his history of this "minotaur" that was called a hero by the eastern nations. Yet, there were others that called him "Last Shadow." That was among the concerning titles in the file which stuck out. It was a name which the griffons and felines would refer to when talking about dangerous creatures and the one who would slay them. What could make an individual like that? What drove him to be some sort of war machine? That's what Equestria said about this Matesis Solum, that he was a warrior and leader during times of conflict and war.

"Mr. Solum," the secretary began. Matesis picked up on the tones of concern which the mare had. The mare had been apprehensive about him before which was kind of normal for Matesis. He looked up from the cup he'd been sipping on but said nothing, waiting for the mare to keep going. The secretary saw the minotaur still wasn't looking up at her nor did he say anything which was kind of odd. Still, the mare took his silence as a signal for her to keep going, "Are you aware that the recommendations for a town guard position are quite below the standards given by others from countries you have served state in this file?"

Matesis looked up at the secretary at hearing a town guard position, for it was the first time he'd heard of any specific position. All that had been on the "application" which Matesis had read had been a list of desired skill for possible "tasks" that could come up. Not that Matesis had an issue with doing the duties expected of a town guard when it came down to it. He'd done the idea several times before this and had done so beyond the expectations of those who asked the job of him. While it had been some time since he'd guarded a "small" town, it would be a nice change of pace for Matesis. It should be much easier and less work-involved than being a general or some of the other jobs he'd stepped into. "Well, that's the first I've heard about a town guard position," Matesis replied calmly. "All I read on the request was the skills which were being asked for to complete tasks that could come up. I'm hoping that in the interview I can be told what could be happening that would need the skills listed. But to answer your implied question, I have nothing against the position of a simple guard of a small town as some might. Whether I accept such will depend on what you Mayor tells me in the interview."

The secretary was a tad confused at the reply given to her. It suggested that Mayor Mare hadn't put in the issue the town was dealing with on whatever she sent out. Granted, the foalnappings weren't "public knowledge" but rumors were flying around the town causing unrest. But the mare couldn't help but wonder what Mayor Mare had been hoping for in the town guard position. "Then you aren't aware of what has been happening," she asked. Matesis shrugged, "Not specifically. I've not been around Equestria for some time now, so I can't say I'm up on the latest news and rumors going around the nation. Perhaps you could enlighten me Miss," he left the sentence open for the Mare to give her name. "Vanilla Mane," the mare replied. Matesis inclined his head, "Miss Vanilla Mane, I just happened to read the request for specialized skills this town's leader put out. So, I have no idea what need there is for a town guard."

Vanilla still couldn't figure out the minotaur Mr. Solum. If the files in the folder were correct about him, then he was beyond qualified as a guard, and that was putting it mildly. Vanilla had heard a story or two about the eastern continent's hero. He was a force to be reckoned with for those that stood against him. As Mr. Solum was such an individual, he could go to other places and make many more bits than working in Ponyville could ever offer him. It all came back to the question of why one such as Mr. Solum would come to Ponyville to help with issues? "With your skills," she began, "You could go elsewhere and make far more bits than Ponyville could ever pay you."

Matesis chuckled softly at the mention of "money" in relation to the job he was here to see about doing. When it came to money and other monetary things, Matesis had more than he knew what to do with. He'd been offered more to do all sorts of things he would do for far less than offered. He had bank accounts in Jaypan, Prance, Saddle Arabia, and Panthera to store the money he'd been earning since his exile had begun. Those accounts were so full collectively that he could retire for several centuries, not have to work and live comfortably in a place of his choosing. "Doing work for others stopped being about the monetary gains quite some time ago for me," Matesis remarked. "So, I kindly ask you not assume I'm considering taking this job for the money being offered. I have more than enough bits stored away to retire for centuries comfortably. I choose to do the things I do because I feel they are the right thing to be done."

Vanilla hadn't meant to imply Mr. Solum was only working for the money. Yes, there was a mention in the files that Mr. Solum was "ageless." It was also suspected he could be some kind of immortal being. Such types of individuals tended to be rare on Equus, so meeting one was extremely unlikely. And Mr. Solum was nothing like the Princesses were supposed to be like, which was the only real reference Vanilla had for immortals like most did. She was trying to think of what else she could say, but before she came up with anything the sound of the doorknob behind her was heard. When the secretary mare turned to gaze at the door behind her, Matesis took the opportunity to dump the rest of the liquid in the cup into the planter next to him. The "drink" he'd been given had been a very hard to get down without gagging and spitting it up. He was more than happy to dump the rest and not have to drink it. However, he didn't want the mare to see him dump the cup and say the drink she'd gotten for him was horrible, that would be impolite.

Mayor Mare had gotten the paperwork that had brought to her this morning. Now she would love some lunch before getting any more to work on. She would of course get a meal for her guest as well with her own. Then there was the "interview" scheduled for today. The acceptance of the request Mayor Mare had her secretary mail out to other countries beyond Equestria was nice. Ponyville needed help with all that was happening lately around Ponyville. Not that Mayor Mare didn't have confidence in Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends. However, the foalnappings were happening more frequently and getting closer to Ponyville. Mayor Mare wanted to get ahead of potential issues, especially foalnappings if they did come to town.

Princess Sparkle had a lot on her plate, and this was more an issue for Ponyville to deal with which was Mayor Mare's responsibility. Equestria's princesses were all "busy" with the running of the nation. Thus, Mayor Mare felt it would be best to look outside of Equestria for the needed assistance. So, she had put out the request to get someone who had the best skills to look into and potentially stop the foalnappings altogether. It wasn't a "friendship problem," Princess Sparkle specialized in along with her friends. This was a different type of problem from anything the Princess had dealt with before. And Mayor Mare had already tried to get her to help with the issue, but the princess had ended up waving her off as this issue was being worked on already. With that in mind, there was no real need to involve Princess Sparkle even if the Princesses depended on the young alicorn to save Equestria from a great deal.

What had been a tad surprising was the one who had accepted Mayor Mare's request. Sure, she had heard the name Solum. It belonged to a known warrior that worked around the eastern nations. Solum was supposed to have been instrumental in transforming the east from a fairly dangerous area into a secure and peaceful land. The stallion also had the titles of general and sage from many of those who knew him. He was the reigning champion of the fighting tournament which Equus held every couple of years as well. If anyone could help with the foalnappings and stop those doing it, Mr. Solum certainly would be able to. And while Mayor M are couldn't say why such an accomplished warrior would accept the request, she wasn't going to question it. Her secretary Vanilla Mane was told to keep an eye out for Mr. Solum and inform her when he arrived. So, Mayor Mare opened the door just a crack, "Vanilla, is there anything else I need to sort out before going on my lunch break?"

Vanilla was a tad relieved at hearing Mayor Mare's voice. The air in the room had been getting awkward and she didn't like that. "Yes ma'am," Vanilla replied, "there is one more thing." Vanilla didn't want to deal with Mr. Solum for the time being, there was just something about him that made her uneasy. "Mr. Solum has arrived for the interview you mentioned. You said you wanted to be informed about that and I was just about to come tell you."

Mayor Mare was pleased to hear Mr. Solum had arrived at Ponyville's city hall. She had hoped that he would get here as soon as he could. Mayor Mare's requests had been mailed out around a week ago. And there had been some changes in the situation which were becoming worrisome. If Mr. Solum could help solve and stop the foalnappings, then Mayor Mare wanted him to get to that as quickly as possible. Plus, Mayor Mare didn't want Mr. Solum to have issues due to her secretary's "poor" brewing skill. The young mare was great at organization and general paperwork. However, the drinks she made tasted horrible and were difficult to get down on a good day. "Ah, so he's here," Mayor Mare replied excitedly. "Well do let him in then. I would rather not have him fall ill from your poor skills of drink brewing."

Vanilla was taken aback by the last sentence Mayor Mare had said. The leader of Ponyville had always drank the coffee and other drinks that Vanilla had made for her. And Mr. Solum had done the same, so Vanilla couldn't believe the comment of poor brewing skill. "Hey! I make great coffee and hot chocolate," Vanilla yelled. Matesis held in the gag that desperately tried to get out of him recalling the "taste" of the hot chocolate he'd dumped into the planter. The young mare may have great secretary skills, Matesis couldn't say yet, but brewing drinks certainly wasn't a talent of hers. "You drink what I make you every time!"

Vanilla was a nice mare and a great secretary, Mayor Mare would admit that. It was why she waited for Vanilla to leave the room before dumping the drinks she brought into the flower boxes within her office. Mayor Mare tried to be nice and not call out Vanilla's shortcoming, but she was bringing up the subject. "I've avoided stating the point due to the good work you do, Vanilla," Mayor Mare started. "But the drinks you bring I dump into the flower boxes in my office after you leave the room. You tend to add too much sugar or something else which makes the liquid in the cups you bring extremely hard to get down."

Matesis didn't want to be involved in this argument, so he rose, moved forward and put the mug on the desk. Then he walked through the door into Mayor Mare's office so he could get to the interview he was in Ponyville for. After entering the office, Matesis spotted an Earth pony filly sitting in a corner, trying to look small and not be noticed. The filly had a cream-colored fur coat with a yellow mane which was somewhat messy and covered her eyes. Matesis was a tad curious why a filly would be in Mayor Mare's office. She was supposed to be interviewing him, not hosting a child as far as Matesis would assume. But Matesis wasn't one to point out oddities of others or their choices unless there was a serious need to do so. Perhaps, the filly had something to do with whatever it was that Mayor Mare wanted his help with. Matesis's attention shifted when Mayor Mare came into the office and shut the door behind herself.

Mayor Mare closed the door to her office so there could be some privacy with this interview. She glanced to the corner to see the filly was still there, not having moved. Mayor Mare still couldn't help but feel sorry for the filly since she had been unwittingly involved in the foalnappings. The poor filly hadn't said much as to what she could know about those who had been doing the foalnappings. It was Mayor Mare's hope that Mr. Solum could get the filly to open up and tell him what she knew. According to his file, Mr. Solum was extremely good with the young he was around. Some of the leaders of other countries would mention or rave about the point. Mayor Mare turned her attention back to the man, "Mr. Solum," she greeted happily. Mayor Mare grabbed his "hoof" or what was the Minotaur equivalent and shook it with her hoof as Matesis said hello. "I'm so glad a minotaur like you could come to Ponyville. I was surprised when your reply came but I'm humbled and glad you accepted hearing my request."

Mayor Mare gestured to the seat in front of her desk which Matesis took. He took off his pack and set it down to the left of the chair. "Well, the skills requested caught my attention," Matesis replied calmly. "I hope you can give me more details about what is going on for you to ask for what you are." He leaned back in his chair and shrugged his shoulders, "Feel free to correct me should I be wrong, but the skills you put on your application aren't usually called for with normal jobs. Investigation skills would suggest that something is happening that either the public doesn't know about or doesn't know why it is occurring. And for you to ask for combat/fighting capabilities says, whatever it is that's going on is very unlikely something that can be settled through nice and logical means." Matesis leaned forward and gazed at Mayor Mare, "Please, tell me if I'm wrong and/or enlighten me as to what is going on."

Mayor Mare was impressed at Mr. Solum's intuition. His file had implied he had more than just a sharp intuition that he could employ and what he had just determined showed that was true. She hoped that intuition could help solve the foalnappings and stop them from happening in the future. The princesses didn't appear to be doing much if anything about the issue that she'd seen evidence of. They weren't really admitting publicly the foalnappings were occurring at all in Equestria. Even Princess Sparkle had seemed to dismiss the issue of the foalnappings as nothing but isolated incidents after doing a trace at Mayor Mare's request. Mayor Mare couldn't say if the youngest princess of Equestria was made aware of what was going on fully. Yet, it wasn't her place to know why the Princesses did what they did. But the danger was very real and had been getting closer to the town. It was why Mayor Mare had decided to deal with the matter herself for Ponyville.

That was what had brought Mr. Solum here and Mayor Mare hoped he would do what the Princesses wouldn't. Thus, Mayor Mare kept her warm smile and a calm head in the tense atmosphere which Mr. Solum had made. All the while, she watched the terrified filly poke her head out of the darkness the corner she hid in provided. "First, let me say I'm glad you came to our little town," Mayor Mare said. "I appreciate you are willing to give me the chance to explain what is going on and potentially the help you could provide with the issue." Matesis nodded but said nothing, waiting for the mare to keep going and give him details about the issue this town was having. The mention of a town guard made by the secretary said whatever the issue was could be more than concerning. Mayor Mare kept going, "Ponyville has not been the same in this last year. Everything that has happened affected many parents." Mayor Mare paused for a moment, "What have you heard about what has befallen Equestria in the last year, Mr. Solum?"

Matesis hadn't been listening to info that had come in about Equestria honestly. Sure, he still would have other put agents of the Shadow Blade keep eyes and ears around the nation. But Matesis didn't do much beyond that and listening to the general information that came from them. The last piece of information said that Celestia was still controlling the government if that was what one wanted to call it. Noctis had left it to her so he could go create his "precious council" to rule Equus from the shadows. Truthfully, Celestia having to deal with all that came with running a country by herself was the among the consequences she faced in Matesis's opinion. She could keep being her "daddy's little filly" as she pleased as long as Matesis didn't have to deal with the crap that came with that. "Not a great deal, haven't been around Equestria for a while now," Matesis stated, "So, I'm not up on the latest news." Mayor Mare frowned, "Then are you aware of the foalnappings that have been happening as of late?"

He was aware of incidents recently of children being taken in some places, it was an ongoing issue. Most of what he knew came from rumors going around and reports from the Shadow Blade agents looking into the kidnappings. According to the agents that had been looking into the rumors and incidents, there had been a few children taken in Saddle Arabia, Jaypan, the Hippogriff kingdom and one or two in Griffonia. The Shadow Blade agents were still working on tracing the source of the incidents. They had come to the conclusion one group was responsible for the kidnappings, which Matesis agreed with. Matesis had been starting to have Shadow Blade agents to start really coming down and finding those responsible before coming to Ponyville. Yet, Matesis hadn't been aware such had been happening around Equestria.

If there such was happening around Equestria, then the issue was getting worse quicker than predicted. Thus, Matesis nodded at the question, "I've heard rumors of such occurring in places. The eastern nations are investigating the problem as far as I know. However, I wasn't aware it was happening around Equestria as well." Matesis stopped wondering about the situation Equestria was apparently facing. Foalnappings wasn't something to ignore, that was encouragement for such to continue. That was basic logic for those who were horrible enough to do such crimes. But Mayor Mare was implying that the issue wasn't being looked into by those in Equestria. Matesis didn't want to believe that was the case, but evidence was pointing in that direction.

If things were going as they should in a sensible and good world, then Celestia should be dealing with the issue and stopping the idea from occurring. The mare had her faults, Matesis was well aware of that since he knew about several of them intimately. However, Celestia wasn't a dictator as her father Noctis was thankfully. No, Noctis would more likely be the type to support those behind the foalnappings. Selfish as Celestia may be, she still cared to a degree about her subjects. Because of that, Celestia should be expected to do what is best for her subjects, not ignore their needs. So, Matesis had to ask the question on his mind, "Isn't Equestria's Princess Celestia aware of the occurrences? And if she is, what is she doing about them? As the nation's ruler, it is her responsibility to protect her subjects, is it not?"

Mayor Mare didn't want to imply Princess Celestia was doing nothing about the foalnappings. But with no signs of the Princess doing anything to stop the foalnappings, it was hard to argue the contrary. And it sounded like Mr. Solum wasn't aware that Princess Luna had returned from her banishment. However, from the signs which Mayor Mare had seen, the two Princesses weren't doing anything in the open. Princess Sparkle had been waving off the foalnappings when Mayor Mare had tried bringing it up with her. She had said something to the effect that the Princesses were having the issue "looked into" but nothing more than that. Thus, as far as Mayor Mare knew, none of Equestria's leaders were doing much to help or hinder the foalnappings. "I can't say for sure," she admitted. "I think Princess Celestia is aware of the incidents, but I don't know much more than that. And you weren't aware that Princess Luna has returned?"

Matesis blinked at Mayor Mare saying that Luna had returned. He hadn't thought it could happen after Luna had been corrupted into the monster Nightmare Moon. Memories of that day still haunted him in his dreams from time to time. Losing her had hurt to be sure, he loved Luna so having to see her become a monster had been horrible, he'd rather his heart have been ripped out. But what had twisted the knife was the smirk that had been on Noctis's face when it had happened. That smirk had Matesis doing all he could to injure Noctis to get back at him for what he'd done to Luna. But Celestia coming in on the fight which then led to his banishment and exile had ended that point. "No, I hadn't heard she had returned," Matesis admitted somberly. "Like I said, I've not been around Equestria for a while." Mayor Mare continued where she had left off, "I don't know if they are doing anything about the foalnappings."

Matesis sighed in controlled frustration at hearing Celestia and Luna weren't doing what they were able to help stop the foalnappings. They should be having the occurrences investigated and put a stop to such happening if they were doing what they were supposed to. And investigations should have been done a while ago and efforts into stopping the incidents should be in the works right now. Celestia, he expected to be a tad selfish, but Luna normally wasn't like that. The issue with them doing nothing meant whoever was doing the foalnappings could do as they pleased and not be concerned about consequences. Matesis had already made sure in Griffonia whoever was found to be responsible would be punished, to which King Talon had agreed. Other nations on the eastern continent were doing similar things with punishments for those that were a part of the foalnappings. That was likely the reason that those foalnappings came to Equestria, they knew if they were caught in the east, it would be very bad for them. "I see," Matesis said evenly, "That is rather unfortunate."

Mayor Mare couldn't agree more that the Princesses not helping was unfortunate. More so for Ponyville as changes in security were "required" to go through and be approved by Princess Sparkle essentially. Mayor Mare had tried going to her a few times about the concerns being brought to her by Ponyville citizens. However, the young Princess had said she and her friends could deal with whatever would threaten Ponyville should that be needed. Thus, Mayor Mare was limited to what she could do for the town. That was why she had sent out the request to get help from outside of Equestria, it was one of the few things she could do. "On top of the apparent inaction, I have many in Ponyville coming to me asking about new plans for security to protect them. I don't disagree that changes are needed, but," Mayor Mare trailed off and looked towards her window. Then she turned and bowed low, offering the silence with a disappointing sigh of regret. "They fail to realize that what they desire must pass in the eyes of the Princesses, though more through our resident princess, Twilight Sparkle."

Matesis could sympathize with Mayor Mare's position and the limitations it had. He'd been there before, seeing what needed to be done, and yet, having to convince another of it and be waved off. It was a serious reminder to Matesis how Noctis essentially ran things when he was on the throne of Equestria. Matesis had to get creative to figure out ways around Noctis to get anything of value done, that had been the solution back then. That translated into Matesis understanding that Mayor Mare had reached out to others for help that those currently in control wouldn't have say over. It was smart and showed the mare really did care about the town she led. "And employing me as a kind of town guard allows you to get around that need to have another approve of changing security, I assume," Matesis posed. "That in turn allows me to look into what could be behind the incidents." Mayor Mare nodded in response, "That is my hope yes."

As the conversation was going on between the two, the filly by the name of Sweet Cream peeked out of the corner. The strange creature which Mayor Mare had brought in had scared Sweet at first. Mayor Mare had said something about the stranger being a minotaur, but Sweet had never seen one before so she couldn't say if the stranger was one. But as she glanced him over, her curiosity got the better of her, which got her to move out of the corner slowly. There was something about the stallion that attracted Sweet which she couldn't explain. Sweet felt maybe she could find out more about this stranger by glancing into the bag he had with him. She couldn't help but think, who is this weird Minotaur?

Sweet snuck as quietly as she could so she wasn't noticed by the two others in the room. She got to the bag, and it took a bit to get it open, but she managed it. She then stuck her head in to see what could be inside. Sweet Cream jerked back a moment after she had put her head into the bag. What she had just seen couldn't have been right. She stared at the bag for a long moment, seeing the bag looked ordinary enough, then stuck her head back into double check. What she was seeing didn't make sense at all with the bag, it couldn't be right. The bag looked like a large saddle bag on the outside even if it was a different style that was normally seen in Equestria. However, Sweet saw all sorts of things inside which shouldn't be there in a saddle bag. Some of the stuff shouldn't have fit in the "bag" with its size, for the space the items were in appeared to be much larger than it should be. Sweet swore she saw what appeared to be furniture inside which was impossible. Yet, that shouldn't be possible, a bag couldn't be bigger on the inside than it was on the outside.

Matesis smiled a bit when he saw the filly come out of the corner. She really was a cutie now that he got a view of her in the light. He was still listening to Mayor Mare going into the details of the incidents that had been happening. But he was keeping an eye on the filly as she began examining his magic pack. She is a curious one, Matesis thought. But I wouldn't go too deep into my sling pack, it's easy to get lost in. He was ready to grab her to prevent the filly from falling into the bag. Matesis didn't want to go digging through the bag to find the filly. She would no doubt be scared badly by the time he reached her. Matesis had times when he'd had to dig through his bag, and those hadn't been nice. He hadn't had a pony get stuck or lost in it yet, but he didn't want that to happen.

"Seventeen orphans from different towns and cities; all missing and without any trace to their whereabouts," Mayor Mare was saying coldly. Matesis looked back at the desk seeing a folder in her hoof. The pages that were set on the desk both angered and sickened Matesis. Scenes of murders and torture were evident in the photos. "Six families found dead on traveling roads; all of the foals found missing. And to make matters worse, the ones behind it are untraceable so far. Not even Princess Twilight can find clues to their whereabouts, and she is very renowned for her talent in magic. I wouldn't doubt you can understand how problematic this is becoming."

Matesis was angry and disappointed at seeing the incidents in Equestria had been worse than those he'd seen elsewhere. He was angry that things had gotten to this point, and nothing seemed to be done to stop the issue. That led to the disappointment he was feeling about those who should be working to stop the problem. Celestia and Luna were failing in their duty to protect their subjects that was what the evidence was saying. Matesis expected such indifference from that horrible stallion Noctis, not the two of them. Families were suffering as these things were occurring while Celestia and Luna did nothing. This was hauntingly like how things were when Matesis had lived around his "adopted" family. Noctis' rule had been one of suffering and fear, this was feeling similar. "And scenes like this aren't motivating your Princesses to get up off their thrones and do something to help," he inquired. "This should be rather hard to ignore for those who have a heart I would think."

"I wish I knew," Mayor Mare answered. She then finished up with giving the details about the foalnappings incidents. Then she noticed that Sweet Cream had come out of the corner. The mare had hoped the filly would come out as she was going to have Mr. Solum looking after her going forward. The information from his file made it clear he had a way with foals. What the queen of Saddle Arabia had said specially made that evident. Mayor Mare was curious as to what she'd read about Mr. Solum, and she couldn't help but ask. "If I might ask," she began, "from what I read, you are quite unique. Many call you a hero, others say you are a god which walks the world. What would you say to that?"

Matesis's gaze fell at hearing that point. He did what he could to help, and because of that, some called him a hero and/or god. Immortals on Equus were seen as gods/goddesses by most, but Matesis disagreed with the view. Yes, he may be immortal thanks to what Luna had done when she had become Nightmare Moon. The thrusting of her horn into his chest and essentially cursing him with "her" magic had resulted in him becoming immortal. He didn't blame Luna for making him as he was even if it hadn't been an easy thing to accept or deal with thus far. Luna hadn't chosen to become a monster, that was her father's fault it had happened. The title of hero was okay, but it was a bit much for the things he did in Matesis's opinion. But his view of an "immortal god" was Noctis, a selfish and unfeeling individual that used those they saw beneath them as they saw fit. Matesis didn't want to be anything like that stallion or those that were like that. He would rather be a mortal and die in the most horrible way than be like Noctis. "I am no god," Matesis stated clearly. "While others may call me one, I am nothing of the sort."

Mayor Mare tilted her head, "What is in your file would suggest otherwise."

Equus's definition and qualifiers for gods were so skewed that it was horrendous. According Equus, gods were entities that were extremely hard to kill if that was possible, didn't bleed, and cared nothing for anything other than themselves. Matesis was nothing like that nor would he let himself become so. He looked at the wall as he frowned, "Then allow me to define what gods are. They are entities that are extremely hard to kill if that can be done, they don't bleed, and don't give a crap about what happens to those around them. They thrive off the love of those who worship them, it boosts the horrible narcissism they all seem to have in one form or another. And if to prove that definition, those who fall under that which I have met, couldn't care less about every little thing that happens in the lives of those who worship them. Heck I would ask if they would do much to help save those who praise and worship them if they had the opportunity." Matesis's gaze shifted back to Mayor Mare, "I am none of those other than perhaps very hard to kill are true about me. I can bleed I assure you. But most importantly, I care and give a dang what happens to others around me. In other words, I have a working heart which allows me feel emotions that living beings possess. That is what one others would consider a "god" lacks from my observations, they have no heart to speak of. Thus, they don't feel genuine emotion as you or I would when things happen around them and would get an emotional reaction."

Mayor Mare managed a weak smile in response. She saw a glimmer of hope in the man's words and knew in her heart he meant what he said. Unlike some who would have the skills and abilities Mr. Solum had, he was humble and didn't let his power go to his head. Perhaps that was what made him being a legendary hero so believable. "Well at least you are humble, I would say."

Matesis glanced at the filly who still had her head in his sack. There has still been nothing said about why she was here. So, Matesis jabbed at the filly, "And what about this one," he questioned. "I would imagine there is a reason for her being in your office during my interview than just because." He shrugged, "Not to be rude or anything but I really should look into living arrangements. I accept the job for the time being, so it is best to find a place to stay while I'm here. There are things to be done which I would like to get to as quickly as I can."

Mayor Mare came from behind her desk before leveling herself on three hooves and pointed at the filly digging through his bag. "To be blunt with you, that filly is a survivor the Wonderbolts found in the snow two weeks ago," she began. She was forcing all attention on the filly whose head was still in the magic sack next to Matesis. "If it had not been for Admiral Spitfire and Captain Rainbow Dash patrolling the roads, she would have frozen to death. She is the only lead we have to potentially finding where the other orphans are." Matesis had heard of Equestria's Wonderbolts before. It was honestly a copy of a group Matesis had put together centuries ago for quick disaster response around the eastern nations. Celestia seemed to be more inclined to copy the ideas of others than come up with her own since Matesis was chased out. But what Mayor Mare had said didn't say what the filly had to do with him. "Okay," he said and nodded. "What do you want me to do?"

"Along with you being a guard for Ponyville, I want you to take that filly into your care," Mayor Mare said. "She has no friends or family to take her in, and I believe that whoever foalnapped her will come looking here for her. Her name is Sweet Cream, but that is all I know about her. She has no line of family, no evidence or history to her biological parents, and nopony will adopt her for the simple fact that she was foalnapped by the monsters committing so much evil."

Matesis felt for the filly, he really did with her situation being as bad as it was. No child deserved to go through what the filly apparently had. But it had been almost two decades since the last young child he'd taken in and looked after. That one had been a challenge, and Matesis wasn't sure he was ready to take care of a child again just yet. "While I admit she certainly is cute, I don't know if I am capable of adopting a filly and raising her properly, Mayor Mare," Matesis admitted. "My lifestyle has made doing such things a challenge and it doesn't always end out the best. Besides that, I'm positive that I cannot adopt her because of not being a citizen of Equestria."

Mr. Solum may say he wasn't qualified to raise foals, but the information in his file said the exact opposite. "You may say that, but your file said otherwise," Mayor Mare remarked. "Your attitude towards children is well-documented. Those you have served provided in their letters, at my request, how well you do with children." she held the first letter up to him, the seal of Saddle Arabia shimmering in the light through her window. She smiled warmly, "Take this letter from the Queen of Saddle Arabia." Matesis's shoulders slumped at hearing that. Queen Natali, who ruled Saddle Arabia was the last one he wanted to hear praises about him from. The mare had gushed over how he was when he spent time with orphans when visiting her country. "It says here 'Matesis Solum is both an excellent leader and caretaker for children. His care for foals is so amazing that it is equivalent to the love of a father. And from witnessing the years he spent as the loyal protector, caretaker, and friend to my own five foals, I wholeheartedly say that he is more than capable being a father."

Matesis knew his friendship with Queen Natali's kids would come back to haunt him at some point. They were good kids, Matesis wouldn't deny that, cute too. But their mother was a "drama queen" and that wasn't helpful to Matesis at times like this. He exhaled heavily, "Of course she would give gushing reviews. Natali was ever the drama queen and more so when she talks about her kids," Matesis muttered to himself. It was becoming obvious that Mayor Mare wouldn't let him get out of looking after and taking care of the filly. He looked back at Mayor Mare with a glare, "Since it is obvious that you intend to leave this filly to me not letting me get out of it, fine. So, let's move on so I can look into housing options." He lowered a hand to be on the filly's neck and scratched it gently to coax her out of the bag.

Sweet Cream was still trying to figure out just what was inside of the stranger's bag and how it could be larger on the inside than the outside. She couldn't explain how the back could be bigger inside than outside, but the items said it was somehow. But then she felt a scratching sensation on the back of her neck. The scratching felt amazing, hitting just the right spot on her neck Sweet always had trouble getting to. She couldn't help but pull her head out of the sack and push up against the scratching for more. "Sweet Cream," Sweet heard Mayor Mare say. That snapped Sweet out of the trance which the scratching had put her in. She looked upward to see the stranger right there and he was the one who had been scratching her neck. Sweet got a smile from the stranger, which was kind of comforting, it didn't make him seem so scary. She looked back at Mayor Mare as she continued, "This is Mr. Matesis Solum, and he will be looking after and taking care of you going forward."

Sweet looked back up at Matesis for confirmation that Mayor Mare had told the truth. Matesis smiled and nodded to the filly to tell her he would be taking care of her. Sweet felt somewhat happy at hearing another would be with her. After escaping those dragons who had been using her, Sweet hadn't felt safe by herself. Matesis scratched the back of Sweet Cream's neck again to help her keep calm. Sweet leaned back and up into his fingers as he scratched her neck. Then he focused back on Mayor Mare, "If I'm taking in this filly, I will need to find a place to live for the both of us," Matesis said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I'm not familiar with this town, so couldn't begin to guess where to start looking for housing."

If housing was an issue, then Mayor Mare had a solution to offer. There was a house available even if it was being used temporarily by another at the moment. And Mayor Mare didn't see how Mr. Solum would have too much of an issue with the "roommate." "Is housing all you need," Mayor Mare questioned. "That I can help with and a few other things." Matesis was a bit apprehensive at the mare's "implied" offer. It sounded like the mare was trying to have him in her debt or something. But he had agreed to do the town guard job while looking into the foalnappings, so he couldn't complain exactly. Thus, he sighed, "What did you have in mind then?"

Mayor Mare had a good offer to have Mr. Solum help with not just Ponyville security but get the foalnappings to stop. He seemed to be more than capable of solving the issue while the Princesses and their guards wouldn't. Whether that was because they didn't want to or couldn't do the job, didn't matter to Mayor Mare. So, she smiled, "I was thinking having your salary at twenty-thousand bits a month along with a tax-free home that is currently vacant." Matesis was a tad surprised at the "salary" he was being offered. It wasn't the highest he'd gotten, but for a smaller town the amount was high. Mayor Mare continued, "Not only that, but you'll also have free medical insurance, lifetime passes to every formal gathering in Canterlot." Matesis had no interest in going to Canterlot and medically, he was good to go. But the mare wasn't done, "And lastly, I'll throw in a fifteen-thousand-bit bonus along with a license for any weapons you may have to carry them freely."

Matesis blinked at the last line, not at the bonus, but the need for a license for carrying a weapon. The idea wasn't new, just something he'd not had to deal with for a long while. The countries on the eastern continent didn't have laws for those like him who were protectors of the peace limiting weapons. There just hadn't been a need as far as Matesis knew of. And the last time Matesis had been to YakYakistan, they had laughed at the idea of there being a problem of Matesis carrying weapons with him. Matesis shrugged in response, "I was unaware Equestria had laws against carrying weapons," he remarked, "most places I've been don't have such for those who work to bring and maintain peace."

Matesis's thoughts shifted to what would be involved in taking care of a very young filly. It wasn't like he was against being a parent to a child exactly, far from it really. Matesis had enjoyed the times which he had taken in children and raised them after he had begun traveling the world. The idea had come up from time to time both when he found a child and helped teach them. Granted, some of the kids had been challenges when it came to raising them. But even with those challenges, Matesis hadn't regretted taking any of the children in that he had. It was more his way of doing things and general lifestyle which could cause issues with child rearing. Yet, the warmth which came with parenting began filling Matesis at the thought of raising Sweet Cream. He looked at Mayor Mare, "While I'm not against adopting this filly," Matesis began, "I'm not a citizen of Equestria. Will that be a problem in some way?"

It was normally frowned upon for an adoption being permitted of an Equestrian orphan by a non-citizen. There was nothing officially against it in the standing laws, it was more traditional if anything. However, there were exceptions to that "rule" which Equestria had. And Sweet Cream could have one of those for her to be put under Mr. Solum's care. "While normally it wouldn't be done," Mayor Mare iterated. "There are exceptions. And I believe in this case, it should be fine for you to adopt Sweet Cream." Mayor Mare rummaged around her desk before bringing out a page. From what Matesis could see of the page it was an adoption form. The mare offered a quill to Matesis for him to sign the form. He hesitated for a moment wondering if it was the best idea for the filly to have someone like him to raise her. But the hesitation was for but a moment, as Matesis knew in his heart helping this filly was the right thing to do. Thus, Matesis took the quill and signed his name on the line Mayor Mare pointed at.

Sweet Cream blinked as Matesis signed the form to adopt her. She had kind of hoped he would take her in, but there was a whisper in her that he may not. All that had come before saying they would adopt her had backed out before signing the adoptions forms. But there was something about this Matesis Solum that made Sweet feel safe. She couldn't say what it was about him, but it was almost instinctual. The thought of being looked after by Mr. Solum got Sweet to giggle.

Matesis glanced back at Sweet Cream at hearing her giggling. Matesis couldn't help the thoughts going through his mind, Parenthood? Town guard? Matesis shook his head with a slight smile. It would appear I've just signed myself up for quite a bit of responsibility than I've had for a time. I'm an immortal and a traveler, not normally a sitter and parent. It had been nearly twenty years since he'd come across Brown Feather down an alley around Griffonia. And that griffon had been a serious handful compared to most of the other kids Matesis had come across during his journeys. Sweet Cream's giggling became laughter, which got Matesis's smile to grow. The prospect of being a dad to this filly made Matesis kind of excited. Then again, what's wrong with having another child to raise and nurture? I have come to love kids, and kids always seem to love me, at least in some perspective.

Now, if there were a way for a mother figure to come into the picture, Matesis felt the filly would be in the best place she could be. However, it had been a little over seventy years since Matesis's last partner had passed away. The Hippogriff that Matesis had been with would've been a wonderful mother to Sweet Cream, he had no doubt. Yet, fate could have Matesis cross paths with a mare which could take on that role. It wouldn't be the first time for Matesis to meet a mare which would brighten his life and help the kids he was looking after. But there were none that he could think of for the moment. While that was the case, Matesis would do his best to be the father that Sweet Cream needed him to be.

Sweet had the urge to hug this Matesis Solum. He was doing something that essentially hadn't happened to her since escaping those nasty dragons. Everypony had just said they felt "sorry" for her but had done little more than that. Sweet still wondered why this Mr. Solum was adopting her for she was a little suspicious about the point. But that he was doing that which none had done for her before stuck in her heart. She was staring up at him, at the warm nature in his eyes, and all she could think about was having a real dad to look after her. Something told her that Mr. Matesis would take care of her, play with her, make her smile, and love her, unconditionally. It would be the first time that she would have that which she could remember.

"Now then," Mayor Mare began drawing attention back to her. "I believe I owe you a bonus and a key to the house that is now occupied by you." She paused for a moment as it was time she revealed information about the roommate Mr. Solum would be dealing with for a time. "There is one more point about the house I haven't mentioned just yet though." Matesis gazed at Mayor Mare wondering what the mare was referring to. Matesis was not an easy individual to surprise or throw off, but it was possible. He didn't like unknown factors popping up which he would then have to deal with if they could be avoided. "What detail are you referring to," Matesis asked. "I would prefer not to have surprises waiting if it can be helped." Mayor Mare chuckled nervously, "I forgot to mention that another pony will be staying with you for a time. The mare forgot to clean out her cloud of all the water vapor, so it's been grounded and very damaged from the blizzard freezing the vapors."

It wasn't that Matesis didn't understand being forgetful, it happened to everyone from time to time, even him. And those bouts of forgetfulness could come with all sorts of consequences which weren't normally up to the one facing them to choose. Matesis was aware that Pegasus ponies tended to live in high places when they could. But houses made of clouds were something Matesis had only heard of before now. Pegasi hadn't really done so when he had lived around Equestria. And while Matesis had no real issue sharing a house with a roommate temporarily, he was concerned on who it could be. There were certain types of individuals which Matesis didn't get along with. Matesis nodded slowly, "And just who might this pony be?" Mayor Mare didn't miss the hesitancy that Mr. Solum had in his voice. "It would be Admiral Spitfire of the Wonderbolts."

Matesis had to think for a moment about the name, for it was familiar. He believed he'd heard the name Spitfire before from one or more of the Shadow Blade agents. As he recalled, the mare was supposed to be a real good flyer. She was being considered for the Azure Wings which was a part of the Shadow Blade organization, which had some of the best fliers Equus had. However, beyond that Matesis couldn't think of any relevant information on the pegasus. But as long as the mare didn't do anything ridiculous or outright wrong to Matesis or Sweet Cream, things should be fine. Matesis put a hand to his chin, "It would've been nice if you had mentioned that earlier, but I suppose that's fine," he replied. "Is there anything else I should know about?"

Mayor Mare was impressed at how calmly Mr. Solum was taking the surprise of Spitfire being a roommate. There was one other point that she should mention as there was something else that came with Spitfire. One of the other Wonderbolts by the name of Soarin had a crush on Spitfire and did show up from time to time. Mayor Mare didn't want an incident to happen just because Mr. Solum thought Soarin was an intruder. "Yes, just one last thing," Mayor Mare said. "Her fellow Wonderbolt, Soarin, might visit every so often. He has a bit of a crush on Spitfire, and he has a tendency to act irrational when other males are around her."

Matesis held back the groan which came to him at being told a stallion may swing by at random. Having a roommate was questionable enough for the moment with how little he knew about them right now. That it was a mare made it potentially more complicated which he didn't want to deal with but would manage as he could. Not that Matesis had a problem with sharing a place with another as long as they didn't cross lines. However, if that said roommate brought issues even if unintentionally, it could become nerve-grating. And for Mayor Mare saying that the one who may swing by was a stallion who had a crush on Matesis's roommate was concerning. Matesis had seen how stallions could be when they "liked" a mare and it ranged from reasonable to ridiculous. Ponies had shown Matesis that they could be less restrained than humans could be. It was nice of Mayor Mare to warn him about the potential future event. "Thanks for the warning," Matesis remarked. "Not like I wish to deal with a crush-crazed stallion."

Mayor Mare went back to her desk and began rummaging around it. Once she found the house key and the bits she promised for the bonus, she put them on the desk and slid them toward Mr. Solum. Matesis glanced at the bag of bits and key on the desk for a moment. He was committing himself to several things by accepting the job of town guard for Ponyville. Sweet Cream looked up at Mr. Matesis. She was still apprehensive about Matesis and him looking after her. But he had to be better than those she'd been forced to be around before being found on the side of the road. She mustered up the courage she could and pressed her head into Matesis's hand, hoping he would scratch the back of her neck again. Matesis was brought out of his thoughts when Sweet pushed her head against his hand. He figured the gesture meant the filly wanted more scratches on her neck, which he gave her. Scratching the back of the filly's neck seemed to help her remain calm at least. It was nice to see the filly was forward enough to ask for things from him even when it had to be hard for her.

Mayor Mare observed the interaction between the man and filly. It was rather heartwarming to see the filly opening up even if only a little. Sweet Cream had been through a great deal before being brought in. Hopefully, with Mr. Solum looking after her, things could improve for the filly. "Well, I guess what I can do is done," Mayor Mare chirped, before waving her hoof at the door. "I will hear from you in a week for your first day on the job. In the meantime, why don't you make your way to Sugarcube Corner for some sweets. I believe that a certain filly would love to have some hot chocolate among other possible things."

Matesis assumed this "Sugarcube Corner" was some kind of sweet shop from what Mayor Mare said. Not that he had anything against sweet shops, it was just it would like to get something for Sweet Cream that was a tad healthier. It was the father-figure in him which had him thinking of what was best for the filly he would be taking care of. But if sweets were the best he could get Sweet Cream on short notice, then he would make sure she got the best he could find. "Thanks for the tip, it is appreciated," Matesis replied. He picked up the sack of bits and put it in his bag and put the key in his pants pocket. Matesis then knelt down and faced Sweet Cream, "Shall we go and look at getting something to eat before heading to the house, sweetheart?"

Sweet Cream hesitated for a moment still wondering if this Minotaur would really take her him and not abandon her. She hoped he would. However, there had been that hope before this with others and those times hadn't gone well by the end. Something in her heart told her that Mr. Matesis would be different somehow. But that whisper in her heart didn't give her complete confidence. The way he called her sweetheart felt nice as it was warm and sounded genuine. Yet, she managed to take one step toward Mr. Matesis and nod slowly in reply to his question. "Would you carry me through the snow," Sweet asked softly. Matesis was caught off-guard slightly by the request from his now adopted filly. The way she'd said it was beyond just cute, it was extremely adorable. There was nothing wrong with the request, Matesis was more than willing to carry Sweet Cream. He smiled as Sweet looked up at him with her light blue eyes with an expression of yearning. She raised her hooves to him which just added to the cuteness the filly had.

"Sure thing, sweetheart," Matesis returned in a loving tone. He reached forward slowly so as to not alarm Sweet before gently grabbing her around her barrel. Sweet's nervousness had lessened at hearing the loving tone he had replied to her request with. His hooves felt warm when they touched Sweet along with them being gentle. She couldn't remember the last time anypony had such a warm and gentle touch with her. It was oddly comforting though Sweet couldn't explain why it felt that way. Matesis lifted Sweet up and circled his right arm around her barrel before he wrapped his cloak around the filly. The cold wouldn't bother Matesis any longer, there was a reason for that, but he didn't get into that often. Sweet felt nice and warm with the cloak around her and Mr. Matesis felt very warm as she was against him. She glanced up at Mr. Matesis's face and found him smiling. "We don't want you catching a cold, now do we?"

Matesis grabbed his sling pack and swung it onto his shoulder before he left the office. He headed toward the entrance of city hall. The blizzard sounded like it was getting worse than it had been as Matesis had traveled here. But before he went out into said blizzard, he checked that Sweet was wrapped in his cloak nice and tight but wasn't too tight with his hold on her. Sweet Cream was now his daughter, so Matesis wouldn't hurt her if there was a way not to do so. The moment Matesis stepped outside he felt the blizzard whipping around him. He nodded to himself and said, "Alright, time to get to the needed work and start being a father once again."

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A/n

Okay, lots to go over and say about this story and chapter for you readers. Fair warning, these closing notes will be long as there is a lot to go over. Let me start with where this story came from and go on from there. First, I am not a fan or brony as it is also called by some of this cartoon series personally. I've watched it with my nieces when they were younger and that is my experience before I started writing this story and doing the research for it. For those that have read any of my other stories, you are likely familiar with me doing research for stories that I write to have accuracy. The same kind of work went into this story as I do with others, so I know about the series mostly from the research I've done. I'm still not an avid fan of it for the record, even if I like some of the characters which the series has as they have some interesting and hilarious personalities.

This story is an "old" one as I started writing this years ago and then just put it down and haven't revisited it for a while. However, I'm having some writer's block on the Gundam story I have so I turn to other stories when that happens. I came back to this while I was cleaning my files and thought why not go through it again which turned into somewhat a rewrite. This story was inspired by the question of "what if there was a human in this world." I have learned this is a common question in the fandom of this series, so this may not be for everyone. But much like my Spyro story, having a human coming into another universe is intriguing to me. And thus, this story began coming out and ending out on this document. I give fair warning, much like in the other stories I write, I don't follow canon, it is more a guild line for me if I feel like following it.

Now, onto the actual highlights and explanations of this chapter for this story. The first scene in this story with the train and what came with it, we are introduced to the main character Matesis Solum. The image I uploaded for this story is what he looks like so that you readers know. He appears in his late teens if not early 20s in physical age even if he isn't that age at all. As stated he is one of those that doesn't want to stick out of a crowd, and that is more from past experience which I will reveal as this story goes on. Him being the only human is a reference of the early movies which I never watched myself that humans have been to Equus. Equus is the name of the world that I came up with which Equestria exists in. Should any of you readers want to see a "map," you can go to deviant art and look up melongalaxy7's map of Equestira which is the one I'm using for this story.

Matesis's history is one that I had to invent which has elements which the series talks about and others which deviate from canon. If it isn't obvious from this chapter, Matesis is immortal or ageless, though he didn't start out that way. Luna was the one to make him immortal, but that will be explained more later. But as time passed, Matesis decided to just say he was a Minotaur rather than a human. It is one of the closer looking species that Equus has to humans, that's why it works for him. It again goes back to him not wanting to stick out more than he already does with what he can do. That will be a bit of a theme throughout this story for Matesis. But make no mistake, he is one of those "quiet ones" that will shock the heck out of you if you don't watch them.

Let me take a moment to explain his "sling pack" which he carries around with him while he travels. It isn't a normally pack if that wasn't already clear with this chapter. It has been enchanted by magic in a few ways which I will get into more later but I will mention at least one of them. Starswirl who was a friend of Matesis while he was around Celestia and Luna had enchanted with a spell which makes the pack much bigger on the inside than the outside. That will become apparent later on with examples. But this pack is not just for carrying his things, but it a gift which friends had made for him before he began traveling around Equus. Thus, the pack has sentimental value for Matesis more than its practical value most would see with it.

Let's move on to when the train arrives at the Crystal Empire with the scene. Matesis has a history with the Crystal Empire. The empire was sealed much as canon says a thousand years before the story began. However, for my story, there is more than what the series says there was in a few ways. First, the ruler at the time Sombra came was Jade instead of what canon has it being. Second, we learn a bit more history about Matesis which has to do with him leaving Equestria when he did. I will go into more detail about that in later chapters and lay out what Matesis had been forced to deal with. The history is more complicated than what is inferred in this chapter. But the empire had friends which Matesis had and came to after being forced to leave Equestria. This is the first view of how Matesis sees friends which I want to point out as he values them more than many would think. It also shows that Matesis is able to make mistakes even as an immortal which is an important fact in this story. He will admit his failings when others would not before he moves forward and improves himself as he is able.

Now, let me talk about some of the character changes in this story from canon. The first of which is the character which I invented for this named Noctis. He is an alicorn stallion which doesn't exist in canon. Noctis is the father of Celestia and Luna which is a fact of note. I will come straight out and say that Noctis isn't a good character, and I don't mean a poorly designed one, but more that he is a villain. I will go into detail given time in this story and spell out just how horrible an individual Noctis really is. Next character I wanted mention is Celestia, since she is different in my story than canon. There are some who will say that I am bashing Celestia in my story, and I won't deny that though I would say I'm giving her more definition than the series does. No one is perfect, and Celestia comes off that way somewhat in canon which kind of annoys me. There will be other characters which will not be as they are in canon, just putting that out there before there are any that want to burn me for that. So, if you have an issue with canon characters being portrayed in a non-nice light, this story is unlikely for you.

I now want to address a subject I referred to in this chapter, that being the "Shadow Blade Organization," which Matesis mentions. The organization is something which Matesis created a few centuries ago from when the story starts. Put simply, the organization employs the best of the best, elite of elite of Equus. That isn't just limited to soldiers and the like, experts of all sorts are connected to the organization. Matesis is the leader of the Shadow Blade and is normally referred to as boss or general by those in the organization. There are agents of the Shadow Blade everywhere to supply information for it. You will see this throughout the story and will be surprised by some of the characters which will be connected to the organization. The nations on the eastern continent know of the organization, but none on the western continent like Equestria are aware of its existence.

Let's move on to the meeting of Cadance and Matesis which is a significant event in this story. Now, Matesis has learned a skill set which allows him to sense emotions to a degree from others. That will come up in the story off and on, so I wanted to make sure to define that. I know in canon, Cadance only has one daughter, but this story kind of takes place years after Flurry Heart was born. So, I felt it would be possible and worked out better for Cadance to have a second daughter which is where Skyla came from. Matesis is surprised that Skyla is an alicorn more since he believes that birth is the only way for alicorns come about. He has been away from Equestria for long enough to not know ascension is also a possible path for the idea. It shows that Matesis has been out of the loop of what had been going on around Equestria since he left.

As Matesis does help Skyla, he does take in Cadance and is of course, somewhat shocked at her being an alicorn as well as her beauty. Then we also get the views of Cadance in relation to Matesis at this point. I know in canon, her marriage to Shining Armor is strong and has no sign of having issues. Again, this is a deviation from canon as I felt that Cadance doesn't get as much story time as others. I do like bringing characters that don't always get noticed into a story when I can when I write, some of you readers may have seen that. Cadance is in the process of separating from Shining Armor through a divorce, but that is a subject I will get into more details later. She finds Matesis attractive as it should be obvious from this chapter. To sum up this scene, Matesis fixes Skyla's doll, which has more an effect than he thought it would. It helps Skyla see that not all stallions are bad, which I will explain in the coming chapters. Cadance can't stop thinking about Matesis as hard as she tries to do so.

The next scene when Matesis goes into Ponyville does have a few things which I want to point out. Matesis goes over what brought him to Ponyville which was a letter which was requesting specific skills for a job, but not job title. The story has young ponies vanishing, or rather being taken with little evidence pointing to who is responsible. It isn't just happening in Equestria but all over which Matesis has been looking into before coming to Ponyville. Matesis does question what Celestia is doing much if anything about the foalnappings that are occurring. Understand, Matesis knows Celestia and Luna more than others do as he "befriended" them before being forced to leave Equestria. I will give more details about that in the coming chapters, but I want to introduce the idea.

The other half of this scene is what comes up with Matesis rescuing Rarity. Of all the ponies I did research on, Rarity was the best fit for a "damsel in destress" to show Matesis is a hero when called upon in this chapter. She came off as the prim and proper lady with what I watched with my niece. Also, I wanted to give yet another hint as to the work Matesis has done on the eastern continent, transforming them into better places. He helped establish justice and law enforcement in the eastern nations, so crime is handled efficiently and without those like him getting directly involved often. Now as a "hero," Matesis is a warrior and certainly not a stranger to fighting. Thus, the thief that is bugging Rarity is no issue or challenge for Matesis to handle and scare off.

Let's move to the final scene with Matesis going to Ponyville's City Hall and his meeting with Mayor Mare. The first part is Matesis recollecting things which happened a while back, more his history. I will spare more details and say it is essentially him remembering how things had gone with Celestia and Luna when it came to their relationships. Luna made Matesis immortal through dark magic, though there is more to it than that. But this recounting is good at showing more about Noctis and his character. He is a manipulator as much as he is a dictator, that is his character in a nutshell. The problem with that is Celestia and Luna don't see that and essentially worship the stallion, believing him over anyone else. The event with Nightmare Moon is different than canon's version though that version is what Equestria says happened.

Matesis does mention a rebellion being in the works before he was exiled, and that is true. He along with others had been planning and making preparations for a rebellion against Noctis. And I assure you, said rebellion would have been huge as it would have the majority of Equestria's population rise up against their dictating ruler. I will go into more detail later on but I wanted to make that clear Matesis had been working against Noctis and dethroning him before being forced out. That missed event does play a part even if unknowingly for Equestria's history though Celestia will deny it if the subject is brought up. I will also go into more detail about Celestia's relationship with Matesis later on as that is a mess in itself.

Now onto the interaction between Matesis and Mayor Mare's secretary. The secretary looks over the file on Matesis, which is yet another show of what he has done since leaving Equestria. The "seals" represent the major nations of the eastern continent which Matesis had worked with over the millennium he's been traveling. He does mention some of the nations three of them though there are more which will come up later. This point is more to build Matesis's reputation as a hero for you readers in this story than anything else. His reputation will be brought up off and on during this story so I wanted to introduce it in this chapter. The other thing which I would highlight in this interaction is some of the qualities Matesis has gained as an immortal. My view of an immortal is they see things differently than mortals. Monetary things are far less valuable to an immortal than to any of us mortals. This is one of several qualities which will come up in this story.

Let's move onto the final piece of this scene which is what goes on between Matesis and Mayor Mare. First, the irony of the puns this cartoon series uses isn't lost on me, I appreciate it really as it can do it fairly well. Second, I just want to say that Matesis's intuition is developed to be what it is, he didn't just have it as some characters have. Third, I wanted to show there are ponies that don't just go with what royalty say like the cartoon implies. If my other stories haven't kind of said, I not the fondest of characters doing what they are told by those in authority. Those are the overall points I wanted to start with before diving into the exchange that happens.

Okay, let's dive into the exchange between Matesis and Mayor Mare. Mayor Mare gives a summary of what the foalnappings have involved. For Equestria, Celestia hasn't done anything publicly or even admitted the incidents are happening. This is more a leader not appearing like they are doing anything even if they are behind the scenes. If it is becoming obvious, I'm building an image of Celestia which is different than canon. But also remember, Matesis hasn't been around or really had anything to do with Equestria since he'd left beyond business with the Shadow Blade Organization. That is an important fact to keep in mind for Matesis for a while as it explains several things in this chapter and those to come. Matesis does call out the point Celestia isn't appearing to be doing anything about the foalnappings. He does site her responsibilities as a princess which is again a shot at Celestia's behavior. That will be a thing Matesis will do on occasion going forward. However, he doesn't want to deal with Celestia as he doesn't see it as worth doing that with the mare.

While the exchange is going on, we get introduced my OC, the filly Sweet Cream. Now this girl has been through a lot if I didn't make it obvious. She has been used and abused by others and really doesn't remember her parents, thus making her an orphan. I know this character is a sad one, but I did that for relationship development between Matesis and her in future chapters. However, I will say that the girl is really brave with all that has happened to her to move forward on her own to try and figure out Matesis. It shows that she can show enough courage to ignore her fear to do something. She will play a part in this story I assure you.

Moving on to Mayor Mare asking Matesis about him being considered a hero and other things. On Equus, immortals are seen as gods/goddesses to an extent. I know canon of the cartoon may not say that outright, but it does hint at that sometimes. Let me give an example of this point to show why Matesis thinks what he does. But first, he does define what makes the general qualities which set immortals apart. I would point out the quality which is the harder to see but is the more defining one in this is the narcissism which Matesis mentions. And when I say narcissism, I'm referring to the view that one is better than all those around them and is the most important individual, craving attention in some form or another.

My example of Matesis's definition as you readers may have guessed, Noctis. The stallion encouraged through various means to have those around him see him as greater than the rest, a god if you will. Noctis is the "shining example" of what Matesis doesn't want to be or even be seen near. And as Noctis is the worst alicorn that Matesis knows, he takes that as how some of them who had come before Noctis could've been like. Thus, Matesis doesn't want to be seen as a god like Noctis had been. The title of hero and those that have come with it Matesis doesn't mind, far better than immortal or god. Matesis makes it a point to differentiate himself from the definition he gives. This is one of those times Matesis will show a form of dislike which borders on hate of Noctis and those like him.

When Sweet Cream is brought into the conversation by Mayor Mare, we get a view of something else which is a part of Matesis's past. He has taken in and raised children while he had been travelling Equus. I will refer to this from time to time in different ways, but I wanted to show that Matesis has experience parenting children. His file makes sure that is clear which Mayor Mare brings up much to his embarrassment. And it isn't that Matesis is against raising Sweet Cream since he adopts her in the end. He just can see the work ahead to both keep Ponyville safe among other responsibilities he has to see to. I'll get into the house mentioned in the next chapter so I will not go into detail about that.

In conclusion, I hope you readers like this story, as I said I wrote this down years ago before this rewrite. It is an idea I'm putting out while I work through the writer's block I'm experiencing with my Gundam story. Sorry for the closing notes being so long, just a lot to get through in this since this is a new story being posted. As I say in all my closing notes, please some of you take the time to write a review and tell me what you think of this story. I take constructive criticism, thoughts, and questions answering what I can. Thank you for reading this idea of mine and peace out until I post the next time.