“Sister, I believe you may have casted too strong a sleep spell on him.”
“Maybe not, look at him.”
Reynauld began to wake up, his eyes catching sight of an intricate white ceiling. Church? That couldn’t quite be where he was.
“Creature, have you come to?” A soothing voice called to him as he rose up, feeling the iron clasps on his hands and feet.
First time for everything, “where am I?” His eyes stared straight at the ponies sitting at their thrones at a pedestal high above him. He checked himself over, his ripped clothing was still all there, reminding him of his peasant beginnings.
“Canterlot.”
“Equestria to be precise.”
“Fortunate that it speaks our language. What is your name?”
“Where...where is Mora-,” he cut himself off when he quite remembered it didn’t matter where he was, but rather who was with him. His head spun about and he looked around the whole room, managing to come to his feet, “Rhett, where is Rhett? My brother?”
He didn’t give any of those three in front of him much attention.
“Brother? I found you alone, no other creature was with you,” the white one spoke up and in yellow light, the chains and clasps fell off him.
“Sister, are you sure that is wise?” The blue one spoke up, “we do not know if he is capable of misdeeds.”
Reynauld didn’t waste anymore time in front of these ponies and chose to instead flee and run right to the doors of the throne room without waiting for any of them to finish their sentence.
“Hey! Wait!” The pink one managed out as he ran through the entire castle.
He’d never made it into something this large and massive before. Regardless, he stil found himself exiting easily enough. He hid out in the woods of the castle garden, taking a moment to check himself over. No money was on him, that’s the status quo, he did have things he would need though, like his lockpicks and cast iron knife.
He could make it in any world, but for now all that mattered was finding his brother.
It had been months and he had moved unseen all over the world and if something did see him, he quickly made sure it forgot the rest of what happened. He was making it by himself just fine.
His brother was not as ruthless as he was, raised to both be angels only one of them fell from that grace and dragged the other along.
Listen, I’ll get us a better life, we can go where we want, sleep in whatever town we want, eat whatever we want, and do whatever we want. You’re about to swear vows today and rot in that monastery, please, Rhett, brother. I’m begging you to come with me and we can see the whole world.
That promise was eating him inside, it used to be the source of his still human part. But after months of chasing all over this nation and not finding any clues or leads, he returned back to the castle in that marbled city, Canterlot. He snuck himself into the throne room undetected easily enough in his ripped browns and blacks.
That conversation he heard that day changed him. Some kingdom was returning and he wanted to be there, it could be a place where he could find his brother if he yet lived all in this world.
Rhett wasn’t the brightest man, wasn’t the strongest man, wasn’t the quick man either. Rhett could...was actually barely called a man only because he had the bravery of his brother Reynauld. Reynauld was called a gross abomination and rejected from monkhood when he put in a request as everyone knew he was constantly up to shady stuff. Theft, burglaries, assaults, muggings, banditry, and even murder if someone paid him enough. The worst is that everyone in that monastic town knew why he did it. His reasons did not absolve him from sin or their judgement though, but at least Rhett was safe and could eat and grow and get what he needed.
In hindsight, maybe he babied him too much and stunted his growth. As a monk, Rhett would be sealed away and taken care of for the rest of his life. Reynauld would never see him again, but that part didn’t bother him as much as it did now. He just wanted peace of mind that his brother would be safe and alive. Growing up as orphans wasn’t easy, especially when the church demanded so much of them both in terms of devotion and chores.
Reynauld grew up very conflicted about that. On one hand, the church provided, they were very much like parents to the both of them. On the other, the parents of normal families were never that hard on their children and the brothers were basically working as a manservant day in and day out with no time to themselves.
Since he was born, Reynauld never knew freedom and he wondered if that ever bothered his dimmer brother. Reynauld was smart, ambitious, and he wanted much more than to wash the walls, touch up the fransican murals, sweep the floor, dig the graves, and countless other house chores that the presbytery needed doing. So when he was old enough to throw his first punch, he began his delinquency.
And he savored that taste of real freedom, leaving Rhett to rot in the church. It wasn’t like he felt bad, but Rhett said he was okay with it and even moreso wanted to rather than do what his brother was doing to make ends meet. The church was already incredibly angry that Reynauld kept skulking around just to see his brother, the parish priest and the one in training were so close to banning him from the ground. It escalated when Reynauld showed up one day with a sword and dagger on him.
Then they kicked his brother out.
So Reynauld turned to even harder crimes to get more money to keep Rhett up in an inn at least and even pay for lessons in reading so he could get him into the monastery easily, despite his reputation tainting his brother. Rhett, being as slow as he was, took a long time to learn how to read and then even more to learn how to write, he was almost done when this happened.
That’s why he was on the train to this Crystal Empire, having snuck aboard to find his brother there and see if there was even a way home for the both of them. They didn’t belong, at least he knew Rhett didn’t. Rhett deserved an easy and peaceful life as one of the Benedictine monks. Reynauld was fine with the way he was living, if the world was so cruel that his parents rejected him then he had no moral qualms with all the things he had done and the things he would continue to do.
Fuck ‘em, right? It was all only about survival and everyone had different games to play.
The train had come to an easy and slow stop at the station and while he heard all the ponies in the cart over stand and start to move to the cargo car to retrieve their things he sprinted out and away. Trusty dagger in hand and ready if he ran into the trouble that was warned about in this wealthy but desolate kingdom.
Hours were going by and he didn’t have any new information on his brother or a way home, but he did manage to score some food and drink at least. He needed to stay on his feet and taking it from homes was easiest way to get it. He leaned into shadows in an alley, eating a carrot without much care for taste when he saw a great demonic visage outside the cyan shield that he was able to pass through when he first entered.
Something stronger than those princesses or whatever, he thought. Someone who might have answers for me or could actually assist with finding his brother.
So he approached the shield, ensuring nobody could see him at this distance and the red eyes formed from black mist in front of him, a toothy grin spreading across the smaller mass. Reynauld could feel something try to pierce his mind, but recoil.
“Hate...you reek of it.”
“I don’t know who you are, but...you look strong. You have any idea where my brother is? Looks kinda like me, only other guy like me in this whole Equestria place,” he didn’t care for manners, spitting venom into every word like he always did.
”You want to find your brother?”
“And I want to get him home, where I came from.”
”I can find your brother...but.”
There it was, the price.
”You’re perfect to help me.”
A criminal knows what a criminal looks like, even in another world. Reynauld bit his cheek for a second, “I’ll bite, what do you want me to do?”
”The pink bitch, in the alace,” this apparition’s words seeped out slow, “kill her, so I can have my Empire.”
Reynauld fiddled with the dagger hanging from his side until he grasped it fully, “that’s it?” He was a bit smarmy, smiling wide, “that’s all you want me to do? I’ll go do it now,” the price was so low he thought to himself. Kill one pony here.
”The one with wings and a horn, slit her throat.”
Reynauld walked off, smirking to himself. Now he could get his brother back if such a thing was on his side and make sure he was sequestered away safely. Then Reynauld could really set himself free and do whatever he wanted, the world would be his to choke for every piece of coin he wanted.
The entire walk to the tall spiring palace was long, not a single one of the depressed ponies gave him any heed and the palace seemed to be entirely unguarded by guards that just didn’t care for...anything. That made it easy to walk himself all the way up to the throne room. He imagined this pink pony was that alicorn he saw when he was still clasped in chains. Reynauld passed by an armory on the staircase up and took time to find a sword, slapping the scabbard on his side and strapping it on firmly.
In case there was more trouble than he was anticipating.
His mind wandered as he roamed corridors, trying to find exactly where to go and where his payday was. Why were all these ponies so despondent? They didn’t care for an oddity like as nearly as much as any pony that saw him elsewhere did. That was definitely a question to ask, but not something to put his priority on.
Maybe that black cloud was the reason? That just meant he was making a very strong ally.
Reynauld’s thoughts concluded there as he come to the throne room, finding that pink alicorn princess.
Cadence or something.
And she was being tended to by a white unicorn with built muscles, some kind of guard, must be a really good guard. He peeked through the open doors without either of them facing his way. The attention of this unicorn was torn between her and the black apparition that pounded on the shield. Yeah, adversaries for sure. He knew this, the side who could offer him the most is what got the deal most of the times. Unless negotiating was dangerous.
Reynauld held the dagger firm, sneaking in quietly, stepping exclusively on the rug and slowly making his way to the pair. His heart was pounding hard. Why was he nervous? He’d killed before. He murdered in broad daylight whne nobody was around. He had lured the unaware down a sidestreet and choked them with his own hands. He’s snuck into houses and shoved a knife into someone’s neck right there next to their wife.
Why was this different? Something was wrong here and he understood his intuition was telling him that much. He stopped moving for a moment, pondering his actions and potential death that his adrenaline was alerting him to. If he went down here, nobody would be alive to care for his brother. He’d need to be alive to make sure that demon whatever honored the agreement, that was for sure.
Whatever problems that would follow this, he resigned to dealing with later. He had a clearer path than Cadence in front of him offered with the other ruling power here. His feet resumed, but he wasn’t quite quick enough as the unicorn turned around to see him. Reynauld zipped quick, moving to the alicorn and gripping her exhausted form roughly, his dagger pressed to her throat tight, drawing a little bit of blood out already.
Her fur was soft and welcoming. He’d kill a lot of kind people, but somehow killing this pony felt, different and he hesitated.
The shield faltered as he felt magic envelope him.
“No! Don’t! He’ll get through!” The unicorn shouted and the magic left his body while the shield resumed and a great cackle echoed through the air and into the palace.
The unicorn made some movements forward, “don’t you dare fucking move or this dagger is gonna finish,” he threatned as the unicorn pulled a spear from his back, not moving from his position.
Reynauld stood, the alicorn’s eyes met his in fear. His hand wanted to push, but his head wasn’t willing to give that order.
“What do you want?!” The unicorn shouted, “you can have it, just leave her alone!”
Reynauld’s greedy mind took the stage, “my brother. You know where he is?”
The unicorn gritted his teeth, “no, but I can help find him-.”
“I got someone stronger than you who’ll help me with that. Someone who’ll even get him home,” Reynauld was reminding himself with his words of why he was here holding this alicorn hostage against this guard.
“Please, that’s my wife. Just walk out of here, I’ll even let you go free and I swear I’ll help you find your brother.”
Reynauld had heard infinite amounts of pleas and begging during these kind of threatening negotiations for someone’s life, “it’s...you have no guarantee and the thing out there had more promise than you do. Than your precious princesses did. Is that all you can offer me?”
A silence fell over them.
“Guess not.”
“Wait!” The unicorn took a big step forward.
“One more hoof of yours gets closer and she’s dead no matter what,” Reynauld coldly warned, knowing his exact position and bargaining chip in the room.
“You want to find your brother, you care about him. Please, leave my her alone, I care for her the same.”
That was a common argument, but if he learned anything it’s that empathizing didn’t get you any-fucking-where. You had to take action to get what you want.
He had to take this life to get his brother. That was the way the world was, cruel and unforgiving to him. That was the ruling dogma.
His flat smile stayed as he plunged the dagger deep into Cadence’s throat, hearing her gurgle blood immediately after while he wrenched it around. These ponies were capable of magic and he wanted to be thorough, brutality was the means for that reasoning.
After a moment, he dropped the alicorn, taking his dagger as the uniconr just stood in shock at his position. The cyan shield fell and the light outside started to vanish, turning dark.
“Do...do you even know what you’ve done?” The unicorn breathed out, dropping his spear while he made his way to the dying body of his wife.
“If you want something, you take it. That’s how it’s always been. No bad blood,” he stated and saw the appariation flood into the throne room and form into a black unicorn with a red horn, adorned with some kind of fancy red coat.
“That’s right, he knows what he’s talking about,” it spoke, “I’ll get you your brother, don’t worry. My name is Sombra, King Sombra,” the black tyrant touted, “and you just became my right hand.”
Sombra definitely kept up his end of the bargain as he waged war against Equestria, enslaving the populace he captured alive and taking cities and towns. He sent countless reports to Reynauld who continued to kill and fight in his name, skulking about and killing important military leaders and disorganizing forces. Sabotaging everything as he went. Every single one of those reports gave a detailed recount of what was present and mentioned there was no evidence of his brother to be found.
Equestria hadn’t seen a proper infiltrator or assassin since days long long past. By the time one garrison or fortrification figured out what was going on, it was too late to even send a report about it and Sombra’s army was upon them within moments or killed any fleeing messengers.
All that murder lead the sole human where he was today. Reynauld had only recently figured that out just now, staring at the report in his hands after he had successfully gotten past enemy lines and all the way to Canterlot as Sombra commanded him.
He stood in a war room with two princesses and six things called elements in front of him on the war table filled with maps and strategic clues.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,
We’ve successfully looked everywhere else all over Equestria for some kind of sign of another creature like Reynauld. Your suspicions of him being behind Sombra’s successful and quick advance are founded well. He’s made it past the war frontline and was spotted once around Manehattan, but we have no idea where he went so be on guard.
As I write this letter, Manehattan has fallen and I’m being hauled on a chariot through the air as I make some kind of quick plan. We might be staring down an army we can’t win against. Sombra refuses to leave the Crystal Empire still which means our plan to use the Elements of Harmony on him by Twilight and the others will likely never happen.
Your point in that this Reynauld is our only saving grace is made even more apparent. The Elements could change him to our side and push the hatred from his heart, I urge you to keep my sister and her friends close by along with those six golden artifacts.
Even if we are unsuccessful in using the Elements of Harmony to cause Reynauld to have a change of heart, we can likely reason with him as we are the only ones who knows the fate of his brother. The last place we dispatched a search party for this Rhett was the Everfree Forest and we found clothing a lot like what Reynauld wears around a skeleton inside of a cave of an Ursa Major. We lost two ponies on that excursion, but we now know what happened to him.
We can use this information to our benefit and maybe even convince Reynauld to go back to the Crystal Empire and kill Sombra to bring a conclusion to this war. At any rate, Reynauld is the centerpiece for this war, he has in inhibitions and lived a harsher life. He’s accustomed to this.
Awaiting further orders and better news,
General Shining Armor
Reynauld felt his heart sink, he brother was dead, this report confirmed it. He looked up to the two sleeping and exhausted princesses. Both of them were sprawled over the table, an inkpot had been spilled over.
Reynauld drew his dagger, he was ordered to kill the both of them. This new information made it clear that he bet on the wrong horse for the first time ever. He was the only person responsible for his brother, the only person who would care about the idiot.
He didn’t feel any sadness or remorse, but he did feel a feeling he only felt way back when he killed for the first time. Back then, he had the resolve to double down because it was for his brother’s sake. It was to strike back at the world that struck him and his brother down at birth. That regret didn’t melt the hatred from him, but it directed it to himself. He failed to protect his brother until he could get to a monastery and in a world that didn’t even bash him once. He came to the conclusion that he really didn’t belong here and neither did his way of thinking. All the spite he had shouldn’t have been directed here.
These ponies kept his interests in mind, albeit to stop the war, but in the writings it seemed they wanted to redeem him rather than condemn him as all other humans wanted to do.
He raised the dagger and brought it down.
“Augh...”
And he did it again, tilting the blade so it would enter upwards in the long arc.
“Rruugh.”
A third and fourth time before the dagger clattered to the floor and the princesses in front of him awoke, groggy at first. Then at seeing his face they were awake all at once.
Reynauld fell over in pain, slamming against the shut door as Celestia and Luna rushed to their hooves, staring at him with curiosity. Worry was what had their attention first. He had managed to sneak all the way here with the goal of killing them, but he didn’t.
“What...what are you doing?!” Celestia shouted at him as he bleed out from his abdomen and coughed blood out of his mouth.
Luna pointed her hoof at his hand that still held the report from Shining Armor, “sister, he found out.”
Reynauld clutched the report like it would bring him solace, but it was the closest thing to his brother that he had.
“I.”
“I couldn’t protect him.”
That’s all he managed to get out while the princesses fluttered around him in worry and shouted for help. Reynauld laid in a growing pool of his blood as the door opened and he fell with it, his head slamming down and his vision spun. Shouting was all around him while he lost the cold gaze that always followed his face.
With no smile, he stared right at the two princesses and reached weakly for his dagger, grabbing it blade first with his open right hand, “the attack...Manehattan was a ruse. I...I sabotaged and killed a lot of leaders there,” blood was gurgling his words, “an army marches here under the cover of night, around Foal Mountain...South along river,” Reynauld warned them.
He wasn’t sure why exactly he said it, but he felt his regret lift a bit. These ponies never stopped looking for his brother and succeeded in finding him. They didn’t deserve the surprise attack that was coming.
Reynauld lifted his dagger to the white alicorn whose hooves were now reddened with his blood, “when the time comes,” he spat a large glob of crimson out of his mouth, “you kill that whoreson Sombra with this. You make him choke on it.”
It wasn’t an apology, but it’s probably as close as he could come to one. Princess Celestia took the dagger by the handle, looking it over with no distaste, but with a look of resolve. She received the wishes of a dying man.
While the other ponies looked on in shock, the princesses had gathered their composure and sent the doctor, nurses, and most of the guards away. Luna and Celestia were listening intently.
“And bury me with it so I can make him choke on my knife a second time myself...”
“In Hell.”
He spat the last word with a physical amount of hate. The diarchs nodded as his head lolled back over to stare at the ceiling. his eyes managed to blink a few times as he reflected his last moments before his eyelids no longer shut.
come on thats not fair they both are now dead already
Is it just a one-shot or will there be more?
11803656
Agreed, does feel more like a one-shot if anything.
11803721
More like a one-shot? I mean, both brothers died, so what's the point!?
11803721
To clarify, this is a one-shot. Forgot to update status after editing.
It was a short little idea that popped into my head and I had to get it out.
11803822
I just thought of something; What's more "tragic" to this story, is that even after their tragic deaths. The brothers still WON'T be together in the afterlife for a very, very, very, very long while.
Reynauld would obviously is going to Hell ( Or the MLP's version of Hell. ) for his rather evil crimes/sins that he did to not only the poor ponies, but possibly some of the innocent people back on earth. ( In order to "survive" and for his brother. )
While Rhett doesn't seem like a bad person like his big bro. And when he also got teleported to Equestria as well. He tragically died by not only a freaking Ursa Major!? But also the fact that he was barely in Equestria for probably a couple of days I think, and then he just died, that quickly!?
That's just rather f**ked up.
I just hope that the silver lying of all this is that Rhett actually went to Heaven (Or the equivalent of MLP Heaven? ) at the end of all this.
But as for his big bro, well.......
I mean, I wouldn't be surprised that IF Reynauld somehow sees his younger brother for the last time, before he is sent to MLP Hell.
That the ghost/spirit of Rhett would have seen EVERYTHING of what Reynauld did in the mortal realm ( Aka Equestria, and possibly back on Earth in the past. ), up from Heaven.
And he would quite be totally disgusted with what his big bro did to not only the innocent ponies and their kingdom, Cadence, etc.....
But also working with a evil dark medieval/fantasy tyrant, and did some war crimes. And what's probably more worse is that he would also seen what happened back on Earth, due to the MLP Heaven's versions of angels showing him what his big brother have done.
In conclusion, I don't think Rhett won't forgive Reynauld anyway time soon. Plus the fact that Reynauld is going down to MLP Hell anyways, so what's the point?
Now onto my final sayings; All I have to say to Reynauld is that I don't really pity him. Not fully.
Because, it's cruelly ironic that for all this time, he's doing all these messed up crime/sins for finding his younger brother's sake.
Only to finally found out that the universe itself totally f**ked him over from the very beginning. By ending his younger brother's life by a random beast.
And when both of them died, his younger brother's ghost/spirit will probably seen what Reynauld has done in his "name". And would chastise and not forgive him anytime soon. And both of them will permanently be separated in two different afterlives.
So in the end, Reynauld himself actually loses his own younger brother anyways, due to his rather heinous actions against Equestria. And would end up in Hell for everything he did.
Not only he did this to himself for permanently losing his brother from the afterlife of all places. He only has himself to blame.
You see what I'm saying, The Real Darkness?
11803973
This. This.
This is EXACTLY what I was going for. Reynaukd is not mean to be redeemable in the eyes of anyone though he is trying to redeem himself in his own eyes.
He's based off 1100s to 1400s Christianity churches, Holy Roman Empire stuff.
He also had no reason to take responsibility for his brother except for a twisted reasoning to find a reason for all the things he did past his own selfish need to feel free and like he has some kind of control on his life.
According to how sins were harshly seen during the entirety of the HRE, he knows he is headed to hell and away from his brother but he thought...it's worth it if my brother has a good life and goes to heaven, he's worth all of this.
In those times, intelligence of someone like Reynauld, who would be considered below average nowadays, is amazing in a world where everyone drank from early ages.
Reynauld tricked himself into believing he had to take responsibility for his dimmer brother to make sure he was okay, that was never the case and he did it for his own selfish reasons, creating an a very bleak Equestria in the process.
11804187
Damn! Never thought of having an author praise me of my analysis, thanks.
Anyways, maybe I could ask to want to see a little short epilogue that shows that Sombra is finally defeated, and ponykind is luckily saved.
But even after everything, I bet a whole lot of pony citizens will despised what Reynauld has done anyways, even if he kind of helped the princesses in the end there.
Don't know why the princesses, and especially Shining still think he is still "redeemable", after what he did to Cadence. And the princesses was almost got killed themselves, so....
Even if Reynauld finally did something good for once in his damn life In the end. It still doesn't erase all the 99.5% of the many, many bad stuff against ponykind, and some innocent people back on Earth.
And it will be poetic that from the afterlife ( Or MLP's of equivalent of Heaven and Hell. Real question; do the two brothers actually go back to Earth's afterlife or they still stuck and go to MLP's version of heaven/hell? );
Reynauld would have his very last conversation with Rhett, and it wouldn't be pretty. Because, Rhett will definitely call out Reynauld's BS "reasoning" is all for him. But only for his cruel and selfish self.
And sure, Rhett admits that he tragically and very quickly died to a random everfree forest beast when he got to equestria.
But what he saw next from his big bro during the "Crystal Empire Civil War against Equestria" was thousand times worse than he thought.
I just want to see the final satisfaction of Rhett talking down and chastising his big brother for all the bad things he did to not only against the poor pony race, but also some innocent people back on Earth.
Considering that It all leads to the both of them being separate from different afterlives, with Reynauld definitely going to Hell to pay for his many sins.
Rhett will finally ask this to Reynauld; Was it really "worth" it, and I hope you're "proud" of yourself. Because you will never see me again once you're gone to Hell itself, and you won't receive my own forgiveness anytime soon. Goodbye and forever, "brother".
P.S. I do understand that they have a harsh life back on Earth. But Reynauld kind of both screwed himself, and even his little brother by his many crimes and all that.
And when both of them finally went to a different world for a new start. And despite Rhett already died by a freaking Ursa Major.
Reynauld didn't want his new fresh start, and
squandered his second chance by going back to his old and dark self by being some sort of mercenary by a dark tyrant.
And look where that got him!
11804249
Reynauld did the best with the way he saw the world. Rhett wasn't bright enough to care, his brother promised him a peaceful life outside of being an orphan in a disease rampant world.
Reynauld wasn't even attempting to be good, he just gave up because his fallacy fell. He was never doing it for his brother, it was for him and he had to face that, it broke him.
The princesses and Shining don't see him as entirely redeemable, they see him more as the key to win or stop the war because of his lack of morality in the name of parentifying himself.
I wrote this one-shot more like a poem in that regard.
11804466
Oh, well nevermind then.
So technically, I wrote all of that for nothing??
11804568
Your analysis is still spot on.
And your enegagement is really appreciated.
You just forgot that Reynauld was the cause of the war and the key instrument and that Rhett wasn’t born as bright as his brother.
11804729
I admit that I forgot about Rhett's low IQ.
But I didn't forget that Reynauld is also the cause of the Crystal Empire Civil War against Equestria. Considering all of this happened is because he trust somepony like Sombra, and killed Cadence in the first place.
Why do you think I forgot about the second one? I didn't. That is why I was so heavily negative against Reynauld, I'm talking about him going to Hell and all of that.
I could slightly change it that instead of Rhett.
It'll be one of the ponies version of Angels or even Fausticon herself being the ones to heavily chastise Reynauld for his deadly crimes/sins to not only Equestria, but also from the original world of Earth.