My Little Pony: The Brothers of Discord

by mr.myxsiple

Butch's Assault Part 1

CHAPTER 36
BUTCH'S ASSAULT PART 1

"A castle right in the middle of the Everfree forrest...I couldn't even go in there without looking over my shoulder every second. How do those guys stand living there right in the middle of all sorts of wild animal crap?" the pegasus mare said pacing around the living room.

The earth pony stallion was sitting on his couch sipping some tea as he listened to her talk. "They do have special powers don't they? With those, protecting themselves against the forest's animals shouldn't be too much of a problem." he replied calmly.

"I guess." The mare stopped. "Don't you think Butch and his goons might not stand a chance?"

"Are you worried about them?"

"Ugh, no! Butch's an arrogant jerk. If anything, I kinda want him to fail."

The earth pony raised an eyebrow. "Really? This mission is essential to Libra and to our Leader's goal." He took a sip of tea and put the cup down. "I don't like Butch either, but if he succeeds, if he gets them, nothing will be able to stop us. The Elements of Harmony will be powerless against us. Once Ponyville is destroyed, we can take the Elements for ourselves. Our leader will be unstoppable."

The mare narrowed her eyes and scoffed. "Pfft. You might care about Libra and our Leader, but I don't. I couldn't care any less who's running Equestria after all this as long as it isn't that bitch."

"Meadow..."

"You know why I'm here Cabbage." she continued turning away from him. "You know how my family suffered 'cause of her." She grit her teeth angrily wanting desperately to punch something. She then heard Cabbage rise from the couch and approached her, nuzzling her comfortingly.

"Look, everything will turn out fine. We will win in the end." Meadow calmed down upon feeling his warmth. "We'll all have what we want when this is all over."

Meadow sighed and nuzzled him back knowing in her heart that she could trust his words.

---

Later that evening...

"So, lemme get this straight. You and a mare got totally wasted, you got her to take you to her place, you got yourself in her room, you got on her bed, you got her to get on top of you, you got her to give you a massage, and you still didn't get laid?!"

"Uh...no..."

Ironhead's legs fell beneath him as he rolled on the floor clutching his sides while laughing his heart out. Scar frowned as he crossed over to his room and pulled the door open. "Loser!" Ironhead cried out tears in his eyes while Scar slammed his door shut. After about a minute of laughing, Ironhead picked himself and headed for his room chuckling as he did.

The rest of the family was getting ready for bed as well. Solstice had bookmarked the page of a book he was engrossed in and levitated it to a nearby book case. Blues had played the last few notes of a piece he was performing and was levitating his sax back to its usual spot. Ash stared at the ceiling wallowing in his misery; Psych was doing the same worried sick about Ash, and Equinox took one last look at his invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala wondering why Celestia wants to meet them there of all places.

For hours, the family slept peacefully, the castle they lived in silent under a moonless night. The trees surrounding the castle covered the area around them in darkness, and through this darkness did several figures travel through silently. One of those figures, the leader of the group, moved ahead and came across the castle first, smirking as the rest caught up.

"Time to get this show started." he turned to his companions. "Search every room until you find them. If anyone gets in your way...kill them."

Meanwhile inside the castle, Blues had woken up unexpectedly. He smacked his lips and felt them dry and in need of some water. Sighing, he jumped off his bed and left his room heading in the direction of the kitchen. He arrived there without incident and satisfied his thirst with a glass of water. Feeling better, he trotted out of the kitchen and into the dining room, the castle's silence broken by the sound of his hooves against the-

He suddenly froze mid-step, a look of shock on his face. He had picked up the sound of the front door swinging open as well as several figures enter the building. He could hear them muttering to each other about something, but he didn't care what. He knew there were many of them , more than he could handle.

Good thing he knew what to do in a situation like this. Careful not to make a sound, Blues launched a strand of his mane sideways towards a small cupboard. Pursing his lips, he felt around for the handle and pulled it open. The strand shifted through several utensils and until it wrapped around what Blues was searching for, a crimson rock covered in runes, a rock with a special enchantment. The tendril constricted around the rock and crushed it to pieces producing a very audible crack as it did.

The crack was unfortunately loud enough to get the intruders' attention. Blues could already sense several of them head his way; gritting his teeth, he raised his shoulders ready to attack, his mane flaring out threateningly. Hopefully, he'd be able to handle them before his family could arrive. In a matter of seconds, one of the intruders appeared before him.

Immediately, he sensed the intruder leap and soar towards him leading Blues to conclude that he had wings. He swung his head and, the flying intruder got the side of his head smacked by a long tendril of navy blue hair. He crashed into the side wall as two more intruders came in and lunged at the pony.

Blues jumped back and launched two tendrils at them. He smirked as he felt one of them coil around its mark but suddenly gasped in pain as he felt that tendril suddenly become severed. They have claws?! he thought as he stumbled back from the pain. This gave the other intruder the chance to lunch at him and grab him.

Struggling against the claws that held him, Blues felt himself lifted off the floor. The next second, his lungs emptied themselves of air as he felt himself being slammed on the table. Dizzy from the impact, he felt his assailant's hot breath on him.

"We know they're here. Tell me where they are, and I might let you live." he said clutching him tightly.

Refusing to yield, Blues wrapped his attacker's head with hair and launched him upwards, slamming him into the ceiling. He then toss him towards one of the other intruders who dodged him and flew at him. Thinking fast, he made two tendrils coil around two of the seats at the table and swung them at the intruder. He heard them shatter to pieces upon impact and the sound of a body hitting the table. He then kicked and felt satisfied when he felt his hoof come into contact with a face.

Blues rose and threw the remaining pieces of the chairs against the table. He could sense another intruder enter the room as well as the first one he attack rise to its feet. He got up and quickly ducked as the new intruder flew towards him and shot his tail out. It coiled around the his legs, but he quickly severed them with a slash of his claws inflicting another wave of pain to Blues.

He recovered just in time to dodge the first intruder's lunge. As they flew back towards him, he jumped off the table, faced them and launched a thick tendril at them. One was struck, but the other one swerved around it and raised his claws. Another wave of pain told Blues that his hair had once again been severed. He knew he could just keep regrowing his hair, but of they kept cutting it, it wouldn't take too long before he was pain was too much.

He recovered quick enough to duck a swipe of his attacker's claws. The other one recovered from the blow and flew in as well, successfully punching Blues in the face while he was too busy dodging another swipe. The pony stumbled back from the blow and lashed out with a tendril that smacked both of them aside. As they crashed against the wall, he sensed something from behind him.

He quickly whipped around, but he was too late. He was so absorbed with holding off his two opponents, he forgot about the other two which had apparently recovered and launched their own assault. One of them grabbed his head, lifted him off the floor and slashed his stomach earning muffled screams from him. Blues quickly readied a counter, but the other intruder yanked the growing hair backwards and cut it with his claws earning yet another muffled scream of pain.

His body weary, he realized that they had forgotten about his tail which he lengthened, split and wrapped around their ankles. With a powerful yank, both intruders lost their balance and fell; Blues landed and flung them away from him. To his dismay, both of them spread their wings and stopped themselves before they could crash. Worse still, he sensed the other two intruders rise and backed up a little.

"Perfect." he muttered. He doubted he'd be able to leave with these four still conscious. Ignoring the feeling of blood dripping from his wounded stomach, Blues stood his ground; it was going to be a long fight.

---

Solstice was the first one out of his room after hearing the Emergency Stone shatter. He quickly headed down the corridor towards the stairs stopping only when he heard something rushing up them. He stepped back and calmly lit up his horn readying a spell in case one had to be cast. Movement out of the corner of his left eye caught his attention. He quickly glanced in that direction, but it was only Scar poking his head out of the room.

"Scar!" he called out to his brother and got his attention. "Check the stairs on the other end! There might be-"

He was interrupted by something large quickly heading up the stairs. Reflexively, Solstice fired a burst of teal magic and struck the creature, but another one quickly took its place. It lunged at Solstice, grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall. Groaning, Solstice's eyes took in the intruder's brown feathered body as well as the beak on his face.

A...A griffon? Why would griffons attack us?

He was just about to ask that question when Scar, wings expanded to their full length, flew in and kicked the griffon holding his brother, sending him flying back. "You OK bro?" he asked turning to Solstice who picked himself up and dusted his shoulders.

"Nothing too serious I assure you." Both brothers turned to the staircase upon hearing the sound of more intruders heading up. A crash from their right caught their attention; they looked and found the window at the end of the corridor shatter as more griffons poured into the corridor. "Oh dear." Solstice said but remained perfectly calm as he lit up his horn.

"Scar, deal with the griffons entering through the window. I shall deal with the ones heading up the stairs." Solstice said hurriedly as a tendril of teal magic left his horn and entered Scar's head. Scar nodded and flew off in the direction of the invading griffons. Solstice took a step but suddenly remembered the other staircase that lead to their floor. Psych and Ash were still in their rooms; who would protect the other stair case?

"Bro!" To his relief, Solstice saw Ironhead race out of room towards the other end of the corridor. "I got the other end! They're not gonna get past me!"

Smiling, Solstice quickly performed the same spell on him before he raced down the stairs and was surprised by the number of griffons surging towards him. Staying perfectly calm, he fired blast after blast of magic. Some struck their targets and knocked them back whiles others dodged and lunged at him. He quickly raised a shimmering teal barrier which blocked their punches and slashes. Concentrating, he teleported backwards and blasted them with bursts of teal magic.

More and more griffons kept coming up the stairs. Two of them dodged his blasts and swiped at him with their claws. He dodged them and teleported a few steps up; he was very talented at magic, but his own physical capabilities were poor to say the least. Undeterred, he raised a teal barrier as a third griffon joined in on the assault. Thankfully, their punches and slashes did no damage to the barrier which he expanded, knocking the intruders down onto the floor below.

Planning to keep them down, Solstice teleported to the foot of the stairs. The corridor was strewn with fallen griffons, but more were coming in from the right side; there seemed to be no end to them. He still had plenty of magic left in him, but it wouldn't take too long before he becomes exhausted. He realized he had no choice; he had to use his powers.

Hoping his dad would forgive him for any damage he'd do to the castle, he lit up his horn and gave a loud cry. A teal magical aura enveloped his body filling the dark corridor with teal light. A similar one lined the corridor to his right. Stone columns suddenly burst out of the walls, crisscrossing themselves and forming a barrier that barred any access further.

A few griffons noticed it and quickly stopped, but the ones ahead of them weren't as quick. They crashed head-first into the stone bars and groaned as they crumpled at its feet. A bunch of griffons at the back didn't notice it either and cried out as they collided with the ones who had stopped in time, making a mess of feathers and insults. The ones who recovered first rubbed their bruises and turned around and tried to flee.

Solstice wouldn't let them get away so easily. His body still surrounded by a teal magical aura, he fired a larger burst of magic down the corridor. Halfway through, it suddenly split into several smaller streams of magic which shot through the gaps in the barrier and struck the retreating griffons. Some took head shots and collapsed unconscious while the ones who only took body shots or who evaded them fled to find an alternative route.

As they retreated, Solstice felt relieved, but he quickly turned around and saw more griffons charging towards him. The sight would easily freak anypony else out, but he was as calm as can be; he knew fully well the consequences if he let his stress get the better of him. With a deep breath, he adjusted his glasses, and the teal aura surrounding him intensified as he prepared himself for the fight.

---

With a mighty flap, Scar created a massive gust that knocked the griffons back out the window. When one of them stopped himself and flew back in, Scar crossed his forelegs over his face as he crashed into him and knocked him out of the window. He then gave another powerful flap, knocking the griffons away from him with another powerful gust.

With them distracted, Scar surveyed the ground and gasped as he saw dozens of griffons breaking through the windows and barging through the front door. He quickly flew to a nearby window and kicked the griffon before he could break the glass. The griffon recovered and flew in at him; Scar readied himself and twisted his body several times painfully battering the griffon with his enormous wings. Once he was done, he punched him in the jaw and took joy in seeing him fall.

That joy turned to shock as he felt a powerful kick to his side. Flying away a little, he spotted three griffons heading his way and quickly descended as one of them flew over him. He then crossed his wings over himself creating a makeshift shield which softened the punches of the other two griffons. He then quickly swung his wings out and knocked them into the castle wall before blowing the third griffon back with another powerful gust.

With them down, he circled around the castle and spotted two more griffons entering through a second floor window. He flew into the corridor, went right between them and knocked them back outside with a flap of his wings. As he flew out, he was surprised when a third one snuck up on him, grabbed him and slammed him against the castle wall.

Scar struggled but stopped when a fist sunk into his stomach. Another blow struck the top of his head and knocked him to the ground below. Weakened, Scar rose on shaking legs only to see the three griffons charging towards him. Growling, he flared his wings and swung one of them, knocking the first griffon into the castle wall.

He backed up as the other two swiped at him with their claws and felt himself touch the castle wall. He realized that too late as another flurry of slashes came his way. He instinctively covered himself with his wings and felt several feathers being torn off. Not wanting to lose all the feathers in his wings, he swung them outwards and followed with a gust that sent them crashing into the trees surrounding the castle.

Panting and woozy from the blows, Scar rose and circled the castle once again spotting a group of five griffons about to enter through the front doors. He flew towards the one in the lead and kicked him aside. He landed and tuned towards the remaining griffons, wings flared in agitation and glaring at them with fire in his eyes.

"NOPONY'S GETTING PAST ME!" he cried out defiantly before beginning his assault.

---

Equinox had no trouble finding out what the source of the commotion was. He woke up to the sound of the Emergency Stone in his room breaking, but as he rose, there was a powerful thud coming from the door. More and more thuds were heard, but he was confident in the door's stability. A layer of spells over the door made it virtually impervious to-

BOOM!

He gasped and shielded himself as the door burst open. Bewildered, he watched as two menacing griffons strolled into his room cracking their knuckles. He spread his wings and made the two of them gape at him. "Who are you and what are you doing in my home?" he asked sternly.

One of the griffons hurriedly peered outside the room. "Hey Butch! They got an alicorn with them!"

Tensed, Equinox watched a third griffon enter the room. He was much larger and more muscular than the two others, but what really set him apart was the massive broadsword strapped to his back. He stopped a few feet away from the alicorn and narrowed his eyes. "Alicorn? They never said anything about an alicorn in here." he said out loud.

"I take it that you are Butch?" Equinox asked. "What business do you have with us?"

"Cut the crap. I know they're here." Butch said rudely. "I know about those kids trying to fix the Light going on in Ponyville. I know who they really are..." he finished with a sneer.

Equinox paled. How could they possibly know?! A thought suddenly struck him. "You...You're responsible for the Light in Ponyville's soil!" he accused pointing his hoof at the griffon.

"Dead wrong. That's technically not our fault." Butch replied bringing a claw up. "But we do want Ponyville wiped out, and those six guys are getting in our way. We're here to get rid of 'em too."

Butch slowly drew his sword and pointed it forward. Meanwhile, white-hot anger coursed through Equinoxes veins. His calm face suddenly turned into a snarl. "What have you done to my sons?!"

Before Butch could answer, a third griffon flew in through the door. "Butch! We ran into four of them. They're tougher than I thought."

"Yes. My sons can be a hoofful to deal with." Equinox stepped forward. "This can end without either of us being harmed. Please; tell your companions to leave us in peace."

"Yeah, about that..." Butch swung his sword. "That ain't gonna happen 'K? I'm gonna kill you here, my guys are gonna kill those kids of yours and then they will be ours..."

Equinox's face once again shifted to one of rage. "I won't let you harm a single hair on their heads!" he roared firing a burst of silver magic from his horn. Butch merely smirked and almost lazily raised his sword to block the attack.

Equinox was expecting the blade to shot out of his claws or even be shatter to pieces allowing the spell to strike Butch right in his face, but it remained completely intact. Instead upon impact, the sword glowed with a similar magical aura, and the burst faded into nothingness.

"I...Impossible. An arcanite sword?!" he cried out unable to believe his eyes.

"Yup." Butch ran a claw across the blade which didn't have a single scratch on it. "They don't nickname this 'The Mage's Bane' for nothing y'know. C'mon, throw as much magic as you want; this thing'll just cancel it out."

Gritting his teeth, Equinox lit up his horn again and attempted to telekinetically yank the sword out on his grasp. To his dismay, the sword merely glowed with the same magical aura, never leaving Butch's hold for a single second.

"But...You are a griffon." Equinox pointed out. "Arcanite is only mined in Equestria, and even that is is tightly monitored by the government and protected by the Royal Guard. We don't even export it. You obtaining such a substance should be impossible!"

Heh. Not if you got a guy working on the inside. Butch thought with a smirk. He brandished the blade and pointed it at the alicorn once again. "OK. You alicorn guys are old right? You're like, what? 2000? 3000 years old? C'mon old-timer; make your move."

The other three griffons stepped forward grinning evilly like their boss. Equninox backed up and considered his options. His magic was pointless as long as Butch had that sword, and, being the pacifist that he was, his own physical capabilities weren't any special. He only had one choice.

Acting before Butch could, he lit up his horn. The griffon boss raised his sword to block the spell, but nothing came. Instead, he heard cries of shock as his fellow griffons were lifted off the floor, their bodies surrounded by a silver aura. Thinking fast, Butch flew upwards and the griffons were pulled towards the spot he was previously at.

He winced as he saw their bodies collide. Growling, Butch flew in at Equinox and slashed only cutting through empty air as the alicorn vanished in a silver flash. Annoyed, Butch slashed at his bed, ripping his blanket, sheets and pillows to shreds. He turned back to the other griffons who were just beginning to recover.

"What're you waiting for?" he barked at them. "Search the damn room already!"

The griffons rose and started pulling open drawers, breaking open chests and opening cabinets all while complaining under their breaths. Sighing in annoyance, Butch tightened the grip on his sword knowing for sure that it would taste a pony's blood that night.

---

Blood thundered through his veins, sweat covered his brow and hooves went flying and making contact with griffon bodies. Yes, despite the danger of the situation, Ironhead had never felt more alive. It had been ages since he got into a good old-fashioned beat down with anypony. He wasn't ashamed to admit it, but he just loved a good brawl every now and then.

Crying out and pumped with adrenaline, Ironhead bucked a griffon all the way down the stairs. He jumped in his direction, but the griffon rolled away just as Ironhead landed and left several cracks in the floor. The griffon rose and punched him in the face, but he suddenly yelped as all it did was cause more pain. He clutched his wrist and watched his claw throb painfully.

"You call that a punch? This's a punch!"

Ironhead's hoof struck his chest and sent him down another flight of stairs. He ran downstairs and was delighted to see several griffons running through the corridor to his left. Several feet away from them was a stone barrier; Ironhead thought he could see flashes of teal light coming from the other side of it. Cracking his hoof and neck, he smashed a hoof against the floor cracking it slightly.

"BRING IT OOOOOOOOON!"

He charged right into the horde with the intention of beating them into submission. Unfortunately, he was too busy with them to notice another group of griffons head up the stairs. There were 10 of them, and the one in the lead took one look at the griffons swarming Ironhead and decided not to deal with him. Instead, he continued up the stairs and was delighted to find the next floor's corridor empty.

"Good; start searching!" he ordered as griffons busted through doors and barged into the rooms. He then walked over to one of the doors kicked the door open. Glad to see it empty, he searched through the cabinets, drawers and under the bed. There was nothing of interest in the room except for a saxophone sitting in a corner.

Grumbling, he left the room and slammed it shut. A griffon ahead of him was about to open the door to the right, but stopped when the next door opened. At the sound of somepony coming out, the griffon marched towards the pony bringing his claws out. "Hey! What're you-"

The next thing that came out of his mouth was a long, drawn out scream of agony. As the screaming continued, the other griffons peered out and saw the one ahead of them on his knees clutching his face. A few moments later, the griffon collapsed to the ground and writhed around in agony giving them a perfect view of the maroon earth pony ahead of them.

Psych was surprised to see the corridor filled with griffons. As the one behind the first griffon he assaulted stepped forward, Psych's eyes glowed with dark-rose light. The griffon gasped as the one in front of him vanished and checked behind him only to find himself alone with Psych. Not scared at all, he took another step forward ready to attack but stopped when he noticed a dark cloud formed over him stretching all the way towards the staircase they came up in.

A second later, rain began to fall from the cloud. At first, he scoffed at it thinking that a little water wouldn't hurt, but as soon as a drop his back, he screamed at the burning sensation that followed. Another drop hit the top of his head and brought the same agony to his. He quickly covered his head with his arms as Psych grinned and made the rain intensify.

Immediately, the griffon screamed as his whole body felt like it was on fire. He collapsed and thrashed about, the rain continuing to pour on his body. He got a momentary glimpse of himself and nearly vomited as he saw his own flesh being painfully dissolved by the highly acidic rain. Steam poured out of the sores as his flesh continued to melt away eventually revealing his bones which also started to dissolve.

He couldn't stand, he couldn't fight back, he couldn't even think properly as his body deteriorated. Several drops landed on his eyes, and he immediately went blind. He was trapped in darkness with only agony to keep him company. His only relief came from the fact that he would eventually die from it all, but no matter how long he waited thrashing about, death had not come. It was all just an illusion, but the pain, the agony, the misery, was all too real.

Psych strengthened the rain even further. A twisted, sadistic smile broke out as he took in the sight of the thrashing griffon, the sound of his screams of anguish and inhaled the aroma of rotting flesh. Wanting to check on the others, Psych shifted his focus; The griffon he was watching vanished and another suffering griffon appeared further into the corridor. He changed his view again and saw another griffon suddenly disappear from sight most likely after jumping into an open room to escape his illusion.

He knew that griffon, despite having escaped, was in no condition to fight back. Even if he did, he would fall under his illusion once again. They were all powerless before him; none of them could approach him. Psych backed up a little to avoid the puddle of acid that was slowly spreading across the floor, but kept shifting between the griffons. Watching them writhe in agony, he just laughed and laughed and laughed and-

A powerful blow to his back knocked him down and slammed his chin into the floor. His illusion vanished as well as the screams of agony. Psych tried to rise, but a claw grabbed his head and slammed it against the floor. Dizzy from the pain, the claw let go allowing himself to flip over and get a look at his attacker.

It was another griffon grinning evilly with another group behind him. "I got this one. Search the rooms!" he ordered.

Still in pain, Psych's eyes widened upon hear that order, eyes that also started glowing. Before a single room could be broken in to, the griffons suddenly found themselves alone in the corridor. Before they could process what just happened, a mighty roar and a gust of hot breath drew their attention to the massive Ursa Minor right behind Psych.

Psych shifted his view several times making sure the all the griffons were running away. As he was about to sic the beast on them, he rose and gasped in pain. His concentration was broken, his eyes stopped glowing, and the Ursa Minor vanished into thin air.

The griffons unfortunately noticed this and approached Psych slowly. Gritting his teeth, Psych backed up holding his aching jaw. He stopped only when he was in front of the door to the room right next to his, Ash's room. His brother was no condition to fight the griffons if it came to it. Taking a deep breath, he stood his ground.

A griffon ahead of him noticed his determination and protectiveness. "What's in that room huh? Is that where you're hiding them?"

Psych glanced at the door before turned back. "This room contains something far more precious to me than anything you guys can imagine. I've no idea what you're searching for, and I don't frigging' care. But if you ever wanna enter this room, you'll have to go by me first!"

His eyes, filled with both the desire to both torture the griffons into insanity and protect his only family in the world, glowed once again with their dark-rose light.

"Here me well! I am the Illusion of Grief, the embodiment of the world's misery, the incarnation of suffering and despair! I'll gonna bring anguish, I'm gonna make you suffer, I'm gonna shatter your very minds!"