> A Tale of Two Brothers > by Zonagon > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Tale of Two Brothers ~ Prologue ~ Long before the Age of Equestria, and of the two sisters who rule it, there once lived a kingdom whose name was lost to the ages after a terrible calamity befell it. Where all traces of this brilliant and gleaming kingdom was lost to the passages of time. We shall however start at the beginning of how this calamity came to be, with Disharmony, Meddling in Forbidden Magics, Unlikely Friendships, and Two Brothers. Here in this collection of segregated villages of Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns; where their disgruntled dependencies consist of contempt for one another, often creating more than several conflicts between the races of Ponykind. Their fragile unity held together only by their dependency on one another. This tragic situation would have continued on as an endless cycle of hatred and contempt were it not for the actions of like-minded villagers among the so-called segregated villages. These wise ponies of separate races and backgrounds, looked out upon the Disharmony that has afflicted their homes. Tired Earth Pony Farmers with deep sadnesses woven in their eyes over their many years, disgraced Pegasi who are guilt-stricken over their past cruelties upon the ponies they once deemed as inferior, and fearful Unicorns that have seen the inevitable fate of all of the Pony Tribes should they continue upon this wheel of hatred they had made by their own hooves. They all looked amongst themselves and silently agreed over the current state of their home; they did not like it one little bit. Though these ponies wanted change their home for the better, they did not know how. The Earth Ponies tried to make a gathering for all the ponies filled with lights and colors and fun, but the ponies kept to their separate groups, away from the ponies who looked different from them. The Pegasi tried to create a collection of sporting events for all athletic ponies to join and for those who were not to observe and cheer for their favorite group. However the ponies who joined the events only formed groups consisting of members of the same pony race and became highly hostile and aggressive to the other teams, few had come to sit and watch and those who did constantly jeered the teams that were not of the same race as them, and only the Unicorns wishing for peace had come to the events. Finally the Unicorns went to their libraries and searched for some spell or incantation to force a more friendly union amongst the Pony Tribes. They carefully read through every spell book, every story book, and every other kind of book in search for the one spell they needed. Finally, after all hope was lost, when their determination had all but run out, and once many had given up their desperate search for the right spell, a tiny glimmer of hope illuminated a single unicorn as she read the oldest story book they unicorns had hidden away in their libraries. This mysterious, weathered, old book had described how ancient ponies would commune with the Heavens so it in its mysterious ways would answer the single wish that they all shared. This book detailed where and how they could perform such a ritual to this young mare. Ecstatically, she showed all of her present peers the glimmer of hope she held in her hooves. Before then, the same ponies would have brushed off the stories that old book told as nothing more than myths; but as they were now and when all other options had failed, in one last ditch effort to mend the wounds inflicted upon their home, they gathered the other like-minded ponies from their home to embark on this journey to the temple that the book had told them of. After a long and arduous journey, the ponies had finally found their way to the ruins of the temple where the Heavens answered the single prayer of many. Before they began the ritual, the ponies convened upon the single wish they wanted granted. They deemed that simply having the greatest gathering ponykind had ever seen wasn’t enough, for the Earth Ponies knew that even if you tried to bring together those who were bitter to each other, it simply on it’s own would not be enough to make them have fun with each other. The Pegasi also deemed that having all the ponies come together for the greatest sport events ponykind had ever seen was neither the right answer, for competing for who was the best amongst rivals would only fan the flames of their hatred. The Unicorns had deemed that trying to force other ponies into friendly relations was the worst of any wish they could make, for after their long journey with their Earth Pony and Pegasi friends they remembered that their friendship was not forced, they had desired their companionship of their own volition and no pony else’s. That they knew was true friendship and that was the only way they could instill Harmony among their peers back home. All ponies present felt the same way, from every Earth Pony, Pegasi and Unicorn. Together they all agreed upon the one wish they would wish for. It was a simple wish too, it was vague and open to interpretation. “Harmony.” Together they all made their way to the top of the ruins to begin their ritual, however when they reached the top, they were met with a startling surprise. Their wish had already been granted, and it was in the form of two young foals. The ponies gathered around the two with curiosity and disbelief in their eyes. The first foal shimmered like gold and had a deep dark red mane and the the other was as pale as moonlight with a mane to match. The first had eyes that shimmered from the glow of a warm sun and the other had blue eyes that peered right through the souls of whoever gazed at them. The one thing that these two foals had in common however was the astonishing pair of wings and horns they possessed. The two looked up at the ponies who stared down at them in silence. They giggled at their silly faces. > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Tale of Two Brothers ~ Chapter 1 ~ The ponies collected the two mysterious foals and set up a camp near the temple to discuss their so-called “Gifts from Heaven”. They had never seen ponies such as these two young foals, possessing the horns of a Unicorn and the wings of a Pegasus. Never had they heard of ponies like this in any of their story books. They did however know what their purpose was, to usher in a new age of harmony for ponykind. First things first, they needed to name and raise them to become the leaders the ponies so desperately needed. The first foal, golden was he and what a dark crimson mane he had. They saw how much he resembled the great sun in the sky, and thus named him Helios. The other however, was as pale as a ghost and haunted the hearts of the poor ponies that gazed into his cold, blue eyes, all but one. The unicorn who had found the book that led the ponies here trotted up to the pale foal and smiled at his inquisitive face. “Your name will be Nocturn.” She told the pale foal. The pale foal, now called Nocturn, gave her a small smile in response to her gentle nature. The other ponies had silently agreed amongst themselves on who should be the one to raise the young foals, as long as she agreed to do so. Which she did, for not only did she thought it was a true honour to raise the future of their society, she had long sought to be a mother to somepony. So now it has been decided, the names of the foals, who shall raise them, and their destiny to bring together ponykind in true unity. Thus was the unchangeable fate of the young Princes; Helios and Nocturn. The ponies soon built a home for themselves not far from the temple where they had found the Princes, they had small cottages built to store their beds and whatever possessions they had brought with them. The unicorn who was now the mother to the two princes had a home filled with all of her favorite books she owned and had the Princes’ shared room built right next to her’s in case they were troubled in the night. Though as they all prepared building the home of their two princes, three elder ponies had come together to discuss the future of their pony society, and of their vision for the fate of the young Princes. ~ Several Years Later ~ Sleeping soundly in her cot was a unicorn; tired from the stresses of yesterday’s antics of her two rambunctious young colts. Sunlight gently peered through the window of her cottage and onto her muzzle. Her room was riddled with story books she’d read to her little foals and of the silly little niknaks they’d make her. One such niknak was a colorful drawing they made of the themselves and their mother. Helios was triumphant and adorned in red and gold, Nocturn was outlined in blue and had two blue dots as eyes, and their mother was holding them close with a warm smile on her face. The comfort of this room left her in such a state of comfort… And open to attack. “WAKE UP MOM!” Shouted Helios as he bounced up and down on his mother’s cot. “It’s time to wake up!” She lept up from her sleep to see her energetic son, Helios, bouncing up and down in front of her. Hiding behind one of her stacks of books was her shy son, Nocturn, looking quite worried to say the least. She gave her best grin to her silly colts, despite being tired and groggy at the moment. “I’m up boys, were you two hungry for breakfast?” She kindly asked them with a drowsy look in her eyes. “What time is it anyway, Nocturn?” “Pfft, don’t worry about feeding us.” Helios told her. “Noccy’s good at making us food when you can’t.” “It’s noon, mother.” Noccy said in his soft tone. “We were supposed to see the village elders earlier today.” Her face suddenly went almost as pale as Nocturn’s at that moment. Leaping out of her bed she bolted towards the mirror to fix her mane and quickly grabbed her two colts in a frenzy out the door. As she dashed past her fellow (slightly bewildered) village ponies, Helios gave his brother a grumpy stare, and Nocturn returned his stare with one that he tried his best to seem apologetic. Helios wasn’t too fond of the village elders, always making Nocturn and himself fall in line to their so-called “Destiny”. Helios wanted to prove how amazing he was without those dummy old ponies telling him how to be the servant to his ponies who need him. Sure he knew he’d be an amazing ruler to ponykind, but he wasn’t going to get far with a bunch of old ponies hanging over him his whole life. Sure, maybe drinking one of his brother’s potions was a bad idea when it turned his crimson mane brown. Thankfully Nocturn cooked up an elixir for Helios’s hair to make it appear crimson again. He didn’t want to risk something worse happening to him if Helios drank another magic potion. Sometimes Helios wonders how he’d ever survive without his brother looking out for him. Nocturn on the other hoof, was always worried he wouldn’t be as great a leader his brother was going to be someday. He wasn’t as strong willed as brother, or as courageous. One time Nocturn found a gang of young dragons loafing about and thought this would be his chance to finally learn about the mystery of dragon lore, however these dragons were less than friendly and saw Nocturn as easy prey. He would have been doomed had Helios not lept in to pulverize those dragons bullying him. Sometimes Nocturn wonders how he’d ever survive without his brother looking out for him. Both of their trains of thought were interrupted by their mother rushing into the tent of the elders to convene with them after being as late as she currently is. The three of them were met with disapproving faces of an Earth Pony, a Pegasus, and that vile Unicorn. While Nocturn and mother looked upon them with sorrowful regret, Helios just scoffed at them and rolled his eyes at them. As if they could make him cower in fear. Then his mother gave her own stare down on Helios. She however had a better chance of scaring him. While his brother was starting to cower in the face of their mother, Nocturn felt an ominous pressure coming from the elders. He saw contempt and disgust emanating from the elders’ spirits. Nocturn was already aware that these ponies weren’t fond of mother’s way of nurturing Helios and himself. These ponies had once trusted mother to protect the Princes of this World’s Future, but as time passed these same ponies now see mother’s way to be too coddling for their princes. They would have taken them away had the rest of the village ponies intervened, claiming that the two princes were too young to be taken away from their mother. However, now their princes were of age to finally begin their true training to become the rulers that these ponies have desired for so long. Nocturn could sense their cruel intentions long ago, and feared they’d do the worst thing possible to them. Take them away from mother and separate them to grow and learn as two different rulers. Eventually to come together to combine their different wisdoms to rule their kingdom in perfect symmetrical harmony. The worst part was that he didn’t know how could these once kind ponies grow to so cruel and manipulative over their many years. “It is time, my dear.” The elder unicorn in the center spoke. “I… Don’t understand what you mean by that.” Said mother, caught off guard. “Time?” “It is time you relinquish your guardianship of the Princes over to us.” The elder spoke with a slight presence of contentment engulfed him, one that Nocturn saw clearly. Helios and mother were shocked at this brash judgement made by the elders. Nocturn however kept his head down in an attempt to block out the overwhelming pressure of the elder’s vile confidence. “But… I am their…” Mother was saying until she was cut off my another elder. “The young Princes no longer have need of their overbearing mother now.” Spoke an old Pegasus Mare. “They have reached the proper age to begin their true training to be the rulers of our future.” “I’m sorry it has to be this way.” Said an elderly Earth Pony. “If there was some other way, we would have leapt at the chance to allow you three to stay together.” Helios could not believe what he was hearing. They couldn’t just tear his family apart like this without everypony agreeing to it. Could they? No. He wasn’t stupid, all of his friends told him what the adults had been planning to do with Nocturn and himself for years now, and it wasn’t like the adults were denying it. He looked up at mother tear-stricken face as she kept pleading to the elders to allow the three of them to stay together. Then he looked across mother to see Nocturn facing his head down without a single tear in his eyes. All Helios could think of was how much stronger his brother was than himself. Nocturn however was raging inside his mind, carefully not letting his face show it. He knew that this was the elders’ plan for the longest time now. He’s already shed his tears of sorrow long ago, but his anger was boiling up inside. ‘Why?’; he kept thinking. Why could they be this cruel to children without even batting an eyelash? What could have happened to them to cause them to be this manipulative of children?! Suddenly, amidst the overwhelming pressure of the elder’s contentment, Nocturn sensed the presence of his brother. He turned to see his brother looking straight into the eyes of the elders without an ounce of fear. All Nocturn could think of was how much stronger his brother was than himself. “Everyone has agreed to this decision.” The Unicorn elder admitted. “Our kingdom needs truly great and wise rulers governing it.” “Say your goodbyes to one another and be on your way to your separate schools.” The Pegasus elder commanded. “You may have different instructors, but they will both have little patience for tardiness.” The princes’ mother felt defeated, not only has she lost her children for who knows how long, but she fears she may never see her boys ever again. She told the elders that the boys will be ready to leave and brought them close to her as she left the elders’ tent. Usually Helios would try to struggle out of her mother’s grip, but this time he was afraid if he did, he’d never feel his mother’s warmth again. Nocturn however was feeling very cold right now, and was trying his best to keep warm. Before the doors shut behind them, Nocturn shot an Ice Cold Stare at the elders just at the last second. ~ Later that Day ~ The three of them stood before a pair of carriages sitting side-by-side together on a dirt road. They would have looked almost identical had they not contained the bags containing the supplies the princes needed for their separate scholarships. Crimson red for Helios and Dark blue for Nocturn, further trying to separate the two then the actual separation. Before the brothers entered their separate carriages, they leapt into their mother’s embrace one last time. They all sobbed as their hearts began to knot and twist. Their embrace was cut short by a grumpy stallion trying to get going to the destination he was paid to send one of the princes too. They let go of each other one last time to embark on their separate destinies, much to all of their dissatisfaction. The two brothers trotted slowly to their separate carriages, very unwilling to leave the other behind. The moment before the two had to leave the other’s side, Nocturn slipped his brother a note for the ride. Caught off guard, Helios stood there with his brother’s parchment in his hooves as Nocturn took his seat on his carriage. An angry pony shouted at Helios to get on his carriage so they could leave, which he did, all the while not letting his brother out of his line of sight. Both of the carriages started moving at that point, making their way to the fork in the road just up ahead. Nocturn couldn’t bear to let his brother see the look of anger and despair on his face. He just wanted to move on and forget this crippling sadness that’s afflicting him right now. The thought of being all alone both eased and troubled him. Despite his personal enjoyment of silence, the idea of being alone all the time crushed what happiness he tried to muster. Helios would never allow such feelings take hold over him. Helios… He’s going to miss him. The carriages finally turned away from each other at the fork in the road. Helios could only watch as his brother grew smaller and smaller until he was gone. He turned forward and sobbed with tears gushing out of his eyes. He was really gone now wasn’t he? Looking back down to his hooves he saw he still had that note his brother gave him. With what strength he could muster, Helios opened up his brother’s note and read what Nocturn had to say to him on paper what he couldn’t in person. “Dear Brother, I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything to stop this from happening. I know we’ll meet again someday, but I know that we both want that day to come sooner now than later. However I did leave you several bottles of the You-Know-What and a recipe for when you need to make more. I hope to see you once again very soon someday. Goodbye for now. Your Brother.” “Until next time Bro.” Helios choked out of his big grin amidst his flood of tears. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Tale of Two Brothers Chapter 2 A thunderstorm roars outside the window of a red stone room. The room itself is filled with mostly only the essentials one needs, so only a bed besides the desk off to the side that is secretly filled with hair tonic. The room itself is cold and lacks any sort of warmth for a sleeping pony. Despite this, resting upon the bed was a stallion who possessed gold-like fur, dark brown mane, and a brown goatee to match. Helios was practically a young adult at this point, and his separation from his mother and brother have been many years ago... ~Many Years Ago~ The cart had led him to a cold mountain where a society of Griffins lived, here in their city of Griffinstone. The buildings were gray and cold, and the sky reflected that grayness back down on the city. It was also starting to drizzle on his head. Helios looked out upon the gruff faces of the griffins who happened to pass by. Guards were patrolling everywhere alongside their beefy citizens, never had Helios encountered such strong looking creatures before. The cart finally stopped in front a griffin female who was clad in golden armor, she looked over the young foal, Helios, and muttered something under breath. "Welcome, Prince Helios!" She dramatically shifted the dreary tone to a more lighthearted one. "My name is General Gale, it is a pleasure to welcome you here to our fair city!" "H- hello, are you my?-" Helios begins to say until Gale cuts him off. "Your teacher? Why yes, of course!" She pulls Helios with her to the inside of the stone fortress before them as the Griffinstone guards gather Helios's things to bring to his new room. "You will remain here as my student until you are ready to become the leader that con protect your ponies from whatever danger that may come! The two enter the main hall of the Griffinstone Barracks that is filled with banners, griffin statues, spears and other weapons, and Griffinstone guards going about their daily routine. General Gale goes on to tell Helios about her role as the defender of the great city of Griffinstone, how she goes about performing her tasks as defender of the city, and how she managed to earn that title in the first place. She continues this until they reached the door leading to Helios's new room right next to all the other rooms belonging to the Griffinstone guards. He knew it was his because the door had a label with his name on it. "Welcome to your new room, your Majesty!" She opened the door to reveal an unimpressive red stone room with a bed and a desk furnishing it. "Now I know it doesn't seem like much, but the first step to being a great leader is making due with what you currently have!" "Really?" Helios asks her as he walks into his new room. "Well, technically it's knowing how to properly beat up your foe on the battlefield, THEN making due with what you currently have!" She admits. "Oh." He responds. "How about you settle yourself in right now and..." Gale abruptly stops when she takes a good look at Helios. "Has your mane always been brown?" Shocked, Helios brushes his hoof through his mane to find out his brother's dark red tonic has started to fade out from his hair. He feels deep melancholy when he thinks back to that time when he stupidly drank one of his brother's potions and it turning his mane brown. Nocturn was so scared that if he tried to fix it, he'd end up making it worse, so instead he gave Helios a tonic that when applied to his hair, he would regain the appearance of having a red mane. The rain must have washed it away wile he was outside. He turns to see Gale waiting patiently for him to respond to her question. "Y-yes, it has been brown this whole time." He admits, though technically he has no idea when it turned back. "Oh, okay." She settles herself back to how she was a moment ago, therefore she is cheery again. "You can settle yourself in here for tonight, but early tomorrow morning your training will begin!" She swiftly turns out the door to leave Helios to his thoughts. He didn't notice it before, but the guards had placed his bag filled with his brother's tonics behind the door. Helios gathered the tonics and hid them inside the desk for good measure. He didn't want to use them anymore but he still wanted to keep them so he can look back and remember his brother who was no doubt a million miles away from him. Slowly trotting to his new bed, Helios wrapped himself in his blankets and looked out at the pouring rain outside. It was as if the sky was mimicking his aching heart. ~Present Day~ It was quiet in this dark library, not a soul was stirring, except for one curious mouse hungry for a speck of food. It scampered across the stone tiles after losing track of where the kitchen was. This place was like a maze for the non-magical, like the mouse who had found the vague smell of some nearby food. It scampered until it found a loaf of untouched bread being illuminated by a candle as they both sat upon a reading desk. The mouse quickly scampered to the table and crawled up the leg to meet the bread face-to-face, however just before it could sink it's teeth into the bread, a small bolt of lightning stuck the mouse quickly turning it to ash. Sitting at the table was a stallion dressed in a deep black robe, with only his ghostly blue eyes peering out of the dark folds of his hood. He looked out at the small pile of ash on the table, and blew it away so he can continue reading. Before he did however, he recast his rejuvenation spell on the bread so he can continue his hobby of exterminating rats as he read through his spell books, and just like clockwork he sensed another rat had found it's way into his very dusty library... ~Many Years Ago~ ~Again?~ Nocturn didn't bother looking out on the village of Satyrs the cart was passing, he didn't bother seeing their shabby little huts that barely keep them warm at night, and nor did he bother finding the downtrodden faces of these poor Satyrs. All he saw was the towering castle that was said to be home to a guild of unicorns who were very powerful in the art of magic. The castle sat far and high away from the village filled of its indentured servants, who have no doubt been under the tyrannical rule of these unicorns for generations. Nocturn however, cared little for their sins against Satyr-kind, but what he did care for was what their plans were for a unique foal like himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Upon opening them again, he saw the security runes of the unicorns. They were following the cart, or more specifically, Nocturn himself. He looked out to the gates of the castle and saw the presence of greed, malice, and a slimmer of self-doubt. These unicorns were pathetic, but he would have to make due with them for the time being. No matter how much he wants to crush their spirits. The cart finally stopped at the gates where almost the entire unicorn guild greeted him; Nocturn had been able sense the exact number of unicorns present in the castle, and had sensed that the masters of the guild were enjoying their skyward view of the young child with the illusion of power they assumed they possessed over the foal. Nocturn felt like he was guiding himself out of sewage as these surrounding obnoxious unicorns began to poke and prod into his personal life, but only met with cold silence. Upon entering the castle, he discovered numerous satyrs garbed in servant attire, and are bowing in silence to him and the throng of unicorns behind him. At least these creatures know how to treat a guest, Nocturn thought to himself. Now if only he could ditch these obnoxious... He turned his head to see the unicorns behind him insulting and mocking the satyr servants as they followed the young Prince. What deplorable creatures, Nocturn said in his head. What exactly do these so-called magical experts have to teach him of all things? How to be an insufferable jerk to a respectable satyr? Finally he had made it to the doors leading to the guild leaders. Now he can ditch these stupid... Nocturn looked all around him to see that the entire mob of unicorns had suddenly vanished! They were there just a second ago, so what exactly happened? He nervously entered the court room to see twelve elder unicorns sitting in a booth raised up in the air, and a gallery of unicorns spread all across the room. They all had devious and annoying smiles on their muzzles, as if they were silently mocking the young Prince. Nocturn payed them no heed and kept his gazed fixed on the unicorn elders in the booth above him. The elders welcomed him to his new home as their newest student of magic. Nocturn will learn how to harness magic for the betterment of pony-kind and learn how to be a master strategist in order to bring the ponies victory whenever or where ever they will be. He would be the leader in the shadows, always plotting to keep pony-kind the dominant race in the world. Nocturn however cared very little for their plans for him and for the so-called "Good of Pony-kind", if he had his way there would be NO pony-kind whatsoever. "Do you understand, my student?" One of the elders asks him in a commanding voice. "Yes, my master." Nocturn responds in monotone. ~Present Day~ ~Again~ The entire castle was quiet, and not a soul has disturbed its silence in ages, all except the lone stallion in the dusty library who has been devouring the knowledge of every last book in the library. From spell books, story books, and everything in between. He has stopped eating long ago due to his discovery of the true nature of Alicorns such as his brother and himself. Now the only residents in this castle are himself, the rats who scurry about the halls, and the frozen statues of long dead unicorns. Outside the castle is a different story however, what once lived a small village of huts and sickly satyrs now stands a massive and thriving town of satyrs living their every day as if it were their last. When once food was scarce, now it is distributed from the farms that once fed the inhabitants of the abandoned castle far above their city. In the center of their city stands the statue of an Alicorn foal that had brought this age of prosperity to them, and as tradition: the satyrs plant beautiful flowers around the statue and at the castle gates as an offering of thanks to the pony who saved them. Nocturn himself cared little of what the satyrs would do with their lives after he banished them from this deplorable castle, for the only reason he had spared them was of how they had shown such respect to him in his younger years. Never the less, he was quite pleased to see them flourish without the disturbance of those vile unicorns who are now the frozen statues that decorate the castle halls. But he knew one thing he had wanted to accomplish for so many years now, something that has gnawed the back of his mind for ages. He wanted revenge on those three ponies who took his mother and brother away from him...