//------------------------------//
// The Arrangement 
// Story: Demonic Brother 
// by kurusagi16 
//------------------------------//

The Arrangement 



Drake took one look inside the guest bedroom before closing the door tightly, he had just laid his sister to rest upon the canopy bed, so that she could properly recover from her ordeal before making any attempt to talk to her. He turned on his hoof and went into the grand dining hall, where Spike and Thorax were waiting for him.

"Now then." began Drake all too calmly as he paced in front of his two servants. "I want you both to tell me, exactly, why you thought it was a good idea to kidnap my sister."

Both of them were shivering and gulped. "We're sorry, master." said Spike. "W-we just....we--"

"It is not their fault, master!" cried a voice from high up. Swooping down from the rafters, came a very large black bat, who keeled down before Drake, in front of the other two. "It was Batty's fault entirely, master."

Drake regarded the bat carefully. "What do you mean, Batty?" he asked.

The bat, Batty, replied, "Batty knows of what has been going on with master. Batty was worried, all of us were worried. When Batty heard about master's sister, Batty thought that...perhaps maybe, she'd help  master, that she'd change master's mind, and that master would be happy. So Batty sent them to get master's sister and bring her here. Batty only wanted what was best for master."

"THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN KIDNAP HER!" roared Drake. 

Batty bowed his head so low that it touched the floor. "A thousand apologies, master, please forgive Batty!" 

Drake sighed and rubbed his temple in stress and frustration. After calming down a bit, he addressed his servants and asked, "How soon can we send her home?"

"It would be very difficult." answered Batty, lifting his head to look up at him. "Many boats have already gone, and others are booked by other ponies. We could send a letter back for them to pick up master's sister, but it may take time."

Drake thought it over and considered his options. "Very well, I shall send a letter to her friends for them to pick her up. While it may take time for the letter to arrive, I'm sure that spirit Discord will be here in an instant to get her.  Until then however, she'll have to stay here. See to it that she's given every available courtesy."

"So...we're not in trouble?" asked Thorax.

"Oh, you're still in trouble alright." said Drake. "You two will apologize immediately to Fluttershy, and you both will work yourselves to the bone until I feel you've been sufficiently punished."

"And Batty, master?" asked Batty. 

"You," said Drake, pointing a hoof at Batty. "Will clean out all the dust and cobwebs from the cellar and attic, and then you are to go to Zecora's where you'll be doing some grunge work for her."

"As you wish, master." all three said, bowing to him. 

Right as they were about to leave, Drake stopped them and said, "There's one more thing, I want to make absolutely clear to you all. While Fluttershy is here, you are to not tell her a thing about me being her brother or any information in regards to us being related. Is that clear?"

The servants were silent for a moment, before they all replied in unison, "Yes, master."






Fluttershy began to stir, waking up to find herself laying in a comfortable bed. For a brief moment, she believed herself to be home, and that what she'd experienced before had all been a horrible nightmare. But as her eyes adjusted, she realized that this was not her room, and that what had happened before was real. Her eyes began to water and tear up, just as the door to the room opened.

A gentle and familiar voice spoke up. "I see you're awake now, are you alright?"

Fluttershy looked in the direction of the voice, and saw the colt she'd danced with at the ball. "You." she said. "You're that colt from before!"

He nodded and gave her an apologetic look. "I want to say I'm sorry and hope you'll forgive me and my servants for causing you this inconvenience."

She looked at him with a completely baffled expression. "W-what do you mean? What's going on? Where am I?"

Drake held up a hoof, and began to explain. "First, I should probably introduce myself. My name is Drake, and this is my castle. As to where you are, you are in the country of the Old World."

"The Old World?" asked FLuttershy, her eyes widening. 

He nodded. "Yes, you see, I went over to the New World to take care of some business and to attend the Blood Moon Ball. But, after I came back here, I discovered that my servants had cooked up a half-baked scheme that involved kidnapping you and bringing you here. I questioned them after I saw you running past my carriage, and quickly followed after you, to make sure you wouldn't get hurt." 

Fluttershy remembered running into the creatures, and then being saved by a vampire, who she realized was this colt right here. "You saved me, from those monsters." she said aloud.

"Timber Wolves." said Drake. "Vicious beasts, and rather tiresome too. But once you establish your territory and power they'll know to stay away."

"So...you're not going to hurt me?" asked Fluttershy.

"No, not at all. If there's anyone I want to hurt it's my servants for their incompetence." he said.

Fluttershy looked at him questionably. "How do I know if you're telling the truth? How do I know that this isn't some kind of trick, and that you're just waiting for a chance to strike?"

Drake just stood there calmly. "You don't know. I don't expect you to trust me, seeing as how anyone would be skeptical if they were in your position. There is a town not too far from here called Oaken, if you stick to the path you should reach it in an hour's time. If you wish, you can go there and look for a place to stay. But, I'm also willing to let you stay here if you'd like."

"Stay here...with you?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yes. Temporarily of course. I have already sent a letter to your family, telling them where you are and asking to come and get you. It may take a while till they get here, but until then, you're more than welcome to stay here for the time being. Or in the village, if you'd prefer."

Fluttershy was speechless. The whole situation felt so strange to her. And yet, here was this colt, Drake, taking the time to explain things and offer her to choose what she should do. She continued to look at him as she thought about her answer. While she didn't know who he was, and didn't quite trust him, she felt a genuine air of kindness from him, and that he was truly sorry for her being in this craziness. 

After giving it some considerable thought, she finally answered, "Thank you for the offer, but...if you don't mind, I think I'd like to stay in the village for the time being."

"Of course, I understand." said Drake. "You may leave as soon as you'd like. Once you arrive in the village of Oaken, look for a pony named Zecora, tell her I sent you and she'll be able to help."

"Thank you." said Fluttershy, getting up from the bed. 

"Oh, and one more thing before you go." said Drake, turning and making a motion for somepony to come in. 

Fluttershy's eyes widened in surprise, as a small, purple and green scaled dragon, and a black-bodied pony creature with insect wings and fangs entered the room.

"These are the servants I mentioned before." explained Drake. "Spike and Thorax, and they both have something they want to say to you." He gave each of them a look, prompting them to shuffle forward toward Fluttershy and lower their heads in her direction.

"We're so sorry, miss!" they said in unison.

"It was wrong, stupid, and foolish of us to kidnap you, and we're very sorry for causing you all this trouble." said Thorax.

"Yeah, we didn't mean to harm you or anything. We just...we're sorry. And, if you don't feel like forgiving us, we understand, but at least know that we're willing to make it up to you in any way possible." said Spike.

Fluttershy looked between the two of them. What they did was certainly wrong, but, they had come to apologize, and they were willing to make amends for their actions as well! "I accept your apology." she said politely.

"Thank you, miss." they both said.

Drake clapped his hooves, calling his servants to his side. "I wish you the best of luck, and hope you make the best of your stay in the Old World. If there's anything you need of us, all you need to do is ask."

"Um, I'll keep that in mind." said Fluttershy. She walked past Drake, and added. "Thank you, Drake...goodbye."

"Goodbye." he said softly enough for her to hear. Once he was sure Fluttershy was gone and out of sight, Drake addressed Spike and Thorax. "When Batty is finished with his cleaning, tell him to keep an eye on Fluttershy, and to inform me if anything happens to her." 

"But master, if you want to keep an eye on her and make sure she's safe, why not keep her here?"

Drake shook his head. "This is probably the last place Fluttershy would want to stay at." he said. "No, it's best if she's away from here, and is somewhere where she feels more comfortable staying."

Spike and Thorax looked at each other before looking back at Drake. "If you say so, master." said Thorax. 

The two of them left to attend to their work, while Drake remained, lost in thought. "I can't let this get in the way of my plans." he said to himself. "I will see it through to the end...even if it means giving up everything..."







Taking Drake's advice, Fluttershy stuck close to the path, and before she knew it she came upon a quaint little village. It was even smaller than Wisteria, but it still possessed a certain sense of familiarity to her. She strolled down the streets for a bit, looking around for somepony who wasn't too busy who she could ask for directions to Zecora's. But, there didn't seem to be too many ponies out and about, and the ones that were looked like they had their hooves full with their own problems. 

She was starting to think she should just try looking for Zecora for herself, when she spotted and old stallion, finishing up putting new candles into the street lamps. "Um, excuse me, sir?" she asked politely. "I'm looking for a pony named Zecora, do you happen to know where I can find her?"

"Zecora?" asked the stallion. "She lives down over there near the other edge of the village." he pointed a hoof at an old building that was a little ways away. 

Fluttershy smiled and gave him a small curtsy. "Thank you!" She then headed off toward the building. When she got there, she knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. 

The door opened. The inside was dark, but Fluttershy could see the face of a Zebra mare coming into view. "Um, are you Zecora?"

The Zebra nodded. "Yes, I'm the one you seek, come on inside and let us speak."

Fluttershy obliged and stepped inside the old shop. The door closing behind her with a loud, shrill creak.