//------------------------------// // Brotherly "Love" // Story: Harbinger, randomness of George // by LucidTech //------------------------------//         George lay relaxing as he leaned back on a lawn chair in the absolute center of the hedge maze that the princess maintained near the castle. Next to him rested the statue of Discord upon his pedestal, decorated with a hawaiian shirt. They were both facing the same way while the older brother sipped out of his tropical drink, moving aside his, now fu manchu, mustache in order to fully enjoy the refreshment. Entropy was still perched upon the man’s head but his eyes were closed, his mouth still curled into it’s unnatural smile.         “You know bro, I never wanted any of this to happen. The day when we were plucked from our lives and brought here to balance the scales of harmony with our chaos was probably the worst day of my life,” George said before pausing, only the sound of him stirring his drink breaking into the air. “I didn’t know it at the time, but I would have tried to leave if I realized that staying would lead to losing you. The rest of our world could have burned to ashes, but as long as you were there by my side, I like to think that, with all my hubris, I could walk barefoot across those fires.” The man broke into a manic laugh for a moment before settling down against the plastic of his seat again and taking a moment to enjoy another sip of his drink, closing his eyes as he did so. “Do you remember the color of the sky that day we showed up in front of those two alicorn sisters?” The man paused, both in dramatic tension as well as waiting for a response he knew wasn’t coming, as he viewed the day vividly in his mind. “Pink! I could hardly believe it. Of all the colors that the sky could have been, it was cotton candy pink. You were so excited by that if I remember right. You said that if this was what it was like every day you wouldn’t ever leave.” George grinned again as he opened his eyes and glanced up to the statue beside him. The stone being’s eyes were staring directly down at him. “Shoot!” the biped exclaimed in shock as he stumbled out of his lawn chair in surprise. When he stood again the odd amalgamation was, once again, facing as it should be, much to the relief of the elder brother who let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Just a little madness, that’s all,” George said in a vain attempt to make himself try and belief it. Despite his self reassurance, the chaotic being leaned in close to examine the statue so he could ensure himself of its immobility. Seeing nothing out of order, George returned to his normal standing position. “Done already, George? You haven’t spent too long out here yet, and this is the first time seeing your brother in two thousand years, if I remember correctly,” came the deep tone of the man’s constant companion. “Oh, sorry Entropy. I wasn’t aware that I woke you. I was just startled was all,” George explained as he turned away from the statue and snapped his fingers. The lawn chair and drink both disappeared as well as the shirt that the petrified Discord had been wearing. The hat glanced around the area for a moment before his gaze dropped to the biped beneath his brim. “Startled? By what, may I ask? We are completely alone out here with your brother.” “Oh, nothing,” George said cryptically as he looked back to the statue. “The Elements did quite a number on him though, didn’t they? Even with me here, next to him, he can’t garner enough magic to break out.” “Yes. The princesses did mention that when the Elements are used properly, split up among six, the friendship and love between those ponies will strengthen the power.” “Well, that’s good to know. Make sure to remind me never to get on their nerves, hmm?” “I think it’s far too late for that George.” “Yeah yeah yeah, I think I’m done here for the day. My nerves are shot and I can’t really focus on relaxing anymore. Let’s just head out,” George said with a turn as he headed towards the green archway that marked the doorway to the middle of the maze. Entropy decided not to question the odd actions of the man and just chalked it up to nervousness of some sort. Just as they had reached the arch, a loud thud issued from behind them, accompanied by a tingling sensation down the being’s spine. In response George spun around to see a large burly gorilla barreling down at them. “What!?” was all the biped had time to say before jumping to the side in order to dodge a wild punch from the ape. “You’re seeing this too, right Entropy?” “Indeed I am, though I can scarcely believe it,” responded the hat as it looked on in shock. A gorilla was a very unusual sight in Equestria, to the point that the headwear couldn’t even claim the title of seeing one in his adventures with the madman. While the man was still airborne, the monkey turned and jumped towards them, preparing to attack once again. “Why are you so fast?” George asked pointlessly as he snapped his fingers, firing off a set of fireworks from each hand that blinded the ape. Without its sight, the creature didn’t see as George landed on the ground and pulled out an extremely large mallet from the folds of his coat. Once the sparks had cleared its eyes, it was too late to change course and the beast quickly found itself flying high into the air. George jumped into the air after the creature, his mallet trailing behind him as he did so. As they approached, the chaotic being brought his hammer to bear and swung it at the chest of the ape. His blow was blocked as the ape brought a sword out of nowhere and cut the mallet in half. The man dropped his useless weapon with a cry of ‘come on!’ and kicked against the air to propel himself back to the ground. “George, you have the ranged advantage, utilize it,” Entropy said with a calculating, mentor-like tone. The man responded with a nod and reached into his coat once again. The gorilla landed a few moments later as George retrieved his black cane from the folds of his outfit. As the beast swung with its weapon, the human jumped to the side once again and pointed the end of his cane at the monster. “FIRAGA!” George exclaimed. An extremely large fireball exited the end of the cane and flew quickly through the air towards his opponent.  An explosion rocked the ground, but the beast continued its assault through the fire and smoke. “Friggin monster,” the biped cursed under his breath. “Now is not the time to fight me.” With those words, George paused and stood perfectly still on the ground, flipping the shades of his glasses down as he did so. The gorilla closed the distance to the man in a few seconds and jumped at him, bringing its blade to bear as it did so. Static electricity ran along the cane before George slammed the end into the ground. “Chaos: Gravaga!” Instantaneously, the beast started floating away into the air, losing its composure as it did so. The man was unaffected by the sudden shift in gravity and he quickly jumped into the air after the flailing ape. A sharp reflection of white flashed across his shades as George planted his hand against the abdomen of the monstrous creature. “Chaos:” George said in a calm tone, another flash of white dancing across his lenses. “Summon!” Streaks of black and red shot out of the point of contact and wrapped around the ape. In a flash of dark crimson, the beast was gone, having been teleported far away, and George fell slowly to the ground. As he landed, George flipped his shades back up and a shockwave echoed from behind him. As it hit the biped, he hunched over and placed his cane firmly between him and the ground. “Dimensional costs. What I wouldn’t give for an elixir right now.” “Are you alright, George? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you use so much energy without borrowing from me first,” Entropy said in a worried tone. Overuse of energy was a common practice with the man, but this event was quite a step above the others. “I’m perfectly fine. I just need....” George paused for a moment as he gasped deeply for breath. “I just need a few moments.” The biped took several deep rattling breaths before something clicked in his head. “Crap, if the castle is under attack...” The man quickly broke in a run, dashing through the several different hedges that composed the maze until he exited the other side with several scratch wounds to show for it.  Even after clearing the threshold of the labyrinth, George didn’t pause for a moment and continued running full tilt toward the castle a few yards away. As he rounded the corner, the man sighed in relief. Both princesses stood together at the doorway of the castle, unharmed. Pausing for another breath, the man bent over and leaned against his cane. “So. How are you two doing this evening?” “George, is something wrong? We felt a surge of Discord’s energy from outside and came to investigate. And then on our way out, we felt three short bursts of your magic,” Celestia said as she looked to the man. “Did something happen?” “You mean other than me letting my brother play video games? Not really, no,” George said with a half hearted grin, straightening his spine and placing the cane back into the folds of his cloak. “What occurred? An altercation of some sort I assume,” Luna said as she looked around, her eyes narrowed in search of something that might have been conjured by the draconequus in their hedge maze. “Nothing, just a little sibling rivalry. I stuck around a little too long and Discord absorbed and redesigned my subconscious magic to his will, which turned out to be a large gorilla. I then proceeded to show him that I was not to be toyed with. I guess, all in all, Discord is,” George paused for a moment as he glanced at the ground, the smile fading from his face, “not who I remember, as I should have figured out long ago.” Both of the alicorns let the silence fall into place for a moment. “George...” Celestia started, but let the end of her sentence drop off. She was unsure of how to deal with the sudden mood swing in the, usually cheerful, human. “You are forgetting something of utmost importance, George,” Luna said as she lowered her head slightly to look in the eyes of the man, a calming tone lacing her words. “We are your friends, and you are ours. We will always be there for each other if we need one another.” “Heh, I guess so. I’m being such a downer right now. C’mon, lets go do something. Maybe I could assist you in your duties as rulers?” George suggested while a niggling voice at the back of his head pointed out that Discord had been much more than a brother, a look how that ended up. Celestia bobbed her head slightly at the idea and smiled. “I think both my sister and I would enjoy that.” The solar sister pause briefly before looking to the leather hat. “Maybe Entropy could tell us a story while we sort through the separate suggestions and charters that the ponies of the kingdom have sent in.” “I would very much enjoy that privilege. Thank you for asking,” Entropy said in his deep voice before the quartet set off towards the same room, somewhere in the far back of the castle, that was filled to the brim with charters and ideas and various other things requiring the signature of the princesses. It wasn’t exactly the most entertaining of jobs, but it was new and it would help get his mind off of his younger brother. For that reason, George smiled his same wide smile as he followed the bearers of the responsibilities for Order. Of course, it was clear that if this was going to be his new home, he would need to make some form of connection with the ponies besides ‘that odd thing that the princesses know’. Little did he know that the following day would be filled to the brim with odd occurrences, as well as an opportunity to show his good will to the ponies. Of course, the act of redeeming one’s family name can be quite difficult, even for a wielder of chaos, and the biped would need the help of all his old friends if he were to succeed.