//------------------------------//
// The Two Brothers 
// Story: Lost History 
// by sniper567 
//------------------------------//


	The Two Brothers


I was flying up high watching two young colts meandering through the mountains. They had been walking for some time at least a day or two. They came from a small village off to the north. They were brothers, I presumed, based on their matching coats and manes.

Two brothers would be perfect for what I needed. Every adventure has scrapes and bruises, some even have broken bones or missing limbs, but some adventures have a thorn that just can't be reached or removed. 

I flew ahead and made sure the mountain ahead was saturated with rain and clouds. As the ground became wet, the path became even more treacherous. It was the only pass through the mountain, and the two brothers would have to take it. 

Their legs were small, but in time they eventually made it to the pass. A thin overhang that was just wide enough for a single colt. As the two walked past one of the thinner parts, I struck a dark cloud causing one of the brothers to slip off the ledge. The other was now clinging to the side of the narrow cliff.

The little colt that slipped down the incline lay there still breathing but unconscious. The brother hanging on the edge was now yelling for help. I swooped down just out of sight behind a sharp turn and waltzed my way towards them. The little colt yelled for me to help.

I looked at him inquisitively and asked, “Why?”

He looked shocked and with a panicked voice managed to say that a lightning strike had knocked his brother down the cliff, and he needed help. I stood unmoved and asked why he did not go down there himself.

He again looked confused wondering why I simply would not help him. He spoke again in a shaky voice, saying he might get hurt if he were to fall down the cliff, maybe even break a bone.

I told him bones only grow back stronger. And once more he only looked at me in confusion, this time shouting for me to help him.

I reach down and grabbed his hoof, pulled him up to my eye level, and then released the young colt. He slid down the slope to lay next to his brother, who was just starting to come around.

As he slid, I heard a loud snap and a scream of pain from the colt. He had clearly broken a leg. But if he was to become my splinter, he would have to be able to deal with inconveniences.

He looked up at me with a look of hatred and confusion as tears ran from his eyes and asked a simple question as to why I had done what I did. 

I told him only that he needed to survive. And again with a look of confusion, he asked what happen if they could not. 

The answers were simple but hard for him to take. As I turned my flank to him and his now-awake brother, I said but a few words. As the words rolled off my tongue, I realized what I had become, but my path was clear. I told them they would perish here in the mountain and none would find them. With those final words, I unfurled my clock, spread my wings and took off in a hurry.

I don't know if the brother realized how deformed I was or if the clock had hidden my appearance. But I did not go far. My splinter was still young and had yet to become a nuisance. It needed time and practice.

I watched from up high as the two brothers struggled to bandage the leg of the younger. As the two slowly made their way out of the pass and over the mountain, I could hear them talking and whispering to one another. It would be some time before I know what they had said.

As time went on, the younger one no longer walked with a limp, and the two finally found a town to settle in. They were smart, and now that they had grown some and were able to use magic rather well. They were, however, starting to get accustomed to the easy life. 

I made sure their paperwork went missing and their rent payments got lost in the mail. I made every push to make sure they went in the direction I wanted. It took some time, but in a city like this, underhanded deals and Ponzi scheme where not uncommon. I made sure that the deeds paid, well.

With a little cajoling of the nearby hustlers and swindlers, I made sure they meet only the most dishonest ponies, and in no time they were off to the races. Raised by con artists and taught by undesirables, they were exceptionally underhanded. If ever they needed something, they could dream up a scam to get the bits.

They moved around a lot, and I often lost sight of them. But the stories of swindling and robbery spread throughout the land. It was not long before the two brothers got their cutie marks: the elder of the two brothers an apple missing a slice, and the younger with the missing slice. 

Truly they were a force to be reckoned with. They could sell you your own home at an upcharge, and then sell you the furniture. They were exactly what I needed. A splinter so sharp you would not feel it prick your skin, but large enough to be uncomfortable.

As time went on, they did much, but they never forgot how they got there. I hear they have accumulated millions in bits over time. It never seems to end; they both play their parts. One is the business side; he knows just how to get the bits. The other is the figurehead. He could talk a child out of their candy.

On a day like any other, I was shopping in a small bazaar far from any civilized town when the two brothers approached me. 

Without a word of warning, they snatched my cloak and cast it aside. They seemed unmoved by my appearance, while several others ran for their homes. It was then I realized what they were talking about all those years ago. They hadn't forgotten me. In fact, they planned to get back at me.

They spoke in a loud, demanding voice, asking if I remembered them. But how could I forget? I proclaimed that I had not forgotten, but I gave them a word of caution, reminding them that it was I who had made them who they were today.

With the same face he had given me all those moons ago, he muttered his words softly such that I did not hear him. They both turned to me and spoke in unison, asking what I meant. And I told them of the story, assuring them I never left.

I did leave out my motives for my actions, but they listened to what I said with a grain of salt anyway. They looked confused and unsure: the grudge they had held for so long seemed changed. They were grateful for the opportunity, yet still mad for what I had done. I assured them that I would no longer interfere and that their life was now their own.

Before they could speak a word, I disappeared with a flick of my horn into thin air. The only thing they had left of me was my misshapen cloak. I don't know what the brothers plan to do with the information now that they have met me face to face for a second time. But they failed to share my physique with anypony for some time.

I told them I was done with them, but they still had a part to play, and my plans were just beginning. Before they left town, I made sure I slipped a letter about a cider shortage into one of their bags. 

This was the last time I saw Flim and Flam, but it was not the last time I slipped some information to them, as the splinter had not yet been driven deep enough just yet.