//------------------------------// // Eighteen: Oh, Brother // Story: Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra // by Randimaxis //------------------------------// When she awoke, she could almost still feel that wing on her cheek. Cupcake was asleep next to her, softly breathing in her ear. Adorably, he seemed to have a small smile on his muzzle, as if dreaming something nice. And she still had her forehooves around him. Had she hugged him in her sleep, or was it the other way around? She wondered idly if he'd eaten any fruit; his breath was sweet and warm. It was the longest physical contact with anyone that she had ever experienced in her entire life - should she freak out? But it felt, well... nice. Safe. Soft. Totally unlike any physical contact she had ever known during her lifetime in the Crystal Empire. In fact, she honestly didn't want to leave the bed at the moment. True, she was full of energy, just as Luna said she would be, but this bed was so soft... and Cupcake was so soft too... What a nice alicorn. Luna had helped her greatly, and she'd been able to figure out a few things, even though she had a feeling that maybe looking too deeply into Mica's dream was a bit... invasive? Obsidian very, very carefully looked for a clock, to check what time it was. The clock on the wall, a classic cuckoo clock, told her that it was roughly about 6 in the morning. Which would mean that Thunderclap would be along soon to fetch her for their morning jog. Clap's dream... that had been interesting, and that Sonic Rainboom was incredible... but what would it mean if Clap were to learn that Obsidian had actually been in her dreams? Maybe she would keep that to herself for a bit. Obsidian really didn't want to get up, but she couldn't risk missing her meeting with Thunderclap... or risk Thunderclap barging in and finding out that she'd been hugging Cupcake the entire night. It would be impossible to explain to her that Obsidian still didn't like being touched without warning after that! Thus, rather hesistantly, the mare tried to unwrap herself from Cupcake in a way that wouldn't wake him. She had to wash herself properly - especially her mane; Cupcake mentioned something about her mane yesterday, so maybe she should try to take better care of it? First things first: Bathroom. Washing. Eating, jogging, then Miss Trixie. And avoid any dark magical unicorns trying to turn her into her father. Sounded easy enough. Cupcake smacked his lips as she moved him over. He spoke, but all he said was: "... zzzzz... bouncin' higher den da skoolhooowwss... zzzzz..." With that, his smile grew, and he redoubled snuggling into the blankets. If she'd still been there, it would have been her he'd have snuggled into. The bathroom provided was clean and orderly, even if it was heavily scented with apples and cinnamon. There were clean towels with little apples embroidered on them, as well as apple-shaped soaps and even an apple peel shampoo for her poor mane. Such an obsession with apples... Once done in the bathroom, Obsidian came back out to the sound of a sharp knocking at her door. Cupcake didn't even register it; he kept right on sleeping peacefully. Perfect timing - perhaps she didn't have enough time to eat something but she was used to worse - a fast from time to time wouldn't kill her, especially as yesterday she'd eaten quite a lot. She happily trotted to the doors to open them - and realized a few seconds too late that maybe she should wake up Cupcake as well. After all, he WAS her liaison. At the door was... not Thunderclap. It was a stallion who looked small and unassuming. He had a soft orange coat, and a fluffy red mane and tail. His eyes were a vibrant green, and he smelled of mint and paste. "Oh! Miss Obsidian, I take it? I was told by Miss Dash to come and see if you were awake, and to bring you to where she begins her run, if you were ready. Are you ready, because I assure you that she is, Miss." He stood back to give her a look over. "My name's Mirror Shine - nice to meet you, Miss." He gave her a slight bow before standing back up. "If you need a moment more, I'm sure it would be fine. Miss Clap says that 'the whole liaison thing' was taken care of, and that you'll be okay with her. I'm... not sure what it's about, but it's probably not my business anyway, so..." He began to pace slowly, looking the room over as he did. "Whenever you're ready, Miss Obsidian." That was... unexpected. "Just, er... give me a moment, please." Didn't she say that her jogging path went next to the castle? Did she change her mind and decide to start a training track first? Maybe this was just one leg of her path, and she was planning to go the full length? Obsidian backed into the room, got closer to the bed and shook Cupcake slightly. "Pssst... Cupcake... I'm going out to jog with Thunderclap." "Mmmmmhhh?" Cupcake opened a single eye, looking at her with a bleary gaze. "Hokay... jush be safenmshgh..." The eye closed again, and his breathing returned to the calm, even flow it was when she first awoke. He really did look... interesting... lying there like that. At least, that was the closest word she could come up with. So he was a heavy sleeper, eh? Well, as long as everything about liaisons was sorted out and nopony would try to arrest her for stepping out of the room, she should be fine. "So... who are you to Thunderclap, Mirror Shine? She didn't mention anything about sending anypony for me," she asked as she stepped back into the main room. Now, what should she take to school... well, she didn't really have too much, except for her clothes, and she had no idea what she should wear. In fact, she'd hoped to ask Thunderclap about it before heading out with her. Shine grinned. "Oh, I know her mother - my own brother is a 'Wonderbolt', and Miss Clap and I see each other from time to time. She merely asked me to perform this favor for her, and I did exactly that." Mirror sounded calm and collected, but his pacing seemed almost impatient. Almost. "As for sending for you, she felt that perhaps an easier route would be a bit better to get acclimated with. And she mentioned that you had an... incident yesterday?... and she didn't wish to overwhelm you with her regular route, as it's somewhat lengthy." Well, it did sound logical. She had no idea what a 'wonderbolt' was, but it was starting to make sense. And besides, if something did go wrong, she could always fight back. "Fine - let's be off, then." "Wonderful. Follow me please, Miss." Mirror began to walk at a lively pace, but not too fast for Obsidian to keep up. As they made their way out of the palace, he began making small talk. "So, if I may ask, I've heard that you're a relative newcomer here. I feel as though I have to ask: what do you think of Equestria?" "An interesting place," Obsidian remarked, "very different from my own home, I have to say. There's plenty of opportunities to be had, and I've been looking into what this 'friendship' thing is all about..." Really, she should've come by herself if she wanted to take a less overwhelming jogging route; at worst, they would end the run early, eat breakfast together and head to Miss Trixie's office afterward. "Fine, that's fine. Most certainly, there are a number of opportunities here, I agree." Mirror nodded in agreement, smiling at her as they walked along. The two of them made their way out of the palace grounds and down the path that led to Ponyville. However, when they reached the fork, it seemed as though Mirror was leading her towards the edge of town instead. "Miss Clap wanted to see what you would make of her... 'practice route', around the edges of Ponyville. Hopefully, you aren't adverse to a little sweat, eh?" Mirror seemed as if he were chipper and ready to go. As they got further from town, he spoke again. "I hear you're from the Crystal Empire - what exactly in the wide, wide world of Equestria would bring such a fine mare as yourself to this humble little town? Looking for someone, mayhaps?" Why were they headed towards the outskirts of Ponyville? That would take a lot of time... and didn't he say something about Thunderclap not wanting to overwhelm Obsidian with her regular route? "What is Thunderclap's regular route? I find it difficult to believe that jogging all the way around Ponyville would be shorter." She didn't bother with responding to his question - incidental mental meltdown or not, she was still somewhat trained to be a princess. The stallion slowly came to a stop, almost at the edge of the Everfree Forest. "Well... I suppose that would be an important question Miss... if that was actually where we were going..." The stallion turned to look at her... and his eyes had a slight wisp of what looked to be purple mist rolling from them. "But actually, I figure it's about time to drop the act and simply get on with the show, so to speak. So, hello... sister..." The pony's coat seemed to char in a wave from his tail to his muzzle; he was now a uniform grey, the same as her illustrious father's coat, and his thick mane had gone a deep, blood red. As he turned, she could make out sharp canines visible in his cruel smile. "Greetings - my name is Tourmaline; make sure you remember it... for the rest of your short, miserable life, you traitor!" His eyes lit up like small suns, and Obsidian barely had time to move aside before a blast of green energy shot from them, leaving a scorch mark where she'd just been standing! Truth to be told, she should have expected this; Obsidian knew that there was another warlock, one able to use her father's magic. However, she didn't really expect that they were able to mask their magic so well, or to be able to change their appearance - and most of all, she didn't expect that they could shoot energy from their eyes! She had no choice except to stand, or fall. Her horn flashed as she had risen a shield - evasion was effective, but she would have had to evade every single attack, while he had to get lucky only once... "Cease and desist! Stop! You NEED me!" she growled - and to show that she was serious, an unholy aura covered her horn as she prepared to return the favor and send her own blast right into his face. "HAH! You honestly believe so? Sister Onyx has almost all she needs to replicate the spell that will bring father home to us! And YOU, worthless, have spent your time... fraternizing with the enemy! What would our tremendous father say if he saw how you were actually making friends with these slaves-to-be!?" He blasted another eye beam at her shield, but when he saw it held fast, he gave a growl and his own aura became apparent; a sickly green color that made Obsidian think of infection and poison. "You are not even worrrrrthyyyyy of her attentions - so I plan to take you out before she has to! Now, taste THIS!" The blast came not from his eyes, but from a horn that had grown from his forehead during his change; it was bent and ruddy red, looking much like her - their - father's. The horn blast had more kick than his eye beams, and she felt her shield buckle a bit... but it still held. However, she couldn't take that sort of punishment for too long, else she might burn out her horn simply trying to defend herself! "Your DEATH will BRING more POWER to HER!" Slaves to be? Oh yes, that was all too easy to imagine: Cupcake trapped in chains, Thunderclap with scars after a whipping, Gypsy forced to spend days in the mine instead of learning history as he loved... Obsidian's eyes burst with purple mist as she imagined all these things - and realized that the insane pony in front of her was possibly able to carry out his threats - even if he didn't know how much they meant to her. "Brazen fool! All that you will find is your PUNISHMENT!" she bellowed. For a moment, she felt the energy filling her; her raw anger and hate being turned into dark magic of the purest quality. Did her father feel that way too, gathering the shadows to exact pain on his foes? Did he ever lose himself to the sensation? At the moment, none of that mattered. She poured her energy into a powerful blast, aiming straight at her unfortunate brother - and right now, her greatest enemy. Tourmaline also projected a shield... but his was far inferior to her own, and it shattered upon impact. The shield had managed to provide enough time for the vile pony to dodge, but she could see he was clearly shaken by the amount of power she'd just harnessed. "You... you..." he panted as he gathered himself again, his piercing green eyes glowing with barely contained corruption. "YOU do NOT de-SERVE such POWERRRRRRRRR!!!!!" With that, he fired a number of green beams above his head; all of them curved and bent to focus on her, multiple beams of green death headed directly at her at breakneck speed. "TRUE power IS what WE have ach-IEVED! You will wallow in the... fffffffilllllth... you have surrounded yourself with, traitorous worm! Have you for-GOT-ten your PUR-pose... or are you FLAWED and re-BELL-ing a-GAINST your FATE!?!?" The beams slid toward her as though they were greased lightning, while Tourmaline smiled manically at her; he was, indeed, crazy - at least, the look in his wild eyes said so. She wasn't that level of crazy, right? He had as much grace and style as a mudworm; if not for his magic and appearance, she wouldn't ever honor him with a comparision of herself - let alone their illustrious father. Obsidian quickly reinforced her shield with Dark Magic, their heated battle already saturating the air with the brimstone tang of corrupt magic. He wasn't exactly good enough to make her too concerned for her own life - at least as long as she was using Dark Magic as well; without it, she'd probably already be a bloody carcass. "You seem to have a speech impediment; a friend of mine has issues too - maybe you'd like him? Perhaps if I deem to let you live, I'll introduce you..." she smirked, as her eyes were practically burning with purple mist. That power was... aaaaaah, wonderful! "Maggot," she added as an afterthought. Tourmaline actually laughed sharply at her jibe. "YOU think I would RISE to SUCH a JIBE!? FOOL! WORM! IDIOT!" The lines of green energy struck her shield, but not all at the same time; they slammed against her barrier, one after another, each shot driving harder into her magic and costing her more concentration with each landed blast. When the mass of shots had finally all landed, she felt her shield waver; that attack had been deceptively powerful, and another such as that might shatter it, if she weren't careful. "Fiiiiiilllllllthhhhhhh... you are FILLLLLLLTHHHHHHH!!!!! Tainted FILTH that KEEPS my SISTER from OWNING these TOYS! You are due for your COMEUPPANCE, TRAITORRRRRR!!!!!" He released another barrage of beams... but these beams split when they reached their apex, then fractured again and again as they flew at her - turning six beams into thirty! "DIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!" His voice was raw and raspy, eyes intent on seeing her dead. Maybe she should've paid a bit more attention in her magical offensive studies, or perhaps she was needing only more instruction - though she wasn't sure about how succesful that would be. She couldn't just pour more magic into her shield - so many offensive spells would damage it faster than she could repair it! There was also no real point in evading them - there were far too many of them to dodge them all. So instead, she panicked and went for the first idea she got - and fired off another attack spell... but this time, she aimed at the green beams instead of her deranged brother, with the hope that it would take out at least a portion of them. Her shot struck a section of the beams, turning them to so much smoke in midair... yet, it only got some of them. The next few shots struck her shield as they had before, but there were so many of them, that her horn was sparking! When her shield did go down, she was only struck by three beams in total... ... three beams of pure, tendon-twisting agony. The shots struck her left side, and almost instantly, she felt the muscles in her ribs and barrel suddenly wrench up tightly, taking her breath away and making her see spots before her eyes. Tourmaline laughed loud and heartily, seeing Obsidian in pain. "THIS is BUT a TASTE of THINGS to COME, foul WOOOOOORRRRMMMM... now, I shall end this farce... once and for aaaaallllll..." "HAVE AT YOU, VILE FIEND!" >>WHAM!<< From seemingly out of nowhere, the minute form of Stalwart Stance slammed headfirst into her brother's mid-section. He gave a WHOOF as the breath was knocked from him... and Obsidian could pick out the sound of a muffled snap, a surefire sign that he'd broken something. "ROT-ten LIT-tle PO-ny!!!!" He shrieked, grasping at his ribs as Wart took up a place between him and Obsidian. "Attack Her Majesty again, and I shall end you, filthy cur!" Wart stood fast between Obsidian and Tourmaline, the scowl on her muzzle said she was hoping he dared make another move towards her. Tourmaline looked back and forth between them both... then grimaced and hissed through his teeth. "... another time then, sister... but our next encounter shall be our last." Wart took another step forward. "Get. Lost." Tourmaline glared daggers at the small mare... then, with a sharp snap of light from his horn, he vanished into thin air. Teleportation; that wasn't a good sign. The second he was gone, Wart turned to Obsidian. "Your Majesty, are you okay? PLEASE tell me you are okay!" A rescue at the last moment; somewhat humiliating, but she welcomed it anyway - and would do so in a more verbal, maybe even happy and cheerful way... if it weren't for the fact that she was trying to cough her lungs up. It hurt - which meant a lot to a pony that had survived King Sombra - most pain shouldn't even budge her, but this was enough to break her focus and leave her at the mercy of one of his shards. Bah, she hoped at least that she'd be able to reason with them - if not, then her only alternative would be to defeat them. With extreme prejudice. However, apparently she was unable to do either of these things - at least, not yet. Obsidian had to train more... train harder... if this encounter were any indicator of her future. "I... have survived worse things, Stalwart. I thank you for helping me... with my brother." She tried to straighten her side out and hissed in pain. The bastard... just what was that spell of his? It couldn't have been just a simple attack spell, or he would have had to train with it extensively. She never should have let him go on offensive - in fact, the best option would've been to kill him right from the start. "I hope I won't be late... for school," she bemoaned. "That... w-was your brother!?" Wart looked shocked. "Does... d-does that mean I've actually struck a PRINCE? I..." She watched Obsidian groaning from pain, and a dark look crossed her features. "... well, that does NOT matter, if he is such a fool as that. Trying to kill his own sister - has he no shame!?" She eagerly and carefully helped Obsidian to her hooves, then scowled at where Tourmaline had been standing. "Your Majesty, might I offer that we speak directly to someone about this attack? I'm certain the teachers will understand the circumstances, in light of what has happened. My only regret is that I was unable to corral the brute properly. Please forgive my shortcomings, Your Majesty." She bowed low, then stood up and looked towards town and the school. "You have my word, I shall accompany you today - that lout won't have a second chance at you like that, not while I draw breath!" "I'm certain you've noticed that my family is rather... unpleasant, at least by modern standards," she tried to chuckle but it hurt too much, so she held back. "... and yes, that's something I need to report as soon as possible. I'm also sure that... Thunderclap has to be worried by now." From what she recalled, she'd gone out at six, classes began at eight... there was no possibility that they would walk two hours straight, so hopefully she still had some time. "... thank you, Stalwart. You are a good friend." She gave the small mare a pained grin. The pride was almost palpable coming off Wart's muzzle, but she simply said, "At your command, Your Majesty," and bowed humbly. But Obsidian could tell her words pleased the little mare overwhelmingly. She looked off into the distance, toward the castle. "Clap usually has a jogging route that passes the castle - I could take you there to meet with her, should you wish?" "That might be a wise idea... I believed this tool when he claimed to know Thunderclap, and that she'd... that she'd asked him to bring me to the route directly and fell right into his trap. He was masking his Dark Magic quite well..." She shook her head, frustrated at her own carelessness. She was either too foolish for walking into such a trap, or too naive for believing she could properly defend herself... or both. Probably both. "Let's go, then... and, eh, Stalwart?" Obsidian hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was the right call to tell her the truth. Stalwart was quite useful, but she was acting under the false conviction that Obsidian was a bonafide princess... and she most certainly was not. However, lying to her just didn't feel right. "You don't have to... refer to me as 'your majesty' and so forth; I've recently learned a few things about my origins, and my siblings' as well. Honestly, I'm not sure if we should be considered TRUE royalty, anymore..." Stalwart stared at her for a long moment, then spoke slowly. "You have all the bearing of royalty. You have all the necessary training for royalty. And you come from a ruler, even if he was not a kind ruler, he was still royalty. In my book, those things make you royalty to me. And besides..." she looked down a bit, not looking Obsidian in her eyes, "... you're... the only royal who will allow me to guard them." That admission looked as though it hurt, but she shrugged it off admirably. "So, Your Majesty, that is where I stand on it - take it or leave it as you wish, but you shall always be regal to me. Now, shall we go?" With that, Wart - the small knight with the huge heart - turned and began to lead the way towards the path again. Obsidian tried to smile, even despite pain. Now, she just couldn't turn into Sombra - Stalwart would be terribly dissapointed, wouldn't she? Maybe she could at least convince her to call her something more casual? But she didn't want to debate it right now - not after just being rescued by her. The two of them made their way back towards the palace. As they passed Ponyville, Obsidian could hear, see and smell the little hamlet waking up and starting their day; pies to bake, laundry to hang, chores to do... it seemed like a bustling little town, though not so busy it was hectic. Each step was like someone grinding a rock into her ribs, but she managed with as much dignity as possible. When they reached the road outside of the palace, Wart came to a stop. "Here is where she passes each day, Your Highness - and I believe... I see..." Down the path, Obsidian could make out the bulky, muscular form of Clap, jogging along at an even pace, breathing with rhythm and sweating just a tad. "There she is, Your Majesty. She'll be here shortly." When she saw them, Clap gave a wave and kept coming toward them. At the sight of Thunderclap, Obsidian wanted to immediately trot over to her... but as soon as she tried to move, the sharp pain in her side reminded her of its' presence; she grudgingly resigned herself and just stood where she was, to let Clap catch up with them on her own. "Next... we need to meet with Princess Twilight - do you perhaps know where she would be at this time of day?" If Clap was still jogging, then there was still plenty of time until classes - a good sign, no doubt. As Clap jogged up, she looked at Wart with surprise. "Wart? What are you doing here? Your exercise is more strenuous than mine is!" "Her Majesty was attacked; ambushed." Wart spoke solemnly. Clap immediately got a look on her muzzle that said she wanted to beat someone down. "WHAT!? Where are they!?" "The situation was handled, the coward retreated," Wart said, making sure to allow Obsidian's honor to remain intact, "but we must speak to Princess Sparkle about this." "YEAH, we do! Siddy, what happened - wait, c'mon, let's head to the palace - what happened!?" "A family quarrel, shall we say?" she just replied shortly. "You'll hear the rest as soon as we meet with the princess. Have you seen Cupcake today, perchance?" She immediately started to walk towards the castle; considering that her ribs felt pulped, it was easy to assume that her two friends could easily outpace her, so she maybe needed a head start. "Nah, he's never up before school - yet he always makes it there all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, so to speak. How does he DO that? But," she shook the distraction out of her mind, "you said a 'family thing'? Sweet Twilight's Crown, it's not Sombra, is it?" Wart scoffed. "No - he was a pushover, honestly. As much as we've heard about Sombra's fighting ability, this was a pathetic attempt, at best. This was more like dealing with an unruly unicorn than anything significant." "I'd say that Siddy getting attacked is pretty friggin' significant, wouldn't you?" Clap's eyes kept searching Obsidian for wounds... which were all internal, so her search was effectively fruitless. Wart gave a sigh. "It will be, that much I promise you." They walked into the palace once more, and made their way to the throne room side by side by side. "Whoever they are, they'd better not try that stuff on MY watch! I'll pound 'em into the ground like tent stakes!" If it had truly been her father, she wouldn't have even noticed that anything attacked her. It wouldn't be a fight - it would be more like a force of nature, brought down squarely upon her head. "Both of you need to be careful too - I can only hope that my brothers and sisters won't try to attack my friends... but it's possible that you can become their target." If her twisted siblings dared ever come after her friends... she'd have to rip them apart to avenge them. Clap balked. "Whoa whoa whoa... brothers and sisters? What in the wide, wide world of Equestria is going on here!?" "You will hear about it," Wart said as she stepped to the throne room doors and knocked, staccato and loud. When they opened, it wasn't Twilight there, but a mare with a rainbow-colored mane and a flashy, stylish flight jacket. Clap looked at her and her eyes flew open. "Mom! What are you doing here!?" "Whoa, Thunderclap - now isn't a good ti-OH! You're Obsidian, right? Get in here!" The sky blue mare reached out and pulled Obsidian inside, where there were a number of ponies all surrounding Twilight Sparkle, who looked worried. When she saw Obsidian, she stood up from her throne. "Obsidian - Miss Tome is gone from the vaults! There's no trace of her, not even a sliver of crystal - and my most talented magicians tell me they sense... Dark Magic in the vaults where she was kept." She began to pace. "This is bad, this is bad..." She then stopped and took a deep breath. "But we can handle this... right, girls?" The others in the throne room were as follows: A muscular earth pony with a soft orange coat, with three apples on her visible flank for a cutie mark. Another unicorn, but this one was an alabaster white with a gorgeous purple mane that seemed to follow her own curves, of which she had plenty, even for her age. The sky blue mare who was apparently Clap's mother... though she didn't look like a mother; she looked like an adventurer. Then Cup's mother... and Professor Fluttershy was here too? What was going on here? However, upon seeing the gathered mares, Stalwart's eyes went wide. "By the crown... the Elements of Harmony have reunited for this!?"