Chapter 2
1 weak after the Fall of Champion
“Why are we here?” Annabel asked Shayla quietly as she looked around the room at all the gathered Bronies and their friends.
“Beats the fuck outta me,” Shayla answered gruffly as she chewed on a stick of jerky. “Pinkie Pie wanted everyone to meet at the Mellowed Pie for a ‘surprise’.” She snorted grossly, getting a few stares from the others around them. “Honestly I’m only here because you asked for me to come.”
“Thank you,” the meek mare said, looking around at all the others. The Bronies were giving her side glances, but none were saying anything to her. “I didn’t want to be here alone…”
“I got ya,” the large mare assured her, giving her a rough shake with her tail.
“Oooo! You’re all here!” Pinkie exclaimed as she appeared from the kitchen, her fading pink mane bouncing around her. “None of you are going to believe who I found! So go on! Guess!”
“Pinkie, just show us who it is,” Lance called out as he laid his head on a table, appearing exhausted.
“Oh come on! Just throw out some guesses! It’s an old friend of ours!”
“That can be anyone,” Cody said, rubbing his forehead.
“Second hint! Lance will be the happiest to see them!” she exclaimed, bouncing in place.
“Don’t tell me it's that prick Razor Graze,” Lance groaned, slamming his head on the table.
“Nope! Try again!”
“Pinkie, just tell us!” Shayla yelled out, startling a few people.
“Guess!” the up beat mare countered, causing everyone to groan.
“They’re not going to play your game, Mrs. Pie,” a voice said from the back as someone stepped out of the kitchen.
Most didn’t react, as they didn’t recognize this new arrival. But those who did jumped up, eyes wide.
Lance was the first to react as he sprang up and flew across the room, tackling the man to the ground. “Bro! Long time no fucking see!”
“Jesus, Lance!” Mark yelped as he was taken to the ground. “You’re a fucking heavy horse! Don’t tackle me like this!”
“Well you should have stayed in your pony form, then you wouldn’t have to worry about that!” Lance laughed as he jumped up, offering a hoof to his brother. “Now where the fuck have you been?”
“Everywhere,” Mark answered as he took Lance’s hoof and was pulled up. “I heard my nephew took down that asshat Champion and I decided it was time to come home.”
“You should have come back sooner, I’ve missed ya,” Lance said with a wide smile.
Shayla leaned down to Annabel, a confused look on her face. “Is that Lance’s real brother? Or just another ‘brother’?”
“That’s his real brother,” she answered quietly. “He left the dimension a long time ago with Omnious, so I think this is the first time they’ve seen each other in maybe twenty years? I wasn’t here for a long time, since I was, you know, banished to the moon.”
“Good to know,” Shayla muttered back as the two brothers continued talking. “Can we bounce?”
“Yeah, we can,” she nodded. “I didn’t know Mark very well back then, and I don’t feel like-”
“Mark Lyon Greenfield!” came the loud and angry yell of another woman as the doors to the restaurant blew open. Everyone turned to see Dana walking in, her eyes ablaze. Behind her was her husband and third son, Jeff.”
“Oh shit,” Mark cursed as he stood up and waved to his mother as everyone else backed away, even Lance. “Hi mom.”
“Don’t you ‘Hi mom’ me, sir! It’s been,” she looked at her bare hoof. “Fifteen long years since I last saw you! Explain yourself!”
“I…” he began, looking at the people around him. None offered him any help as they all took a few more steps back. “... I love you?”
Dana’s eyes narrowed as she stood up on her hind legs and put her hooves on her hips. “You do, huh?”
Annabel saw two ponies backing out of the crowd and slipping out the back door, seeming to want to avoid notice. “I think we should follow Lacy and Jun, Shayla.”
“Nah, I gotta see this,” Shayla said with a wide smile, clearly enjoying the show.
“If you loved me,” Dana continued, face to face with her oldest son. “Then you would have at least called.”
“Ma, you can’t call across dimensions,” Mark countered, causing her to glare even harder at him.
“Don’t give me that,” she said as a sly smile took over her face. “I’m not as ‘out of touch’ as you think. I’ve been learning how all this hoopla around dimensional stuff from Bronwyn, and I KNOW you can easily travel wherever you want. AND make calls.”
“Why are people teaching you new things like this?” Mark complained, causing his mother to smile proudly. “Would you believe me if I told you I personally do not know how any of that works?”
“Not for a second.”
“Drat. Okay, I’m sorry for not calling,” he said, holding his arms open to her. “Hug it out?”
The older mare narrowed her eyes at him before grabbing him roughly and pulling him into a hug. “You’re staying with me while you’re here. That’s final. Got it?”
The groan that escaped the man could be heard all the way in the back of the room, but he threw his hands up as she hugged him.
“That’s fair! I guess.”
“Good,” Dana said as she broke the hug and stepped aside. “Now talk to your baby brother, he hasn’t seen you since he was six.”
Jeff just stood there awkwardly as he and Mark stared at each other. “Eh, yo, big bro?”
“Yeah, yo, little bro,” Mark said back as they hesitantly bumped fist to hoof. “Yeah, brother power and all that.”
“Yeah…” Jeff muttered as they continued to stare at each other.
Shayla snickered to herself, “and I thought I was bad with social shit.”
Dana’s head snapped towards them, glaring right at Shayla.
“Ah shit she heard me,” Shayla yelped as she lowered herself behind the ponies ahead of them. “What’s with that woman?”
“It’s best to just… not talk about her, yeah?” Annabel offered as she hunkered down as well.
“Good call.”
“Lance,” Dana said as Mark and Barehoof had an just as awkward interaction. “Where is Twilight? I want a family dinner, pronto.”
“She’s at home,” Lance answered carefully. “I don’t think she’ll be up for anything, not till Spark returns from wherever he is.”
“I’ll talk to her then,” Dana declared, spinning in place and walking for the door. “Be at my house in three hours. Both of you.”
“Yes, mom,” both Lance and Mark said at the same time.
Once she was gone, Mark turned to Lance as the people around them slowly relaxed. “Speaking of your kids, where’s my niece?”
Lance blinked at him for a few moments before his eyes went wide. “Oh Fawn! Yeah, she’s off in the big city, I think.”
“You think?” he asked with raised eyebrows.
“Well yeah, she left like ten or so years ago. Didn’t say anything, just went on her way.”
“... You didn’t… check on her?”
“She’s an adult, bro. She’s alright,” Lance said, waving him off.
“She’s not in ‘the big city’,” Scamp suddenly muttered from beside Shayla, scaring both of the two mares.
“Geez, mama!” Shayla hissed, as she stood back up fully. “Why’d you sneak up on us like that?”
“I’ve been here the entire time,” Scamp answered, shaking her head.
“What did you mean she’s not in the city?” Annabel asked with a cocked head.
Scamp turned her head to the two of them, a frown on her face. “I’m going to tell you two something, but you can’t go off and tell anyone else. Okay?”
“Pfft, I promise, mama,” Shayla chuckled, rolling her eyes.
Annabel only nodded in response.
With a sigh, Scamp lowered her head as the other two leaned in. “Lance’s daughter, Fawn, ran away to another dimension almost twelve years ago. Lance and Twilight, for all the good they’ve done, weren’t the best parents to her. Kind of… ignorantly neglectful towards her.”
“Get fucked, I guess,” Shayla chuckles, getting a deadpan stare from her mother. “Ah… I’m sorry.”
“Where’d she go?” Annabel asked.
“Twelve years ago we were attacked by one of Lance’s old enemies, a clone of Greg. He teamed up with some character from another dimension and the pair laid waste to this town. However two creatures from that same dimension came along as well and helped us defeat the pair. One of them saved Fawn after Lance and Twilight… accidentally forgot about her.” Scamp sighed as she shook her head. “Once it was over, Fawn jumped through the portal with them, and her parents didn’t notice for a few months. And when they did, they assumed she ran off ‘to the big city’.”
“Are they really that stupid?” Shayla asked.
“No,” Scamp answered, then frowned. “I hope not at least. Lance is just…” She went quiet as she seemed to be at a loss for words. “... I can’t defend him here. This is just his major flaw.”
“I guess,” Shayla mumbled, seeming to not really care one way or another.
“Is Fawn okay though?” Annabel asked. She may not have paid any attention to the kid back then, but she still didn’t like the idea of her being abandoned.
“She’s okay,” Scamp replied with a nod. “I went in after her a few months after she left and helped her deal with a few problems. When I left, she was happier than I’d ever seen her before.”
Shayla just gave a thumbs up to that. “Good for her then.”
Scamp turned her attention back to the front where Lance and Mark were still talking, seeming to have moved on to a different subject. “I love Lance, but damn is he an idiot.”
“I-” Annabel started to say something, but the sound of a pop was heard, causing everyone to tense up.
A few more pops were heard as a portal began to form in the center of the room, causing everyone to move away.
“What now?!” Lance exclaimed as he and a few others took up positions around the forming portal.
“Great,” Scamp muttered as she sprang forward to join the others around the portal.
“Aw hell yeah!” Shayla laughed excitedly as she rushed forward. “Some action!”
Annabel, however, hung back as she moved around the back of the crowd, keeping away from anything that was about to happen.
The portal crackled with energy as it flickered violently.
“Get ready, guys!” Lance called out. “Anything could step through this thing!”
As if on cue, a large stallion fell out of the portal and crashed into the floor, startling everyone. A strange eldritch creature followed after him, its many tentacles grabbing at the fallen stallion.
“Oh shit!” Mark yelped as Scamp dashed forward and kicked the creature back into the portal, just as it snapped shut.
“What the fuck was that thing?!” Lance yelped as Scamp knelt down to check on the stallion.
“Uh… Lance?” she asked as everyone turned their attention to her. “Is this… who I think it is?”
“What do you mean?” Lance asked as he stepped forward, his eyes widening as he slowly came to a realization. “It… can’t be…”
“No fucking way…” Cody mumbled as he fell on his haunches, looking dazed.
The stallion on the ground coughed violently as he rolled onto his back, his wings spread out as he smiled up at the ponies around him. “Oh… I made it! I made it!”
“Frederic?!” Lance exclaimed in shock as the stallion turned to him.
“Lance! Brother!” the stallion yelled as he seemed to find his strength and jumped up and hugged Lance tightly.
“But!” Lance bega, eyes wide as he was hugged. “You DIED!”
“I thought so too!” Frederic laughed, tears running down his face. “I’ve been stuck in a weird place all these years, trying to get back to you all!”
Lance’s face went through many emotions before he finally settled on crying, wrapping his forelegs around the other stallion. “You fucker! I’ve thought you were dead all these years!”
As the pair had their reunion, everyone stared on in mixtures of confusion and happiness. All those except one mare, who sat at the back with wide eyes, her breathing increasing rapidly.
Annabel’s mind was going crazy as she stared through the crowd at the pair, her eyes locked on the side of Frederic’s face. Her chest tightened as tried her best not to have a panic attack.
Frederic turned his gaze to her, locking eyes with her as a smile appeared on his face. His eyes pierced her as he winked at her, causing her to lose it. Her body gave out on her as she collapsed, unconscious.