//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 "Birthright" // Story: Age of the Pony // by Jacoboby1 //------------------------------// Chapter 5 “Birthright” “So then I flew right out of his window!” Rainbow boasted to the group “You should’ve seen the look on his face! He honestly didn’t expect me to get away with these wings!” The group was at their favorite spot in Kanterwall. The Hanging pony was considered by many to be a wretched hide of scum and villainy. But the drinks were good, the service friendly enough, and nopony asked questions. Thus it was the perfect hideout for Ebony’s growing circle of friends. “Ah can’t honestly believe he chased after ya in his jammies like that!” Applejack laughed after downing her cider. “So this Juthar brute was the one who enslaved you?” Rarity asked sipping her cider lightly. Rainbow Dash nodded solemnly “Yeah, he kept me around because of these” She pointed to her lyrium enhanced wings “They’re as sharp as any sword, you have no idea how often they’ve saved my tail” “Has anypony noticed we’re one friend short?” Pinkie said looking around “In fact we’re two heads short, I don’t see Bladey or Twilight anywhere” The four mares looked around at the table. Indeed, the dark warrior and his companion were nowhere to be found. They were going to meet today, but it was not like Ebony to be tardy, much less Twilight. “Perhaps something horrible happened to them!” Rarity panicked “Don’t ya worry so much princess” Applejack said dismissively, Rarity frowned at Applejack’s nickname for her “Ebony’s capable, he wouldn’t get into trouble without asking us to come along and save his flank” “Speaking of which” Rarity said narrowing her blue eyes “What exactly is your relationship with Ebony? You two seem to know each other well” “He saved me and mah sis from Darklings” Applejack said with a smile “Took down an ogre together, turns out that can be a great icebreaker” “So gallant” Rarity said wistfully “Do you know if he’s married or no-“ “Now hold on there princess!” Applejack glared at Rarity “Are ya trying to get in Ebony’s armor?” “I can’t believe you would think me so uncouth Applejack!” Rarity fired back “I simply am grateful for what he’s done for me. That and a gallant and brave stallion such as himself deserves a proper mare to-“ “Look princess” Applejack said threating “Ebony’s not exactly the brightest bulb when it comes to mares. If ya ever think bout breaking his heart” “What are you his mother?” Rarity said getting out of her chair “Nuh, but Ah ain’t gonna have ya pursuin him when it ain’t serious” Applejack said getting out of her chair and meeting Rarity’s glare. “You would slander me you uncouth ruffian?” Rarity fired back “I have the utmost respect for Ebonyblade and my intentions for him are pure” “Just what do you want with the guy anyway?” Rainbow asked secretly hoping this breaks into a catfight. Rarity’s eyes shone brightly “Oh Ebony and I are simply meant for one another! Sure I may be a mage, but he was willing to look past that to help me. What mare wouldn’t fall for such a brave, strong, and kind stallion?” Pinkie Pie smiled wide “You have to promise me that you’ll let me do the wedding party!” “Indeed Pinkie” She smiled at the pink mare “But first I must win his heart” “Ah don’t know if Ebony’s seein anypony now” Applejack said with a shake of his head “But Ah just want tah make sure ya really are doin this for love” Rarity looked at Applejack and bowed her head “I am Applejack, I’m sorry for shouting” “And Ah’m sorry for thinkin ya were some snooty mare hoping to- how do they say? Grey his warden?” “Speaking of which” Rainbow said looking at the sun from the window “You’d think they’d be here by now” “Yer right” Applejack said worriedly “Somethin’s gone wrong, Ah’m gonna head back tah the house and see what’s keepin them” “You know where Ebony lives!?” Rarity said her jaw dropping “Corse Ah do” Applejack said as if telling what the weather was “Ah live in the same house as him” ______________________________________________________ “I can’t honestly believe father left us nothing!” Ebony fired at his brother Rusty “Twilight and I had to sell ourselves for a year when I should have a decent home for her to stay in!” Ebony gestured to their house. I guess you could call it that but that was stretching it a little. Really it was a small two bedroom house with a large living area. It had no windows, no kitchen beyond a small fireplace, and Ebony had to make his bed on the floor in order for Applejack, Twilight, Applebloom, and Spike to have a place to sleep. “You can’t seriously believe this is all we can do!” “Look Ebony if wishes were poppy we’d all be dreaming!” The rust colored earth pony fired back at his brother Twilight got up from where she was reading her book and walked to Ebony. She put a hoof on the dark warrior’s shoulder to get him to calm down “This is the way things are Serah, Rusty can’t change that” Ebony’s green eyes looked at Twilight, he smiled a little upon seeing her “You’re right Twilight, I’m sorry” “If you didn’t run off like the coward you were we wouldn’t be in this mess!” Rusty accused “How dare you!” Twilight said glaring back “Serah Blade is the strongest stallion I know! He’d never run from anything!” Rusty smirked “You really don’t know anything about him do you? This boy ran off because our dear sister was put in her proper place!” He glared at Ebony “You don’t become the family favorite for running off like that” Ebony kept his gaze steady on Rusty “Where’s father’s will? I demand to see it!” “It was read upon father’s death” Rusty said matter of factly “It was then put into the vault where it belongs” “I don’t see the problem with letting him read it” Spike said walking into the room “It shouldn’t be too difficult right?” “One problem lizard” Rusty said venomously “It’s in the cellar of the estate, somepony else lives there now so I can’t get it” “Seems odd that you wouldn’t take your parent’s will” Spike said narrowing his eyes. “It’s old news” Rusty said, sticking his nose in the air “It’s been read, you can’t get it, so that’s it” “Who bought the estate Rusty?” Ebony pleaded “Maybe I can talk with them” “Nopony you know brother,” Rusty answered “Get used to Lowtown, that’s your home now and that’s final” Ebony snorted and stomped off to his room. Twilight followed him and she came to see Ebony sitting down on the straw he counted as his bed. Twilight felt guilty for letting the warrior sleep on it but he insisted. Twilight sat down beside him and looked at the dark warrior “Serah, I’m sorry about the will” “It’s not your fault” Ebony said turning his green gaze to the unicorn “I’m just mad I can’t provide you and the rest with a decent home” “You do so much for me,” Twilight observed “I want to know why” Ebony chuckled “I knew you’d eventually wear me down to the point where I had to tell you” “So, why did you really pull me out of the Chantry?” Twilight’s violet eyes gazed at Ebony with yearning. The dark warrior sighed “It’s because, you remind me of Willow” “A friend of yours?” Twilight guessed “My sister” Ebony explained “She was the youngest of my siblings. She had just such a spark for knowledge and learning. She could’ve become a scholar, or a politician…but she was born as a unicorn so her fate was decided” “The Templars…” Twilight said slowly “Mother and Father tried to hide Willow for as long as they could” Ebony said “But eventually the Templars found her. You know Maredith, the current Knight Commander? She was the one who took Willow like she was a criminal!” He slammed his hoof into the ground “She didn’t do anything wrong! They dragged her away crying and yelling for me! I was her big brother and I couldn’t do anything to stop them!” He felt a nuzzle on his shoulder and turned to see Twilight performing the action. Ebony returned the nuzzle on her head. Twilight looked up at him and smiled gently “Serah, I’m sure Willow would be proud of the stallion you’ve become” “Yeah,” Ebony said with a slow nod “I just wish I could do something about the estate” “We’ll get it back” Twilight said earnestly “We’ll get a home for all of us! With this expedition set we’ll be able to live like nobility. Then we won’t have to worry about Templars anymore” Ebony smiled and hugged Twilight tightly “You really are like Willow” Twilight returned the hug; Ebony always treated her like a little sister. Now she understood why and well, it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. She liked having a big brother with her. For some reason, the feeling was almost familiar. __________________________________________________________ “Ya mean tah say they can’t even look at his will!?” Applejack said, the four mares were outside Ebony’s house. Spike had just finished explaining what happened inside the house. “That no good dirty rotten piece of shit!” Rainbow snorted, bucking over a random barrel in frustration. “I simply cannot believe that Rusty is so powerless” Rarity said “How dare he say all those wretched things to Ebony!” “What can we do Spike?” Applejack said looking at the small dragon, but Spike’s attention was occupied by Rarity. She was so beautiful, so delicate, and so absolutely perfect in every possible way! And she would eventually fall for the sexy dragon Spike! He would be her knight in shining armor! They would travel the world! They would fall madly in love with each other and- ________________________________________________________ “Tell the real story!” Luna retorted to Spike in present day “Fine!” Spike exacerbated __________________________________________________________ Rarity waved a hoof in front of Spike’s face “Are you alright darling?” Spike shook his head and blushed furiously “Sorry, I was just distracted by your beauty” Rarity smiled at the young dragon and patted him on the head “I will thank you for the compliment darling. But please tell us if there’s anything we can do for Ebony” “Actually there is” Spike explained “I did a little digging earlier, as it turns out Rusty lost the estate when he used it to pay off some ponies he lost at dice with” “Doesn’t he know that the dice are always loaded?” Pinkie said rather randomly “Especially the nasty ponies, I always lose at monopoly with them” “What’s monopoly?” Applejack said slowly “Some new game that I found out about” Pinkie said with a smile ______________________________________________________- “Don’t look at me she really did say that!” Spike said at a suspicious Luna “Just making sure thou aren’t lying horribly” Luna said with a raised eyebrow ______________________________________________________ “Anyways” Spike said looking at the four mares around him “We can’t get in because the place is run by slavers now” “Slavers?” Rainbow said her fury slowly rising “Oh that does it! We’re going in now!” “We can’t just march through the front door Sugercube” Applejack explained “They probably have traps or something” “Wait,” Rarity said slowly “We don’t need to go through the front door, we can just go under it” “Oh yeah!” Pinkie said in realization “We can just use the sewer system by your house!” “Pinkie what are ya doin in the sewers?” Applejack asked slowly “Gummy likes to play down there with all of his friends” Pinkie said matter of factly “Okaay…” Applejack said warily “Let’s go before Ah lose the rest of mah brain trying to figure you out sugercube” _____________________________________________________ The group walked the sewers until they came across a large door. Applejack tried the door but it was locked. “Stand back, Ah’m buckin down this ere-“ “Wait!” Rainbow said holding Applejack back “If we go bucking down doors we can’t get the jump on the slavers” “What do ya suggest?” Applejack asked “Watch and learn my friend” Rainbow said with a smile, she then walked to the door and extended her wings. She pressed one of her lyrium enhanced feathers around the door handle. Slowly the blades cut into the wood and around the handle. When the door handle was cut off Dash pushed it through to the other side. “Good thinkin Rainbow” Applejack said with a smile “Ah see it was a good idea tah bring ya along after all” Dash flushed a little and rubbed the back of her head “Yeah, I guess I’m awesome like that huh?” Applejack tilted her head; it seemed odd for Rainbow to get flustered over a compliment like that. Usually the Pegasus would shout to the heavens about how awesome she was. The four walked inside quietly and saw four slavers, all armed inside the main room. Applejack looked at the other three, “Ah’ll draw their attention, everypony else cover me” They nodded and Applejack walked into the rooms smugly. The leader slaver, an earth pony with a large ax on his back looked at her in shock. “How’d you get in ere?!” “Sorry boys” Applejack drew her shield off her back “But mah friend needs tah see a will ya all have” “Kill er!” The slaver shouted to his comrades before one got hit by a crossbow bolt to the face. Applejack tackled the one with the large ax and drew her sword. The ax hit the shield and Applejack was about to be hit from behind, at least until Rarity fired a rock at the sneak attacker. Rainbow dived down from the ceiling onto the last slaver and slit his throat with her blade like wings. Applejack thrusted her blade into the stomach of the ax wielding pony and blood poured on her orange coat. Rainbow looked on the orange warrior and she was giving Applejack odd eyes… “Sugercube are ya droolin?” Applejack said after sheathing her blade “No!” Rainbow said way too fast “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Applejack just shrugged, sometimes Rainbow just didn’t make sense. “Hey everypony!” Pinkie shouted from down the hall “I found Ebony’s vault!” Rarity smiled wide, “Let’s see what’s in that vault!” “Here’s the key!” Rainbow said picking the key off one of the corpses “Let’s open that bad boy!” __________________________________________________________ Rusty looked at his brother nervously “I’m only saying, blood’s blood and all” He stood in the house and his eyes gazed at Ebony “But you and your friends are taking advantage of my hospitality” Ebony’s gaze was neutral, although he was imagining sticking his blades where the sun doesn’t shine. “All I’m saying” Rusty said holding up his hooves “I’m thinking you and your friends could make something of a…monthly contribution” “My friends and I have been in servitude for a year!” Ebony said advancing on the rust colored earth pony “Because you couldn’t hang on to your damn money my friends live in this drafty old house! Now you’re asking them to charge rent!?” “Well, maybe just put a little towards food” Rusty said smiling nervously “Don’t give him nothin Ebony!” Applejack said as the four mares stepped into the room. Applejack tossed Ebony a small scroll “We found the will” Rarity smiled upon seeing Ebony slowly open it “Your father forgave you! He left you everything!” Ebony’s green eyes slowly scanned the scroll he was holding in his hooves. Rusty started to walk out “I should probably be leaving” Rainbow stood in his way and unfurled her feathered blades “I highly suggest you don’t, or else I’ll make your coat 20% redder” “To my son Ebonyblade, and all of his children born of him” Ebony read the passage aloud “The estate in Hightown and all of the associated revenues!” “We have a home Ebony!” Twilight said excitedly upon entering the room “A real home!” Ebony looked up from the scroll and looked at Rusty. His face showed his pain “Why Rusty? Why hide all of this? We could’ve had a home and” “Don’t give me that horse shit Ebony!” Rusty growled “You’re the one who ran away! Whatever happened to love is so much greater than wealth!?” “It is Rusty!” Ebony said pleadingly “I didn’t leave for that and you know it!” “You didn’t even come home for the funeral!” Rusty accused “I was in training half way across Equestria!” Ebony fired back “I couldn’t have made it in time if I wanted to! That and had I known…had I known they didn’t die angry…” “We all have our burdens brother!” Rusty fired at him “Mine was looking after an angry father, and a guilt stricken mother! Every damn day it was all about you! Where’s Ebony now? Is he warm enough? Did he get himself killed?” “Rusty, why didn’t you tell me all of this?” Ebony asked looking at him with soft green eyes “We were brothers, you should’ve told me they felt like this” “What was I going to do?” Rusty fired at his brother “Have you come home as the prodigal son or something? No! I wanted you to come crawling back and begging me to take you in! Granted I didn’t expect you to bring guests!” “That’s it!” Rainbow was about to tackle him before Applejack and Pinkie held him back “Let me at this bastard! I’ll clobber him!” “Easy sugercube” Applejack said slowly “Let’s not start a brawl in here” Ebony shook his head “Now that the estate is mine, I plan on getting it back with the money from the expedition” “You’ll need an audience with the Viscount in order for something like that to happen!” Rusty growled “Then I’ll petition for one” Spike said entering the room, “I’ve read enough about legal matters to know what to say to get it back” “Celestia willing” Ebony said in a low voice “You’ll have your house back soon…” “You don’t have the coin or status to even get an audience!” Rusty fired back “You have to be somepony in this city for that to happen” “Then I’d better get started” Spike said walking to his books. _______________________________________________________ Everypony left after that, including Spike and Rusty who both went to the market for different reasons. Ebony sat on a small chair staring at a fire. Twilight came and sat beside him and smiled warmly at him. Upon seeing Ebony’s solemn expression Twilight frowned “Still shaken up about Rusty?” “I can’t believe he would hide this from me” Ebony said with a shake of his head “I didn’t realize just how much hatred he’s developed for me” “It’s no excuse to turn against you like that!” Twilight said firmly “You’re his family! You should look out for each other!” “At least it’s nice to know my parents didn’t hate me when they died” Ebony said with a small smile “What were they like?” Twilight said looking at him “You would’ve loved them” Ebony said wistfully “Dad was a proud man, he always came up with this invention or that. He always believed that earth ponies could do so much without magic” He looked at one of his blades that he unsheathed “These were presents for my sixteenth birthday” “And your mom?” Twilight asked slowly “She was about the most doting mom you’d ever meet” Ebony said smiling “She was beautiful, so kind and caring towards all three of us. She and I were the best of friends really. She was the one who was most against me leaving. After I told them I was going to Equestria she tried to stop me” He shook his head “Dad shouted and said ‘it’s his life let him ruin it’. I wrote him whenever I got a promotion in the army. He never wrote back” “Ebony, your father didn’t want you to leave” Twilight said slowly “He just held on the only way he knew how” “I just wish I could’ve been there when he died” Ebony said bowing his head “But I thought they wouldn’t let me back. I was half way across Equestria and would’ve missed their funeral by a month. I still regret not trying to this day” Twilight walked to Ebony and pulled him into a tight hug. Ebony was taken aback by this but slowly wrapped his forelegs around her. Twilight held him and looked up at him with a smile “Serah, you remind me of a brother I think I had” “I do?” Ebony asked slowly Twilight looked down for a bit “I don’t know much about him, only that he was apparently a guard or something. The circle never told me who he was. It’s nice, having somepony who’s a brother to me here and now. Had I stayed in Equestria, I would never have known what it’s like” Ebony gently ran a hoof through her mane and smiled at her “Twilight, I’m happy you consider me your brother. Although I could never truly replace a blood brother, I’ll give you all the love a brother should give” Twilight hugged Ebony even more tightly. Ebony just smiled as he held the unicorn. In a lot of ways, Twilight was like Willow… He was happy to have a sister again… _____________________________________________________