//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 : The Star Burning Bright ! // Story: A Dead Brotherhood // by 2Bit Dusk //------------------------------// With a weary push, the steel door screeched open with much effort. The scream of the hinges was cringe worthy to say the least. With Sea opening the gate, an ocean of animals flooded into the chamber. Owls, mice, wolfs, turtles, rabbits, bats, and even a seal made their way into his home.With a fixed look of annoyance he grabbed a monkey that was on his head and threw it onto the ground. The monkey hissed and ran off and Sea could feel a piercing stare from Fluttershy. But his attention was turned to a cat who trying to claw at the fine crafted drapes and, but first he ha too tear a bird from his shoulder. '' Are all these animals really necessary ? '' Sea asked while removing a mouse from his hood. '' Why these are all my friends, oh don't worry they won't be a bother '' She replied back holding several squirrels and rabbits. Sea rubbed his head and sat down on the cold wood floor, tired above all things. '' These are some pretty nice digs, if I so say myself '' Said Dash while she touched an ancient vase. '' Please don't touch tha- '' Sea was cut off by the greeting of his master, who looked like he had just awaken. Surprisingly his master met the various animals with open hooves. Sea sat up and held his aching hoof, courtesy of Rainbow dash. Fluttershy smiled back at the master and told him of her animals friends and that they wouldn't be a problem, maybe not for them. The master laughed it off and said everything was alright. '' Did you find your friends my dear ? '' he asked rubbing his fleeting ginger beard. Fluttershy looked down and brought her head back up, feeling impatient Sea answered for her. '' No master only Rainbow dash was at the cottage, the place was abandoned. But I fear are situation is much graver than we had first thought. I have reason to believe that ( he leans in closer ) the Apple is in Ponyvile. And the cult is using it to drain essence out of ponies. And if that wasn't serious enough, the golden hood is back from the dead I fear.'' His blood froze at his words. '' Yeah, I didn't see his whole face but part of it looked burnt, maybe even charred. I was taking them all on until that weird hooded guy used this orb. After that I felt really tired, and I just kinda fell down asleep. But I don't know where the others are, they could be anywhere . '' chimed in Dash propping herself on a wall as not to lose balance. A veil of silence fell over the group as the master thought over the recent news. '' This is grave indeed, your friends are innocent of this battle, but yet that means nothing to our enemies. I fear that they might be using your friends as energy for the Apple, be it magic or not the cultists we have fought for so long may years are preparing for something. I do not know how they found the Apple, it was cast into the deepest part of the sea, far from the hooves of mortals. Wait . . . one your friends is a alicorn is she not ? '' Fluttershy nodded hesitantly. The masters eyes grew wide and then settled. His slide himself into a old leather chair and sighed. '' Sea do you know what needs to be done ? We can not let the apple absorb an alicorn's magic '' the tired master asked. Sea nodded and stepped back towards the door. '' Wait ! '' asked Fluttershy. '' I think I need to come with you, they are my friends '' she said, while putting down her various birds and lizards. Rainbow dash was about about to ask to come along, when she lost balance and fell on the brick floor. '' You go, I will take care of our guest '' said the master as he helped the Pegasus into the infirmary. '' Fine then, stay close and you should be alright. ''. Said Sea opening the cold door, the screeching echoed in Fluttershy's mind and made her shiver. She pondered the situation at hoof and what it meant. Her friends were gone, and were being used as energy farms most likely. The very thought made the timid, reserved Fluttershy roll over in anger. She wouldn't let her friends be used as simple devices. She would do anything to save them, even if it meant facing her fears. As they reared over corner of the river the cottage castigated stretching shadows across the meadow. The bright rays of the sun shinned threw the windows of the lonely home. The smell of the morning dew and the songs of the birds seemed to paint a phony picture of her home, that she would of liked to embraced illusion than face the truth of the matter. But is seemed that her new friend did not share the same likeness for animals, or the beauty of the morning. They creaked the door open and slide threw, the shadows seemed to be more calming than the bright lights of the world. A aching pounding in her head erupted, and she put a hoof to her forehead. The aching in her head grew and grew until it felt like somepony was trowing rocks in her temples. She sat down in her now less than comforting chair and held her head tight. She opened her eyes and nearly feel out of her chair. The room was dark as night and everything had a blue outline. She yelped and closed her eyes tight. She opened them again and saw a golden a blue Sea starring back at her. '' Are you okay ? '' he asked. '' AH ! I can't see ! everything is blue ! '' she said. She could hear Sea laughed a bit and his put a hoof on her shoulder. '' It's okay, just breath and open your eyes. What your experiencing is called eagle vision, it happens to all great assassins. Now calm down and just look ''. He took his hoof off her shoulder and watched as she attempted to see. Fluttershy took a deep breath and hesitantly pried her eyes open. The room shimmered in a blue hue, like outlines in a drawing. She got up and she saw Sea laugh at her surprise. '' Ha ! I told you, now what do you see ? '' he asked as he studied a nearby birdcage. She studied the room and saw the world in a new light. The dark space with the blue aura gave off a certain calmness, and loneliness. Seeing her room in this light made her chuckle a little in awe of the scope. But her gaze snapped towards her fireplace. Gold lettering was etched into it. She gestured towards Sea and he followed her. They knelled down and Fluttershy read it allowed, tho the gold was blinding. '' The old tower in the new city is burning bright, the old stars are out tonight '' she said, contorting her face in confusion. With out thinking she put her hoof on the words and shot back. Blinding images of strange towers and stars raced threw her mind. Smiling pictures of her friend Twilight, turned dark and sad. Various planets of both small and large blew threw her subconscious. Large amounts of stars burned bright in the skies among a grainy yellow moon. The flash show jerked to a large tower that looked dead on top of a hill. Streams of deep fire crawled up the sides and burnt the wood and melted the rusty steal. A burning sensation flowed up Fluttershy's hoof and she pried her hoof of the words and fell back onto the welcoming cold floor. Sea poked her sleeping face multiple times before she sat back up. '' What did you see ? '' he asked '' Ugh, I'm not sure, Twilight and some stars, maybe a building or two. The building looked really old tho, and it had burning, WAIT ! what just happened to me ? '' she asked quizzically. He laughed a great deal as if he knew a secret, tapped her forehead and took a breath. '' It's true that Pegasuses knows nothing right ? What you just experienced was a vision of the past, only the main family's can do that. You should be proud, your ancestors would be. I read it too but I don't know what it means.? '' The brash assassin asked. Fluttershy wasn't one for astronomy, Twilight had shown her a few things but nothing too detailed. But one place that always gave her chills, it was an old tower on the outskirts of Ponyvile, could she really be there ? Among the forgotten stones and wood of that old ghost tower ? '' Are there any buildings that resemble what you saw ? '' Sea asked. '' Um yeah, . . .there's an old observatory on the outskirts of town '' she said, unsure of her answer. Sea helped her up from the ground and dusted her off. '' Good, we should start there '' He said opening the door for Fluttershy. As They exited the grounds Sea looked back at the cottage and froze. A seldom figure stood on the roof, it's face covered by shadows. He picked up pace with Fluttershy to try to get away from the now unwelcoming cottage. The rolling shadows on the meadows did little to comfort Sea as they made there way to an unknown tower. The fog surrounding them sent chills down his spine as he felt the fog starring down at him. Like the night of his fathers death, everything seemed to be moving and the world seemed to be watching. The silence was madding to say the least. He tried to say something to Fluttershy to help his mind but he found that his throat did not yield. He would go mad before they would reach their destination. The grass of the fields stained his boots and the loose raindrops fell on his hood. He stopped dead in his tracks as a screech roared overhead. They stood as still as statues in the cold fog. A eagle flew overhead, flapping it's wings gracefully. The eagle pointed it's auburn eye down at the pair, and starred as he flew threw the fog. They both sighed a breath of relief as their hearts calmed and their blood cooled. An eagle to say hello, or to warn them something. As they neared the hill the fog cleared and seeped back into the valleys. The tower stood still in the gentle breeze, it's wood and stone grey with age. Very much different than the other, more colorful buildings in ponyvile. Sea had seen morticians offices more colorful than this. A large bent telescope jutted out if the roof and sagged towards the gloomy marsh. How old was this place ? certainly not in their lifetimes. They trotted up the broken cobblestone driveway and up the creaky stairs. Sea pushed open the heavy green door and a cloud of dust filled their lungs. Coughing and sneezing they entered the towers lobby and admired the old, grey scheme. This must of been a beautiful place once, brilliant stairs and tall paintings, all aged and frail with mites. Chairs and tables littered the grounds, most of which half buried in the mossy floor. Every inch of the place had a thick sheet of dust, caked on the surface . Sea had light a torch to try to illuminate the room but the darkness was consuming. Flutterhsy would of never set hoof in this place, if her friend wasn't in danger. Sea gestured towards her to come upstairs with him, clearly the decaying wood did not hold her friend. They tip-toed up the ancient stairs and payed that it wouldn't fall under their hooves. They found their way up the stairs and entered the loft which held the rusted telescope. A eerie squawk shot threw the silence and Fluttershy jumped to see what the noise was. The eagle sat on the rusted bronze, starring back at them like a shadow in the sunlight. Fluttershy moved to pet the lonely looking animal until a black sheet ripped behind them. The black sheet that covered the back room was ripped open and fell lifeless to the floor. Twilight sparkle was wrapped in rusty chains, she swayed gentle in the breeze. Sea's hidden blade shot out as the startling image. She seemed to be alive, her skin was a deathly pale violet. Her dull lifeless eyes starred at the moldy floor. Sea stepped forward until a shadow from the darkness shot out and tackled him to the floor. He tried to fight him off but the two rolled around as the wood splintered beneath them. Sea stuck his blade up to the attackers mouth and slashed, but to his dismay his attacker wore and iron mask. The masked figure stabbed Sea's shoulder with a knife, and with anger from the blow Sea threw him off. He stood back up and rushed towards the shade. But the shade kicked his knees and the two fell on each other. The soft cracks of wood eventually evolved into a sicking roar. Two too stopped in mid struggle as the floor fell beneath them. They broke threw the mossy wood and fell into the equally old lobby floor. Fluttershy was about to come and help Sea, But a low growl came form the shadows. She froze at the growl but since it was a growl it could of been an animal that she could tame. '' It's okay I won't bite- '' she cut herself off as a pair of burning orange eyes peeked threw the darkness. She stepped back, but didn't take her eyes off the glowing flames. She had been scared of beasts before but she could tame any animal, or at least that's what she told herself. She raised a hoof to the darkness, to try to calm whatever made the growl. As the beast came closer, large Ivory teeth gleamed in the light. She shot back as a large blue wolf came from the shadows. The beast towered over the small mare, it's fiery eyes burned into Fluttershy's. She Crawled back towards the massive hole, but realized that would do no good. The wolf seemed to have a large heavy looking collar strung around it's neck it read, " Moon ''. The wolf growled and barred it's teeth as it circled Fluttershy, she looked towards her swinging friend and gathered enough bravery to crawled towards the beast. Sea threw off the attacker and stepped back, his blade dulled by the iron. They circled around each other, flexing their blades in the sunlight. His shoulder was dislocated form the fall, luckily it wasn't his blade arm. Despite his injury he mimicked the shads movements well, but not perfectly. With the pain in his shoulder reminding him of the disadvantage he decided to lunge. He slashed at the shads iron mask, but it simply slide off. The shade kicked him in his stomach and Sea doubled over and the shade stabbed him in his injured shoulder. Sea tumbled over on his side and slide away from from the mask. He lunged his blade at him but found that the blade was gone. The shade twiddled the glade in his hoof and quickly threw it aside like a piece of trash. Sea barred his and furrowed his brow, seeing no other way out he leaped towards the iron mask. But his attack was cut short as Fluttershy, who was riding a giant blue wolf rammed into the mask sending him onto ground. '' Oh sorry about that ! it's really hard riding a wolf '' she said putting up a worried smile. Sea starred at his rescuer, a shy, calm, and reserved mare who was riding a giant blue wolf. Who was really the caretaker of the other ? The shade propped himself up and laughed, he laughed a great deal. He took a thick black box out of his vest and laughed more, almost like a hyena. He pressed the grey button and ran from them. Perplexed Sea tried to follow him but the observatory shook and a loud boom erupted in their ears. The walls of the tower were crawling with flames and smoke. The wolf picked up Sea by his scruff and threw him on his back. Fluttershy tapped the wolfs side and the beast raced threw the burning wood and melting metal. With a quick snap of his teeth the wolf broke Twilight's chains and the mare fell in Sea's injured hooves. Explosions blew threw the tower and under from under the wolfs paws. With quick thinking Fluttershy gestured the wolf to jump out of the exposed gap in the wall, the party dived into the murky swamp.