//------------------------------// // The Brother // Story: For the Ones we Love // by FlimFlamBros. //------------------------------// Why am I evil? It simple you see I harbour a hate for every pony Spike’s eyes widen, unable to comprehend the news he had just been given. “That pony was your brother?” Luna nodded. “Something like that. But it is unimportant. What is important is that you know how big a threat Dark Conquest is.” “I don’t understand….” began Spike, “Was he always like this? He said something about once being ‘goody two shoes and butterfly farts’.” Luna couldn’t help but smile a little. “At least his humor never changed. But to answer your question: No, he wasn’t always like this. Our brother use to be a caring and compassionate pony, and a great solider. But he became corrupted, lost all faith in his own kind and tried to destroy all life as we know it.” “But you stopped him?” Spike said, holding false hope that the situation wasn’t as dire as it seemed. “Yes,” Luna finally said, “but we were unable to purge him of his evil. So we imprisoned him.” “Why not just kill him and be done with it?” the dragon asked grimly. “That’s what I would have done.” “You ask me to kill my own brother!?” raged Luna. “He was family! Would you kill your family?!” “Never knew my family,” said the dragon bluntly. “I was just an egg when Twilight hatched me.” “Then what about Twilight?” asked Luna. “Would you kill her?” The dragon’s heart turned to stone at the thought. A life without any of his friends, Particularly Rarity and Twilight, would be a pointless in his eyes. “No,” he finally said. The dark princess gave a little sound of disapproval. “It is pointless to argue about this. Conquest lives and that’s all that matters at this moment.” There was a moment of silence. Spike had to accept that he was wrapped up in this. This Conquest who wanted to kill all the ponies, maybe even all life in the world, was now his problem. He felt the heat boil in his gut. Anything on this planet that threatened Rarity would meet the full extent of his wrath. “So let’s go,” he said. Luna gave him a quirky little look. “What?” “I said, ‘let’s go’,” Spike repeated, as he attempted to lift himself out of the bed, A sharp pain in his side kept him down. “You’re still injured Spike,” Luna said. “And even if you weren’t, Conquest would kill you in seconds.” “Thanks for the pep talk coach,” mumbled Spike. “I’m serious Spike,” said Luna, “he’s the most dangerous being I have ever seen, and it took all our combined power to imprison him in the center of the earth. Even there, he still has influence.” “What do you mean ‘influence’?” asked Spike. Luna was about to answer when Celestia, who had just started to calm down after destroying half the room, turned her attention to the dragon. “It means he’s building an army,” she said bluntly. “A few days ago, we received word that the Griffins and the Minotaurs were defecting.” “Defecting?” “They’re gathering their forces deep within the Fire Rocks, next to the Wasteland.” Luna gasped. “You mean the Wasteland? The same Wasteland that we banished-“ “Correct,” interrupted Celestia. “The same place where we banished Queen Chrysalis.” Spike gulped. “That’s not good, is it?” Celestia sighed. “No, she still carries a grudge against the ponies and will most surely join Conquest.” The dragon collapsed down on the bed. Things were really looking bad for Equestria if an army was forming to destroy it. “Well, what do we do now?” Luna raised one of her eyebrows up. “Well, ‘we’ assemble the royal army and any allied nation willing to help us in our hour of need, ‘you’ need to get some rest. You start training in the morning.” “Oh right, the training,” groaned Spike. “Well, how hard can it be?” Luna smiled and gave him a little wink. “You’ll see soon enough.” The two princesses left the room, leaving the dragon to sleep. As he turned in his slumber, he dreamed of Rarity. It hadn’t been a day and he already could not stand to be apart from her. He thought about what he was getting into. A war with an alicorn? He feared for his life. Was this Conquest really that powerful? He had seen him in that shadowy world, a crazy pony with a hatred for all life. For Rarity, he would do this. He’d give his life for her. “I love you Rarity, and I’ll do anything to protect you,” he whispered to himself, as he slowly drifted to sleep. ***** Spike awoke from the knocking at the door. “Go away,” he mumbled as he turned in his sleep, covering his head with the blankets. The door slowly creaked open as he heard the sound of hoof-steps approaching. “I said, leave me alone!” he growled, getting up from the covers. “What part of that is so hard to understand?” “Is that anyways to treat your love, Spike?” The dragon gasped. “Rarity?” Sure enough, there was standing his beautiful cloud white mare. She was perfect down to the last microscopic detail. Her hair was messy in the most enchanting way and she wore a beautifully slimming black night dress. The dragon was in shock. “Rarity, what are you doing here?” “You think that I would just let you come here all on your own?” she asked, jumping on the bed and on top of the dragon. “Besides,” she continued. “I thought we could continue where we left off last night.” She gave a sultry look at her dragon as she slowly leaned in for a kiss. Spike kissed her back. It felt so wonderful to be close to her again. Her silky smooth hair, her snow soft fur, her sweet tasting lips; it was all perfect, just like her. “I love you,” the dragon moaned between kisses. “Really? Because I don’t love you” she moaned back. Spike’s heart skipped a beat. “What did you say?” he asked, praying he had misheard her. The mare leaned back from the dragon, her smile growing toothy and sinister. “Why would I ever love you Spike,” she giggled, “when it’s so much simpler to use you.” She closed her eyes as she started to laugh hysterically. The mare’s laughter grew louder and louder, and deeper and deeper. She opened her eyes. They were no longer the sapphire blue he had fallen in love with, but rather a crimson red that he feared. Her smile grew bigger, too big for her face, her skin starting to crack as if it were made of clay. The cracks on her face spread wider, a black fluid leaking from her eyes and mouth as she continued to laugh like a mad mare. Rarity’s head exploded in to a dusty cloud of dirt and smoke. Spike could still hear laughing, but it wasn’t the same as before. It was haunting and playful. When the dust finally cleared, a new dark head sat on top of Rarity’s body. “You kissed a colt….. And you liked it!” Conquest sang playfully, amused at the terrified expression on Spike’s face. “Did you like the taste of my cherry chap stick?” “Conquest?” muttered the dragon. “The one and only,” he said smugly. “I thought I’d just drop by and spread a little misery on the crap stain that is your existence.” “What’s wrong with you?” growled the dragon as he crawled out of his bed. “Oh Spike, Spike, Spike,” he chuckled, the rest of his body turning back to its normal black coat, “there are so many things wrong with me.” “So what are you doing here?” asked Spike. "I thought you weren’t coming for another month?” The alicorn snorted at the remark. “Oh, I’m not really here. I’m just swimming around that teeny little brain of yours. It’s a wonderful side-effect to the Pandora box.” Spike remembered that box, that evil little box. “So that’s why the princesses don’t use it,” he groaned. “Selfish really,” said Conquest as he levitated a piece of Rarity’s head, crumbling it with his magic. “My sisters claim to be all loving, and that I’m some sort of psychopath. They’re half right,” he turned to Spike. “I am a psycho, a terrible pony who likes to do terrible things to all the terrible ponies in this terrible world.” “That’s what they told me” snarled Spike. “That you went crazy and tried to kill everything.” Conquest giggled like a filly. “Yeah, they would just tell you that, wouldn’t they?” “What do you mean?” A wide grin came on Conquest’s face. “Would you like to hear the real story? With every dirty little detail?” he asked the dragon. Spike rolled his eyes. “Do I have a choice?” “Not really,” joked the dark alicorn, settling upside down on the ceiling. “I guess we could start when I was young, back when I was known as Curator…” ***** 4984 B.C. (Before Celestia) The skies were clear over the Everfree Forest, as the dim blue sky of day showed itself. It was always the same, dark blue skies in the morning and pitch black darkness at night. The sunless day peered all over the new land and into a very large and shanty house in the middle of the woods. A dark blue pegasus slowly opened his dreary eyes, letting out a loud yawn to shake away his morning grogginess. He turned over to see his wife, a purple unicorn with a similar coloured mane. He gave her a little nudge with his hoof. “Hey,” he whispered. “You awake?” He continued to poke her. Slowly, the mare turned over, staring daggers at her husband. “I am now,” she said. She looked rather annoyed at being so rudely waken. She looked out the window, seeing that it was still a dark blue outside. “Would you like to explain why you woke me up so early?” “What?” he asked innocently. “Can’t a pony just wake up the most beautiful mare in Equestria without all these hostilities?” The unicorn gave him a sleepy smile. “You’re terrible,” she said, giving him a long nuzzle. She slowly climbed on top of him, giving him quick little kisses all across his face. “You know how I get in the morning.” “Exactly” the pegasus grinned, returning the kisses from his wife. “How do you expect me to resist a little early morning fun?” “Like this,” she answered, quickly rolling off her husband and out of the bed. She started to walk to the door, making sure that she took extra big struts as she walked. “Sky? Aren’t you coming?” Night Sky snickered. “I might be.” “You’re so gross sometimes,” Solar Rise said. “It’s like I married a child.” Night Sky fluttered out of bed, landing next to his wife. “I thought that was what you loved about me?” She didn’t answer; she just smiled at him as they headed down the stairs of the cabin. In the little wooden kitchen of the house, there were already three ponies sitting down at a large round table. A large brown earth pony chewed on strings of hay, a white pegasus fiddled with her light green mane, and a white earth mare with a hay yellow mane was cooking something that smelt absolutely scrumptious. The brown pony looked up from his plate. “Morning Sky, Solar Rise,” he said, still chewing on a straw of hay. “Good morning, Quickdraw,” chimed Solar Rise, taking a seat next to him. Night Sky walked up to the table, taking an apple from a plate and biting into it. “How is everypony this morning?” he asked between chews. “Just fine, brother,” the green haired pegasus said. “Although, I wish I could get rid of this knot in my hair.” “I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” her brother said. Solar Rise looked out the window, the sun’s pale light trying desperately to shine through the thick grey clouds. “Hey, is Curator up yet?” Quickdraw looked at the pegasus. “Don’t think so, haven’t seen him yet.” They heard the sounds of hoofs creaking on the floor boards. Night sky looked to the ceiling. “Sounds like he’s awake.” A young alicorn made his way down from the stairs. His dark red mane was riddled with bed head, and his white fur was fizzy and stuck up on its end. He gave out a long, obnoxious yawn. “Morning pop, mum.” “Curator, you’ve got to stop staying up so late,” his mother said. “What do you even do so late at night anyway?” Curator tried to gulp his shame. “Just you know….stuff.” Solar Rise folded her hooves. “Stuff?” she asked. “Yeah, stuff,” he responded. “What kind of stuff?” “You know, just stuff,” Curator said getting frustrated. “Can we just drop it please?” “Why do you want to drop it, son?” asked his father, taking interest in the subject. Curator looked at Quickdraw for support. “Uncle Q, little help here?” he begged. He shook his head. “I’m staying out of this,” he said, still chewing on his hay. “Son, I want you to be honest with us,” Solar Rise told her son. “Are you exploring your body?” “WHAT?” “Because it is completely natural to be curious,” she said. “When I was young I use to-“ “Leaving!” screamed Curator, as he bolted out the door. “I’ll see you later!” He slammed the door behind him. “My parents are so weird.” “Aren’t they?” a voice chimed. Curator looked to the forest to see a tall white mare walk out, her colourful hair wrapped up in a long ponytail. She smiled playfully at the white stallion. “Good morning, Celestia,” said Curator. “No Luna?” Celestia shook her head. “She’s waiting for us in town.” “Alight then, let’s go,” he said as the two headed into the woods and towards town. ***** Spike scratched his head. “Was that thing with your mother really necessary?” “Of course not,” replied Conquest, as he floated down from the ceiling and landing beside Spike. “But, I find it’s nice and disturbing none the less.” “And the princess had a ponytail?” Spike asked. Conquest let out a depressive sigh. “Yes, it was quite adorable,” he grumbled. “So when are we going to get to the part where you go crazy?” “Patience, dragon,” smiled the alicorn. “This is a long trip down the rabbit hole.” “So you just met up with Celestia, then what?” the dragon asked curiously. “That, my scaly friend, is when I met her,” he sighed, “and my life changed forever……” ***** Curator and Celestia walked down the dusty path, admiring the scenery. Even though it was a cloudy day, the forest still looked beautiful. The spring flowers were coming in nicely, and the crisp green leaves of the trees were starting to grow back as well. “It sure is a lovely day today,” said Celestia, as she bent down to smell a budding rose, taking in its fragrance.” “I guess it is…” sighed Curator, looking at a squirrel scurry up a tree and onto a tree branch. The furry critter began cracking the nut on the branch, until he got through its thick shell. He happily grabbed the nutty treat and stuffed it in his mouth. The squirrel was about to swallow when there was a rattle in the trees, the squirrel looking curiously at it. Another squirrel jumped through the leaves and landed next to the other. This second squirrel seemed more perky and curvy, probably a female. She seemed to look at the squirrels puffed up cheek as she held her stomach. The male squirrel stared back at her. Feeling compassionate, he spat out the nut, stretching out his hands, offering it to her. She greedily took it, and was about to swallow the whole thing, but she stopped, looking at the kindness in the male squirrel eyes. She lowered the nut from her mouth and slammed in on the branch, splitting it in two. She handed the male squirrel one of the halves and they ate together. When they were finished their meals, both squirrels took off together in the trees. Curator watched the two squirrels run through the trees together and sighed again. “Something wrong, brother?” questioned Celestia, concerned for her sibling. “Do you believe in love, Tia?” asked Curator, looking towards his sister. “As much as anypony I guess,” she replied. “Why do you ask?” “No reason…I just feel so lonely sometimes,” he sadly said. “Those squirrels in that tree, did you see that? They had just met by chance, and with a small act of kindness, they run off together.” “Well, you have me,” said Celestia, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “And Luna, so you’re not alone.” Curator smiled. “Thanks Tia, but I looking for something more than friendship.” Celestia was about to say something, but a scream cut through the forest. Curator turned towards the scream. “What was that?” “Somepony screaming!” said Celestia, running towards the noise, Curator following closely behind. There was another cry for help. It was getting louder and louder with every step they took. The two burst through the bushes and into the clearing. A pink unicorn was surrounded by a pack of wood looking animals. Timber Wolves. There must have been about five of the wolves. They snarled like dogs as they surrounded their prey. The pink unicorn gave a third high pitch scream. “Somepony, help me please!” she called out, her body shaking with fear. “Celestia, I’m going to create a distraction. You get her out of there,” Curator said with urgency. Celestia nodded as she unfolded her wings and took off in the air. Curator turned his attention back to the wolves; they were starting to close in on the pony. They snarled and howled as one leapt at the pink mare. She flinched, excepting the claws of the beast to tear into her body. She opened her eyes to see the timber wolf floating in the air, surrounded by a yellow aura. Curator concentrated as he flung the wolf into the air, and deep into the forest. “Hey! Over here, you overgrown twigs!” he taunted, the wolves turning in his direction, growling at him. The four remaining wolves charged at him. Curator grinned arrogantly as he prepared another spell. This time, he aimed for ground ahead of the sprinting attackers. Giant pillars of earth erupted from the ground beneath the wolves, two of the beasts were catapulted into the air and crashed back to the ground, unconscious. The other two managed to swiftly dodge the earth spikes and continued their charge towards the alicorn. Curator took to the air, flying swiftly towards the timber wolves. The first wolf tried to jump on the pony, but Curator quickly rolled in the air and bucked the wolf with his back hooves, large chips of wood breaking off the wolf’s face. That left only one. The beast howled as he stared down the alicorn, gritting his teeth, growling in an attempt to phase his prey. Curator lifted an eyebrow, staring humorously at the wolf. He flicked his head back slightly, signalling for the final wolf to try his luck at him. It did not hesitate. The wolf made a last ditch effort to slaughter the pony. It did not make it far. Celestia landed full force from the air and onto the animal with a sickening crunch. Curator could hear the wolf’s back snapping and its face breaking from the thunderous stomp of his sister. “And ponies say I’m useless,” Celestia said, pressing her hoof down on the wolves cracked head. “I had it under control, you know,” Curator said slyly. “I know,” giggled Celestia, stepping off the whimpering timber wolf, “but I can’t let you have all the fun.” Curator just rolled his eyes. “Did you at least get that mare to safety?” he asked. “She sure did,” an angelic voice answered from behind him. Before him stood the most beautiful unicorn Curator had ever had the pleasure to lay his eyes on. She had a straight dark pink mane that complemented her entrancing violet eyes. She had a pink fur coat that reminded him of cotton candy. Curator was about to say something, but the ecstatic mare pounced on the male alicorn, her face mere inches from his. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” she expressed happily, bouncing up and down on the alicorn. “I was just picking some wild berries and daisies for lunch when all of a sudden those terrible creatures emerged from the forest! I ran as fast as I could but they surrounded me. I thought I was a dead mare!” she looked down at Curator. “But then you came to my rescue. You’re like a guardian angel!” She pulled up the alicorn and gave him a huge hug, which he gladly accepted. “Hey it’s no problem Miss…..” The unicorn gasped. “Oh I’m sorry, where are my manners? My name is Sweet Symphony.” “Sweet Symphony…” sang Curator. It was such a beautiful name, a name he wanted to say over and over again. A name that the pegasus could write songs about. Songs describing its unparalleled beauty, and her beauty as well. To feel this mare filled him with such warm feelings, he could sense the emptiness that once troubled him quickly disappear. He smiled as he just took in the moment. Celestia smiled slyly at the two. “Well, well, well.” “What?” Curator asked, breaking the embrace with the unicorn. “We need to get going,” reminded Celestia. “Luna’s still waiting for us.” “Oh right,” he said, turning to Symphony. “Sorry Miss Symphony, but we need to get to town.” She smiled at him. “Please sir, call me Symphony” she cooed, batting her eyelashes. “Okay,” he grinned back, “but only if you call me Curator.” “Well, Curator,” Symphony said, “I was heading back to town anyway, so do mind if I tag along?” She dragged her hoof softly down his chest. “I’m sure a big strong pony like could protect me if those nasty wolves come back.” “Of course!” Curator blurted out, he quickly covered his mouth. “I mean, sure. That’d be nice.” “Wonderful!” she chimed. She started to walk towards town, making extra sure to sway her hips as she walked. Celestia looked at her dumbstruck brother, trying to stifle her laughter. “Well, you seem happy.” “What makes you say that?” he asked, his head still in dreamland. “Oh nothing….” She cleverly said. “Just that you have a massive wing-boner.” “Wha-?” Curator looked at his back. Sure enough, both of his white wings were sprung up and fully erect. He blushed as he quickly folded them back to his side as he followed Symphony and Celestia into town. ***** “Wow,” was all Spike could say, staring at Dark Conquest. The stallion in the story he was telling was the exact opposite to the one standing before him. Curator sounded like a loving, caring, goofy, and good hearted pony. Conquest was terrible, sick minded, and just wreaked of evil. “Are you sure you were ever this pony?” “Sickening, isn’t it?” he cackled, “How naïve I use to be, believing in such foalish things like compassion, love, and other ponies well-being.” Spike was still confused. “What about Sweet Symphony? Whatever happened to her?” “Oh, she plays a very important part in this play,” Conquest said. He got up from and started to float casually in the air, lying back as if he was laying on a couch. “For she is everything, the darkness in the light, the sand in the glass. She was my everything. Emphasis on was.” “You’re just saying pointless things now,” commented the dragon. “A meaningless word is a word still said, even if its meaning flies over your head,” rhymed the shadowy pony. The dragon just stared at the floating alicorn. “You see Spike,” Conquest continued, “we all are capable of great things. Terrible things, but great.” “What does that mean?” asked the confused dragon. “It means nothing,” he replied. “Then it was pointless to say!” Spike growled, getting very annoyed at the alicorn. “EXACTLY!” shouted Conquest, as he twirled his hoof in the air, a shadowy martini appearing in his hoof. “What. Are. You. Saying?” scowled the dragon. “It’s a meaningless point, cause the point has no meaning” he sighed, taking a sip of his ink coloured drink. “You think that the things we do are meaningful, but they are rather pointless. A needle has a point, and scissors have two, but a meaning will never have a point, it’s true.” “You’ve got to be joking,” moaned Spike. Conquest jumped down from the air, and playfully locked the dragon in a headlock. “Words have no meaning and are not to be trusted. In fact, this will be the only truth you will ever hear,” he said as he noggie the dragon. “Haven’t you been paying attention to what I’ve said?” Spike shook him off and popped his head free. “All I’ve been hearing is the rant of a mad colt.” “Good,” he said, looking out the window. He could see the moon beginning to set, which meant the sun would soon rise. “Well, it’s getting early, which means it’s getting late.” He started to walk across the room, his horn glowing a blood red. Soon a red and black door appeared. “I have to go, but first, would you like to know what happened to the squirrels?” Spike was afraid to ask. Conquest answered anyway. “I found out that they lived happily ever after, and had lots of little squirrelly babies.” “Oh,” said Spike. “Yeah…” he said, his cheeks started to puff up, and started to make gagging sounds. He spat out two bone white squirrel skeletons. “… And then I ate them” he said with an enthusiastic smile. Spike looked at the slimy skeletons. He wasn’t sure what disgusted him more, the fact that he ate two innocent creatures, or that he actually ate a squirrel. “You’re sick.” “You think that’s bad? You should have seen what I did to their children,” he said with a sickening grin. The dragon couldn’t pull his eyes away from the bones on the floor. “Monster…” he whispered. “Let’s just say that the kids begged me to eat them by the time I was done,” Conquest gave a little chuckle, remembering that fond memory. “Leave,” the dragon said bluntly, with suffocated rage. “Leave and never come back!” “Tsk, tsk Spike,” the alicorn clicked. “I will leave, but I will come back.” He gave Spike another one of his bizarrely large smile, his dagger-like teeth covered with fresh blood. “These talks are too much fun to pass up!” he coughed up another bone, a squirrel’s foot. “Besides, I still have to finish my story.” He headed into the magical door. “Till the next night dragon!” he screamed as he disappeared through the door. There was a flash of light and then a fade to black. ***** Spike woke up in the large bed, his head ringing and his stomach aching. What had happened last night, was it a dream? More like a nightmare. The psychotic pony had rambled him to insanity. The things he said about words being pointless and lies made him think. He had misheard Rarity at the hospital, which was good. However, the princesses hadn’t been fully truthful to him. But what he did to those squirrels. Even he didn’t eat other creatures; he’d eaten fish to help his body grow when he was young, but he would never eat red meat. “How could a pony; vegetarian by nature, devour two squirrels?” “I don’t know Spike?” said a haunting voice.“How could he eat us?” Spike looked to the ground and almost screamed. Two squirrel skeletons laid on the floor in a puddle of drool.