Chapter 6: Of Brothers and Sisters
Doom was the feeling that emanated from the mass of black clouds that shrouded the Castle of the Two Sisters. Claps of thunder shook the very air and yet no rain poured. Where once was plant life was now barren and dry, devoid of the gentle shelter of nature. And the castle itself was dilapidated, its stone walls crumbling with each long passing year and being invaded by spindly vines and fungus. In a bygone time, this would have been a place of majesty and sovereignty. But now, the castle was a dead and forgotten ruin, a hollow shell of an era of peace, before the fall of Princess Luna and the birth of Nightmare Moon. And yet, after a thousand years, it would once again serve as the location where the fate of Equestria would be decided.
Twilight and her friends approached the crumbling castle, after narrowly making it across the rotted rope bridge. The six of them sat and gazed in awe at the haunting structure, letting the reality of it all unfold before them.
"Well, this is it." Twilight said.
"I don't know about this, Twilight," shivered Applejack. "That castle looks mighty dangerous."
"I'm sure it's not so bad." Rarity winced at the depressing sight. "It probably just needs some tender love and...uh...disinfectant."
"Well we don't have much of a choice." Rainbow glowered. "Nightmare Moon is probably in there right now waiting for us to kick her sorry flank!"
"It's not as easy as that, Rainbow." Twilight replied. "We don't know where the boys are either. As long as we find the Elements of Harmony, we'll have a better chance at fighting them."
Fluttershy quivered in fear behind her comrades, dreading to step hoof into the castle. Then, she suddenly jumped into Applejack's hooves after hearing a noise some distance behind her. "Eeep! What was that?!" she shrieked. "There's something in the bushes!"
"Ah relax, sugarcube," assured Applejack. "It's probably just a squirrel."
The quivering pegasus returned to her hooves, breathing frantically. "I don't know if I can do this, you guys." She frowned. "I'll only slow all of you down."
"What do you mean?" Twilight looked at her.
"I'm...I'm not strong enough." Fluttershy lowered her head in shame. "I'm not as brave as any of you are."
"Of course you are, Fluttershy." Twilight smiled at her reassuringly. "As long as we have the Elements of Harmony on our side, we can conquer anything."
"But what if we don't?" Fluttershy winced. "What if we can't defeat Nightmare Moon? What if something terrible happens to us? What if...what if we end up like Thunderlane?"
Twilight hesitated, not having an answer for that.
"Believe me, I care about Thunderlane just as much as Rumble does." Fluttershy welled up. "It broke my heart seeing his own big brother turning on him like that. I want to save him badly, but..." she wept softly into her hooves. "I just can't do it!"
The other five mares looked at her sympathetically. The truth was that they were all scared of the impending danger, of the consequences of losing to Nightmare Moon. But Fluttershy was taking the truth harder than anypony.
"Hey," Pinkie Pie sat next to her weeping friend and placed a hoof around her. "Remember what I said back in the forest?"
Fluttershy looked up at her wiping tears away.
"All you have to do is laugh, silly!" Pinkie looked at her sincerely. "When bad stuff gets in your way, nothing can stop you as long as you smile. Does this face ever lie?"
Fluttershy sniffled. Something about Pinkie's contagious smile always had a way of lifting her spirits. She made a small grin and squeezed her friend in a tight hug.
"I think that's exactly what we all need." Twilight said determinedly. "We can win this, everypony. There will always be happiness in the end. I can just feel it."
...
The corridors were absolutely silent, apart from the echoes of cautious hoofsteps. The six mares entered the main hallway of the ancient castle, illuminated by Twilight's and Rarity's horns, and marveled at the eeriness of the crumbling relic. Adorning the stone catacombs were artifacts from a thousand years ago. Colorful paintings of angelic mares in ornate gowns. Statues and busts of ancient philosophers and war heroes. Elaborate tapestries depicting myths and legendary tales, from harrowing adventures to stories of romance and lust. Now surrounded by moss and erosion, these masterpieces brought beauty out of the desolate and deformed ruin. It was difficult for Twilight, especially as a lover for history, to accept that such a place of elegance and knowledge would be a center of chaos and destruction.
Eventually, the troupe found their way to a large central chamber, which once contained a vast collection of sculptures and pottery. But now this art chamber was home to only one exhibit. In the center of the room was a large pedestal that held six pieces of dazzling golden jewelry, five necklaces and one tiara. The assorted-colored jewels on them began to glow with magic energy, immediately as the mares set eyes on the artifacts.
"Is that them?" asked Applejack. "The Elements of Harmony?"
"There doesn't seem to be any other explanation." Twilight said.
"Ooh!" beamed Rarity. "They are absolutely stunning! Just look at those gemstones!"
"Is it just me," spoke Fluttershy. "Or do those gems look oddly similar to our cutie marks?"
"Cool! They're personalized!" jumped Pinkie.
"And right there for us to take!" Rainbow grinned.
"Yer right." Applejack looked around. "There's no sign of Nightmare Moon. We must've beaten her here!"
"Well what are we waiting for?!" Rainbow zoomed off to grab the jewels.
"Wait a second!" Twilight called after her. "This is too good to be true!"
But Rainbow didn't heed her warning, and instead sped straight toward the pedestal. Before she could make a grab at one of the jeweled necklaces, a blinding flash of white light filled the chamber and she suddenly felt a jolt of pain rush through her body.
"Rainbow!" shouted Twilight.
The blue pegasus fell to the stone floor with a thud. A searing scorch mark blemished her right wing, a result from a violent electrical shock. Rainbow rolled and moaned in pain, her wing now irritably numb. If the shock had hit her an inch closer to her body, the attack would have been fatal. Immediately, a set of jet black hooves landed beside the collapsed Rainbow, ready to beat her into submission.
"I can't believe the Shadowbolts couldn't beat a ditz like you." Dark Star seethed, as he unfurled his bladed wings. His body surged with deadly magical lightning.
"Thunderlane!" cried Fluttershy. "Don't hurt her!"
"Heh heh, you want a taste too, sweetheart?" mocked Dark Star. "I seem to have that effect on mares."
"Stand aside!" ordered Twilight, charging up her horn. "You are no match for the light side of magic!"
"Not alone, anyway." Another male voice came, as a heavy chain cast out and ensnared Twilight's rear legs, pulling her face to the floor. White Nebula stalked toward her with a menacing grin. "I assure you, we're quite capable of beating your flimsy magic."
"You better not touch her, ya coward!" Applejack bellowed as she ran to kick Nebula away from her friend. But she was halted in her tracks by a wall of stone that rose up from the floor and encircled her. Darting her head in confusion, Applejack looked up to see Red Nova standing atop the stone trap looking down at her with barely any emotion.
"Don't make us do our worst." He uttered gravelly.
"You see, Sparkle?" taunted Nebula as he tightened the chain around Twilight's legs, causing her increasing pain. "We already drained your beloved princess of her energy. What makes you think you'll be any more of a challenge? That old prophecy is wasted on you and your weak friends. The old order is dead, and now there is no room for those who stand in the way of our mother. You were already too late from the beginning."
"Nothing...is too late!" Twilight grunted. "Rarity! Now!"
In an instant, Rarity unleashed a burst of energy from her horn directed at Nebula. The stallion managed to deflect the beam with his own horn, but failed to realized it was simply a distraction. Twilight unleashed her own magic and levitated Nebula off of her, immobilizing him in midair. The ensnarement was only brief, as he managed to slowly dissolve the purple aura around him and returned to his hooves. He gritted his teeth as he faced off Twilight and Rarity, who were combining their magic into a single aura.
"Remember, Rarity," said Twilight. "He's still my brother. Our combined auras may be able to stop him, but we have to be careful not to do any lasting damage."
"I wouldn't dream of it, Twilight." Rarity replied, bracing herself.
As the unicorns squared off, Applejack jumped and bucked, trying to escape the stone barrier that trapped her. But it was to no avail, and Red Nova was ready to put her under for good with a raise of his magic-infused hammer. Fortunately, Applejack was saved as Nova was blinded by a shred from one of the old castle's banners.
"You can't hit a pinata without a blindfold, silly!" Pinkie taunted as she jumped onto Nova's back and held the rag over his eyes.
The mighty stallion thrashed and bucked aggressively, trying to shake off the tricky pink mare. But she gripped on like a monkey on his back, until Nova finally slipped off the edge of the stone enclosure and fell on his side. Pinkie rushed back to the top of the wall and reached down to pull Applejack up.
"Thanks a bunch, Pinkie!" smiled Applejack.
"You betcha!" she winked. "Now let's show this big brute what we're made of!"
"Uh, Pinkie, he is still mah brother after all."
"Right, I knew that!"
Meanwhile, Fluttershy cowered as Dark Star stalked toward her, with his outstretched wing blades and a grizzly smile. Fluttershy badly wanted to save the stallion she once knew, but was too in fear for her life to speak a word. She never would have imagined meeting her demise at his hoof. But Dark Star stopped suddenly and looked backward in anger. His rear hoof was caught by a pair of blue front ones.
"Get away from her you creep!" Rainbow hissed, as she quickly recovered from her wound.
Dark raised his wing blade to strike her down. But Rainbow proved faster and gripped him by the hoof, and with a mighty heave, hurled him into a nearby wall, causing stones to crumble over him in a heap.
"Rainbow! Are you alright?" asked Fluttershy, concerned.
"I'm fine." She panted, her numb wing hanging like a limp drape over her side. "But I can't beat this guy without flying. I need your help, Fluttershy. We can take him down together."
"But...but I can't hurt him!" she stammered. "He's...I..."
"I know, but listen to me." Rainbow touched her shoulder and urged. "He's too dangerous to reason with. If you really want to save him, you'll have to weaken him. You got that?"
Fluttershy could feel more tears welling up. But instead of cowering in sorrow again, she mustered up whatever courage she had and nodded to her friend. "Okay, Rainbow. I'll help you."
The pile of rubble burst as Dark Star stood up and growled with rage. He charged at the two pegasus mares hoping to tear them to shreds. But Fluttershy quickly ascended up to the ceiling, holding her grounded friend in her hooves. Immediately, she dived back down toward him with Rainbow extending a punching hoof. Dark instinctively sped out of the way, his speed still superior over Fluttershy's. And yet, he knew that the two mares combined would prove somewhat of a challenge.
Over the next several minutes, the hollow castle roared with the sound of battle. The chaos only hastened the decay of the ancient relic, crumbling walls and breaking up the very floor beneath their hooves. Bright flashes of light swept the huge chamber as Twilight and Rarity pitted their magic against Nebula's. The ground shook as Nova tried to trounce Applejack's own strength and Pinkie's trickery. The air swirled as Rainbow and Fluttershy continued their dogfight with Dark Star. And all the while, none of the mares gave any thought as to why Nightmare Moon had yet to appear. Yet still, they were not alone.
It wasn't long before White Nebula began to grow irritated from his close match with the two unicorn mares. "So tell me, Sparkle," he panted as he stood. "Is your magic really so weak that you need this drama queen as a support?"
"How dare you!" glared Rarity. "I may not be as powerful, but at least I have the courage to aid my dear friend!"
"You certainly can nag better than you can perform a spell." Nebula taunted. "Maybe you should take a breather for a while." With a cast of his magic, he summoned a sheet of metal that appeared under Rarity's hooves.
"Huh? What is this?" Rarity gasped as the magic metal gradually crept up her legs and began to envelop her body. "AAAH!" she shrieked. "Twilight help me!" Unable to move, Rarity quickly became encased in a metal statue, freezing her in motion.
"Rarity, hang on!" Twilight looked around the bizarre spell trying to find a weakness. "I'll try to reverse it!" Carefully, she focused her magic to remove the dark metal. Slowly but surely, the metal sheet began to dissipate around Rarity's mouth, giving her air to breathe. But that was as far as Twilight could get in rescuing her friend.
"Too easy." Nebula smiled as he summoned a sharpened sword and raised it above Twilight from behind.
Twilight had only a fraction of a second to notice his shadow as she tried to remove the rest of the metal sheet. She lunged to move out of the way, but the sword still managed to nick her shoulder. "Agh!" She fell to the floor and rolled onto her side. Fortunately, the slice did not cut away anything important, but it did draw blood from her shoulder. And the pain was enough to distract Twilight from focusing on her magic. She could only struggled to get back up, before Nebula towered over her with sword at the ready.
"Ready to join your princess?" he spoke with blood lust.
"Oh no!" gasped Pinkie. "It looks like Twilight and Rarity are in trouble!" But before she could race over to help her unicorn comrades, something wrapped itself around her neck.
Red Nova used the chain on his hammer to grip her in a tight stranglehold, using the hammer itself as an anchor. He pulled on the chain, increasing the squeeze on Pinkie's neck. She could only let out a short airy cough before her airway began to close.
"Big Mac, don't!" cried Applejack, forgetting her composure. "Let her go!"
"Surrender, if you want her safe." Nova commanded her.
Applejack froze in hesitation. All she wanted was for Pinkie to be unharmed. But she knew standing down would jeopardize their battle against the stallions. Even Pinkie, despite gagging on the choking grip of the chain, waved at Applejack as a gesture to not worry about her, and carry on with the battle. But the heart-strong farm pony knew she wouldn't let that happen.
"Alright, fine." She sighed with capitulation. "I'll back off."
With a last yank, Nova slackened his grip on the chain and let the choking mare go. But the sudden cutoff from oxygen left Pinkie feeling faint, and she fell to the floor letting in loud gasps, her mind becoming hazy. Then, as soon as he released the chain, Nova grabbed his heavy hammer and slammed it into the already weakened stone floor. With a quake, the stone foundation suddenly rose up from around Applejack and formed into a ring of spikes angled up to her neck, barely poking her. Applejack was now imprisoned, unable to break from the stone, and Pinkie was too delirious to help.
Nova approached Applejack and spoke directly to her face. "Like I said, don't make me do my worst." He growled.
Applejack frowned in despair, feeling absolutely helpless. The situation was also beginning to look dire for the two pegasus mares facing off against Dark Star. It appeared that carrying Rainbow in flight was taking its toll on Fluttershy.
"Rainbow," she said, as she slowed to a crawl in the air. "I...I don't think...I can go...much longer." She panted hard.
"Yes you can!" urged Rainbow. "At least until I get the feeling back in my wing!"
"I'm trying, Rainbow!" strained Fluttershy. "I honestly am!"
"This is just embarrassing." Dark Star snorted as he decided to stop playing easy. He conjured a ball of sparks in his hoof and thoroughly cast it in their direction.
"GAAAAAHH!!!"
Both Fluttershy and Rainbow were struck with a painful amount of lightning, and immediately dropped to the floor, like a pair of birds who had suddenly lost their will to fly. The added electricity managed to knock out the already wounded Rainbow into a comatose state. But miraculously, Fluttershy struggled to lift her head from the stone tiles, the effects of the electricity numbing her body and blurring her vision. She could barely make out Dark Star's intimidating figure holding his wing blade to her chin.
"It's a crying shame to waste such a pretty face." He taunted, as he poised himself for the final bloody blow.
"THUNDERLANE!!!"
All three stallions broke their attention at once, from finishing their long-awaited mission, to a new arrival in the castle. Only they, Twilight, Applejack and Fluttershy could see who had entered the central chamber, and all of them were left dumbfounded. But it was Dark Star who reacted with the most surprise, as the colt jumped onto his back.
"Don't do this! Please! Just stop it!" Rumble cried as he gripped onto the stallion's shoulders and dug flimsy punches into his back.
Dark Star flared his nostrils and quickly grabbed the scrappy colt by the scruff of his neck. "You little PEST!" He harshly threw Rumble into the cold floor, and kicked him far off to the side like a discarded weed. His could barely contain his rage as he approached to land a punch in the innocent colt's face.
"Rumble!" gasped Fluttershy in tears. "Oh please no!"
"Dark Star, stop it!" barked Nova. "He's just a kid!"
But his reckless brother didn't listen and raised his hoof to beat the living daylights out of the young one. Then, something caught his eye. A paper object had fallen out of the tiny bag strapped to Rumble's leg. It was a photograph. It was something that Dark would never even compute in the middle of his unbridled rage. And yet, he froze for a condensed eternity, staring down at the insignificant object. He slowly picked up the photo, baffled by what was in it. He stared down at Rumble's smiling infant face, with himself as a child.
"That's enough, Dark!" Nova rushed over to restrain his brother, but stopped short when he noticed the photo as well.
"What...what is this?" was all Dark could mutter.
"You remember...don't you?" Rumble sat up against the wall, wiping blood from his nose. "The day I was born. When Mom and Dad brought me home from the hospital. They said you were so excited to see me. You've always wanted a little brother to play with."
"This...can't be real." Dark said absent-mindedly.
"That's not all." Rumble grunted as he reached into his bag. He retrieved an entire stack of photos. "I found one of you showing me how to fly before you went off to the academy. And collecting candy on our first Nightmare Night together. And that time where I got a scrape on my knee and you put a whole bunch of bandages on the both of us."
"I don't believe it." Dark sifted through the other photos of him. "I know it's not real but...it looks so-"
"It's not!" Nebula approached him with a scowl. "Don't you get it? Somepony obviously had these photos doctored. He's trying to tug at your emotions and weaken you!"
"You're wrong, Shining Armor." Another voice appeared.
Nebula scowled at the newcomer. "That name..."
"Spike?" uttered Twilight, at the sight of her assistant.
The little dragon helped up Rumble as he spoke bravely to the unicorn stallion. "They're real, and so are the ones of you."
"What are you talking about, lizard?" demanded Nebula.
"After Twilight and the girls took off into the Everfree Forest," explained Spike. "I ran into Rumble while trying to hide from Nightmare Moon. He had an idea and told me to help find some pictures. It took a while without her spotting us, but we got plenty. I wanted to send them to Twilight through my fire magic, but it would only tip off Nightmare Moon. So we followed the mares' trail into the woods. We knew that they would tell us to just go home if they spotted us, so we had to move in secret. But it was worth it to give you these." Spike then handed another stack of photos.
Nebula levitated them over and looked skeptically. But amazingly, his scowl slowly disappeared. He stared at photos of his younger self, spending time with Twilight and her parents. There was one of the two of them reading together, playing as make-believe knights in an impenetrable fortress of pillows, and opening presents on Hearthswarming Day. Nebula was completely baffled. He couldn't find anything in the photos that would give them away as phony. The proof not only looked real, but felt real.
"That...that stocking..." he said, looking at the Hearthswarming photo. "It says...Shining Armor..."
"And don't forget about you, Big Macintosh!" Spike boasted even more photographs.
Nova hesitated, but took the stack of photos. Sure enough, he was overcome with amazement just like his brothers. He gawked at photos of his colt self and an even younger Applejack, playing in the mud, helping her Granny Smith whip up a batch of apple crumbles, and one of him giving a stetson hat to the little filly, much to big for her head. That last one even seemed to tug a chord inside him.
Nova turned back to the mare he had entrapped in stone. "You remember this?" he asked.
"Big Mac, those memories are as real as they are in my heart." Applejack smiled with teary eyes.
Hearing the name Big Mac seemed to stir a feeling of empathy in Red Nova. With one more look at the happy photos, he stomped his hoof into the ground and released the stone barrier from around Applejack.
"What's happening?" called out Rarity, still only freed from the metal encasing by a mouth. "I can't see! Is somepony there?"
After nursing the wound in her shoulder, Twilight regained her composure and released Rarity from the entrapment. She then used her magic to revive Fluttershy, Rainbow and Pinkie from the brink of unconsciousness. All of them watched in awe as the three menacing stallions lowered their guard.
Dark Star remained in a state of disbelief. "Why..." he uttered, clutching his head in confusion. "Why are you showing me this?"
"Because it's the truth, Thunderlane." Rumble approached him. "I don't care what you call yourself now. And I don't care how many times you try to hurt me. You're still my big bro, and I know you still remember that deep down. You just gotta remember!" he clung to the older pony's leg and dug his face in his shoulder. "Please, Big Bro. Please remember."
Dark stared down at the trembling colt with uncertainty. He no longer had any urge to inflict an attack on him or anypony else. He had never experienced this level of emotion, and it made him tremble as well.
"No...no I don't believe it!" Nebula shook his head in denial. "It's all lies, every last bit of it! I refuse to believe that I was born in Equestria! I am a child of Nightmare Moon! I always have been!"
"Is that what she told you?" Twilight finally spoke behind him.
Nebula turned back to the mare, but hesitated before speaking. "Well...of course!" he snapped. "Why would she lie about that?! She is our one true mother!"
"Do you even remember being born to her?" interrogated Twilight.
"She said that the evil Celestia wiped our memories as colts." He argued.
"And does Nightmare Moon have any proof of you being with her before that?" Twilight raised her tone.
Nebula quickly grew nervous. "Well...I...she..." he stammered.
"Do you honestly believe that Nightmare Moon created you during her imprisonment?" continued Twilight. "That you're an immaculate product of her power? Just to help her take over Equestria?"
"Stop it." Nebula breathed heavily. "Stop talking! No more lies!"
"How do you know your so-called mother hasn't been feeding you the lies?!" she pressed.
"Shut up!" he shouted, his magic swelling with rage. "I don't want to hear any more! It's not true! It's not true! It's..."
Before he could unleash his magic in a blind fury, Nebula's anger was suddenly quelled. Twilight wrapped her hooves around the white stallion and held him tight. He froze as something in his mind snapped. The comforting hug seemed to melt away the cold feelings of hate that fueled his dark magic, and replace them with a mix of rejuvenation and sorrow.
"It's okay, Big Brother," said Twilight softly. "You don't have to be afraid."
"...Twilight..." he said, shaking.
In that instant, a peculiar light emitted from the center of the room. Everypony gazed as the large tiara, representing the key Element of Harmony, glowed in a brilliant white aura from the pedestal it sat on. Twilight approached it with curiosity.
"The Element of Magic," she said in awe. "It's awakening."
After admiring the radiant energy emanating from the jewel, Twilight carefully lifted the gilded tiara. Immediately, she could feel a tremendous amount of magical power flow through her body upon contact, strengthening her aura. It was a joyous sensation, her energy and spirit being revitalized by the limitless powers of the sacred relic. It was then that she knew just what to do with it.
Placing the tiara on her head, Twilight turned back around and faced the other ponies. "Brothers..." she spoke in a calm yet resonating tone. "You shall be free."
With a cast of her magic, aided by the powerful properties of the Element, she enveloped the three stallions in a brilliant purple aura. Nebula, Nova, and Dark all stood anxiously as the young mare's magic surrounded them. Suddenly, they froze in a mindless stare as something emanated from their bodies. A dark, midnight aura, reminiscent of the black mass that surrounded the castle, flowed from their eyes, as if all thoughts of darkness and derision were being pulled from their very souls. The other mares watched in anticipation as every last drop of hatred and vengeance left their spirits and dissolved into nothing. Soon, the amplified aura returned to Twilight's horn and the stallions dropped to their knees.
The mares, Rumble and Spike all gathered around them, waiting for a reaction. They were physically unharmed, but whether their memories had been changed was still up to debate. Then, Nebula's slowly pushed his body off the floor, followed by the other two. He lifted his head up and spoke in a choked up, but still audible voice. In that instant, there was no longer any use for the name White Nebula.
"Twily?" Shining Armor spoke as his little sister hugged him in elation.
"It's alright, Shining Armor," Twilight wiped a tear away. "It's all over."
"Ugh, what..." mumbled Thunderlane as he rose dizzily. "What happened?"
"Big Bro!" Rumble jumped onto his brother's shoulders.
"Rumble?" Thunderlane looked in surprise. "What are you doing here?!"
"Big Mac?" asked Applejack. "Are ya back too?"
Big Macintosh stared into his younger sister's eyes with realization, then responded with a wide grin. "Eeyup!"
All of the mares cheered with joy as they swarmed the redeemed brothers in a group hug. And the stallions themselves were overcome with happiness, the memory of their former lives flooding back to their minds, and their hearts. They held their younger siblings tightly, shedding tears of rejoice after the years of delusion that had corrupted their souls. The memory curse of the evil moon goddess had been lifted from them for good...But there was still a curse present among them.
"My sons..." a familiar spiteful voice echoed through the castle chamber, as the black mist began to swirl inside. The dark sorceress finally manifested herself, and looked down at the ponies with a deathly stare. "...You have failed me."