The Rising of the Brothers of Light and Dark

by Dark Dienen

chapter 4

The flesh hung in Arcane’s magical grip, dangling like wet rags. As they were placed on the table, Rune could see the ragged edges as though they had been ripped off rather than sliced. Rune easily recognized the faint purple of Princess Violet’s coat. The other’s he could easily guess belonged to the rest of them.

As Rune stared at the skin, he felt anger rising in him like water in a rainstorm. However, he knew better than to act on it. As much as he would’ve liked to march into that fortress, find Nightshade, and plunge every inch of his sword’s steel into his gut; he knew he could not act upon that instinct. Instead, he would use every ounce of it to take the bastard down. Right now, he had a more immediate concern.

Anypony else looking at Arcane would have noticed no difference in his appearance. Rune, being all too familiar with the reserved nature of the Archmage, saw a completely different picture. He noticed the slight tensing of the jaw and the barely noticeable twitch in his right eye as he stared at the message crystal. It was obvious to Rune that Arcane was furious beyond words, however it wasn’t Arcane that had Rune concerned with.

He turned his glance to Twister, genuinely surprised. Twister was a passionate mare by nature. She was blissfully unaware of things like logistics, tactics, and reason. When she performed any action, it wasn’t because it was the smart thing to do; it was because it was the right thing to do. That was her greatest strength and weakness.

The fact she was still present was a testament to how enraged she was. However, Rune knew it would not last long. If he knew anything about Twister, it would only be a matter of time before she would act on it, for good or ill. He had to stop that before it happened.

“Twister,” he said warningly, “don’t do anything foolish.”

Quicker than any lightning strike, she grabbed one of her blades. Before Rune or Arcane could react, she lifted it overhead and brought it down with the force of fury behind it. Arcane managed to erect a shield around Rune and himself as Twister shattered the message crystal with her blade, sending crystal shards flying about the tent.

After the shards had settled, Rune released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Feel better?” Rune asked.

“A little,” she answered emotionlessly.

“It seems the situation has escalated,” Arcane said, dropping the shield.

“No kidding,” Twister answered, sheathing her weapon, “our deadline got moved from months to days. Ain’t there anyway to get the location of Crystal’s forces?”

“Any attempt to do so might alert the horses to their location,” Arcane replied, the twitch in his right eye showing itself once more.

“We can’t just sit on our flanks and do nothing!” Twister shouted.

“We aren’t,” Rune replied, silencing the mare with a look and tone that could freeze stone, “Rest assured, the next time we attack will be all or nothing. For now, we plan, we strategize, and we prepare to hit him where it hurts.” Rune felt his anger rising again, made more potent by the current helplessness of the situation. “That bastard hurt a child! He will NOT get away with that!”

“Then perhaps some assistance would be welcomed,” an elegantly masculine voice replied.

Instinctually, Rune and Twister drew their weapons while Arcane’s horn glowed with power. Looking about, the tent was empty save for the commanders. “Be at peace, Commanders,” the voice said further, “we only wish to speak.”

“Then show yourselves,” Twister said, her teeth gritted.

As soon as the words left her mouth, the crystal on the table glowed to life. Above the glowing crystal, two cloaked and hooded figures appeared. They were obviously equine in nature, but anything beyond that was difficult to ascertain.

“Perhaps introductions are in order,” one of the figures replied, his cloak swaying gently as he spoke, “I am Whitelight and this is my brother, Darkheart.” The second figure gave a curt nod at his name.

“What do you want?” Twister asked, gripping her blades more tightly.

“As I said, Twister,” Whitelight answered, “we wish to assist.”

Rune lowered his blade so it’s point rested on the ground. “Perhaps you could elaborate a bit.”

“Very well, Rune. We’ve become aware of your plight and wish to assist in overthrowing that tyrant-in-the-making Nightshade. We’ve witnessed the atrocities carried out in his name and have no wish to see it continued.”

“How come you ain’t showed up before now?” Twister asked skeptically.

“We are all too familiar with the ways of your kind,” Darkheart answered harshly. His voice reminded Rune of the sea: deep, powerful, and dangerous.

Whitelight nodded solemnly. “Yes, the hatred your kind shows to each other is appalling,” he stated, disapproval clear in his voice, “Truly, there is no greater tragedy than the tribes of ponies forever split because they simply cannot share their world with each other.”

“Then why bother to help us at all?” Twister asked, clearly confused. Rune had to admit, he was also confused at this.

“Because of your potential,” Whitelight said gently, “In spite of your nature, we have seen acts of compassion unparalleled to any other. We have witnessed families with barely enough food to survive take in one more homeless child and find a way to stretch a blanket over one more freezing body. We have seen ponies with next to nothing literally give cold children the cloaks off their backs. And we have seen mercy granted to those who have literally done nothing to deserve it. Even in these darkened times, you ponies have shown that qualities of benevolence shall not fade from this world. And besides, even if you were to submit to his demands, I have doubts that Nightshade would keep his word.”

“Not telling us anything new,” Twister muttered under her breath, much to Rune’s acquiescence.

“Not that I wish to come off as skeptical,” Arcane said stepping to the forefront, “but I doubt the acts of two beings could make the difference in a battle.”

“Arcane, my brother and I have witnessed events where the acts of one individual have changed the tide of the world,” Whitelight retorted, amusement in his voice, “However, our power is quite substantial and, if I do say so myself, you will need all the help you can get.”

“And you are asking us to trust you when you aren’t even willing to show yourselves to us?” Twister asked, raising her eyebrow.

“An unfortunate precaution,” Whitelight stated, his voice stating his discomfort, “however, we find that ponies respond better to us if they can’t see us as we truly are.”

“And how do we know we can trust you?” Twister asked.

“You don’t,” Darkheart answered, “you don’t know if you can trust us any more than we know if we can trust you.”

Whitelight cleared his voice audibly. “We understand your hesitance in the matter, but our offer is genuine. Should you require our assistance, send a single rainbow colored flare into the sky.”

“You’re that close?” Rune asked confusedly, “Funny our troops haven’t come across you on our sweeps of the area.”

“You wouldn’t,” Whitelight stated with a touch of amusement, “unless your sweeps just happen to cover the Northern Peaks, as well.” When Whitelight saw their confused expressions, Arcane’s being only a raised eyebrow, he merely chuckled. “I see you have much to discuss, so we shall take our leave.”

“A moment,” Arcane said, “did you see the location of the Crystal Forces?”

“Alas, we did not,” Whitelight replied, “Our sight is vast, but not infinite. Until we meet again, Commanders.” Both figures bowed as the crystal dimmed and darkened.

“What do you think, Twist?” Rune asked.

“It sounds like a bad joke,” she replied, dropping her weapons to cross her forelegs across her barrel, “Even if they were telling the truth, the Northern Peaks are too far away to be of immediate use.”

“I don’t know,” Rune replied uncertainly, sheathing his sword, “I’m not one to turn down any help that’s being cheerfully offered.

“Even the strongest of pegasi with a favorable wind couldn’t make it in less than half an hour or so,” Twister pointed out almost sagely.

“Have you ever tried?”

“My concern is how they contacted us through the crystals without having one.”

Twister shot an unimpressed look at Arcane.”How do you know he didn’t?”

“When active, crystal communication give off a distinctive magical hum. One that was lacking through the entire conversation.”

“COMMANDERS! COMMANDERS! BANNERS! THE CRYSTAL PONIES ARE HERE!”