The Brothers from Shetland

by 5007

SOCIALIZATION!

The Brothers from Shetland

by 5007
(aka Lord Dragon Claw)

Disclaimer: don't drink the water in Marexico. Mountezuma's Revenge is not a very pleasant stomach virus. This tip brought to you by Daring Doo.

Quick Note: the previous chapter has been changed a bit. You may want to go back and read it as the changes affect the story as a whole.

Chapter Two: Socialization! … is not really compatible with PTSD.

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Yuclid was impressed with the Doctor and Derpy. While Doctor Whooves wouldn't outright say what he did for a living, Derpy was a mailpony, despite her clumsy nature. While ponies might get hurt while she delivered the larger, heavier packages, neither the letters nor the objects themselves suffered any damage by the time they were delivered. That took talent.

Twilight was leading the dark green stallion back to the library, while Straet remained behind to talk with some of the other ponies still at the party.

"Are you sure he'll be able to find his way to the library?" the mare asked for the third time.

"He's got a spell that allows him to find me, wherever I am, because I am his twin. I think he'll figure it out."

"Oh," murmured Twilight Sparkle. Again, the mysterious stallion had seemed to murder the conversation. She took a glance back at him to see if he was looking at her flanks (she wasn't sure what to think about that if he was) but she saw him eyeing the tops and corners of buildings with suspicion. Even the clouds were not spared his speedy scrutiny.

As she returned her gaze to where she was going, she began to wonder just how bad it was in the Everfree? Historically, she knew it had never been conquered. Ponies couldn't do it. The Griffon Warlords stopped trying to about two centuries ago. Zebra Tribes declared it to be a cursed land. The Buffalo Nomads never migrated close enough to it to even care for the Forest, but surely they had mention of it in their oral history?

Twilight shook her head and returned to the problem at hand. While shy when too many ponies had their attention on him, Yuclid proved to be quite the social butterfly when exposed to small groups. Unfortunately, he seemed to be very high-strung when he thought that threats could be imminent. She realized that he may be physically and intellectually in Ponyville, but instinctually, he was still in the Everfree. She wondered if the stallion would ever relax his guard.

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Bluegrass turned his golden eyes out the window of the pastry shop. While Twilight Sparkle, a new arrival, and Yuclid Shott, a newer arrival, had turned down a street and were out of sight, he could still see them. Like Pinkie Pie, Bluegrass had strange powers. He could see magic, for one. He wasn't a unicorn, but an earth pony, but he could see magic all the same. Twilight's was like looking at a bonfire, how powerful her magic core was. Yuclid's core was damaged, badly, but what was there seemed wild. Much like the ambient magic in the Everfree. Like the magic in Bluegrass.

Casually, the blond-maned stallion turned from the window and took a bite of his cake. Straet also had a wild magic aura. A strong one, but nowhere near Twilight Sparkle's power. Of course, comparing Straet to Twilight Sparkle was like comparing a burning building to a raging forest fire.

Fire? Why was he thinking about fire so much? Bluegrass pondered the question for a moment, then decided to eventually write a song about it. He looked at Straet from over his glass of milk, held between his two forehooves. While politely paying attention to his conversational partners, the light-blue unicorn tended to take quick glances around the room. Was he expecting an attack?

Bluegrass glanced over to Pinkie Pie. Her magical aura was… strange. No other word suited it. She was born well outside of the reach of the Everfree, but her aura was more chaotic than anything in it. At the same time, it was as ordered as the next pony's was. It also vibrated as if it were the lid to a tea kettle. Regardless, her aura wasn't showing any of the precognitive signs that an attack was imminent.

Yet Straet still seemed apprehensive about every unexpected movement in the building…

Amused, Bluegrass shook his head after finishing off his plate of cake. The answer was so simple: Straet grew up where an attack could happen at any time. Of course he still expected one, even in this peaceful land.

Bluegrass folded his forelegs and rested them on the table, yawning. He placed his head down on his fetlocks and dozed. Pinkie would wake him when it was time to clear the place out. Meanwhile, he dreamt of fire and guitar solos. Maybe he could commission a string instrument to be made entirely of metal?

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"So, what do you do at the brewery?" Straet asked.

Pierce grinned. "Two things: one, I put taps into the barrels of wine, and two, I am a member of the quality control board."

"So you taste the wine," Straet stated, nodding in understanding.

"Not just the wine. I also taste the hard cider that the Apple family makes at the end of every summer."

"Apple family?" The one-eyed stallion cocked his head to the side.

"Oh yes," Pierce realized that needed some explaining. "One of the founding families for Ponyville. They own the apple orchards to the west and north. Granny Smith is the matriach, but Applejack is the current overseer of the family business. Big Macintosh, her older brother, is an alright guy, and Apple Bloom is the younger sister."

"No parents?"

"They died in a timberwolf attack."

Straet cocked his head in confusion. "I thought timberwolves only hung around zap apple trees."

"The Apple family's first orchard was a zap apple orchard."

Straet choked on his drink. "How!?"

Pierce chuckled. "One of the members of the founding family, three-hundred years ago managed to steal some zap apples from the Everfree and she was able to drive off the timberwolves. Some ponies think that it was Granny Smith who did that. I'm not so sure as that would make her ancient, but she was around when my grandfather was a colt so there is evidence pointing to the theory."

Straet closed his one eye in thought. "How long do ponies normally live in Equestria?"

"Normally? Ninety years on average."

"Huh."

"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are both thousands of years old, though. They are the goddesses, after all."

The light blue unicorn thought about this for a moment. More identifying these Princesses as deities. Straet supposed that he'd have to keep an open mind about this, but he was decidedly agnostic for the moment, especially since he'd had to rely only on himself and his brother for survival for the majority of their lives.

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"Spike! I'm home!"

"Welcome back!" replied the young dragon, carrying a stack of books.

Yuclid was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of books in the library.

"This is more books than I've ever seen!" he whispered.

"In any one place?" asked the mare, seeking clarification.

"In my whole life…" answered the stallion.

"Uh, Twilight?" asked the dragon, halfway up a ladder, placing books on the shelves. "Who is that?"

"Oh, sorry, Spike." She shook her mane out a bit. "This is Yuclid Shott. He's one of the two stallions that Pinkie was ranting about earlier."

Spike nodded, turning to get a better look at Yuclid as he sat on the ladder, his task complete. "Why is his horn broken?"

Twilight blanched at her assistant's blunt question, but she was surprised when Yuclid laughed.

"Ah, the curiosity of children!" the green unicorn chuckled, shaking his head from side to side. "In the Everfree, there's a beast known as a trinoceros. Highly territorial. And I happened to be in its territory."

Spike nodded in understanding. "What brings you here?"

"My brother and I are going to see if Ponyville would be a good place for us to live. Unfortunately, we don't have lodgings for the night, and Miss Sparkle was so gracious as to offer us a spare room for a while."

Twilight glared in response to the dragon's knowing grin.

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Pinkie had kicked the three stallions out of Sugar Cube Corner, not because she was tired, but because Mr. and Mrs. Cake needed to close up shop for the night. The beautiful moon looked even more detailed and full than ever before, and the stars shone with such clarity - it truly was a sight to behold.

Pierce parted ways with Straet, saying that he'd stayed up too late and desperately needed to get as much sleep as he needed if he was to go into work the next day, at just before sunrise. Understanding the concept, Straet promised he'd visit when he could. Bluegrass patiently waited nearby, as if he needed to talk to the light blue unicorn.

When Straet turned to speak with the orange pony, he noticed Bluegrass's golden eyes seemed to glow with a magic all their own. The gaze was intense and Straet wanted to look away, but found he could not. He felt as if all his secrets were being laid bare, all facets of his personality, the façade he carefully crafted to hide his pain was all ripped away to reveal his very soul.

Suddenly, it was over. Bluegrass's eyes still shone, but they were soft. Blinking.

"You know, she seems to like you already."

Straet raised his eyebrow, realizing that the other stallion was changing the subject before he could even ask what had happened. "Who likes me?"

"Pinkie Pie," Bluegrass answered disinterestedly.

"And how would you know this?" Straet was really suspicious of this yellow-maned stallion.

"Because you are a good pony," the earth pony answered with a yawn. "By the way, did you need directions to the library?"

Straet blinked. "Why would I need directions to there?"

"It's where your brother is staying the night."

The unicorn gave the earth pony a sidelong glance. "No thank you. I can find him on my own."

Bluegrass nodded. "See you tomorrow then."

Straet watched him walk off. Why does he assume that we're going to meet tomorrow? He creeps me out. He's also very puzzling... gah!

Straet then realized that, yes, he would be meeting with Bluegrass the next day if only to try and solve the mystery of who the blonde yellow-orange pony was.

Shaking his head, he used his telekinesis to move his eye patch away from his missing eye. If one were to see the melted flesh beneath, they would see a simple rune. His horn still glowing, Straet cast a spell that he developed based on the soul connection to his twin. A golden, glowing orb manifested on top of the rune, becoming an ephemeral eye.

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"Woah!" exclaimed Yuclid.

"What!?" Twilight and Spike asked simultaneously, worried that something might have happened.

"I'll never get used to that," muttered Yuclid. He turned to face the other two people in the room. "Straet cast his spell that allows us to locate eachother."

"Uh huh," Spike responded. "What does it do?"

"Two things," Yuclid said as he looked about the room. "First, it lets us know which direction the other is in. The second thing it does is allow Straet to look through my eyes, and me to look through his."

Twilight gaped at that. "I've never heard of a spell that can do that!"

"It's based off of the magic that only twins can do," clarified the dark green stallion.

"Wait," Spike began. "So you can look through his eyes and he through yours, while you both can look out your own eyes? Isn't that disorienting?"

"Very," Yuclid stated. "The further away we are, the more unsettling it is."

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Books. Straet could see books through Yuclid's eyes. Hundreds of them!

And there's a dragon, he acknowledged in his mind. A baby dragon. I wonder what happened to his mother? Why is he in the care of that studious unicorn my brother has his eye on?

Straet snorted as he trotted off in the direction Yuclid was in. Too many mysteries tonight with not enough answers. I'd better get some sleep if I'm going to be on watch in the morning.

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Straet went straight to bed once he got to the library. Yuclid had pulled out the star-chart textbook that he had with him and was comparing it to the star-charts Twilight had. Twilight was surprised that Yuclid and Straet owned only three books - the other two being a math textbook and a wilderness survival guide. Apparently, the three books were the only things they were able to recover from the ruins that were their home.

Spike had gone to bed as soon as he was feeling tired, which was understandable as he was a baby dragon. Twilight spent most of the night discussing the stars (and navigating by them) with Yuclid.

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Twilight was awakened by the sound of Spike crying out in pain. She instantly rushed to where it was coming from. Out of the side of her vision, she could see Straet rushing down the stairs from the balcony. She idly noted that Straet was an early riser.

Spike's yell had emanated from the guest room that Yuclid and Straet were to use. The door was slightly ajar and Straet reached it first. The light-blue unicorn shoved it open as he ran in. When Twilight entered just behind, she saw Spike curled up on the floor, a deep cut in his right forearm. He was trying to staunch the bleeding with the rags that used to be bedsheets.

On the bed (which was shredded), Yuclid stood, a wild look in his eyes as he tried to look in every direction at once. Hovering near him were several shards of obsidian, one of which was still dripping with blood. Twilight was shocked. How could she have let such a dangerous stallion into her home? And let him attack her Spike!? She was startled out of her rant when Straet shouted.

"YUCLID! Get a grip!" He leapt forwards and punched the dark-green stallion on the nose. "Nothing's attacking!" He gripped his brother's head so that they could stare into each others' eyes. "There is NO manticore!"

Yuclid gasped as the wild look left his eyes and the intelligence returned. He noticed the obsidian shards floating about him and recalled them, putting them into his mane and tail. But then he noticed the one with blood on it. He pushed Straet out of the way and saw Spike's injury. He gasped in shock. When he saw the expression on Twilight's face, he looked ready to cry.

Suddenly, the window behind him opened with a burst of magic and Yuclid leapt through it.

"Yuclid!" Straet yelled after him. "Damn it!"

Straet turned his head from the window and his scowl softened when he saw the dragon on the floor. He sighed.

"Come along, young one," he began gently. "Let's get that cleaned out." He turned to the fuming mare. "Twilight, right?" At her nod, he continued. "I'm going to need iodine, a clean washrag, an open flame, a sewing needle, and some thin, but strong, wire."

Twilight thought about it for a moment. "Why?"

"To help... uh, Spike. He's going to need stitches."

The purple mare tilted her head. "You know medicine?"

"Some. Mostly learned from necessity." He started herding Spike towards the washroom.

Twilight began to leave, muttering about psychotic house guests, when Straet interrupted her. "You'll have to forgive Yuclid though. It's not his fault he's like that."

"Why is he like that?" she snapped.

"I'll explain once Spike's injury is taken care of."

While she frowned, Twilight nodded and hurried off to get the necessary supplies.

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Pain.

That was Yuclid's existence.

His left hind leg was giving him trouble, as it always did whenever he went faster than a brisk walk. Of course, he was running at a full gallop. The aches he felt were from the fact that most of the muscle on the calf of that leg had been chewed off a number of years ago by a manticore.

The very same manticore that he had thought was attacking him in his sleep. Again.

And that's where the rest of his pain was coming from. He had seriously injured Spike whereas the little dragon was probably just trying to be helpful and wake him up for breakfast.

Add to that, Twilight's look of barely-bridled rage. It was as if Yuclid had attacked her own foal. She hated him now. Spike would be afraid of him. And the whole town would know about the attack by noon. He was sure of it.

He hopped a fence, sending mind-shattering pain shooting up his bad leg, and he limped into the forest he found on the other side. A golden pair of eyes observed him entering, but did not follow.

It was an odd looking forest though. The entire place was filled with apple trees. And they were evenly spaced apart in neat, straight lines. Very strange.

Yuclid slowed down, limping, as he glanced back. He couldn't see the fence anymore. That was good.

He began to think. Maybe Straet could get a real life in Ponyville, but for that to happen, Yuclid had to leave.

It was for the best.

What he did not notice was the large, crimson earth pony stallion watching him from a distance. And following him.

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The Bunsen burner that Twilight brought for the open flame got Straet to give it an odd look before he shrugged. He then told Twilight that she may want to wait in a different room, especially if she was squeamish. She took that offer.

Using his magic, the light-blue stallion simultaneously heated the wire and needle with the flame from the Bunsen burner while getting Spike to rinse his cut out with water from the faucet.

"Alright, Spike. What I'm about to do is going to sting, a lot, but it will prevent infection. Brace yourself."

Spike gulped and nodded. After nodding back, Straet dumped some iodine straight into the wound. Spike squeaked, but didn't cry out, even when Straet used the washrag to rub the chemical into the cut.

"This next part is really going to hurt, but if I don't do it, you won't be able to use that arm ever again. Brace yourself again. You did a commendable job the first time."

Spike hissed in response to the red-hot needle pulling the equally hot wire through his scales, pulling his flesh together.

Without taking his eye off of what he was doing, Straet nodded at Spike. "There's the draconian toughness I've seen in adult dragons. Almost done...there we go." He tied off the wire ends when he was finished. "Only one more unpleasant thing and that's to remove the stitches when the cut has scarred-over in a month or so. You're pretty strong for your size. You should be proud."

"Thanks," admitted the young dragon. "Are you going to tell Twilight and I what that freak out was all about now?"

"Of course," agreed Straet. "Just as soon as I figure out how to put out this fire." He indicated the Bunsen burner with a hoof.

Spike snorted and turned a dial on the side all the way to the right. The flame went down and finally went out with a click.

"... well that's nifty."

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"Why is this forest full of apples!?" Yuclid yelled to the heavens in frustration. He couldn't tell which way was North (no moss on the trees), he lost track of the direction he came from, and the canopy let in so little light that he couldn't tell which way the shadows were pointing.

"That's 'cause it's an orchard," answered a deep voice to his left.

Startled, Yuclid jumped and turned to face the voice, but he landed hard on his bad leg.

"Gah!" Yuclid went down in a heap. "Ow."

The voice snorted in amusement. "Maybe ya'll better stop jumpin' 'round."

Yuclid opened an eye to get a better look at the other person.

The stallion he saw standing there was big. BIIIIG! With four i's. Not gigantic, but taller and more muscular than any earth pony Yuclid had ever seen before, even in Brisbray. And he was red. A deep red with an orange mane and green eyes. He wore a girdle on his shoulders and spoke around a buckwheat stalk in his mouth.

The large stallion leaned over Yuclid, taking a look at his weak leg, before leaning back and speaking. "Seems like an ol' injury. Why ain't ya'll used to it yet?"

Yuclid sighed. "Normally I am. But I'm... distracted today."

"Eeyup. Ain't never seen no orchard before, neither?" The large stallion offered Yuclid a hoof up.

"No. Is that like a fruit farm or something?" asked the green stallion, accepting the others hoof.

"Pretty sharp," drawled the large earth pony. "So wha'cha doin' in muh fam'ly's orchard?"

"Leaving Ponyville so my brother can have a life there."

The stallion raised his eyebrow. "Yer still in Ponyville. Sweet Apple Acres is on the outskirts."

Yuclid sighed. "I guess this place is bigger than I thought."

"So why you runnin'?" asked the larger pony as he walked off towards a tree that seemed a little... unkempt, showing his cutie mark to be an apple half.

Yuclid wasn't sure if he should tell this stallion what had happened this morning. He wasn't certain he could just flee this conversation either, especially since he was lost and the other stallion wasn't.

Finally, Yuclid decided to at least try to get his side of the story out so that his brother, at the very least, would not be vilified in his place.

"Well, this morning..."

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Sitting at the kitchen table, Straet was determined to tell Twilight and Spike about his brother's panicked reactions.

"First of all, you must understand that all we've had is each other for the majority of our lives."

His audience nodded.

"We take watches to ensure that we aren't attacked by predators at night. I always sleep first, and then watch over Yuclid after midnight."

"Okay," said Spike.

"Once, though, I had fallen asleep during my watch."

Twilight's ears went straight back, a look of realization on her face.

"Yeah. A manticore snuck up on us and decided to start eating Yuclid while he still slept. Luckily, it decided that his left hind leg was the juiciest part of his body, rather than the throat or abdomen."

Twilight had a grimace of sheer horror on her face. Spike looked concerned as well.

"After waking up screaming, Yuclid grabbed a rock with his telekinesis and jabbed it into the manticore's eye, killing it instantly."

Spike nodded approvingly while Twilight's face had softened, though she still looked mortified.

"Anyway, if I don't wake him gently, he thinks he's being attacked by that manticore. He keeps obsidian shards in his mane and tail for that reason." Straet also showed them the faded scars on his front legs. "I learned that the hard way myself. Had to stitch myself up as 'Clid was freaking out about hurting me. And I had to use most of our bandages and a few sticks to put my right foreleg in a walking cast as he had cracked the bone."

Twilight was silent for a moment, though Spike whistled, impressed that a unicorn with a broken horn wasn't as disabled as one would think. Twilight looked into Straet's single eye, her own watering.

"I need to apologize to him," she whispered.

The sky-blue unicorn smiled. Definitely a better town than anyplace we've been before.

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"... and that's why I need to leave."

Pruning a final branch from the tree he was working on, the red stallion turned to Yuclid and opened his mouth.

"Nnope. Ah think ya'll need to go back an' apologize ta Spike."

Yuclid crouched down, thinking that he had just gotten into a hostile situation.

The red pony raised an eyebrow. "But Ah'm not gonna force nopony ta do nuttin'."

The green unicorn relaxed a bit.

"Ah was jus' sayin'." With that, he walked to the next tree and began to prune back the overgrown branches with his teeth.

"Uh, could I ask you the way out?"

"Ya could," the larger stallion said after ripping a particularly stubborn growth from the tree.

Yuclid waited a bit before realizing that he wasn't going to get a further answer than that.

"Which way is the way out?"

The red stallion smirked at Yuclid. "Pick a direction an' keep goin'. Ev'ry way is the way out."

The broken-horned stallion blinked. "Which way is the fastest way away from Ponyville?"

The large pony looked around for a bit before getting back to his task. "North."

Yuclid looked around and found that the canopy of the orchard prevented him from being able to tell which way the shadows were leaning. He frowned.

"That doesn't help me," he said.

"Apologizing ta Spike would help ya."

Yuclid glared at the larger stallion as he continued to prune the trees.

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"Knowing my brother," began Straet as they got ready to leave the library. "He's probably trying to run off to give me a better chance at life here."

"Why don't you do your spell then?" asked Spike.

"Because then he'd know we're looking for him. Besides, he may have gotten lost and I don't want to give him a direction to run from."

Suddenly, the door to the library echoed the sound of being knocked on. Confused, Spike opened the door to let in a yellow-orange earth pony.

The one-eyed unicorn recognized him instantly. "Bluegrass."

"Straet," the blonde replied politely. "You may find it interesting to note that I saw your panicked brother entering Sweet Apple Acres. You may want to look to the Apple family farmhouse for his whereabouts."

Twilight was completely confused, though she did recognize the strange earth pony as one of the players in the game of darts from the night before.

Straet nodded. "Thank you."

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Yuclid had finally calmed down, mostly out of necessity due to the fact that the larger pony was being so frustratingly difficult.

"Ya hungry?" the red stallion asked suddenly.

The unicorn was about to answer in the negative when his stomach rumbled loudly.

The earth pony nodded and began walking in a direction. Yuclid realized he had no choice but to follow.

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End Chapter Two.

Next chapter: siblings.

Author's Notes

Huzzah! Vassago-Toxicity deserves praise for being my beta!

Also, my wife has a book out. It is an urban fantasy, is based partially off of Lewis Carroll's works, and involves faeries of the flesh-eating variety. Check my first blog post for the url. Remember, buying the book helps me out too.
That said, GO READ GLASS!

Yuclid's freakout is based off of two different forms of PTSD that friends of mine have had. First, there's the one where they just shut down and do nothing, but they will follow orders. The other is that special quality that Viking warriors all wished they could have - the berserker rage. It really exists. When in the berserker rage, you only recognize two things and ignore all else: 1) people that must be protected and 2) people that must be harmed. Since Yuclid doesn't really know Twilight or Spike that well, Twilight was ignored and Spike fell into category 2 until he "stopped attacking" Yuclid.

Also, Big Macintosh is fun to write, despite the Southern drawl.

Comments

[The Well Dressed Ninja]

Cool story bro.