Brothers

by Pennington Inkwell

Caged

"Another draconequus?" Luna asked, completely flabbergasted. "How is this possible? I thought that Discord was the only one!"

Celestia nodded. "Every word is true, Luna. I thought that, if he knew Discord, but we never saw him in Equestria until now, he must have known him before he came here. Discord obviously had to come from somewhere, and he's not the type of guy to go unnoticed, even if he's just passing through. That led me here..." She waved a hoof to emphasize the sea of open books on the floor around her. "The foreign history section..."

Luna nodded. "I understand your thinking, but aren't you distracting yourself from what you really should be doing?"

"I don't understand..." Celestia eyed her sister questioningly. While they both almost always wanted the same things, they often had very different ways of achieving them.

"Whoever this is, he's a threat to Equestria! We've seen what one draconequus can do, who could imagine if he freed Discord? From what you've said, he is obviously Discord's friend, and will most likely try to free him!" Luna rose to her hooves, ready for action. "We have to organize a team to find and capture him!"

Celestia sat up on her haunches, shaking her head. "I told you, he wasn't doing anything! He was just there to mourn. That's like saying that all of the times I wept for you, I was siding with..." Celestia trailed off at a glare from her sister. "Anyway, I'm just saying that you're jumping to conclusions. I don't think that he's here to cause any sort of harm. Here, read this..." She levitated a book in front of Luna's face. Luna picked it up herself and began to read. "It's a record written by Starswirl the Bearded of a clash he saw while travelling abroad between Discord and a rather angry dragon.

Never in all of my years and many travels have I seen anything like this creature I have dubbed a "draconequus." This creature has announced himself to be named "Discord," and he seems to easily live up to his name, using a type of magic as unique as his body, which looks as though it is sewn together from multiple species. I could hardly believe my eyes when, in a neighboring country, he faced down a fully grown dragon with the same air of confidence as a cat staring down a mouse. First, with a snapping sound from his eagle claws, he created a storm of clouds of some kind of spun sugar. These hovered around the dragon's head, nearly asphyxiating it... As Luna read, the battle continued in typical Discord style: exploding bubbles, floods of chocolate milk, and even a prison made from a house of cards!

"Tia, this is all about Discord! If anything, it illustrates how dangerous it is to have a draconequus roaming in Equestria!" Luna stomped her hoof.

"You always have been a bit impatient, Luna... Did you make it to the ending?" Celesita asked without looking up from the volume she was reading.

Luna rolled her eyes and skipped to the bottom of the page.

As Discord raised the axe to strike the final blow, however, a cry rang out through the valley, calling for Discord to stop. I turned to look just in time to see a second draconequus, a bit smaller, come out from his hiding place behind a large boulder, where he must have been taking shelter throughout the battle. The two communed for a few moments, but I couldn't hear them because of my distance from the fray. The smaller place his lion paw on Discord's shoulder, obviously urging him that the battle was over. With a nod from Discord, the two vanished in a flash of light and a wisp of smoke.

Luna shook her head. "I don't get it, Tia. Are you saying that this draconequus you found is the peacekeeper?"

Celestia nodded, closing her book and gently placing it in the corner. "That's my theory. There were even a few records that give a possible name: Eclipse. They knew each other really well, and every account that mentions him is the same. He is always seen with Discord, seems to keep him in check, and never causes any kind of trouble of his own..."

Luna stomped her hoof in anger again. "Then where was he when Discord invaded Equestria? He certainly didn't keep Discord in check THEN, did he? We were left to his twisted chaos to try and fend for ourselves..."

Celestia shook her head in bewilderment. "Luna, I can't answer those questions. I'm afraid this "Eclipse" is the only one who knows..."

The labyrinth was a much scarier place at night. While Celestia wasn't technically "in" the labyrinth, but above it, it was still scary to look at it and imagine what it would be like to be lost inside. Walls moved faster and more often now, giving the entire labyrinth below an appearance of some great behemoth moving in the night. She didn't even know if the second draconequus would come back so soon, but she tuned out her doubts and listened for the voice she had heard singing a few days ago as she glided towards Discord's resting place.

I am not a fan of puppeteers

but I've a nagging fear

someone else is pulling at the strings...

There it is! Celestia smiled and flew towards the voice, keeping high in the sky and looking downwards. He had the same voice, filled with the same feelings of regret and mourning. This was definitely the draconequus she had seen before.

Something terrible is going down

through the entire town,

wreaking anarchy and all it brings!

When Celestia was sure that she was directly above Discord's resting place, she took a deep breath and prepared to cast the spell that she and Luna had created. Her horn began to glow, which was the most dangerous part. if he were to look up now, it would all be over. He would see her and bolt again. The glow grew brighter and brighter as Celestia summoned the necessary energy.

I can't sit idly!

No I can't move at all...

There was a huge explosion of yellow light that flew downwards, faster than the eye could see. When it was about to reach the ground, the light spread out into a large dome, settling around the clearing and down into the ground, actually forming an orb around the intruder.

"Yes! We did it, Luna!" Celestia shouted as the shield began pulsating with light. "Not only did we replicate Shining Armor's spell, but we adapted it to a draconequus!"

She floated down to the ground, eager to see her work. What she saw inside, though, was horrific.

It was like a tornado of chaos. Cotton candy clouds spun with chocolate milk and rainbow lightning like they were all in a blender. Soap bubbles were being thrown up against the walls and exploding with a concussive blast that made her ears ring in pain. Playing cards were being shot like knives at the wall and staying in place, somehow managing to make tiny scratches on the wall that would soon heal again with more energy pouring over it. All of this was punctuated by the constant thudding of his body flinging against the wall as he tried to teleport himself out.

Oh, no... "Stop it!" she cried, trying to be heard above the noise. "I just want to talk to you! Stop fighting it!" She placed a hoof on her face. Obviously, he couldn't hear her with all of the chaos inside of his prison. I guess it's time for me to do my Luna impression... She thought as she cleared her throat.

"BE STILL! STOP FIGHTING! I WISH TO SPEAK WITH YOU, THAT IS ALL!" She shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice. It had been many years since she had been forced to speak at that volume, however, and it sent her into a fit of violent coughing. By the time she had recovered and stood up straight again, all of the noise had stopped within the dome, and all she could see inside was the normal clearing, statue and all, and what appeared to be a very angry draconequus with his arms folded across his chest and his blue eyes staring at her with utter loathing.

Well, it's time to test my theory about him being the peaceful one... Celestia swallowed loudly, trying to quell the wave of fear that had suddenly come over her. Without another moment of waiting, she walked forward and into the dome.

Comments

[-Brutus]

I'm going back to old, good fanfics and rereading it all. I'm starting with yours!

[Twisted Code]

Your creativity is not lost on me. This is interesting! And the pace you were turning these out is quite impressive. I don't know if you went back and edited anything, but even if you did, good Lord man you must have had some time on your hands that summer.