One Bolt, Many Questions

by Boltsinger

Reconciliation

The castle shook once more. Books had fallen off of the shelves, and Boltsinger had to fly just to keep his equilibrium. Owlowiscious was frantically flying around, trying to pick up as many books as he could while Abu clung to a pillar. The stallion found himself chasing the bird in an attempt to calm him down, but there was no luck there, as a loud knocking came at the front door. He patted the owl on the head for encouragement, then sped to the foyer, opening the front door.

“Of course you’re the one to answer the door.” a yellow stallion with a dirt-brown mane huffed, his wings balled into fists.

Boltsinger recoiled at the sight of his brother, backing up several steps. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for my wife.” Brightling answered. “She’s been gone for the last three days. Left a note saying she was looking for something. I was told the thing she was looking for was in Ponyville, then I arrive and there’s an earthquake! I was hoping she would have paid the Princess another visit.”

“Twilight’s been gone for a few hours, now. Said something about an emergency.” He told him. “The map called her and our friends to the Everfree Forest… I’m getting worried…” He slapped his muzzle with his wings, trotting past the yellow pony. "Tell you what, I’m gonna go look for my fiance. If I find Sparks, I’ll tell her you’re worried, ‘kay?”

Brightling reached out with his wing, yanking on Boltsinger’s tail and pulling him back. “I have a better idea. We both go.” he reluctantly suggested. “You wouldn’t survive Everfree on your own. I might as well make sure the job gets done right.”

Boltsinger struggled, eventually pulling his tail from his brother’s grip. “Well, you are the idea guy. Come on, I’ll show you the way.” He motioned his wing to beckon him along.

The two headed east, Brightling at a gallop while Boltsinger sped through the air above him. Brightling’s face seemed to be on the confused side. “You said you were gonna be looking for your ‘fiance’... Are you getting married?”

“That’s kinda what ‘fiance’ means, big brother.” the blue-maned stallion deadpanned.

“Yeah, but the idea of you getting married isn’t exactly something that comes easily.” the brown-maned one retorted. “So who is the mare in question?”

“What, you mean it’s not obvious?”

“Obvious how?”

“I live in her castle.”

Brightling looked up at his younger brother with the widest eyes he’d ever had. “You’re marrying a Princess?”

Boltsinger nodded. “Yeah, I guess I am.” They kept going for several minutes. “So, you’ve definitely matured since the Gala.”

Brightling cast an offended look. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, you didn’t try to hospitalize me when I opened the door.” he explained. “What changed?”

“I had a few run-ins with some ponies from this town.” he said, casting his gaze forward. “The pink one that was obsessed with your birthday explained some things. You didn’t seem so monstrous after that. Plus there was that big red one. Big Mac, I think? He put up a pretty good argument on what it means to be a sibling.”

Boltsinger let out a small chuckle. “They’re good friends. I’m glad to see you changing for the better.”

As the two continued their journey to the forest, black vines began to encroach upon the town. They stopped at the mouth of the forest, the vines covering the trees and lashing out. “What’s going on, here?” Brightling queried. “Even the clouds have these freaky plants coming out of them!”

“I’ve heard about this…” Boltsinger stated, putting his hoof to his muzzle. “The Everfree Forest is attacking! That’s only happened once before, and that was when… Oh no…” He flew back a bit, ready to build momentum. “The Tree of Harmony is in danger! Come on! Twilight is probably already there!” Boltsinger rocketed towards the forest, faster than his brother had ever seen.

“Hey, wait for me!” he cried, galloping after him.

A ways into the forest, the brothers came upon a yellow-green swamp, a number of craggy black rocks sticking out of the surface. Boltsinger landed next to the shore, eyeing it carefully. Brightling stepped forward, reaching his hoof towards the first rock in an attempt to cross, but found himself yanked back by his brother’s teeth, landing on his rump. “What the heck was that for?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to step on those rocks.” Boltsinger told him. “Ironic that you say I wouldn’t survive here when you don’t know what all is waiting.”

Brightling stomped his hoof and faced his brother. “What are you talking about?! Have you been here before?”

Boltsinger’s scowl matched that of his elder brother’s as he faced him. “What part of me living in Ponyville and, oh, I dunno, showing you the way to the place we need to go tells you I’ve never been in the Everfree Forest?” He pointed at the rocks with a wing. “That is a Cragadile. And if you step on it, it’s gonna attack! I read about it in the friendship journal! Twilight was pretty meticulous in her descriptions and book references.”

“So how do we get over it, then?” Brightling demanded. Boltsinger raised his wings, twinkling his feathers. Brightling took several steps back. “Oh, no… I am not flying! I don’t care what’s in danger, but I’m never getting up in the air again!”

Boltsinger jumped to a position that put his brother between himself and the water. “Too bad! You’ve got no choice!”

“What in Equestria are you talking abo--” Brightling was cut off as his brother flapped his wings as hard as he could, creating a blast of wind that sent the older stallion flying high over the water, screaming in terror as the rock-covered beast shot up out of the water, closing its jaws only just barely missing Brightling’s tail. He twisted himself around in the air, balling up a wing and slamming it into the beast. At the impact, the Cragadile faltered, falling to the water below as the yellow stallion landed on the other side of the water, snorting angrily. “Give me a warning next time, darn it!”

Boltsinger fluttered down beside his brother, looking more smug than he’d ever felt in his life. “Fine by me. Now let’s go!” He turned around, galloping down the trail. Brightling smiled at the orange pony, quickly following suit.

The brothers delved ever deeper into the forest, a number of howling Timberwolves repeatedly lunged out to attack them, but were all met with either a furious strike from Brightling, or a powerful gust of wind created by Boltsinger to send them flying away. Before long, the two found themselves nearing the edge of the forest, the black vines at their thickest with open maws looming over them.

“You sure you don’t wanna fly?” Boltsinger asked, looking at the black mass.

“Even if I did, those clouds up there look like they don’t want to be busted.” Brightling replied pointing his hoof up at the sky. “We’re gonna have to force our way through!”

Boltsinger looked up, spying a large number of thorned clouds. “Okay, but how do we do that, idea guy?”

Brightling brought a wing to his muzzle, dodging a vine that lashed out at him. “Well, this is a veritable ‘storm’ of vines, right?” He landed next to his blue-maned brother, looking up at them. “Now, who do I know that can cut through a storm?” He smirked, looking to the side. “Come on, little brother! Your fiance needs your help right now!”

Boltsinger felt an immense jolt in his spine, his wings growing stiff with electrical discharge. Brightling stepped back, recognizing the sight and seeing the lightning on his brother’s Cutie Mark crackling and whipping around, the necklace he wore giving off a powerful light. “You’re right… And you know what happens when somepony needs me?” He lowered his head and hunched over, motioning his tail in a beckoning manner, as if telling him to jump through behind him. “I get serious… Now… You stupid vines…” he reared up as much as he could, taking a deep breath. “GET OUT OF OUR WAY!!!” he bellowed, flapping his wings with a massive thunderclap. He shot forward, the electricity surrounding his body as he plowed into the vines. The vines pushed against the Pegasus, attempting to bite at him. He growled in frustration, the lightning emanating from him intensifying and burning the jaws right off of the ends and straight through the area where he struck, sending debris from the vines everywhere.

Brightling stared in awe at the feat, lingering for a moment before he shook his head, galloping forward and jumping with all of his might. He stepped for a brief moment onto the vines and made one last leap, landing on the steps below. He descended the stairs as quickly as he could, coming to a skidding stop as he reached the bottom of the canyon. He looked up at the sky, seeing the orange and blue streak that was his brother performing an immelman turn and rocketing towards the ground. With another thunderclap, his brother landed in front of him, a faint discharge still coming off of his body. “Wow…”

Boltsinger rose to his hooves, looking Brightling sternly in the eye. “How was that? Monstrous enough for you?”

Brightling beamed, putting his hooves on his sibling’s shoulders. “Monstrous? That was just plain awesome!” he exclaimed. “I never knew you could pull off that kind of stunt! My little brother… Wow.”

“Yep, but that’s enough about me. Let’s go!” he stated, turning towards a nearby cave where a red light shone. “You know, I never understood why you got so enamored with Sparks.”

“Call it foalhood attraction, I guess.” Brightling told him, looking at the light ahead. “I always felt that, deep down, she could be a really amazing pony. Her voice was always in the back of my mind, and it helped to shape me into the pony I am today. Now I just hope she’s okay… With or without her voice in my head, I can’t help but worry about her. She’s my wife, and I love her.”

Boltsinger looked ahead, nodding to himself. “Well, as long as you’re happy, that’s alright by me.” The two stood before the cave entrance, the red glow almost covering their field of vision. The stallions turned to each other, nodding and galloping inside.

---

Sparks looked down at the pony before her. The Princess of Friendship had been incapacitated, along with all of her best friends. It was too easy, thanks to the power of her new amulet. But that didn’t bother her. Those ponies were finally going to listen to her, whether they wanted to or not. Things were finally going to go her way again.

“Sparks?” a familiar stallion’s voice started. The mare raised her head, looking at the chamber’s entrance. Before her stood the stallion that she’d done her best to be rid of, Boltsinger, and the stallion she never expected to see here. Her husband, Brightling. “What are you doing?”

Boltsinger barely even noticed the mare, as the first thing he laid eyes on was the unconscious form of his fiance, Twilight Sparkle. “TWILIGHT!” he cried out, rushing to her side and lifting her head. “What’s going on?!” he put his forehead up to hers, beginning to panic. “Why won’t you wake up…?”

Brightling looked around the chamber, the fallen forms of several mares strewn throughout. He recognized some, but was unfamiliar with others. He looked at his wife, taking a step forward. “Sparks, why are you doing this? What’s that thing on your neck?”

Sparks stepped forward, standing over the orange pony and his unconscious fiance. “You stopped listening to me… Everypony stopped listening to me! I needed to fix that problem.” She looked between the mares in the room, smirking. “And now I have.” She cast a glare at her husband, her eyes gaining a fiery red glow. “Everypony will listen to me, now!”

Boltsinger looked up at the grey pony, paying special attention to the black and red necklace she wore. “That amulet… I heard about it before… The Alicorn Amulet. Great magical power, but it warps your mind.”

Hearing his brother’s words, Brightling took another step forward. “Sparks, I’ve always listened to you! You’re my wife!”

The mare stomped her hoof, scowling at the stallion. “No, you stopped listening to me when you started to go back to that farm again! If you were listening to me, you would have known why I need you to be with me at home! Why we need you!” She lit her horn, extending out six bolts of magical energy to the unconscious mares. “But if you insist on acting against me… Then I suppose I’ll just have to have my ‘new friends’ teach you a lesson!”

Twilight’s eyes shot open, a red glow completely covering them. Boltsinger backed up as the Princess slowly rose to her hooves, looking coldly at him. She was slowly joined by the blank stares of her friends, the Elements of Harmony having fallen off of them.

“Twilight… What’s going on?” Boltsinger asked, taking a step towards her. The Alicorn’s horn flared up with a red glow, launching a powerful beam of magic at his feet.

“She can’t hear you, Bolt.” Sparks informed him. “They’re my friends, now. And I’ve asked them to send you away!” She let a malicious laugh burst out as a black and red bubble formed around her, obscuring her from view.

Boltsinger jumped back, avoiding the attack and landing next to Brightling. The brothers looked at each other, then back at the ponies before them, their eyes alight with abject terror as the mares simultaneously stepped forward.

“So that amulet she’s got… How do we get it off?” Brightling inquired.

“She has to take it off, herself.” Boltsinger explained. “We can’t force it off of her. Besides… We have bigger concerns at the moment.” He looked around the chamber. The Elements normally present on the necklaces that Twilight’s friends wore were distinctly absent, the jewels laying on the floor where their bearers had been. Twilight’s crown was sitting on the floor by the wall, still sparking with magic. “Maybe if we reunite them with their Elements… We can break the hold… What do you think?”

“And I thought I was the idea pony…” Brightling said, lunging forward. He dove for the closest element he could find, a blue one shaped like a balloon, and grabbed it with his wing. As he scooped it up, Applejack and Rarity stood on either side of him, each dragging a hoof across the floor. “Bolt! Which one does the blue one go to!”

“Look at their Cutie Marks! Their Elements have the same shape!” he explained as Rainbow Dash barrelled towards him. Rainbow’s faster than me… But Sparks is controlling them… She doesn’t know them like I do! He gave a fierce smirk, dodging to the side as his flight coach rocketed past him. He searched the room, spotting the purple Element of Generosity with Pinkie Pie standing in front of it. He flapped his wings, hard, jumping into the air and behind the bouncy mare and grabbing the element in his teeth. “Brightling! I’ll trade you!” He called out, holding the gem up with his wing.

Pinkie turned around, jumping at the orange pony in an attempt to grab the element from his wing. Boltsinger quickly retracted his limb, ducking below the diving mare only to jump high as she was clear. He twisted his body, tossing the Element towards his brother, who repeated the gesture with the blue one. The brothers landed, facing Rarity and Pinkie Pie respectively. The two mares, plus Applejack, dashed forward. Boltsinger and Brightling met the charge of their targets and slapped the jewels into the necklaces they wore. Brightling jumped out of the way of Applejack’s rush, looking at Rarity as she rose into the air, a purple glow surrounding her. Boltsinger stood behind Pinkie Pie, who had done very much the same with a blue shine. After a moment, the mares landed, the magic connecting them to Sparks snapping apart.

Rarity let out a groan, putting her hoof to her head and opening her eyes. “What in Equestria is going on…?” she asked, looking at Sparks. “Oh, yes… that.”

Pinkie looked around frantically. “I’m awake! What happened? Did we win?!”

Brightling put his hoof on Rarity’s shoulder. “How well can you two move around?”

Rarity looked puzzlingly at Brightling. “Aren’t you…? I can move perfectly fine, thank you very much! What does that have to do with any of this?”

Boltsinger scooped up the nearest Element, presenting the red lightning bolt to Pinkie. “Get the Elements to their owners! And be ready for a fight!”

Pinkie stood up on her hind legs, saluting with her foreleg. “You can count on me!” She took the Element in her teeth, dashing after Dash.

Rarity followed suit, using her magic to lift the orange apple of Honesty and facing Applejack. “Darling, you could really use something with that accessory of yours!” she cried out, charging after her farm pony friend. Applejack leaped over the Unicorn, making another bid for Brightling. The yellow stallion jumped at the mare, flapping his wings ever-so-slightly to gain some air above her and holding her back by her forelegs as the fashionista put the gem in its place. “There, that’s much better!” Applejack rose up, her orange light severing the connection that kept her under Sparks’ control.

Meanwhile, Boltsinger and Pinkie Pie dodged a number of charges from Rainbow Dash. Pinkie bounced around with bubbly laughter, beginning to give chase as Boltsinger skidded to a stop. He searched the room once more, diving for the butterfly-shaped jewel that represents Kindness. “You handle Rainbow!” he yelled, turning to another Pegasus that stood angrily before him. “I’m gonna talk some sense into Fluttershy!”

Pinkie nodded, shooting off after Rainbow Dash with her Element in hoof. “Aaaaaaaaaaaand… TAG!” She shouted, catching up to the Wonderbolt and slotting the jewel in with ease.

Boltsinger stepped towards the yellow mare, looking at her furious face pleadingly. “Come on, Fluttershy, you know that face doesn’t suit you!” He told her. Fluttershy charged forward, hooves raised. “You’re too brave to let somepony like Sparks have this kind of power over you! Too kind to try to fight anypony!” He caught her hooves with his wings, holding the Element out with his hoof. “I think, though, you may need a little…” he slotted the gem into place, the pink glow forming around her. “... nudge… in the right direction.”

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy touched the ground simultaneously, taking in the room around them as Brightling walked up to Boltsinger.

“Why hasn’t your fiance been attacking?” he wondered, staring at the motionless Princess. “It was almost all these five.” As if responding to his statement, Twilight’s head jerked to cast her gaze on him, her horn glowing red once more.

Boltsinger’s ears lowered, a new kind of fear enveloping him as the mare took a step forward. “Because I was lucky enough to date an Alicorn… and somepony that powerful would need the extra effort!” He turned to the group. “Everypony scatter!” He commanded. Twilight charged magic into her horn, taking aim and firing at Boltsinger, who swiftly dove out of the way. Twilight’s beam persisted as she followed his movements. He searched as best he could for something to hide behind as the spell chased after him, grabbing the crown that held the Element of Magic as he crouched behind a rock formation.

Rainbow Dash charged, grabbing hold of Twilight’s left foreleg and throwing off her aim. “Twilight! What the hay are you doing?! That’s Bolt you’re shooting at!”

Brightling circled behind the Alicorn, clutching her back right leg. “She doesn’t recognize anypony right now!”

The Princess splayed her wings, attempting to throw the two ponies off of him. As they extended, Applejack and Pinkie Pie tackled the feathered limbs, holding them back as much as their Earth Pony strength would let them. Twilight raised her right foreleg, attempting to bring her hoof down upon Pinkie’s head, only for Fluttershy to thrust herself forward and grab the leg for herself.

“Twilight, this just isn’t like you! Snap out of it!” She cried, doing her very best to hold the leg down.

Twilight opened her mouth, a distorted roar coming out where her normal voice should have been. She stepped her only free limb forward, dragging the other ponies with her as she went.

“Oh, why do these situations always involve dirt?!” Rarity complained. “No matter! My friend needs me!” She let out her fiercest battle cry, charging forward and diving straight at Twilight’s back left leg, covered in dirt.

Boltsinger raised his head up from behind the rocks, looking in awe at all of the ponies working together to hold the Princess down. He rose into the air, shooting over to land in front of the struggling mare. “Twilight, I love you!” He brought the crown forward, placing it on her head and embracing her. “Come back to us!”

In the embrace, the ponies’ pendants clanged against one another again, a spark of lightning shooting between them that grew in size. A discharge began to build up from within Twilight, causing the ponies that held her to release their grip. Twilight’s wings shot straight up, reminiscent of how her fiance’s wings often behave, with magenta lightning crackling between them while the stars on her Cutie Mark all spun, shrinking and growing as if they were in the night sky. She rose into the air as the Element did its work, the line of magic that connected her to Sparks fizzling away.

With a loud thunderclap, Twilight landed, rubbing her temples with her wings as residual electricity encircled her hooves and her pendant. She groaned, shaking her head and looking forward at the Pegasus she loved. “Boltsinger?” She reared her head back, wide-eyed. “What are you doing here? What happened to Sparks?” Everypony in the chamber looked at the Princess in shock, the lightning emanating from her and her dancing Cutie Mark seeming to give her an all-new shine.

Boltsinger stepped up to her and pointed at the black and red bubble that now floated above the center of the room. “She’s there…” he told her.

The bubble began to pulse, the sound of a beating heart echoing through the chamber, the black silhouette of a mare with a red light inside her belly curled up appearing with every beat. A sense of foreboding flooded into the hearts of all the ponies present as Brightling stepped forward.

“Sparks… Come back to me… please!” the yellow stallion pleaded as the heartbeats continued.

Author's Note:

Scratch the "two" from "two-parter" and make it "multi-parter" here. There's one more thing I need to get through before moving forward.
As always, enjoy what I have planned next!

Comments

[ShadedTz]

Yesss

[Fresnor]

Twilight’s wings shit straight up

Um, yeah, as interesting as that may be to see, I believe you meant 'shot'

[Amos Anon]

8724667
Haha, reminds me of the scene from scary movie three. "They sewed your penis back on upside down."
"Is that why I pee up?"