The Mage's Brother

by NightShadow-z

Chapter 2

“Nighty!”

A pair of lavender forelegs wrapped themselves around Night’s neck, nearly bowling him over as soon as he got off the chariot, the pegasus guards - who looked almost exactly like the unicorn guards of the castle - watching passively as they unhooked themselves to get started on moving his belongings into the tree turned library.

Night looked down at his big sister, who had practically embedded herself to him, chuckling as he gently hugged her around her neck. She was a lavender unicorn mare, a little shorter than him, despite being two years older. Her deep purple eyes, which were currently behind her closed eyelids, were a couple shades lighter than his own, which he was kind of glad for, as it made ponies think they were blood relations. Her mane and tail were a dark purple with pink and violet strips running through them, in almost the same exact style as her mother, minus the curl at the end of her mane. Her cutie mark was a pink and white six-sided star with mini sparkles around it.

“I can’t believe we get to live together again!” Twilight gushed, taking a few steps back to look at him. “It’ll be just like the good old days!”

Night couldn’t help but grin at his sister’s enthusiasm, nearly bubbling with excitement himself.

An airy chuckle came from somewhere behind Twilight, causing Night’s ears to perk up as he looked in the direction that the sound came from. His eyes widened when he saw five mares and a baby dragon standing off to one side of the library, all wearing different expressions of happiness or mirth.

“Ah think ya should give him a chance ta speak, Twi,” One of the mares spoke in a southern style drawl, causing Night to imagine her with a haystalk in her mouth and a holstered weapon at her side. “‘Sides, ya haven’t even introduced him to tha rest of us.”

The mare who had spoken was a slightly orange earth pony, her coat nearly being more of a tanned color than actually orange. Her mane and tail were the color of golden wheat, both tied at the end in loose ponytails, which Night found a bit comedic, considering they were all ponies. Her green eyes danced with mirth as she watched Twilight fidget sheepishly, a light brown stetson resting atop her head, reinforcing the wild west thought that built its way into Night’s mind. Her cutie mark was a trio of red apples in a triangle format.

“Oh, right,” Twilight replied Sheepishly, smiling back at her friend. She turned back to Night before leading toward the others, stopping in front of the baby dragon.

His scales were light purple with a light green underbelly, ear fins, and verticle spines, and emerald eyes, which, for some reason, made him think of the name Spyro for some reason. He thought it might’ve had something to do with his past life, but, the memories were hazy, as if they were the lingering afterthoughts of a dream.

“This is Spike,” Twilight introduced. “I kind of ended up hatching him in my entrance exam, and he became my number one assistant.” She explained, smiling happily at her younger brother.

Night nodded in greeting to the young drake who simply just waved back before heading back into the library.

“I’m gonna go double-check and make sure his room is ready for him, Twi,” Spike called back before he was out of sight.

Twilight smiled in the direction her assistant walked off in before motioning to the mare who had spoken earlier. “This is Applejack. One of the most honest ponies you will ever meet with an impressively large family.”

Applejack chuckled before offering her hoof to him, smiling as she did so. “Howdy, partner. It’s a pleasure to make yer acquaintance.” She greeted, grinning when Night gave her hoof a firm shake with his own.

“Likewise,” He replied before one of the two pegasus mares walked up to him.

She was sky blue in color with her main and tail being a starling rainbow color that somehow complimented her looks nicely, though, her messy mane made Night think she just didn’t like to brush it, whereas his just couldn’t be brushed that well to begin with. Her rose-colored eyes watched him for a few moments before she stuck her hoof out towards him.

“Name’s Rainbow Dash. Fastest flier in Equestria and future Wonderbolt.” She introduced, smirking as Night shook her hoof as well.

“Nice to meet you.” Night replied, not wanting to call her on her bluff lest she punched his jaw. Her personality reminded him of some of the bullies he had to deal with on a daily basis back at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, which already made him a little wary of her. A quick glance showed that her cutie mark was a tri-colored lightning bolt and cloud.

“Come now, Rainbow,” The other unicorn mare suddenly spoke up, her voice sounding similar to some of the Canterlot Elite that he saw wherever he would visit his older brother when he as off duty. “Can you not be boastful for five minutes?”

The unicorn mare had a pearly white coat that seamed to be brushed meticulously, giving off the impression that she was trying to impress somepony. Her royal purple mane and tail were curled elegantly, making Night think more of the Canterlot Elite. Her cutie mark was a trio of diamonds in a staggered formation.

She slowly walked up to him and offered her hoof. “Greetings, darling.” She greeted, smiling regally. “My name is Rarity. It’s an honor to meet you.”

Night smiled and gently took her hoof before leaning down and kissing it gently. “It’s an honor to meet you as well, miss Rarity.” He replied after letting go of her hoof.

Rarity’s cheeks gently lit up with a soft pink blush as she self-consciously moved her bangs out of her face. Twilight quickly moved him away from the pearly mare and in front of the other pegasus mare, who seemed to be hiding behind her mane.

She had a butter yellow coat, with a bright pink main and tail that nearly touched the ground. Once in a while, she would glance up at him to show her teal orbs that seemed to radiate purity and innocence. Quickly glancing past to her flank showed a trio of butterflies for her cutie mark.

“This is Fluttershy.” Twilight introduced, motioning to the shy mare. “She’s actually really shy when it comes to meeting new ponies, so, please keep that in mind. And this is-”

Whatever Twilight had said or was about to say was suddenly interrupted by a pink blur suddenly smashing into Night and pinning him to the ground.

He found himself staring up at a very pink earth pony mare with a darker pink mane and tail and her sky blue eyes that seemed to trap him in their gaze. He was afraid to even look away for fear of what this pink monstrosity would do to him.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! I don’t even know your name yet, and I can already tell we’re going to be best friends!” The pink mare stated rapidly. “What is your name by the way? And how do you know Twilight? Ooh, are you actually her coltfriend?! Is that why you’re moving in with her? Hey, wait, you’re moving in with her, I need to make a welcome to Ponyville and a moving in party!”

She suddenly took off in a blur of pink, leaving his mind reeling while also slightly shaking for fear of his sanity.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked, her concerned face coming into his view as she looked down at him before gently pulling him up to a sitting position, the other mares watching him curiously as he looked around at them.

The pegasus guards soon came out of the library and started to reattach themselves to the chariot harness. “We got everything put into the room.” One of them informed. “We didn’t actually unpack anything though.” Well, Night would’ve been surprised if they had. Regardless, he nodded to them before they took off, flying back toward Canterlot.

“Why are you all staring at him?” He heard Twilight ask next to him.
Turning back to face the four remaining mares that had come with Twilight, he saw that they were indeed staring at him, causing him to tilt his head curiously, though, he secretly wanted to just run into the library and hide.

“Well, don’t take this the wrong way, Twi, but…” Applejack started, looking over at the lavender unicorn.

“We’re just trying to figure out how you know this stallion and why he’s moving in with you.” Rarity continued, smirking in a knowing way toward him that made him really not want to ask.

“Yeah, I mean, for all we know, he could be your coltfriend or something.” Rainbow Dash finished for the other two, walking up to him and throwing a hoof around his neck. “I mean, not that I can blame you, he does seem easy on the eyes.”

Night found himself conflicted, a blush forming on his face. He wanted to pull away from the pegasus mare that he was certain would be like the bullies back in Canterlot, but she had just given him, what he thought, was a pseudo compliment. There was also the fact that they seemed to think that Twilight and he were lovers, which made him all kinds of uncomfortable.

Twilight’s face flushed when she heard Rainbow’s statement, shivering before shaking her head and stomping her hooves. “No! No, no, no, no, no! Night Shadow is my little brother!” Twilight told them, looking disturbed. “I’ve never even thought about him like- Sweet Celestia, no!”

He sighed before looking at his older sister, lifting a hoof and placing it on her shoulder, causing her to snap her focus onto him. Shrugging himself out of Rainbow’s hold, he gently sat down next to Twilight, giving her a soft smile. She seemed to visibly relax at that, nodding to him before her eyes widened in surprise in the direction of his flank.

“Wait, when did you get your cutie mark?” She exclaimed, rapidly looking up at him.

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head in slight embarrassment. “Uh, today actually.” He answered sheepishly. “While Princess Celestia was informing me that I would be moving down here with you.” He explained.

“How? Tell me how it happened!” Twilight excitedly told him, a grin now on her face.

So he explained about Princess Celestia’s summons to the throne room, meeting Princess Luna, and being informed about moving down to Ponyville. He told her about the loud explosion outside the castle walls that had surprised him so much that his magic activated, causing him to literally fall into his own shadow, the complete darkness within, and coming back out.

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna said I was a Shadow Mage.” He informed her. “Princess Luna seemed excited, though Princess Celestia seemed worried for some reason. That’s when they pointed out my cutie mark to me.”

Twilight was practically giddy by that point. Once he had finally finished speaking, she immediately latched onto him in another hug. “I can’t believe you and I got out cutie marks in similar ways!” She practically cheered, causing the other four mares to burst into giggles.

“Wait, what do you mean similar ways?” Night asked, confused and intrigued.

Twilight’s smile made him realize that he was in for a long story.

“Let’s go into the library.” She told him, leading him inside, followed by the other mares. “It’s a story that we all share.”

*****

Night stared at the five mares seated around him, not fully able to process what they had just told him.

"So, let me get this straight." He stated before pointing at Rainbow Dash. "You performed a sonic rainboom, which gave you your cutie mark. But, the rainboom was seen by the rest of you, which surprised you all so much that you each got your cutie mark in various ways."

"Pretty awesome, right?" Rainbow asked.

They were all seated in Twilight's living room, which was actually just an assortment of couches and tables inside the main room of the library, with a fireplace sitting within one of the walls.

"But... how could such a thing be possible?" He asked, looking to his sister for answers.

Twilight giggled at his expression before explaining with. "All six of us are actually the Elements of Harmony." She explained. "I think that day we all got our cutie marks was the first time we were actually linked together by something special."

Night was reeling at the new information he had just been given. Before he could even comment on anything, the door to the library suddenly slammed open. Quickly turning his head in that direction, he saw Pinkie Pie pulling a huge box of party supplies and even a canon into the library.

"It's time to start decorating for this party!" She exclaimed, firing the cannon. Night, of course, dove under the table for fear of his own life.

Comments

[KnightOfZaku]

I'm surprised that Night has never met Spike before. Has Night not had any contact with Twilight since the day she became Celestia's student?

[NightShadow-z]

10258887
Well, my idea was that she would visit him from time to time whenever Spike was cleaning up her dorm, or, out doing is own thing

[KnightOfZaku]

10258917
That makes sense. However, it still seems odd that she never talked about Spike during those visits.

[NightShadow-z]

10258936
They were both studying magic at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. I think Twilight would've been more focused on helping her little brother succeed and talking about the different magic she's learning. Also, she was the only student with an assistant, I don't think she would want to make him jealous

[Mix-up]

Interesting chapter, so Night is closer to Twilight's age or Star Tracker so he counts as more of an adult/teenager. So seeing that Twilight just told him that they all got their cutie mark at the same even means that this takes place much later in the first season, so he missed a lot of the early events of the series I take?

I think your writing was pretty much on the mark this time around the description of the other Mane six was spot on and you incorporated it pretty naturally for the most part, in both appearance and character good job on that. You still have room to improve, but at this point it would just be nitpicking for nothing, and it will flow even more naturally soon enough.

Keep up the good work.

[NightShadow-z]

10259708
Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Every time I write I take the time to try and improve my writing style, so, I'm glad to see it's paying off

[Mix-up]

10259804
No problem, good luck on your next chapter

[Blik]

Cannon, not canon. Pinkie's "Party Canon" specifies the use of a Party Cannon.

And I'm surprised Rainbow walked toward Night to meet him. Y'know, as opposed to flapped, or dashed.

[NightShadow-z]

10260074
I mean, the first few chapters are taking place during earlier seasons, plus, knowing Twilight, she would've had them waiting with her for a good while before he finally arrived, so, in my mind, Rainbow had gotten tired of flying while waiting and decided to stay on the ground for the most part.