• Published 24th Feb 2013
  • 10,959 Views, 676 Comments

My Mortal Big Brother - Dash Attack



Shining Armor goes on a quest to become an alicorn in order to save his love ones from mourning his eventual death. To do this, he must prove him self worthy of the spirits of harmony, as villains plot in the shadows.

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Consequences, Sacrifices, Resurrection, and Reuion

In the chilly night skies above Hayseed Swamps, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew alongside a worried Twilight Sparkle. Each of them bore their elements of harmony, and had harnesses with rope tied on each. The three winged ponies tugged a purple hot air balloon which carried Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, who also wore their elements.

As Twilight looked down at the marshy landscape, her heart began beating almost as fast as her wings. The thought of falling sent a shiver across her spine.

“Yo Twilight!” shouted the ever energetic voice of Rainbow Dash, “Remember what I told you; think of the sky, not the ground.”

“Dash is right you know.” chimed Fluttershy cheerfully. “Believe me, getting tense while this high up can be very dangerous. That’s why whenever I need to fly this high, I always imagine me and my animal friends in lushes green field. That always soothes me.”

The princess looked back at her friends and sighed. “I appreciate the advice girls. I’ll try and calm down, but I’m just so worried about my brother. I hope he’s alright now.”

“I told you Twilight!” nagged Dash. “I could get there in no time at top speed.”

“But then you’d be alone without the remaining Elements of Harmony.” Twilight rebutted, “And besides,” she continued, pointing at the small blue bird flying in front of them, “Wisp couldn't possibly outfly you, and we need to follow him in case the changeling took him someplace other than their castle.”

“Geesh Twilight,” groaned Rainbow as she rolled her eyes. “I was just saying.”

“Um… girls.” Fluttershy said anxiously. “I don’t think that giant wall of pink clouds was there a second ago.”

Twilight and Dash looked ahead and saw a large cluster of pink clouds that stretched from ground all the way to space.

“Oooh!” shouted Pinkie. “I recognized those clouds anywhere.”

“Discord!” Twilight muttered as a look of anger swept over her face. “Girls, we’re going to find a clearing and land.”

“Hey Twilight.” called Applejack. “I think our chaotic friend made us a runway. I see a bunch of flashy neon lights down below. You can’t miss them.”

The three winged ponies looked down and saw what looked like the outline of a concrete runway. Making a quick turn, the ponies began to make their descent downwards, all the while a single question echoed in Twilight's mind.

Just what the heck does he think he’s doing?

Flapping their wings to soften their landing, Twilight and her pegasi friends brought the balloon and themselves a smooth stop on the strange runway. Once there hoofs made contact with the ground, Twilight glared at her former foe, while he ushered them forward with the two glowing sticks in he held in both paw and claw alike.

“What are you doing here Discord?!” barked Twilight.

“Um, actually Twilight,” murmured Fluttershy. “I sort of told him. Yesterday before we left, I kind of told him about the rescue mission .”

“What?!” yelled Twilight.

Fluttershy felt her heart race at the sound of Twilight's anger. “Well you see… me and him have been sending letters to each other, so yesterday before we left I sent him a letter explaining the situation.”

“Why would you do that?” barked Twilight.

Fluttershy stepped backwards in distress, flustered by Twilight's outburst. As she stammered, Discord teleported in front of her wrapping her in his arms.

“Shame on you Twilight.” Discord said with tears in eyes. “Is your distrust for me so strong that you’d really lash out at sweet and tender Fluttershy?” He jerked his head forward and raised his voice slightly. “For shame Ms. Sparkle. For Shame!”

He then looked down and began to stroke Fluttershy's mane. “There, there Fluttershy. I’m here now. I’ll protect you from the mean princess who’s obviously let her newfound status go to her head.”

Twilight felt like screaming at the top of her lungs, but she managed to keep herself under control.

“You know that’s not true Fluttershy. He’s just trying to put a wedge between us like he always does. That being said, I’m sorry for yelling at you.”

“I understand Twilight,” replied Fluttershy as she started to calm down. “You’re worried about Shining. That’s why I thought Discord could help, and looks like he’s going too.”

“Well...that’s the the thing dear Fluttershy.” Discord said hesitantly. “I was originally going to do just that, but my brother Entropy has world altering news. Something that unless you six stop it, could mean the end of chaos.”

“Wait?” inquired Rainbow Dash as she scratched her head. “You have a brother? How come I’ve never heard of him? Also, wouldn’t an end to chaos be a good thing?”

Discord let out a deep sigh of annoyance and frowned. “Me and him kind of have a bitter rivalry going on. Also you probably have heard about him once before. In fact you might have even met him later. He gets his power from altering history, manipulating events in order to create chaotic outcomes. But sadly, as much as I’d love to go into a long and lengthy exposition on quantum physics and the multiverse theory, we really need to cut to the chase.”

Discord snapped his fingers and the seven of them found themselves sitting in a large movie theater. “Don’t worry.” said Discord as he made himself some popcorn. “While I normally hate educational films, I assure you this is much more entertaining than any Bill Neigh video you probably watched as fillies.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Twilight grumbled as the seven looked up at the large movie screen and watched the movie.

“Shoosh.” whispered Pinkie. “I’m trying to listen.”

The film started off with a black and white picture of Equestria with the words, “A World Without Chaos, a film directed and narrated by Entropy.”

The film then cut to a black and white version of Canterlot, with a tall slender draconequus with a scar on his face and a dark goatee on screen. “Greeting fair viewers,” he spoke. “My name is Entropy. I was originally going to make this movie with my wannabe brother, but since he won’t be freed for another seventy odd years, I decided I go ahead without him.”

On the screen, Entropy began to walk across the streets of Ponyville without startling the onlookers.

“Your princesses would have you believe chaos to be a wicked thing, when in fact, Chaos and Harmony are two equally important strands in the fabric of nature. For despite their differences, Chaos and Harmony exist because of free will.”

“The film is just starting and I’m already bored to tears.” muttered Rainbow Dash before getting shushed by Pinkie.

The film cut to a tapestry of the sun and the moon.

“While they are as different as night and day,” Entropy continued. “Harmony and Chaos exist solely from free will. Take that away, you get rid of chaos, but will be left with no harmony. How might I know this you may ask? Well, I’ve seen it happen. And it nearly wiped my kind off the face of existence.”

The film then cut to video footage of a castle where two alicorns fought behind Entropy. Twilight immediately recognised the two as Celestia and Nightmare Moon.

“Eons ago,” continued Entropy, “I callously decided to steal The Elements of Harmony during the legendary battle between the two sisters.”

Twilight and the other watched in horror a the as the screen cut to a bloody image of Celestia, her hoof pointing at an empty stone case, the same one the six of them found the elements in a few years ago. The image brought tears to Twilight eyes.

“No!”

“Yes!” shouted Entropy as if in responding to Twilight's outburst. “Through my melding, I altered history, and gave Nightmare Moon the advantage she need to vanquish Celestia and create never ending chaos, or so I thought it would happen.”

The screen cut to a medieval town with ponies running in terror from various nightmare creatures. Stallions, mares, and foals could be cowering in fear, while other brave souls tried to conquer the dark apparitions to no avail.

“The first 25 years of her rule,” continue the draconequus with a slight smile on his face, “The entire planet was in a state of anarchy. Oh Discord if you could have only seen it.” A small tear of joy sweat over his eyes before his face fell. “But as time went on, the creatures of this world saw that residence was futile, and once that happened, all that remained was order and fear.”

Entropy stepped aside and as a new scene began to play. The mane six gasped in disbelief at what they were witnessing on screen. Nearly a thousand were gathered outside of a large castle chanting.

Praise The Moon For It Represents Her Might
Praise The Stars For They are Only Light
Curse The Sun For Shadow Is Are Delight
Be Grateful That We’ve Been Saved From That Blight
We Embrace The Darkness, And We Cower In Fright
For The State Of Terror Does Excite
Oh Nightmare Moon For Who We Perform This Rite
May You Now And Forever Be, Our Princess Of The Night.

Twilight was beyond dumbstruck at words that echoed from the film. The Idea that ponies would worship a tyrant and a murderer on there own free was beyond her.

She turned her head to Discord and pointed a hoof. “Your mystery brother is full of it. None of this ever happened.”

“Silence Princess.” barked Discord. “That’s about to be explained.”

Reluctantly, she turned her head back to the screen just in time to see Entropy standing back in the peaceful version of Ponyville from the beginning of the movie.

The draconequus closed his eyes and sighed, twirling his paw and claw before looking back up at the camera.

“Luckily,” he said with in a remorseful tone, “There was still a small band of rebels causing trouble, who created enough havoc to allow me to make another jump through time. Had I stayed in that reality for a bit longer, I probably would have lost all my power and eventually died. Thankfully, I was able to restore history back, but that alternate timeline still exists, somewhere among a dozen other multiverses I helped create. You could say my piece in it caused a bit a trauma in me, for I no longer interfere with culturally significant events to sate my appetite for chaos. If you are watching this video, it means an event is about to take place, and unless you stop it, the draconequus will disappear forever. Oh, and on a lesser note, the world will be enslaved, but either way, we all lose don’t we?”

As the ending credits started to roll, Discord snapped his fingers and they found themselves in the Swamp again.

“Well.” said Discord as he leaned closer to Twilight. “Now you know why I need you right now, why the world needs you. Entropy told me that unless I bring you and the elements to the arctic and stop the event, chaos will die, and with it, your freedom. All that will be left is cold hearted order. Now please, forget your brother or I’ll teleport you all there by force.”

All eyes fell on Twilight, everypony (and draconequi) eagerly awaiting her reasons. Meanwhile, Twilight’s mind raced as she found herself trapped in an unsolvable conundrum.

Even if this is just another one of his tricks, she thought anxiously. Could I possibly dismiss such a warning? And what if I do dismiss it and he turns out to be right? What if I go and the Changelings do something to my brother?

Discord snapped his fingers and summoned a loud wooden clock beside her ears.

“Times almost up Twilight. What’s it going to be, the world, or your brother? Take it from me, family is nothing but a burden anyway.”

She looked up at Discord with an gleam in her eyes. “Give me proof.”

“What?” cried Discord in surprise.

“Tell me what exactly is going to happen, and maybe I’ll come with you. Prove it.”

Discord began to sweat beads.

“Okay,” He shouted as he struck a dramatic pose, placing his paw over his head. “You got me. He never told me the what, only the where and the when. For all I know, that somepony found the alicorn amulet and is taking it for a spin. But, I’m afraid the risk is too great, and I’m afraid your time is up.”

“Girls,” Twilight shouted. “He’s full of it. Let’s zap him back to stone.”

“But Twilight!” cried Fluttershy in protest. “We promised Princess Celestia…”

“That if he ever went back to his old ways we’d zap!” interrupted Twilight. “And right now, he’s trying to stop me from saving my brother’s life.”

Fluttershy turned to frantically to Applejack. “Is he lying?”

Applejack shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never been able to read Discord as well as I can other ponies. He’s got one heck of a poker face. All I know is that if that were Big Mac or Applebloom being held hostage, I would make sure they were safe first before going off on some wild goose chase.”

“Besides.” interjected Rarity. “It’s not like Discord has a good track record with telling the truth. I for one will not be confusing anymore rocks for diamonds. Thank you very much.”

Feeling cornered, Fluttershy looked at her pen pal as tears dripped down her face. “In that case, I’ll just have to go with Discord myself.”

Everypony’s eyes widened with surprises, including Discords. Removing her element of harmony from her neck, she placed it gently on the ground. She flew to Discord side and looked at her friends. “We’ve stopped the changeling before without the elements, we can do it again.”

Applejack exchanged a defeated look to Twilight before removing her own necklace.
“Sorry Twilight,” she said with weary smile. “But I don’t feel comfortable leaving Fluttershy alone with Discord. I think it be best if you four go with the rescue mission while we go check what’s up.”

“Are you two sure?” Twilight said with concern. “I’d feel much better if we all stayed together.”

“It will be alright.” said Fluttershy. “Even though you still have your doubt, I trust that Discord will protect us. By the way,” she looked up into Discords face. “When your brother said he needed the elements, did he mean the actual elements or just bearers?”

Discord faced palmed himself. “Darn him for being so vague. I swear even when his own life is at stake he never makes things easy.” He slowly pulled his hand down his face. “ I’m telling you, siblings are nothing but a nuisance. Anyways, if there aren’t going to be anymore volunteers I’ll be taking you two to the arctic. But before I go,” He stretched his head like a piece of rubber and looked Twilight in the eye. “You better pray to your princesses and your Creator that we can stop it, because right now, you just chose the safety of your brother over the possible fate of the world.”

Before she could rebut, Discord snapped his fingers and he, Applejack, and Fluttershy vanished along with the runway and the wall of cotton candy clouds.

“Come on girls!” Twilight said as she pointed a hoof at the balloon.

Before she could finish or anyone could move, a large array of purple light lit up the night sky and she felt herself pushed back by an intense shock wave. The four ponies stumbled to the ground, and watched as the purple light enveloped the sky.

“That light!” shouted Twilight. “That’s magic! But that can’t be right! No pony could generate that kind of magic under normal circumstances. If an alicorn pushed themselves hard enough they might be able to, but I don’t think…Oh no! It can’t be!”

“What’s happening?!” Shouted Rainbow Dash as she held on to a nearby rock to avoid being swept away by the strong gusts of wind.

Twilight turned to her and shouted, “It’s Shining’s magic! He’s casting a powerful spell while in magic overload.”

“What’s magic overload?” cried Pinkie, who somehow had found an umbrella that she was using to repel the wind.

“It’s a very dangerous condition, one that can be extremely fatal, especially if you try something thing like this. that only happens when a ponies hor…”

Before she could finish her explanation, the shockwave intensified and sent the mares flying backwards.

------

30 minutes earlier

With ninja like stealth he swore he never had before, Shining Armor made his way through the corridors in search of the dining room. Whenever he encountered a drone, he’d stand on two legs and press against the wall. He found it baffling that every time, the drones would walk right past him as if he were invisible. It was cartoon logic at it’s finest, and that notation made him feel all the more giddy as he made use of his new ability.

Eventually, the stallion came to an enclosed spiral staircase. Mindful of his hoofsteps, he gently descended downward as quietly as a church mouse. When he reached the very bottom, he silently cursed as he found himself face to face with another series of corridors and hallways.

If only I wasn’t half conscious before, he thought irritably. I would have easily remembered where the stupid dining hall is.

While frustrated, Shining was not going to fall into another futile stuper. Surprise had given him a way out, and he’d be damned if he let it go to waste. Lifting his head up high, he pressed onward, determined to overcome any and all obstacles.

As he turned right into another long corridor, a glimmer of hope did present itself. A filth covered rat scurrying in direction, and reminded him of his gift from Grace. Just as the rat was about to pass him, he stopped it with his magic.

The rodent nodded, comprehending his words. It scurried forward, stopping only once to usher Shining to follow. The stallion followed suit, trying his best to keep up with the rat while still being wary of attracting attention with the sound of his clopping. To his relief, he didn’t have to travel very far before the rat stopped at the base of wide wooden door.

Gently, he opened the door a crack and peered inside. Sure enough, the little rodent had brought him to his destination. Even after all the pain Chrysalis put him through, one could not forget the horror of this room, from the long rotten table to the green pods which littered the ceiling.

While examining the decrepit room, he found that it wasn’t as heavily guarded as he would have imagined. In fact, there didn’t seem to be any drones present. Yet as Shining stepped into the room and made his way to the front of the table, he soon found he was far from safe. Just past the other side of the table, a familiar hybrid slept silently in a large pod on the ground.

Crap! he thought. That’s the female hybrid I fought before in Appleloosa, the one who’s leg I sliced off. I think her name was Cocoon. Yet looking at her, it looks like her legs have grown back, cause I’m pretty sure I chopped it clear off. This must be some sort of regeneration pod her kind uses whenever they get badly hurt.

Realising he was wasting time, Shining turned his head towards the sea of pods.
But just as he was turning around, a large burst green energy struck him from behind. His body skid forward he turned to glare at his attacker.

“Well well.” chuckled Chrysalis as she walked in from the door. “It’s a good thing I came to check up on my daughter. After all, I can’t let you take away the leverage I have over you.”

Shining watched in despair as one by one, drones began to pour into the room and surrounded him.

“I must say!” continued Chrysalis. “I’m very disappointed in Wasp for failing such a simple task. He must of inherited a small chunk of your incompetence.”

Shining opened his mouth to speak before he heard the pod behind him ooze open.

Princess Cocoon stepped out of her pod with an aggravated frown.

“Volucris dammit!” she scowled. “What the hell could you all be doing that can be so…”

She stopped has her eyes fell upon Shining. She took a few steps forward, her one leg limping silently from not being fully recovered.

“You cut off my leg you worthless equine cur!” she yelled before glaring back at the queen. “Mother, please, forget the damn scepter and let me make a rug out of his coat!”

“You will do no such thing.” snapped the queen. “I want that specter, and I want to make him suffer.”

Before an argument could ensure, Shining got back up on all fours, and then unexpectedly began to break into a fit of laughter. It was mild as first, but as the stallion grinned wider, he became more and more hysterical.

“And what pray tell,” snarled Chrysalis “Is so damn funny?”

Shining just ignored her and continued to laugh, his sides hurting. Finally catching his breath, he spoke.

“Well I’m afraid you’re both going to be disappointed, because right now, I have the upper hand.”

Chrysalis violently stomped her hoof. “What nonsense is this?!”

“It’s not nonsense.” the giggling stallion replied. “You’re just too stupid to realise you’ve dug you’ve own grave.”

A warm but sinister smile formed on the queens face. “Well, if you're so confident, why don’t you humor me. What have I overlooked?”

“Well if you really want to know?” he said smugly he brought his right hoof to his ear then stretched it forward. Chrysalis gasp as she looked at the small device in the palm of his blue hoof. “Putting this on me was your biggest mistake, because now I have way too much energy for my body to contain, and I know just how I’m going to let out.”

With definite grin he brought his hoof down and smashed the inhibitor. “You see,” he continued. “You of all creatures should know that when you cut off a pony’s magic, their energy builds up to unprecedented levels. Their magic can become not only a hazard to others, but to themselves unless treated by a medical professional. I noticed something was up with my magic when I cast my unlock spell and accidently smelted the keyhole. I do apologise, that's normally not supposed to happen.”

Chrysalis gritted her teeth, her hatred for Shining now more prominent than a hundred burning fires. All the while the cocky stallion continued laugh, as if the entire army surrounding him nothing but a joke. Like she was nothing but a joke.

“That’s it!” she screamed as her horn began to charge. “Screw the scepter, I want his entrails on a stick.”

“Wait!” cried Shining, pointed his hoof up at the pods. “There’s more! You remember that charged spell Cadance helped me make perform back in Canterlot?”

As he spoke, Shining’s horn lit up and his body began to float upwards. His eyes were now glowing bright white, and the tip of his horn was shining brighter than a supercharged light bulb.

“Well I’m going to cast that same spell using the overcharge, but I’m also going to fuel it with every spark of love I have within my soul. Not just Cadance, not just Twilight, but everyone I’ve ever cared for. Ironic isn’t it? When you said that you would hunt everyone of those ponies down if I did not comply with your demands? Now, I’m going to use every ounce of love they gave me to not only free all of your captives, but send you soaring all the way to Saddle Arabia!”

Chrysalis watched helplessly as Shing curled his floating body into a ball. Then all at once he stretched both his legs.

“YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN WANT LOVE?! WELL EAT UP YOU UGLY WITCH!”

Shining’s head felt like it was going to explode as he cast his famous shield spell, with energy practically gushing from his horn. He roared and his body swelled with pain, especially through his horn, which felt like it was splitting apart.

At the exact same time though, The queen and her subjects screamed as astounding surge of pink energy spread out from Shining and engulfed the room in all directions. Drones soared and smashed through the stone the castle, piercing the castles vital structures.

Chrysalis herself was catapulted through all four floors of the castle, before being violently flung into the air with her children. Her body was traveling at velocity that left her disoriented, so she could barely comprehend what was happening around her as she and her kin flew like rocks and into the horizon.

Meanwhile, the walls of the castle and the dining room ceiling flew apart upon impact with Shining’s barrier spell. The pods swiftly disintegrated, causing the captive ponies to fall towards the hard castle floor. Before the ponies could plummet to their death, Shining exerted his overabundant magic to create a bubble around each every pony.

While this helped everypony survival the fall, doing so caused the poor stallion ever more strain.

“No!” he grunted as blood trickled down his eyes. “Everypony run, I can’t stop!”

“Shining!” cried Shadow, recovering from his imprisonment. “If you don’t stop you're going to die.”

Shining howled in agony. He realised that he’d blasted what little remained of the city. A beam as wide as the dining room itself shot up it the sky sent a massive shockwave that could be felt for miles, creating strong gust of wind toppling sections of the already crumbling castle. All the while, Shining felt like his skull was about to pop open from the inside.

No! He thought as felt another surge about to blast through his horn. If I don’t stop now, I’m going to explode. This far beyond what I should be capable of, and if don’t cut the power it’s going to consume me. But I don’t think I can stop it anymore!

Just as he felt the final surge reach the top of his horn, he closed his eyes, expecting the end.

But before that could happen, he heard a loud bang from the edge of the room, and felt a small metal projectile pierce straight through and shatter his horn in two. With his magic completely severed, he fell to the ground his hooves spread. Shining eyes started to blur, but he could hear ponies circling around, calling his name to see if he was alright. As he felt like he was about to black out, a figure walked towards him and stopped right in front him. He squirted a bit, trying to make out who or what the figure was, but all he could see was it’s black body and his blue mane.

Then his body became limp as he passed out on the cold stone floor.

------

So Cold! thought Blueblood, huddled over a fire in the frozen tundra of the north, looking down at the hole his lackeys had chipped out of the ice. As he looked down, he could just barely see the bottom, as well as the workers gnawing away at the ice.

“Haven’t you peasants found the darn thing yet?” he shouted downward in a whiny tone. “It’s a small black and red horn for auntie’s sake, and don’t tell me it’s not here because I know for a fact it is.”

A trembling voice called echoed from the pit.

“Your majesty, we’ve been digging for nearly two days now. A handful of us have already frozen to death down here. If we don’t find the darn thing soon, we’re leaving with or without our gold.”

The irratia prince up and ran to the edge of the pit.

“I don’t care if you all freeze, you will find me that horn or I’ll have my friends in tax collection put your families into poverty.”

“Holy crap I found it.” shouted in one of the workers in pure excitement farther down the hole. “I can’t believe I’ve found it.”

Blueblood perked up immediately at hearing this.

“At last, alicorn hood is mine.” Blueblood quietly muttered to himself as he joyously clipped hooves together in animation. “Finally, my nobility shall be absolute.”

Too impatient to wait for the “help” to bring it topside, the prince eagerly strapped on a harness and prepared to shimmy himself downward. Just as he fastened a rope around his harness and prepared to make the jump down, a white flash blinded him. Adjusting his eyes he saw Discord and two other ponies standing right beside his royal tent.

No! he thought, recognizing the draconequus from his aunt’s stories. That monster must be trying to stop my beautiful accession!.

“Stay back demon!” he cried as pointing a hoof at the draconequus. “It is my birthright to become alicorn.”

The orange pony looked up at Discord and tilted her head with a deadpan expression.

“Really?” she asked. “Alicorn Blueblood is the “scary” threat that it required all six elements to stop?”

Discord let out a sigh. “I should have known Entropy was playing a dumb joke on me. Although what I’m finding rather odd is why such a pampered snob like Blue Balls would travel all the way to the middle of nowhere when he could easily perform this little transformation anytime he wanted.”

“What!?!” the Prince cried glaring, “Explain yourself retched hell spawn.”

“First off!” Discord corrected. “Never associate me with hell. Believe me I went there for a visit once and found the place rather dull. Too morbid, and not enough fun! Anyways, I’m surprised your Auntie never told you. Before anyone with the gene can become an alicorn, they must dedicate their life to a purpose greater than themselves. Honestly, the fact you haven’t sprouted wings yet baffles me.”

“Preposterous!” Blueblood screamed. “My sister was had wings the moment she was born. She couldn’t possibly taken some dull and pointless commitment.”

“Not unless she chose a purpose while still in your mommy's tummy.” Discord said mischievously, reveling in the distraught look on Blue Bloods place. “If I’m not mistaken, Cadance has unique ability that allows her to spread love and hope in the hearts of ponies. Obviously her heart must have been so full of love that she unknowingly chose her purpose even before her mind was fully developed. Or it could be the universe decided it liked her better than you. Either way, it’s not my fault that you’ve been too selfish and stupid to see it all this time.”

As Discord broke into a cackle, Blueblood tilted his head and aimed his horn at him.

“Enough of your lies!” he huffed. “You shall not interfere with destiny.”

Blueblood shot a short yellow beam at Discord and jumped backward into the hole without checking to see if he hit. Sliding down the slope of ice, he held on to the rope for dear life.

Oh, this is so scary. He thought with a shiver as he continued to his descent, trying his best not too looked down.

Staring at the rope, he panicked as it spontaneously turned into tafy. Cursing the demon, he struggled to break his harness free, now trapped under the a layer of sticky candy. Using his magic, he unstrapped his harness and felt himself fall downward. As his body started to spin, he could see the monster and his pegasus companion flying downwards towards him.

“Discord you have to save him.” he heard the yellow pegasus shouted.

“I will do no such thing.” Declared the draconequus. “I don’t always do heroics, but when I do - and this is a big when mind you - it’s never for ponies like him. I’m just rushing to see the mighty fall, literally.”

“No!” the voice from the shadows shouted in his head. “I cannot possess a mangled corpse!”

The prince felt gravity spin his body until he was facing the ground and gasped. Sometime during his fall, the pit had become overrun with shadow, as if the very bottom had been swallowed by darkness. His heart raced as he watched the darkness rise upward and grabbed him, holding his limbs in a vice grip. He squeezed, not knowing what was going, his heart still thumping from the shock of the fall.

“Help me!” he said panicked. “Sompony please help me. Please, if this is retribution I’ve learned my lesson, but please let me go! I don’t want to die.”

He heard the yellow pony’s voice above him but couldn’t make out what she was saying, as a small object shot out from the dark a bit. As got closer, he felt his fear suddenly melt away into joy and anticipation. Soring in his direction, with purple and green smoke trailing right behind, was a crooked red and black horn!

“Yes!” he cried, his eyes sparkling with desire. “Come to daddy. Make me eternal! Make me powerful! Make me beautiful!”

Suddenly, Blueblood felt a pain in his chest, and his breath began to slow down. Legs still held by the shadow, he looked down at his white fur coat, now covered in red. In the middle of that red, sticking out of his chest, was the horn, logged right in his heart.

“You did well, Prince Blueblood,” the voice echoed. “While Shining Armor would have been my preferred choice for a vessel, seeing as he is already in charge of my Empire, your blood tie with Cadance will most certainly help my cause. Plus as an added bonus, I can make use of of your precious gene which you have neglected all these years. I already know what purpose I shall serve. With your gene, I shall become the embodiment of Fear and Dominance.”

“You tricked me!” Blueblood shouted in disbelief.

“And should your really be that surprised? Didn’t your Aunt ever teach you to not heed strange voices in the dark? Luckily, I knew that if I indulged your ambition like I played on Armor’s jealousy and fear, you'd be none the wiser. And while I may have underestimated Shining’s ability, I take great satisfaction in knowing I read you like a book, and strung you up like a puppet. Now hurry up and die, so that the world may once again fear the mighty King Sombra!”

Blueblood’s head dropped as his eyes started to grow dimmer in the shadows.

All my life, He thought remotely as his vision become weaker. I could have gotten what I always dreamed of having. If only I hadn’t been so selfish, if only I ever thought of anything other than myself, I could have been immortal. A symbol which ponies could admire, look up to and endure. Now, here at the very end, I realise what a cur I truly am. Cadance, I’m sorry!”

Blue Bloods mind fell into an eternal state of silence.

------

Having returned topside after the seeing the darkness consume Blueblood, Discord and Fluttershy returned to Applejack’s side by the fire.

As they tried to explain what they saw, Applejack jumped backwards and point her hoof forward as they heard the sounds of flapping wings and the hooves landing in the snow.

“Well, well, well!” cried a voice from behind them that a first sounded like Blue Blood’s, but gradually became deeper with each word he spoke. “Not one but two of the elements, and Discord. What an unexpected surprise.”

Watching as Applejack started to quiver, Discord and Fluttershy quickly spun around to see the pony before them. What they saw gave even discord goosebumps. Before them stood a tall black pink pony with a long blond mane. His long horn was as straight as that of a royal, that transitioned from black to red the closer it was towards the tip. The pony’s huge wings spread tall and erect, their red feathers giving him an almost devilish appearance. Upon his flank, rested an atlas cutie mark similar to that of Prince Blueblood’s, but with a color scheme of purple and green instead of teal and yellow. Lastly, the dark alicorn’s eyes were a strange blend of red and green, with thick purple smoke pouring out of the pupils.

Nopony made a sound. Everypony was silent, including the strange alicorn that resembled Blueblood. Upon further examining the alicorns eyes, Fluttershy put her hooves over her head, as memories of her first visit to the empire came flooding back.

Finally the blond alicorn broke the silence with a soft chuckle.

“I can taste your fear,” he spoke. “And you are right to do so. For this body now belongs to a stallion of greater vision. Now surrender yourselves, mind, body, and soul to me, or I shall take them by force. For I, God King Sombra, have returned!”

-----

Green. Green was the first and only color Shining Armor saw when he reopened his eyes. Panicking, he slammed his hoof against the confines of his body. He heard a loud popping and felt himself burst out of his gooey prison like a newborn from an egg. Panting, he got up on all four legs to take stock of his surroundings.

But before he got a good look at where he was, he felt something pounce him from behind. He struggled violently, and felt the assailant jump backwards. Quickly he spun around and pointed his horn to shoot a stun spell.

Yet to his shock, when trying to conjure the energy for the spell, all he could find was an empty void of nothing. Frightened by his unexpected inability to cast magic, Shining turned around and bolted before his eyes could adjust to his attacker’s appearance. He could barely make out a door at the the end of the room.

“Stop!” cried the attacker.

Shining’s body and heart froze.

That voice. He thought. It can’t be.

Slowly, he turned his head around to his attacker and lowered his jaw. His eyes were dumbstruck with disbelief, yet he could not stop himself from smiling. He felt a tear trickle down his eyes as he slowly walked towards the figure.

“Is it really you?” he said. “You’re not Chrysalis or another changeling in disguise?”

The pony before hims gave him a warm smile and stepped closer and opened her mouth to sing.

“When I was just a filly I found it rather silly, to sing how many other ponies I could be meet. I had my books to read. Didn’t know that I’ll ever need other ponies, to make my life complete!”

That song. he thought. It..that must be!

“But there was was one colt that I cared for, I knew he would be there for me!”

Although his instincts told him to keep his guard up, Shining broke out into a spirit and gave his sister the widest and tightest hug he could muster. Twilight returned the hug, as tears rolled down streamed down her eyes like twin water falls.

“I was so worried!” she stuttered. “Wasp wasn’t sure if your horn was going to grow back. I’m just so glad you're safe.”

Shining gave his sister a pat and smiled, as his crying intensified. “After everything I’ve been through,” he said a bit shaky. “I’m just really glad to see you. I can only imagine the burden I put on you and Cadance. I hope one day you all can forgive me for that.”

Suddenly, his eyes shot up as a realization dawned on him. “Hang on,” he questioned. “How did you find me? Why are you here? How do you know about Wasp? Am I still in the changeling castle? And how the heck did I get in that pod and for how long was I in there?”

Twilight giggled lightly as she blinked away her tears from her eyes.

“Gosh Shining.” she replied with a soft smile and a chuckle. “Normally I’m the one barraging ponies with questions.” Once her laughter had died down, she dropped her head down.

"Is everything alright Twilight?" he asked with concern. "Why do you seem so down all of a sudden?"

“Forgive me,” she said with sadness in her voice. “While seeing you alive and well is surely a divine blessing, two of my friends are now missing, and I fear I have nopony to blame for their disappearance other than myself.”

Author's Note:

Feb 23 marks the one year anniversary of My Mortal Big Brother. Writing this epic has been a load of fun and very rewarding. I still can't believe how much attention it's gotten. So to celebrate, I worked extra hard to add as much to this chapter as I can, and even brought back Entropy (who was originally was suppose to play Sombra's role before the rewrite) as a homage to the original chapter witch I sadly deleted.

But doesn't stop there. To help me design (Posses Blue Blood) I had my friend draw me a sketch, we I'm posting here for you all to see.

Lastly, I've recently decided to wright a prequel that takes place in the alternate time line of Shining's dream. I'm hoping for it to be a one shot, but all my one shot's always turn into series for some reason. That is, unless you guys wan't it to be a new series, I'd gladly right installments to show you the alternate life. Expect that eventually. For now I'm going to take a few weeks hiatus, but I'll still be around reading fic and responding to comments and what not.

Be sure to check my blog on the 23. I'll try and post something cheese.