Unending Bonds

by Nocturnal Serpent

Origins: part 2

Previous Chapter

I don’t own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and I am not writing this story for any monetary gain. I do; however, own Marcus, Dameon, and any other of my own OC’s.

This chapter and maybe a few from this point forward will have some PoV changes among Marcus, Dameon, Luna, and Celestia. Anything thought by them will be in italics.

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Canterlot Castle

Marcus and Dameon were being lead through various halls in the castle towards their temporary guest rooms when Marcus tried to strike up a conversation with the guard leading them.

“So, what’s it like standing around watching dust float by all day?” he asked.

“Well I suppose it depends on the pony. I myself happen to love the way it seems to decide it can do whatever in Tartarus it wants, and sticks itself to everything making all my stuff hard to clean,” the guard said looking back and up to Marcus with a small smirk.

“Holy shit we got a talker, I honestly expected none of you to talk to us,” Dameon said looking down to the guard with a smile.

“Well, while you’ll hear from other guards that a professional atmosphere is the best way to keep the castle and the Princesses safe, that isn’t necessarily true in my opinion. What do you two think? Would you rather know somepony and their capabilities through a couple of conversations and friendly competition, or through weeks, maybe months, of observation that doesn’t necessarily hold true?” the guard asked the brothers.

“You sir, seem to know your stuff. What’s your name?” asked Marcus.

“Silver Streak, and yours?” the guard now named Silver Streak responded.

“I’m Marcus, and this awkward looking guy here is my brother Dameon!” Marcus said while swinging an arm around Dameon’s shoulder.

“Love the introduction Mark,” Dameon said with a small smile towards his brother’s antics.

“Hey, we’re here. I hope I can get to see you two again soon. If you ever need an extra hand you guys ask for me alright,” Silver said to the brothers while showing them their rooms.

“Alright thanks Silver, and you be careful around that dust man. Shits some crazy stuff,” Marcus said while walking towards his room.

“Will do Marcus, have a good night see you two later hopefully.” And with that, the two brothers entered their rooms… just to walk right back out of them once they heard Silver leave.

“Alright dude let’s do this,” Marcus said walking into Dameon’s room.

“Right, here you grab the bottom and I’ll get the top,” came Dameon’s reply.

“Okay one… two… three… up. Alright, here let me go first.”

“Damn this thing is big. Okay twist your end to the right, aaand now we walk.”

“Okay, twist your side now Dom.”

“Gotcha, alright now walk it over there and let’s put it down.”

“There we go. Alright man, goodnight. Now get some sleep,” Marcus said to Dameon.

“I will. See ya in the morning,” Dameon replied as he walked over to his bed now placed in front of the wall opposite Marcus’. They hadn’t slept far away from one another in nearly a millennium, and the fact they were on a world with aliens they didn’t fully trust yet, hadn’t allowed them to break this habit just yet. Although they definitely could, but they didn’t feel fully comfortable with the inhabitants to be too far apart from one another and just didn’t feel like risking it. If Celestia and Luna had a problem with it, then they would just have to deal with it.

The brothers had stripped down to just their boxers and flopped onto the beds and under the covers before slowly drifting into a restful slumber, but not before Marcus whispered a few words in an ancient and long forgotten language.

Dameon’s PoV

I slowly opened my eyes and looked around at my surroundings before letting out an almost inaudible chuckle.Well I suppose I can’t complain, it has been a while since he’s done this afteral.

“ALRIGHT MARK COME ON OUT, LET’S DO THIS!” I yelled out across the grassy plain I was currently standing in while I summoned my beautiful sword that I had named Venom to my side. I slowed my breathing and focused on my surroundings, looking for the smallest disturbance in the air, and I had noticed it just in time too. Mark had come sprinting towards me at incredible speed with his warhammer held beside him, poised for a strike, and he had started to bring it down on me. I barely had time to dodge the attack and Marcus easily noticed it, and didn’t let go of it.

“Already getting slow Dom? Only been a few months,” Mark said to me with a small chuckle and smile while he straightened his stance and brought his hammer to rest over his right shoulder.

“You got lucky man. Just shut up and let’s get this started, so I can finish it.” I said with a cocky smirk directed towards him. As soon as I took up a stance with my right foot slightly in front of the left, we dashed towards each other, and began a tradition that we had been doing ever since we took on these powers.

Luna’s PoV

I had just finished getting ready for and slipping into bed before casting my dream walking spell when I felt a slight ripple of magic flow across me. I thought nothing of it and finished casting the spell and felt myself drift into another plane entirely, but I immediately noticed something was off as I looked around and noticed that I was standing in a grassy plain, not the usual clearing in the forest. Somepony had messed with the dreamscape in a dramatic way, and it unnerved me slightly.

I heard an audible CLANG in the distance and began to follow where I heard the sound come from, floating lazily along with my wings. Once I discovered the source of the sound, to say I was horrified would be an understatement. Because in front of me lied my new acquaintances, Dameon and Marcus, with blood splattered across their forms, both breathing heavily and in a kneeling position. Marcus began to slowly lift himself from his position, as did Dameon, and they looked at each other before picking up the weapons at their sides and dashing towards one another. Right as Dameon was bringing his sword down for a slash against Marcus, I steeped in.

WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE NIGHT IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW!?” They immediately stopped, looked at me, back to each other, then to me again, and promptly dropped their weapons and fell to their backs while laughing. I was absolutely appalled at the display, but I wanted answers to why they were attacking each other, and I wanted them now.

“HOW COULD THIS POSSIBLY BE FUNNY!? EXPLAIN TO ME HOW ALMOST KILLING YOUR OWN BROTHER IS FUNNY?” Both of them eventually stopped and looked over to me while Marcus began to speak.

“Yeah hang on Luna I’ll explain in a sec, just let me get Celestia in here.” When he said this I adopted a look of surprise and was about to speak my confusion on just how he could do that because as far as I knew, I was the only being able to traverse the dreamscape like this and the only way anypony besides me could enter it was with my help, but apparently these two could somehow do that as well. Before I could say anything I saw him close his eyes and heard him whisper some strange dialect with the only word me being able to understand as Celestia along with a small whirlwind picking up beside him, and the blood on him and his brother along with their injuries slowly starting to fade. Once I saw this, I decided to hold my tongue and just watch while studying the scene with a curious gaze.

Celestia’s PoV

The last thing I remembered before appearing in this strange swirling wind was having just fallen asleep, and the fact that it happened so abruptly surprised me enough to not watch where I had stepped. I had tried to step out of the wind barrier only to trip and start to fall, but I had not fallen on the ground as I had thought I would. I had instead fallen into somepony’s, or in this case someone’s, arms. During the fall I had apparently wrapped my arms around and buried my face into whoever it was that caught me, I would have to guess it was some kind of self-preservation instinct; however, when I looked up and found out who it was that I was holding onto, I felt a small tinge of red make its way onto my cheeks.

Marcus was looking down at me with an amused smirk and a raised eyebrow, and when I saw that, I scrambled to my hooves in an attempt to at least save some of my dignity. Once we were both standing up, I took notice of Dameon and Luna both staring at us and snickering at the scene that had just unfolded, before Marcus spoke up.

3rd person PoV

“Alright, so Luna allow me to explain exactly just what it is you had walked in on. Celestia, I brought you here as well be-” he didn’t get to finish speaking though because Luna interrupted him.

“Yes, please explain to me just how you and your brother can traverse the dreamscape, and bring another being into it with just a few words and why you two decided to spend your time here trying to KILL one another!” Luna was still harboring a very aggravated attitude towards the situation she had come upon, and she still definitely wanted her answers.

“Luna, I could get to that if you would let me talk ya know,” Marcus responded towards the darker colored alicorn.

“Wait, you two were trying to kill each other!? WHY IN TARTARUS WOULD YOU BE DOING THAT!?” Celestia was afraid for the safety of the brother’s sanity, and relationship. The fight between Nightmare Moon and her may not have been because of Luna, but that still didn’t stop not being able to see your own sister for a thousand years from hurting. She didn’t want killing your own sibling to be on anypony’s conscience, either if it was by accident or, god forbid, purposeful, and she was going to keep it from happening, even if it killed her herself.

“While we appreciate the concern you two, it is wrongly placed. Luna it seems to me that you have knowledge of this place, and since you do, the fact that not only can you not die in here, but any wounds obtained here don’t hurt, don’t last, and don’t transfer to your real body, should be known to you,” Dameon said to the sisters.

“I… you’re right, I do know that, but it still doesn’t explain to me why you guys were fighting,” Luna rebuked.

“Well that’s a little bit of a longer story, and I suppose since we can still be mostly rested while being in this place we can give it to you,” Marcus started, “ But you two should probably imagine up something a bit more covering, not that I mind it, but I’m sure it wouldn’t befit a princess to leave herself so uncovered.” When he had finished talking, both Princesses looked down and let out quite an adorable feminine shriek at the fact that they were both still in their night-gowns before both of their horns glowed and there was a flash of light that left the two covered in casual clothing and an aggravated look towards the smug looking brothers. Princess Celestia had adopted a slight blush again as well at the fact that she had fallen onto Marcus like that.

“Alright, sorry about that Princesses,” Marcus paused to chuckle lightly at the two before he continued, “But as for why you are here Celestia, I figured if we were going to give your sister some more of our history, might as well give it to you as well. Now the reason we were fighting like we were, wasn’t because of any kind of grudge, it was just the simple fact that we like to keep our combat effectiveness up by having a friendly… hmm, shall we say, ‘spar’ every so often, and our old masters had taught me a few words in an ancient and powerful language that allowed multiple persons to be able to share the same dreamscape. Which in turn had allowed us to fight without actually harming one another. Although the fact that you had entered our dream was probably a fluke Luna, what I want to know is how exactly you managed to come here without my knowledge. So could you please enlighten me?”

“Well I had actually felt a small surge of magic pass by me just as I was preparing my dream walking spell, it’s possible that that was your own magic, and that it mingled with my spell thus transporting me here instead of the place I usually go to watch for anything trying to harm our ponies through their dreams,” Luna replied.

“Ahh… that would actually explain it, and now that were all here and the confusion has cleared, is there anything more you would like to know about us before we get to your own history?” Dameon asked with a curious gaze pointed towards Celestia and Luna.

“Yes, actually, there is. I would like to know just how old you two are exactly, and in turn Luna and I will tell you how old we are,” Celestia told the brothers. Dameon started with a sad but small sigh, and quickly decided to keep himself away from the train of that he was leading himself towards before speaking.

“Well Celestia, I myself am one-thousand-seven-hundred and sixty-two years old, while Mark over here is one-thousand-seven-hundred and sixty-four years old.” Both Celestia and Luna looked at them with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth.

“I… I honestly am quite surprised to hear that. You two are both just a little over sixty years older than we are, and apparently now take our place as second and third oldest beings on the planet,” Luna told the brothers and observed their faces take on a look of shock.

“Wait just a minute, you two are both only sixty years younger than us, and there’s someone, or something, that’s older than us on the planet!? Well why the hell didn’t you tell us earlier?” Marcus said with no small amount of confusion and enthusiasm at having someone else to talk to that wouldn’t just waste away.

“We actually did tell you that we are, in fact, immortal while we were dining earlier, but not the part about something being older than you two. Did you not hear us? Or were you just not paying attention?” Celestia said with a smile.

“I think that part may have been when we were ordering our meals, sorry,” Dameon said with a sheepish grin towards the sisters.

“Think nothing of it, it isn’t a big deal afteral, but may I ask just how exactly you two came across the beings that trained and gave you your powers?” asked Luna and Marcus took the initiative to reply

“Sure, the story isn’t the best though, and if at any point you need clarification let us know. But I see no problem in telling it to you as long as you two give us a little bit about your history. So, let the story commence.”

Earth, United States, Tennessee

“HOLY SHIT! THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST VACATION EVER!” came Dameon’s frantic yelling. The brothers, along with their uncle and dad, were enjoying a nice vacation in the Smoky Mountains that run through Tennessee, otherwise known as the Appalachian Mountains. They had been sitting in the cabin that they had rented out for the week, when their dad had gotten a call from his superior telling them to pack up and head into the mountains where they would be given further instructions on where to go and what to do. The call had been about an attack from Chinese air forces that were headed their way with multiple destinations targeted. The brother’s dad was an important person to the United States military and he had happened to be one of the targets. All of them were surprised at this revelation, especially since this was the first attack on U.S. soil in many, many, years, and Dameon was pretty scared at the moment because he definitely hadn’t expected this.

“DOM! SHUT UP AND HELP YOUR BROTHER PACK THE FOOD!”

“Okay, okay, deep breaths, sorry for panicking dad, but this is just crazy. Why now of all times?” Dameon asked to no one in particular.

“Dom, it isn’t as if you could have predicted this, it’s none of our faults. All we can do now is make it to the mountains and hope to ride this thing out until we can get the military to come evacuate us to safer ground, or they tell us where to head to,” said the brother’s uncle, Jack, with a comforting smile and hand on his shoulder.

“Right, alright, we’re almost done here then we can leave. DAD! YOU GOT EVERYTHING READY!?” yelled Marcus as he was walking into the room with two camping backpacks in his hands. His reply came in the form of another bag being hurtled across the room at him. He quickly dropped the ones he was currently holding and grabbed the one coming at him out of the air.

“Good, at least you actually were paying attention to what I was teaching you. You can’t properly def-” he was cut off by Marcus.

“You can’t properly defend yourself if you don’t always pay attention to your surroundings” yes dad, I do pay attention thank you. So are we ready to get out of here before those bombers get to us?” Marcus asked.

“Yeah Marcus we are, so give one of those bags to your brother and let’s go,” his uncle replied. He did as he was asked and all four of them made their way to the truck they had parked in the front, throwing the bags in the bed of it before each taking a seat inside.

“Alright guys, here’s what we’re gonna do. Once we reach an area at least ten miles from the nearest town, we get out, unpack, head into the mountains, and wait for further orders from the higher ups. Got it?” their dad gave them the run down from the driver’s seat. He got a nod from each of them. Once they were on the road they noticed that everyone else in the area they were staying in didn’t seem to have a care in the world. The news hadn’t reached them yet, which was good for them because they didn’t need to fight traffic to get out, but hopefully it would get to the public before the bombers could.

After they made it to the outskirts of the town, they took a left down a road that led to a remote patch of campground that not many people used. Once they had made it to the campground, they jumped out of the truck and unloaded all of the bags. Marcus had looked over to his dad and noticed him pulling a hunting rifle from under the back seat of the truck, and when he turned to look at him he went back into the truck before pulling out a six-shot revolver and handing it to Marcus with a nod. Marcus looked up to his dad before nodding back to him and grasping the handle of the revolver and placing it onto the side of the bag in between a couple of straps.

Dameon had just finished adjusting the bag on his back and the duffel bag around his shoulder when he had heard what sounded like a plane going by, and when he looked up he began to panic.

“Dad!? Jack!? WHAT IS THAT!?” he had been pointing towards at least 23 small dots in the sky that were slowly descending towards them.

“Oh shit, Dan! Please tell me those aren’t paratroopers!” Jack yelled towards his brother.

“I hate to tell you it Jack, but they are,” he let out a heavy sigh before continuing, “I guess the bombers were just a distraction. You still remember all that training? I know its been awhile, but we need it now.”

“Yeah I do, but I’d rather not use it now. Let’s head into the forest and see if we can’t lay low and hide from them,” as Jack was talking he motioned his nephews and brother over and all four of them stepped into the forest.

They had been walking for almost two hours and it was currently eight in the afternoon. They figured it was dark enough to make camp at this point, and Dan had set up a fairly large lean-to in between two trees that had a woodland camouflage tarp resting on top of it, along with multiple branches and leaves covering it helping it to blend in. Once it was complete they all stepped under it and into their sleeping bags, with Marcus slipping the revolver into his sleeping bag with him, and covering the entrance afterwards, letting Jack take the first watch.

An hour and a half into his watch Jack heard distant talking, and went inside the lean-to to wake his brother.

“Dan, wake up, there’s a group of what sounds like six people to the east of here, and they sound like they’re headed our way,” he was whispering so as to not wake the brothers up or alert anyone to their location.

“Alright Jack,” he sighed, “hang on a second.”

He got out of his sleeping bag and went to pick up his rifle before noticing Marcus beside him with his hand laying outside of the bag, palm face-up. He looked from Marcus to Dameon and smiled sadly at his two sons. They had grown up to be strong men and he was extremely proud of the choices they had made. He sighed for the third time that day, and took his dog tags from around his neck, placing them in Marcus’ hand and closing his fingers around them.

“Goodbye you two, I know you’ll do me proud, just like you always have. I love you two so much,” as he was whispering to himself he wiped a stray tear from his eye before pushing the flap out of his way and heading over to his brother, who had already gotten his own revolver from his bag.

“Alright Jack, let’s lead those bastards away from here, so my sons can live a full and happy life,” he said with a grim but determined attitude, and he and Jack both made their way towards the enemy, sneaking their way there, avoiding anything that could possibly give their position away.