Brothers

It had been about a week after the brothers ended up in this strange place and with that time they had figured out, what they considered to be, the basics of flight down. They had found many different creatures in the forest that ranged from wooden wolves, to hydras, to gigantic, purple bears. Needless to say, their first encounters with these oddities caused them a bit of a fright, though they soon learned how to fight them off, but more importantly, how to avoid them altogether. They had been having a great time just hanging out together, seeing as they never really had time for shenanigans in years. They were still depressed at the fact that they couldn't figure out what had happened to them or where they were, only leading to the thought that they would never see their friends or their mother again. It seemed to them that they were nowhere close to the war, or home for that matter, just based on the things that lived in the forest, not to mention the fact that they looked like mythical magical mashups, it would lead most to assume just as much.

At the moment, the brothers were playing a game of tag, though not by running around in the forest as most would, but in the air, flying between the trees and rushing over creeks. They seemed to never become weary of flying, mentally or physically. For some unknown - yet well received - reasons, they didn't get very sore after flying around, even if at all just a little sore. Their wings didn't seem to ware, which seemed rather bizarre given the fact that they had never used wing muscles before and they were very familiar with burning after a good work out.

October propelled himself about two hundred feet in the air or so to escape Jason's impressive agility. Right before he reached his peak he did a spiral, turning five times. Then he simply hovered there with soft flaps of his wings as he smiled smugly down at Jason, knowing that none of them had been that high before and that they were very wary of risking a slip up. He then looked around to enjoy the view when something on the horizon caught his attention as it glimmered in the light.

"Hey guys!" yelled October to his brothers down bellow, "you might want to see this."

"Are you nuts? Get down from there before you hurt yourself! You know how wind works, right?" Matthew yelled back.

"No, I'm serious!" retorted October.

"...Alright, we're coming!" Jason replied this time.

As the two slowly climbed up to October's level, Matthew asked, "So what is it you need us to see?"
October pointed directly on front of them and what they saw made their jaws drop. On the edge of the horizon stood what looked like a big, purple palace with a brilliantly shining star atop its golden crest. They gazed at it for a while in wonder and as it confirmed for them that there was indeed intelligent life in this wild land.

"So, you think it's worth a visit?" asked October, feeling a bit giddy at the prospect of new adventure.

"Hold on...did you hear that?" Matthew replied as he narrowed his eyes and swiveled to the right and left.

"Hear what?" inquired Jason, curious as to what got Matthew so sharp.

"Listen," Matthew whispered as they all strained their ears.
Then they heard it; a faint cry for help. They looked at each other for a moment, then on a silent agreement, the jetted off in the direction of the scream.

They heard it again, but this time, they heard more audibly spoken words..."Help, somepony help!"
It sounded like a British girl, but how would that be possible considering the fact that...oh never mind. Nothing made sense anymore. They began flying even faster until they came across something they had never expected to see. What they saw before them was a very small, white unicorn...yeah, unicorn - with a purple mane and tail about to be pounced upon by six of those strange wooden wolves as it threw what looked like many assortments of gemstones at them, which harmlessly bounced off of the bark-like skin of the hungry dogs. October notice the fear in the unicorn's eyes and it was a fear that he knew well - the fear of death.

They only took a split second to determine that the unicorn was the source of the distress call. As ludicrous as the entire situation seemed, the three brothers spared little time as they proceeded to dive bomb the wolves, hooves first. Three of the wolves were suddenly knocked across the clearing with a loud *CRACK!* followed by a ground shuddering *THUD!* of the brothers landing as three of the six wolves were splintered to pieces. The other three wolves looked toward the noise in confusion, but before any reaction time was given to them, they each got their own personal hooves to the face as well, caving each of their heads inward. The wolves yelped in pain as they tried in vain to shake the pain away. Matthew pounced upon his target and buried its face in the dirt as October held the jaws of his opponent open while twisting its neck in painful positions. Jason on the other hand, had his wolf immobilized as he drug it from the ground and into the air where he ascended until a drop would sentence it to death. The wolf writhed as it fell from its fifty foot drop and landed atop his ally that had readied itself to pounce upon October. Both quite literally snapped without another sound, though Matthew was still left fighting his own enemy. With a quick sweep of his hooves, the wolf was down on the ground and pinned by the weight of the man. Matthew drove his knee onto the dog's throat and put it down with its last few gurgling attempts to flee.

As all of this was happening, Rarity looked at these strange creatures that dived in to save her with fear in her heart and wonder in her eyes. They simply came in and tore the threat away - metaphorically and literally - as if they had practiced this many times before. Once the wolves were no more, the three turned their eyes to her and slowly walked forward with confusion evident in their eyes. They were at least six feet tall on average, but perhaps even taller, making them about the size of a minotaur, though not quite as broad as most minotaurs were. They stood a bit more than twice as tall as she was if she were to put her head up high, and even with her horn she only seemed to come up just about an inch bellow their waste line. They each stood on two hooves just as a minotaur would, with tattered camouflage pants draped down from their wastes. They also each had wings like a pegasus with their entire body covered in a cool shade of grey while also having thick, long, black manes tumbling from their heads. Their torso and arms looked much like that of a dragon or a minotaur as well, and they were each very bulky, making them a bit top-heavy and seemingly clumsy looking.

As the men approached the unicorn, October noticed that she (he assumed it was a she by the postures, gestures and style) was examining them. October backed his brothers off a bit so he could approach her alone so as to not overwhelm her. As he examined her closer, he noticed three diamonds on either of her flanks. "What have we here?" said October in a mumbled voice. When October spoke, the little equine jumped in surprise but then relaxed a little as she could see no ill intent in the creature's eyes.

"H-hello, m-my name is Rarity," the unicorn stammered.

October took a turn to be surprised along with his brothers, but quickly regained his composer, though with narrowed eyes. "Hello...I'm October. These are my brothers, Matthew and Jason. So, what are you doing out here them miss Rarity?" In him mind however, he thought more along these lines: Wait a minute...WHAT!? A talking little unicorn with a but tattoo and apparent fashion scene?...Well at least it's not a giant purple bear I suppose...

"I was collecting some gems for a new fashion line," Rarity said in a more relaxed tone. "I don't mean to be rude, but what are you. I have never seen creatures of your like before." October smiled because of the increasing absurdity of the situation.

"We're humans, ma'am! Er, anthro pegasi I guess, so I suppose that means we're only half humans now. But we're still human at heart!" Jason replied, making odd faced at the concept that still boggled him.

"What might a human be?" Rarity asked with a little more interest. "I believe I may have heard of them before.

October furrowed his eye brows and the other two exchanged glances of confusion before Jason piped up, saying, "Humans are another race of beings that look similar to us - they themselves being classified as Homo Sapiens - but with little to no fur but on their heads, no hooves, no wings, no horns - as I see you have, but they are typically about our size. So they basically look like...shaved apes...except...they're not."

"I see...Well it seems I have acquired all the gems needed, so I must be heading back before my friends get too worried about my absence. Thank you again for the help. I very well have died if not for you," Rarity beamed with a smile, still being a bit shaken by the event.

October looked back at Matthew, who whispered, "Maybe we should follow?"

"Uh, miss Rarity, would you mind if we escort you home. We wouldn't want you to get into more trouble," October asked her.

"You may simply call me Rarity, and yes you may also escort me home," she answered with a giggle. It wasn't every day a lady could say she was escorted home by three handsome, foreigners.

Not to long after they had begun their walk with Rarity, it had begun to grow dark and Rarity was looking worried. She was about to voice her worry to her new companions before Jason cut in first, saying, "Perhaps, if you don't mind, and if you could point me in the right direction, we could fly you home?" suggested Jason. As for one he knew it would be faster and he really wanted to fly again.

Rarity bit her lip in thought. "Well, I'm not much of a flier-" she was cut off but a long, spine chilling howl that cut through the night and its shivering winds. She suddenly zipped up to Jason, hugging his right leg tightly. "Okay! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" she pleaded.

Jason chuckled at her antics as he picked her up in his arms and gently rose from the ground. Rarity held onto him for dear life while October and Matthew rose from the ground as well and followed Jason at an easy pace with Rarity pointed the way home.

The sun was down and the moon was up with thousands of twinkling stars to contest its brilliance. Everyone was in bed when they arrived in a good sized, very colorful town where Rarity apparently lived. They touched down and walked with her to the edge of the town.

"Well we had better head back; nice to meet you Rarity," Matthew said as they all turned to leave.

"Now wait just a minute. You can't go back into that dreadful forest, especially at this time off night. In fact I will let you stay at my place," Rarity beamed at them.

"That might not be a good idea Rarity. Besides we wouldn't want to impose and furthermore, cause a rumpus in town. Perhaps later though?" replied October.

"Oh nonsense - you simply must. After all you saved my life; this is the least I can do to return the favor."

October looked back his brothers, who thought for a bit before nodding at him. With a bit of a sigh, October replied and said, "Alright, we'll stay."

Rarity squealed in delight while clapping her hooves together. They made their way through a silent town to what seemed to be a clothing store. Jason opened the door and motioned for Rarity to enter first.

"Well well, what a gentlecolt," she said with a smirk before entering, leaving Jason confused at her grammar usage. The other three entered after her, October giving a light punch to Jason's shoulder to give him the hint. They took a look around the room, and the first thing they noticed was...it was a mess. Now, it wasn't that there were things all over the floor or that the carpet was spotted and soiled. On the contrary, it was hygienically quite clean - there wasn't even a spec of dust around. However, there were clothes, folded or not, put all over the place, a table with pins and needles, cloth, and other strange sewing items surrounding a sewing machine. In other words, there were just lots of misplaced items.

"Forgive me for the mess, darlings. I've simply been quite the busy pony around here lately," said Rarity rather sheepishly as the many things that littered the floor and desks were picked up by a light blue aura.

"That's quite alright Rarity, we could never stay very tidy either," replied Matthew with a chuckle as he hid his confusion as to what was happening with the items around the room, seeing them floating all over the place.

He wasn't the only one confused though, as October and Jason both looked a little shocked and confused at the sight of cloth floating about.

"Speaking of not very tidy," replied Rarity as she looked at the brothers’ attire with a sour face. "I think I'll have to make up some new clothes for you three tomorrow. I can't stand to see anypony in such dreadful apparel."

"Rarity, you really don't have to," Matthew piped up.

"Come now, you did save my life and I would be more than happy to help," Rarity rebutted.

"Even so, what of the cost, would we have to-" October began before being cut of by Rarity.

"Tut, tut. Not another word, young stallion. I won't hear any complaints about such things in my house. You don't owe me a thing, after all, it is I that owe you."

"Okay...if you insist, Miss Rarity, but just shorts would be fine for each of us I would think," Jason said with a smile as his brother nodded in agreement.

Rarity lead them to the guest room which only had one bed with many, many pillows. "You can make a bed on the floor with the pillows if you like. Sorry for the lack of preparation for guests, but I hope you can make it comfortable. Well I shall be off to bed now. Good night, and see you tomorrow," said Rarity as she closed the door behind her.

"So," began Jason once Rarity was gone, "a talking unicorn, huh?"

At that simple question, the three burst out laughing. Never had they seen something so odd and unlikely, but now that it was reality to them, there was nothing more to do about it than laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Huh..eheh...anyway, you think we should get our things tomorrow and come back?" asked October, still chuckling.

"Yes, but we should tell Rarity first that we have things back in the forest that we need," replied Matthew.

"Sounds like a plan," said Jason with a last light chuckle. "So, October, I suppose you can take the bed and we'll be on the floor."

Without hesitation, October collapsed on the bed just as Matthew and Jason wrenched some pillows out from under him. October groaned in protest, making his brothers chuckle at his expense.

"Well, good night," said Jason as he threw a pillow at October, who decided to block it with his face.

As October drifted off to sleep, he couldn't help but to think of his mother and how much she must miss her sons, as for one, they had been at war for the past five years with little to no contact, and now they were more than likely reported to be dead on the field. The last thing he heard was the front door opening and closing before he slipped off to dream land.

October stood in the middle of a barren desert, with nothing but flat sand for as far as the eye could see. Not even a hill or a cactus was visible. The sun was hammering down on his back while the wind ruthlessly tore at his skin and eyes. Then he hear a powerful voice seeming to come from everywhere saying, 'You may have defeated me once before little princess, but this time, I will not fail.' Then everything began to shake as a crack formed in the sand only ten feet from him as fire erupted from it.