They reappeared in a bright flash. Derpy looked around, they were on a hill outside of Ponyville. Disoriented, she leaned against Spirit, who was watching the town carefully. “What’s going on?”

Spirit sighed. “My brother is a dark angel. I’ve been avoiding him for a long time, because I… well, it’s kinda selfish, but I don’t want to hurt him.” He shook his head. “Evil though he may be, he’s still my brother, and, well, all I have left. Our parents were mortal, and they perished not long before I finished my training.”

“Oh,” she said. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but… maybe his brother wasn’t as bad as he seemed. Maybe he wouldn’t actually hurt anypony.

A loud explosion in the town shattered the silence, so powerful that she could feel the ground shake at her hooves. A cloud of dark smoke rose, and her breath caught. “W-was that-?”

Spirit was grinding his teeth. “Yes, that was Fern. Bucking Celestia on a unicycle, I didn’t think he’d actually follow through…”

Derpy’s eyes dilated as her thoughts shot to one thing: her precious filly. “Dinky!” Her wings shot open, and she jumped up, flapping.

“Woah! Derpy, no!” Spirit encased Derpy in a huge bubble, bringing her back down to the ground before popping it. “I’m sorry,” he said, “but if you go out there, Fern won’t hesitate to kill you!”

Derpy growled. “My filly might be in danger.” She poked Spirit forcefully in the chest. “Don’t even try to stop me.”
He shook his head firmly. “Derpy, no. I’ll find your filly for you, but you have to stay here. What use would it be to your filly if you died trying to find her? How well would she do without her mom?”

“…” She glared at him, then plunked her rear down in a huff. “Fine. But if there is one hair of her mane out of place, you’ll be sorry!”

“All right, all right. Sheesh. Okay, I’ll get her, and on the way I’ll contact the Council and Princess Twilight. The Princess can shield the town once I draw Fern out of there.”

With a confident grin, he took off, leaving Derpy behind, feeling actually rather useless. Her tough demeanor dropped, and she laid down with a sigh. “Dinky… stay safe for mommy, okay?”

She sadly watched as more fires and explosions spread across the town, paying no attention to her surroundings. So intently she was watching, that she didn’t notice the tendrils of dark magic creeping up on her.

Suddenly, they lashed out and wrapped her tight. She screamed. “Spirit! Spirit, help! Somepony!” The dark magic dragged her, kicking and flailing, through a dark portal. It faded into the shadows, leaving the hilltop completely still.

* * * * * * *

“Thank you, Spirit. I and the Elements of Harmony will be ready to shield the town as soon as you draw him out.”

Spirit nodded to Twilight. “Yes, Princess. I will do what I can.”

He unfurled his wings, then leapt up into the air. “Wait!” Twilight cried. She gave him a concerned look. “Stay safe.”

Spirit beat his wings, hovering, and gave her a happy smirk. “Now, where’s the fun in that?” He laughed, then shot up high into the sky.

“Alright, brother, where are you hiding?” he asked himself, scanning the area around him.

A low hum filled the air, building in pitch. “Right here.”

Spirit’s eyes went wide as he turned to see Fern, his horn ablaze with light.

“Gotcha,” he smirked, then fired the blast.

A loud explosion filled the air, and Spirit tumbled through the air, wind screaming by him until he crashed into something rock-solid.

“Ow…” He winced, prying himself from the indent that he’d made. Before him was a huge drop, and a ways beyond that lay Ponyville. “Filthy bugger shot me into a mountain…”

“What’s the matter? I thought you liked playing rough?” Fern said as he swooped in, flapping his wings as he came in to sneer at Spirit, who glared right back at him.

“I can take what you throw at me, but a fight amidst the innocents is uncalled for.”

Fern snorted. “Who cares about those puny little things? C’mon, let’s go back and play, I want you to watch as I destroy your precious little ‘innocents’.” He flew in, clamping his limbs around Spirit.

“Get off!” Spirit groaned, still weak from the impact. “Let me go!”

A cruel smile played about Fern’s face. “Oh, of course. I’ll let you go, so you can fall into the ‘innocents’, wouldn’t that be great?”

A crackling thrum resounded through the air, and Fern’s smile dropped. “Oh, no you don’t!” he roared, speeding forward.

But not fast enough. A purple barrier rose before them, enveloping the whole town. Spirit could see, far below, six forms in a hexagon, glowing brightly. “Looks like the town’s out of bounds, huh?”

Fern hissed. “Fine! Instead of destroying the tow, I’ll destroy you!”

He dropped Spirit, then charged a bolt and fired it directly into him, propelling him into the ground. Diving, he stretched out his forehooves and ran into Spirit’s aching form, knocking the breath out of him. “Weakling!” He slammed a glowing hoof into Spirit’s face. “You always thought-” slam “-that you could beat me!” slam “You always got looked up to-” slam “-even though I was the stronger one!”

Coughing, Spirit groaned, then spit out a wad of blood. He gave Fern a look. “I was looked up to because…” he coughed. “…Because I was kind. You were…an arrogant jerk with…a big head and too much power,” he wheezed as blood ran freely from his nose.

Fern locked eyes with him, hatred burning fiercely in his gaze. He raised a hoof, glowing white hot, then shot it forward. Spirit closed his eyes, bracing himself.

…But the blow never came. Instead, Spirit felt the weight shift off of him.

“What the hell do you mean, I can’t kill him?”

Opening his eyes, Spirit saw his brother, shouting at….seemingly nothing.

“You- What? Okay, okay! Fine,” he yelled into thin air.

He turned and gave Spirit a look of disgust. “Well, brother, looks like you’ll be spared for now. I can’t kill you… yet.” A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t knock you out.”

He thrust a hoof at Spirit. There was a flash of pain, then darkness.

Author's Note

Half of this has been finished for a while, I've finally gotten myself into a good writing mindset~ Hopefully I can get the next chapter out soon!