Brother vs Brother; Duel Between the Stars

The world seemed so calm for Moondancer. The scholarly girl was sitting on a park bench, a half eaten sandwich next to her as she read a book on advanced physics. The weather felt perfect, though very few people seemed to be taking advantage of it at the moment. A few people were jogging, strolling around, or walking their dogs thus allowing the girl to have her peace without any real distractions. Even the birds seemed a bit quieter this day, their chirping at a low as if in consideration towards Moondancer. The only way this could be better, close to perfect even, was if Hunter were here.

Hopefully, that would be sooner rather than later. Not too long ago, Moondancer had gotten a text from Hunter’s aunt asking if she wouldn’t mind meeting up at the park and that she would be bringing Hunter to talk about something. While Star Chart hadn’t gone into details, Moondancer had felt certain that it was about Chaser. But it felt odd that Star Chart had mentioned that she should bring her deck and duel disk.

“Maybe she wants my help to get his mind off Chaser,” Moondancer mumbled to herself as she thought about the text again, briefly looking up from her book. She knew that this was hard for her boyfriend as Chaser had been a constant thorn in his side; a shadow Hunter longed to remove himself from. It was bad enough when everyone thought that Chaser was some sort of prodigy, but when Chaser was exposed for the fraud he was, well it somehow got worse. Those that knew him, people like herself and Applejack, didn’t treat him any differently than before as they knew who he was. But there were those out there who only knew Chaser assumed that Hunter was just as bad. That or wanted to take out their anger for Chaser out on Hunter. The duel against the Appleloosa team had proven that and the effect it had on Hunter hadn’t been pleasant.

Now this break out was just another thorn digging into Hunter’s side, Chaser drawing more blood with his actions. Moondancer had wanted to stay by his side for support when the police had shown up, but she knew that as much as she loved him it was a family matter. She had also tried to text him after words, but his replies were short telling her he was fine. Honestly, she wished he would have been more truthful about it all. But she understood. She would be here for him, ready to talk to him about how he was feeling when he was ready.

Which was why she was going to do her best to help get his mind off Chaser! As soon as he got here, the two of them would have a fun duel. Hopefully Star Chart would only be dropping him off instead of hanging around since Moondancer knew of a secluded area not too far from here. Moondancer licked her lips as she thought about some of the other things they could do to help get his mind off Chaser.

“Hello you ugly bitch,” came an insulting voice off to her side. One that Moondancer knew instantly, her eyes widening before she turned to look at Star Chaser. The teen who looked so much like Hunter had ditched his prison attire, now dressed in slightly oversized jeans and a green shirt. If she had to guess, Chaser had raided a church donation center or something of that nature. But despite the downgrade in his clothing, Chaser still had a cocky, confident sneer on his face as his duel disk hummed with power.

“Chaser,” growled Moondancer as she pulled out her phone.

“I wouldn’t do that,” said Chaser as he held up a phone. Upon seeing it, Moondancer nearly dropped her own as she realized that it was the one that belonged to Star Chart. Her eyes widened again, connecting the dots to a horrifying realization.

“Star Chart, you…you have her, don’t you?” asked Moondancer. It couldn’t be a coincidence that he just happened to find her here where Star Chart had told her to be and while holding her phone. That phone was the latest model, making it very unlikely that Chaser would have been able to get one himself even for a bluff. So either he jumped her, happened to look at her phone, see Moondancer’s picture and the text next to it, and decided to come here…or he jumped her and sent the text himself. Right now she was betting on the latter rather than the former.

“Well, looks like that ugly nerd look you got going on isn’t just for show,” laughed Chaser as he held up his duel disk. “Now, why don’t we have a duel? I promise I’ll tell you where that bitch is if you win.”

For a moment, Moondancer stood there as she went over her options. The idea that Chaser would keep his word or even play fairly was utterly laughable! More likely, if she won, Chaser would just go into a blind rage and attack her. It would be better, not to mention safer, if she just made a run for it. To get as far away from this psychopath as possible and call the police. No doubt they would begin searching the area for him if he didn’t give chase. However, Chaser had lured her here for a reason. Perhaps the same people who had helped him escape were waiting to ambush her should she try to run for it. As for calling the police, if she did that and he managed to get away, there was no telling what he would do to Star Chart. If…If he hadn’t already…killed her.

Shaking her head, Moondancer pulled out her duel disk. No! She had to at least presume that Star Chart was alive for the time being. If he wanted a duel, then fine! She would duel him just long enough for other people to show up. One of those joggers or someone with a dog. There was a chance that she could signal them over, then she could put an end to this game of his. Maybe have one of them call the police or they could surround him with superior numbers.

“Fine lets duel,” said Moondancer as she activated her duel disk. But, as she said those words, darkness began to surround them as Chaser grinned ever so evilly.

“Come on Four-Eyes, where are you?” asked Lightning aloud, tapping her foot impatiently upon the grass of the soccer field. The turquoise stood there, duel disk on her arm as she surveyed the field with a growing sense of irritation. She hated waiting here, doing nothing.

This had not been how Lightning had thought she’d spend her day. She had planned on meeting up with Rainbow to do a little one-on-one. Maybe play a little basketball before kicking the soccer ball around for a bit. Knowing Rainbow, she’d probably bring the squirt Scootaloo with her to either watch them or have her join in their fun. It made sense since she’d seen the rainbow haired hanging around Scootaloo a lot more ever since the Autumn Crown. Not that she minded since the small fry showed a lot of promise and wasn’t as whimpy as some of the other kids in her class. Perhaps while they all hung out, Lightning could tell them about the home movies she had seen at Hunter’s place. Knowing what that jerk had done to her once again friend, she should get a kick out of it. Maybe even embellishing a few parts to make him sound more pathetic! However, those plans were put on hold when she received a text from Moondancer. Well, more of a challenge really as Moondancer wanted to duel her for the spot of Vice Captain! There was no way that Lightning was going to back down!

That had been about two hours ago and now Lightning was getting annoyed. With a grumble, the amber haired girl reached into her pocket to pull out her phone to see if she was in the right spot. Quickly, she scanned the message, seeing that she was in the right spot and Moondancer was ten minutes late!

“Five more minutes and I’m out of here,” growled Lightning as she shoved her phone back into her pocket. But after a minute or two, Lightning’s mind began to wander a bit allowing a question to appear in her mind that she hadn’t thought of before: why was Moondancer challenging her? She had never been one to desire said position before and had never made a stick about it. It seemed a little off.

“Maybe it has something to do with college,” said Lightning to herself, looking up at the sky as she thought about it. “Like being Vice-Captain will look better when she’s applying.” Yet, even as she said this, it didn’t feel right. Yeah it might look good, but given how many honors classes Four-Eyes was taking, being Vice-Captain of a dueling team felt more like a drop in the bucket. Wouldn’t winning a tournament look better?

Suddenly, Lightning began to get a bad feeling. The sort of feeling one gets when you’re being watched or that someone was following you. You don’t know how you know it, just a feeling you get that alerts you that something was wrong. For a half second she stood there, scanning the area in front of her before her ears picked up on a slight sound. The sound of something being dragged on the grass.

Her body acted without her brain telling her to, turning around in a whirl to behold something that caused her blood to run cold. Standing there, several hundred feet away from her, was a teen who looked a lot like Hunter. Only there was something sickly wrong with his expression that told her it wasn’t her Captain and friend. No, this had to be Chaser. The bastard who had poisoned Rainbow, nearly killing her as well as several other students! The jackass who tried to get into the Friendship Cup by challenging Applejack. The piece of shit who had just pissed off everyone he ever met! And he wasn’t alone for one of his hands was wrapped around the ankle of another teen. One that looked like-

“Pharynx!” shouted Lightning as she saw her other male friend, her fist clenching into a fist while her legs tensed. Despite the distance, she could tell that his eyes were closed, arms being dragged limply behind him. His shirt looked like it had been slashed several times, stained with blood that was slowly drying.

“Oh, so that’s his name,” said Chaser as he dropped the ankle, letting it hit the grass with a thud. “This retard tried to stop me from entering the school grounds so I gave him what he deserved. Looks like I lucked out. Running into him now saved me the trouble of having to lure him out later.”

“What are you talking about?” demanded Lightning. Chaser smirked before pulling out a phone and tossing it right at Lightning. The phone nearly collided with her head, but she managed to catch it at the last second. Looking down, Lightning’s eyes widened to see the exact same message Four-Eyes had sent her! That meant that this was-

“I hope your brain isn’t as tiny as your tits,” remarked Chaser.

Lightning dropped the phone on the ground, her teeth grit tightly as she raised her duel disk. “I’ll make you regret ever going after any of my friends,” she growled, planning on hitting him right where it would hurt him the most before she ran over to him to dish out more lasting pain!

“As if you’re on my level,” laughed Chaser as he lifted his duel disk, darkness beginning to surround them. “But then again, who is?” Chaser’s laughter continued to fill the air until the two were completely surrounded by the darkness.

Braeburn let out a yawn, stretching his arms as he exited the bus. The massive teenager then brought one of his golden colored hands over this face in order to shield his eyes from the light of the afternoon sun, a small smile on his face as his other hand held on to a knapsack which rested on his back. Despite the fact that it was still the late fall he wore dusty cowboy boots along with a pair of jeans, a white button up shirt, and a brown vest. But the seven foot tall teen didn’t mind all that much seeing that he was used to colder conditions when he worked in the apple fields. As the bus closed its doors behind him with a hiss, Braeburn took the Stetson hat he was holding in one hand and placed it over his amber colored hair before that same hand fell downward to touch a deck box that was firmly attached to his belt.

Turning, Braeburn began to make the trek down to his cousin’s abode while humming a country tune. While he loved his hometown to death, it was nice to get away from it every once and while just for a change of scenery. And getting to see his cousins Applejack, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom almost made him thankful that school would be closed for the following week due to a slight mishap from the science class. How they made that orange ooze grow so fast, filling up the entire building he may never know. Now he could help out around their fields, help Granny Smith while the others were in school, and clear his mind a tad.

There was no point in hiding the fact that Braeburn had suffered since his duel against Star Hunter, the sting of what happened that night still following him around. After he had gotten home, his father had him march into the living room and sat him down for a long talk about his behavior. A long talk that stretched far into the following morning about how what he had done was not the family or the Appleloosan way. Talking about how he had disappointed both him and his mother with how he behaved. As for Braeburn’s mother, well, she had just stood off to the side as Braeburn sat there barely saying a word. He knew he deserved this from them, only really speaking up when his father’s voice had grown horse and promising never to do this again. To make up for what he had done. That seemed to be enough for both of his parents for now, but the rest of the town was a far different story. His friend Forecast, the announcer of the duel and the one Braeburn had pressured into setting the match, was giving him distance and keeping their conversations short. The rest of the school, students and teachers, were polite when they talked but there was a clear stink in their eyes as if he were parading around in cow dung. Even the team, save Strongheart, was giving him a wide berth at the moment and only dealing with him when they had to. But the worst had been Coach Silverstar, who looked at him like he was nothing but a big disappointment. That…That honestly hurt the most making all the team meetings sting, a lung in his throat the entire time. Yes, he was still on the team, but had been stripped of his position as Captain. But, he knew he deserved it. Dug his own grave he did and now it was up to him to set things right.

That…That was another reason Braeburn was here in Canterlot. He had, no, needed to make things right between him and Hunter. Sure, Hunter had forgiven him, but it felt more like he was doing that for himself rather than for Braeburn. So, Braeburn planned on making things right. Spend some time with him and tell him what was going on in person. Like how Liberty Bell had become the new Captain of the Appleloosa dueling team. Maybe even have that rematch, completely clean this time.

As Braeburn continued along his way, he noticed something that seemed off. A wheelbarrow, just sitting there near an alleyway. Odd to see something like that here in the city, all by itself. Looking around, Braeburn noticed that others were giving it an odd look as well before moving on with their day.

Since he wasn’t in any hurry, Braeburn walked closer to the wheelbarrow. As he drew closer, he eyed the alleyway seeing that there wasn’t anything worth noting down there. Maybe a little darker or misty, but nothing too important that he needed to remember. With that done, Braeburn looked down to see a tarp covering the top of the wheelbarrow. Most likely to protect its contents from the world around. Only, there was an outline on the tarp that looked…dangerously human!

Sweat began to form on Braeburn’s forehead as he reached out with a shaky hand to see what was underneath, hoping with all his might that he was wrong. That it was just his imagination. But, before he could pull off the tarp, something in the alleyway caught his attention. And what he saw caused his blood to freeze! Now that cramped space looked more like an anime styled battle had taken place, scorch marks on the sides of buildings, chucks of bricks everywhere, and claw marks. How could this have happened without anyone seeing it? But that wasn’t the most horrific thing he saw. At the opposite end was a girl with green skin, her body laying limp against a dumpster. It took the teen a moment to remember that she was the girl who beat Liberty, for he was stunned by what he saw. Her sweater looked like it had been scorched and ripped at the same time so badly that only her sleeves remained, a plain white bra being the only thing to conceal her breasts. Braeburn’s mouth became dry as he noted the bruises across her body making him wonder what could have done this to her.

And before her was a teen Braeburn would never forget.

“Try an instant win against me, will you?” sneered Chaser as approached the girl, a dangerous anger in his voice. Braeburn could hear him breathing heavily, watching his hands shaking in anger as Chaser reached down to grab the green girl’s hair and pull her up until she was on her knees. “Stupid bitch!” A loud slap echoed through the alleyway snapping Braeburn out of his stupor. Why Chaser was out of jail was beyond him, all he knew now was that he had to stop him!

“Hold it right there partner!” he shouted just as Chaser had pulled back his fist, clearly aiming for the green girl’s face. Chaser held himself like that for a moment before he turned around. Now looking at his face, Braeburn could see slight circles around his eyes as he panted. Like he was tired and using up too much energy.

“Great, another country hick,” growled Chaser as he looked at Braeburn as he kept both arms raised. “Why don’t you mind your own business and go fuck your cousins like you’re supposed to.”

“Not likely,” said Braeburn as he pulled out his duel disk. “Ah’m gonna stop ya right here, right now. An’ it ain’t gonna be like last time!”

“Last time?” echoed Chaser, looking slightly confused. “Is that supposed to mean something?”

For a moment, Braeburn felt like his knees were about to give out while being punched in the gut. Was…Was this a joke? Another insult? Chaser, the teen who had humiliated him in a tournament, was acting like he didn’t remember it?

“Ya…Ya don’t remember me?” asked Braeburn as a wash of emotions swam over him.

“Should I?” demanded Chaser, finally letting go of the green girl who dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. For a moment, Braeburn could feel his eyes sting with the promise of tears. All this time he had thought about that moment when Chaser had defeated him, how he had cheated like the cowardly snake he was. About the day he would never get back. And Chaser had never given it a second thought. This beast had gone on with his life like it had just been any other day. All he was in this creature’s eyes was just another victim, nothing more and nothing less.

Anger soon arose within Braeburn as he clenched his teeth. “Ah’ll make sure ya remember me!” he declared, his eyes falling on the green girl. She just needed to hold on for a little bit.

“Hmm, might as well,” said Chaser. “I was planning on paying Applejugs or whatever the fuck that bitches name was, but I suppose you’ll do. After all, all you inbreed hicks are related to each other anyways. Bet you’re her daddy/brother.” And with that, darkness began to encircle the two.

“She should have been back by now,” muttered Hunter as he moved restlessly around the apartment, a feeling of dread having formed in his gut hours ago. The apartment was growing darker, the light from outside the large bay windows dimming as the sun continued to set, turning the sky an almost blood red with hints of grays and blacks. With each passing minute, the darkness from outside seemed to encroach within the apartment something that could easily be stopped by simply flipping a light switch. Yet that thought had not even entered Hunter’s brain as his focus was solely on his aunt.

Hunter navigated through the apartment as softly as a ghost hoping that he had just missed his aunt. Yet no matter how many times he entered her extremely messy bedroom, he could not find her under the pile of blankets in the middle of the bed or in her overstuffed closet. The balcony remained empty no matter how many times he looked. Hunter had even checked the closet, hoping that she was just doing a prank of some kind yet to no avail.

Worry continued to pound in Hunter’s very being as he moved, biting his lower lip. Naturally he had tried calling her several times after the hour had grown late enough and had checked his text messages. But there was nothing. His aunt never picked up the phone, instead letting it go straight to voicemail. Not a single message, text, or even email as to where she was. On any other night Hunter would have normally just let this go. His aunt was an adult who could take care of herself. For all he knew she was out at a bar or something, having forgotten that there was someone at home waiting for her. Maybe whatever meeting she had was running later with the person wanting to hash out all the details before they left and she had decided to turn off her phone. Both seemed very reasonable. But still Hunter could not stop from worrying.

“Should I?” Hunter asked himself, pulling out his phone for the thousandth time so far. He looked at it, gulping as he did so. He could call the police…but a person had to be missing for at least twenty-four hours. Also, wouldn’t he feel very immature if he called them just because his aunt was very late? That he just felt that something was wrong with no real proof?

Standing there, continuing to look at the phone, Hunter considered what to do. For the briefest of moments Hunter considered calling his parents to ask for their advice. It was probably silly, but he just…needed to believe that his parents could act like parents. But just as quickly as he thought of it, the idea was discarded. Hunter still had no idea where they were and their number had already been given to somebody else. And even if he could get a message to them, what could he say to them after they had just left without so much as a word? Should he call Moondancer or her parents? His girlfriend’s parents had always said that if he ever needed them to not hesitate to call. And Moondancer was usually good with her advice. Or maybe he could give Coach Luna a call.

Then, much to Hunter’s shock, the phone lit up before it began to ring. Now wide eyed, Hunter nearly dropped it in surprise before bringing it close to look at the number. It wasn’t one that he was familiar with, the area code being different from his own. For all he knew, this could be a scammer or something. Still…

“Hello?” said Hunter after accepting the call.

“Hello Hunter,” came a voice that froze Hunter to the spot, so much so that he felt like his heart was about to stop. “We need to have a little face to face, don’t you think? Meet me at Studio 137. Come alone and bring your deck.” And with that, Chaser hung up the phone.