Brotherhood

Moonlight’s eyes fluttered open. An unusual mist had plagued the forest, complimented by an overcast sky, making the gray unicorn's golden eyes squint in a futile attempt to see more clearly as he lay on the stone pedestal of which the statue of Nightmare Moon also stood. It was strange, as no birds seemed to sing, something that he’d barely noticed before as he’d been chased into the strange forest. Only the faint drone of crickets echoed in the rolling fog. As Moonlight stood fully he was suddenly struck with the consequences of running through thorns and thick branches, as the untreated scrapes now stung in the thick, moist air. Trying not to grimace, he stepped down from the stone altar and attempted to navigate his way back to where he’d carelessly dropped his saddlebag, as he’d packed some bandages in the off chance he’d use them. After some blind wandering, he found the brown sacks lying on the dew-drowned grass near the far edge of the clearing. Moonlight was grateful to see it had not been torn up by the wildlife or dampened too much by the air. However, as his head was bent down about to pick up the burlap straps in his teeth, he was suffocated by a sudden, ghastly odor equivalent to burning wood and heavily decayed meat.

He scrunched his muzzle and opened his mouth to comment out loud, but he was stopped as he noticed a pair of green, unblinking, glowing eyes staring daggers at him from the trees. With a pang of fear, he stumbled back on his cold hooves, the emotions instinctually igniting his horn with a blaze of sapphire-colored magic. The thing crawled towards him slowly, with the stench getting stronger and more pungent with every creaking step it took. As its form jutted out of the mist, Moonlight began to make out the tangle of sticks, logs, and leaves that made up its dog-like body. A low, guttural growl solidified in the colt's mind that this… whatever this creature was, was out for blood. He let out a slight gasp through gritted teeth as two more of these masses of wood unveiled themselves from his left and right. Dropping the bag, the unicorn quickly turned on his heel and scrambled back onto the statue's stone base. The creatures gave chase and started to circle the structure like starving sharks. Moonlight swore he saw two or three more join the pack, and his chest started to tighten, and he began to breathe faster, disturbing the mist in front of his face. One suddenly leapt out from the sea of fog and moving figures with a ghostly bark, its wooden maw opened to latch onto the neck of the scrawny pony. Moonlight caught it in time and reared on his hind legs, barely able to blast the malicious creature to splinters with magic before it got a chance to bite down. Another threw itself at him, and another magical beam fired from his horn. And again. And again. Each time the wooden monsters lunged at Moonlight, he had to suppress any sound that would tell them that he was afraid, just another prey animal for them to feast on.

Just as the blue-maned unicorn thought he was getting the upper hoof, he noticed a similar green glow emanating from the destroyed remains of the creatures he’d managed to blow apart. His heart sank as he saw twigs, leaves and logs begin to float off of the damp earth and meld back together, and soon they looked as if nothing had ever happened to them in the first place, although much, much angrier than before. Moonlight desperately tried to think of other spells he knew; teleportation? He didn’t even know where he’d teleport to, let alone the fact that he hadn’t practiced enough to where it would even be safe. He could try picking up one of the creatures with levitation, but surely they’d just come back, and at this point he had no idea how many were around him. His thoughts were interrupted by one of the creatures trying again to pounce on him, and he used a beam to deflect it once more. His head was beginning to hurt. One slip up was all it was going to take before–

Suddenly, the scuffling of wooden paws on grass ceased, and the swirling of mist around the wooden animals slowed. Moonlight quickly realized they’d all stopped moving, barely paying attention to him anymore, and were staring into the mist. He stood as still as he could, as if he was trying to become a part of the statue itself so as to not disturb the creature's trance. As Moonlight followed their glowing gazes, he could just barely make out a shadowy silhouette just lengths away. His heart didn’t stop pounding in his chest, and thundered like a drum in his ears in the silence that came with the sudden stillness. After a few tense, silent moments of nothing but the crickets and fluttering heartbeats, the creatures split off into the surrounding trees, leaving the area a still blanket of mist again, and thus leaving Moonlight Glow alone with the stranger.

Moonlight wasn’t sure whether to say something or flee, and his horn was still flared anxiously. A knot in his stomach began to tighten as the figure started to move towards him. Moonlight took a slight step back, his hindquarters brushing the leg of the Nightmare Moon statue. Were they police? Some lost pony unfortunate enough to stumble upon this place? These questions didn’t leave his mind even as the pony was no longer veiled by mist.

It was an earth-pony colt, who was actually around the same age as Moonlight, but his fur was scratched and covered in thick scars, and his face was hardened like a fully grown stallion. The most notable of the scars was the chip in his ear, the three deep scratches that crossed from his left shoulder to his chest, and the other three scratches that dragged from his right eyebrow down to his lower cheek, though the eye itself didn’t look too damaged. The strengthened muscles only years of hard labor could create seemed to stretch the hide of orange fur. His crimson-red mane was tangled with leaves and dirt, but was also slightly curled and bouncy, and both his mane and tail were tied down at the ends. The style faintly reminded Moonlight of how Applejack had worn hers when he saw her the previous evening.

The two colts stared at each other; the orange ones' piercing, teal eyes narrowed aggressively at the scrawny Moonlight, who tried to settle his face and calm his breath to not look as afraid as he had when the creatures were around. This standoff was broken once the orange colt spoke.

“Who are you?” His voice was just as hardened and cold as his body, though bolder than Moonlight's own icy tone, but the unicorn couldn’t help but notice the drawl of a country accent.

It took Moonlight a moment to carefully piece together his thoughts, and he spoke softly, “Moonlight Glow.” He said simply, his skinny chest tightened more. A few more moments of silence passed as the strange, scarred colts' teal eyes looked him over, and an approving look seemed to cross over his face.

“Come with me. It’s not safe out in the open.” He turned and began to walk back into the mist, revealing his apple-shaped cutie mark that looked slightly rotten, carved with a huge bite-mark engraved into one side. Every step the colt took was heavy and deliberate.

“Wait– Who are–” Moonlight stammered quickly, forgetting all dialogue he had put together in his head, and his ears flattened unsurely.

“Do you want to be eaten by timberwolves?” The colt whipped his head back around to the scrawny unicorn, his voice was gravelly and harsh, and the mass of red, matted mane whipped around with him. Moonlight stiffened again and stared in surprise. After a few more seconds of stunned silence, the colt made a slight huff through his nose like an angry bull, “Then follow me.”

Moonlight blinked, he didn’t trust this pony, and his intentions were unreadable at best, and his aggressive tone made him sound as dangerous as those wolves. Despite his many reasons to stay near the statue and continue his journey alone, Moonlight carefully stepped off of the pedestal and walked behind the stranger, whisking away the rest of the magic that swirled around his horn. He might as well be better than the creatures anyways. At least this colt wouldn’t kill him right away.

Moonlight kept his yellow eyes narrowed and his body tense as he silently followed. They traveled through tightly knit thickets of trees, carpets of brambles and bushes, and small creeks with their natural stone bridges. As their hike stretched on, the gray unicorn began to take notice of how expertly the scarred earth-pony maneuvered through and over every rock, stream and jutting root, as though he knew every step of this unmarked path by heart. This was even more apparent as the mist offered little visibility to whatever was in front of them. Though finally, after some time of trudging through brush and dodging stumps, Moonlight asked something he knew he should have said from the beginning.

“Where are we going?” He couldn’t help but feel his stomach squirm anxiously, though he masked his anxiety with his usual blank face and fairly monotone way of speaking.

“Somewhere the ponies in town won’t find you.” The colt replied simply without looking back, answering almost automatically.

Moonlight's eyes winced cautiously at the stranger, and he quickened his pace for a moment to position himself shoulder to shoulder with him, “You…know who I am?”

The colt glanced at him, his face was twisted into a determined grimace, “Everypony knows who you are. Your face and cutie mark’ve been all over the papers. I just wanted to make sure it was actually you back at the statue.” The colt's mouth pulled into a slight sneer, contorting the scar on his eye disgustingly.

Moonlight turned his own yellow eyes to the ground as they walked side by side; of course everyone knew who he was by now. Something like what he left behind in Canterlot wouldn’t go unrecognized by just about every citizen in Equestria, though now that he thought about it; he was surprised how quickly they’d found the dumped body and gotten an evening paper published before the day was out.

“May I know your name?... And why you’re…” He paused mid-sentence, “What are you doing?” Moonlight inquired as he raised his eyes back to the mysterious colt, though their gazes didn’t meet.

“Like I said; somewhere the ponies in town can’t find you, and away from the timberwolves. If it’s not obvious, I'm trying to help you.” His chipped ear twitched slightly in irritation, the amused sneer now gone, and didn’t even bother acknowledging the first question.

Moonlight tried not to let an exhale of irritation leave his muzzle. Who even was this pony? What reason did he have to help somepony like Moonlight if he would only give him half-assed answers? Why was Moonlight even following him further into this unknown territory? The stranger seemed to know what he did, so why would–

“Stop.” The harsh word came from the orange-furred colt like the crack of a whip, and he stomped a hoof in front of Moonlight's path, jerking him from his thoughts and making him flinch. Moonlight looked at him quickly and in confusion, though the colt had yet to look back. Instead, as Moonlight followed his scowling gaze; he saw they were standing in front of a large curtain of hedges and vines, woven between thick trees and veiled well by the mist, almost as if it was walling off some secret no eyes were meant to see. The scarred pony raised his head and swiveled his ears, keeping his eyes straight and narrow. The gray unicorn stared at him as he did this, trying to decipher his behavior. After a few seconds passed, with only the rustling of leaves to fill the soundless breeze, the colt lifted his hoof from in front of Moonlight, and looked at him slowly.

“Follow me.” The orange colt muttered the command, flicking his heavily matted tail. Moonlight wanted to question him again, but one look at his demeanor and strengthened legs told him that the unicorn had already questioned him enough, so he followed cautiously through the tangle of plants, many of which Moonlight found out were covered in some thorn or another. Luckily, his thin, bordering skeletal frame allowed him to duck and squirm through the gaps without being scratched or pricked too harshly or opening his previous cuts. This was much unlike the stranger who, with almost the complete opposite physique of Moonlight, butted his way to the other side, though he didn’t even seem to flinch at any of the thorns jabbing into his hide. The wall of plants wasn’t overly thick, but just enough to where it would deter any other pony to try to traverse it willingly, or even see the other side. When Moonlight pulled the rest of himself out of the brush, he paused immediately, frozen, and his eyes widened.

The crimson-maned colt had led him into a tiny, extremely shaded clearing; it was a little less foggy than the surrounding area, and every side was surrounded by the wall of tree trunks, branches or thorned plants, but that, of course, wasn’t what surprised him. It was the four other colts that were staring daggers at him as he entered. The stranger joined with the quartet of other aggressive-looking horses, standing next to one with his head still lowered, and quickly shot Moonlight the same look as the rest. The unicorn took a few steps back, his hind legs barely pressing against the wall of foliage, and stared in anxiously as his eyes landed on every colt.

The first was a lithe, pale-pink pegasus who sat on a thick branch not far above the heads of the three others on the ground. One of his rosey eyes was almost entirely shielded by a wavy curtain of even paler hair that almost looked white in the dimming light, though the unicorn couldn’t make out a cutie mark in it either. His face was actually the most gentle-looking out of the troupe; eyes half-lidded and his brow relaxed, though the slight frown he wore didn’t make the expression any more friendly than the rest. It was more of a cold look a father would give his son.

He quickly picked out another earth-colt; slate gray and muscly like the other earth pony, though far skinnier, like the middle ground between himself and the first stranger. His mane and tail was a light silver, and cut extremely straight in a slight angle, as though sliced through with a knife in one slash. His mane was short enough that it didn’t cover his reddened, teal-gray eyes that hid his emotions so well. He stood like stone, and Moonlight didn’t know what to make of him, only that his eyes read the same, aggressive message all the others had.

Golden eyes quickly fell upon another pegasus, who Moonlight had barely seen at first sitting in the trees. His extremely dark blue coat hid him well, though it was his purple, orange, and yellow hair, blended into an ombre down his mane and tail that gave him away. As Moonlight took in the sight of the pegasus, he began to notice how large and strong the colt's wings really were. So large that for a brief moment, Moonlight wondered how he managed to carry them on the branch. His dark-pink eyes glared at him intensely.

The final colt, the one the orange stranger was standing by, was an off-white unicorn, with bright, sapphire eyes that stood out even in the shade. His hair was slightly curled at the end, and striped with pink and brown, though his tail was cut extremely short, and both were unkempt messes. His head was raised high, and his body was positioned in a pose that meant superiority. He was skinny too, but not to the point where his ribs stuck out like Moonlight, more the way an elegant model would refrain from eating. His arrogant smirk didn’t feel any more welcoming either. Moonlight’s immediate anxiety from seeing them all staring at him ignited his horn once again, illuminating the small clearing a blue glow, which lit up the faces of every pony in the ring of foliage and highlighted the blue eyes of the arrogant-looking colt even more.

The cream-colored unicorn took a step forward and spoke first “Moonlight–”

“Who are you all?” Moonlight spoke coldly and sharply. The first seemingly held down something in his throat.

“I’m– … sorry for not explaining anything sooner, it’s safer for all of us if we’re…well…here,” He spoke formally, though a hint of flamboyancy hung on his words. Moonlight's horn flared brighter with magic, and the unknown colt cleared his throat, raising a foreleg to cover his mouth, “Right… where are my manners? I’m Sugar, Sugar Shortcake.” He raised his head as he said this. Moonlight couldn’t help but blink in surprise at the name, though didn’t let down his own defensive look. However the narrow-eyed expression Sugar shot Moonlight told him that the joke had long since been funny. “This,” he motioned his head to the scarred earth-pony, “Is Autumn Glory. The two up there are Lightwind and Star Storm.” The mention of the pegasi made Moonlight look up in time to watch them leap down from the trees they’d been perched on and land heavily next to Autumn Glory and Sugar Shortcake, especially Star Storm. “And that brute over there is Coal.” The dark gray colt nodded towards him, as if to confirm he got his name right, though his face stayed an unmoving scowl, and he didn’t move from his place in the shadow to join the rest.

Moonlight looked at all of them quickly as each was introduced, tensing further. He didn’t know what to think or say, but the soft voice of the one named Lightwind stepped closer and answered his racing mind, “Moonlight Glow, we know who you are, and we think you’ll be the perfect thing our little group needs.” It was almost like the hiss of a snake whispering in his ear.

“What would you possibly need me for?”

Star Storm spoke up, his voice was rough, but not deep, “Tell us; you’re related to Twilight Sparkle, right?”

At the sound of the name, Moonlight's ears flattened sharply, and his horn flared more like an angry inferno, and the wisps of magic seemed like they would catch the surrounding leaves with blue fire, “Why do you need to know?” He growled, taking a couple steps towards the group.

“Told you he’d be perfect,” Sugar commented to Autumn smugly, nudging the scarred shoulder with his own.

Star Storm instinctually took a step back, flaring his wings a little. If someone were to lay beneath them, it would look just like the night sky. Despite his worry of having his face singed by the magic, he tried to keep his voice steady, “Wait Moonlight! Hear us out.”

Lightwind stepped between them, speaking soothingly, “The Elements of Harmony. You’re familiar?” Moonlight’s eyes narrowed, waiting for him to get to the point. Lightwind took a breath, “Our sisters are now the bearers of the Elements, and so is yours.”

“I am aware.” Each of Moonlight’s words rolled out like a threat.

Lightwind nodded, “Well, you’ve clearly demonstrated you have a grudge against Twilight. And we all have grudges against our own kin. You also aren’t afraid to kill. This is why we thought you might be a nice fit for us.” His quiet, whispered words floated almost like a song.

Sugar continued, “We’ve actually killed too. We’ve been trotting down the same path you’re walking right now.”

Moonlight’s horn slowly lost the flare of blue magic, though he stayed quiet and his golden eyes stayed narrowed unsurely

Star Storm added, “They’ve done things, things… that have carved the paths of how we’ve gotten here. We’ve been trying to get back at them, but the five of us just aren’t enough. We think that you can add one more brain that’ll finish them for good.” He closed his wings and ruffled them slightly to make them settle comfortably on his back.

Moonlight kept quiet, and his tight chest relaxed slightly. He stared at the five ponies as they joined closely in front of him, even Coal, blinking expectantly. He knew they knew even a fraction of what he went through with Twilight, but even so, they were willing to help him get his vengeance on the six, and it was personal. If the rest of the element bearers were all as bad as the colts made them out to be, it only fueled his desire that much more to stomp out their light and restore Equestria to what it was meant to be. As he finished his thoughts, his neutral mouth upturned into a slight smile.

“Alright… You’ve convinced me. I’m in.” He said finally, and stood a bit straighter.

Sugar beamed and trotted up next to him, “You won’t regret this, I promise! With the six of us, we’ll actually stand a chance. Plus,” he chuckled a little, “it’s almost like we’re the opposite of their little posse.”

The Lightwind and Star Storm nodded their agreements, though Coal stayed quiet, and Autumn Glory shook his coat like a wet dog, making Sugar lift a hoof in recoil.

“Ya’ll keep getting acquainted, I’m gonna grab some apples from the orchard. It’s almost midday, so I shouldn’t have much trouble snagging a bag or two.” He said firmly as he approached a border of the clearing with his head low and a slight trot, not bothering to see if anyone else had anything to say before he left.

Moonlight however, stared at the last orange hoof slipped out of the campsite, stunned for a moment by how casually Autumn had mentioned stealing. Though before he could let a question exit his brain and enter his mouth, he realized, why wouldn’t a troupe of murderers in some forest want or need to steal, especially food.

As the others dispersed back to spots around the grass, Moonlight got a chance to finally breathe and think. He did feel a slight bit claustrophobic; the trees did provide shelter, but it was a tight space to share between 6 ponies.

“So… what now?” He asked after a few seconds.

“We stay…We wait.” The slate gray pony answered, settling down near the base of one of the trees.

“You all just… do nothing?” Moonlight narrowed his eyes in sudden suspicion as he watched Coal rest his head against the grass, and then looked back at the rest. Lightwind and Star Storm bounded back up to the branches with powerful wingbeats.

Sugar chuckled with a flick of his tail, “He’s just being blunt. We stay here during the day, and at night is when we really get to work. Though with a name like ‘Moonlight,’ you must already be accustomed to that kind of schedule.” He grinned and nudged Moonlight lightly in the chest, and walked off to rest as well, leaving the gray unicorn uncomfortable by the touch.

What Moonlight knew he really needed to get used to, however, was the new clique he found himself in. He’d never had friends, even in Celestia’s school, and his relationship with his siblings was… strained… at the very best. These thoughts swarmed him as he settled in a drier place in the grass. As hours passed, the feeling began to sink in that this was his new life; these were his new peers, he was living in a forest, he was a criminal on the run, and there was no going back…and that was okay. He was okay with this new life, and he was much, much closer to his goal than before, and he was very satisfied with that as he laid his head on the cool grass.