Quick A.N.~ This takes place during the 'Battle of Cloudsdale' Chapters of Absolution. If you haven't read that far yet, please do so by continuing the story via this link, then return to read this.
The two unicorn ponies sprinted frantically through the woods, the elder a older filly with a frightened and worried expression on her face, the younger a small colt, tears running down his face.
As they continued tearing pell mell through the under brush the colt's hoof caught a branch and he fell heavily, skinning his knees. Refusing to leave the colt behind, the filly hefted him up onto her shoulders and kept running. The filly kept going until she literally collapsed, twisting about to wrap the colt, her younger brother, in her hooves as they rolled on the ground.
The pair laid there for an undetermined amount of time when the bushes to their left started shaking.
The filly quickly scooped up her brother again , but before she could bolt a familiar face, that of a pegasus colt her own age, stepped out.
"Just me, I lost the collectors back a ways, we should be safe."
The filly nodded thankfully and flashed the pegasus a quick, but caring, smile.
"Thank you again. Geez, I feel like I take advantage of you. Every time the collectors catch our trail it's, 'I'll grab the squirt and run, you risk your mind leading them off!' and then I'm leaving you....like I did with them...."
The pegasus pulled a pillow from his saddlebags and allowed the filly to place her brother down gently, as he had fallen asleep. The pegasus then planted a light kiss on the filly's brow and nuzzled her comfortingly.
"What happened to your parents is not, will not, and won't ever be your fault. They loved you, and we will find a way, or find a pony that knows the way, to get them back, I promise."
The filly nodded, but tears still gathered beneath her eyes. The colt swept them away gently with a feather before wrapping a wing around her side and laying down.
"Shh, it's okay."
Wrapping her hooves around her coltfriend's neck, and knowing her brothr's sleeping habits, the unicorn broke down.
"I know, its just so hard, you know? I mean, you stayed at our house because you and your parents didn't get along, but when they care for you, and their gone...it hurts, and I miss them so much."
The pegasus just hugged his fillyfriend tighter. He didn't even care that she'd brought up his useless parents, because in the end it was her opinion that had truly mattered to him. Knowing there was nothing of worth he could say, the colt kissed his fillyfriend again, this time on the cheek, before nuzzling his head under her chin to allow for a makeshift pillow.
They fell asleep quickly, the filly knowing, even though it wasn't voiced, that somepony truly care for her, and she was loved.
~^~A~^~
The filly awoke to realize that both her coltfriend and brother were not with her. It wasn't the first time it had happened, though, so she wasn't too worried. Stretching slightly, she smiled at the bucket of water and wash rap that she knew her coltfriend had left for her. Dampening the rag, she set about cleaning her coat of dirt and grime that she had often accumulated out in the wilds. As she finished she noticed that both colts had returned, but her coltfriend was looking pointedly at anything other than her.
"It's okay, I'm finished." the unicorn smiled. She knew her coltfriend was of the higher standard when it came to males.
"Yeah," the pegasus replied, shifting uneasily, "I'm sorry, I uh...caught a view...just coming out of the bushes..."
Smiling, the filly gave her coltfriend a nuzzle.
"That you admitted to it, as well as the fact that you turned away when you saw, more than makes up for it. Privacy isn't really at a premium out here, is it?"
The pegasus couldn't help but give slight smile at her humour.
"No, I imagine it isn't. We should get our breakfast though, before your brother eats it all."
The filly laughed and took a seat next to the younger unicorn and her coltfriend seated himself next to her. She then divvied up the food between the three of them and, after a quick prayer that Equestria would return to how it had once been, they tucked in with gusto, it being their first meal in the past day and a half.
~^~A~^~
The pegasus colt and his marefriend stood a ways off as they watched her younger brother play amongst the shallows of a stream. They hadn't exchanged too many words, instead just sitting leaning against each other. The closeness, and general 'togetherness' they felt was more than words could generally explain.
"Feeling better?" the colt asked after a time.
"Yes and no..." the unicorn sighed, "There are nights I'll dream it's back to how it used to be. Everypony happy, and we'd go to school...It will always feel so real, and I swear I can even feel, adding to the realism...then I wake up, and I'm in the woods."
The colt just nodded.
"I've had the same dreams."
"...then there was last night. I yelled at you, and I snarked about your parents... I know you don't usually care, but last night was...."
Wrapping a wing around her, the pegasus drew the unicorn close, nuzzling her cheek.
"And this! Don't get me wrong, you mean so much to me, but every time I'm mean to you, you just hug me, and when I try to apologize, you hug me tighter. Why?" the filly asked, truly confused, "I always expect you to yell, or frown, or something, but you just smile your charming smile and hug me....wait, where's my brother?!"
The pegasus' head shot up just in time to see a collector leap from a bush and try to grab at him and his fillyfriend. Grabbing her, the colt pulled her back just out of the collector's grasp and lashed out with a hind hoof, connecting painfully with the larger stallion's nose.
Scrambling, the pegasus got his fillyfriend to her hooves.
"Run!"
"But my brother! I promised my parents!"
In response, the unicorn's coltfriend saw a stallion towards the back holding the struggling young colt. With three powerful flaps of his wings, the pegasus shot forward and nabbed his fillyfriend's younger brother, planting him on his fillyfriend's back.
"Go, I've got thi-"
*Crack*
The unicorn let out a scream as she watched an iron shod hoof strike her coltfriend across the right eye cruelly. Remembering her brother though, and with tears in her eyes and heartbreaking memories of leaving her parents, the filly turned and ran.
She got just over twenty hooves away when a collector came sidelong out of the bushes and slammed into her side. The unicorn filly slammed into the ground, completely winded. A hoof came down harshly on her back, holding her still. Regardless, she was able to crane her neck to search for her brother, but he too was being held.
"Use the temporary on the youngest first, then we'll get her and got back for the colt."
"The colt might be dead, I hit him hard."
"Oh well, that colt then."
The filly was numbed with shock. Her coltfriend...dead? Then she registered the unicorn moving towards her brother.
And during the struggle,
They will hold us down,
The filly began to twist and turn wildly as she fought to get out from under the collector's hoof.
"Please, leave him alone, he's just a foal! Please, do what you want to me, but leave him alone!"
But please, please let's use this chance to turn things around,
The collector unicorn charged his first spell to knock the young foal out, then powered up the temporary 'Harmonization' spell. Just as he made to release it, a pegasus colt shot out from the bushes slamming his hoof hard enough into the unicorns horn to break it clean off.
The colt then threw himself against the stallion holding his fillyfriend down, watching as she quickly darted over to her brother.
The pegasus took an aerial defiant stance before the collectors as an earth shattering boom rang out.
And tonight we can truly say,
Together we're Invincible!
The head collector watched in awe as the colt he'd struck full force flapped in the air, a defiant glare from his left eye(as his right was destroyed beyond repair) coupled with the rainbow ring that seemed to have formed behind him leaving the collectors shaking.
"W...what are you?!"
The colt just gave them an even more piercing glare.
"The wrong family to mess with!"
With that the collectors turned and ran, leaving the three young ponies alone again, but they weren't truly alone, as they had each other.
The pegasus dropped down, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head to nuzzle his fillyfriend.
"Is he okay?"
The filly checked her brother once more before being satisfied.
"They just put him under, but I want to know if you're okay. Your eye is-"
"Fine." the colt chuckled, albeit painfully. "And to answer that question from earlier, how nothing you do ever hurts me....I love you, and I'm okay with that, even if it's all I know I have."
Tears of joy in her eyes, the filly kissed her coltfriend, for the first time, on the lips before hugging him to her.
"I love you too. Here's to us, and to love and hope."
Author's Note
So yeah, just a random cutsie one shot I thought up while listening to this~
and heavily inspired by this~
Hope you guys liked it, and author willing, I have some other one shot idea's I'd like to work on based on 'Absolution".