Fraternitatis

Chapter 1

Darkness. Darkness and pain made up Thomas' world. His mind was sluggish and hazy, as if his thoughts were obscured by a thick fog. He had trouble forming coherent thoughts and his head was constantly assaulted by a sharp pain, causing him to involuntarily groan on occasion. Thomas tried to open his eyes, only to screw them shut again, his eyes too sensitive to take in the bright light. All of his other senses protested in unison to his situation. It felt as if every joint in his body ached like he had just run a marathon. His hearing was muffled and a faint white noise seemed to be ever-present, as if he had been on the receiving end of a concussive stun-grenade. He tasted bile in his mouth and his chest felt constricted with his laboured breathing. All in all, Thomas felt like death warmed up. He faintly recalled the ritual in the library, but everything after the bright light it caused was obscured by pain and a rush of wind and fire. His world was pain. He lived, breathed and thought pain. Just as he was about to reside himself to what looked like an existence of torment, his pain became alleviated. His joints no longer hurt anymore, and his headache faded to a dull throb instead of a sharp spike. His face muscles relaxed from their tensed state and he took a deep, relieved breath that ended with a long, drawn out sigh. As his vision began to return, his eyes were once again assaulted by a bright light. Blinking in the glare, he waited for his vision to improve and took in his immediate surroundings. He was lying in a pristine-white bed, with everything within a few feet obscured by a drawn curtain.

“So I'm in a hospital somewhere....” he reasoned, his thoughts confirmed by the smell of disinfectant in the air that always accompanied a hospital environment. Thomas counted himself extremely lucky. He had managed to end up somewhere safe, rather than god-knows where. He sighed with relief again, causing someone on the other side of the curtain to shuffle towards him.

“It's awake!” said hearty female voice.

“Shhh! We don't know what it is! What if it's dangerous?” said another female voice in a hushed whisper thick with concern.

“It?” thought Thomas, unsure of what was actually happening.

“Ah know, sugar cube. It's kinda funny-lookin'. I ain't never seen anythin' like it!” drawled another woman in a different accent.

“Oh, perfect! I'm in America......just what I need..." His youthful curiosity got the better of him, however, and he sat bolt upright just as the curtains were drawn. A collective gasp filled the room as everyone took in the scene. Thomas couldn't believe what he was seeing. His bed was ringed by a cast of technicolour creatures that stood on all-fours and vaguely resembled small horses. Their eyes were much larger than those of any horse he had every seen, with each one wearing an animated expression. A lavender one with a dark purple mane that was highlighted with a rose-coloured streak regarded him with a look of thoughtful concern. She was the minority of the group of creatures however, as almost every other of the beings present wore looks of fear, shock and nervousness at his sudden movement.

“Great....I've jumped dimensions.....well, at least it's not America...” Thomas mused inwardly.

“It's ok....umm, we're not going to hurt you. We just want to see if you're ok...” started the lavender one, her concern evident. Thomas cocked his head slightly. While he usually kept a somewhat open mind, this situation was a bit much for him. He had landed himself in a world of what appeared to be multicoloured ponies that took the place of humans in their role in society. What's more, he could see that the one that had just spoken to him had a horn protruding from her forehead, while a cyan mare with a mane of all the colours of the rainbow to her left clearly had wings tucked to her sides.

Something about the situation made Thomas snap. His breathing became increasingly shallow and laboured. The shock of what had happened to him coupled with the magical fatigue of performing such a magical-intensive ritual hit him like a ton of bricks. He began to hyperventilate and sweat profusely. His vision became blurred and a dull ringing filled his ears. What was he going to do? How would he get back home? Would he ever see his brothers again? Would he ever succeed in finding his master? He didn't know. For once, Thomas had no answer or rationale for his situation. That scared the absolute shit of him. His magical aura began to wildly surge and flicker as his control over his abilities faltered in his unstable psychological state. The ponies before him slowly withdrew from the bed in fear, seeing the panicked creature not taking the situation well. But before Twilight could call for the doctor to help calm him down, something terrifying happened. The creature's eyes glowed a bright blueish hue that made his eyes devoid of pupils. His face muscles tensed and his body began to go into convulsions and odd twitches. The creature sobbed and grunted as if caught in a horrific seizure brought on by demonic possession. Thomas felt his control slip from his grasp. His mind was too fractured to properly deal with what he was experiencing. His rational mind was at war with his instinctive fight-or-flight reflexes. Having never bothered to learn how to gain complete control over his mental state, Thomas could feel his natural instincts kick in and take over his conscious mind. The last thing he remembered before being consumed by darkness was the terrified look on the ponies' faces as his inner-monstrosity made it's presence known to the world in all it's horrific barbarism.

“Run!” shouted Rainbow Dash, bolting toward the door with the rest of her friends following closely behind in a mad dash of survival. Whatever this thing was, it was clearly dangerous. They scampered out of the hospital (though thankfully it was just about empty today) and ran at full gallop down the road before turning to see if they were safe. Inside the hospital, Thomas' instincts had completely taken over his mind. He no longer had any rhyme or reason to dictate his behaviour, and he consequently went on a barbarous rampage. His normally dormant instincts took the reins of his body and proceeded to weave chaos. Flames erupted from his open mouth, his roaring voice consuming anything in it's way with intense heat and burning it to ashes. Random objects floated about as if caught in micro-gravity, the boy's mind picking up anything and everything within reach and either tossing it in a random direction or utterly obliterating it with his power. The ponies outside gaped in awe and fear as a whole section of the hospital simply disintegrated into thousands of splinters of wood as a shock wave rocked the foundations. The creature roared at the top of it's lungs and threw itself at a nearby tree and used it's limbs to rip it apart in a berserker rage before letting loose a fireball that burnt whatever was left.

“This isn't good! I need to find spike and warn the Princess! We need help!” shouted Twilight, turning away and galloping at full pace toward the library. She was followed by her friends, not wanting to be on the receiving end of the creature's fury. Debris fell in random places, with chunks of what used to be trees and pieces of houses and other buildings fell, as if caught in a huge tornado that threatened to wipe Ponyville off the map. Ponies scattered and screamed as they ran in sheer panic. Twilight and her friends made a beeline for the library and rushed inside, picking up Spike (who was standing in the doorway aghast at the destruction occurring outside) and slamming the door behind them.

“Spike! Hurry, I need you to take a letter so we can get help!” demanded Twilight, her eyes darting about feverishly, hoping that whatever that thing was, it didn't come here.

“W-what's going on, Twilight? What's happening?” began the baby dragon fearfully, wincing as an explosion rocked the ground outside.

“No time to explain, Spike, just get it done!” she cried, magically handing him parchment and quills. The dragon hesitated for a moment, but regained his composure and resolutely complied.

“Ready!” he announced, bringing the quill up to the parchment.

“Dear Princess Celestia, urgent assistance needed. Some kind of creature with horrible magic is attacking Ponyville! Please help us before it hurts us! Signed, Twilight Sparkle! Now send it!” she finished in a rushed voice, feeling slightly relieved when the dragon blew at the rolled up letter and it burst into a magical flame that blew away in the wind toward her mentor and ruler, Princess Celestia. She only hoped that help would get here in time. A blood-curdling roar sounded outside as Thomas continued his mindless rampage and demolished sections of the town at random. It was a miracle that no ponies were hurt. Everypony in the library cowered in fear, with some shaking like leaves in the wind as the terrifying monster continued his efforts outside. Fluttershy hid her face in Rainbow Dash's mane, shivering violently. Spike and Rarity held each other, while Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Twilight nervously stood in the centre of the room, awaiting the hopeful arrival of any help from their Princess. Not ten seconds later, the room was bathed in the bright majestic light that accompanied the teleporting royal Alicorn sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They were immediately greeted by an anxious Twilight and they held a look of grave concern on their royal faces. Nothing had ever threatened Equestria like this before, even dragons didn't rampage like this creature. It was wild, random and bloodthirsty in nature. Such a brutal adversary made Luna shiver reproachfully at the prospect of such a barbaric creature.

“Oh Princess! Thank goodness you're here! Please! Help us before that thing destroys Ponyville!” cried Twilight, her desperation reaching Celestia's ears. The sun raiser regarded her faithful student's desperation and complied with a small, reassuring nod.

“My sister and I will do all we can, Twilight, but we have never faced such a creature before. We don't know how this will end...” she spoke, her warm, soft voice calming her subjects somewhat.

“We must hurry, sister! It's coming this way!” said Luna, stepping in, trying to make haste. The two alicorns exited the Ponyville Library and stood directly in the path of a rampaging Thomas, defying his animalistic will. Luna stepped forward, bravely taking a stand against Thomas.

“Cease thy destruction and return to from whence thou came!” she demanded in her roaring, commanding voice, earning the undivided attention of Thomas' clouded mind. He turned slowly to face the defiant ponies that were bigger than the rest and let loose a howl of fury that ended in a terrifying burst of fire from his mouth that pelted straight for the royal sisters. Luna had no time to react, but Celestia had anticipated such an offensive strategy, and threw together a magical barrier just in time to dissipate the incoming flames before they had a chance to singe either of them. Thomas roared in frustration before letting loose a much larger, concentrated and steady blast of fire, it's heat intensifying enough to change it's hue to a brilliant blue as it surged toward the Princesses. Luna's eyes widened in realisation and hastily drew from her own magical reserves to reinforce the barrier against the much stronger onslaught. The barrier warped and buckled under the immense heat and pressure it was forced to keep at bay. Celestia and Luna didn't flinch, or hesitate when Thomas subsided his attack to take a breath, as they dashed forward, their spells at the ready. Luna fired first, her azure-coloured spell hitting the teenager at full force, but was amazed when he simply shrugged it off. He simply dismissed the attack as if putting up with a slight chill in the air, rather than a spell that was meant to knock him unconscious. Celestia fired, her crimson spell summoning a circular barrier around Thomas, encasing him in it's protective bubble. Twilight, who stood watching from her balcony in the distance, wondered what Celestia had planned, unable to make sense of the fact that she had conjured a barrier for him. Then, the prospect dawned on her. Celestia had created a reverse barrier, it's purpose meant to keep the creature in, rather than keep attacks out. Celestia and Luna moved simultaneously, their spells synchronised in perfect unison as they performed their deadliest attack yet, earning a surprised gasp from Twilight, having never seen her ruler use such lethal force on any foe before. The barrier served as the perfect means to unleash a devastating move against their foe, while keeping it's side effects from harming the surrounding landscape. Celestia called forth white-hot flames that filled the inside of the barrier, intending to scorch her foe into submission. Luna assisted, with a maelstrom of lightning to accompany the flames, each attack amplifying the other with their heat and energy, resulting in a particularly deadly combination. Thomas became obscured by the attack, but his howls and roars of pain and fury pierced the outside world, growing in intensity. Before long, the barrier shimmered and flickered before giving out entirely, it's strength failing to stand against Thomas' furious counter-attack and the terrifying power of their foe was revealed. The flames and lightning swirled in a maelstrom of untold power, controlled entirely by the furious boy, standing unscathed at it's heart, his normally brown eyes shining a bright crimson as they seemed to drill twin holes right through Celestia as she observed them with a mixture of defiance and apprehension.

“What in Tartarus is this monstrosity?” she thought, fearing the worst as the bipedal being slowly inched closer, his movements painfully slow as his advance built fear and panic.

“Sister! What can we do? It's too powerful for us!” cried Luna, dodging a rogue burst of flames that fell away from the towering inferno. Celestia didn't have an answer, but right at that moment, a bright light shone in the sky, brighter than her sun and casting a glare all around them. Celestia and Luna shielded their eyes a little, before catching sight of the origins of the mysterious light. Rather than yet another attack from the creature, it was an immensely powerful teleportation signature, indicating that whatever was teleporting into the airspace above them was either massive in size, or arriving from a great distance. Celestia lost her composure when she and Luna finally saw what had just teleported into the air. Two more bipedal creatures that bore striking resemblance to the out-of-control monster had appeared, free falling to the ground with an audible thud as they landed solidly on their elongated hind limbs and making a few impact marks on the earth beneath them. They were clearly older than the first one, their greater size evident of that fact. There were two things, however, that distinguished them from the furiously rampaging beast. First, they seemed much calmer and in control, though the younger of the two's face was wet with what were probably tears. The other difference was that, in contrast to the brute, they wore much more extravagant clothing. They both wore long garments that covered most of their bodies, though the older one's clothing was clearly better-made and more extravagant. They sprang into action in perfect unison on the loud, spoken command of the older creature. Celestia instinctively activated another barrier to protect herself and her sister, unsure of just what they were doing. They went straight for the younger, raging creature, ignoring Celestia and her sister as well as the dangers of the huge maelstrom above.

Julius and Erik had finally managed to arrive in the same world as their brother, only to find that he had completely lost control of his inner-demon.

“Great, the shift made him unstable....this may take some effort.” Julius thought to himself as he and Erik went in a controlled free fall toward the ground, landing effortlessly on the surface. He noticed that some native creatures closely resembling horses fearfully recoiled from their sudden appearance. Julius had expected nothing less, for if Thomas had previously been the only example of their species that they had ever encountered before, then they would naturally fear two more arriving without warning. Thomas' control had completely shattered, with his powers ruling his mind, rather than the other way around. Julius grimaced at this notion. He instantly knew that Thomas could not be reasoned with in his current state, his conscious mind was being suppressed by his subconscious. Since the subconscious mind was concerned almost purely with survival in this case, it took almost anything unknown as a threat to it's existence, and therefore tried it's utmost to ensure the continued survival of the body, even if it meant utterly destroying whatever stood in it's way. Being driven to such a state of mind was a daunting experience, having no control over your actions. As far as Thomas was concerned, he was in a deep sleep from which he couldn't wake up unaided. In the time it took Julius to analyse the problem, Erik had done the same. They exchanged serious looks and nodded, instantly knowing which course of action to take. They moved in practiced harmony, preparing for what they were about to do as if they were one person.

“Erik!” shouted Julius, giving his brother the go-ahead. Erik complied, running toward Thomas while Julius encased both Erik and Thomas in a protective barrier. Erik had a working knowledge of the human mind and psyche, knowing that what he was about to do could cause major psychological damage to his younger brother, but it was the most peaceful solution. Julius had provided a means to stop Thomas from escaping, and Erik stretched out his hand, directing his powerful flow of consciousness right at Thomas' face, feeling his brother's mind as if it were his own. He established a link between their minds, grimacing slightly from what lay inside Thomas'. Pain, suffering, rage, hate, desperation and fear hung in his mind like a thick fog that clouded everything else from view. Somewhere in the depths of that haze, lied the consciousness part of Thomas' mind, and the key to stopping his rampage. Erik felt around, his brother's mind reacting to the foreign invader with protest, mentally trying to block him from certain areas and fighting his presence the whole way. Finally, Erik smiled. He had found the small, frightened part of Thomas' mind that was his consciousness. His subconscious mind had taken over when he found that he was unable to coherently make sense of what it saw or felt. It was fractured. Splintered. Shattered beyond recognition. If Erik were to try and bring it to the surface now, it would destroy itself, as it struggled to find rhyme or reason to it's existence with whatever limited capacity it had, only to further fracture. Erik would just have to try his hardest to bring back his lost brother, knowing that if he tampered with his mind too much, Thomas would never be the same again. He could lose his memories, his feelings, or become an entirely different person. Erik frowned, trying his best to rearrange the shattered pieces of Thomas' mind back into the brother he knew and loved, before he was pulled out of Thomas' mind by Julius.

“That's enough, Erik. There's nothing more we can do for him, but hope me makes it through...” Julius' thoughts swam through Erik's mind, as he felt his connection with his younger brother cut off by his elder. The result was Thomas instantly passing out as his mind was re-scrambled and realigned. His control over the maelstrom of fire and lightning winked out of existence and the barrier Julius had conjured dissipated. Erik sighed in relief and as he slumped onto the ground, his energy drained from sudden exertion of mental force. Julius stood there, putting his hand on Erik's shoulder, comforting him. The moment seemed to last for a good twenty seconds before their thoughts were interrupted by one of the horses behind them.

“Thank you.....but why have you come?” demanded the brilliant white winged-horse behind them, making Erik jump at the realisation that they had the power of speech, much less the ability to speak English.

“Mein Gott, was haben wir uns da eingelassen? (My God, what have we gotten ourselves into?)” he said without thinking, musing to himself more than anyone else.

The white horse cocked her head to the side slightly, confused at his words.

“I'm sorry, do you speak Equestrian?” she asked, regarding his strange speech pattern.

“Equestrian!” scoffed Erik, unable to contain himself.

“....yes, can you understand us?” asked the horse, uncertain. Julius stepped forward before Erik could say anything else and answered the question for him.

“Yes, we understand you.” he said simply, regarding the alicorn with interest. “Interesting,...” he thought. “She has both wings and a horn. What do you call a winged unicorn?”

Celestia paused for a moment, before continuing.

“Why have you come here?” she asked in a measured, even voice, trying not to sound threatening. The older creature looked her in the eye before answering in his own strangely-accented reply.

“He is our brother, we had to help him...” he said, earning a reproachful look from Luna as her gaze shifted from the two before her and the unconscious one behind them.

“Hast thou come to destroy as he did?” she demanded, not wanting to deal with not one, but two of these strange beings at once, much less ones that so easily overpowered the first.

“No.” replied Julius, his tone one of warm reassurance. He did not want the equine beings to regard them as threats, despite what their brother had done. “We came to find our brother. We were worried about him.” he finished, indicating to the crumpled form behind him.

“Very well, then I must demand only three more answers before I leave....” she began, earning a reassuring nod from the older of the two. “What is your species? What is your name? And do you intend on staying in this land?” she chose her words carefully, unsure whether or not she would like her answers. Julius also chose his words carefully, not wanting to upset or endanger their presence here. Despite his power, he did not feel the need to use it in order to achieve desirable results when simple diplomacy would suffice. But at the same time, he did not want to endanger this world by introducing anymore concepts or information than he needed to. What if the concept of of a parallel dimension caused a existential crisis, obliterating this dimension?

“My name is Julius Collins, I am a human, and I don't intend on staying. My brother, Erik and I came only to retrieve our other brother, Thomas, that is all. But it may take some considerable time before we are able to return to where we came from......do you understand?” he finished, leaving the open-ended question to do the work for him. He was unsure of whether or not the concept of magic was a safe subject in this world. It wasn't even entirely safe on Earth, hence why his kind kept to the shadows and hidden from the general public.

“I understand, teleporting such a great distance can take enormous preparation....I hope you intend to make your stay here peaceful?” She smiled when her question was replied with nods from both of the human brothers, though the younger one seemed reluctant to speak. “Very well....arrangements will have to be made and damage must be addressed. I'm afraid I have to be short, but I must insist that you remain in only in this village, and under the supervision of whomever I choose.....will he be a problem?” she said, indicating to Thomas as she finished with a concerned voice.

“He will not repeat his actions, we have seen to that. He may be confused and disoriented when he wakes up, but we will make sure he doesn't do anything wrong.” spoke up Erik, standing up as he did so. Celestia was slightly taken aback at the even stranger accent with which the younger human spoke, but decided to go with it.

“Very well....” she stated, before turning to the library. “Twilight! I have a mission for you.” she said, with the onlooking lavender unicorn promptly gasping slightly at hearing her name called, before she teleported the short distance to the Princess's side, ready to hear her instructions.

“Yes, Princess?” she asked.

“Princess, huh? So this Equestria is ruled by royalty? Interesting, I wonder if this is arranged absolutely or constitutionally?" Thought Erik, his scholarly mind already working in overdrive. Wondering about many aspects of the new society they were apparently now stuck with until Julius could rebuild another portal. Although, he was unsure of just how long they would be welcome here, so he asked his brother in a way that he knew only they would understand.

“Julius?” Julius turned to his brother, instantly recognising the change in accent and understanding what he was going to ask, and why he was asking in Latin, rather than English/Equestrian. He obviously did not want the native inhabitants to know what he was asking. “Julius, cum poteris construere alius rituali? (Julius, when will you be able to construct another ritual?)” Julius replied, earning a look of apprehension from his younger brother.

“Sex saltem mensium. Est hoc mundo, etiam secundum diversam pro me ad probate exigere eadem ritum (At least six months, this world is too different for me to try the exact same ritual).” Erik grimaced. Celestia, Luna and Twilight exchanged worried looks, they had no idea what the brothers were saying and knew that they were being purposefully excluded from the conversation. Celestia, however recovered first and turned to her most faithful student.

“Twilight, I want you to keep a watchful eye on these....humans during their stay in Equestria.” she said carefully. Twilight kind of knew that this sort of request was coming, but she shrugged off the arrangement and took the mission with her usual enthusiasm.

“Yes, Princess, I'll do my best.” she finished with an awkward bow. Celestia nodded before turning to Julius a final time.

“Julius Collins....” she started, letting the unfamiliar syllables of the strange name roll across her tongue, hoping that she had pronounced it correctly. “I hope you would do well to make your stay here a peaceful one. You have the gratitude of both myself and my sister for helping avoid any further damage to Ponyville.....you will stay with Twilight Sparkle, my student, until you are able to travel back to your home.” she said, letting the words sink in, hoping that they fully understood what she was saying. Both of the humans nodded in unison, showing that they would respectfully comply with her orders.

“Yes, your majesties, we will do so.” stated Julius, bowing respectfully while indicating to his brother to follow suite. Celestia smiled slightly at their formality, before giving a final word to her sister and Twilight Sparkle. She said her goodbyes and she and Luna promptly teleported back to Canterlot.

“Well, this is going to be an interesting experience...” Erik thought, his mind working at double-pace as he began to devise more and more ways to observe this new world and everything it had to offer.