Chapter One: It's a wonderful..nah, it's an awesome life!
Disclaimer: I don't own MLP, Hasbro or anything else related to ponies.
"Hello Lulu" Celestia greeted pleasantly, trotting up beside her sister casually as she gazed out at the usual beautiful night sky. Giggling lightly at her flushing cheeks, Celestia raised a knowing brow, questioning "Shouldn't you be at night court", figuring that any pony that had something to discuss or ask for would end up disappointed. It was a cool night in the capital of Equestria, Canterlot. A nice place to live, if you were looking to live beside snobs and suck ups. Though if you dug past all of those, there were some nice things about the place. One of them being, the princesses.
"Tia, you know I don't like that name" blushed Luna, averting her eyes away at the foalish nickname her sister had bestowed upon her when she was young. "I was at night court…for three hours with no pony around. Do you realize how boring it gets when there's no pony around to speak to but your guards? Trying to engage in casual conversation with them is abit of a lost cause because of how serious they are" Luna sheepishly explained.
"So you thought to just skip out on night court because you were bored" repeated the sun goddess, receiving a nod from the lunar goddess. Sighing as she shook her head in exasperation, Celestia responded "Oh Luna, how will anypony take you more seriously if you don't take your nightly duties seriously? What if I chose not to show up one day for daily court"?
"Then maybe you'd develop more of a sense of humor" jested Luna, chuckling at the bemused expression on her sisters face. It was good for them to have these moments when they were just Celestia and Luna, not the rulers of Equestria.
"I can have a good sense of humor when I choose Lulu." Celestia glibly responded. Ever since Luna had experienced Nightmare Night after a thousand years of being gone, she had developed more of a carefree personality and was slowly winning back the trust of her subjects, so it was good to see her happy again.
Grinning back at Celestia, Luna's retort died in her mouth when Celestia trotted past her and gazed up at the sky. Noticing the worried gaze of her sister, Luna asked "What's wrong sister"? Closing her eyes, Luna tried to sense whatever it was that was disturbing her sister. At first, she couldn't feel anything at all. But after a few moments, a dark wave of uncertainty passed over the lunar goddess. A cold shiver went down her spine, her eyes widening in alarm before she gasped "It's…".
"Yes Luna…The Luminaize Veil" whispered Celestia gently, her eyes shifting downwards. Many ponies view the Veil with mixed feelings. Some saw it as a blessing for the benefits it granted to every pony, and everything in Equestria. Others viewed it as a curse for the strange phenomenons that it would bring. The last Luminaize Veil had been long ago three hundred years ago, the time it taking for each appearance of the Veil almost seeming random so no pony could really tell when it was coming…unless they were able to sense it like the two goddesses.
"I only wonder what it will cause this time" whispered Celestia, praying that wouldn't have to deal with a hurricane the size of continent or possibly fire rocks raining down from the skies.
CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!
The constant, head pounding music was enough to make a wimpier guys split open like a melon! The tongue burning beer was enough to make a lesser man pass out! Scott Sullivan however was anything but a wimp! Slamming the empty beer can onto the table, Scott whipped his mouth away of any lingering beer as he shot his friends a cocky smirk, laying out a greedy hand as he stated "Six…six and I don't feel a thing! Pay up losers"!
A low murmuring of disappointment erupted from the go-seers as they reluctantly pressed some cash into the teens hand as he pushed back some of his hair in a manner that always drove the girls crazy. "Next time, you should know better than to bet against me" boasted Scott, receiving the well expected praise from his friends in a manner of patting on the back and encouraging words.
It was a typical night for Scotty..well, less so than usual. He had finished up his first year of college, and was just having a little party at his Dad's lucrative home, down in Miami. Loud music, great drinks, delicious food; A typical party really. Clearly, his family was well off if his dad was able to easily afford a place near the beach. By little party though, he meant like almost fifty people. His dad knew how much of a party animal that he was, and was cool with what he did…well mostly cool anyway as long as he knew about these parties. Unfortunately, telling John Sullivan about the party..mighta slipped Scotts mind.
"Ahh, he'll forgive me" smirked Scott as he ran his fingers through his dirty, blonde hair. Although he took little after his dad in appearance, he made up for that in personality in almost being exactly like his dad was when he was his age..just abit more crazy maybe. Well built, clear green eyes, tanned skin; pretty much he looked a lot like his mom had looked.
Rolling his eyes as his typical followers of girls (or stalkers, whichever you want look at it) circled around him, he raised his hands in peace as he gave that devilish smirk that always seemed to help him when he was in a jam. "
Excuse me ladies, but I think the pool table is calling my name" he apologized in a half-ass manner as he pushed himself past his followers to make his way towards the pool table his buddies were hanging at. Passing by another follower of his, he gently held her head back and kissed her deeply before setting her back up, receiving a chorus of whistles and hoots from his pals as he asked "Soo, whose winning so far".
Mac, one of his teammates etched a finger in his direction as he grinned "I am, I've been cleaning a lot of these guys outta their cash real good". Mac leaned forward across the table, his white teeth showing easily against his dark skin as he asked "Do you think you can beat me Scott"?
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
"Damnit, I could sworn that nerd woulda given up by now. We're not stopping or going home till the party ends! When's he gonna learn that" Billy growled in annoyance as he glowered up at the ceiling where the loud thumps had come from.
"Damn you Bryon" Scott swore to himself, quickly hiding his annoyed glare with another false smile as he patted his friends on the shoulders. "Hey, hey c'mon. No need to get upset. Look, I'll go have a talk with the guy and get him to keep quiet. No biggie, you guys just keep having fun alright" Scotty requested in a diplomatic manner. Receiving immediate nods from his friends, Scotty turned on his feet as he turned from the kitchen as he headed for the spiral staircase, growling silently to himself as he went to go and see one of the few problems he had in his life. That problem had a name, and it was Bryon.
"Commander" cried out Anders, as the vice grip of the tentacle slithered around his friends chest; elevating him into the air. His staff having been snapped in two, the mage wearily lifted his hands to launch a fire bolt that would save his Commander's life. Unfortunately, most of his mana had been spent on healing and keeping the group alive!
This was it! The Wardens had to finish off "The Mother" in order to clear out the last of the Darkspawn that ravaged the lands. It was their duty as Wardens to slay every last Darkspawn that they came across!
"Arrrggh" cried out Fawkes Cousland, Commander of the Grey Wardens of Amaranthine as he could feel the pressure on the tentacle increase around his waist, forcing him to wearily let go of his blade as it clattered to the dusty ground! Never one to give up without a fight, Fawkes wearily punched and tried forcing the tentacle to release him from its grip! All it succeeded in doing was causing the brood mother to further tighten her hold around the hero.
His fellow warriors all struggled to try and lift themselves up from the last attack from "The Mother". The poison from "The Mother's" maw was slowly sapping their lives away. But she hadn't poisoned Fawkes however, as she intended to take him apart one piece at a time.
"Pathetic Wardens" hissed "The Mother" as her voice echoed throughout the cave, as she brought Fawkes up to her grey skinned, putrid face. "You dare come into my lair?! Slay my children?! And you think that you can destroy me" sneered the witch as a cackling laughter erupted from her maw, amused by the feeble attempts of the wardens to destroy her! "Weeeeell, all I have to say on that matter is…" leered "The Mother" as her rank breathe enveloped Fawkes face, her maw etching up into a cruel grin. "…GENERATIONS TO KILL OURSELVES! GENERATIONS TO KILL OURSELVES! GENERATIONS TO KILL, KILL, KILL" the brood mother demanded in a suddenly, very masculine tone!
"Damn" swore Bryon in irritation from being ripped out of his concentration, dropping Dragon Age: The Wardens Chronicles onto his bed as he sat up hastily. Rubbing his thumbs against the side of his head to cure his headache he was getting, he briefly wondered if the entire town could hear this party. Really, it wouldn't surprise Bryon at all if the entire town was here, since that's how it felt really!
Sliding off of his bed, he removed his headphones which had been playing LOTR soundtracks whilst he read, the music from the party downstairs having outdone it. Making his way towards his closet, he rummaged through it, digging out Scotty's old baseball bat, turning around to face his room. .
Bringing the bat up, he pounded it against the floor a few times in an attempt to send the message: Turn down the music! If anything, the music seemed to get louder on response from his thumping. Tossing the bat aside, Bryon rubbed his forehead as he caught sight of his reflection in his mirror. It would be easy for one to wonder how exactly he and Scotty were even alike at all. Whilst Scotty was muscular and athletic, he was…well not. By all means he wasn't out of shape, he just just….kinda lanky. There was a lot of subtle difference between him and Scotty, you could tell by just looking at their old rooms that they were using for the night.
Scotty's old room was filled with various trophies, weights, and gear from his days as one of the best boxers in their old high school. Bryon's room on the other hand was filled with books, gaming systems and trophies of his own…just not sport's trophies exactly.
"Probably gonna be late again till Dad gets back" Bryon murmured softly to himself as he tried to think of what he could do next. He didn't exactly have anywhere to go tonight, and most of his friends were on vacation. He didn't feel like going downstairs to hang with people he didn't know…mostly since he wasn't exactly what one would call "cool" .
Snatching a coke can from his tiny fridge, Bryon's brow furrowed into irritation from the banging from his door. "And here we go again" groaned Bryon as he strode over towards the door, ready to repeat the same argument that he'd had too many times to count. Opening the door, Bryon greeted his brothers false smile with one of his owns.
"Hi Scott" greeted Bryon in a flat tone, not even bothering to hide the animosity that he had against Scott for years of crap he had to deal with. Grinding his teeth as Scott gave that phony grin that always seemed to win him the hearts of everyone; Bryon exhaled some of his irritation, asking "Can I help you"?
"Bryooon, what's up? Actually you can help me" Scott greeted back as nonchalantly strode into Bryon's room like he owned it. "See funny thing just happened. I'm downstairs downing some brewskis, keeping my guest happy when all of a sudden a loud thumping interrupted the fun". Laughing lightly as if he had just been told an amusing joke, he said "You see, I'm trying to keep my guest happy, and I don't think they really appreciate it when a loner, dork like you starts making noise because he's too much of a pussy to come down from his intellect tower, and hang with us regular people".
Crossing his arms, Bryon smirked. "So, what you're saying is that I'm too smart to hang with the likes of morons like you and your friends? And Scotty I'm surprised at how humble you are. Calling yourself a regular guy" Bryon mock-gasped, placing his hands to his mouth.
Dropping his façade, Scott leaned in close and sneered "I wouldn't let you hang at my party, even if you weren't a pain in the ass. It's embarrassing enough that I'm related to you, but actually seen at the same party as a geek such are yourself? Tch, don't make me laugh".
Rolling his eyes as Bryon opened his mouth to most likely retort, Scott patted a mocking hand on Bryon's back as he said "Look, I know the drill so let's just get it over with. You're not going to call Dad and tell him what's going on cause your no snitch, I'm gonna go back downstairs and have some fun, and you're gonna stay up here, shut up, and not cause me any more problems kay"?
Leaning towards his ear, Scotty whispered "Cause if you do cause me trouble…maybe I'll feel like passing out some of your work", as he held up flash drive that held some of Bryon's stories.
"Y..You! You shit! That's personnel" protested Bryon, as he grabbed Scott and tried to wretch the drive from Scott's hands. Unfortunately it was a losing battle for him since it was like pitting a pebble against a boulder since he ended up on his ass from a light shove from Scott.
"Ahh Ahh..no one will find out, if you don't give me anymore trouble" Scotty cheekily grinned, having snatched the drive from Bryon's room yesterday night without him even knowing about it.
Reluctantly nodding in response, Bryon gasped as Scott slapped him hard on the shoulder as he sarcastically said "What a trooper", before striding out the door like he was the king of the world. "Bastard" Bryon growled as he slammed the door shut, flopping back onto his bed in annoyance as he placed his headphones back on as he cranked up his headset again.
No big deal. He just had to deal with Scotty for another week. They went on vacation tomorrow with Dad who had planned this since it had been sometime since he had last spent time with his sons. They'd go to the Bahamas, come back, then they'd go back to their separate colleges and not see each other for six months.
"It'll all be over soon enough" mumbled Bryon, smiling lightly at the idea of going back to where he was truly happy. As he placed his head back into his book, drowning out the sounds of the partygoers below; Bryon smiled lightly as he took another sip from his coke.
