Hearts of stone

Chapter One

I was born about two years after he took over and all hope was lost for Equestria. My brother and I were on the run from the moment we were born, and thankfully, while several agreed with Stonegaze's new terms, many did not, meaning there were several places for us to hide out. We would spend a few here, a month or so there, but we were always on the run. My brother and I were born with the gene, a gene which pushed its way back into Equestria after the Great Unicorn Purge. It was horrific, and those who did manage to escape the watchful eye of Stonegaze fled, far beyond Equestria.

This gene was more of a desperateast attempt for physical magic to return to the land. It balanced out the more subtle magic which lifts a pegasus pony off of the ground, or enables an earth pony to grow the strongest and healthiest of crops. With unicorns almost completely wiped out, there was nopony to house the magic, to use it and give it a purpose. The magic doesn't belong to the unicorn, they are simply looking after it for the duration of their life, they're borrowing it from the land so to speak.

I'm not a unicorn myself, goodness, if I was I'd be long gone. My name is Polybius. Polybius Shard. And I'm a blank flank pegasus.

Allow me to elaborate.

An average foal would likely spend a portion of their childhood discovering their special talents and eventually earning their cutie marks. Well, just say for my brother and I, that portion was taken up with running. Our parents, bless them, devoted their lives to keeping us safe. Of course we would try out different things during times where we were safe temporarily, but eventually, we just gave up trying. We weren't getting much younger, and we had more important things to focus on. When we hit 18 we began to travel on our own, leaving behind both our parents and our childish fantasies. I never saw my parents again.

We look relatively normal, aside from being blank flanks at the age of 21. Both grey in colour, the main difference being that he is an earth pony and I'm a pegasus. Needless to say, we're non identical twins, if not obvious from the fact that we're two different types of pony, then maybe the fact that his mane is orange, red and yellow, in straight braids down the left side of his face, where as mine is a sort of two-toned teal colour, very frizzy, very out of control. The length depends on whether my brother is around to cut it.

Another difference is that our coats aren't a solid colour like most ponies. The feathers on my wing tips and the tips of my ears are a sort of darker grey, and his throat and underbelly are lighter. My eyes are purple, from our mother, and his are emerald green, like our father. Yes, my brother Magma Shard was practically a spitting image of our father. Funny, considering he didn't come out a stallion.

Now you may be thinking that Magma got his name from his mane colour. Well, that's partially true, but it's also true that he was a fiery foal right from birth. His gene gave him the heart of a volcano, or more accurately, the breath of one. Pretty cool, right? As for me? Well, I can phase. Not quite as exciting, but pretty useful for quick getaways. It's It's not limited to physical phasing, either. Sometimes I can phase into the minds of others and alter thoughts to an extent.

It should be noted now that Magma had a bad habit of not sticking around. I'd decided to settle down in Manehatten for a while, knowing at this point that he would be back, and that he would be fine. But I couldn't help but worry, he was my brother after all.

"Delivery." A short Zedonk with a brown mane which covered his eyes placed a box down next to me. "This should keep you going for the next few months. I have friends at Sweet Apple acres, managed to get this shipment past the crosses. I know its not a lot but its the least I could do."
"Thank you Vincent, I really appreciate it." I looked down at him. He wasn't considered a defect much more than a mule would have been, but being a cross between a zebra and a donkey certainly drew him some attention. Still, he had managed to get this shipment here, and for that I was grateful.