Chapter Twenty Six
Year 498; House of the Hylian
Rainbow Dash
“At some point we fell asleep like that.” I stated simply. “Probably just after the point where we started singing to each other. Fun times. Ultraviolet would later inform me that a cuter picture than the two of us passed out on the floor, all curled up like that, was never seen. Come to think of it... Was that how you figured out it was me? When I sang at the castle?”
“Um... Yeah, I think that was part of it...” Fluttershy answered, a little flustered at the detail with which I had described that last scene. “I think it was more of when I first saw you fight... You looked so much like your brother just then.”
“Wait, you saw his brother fight? With a proper weapon, I mean.” Twilight inquired. She had been listening intently to the story so far, though I suppose everyone was to some degree. I picked out her and Scootaloo in particular.
“I was getting to that, just hold on.” I had begun to enjoy telling the story so far, becoming more animated in my gestures. Fluttershy had seemingly forgotten she was addressing multiple people on more than one occasion, and had started talking more excitedly, before coming back to the present and lapsing into silence, letting me take over. Applejack had been silent for a time now, and at the back of my mind I hoped she wasn’t taking away the wrong meaning from my words. I had been pretty friendly with Fluttershy in that short time- but even now, realizing I had reunited with her, that was about the extent of things between us. It never occurred to me, however, to wonder whether or not Fluttershy felt the same way.
Applejack now broke her silence, picking up the story right where it left off. I smiled slightly, reassured that she knew my intentions well enough, and wasn’t offended. Whoever said having someone who knows you better than you do yourself is annoying, was lying. I thought.
“The funny thing about it, was that it turned out Fluttershy’s place was actually two floors under mine, in the same building! I was almost right above those two, looking up at the sky myself. If we had all just peeked out the window for a second, we could have saved ourselves a heap of trouble later on.”
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Year 490
Manehattan; Apartment Building, Floor Six
Applejack
The bright light of the morning sun filled the small room, stirring me from my restless sleep. My eyes cracked open, and a sudden strange feeling filled my mind. It felt like something was about to happen, something big. I couldn’t guess at all what it was, or even if it wasn’t just a dream wearing off, but the sunshine was so bright this morning, it didn’t seem like it mattered. Whatever happened, it was a nice morning.
I pulled myself out of bed and, shaking away the last of my sadness from last night, decided I’d moped around long enough. I would at least try to adjust to my new city life, and move on from my old one. I would stay in contact with Rainbow Dash as best I could, but do my best not to get hung-up about it. The letter I had written two nights ago was on it’s way by now, so I decided to get dressed and see about wandering around town some, to get my bearings better. I managed to convince my uncle to take me around town after breakfast, and for a fleeting moment, I was able to forget what I had been upset about in the warm sunlight.
But only for a brief moment.
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Rainbow Dash
Fluttershy and I stumbled out the guest room, rubbing our eyes blearily. The sun had already risen in the sky, and we awoke warmed by it. It was a strange thing, here- even with the short distance between the two settlements, Manehattan was noticeably warmer than what my brother and I were used to.
Ultraviolet was still asleep on the couch when we came into the living room, so we decided to kill some more time with another round of the tactics game while we waited. I was really surprised I had never encountered this game before- it seemed like something my brother would have been all over. I was also somewhat surprised at how good Fluttershy was at it- sure, she’d had more time to practice, but it seemed strange that someone as timid as her was so brilliant at battle tactics.
About an hour passed before Ultraviolet and Creiddylad woke up, and a light breakfast was prepared. Half way through eating, Ultraviolet began speaking. “So, I figure we could do some more exploring around town today, check out all the major areas of interest. We’re bound to find one of the two people we’re looking for now. Plus we may as well see the sights while we’re in town, right? I mean, when’s the next time we’re going to be here?”
I really don’t remember a lot of what we did that day, to be honest. The four of us wandered around town all day, without ever running into Applejack or the mysterious hooded figure. I would later learn how frustratingly close I was to running into her- she was making her way around aimlessly the same as me, but always at a different part of town. The day passed quickly, I remember that much- and almost before I knew it the sun was getting ready to set, with no progress made to speak of.
“It’s getting late...” Creiddylad said, looking up at the sky. “We’d better head back home soon, start dinner.”
I looked to the ground despondently. It was beginning to look like I simply wouldn’t be able to find AJ again. I could feel a lump forming in my throat when Vi said: “Go ahead and take Fluttershy back home for now, I’m gonna take my bro for one more look around this area. We’ll be back soon.”
She looked to him, almost curiously, then nodded. She took Fluttershy’s hand as they flew back home, their white and golden wings shining brilliantly in the waning light. I looked up to my brother, infinitely thankful for him giving it one last chance.
“Well, come on, then. We won’t be able to pick anyone out from above for much longer. We’re quite literally burning daylight. Let’s go!” We shot into the air in perfect sync, and began gliding over the rooftops of the general area where he thought Applejack would be staying- and therefore returning to with any luck. We must have appeared no more than large birds from below, skimming gracefully over the cityscape.
Vi banked suddenly, coming to rest on the rooftop of a four-or-five story building, and I followed shortly. I realized shortly that it was right across the street from the apartment, though my brother didn’t seem to make the same connection. He peered over the edge, trying to see something on the street below. “I thought I saw something down there. C’mere, take a look.”
I walked over to him, turning my back on the other building, and stood next to him. I began to look where he was pointing, but just as I did, something else interrupted me.
“Are you proud of what you’ve accomplished, O brave and valiant warriors?” An all-too familiar voice queried from behind us. We spun around, Vi’s hand moving to the hilt behind his head. Before us stood the same black-cloaked figure from yesterday, arms folded, head cocked slightly. I still couldn’t make out his face, but I could just feel a smug grin behind that hood.
“Saved the life on one little girl, done strictly for a sense of honor, and only desiring to find that which you set out for. It must seem so heroic to your eyes. How small the world must seem to you...” I noticed that there was a strange accent to his words: his ‘O’s were occasionally pronounced as two, and in the case of a normal ‘ou’ or ‘oo’, the sounds were elongated just enough to be noticeable.
“Save us the guilt trip, bud.” Vi spat back at him. “I really don’t have the patience for it. Why’d you try to kidnap her? What is your purpose here?”
“I have no desire nor obligation to tell you, sell-sword. However, I’m afraid that your previous actions can’t go ignored entirely. It’s not usually appreciated when someone interferes with the actions and movements of The Order, as we serve the Goddess directly. However, as all you did was delay me, I can give you a slight break. I’ll give you this option now, once. Allow me to fulfill my purpose and bring the young girl to the The Order, and you’ll be both spared and overlooked for the time being. Fail to do so, and I’m afraid I’m obliged to eliminate you myself.”
“That right?” Vi said, employing his long-standing skill of answering long rants with a two-word answer. He drew his sword dramatically, it’s silver-white steel blade, slightly curved at its tip, glinted in the orange light of the sunset. “Can’t say I’ve ever heard of this ‘Order’, nor am I familiar with what Goddess you speak of. So I suppose I’m obliged to say: You and what army?”
The figure seemed to find this very entertaining. He gave a haunting laugh, which almost sounded genuine. He then threw out his arms dramatically, several shadowy, human-like forms leaping out of the ground below him. They began massing on the rooftop, leaving room only between us and him. “Is this one acceptable?” He said with a chuckle.
Vi shook his head. “Impressive, sure. But what do you really expect to happen here? Me to just let you have your way and take some girl away from her home, for unclear and unknown purposes?” He threw his left arm forward, creating a gust of wind that blew several of the unarmed shadows clean off the building. “You obviously have a limited grasp of reality, friend.”
He sighed. “I’m almost sorry you feel that way." He leapt into the air, backpedaling with his wings to come to rest on the apartment roof. He gave a short hand signal, and the army of shades advanced, strange claws affixed to their hands raised.
Ultraviolet looked to me, as of yet unarmed, and barked an order. “Get up above me, kid. Stay out of this battle- I can handle these pawns. But- here.” He handed me a katana, one he always carried in the off chance that his broadsword were to be blown out of his hand- which was more often than one might expect. He often trained with the katana as well. “If any of them come at you, use that to defend yourself. But stay away from them otherwise.”
I was about to argue, but he shut me up quickly by slicing several shadows in half at once. He grabbed my shirt collar in his left hand, and put all his strength into throwing me upwards. I stabilized myself quickly, hovering in the air and watching as he tore into the enemy with blade and wind. Normally they wouldn’t have stood a chance against him, as he was inarguably the best swordsman I had ever seen. But there were just so many of them, and as I watched, I could see more rising from the ground constantly, with no end in sight. Clearly the plan was just to bury him in troops.
I looked to the other building, where the cloaked man still stood, regarding the situation with impatience. I considered going after him and having him call off his troops, but my attention was brought back to the battle at hand as several more bodies flew off the building, evaporating as they died. Vi swore loudly, shaking his hand. Oh no... He’s burned through all of his magic energy already? He continued to fight with just his sword, but I could see that it was quickly becoming a one-sided battle. Without any way to quickly dispatch a large group of enemies, they were spawning faster than he could kill them.
He plowed through to the center, but as he began tearing into a group, another was right behind him, claws raised, seconds away from piling him. Abandoning all thought, all notion of obeying his order to stay out, all but the next move, I flew up higher into the air, brandished the katana over my head, and shot like an arrow down towards the battle. The tip of the blade sliced through the air before me, wind whistling past with lightning-fast speed, and just as the nearest target was looming before me, time seemed to stand still. Everything slowed, and it almost felt like my sword had encountered some sort of resistance.
Then my ears popped, and all hell broke loose.