//------------------------------// // Four // Story: Freedom Through Harmony: Book II // by Electricut //------------------------------// Four Year 504, Equestrian Calendar Scootaloo I awoke late the next morning, still snuggled nice and cozy next to the other two Crusaders. Luckily, we weren't expected until the afternoon, so we still had time. Applebloom woke up a few minutes later, followed by an extremely groggy Sweetie Belle. We didn't have a whole lot of time to waste, or stuff to waste it on, so we made our way to the house at the entrance to the Acres. The walk back was a pleasant one. The many trees populating the rolling hills of the farmland were almost all in bloom, and the pastel-y shaded petals cascaded gently down upon us as we passed. I sniffed lightly, all the pollen in the air around this time of year always getting at me. We approached the clearing at the gates to the property, an organized gathering of buildings forming a miniature town square for the farm. One of the buildings held all the seeds to be planted, one stored all the harvested crops, one was a well-stocked tool shed. The largest was the actual house, the place that the Apple family- and, off and on, me and Rainbow Dash- called home. It would only be off-and-on for me now, though. After dating for five years straight directly following the Moonlight Uprising, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had finally been married last year. It was a busy life for our big old mix-matched family; Rainbow Dash still tore through the skies as the leader of the Wonderbolts, Applebloom and I both raked in a fair amount of money for the crusader's music, and in our downtime we all pitched in to help with harvest at the Acres. Since all four of us worked, we were doing pretty well in terms of money. We probably could have afforded to sell the farm and buy a nice house in town- but what would be the point in that? This was our home. It was worth using the money to keep it in good repair. Besides, Granny Smith would never dream of leaving. Both Dash and Applejack were standing in the clearing, waiting on us in order to see us off. But as the three of us approached, I saw that they looked ready to go themselves. Rainbow Dash was decked out in his Wonderbolts uniform: blue and yellow vest, plain blue jeans and a black shirt, his broadsword slung over his back. Applejack had donned some proper clothing herself. "What's going on?" I asked casually as we reached them. "You got a show today too?" Rainbow Dash laughed knowingly. "Sort of." He said sarcastically. "Luna never told you, did she? We're doing a combo show. You'll be doing music accompaniment for my guys." "Oh man, really?" I said, excited. "Why have we never done that before? This is going to be crazy-awesome." "It's not easy to get a stage that can hold that much awesome at a time." He answered. "We had to go all the way of course, so we needed to wait until we could get that big ol' coliseum in Eclipse City. It's going to be so worth it though." Luna had agreed to meet us at the entrance to town, so the party of musicians, stuntman and spectator began the short trek through the streets. While we walked, we brainstormed about which songs would be best to use for the show. It had to be something action-y, obviously, but not one that had too much vocals that would draw attention from the main show. At the gate in the wooden fence around town, Luna- the fourth Crusader- stood. Her beautiful midnight blue hair billowed well past her shoulders, and her odd pupil-less eyes were just as dark blue, almost black. Her black wings, uncharacteristically large for her age, were ruffled out behind her. To imagine her actual age made me dizzy, but for all practical purposes she was around eighteen. She had in fact lived for five hundred years, in a state of Godhood, bound to her evil sister, Queen Celestia. Neither had aged a day since they became Gods during the first civil war five hundred years ago. In addition, Luna had been sealed away for centuries only a few years after achieving Godhood, released only a few years before the Uprising, so she didn't even have the knowledge that came from living through such a long time. When Celestia was killed, Luna was released from Godhood, and began aging normally again. Thus, the former princess Luna was physically, mentally and emotionally eighteen years of age. She was smart though. It was difficult for her to adapt to being launched five hundred years ahead of her time, especially since the only two people who she once knew- Celestia, and the immortal historian Xekora- both destroyed each other, leaving the poor girl all alone. Still, with the help of her knew friends- the Crusaders- she stuck it out and did her best to fit in with the new world. She fit right in with us, at least, and with our expert guidance she had begun to adapt. She saw us approaching, and a big smile broke out on her face. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and I all ran forward, meeting her halfway in a big, confused group hug. Her dark wings wrapped all the way around the three of us. The crusaders were, as a rule, a pretty hug-y group. "Apologies for being tied up in Eclipse for so long." Luna said, detaching herself from us. "We never imagined there would be so much work involved in being the former princess." "Almost makes you miss the regular princess garbage, doesn't it?" Sweetie Belle joked. Luna laughed harshly, patting Sweetie Belle on the shoulder. "Not likely. Our work is more tedious than anything. They need us to help fill in all the blanks in the history books, correct all the false information our sister presented as truth. It's a slow process, and not terribly exciting, but it feels good at the end of the day. It feels like we're finishing the work our dear friend Xekora started." After other greetings and pleasantries were exchanged, the six of us prepared to set off. Rainbow Dash wrapped his arms tightly around Applejack, and Luna paired up with Sweetie Belle. That left me to grab Applebloom from behind. I unfurled my wings slowly, eternally stiff, and began to channel the wind energy around me. While my wings were a step above useless, I made up for it in unheard-of potency in wind magic. The three two-person teams ran forward as one, kicking off the ground in perfect sync. With the help of the others keeping me aloft, I was able to direct myself with my own wind magic and glide alongside them. It was no comparison to real flying, I knew, and I wished I didn't have to rely on others to be able to do just this, but it was still the quickest way to Eclipse. On foot, the journey would have taken a day or two, but when gliding over the fields at such high speeds, we would be there the same afternoon. Applebloom was enjoying the ride, casting out her arms like stabilizers and letting the wind rush past an through her hair. Conversely, Applejack had her eyes squeezed shut, trying to ride out the trip as quickly and painlessly as possible. She never did enjoy flying, but her little sister couldn't get enough. Sweetie Belle was enjoying herself as well, as were all three of us flyers. We reached the edges of Eclipse City after flying for around two hours. The first glimpse at the capital city never got old. The buildings were built of magically enhanced metals, giving them both increased durability and a beautiful radiance in the sunlight. The stronger building material allowed them to soar higher than was possible with wood or brick, and many boasted several stories. The sight was completed by the mighty castle of Eclipse, looming majestically in the center of the city. The shining spires and turrets climbed the rock it was built around, reaching higher into the sky than anything in the outer city. The numerous stained-glass windows and crystal fixtures reflected and refracted the sunlight, bathing the streets in brilliant lights of all colors and hues. It was a sight to see at sunset, when the lights seemed to dance across the stone. The show wasn't actually happening until that night, so we had a few hours to kill in this amazing city. So much, yet so little about it had changed since Luna's time, making her and Sweetie Belle the experts of the area. The two princesses led us around town, showing us any sights worth seeing. There was no shortage of wondrous architecture in this city, since so much had been preserved since ancient times. At the center of one of the many squares was the pride and joy of Rainbow Dash, Applejack and the other four Elements of Harmony, as well as Luna: a brand new, historically accurate statue of the six original Elements. General Madeline and Arcmage Johnathan of Dawn, Captain Firefly and swashbuckling gambler Ace of Dusk, enigmatic ninja of no-known-name and sorcerer Starswirl of old Eclipse. Since the six new Elements had met the spirits of these six- their ancestors- they saw it right to commission a sculpture of the team to pay them proper respect, based on their own memories. Luna, having lived and fought alongside them all, helped immensely with the effort of restoring the heroes to proper status. In another square was a statue of the more recent Elements: Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie, as well as Queen Rarity, Dash and Applejack. I hadn't seen much of Pinkie or Fluttershy lately, but I knew they were still around somewhere. Twilight, on the other hand, had taken off with her fellow former 'human weapon', Phil, and somewhat crippled sister Trixie to travel the world. Last I heard they were on the far edges of Ivoire, but I had no idea where the three could have been by that point. We completed our tour of Eclipse as the sun was just beginning its descent in the sky. The coliseum was centered in the eastern sector of the city, so we strode quickly through the streets with the sunset at our backs. We weren't the only ones making our way there either- plenty of people were rushing to their seats, preparing for the explosion of awesomeness that was about to happen. The other members of the Wonderbolts were already gathered at the coliseum, flown in from their own home towns all over Equestria. All were my age or older, but Rainbow Dash was the oldest member. This was an entirely new team of Wonderbolts, as all the original members had either retired or- in Spitfire's case- faded back into the unknown. Rainbow Dash now led a fresh team, all hand-picked by the originals. "You lot ready?" Dash asked as he approached his team. He was met with a resounding and enthusiastic 'hell yeah!'. There was no question about it: each member of the team lived for this, and was ready to roll. Feeling obligated to do so, I turned to my own partners, and demanded to know whether or not they were ready. There were only two of them, so their response wasn't as dramatic, but they were just as enthusiastic and ready for the show. As the last vestiges of sunlight began to fade, Applejack bid us good luck and left to find her seat, and the two teams crept backstage, all our new equipment waiting for us. I took a moment to tune the unfamiliar guitar, then flipped my pick between my fingers as I had last night, then stepped forward and pointed dramatically toward the stage. The Wonderbolts all leaped forward as one, gliding straight through the curtain and to their positions around center stage. As soon as they were in sight, the crowd outside erupted into a gigantic cheer. For a moment, I experienced a great wave of longing to join them, to be able to fly with them across the sky. I was sure Rainbow Dash would have taken me if it weren't for my pathetic broken wings. "Scootaloo, snap out of it." Applebloom said, bringing me back to reality. I shook my head clear, then nodded. "Yeah. Sorry about that. Let's go." Composing myself for what I could do, I slung on the guitar and ran forward, the girls right behind. Another raucous cheer went up around us, but I figured it was more for the princess in our ranks than the band itself. People of Eclipse didn't tend to like our actual music much. Regardless, we were going to give it our all. Despite the crazy amount of people in the audience, I was feeling good. I wasn't sure about the others, but I was ready to rock. The six Wonderbolts hovered in formation around the stage, centered in the field of the arena, surrounded on all sides by the audience seating. I brought my hand down, sending a wave of noise crashing down upon the stadium, and met a response just as loud. I cast a single glance back to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, who nodded once excitedly. Applebloom began the actual song, laying down a rapid beat on her drums. As soon as the pattern began to repeat, I joined in with my guitar. The Wonderbolts were quick to react, branching off away from the stage in different directions, to arc back around and meet in the center, then launch forward and start the complex stuff. The tempo fell into a shorter, more jagged rhythm, fitting the techniques and pacing of the six flyers perfectly. The show was off to a fantastic start. In addition to all the stunts done by the Wonderbolts, Sweetie Belle was adding to her singing with frequent low-powered, flashy light spells, creating a backdrop of brilliant fireworks resembling shooting stars. The winged warriors danced around the sparks, light glinting off the steel of their naked weapons. A strange noise brought me out if the ecstasy of the performance a few moments later. I had never heard anything quite like it, at least not that I remembered. It was almost like a far-off hiss from some insect or snake, but was more drawn out yet focused. It soon evolved into something of a whistle, and while I never let up on the guitar, my attention was definitely on this strange sound. I looked up to the western edge of the stadium, where I thought it was coming from, and noticed an orange light sailing through the sky, arcing up and back down towards center-stage... The light exploded violently in the air, shocking everyone out of their enjoyment and knocking one of the Wonderbolts off course. A split second passed as nothing happened, then another explosion rocked the ground to the north. It didn't take anyone long to realize we were under attack by some unseen force, and panic soon broke out in the stands. The Wonderbolts broke their wide-spread fancy formation and came to rest around the stage, weapons ready for serious battle. The Crusaders and I all tensed up, but we wouldn't be able to do much as we were, unarmed save for Sweetie Belle's and my magic. All our weapons were back at our quarters in the castle. Unable to escape or fight back, we watched helplessly as a third explosion took out a good section of the walls of the coliseum, and four figures became silhouetted in the fiery light. They strode forward as one, moving menacingly towards the stage. Weapons were drawn: one held a deadly-sharp sword and another had claws that hung from their sleeves. Judging by their size and gait, I guessed both of these were girls. The third was a bit taller and walked cockily, holding a knife in one hand and a bottle of something in the other. The fourth obviously packed some muscle, and held two katanas at his side, one of which glowed strangely with a pink light, the other blue. "Oh no..." Rainbow Dash muttered as he stood between us and them, broadsword wavering. "They're here... Not now..." "Dash, what's happening?!" I asked, starring to get seriously scared. If Rainbow Dash was worried, I knew we were in trouble. "It's them. They've begun..." He breathed, and the four attackers grew closer. For the first time, I saw they were all draped identically in heavy, pitch-black cloaks. "The Order..."