Freedom Through Harmony

by Electricut

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen
EverFree Forest- House of the Hylian
Another Two Weeks Later

Time had passed quickly over the last month at the forest shack. Since entering a fresh cycle, Phil had been kept busy. Often Link would go through the book of ancient text Phil had collected, transcribing it in a fresh tome. Some were ancient writings of a historical sort- records, literature, even a few songs. Others were long forgotten spells and abilities, which he put in a separate section of the book.

As Link reached a new entry, Phil would quickly recall exactly where he had found the original text, helping to identify their origin. It wasn’t just “some old ruin south of this place-”; more often it was along the lines of “an ancient stone structure nearly buried underground, a mile south of this place, written along the bottom of the east wall”. Occasionally Link would copy an entry into one of his history books, especially if it was an ancient record of some event.

“You know, kid...” Link said as the two worked at another translation, sitting on the old couches around his gathering room, “I don’t know if you’d thought about it, but you’ve got some valuable skills on you. Pictographic memory- oh, that’s right, Equestria doesn’t have pictographs yet... Well, it’s basically a little piece of paper that an image is recorded upon, by use of a little machine- just takes the picture as it is. Wish I had one to show you, but I didn’t bother grabbing one...

“Anyway, you’re able to do that with your mind, a rare talent indeed. Being able to remember locations with that kind of accuracy, and judge distances so exactly, plus your habit of planning things out before hand with a mind for all those little details... You could be a great tactician if you so desired.”

“Tactician, huh...” Phil thought on it. “I don’t know, I’m kind of wired for fighting, too. I might want to have a say in tactics, to make sure everything will work, but I wouldn’t want to do it full-time.”

“I can understand that. Speaking of which, looks like this one’s a battle technique, too. Looks fire based, but I’ve never seen anything like it. You wanna try it out when I’m done?” He nodded, and soon Link handed over the translated incantation. “I’d get that memorized right quick- the attack appears to be a punching maneuver, and you won’t want to have to read off a paper to do something like that. Not that long a phrase anyway.”

The two stepped outside. “Think you’ll be alright here for the rest of the day, kid?”

Phil shrugged. “I guess. Why?”

“I’ve got to pop into town for a bit, pick up some supplies. We’re going to have company soon, and I want to be able to serve them properly.”

“What guests?” Phil asked. This was the first time Link had ever gone to town since he’d moved in, and he doubted if anyone else knew of this place’s existence.

“Not sure exactly who or how many, but they’ll get curious when they see me in town, and follow me here. Then we shall invite them to stay for a while, serve them supper and whatnot.”

“So... you’re going to get supplies for the people who are only going to be here because you’re going to get supplies for them?”

“There’s an old phrase- ‘If you build it, they will come.’ No idea if that means anything in context. And anyway, the reason behind it is because it is important that they meet here, so I can fill them in on things. I just want to get supplies because I am an excellent host. Anyway, if you find yourself without anything to do later, see if you can find some logs or stumps suitable for seating around a campfire, and bring them out front. There’s an axe around back. Be seeing you.”

Link pulled up the long hood of the black coat he had worn that day and set off, leaving Phil with his thoughts, mostly confusion about Link’s roundabout logic.
_______________

Town Square
That Night

I peeked around the corner into the square, and saw Twilight turn in for the night, her bedroom lamp going out. On the other side of the building, another figure slipped out the darkened window, scrambled down the side of the wall, and made her way over to me inconspicuously.

“I still can’t believe this is actually happening...” Trixie said as she reached me. “I always knew it would eventually, but to think it’s so soon, and it’s me at the head... Kinda a lot to digest.”

“You were the best person for the job.” I offered as we set off.

“Oh, yeah, don’t worry. I intended on leading it anyway, that’s not a problem. Just didn’t expect it to happen now is all.” The two of us completed the trip in silence, coming to stop before my own home. I opened it for her, and slipped in afterwards. Around the small gathering space upon various chairs were the others I had brought fourth.

I had scheduled everyone a specific time to arrive, to make it seem less obvious that anything was going on. Mac, however, had stoically refused, agreeing to lend his blade to any solid effort to dethrone the queen, but wanted no part in any other operations. Applejack of course was first to arrive earlier. To my surprise, Pinky had arrived next.

“Pinky? What are you doing here? Do you, uh... know what we’re doing here?” I had asked.

“Sure do. Word get’s around, and it always gets to me before too long. Besides, you know me, I’m not going to miss a party!” I was about to object, but she said in a lower voice: “Don’t worry, though. I know to keep my mouth shut for things this important. I’ll tell you later, but I’ve got my reasons for this too.”

While I waited for the others, I went down the short hall on a whim, and dug around the cupboard for some snacks. Figured I may as well try and be a decent host. As I retrieved various ingredients, I became aware of something in the room. Almost like I was being watched...

I stopped short, and crouched near the center of the floor silently. The kitchen had a tiled floor with large square panes, around a meter across. Near the edge of one of them, a small hole was just visible, leading slightly under the tile, big enough to fit my fingers through.

I wrapped my fingers around the edge of the loose floor tile, and, lightning-fast, I removed the tile altogether. This revealed the tiny hideaway hole I had dug years ago, and used myself on countless occasions. Crouched within was the small frame and shock of red hair belonging to Applebloom, my little student of awesomeness.

She noticed the light now, and looked up at me with those big red eyes, and it was all she could do to not jump out of her hiding place in surprise. She seemed upset, and a bit frustrated, that I had located her so quickly- or at all. “Darn it! Dash, I’m sorry, but-”

“I’m not mad.” I told her as she tried to bluff her way out. “More curious about how you knew that was here in the first place. But that aside- what are you doing in there?”

“I... I heard you talking to Applejack about the meeting, and... Well, I knew I wouldn’t be allowed to go anyway, but I really wanted to know what was going on, so...”

While she tried to reason with me, another memory came back to me. I was in her place, and he and Mac were preparing to discuss something, possibly of the same vein as what we were discussing tonight. I had found a way to fall asleep in the crevice, however, and missed the whole thing. He became aware of the hiding place the next morning, when I surfaced with him in the room.

“Are you gonna make me leave now...?” She asked. I closed my eyes for a moment, thinking. This is pretty heavy stuff here, and I don’t know if I want her listening in on it, but... She’s going to find out sooner or later anyway, and I think she can handle it. Right then. I stood, and retrieved something from the countertop. I crouched back down and handed her the cookies.

“This might take a while. Make those last.” I replaced the tile before she could jump out and hug me. I gathered up the rest of the stuff from the kitchen and brought it out to the other room.

A few others arrived as well- Lyra, the longbow-man I had seen with her before (Kyle), Belenth (I was surprised to see he had decided to attend, but was glad he was ready to acknowledge us), and lastly, Trixie. Upon bringing her here, I took a seat next to Applejack, letting her have the stage.

“Well, here we are.” She began. “I don’t need to mention why we’re here- you all know why. We’ve waited far long enough, and it’s time we took action. Celestia’s enjoyed her time on the throne for far too long, and done far too much damage to her country. It’s time we prepare to take action, take her down, and heal the scars left by her on Equestria.

“We’ve only just begun, so we’ll have to take baby steps at first. First off, we’re still pretty small in numbers, so we’ll probably want to find some more members, too. I don’t need to stress how important it is to be careful who you talk to about it. Besides everyone here, we’ve got a good chunk of the Silver Arrows on our side-” She motioned to Lyra, “So we have a bit more than what’s here. Funds won’t be a problem for a while, with Belenth having access to the Royal coffers for the time being, but we’ll need another source eventually.

“Then there’s the problem of Celestia herself- as long as she’s immortal, as it seems she is, she can just mow down any resistance personally and continue ruling, no matter how upset everyone gets about it. There has to be a way to bypass whatever defense it is she has up, but as it stands we just don’t know- not like we know any other ways to become immortal anyway, but no-one knows how she did it or how to stop it. We need someone who can look into this, research the past wherever we can find it in it’s unaltered state, and find some clues about it.”

The rest of the meeting went by like this, Trixie stating what our missions should be, though none could be immediately accomplished. We decided to wait until we had a more concrete foundation to work with to meet again, so the organization of another meeting was put on hold. As we broke off to leave, Kyle approached me quickly.

“Hey, uh... Could you possibly do me a favor?”

I folded my arms. “What is it?”

“A little off topic, but... Do you think it would be possible for me to hang out with Pinky at some point?”

I raised one eyebrow slightly. “Why are you asking me as though you need permission? I think you’ve overcomplicated this just a little- She’s certainly not one to have anyone stand on ceremony for her. You want to hang out with her or ask her out- no, don’t bother lying to me, I can see that’s your plan eventually- just say so. It’s best not to over think anything with her, especially since half the stuff she does makes absolutely no sense at all anyway.”

“I draw the line at that ‘asking her out’ part. Hadn’t even crossed my mind.” He stated adamantly.

“The advice I gave you still stands. Just ask.” Pinky had been outside checking something throughout the whole conversation, and as he left, I could see them converse for a moment, and Pinky came back inside. I could only guess he had done what I told him.

All but Applejack and Pinky (and Applebloom) had now left, and I was about to see them home, when something stirred in the unlit corner near the door.

We watched in alarm, still as statues, as a tall human form swathed in a long hooded black coat materialized before us.