//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty-two // Story: Freedom Through Harmony // by Electricut //------------------------------// Chapter Twenty Two EverFree Forest House of the Hylian After scouring the house unfruitfully, finding various strange and unfamiliar objects of curiosity, we were forced to accept that no-one was home. Signs clearly pointed to the house being occupied, though, possibly by more than one person. “Is someone else living out here? Who else could be staying in the middle of the woods like this?” “Could be just a friend of his.” Applejack stated. “A better question would just be ‘who would live out here’, not ‘who else’.” I conceded her point. We still knew next to nothing about Xekora’s true motives or nature, and we had no way of knowing if he was the only one. “Still no sign of Applebloom though.” “Yeah...” I didn’t want to admit it, but I was starting to get a little worried. Not to say I wasn’t concerned before, but I was sure this was where she would have went. We still had no proof she had even come here, or where she was now. “C’mon, let’s get back to the others.” We returned through the narrow hall to the front room, and out the door. “Woah, what’s with all the hugging?” I said immediately. Both of the mage-twins were being embraced by unfamiliar faces. I was able to guess that the one with Trixie was probably Xekora, but I had no idea who the other one was, save for the other occupant of the house. Twilight seemed very comfortable around him, I found myself thinking. The two forest dwellers turned to greet us. “Ah, everyone seems to be here, excellent.” Xekora said, his voice confirming it was him. “Wait, what were you doing in my house?” “Looking for you. We expected you to be here when we arrived, so we were curious. That and snooping around a little.” I said honestly. Fortunately, he didn’t seem too off-put about it. “Awright, let’s see here.” He said, moving over to me with a quick, loping gait. “I think we’re about ready to get going here, but...” He dropped his voice. “Tell me, is everyone here on the same page, you know, as the rest of you were last night?” I understood what he was saying, and looked to Twilight in such a way that he would see. “Not exactly...” He shrugged. “Ah, no worries. I’ll explain the situation best I can. Then you can fill them in on all the more precise details later.” “Oh, hey, wait. I don’t suppose you’ve seen anyone else pass through here- specifically a little girl with red hair?” “Her? Yeah, she dropped by around half an hour ago, wanted to help get things set up for the main group. Sent her for some herbs that would have taken Phil over there twice as long to get to, she should be back... Now.” He pointed over to the right of the house, where Applebloom had just emerged from the woods with a small bag full of some kind of leaf. She stopped when she saw everyone, particularly Applejack. She didn’t look surprised, exactly, but rather seemed to be preparing for being reprimanded. Applejack was all over it. (Plus I didn’t think I would have done much anyway- Applebloom always reminded me of myself too much, and more often than not I would take pity on her. Applejack didn’t have that problem, however) “Applebloom, what were you thinkin'?! You can’t just wander off like that, we were worried sick!” “Sorry.” She offered. She looked to me out of the corner of her eye, but I could only shrug sympathetically. Nothing I can do for you now, kid. “I know I should have told you, but I had to see what was going on. I can tell somethin’s happenin', and I don’t want to just sit on the sidelines anymore. I need to know what’s goin' on for myself.” Applejack folded her arms. “I might have let you come if you’d have just asked.” She said quietly. “No you wouldn’t have. I would have to explain how I heard about it in the first place-” “Dash already told me. I’m not happy about that either.” She turned to me. “With either of you. I don’t like things bein' kept from me , neither.” I looked to the ground. I might have argued, but this wasn’t the time. Plus it killed me whenever I had to disagree with her. “Even if I had brought it up, you would have just told me to stay home.” Applebloom said adamantly. “I’m done sittin' out on the action, sis. I’m old enough to understand what’s happenin', and I’m not gonna let you leave me in the dark, with you out there fightin'. I don’t just want to be there just for myself, sis. I want to help.” Applejack closed her eyes, thoughtful for a moment. I gave Applebloom a subtle nod, but she saw it. Good job, kiddo. AJ turned to me again. “Dash?” I sighed slightly. “I think she’s got a point. She’s not ready to take to the field like she was saying- not by a long shot-” She huffed slightly. “But I think she’s old enough to be able to understand the grand scope of things. I think we should at least let her sit in on the discussions like this.” Applebloom was ecstatic about this, but I could tell Applejack was still on the fence about it. I put my hand on her shoulder. “I know she’s still young, and you want to protect her. But she’s not helpless anymore. She can handle this, I know it. Besides,” I lifted my arms slightly for dramatic effect. “You were about her age when Mac started giving you the same slack. Same with me. She’ll be alright.” She gave me a small smile, then turned back to her sister. “Alright, then. But I still expect you to behave yourself!” Applebloom threw herself at the both of us before she was able to finish, barely managing to get her arms around us both. “Besides, it’s not as though we’re going to be discussing too much critical stuff here anyways.” Xekora spoke up, retrieving Applebloom’s bag of stuff and dumping most of it blindly into the cauldron on the fire. “Mostly what we’ve got to do is bulk you guys up as a team, so that when you find yourself faced with your toughest enemy, you can do some wicked awesome combo moves. That’s what being a team is all about.” “Really?” I asked. “So team building exercises, then? I... I’m sorry, but I can’t see the usefulness in that. Oh, off topic, but what is it that you’re making? You sent Applebloom and... Phil, was it? You sent them to get stuff for it, so it must be important, right?” “Ah, not really. It’s an old recipe from back home for Elixir Soup. Just something to have for everyone to eat. I am an excellent host like that. So, I think everyone’s here, so we can... Wait.” He turned slightly, tilting his head in the direction of the forest, from which we had entered the clearing. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then cast out his hand, a sphere of darkness forming before it. Small pebbles and sticks gravitated towards it, and as it began to get crowded, he threw it forward. The rubble, caught in the darkness, shot forward like tiny black arrows, peppering the ground and kicking up dust. For a moment, nothing happened- then the spray altered direction ever so slightly, and a small voice yelped in surprise. From within a bush where he was hiding, a boy looking to be about Applebloom’s age leapt out backwards, dodging away from the tiny projectiles. He kept his orange wings tucked against his body to make a smaller target, yet still managed to dance away from the shots while barely touching the ground, his unkempt violet hair whipping about him. Landing with his foot planted firmly in the ground, he pulled his arms behind him, then threw them forward. A powerful gust of wind followed his hands, and the missiles were blown off course, landing harmlessly in the dirt. The last of them hit near his foot, which he used to kick up a nearby stick, which he caught and brandished like a spear in his left hand. Xekora folded his arms, impressed. I was inclined to agree with him. That spell he used... When I was his age, it would have taken me five minutes to prepare one that big and powerful. He did it in half a second! Who is this kid?... Whoever he is, he’s got skill... And style. I noted as he ran his other hand through his hair idly, realizing the threat had passed. “Well, come on kid. We don’t have all day.” Xekora said, motioning for him to come over to the clearing. He looked up slightly and squinted. “You too, lassie. Don’t think I don’t see you in that tree there.” From above the boy in the treetops, another small form scrambled down quickly. She looked to be about as far flung from the first kid as possible- while his clothing was rather basic and his hair went about its own business, her clothes were much more on the fancy side, and her hair- streaked pink and light violet- fell in short, neat curls. She dropped to the ground next to the boy, and they both approached us. Rarity moved in on them quickly, specifically the girl. “Wha- Sweetie Belle, what are you doing here?!” I watched as almost the exact same argument between AJ and Applebloom repeated itself between these two. “So... Rarity has a sister?” I asked no-one in particular. “Yeah.” Applejack responded. “You didn’t know that?” “I was completely unaware of that. Weird. Anyways, what about you, kid?” I asked the boy. “You got someone to lay into you for coming here?” He pretended to look around the clearing, but I could tell he was by himself here. “Nope. Just came out of boredom, really. I don’t know anyone here personally except Sweetie Belle, and she pretty much just wanted to come ‘cause her sister did.” “Were you planning on getting any closer to the clearing? I doubt if it would have been worth anything if you just stayed way over there.” I pointed out. “What, you mean so we could hear what was going on? We could hear just fine from there. I know how to bend the air just so- so that it carries sound way further. And Belle, well... I don’t know what to tell you, she’s just psychic like that. I don’t get how she does it, but she can just know about stuff, and she’s done it from way further than that.” I was getting more and more impressed with him. I had never even considered using wind magic for reconnaissance like that. And anyway, it must have taken a large amount of concentration to pull off. “Well,” I said, putting my hands in my pockets. “If no-one else is going to chew you out, I guess it’s pretty much unnecessary. I don’t think anyone minds you staying. What’s your name?” “Scootaloo.” “Rainbow Dash. Nice to meet you.” “Yeah, I’ve seen you around. I noticed a lot of the stuff you do, fighting and flying and all- Gotta say, clearing away clouds with a sword, then turning around and beating someone up with the same sword- That is just amazing. You’re awesome.” I spun around and faced Applejack, arms spread. “See? He thinks I’m awesome!” I turned back as she shook her head, chuckling. “Though as much as I’d love to take all the credit for my awesomeness for myself, I have to be honest- I wasn’t the one who first thought of it. The weather-control part was mostly me, but I got most of my areal swordsmanship techniques from someone else. I guess you’re too young to remember them, but when I was little, there was this group- they worked as mercenaries mostly, but did demonstrations a lot too.” My voice rose excitedly, childhood wonder rushing back to me. “Six warriors- Axe and Lance at head, Sword and Ice at rear, Bard and Archer to the sides- So the WonderBolts burned across the sky, vigilante guardians of Equestria. When evil threatened the land, they would be there, and none would dare stand in their way. Mercenaries as they were, they would never leave their kingdom to suffer. With two fell strokes from the head, Spitfire and Soren, their final attack ‘Burning Scar’ would leave even the mightiest of foes would be rendered helpless. Never before has any group of individuals been so dedicated to kickassery.” His eyes had widened in wonder, and I found that I had been similarly entranced with my own words, making animated gestures and poses. Sadly, my voice dropped for the next part. “Unfortunately, they’re not around anymore... A few years ago, Spitfire just... disappeared. No goodbye note, no confidants, nothing. To this day no-one knows what ever happened to her. The team basically fell apart after that- They say that Soren wasn’t much of a leader, and none of the others were able or willing to take the head. They all went their separate ways pretty soon, to each their own destiny. It’s nigh impossible to track any of them down now, ‘cept for Soren. He still does regular mercenary work, and I’m proud to say Applejack and I once served on the same mission with him. But the others just don’t appear anymore. “But the world is slow to forget a force so destructive and heroic as them, and I’ve taken their values to heart. Applejack and I, though not totally airborne, have done our best to exemplify the selfless guardianship to our home as they did, and look as badass as possible while doing it. We’re no WonderBolts, but that never stopped me.” “Wow...” Was all he could say. He shook his head and looked up at me. “Maybe we could do something like what they did- we just need more people! When I’m done with school, I’ll totally join up! I’m already a great lancer- watch!” He gripped his stick staff and began a complex series of attacks, the wind at his beck and call. I had to admit, he wasn’t boasting entirely on childhood confidence in his own abilities or lack thereof- he knew what he was doing with that makeshift weapon. In a few years, with the right training, this kid could be a force of nature with those wind powers of his. If he still wants in by then... Yeah, I’d take him.