//------------------------------// // Chapter Thirty-eight // Story: Freedom Through Harmony // by Electricut //------------------------------// Chapter Thirty Eight Twilight Spike looked back to us, showing that he was just as curious as we were. We could hear well enough from where we were to get the message: This Vomora character was looking for us, and he didn’t sound at all friendly. Spike gave us a silent signal to stay put, and rounded the corner casually. I looked to Phil, we both nodded, and crept up to the edge of the building to see what was happening. “You wanted to find me?” He said loud and clear, drawing the immediate attention of the whole crowd. He strolled right up to the edge of the crowd, an equal distance from both parties. “I’m right here. Can I help you with something, good sir?” He directed his question at the leader of the bandits, who was silent and observant of this new development. The rest of his men shifted excitedly, and the whole of the townspeople (fifteen of them at most still remained now, as some had been gradually sneaking away during the conversation) seemed generally unsure of what direction the event would soon take. “Ah, yes, the Queen’s most trusted Goldoan sell-sword. Spike, was it? How kind of you to oblige us all with your presence. Though I expected the whole entourage- Where are those two little pets of the Queen’s?” I frowned. Vomora kept referring to us as lapdogs or pets to the Queen- it was obvious he didn’t think very highly of us, or Celestia for that matter. But why did he want to find us then? What did he want from this, and why was he willing to hold the town hostage to get it? “Her apprentices, you mean? They’re around. But I’m sure I will be more than enough to answer whatever questions you had for them.” Spike countered sharply. He was walking a dangerous line here, but seemed to be playing his cards carefully. Vomora, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be hard pressed to be careful, and his quick responses coupled with his slow, accented voice portrayed him to be perfectly in control of every situation. “I don’t mind saying this, sell-sword- the path you’ve chosen to take shocks and disgusts me. How you could trade your lineage and honor to serve such a tyrant as Celestia is beyond my ability to fathom... But I digress. You say the children are in town? Men, find them immediately.” I looked back to Phil, who shared the look of disbelief and panic I felt. “What do we do?” He mouthed. I made a snap decision, and didn’t have time to consider whether running away would have worked better. I motioned for him to follow me, and ran out from our hiding place and to Spike’s side. I skidded to a halt next to him, and Phil followed bewilderedly after, coming to a stop at his other side. I tightened my fingerless gloves slightly. “Right here.” I said. “And I don’t intend to let you keep talking about the Queen that way.” For the first time, I was able to get a good look at the bandit leader- but it took me a moment to identify him as such. He was rather clean cut, and his clothes, while not particularly engaging, looked brand-new and proper. He was handsomely tanned and muscular, and steely grey hair whipped across his steely grey, calculating eyes. What stood out most about him was the fact that he didn’t appear all the way human- a fluffy tail that brushed the ground idly at his back and pointed animal ears atop his head identified him as something else. I remembered something Spike had mentioned once, about a tribe of Beast Laguz that lived in the far away country of Hatari, who bore resemblance to- and could transform into- wolves. A secluded race that often kept to themselves, they did not often venture out of their homeland, and Spike rarely remembered their mention in lessons. And yet this man, this leader of the bandits out for them, was a Hatarian if I’d ever seen one, which I hadn’t until now. How did he get here?... Perhaps he was a bit like Spike, and shipwrecked here years ago. But did he know of Equestria, or was it by accident? And what does he want to do here? “So.” Spike said, giving both of us a quick nod. “Here they are. I’ll ask again, can I help you with something?” Vomora clasped his hands together, smiling widely. “Indeed you can, sir. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Vomora, leader of this small but determined band of brothers, refugees and castaways. I found myself the sole survivor of a humble crew many a year ago, and wandered the land for a great deal of time. What I saw was a world in the cusp of sickness- the weakening of the body before the fever of rebellion, if you will. “I soon found myself to be not as alone as I had first thought- many others were without family or home, even with this as their homeland. These people had nothing, either from never having it or having it taken away, all because of their ‘exalted leader’. They were without purpose or hope, living only on their anger and hatred, surviving solely to find their one chance to take a stab back at their Queen. I resolved to let these injustices stand no longer- I spoke to every broken heart, every crushed dream, shattered soul that Celestia had left for dead. “I brought the tattered remnants together, and now we stand as a stronger, united force. Now, piece by precious piece, we’re going to take back what rightfully belongs in the hands of the people- starting...” He put his foot forward and pointed at us dramatically, “With taking out her most powerful weapons!” His words were met with a resounding cheer from his men, who clearly thought very highly of him. Spike, however, only ran a hand over his head idly as he waited for the noise to die down, making him out to be much calmer than I felt. When the clamor fell away, he responded simply: “That’s a nice thought. Real entertaining. As a rebuttal- not happening, not today. Take your men and go home, friend, and I’ll pretend I didn’t hear any of that. Otherwise...” He flexed his shoulders threateningly, a gesture which seemed to have more of an impact on Vomora himself than anyone else. “You mistake me for a man of weaker willpower, sell-sword. We all knew a clash would ensue when we started this venture. I am aware of your strength, and we are all fully ready to take all of you on. Now enough small talk.” Spike shook his head, smiling slightly. “I warned you. Watch carefully, you two.” He stepped forward, threw back his head in a roar, and slammed together his fists in front of him. A bright light shrouded him completely for a moment, until something else entirely stepped out in his place. It stood a solid fifteen feet tall, with violet body scales and a few green ones running from the back of his head all the way down its spine, all the way to the large, deadly-looking end of its tail. A rather smallish pair of leathery wings flared out behind it, but didn’t look like they could have done much for the giant dragon they were attached to. But I saw it in its eyes, still the same emerald green as before, and knew it was still Spike underneath. He rolled his head back quickly and launched a small jet of white flame forward, though it only served to land in the center of the clearing and intimidate. The rest of the townspeople by now had had quite enough of this, and the few that were left all ran for it. Behind him, Vomora’s band of ragtag rogues were suddenly active, unnerved and frightened by the monster they now faced. “Worry not, men. He is but one Goldoan- and while powerful in the extreme... he is still but one. We outnumber them twenty-to-one, and twenty men is more than enough to match up against one Dragon.” Phil and I both knew a fight was inevitable, so we both prepared as well. I readied a small but potent fire spell in both hands, putting my head down and arms out, ready to charge. Phil leapt into the air and made the transformation into Phoenix, hovering in the air close to Spike. Tensions were rising fast, and both sides looked ready to jump at each others throats. Vomora however remained mostly calm, if a bit more curious than before. “One of the Queen’s apprentices is a Laguz?” He said, sounding genuinely interested. “Some kind of fire-hawk hybrid, at that. Well, this is an unexpected development... I think now would be an optimal time to unveil our own new weapon.” An excited murmur ran through the crowd, and a few men near the back rushed off, presumably to go fetch this ‘weapon’. Whatever it was, it sounded both admired and feared. Vomora put his hands behind his back and stalked forward, setting the stage for whatever was soon to happen. I had to admit, I was extremely nervous. I didn’t know what these bandits were capable of, what they were willing to do, or what they had in store for us. The fact that they wanted to kill us was nerve-wracking enough, without all the suspense. “Tell me, Spike...” He started, looking his way with his hard, calculating eyes. “Do you fear the unknown? Does what you don’t know... hurt you? Is your mind able to accept what your eyes can’t explain?” Spike growled and stepped forward threateningly, with the expected result from the crowd of bandits. While Vomora felt they had the situation under control, and seemed more comfortable staring down a dragon, his men had clearly never seen anything of the like before. “Don’t waste your breath with mind-games!” Spike barked, his voice oddly distorted by the new shape of- and number of teeth in- his mouth. “If you want to fight us, then just do it!” Vomora laughed, a haunting and yet relaxing sound. “Then behold: Chaos.” He motioned wide as a small figure was led through to the front of the crowd. It appeared to be a girl, and couldn’t have been much older or younger than I was- but that was about the extent of what I could see from here. An extremely basic brown cloak masked all other features, and she stood emotionlessly as she faced us. One of the bandits moved towards her and handed her an unadorned iron spear, and she took it in both hands morosely. “The girl you see before you is a wonder of the world, a curiosity and danger. Any law of physics, of probability... of logic... she can and will blatantly disregard. To try and understand the ways of Chaos is both a futile and maddening effort. Her ways cannot be truly understood, and one can hardly even describe them. They say seeing is believing, but you may soon find yourself questioning whether or not you can believe what you see...” Without any further delay, Vomora backed up to his troops, and gave the command to charge. _______________ Year 498 Twilight remembered vividly what had happened that day. The fight itself was enough, but it was also the first time she had been exposed to the other side of Equestria- the side that didn’t follow Celestia, and wanted to see her fallen. Such a change of pace was something she had never even considered, and every moment of it had stuck firm in her mind. But as she was telling the story, she had noticed something strange. When she got to the part about Chaos, Pinky had assumed a confused expression, and as she had finished retelling what Vomora had said, all the color had drained from her face, and for the first time since Twilight had known her, she looked genuinely.... scared? She made a decision and stopped the story for a moment, to the confusion of Spike and Phil, who hadn’t seemed to have yet noticed. She didn’t immediately ask what was wrong, as she could see Pinky understood she was concerned. Pinky looked away, seeming at a loss for words (another first). “Twi, I... I think I might be part of this story too... I’m... I was... Chaos.”