Chapter Fifty
“Start talking, Scratch.” Spitfire ordered. “What is happening? What could possibly motivate Two to kill him...? Has he betrayed The Order?”
Scratch chuckled harshly, ironically. “No, he’s not betrayed The Order. If anything, he’s one of the few who’s stayed completely loyal to them. Spitfire, there’s a load of stuff you don’t understand yet, but the bare-bones of it is that The Order isn’t what it used to be. I’ve... I’ve gathered what it used to be like, don’t get me wrong, and I understand your position; but it’s gone straight to hell, Spitfire. Surely you’ve seen the beginnings of it already. Well, six years from now it’s absolutely fallen apart.”
Spitfire ran her and through her hair, trying to compose herself. It was beyond strange to see someone like her- a pillar of strength as she had been- shaken so badly. Whatever had happened, it looked like she was very distressed to hear that Four died, and Two was responsible. When she remained silent, Scratch continued: “I came because I needed to do one of two things: make sure Six was taken care of before he gets to my guys, or make sure you were on our side. My team just can’t keep going like this... But now that I’ve caught up with you, I think we’ll be okay.”
Spitfire sighed, then looked him dead in the eye, almost like someone greeting an old friend after a long absence. “Six too?... No, yeah, that I can see... Alright. What can I do from this time?”
“There’s a lot I need to fill you in on, and it wouldn’t be smart to hang around here the whole time. More people will show up before long. Let’s meet again... At base B, three days from now?” As he spoke, he reached down and donned his own cloak again, but wore it like a cape. He sheathed his weapons again, and from his pockets he withdrew two tiny objects, which grew in size and floated at his fingertips. I couldn’t tell much about them from where I stood, but they were some other kind of disc, a meter or so in diameter apiece.
“Three days? Sounds good. See you then. And... I’m sorry for Four’s death too. For you.” Spitfire said quietly. Scratch probably closed his eyes for a moment, thought I couldn’t be sure with his shades still on, and his fingers began playing across the surface of the new discs rapidly. A series of small, luminescent green symbols appeared before him, between the two. They was like no other characters I had ever seen, and I couldn’t guess at their meaning.
Scratch gazed intently at the strange figures, apparently trying to get them just right by doing whatever he was doing with the discs, and finally looked up. I could tell that if I didn’t act now, I wouldn’t have another chance. “Wait...” I managed to say, drawing his attention away from his devices. “Tell me one thing before you go. This conflict you talked about... What should we do? Are we in any danger? Can it be stopped?”
“No.” He said simply. “It cannot be stopped. This was going to happen sooner or later. But don’t worry about it. Your uncle Scratch has this under control. Just do what comes natural to you, and focus on your own conflict coming up. You’ll know what you have to do when the time to act comes.”
Nodding once to Spitfire, he then touched the largest symbol. A flash of light blinded me for a moment, and when I regained my vision, Scratch was gone. I stood, dazed, dizzy from the ever-present pain of my wound. Still, I wasn’t going home just yet. I still had a golden opportunity here: I had somehow found the legendary Spitfire, and didn’t intend to let my chance get away.
She turned to me and spoke, tired. “Well, Scratch kinda goofed in letting you get tied in with this, so I guess I’m going to have to clean up after him... So, I guess I’ll have to cut you a deal: You’ve probably got a bunch of questions after his nonsense, and I’ll agree to answer them to the best of my ability if you can keep it to yourself. Deal?”
“Ah...” I began lamely, still somewhat stunned. “Sure. I guess this first one would be obvious, but... You are the same Spitfire who led the Wonderbolts up until ten years or so ago, right? What happened? Where’d you go all of a sudden, and if you’re alright, why didn’t you ever come back?”
“I’m actually surprised I don’t get asked that more.” She responded. “Not a lot of people realize it’s me under this cloak, but even then. Well... Ever since I was little, I’ve been living kind of a double life: one with my pals of Equestria, Soren and Misty and the other Wonderbolts, you know. Then, there was another, with two other orphaned kids like me: I won’t say their names now, because they now go by Numbers Two and Four. It all worked out for many years, living both lives separate from one another, but once The Order came around, and we became some of its founding members, it became harder and harder to keep up both, and...
“Well, The Order needed me to do more, and I had to give up one life for the other. It was the hardest decision of my life, but I had to say goodbye to the Wonderbolts, and my old life in Equestria entirely. Only Soren knew what was happening, since I had confided in him all my life. I gave him the responsibility of leading the group in my place, in the hope that he could handle it, but... he took my leaving harder than I had thought he would, and just couldn’t handle it by himself. The team started fighting with each other, and the Wonderbolts just collapsed in on itself, each member going their own way. If I had known, I never would have left. The world needs heroes like that, like we all used to be...
“I had to disappear to do what had to be done for The Order, so I tried to never show my face again. It was partly to keep a low profile and dedicate myself to my work, but... I guess part of it was out of shame. I couldn’t bear to face my failure here, so...”
Spitfire trailed off, and I decided to change the subject slightly to keep her from getting too upset. “You said you, Two and Four were the founding members of The Order... Spitfire, if you don’t mind telling me, what is The Order, really?”
She recovered herself quickly. “Well, the three of us were some of the founding members, yes. As you can probably guess, Number One was the one to bring us all together for it, so he was the real founder. Five and Six joined at the same time, and the six of us formed the original core of The Order. Now... Well, how much do you know so far? What did Scratch tell you about us, what have you heard?”
I dug around in my memory for everything I had heard thus far. “Not much... I had a run in with Number Five, Lucius, seven years ago in Manehattan. My brother killed him. He spilled everything he could before bleeding out out of spite, and told us The Order were the followers of the Goddess, and that Number One was the only one who could talk to her anymore. Then I heard Number Four disappeared with someone, I think it was supposed to be Number Thirteen, and wasn’t found since. But now, it looks like Two found him and killed him. I wonder what happened to Thirteen... Oh, and one of my friends, Spike, ran into another member, who had a pair of pink and blue swords... That’s all I know.”
“Right. That guy with the swords would be Number Two. Lucius was kind of a prick, so not many people cared when he got himself killed. He was trying to bring you back, though, wasn’t he?” I nodded. “He wasn’t nearly as stealthy as he thought he was. We guessed at what he was doing, but it didn’t make much difference to any of us at the time. Now I’m glad he failed. You are clearly meant for greater things than being another slave to The Order. Now, you asked about Thirteen? Well, it was never made official, but before Number Four took him away from Number One’s grasp, Scratch was the one to become our Number Thirteen.
“See, Four got it in his head long ago that The Order was rotting from the inside, and when Scratch... arrived, he decided to make his move. Using the same time-travel abilities that Scratch now possesses, Four escaped us and vanished from the face of the earth for years, raising the kid as his own. But now it looks like Two turned on the friendship they once shared, and killed him... now Scratch has full control of that power.
“So, The Order is basically what Lucius said: we follow the Goddess, who still exists on this earth. At least, that’s what it used to be. I’m starting to think that Number One has his own agenda, and now I think Two is in on it too, who knows how many others. I’ve been having doubts about staying loyal to Number One, and now with all this... I’m hoping Scratch will give me some answers in three days, like he said.”
I took a moment to process all this information. Most of it didn’t mean much to me, but I wanted to have all this sorted out for my own peace of mind. “Scratch said something about a conflict going six years from now, and The Order falling apart at the same time... I guess it’s one and the same?”
“Probably...” Spitfire agreed sadly. “I need to figure out which side I’m going to be on, now. But like he said, you shouldn’t worry too much about it until it happens. You’ve got a revolution to do. I know this may seem like the bigger problem, but bottom line is Celestia still needs to be stopped.”
I tried to think of something else to ask, but nothing else was coming to mind. “Spitfire... if you’re having regrets, why not come back? We could really use your help! And I can back you up if you need it.”
“Sorry kid... I can’t. I know that you probably looked at me like a hero before, like so many others, but... I’m just not that kind of hero anymore. I’m not the kind of hero that comes to the rescue... The kind you can count on to do what’s right. But I believe you can be that kind of hero, if you put your heart into this. Still... I’m glad you pulled me off to the side here. Now I know there’s something going on that I wasn’t aware of, and I need to find out what’s going on. I’m going to get to the bottom of this and keep One and Two from hurting anyone else. So... Thanks, kid. I really owe you one. I’ll pay you back someday.
“Now, you probably want to get back to town. You’ve been bleeding all over the place this whole time, and you’re going to want to get that wound dressed quickish. Later, kid.” I looked down to my arm, my stomach twisting at the sight of all the blood and burns. Realizing Spitfire had already disappeared, I turned around and stumbled slowly away from the cliffs, clutching at the wound desperately. I hadn’t noticed in the thrill of meeting my childhood hero, but the pain had gotten worse, and I began to feel sick to my stomach.
I nearly tripped several times, but I managed to make it down the path leading back to the clearing, where hopefully someone would still be hanging around. The shower was over, so most would have gone home, but I imagined Applejack would have stuck around to make sure I was okay, and I definitely wasn’t. My vision began to blur, but I fought to stay conscious and make it back. It wasn’t an easy fight, though: Scratch’s attack had done more damage than I had first thought, and while it didn’t seem like it was anything permanent, I really should have dressed the wound properly long ago. Now all the blood loss had turned it into something worse than it should have been.
Shuffling into the clearing, I felt my head go light, and I knew I was going down whether I liked it or not. Just as I fell to my knees, I head someone scream my name, and sensed several people running towards me, before everything went dark.
______________
“Hey kid. Got yourself banged up pretty good, didn’t you?”
My eyes shot open at the sound of his voice. He couldn’t have picked a better time. I scrambled to my feet, all traces of weariness erased, in the hazy plains of my mind. As usual, I could make out no details of my surroundings, and the land was little more than a white wrap around in my vision.
Standing over me, hands on his hips, hopelessly long hair billowing behind him, was Ultraviolet. I had awoken in my dream world, my mind already in turmoil at all the new information, and he had chosen now to drop in and pay a visit. This couldn’t be more perfect.
“Vi, did you catch any of that?” I asked, facing him eye-to-eye. Being dead and all, he hadn’t grown an inch, while I was nearly as tall as him now. Still, he was just tall enough to be able to look down at me. “The fight and all the crap about The Order?”
“I noticed you meeting with Spitfire.” He replied. “Didn’t catch most of what that Scratch guy said though. Believe it or not, I found something to occupy my own time. I think I finally pieced together why I still exist. But first, get me up to speed. What did you get into a fight for, and what did you learn about The Order?”
I spent what I assumed to be around half an hour telling Ultraviolet everything I had heard: of Scratch’s claims of time-travel and a greater conflict in years to come (and of not being able to help in solving it), of the strange relations between the members of The Order, and of course our progress in the resistance movement, which I had decided to go ahead and call Moonlight. It just felt right somehow.
“So tell me what you’ve found out.” I demanded. “I can’t make heads or tails of most of this. I trust Spitfire completely, so I guess what Scratch said must be true, but... It just doesn’t make much sense.”
“Right.” He responded, stretching. “I’ll try and make this fast. As little sense as Scratch makes, you ought to trust what he says. You might not know what he’s talking about, but he does. Spitfire trusts him, and you should too. But as long as he told you to just focus your efforts on the Moonlight Resistance, then go ahead and disregard ever meeting him. That’s the main concern: taking out Celestia.
“And at that is the heart of my existence. For some reason, when I died... I couldn’t move on. Couldn’t get off this world and into heaven, or hell. At first I thought I was stuck in some kind of limbo with others like me, but... As it turns out, I had ended up in another place, on this earth. Now I’ve found the truth of it after all these years: I’m a phantom, unseen by normal people, stuck walking the earth after death by some divine intervention.
“However, I’m not going to sit around and be all ghostly for eternity. The way I see it, I’ve been given one last shot at taking revenge, and I intend to take it. See, I think I’m alive because I won’t be satisfied and able to move on, until the world is safe from the queen. I think that when she dies, I’ll be able to leave this world for good. But until then, I’ve allied myself with someone who can see phantoms like me, and will help me to get my last shot at her. So mark my words, kid. When the final battle rolls around, count on me being there. I’ll find a way back to Equestria, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure we win.”
I felt a huge burst of morale. Ultraviolet was still alive-ish, and was going to find a way home to help fight. If that was the case, we’d be that much more powerful, and I knew he was serious. “That’s good to hear.” I responded simply. “Now, do you know anything else about The Order? I think I’ve pieced together what they’re about, but... are they a bad group?”
“Well...” He started, unsure of what to say. “Not all of them are bad. Don’t get me wrong, some of them are nothing but evil, but just as many are having second thoughts. Spitfire is one of them, and Four knew it was wrong from the beginning. I think some of the junior members, the numbers seven through twelve, are beginning to doubt their cause as well. I only know what I do because of what I’ve heard from others, but I think that much is true. I can’t see the future, but I’ll bet this new conflict has everything to do with that. But if you run into another member, just be on your toes. You’ll have to judge for yourself whether or not you can trust them.”
I nodded, but my vision shook slightly, and I was beginning to loose focus on my lack of surroundings. Vi shook his head, annoyed. “Looks like you’re coming to. Crap. I don’t know when I’ll be able to contact you again, but just do like I said: stay focused on Moonlight, and be wary- but not hostile towards- The Order. Good luck bro! Oh, and, nice work with that Scootaloo kid. Reminds me of you. Keep it up!”
_____________
My senses returned to me a moment later, or at least it seemed that way. Judging by the daylight filtering in through the windows, I must have been out longer than I thought. The first thing I noticed was all the people standing over me: Applejack, Applebloom and Scootaloo were all at my bedside, though they wore an expression of mixed worry and curiosity. Upon seeing me awaken, their faces eased, but they still seemed curious.
I received several hugs from both of the girls, though Scootaloo just stood awkwardly at my side. Upon closer inspection, I seemed to have been moved to the town hospital, and my arm was completely bandaged. “I tracked the guy down.” I explained. “We got into a fight, and he gave me this nasty wound on my arm. He wasn’t part of the Order though. Seems like he’s opposed to them. He claimed to travel through time, but I don’t think I buy that. Anyway, after we got through fighting...”
I stopped for a moment. Spitfire wanted to remain off the map. I can’t tell anyone I saw her... “A real Order member showed up. I couldn’t figure out who it was, but she explained some things to me. It seems like not all of them are bad, just the ones we met so far. This one was nice at least. I didn’t get a whole lot of helpful information, but I think we should be careful: we might just run into some more Order members before we’re through, and we need to be sure to figure out who’s side they’re on.
“Oh, one other thing.” I remembered. “You know how we wanted to figure out a name for our resistance, for when we’re ready to rally and make a move? We’ll call it Moonlight. Spread the word.”