//------------------------------// // Chapter Eighty-three // Story: Freedom Through Harmony // by Electricut //------------------------------// Chapter Eighty-three Eclipse Swamps Twilight Twilight rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and rose to a sitting position. At some point in the previous night, she had fallen asleep while laying next to the campfire. Her injured arm was still a bit sore, especially after being kept in an awkward position the whole night. The others were all gathered around the fire ring, except for Spike. “Good morning, Twilight.” Pinkie greeted her. “Spike stepped out for a minute. Said he thinks he dropped something out on the path in the swamp.” Twilight nodded and stood, the pleasant aroma of a warm breakfast cooking over the fire permeating the air. She retrieved a bowl and helped herself to some. “So, Max...” she started, pausing to take a bite, “what are you going to do now? We’re going to head home after this, and after that... well, war will probably follow before too long.” “Well... I thought I might stick around for a bit longer. Not too long, since the Order might need me for something. Plus my girlfriend my miss me... But I’ll hang around a little longer, if it is alright with you.” “Oh, no, that’s fine!” Twilight said with a smile. “You’ve been a lot of help to us so far, plus being pretty good company. We’d be happy to have you for as long as you care to stay with us.” Pinkie bobbed her head in agreement. “Well... I guess we’re not really in any rush to get back anymore. We can take our time, and instead of pushing hard to make it by dark tonight, we could arrive comfortably tomorrow afternoon. I’ll wait until Spike gets back and ask him, but I’m pretty happy now. I say we can wait another day to get home.” _______________ City of Dawn Rarity “For their insurmountable bravery in battle, brilliant tactics that saved countless New Dawn lives, and simply for standing by us in one of our greatest times of need, I would like to recognize these individuals.” Vomora said animatedly. The combination of his smooth, proper accent, excellent ovation skills and the attitude of New Dawn as a whole made for quite the speech. “Ladies Rarity and Opal, Sirs Tug and Soren, Miss Applejack, and of course the ever-loyal Lord Blake; I have not the words nor the gold to properly thank you for all you’ve done. I can award no medals or currency, I can bestow no titles. All I can do is express how deeply thankful each one of us is to you. All these people before you owe you their lives, myself included.” A cheer erupted from the crowd, and Rarity saw it fit to give a slight bow, not of pride, but of kind greeting. Seeing this, Blake did so as well, followed shortly by all the others. She then raised her hands to call for silence, and after a full minute of cheering she was able to speak. “Ladies and gentlemen of New Dawn! I can say that I neither expect or desire any reward, only that you stay alive to carry on this fight. Today marks a great day in history as one of the first victories achieved against Celestia’s forces for more than five hundred years, but mark my words, it shall not be the last! All across Equestria, the people are growing to see the truth behind her lies, and more and more pockets of resistance are forming each day. Now that this battle has been won, once word gets out across the country, the people will finally rise up from under the Queen’s thumb! And on behalf of the Moonlight Resistance, I will do everything in my power to see that you are given home and work as you once had, as long as you continue to stand up for your beliefs, for what is right!” Another massive cheer. Rarity smiled and turned to Blake. “Please, come back to town with us, as a representative of New Dawn, and as my friend. You can help us work out an agreement between our two groups, making the resistance that much stronger. Plus... if we’re going to be at war, I’d rather have you by my side than anywhere, or anyone, else. I know you’ll watch my back, and I’d love nothing more than to watch yours in turn.” Blake nodded warmly. “I agree. In all honesty... we kind of got lucky yesterday. We’ll have to stick together if we’re to survive.” “If I may...” Another voice started, and Winona approached the two from behind. “I would like to come with you. My father must remain here to lead the troops of New Dawn, but I am most qualified to speak on his behalf.” Rarity nodded, then turned to the black-cloaked ranger. “What about you, Tug? Will you come back with us? We could surely use a skilled tactician helping to direct us.” “If at all possible.” he answered. He held up something from the folds of his cloak, what appeared to be a rusty medallion of some kind. “I found the artifact I came here to get, and I’ll need to bring it back to the Order before I do anything else. But if I can excuse myself again, I will return to aid you as soon as is possible.” “I think I’m going to go ahead and see myself off now.” Soren said, stretching his newly healed and slightly stiff wings. “My guys are probably wondering where I am, since I was supposed to be back by now. With any luck, we’ll see each other again in better times.” He gave a farewell wave and leapt from the platform, flapping his wings and rising high into the sky. Soon the party of five was back on the road again, over one of the Eclipsian bridges and through the EverFree Forest, homeward bound. ______________ Southern Fields Rainbow Dash All through the night, the three of us had pushed through the darkness, well into the tiniest hours of the morning, to reach home as soon as possible. Spitfire and Gilda had both already departed for home, the undisclosed location of the Order, and I had no desire to follow them. As curious as I still was about this shifty group, I wanted no part of it. Besides, I had a feeling I’d see Spitfire again. She seemed to be slowly showing herself more and more, and I knew it was only a matter of time before she revealed her existence to a greater group of people than just me and a few others. I pulled myself from the ground the next morning, still remarkably awake for having slept a maximum of four hours last night. Fluttershy and Angel were still sound asleep by the remains of the fire, snuggled up against each other. I smiled and shook my head. It’s only like three hours back to town now, since we made such good progress last night. We can afford for those two to sleep in a little. Besides, they deserve it. I dug into my pack and retrieved what was left of our coffee stores, and set to work rekindling the fire. It was about an hour before the others woke up, and another thirty minutes or so before they ate breakfast and fully prepared themselves to set off. Angel scrambled up onto my shoulders, I grabbed his little furry hand, and Fluttershy and I launched into the air once again. In the growing light of dawn, we soared across the beautiful countryside, the tendrils of winter beginning to recede and give way to a green spring. We were buffeted by a slightly chilly breeze as we flew, but it wasn’t enough to set us off course. In a few hours, we would be home. ____________ Eclipse Swamps Twilight’s group was finally preparing to leave the campsite. Their supplies were packed and hefted over their shoulders, and their sights set on the southern horizon. As Twilight gazed out into the distance, Spike cleared his throat, somewhat hesitantly. “Twi... I think there’s something I still need to do here. Alone.” She turned to him, one eyebrow raised. “What’s that? We can wait for you.” “No, no...” He shook his head. “It’s nothing serious. I just need to... to meet someone. It might take a little while, though. You three should go on ahead back home, and I’ll be right behind you as soon as I can.” Twilight frowned, but nodded. “Alright, I guess... Be careful?” He nodded, and set his supplies against a nearby tree. Twilight turned to Max and Pinkie. “Shall we be off?” They both nodded, and the three stepped forward onto the path which would eventually see them home. Max cast a look back, then held up a single finger for the girls to give him a moment, and stalked back to the Goldoan. “Spike...” he started, “What is this? You almost seem afraid, and... sad.” Spike shook his head. “I forgot, you’re a Heron. You can see the flow of my thoughts... I’m sorry. I can’t tell you what’s about to happen, because even I don’t know. But I have to stay here, and face my fate.” “A Goldoan mantra if I ever heard one...” Max commented, showing his seldom-used sense of humor, and Spike chuckled weakly along with him. He then turned to the younger Laguz with a different look in his eyes. “Can you do me a favor, Max? As a fellow Laguz, and man in general. I know you were going to already, but... See those two home safely. Make sure they’re alright. Can you do that for me?” Max nodded, and Spike clasped him on the shoulder. “Good man. Now get going. Things are going to get exciting back at town pretty soon.” The heron nodded and glided off to rejoin the girls, with one final look back at the Goldoan. Spike sighed and reached into his pack, retrieving an ink and quill, and a sheet of paper. After a few minutes of sitting in silence, he began to scrawl a message upon the paper. _______________ Rainbow Dash It was just into the evening when we skidded to a halt at the gates to town. Not a lot of people took notice to us, since we hadn’t exactly told anyone about our mission, though we did get a few ‘hello’s’. I still felt like a hero walking into town though. I turned to Fluttershy with a smile on my face. “I guess I’ll be seeing you soon, huh? And... thanks.” “For what?” she asked, tilting her head slightly. “For what I’m getting ready to do in a few minutes. Don’t worry, I’m sure everyone in town is gonna know about it before too long.” I gave her a quick friendly hug, and glided on the tips of my feet back to my home. I had one thing I had to check first before I set my plan into action. Ultraviolet had a secret hiding place underneath one of the floorboards in his room, one I had discovered several years ago when I saw him taking something out of it. For the longest time I simply lacked the strength to get into it, and once I had gotten strong enough, I had stopped caring about it. But now, I decided it was worth a look for something specific. I walked into the room that used to be his, but that now housed Scootaloo a good portion of the time, and got to my knees searching for the slightly out-of-alignment board. After a minute of searching, I found it and practically ripped the board clean off. Only one thing was still inside: an opened envelope containing a single piece of paper. My hand darted within the space and retrieved it, then I stood and unfolded the letter contained within. My eyes darted over the words written, stained slightly with age and a few stray drops of ink, and my heart soared. This might be even easier than I thought... I couldn’t help but muse. I carefully folded the paper and placed it in my pocket, then dropped my weapons at the door and left the house. I had to consciously force myself not to run the whole way. I made my way through the streets to the eastern gates of town, where the EverFree Forest loomed, and smiled when I realized I was just in time. From within the forest, several figures could be seen walking towards the town. They soon came into the light of day, and I was able to see that the group was led by Rarity, flanked by Opal and Applejack, and two people I didn’t recognize. “Applejack!” I yelled, waving to her. This is going to be the coolest thing I’ve ever done, I swear. Gotta do it right though. The whole group perked up and picked up the pace slightly to meet me. “Dash! Hey!” She greeted back. “You sure seem happy. Guess it all went well?” “What? Oh, yeah, the ancestor thing. Yeah, it went awesome. Got a captain of the guard, learned to do the Sonic Rainboom properly, then saved the wrecked city of Cloudsdale. Just a day in the life!” “Congratulations!” Rarity said, patting me on the back. “Almost as good as mine. I got General Madeline of Dawn as my ancestor. Soul Release will once again grace the battlefields. Oh, except... I think Celestia might be on us pretty soon.” “Yeah, yeah, I probably didn’t help that along either. She’s bound to put together that I’m on the move, since I did the Sonic Rainboom again out there. But that’s alright, because we’re ready for her now, right?” She nodded confidently in confirmation, and I turned back to Applejack. “Hey, um... Would you mind taking a walk with me through the Acres? There was something I needed to talk to you about.” “Oh, uh... well, sure, I guess.” she answered. I nodded gratefully, and the two of us set off for the vast fields of her home. Luckily, we met no-one on the way, as we had all only just arrived and the kids wouldn’t know we were home yet. This was good, as I needed at least a few minutes. AJ and I walked step-for-step through the fields until we hit the orchard, in relative silence, but not an uncomfortable one. We didn’t really need to say anything, as we were just enjoying each other’s presence. “So...” I began, “how’d it go for you? Happy with what you learned?” “Yeah, I can’t complain much.” she replied, scratching the back of her head. “Me and Applebloom’s ancestor was this sorta-famous mage from Dawn, and he taught us a little ice spell.” I nodded, happy for her, and silence overtook the air again for a time. Soon, she saw fit to break it again. “Um, Dash... Why’d you wanna have me out here?” I took a breath, willing my heart to slow. This was it, and I couldn't afford to screw up this time. “AJ... When I was out there, fighting for my life, some things occurred to me. I... I guess some of them came at the right time, but a lot of them were things I really should have realized a long time ago. They kept... working at my mind the whole way home, and I decided I couldn’t be at rest again until I figured it out.” Applejack nodded slowly, listening intently. “When I got home... I got into Ultraviolet’s hiding place, for the first time in years. It must have been before you left for Manehattan that I last looked in it, because what I found... It was the letter you wrote me. The one I never got. Vi tucked it away, because he knew you didn’t need for it to get to me right away, because you were already coming home... but left it for me to find someday.” A definite blush overtook her face. “Er, uh, I-I was really broken up the night I wrote that... I don’t think I was all the way thinkin’ straight...” I held up a hand to silence her, my eyes closed and nodding knowingly. “It’s alright. If anyone hasn’t been thinking straight, it’s me. I... man, am I stupid. I mean... I can’t believe it took me this long, all this time passing and finding this letter, for me to realize that... that you feel that way about me. And, even more... I can’t believe it took that much all together to make me realize... I feel the same way about you.” AJ’s cheeks were about as red as the apple that hadn’t yet started to grow off of the trees around us. A stunned, amazed smile graced her lightly freckled face, only serving to make my own smile a tiny bit wider. This was about the stage where any further planning completely left my mind, and I simply decided to let instinct take over. In one graceful move, I spun around behind her, swept her off her feet with an arm and a wing behind to catch her, and kissed her. A moment that lasted a lifetime passed, then she reached up and embraced me in turn. We stood almost motionless in the field, the occasional breeze blowing through our hair and sending the loose petals of early-blooming flowers twirling through the air. At long last, we separated and stood up straight, though still held each other close in a loose embrace. The remainder of the day seemed to pass by in a blur. We walked through the orchards aimlessly for a solid hour or two, making mostly idle chat and simply enjoying the time together. Somehow or another we ended up at the old clubhouse, though it would be a misstatement to call it ‘old’ anymore. The Crusaders had really managed to fix the place up in the few months they had had possession of it. The outside had been fully repainted and weather-proofed, and the inside filled with all kinds of stuff, including a few old pieces of furniture and toy swords. We then did the only sensible thing in the situation and fell asleep inside, snuggled up underneath whatever blanket was laying around like we had done so many times when we were younger.