//------------------------------// // Chapter Eighty-six // Story: Freedom Through Harmony // by Electricut //------------------------------// Chapter Eighty-six Rainbow Dash Less than two weeks. That’s all we had before Eclipses army marched to destroy us. Twelve days was all the time some of us had to live. Only two days had passed since the announcement was given, and already a good third of the town’s population had fled, with more leaving every day. The remaining populace, however, was determined to stay and fight. Still, as determined as they were, most of them had much more determination and bravery than they did skill or experience. It fell upon those of us who already knew how to fight to make sure they could keep themselves, and others, alive. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie and I, plus numerous members of the Silver Arrows and the dragon Fenrir were the main people in charge of training. We would need every able-bodied fighter we could get, since between the Silver Arrows and the standing force of House Icarus, we only came up with a total of around four-hundred soldiers. While this wasn’t a bad start, we would definitely need more than that to stand up to Eclipse’s massive central army. Twilight had been stealthily moved to a cell that was hidden enough from view that she wouldn’t draw attention, but could be kept up to date on what was happening around her. I felt somewhat bad about throwing her in jail like this, even if it was only for accommodation purposes and she would otherwise be treated nicely, but she didn’t seem to take much offense to it. I couldn’t help but be impressed and touched by how good a sport she was being through all this, and there wasn’t much doubt left in my mind that she really was allied with us and wouldn’t betray her friends. Until she pledged herself to the resistance, though, it just wouldn’t be safe to let her roam free. On the second day, I found myself wandering aimlessly through the town, checking up on all the projects we had going to help defend the town. A nasty setup of iron was going up around the walls, with pikes and spears, and a painful looking web of barbed wire. This would be our last line of defense, as well as having numerous crossbow instillations up on the roofs of the buildings closest to the outer edge of town. We would do everything we could to stop them before they got to the streets, though, as we had some heavy weaponry they would have difficulty matching. Two Goldoan dragons and Mac’s demon sword would surely keep them well-occupied. I frowned slightly as I walked. This would be the case, provided we had all three of those things. Fenrir was still with us fully, so I knew we’d have him at the very least. However, I realized talking Mac into fighting could prove difficult. We were finally fighting back against the force that had taken his best friend from him, so I didn’t think it would be impossible by any means, but he was always so stubborn about everything else. Another thought was that I hadn’t seen Spike since Twilight’s party returned. She said that he had a bit of business to attend to before he left, which quite frankly sent up some red flags in my mind, but I seriously doubted Spike was our traitor. I had seen how he cared for both Twilight and Fluttershy, and I didn’t believe for a second that he would betray either of them. That still left the question of where he was though. You know, it had almost slipped my mind, but Phil and Trixie are still out there somewhere, recruiting people for the resistance from all over Equestria. I wonder if they know what’s going on... We still have those sending stone things Spike bartered off of Xekora, and never used them. We could use those to set up a communication link with them, and the other big factions, and make sure we’re all on the same page for this. They shouldn’t send any reinforcements here... but once we repel the initial attack, we need to be ready for a full-on counterattack from all sides. Starting when the leaders of New Dawn- Rarity’s old friend Blake, and daughter of that wolf guy from Twilight’s flashback- arrived and began cooperating with Midnight Resistance, leadership in town had been a bit less than perfect. Prince Belenth was still technically the head of the Silver Arrows’ chain of command, though Octavia and Lyra both took a much more active roll in leadership. Blake did most of the talking for himself and Winona, and Belenth seemed to have hit off a sparking rivalry with the young lord. In addition, I was still supposed to be responsible for the citizens of the town, though getting anything done with such a complex web of leaders was no easy feat. I made my way to the base of operations for the resistance, the same library in which Twilight had previously been living. As luck would have it, most of the other leaders were present, with the exception of Lyra. They turned to me as I walked in, and I quickly proposed my idea of trying to set up communications. Lyra, Blake, Rarity and Belenth all agreed, and, after wrapping up the discussion they had going, the prince moved to retrieve our town’s sending stone. ______________ Manehattan Safe House Phil Phil stood against the wall of the resistance’s secret meeting place, eyes shut in the midday sunlight, hands in the pockets of his jacket, a pleasant breeze ruffling his hair and feathers. In such a big city as Manehattan, it was always necessary to be fully on-guard, and that was exactly what Phil was doing at this time. Within the otherwise empty building behind him was the headquarters for his and Trixie’s small faction of the resistance. Phil sniffed, his bones aching slightly, as he did not have long until his current life cycle ended and gave way to a fresh one. He just hoped it would be in time before Celestia tried anything drastic. Progress had been slow with recruitment in Manehattan. Things had been getting a bit more tense here, and in other large cities, and the royal army had stepped up patrols and security, so talking to anyone about it had become somewhat difficult. They still managed to get the word out to a fair amount of people, but many were unwilling to help, partly out of their own security, partly out of lack of motivation. Celestia hadn’t harmed them personally in any way, so why should they care? It was all Phil could do not to grab them by the collar and shake some sense into them. Other than Misty and Soren, who had just recently returned from his successful trip to New Dawn, the resistance had recruited several old acquaintances of the late Creiddylad, all willing to fight and fairly well-trained to do so. In addition, several spirited young men and women had enlisted, desiring the fall of Celestia and a safer world, and with help from the others, they learned about combat quickly. Skill was not an issue here, merely numbers. As Phil stood, not really waiting for anything, he heard the door beside him open, and Trixie stepped outside. “Hey. How’re you holding up?” Phil sighed. “I’ve been worse, I suppose. Just... you know. Bummed about our lack of progress. Seems like absolutely nothing has moved forward since we got to this city.” Trixie grinned. “Well, in that case, I’ve got some good news for you.” She pulled something out of the pocket of her mage cloak, and Phil’s eyes widened slightly when he saw that it was the sending stone Xekora had given them, and that it was pulsing gently with light. “Seems someone’s trying to contact us. Come on inside so we can try it out, I’ll get one of the other guys to stand guard for you.” Phil nodded in interest and plodded after Trixie, while another volunteer a bit older than him moved to take his place outside. The interior of the safe house wasn’t much more decorative than the outside, and the only things around besides bunks and sleeping rolls, were the weapons belonging to the limited troops. A table sat in the center, and the two pulled up a single cot and sat side-by-side to answer whoever was using one of the other seven stones. Before long, the two former Wonderbolts wandered over in interest. “This is Belenth, connecting with any and all other leaders of Moonlight.” a voice from the stone stated. "Repeat, this is Prince Belenth, requesting communications with any other leaders of Moonlight. This is an urgent matter." Trixie tapped into the stone with her own magic, and spoke: "This is Trixie, I hear you loud and clear. What's the problem?" "Trixie. You're the head of the group that's been traveling around, right? Excellent. Please get anyone else you can to join this conversation, I'd rather not repeat myself. I will continue to do the same." Trixie nodded, then realizing Belenth could not see her, she confirmed verbally. She then began broadcasting to all the other stones across Equestria. The chief mage of house Leo was the next to respond, and Rilken's cheery voice could be heard in the background. Next, somewhat surprisingly, was a team from Trottingham, and Rilken confirmed smugly that he had finally gotten through to them. Following was the representative from the town of Firefly, then the western city Baltimare, which Rilken had also managed to sway. The final stone hadn't yet found a home, and still lay dormant in Trixie's pack. For a few minutes, the magical communications relays were used for idle chat, as the various people present got acquainted or reacquainted. The most prominent was between Rilken and his nephew Blake, who was also present with Belenth. Soren also took the opportunity to chat with Rainbow Dash for a while, as well as introduce him to Misty. Trixie smiled, as the ambiguous group of New Dawn had finally come forth to join the resistance movement. At last, Trixie broke the relative silence. "So, Blake. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Though it seems you ran into some trouble recently, as my teammate Soren tells me." "Ah, so you're the one he was so eager to get back to. Yes, I'm afraid things have become rather frantic on our end. A whole battalion of troops launched an attack on our base of operations, and New Dawn suffered a fair amount of loss. However, thanks to the valiant efforts of your friend, two of the Elements of Harmony, and a strange but brilliant young tactician that left as soon as he came, we managed to completely annihilate the attacking force. This would normally mean we bought ourselves some time before Celestia got curious and decided to look into some six hundred troops vanishing off the face of the earth, but... She didn't feel like waiting, it seems. Through the Silver Arrows, who are turning coat against her, we have learned we have until two weeks from two days ago until the full force of her army marches upon this town, seeking to obliterate New Dawn, the Elements of Harmony, and hope of any resistance." His words were met with a spontaneous uproar of shock and disbelief from the other leaders gathered, including from Trixie herself. Phil's jaw tightened, as he knew the rest of his family was still in the line of fire. He placed his hand on the stone, and spoke to the others: "If she's going to try and eliminate you all, then odds are good she'll use the full force of her central army! I seriously think it would be better if you just tried to get out of the way, or countless people will die." "Don't you think that thought was the first to go through my head?" a new voice asked, and Phil recognized it as Rainbow Dash. "If we just picked up and left, she'd keep going, looking for us, and even more people would die in her path. No, we've got to stand our ground and fight, no matter the risk. Point is, we need to formulate a plan of action as to what we're going to do after the attack is over. With her central army weakened, or at the very least occupied, we need every other fighter we can get to strike back right at the heart, the capital city of Eclipse. "In addition, I'd like to make a suggestion for each of you, if you hadn't already thought of it. One of our main points of defense is going to be the two Goldoan dragons at our disposal, and we all know there are more dotted around. One of Celestia's key mistakes was instating the guardian dragons all over the country, and I believe we could talk the remaining eight into assisting us if we try." Phil's eyes widened, and he nodded in agreement. The Goldoans would be a great boon on the battlefield if they could be convinced to join. Misty spoke up to the group gathered in the safe house. "I know there's a dragon in this city, by the name of... Fafnir, I think. He's supposed to be younger, so talking him into a resistance might be a bit easier. I have no idea where in the city he is though." "Right. I see what you mean." Rilken stated. "Well, I know that forces will be weak with such a large force occupied with fighting you. I wish you the most luck in the world that you survive, of course, especially since my own kin is among you. While defenses are weak at Eclipse, we must strike them down, and my own troops can help with that." "You've got whatever support we can offer from this end, too." Trixie confirmed. "We may just have a few tricks up our sleeve that'll really make Celestia sweat.” Phil raised a quizzical eyebrow at her, and she turned so that only the people present in the room could hear her. “I found a couple of old scrolls for some deadly looking spells. The one of them, I don’t even think was written in Equestria. If I can get any of ‘em down, that’s one more weapon we’ve got against the Queen.” Over the next several hours, a definitive plan was drawn up. Upon the day of the attack, someone would quickly send a signal through the sending stones alerting all the other rebel factions that the war had begun. Approximately two hours after receiving this message, all the troops would move out for other targets near to them and seize control. Once the central army had been dealt with, if the combined force of Icarus, New Dawn and the Silver Arrows was still operational, they would move out for Fortress Apollo, a midpoint between their town and Eclipse, and the perfect place to launch another attack. In addition, taking over the fortress that once served as Celestia’s family house would be a massive shift of morale in the resistance’s favor. Shortly afterward, the communications ended, and Phil leaned back on the cot. “I sure hope they’re alright...” Trixie put a hand on his shoulder. “Twilight?” He nodded. “Yeah... I’m worried for her too. I’m sure she’ll be alright though.” “Uh, guys...?” said the uncertain voice of the guard outside. “I think we might have company...” ____________ Twilight The young former apprentice sat in the corner of her temporary room, head resting on her knees and behind her folded arms, lost in thought. Outside her cell, Fluttershy stood partially as an obligatory guard, but mostly as moral support. A generous tray of food sat next to her, almost untouched. Twilight was ever-aware that time was running out for her to make up her mind on what she was to do. The fight had begun to fade out of her mind, and while she wanted to try and protect her friends, and knew she could not side with Celestia, she wasn’t sure if she could bring herself to fight at all. As she sat silently, eyes locked on the opposite wall, she became aware of a vague tingling in the back of her head. After a moment, she realized it was the familiar signal of a spell being activated, and she looked to Fluttershy quickly. “Fluttershy. I think someone’s trying to send me a message. Do you mind if I open up a little portal to receive it?” “Oh, um, no, I don’t really mind. But, um... I think I should probably read it too just to be sure. Ooh, I don’t know why they had me be the guard, I don’t know what I’m doing...” Twilight chuckled. “That’s okay. I prefer your company anyway.” Twilight shifted slightly and held out a hand, then spoke a few words to complete her half of the spell. A short flash of green light followed, and a slightly crumpled roll of paper materialized in her hand. She held it up for Fluttershy to see, then scooted over to the bars of her cell so the two could read together. Fluttershy stooped down with hands on her knees, and both girls’ eyes began scanning over the words written. Dear Twilight When you receive this letter, I’m afraid it is very likely that I will no longer be alive, or at the very least won’t be for much longer. I’m so sorry I can’t continue to guide you any longer, but take some comfort. I’ve lived my life with few regrets, especially after the moment we were brought together. I feel like I’ve done everything I can to prepare you for the storm to come, and for the rest of your life afterward. I believe that you know deep in your heart what is right, and while I don’t want to tell you how to act, I think it only fair to know what will have happened to me. Celestia has become aware of all of us, of all the efforts we are taking to prepare ourselves to combat her. Most of all, she has become aware that the actions I have taken have led to some of the greatest forces of opposition to her, and she is aware that I remain at this swamp. Had any of you remained here, I’m certain you would have been killed for obstructing her path to me, and so I remained here to buy you all some time from her. By the time you read this, though, it is likely that she’s already declared a state of war. I trust that your heart will be in the right place at the time you receive this. Do what you know is right. Fight for your friends, to protect them and save this country. As the two read through the letter, both of their eyes’ widened, and Twilight had to fight to keep her hands from shaking too heavily for her to read. Her heart was racing, and while she of course didn’t want to believe it to be true, it was undeniably Spike’s handwriting, and she knew he would never kid about anything like this. Most of all, fight to make sure that you and the ones you care about stay alive to see the end. And remember, it’s been both an honor and a pleasure to be with you all these years. Of all the things I’ve done, I will never regret being a father to you. Stay safe and brave, Twilight. I love you. ~Spike. P.S.: Please tell Fluttershy that I’m terribly sorry, and that I love her too. Upon seeing the last part of the message, barely legible with the shaky hand that wrote it, and slightly stained with blood, Fluttershy lost any composure she had left. She snatched the letter from Twilight quickly and began scanning over it again, eyes rapidly tearing up. Twilight didn’t need to read it again. She knew it was real, and was fighting the urge to cry, once again staring at nothing. Spike is gone... The closest thing I ever had to a father, and... And Celestia took him from me... Tears began to sting her face, and her hands began to tighten into fists. Just beside her, Fluttershy was struggling not to break into sobs, completely unable to speak. The two turned to each other after a few tense seconds, then hugged each other as best they could from opposite sides of the cell bars, crying onto each other’s shoulders. They didn’t try to hold back their tears any longer, as they knew they had both been equally crushed by this loss. For several minutes they remained this way, emptying all the tears they had, until Twilight saw the blurry form of someone else approaching from down the hall. “What’s going on? What happened?” Rainbow Dash asked, almost worriedly. Twilight paused, then gently separated herself from Fluttershy and stood. She locked eyes with the rainbow-haired mercenary, and in the strongest voice she could muster, said simply, “I want in. I’ll kill her.” Rainbow Dash stayed motionless for a few seconds, reading the look in her eyes, then smiled and moved over to the cell door, hand in his pocket. He promptly retrieved the key and swung open the door, then held out a hand to the former apprentice. “Good enough for me, Twi. Welcome to the resistance.”