Freedom Through Harmony: Book II

by Electricut

Sixty-two

Sixty-two

Seven years passed by, years which the residents of the island would remember as some of the happiest times of their lives. Oftentimes, one or more would be away from the island at a time; Doc continued to travel through time with Dirk, assisting the world wherever they could. They were often assisted by one or more of their friends. Spitfire- when not on a mission with the two time travelers- would often revisit her old home and old friends, eventually forming a group of expert flyers and fighters: the Wonderbolts. However, she would spend the rest of her time on the island with her new friends.

They would all look forward to the point at which they could come back to the tower together. One night, the group all found themselves together at once, and on a whim, made a party out of the night. A large bonfire sparkled against the dark waves, music playing from a futuristic device Dirk carried with him. He and Castile danced a short distance away from the others, giving them their space.

Dirk wasn’t inclined towards women; this was common knowledge to the group. If Castile was disappointed upon learning this, she didn’t show it. Still, Doc couldn’t help but feel that, were the situation different, they would make a spectacular couple. As it was now, they still trusted each other as friends and as someone to watch their backs more than anyone else.

The same could be said for Perun and Spitfire. While Spitfire had other contacts in Equestria, Perun had been a loner before being brought to the tower. Before long, he was able to call all these strange people his friend, but Spitfire most of all; they hadn’t announced anything yet, but Doc knew they had spent more than a few nights together. The two danced together by the water, firelight illuminating their eyes.

Nearer to the fire, Doc held Derpy’s front hooves in his hands. She was remarkably good at dancing for someone who walked on four legs. So much about this girl, this goddess, surprised Doc. She still saw the one she had been friends with before in his eyes, but she had also come to accept and embrace this new person in his place. And, looking into her eyes, Doc could often feel his hearts tugging at him as though long-forgotten memories were trying to resurface. Though he could never quite capture those memories, he still felt so strangely familiar and comfortable in her arms.

The evening passed by, the six all staying in the tower that night. In the morning, a seventh person arrived.

Spitfire and Perun were the first to greet him, but the others were soon brought outside as well, including Derpy. The stranger said he wanted to address the goddess in particular, as well as her friends. Doc looked the stranger over as he walked outside; he was an owl man, one of the primary races of people from Ivoire. He looked average enough- brown feathers, rounded spectacles that were nearly standard for the race, a light jacket suitable for flying, and a spear sheathed across his back.

“Ah, hello everyone!” he greeted. “Good to see I’ve found the right place. My name is Lucius.”

Dirk introduced himself warily. “How did you find this place?” he asked. “And for what reason?”

“Visions from a higher source, you-hoo might say.” he replied, his owl-man accent slipping slightly. “I am a follower and messenger for another person, one much more powerful than myself. One who, despite his disposition, wishes nothing more than to protect and serve the goddess of this world.”

“Who would that be…?” Derpy asked cautiously.

“He calls himself Discord. And though he is able to maintain only an image of himself in this world, he predicts that he will be able to return to physical form soon.”
______________

Derpy

“We suspected that seal wouldn’t last forever.” Dirk said. He, Derpy and Castile were inside the tower, speaking privately, while the others remained outside. “Celestia’s and Luna’s ties are weakening, giving him enough of an opening to project his image onto the world. And the more that bond weakens, the more he’ll be able to slip through. And if one of them dies… Well, that’s it. He’ll be free.”

“How likely is that to happen?” Derpy asked. She had enjoyed several centuries of relative peace, but had also been preparing herself for Discord’s inevitable return. Even so, there was not a force ready to resist him yet; Doc, Spitfire and Perun would be a good start, but they wouldn’t be nearly enough on their own. With Dirk, Xekora and Castile as well, they might stand a chance of surviving, but not fighting back. They needed more allies, more weapons, something that could truly finish him.

“It’s really more of a question of when it’s going to happen.” Dirk said with a sigh. “If he sent a messenger now, then he must be confident that it’ll happen soon. He must have a pretty solid grip on Celestia’s mind, which… He might persuade her to bring Luna back early. Things would absolutely cascade from there, possibly into war. No matter which one of the sisters dies, Discord is freed, so starting another war and letting the pieces fall where they may would be a likely move for him.”

“Then we can’t have long…” Derpy concludes, a lump in her throat. “What do we do? We don’t have the means to fight him yet.”

“Dirk and I have been discussing it.” Castile explained. “This was going to happen sooner or later, somehow or another. So we have a rough plan built up already. And it’s going to involve us playing the same game as Discord- acting as puppet masters- and beating him at it. We’ve got weapons, but we need people who can use them.”

“I’ve conferred with Xekora in the past, and I’ll keep checking back with him on this…” Dirk began. “I’ve been keeping my eye on a group of kids, descendants of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. I’ve seen them at different points of their timeline, and I believe they might be able to wield the Elements again. Whether they’ll be able to help us against Discord, I’m not sure, but I think they’ll be able to push Celestia’s and Luna’s confrontation in the best possible direction. Equestria will get back on its feet, and maybe give us something that can stand up against Discord. At the very least, they’ll be able to defend themselves.”

“Ivoire and Tellius can help, too.” Castile added. “There are powerful mercenary groups in both continents. I know some from Ivoire personally, and I know they’ll drop everything and help us if we really need them.”

“Now, we know- more or less- Discord’s strategies in the past. He’d take me and Castile out if he had the chance, because he’d know we’re orchestrating a group to resist him. So, once we’ve done all we can and gotten the ball rolling, we’re going to jump ahead in time to the exact point that we launch a counter-attack. He won’t have a chance to cut this thing off from the head. So we’ve got to make sure that you guys can make it until then, and will keep getting stronger.”

Derpy swallowed hard. The prospect of surviving against Discord with only herself, her three companions, and only possibly the other three gods on the planet, did not fill her with confidence. “It’s hard to predict his actions, but if he announced himself, I don’t think he wants to kill you.” Dirk reasoned. “No, I think he wants control of this place. From here, and from a false position of protecting you, he’d have a lot of control over the world. And unfortunately… There’s not a lot we can do about it yet, except buff this place up with people we can trust. If Doc, Spitfire and Perun stick around, that’ll be a great start.”

“There’s another that I can ask.” Castile said. “A friend of my brother’s, who’s… not here anymore. But this friend might be able to help. The others won’t be able to just pick up and work with us for long amounts of time, but this one might.”

“Aside from that, all we can do right now is roll with the punches.” Dirk concluded. “We’ll stick with you until Discord returns in the flesh, then we’ll make our move and jump ahead in time. I’m going to make sure Doc is ready for this.”
_____________

Life picked up the pace for Doc in the next few months. He still returned to the tower often, spending time with his friends, but the places Dirk took him to were growing more dangerous, the missions more intense. He was being trained for something; likely his eventual meeting with this Discord character.

He met others along the way. With Lucius having joined the group- whether the others liked it or not- the friends of Derpy began carrying out other missions, mostly artifact recovery. Lucius claimed it was by the will of Discord to protect the world. Dirk could only confirm that it was by the will of Discord.

One day, nearly two years later, the group stumbled upon a disturbing scene at the edge of a forest. A pair of babies rested in wicker cradles and blankets, no guardians to be seen.

“What should we do…?” Perun asked. “We can’t just leave them here. We’re lucky we found them, because I don’t think anyone else would before… before it’s too late.”

“You’re right.” Spitfire assured him. “We’re not leaving them here. We can take them out of here and bring them somewhere to be taken care of.”

“Why send them away somewhere, where they would have much less chance to help the world?” Lucius asked. “I suggest we take them in ourselves.”

“Are any of us equipped to raise to kids, practically newborns?” Dirk asked, a sharp tone to his voice. He and Lucius had been butting heads ever since the owl man arrived, but Doc had a hard time disagreeing with Dirk most of the time.

“Leave it to me.” Lucius assured him. “Do you recall the crystal hourglass we recovered two-hoo months ago? A troublesome little device, one which did not yield its secrets easily. But I’ve conquered it; it’s a time-traveling device, much like your Time Tables. Its workings and laws are a bit different, but the principle is the same.

“Anyhoo, I offer to take these children under my own care, raise them to a reasonable age to accompany us on our missions, then return to you.”

“Raise ‘em all by yourself, huh?” Dirk muttered. “Not sure I like the sound of that.”

“Relax, sir Strider. I only carry out the will of Discord. You wouldn’t want to stand against him, would you?”

Dirk sighed heavily, then looked to the two children. His eyebrow raised after a moment. “Wait… Not that one.” he pointed to the baby on the right, a girl. “There’s some kind of temporal interference around her. Take her and you’d mess up the timeline.”

Doc looked at her as well. It was next to impossible to spot temporal interference with the naked eye, but a person who did a lot of time traveling had a sense for it. Doc could feel what Dirk was talking about. That girl was meant for something else. Lucius cast his hand over her, holding the crystal hourglass he had spoken of, and nodded.

“Right you-hoo are. We don’t want to risk destabilizing the timeline like this, when we can’t say what would happen. Very well, I’ll take the boy and bring him up strong. We’ll meet you back at the tower.”

He picked up the child on the left, and shortly disappeared with the aid of his time traveling device.

Dirk shook his head. “Creep.”

“What about the girl?” Doc asked. “Surely we can’t just leave her here?”

“We won’t, not for long.” Dirk answered. “A future version of you will arrive shortly to take her somewhere safe. But until you reach that point in your timeline, you’ll need to stay away from here.”

Doc raised an eyebrow. “How do you know?”

“Because I’m telling you to now.” Dirk smiled. “Between you and me, this was my way of protecting her from that feathery bastard. Let’s say… Year four-eighty, new year’s day. You’ll be twenty-three then. If nothing else happens, that’s when you’ll go back to this point and bring her somewhere safe to be raised. But if something happens and you feel the time is right, do it early. Just don’t do it later than that. Got it?”

Doc nodded. It was a flimsy plan, but it seemed sound enough. The group soon left, hesitant to leave the girl behind at first, but sure that she would be safe.

Returning to the tower, they were joined by a slightly older Lucius, and a snarky, mission ready boy named Quicksilver.

Conflict was on the horizon in Equestria. Celestia’s madness had grown ever stronger, and the people beneath her were in a state of unrest. Small resistances were cropping up, only to be cut down. But with the power of light growing out of control, the seal holding Discord back was slowly weakening.

“Alright, Doc.” Dirk began one evening. “I’m afraid this is it. Discord’s going to be able to imprint a shadow on this world soon. Not long after that, he’s going to be able to get back to this world, flesh and… whatever the hell runs through his veins.”

Doc nodded. Lucius and Quicksilver had been preparing fervently for the demon’s return. “What do we do?”

“We’ve got a plan in motion, Castile, Derpy and I. Right now, I just need you, Spitfire and Perun to keep doing what you’re doing. Keep fighting for what’s right and finding allies we can count on for when things really get hectic.”

“What will you do…?” Doc asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Dirk sighed. “Me and Castile can’t get caught by Discord. He’s strategic, he won’t take you out when he thinks he can manipulate you- but you’ll be manipulating him all the while- but he’d destroy me and Castile if he got the chance. So we can’t give him that chance.

“We’re going to jump ahead in time to your final battle against him. You, me and her will go there, and I’ll send you back with the Time Tables. Then you, and everyone else who will have been gathered to fight him by then, will join us again, and we’ll finish this.”

“I see…” Doc said, a lump in his throat. “So, you’ll still be able to help… But we’re on our own for a while.”

“I’m afraid so, kid. But don’t worry. I know you’ll be just fine. You may not remember all you did before you got here, but you’re the Doctor! You’ve saved countless people before. And you’ve still got the same blood running through your veins. You’re going to pull through and save the world, just like you always have.”

Doc nodded, words not willing to come forth. Dirk gave him a pat on the head, then called Castile into the room. “It’s show time.” he told her. “You ready?”

She nodded, tightening her gloves. “Whatever’s gonna be waiting for us on the other side, I’m ready for it.”

Dirk smiled, and retrieved the Time Tables. Castile put her hand on his arm, and reluctantly, Doc did the same.

A dark, warped island rose to meet them. Doc looked around at their surroundings: the dirt was a dusty gray, the rocks burned blue and red from intense magical blasts. He spied a great lagoon further into the island, downhill from where they stood.

“Where…?” he asked, confused.

“Hermuda Triangle, by the looks of it.” Castile commented. “Been a while since I’ve been here. And there was just as much weird time travel stuff involved the last time, too.”

“Looks like we’re the first.” Dirk commented. “The rest of the group should get here soon.”

He passed the Time Tables to Doc. “This is it, kid. Good luck, and see you soon.”

Doc wanted to give a final farewell, but the words wouldn’t come. Finally, he simply sighed and nodded. “See you then. I’ll hold this thing together, don’t you worry.”

Dirk nodded with a smile. “I know you will.”

Doc was in tears as soon as he hit the sand of the tower’s island. Derpy scarcely let him out of her embrace for days.

Discord’s voice came before a physical form did. Though he spoke eloquently, Doc could sense something much more sinister beneath his voice. He claimed to be interested solely in serving and protecting Derpy, the goddess of Equestria, and that he was reformed from the person he once was. Lucius told him in detail about Dirk and Castile, but Doc refused to budge about where they went, and he remained the only one who knew.

Discord’s first act was to organize the group who now protected the tower and Derpy. He dubbed himself the Number One of the organization. He gave Perun the title of Number Two, a move Doc found slightly distressing. He was sure Lucius would take the spot. What did Discord have to gain from making Perun his second in command?

Spitfire was Number Three, and Doc was Number Four. Doc didn’t expect anything else there; he knew Discord didn’t trust him. The two, and Derpy, had apparently had some history before he lost his memory. Lucius was Number Five, and Quicksilver Number Six. This group quickly came to be known as the Order.

More would soon come to follow. A young girl was the next, slightly younger than Quicksilver, by the name of Minuet. She had nowhere else to go, but quickly grew to harbor the same love of chaos that Discord and Lucius were encouraging. She was brought in as Number Seven. Max- Number Eight- came shortly afterwards, a heron Laguz from Tellius, a commoner and musician. He was eager to join, but showed frustratingly little reaction to being swayed by either side of the Order. He seemed to disagree with Discord’s methods, but also had no interest in resisting him.

Another pair arrived from Tellius sometime afterwards, a girl already trained with the sword and her blind younger brother. This girl, Lenora, would become Number Nine, though her brother was too young to carry out missions yet, and did not receive his number until he could. A young man from Ivoire, Tug, became Number Ten. Gilda, Number Eleven, arrived just before Lenora’s brother, Alex, was assigned as Number Twelve. Somewhere along the line, Perun brought in a pair of Children of Water, siblings who had nowhere else to turn. With the ability to change shape into living weapons, they became Perun’s primary destructive force.

The latter six needed to be introduced to the work the Order did, and were assigned mentors from the original six. Discord trained Minuet personally, only adding to her instability. Gilda trained under Perun, and Alex was practically raised by Spitfire. Doc took Lenora under his wing, taking her on missions across time just as Dirk had done with him. Lucius and Max trained together, as did Quicksilver and Tug, though the last pair was a rocky relationship, the two constantly butting heads and earning punishment from their superiors.

Just before the turn of year four ninety-nine, Equestrian calendar, Celestia fell in battle, and Discord’s body returned to the world. Somehow, he had recovered the Blade of Blood as well. Surely only his grand strategy was keeping him from destroying Doc and Derpy now.