Freedom Through Harmony

by Electricut

Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty Two
EverFree Forest
House of the Hylian

Everyone soon situated themselves around the fire, a bowl of the ungodly amazing soup in hand. I sat directly next to Applejack, and a bit further to my other side was Fluttershy. Next to her was Spike, then Trixie, Twilight, and Phil. Pinky was next, then Rarity, then the three children, who had gotten to talking. Xekora stood before his seat, back facing the house, completing the circle.

“Right. Let’s get down to business.” He said, addressing the crowd. “As I understand it, not everyone here is aware of the threat we’re dealing with now. I’ll fill you all in as best I can. Point is there’s an army in the making, and they are seriously overpowered. Their leader is nigh unstoppable, and believed to be immortal. I do, however, think there’s a way to break this barrier, and I’ll give you more details on that at the end of our meeting. As it stands, you are all on the path to becoming great fighters, but it goes without saying you can do nothing alone. I will show you the path to unlocking your true power as well, but it’s just as important that I bring you all closer, that you may combine your abilities and be even more powerful.

“Now, best way to do that I think is to delve into your own past, share your most influential experiences with the others, and be there for each other to share the burden and pain- as I seriously doubt it will be a good experience anyone will be sharing. If anyone else here is part of your story, you may want to have them help tell it, to give us the whole picture. I won’t ask anything of the kids here, as they probably don’t have many life-changing experiences- though it they want to give something, by all means. The rest of you, though, really ought to. I’ll even give a bit of my own story once everyone else has.”

He sat down, and everyone fell silent. What he was saying made very little sense, and I wasn’t sure just how much bonding as a team would really help that much. I had to admit, the bit about ‘unlocking our true power’ was intriguing, but I wasn’t sure story telling was going to be very effectual. Still, I had been debating bringing these memories to bear, to face these demons once and for all, and share with everyone my story. I turned to Applejack. “It’s time, isn’t it?”

She looked back, sympathetically. “I guess so. I’ll be here for you, Dash. I can take over whenever you need me to.”

I nodded, thankful for her presence, and we stood. “Right.” I started. “Regardless of reason, I think you all deserve to know the truth. I’ll give my story here and now, all of it. I haven’t... I haven’t had to talk about any of this since it happened, so... I’m sorry if it gets hard for me to continue. I’ll do my best. So, this is around seven and a half years ago. I still lived in the same house I do now, me and... My brother.”
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Year 490, Equestria Callander
Town; Dash’s House
Rainbow Dash

I sat upon my bed, staring up at the stars through my window, sleep having long since abandoned me. It had left around the same time Applejack had. She had set off a week ago, to the city of Manehattan, to break away from her farm girl destiny and start anew. I had put on my best brave face for her, and held it up until she and Mac disappeared on the horizon.

I fell apart right afterwards, and had been a wreck ever since. I could barely eat or sleep, and had only once left the house over the whole week. I tried as hard as I could to resurrect my usual facade, but it was for nothing. She was gone, and no-one was fooled- I was obviously upset.

“You really miss her, don’t you?” A familiar voice asked from behind. I turned slowly to face him. Ultraviolet leaned against the doorway, looking at me with slight concern. He wore jeans and a black shirt, though had removed his classic brown leather jacket. His dark blue hair, which faded out to green on one side and violet on the other, fell well past his shoulders, and it had been brought into question on more than one occasion if it had ever once been cut. He had just recently turned twenty-two years old.

“Yeah...” I said after a pause. I didn’t know what else to tell him, seeing as he knew the answer already anyway.

He closed his eyes, sighed, and began murmuring to himself. “Wonder if a week is really long enough for the truth to show itself... Well, now that I think about it, for a kid that young, it’s no doubt more than enough time. But is it my place to interfere?... Wait, hah, why do I suddenly give a crap where my place is?” He stood suddenly, walking over to me. “Tell you what, kid. Try to get some sleep- we’re going on a trip tomorrow.” With that, he left the room, leaving me alone again.

I soon retrieved a luggage case and began packing, the wheels of my mind turning. What is he talking about? Where is he taking me- it... it couldn’t be Manehattan, could it?
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Manehattan; Apartment Building, Floor 6
Applejack

What was I thinking... I thought, staring up at the stars, or what I could see of them with all the light- charged stones serving as light sources all around the city. They weren’t a bad sight from a distance themselves, but they still stole the show from the better backdrop. Nothing could compare to staring up at the stars, and yet it didn’t look like it was going to happen here.

Sighing, I just decided to flop over on my bed to mope. They told me that this was a huge choice, and that they wouldn’t let me change my mind too easy. Mac even tried to tell me it wasn’t a good idea! Agh, why didn’t I listen...? Now I’m stuck here, and I just miss everything... Mac, Granny Smith, Little Applebloom... And with Mom sick, too... I probably should have stayed home...

I wonder how Rainbow Dash is doing without me. He’s probably fine, really. He’s always so tough, just like his brother. I’m sure he’ll find someone else to hang out with, like... You know, come to think of it, I don’t think he really has many other good friends... But, he’ll be fine, I bet... I wish I could say the same. I never thought I’d miss him so much... Maybe I should write him a letter.

I pulled myself out of bed again, glad to have something- anything- to occupy my mind. I sat at the small wooden chair in front of the desk near the door, and after some digging its drawers, retrieved a half-filled ink well, some paper, and a quill. I looked at it idly for a moment. This is so fake. Ah well, it’s probably better for writing than one of those little blue feathers of Dash’s anyway... Still rather have one of those, though.

Shaking my head, I wet the quill and set to work. I tried as best I could to put a positive spin on what I was writing, but as I went on describing the past week, having to adjust and change everything I’d ever known, not to mention knowing exactly no-one outside of the Aunt and Uncle I had moved in with, I began to tear up. A few stray drops hit the paper on its edges, but I at least avoided blurring the ink.

As soon as I got on the topic of town, of everyone else, of him, a lump formed in my throat, but I managed to finish the letter before I had to throw myself on the bed again. I hadn’t been there for a minute before I pulled myself together. Furrowing my brow and pushing myself off the bed, I moved to the desk, and let the ink dry. The moment it did, I folded the letter neatly, crept out into the den, stuffed it into an envelope, and placed it in the mailbox just outside the apartment.

Closing the door carefully, I made my way back to my room, and tried pointlessly to get some sleep.
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Rainbow Dash

Somehow, I managed to get a bit of sleep that night, but woke up with plenty of energy in the morning. I made my way down the small hallway quickly and turned into the kitchen, where Ultraviolet was already reclining in his chair, coffee in hand. This was perhaps the first time in anyone’s memory that he had awoken before I did. He turned to face me. “You ready, kid?” He asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, but, where are we going?”

“Already cleared it with Mac last night. We’re city-bound, kid. I don’t know about you, but I want to see what’s so much better about that dump than our little town here. Let’s see what all that fuss AJ made was about, and if she still thinks it was worth it, yeah?”

I grinned excitedly and nodded. This might be my only chance to make things better. I have to try and bring Applejack back home.

“Well, grab some breakfast then. We fly as soon as you’re ready.” I did my best to eat something, but now it was my nerves taking away my appetite. I managed enough to satisfy him, and he grabbed a shoulder pack for the trip. “It’s not too far by air, and I don’t see us being there for more than a day or two, but it’s best to be prepared anyway.”

We walked outside and, getting a running start, kicked off the ground and into the air. My smaller sky blue wings fell in unison with his mighty midnight ones, and a few stray feathers floated gently to the ground as we gained momentum. Together we glided clear over the rooftops of our hometown and across the vast green fields that lie between.

We flew for a time, made a stop at a little group of shops and houses that might have been called a town, and set off again. Luckily, we reached Manehattan about halfway into the afternoon. The two of us touched down on the cobble road, and looked around in some awe. Back home, a two story building was somewhat unusual, and the only building that exceeded that height was the mansion Rarity’s family lived in. Here, ones with five or six floors weren’t unheard of. This was a city of magic- iron strengthened with unnatural flame forged sturdy buildings, and gems infused with light lit them with un-flickering radiance.

Ultraviolet folded his arms, thoughtful. “Right. Mac wasn’t sure exactly where the place is, so we might have to do a bit of looking around. He had a general idea of where it was, but he hasn’t been here in a while, so he wasn’t sure of the specifics. Wish I could have gotten ahold of Granny Smith...” He led the way through the busy streets, occasionally stopping to look for landmarks. An hour passed as we went no-where fast.

“Well shoot.” He said finally. “I officially have no clue where we’re going.”

Just as I was about to criticize him for leading us around for nothing, a scream from nearby interrupted me. We looked to each other quickly, then both instinctively started running towards the source. He kicked at a loose metal rod as he passed it, caught it in his hand, and swung around the corner to a side-road, me keeping close at his heels.