Freedom Through Harmony

by Electricut

Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty Four
Year 498; EverFree Forest; House of the Hylian
Fluttershy

“So the two of us spun around the corner, and we saw four guys, most around sixteen or seventeen, and they were surrounding this girl about my age- at the time, I mean. The fourth guy was all dark and mysterious, couldn’t tell a thing about him. None of them had seen us yet, but we had a good enough view of what was happening. She was against the wall, and...”

Rainbow Dash trailed off slowly, and began turning his head curiously to look at Fluttershy. She tried not to shy away. She knew that he had finally made the connection she made ages ago. Everything was likely rushing back to him, everything that happened that day, seven years ago.

His eyes widened, and he groaned, putting his hand to his face. “Oh, man am I slow... Fluttershy- it’s you! I’ve been hanging around you for more than a month, and I’m only just now realizing you’re that girl we bailed out!”

She nodded slightly. “That’s right.”

“Wait, did... Did you know that this whole time? Well, I mean, I guess you only meet so many guys with rainbow hair, but... Man, why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“It’s... it’s not an easy thing to bring up...” Fluttershy replied, shifting in my seat.

He hit himself silently. “Ah, ‘course. Well, you wanna come up here and help tell this story, or should I just keep at it?”

She looked away slightly, but knew what she had to do. “No... No, this is my story too. I’ll... I’ll do my best.” She stood and walked over to him and Applejack, who had been narrating together so far. Fluttershy turned slowly to face the others, who were looking to her sympathetically. Spike, she noticed in particular, gave me a small nod as she began.

“Well... yeah, so I was stuck... I don’t know what I ever did to them, but they were pretty angry... I’d seen three of them around school, but never talked to any of them. But the fourth...”
________________

Year 490
Manehattan; Back Road

I stood against the wall, trying to make as small a target of myself as possible. I had no idea what I was in for, but it didn’t take a genius to know it was nothing good. The three I recognized were all recent graduates from the same school I attended, but I wouldn’t have trusted any of them for a second. The all had acquired a sword or a knife at some point, and while none of them were being pointed anywhere, they were clearly visible, an active but unspoken threat.

The fourth, though, was a complete mystery. Covered in a black cloak, arms folded, and head down- but I could still feel that fourth pair of eyes trained on me. I couldn’t even tell whether it was a boy or girl- though I could only guess it was another male, judging by his company.

“This the one?” One of them asked.

“Yes.” The hooded figure responded. His voice confirmed he was male. “Fate shone upon her, and luck upon us. She’ll make a perfect addition to The Order. Seize her now, and you’ll have earned your place as well.”

The three nodded solemnly, and advanced. There was nothing I could do- I had no idea how to fight, and they had me surrounded. There was nowhere to go, and all I could do was close my eyes and wait for whatever they were going to do.

“BOINK!” Someone yelled, and I heard a metallic clang of steel hitting something else. I opened my eyes now, and saw a tallish figure with a brown leather jacket, blue-green-purple hair, and large midnight blue wings flaring out behind him. He held a broken metal rod, probably once a building material, in his hand, and one of the aggressors now stumbled to the ground. He cocked his head at the other two, and pulling the rod over his head, brought it down upon the head of a second.

“Bonk.” He said comically as it connected. The first had recovered, the third registered what was happening, and both drew their swords and charged at him. The second clutched his head in pain, crouching on the ground. The hooded figure made no move to help his accomplices, and instead elected to watch the proceedings with interest, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. I tried to inch away from the conflict, but the second figure managed to pull himself to his feet, and scrambled after me, drawing his knife.

“No you don’t!” He yelled. I cried out weakly, trying to back away quickly, but it was clear he was going to reach me first.

Just as he was nearly upon me, another form fell upon him from above, slamming him to the ground, stealing the knife, and putting it up against his throat in one fell movement. His brightly colored rainbow hair settled upon his back, as did his sky blue wings. A loose feather drifted in front of me, and I guessed he must have nose-dived straight down from the building above. He looked to be about my age, but he was obviously skilled in combat already.

“One more move, buddy, and you’re dead.” He hissed at his new captive.

“Now now, Dash.” The first newcomer said, whacking one of the aggressors so hard he flew into the brick wall behind him. “That is uncalled for. You’re more skilled than he is, and you’ve got him helpless. There’s no need to make death threats at him- that’s bullying, and I won’t be having that. Just rough him up a bit and send him on his way.” As he finished, he slammed the end of the rod into the nose of the one trying to get behind him, sending him reeling to the ground with blood gushing down his face.

Sighing, the boy called Dash jumped off the aggressor, but not without giving him a solid hit in the head with the hilt of the knife. He grunted with pain, grabbed his weapon, and ran. The other two seemed to have done the same. The three of us turned to face the hooded figure, who was surveying the situation still.

“You just can’t hire a bunch of muscle-heads and expect them to get the job done right anymore, can you?” He said, throwing up his arms quizzically. “One measly kidnapping is all I ask.”

“Well, what about you then?” The taller figure asked, brandishing his makeshift weapon in practiced arcs. “You gonna try it yourself?”

“Heh. I might be tempted to on a normal day, but this is quite a turn of events, really. I think I’ll pass for now. Don’t go too far, though.” He ended on a slightly musical tone, gave a little salute, and jumped clean into the air, tawny wings erupting from his back. In a moment he was gone.

I finally collapsed to the ground, exhausted with fear, heart racing with adrenaline. Dash just stood, looking around awkwardly, not sure what to do next. The other man walked over and crouched in front of me, putting him at about eye level with me. I met his concerned blue eyes for a moment.

“You okay? I mean- did they hurt you or anything?” He asked honestly.

I just shook my head no, then thought for a moment, then tried nodding, and just ended up squeaking out “I’m okay”.

“Anyway, let’s get you home, huh? I don’t know who else is on the streets right now. ‘Cmon, Dash, let’s get moving. You good to walk?”

I nodded again, and he helped me to my feet. He held my hand lightly as we left the back road, Dash trailing behind silently. He wasn’t angry or upset about anything- I would have felt it if he was- just unsure.
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Rainbow Dash

I kicked at a stone on the ground as we travelled the cobble roads again, but in reverse. I had done everything perfectly- dive bombed that third guy and disabled him in an instant. But this had been one of my first real fights, and while I didn’t show it, my nerves were still wracked. I understood my brother’s point of view- these guys were just hired help, and didn’t deserve to die. They had accepted money to attack and kidnap a little girl, though, and me scaring him like that was punishment enough, and well deserved.

She really was quite pretty, I had to admit. Long, soft pink hair and snow white wings bounced behind her as she stepped softly beside Ultraviolet. What happens now? I wondered. I guess we bring her back home, to whoever takes care of her, and then... reward? Nah. It was nothing. Vi would probably decline anyway. Dinner, at the very least, though- I’m hungry again.

“So, what’s your name?” He asked. “I’m Ultraviolet. And my little bro back there is Rainbow Dash.” She mumbled something that I couldn’t catch from behind them. “Fluttershy? Nice. Suits you well.” He said, apparently having heard it the first time. I’m glad he had, at least- I doubted if I would have been able to make it out very clearly if I was right next to her. “So, where do you live?”

“Um... Down that way.” We followed where she pointed, and ended up in another part of the city, one we hadn’t been to yet. It looked to be a smaller square- not the main one, which we had already passed, but a center for a smaller part of town. A slightly larger than life-sized statue stood in the center, depicting a powerful female knight, with shoulder length hair, large and alert eyes, and a long katana flourished in her left hand. Curiously, her right arm was in some form of sling, but she didn’t look too off-put about it.

But then again, it was a statue.

I stood to Ultraviolet’s other side, who was also considering the effigy. “General Madeline, famed Heroine of Dawn.” He read off of the plaque affixed to its feet. It was written in the ancient language, but Vi had studied for some time, and was able to decipher it easily enough. “If I recall, she was the mightiest of warriors in the whole kingdom of Dawn, if not all of Equestria. Her signature skill, Soul Release, still has a huge influence in fighting today, and many have attempted to emulate it themselves, though I’ve not heard of anyone ever successfully doing it.

“Y’know... This has got to be one of the only statues from back then still standing now.” He commented. “She was a huge part in the war five hundred years ago, and most of the relics from that time are long gone, including the capital cities of Dusk and Dawn themselves. But this statue is well cared for.”

“So this city was part of Dawn, then?” I asked, curious to learn a bit of history. I knew that our hometown had been settled shortly after the war ended, and was well within the territory of what was once Dawn. The original castle and city weren’t even far from it- they were closer to our town than Manehattan was.

“Yup. It went by a different name back then, though. Can’t say I know what it was, unfortunately. This was still a major city at the time, and the citizens decided to suck it up and rebuild bigger and better, rather than accept Eclipse’s handouts and secede completely, and thereby loose their identity like so many others.”

“Fluttershy?” Another voice interrupted. We all turned to face her- a woman looking to be about Vi’s age, with very fair skin, golden blonde hair and wings, and an un-ceremonial lance strapped across her back. “Fluttershy! Oh, thank the Goddess I found you! What happened?”

Fluttershy disengaged from Ultraviolet and ran over to her, getting swept up in her arms in the process. Vi stood from where he was crouched, turing to face her properly. “I guess you know her, then?”

She looked at him, sizing him up before responding. “Yeah, I’m her sister, Creiddylad. Now again- What happened?”