Freedom Through Harmony

by Electricut

Chapter Forty-seven

Chapter Forty-seven
Rainbow Dash

The first thing I did the next morning, after seeing Scootaloo off, was to arrange a meeting with the leader of the Silver Arrows battalion, Octavia. I figured I’d have a chance to fill in the other members of the resistance later, but knew that it was important to keep someone as high-ranking as her informed and on our side. I made my way to the inn where the majority of the battalion were staying, and was met at the door by Lyra.

She told me that she and Trixie had discussed the matter of her leaving at length already, and Lyra knew I was the first person she’d ask to take her place. Since she hadn’t heard otherwise, she had anticipated that I had accepted, and both she and Octavia were prepared to meet me. Impressed by her deductive reasoning skills, I shrugged and allowed her to lead me to Octavia’s room. She stopped in front of a door, not at all different from any other in the hotel, and motioned for me to enter.

I wasn’t sure why Lyra seemed so bent on keeping tight security around her superior- it wasn’t as though anyone in this town would be interested in attacking- but decided not to press the issue. Shrugging again, I pushed open the door, and saw the Battalion Commander absorbed in crafting some kind of sketch, on a standard sheet of paper. She sat behind a small wooden desk, facing the door, but didn’t seem to have noticed anyone entering: the door was very silent, but I figured it was more to do with how focused she was.

I had to admit, though, the drawing looked pretty good. From where I stood, I could make out that it depicted four people, gathered around some kind of ledge. I didn’t get a chance to try and recognize the other two figures, but one might have been a younger image of Octavia herself, and the other could have been a young Lyra.

“Lady Octavia.” The tomboyish soldier behind me said, drawing her attention. “We were right. Rainbow Dash has accepted Trixie’s offer. He’s come to tell you, I imagine.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here.” I confirmed. “That’s a pretty good drawing. Who all’s in it?”

I thought it was an innocent enough question, but Octavia seemed embarrassed that I had seen it, and covered it up with some other official-looking documents quickly. “Er...” She started, seeming- for the first time since I’d seen her- flustered. Admittedly, I hadn’t known her for long, and still didn’t know her very well, but it seemed out of character for someone as well-presented and proper as her. “Is there any chance I could get you to forget you ever saw that?”

“Uh, sure.” I answered. It seemed pretty important to her, and wasn’t very much so to me, so I dropped the issue. “So, Trixie bent my arm and convinced me to take charge of this thing; is there anything I should know about it that I didn’t before?”

“Not really.” She said casually. “We’ll probably want to have another meeting pretty soon, but you and Lyra can round up everyone for that without too much trouble. Beyond that, you won’t have too much else to worry about until wartime.”

I shook my head, still amazed that we were talking about war. All my life had been leading to this, but it was still incredible: we were actually making preparations to fight back against Eclipse. The thought was a lot to get my head around. “Alright.” I said finally. “Just yell if you have something else for me. I’ll be around.”

Octavia nodded, and I left the room without any further delay. Lyra followed close behind, hands in pockets, and spoke as we exited the building: “You’re still curious about that drawing, aren’t you?” I nodded, once again impressed that she had read my mind. “Well... don’t tell her I told you anything, then. It’s really not much to hide, just a picture of the two of us, her old boyfriend and his dad. We were all pretty close back in the day, but those two guys have been gone forever. Personally...” She stretched back tiredly. “I think she’d be better off letting them go. Far as I can judge, they aren’t coming back, shame though it is. They were great people, could solve problems without much fighting, but... they both dropped off the face of the earth years ago. She’s just having trouble letting him go.”

Something about the way she said it struck a cord in my mind. Dropped off the face of the earth... Just like Spitfire? No, that’s not it. Something else I heard... I shook my head, unable to remember what I was sensing, and nodded simply to Lyra. “That explains it. Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.”
_______________

For a week and a half, nothing unusual happened, but my thoughts always returned to that strange bit of information. Octavia’s boyfriend and his father vanished... but I could never figure out why that bugged me. I helped finish the harvest in the mornings, and trained the two kids (the three of them had decided to call themselves The Crusaders, a name I was somewhat jealous of for not thinking of it) in the afternoons. Sweetie Belle, feeling somewhat left out, decided to seek out training as well, and Lyra took sympathy with her and began teaching her some light-archery techniques.

Lyra’s style was one I never would have imagined possible: her crossbow was not loaded with a single bolt and string as most, but was equipped with five separate strings. Furthermore, it was fed ammunition by a clip full of bolts, positioned in a slot at the bottom of the weapon. By pulling the trigger, five shots would be shot off in rapid succession, and by pulling a lever back, all five would be restrung. The clips were large, and carried twenty-five shots apiece, so the weapon could be fired five times before needing a proper reload.

In addition, the ammo wasn’t even true crossbow bolts: it was nothing more than twigs at times, random but similar-sized pieces of junk loaded into the clips. By focusing a decent light spell- Ellight was Lyra’s preferred choice- on the clip, the twigs became magical bullets that rent through armor and tore through enemy lines. A completely ingenious and deadly weapon, shared with very few people outside of it’s creator, Lyra herself.

But she had decided to teach Sweetie Belle the light-enhancement technique for her own archery. In addition to learning these skills from Lyra, the third Crusader learned right alongside Fluttershy under Octavia, and I could tell from a distance that the two students were growing close. It seemed like part of the Silver Arrow’s grand plan was to help train those who needed it in town, so that when the inevitable war broke out, we would be ready to defend ourselves. Following this logic, I took even more interest in training Applebloom and Scootaloo to be able to fight.

At last, though, we reached a point at which we could relax: a huge meteor shower was predicted at the end of the week, and we were all more than ready to kick back and enjoy it. We all planned on making a party out of it, complete with food, music, and of course an all-natural light show. I returned home from Applejack’s place for only a minute, to grab my better jacket and head for the bluffs, where the view of the night sky would be best. I paused on the way out, eyeing my broadsword. There’s no need to bring a weapon, it’s not like there’ll be any fighting. Shaking off the idea, I left it where it was and made my way to the meeting place.

The whole town had gathered at the bluffs already, seated on blankets dotted around the grassy area. Everyone had their own supply of food, but sampled out of other people’s casually. Night had already fallen, and the sky glittered with stars, none of which were shooting across the darkness just yet. Looking around, I saw Applejack’s family all gathered around one blanket: the two sisters, Granny Smith, even Mac had decided to come. For the first time in years, I could see a glimmer of his old self in his face, making the occasion all the more festive.

Scootaloo was already seated near them, playing an old guitar with some success. I made my way over to them, taking a seat and a handful of cookies. About fifteen minutes passed before the first of the shooting stars began to fall, and we all scrambled closer to the edge to get a better view. Seeing the other two kids sitting on the shoulders of their sisters, and Scootaloo trying to jump to get a better view, I sighed and grabbed him by the legs, pulling him onto my own shoulders. He yelped in surprise as it happened, but realized what I was trying to do and relaxed.

Everyone’s eyes were locked on the sky as the meteor shower really picked up. The tiny pinpricks of light blasted across the vast space, in such numbers as to illuminate those of us standing on the ground in flashing radiance. The boy on my shoulders, as well as many others around me, ooh’d and ahh’d appropriately. I smiled, then a thought hit me and I turned to Applejack.

“I just realized.” I began, drawing her attention. “Isn’t this kinda familiar? Wasn’t there a shower just like this when we were little?”

She thought for a moment, then her face lit up. “Yeah, I remember! We were right on this bluff too. Only I was on Mac’s shoulders, and you were on Vi’s...”

“And now we have kids on our shoulders.” I finished, laughing. “Time sure flies, doesn’t it?” I shook my head, still chuckling, and turned back to watch the sky. Just as I did, though, I felt her arm slip in around mine. I closed my eyes for a moment and dropped that arm to hold her hand, the other still holding onto Scootaloo’s leg. The moment seemed perfect, surrounded on one side by my partner and best friend, on the other by the two who would likely take our places, and on all others by good company.

Of course it couldn’t last. From somewhere behind me, I heard Lyra’s voice: “Who are you? What are you doing?”

My attention snapped away from the spectacle in the sky and tuned in to the noises behind me, and I heard a male voice say: “Please, I need to speak to Sweetie Belle. It’s of the upmost importance. I swear I mean no harm... You can even hold me at crossbow point if you have to, I promise there’s nothing underhanded going on. But please, I have to speak with her immediately.”

“Scoots?” I started, but he didn’t need to hear any more. “Put me down, Dash. We need to see what this is.” I smiled in spite of it all, once again reminded an awful lot of a younger me. I set him down and turned to see what was going on...

My mind froze, and I suddenly wished I had grabbed my sword on the way out the door. Lyra led a lone figure through the crowd, but that didn’t stop him from striding purposefully towards us. I couldn’t see his face, or any other part of him, because he wore a heavy, dark cloak that shrouded every inch of his body. And while it was not midnight black as the other like it I had seen, there was no mistaking the design.

This person wore a cloak of The Order.