Freedom Through Harmony

by Electricut

Chapter Sixty-six

Chapter Sixty-six
Western Fields
Rainbow Dash

Fluttershy and I skidded to a halt near a large tree, in a mostly grassy but barren swatch of field. Unlike the northern fields, the western fields were heavily occupied in several places, since the grassy expanse made up more than half of what used to be Dusk. Several towns of varying sizes were constructed in the field, usually next to one of the rivers cutting through, but a sizable area remained as it was.

We were about halfway to the old capital of Dusk, and we had left the last town behind a few leagues ago. From there, only the remains of the western fields remained, and ruin. None of the towns beyond that had been rebuilt after the civil war, since they had to live off of Eclipse’s handouts for a time, and needed to be closer than that to have any hope of survival.

“We should camp for the night.” I stated, putting down my passenger and supplies, giving my arms a good stretch and allowing my wings to flop down limply behind me. “Sun’s almost down, and we can easily make it to the capital ruin by tomorrow afternoon.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Okay. I was getting a little tired anyway. I think we could all use some sleep... Especially after last night...”

“I agree, I didn’t get much sleep either. I’m too tired to be up thinking now though.” I ended with a chuckle and began unpacking the essentials for the night, then stopped and added: “Hey, uh... About what happened. You know that I know how you feel right now, so... I don’t know, just, don’t feel like you’re alone.”

I shrugged and went back to unpacking, but Fluttershy managed a sad smile and said simply: ‘Thank you, Dash’. I had to agree with my brother on this one: neither of us was very good at sentimentality. I had packed light, and didn’t need to take much out of my pack for the night: a blanket for sleeping, some food for supper, and a tinderbox for making a fire. After these were laid out, I immediately set out to gather firewood from the few, but large, surrounding trees. I noticed that Fluttershy had packed a bit more comfortably, but decided she had a right to. This wasn’t going to be an easy mission, and she wasn’t the strongest of people to begin with, so if she wanted to bring a few extra belongings, I wasn’t going to stop her.

Since we were out in the open, a fire was a necessity. Besides the fact that it was freezing out, and the sky was cloudy with a fresh snowfall waiting, we had to be able to see if anyone was approaching. Fortunately, not much snow had fallen in the Dusk region yet, so all the loose branches littering the ground were dry. I made several trips to nearby trees with armloads of wood, though there weren’t many larger logs to be had. I dumped the last of the firewood onto the pile I had started, then surveyed the surroundings again.

“Can you two get the fire going?” I asked.

Fluttershy nodded, but was slightly confused. “Sure, but... why? Is there something else we need to do?”

“I don’t feel like getting snowed on in the middle of the night.” I answered simply. “I’ve got enough juice left in me to get up there-” I pointed skyward- “and clear away the clouds overhead. Shouldn’t take more than ten seconds, but I figure we need every minute of sleep we can get.”
_______________

[BbRarity

Rarity, Opal and Applejack sat around a campfire ring of their own in silence. Traveling had been somewhat rough so far, as there was still barely any path to follow through the EverFree forest towards the Castle of Dawn. Memories of their first trip through assailed Applejack and Rarity, and part of their silence was on account of this. They had trekked all the way through the thickest part of the forest already, and were once again taking a rest in the clearing where Pinky had dueled against the shade summoned by Nightmare Moon.

Rarity was somewhat disappointed not to see the dragon dwelling in the river again. The three had waited for what was an appropriate amount of time, but were forced to leave without finding him. Whether he was just elsewhere, or something had happened to him- Rarity wondered if she would ever find out.

Their silence was more because of the constant clashing between the two Elements than it was memories. The two were about as opposite as possible- farm girl and noblewoman, plus almost bored cat girl- and there had been disagreements at every turn. Opal probably should have been acting as a mediator, and might have been trying, but wasn’t terribly good at it anyway.

Applejack cast a glance skyward, basking in what was left of the sunlight. “I’m tellin’ ya, we could still make some more ground tonight. There’s plenty of places to hunker down further in, and we need to save time so we can get back to town. I’m sure you can get that: we’ve both got little sister’s that’ll get stir crazy and might even come lookin’ for us if we’re gone too long.”

Rarity sighed, her arms folded stubbornly, but had to admit Applejack had a point. She slipped the Icarus Charm, which she had been toying with idly, back into her pocket. “Well... I suppose you’re right about Sweetie Belle. The last thing I want is for her to have to tromp out here too. It’s bad enough I have to do it again...” She stood in a huff. “Fine, we’ll keep moving for a while longer. But things will be just as bad if we aren’t well rested, so let’s not keep going too much longer.”

Both Applejack and Opal nodded and stood, ready to go, and the three made their way out of the grey, leaf-barren woods and back onto the familiar path leading to the ruin of the Castle of Dawn. The forest soon gave way to the barren cliffside and wide rocky canyon, over which spanned the rickety wooden bridge repaired by Rainbow Dash. The Castle of Dawn loomed in the distance, still as ruined as ever.

The party stopped short as they approached the bridge, and Rarity couldn’t help but stare in slight wonder. The last time she had been here, a seemingly endless night sky had been overhead, and the castle had seemed a dark and threatening entity. However, now she saw it in the sunset, and found it was quite a sad beauty. The decrepit towers and crumbling walls, the moss that climbed all over the ancient cobble and on the ground beneath, the occasional sparkle of the discarded weapon that hadn’t rusted over completely, and the beautiful sunset acting as a backdrop gave the whole thing a picturesque, surreal quality.

“There’s barely anythin’ left of the upper town.” Applejack commented, casting her arm wide to encompass the wreckage of the city surrounding Dawn. “But back behind the castle there’s more city, further down a hillside. Far as I could see last time we were here, a lot of that is actually still intact. I dunno who our ancestors were, but I know mine was probably in town more than they were in the castle, so we’re probably gonna want to look there too.”

“Plus,” Opal began, “If we’re going to spend the night further in, our best bet would be to find a house that hasn’t caved in and stay there. And anyway...” She looked back the way we came, and Rarity’s spirits sank when she saw a clump of angry storm clouds inching past the tree line. “We’ll want a roof. The forest was too bare to protect us much anyway, so this looks like the best option...”

Rarity sighed, not looking forward to spending the night in a building that hadn’t been touched for hundreds of years, but supposed that if it had held up for that long, it could survive one more rainstorm. Considering it was that or sleep in the open and get soaked, she decided it was a pretty simple choice. The group set off one at a time across the wooden bridge, passing the point at which Rainbow Dash had fought against three of Luna’s minions, who he claimed were additionally turned feral by Celestia.

“You know, it’s really a shame both the Children of Air ended up going off by themselves.” Rarity commented. “We might be able to just get rid of the storm up there instead of hiding from it...”

Applejack was halfway to a comeback, but stopped and sighed. “I gotta agree with you there. Dash could destroy that storm, easy.” They lapsed into silence again as they trudged over the dusty road, past the pitiful remains of the upper section of the city. Little more than a few stone walls and discarded weapons remained now, but there were places were the overgrowth lapsed, and Rarity could envision the buildings that must have once stood there, so long ago.
________________

Twilight

Despite how tense things had become lately between Twilight and Spike, the group’s travels to the swamps of Eclipse had been rather enjoyable thus far. They mostly had Pinky to thank for that; her eternal cheerfulness had begun to wear on the two sore friends, and eventually the two joined in with the simple travel songs Pinky had an unlimited amount of. Not one of the three was a particularly good singer, but there was no-one else around to hear, and they all had a good time being terrible.

Twilight had gone ahead and plotted a route that would lead the group around all the major cities between them and the swamps before they left town, though they had made a stop at a smaller town to take a short rest and refresh themselves. Otherwise, they had been off the roads and traveling continuously all day towards the mysteries lying in the swamp. As the sun began to set on the horizon, the first signs of their destination began to take shape.

A wide swatch of trees loomed before them, the peaks much taller than any they had seen thus far. The ground had become quite hard-packed in the places where it wasn’t solid stone, and while the air was still frigid due to the winter weather, it managed to grow a few degrees warmer as they approached the place before them. Twilight shaded her eyes against the sunset as she gazed into the darkness of the swamp. There was still a bit of daylight left, but the shadows cast by the towering trees obscured any light that might have made it in.

“At least the skies are clear.” Pinky commented. “You wanna camp out at the edge of the swamp for the night, then explore tomorrow?”

Twilight nodded and adjusted the straps on her backpack. “Yeah, sounds like a plan. I have no idea what’s in that swamp, but anything that’s left in the winter can’t be good. There’s probably a few snakes left... We don’t want to go trekking through there without being able to see something like that.”

Spike merely nodded and followed behind the two girls as they made their way to the fringe of the swamp, then the three dropped their supplies and began setting up camp. A single low tent was erected, one with room for two people. The group had agreed before they left that while two members of the team slept, the third would provide watch, and they would trade off every few hours until dawn. After they made a fire and ate a simple but filling dinner, a coffee pot was set to boil, and soon Pinky bade them goodnight and went to sleep.

Twilight and Spike remained by the fire, lost in thought. Spike had volunteered for the first watch, but Twilight had decided to stay up for a little while to talk to him. She didn’t want to start arguing again, but she still had some things to get off her chest. As she gazed into the fire, she cleared her throat silently and asked: “Spike, can... can I ask you something?”

Spike leaned back and stretched, but Twilight could tell he was reluctant to answer. She could tell he was tired of arguing too. She decided she’d start somewhere else first, then work her way up to what she wanted to talk about. “How do you think Phil’s faring right now? I wonder where he even is...”

Spike chuckled fondly. “I’m sure he’s fine, as is your sister. He’s like you, and knows to plan ahead and avoid unnecessary danger. He can take care of himself, and knows his limits... Come to think of it, I suppose he must be on the waning phase of this life cycle, so he’s probably set himself up somewhere safe to wait it out.”

“Yeah...” Twilight said, thinking fondly of her oldest friend. Especially that last night she had seen him... “Um... There’s something I was meaning to tell you about that... Well, me and Phil have been like brother and sister for all our lives, right? Well... what would you think if we started being... more than that?”

He looked to her with an expression of pleasant surprise. “Are you more than that? I would actually be rather happy about that, if you two were happy together.”

Twilight couldn’t help but beam at him. “Well... Yeah, I think we are. I mean... it took me a little while to think about it, but that was part of all my confusion. But I think I know now.” She squirmed happily in her seat, and in a quiet voice said: “Did you know we kissed that night he left?”

Spike broke into a big smile and ruffled her hair affectionately. “I’m happy for you.”

Twilight nodded. “And, I just wanted to say... I know you feel the same way towards Fluttershy. And- before this becomes another argument- It’s okay. I’m not mad about you spending time with her instead of me anymore. It’s... in the past. I’ve put it behind me. And while it might be a bit weird that you’d be going out with someone my age, not to mention a friend of mine already... I wouldn’t mind. I’d be just as happy for you both.”

Spike sighed, sounding conflicted. “I appreciate it, but... It’s more complicated than that. You know that I’m so much older than I look... We wouldn’t age at the same rate, and I’d almost not age at all throughout the rest of her lifetime. I care about her, yes... But I can’t do that to her. I want her to have a normal happy relationship, and I’ve realized... It just can’t be with me.”

“Oh, Spike...” Twilight put a comforting arm around her guardian, and after a moment he returned the gesture. The two sat almost motionless, gazing into the fire, a team once again. Twilight’s eyes closed happily, as it felt like piece-by-piece, she was putting her world back together again. Soft music filled her head as she imagined the possibilities... until she realized the music was not in her head. It was coming from the swamp beyond; almost too quiet to hear, but just audible enough to draw her attention. She nudged Spike out of his similar trance, and he strained to hear.

“You’re right... Is there someone in there?” He asked, standing.

“Keep a watch on the camp.” Twilight instructed him. “If there’s one person, there could be others, and I don’t want to be robbed. I’ll just run in and check who’s there, then come back.” Without another word, Twilight bounded off into the darkened swamp, a fire spell burning before her to light the way.
________________

Rainbow Dash

“What’d I tell you?” I asked proudly as I descended to the ground, Fluttershy and Angel staring in awe. “Ten seconds flat, and we’ll be dry for the night. Dinner going alright?”

“Yes.” She answered. “It’s actually close to being done. I hope you don’t mind that I didn’t use any meat...” I waved the issue aside. I understood that Fluttershy was probably a vegetarian, since she spent so much time with animals anyway. I had to give her credit though, the meal she prepared was a good one. She had brought most of the ingredients used, but had managed to harvest some of them around the fields.

After we ate, Fluttershy and Angel turned in for bed, and I was left contemplating whether or not to do the same. Ideally we should have a watch set up... But I don’t want to have to wake up either of them. Angel’s just a kid and needs sleep, and Fluttershy... I want her to just be able to rest as well. But man, I’m tired already, and I don’t want to stay up all night again... Know what? There’s no one in these fields. We’re already beyond civilization. No-one’s going to steal anything, even if we had anything worth stealing. So screw it, I’m sleeping too.

Satisfied with my decision, I moved over to my blanket and, using my jacket as a pillow, rolled myself up and prepared to sleep. Just as I was about to drift off, I heard Fluttershy shift slightly near the other side of the fire, and she spoke quietly. “Um... Dash?” I mumbled in response, and she continued. “Um... I know this is strange to ask but... I mean, it’s so cold out, and Angel...”

It took me a moment to figure out what it was she was trying to ask in my drowsy state, but eventually I guessed it. Sighing, I threw loose the blanket over me and patted the ground. “Come here.” I said, faking a resigned voice. “Angel too... Bring whatever blankets you guys have, mine isn’t very warm either.” She released a bated breath and thanked me in a whisper, then flopped down next to me a moment later, Angel wrapped up snugly in her arms. She snuggled in tightly next to me, with three layers of blankets on top of us, and at that point I could barely move.

To be frank though, I didn’t feel like moving anyway. I smiled as the three of us lay close enough to the fire to be warmed additionally by it, and the other two were asleep almost instantly. I couldn’t help but think about Fluttershy as I was drifting to sleep, and admire her for everything she’d done. I had never heard the full story, but I had gathered that she had found Angel only a few days after she came to town, about a year after I first met her. He had been the sole survivor of his family, who were Scrabbits like him, travelers from Ivoire, and she had taken him in and raised him herself, even though she was just a kid herself. Angel must not have been older than four or five at the time, making him only ten or eleven now. And yet he was so devoted to the girl that had saved his life and raised him like a mother, that he was willing to cast his lot in with us and risk his own life again on this mission for her.

The thought crossed my mind as I was about to pass out, if little Applebloom felt the same way about me.

Comments

[Ian_Okazaki]

Your ability to continue this even though you haven't received many positive reviews amazes me.

[Electricut]

465835

What can I say? I'm a horribly stubborn and gloriously determined person. I've received some feedback. Maybe not much, but some. A few were even positive. I've got people counting on me to continue. As long as I have even one person still reading my nonsense, I shall follow through to the end!

(It also helps that I have a lot of backlog, but I've still been writing every free second I get, make no mistake about that.)