Freedom Through Harmony

by Electricut

Chapter Eighty-one

Chapter Eighty-one
Dreamscape
Rainbow Dash

“So the Sonic Rainboom- or, whatever it’s called when Spitfire does it- is our skill?” I asked Firefly, trying to tie everything together.

She nodded. “Yeap. It’s just too awesome a skill to wait to be discovered, apparently. Just kind of manifests itself upon people sometimes. So, you both ready to be assaulted with mental stuff that’ll make it a thousand times easier to learn this?” Spitfire and I both nodded, and our ancestor closed her eyes to focus. Of course, it was mostly pointless, since everything was based on the mind in the Dreamscape.

In the next few moments, my mind was filled with foreign memories, images and strings of phrases that at first meant nothing, but soon settled themselves deep enough within my subconscious that I could comfortably ignore them. I could feel their effect though: they were implanting the very instinct of the ability to perform the Sonic Rainboom at will, and the unnecessary memories soon dissolved themselves as soon as their job was done, probably so I wouldn’t have some kind of identity crisis in the future.

“Right, so... we good?” She asked, sounding slightly winded. We both nodded. “Alright then. Wanna hear some backstory then? I’ve got a good hour of dream time left before I have to get back to the afterlife. That’s like... I dunno, half an hour in regular time?”

I shrugged, and Spitfire nodded. “I would like to figure out some things about this city.” I admitted. “There’s a lot of mystery surrounding it, and I’ll be wondering about it for a while if I don’t figure it out.”

“Right!” Firefly clasped her hands together. “Well then, have either of you two ever heard of the city of Cloudsdale?”

“Huh? Yeah, that’s the one they always talk about in fairy tales. Why?” I asked. Firefly acquired a smug grin and raised an eyebrow at me, waiting for her message to sink in. At last, my eyes shot wide open. “Wha-... No. No way. You’re telling me... First Spitfire, now this? Why is my life so awesome today?!”

“You got it, kid. The capital of Dusk was none other than the great city in the sky, Cloudsdale, though now it has simply become the stuff of legends. Anyway, back when it was a city worth living in, the central city was the part that was in the air, while the outer city remained on the ground and offered passage to the upper city. Since we were based in the sky, we had a bunch of windmills set up that harvested the constant wind at that altitude and used the energy to keep the city aloft. It’s a little paradoxal, when you think about it: as long as we stay in the air, we maintain the ability to stay in the air... Always got me.

“Anyway, I served as a city guard for Cloudsdale for most of my life, and by the time the civil war rolled around, I got promoted to captain just because we were so short handed. In the process of taking care of the city, I managed to make myself an arch enemy: a gambler and frequent disregarder of the law, Ace. Still, when the battle came knocking at our doorstep, we put aside our differences and raised our weapons under the same banner, the then righteous sun of Apollo, with Celestia and Luna.

“Some weird otherworldly interloper joined our party as soon as we’d rounded up the Elements of Harmony, some self-proclaimed god of shadow from a place called Hyrule. I trust that he already filled you in on everything that happened next?” I nodded, but Spitfire was still clueless. “Ah. Right. Well, as an Order member, you probably know some of it already, but I’ll try to give you a condensed version so I won’t waste your time. Basically... Xekora, this Hylian guy, was totally right about everything, and soon the same process used to bring him to the ‘god tier’ was used by the royal sisters to give them enough power to seal away the demon threatening the land. After that, power went to Celestia’s head, and we had to pull together to fight her next. We lost. Luna got sealed away, we all got killed, and Xekora- the smart one who didn’t take up arms again- went into hiding.

“So. Now that that’s out of the way, I have a request for you both. I can’t imagine you haven’t seen all those dark beasts lurking around Cloudsdale, making a total mess out of everything. I have no idea what they are or what they think they’re doing there, but on behalf of everyone who used to live there, I want them gone. You’ve got to do everything you can to purge those bastards from the city, and I’m going to tell you how to do it. After that, you can go home and face off against Celestia, but if you do nothing I’m sure she’ll find a way to turn this against you. In the vault, a building in the north section of the inner city, there should be a huge energy core just brimming with light magic in high security. Even now, I can tell there’s enough for the job in there, and those creatures can’t have found a way in. Get that to the engine room, plug it in and fire the whole city up. The massive flare of light should be enough to permanently destroy all of them.”
______________

Cloudsdale; Engine Room
Fluttershy

“W-what?” Fluttershy stammered, hardly able to believe her ears. She can’t be serious... There’s no way she could have gotten into our heads and made Dash and I... like each other... could she? However, as much as she would have loved to deny it to herself, Gilda was openly admitting to the act.

“I hope you’re proud of yourself, kid.” She chided, a snarky grin on her face. “And here I thought I was doing pretty good at this whole ‘stealth’ and ‘tact’ thing. Ah well, what can you do? Of course, plan B was pretty much destroyed when Spitfire showed up, and apparently she knows I’ve been doing that already, too... Shoot. What do I do now... Eh, I guess I can just take off now and leave you two for dead, unless you wanna come with. We could probably even custom-make a little Order cloak for you, kid. And trust me, I know it seems like I’m being all evil and trying to kidnap you, but the Order isn’t really that bad a place, or evil at all. We’re just... well, I dunno how much I’m supposed to say to outsiders. We just want what’s best for the world, and we think we know how to get it, and you’d all make great additions to our team...”

“Are you insane?!” Fluttershy blurted out, but while her voice did lower, she didn’t back down afterward. “You go around messing with mine and my friend’s minds, making us think we were in love, and then think we’ll just forgive you and go with you to your stupid organization that tried to take us away from our families years ago?!”

Gilda took a long look around. “You and the bunny gonna stop me?”

Fluttershy nodded grimly and nocked an arrow, pointing it directly at Gilda’s chest. Any other person, she would never have been able to shoot, but for such a horrible person as Gilda, she thought she could do it. Angel hefted his scythe to balance the blade just over his shoulder. Gilda sighed and ran a hand through her hair, a feat considering she never removed her battle claws. “I don’t want to fight you. It’d just be a waste of time...”

“Well, we have no intention of going with you.” Fluttershy stated, and though her voice was quiet, she was quite adamant that she was going nowhere. The three remained motionless, all daring someone to make the first move. Fluttershy’s arm was starting to get a little sore from holding back the string of her bow, but otherwise she never wavered.

The stalemate promptly ended when from the center of the platform, Rainbow Dash sprung to his feet, incredibly alert for having only just been unconscious. Spitfire followed a split second later. Gilda sighed heavily and dropped her arms. “Well, that’s that isn’t it.”

“Yeah.” Spitfire confirmed, hefting her axe over her shoulder threateningly. “That would indeed be that. Now... Shoot, we’re surrounded aren’t we?”

Fluttershy nodded, as Gilda had lapsed into an annoyed silence. Fluttershy sincerely hoped Spitfire would punish her appropriately. “We were going to wait for you two to awaken, then fly out of here.”

“Well... We’ve had a change of plans.” Dash stated. “We can’t just leave this city like this. My- our- ancestor told us how to save it, and begged us not to let it remain this way. We have to clear out this wave, then go to the vault in the northern part of town.”

“Ugh, why do we have to do that? I’d much rather just leave now that the whole point of coming is bunk, and just take my punishment...”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, clueless as to what she was talking about, and Spitfire smirked. “Well guess what? Your punishment starts here. You’ll help us save this place, and your overall punishment may be less severe. Of course, you still haven’t worked off your last strike for starting a fistfight with Tug, so we’ll have to add that into account too...”

“Hey, I told you already, I didn’t start that. Maybe I enjoyed it more than I should have, but he threw the first punch.” Spitfire shook her head, and she and Rainbow Dash moved over to the edge. At once, they started frantically throwing shapeless masses of wind and fire magic down upon the dark beasts. The inhuman cries of the monsters echoed off the rounded walls of the chamber, and sooner than Fluttershy expected, they began to die down. At last, the flailing arms of the two proper warriors began to slow, and they paused to survey the damage.

“That should buy us a good twenty minutes, at the very least.” Spitfire stated. “We have until then to get to the northern section of the inner city, break into the vault and find that huge light core. By then, I expect we should just hold tight until we can take out the next round, then work our way back here.”

Fluttershy tilted her head. “Huge light core? Vault? Um, could someone please explain?”

Dash leapt on the opportunity. “Basically, our ancestor Firefly told us that there’s a huge energy core stored in the high-security vault for the city, and it’s still brimming with light magic after all this time. She says that if we plug it into the engine here and turn everything on, the blast will be enough to purge the dark beasts from the city forever. And, since this turns out to be the legendary Cloudsdale, we have to do everything we can to set it right.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened marginally. “Really?” She asked. “My sister used to tell me stories about great heroes who hailed from there- or, rather, here I guess.” She kept her voice completely calm and interested in what Rainbow Dash was saying, but something was tugging at her mind. Dash still seemed really eager to help me... Oh no, no one ever told him about what Gilda did! He still thinks he’s in love with me... As she thought this, she couldn’t help an involuntary flutter of her own heart. It hasn’t worn off of me yet, either. Either Gilda can’t or won’t just dispel it manually, so we’ll probably have to just wait it out, but... Ooh, how do I break it to him that he’s not really in love when it’s this... realistic?

“Right. We’re burning daylight, people. Let’s move!” Spitfire yelled, jumping off the platform, followed shortly by a morose Gilda. Rainbow Dash turned back to her and nodded, then leapt off like he was diving into a body of water, his wings flaring out behind him. Fluttershy looked to Angel, and he cast her a look.

“You need to tell him...” he stated, and she nodded. “And... I’m sorry. That can’t have felt good...”

Fluttershy shook her head. “It’s okay, Angel, don’t be sorry. Yes, it... it did hurt a little, especially since I still feel like I want to be with him, but I know it’s fake... but it would be much worse if I didn’t know. I’m glad you said something, and very proud of you for putting all that together and standing up for me and Dash. I’ll... I’ll tell him as soon as I get the chance.”

Angel nodded in satisfaction and scrambled up Fluttershy’s leg, so that she could hold him in her arms. She gave him an affectionate nuzzle for a second, then unfurled her wings and floated back to the ground where the others were waiting. As soon as she touched the ground and set Angel back on his feet, the party set off once again through the streets.

The grey roads were utterly silent, save for the echo of the five sets of footsteps against the cobble. Fluttershy’s mind raced faster than the team did, and she went through countless scenarios of ways she could break the news to Rainbow Dash, none working particularly well. She knew she had to say something, but wanted to spare Dash’s feelings as much as she could. After everything was said and done, they were still great friends.

It didn’t take the group long to reach the vault, but actually getting in was another story entirely. The door was sealed tight enough to keep the dark creatures out, which meant it was plenty tough enough for normal humans to get in. Gilda was able to grudgingly pick the initial locks, though a heavy blast shield was all they met afterward, with no doorway visible. After a few futile minutes of trying to find a legitimate way around, Spitfire decided to take the quick way, and she, Dash and Gilda all put their full weight behind their shoulders and managed to smash it backward.

Just behind the wall was the energy core they needed. Though a thick layer of dust covered the entire empty room, including the glass sphere that was practically as tall as Angel, a pale radiance could be seen emanating from it. Rainbow Dash nodded and moved over to the core. “We just need to get this back to the engine room, and plug this baby in, then we can head home.” He stated, then crouched down facing away from it and hefted it up on his back. “Yeah... Yeah, I can get this by myself.”

Spitfire shot a glance outside, and shook her head. “If we started off now, we’d be ambushed halfway through. Let’s just buckle down and defend this building until the next wave is over, then head back.” The others nodded, and Rainbow Dash put the core back where it was, then unsheathed his broadsword and moved to the door. Fluttershy brought forth her bow once again, and the team waited in silence for several minutes. It almost seemed to be too long, until the telltale rumblings from elsewhere in the dead city began.

Only a few moments later, the beasts attacked, more savagely than ever. Though they focused their efforts mainly at breaking through the front door defenses, several took to slamming themselves against the walls, trying to claw their way through, and generally doing anything they could to get closer to the inside of the vault, to both the intruders and the device of their demise. Fluttershy could tell that they knew what the core was capable of, and that they would all die if they did not stop it from being activated.

The assault lasted much longer than any of the previous ones. Fluttershy felt a shiver run down her spine, as she knew the creatures had stepped things up. They knew their time was nearly up, and she knew they wouldn’t make it easy. As soon as the crowd had been destroyed and not a moment afterward, Rainbow Dash hefted the core back onto his back, and the team quickly exited the vault and made a beeline for the engine room. Their progress was somewhat slowed by Dash’s cumbersome load, but they still made good progress. They were able to cover a whole block before the rumblings started again.

“W-what?!” Fluttershy stammered, looking around frantically. “It hasn’t been even two minutes yet! How have they re-spawned already?”

“They aren’t waiting to die, obviously.” Gilda stated, pulling back her sleeves slightly. “And I don’t intend to wait around for them to kill us. Keep moving! We’ll cover you Dash! We have to get the the engine room before these mindless beasts get a better idea on how to foil us.” Spitfire nodded in determination and adjusted her axe on her shoulder, and Fluttershy and Angel followed in worried silence. As they rushed as much as they could through the streets, the sounds from all around picked up in intensity, until everything suddenly fell silent once again. The term ‘calm before the storm’ came to Fluttershy’s mind.

The beasts attacked, from every conceivable direction except down. They poured in from the adjoining streets, leapt from the tops of buildings, and soon would overwhelm the group if they did not cut down their numbers. Spitfire brought down her battle axe heavily upon the mortar, sending out a shockwave of flame that tore through the flimsy bodies of countless creatures. Gilda danced back and fourth on light feet, her arms darting out whenever an opening presented itself to stab or slice at the exposed beasts with her claws. Fluttershy kept her bow trained near Rainbow Dash, and shot down any that tried to attack him in his defenseless state, and Angel used the superior reach of his weapon and tiny size of his body to flit around her and cover her back.

“Keep it up! Only two blocks more!” Spitfire shouted encouragingly. The group continued to push through the creatures, progress slow but not at a total standstill. The beasts had flooded almost all the streets, and showed no signs of stopping. Angel seemed to be tiring, and though he kept fighting as hard as he could, the group was forced to draw in closer in order to protect themselves. The two fighter girls tore through the beasts brutally, and would likely have been drenched in blood had these things been able to bleed. The thought didn’t exactly appeal to Fluttershy.

Everything seemed to happen at once. Angel must have missed a beat somewhere, as when he ducked low to slice apart the creature’s legs, several of them jumped clear over him to sail towards Fluttershy. Fear lanced through her system, and she was practically unable to scream as she raised her bow to try and shoot them before they reached her. The gap was too small already though, and she didn’t have enough time...

Rainbow Dash’s broadsword sailed just over her head and sliced the creatures apart. It shortly boomeranged back and landed in his outstretched hand, the light core held aloft by a powerful concentration of wind. He gave her a nod and reassuring smile, then dropped the core back onto his back, his sword re-sheathed. Fluttershy was intensely thankful, but silently cursed herself all the same. The more heroic stuff he does like that, the harder it’s going to be to tell him... I just hope I’m not too late or anything...

At last, the engine room came back into view overhead. The team gave one last push, cut through the beasts blocking the entrance, and ran through. Strangely, none of the creatures had yet occupied the spacious room, but nothing was stopping them from pouring in once the party had entered. They ran up to the clouded glass of the engine, and Gilda was the first to launch into the air to the relative safety above. Rainbow Dash quickly handed off the core to Spitfire, who rose next, and he turned to Fluttershy and Angel as the beasts approached from behind. In the nick of time, he threw Angel over his shoulder, grabbed Fluttershy’s hand, and rocketed into the air. The dark beasts clawed at the glass below, fruitlessly.

When the three reached the top of the platform once again, Spitfire was already trying to break through the lid by cutting a jagged hole with her axe, with some success. The lid was made of some kind of plastic, and had degraded somewhat in the five hundred years it had just been sitting. Rainbow Dash and Angel both joined in with their longer-bladed weapons, and soon a rough piece of the plastic fell through to the bottom, large enough for someone to squeeze through. Spitfire jumped down and fiddled with the original power crystal for a moment, then simply kicked it off of it’s stand, shattering the glass wall on one side.

Rainbow Dash then moved the light core over to the gap, where Spitfire was waiting with open arms. She caught it deftly and floated back down, aware of the dark beasts trying to get in, but cutting themselves to ribbons on the jagged glass, and set it on the pedestal where the crystal had sat. A series of hoses was connected to this, and in a few moments everything had been set up. She then floated back up and came to a rest atop the platform.

“The power switch.” she stated vaguely. “Down there, on the control panels. Must be that big one there. That should turn everything on if we hit it.”

“All the way down there, where the beasts are?” Gilda asked. “How do you propose we do that without getting eaten?” Fluttershy, however, was half listening. She had locked eyes on the lever Spitfire had specified, and was considering their options. It wasn’t that far away. Maybe...

She unclipped her bow and nocked an arrow, stepping forward to cut off everyone else. If this fails, I’ll still have a few more shots, too. But these beasts might see me shooting at it, and try to destroy it, and then where will we be? No... no, I have to make this in one shot if I can. Fluttershy took a deep breath, then raised the bow to the necessary position and angle. The lever was right in her sight, and if she hit it dead-on, it would easily flip. She did her best to slow her breathing and steady her heart, as commander Octavia had taught her, and released the arrow.

Her aim was true. Either that, or she got lucky. Regardless, the arrow sailed forward and struck the switch, flipping it over to the opposite position. The light core immediately started to glow, and for a moment all the monitors and lights of the control room lit up, ready to perform their intended functions, until the massive amount of light energy overwhelmed their circuits and caused them to burst. All around the city it seemed, a similar process was taking place, and as soon as the control devices were broken, light began shining forth, illuminating the dead city of Cloudsdale until no one could stand to keep their eyes open.

Even then, when the explosion of light reached its peak, Fluttershy had to throw an arm up over her eyes in addition to closing them. However, as soon as she did, the light died at once. Cracking them open once again, she saw that the control rooms and windmills had all been destroyed, doing a bit of damage to the actual city, but the streets were quiet. It was no longer a menacing, fearful silence in which one never knew when they would be attacked next, but a peaceful, yet mournful silence. They had done it. Cloudsdale was still empty, but free.

Comments

[LonelyChild]

First! Muahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess that's not actually important, because there's like 80 chapters, but still.
1.bp.blogspot.com/-_TkbcIBMy1Y/T2Ioh3r-T_I/AAAAAAAABGA/BAJcgUhFm7c/s1600/firstpost.jpg

Are you still planning for this to end at around chapter 100?

[Electricut]

607930

Yes. Chapter 100 is mostly just a clump of epilogue, but yes.