Freedom Through Harmony

by Electricut

Chapter Eighty-two

Chapter Eighty-two
Eclipse Swamps
Twilight

“Alright, first thing’s first.” Twilight said, taking charge of the situation. “No one cut off any of its heads, that’ll just make a bigger problem. But... considering we only have a few knives, a spear and magic, I don’t think that’s a problem anyway. Just try to... to stab it enough that it bleeds out.”

“I got this.” Spike stated, stepping forward and flexing his shoulders. “We’re going to need some seriously heavy firepower to take out something like this, and I’m about as good as it gets. Stand back.” He flashed a cocky grin at the Hydra, then slammed his fists together before him and let out a mighty, inhuman roar. A bright light flashed for a moment, and when it faded Spike was once again replaced by the ten-foot or so tall dragon, slow moving but with rippling muscles and dagger-sharp fangs.

Max slung his guitar over his shoulder and played a few notes for tuning. “The most helpful thing I can do right now is to bolster your strength, as I am not much of a fighter. My heron Galdrar will be able to keep your spirits high and your energy at its max. Just try to stay safe while you fight.”

Pinkie unsheathed her spear, and mounted it into the ground, closing her eyes in concentration. Beside her, an area of the very air began to darken, like an unattached shadow. A few moments passed in which it seemed to solidify, and it was soon replaced by the familiar form of Chaos... sort of. Instead of being a shadowy but otherwise identical copy of Pinkie, she was now full-color, and there were a few subtle differences in her face. Her hair was a great deal longer as well, and hung heavier and flatter than Pinkie’s fluffy mane. She gripped a spear of her own and kept her eyes locked on the Hydra, which was fortunately still blinking in the unaccustomed sunlight.

Twilight gulped, then managed to tighten the fingerless black glove on her right hand and call up a mass of pure energy as Starswirl had taught her. She didn’t even need to use any words of the ancient language to call upon the magenta magic. She pulled her arm back and took aim, just as the Hydra got its wits back about it and lumbered towards them. Spike lead the charge on the other side, stepping forward and slamming into the massive torso of the beast, snapping his jaws down upon it and breathing jets of fire.

Pinkie and Chaos both dashed forward, moving in criss-crossing zig-zagging patterns to avoid the eager heads just waiting to snap down upon them. They kept running once they reached its sides, except they both shifted to the point at which they were running at a ninety degree angle to the ground on the flanks of the beast, rending through its thin scales with their spears. Twilight threw the energy charged in her palm forward, and it narrowly missed one of the heads. Not to be deterred, she immediately began charging another.

All the while, Max’s fingers danced across the strings of his guitar, the heron songs altering the very pace of the battle, and even if it seemed like the Hydra was taking little to no damage, their spirits were high. Spike still had the front of the Hydra locked down in a tackle hold, and began to slowly push it back. The twin spears-women kept the heads nice and occupied, the four sets of eyes following them back and fourth as they virtually danced around him and dealt the occasional piercing wound. Twilight continued to hurl magical attacks at it from a distance, keeping herself and her injured arm safe but still dealt a fair amount of damage to it.

The Hydra roared in annoyance, slamming it’s foot on the ground and shaking the very foundation of the swamp, effectively throwing everyone but Spike off balance. One of the heads darted down and managed to clamp its huge jaws around Spike’s shoulder. Twilight let out a scared cry, but Spike merely gritted his teeth and pushed his muscles ever harder. Blood welled from his arm, but he put forth so much force that the Hydra began to tip sideways. Two of its heads gave a startled look before the whole thing came toppling down, the torso crashing into various rocks and swamp debris, and the heads flopping down heavily into some actual filthy frozen water.

“Now!” Spike growled. “Hit it with everything you've got!” Twilight nodded and dashed forward, joined by Pinkie and her split-spirit clone... thing. The two kept slicing and stabbing away with the tips of their spears, cutting through the scales as best they could, then leapt back as Twilight approached. She flung bolt after bolt of alternating energy and lightning magic, as they seemed to be equally effective. The Hydra was struggling to get back on its feet, but they were so stubby, and it was so heavy, that it wasn’t accomplishing much except deepening its existing wounds.

“Twi!” Pinkie shouted. “Get up on the Hydra’s back! I’ve got a plan!” Twilight nodded and swung around the side, slamming her palm into the Hydra’s flank to displace the thunder magic she had charged there, and with Chaos’s help scrambled up the side of the beast. She took a single moment to gain her footing, then looked to Pinkie to ask what her plan was. She saw that she was preparing to throw her spear up like a javelin, but was waiting for Twilight to get ready in order to catch it. Looking back behind her, she saw Chaos preparing to do the same thing.

That just might work... if I can power it up just a little beforehand. She held up her hand, a mass of energy forming at her palm, and nodded tersely to signal she was ready. Both spears sailed upward, and she expanded the energy to draw both into her grasp. They hovered parallel to each other, and Twilight called upon the most powerful lightning spell she knew- Arcthunder- to form between them. When the magical triple-spear had been formed, Twilight jumped backward into the air, and launched the formation forward to rip straight through to the front of the beast.

The Hydra gave a sharp pained cry, but in a few moments went silent. Twilight closed her eyes and shook her head, not caring to look at her handiwork any longer than she had to. In the silent aftermath of the battle, the team moved away from the massive body to recover themselves. Chaos, instead of disappearing as soon as the danger had passed, now remained a short distance behind Pinkie, hands held awkwardly behind her back. Spike had morphed back to human form, and nursed his wounded arm gingerly, the cloth of his shirt rapidly turning red.

“Spike, we’d better staunch the blood flow immediately.” Twilight stated.

He nodded, then used his free hand to reach into his pocket. “I know, don’t worry. I have some meds on me too, and they should be enough to help take care of this... Sorry they aren’t enough for your arm...”

Twilight shook her head. “It’s alright, I’ll live. Let me see it, I’ll put it on for you.” Spike handed over the small vial of medicine and a short roll of bandages. After she had spread two fingers full of vulnerary over the wound, at it had already begun to heal, she wrapped the bandages around it to stop any further bleeding. The wound would be fine in an hour or so, but that was still ample time to lose a fatal amount of blood. Spike nodded in thanks, and Twilight turned to Pinkie and Chaos.

“Um...” She started, still slightly confused and Chaos’s new state of existence. “Thank you. For being such a help in this battle. It would have been tough without you.”

Chaos’s eyes broke contact with Twilights’ hurriedly, and she continued to stand as she was, silent and feeling out of place. Pinkie turned to her counterpart and spoke to her in a soft, sweet voice Twilight had never heard. “It’s okay. Twi’s a friend. These people are all friends. I mean, you and I have the same memories don’t we? You remember them.”

Chaos shuffled her feet slightly, and exchanged a silent look with Pinkie. The latter closed her eyes and nodded, and Chaos promptly disappeared. Pinkie then turned to her companions and shrugged. “Like I said... Chaos has a totally different personality than me. She’s never met a single other person, and is really timid...”

The others waved the issue aside in extremely vague understanding, and they began to make their way back to camp.
______________

City of Dawn
Rarity

“Stand back, everyone.” Rarity said, suddenly sounding a lot more confident than she felt. “She’s only here for me.” Her ancestor continued to strafe slowly forward, sword held over her shoulder and pointed right at Rarity. She raised her rapier slowly, deliberately, until it was held in the ready position before her. Her butterfly wings gave the slightest twitch. Both women were ready, and at once the tension snapped and the leapt at each other.

The two blades collided, and a few sparks managed to fly despite one being no more than stone. Madeline’s sword pulled back almost before the hit had landed, and a second diagonal overhead slice was already on the way. Rarity had no time to parry, and was forced to dodge out of the way. The stone katana would have slammed into the earth, except that the statue flipped it turn-ways at the last second and brought it around to slice at Rarity on the ground. She backpedalled a few paces before she was able to get back to her feet.

Madeline was fast and well-trained, but Rarity had received more than enough training from Icarus’s professional soldiers to hold her own. She was only able to hold, though, never able to get enough space to go on the offensive. The two danced across the battlefield, their blades clashing every few seconds, carefully sidestepping the various bodies and discarded weapons. Rarity also took care not to look down at the mess, only to keep her eyes on her opponent.

Rarity continued to back up slowly through the battlefield, parrying each hit as it came, the rest of the people of New Dawn gathered watching in tense silence. Rarity was able to keep up her defense for most of the battle, until she suddenly felt the ground shift beneath her feet. With a start, she realized that her ancestor had battled her straight to the edge of the ravine, and one more step back would send her plummeting over. Her wings might have been able to keep her aloft, but she’d never tested them for such a height, and didn’t want to take the chance.

She attempted to sidestep the statue, to get around and possibly reverse this trap, but Madeline had other ideas. She dropped to the ground and spun, kicking Rarity’s feet out from under her, and Rarity fell backward as she continued to move forward. She hit the ground hard, her head over the edge, and felt a sudden shift under her. With another start, she realized her wings were gone, and that the Icarus Charm had slipped from her neck and fallen down into the ravine.

The statue was rising to its feet, the stone katana in its hand, preparing to move in for the kill. Rarity’s rapier was just within reach, and her hand darted out and grabbed it before her ancestor could stop her. She quickly charged a light spell down its length, holding it close by with both hands, and waited for the statue’s inevitable charge. It leapt at her, the katana arcing high above her head, and Rarity readied her rapier like a pike, thrusting it forward as soon as Madeline was within range. The light-infused steel slammed into her chest, managing to fracture the stone and stop the possessed statue in its tracks.

Rarity freed herself from where she was stuck and backpedalled to a safe distance from the ravine, while the statue remained motionless. A moment later, however, a bolt of lightning shot forth from the effigy and struck her in the head, knocking her out instantly.
_____________

She awoke seemingly only a moment later, in the blank expanse where she had been spoken to by her mother. She scrambled to her feet, and saw that she was now wearing her normal clothes as opposed to her armor, and all traces of sweat, blood, or anything else relating to the battle of New Dawn had been erased. She looked around for any sign of anyone else approaching, and saw a figure slightly too far away to see any details, except that she was far too short to be Madeline.

Applejack said that Applebloom was there with her when she met her ancestor. she remembered. “Sweetie Belle?” Rarity called experimentally. She turned upon hearing her name and ran up to her sister.

“Rarity!” She said happily, then her smile turned to a frown and she took to pounding her fists against Rarity’s stomach. “Why’d you go and leave me behind?! You know I wanted to come with you!”

“Sweetie Belle, I’m sorry we couldn’t bring you or Applebloom along. It was just too dangerous. Even though we didn’t know what was to come, it was too dangerous. We... we found a resistance group held up here. And there was a battle, with a large contingent of Celestia’s forces.”

Sweetie Belle gasped. “You fought Celestia’s army?! So... so we’re in a war now... Are you okay? You didn’t get hurt did you?”

Rarity chuckled to comfort her sister. “No, I’m alright. I had lots of good friends watching my back. Our ancestor hurt me more than the army did. But... I did unfortunately lose the Icarus Charm...”

“That’s alright.” Sweetie Belle consoled her. “That was supposed to happen, remember? Now this one is the real one.” She held up an identical charm.

“I thought I told you to get rid of that.” Rarity stated. “We can’t trust that boy.”

“But he was right.” Sweetie Belle shot back. “And it all makes sense now, doesn't it? Sort of...?”

“Heh... sorry about that.” A third voice said, as she walked into view. “Couldn’t go easy on you, you know. I had to make sure you were ready.”

“Is... Is that our ancestor?” Sweetie Belle asked, eyes wide.

“Indeed.” answered Rarity. “General Madeline, heroin of Dawn. It’s an honor.”

“Thank you.” She stated, the stalked forward. “So then, you two, are you ready? My skill, Soul Release, hasn’t been used correctly since I died, not for a lack of trying. You’ll have to be careful if you don’t want to get swamped by my lingering fans.”
____________

Cloudsdale
Rainbow Dash

I let out a relieved laugh. We did it. Cloudsdale had been saved. There wasn’t much left here to save, but there was a chance that someone, someday might rebuild. Even better, now Fluttershy and I had learned all we needed, and we could return home. I looked to Fluttershy with a mixture of this relief, and wonder. That shot Fluttershy had made that started the chain reaction had to be one in a million. While she looked mostly just glad that the fight was over, and that the horrible creatures of darkness were finished, I was able to detect the faintest hint of a proud smile at the corner of her lips.

“You did great, Fluttershy!” I congratulated her, giving her a quick, warm embrace. Strangely, the smile vanished from her face, and she averted her eyes for a moment. “What’s wrong?”

“Um... I-I think I need to tell you something Dash... I should have said something sooner, but... It’s not real. What, what you’re feeling right now... about me... it’s not real...”

I frowned and furrowed my brow, deeply confused and concerned. “What do you mean?” I asked. Fluttershy proceeded to tell me everything Gilda had done to us- that she thought she could force these feelings for each other on us and use this as a tool to get us into the Order- and I became more and more saddened, and disgusted. The worst part was, it had almost worked. I truly believed that I had fallen in love with Fluttershy, and still felt like these feelings were real... but Gilda and Spitfire both confirmed the story.

“Don’t worry, kid.” Spitfire assured me. “I’ll see to it that Gilda gets what’s coming to her.”

“Like you have any room to be handing out punishments...” Gilda muttered, silenced by a quick venomous glare from Spitfire.

I shook my head in confusion, turning back to Fluttershy and talking low enough for only her to hear. “It’s just so hard to believe... even now, it still feels so real... How can someone fabricate feelings like this?”

“Well...” Fluttershy started, shuffling her feet. “Maybe... maybe some of it wasn’t fake. Maybe she... she used feelings that were already there, but for other people. I mean, some of what I felt was the same as... as what I feel when I think of Spike...”

I raised an eyebrow, and gave this some thought. Is there anyone else...? Certainly not Twilight. Maybe in another life, but not this one. Pinkie? Nah... Not Rarity either. They’re both good friends, but... nah. That leaves... My mind paused, and my eyes widened a tiny bit. As soon as the thought had crossed my mind, everything seemed to snap into focus. Countless disjointed memories flashed by in rapid succession.

“Agh...” I groaned, dragging my hand across my face. “I’m an idiot... Well, I don’t know about you, but I think I’ve got some business to take care of when we get home. Shall we be off?”

Comments

[LonelyChild]

Good stuff. I'm excited for Soul Realease