The Threads that Bind Us

by AncientOwl

Chapter 2 - Memories

The history of Equestria is known to everyone. In the days before Equestria, our three races despised one another. An unstable truce was all that kept us from destroying each other as we knew we needed each other to survive. However, this abound hatred and distrust attracted the attention of the Windigos, evil spirits of ice and snow that prey on the hatred of others, and plunged their lands into an endless cold. We know this place today as the “Frozen North”.

In time this eternal winter suffocated and slowly destroyed the once thriving kingdoms of our ancestors, enough to the point where they were forced to seek out untouched lands to the south. Unfortunately, this land was claimed by all three tribes, who in their bickering, once more called the attention of the Windigos, who threatened to turn this place into a frozen wasteland as well.

In a move of sheer luck, the tribes realized that their bickering meant nothing as they had no true reason to hate each other. This sudden realization resulted in the creation of the “Fire of Friendship”, a large beacon of incredible magic power that drove away the Windigos and symbolizes the uniting of the three tribes in friendship… At least, that’s what everypony thinks.

The truth of this event is known only to a few. While it is true that the Fire of Friendship is the article that was created through trust and drove away those who threatened to destroy that trust, its true identity is much deeper…

The Fire of Friendship is a manifestation of the Celestial Fabric. It was not created through the power of friendship as is known to many, but in the true unification of the 3 tribes. When Force, Will, and Structure united for the first time in pony history, it resulted in the creation of a physical manifestation of the Celestial Fabric that overpowered all of the seemingly unbeatable magic of the Windigos.

That is the true power behind the “magic of friendship”. It’s not the friendship itself, but the unification of the aspects of the Fabric in that create a power nothing in this universe can match. The means to cause change and the will to do so are a powerful thing, and in the right hands, friendship is a powerful magic that cannot be wielded alone.

After the defeat of the windigos, our three tribes lived in peace for many years. But as we know, no good thing can last forever. A malicious evil by the name of Discord had begun his rise to power and ruled over the land of Equestria, creating chaos and ruin wherever he saw fit.

Discord was… unique. He was born of the fabric, same as the ponies, but was infused with the fabric down to its core. He had unrestrained control over every aspect of magic, able to rip holes in reality itself. He had gone mad with power, realizing there was nothing he couldn’t do. He took it upon himself to use this unchecked power of his to bend reality for his own amusement. He began to warp the weather, change the sun and the moon, create vast changes in the physical makeup of Equestria, and force everything to obey his will.

During this time, only my small family of three seemed to not be affected by Discord’s touch. Celestia, my younger sister of only a year, Luna, my youngest sister, and I, Tau, the oldest of us.

Now, you have to understand, During these times, more than a millennia ago, these we were not the powerful trio of alicorns, winged masters of magic, we’re known to be today, but unicorns. Upon seeing the destruction Discord wrought upon the land, and taking notice that they were unaffected by his influence, we took it into our hooves to stop this menace as we knew we were the only ones left to stop such a ferocious evil.

We knew that Discord possessed magic much greater than we had ever seen, and that a magic just as great would our only chance of stopping him. With that driving our incentive, we set to work researching everything that we could find into what was known of magic at the time. In our research, we noted many ancient references to supposedly-mythical ponies of ages long past that possessed seemingly-incredible power, often rivaling that of Discord. These ponies filled many stories of the ancient pony civilizations that dotted the world, before the founding of Equestria, even before the Frozen North became the icy wasteland it is today.

With little to go on, these stories were hope that maybe some ponies were capable of a greater magic few could understand and even fewer could wield. This idea became the center of our research, and we spent many years studying the possibility.

As time passed, hope grew fainter as the years began to catch up us. Discord had only become more reckless while we became weary with failing to discover a way to stop him again and again. We had just about given up hope that Discord could be defeated when I happened upon an ancient tome from a society long gone. This book contained vast amounts of stories and accounts from ancient scholars who spent their lives dedicated to the study of magic. Unfortunately, each of these stories seemed to just echo what our past research had shown us: That magic has its limits when one doesn’t understand what they are studying.

That is, until, when I was finishing up the last of the stories, I came upon an account written by a Pegasus named “Red Sky”. In this account I found many references to what Red Sky referred to as “The Elements of Harmony”. These sources of unfathomable magic, as the author wrote, were ethereal batteries of untapped power. In his time he had seen them defeat a foe who threatened to destroy his civilization, a foe that possessed powers strikingly similar to those of Discord, when wielded by a race of pony he had never seen before.

These ponies, he described as “winged equines, same as myself, but possessed horns and commanded magic far more powerful than I have ever encountered in my travels. They stand twice the height of any common folk and possess an impressive “aura” of sorts that was only matched by their magical insight.”

These “alicorns”, as they preferred to be called, possessed strange gems of familiar shapes set in stunningly beautiful and impossibly intricate golden jewelry. It was these gems that possessed the power to defeat this god-like foe and set him in stone for millennia. When the battle was won, Red Sky took it upon himself to learn all he could from these strangers so a disaster like this could possibly be averted for future generations.

So that’s what he did. He questioned them and questioned them, writing down all he could of them and their knowledge and experiences. In his later years, he compiled these notes into this very tome Tau was reading.

They were all once ordinary ponies, hailing from all corners of Equestria. In a time where Equestria was threatened to be destroyed as it was now, these ponies of differing tribes came together and discovered they possessed a deep connection to some outside force that led them to find each other. This same connection led them to an ancient building, moss covered and eroded away by time, that possessed strange stones with familiar markings that covered their surface. These stones began to emit a strange light as they approached and in a bright flash, had broken away from their mineral exteriors to reveal their true forms, the jewels set in gold Red Sky had witnessed them use earlier. They used their newfound power to bring order back to Equestria, destroying countless evils that threatened to end the harmony that the citizens of Equestria had come to love.

Over time, their understanding into the true power behind these stones grew deeper. They had discovered that magic is not the ability of unicorns that it was believed to be, but the governing power behind everything they knew. This realization ended with their discovery of a vast universal force that seemed to rule over everything. As this discovery passed over them, the stones began to glow again and before they knew what was happening, a blinding flash had enveloped them. When the light had receded, they saw what had occurred. Each of them had transformed into large equines with horns and wings. They had become one with the Celestial Fabric and were given insight into the true nature of magic and the aspects of its complexity. They had reached the pinnacle of pony-kind and used their newfound knowledge to spread the influence that it brought.

Red Sky’s tome ended there, but while its words had come to a close, its influence began a quest to find these stones and defeat Discord.

Through the knowledge gained by Red Sky’s writing, we found ourselves searching for anything that may hint at the resting place of these stones. After many frantic reads and rereads, Luna found a reference to strange stones with markings on them in a place many feared to tread, a place where the laws of this universe do not seem to matter (or even exist!); the Everfree Forest.

Braving the dangers of the forest, we found ourselves standing amongst the ruins of an ancient castle. Inside the crumbling ruins, amongst the remains of a large stone stand, sat 6 perfectly round stones with the markings mentioned in the book. As we approached the stones, the strange glow mentioned in the tome appeared, enveloping us in its light.

We found ourselves standing in a mass of endless white, expanding in every direction. Before we could even question where we were, a strange figure appeared before us, as if it had melded from the white itself. This figure turned out to be the leader of the ancient alicorns. He was a tall and regal figure; every bit of him commanded their absolute attention. He spoke with a booming voice; the very essence of our souls seemed to shudder with every word.

“I fear the Elements are needed once again”, the alicorn boomed. “A pity, we would have hoped their power would not have to be called on again”.

“I see that you three were not affected by Discord’s essence” he continued. “And you have sought out the Elements of your own accord”.

“The Elements of Harmony are pieces of the Celestial Fabric, able to be commanded by those with a strong enough connection to the Fabric to command its power. We entrust them to you, so that you may bring harmony back to Equestria, as we did so many eons ago. Farewell, and may our gift of knowledge see you through this plight”.

As the figure again melded into the white, the room we were standing in slowly came back into view. With each other in full view once again, we were able to see that we ourselves had become what we had just seen; Alicorns.

“We entrust the power of the Elements to you, Celestia and Luna.” The booming voice echoed ethereally through the ruins. “You are the true bearers of their power, for the time at least”.

“And to you, Tau, we entrust to you our knowledge of the Celestial Fabric. You must take up our mantle of guarding its secrets from those who would wish to do harm to Equestria”

With those parting words, we found ourselves with the gathered knowledge of the original alicorns and the Elements of Harmony, giving us a means to fight back. The battle was short, but quite a sight. Discord was unable to hold his own against the might of the Elements and was cast back into his earthly form, all while reciting his plans to return. He froze with a look of joy on his face. Even with all of my knowledge and insight into the nature of the Fabric, I’ll never understand what goes through a mind that twisted.

After the battle was won and the land returned to its harmonious self, we were declared the rulers of Equestria. As Celestia and Luna took up their duties of raising the Sun and the Moon, I relinquished my duties to my sisters. With the words of that ancient alicorn still fresh in my thoughts, I knew I had to monitor the Fabric in the hopes that I might be able to avoid another incident in which our races are unable to fight back. I hope that day never comes, but I’d be a fool to not be prepared…

(May these words from my past never see the light of Celestia’s day. I fear their secrets may do more harm than good, but I had to write them down. I find myself becoming rather scatterbrained as I continue monitoring the Fabric.)

-From the Memoirs of Tau
“The True History of Magic”