Harmony Theory Recap Part 1 (Prologue - Chapter 14) · 12:47am Nov 26th, 2016
Considering how long the story is and how long the wait can be between chapters, I've decided to create posts recapping the major events of Harmony Theory. There will be three of them, each covering a novel-sized chunk of the story. I want to get them done before I release the next chapter (which is ready and should be coming out this weekend), but they are rather long in themselves, so I don't know if I'll have all three done in time.
Either way, SPOILERS for those who haven't read it.
Hope this helps to refresh everyone's memories!
-Sharaloth
Part 2a (Chapters 15-25)
Part 2b (Chapters 26-34)
Prologue
8,229 words
After the events of A Canterlot Wedding, Princess Celestia looks down at Twilight Sparkle and her friends as they celebrate. Princess Luna approaches her and, after a meandering conversation, confronts her on her loss to Queen Chrysalis. Celestia admits she lost the fight on purpose, hoping to drive Twilight and the others to take up the Elements of Harmony. Luna is upset at this, as she fears that with them knowing next to nothing about the Elements, they may have detrimental effects on their users. In addition, she believes their power is too great to be used on threats that can be dealt with without them. Celestia maintains that the bearers need to learn how to use the Elements, as they will surely be called upon to do so again. Luna realizes that this is true, but makes Celestia promise not to manipulate the bearers so deceitfully again. Celestia then hits upon the idea of asking Twilight to study the Elements directly, knowing her student will ensure no stone is unturned in learning of their true nature and power.
Twilight is, of course, delighted by this, and christens the new course of study she is about to embark on ‘Harmony Theory’.
Part 1 (Prologue - chapter 14)
165,208 words
A thousand years later, Rainbow Dash wakes up in a room deep underground, her only company a dead body. She escapes the hole and finds herself in a land she does not recognize, where the weather is as feral as it is over the Everfree. She is shortly confronted by two pegasi, who are police officers from the nearby Orion City, one of the United Lunar Republics. Unfortunately, a thousand years of linguistic drift has made it so that the officers speak a completely different language, and in her attempts to communicate with them Dash only manages to make them suspect she is a spy from a rival nation. They attack, and are shocked when Dash, who is completely confused, handily defeats them. They do manage to hit her with a powerful sedative dart, however, and Dash takes off north, flying over the mountains and towards a strangely large stormfront. Her flight takes her beyond their ability to chase, but it also has her going much too fast when the sedative finally knocks her out.
Star Fall, also known as the Lady Fallen Star, is a pegasus with a unique Talent for Magic and a complicated position in life. She is a spy from the northern Solar Kingdom, who is looking into the doings of a mysterious criminal named Max Cash. While preparing for her return trip home she spots the falling shape of Rainbow Dash. Unable to save her, Star Fall goes to Dash’s crash site and is amazed to find Dash is still alive. Moreover, when Dash speaks to her in Old Equestrian, Star Fall decides she must discover who this strange pegasus is. She calls her Griffin protector, Astrid, and together they tend to Dash’s wounds.
Meanwhile Detective Hard Boiled (“HB”) is listening to the story of the two officers who confronted Dash, and while he finds their tale of her abilities to be fanciful, he accepts that they’re telling the truth. After the officers leave, HB uses a magical device to secretly contact someone working for the Republics Intelligence Agency. The RIA is looking into Cash as well, and using HB as part of their investigation. He tells them about the encounter with Dash, and is told to continue investigating, as she is not one of Max Cash’s known accomplices. He takes fellow Detective Barry, and heads to the hole that Dash woke up in, where he finds the dead body and some of Dash’s feathers and hoofprints. The body belongs to James Bay, one of Max Cash’s closest associates, which only deepens the mystery.
Elsewhere in Orion City, the Changeling Calumn is living disguised as a pony named Strongheart. The original Strongheart is deceased and he lives with Strongheart’s mother, who is kept magically unaware that her son is dead (voluntarily). Director Straff of the RIA appears at their door and calls Calumn into service. He gives Calumn the mission of going into the Kingdom and tracking down Rainbow Dash to ascertain her place in the tangled web that surrounds Max Cash. Calumn, reluctant to leave Strongheart’s mother, nevertheless accepts the mission.
Star Fall and Astrid set Dash up in a small cottage whose owner is not around, using Star Fall’s magic to help Dash heal from her crash. Through various conversations Star Fall discovers who Rainbow Dash is, though she cannot believe it, and Dash discovers that she is in the future. She learns that a massive war and disaster known as The Schism happened 800 years ago and essentially wiped every trace of the Equestria familiar to her away. This disaster was precipitated by a creature known as Nightmare Umbra, a being so evil and powerful it took Celestia and Luna ascending to their respective heavenly bodies and uniting their power as one to stop her.
Star Fall contacts her mentor, Professor Twinkle Shine, who is intrigued by Star Fall’s tales of Dash, but demands they return to the Kingdom within the week. Fortunately, Dash heals with a miraculous rapidity, and also learns the Solar language in record time. Soon she is fit to travel through the forbidding Everstorm.
The Storm itself is a massive wall of permanent wind and cloud that cuts through the heart of Equestria, slicing from one side of the continent to the other and separating the Solar Kingdom (sunlands) from the United Lunar Republics (nightlands). Travel through the Storm is treacherous, practically impossible, for beyond the wind and rain lies an ever-shifting hellscape of murderous illusion and all-too-real dangers. Only a few mad, vicious or outcast souls dare to brave the Storm and guide others through, and their prices for this service are steep.
Calumn enters the one bar in the nightlands that serves these Storm Guides, and tries to hire one. His first choice, a Diamond Dog named Salas, is found to be unsuitable when Trail Blazer, a strangely upbeat earth pony, buts into the negotiation to inform Calumn that Salas will only rob him and leave him to die. Taking the advice, Calumn hires Blaze instead, and the two set off into the Storm.
At the same time Star Fall, Astrid and Rainbow Dash are entering the Storm themselves. They don’t need a guide, as Star Fall has spells that allow them to pass through unharmed. However, with the delay in healing Rainbow Dash, Star Fall does not have enough materials for all the spells they need, and will have to cut through the dangerous ‘Eye’ of the Everstorm. Travel through the Storm is bizarre, and the Eye turns out to be an area of super-concentrated magic sitting right over the city of Ponyville. Dash spots a statue of Twilight out in front of the Golden Oaks library, and wants to stay to look around, but the Eye is having a very bad effect on Star Fall and Astrid, so they continue on.
Elsewhere in the Storm, Blaze and Calumn are forced to deal with an Everstorm that is made exceptionally dangerous due to Star Fall’s using magic to ‘cheat’ her way through. They survive and actually come across Star Fall and the others. Calumn, seeing his chance to take Rainbow Dash into custody, attempts to use his Changeling magic to capture her, but is rebuffed by Star Fall and Astrid, and ultimately nearly killed by the Storm itself. After an encounter with Salas, who wants revenge on Blaze for revealing his intentions, Blaze drags Calumn out of the Storm, saving his life.
Back in Orion City, Hard Boiled is working the case. Barry comes up with some historical references to Rainbow Dash, and convinces HB to look further into them. He goes to the university and checks through archives and ancient maps, eventually locating where an ancient pegasus cloud-city would have fallen during the Schism. He is certain that this location hasn’t been discovered yet, and that it is being sought by Max Cash, though he doesn’t know why. His suspicions are further confirmed when the assassin Lyssa attempts to kill him. He fights her off, determined to see this through.
In the sunlands, Dash is forced to dye her coat and mane and wear a dress to go incognito, taking the name Firefly, as they can’t risk her unique look with a Changeling after her. They journey to the capital, with Dash teaching Star Fall some weather-working along the way. She also discovers that one of the effects of the Schism has made most ponies cutie marks into a strange series of symbols that spell out a recognizable word, which corresponds to their Talent. This freaks her right out, and she takes off to fly, leaving a prismatic trail behind.
This display of power does not go unnoticed, as Calumn and Blaze soon come to the same town and find out that Dash and the others are ahead of them. Instead of pursuing right away, however, they also discover that one of Cash’s associates, Conrad Sherman, is in town and decide to get some information out of him. Calumn changes into a suitable form and tries to seduce Conrad, but is rebuffed in strange ways until she gets some advice from a Kingdom Secret Service agent, who Calumn quickly knocks out and replaces. Calumn gets Conrad to bring them up to his room, getting intimate enough for Calumn to use his Changeling powers in questioning him. He doesn’t get very far, however, before Blaze interrupts them, as he has just realized that Charisma, Cash’s chief enforcer, is on her way. They do not escape in time, and Charisma captures both of them, though she is unaware of Calumn’s true nature. What is most surprising to Calumn is that Blaze has a personal history with Charisma, and once worked for Cash.
On their way to the Solar Capital, Dash learns that Star Fall is adopted nobility, as well as a Secret Service agent, and that her adopted mother, Twinkle Shine, is the one who might help Dash get back to the past. They stop at a hotel for the night, and Dash has a powerful dream that she cannot remember on waking. In the morning they are greeted by Secret Service agents, who take them to the Secret Service headquarters to meet with Agent Gamma, the head of the organization and the Solar King’s personal spymaster. Gamma questions Dash’s presence at first, but seems to accept it quickly. While Astrid and Star Fall present their reports, Dash is left waiting for them and gets bored. She tries to find the washroom, but is confronted by an Agent who forces her into competing in a supposedly impossible test known as ‘The Maul’.
Star Fall and Astrid give their report to Gamma, and then hear of a pony actually defeating The Maul. Drawn by the commotion they witness Rainbow Dash doing astounding feats of strength, acrobatics and magic as she dodges and weaves her way through the very deadly obstacle course. When it is over, Gamma confronts them all on lying to her about Dash’s identity, laying out how entangled she’s become in international politics simply by existing. Chastened, Star Fall reaveals all. Gamma then decides to offer Dash a job as an agent, which she reluctantly accepts.
Their business at the Secret Service done, Star Fall and the others head to the university, where Professor Twinkle Shine is teaching a class. After the class, Twinkle Shine questions Dash, and finds that her memories end at a seemingly random place during Twilight’s second year in Ponyville. After becoming quite hostile, Twinkle Shine agrees to examine Dash more closely at her apartments. She then departs to her office, overcome by a presence in her mind that speaks to her through her reflection. Enraged at someone pretending to be Rainbow Dash, Nightmare Umbra resolves to eliminate the possible threat Dash poses to her purpose.
At Twinkle Shine’s apartments, the examination of Dash turns up pretty much nothing. She hasn’t time travelled and doesn’t appear to be faking her abilities. Dash’s mention of the Elements of Harmony only adds to Umbra’s quiet rage. However, Twinkle Shine has other business to take care of, and dismisses Dash in order to speak with Star Fall. She reveals that Star Fall is soon to be married to royalty by the King, who believes that she will be able to produce a true Alicorn foal. Star Fall is shocked at this, as the idea is ludicrous and its pursuit can only lead to tragedy. Twinkle Shine agrees, and urges Star Fall to flee the Kingdom. Star Fall is left reeling from the decision she faces.
The next day Star Fall, Astrid and Rainbow Dash leave to investigate a place Max Cash seemed interested in. After a conversation with King Golden Scepter II about his selection for Star Fall’s betrothed, Twinkle Shine shuts herself away in her apartment. Then she secretly transforms into Nightmare Umbra, creating an unnatural storm and rushing off to kill Rainbow Dash.
After a night of introspection and learning about the hard choice Star Fall must make, Dash wakes to find Umbra’s storm almost upon them. They try to run, but are overtaken. Dash’s attempts to stop the storm herself only prove that it is being manipulated by a powerful will. Eventually Umbra herself appears and attacks Dash directly. They battle over many leagues, their fight tearing up the countryside as Dash uses her speed to stay just ahead of Umbra’s indiscriminate attacks. Finally, Umbra catches Dash and beats her soundly, only to be stopped by Star Fall and Astrid. The three of them fight Umbra and manage to hurt her enough that she’s forced to withdraw.
Umbra returns to Twinkle Shine’s apartments, transforming back into the Professor. She barely has any time to rest from her ordeal when Gamma arrives, highly agitated. Umbra’s appearance was felt across the continent, and this has everyone frightened. Gamma herself has decided to go and rescue Star Fall and the others from whatever trouble they’ve gotten into. She then tells Twinkle Shine that she needs the Professor to stay in the capital to make sure the King doesn’t make any rash decisions.
After the battle, Star Fall is convinced that Umbra was trying to stop them from investigating the site for some reason, and is all the more determined to go there. She’s also convinced that Umbra was essentially toying with them, and could have easily killed them all without much effort. They continue on to their destination, and find Cash has created a dig there, unearthing ancient ruins inside a hill. Dash and Star Fall sneak into the compound, but Dash’s eyes begin to glow, and then she lets out a horrifying scream before falling helplessly to the ground, unable to move. The guards alerted to their presence, they are both captured.
Blaze and Calumn, are also at this compound, and have been subjected to beatings as their captors try to learn their motives for following Conrad Sherman. Charisma even tortures Calumn for a while, but gets nothing out of him. When Cash himself appears, however, things change. He strips away Calumn’s disguise, acting in a bizarre manner that Calumn can’t predict. The off-putting unicorn then tells an ominous tale to the Changeling and finally gets him to give up his real name, despite all his training and all his loyalty to his country. Devastated by how easily he broke, Calumn is left in shock as Cash goes to investigate the horrible scream that rips through the compound.
Astrid, outside the compound, is deeply affected by the scream. She manages to pull herself together, though, and stealthily makes her way in, killing guards as she goes.
Dash is thrown in the same room that they’re keeping Blaze. Her strength returns just as a bunch of goons are about to beat up the Storm Guide, and she’s able to defeat them all. Then she and Blaze head out into the compound looking for Star Fall and Calumn.
Star Fall is brought to Cash’s room, and he has a disturbing conversation with her there. He almost manages to get her to turn traitor on the Kingdom and join him, but she’s able to fight off the otherworldly influence he has. He then leaves her alone and alive, despite the protests from Charisma.
Dash and Blaze find Calumn, who upon seeing the target of his mission decides to use his magic to mentally enthrall her. This proves far harder than he anticipated, and the power feedback he gets from her nearly overwhelms him. Unwilling, even in her mind-controlled state, to leave Star Fall behind, Calumn discovers where she is being held. At the urgings of Blaze, however, Calumn is confronted with the immorality of his actions. With some advice from Rainbow Dash and the support of his friend, Calumn allows Dash to go free, but not before suppressing the memory of himself in her and implanting a few powerful commands for her to follow later.
Dash finds Star Fall, and shortly thereafter Astrid finds the both of them. Cash’s compound is in an uproar, and an evacuation has been sounded. They know, however, that Cash had gone to the dig site, so they head there in the hopes of catching him. There they confront Charisma. They’re able to get the jump on her, but Dash’s reluctance to kill allows her to escape, injuring Astrid. Dash grapples Charisma and sends both of them out into the rainy night. They battle each other, Charisma the clear superior in fighting technique and sheer viciousness, but Dash using her preternatural strength, speed and toughness to draw even with her. Ultimately, Charisma manages to temporarily disable Dash, and flies off back to the dig.
Meanwhile, Cash himself has come out of the dig. Astrid and Star Fall face him, and while they seem to have the advantage he appears unworried and talks to stall for time. Charisma returns and knocks Star Fall out. She want’s to leave, but Cash decides he wants to try to convert Astrid like he’d failed to do with Star Fall. This comes close to succeeding, but Dash intervenes at the last moment and tackles Cash, sending them both into the dig. Astrid wastes no time in leaping at Charisma.
Star Fall comes to just in time to see Charisma brutally defeat Astrid, seriously injuring the Griffin. Before she can land the killing blow, Star Fall distracts her, turning the enforcer’s ire on herself. She is nearly choked to death, but is able to use her magic to blindside Charisma and smash her into the side of a guard tower, taking her out of the fight.
Inside the dig, Dash tries to get at Cash, whose magic proves strong enough to hold even her in place for a time. He attempts to use his strange power of conversion on her, but instead of the expected effect it causes Dash to go into seizure, draining all her strength. Cash is surprised at this, and even more surprised when he discovers that his opponent is Rainbow Dash. He then reveals that he holds the Element of Loyalty, and something is terribly wrong with it. He offers it to Dash, who yearns dearly for it but also knows that if she were to put it on something terrible would happen. Cash, confused by this response, tries to consult a book, only to find that it had slipped out of his saddlebags as he was tackled. He leaves Dash where she is and heads out of the dig.
Outside, Star Fall ensures that Astrid will live long enough to get treatment, and finds a book titled ‘Harmony Theory’ in the mud. She is only able to read one short passage, but that is enough for her to know it’s a very important book. Unfortunately, Cash emerges and is able to easily retrieve the book. He somehow forces Star Fall to tell him what happened to Charisma, then leaves, telling her that his offer is still open, and that she should think about it.
While this fight is happening, Hard Boiled is speaking with Senator Alan Birchfield, an former soldier and avid collector of pre-Schism art. From Birchfield he discovers the existence of a series of statues of immeasurable worth, each depicting one of Twilight Sparkle’s friends. He theorised that these are what Cash is looking for. After speaking with the Senator, he is picked up by Director Straff and the Changeling Traduce. Traduce takes an instant liking to HB, who finds her attentions off-putting. With their support, HB resolves to go to the cloud-city crash site he had discovered, and find out if the statue Cash is after is there.
Gamma’s forces arrive at Cash’s compound, and quickly take Star Fall, Astrid and Rainbow Dash into their ship for medical attention and protection. In the morning Dash is the first to awaken, and is debriefed by Gamma. She relates the whole story, and stresses just how crazy and evil Cash and Charisma are. In the midst of the conversation, Dash hears a voice calling for help from within the dig. She rushes inside and finds, to her great surprise, Applejack.
Image credits to HydrusBeta
68.media.tumblr.com/64019b1c3c2dc95ecf2b9d2735663c9d/tumblr_n4qg22gNrc1rao73ho1_1280.png
only thing i could think of once i saw this
This is not a small or simple story. At all.
I have another reason to look forward to the coming weekend now.
So excited for the weekend now! Also thanks for the summary, it can be hard to remember everything that's happened in the story
Considering how large and intricate the plot of the story is I have to ask, Did the reveal of the Tree of Harmony throw a wrench in any of your plans, and did you incorporate it into the story or just ignore it? I think its the former because you mentioned the rainbow power in one of the Harmony Theory excerpts.
I'm just excited for Fluttershy to get caught up. I hope the recent events doesn't break the poor dear too much...
Nice.
I'm so excited for the coming chapters!
You're the first author to do this so I'm thankful for that. These long stories are hard to keep the facts straight. Especially when I read so many other long stories.
I really need to get back to reading this
4317526
The tree of Harmony wasn't a wrench, it was a detail. When I planned the story, I planned to have a LOT of flexibility in order to include any details the show might throw in. I also have a rough 'history of the future' worked out for what the Mane 6 got up to after the show's potential end. For instance, I mention Tirek way back in chapter 9. This wasn't retconned in after he showed up in-show, I had included that as part of the 'future' stuff that would happen after the show ended. It's a detail that doesn't affect the story, just adds depth. Similarly, the Tree, the Rainbow Power, Alicorn Twilight, all of these things are details that I can and have included in the story without any trouble whatsoever. They change nothing of significance (I had actually planned on Alicorn Twilight from the beginning). In fact, I have actually referred to the Tree in at least one Harmony Theory excerpt.
The thing to remember about the show, though, is that while what you see actually happens, the REASON it happened and the backstory given for it may not actually be true. Not through any deliberate falsehood, but information can be misleading and people may just not know the truth. For instance, the Tree exists, but what exactly is it and where did it come from? So far, we don't actually know. It's just there, doing what it does (which is hold the Elements, and not much else). There's plenty of room to write around something as vague as that.
This is very helpful. Even for me, since I've forgotten certain details about things that happened even in the previous chapter.
Thanks for the recap, it's really useful.
Someone needs to write one for Austraeoh :p
For some reason, I've always been wrongly visualising the Sunlands as south of the Nightlands.