Chapter 2
They awoke early and took their breakfasts swiftly. There was much for them to do and piece together, and the two books they found would tell them much of what they sought. Returning to the library, Moon dancer began reading this history. Noting the dates, and skimming, she said, "It's odd. Anything after this date doesn't seem to mention the Bardics. This one does, and it makes me wonder if anyone actually made the effort to get the existence of the Bardics out of the books."
"But, why would they do that?" asked Twilight, looking up from her effort.
"Well, I don't know," answered Moon Dancer, "But I think this might tell us. But, if it was deliberate, you have to think that, somehow, this thing slipped through the cracks."
"Anything's possible," responded Twilight, "After all, even if you were Starswirl himself, there is no magic that is more powerful than the truth, and the truth seems to have its way of hanging on despite the efforts of others."
Moon Dancer went back to reading and began to be lost in a world of the past long forgotten. The revolution in the book mentioned was known in the history of Equestria, but at the same time, what was said and written is sketchy at best without much for detail. It seemed that at that some point not long after the union of the tribes, but before the rise of the two sisters, there was a power vacuum. Yet, instead of the normal anarchy that would arise in such things, something kept the peace. This was the dawn of the group known as the Bardics. At first, they were unicorns who had both perfected the magical and musical arts, and how to combine the two in order to produce light and effects while they played and sang to better entertain, as well as create visuals for any ballads they might have been singing. Ponies could interact with it, and thus became part of the experience, giving a peacemaking and calming effect. As a side result, this power could be used to subdue urges to hurt and war against others, and by it, a great peace emerged, a golden age for Equestria.
At first, any unicorn who was as skilled as the others could be a part. Yet, as the years passed, and their numbers grew, though they at first married other unicorns outside their circles, when they did, their offspring did not have as much power and ability to do as they, and often their cutie marks would always seem to mark a different destiny for them. As a result, those in the Bardics began to wed only other fellow Bardics, and some interesting things began to happen. They all began to look the same and have the same kind of powers. Their coats became an olive green, with lime cream colored manes, and they all had the same cutie marks: the lute set inside the emblem musicians know as the circle of fifths. The odd thing about the mark, however, was that it appeared the day the Bardic was born. No one, even in that time could explain why, and it was thought no one could ever know. Though, they were a minority among other ponies, they still had enough of number to where there was no real need for a government, save for basic administrators to run the infrastructure and keep things flowing. Because of this, there was never any war, and if any did try to cause trouble, such evil was quickly subdued; they would show up in numbers and use their music like a nonlethal weapon and help reform such wicked ones of their evil ways. Yet, despite all this, there were some things that might have actually contributed to their downfall.
As time passed, they began to demand of themselves that they keep high standards among the public. This meant shunning certain pleasures of ponydom, taking up certain practices and ways of life that indeed marked them as different from any other ponies. They also tended to keep more to themselves than it seemed some ponies would have cared for. It was not that they thought themselves superior, for if they did, they would not be so concerned with the welfare of all other ponies, as well as have the dear want to please others with their music. They interacted among society, but seemed to spend more time associating with each other socially than with those outside the bards. Their unique lifestyles as well as a sense of needed partial exclusivity to make sure no outside taint could dampen anything they did cause some ponies to start to resent them. To outsiders, it seemed that many of their traditions that they did that they felt kept them honed for action really did nothing to aid their abilities, and a handful began to think them silly for all this.
At this time, there were two who entered the picture that would change the course of history. One of them was Starswirl the Bearded. Indeed, he was probably the most powerful mage ponydom had ever seen, and had the inside track of all things magical and how it all worked. Though he did not understand as much about the magic of friendship as Twilight Sparkle, (who was now forging her own legend,) he did understand much. He realized that, in Bardic magic, it was really one factor that made them be able to do what they did, and much of what they did had nothing to do with it. The factor had little to do with deeds and lifestyles and much to do with two internal emotions that was the source of all their skill and power. He looked to preach this to the Bardics and get them back to their roots, but before he could really convince any of them, the other pony shoe fell.
At the same time Starswirl was gaining his magic skill and understanding, another unicorn arose gaining such power for himself, but his purposes for such were all selfish and driven by the desire for power: a bad combination indeed. His name was Ponaeros, (pronounced paw-nay-ross.) He was jet black in coat with a bleach white mane and tail, with red irises. He saw the simple and happy lives the ponies were living, and he realized that they were so contented and used to honest and friendly ponies that, if someone should start to deceive them, they would never realize it. He knew that direct confrontation with the Bardics would be of no use, so, in order to gain global domination, he would have to be subtle. This would take a long time, but, he knew that you could not just go straight for the jugular. He had to build an army of ants who can slowly start to consume the prey, little by little, until these ants, despite being small, when combined, could eat anything in their path.
He knew that he had to start by having a cause around which to gather unsuspecting ponies, and gathering ponies that were ignorant of how life really worked. This would mean rallying the young colts and fillies that had yet to really experience life, and he had to start filling their heads with lies that they were not just the future, but already smarter than their elders. They had the youth and strength to run everything, and were smarter than their elders. After all, they had to learn more in school than their elders did, and so they had to be smarter, (omitting the fact that what they now learn their elders created on their own outside of a school.) Therefore, they should be the ones in charge. Another thing he did was start to use the oddities of the Bardics against them. He had to do this to get them out of the way, because, if he could work his master plan, they had to be out of the way. Thus, he began to preach to the following he was starting to gather how it was that the Bardics were manipulating their elders, and that they really were the ones in charge. After all, why would they be such snobs and not intermix or share their power if they didn't have ulterior motives? It was a clever trick, but it worked.
As time passed, he started to taint the minds of many ponies against the Bardics. He even began to create a squad of unicorns who were skilled in militant magic to start to isolate and catch small groups of bards and start to bully and hurt, even to kill some, and start to spread fear amongst the popoulous about the Bardics. It was mostly in the youth, but older ones even started to believe the propaganda, while others were bullied into silence by Ponaeros' bully boys. Before long, he had enough followers to start, slowly but surely, taking territory after territory, and not really in a militant way. Local administrators were being scared into letting his ponies run everything, and all local Bardics were being isolated and not allowed interaction with others at all. And once he had control in many areas, and enough of a force put together to outnumber the non-violent Bardics of the area, the slaughter began. All Bardics and anyone found supporting them were executed. Now, one would think that somepony would have stepped up and stopped him, but by the time all the ponies figured out what his real intent was, it was too late. He was too powerful to be stopped. Soon, he was openly conquering territory after territory with little opposition, and thousands of Bardics paid a horrific price.
However, in all this, Starswirl was becoming more and more powerful himself, and he knew that he could not directly stop Ponaeros. Yet, he could start to build a resistance, first, in areas not yet taken, and then sending in trained ponies skilled in training resistance forces and preparing for the inevitable revolution/civil war that would inevitably come to pass to stop all this. The Bardics, however, no longer had the numbers, and thus, no longer held the power, to stop any of this, and whomever was not already killed went into hiding, Starswirl even doing all he could to rescue as many as he could. Yet, his own magic was now as such that he could incorporate some of what the bards used, as well as much in other forms, and train his own army. It all finally came to a head, and at the same time Starswirl struck from without, the resistance struck from within. It was a long war that took years, and it cost the lives of millions of ponies, as the ponies of Ponaeros was now fed the line that they were the elites and that nothing could stop them. They were tough and would rather die than surrender. It was a horrible and tragic war, but by the time it was done, Ponaeros was trapped in a cave in direct combat with Ponaeros and his handful of faithful followers. In the end, Starswirl was able to use a capture spell on Ponaeros that he could not dispel, and as punishment, condemned him to a place in Tartarus known as the Abyss, and into its deepest regions. Yet, just before this happened, Ponaeros swore he would return, and learn from the wicked souls of the Abyss as he fought his way out, and when he did, nopony was safe. He would not stop until he was worshipped as a God, and erased the Bardics from the face of Equestria.
As the society began to restructure, there now was very few Bardics left, and those that were sank into society and left behind all their magic, more or less. This was where this history ended, and Moon Dancer then said, "I guess then that there has to be some unicorns with that blood running in them, as it was with Dusty and her husband. Yet, why would we read nothing else of them in history?"
Twilight pondered this, and a voice from behind them was heard to say, "Then it has to be that, because of the threat off Ponaeros' possible return, and maybe the return of the Bardics, Starswirl wanted to be sure that Ponaeros had nothing he could go after, and thus he did all he can to erase their existence from the record."
Celestia had come with some refreshments for the two mares and had overheard some of the discussion. She then said, "I was always aware of this war, and I was never sure what the issue was, but there are some things that even I have not learned. Now that I know more perfectly, it makes me sad to think such wicked ponies could exist. He was beyond evil. He was one with a god complex, and therefore equestrian life held no value to him, unless they served a need, and only then as long as such. At least some evil ponies do have some care."
"That is such a dark evil," said Twilight with a shudder, "I can now understand why Dusty was so scared. But…"
She stopped, thought, and then said, "Then, this means that they were well aware of their own history, and passed it on though keeping it secret."
Moon Dancer then interjected and said, "But, why would the magic have been lost?"
"Perhaps it was not," said Celestia, "Perhaps it was preserved but not practiced until a day came when it could be with no fear. I am sure they would have started over again. Yet, if they did, I would know about it. Sooner or later, they would have revealed all that they did, and I would have been able to aid them in simplifying all they did and keeping history from repeating itself, keeping them from making the same mistakes that caused them to have such fear thrown at them."
"There is something I also do not understand," said Twilight, "The Bardics hated fighting. They hated war. Why go after such peaceful ponies so hard?"
Clelestia was surprised to hear this and said, "Have you two forgotten what I taught you about hate and fear?"
They both face hoofed and all three said together, "Ponies fear that which they do not understand, and then hate what they fear."
Moon Dancer then said, "Then, you read their tome, Twilie. What did these ponies fear so much?"
"Well, it was hard to get past all the 'thees' and 'thous'," answered Twilight, "But let me tell you what; they were elaborate by the time this was written. Check this out: Thou shalt not round the corners of thy manes, or cut the hair of thy tail. Thou shalt braid it smartly with beads of blue and violet, and channel thine energies to their highest. Thou shalt mark thyself in these ways, that they who see thee shalt know well that thou art a bard, and peace doth follow in all thy hoofsteps, to ease their pain, and slake their fears, and aid cometh in all thy ways."
Celestia then said, "I think the beads were more to mark them as Bardics, and had nothing to do with anything else they said. What else is there?"
"Hmm… Let's see," she said as she used her horn to carefully go through the document and said, "Okay, here's something: The salt lick shalt not pass thy lips, lest thy mind be clouded, and thy magic be of no temperance, and causeth harm to all."
"That seems sensible enough," said Moon Dancer, "Is there more?"
"It goes on," she said, "I think I'm on dietary rules: Thou shalt only eat of the oats, of wheat, and of the barley. Thou shalt eat of the grain of it alone, and of the shaft of it alone. Thou shalt not eat any of the wild, nor of the wild hay, or of the wild greens. Thou shalt only eat of that thine own hoofs hath grown; for eating of the wild mayest lead to the snare of partaking of the mandrake, or of the wormwood unawares, and endangereth thy soul and all those around. Thou shalt only eat of the mild colored flowers, for the darker ones containeth a bitterness hurtful to the tongue and to the voice of thy singing."
"Some makes sense," said Twilight, "But a lot are odd. I can see how some may have thought them odd over time. You should see how they keep their houses, how they were to practice music and when. It was so structured that I wonder how creative they could really be. It almost seems they could not really be themselves."
"Indeed, it seems that way," answered Celestia, "And, you know, it makes them seem so artificial at this point. What is the date on that tome?"
"It seems to have a date not long before Ponaeros started his schemes," responded Twilight.
"Then it seems to me they lost all sense of what this was all supposed to be about," added Celestia, "You know, the Tree of Harmony had not yet been discovered, and it makes me wonder how much of that power was coming from that source; that they had the ability to tap into that."
"Wait," said Twilight, suddenly realizing what that meant, "I thought that's where the elements of harmony came from—the elements that feed that tree and are the basis for friendship."
"But, think about it:" intervened Celestia, "What are two parts of any piece of music?"
"Melody," pondered Twilight, "And…harmony…"
She started to fade in thought, wondering how that played into friendship and personal harmony. Twilight then remembered her books on basic musical theory, and she then said, "It makes sense! The music that is most pleasing and able to create either peace, joy, or other good emotions, is music where the rhythm is in sync with the heart, and the harmonies are not dissonant, that is, in discord."
Her eyes widened as she then continued, "And thus, this is why discord is always the opposite of harmony; accord is all of us together. The music term 'chord' has to be based off that, in that, the only way a chord sounds right is if the notes work together, play off each other, and fits in harmony with everything else."
"And thus," Celestia added, "Harmony is the key to order in friendship and in music, and thus there is a connection. Therefore, can you see how important this is?"
"Equestria could benefit from this new kind of harmony," she said, "That's why we have to find books here on that kind of magic, bring them back, and have them start over again, but with a simpler approach."
"But, do you know what the key thing is that gives them their power?" asked Celestia.
"The elements of harmony?" asked Twilight.
"Well, that," answered Celestia, but then she said, "But the main thing, well, I think you'll be best served by finding that yourself. If the twins can learn this, then they can bring a new kind of Bardic into Equestria, and we could be swept into a new golden age."
Filled with new enthusiasm, she looked at Moon Dancer and said, "As princess of friendship, I give you a royal commission: search this library and find everything you can about Bardic magic. If these books are here, than those things must have been lost among the stuff, and they are here."
Moon Dancer felt charged up with the challenged and she said, "It shall be done."
After a moment's thought, she then asked, "But, what are you going to do?"
"Back to my castle, and I am going to send a message to a dear friend," answered Twilight, "And then, I am going to find the twins."
"What if they won't come with you?" asked Moon Dancer.
"I suppose I can't force them," answered Twilight, "It would be their choice. Yet, if my friends there are like mine here, friendship will find them out, and friendship will find a way!"