//------------------------------//
// Chapter 33 
// Story: My Little Pony: the Harmony of Friendship 
// by Godzilla313 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 33

The group all looked over what she had found and saw that, in parentheses were the words, “Working Title,” which meant Downy had not finalized her title and had scribbled underneath, “Peace Finds the Way.”
In the refrain was written, “With love as our strength in the games that we play; in the sadness of war, know that peace finds the way.”
“I’d think that second title’d be better,” said Applejack, “Kinda matches the song, ya know?”
“Wait,” said Twilight, “Are you suggesting that we finish the spell?”
“The basics are here,” answered Starlight Glimmer, “Is there anypony that is as familiar with this kind of magic?”
“Moonlight Dancer,” said Twilight, “She had to be versed in it to help the twins when they first got here.”
“Where is she now?” asked Sunset Shimmer.
“In Canterlot,” answered Twilight, “But with the enemy on the march, it would be extremely dangerous to try to get there.”
A new voice entered into the room, familiar, but with an odd accent that any human from America would recognize as New England, which said, “Cantah’lot?  You can’t get theah from heah!”
They all wheeled around to see Discord standing there in a plaid shirt, fishing overalls, rubber boots, and a fisher pony’s hat.  “Looks loike we gotta take cayah of this problem, don’t we deahs.”
Twilight shook her head in surprise, but instead of being frustrated with his presence, she was a bit glad he was here.  She said, “Discord, you are actually a welcome sight!”
“Ooh,” he reacted, “It’s nice to feel wanted.”
“The point is,” continued Twilight, “Your magic could help greatly right now.  Is there anything you can do to rescue the twins or stop Ponaeros?”
“Actually, and sadly, no,” answered Discord, “You saw what happened when Tirek had all that power, and Ponaeros knows all those tricks, and I guarantee you he learned Chaos Magic while fighting his way out of the Abyss.  He has not yet grown to his fullest strength, but I tell you: if he does, there will be nothing to stop him.”
“Well, what can you do to help?” asked Sunset, not having really met Discord and thus not having any worries about his shenanigans.
“Well, for one, I can get Moondancer,” answered Discord, “Believe me, I have no want to cause you problems, because your danger is mine as well.  In any case, you must move swiftly.  Ponaeros advances quickly, and, the longer he has the twins, the more of how their magic works that he can learn.  By doing so, he might learn how to counter it, and there would be no stopping him then, well, not without great bloodshed and loss of life.”
“That, we definitely don’t want!” exclaimed Rarity, “Please, hasten the gathering of Moondancer quickly.”
Discord suddenly sported a butler’s outfit and bowed, saying, “As you wish, Madame,” in a snooty Grittish accent and disappeared.  They hoped that he would not take long.  However, they did not have to worry, as he reappeared with Moondancer, looking quite shocked, having been napping and then rudely ripped out of her slumbers.  “What just happened?” she said, wearily, still in a daze.
“Wake up a bit first,” said Twilight, “Because we just may have the answer.”

Indeed, Ponaeros was on the move, yet, the old saying of, “What best laid plans of mice and ponies do oft run amok,” reared its head as factors that even Ponaeros could not have factored for were creeping in and hindering his movement.  He could not have the twins everywhere at once, and because of that, the true weaknesses of his forces could be seen.  On the northern flanks, the yaks from Yakyakistan had arrived with a division of their heavy armored soldiers backed by troops from the Crystal Empire led by Shining Armor himself.  Considering their strength, Ponaeros shifted the twins to the northern flank, (slowing his central attack to a crawl,) to face the danger.  However, when the twins started their magic, Ponaeros did not realized or even take into account the mindset of the yaks.  Upon hearing the music and seeing the horrible monsters in illusion, the yaks backed up for a minute, but then redoubled themselves as their general announced, “Those not Yakyakistan monsters!  Not real monsters!  Not scary like yak monsters!  YAKS SMASH!”
The crystal ponies, who had at first preparing to run, now stopped and stood steeled in their resolve.  After all, if the yaks could handle it, they could rally behind them despite their fears.  They still saw the monsters, but they suddenly felt they could win.  With that, the whole horde charged forward and started to route those troops.  Ponaeros quickly teleported the twins out of there and returned them to the center, not wanting to lose his best weapon.

Things were worse when the Royal Navy of Gritain arrived, filled with Marines and griffons ready to attack the coasts.  Because the twins were occupied, they could not go to stop this.  The invasion fleet, in fact, was massive!  Knowing the danger, they rallied every ship in their fleets and filled them with about 400,000 fighting ponies along with about three wings of Griffons.  They had to strike hard at Fortress Equestria that Ponaeros was trying to form.  In fact, so unprepared for a second front were they that the coasts were not all that guarded and caught completely by surprise.  The Grittish started shelling hard on the landing points, hoping to support the landing craft and yet leave the ports intact.  They would need them for the advance of the Marines to first establish a foothold and then advance from there.  There was no way Ponaeros could fight on two fronts, and perhaps, if they could retake Fillydelphia, there was a chance.  They could strangle his resources and force an end to this.  The princesses could combine their powers and take on Ponaeros unhindered.  With that, the navy unleashed all the firepower they possessed and commenced what would might end up the bloodiest battle of the conflict, for, in such landings, casualties were always high.  They were expecting 7 out of every 10 landers to become some kind of a casualty, but the griffons were also doing what they could to harass the beaches, and trying to land behind them and pull a pincer move.  It was not going to be pleasant by any stretch.

Reports and news was being spread about the goings of the war, and much of it very patriotic, trying to bolster the fighting spirit of the ponies, but there was one group that was, for the lack of a better term, bummed out, beyond belief: the bards and Bardies.  They had hoped to be that which stopped war, just as the bards knew their heritage was, but now all seemed lost.  Sure, they might win the war, but how many would have to die?  However, it was then Discord appeared in their hideaway, all tricked out like a Bardy and said, “Groovy dudes.  Hey, don’t look so down!”
“Like, why should we be, you know, happy?” one said, frowning, “There’s death going down out there, and we can’t do a crying thing.”
“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong,” answered Discord, “Just be ready.  Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends have found what just might be what stops this whole thing.  Downy was trying her hand at making spells for bards before she was captured, and they are now working on finishing it.  If you all work together, it might be what is needed to put an end to this.”
“Dude,” said one who looked like he was leading the crew, “That’s, like, something that ain’t so easy, and I was one of their first students.  This is, you know, Bardic magic, and they’ve got to get it right.  I know where it’s at when it comes to it.”
Discord focused on him and said, “What’s your name?”
“Name’s Easy Trotter,” he said, “Ponies just call me Easy…” but before he could finish, both he and Discord vanished.  The rest just stared in disbelief, not sure just what was to happen next.

The four mages were looking it over, Sunset helping with the music, but they couldn’t make out what they were supposed to do with the verses.  The lines were sketchy at best, and they seemed to be lists of certain issues of current events, rants, and other things that matched the rhythm, (which was crucial for the spell,) but they didn’t have actual notes for the words in the verses; only for the refrain.  Moreover, there had to be something to drive it—some kind of motivation—to make it all gel and flow out in magic.  Moondancer seemed to have the best handle on it, but not being a musician herself, she really did not know how to make it all work the best.  Sunset was a musician, but she had no clue on this kind of magic.  At this point, out of the blue, there was tea, coffee, muffins galore on the table as Discord appeared with Easy Trotter and said, “Well, how goes the war?”
No one laughed at what had to have been a bad joke, seeing it in bad taste, and Discord just sighed and said, “Everypony is a critic!  Anyway, I have brought some help, and I thought you might like some refreshments.”
“Peace, magic souls,” he said, all mellow, as Discord added, “This is Easy Trotter.  He says he was one of the twins first graduates.”
“Yeah, dudettes,” he said, all mellow, “I hear you have a spell there.”
“Yes,” said Starlight, “But we somehow just can’t put it together as a collective.”
He came over and looked at what they had gotten done, and said, “Whoa, you don’t have it quite right, there.  Dude, that’s heavy weather ahead the way you have it there.  You’re treating it like a normal song.”
“Not quite sure I follow,” answered Twilight.
“This is more of a chant than a song,” he said, looking over the phrasing, “It’ s not quite rap, but it is spoken in a rhythm, and it’s used to spread a message.  And, oh, I’m digging on the message!”
“Okay, what is it?” asked Moondancer.
“Depends on who is doing the chanting,” he answered, “Any bard can power this, but anypony can do the chant and the bard can make what is needed happen.”
“I follow, but I don’t,” said Sunset.
“This is designed to fit the moment,” he answered, “This is why she called it a failsafe spell.  It’s what we’d pull out if it was all going back.  It’s in the books, but it’s a spell that’s rarely used considering the potential impact.”
“But they didn’t’ have one ingredient that we now have,” said Twilight, “Friendship may be magic, but the harmony of the Elements of Harmony is love.  We have to endue this with love.”
“Groovy!” he said, “I dig the vibe!  So, what you’re saying is that, you know, if they had put love in something like this, it would have a good outcome?”
“Sure,” answered Twilight, “But we’re having trouble putting that in this.”
He looked it over, and he pondered it, and then said, “You know, considering love as it is, there may be a way the princesses can contribute.  You could combine your magic while being performed.  Think about it: remember the song Downy wrote about the love of you princesses?  With you all just concentrating on love, you can pass it through your magic and make this thing come over the top.  It could break the spell Ponaeros has over his troops and put a stop to this.”
“But, who would perform this?” asked Twilight.
“Well, like you were once the bearers of the elements, yes?” he asked in return.
“Well, sure,” answered Twilight, “But I don’t...wait.  Are you suggesting those of us that have been the elements to do this?”
“If you want to put that part in, sure!” he answered with a smile, “Just get in the groove, and you’ll feel it flow.  Believe me, you’ll find the words.”
“But won’t I be concentrating on love?” she asked.
‘Well, sure,” he answered, “But, you can focus love through your turn at the thing.”
“One of th’elements is laid up in hospital,” stated Applejack, “We can’t bring her out.”
“Hey, just leave that to us bards!” he answered with some joy, “You’ll get to see the healing power of music.  Now, let me look at that and see what we can’t put together.”

A couple of days had passed, and the Grits and griffons had managed to get the foothold and were preparing to break out.  The norther flank was now looking to collapse, and even with all his power, Ponaeros was having trouble trying to maintain his power over his armies all at once, especially on two fronts.  He now realized too late that he might have acted too hasty; he should have spent more time focusing on learning to perfect all that he had learned up to this point coming out of the Abyss in this world before acting, He might have then been unstoppable.  However, there was one thing he could do, and thanks to the twins, he knew that if it got that bad, he could pull out this trump card and slam it down.  There would be no stopping him.  He truly would be a god then, because, at that moment, for a god, he was not all that omnipotent.  He would have to do something to draw out his foes into a trap, and work out the plan he had had all along.  Indeed, his forces were making as if they were heading for Canterlot, but his goal was not there.  What was his goal rested to the south, and he wanted control of THAT first, because, once he did, he could just pull many of his troops and himself through that which he sought, and start over.  When he did, the subject of his attack would have no power whatsoever to stop him.

The rest of the mane six and the unicorns all arrived at Rainbow Dash’s hospital room with a few bards in tow.  Celestia and Luna came as well when they heard what was to happen, because they wanted to observe this for themselves.  Dash was happy for the large visit, being that she really was dying of boredom, having read through the latest Daring Do book a few times, but was now left with nothing else.  “So, what brings you all here?” she asked, “I hear tell ol’ Creepy Pony is making moves towards the capitol.”
“He might be,” said Celestia, “But there is a plan in the works, and you are going to be a part of it.”
“Really,” she said, “I mean I’m stronger, but I still don’t feel that much better.”
The bards smiled and said, “Oh, don’t worry.  We’ll take care of it.  Trust us: you’re going back to active duty sooner than you think, and in a way you never would have thought possible.”
With that, they asked all but the princesses to leave the room so they could focus and pulled out their instruments.  One of them was Easy Trotter, and he said, “Be ready to feel as trippy as you ever felt before, because you’re going to love this…”

Ponaeros indeed sent a seeming force towards the capitol, and Celestia accordingly diverted many troops to protect the capitol, though, with the twins under his control, she was not sure what they could do, and she really hoped that this plan was both ready and able to do what was intended for it.  However, that move did not seem to do too much, and worse, reports came in from Wonderbolt air scouts that the twins were nowhere to be seen in that group, or Ponaeros for that matter.  Confused, she pushed for more information, but it came in a left-hoofed manner.  Sudden reports came in that Ponaeros had pulled a feint maneuver, and there was a sudden rush towards…Ponyville!  This confused Celestia to what Ponaeros’ intent was, but then it hit her; the mirror!  She was not sure if Twilight had dismantled it.  Yet, even if she had, Ponaeros could capture her and force her to build it.  He wasn’t saving it for last, he was trying to take it right now!  She did not wait.  She knew she was about to expend a lot of magic, but she found Luna and teleported to the Crystal Empire.  They gathered Cadence and then they all teleported to Ponyville.  Once there, Celestia had to steady herself for all of what she had to do, and quite caught off guard the others as they were in the map room, working on musical counter attack.  Twilight was by Celestia’s side in an instant, worried her old teacher may have hurt herself, and she said, “What’s going on!”
“We have to act and act now!” said Luna firmly, “Ponaeros fooled us all, and he’s heading this way.  He wants the mirror!”
Her eyes went as wide as dinner plates and she said, “Oh no!”
Yet, Easy wasn’t worried.  He said, “Hey, it’s all groovy.  Peace!  We’re ready to go now, so let’s get cracking.  All we need to do is get the bards here with the Bardies and we get one massive jam session going.”
“How do we play in?” asked Celestia, just gaining her strength.
“That’s the best part,” he answered, “Because with your powers put together, and all the bards and Bardies in this, Ponaeros is going to get a huge lesson on the harmony of friendship!”