The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

Hearts Beating As One

"What is the true meaning of Harmony?"

"The meaning of harmony, darling?" Felicity frowned. "That sounds like an awfully subjective question."

"Yeah... what harmony? All the scientists here refer to something completely different by it than we do."

Princess Celestia shook her head. "Just because a question is subjective does not mean it has no answer. And I am asking you, not them."

Shinespark swallowed and took a breath. "By our science, it's the force my ship borrows and uses to fly. What you've been calling the flow. A soul's force. It's the light from the crystal palace flames that we contain within windigo hearts."

Celestia watched her with the tiniest bite of her lip. "Perhaps a hint is in order: this is no question of what it is, but what it means."

"Beyond the mere definition of the word, then," Felicity said.

Gerardo raised a wing. "In the reaches of Yakyakistan, their church teaches of harmony as a collection of virtues by which one should live their life, emphasizing the personal choosing of one to follow in particular. Loyalty, generosity, kindness, honesty... All the traits you just mentioned are counted among them. To be a devout member of the Yakyakistani faith, you choose one above all the others and model it with your life."

Princess Celestia nodded, looking around at everyone else. "Please, continue."

Shinespark looked to her friends, then took a step back. "In Ironridge, we were far more concerned about... physical results than mysticism. If this is the right track, I'm out of my element. I need to cede to someone more knowledgeable."

Celestia bowed, accepting her stepping aside.

Timidly, Slipstream cleared her throat and spoke up, not yet over being wowed by sharing a room with a goddess. "I-I might be on a completely wrong track here, but if you're looking for personal meaning in our lives? When I was in school in Ironridge, some of my friends and I started reading about Yak religion for fun. We thought it was interesting, but never did anything, like, serious or devout... but once I was done with school, it actually helped me land my job. I worked as a help desk mare for the skyport, and the bosses liked that I had multi-cultural knowledge. So if you're talking about the Yak religion, it, for me... is about being able to connect better with people who are different from you?"

Celestia smiled. Slipstream nervously blushed.

"I was a member of a mercenary troupe," Harshwater added. "Most of us were Yakyakistani nationals, and my virtue was loyalty. I don't pay much attention after I nearly died twice from following a leader who didn't deserve it, but it's still a hard instinct to shake. When you feel like you've hit rock-bottom and have nothing left, you can look at it and say, 'At least I can still be true to my ideals'... Even if you don't know why you have them in the first place, it can still give you the strength to stay alive just a little longer. That's my experience with Yakyakistan's harmony."

"Interesting," Princess Celestia said after a while, looking between everyone who had spoken. "Shinespark, you have heard your friends. What they perceive as harmony may differ, but even then, they all have unique answers about how their perception of it has affected their lives. You may see harmony as emotions given physical form, or the flow of souls, or the teachings of the church in Yakyakistan, but please, try again. For it is your answer that interests me the most."

Shinespark's ears fell, and her brow creased with determination. "It was the technology that would let me save my homeland. After airships were invented, Ironridge's economic fortunes changed, and Sosa, my home district, went from the capitol of the city to a backwater industry with its pride vanished. The world had changed, putting us at the bottom of the city, and I wanted to change it again. Harmonic air travel, if we had unlocked a way to draw more power from ponies' cutie marks, was going to be an infinite power source that would let us make airships that could cross the Aldenfold and trade with the other side. Of course, we didn't know about the enchantment blocking the way, or your foreign policies... but it was my dream."

Celestia met her eyes, unblinking. "And in your fervent pursuit of this dream, did you ever try to increase your output by connecting multiple ponies to your machines at one time?"

Shinespark wilted, but stood strong. "Yes. It produced an unstable reaction that damaged our equipment again and again. If we could have contained it, it could have generated power far beyond the mere sum of two cutie marks, or even their product. It was still our most promising lead at the time my friends here arrived in Ironridge, but merely surviving high magnitudes of power wasn't the issue. It was preventing the wild fluctuations from destroying equipment downstream that required more consistent power."

Celestia's smile grew. "Are there any musicians in the room?"

Everyone looked at everyone else. Amber opened her mouth to speak, but Slipstream didn't notice, too busy fighting through her nerves about speaking up again. "When I was in school, I... used to play trombone? For the band..."

Amber's eyes widened. "You too!? Trombone sisters! How did we never talk about... I mean... yes. I did."

The sound stone flickered. "It probably doesn't count, but I used to sit on fences in the earth district at three in the morning and caterwaul to annoy people."

Celestia flicked a wing at the sound stone. "Please don't subject my ponies to that while you are here." She turned to Amber and Slipstream, especially the latter. "So, you have experience playing together with others? What would you say harmony is, from a musician's standpoint?"

"I mean, well..." Slipstream fumbled under her gaze. "Ponies playing together in harmony. You know what it means, it's... they're in tune with each other, or..."

Celestia looked at Shinespark expectantly.

Shinespark folded her ears.

"Harmony is resonance," Celestia began. "Singular threads, compatible with each other, merging and intertwining to become something more than they are on their own. This is true in the study of sound, and in other things as well. When you attempted your experiments on multiple ponies, I suspect the feelings of your test subjects toward each other may not have been a variable you were closely tracking... but if you had, you would have noticed an interesting correlation between it and your results. Ponies who detest each other could produce more discord and instability, but between those who share a sufficiently strong bond... This resonance is also harmony. It is also known as the Magic of Friendship."

The ponies in the room looked around again. "That's quite the name," Felicity admitted.

"You mean all we had to do to make the experiment work...?" Shinespark's face fell.

"Was use ponies who were closer together?" Celestia shook her head. "Oh, I doubt you would have met with success. A pony's will is inherently unstable, just as thoughts and emotions cross your mind at any time they please. You could never obtain the regulated, mechanically-suitable power you desire in this way. These fluctuations are even present in the flows of single ponies as well... I merely suspect the overall output was low enough they fell well within your tolerance threshold. As you add souls and form a symphony, you will eternally grow farther and farther from an unshifting, monotone state. But it would become coherent. It would be a symphony, not chaos."

Shinespark straightened up. "Then what is the meaning of telling us this?"

"Because," Celestia said, "this symphony is the way in which most grow strong enough to bring about their dreams in the world. We discussed your unusual circumstances, how the winds of fate must blow in your sails if you have truly accomplished all that you have. Constructing this ship, raising the dead... You speak of your unusually-powerful flow, measured through your cutie mark. And it is not impossible that individual ponies could cause this to happen. But another possibility is that it is a shared commitment to a single dream, and the harmony of your own friendship, that brings about the miracles through which you have survived. So, I ask you: tell me your dream. What is it that all of you, collectively, wish for more than anything?"

The group glanced at each other again, no one wanting to speak first. "That's... complicated," Felicity sighed. "Speaking for myself more than others, I have very little left to live for outside of this lot, and little chance of survival to boot. And since they've shown no inclination to boot me to the curb, I'm more inclined to support their goals than chase after ones of my own."

"All we've been able to afford is survival for quite some time," Shinespark quietly added.

"But that's not the endgame, right?" Amber rose to her hooves. "What I'm looking for... and what I know Maple and Valey and our other friends are looking for... is a place to call home. We'll build one with our own hooves if we have to, but it'll be a place where all of us can live together in peace, without the problems that have forced us from Riverfall and Ironridge and the Empire."

"Yeah!" Valey chimed in. "A place where batponies aren't actually dunked on day and night for no reason."

Gerardo nodded firmly. "The horizon shines ever in my sights, but having a home to return to in between adventures is something I've been lacking for over a decade."

Slipstream moved up by Gerardo's side.

Harshwater glanced sideways at Felicity. "I'm in the same boat as her. Not much else for me to do other than strike out on my own."

"...I miss Sosa," Grenada quietly added. "I have tried to re-found it once before, and I would do it again."

Shinespark cleared her throat. "There you have it."

Celestia eyed her curiously. "I presume the new home you are searching for lies somewhere inside Equestria, or you would not be asking me to let you stay. But does this not conflict with your desire to restore your previous home in Ironridge?"

"I don't believe it does." Shinespark shook her head. "As a friend of mine tried to tell me... Ironridge is in no condition for a hero right now. Like us, all it can do is survive. But in several years, maybe it will be back on its hooves and fortunes will have changed. Maybe then I could be the visionary that will bring it back in the world. After all, I still have this ship. So, my dream... is to stay with my friends, recover and grow and find peace, and someday return to make a home for my old ponies just like they're trying to make a home for me."

Celestia's gaze intensified, burning with an unspoken dare.

"...And now that your barrier is down," Shinespark said, standing straighter. "There's nothing to stop airships from flying across the mountains. But Ironridge's old skyport is gone. If we built a new town, close enough to the base of the mountains... it could become a trading town. A gateway between Ironridge and Equestria. We could be the ones to put Ironridge back in the air, just like my cutie mark was always meant to do."

Princess Celestia locked eyes with Shinespark, her very countenance seeming to increase the pressure in the air. "My border is still closed, my little pony. Merchants could not merely come and go."

Shinespark didn't blink or flinch, every muscle in her body stiff. "With all due respect, Princess, I am under the impression we're talking about our dreams, not realistic expectations. And I didn't try to repel Yakyakistan from my nation because I dream small."

"You've achieved many things that deserve to be impossible," Celestia replied. "Whether by the harmony of your friendship or your own power alone, you've conformed the world to your will. But now I block your way." Her horn flashed brilliant yellow, and with a series of pops, a number of scrolls materialized in the air, instantly recognizable to everyone as the very writs they needed. "This is no matter of hypotheticals. You are challenged by a goddess. You are out of time to deliberate or think. Act now, my little ponies. If you believe in your dream, show me its power to sway me."

The room's breath collectively caught in its throat...

But Shinespark stood firm against Princess Celestia's challenge. "The last time I stood down a goddess, I did it to save my friend, and I lost my horn for it. I am not backing down, and they will follow me."

"Bananas, yeah!" Valey cheered through the sound stone. "If I were there, I'd be right beside you!"

Amber stepped up alongside Shinespark. "You're testing our commitment, aren't you? I'll admit, you're frightening... but Shinespark is right. We've seen this before, and we didn't survive by laying down or going away."

"Indeed," Felicity huffed, getting up and stumping over as well. "I may have the constitution of hot wax, but you have my support where it counts, darlings."

"Hardly the time to bow out now, is it?" Gerardo stepped forward, stance ready. "I know my limits and prefer to play a support role, but when the time comes to have all hooves on deck, I wouldn't dare balk at the challenge."

"W-What he said." Slipstream swayed, looking like she didn't even recognize herself anymore, but matched pace with the griffon, resolute.

"You are asking whether I would fight for Sosa." Grenada joined Shinespark as well. "For me, the question is what I would do if I did not."

"Yeah, yeah..." Harshwater followed her, taking a position at the end of the group. "Doesn't seem like the brightest idea to run off on my own. I'm putting my money on the winning side."

For a moment, the room wavered, as if a wave of heat was distorting everyone's vision... and then it passed, the tension shattering as Celestia laughed in relief. "You truly have done this before," she said, re-seating herself and bidding everyone else do so with a wing. "Congratulations, my little ponies. Usually, the only ones who stand up to me are nobles with swelled heads, and never to a challenge quite like that. You have shown me what your dreams are made of."

Only Shinespark remained standing, a slight look of shock on her face. "So... we can stay?"

Celestia shook her head. "I have an offer for you, and I would have you hear it out."

"We're listening." Shinespark bowed.

The Writs of Harmonic Sanction floated in Princess Celestia's aura. "You have clearly suffered much in the north," she began. "You ask for asylum, and I offer it to you as a choice. Free reign to stay here or come and go as you please, for all of you and those in the submarine as well. I would ask that you not wander too extensively and live nearer to the center, so we can remain in more regular contact, but it would not be an enforced condition."

Shinespark's eyes began to water. "Really...?"

"We did it?" Amber breathed.

"Hold up. You said it was a choice. What's the alternative?"

Celestia looked intrigued, and smiled. "You have amassed several writs already, have you not?"

Shinespark nodded. "We have two, and Yakyakistan has promised us a third once they receive theirs next year. And it was promised at least half a year ago..."

Celestia nodded sagely. "I told you before that I don't see this endeavor often. Even collectors who attempt to use the writs as status symbols and hold more than one at a time are few and far between, and never collect more than two. To see a group of friends attempt to amass them in order to cross the border together and not be split apart? They are successful perhaps once in a century, and again, it is usually only two, shared between a married couple. And your endeavor was far more ambitious than that. Tell me, before the enchantment on my Aldenfold failed, did you truly think you could collect one for each of you?"

"We..." Shinespark winced. "It was the plan. I don't know how realistic it was, but we had a start. And even if it took us years, we didn't have a lot else planned to do."

Celestia nodded again. "And did you consider facing the possibility that you could someday have all but one, and the whole group would have to stay behind in the north for the sake of that one who didn't yet have theirs... or else someone would make a sacrifice? Did you intend this in the knowledge that this could someday come to pass?"

Shinespark's ears fell. "We would have crossed that bridge when we got there. Finding a way forward in the present was more important than the distant future."

"But it is that dream for the future which unites all of you," Princess Celestia replied, shaking her head. "Here is your other option, Shinespark of Sosa: return to the north without your Writs of Harmonic Sanction. I will be gentle in enforcing your departure, and you would be allowed to prepare, but it would be enforced nonetheless. Return with your friends and your airship to the world in the north. Continue acting upon your plan to obtain passage for each and every one of you. I would give you fifteen years... Until the dawn of the Summer Sun Celebration on the thousandth year of our calendar, which I believe the northern world shares. Return to my border with at least six writs by that time, counting the ones you already have... and I will open the border that has been closed for a thousand years, and allow you free commerce between Ironridge and Equestria."

Shinespark gaped.

"But, the enchantments..." Gerardo raised a hesitant talon.

"Are currently broken, yes." Celestia nodded. "My envoys to Yakyakistan have had little luck in discovering why their generator that paralleled Garsheeva's has failed. The mountains' defenses were designed to survive the failure of one generator, and are only down because both have failed. I am sure they are aware of the situation, and likely believe they must fix this problem before it incurs my wrath. If you do decide to accept this offer, I would advise going to Yakyakistan and seeing if you can uncover and solve their generator woes yourselves. They may reward you with another of the writs you seek."

Shinespark lifted her head. "Four out of six?"

"In the meantime, I have dispatched extensive air power from northwestern Equestria to cover the border by manual means," Celestia continued. "The enchantments may be down, but it is hardly without defense... and legitimate expeditions would certainly be denied. What I offer is to end this and welcome your travelers with open hooves."

"So if anyone tries to sneak across, you would eventually catch them and throw them out," Felicity mused. "Sounds inefficient, darling."

Princess Celestia shook her head. "My options are few, and it is the best of what remains to me. If you did choose to return to the north, you would have my aid in some capacity. I have no intention of trivializing a feat that has never been completed in a thousand years, but I could perhaps give pointers on how to obtain the writs you desire without making full use of these fourteen-odd years."

"We..." Shinespark glanced back at her friends. "Can we think about it? I... know Ironridge is more my dream than others', and I, at least, need time to decide."

"I am well aware," Celestia replied. "You may be united by one goal, but are you truly all for one and one for all? Perhaps the more harmonic thing to do would be to set aside your own ambitions for the good of your friends... or perhaps they will all put theirs on hold for you. Take all the time you require, and please come talk to me again if you are moved to. I will remain here for several days."

"Thank you." Shinespark bowed. "This is... not a choice I expected to have to make, but we'll be sure to make it well."

Comments

[Oberth Effect]

The sound stone flickered. "It probably doesn't count, but I used to sit on fences in the earth district at three in the morning and caterwaul to annoy people."

Only Valey

I love these occasional lighthearted moments in the thick of things.

"Harmony is resonance," Celestia began. "Singular threads, compatible with each other, merging and intertwining to become something more than they are on their own.

An interesting and oddly intuitive way of putting it.

"Here is your other option, Shinespark of Sosa: return to the north without your Writs of Harmonic Sanction. I will be gentle in enforcing your departure, and you would be allowed to prepare, but it would be enforced nonetheless. Return with your friends and your airship to the world in the north. Continue acting upon your plan to obtain passage for each and every one of you. I would give you fifteen years... Until the dawn of the Summer Sun Celebration on the thousandth year of our calendar, which I believe the northern world shares. Return to my border with at least six writs by that time, counting the ones you already have... and I will open the border that has been closed for a thousand years, and allow you free commerce between Ironridge and Equestria."

Wow.

Just wow.

That is quite the offer, and now introduces quite the conundrum. Taking the offer means returning to a hostile and dangerous world for a payoff that isn't guaranteed, but with an incredible reward if they manage to pull it off. Basically an double-or-nothing. I'm not sure there are enough chapters left to tell that entire story properly if they take the offer, unless a sequel is planned.

Too bad it seems that if they took this option they didn't succeed, given Starlight's situation in the present and Twilight's apparent lack of knowledge of the northern border being open. To be fair, I'm assuming that opening the border would have been major news at the time, and that the return of Nightmare Moon didn't cause issues that would permanently prevent the opening of the border. Only time will tell.

Wonder what Starlight would think about it. Settling for taking the Writs is probably the safest option, and could mean living a relatively normal life, but I think not taking that decision is going to chafe at everyone after a while, especially Shinespark.

Curious if this is another test, perhaps to see if they are willing to sacrifice a guarantee of a good future for a better future for thousands of ponies they don't directly know.

"My envoys to Yakyakistan have had little luck in discovering why their generator that paralleled Garsheeva's has failed. The mountains' defenses were designed to survive the failure of one generator, and are only down because both have failed. I am sure they are aware of the situation, and likely believe they must fix this problem before it incurs my wrath. If you do decide to accept this offer, I would advise going to Yakyakistan and seeing if you can uncover and solve their generator woes yourselves.

If they take this route, I'm guessing they're going to have to hunt down Glimmer and convince her to help, since she seems to be one of the very few ponies who knows the deeper workings of those things.

[Phoenix Kitten]

According to the official map of Equestria, Our Town isn't that far from Canterlot, heck, Manehatten and Trottingham are further out from the Equestrian capital than Our Town.
I assume they took the offer then. The original goal setters were Starlight, Maple, and Valey, and their goal was to find a place where they could get away from crazy adventure and stuff like that, and just live in peace.

...okay, looking at the map again, "Starlight's cave" is connected to the Yaket mountain range..
Did she have a direct access route through the Aldenfold?
Did she bail back to the North after Twilight beat her the first time to try and rally her friends to help?

[Czar_Yoshi]

10019100
I'm not taking the official map as unbreakable law of the land. Season 7 was mid-run when I started publishing this, and I didn't want to make any plans around material that could still inconveniently update.

It's still reasonably similar, and the directions of things relative to Canterlot are mostly the same, such as Griffonstone being in the northeast. But it just wouldn't be feasible to make certain things line up, particularly distances. If an Equestria that you could take a day trip around by train took up the southern half of TOW's world, for instance, then you could similarly do a day trip by airship between Ironridge and the Griffon Empire, and that would have broken a lot of stuff in Act 3.

[KMCA]

10019079
My guess is Twilight hasn't had her test yet... or Celestia is keeping her options open. 6 passes on the day of NMM's release? Sounds to me like she was trying to set up a group of Element Bearers.

[ZanyZapper]

10019243
At this point I assume the Equestrian map to be whatever the story needs at the time. Canterlot has at times been a fairly short walk from Ponyville (Best Night Ever) to an overnight train ride (MMMystery on the Friendship Express). Likewise with Our Town. So I'm content with whatever an author chooses to do, as long as they keep it internally consistent.

That said, I *have* been trying to picture just how big your world is, given how long that trip from Ironridge to the Griffon Empire took! It seems incredibly massive. Especially given that, for example, the Hindenburg was able to cross the Atlantic between Frankfurt and Lakehurst NJ in about two days.

[Oberth Effect]

10019341

Test?

And yeah, Celestia keeping them around as a backup plan sounds reasonable, although if she really wanted that then keeping them near Canterlot and not making the offer might be the safer option. Perhaps she thinks the additional time up north could further cement their bonds and make them stronger. Not sure the 6 writs is too significant, though, since if they manage to acquire all 6 then the border would be opened, rendering the writs more or less moot.

[Phoenix Kitten]

10019922
her acceptance exam to the school for gifted unicorns where she hatched Spike.

[Oberth Effect]

10020580

Ah, that test. Keep forgetting we're well before S1 started.

[Venlinelle]

For a moment, the room wavered, as if a wave of heat was distorting everyone's vision... and then it passed, the tension shattering as Celestia laughed in relief. "You truly have done this before," she said, re-seating herself and bidding everyone else do so with a wing. "Congratulations, my little ponies. Usually, the only ones who stand up to me are nobles with swelled heads, and never to a challenge quite like that. You have shown me what your dreams are made of."

I love her so much 💚

It’s deeply unfortunate how the timeline works out here. If Celestia had given a deadline just a bit further off, I could assume that the group took that option and was near returning in the present, and just hadn’t reunited with Starlight, which would be a far happier ending than I’d dared hope for. Unfortunately, she did not.

EDIT: Well... I guess I wasn't that wrong. Definitely still not happy.

[sploopy slooder]

it feels ridiculously exceptionally and obnoxiously shitty that the MAIN FUCKING CHARACTER has no part in this conversation. I think this is my biggest gripe with the novel, starlight is both a very important character, but also completely absent from most key moments. it was an intentional writing choice to minimize starlights participation and i honestly hate it.

[Venlinelle]

"You speak of your unusually-powerful flow, measured through your cutie mark. And it is not impossible that individual ponies could cause this to happen. But another possibility is that it is a shared commitment to a single dream, and the harmony of your own friendship, that brings about the miracles through which you have survived. So, I ask you: tell me your dream. What is it that all of you, collectively, wish for more than anything?"

...Yeah, it's the first possibility, unfortunately.

The Writs of Harmonic Sanction floated in Princess Celestia's aura. "You have clearly suffered much in the north," she began. "You ask for asylum, and I offer it to you as a choice. Free reign to stay here or come and go as you please, for all of you and those in the submarine as well. I would ask that you not wander too extensively and live nearer to the center, so we can remain in more regular contact, but it would not be an enforced condition."

Aaaaaaa you were this close! You could've taken the stupid first deal and been fine! But no! You had to go and try and overachieve, except without the pony who makes the overachieving work, and, surprise surprise, it didn't work! Starlight, if you were to go back in time to fix things, I have a suggestion for the specific decision to change.