On the Road to '63

by niBBoi

The Crisis of Harmony

From a lecture by Professor Bright Light of the Royal Canterlot University:

"Picture, if you will, being a Harmonist on the year 1014 ALB. The birthplace of your ideas and beliefs is engulfed in the most colossal war in history, and you're hearing reports that perhaps the most important and influential Harmonist figure in the world - Princess Celestia - has supposedly fallen into tyranny with a new look reminiscent of Nightmare Moon. They're calling her 'Daybreaker'.

"When the Great War suddenly escalated with Princess Celestia's radical militaristic turn on that one fateful spring day, the Harmonist world was shaken to its core. To think that they would see Equestria finally shattering the last vestiges of its peaceful thousand-year history by effectively succumbing to a military dictatorship under the stresses of war left many in a daze. The Harmonists had witnessed history in the making, and they were horrified.

"Soon, the shockwaves began making its rounds. From Equestria to Bakara and from Vedina to Kiria, Harmonist academics began writing their thoughts on the matter. They wrote essays and papers as well as letters to their friends and colleagues about the momentous event. Artists, writers, and journalists from places like the Crystal Empire, New Mareland, the River Republic, Greifenmarschen, Kasá, and Equestria itself looked to each other in worry as the crisis worsened when Princess Celestia's reforms and new leadership seemingly worked, and Equestria began to seriously turn the tide against the changelings.

"Many firmly stood fast in their beliefs, some began wavering, and others flatly dropped Harmony altogether in favor of popular alternatives such as Socialism. Harmonists in Grover VI's court - the same ones who would later eventually influence the young Grover to be a Harmonist himself - believed that the actions of a person did not necessarily discredit the ideas and beliefs that came from that person. It was instead the effectiveness of the ideology in action that truly determined the value of the ideas, and Chancellor River Swirl of the River Republic thought as much in her letters about the crisis while Harmonist scholars in Equestria, New Mareland, the Crystal Empire, and Hippogriffia were in agreement that the Harmonist ideology had grown large and diverse enough to survive a crushing blow such as the very Haven of Ponykind itself falling into tyranny in the madness of war.

"Nevertheless, the implications of a successful militarist Equestria threatened to tear the Harmonist world apart. The incredible successes of Celestia's intense militarization went against many Harmonist ideas, and it was at that point that the Harmonist ideology began to transform.

"There are noticeable differences between the prewar version of Harmony and its post-war version such as views on the centralization of power, the organization of government, industrialization, militarization, and approaches on foreign affairs, but I'm afraid we have run out of time for today. They will simply have to be discussed at a later date."

Author's Note:

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/equestriaatwar/comments/14u156z/the_crisis_of_harmony/