Symphony To Battle Tyrants
Though the throne room was suffering from a millenium of neglect, though inches of dust coated everything and the room smelled of mildew and mold, though the great columns were cracked and split asunder, the walls half-collapsed, the ceiling dripping water onto the floor through holes the size of apple baskets, though half the ancient eves had completely rotted through...
Despite all of that, the room retained its sense of grandeur.
Octavia paused as she walked into the room, causing Bluenote to bump into her rear and knock her forward. "Sorry!" said the tubist. "Are you okay?"
"Fine. Just... stunned," managed Octavia.
The room was massive. Two thrones sat in the center of a huge circle, the seats themselves wrapped in gold and silver and studded with gems so bright that they could shine through the dust and dusk. Around the chairs were ten concentric circles, each larger than the last, where the nobles, Courtiers, and aids of the princesses would have stood. The surviving columns had carvings of such intricate detail that Octavia could make out mane stylings, cutie marks, even freckles on thousands of ponies engaged in war, diplomacy, art, science, and everything else ponies did. The walls of the room were similarly engraved.
"What a lovely sight," deadpanned Medley. "So where's the magic thingies?"
"There! In front of the thrones!" Lyra pointed. "Look!"
Sitting before the two seats were five large, undistinguished rocks that alone failed to match the splendor of the room. Inscribed on each one was a large sigil. For a moment, Octavia's heart quickened -- but then she realized that the number was wrong. "Lyra, how many Elements were there supposed to be again?"
"Six!" She paused. "...oh."
"What, is one out for cleaning?" Medley scowled. "Maybe it broke?"
"I don't see it," said Fluttershy. She looked around nervously. "Maybe... maybe we should try the other five anyway?"
"Why not?" said Vinyl, and she began to approach. "I wonder what'll happen if we kick them--"
"Vinyl, please do not kick the most powerful magical artifacts in the world," interjected Octavia hastily. "Can you look at them with your magic?"
Vinyl's horn glowed. "...um. They look kind of like big rocks. I'm not sensing any craft magic, girls."
"Great. They don't even work?" Medley looked around. "I hate to say it, but maybe a tactical retreat's the best option."
"We cannot stop now!" insisted Octavia. "Maybe there is something we missed, such as a spell to activate them! We have to find it!"
"At least let's move them," said Vinyl. "I can't sense them at all magically, so maybe if we get them into another room or something, the tyrants won't be able to find them. That could buy us some time."
Bluenote trotted over to one of the stones and began to strain to lift it. "Oof. Pretty heavy..."
"Lyra, can you buff us again?" asked Vinyl. "If you can, the rest of us can probably get them hidden in, like, twenty minutes--"
There was a devastating explosion from the front of the castle. "TREMBLE IN AWE!" roared a familiar voice. "AND BOW BEFORE THY QUEEN!"
"--Which we don't have," finished Octavia.
She had barely begun looking for places to hide or flee to when the throne room doors burst open again and the Burning Sun -- a towering giant of a pony -- charged in. Flames leapt from all over her body, causing Octavia to stumble backwards from the heat. "BOW!" roared the tyrant. "BOW, AND I SHALL CONSIDER SPARING THINE MISERABLE LIVES!"
"No way!"
Octavia turned, and to her amazement, she saw that it was Bluenote who had spoken.
"I'm not afraid of you," said Bluenote. She smiled. "I have faith in my friends and myself. We're going to stop you." She chuckled. "No doubt about it."
Burning Sun reared up on her hind hooves. "FOOL! DOST THOU KNOWST WHO THOUST SPEAKETH TO?"
"Oh, we know!" said Lyra. She grinned. "But we don't care! We are Equestrians! We'll fight for what is right FOREVER!" She cheered, pointing her toy lyre at the tyrant like a sword.
Octavia froze. She was acutely aware, suddenly, of her own mortality and weakness. She was a musician and had no combat training. Neither she nor the others would survive a direct fight; Burning Sun could simply step on them to end the conflict. The Elements didn't work, the team had failed... so why were the others so defiant?
And why, she wondered, did she feel such an urge to join them?
"We're not abandoning our friends and the country," said Medley. She was trembling, but she didn't back down even one step. "That isn't who we are."
Fluttershy took a deep breath, and put her wings around the nearest two ponies -- Bluenote and Lyra -- but she said, "Even if we have to give our lives, we'll do it to help the other ponies!"
The left wall of the room collapsed with a roar as Nightmare Moon burst in. She grinned savagely. "Are you so sure you want to die? Surrender the Elements to me, little ponies. Do so, and I will grant you mercy." Her voice grew lower, seeming to tug at Octavia's ears. "I could consider your actions against me to be born from ignorance, not malice, and I--"
"You will show no mercy anyway." Octavia realized that she was talking -- and then understand that she had to be talking, for this was who she was. She wouldn't stand by and allow such a lie to go unchallenged, not while it was out there in an effort to manipulate the others. They're my friends... I understand now that I must defend them. "You showed no mercy to anypony back in Ponyville. There is no point in trying to convince us that we can stand down and work out some peaceful resolution. We know it is not possible."
"So stop trying to get us to give up!" yelled Vinyl. "No way, no how. You want a fight?" She grinned, every inch the defiant and reckless DJ that she played in her shows. "Then BRING IT ON!"
The dark-coated alicorn paused, then shrugged. "Fine. Your lives..." She grinned, showing a lot of tooth. "To waste."
Burning Sun stomped her hooves, hard enough to shake the ground and send the other ponies sprawling. "YOU DEFY ME? THEN TASTE THE FIRE!"
"Taste the night," hissed Nightmare Moon. "Taste nothingness, pathetic foals."
Octavia forced herself to watch as Burning Sun's horn glowed and a blast of fire formed and sped at her. I tried. Cadance, I tried--
The fire vanished a foot from her face.
Octavia could only stare in confusion.
"WHAT?" roared Burning Sun. "SISTER! HOW DARE--"
"It wasn't me!" cried out Nightmare Moon. Octavia frowned. She sounded... scared. "It's them -- no! Not again!" Her voice became a wail. "NOT AGAIN!"
Octavia turned behind her, and saw with a shock that the five rocks were glowing brightly. As she watched, they levitated into the air and began to pulse.
And then she understood, and she laughed.
"Did you think you could defeat us?" she asked. "Six ponies, like us?" She gestured to one of the others at random. "A pony like Medley, implacably loyal, who fought through an entire village of pony-eating monsters to rescue her friends?"
One of the rocks flashed and soared over to Medley, who cautiously put a hoof on it -- and then glowed, as if connected to some incredibly strong power source.
"A pony as kind as Lyra Heartstrings, who saw the pain and loss in even the most monstrous of beasts and fought to heal its wounds?"
A rock floated to Lyra, who was likewise energized.
"A pony like myself, who--" her voice caught, slightly, but she forced herself to keep going, "--who despite all my faults, will never let your lies pass by unchallenged? Who was willing to be dashed against a rock for the sake of what I knew to be true?"
And then a boulder was in front of her, and she felt a surge of power, and energy... and a strong feeling of friendship. She was staring down alicorns, she had no idea what was going on, but she somehow knew that she would rather be there, defending her friends, than anywhere else in Equestria without them.
The words poured out of her. "A pony as optimistic and joyous as Bluenote, whose laughter helped defeat a monster built of pure rage! A pony as generous as Fluttershy, who sacrificed everything she ever wanted for the sake of others! Not to mention the magic of Vinyl Scratch! I don't mean spells and cantrips -- any unicorn has those -- but the magic of the friendships she has with the five of us, that got us this far, past all measure of monsters and the best traps you two could devise, is far stronger than anything you can wield!"
She realized, distantly, that five of them were glowing. And, actually, floating. Only Vinyl remained grounded, staring at the alicorns with defiance and determination on her face. The rest of them were sparkling with pure energy.
"IT MATTERS NOT!" roared Burning Sun. "YOU STILL LACK ONE ELEMENT! YOU HAVE NOTHING WITHOUT IT!"
Octavia hesitated, but Vinyl took over. "Weren't you listening? We have everything we need! Loyalty, Kindness, Honesty, Laughter, Generosity -- and the Magic of friendship!" A brilliant light swept over her and she floated up to the rest of the ponies. "It's not in a rock or an old throne room, it's within us! And it's something you will NEVER understand!"
A loud humming filled Octavia's ears. Dimly, she was aware of Burning Sun throwing fire at them, but it seemed to just vanish before it got close. A surge of power swept over her, causing her hooves to kick and her coat and mane to stand on end, and then...
And then she was back on the ground.
With her cello. But she knew, somehow, that it was far more than a standard cello now.
"Huh?" She turned to see Medley, who was standing behind her aeolian harp. The stone frame and the strings were glowing, sigils embedded within them giving off a pure and powerful light. "Are these the Elements?"
"Yep!" said Lyra, brandishing her glowing lyre.
"I had thought they'd be jewelry," mused Bluenote. Her tuba flashed and twinkled, sigils neatly worked into the brass of the instrument as if they had always been there.
Vinyl chuckled. She was standing behind her speakers and drum kit, all lit by that same powerful light. "Jewelery, schmewelery! This is way more awesome."
Two dozen twinkling birds flew overhead and landed in front of Fluttershy, who had a golden conductor's baton in her mouth. "Let's stop them," she said. Her voice was unusually firm. "Let's stop them now."
Octavia spun her cello around, taking one moment to admire the pure power radiating from its every part. "Of course."
Burning Sun's mouth was open. "IMPOSSIBLE! THIS CANNOT BE!"
"Shut up, you idiot!" cried Nightmare Moon. "Kill them! Kill them quickly!"
"Not a chance," said Vinyl. She raised two drumsticks. "Elements, ready!" She clacked them together four times. "One! Two! Three! Four!"
And they began to play.
***
The music was unlike anything Octavia had ever heard.
No orchestra could match the power and clarity of their music. Every single note worked with each other perfectly, a symphony of sound that threatened to rock the very foundations of the castle. The work was not drawn from any one particular style; it was a blend of all six styles that somehow worked, each instrument and genre supplying just the right notes for a truly harmonious, gorgeous work.
Vinyl’s drums and speakers provided a steady pulse, constant energy feeding into the music. Lyra’s lyre hit the high notes and Octavia played the low notes, both on strings, forming a powerful, seamless melody that rang across all pitches. Fluttershy’s chirping birds provided punctuation and accents at appropriate intervals, sounding off at just the right point to highlight a phrase, melodic line, or measure of Lyra’s, while Bluenote’s blats of the tuba did likewise for Octavia. And Medley’s aeolian harp, sounding as Medley flapped her wings behind it, danced between the medley of the other five instruments and provided a blanket of sweet sound that filled in the cracks the other instruments couldn’t reach.
It sounded perfect.
Distantly, Octavia heard Burning Sun scream in rage. She saw gouts of fire launch towards her. She saw them fizzle away as they neared. But this was all very far off; almost like it was happening to some other pony. She was performing, wrapped tightly in her music and surrounded by fantastic musicians -- no, by fantastic friends. Nothing the tyrants could try was worth thinking on. There was only the gorgeous music.
Vinyl, grinning, slammed her sticks together a few more times to mimic hoofsteps. Bluenote blatted a horn-like sound from her tuba in response. The music revved up, strings, brass and bird following the percussion, and then -- as Burning Sun launched fireballs at them, fireballs which were knocked aside by perfectly timed drumbeats -- the DJ began to sing:
A darkness falls over the land
Enslaves, says we cannot withstand!
And I -- try to see
The light -- through the disease
I tried to get up on my hooves
Been so long, working through this mad wood!
But somewhere deep inside, I know
That fate favors the bold!
She blasted out a long, stunning wubstep solo that sent both alicorns stumbling back into the wall. Before they could recover, she whooped, flashed a brilliant grin, and continued:
So tonight, though I am a little pony
I run -- down an erupting volcano
And I drink, drink, drink
From a chalice filled
With the laughter of small foals!
And indeed, Octavia noted that her drums and speakers sounded like foals, even moreso than the themes of the 'Sonata of Morning' she had written a few days prior. They scampered and bounced and seemed almost to laugh... and the alicorns were powerless before them.
Vinyl twirled her drumsticks, adjusted a speaker, and pointed one hoof at the rest of the band. “Take it away, girls!”
“You got it!” It was Medley, an angry grin on her face. Nightmare Moon had been trying to sneak some kind of dark magic through the band -- she seemed to have a better grasp than Burning Sun of how the music went together and where the weak spots were -- but Medley's music was always there to deflect, and shield, and fight back. With another thrust of her wings, she played a soft chord that slipped perfectly within a gap between Lyra's and Octavia's melodies, presenting a solid wall of sound that the alicorn could not penetrate. “Let’s show these two what we can do!”
"When darkness is drowning your soul
And makes you feel alone in the cold!"
The aeolian harp's flowing notes were briefly brisk, cold, unpleasant -- but only for a moment. Then that stray verse was wrapped up by the rest of the notes and quashed beneath the swift, bright, and powerful melody the band was playing. Medley nodded at Fluttershy, who shifted the baton to a wing for a moment and thus was able to sing:
"Find me, and grab ahold
This chalice, it overflows!"
Bluenote took over singing next, pausing on her tuba to -- with a brilliant smile, one that spoke of endless joy and happiness and friendship -- sing:
So tonight, though I am a little pony
I run -- down an erupting volcano
And I drink, drink, drink
From a chalice filled
With the laughter of small foals!
She shut her eyes, grinned, and proceeded to play a long section on her tuba. It was deep and powerful and full of life, seeming to sparkle with pleasure at what the world could provide. It had a foal’s sensibility -- but as shown by that of a master, all that bright love of the world, and one’s friends, and the new and wonderful things she saw every day, expertly discussed in musical form.
“Lyra!” called Octavia, whipping off a beautiful chord progression that knocked aside a tendril of emptiness Nightmare Moon had launched at them. “This was your idea, you should sing something!”
“You got it!”
Lyra sprang up on top of the thrones, and madly strumming her lyre with one hoof, she cried:
Elements, of Harmony,
Hand over the reins
Bless our path, that tonight
We find the will to break these chains
And ride!
And then they were playing a long, wordless section. Octavia could feel the power of the music, and she listened as it blasted into the alicorns, systematically wrecking all the defenses and shields they could put up.
The tyrants tried mightily to resist. They launched everything they had at the ponies. But nothing had any affect. No illusions could survive Octavia’s simple, honest string patterns. No mental attack, no hardening of the heart, could make it past Lyra’s ever-present lyre melodies. Burning Sun transformed into a fifty-foot alicorn and tried to step on them; Bluenote’s tuba laughed at her, and she lost her balance and fell on her flank. Nightmare Moon tried to drain off their power and siphon it into the ground; the others deflected, and when the string players faltered for a moment, Fluttershy’s birds chirped with enough volume and strength to keep them going. And beneath them was the constant magical energy of Vinyl's percussion, energy which was unmatched by any tyrant's spell. The alicorns were outmatched.
“Octavia!” Vinyl yelled. “Finish them!”
“Yes!” said Octavia. She grinned, launching another set of chords and a gorgeous harmony that she layered on top of Lyra’s own melody. Words formed in her mind, and she sang:
So tonight, though we are all little ponies
We all run -- down an erupting volcano
And we drink, drink, drink
From a chalice filled
With the laughter of small foals!
Her eyes narrowed, she pointed her bow at the alicorns, and she finished the song with one final verse:
And the blood and tears of our enemies!
Nightmare Moon turned and tried to flee, but the music reached out, grabbed her, dragged her back. The sound wove all about the sextet, forming into something so beautiful that Octavia could not describe it. She could barely keep up with it.
But keep up she did, and an avalanche of music struck the two alicorns and blasted them down.
The two fell back, both stunned and unable to move. For a moment, it seemed like something else stood before them -- a dimly outlined, constantly shifting entity, with no features and no form save two green and hateful eyes. But then another wave of sound struck it, and with a cry, it vanished into the air.
And it was over. There were only six ponies, their instruments, and two unconscious tyrants.
Octavia just had time to set her cello down before collapsing of exhaustion.
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Note: once again, the song link was added a couple minutes later. Sorry for the delay.
...man, I wish I had a recording of this. :-)
amazing! I especially love the idea to turn the elements into instruments, which by the way is the most original thing I've ever seen done in an alternate universe fic! I wonder what happens now that Octavia and the gang have won?
You know, this chapter reminded me of the rhythm video games, like Guitar Hero and Elite Beat Agents. So that means that this chapter is awesome!
Element Instruments! That makes so much sense, but I totally did not see it coming.
And it looks like the same nightmare spirit was affecting both of the Tyrants, interesting.
Whoa
...that was AWESOME!
Badass.
The Elements used the Power of Rock. It was very effective!
2700324: Isn't it always? :-)
Weaponized music! Only thing missing is for Soundwave to crash through the ceiling and side with Elements.
Nice!
2700443
Or the Powerpuff Girls.
The problem is that I physically cannot imagine how all those random instruments playing together would sound like.
I mean, you have three orchestral string instruments, a low brass, electronic mixing equipment and birds.
Not quite a notable synergy there. If there has been a band that worked with those together, I haven't heard of it.
Now that was an impressive performance! I don't think I've seen quite as good a description of the Elements actually functioning as this - most stories just describe the "orbital friendship cannon" effect from the cartoon, which loses a bit in written form. What I particularly loved is that the Elements haven't turned into instruments, as such - they've merged with the ponies' own instruments, like Octavia's personal cello. I like that a lot. It makes the whole thing very personal.
2596595: Oops. Forgot to respond to this.
I do think Octavia would wear a formal sari rather than a dress. Hmm, now I'm wondering if there's sari-Octavia fanart I can use in my next stories...
2701885: That was my goal. I like the Elements actually incorporating themselves into the prized, beloved possessions of these ponies, and working not through orbital cannon, but through the medium that they know, love, and are very talented in. Music is something all six of these ponies care deeply about, it binds them together, and it deepens their friendship, so it's only fitting that the Elements and magic of friendship are demonstrated through music as well.
Awesome! Glad you went with the instrument idea!
Now that it's official... it's nice that you didn't go overboard and make Octavia the Element of Magic. The Dashverse is a good example of how the de facto leader of the Elements doesn't necessarily have to be Magic, although the concept of the leader coming from Canterlot remains constant.
2702680: I'm not sure I'd call Octavia the team leader. She did provide the most impetuous to keep going (usually being the one to say 'we don't have time to nap/rest/snack; we need to keep heading towards the castle'), but in terms of actual leadership/ordering others around, that was mostly Vinyl, who acted as team strategist.
I did that because I thought it would be interesting to have the focal character not be the team leader; Octavia was able to provide useful contributions even without being in that position, and it was fun to see her act in this new role. It also works better for Tavi's own development, I think; she'd likely fall back into her old habits if she somehow wound up in charge of the other five musicians. This way, she can keep a sense of perspective and focus on helping the team as best she can, not using them for the greater glory of herself or classical music.
Even better. She definitely needs time to focus on being a member of the group, rather than just a one-shot "Hey, we saved the world together once, see ya, time to go back to status quo ante." This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, not just an acquaintanceship forced out of necessity.
The element instruments were interesting, I think fluttershy's birds are the most interesting, the element is actually multiple living beings? or are they clockwork birds or something like that?
So what will become of the Tyrant Alicorn's now? Its not clear if they've been de-eviled or not, I would guess for story purposes, no. That creature between them was interesting, were they controlled by something more powerful?
So Sombra infected the Royal Pony Sister's eh? Very shrewd.
Kind of reminds me of Nimaru's Deviantart fancomic where Luna was infected by The Miasma (a dark could made up of all pony hate from our world)
Just finished Ch16 and so with the climax out of the way, I thought now might be as good a time as any to try expressing those problems I mentioned having with this fic. This could start sounding a little negative, but I do want to stress that I have overall enjoyed this fic, despite what I came to see as flaws along the way (and of course all of this is just my own subjective opinions).
...
The first half of the fic was really good, but from the moment the ponies enter the Everfree the fic starts to just feel dragged out. A large part of this is due to the way you structured the "trials" where by each of the ponies prove themselves worthy of their Element. While you use a colorful variety of monsters to threaten the heroes, the problem is that each chapter still boils down to the same basic story told six times over; a monster appears and only ONE member among the group is capable of overcoming the challenge it presents, which just starts to get blandly repetitive.
By comparison, the actual show did that only with three of the trials; Fluttershy taming the manticore, Pinkie banishing fear, and Rarity soothing the serpent (and the last of those would have at worst only delayed the M6 while they searched for an alternate route). Rainbow's trial was to resist a very personally tailored temptation, while Applejack never really had any kind of "trial" and instead more or less proves her Element though HONEST reassurance. Also, consider how RDD did things in the Lunaverse. Only Lyra's trial involved fighting monsters. Cheerilee proved her worth by encouraging everypony to share memories of happier times, while Carrot Top does the same by putting all concern for personal welfare aside to get Lyra the medicine she needs. Ditzy and Raindrops don't even really face any singular trial-like event, but rather express there elements over the course of the entire quest.
This brings me to where I think this story made it's biggest mistake -- you had six individual trials. In the show, while all the rest get quick one-off trials, Twilight's trial is the entirety of the two part premier, and it is only right at the very end she earns her Element. It's not even in fighting Nightmare Moon that she does so; after all, when she tries to activate the elements alone, she fails. Rather, she doesn't become the sixth Element until her friends are standing beside her and she realizes just how much the have come to mean to her. Her Element is magic, but it was only through discovering FRIENDSHIP that she proved herself. This was more or less repeated for L!Trixie, even if the nature of the final speech was inverted.
Now, of course you were always going to have a more difficult time of this due to the way this team was set up. Octavia is the pony that has to walk Twilight's path and learn the true meaning and value of friendship, but she is HONESTY while Vinyl is MAGIC. It certainly doesn't help that in terms of proving their respective worth, both trials fall short. It's more so Octavia refined sense of hearing that saves them all from the leshy. Vinyl is even worse though as only shows off her own personal magical prowess when fighting the golem, which really doesn't have anything to do with the sixth and most elusive element of them all. Neither M!Twi nor L!Trix is Element of Magic because they are great spellcasters, but rather because the are the heart and soul of the team that unifies and brings the other five together (as the song goes "...and magic makes it all COMPLETE!").
...
Speaking of songs, this last one (as the Elements beat down the tyrant alicorns) really didn't work for me. I know sometimes it seems I say that a lot, but this time it was even MORE so. The song might be suitably epic in and of itself, but NOTHING about it makes me feel like it is in any way the ultimate expression of magical HARMONY. The lyrics all just feel a bit to abstract/random, with only Lyra's verse really working at all.
Punzil posted a Powerpuff Girls song in an earlier comment, which while I'm not saying you should have used instead, is still a good thematic example of the tone and theme that would have better suited the scene (IMHO).
On more of an individual note, while having an instrument as exotic aeolian harp is interesting, I find myself increasingly feeling that something simpler would have been better for Medley's Instrument of Harmony, like maybe some variety of hanging chimes.
Also, I'm not sure Vinyl needed drums as part of her setup. Rather, to play into the aforementioned line from the shows intro ("...and magic makes it all COMPLETE!"), her Instrument of Harmony could have been just a sound mixer and loudspeaker set of sorts, allowing her blend all the other disparate sounds into an orchestrated whole. Plus a microphone maybe, to let her take the role of lead singer.
...
Anyway, now that I've gotten all that out of the way, maybe I've left myself with nothing but good things to say after I finish up the final chapter.
Voltaire is awesome but I'm not sure "Riding a Black Unicorn" is the ultimate expression of harmony against the darkness.
I did like the way you switched the viewpoint character/royal student's element.
FUCK YEAH! Riding a Black Unicorn is the most appropriate and perfect song I could possibly think of for this.
~And tonight, I'm riding a black unicorn~
~Down the side of an erupting volcano~
~And I drink, drink, drink from a chalice filled~
~With the laughter of small children~
For the curious; that chorus, in its entirety, is the actual name of both the song and the album it appears in. The phrase came from a particularly poetic commenter online, and Voltaire liked it so much that he seized the entire thing for his next album.
This was 100% badflank! Instrument Elements, did not expect that, very lovely song, now to see if things are like the Mainverse and they are cured of their madness, or the Lunaverse and they stay mad, or perhaps one regains her sanity, and the other doesn't? Who knows.
2785785
While I do not have a problem with the story itself, with it mostly being a decent easy read for the eyes, I say Emeral brings up a few good points that are worth looking over for a time at least.
In particular, in how the trials were set up for each individual element and how they were to relate to the overall scheme of things.
Sure, by themselves the chapters handled competently. Your average reader probably wouldn't even make a fuss of things, considering that most of us are here just for the poni.
That being said however, when you try to weave all these trials into something that binds, that's where things start to unravel.
To reiterate what Emeral stated, the whole point of the episode was to emphasis the Friendship of Magic, in how each virtue complements one another, and as a whole they form a bond that cannot be broken, even by the mightiest of opposition. Or so the tale goes.
Take for example a symbol that originates from the Iroquois, one that is present within the American government in the present.
californiaindianeducation.org/educational_news/roycook/2011/honor_our_pics/Eagle_Arrows_Tree.png
Take a close look at the bundle of arrows that the eagle is holding in its left talon. There is actually a story behind that, owing its origins to the early Iroquois Confederacy. (Consult actual scholarly sources before taking my whole word for it, as I may miss a few things in attempting to transmit the story below.)
Back before the Iroquois Confederacy was established, there were five warring tribes that fought against each other, competing over resources and the like, resulting in bloodshed, the kidnapping of friends and family, and so forth. The end results of these conflicts only made them more susceptible to not only the brutal elements of the time, but also made it so that evil doers could take advantage of the chaos to use for their own ends.
A small summary of one version of the tale as follows.
There are many variations on this story, but the jist of it is that the tribes were very divided. Take note on the similarities to the tale of Hearth Warming of the three pony tribes.
One day however, two heroic figures came upon the tribes, one by one offering an end to the fighting. Only if all the other tribes stopped their own hostilities, would each tribe agree to a time of peace... Save for one that is, that being the chieftain of the tribe where one of the heroic figures by a fellow I believe to be the name of Hiawatha originates from. Simply put, all the tribes banded together to fight this evil menace, and ended up helping this fellow and his mistress turn to a brighter path, or so one version of the tale goes. Something that the Hearth Warming Eve episode didn't do.
The point of this whole story is that the Mane 6's powers originate from that of being together as a group made up of strong friendship. Without a way to unifiy each tale into something that unites them however, the trials for Octavia and her friends overall fare rather mediocre. By themselves, they could be fine, but considering that the point of each trial is to unite each pony into a stronger unit, it leaves much to be desired.
The Element of Magic here is implied to be a binding glue of a sorts, not in a literal sense, but one of a paragon of friendship. Perhaps a substitute element of a similar inkling would have been better for the overall theme of the story, while holding the same values as both the Lunaverse and the canon counterpart. At some point, Octavia needs to take up the mantle to be a sort of inspiring figure to aspire to, leading by example in some way, shape or form. Vinyl in this case kinda steals that from her. Though you could perhaps maneuver this into something greater of camaraderie and more, the potential is there for even bigger theme or to expand upon already existing ones to cement the importance of all six characters.
The Arrows in this case represent the unity in strength. Alone, the arrow is easily broken. But a bundle is strong and durable, taking sufficiant effort before even one cracks.
"United We Stand. Divided We Fall."
Naturally, Octavia will probably serve as the mane "main" protagonist to serve as a focus focal point to allow us to have a platform to perceive the others by as well.
That is the short version of things. If I went on any longer, I would have gone on a loose tangent. I hope it provides some additional perspective on things in some way.
Ok, that was awesome. While the moment is always the best part of the six gathering (The moment is the term I used to describe when they realize their friendship) in my eyes, this somehow made it even more awesome than it already was. I don't know why, maybe its the song or maybe its the way that this was a curbstomp battle to the two tyrants. Or maybe its just the way the song and the fight intervove between each other. But it was all done so amazingly well.
The idea to make the elements instruments was a nice touch, as it allows this world to be unique to the others. Mane verse is based around fantasy, this is music, so it would make sense for their elements to be musical based. Also, the use of so radically different instruments allows for the magic of harmony to become more amazing as the magic makes the musci beautiful. I also found it kind of interesting that each is based on a form of music genre.
Octavia: Classical
Vinyl: Electronic
Lyra: Rock
Fluttershy: Ballad
Bluenote: Parody
and Medely: contempary
Each creates a blend that makes a well rounded muscial field.
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It was amazing to listen to and read.