Revelry and Merriment

My eyes were wide as alooke upon full moon camp. "cool", I whispered. Centaurs danced and sang around the bonfire; some were also cooking a feast, and others played music. Four older centaurs, robed in clothes made from branches and leaves, stood around the well of water on the dias.

"Come, minstrel, we must enter" Ronan started to lead the way into the camp. Some centaur foals saw us and rushed to greet us. They were only kids, but they were already 5 feet tall. 

"Ronan, Ronan, Is this the minstrel?" one of the older boys asked my chaperone.

"yes, Gana, this is the Minstrel", Ronan replied but didn't look at the boy.

"eh, you guys can call me Eddie or Minstrel Eddie," I said, though I liked the title. I hated how impersonal it was. They nodded at me and then galloped back into the party.

"Come, minstrel Eddie, we must talk to the leader", Ronan said as he led me to a tall, strong, chestnut centaur with black hair. The centaur held a large drinking horn in his hand and stood just outside the party waiting for us.

"Ronan, you brought your guest," the centaur said, then clasped forearms with Ronan.

"Leader, may I introduce Minstrel Eddie. Minstrel Eddie, this is our leader, Magorian," Ronan made introductions.

"Honour to your colony, Leader Magorian" I made a small bow. 

"you honour us with your presence, Minstrel Eddie," Magorian said, returning the bow. "Most humans are not allowed within our colony. We made promises and pacts with the one named Johan to allow any minstrel within the colony during times of celebration. For they will bring more revelry and merriment." Magorian explained, "Few minstrels have been invited over the years, and they have all lived up to Johan's promise, so I hope you do the same, Minstrel Eddie." 

"Revelry and Merriment, well, that will be fun. May I have permission to join the celebrants?" I asked Magorian, who nodded. I smiled and walked into the party, dodging dancers and doing some moves myself. I went past the feat's preparations, which had lots of meat from a variety of animals cooking over fires. It all smelled delicious. Finally reaching the musicians, I smiled and listened to what they were playing; it seemed like just a free-flow jam session with no beginning of a song and no end in sight. The centaur playing two large drums looked at me and nodded.

I pulled out starlight from my satchel; some of the musicians looked interested, and I noticed one was playing a fiddle, which amazed me that they had a human instrument. 'Never mind', I thought and turned on Starlight, the magical strings making a thrum. I had learned a few tricks I could do with starlight that I had never thought of before I got really into tuning it. One, it was a magical instrument, and its strings were magical; I could tune it to make some really odd sounds. But I could also tune it to sound like other instruments. I could make Starlight sound like a bass guitar, an acoustic guitar or a banjo if I wanted. 

This is what I did here: I made starlight sound like a banjo and started jamming with these Scottish centaurs. I played fast and followed along with the jam. My magic spread across the camp and into the bonfire.

As I followed the jam session, I watched as images of centaurs on the ride, on the hunt, and lock-in the battle played in flames. They were playing songs, but the songs told a story through just the music; it was awesome and continuous and expanding. 

The embers of the bonfire twisted into the sky up to the full moon. The jam session slowly ended, and the four elders came down from the dais. The centaurs gather around the staircase of the dias. I stood on a stump to look over them. 

"We welcome the colony", one of the elders spoke in a deep and powerful voice that echoed over the camp. "the Moon cycle has completed, and a new year is upon us."

"the heavens have guided us through another year," a female elder said, her voice just as powerful. I actually felt that their voices contained traces of magic to make them this powerful. 

"With the new year comes a new path," another elder said; I started to notice something about the four. The first to speak didn't have leaves on his outfit; the female had bright green fresh leaves. The one that just spoke had darker leaves and the last to speak had orange leaves. They represented the seasons. 

"Mars is still on its path," The autumn elder said. "Challenges and trails still await ahead of us."

"Venus is on the rise." said the winter elder. "A new age is coming." 

"A new age is coming", all the elders repeated.

"Now that the ceremony is completed, the feast can begin, and those who wish can access the moon pool", said the female elder. There was a cheer from the centaurs, and they started to get food; some climbed the dias and stared into the moon pool.

A small foal, which was a girl because she wore chest coverings, brought me a bowl of food. "thank you", I bowed and accepted the food.

She smiled at me and said, "Thank you for the music, Minstrel." 

I sat on the stump and watched as the centaurs partied, ate, and sang songs of battle and hunts, love, and victory. 'if I ever see Johan again, I will have to thank him for making that deal with the centaurs all that time ago this is really special' i thought to my self. 

"Minstrel Eddie, we play again", said the centaur drummer as he started another round of music. I smiled, finished my stew, and joined to play more music with the people of the forest.