> Humanity and Ponykind
>  by Swordsmen
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Imperium
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Life at school in London couldn't be any different from the previous day. Students who've been here for half a dozen years already know what the procedure is whenever the bell rings:

Lean against the wall, and await for the teacher to open the door for the classroom.

These students however, receiving education for nearly nine years, had grown far too used to it, and sometimes lose themselves to intriguing conversations and funny jokes.

They were scheduled to have History of the World right now, with their most beloved teacher, Miss Sarah. Though they did not show it, the students of that class had had trouble getting used to her, for she bore a certain attitude towards all who interrupted her mid-speech.  But as it turned out, most of the students from other classes already had vacated to their respective classrooms, and they were left quite alone in their chatter.

A couple of minutes later after the bell rang, the class made up of roughly fifteen students, began wondering why their teacher was taking so long. Some had started knocking on the door in hopes of finding her already inside, others began questioning some school staff about the unusual lateness of their teacher. Most staff were as confused as they were, unable to give an exact answer.

Twelve minutes later, the students were beginning to question themselves if they could leave and wait for their next lesson elsewhere.

As if they had made the question out loud for everyone to hear, a tall and slim woman with blond hair and tiny glasses on her noise, strode past the students muttering a 'good morning' to them as she went. 

The students did not recognize her, she certainly was not the person they expected it to be, however, they followed her inside in relative silence, apart from a pair of boys cracking up some jokes between themselves.

Once inside, most of the students began unpacking their bags and taking out their pens and pencils, as they usually did in their history classes. 

The teacher, who had been unpacking her bag as well, hadn't noticed this beforehand, but when she did, she raised her hand and called out to them.

"Oh, no!" She tried making herself clear with a slightly ragged voice. "That won't be necessary at all!"

"You will not be needing to write anything today," She explained to the students.

All of them bore a face of slight surprise, but did not object, some, even enjoying it.

As they all put their materials away, they awaited for the teacher to fiddle around with a large monitor beside a blackboard, and turning it on. She did so in silence, as she took out an USB Drive and plugged it in the classroom's computer.

"Now," The teacher began as she adjusted the intensity of the screen beside her. "As I said, you won't be needing anything from your bags today. In this lesson, we will not be using anything besides our own voice and ears." She said, trying to soothe her ever so slightly ragged voice, to which some students let out short chuckles and sneers.

"And perhaps-" Noticing the sneering students, "your brains as well. Those are important in a subject like this." The sneering students lowered their heads.

"Now, if you haven't guessed already, I will be replacing Mrs. Sarah for the time being, as she has been in a sickly disposition for the past week, which does not suit our school at all until she is in a stable enough condition to continue teaching."

"Judging by your interested faces, yes, I do indeed work in this school, just not on the teaching department. I have been offered this position of History of the World teacher just this morning, and I am most eager to share my knowledge of the past with you all,"

"However, I will not share my knowledge in the same way as your previous teacher, I rather prefer talking to students, answering their questions, without the need of a book or a sheet of paper," At this, some students nodded in agreement.

"If it's possible, where were you left previously on History of the World?" She said, looking at each student individually, examining them carefully.

A hand shot up from a girl with curly black hair.

"Yes, miss...?"

"Hannah,"

"Well?"

"We, uh, we were left at the first global empires and how they formed," The girl explained, a little apprehensively.

"Excellent, very good, that is indeed a great starting point for out lesson today," She said, beaming at everyone.

Before the teacher could say more, another hand shot up from a boy.

"Yes, Mr...?"

"Jim, teacher. And may I ask, what is your name?"

The teacher seemed surprised, "Oh, well, how could forget about that? Ahem, I'm Annabel Cross, dear boy,"

"Now," She started, ignoring some the students' sneering smile at their colleague Jim, "I am aware that your teacher left me a message to what should be taught today, however," Taking out a piece of paper heavily written on, "That will not be necessary, as I have my own agenda for today."

She replaced the paper back on her desk and looked once more at the students, "Are there any questions you would like to be answered before we begin?"

A boy with a careless smile and sleepy attitude raised his hand.

"Ted Parker, teacher," Before she could say anything, "And, can you tell me which part of the lesson we should be sleeping?"

She seemed shocked for a moment, but then raised her lips into a pleased smile, "I daresay at roughly eleven AM, Mister Parker,"

It took a while for it to register on his face, but when it did, he realized that the teacher herself was joking on him. Eleven AM was when the subject ended.

"Aside from that, does anyone have any decent questions to ask?" She waited a moment. When nobody raised their hands, "Alright then, let me just pull up an image where we can start of off," She said before searching for some document in the computer screen near the blackboard.

A long moment of complete silence ensued over the classroom. The soft pounding from the rain on the windows, and the teacher's continuous clicks with the computer's mouse were the only noises in that classroom. Over time, however, some students started to bring up idle chatter between themselves, to which the teacher did not object to, until one click later, the screen displayed a large image, to which all of the previous chatter died down instantly.

The teacher glanced at the screen, then turned her gaze back to the students, who did not seem very interested.

"As you can all probably tell, this is the political map of North America in the year Two-Thousand and Twenty-Three." She paused, thinking of a good way to phrase her next thought.

"To your right, are the Eastern United States, and Québec, also known as Canada. To the south, we have Mexico... To your left, we have, as clearly stated, the Principality of Equestria, a rather unique nation state to which I am very sure none of you have ever studied before."

A hand rose from one of the far corner of the classroom.

"Yes, Mr...?"

"Ronald, teacher. What does this have to do with the first global empires?"

"Perfect question, Ronald!" Beamed the teacher.

"It might not look like to it us, but this single country, that spans over nearly half a continent, has had huge consequences since its discovery centuries ago."

"Now," Glancing at the ceiling, choosing her words carefully, "As we all know, it is commonly said that the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal were the first to venture off of their own continent and establishing trade routes never seen before."

"And the interesting fact about this, is that most of it was carried out by humans, like everyone on this classroom,"

"Back then, we thought we were the only beings capable of speech, rational thinking, and overall superior intelligence," She paused, "Since the times of Ancient Egypt to the last remnants of the Roman Empire, only humans dominated the landscape, built incredible things, carved its legacy on to the Earth," She paused yet again, examining the students' more interested faces.

"With the voyage of Columbus in 1492-1493, the Old World, mainly Europe, became aware of another continent, completely barren and open for colonization," She sighed, "But as we all know, it wasn't like it seemed to be, other peoples lived there, had civilizations of their own, even nations of their own. Most notable of these, were the Iroquois, Aztec, Maya and the Inca peoples, all of which lived in the Americas."

"When the first colonists arrived there, mainly Portugal and Spain, they encountered humans like themselves, people living in tribal conditions and lacking any of the technologies of the time, like iron armor, spears, and more..."

"Again, like it was explained to you all beforehand, diseases brought on by the colonists ravaged the local populations and left the lands truly barren and open for colonization. Only small percentages remained of the native populations, and those who survived, were assimilated into the conquerors' culture and customs."

"Most of these events early on, took place in South America, and affected mainly the Inca peoples," She breathed in, "In North America, colonization was not possible due to the aggressiveness and fierceness of the local peoples, except for the Aztec and Mayans, who were defeated by plague and war alike,"

A hand was slowly raised upward.

"Mrs. Hannah?"

"Wasn't all of it caused by the Spanish Empire, teacher?"

"Unfortunately, most of it was, yes." She said, looking grim, "The Portuguese did cause mass culture extinctions as well, many of which, were undocumented,"

"Now, we fast forward a century after the discovery of the Americas, and reach the 1650's." She said, pressing a button on the keyboard and switching up the present political map.

"This is the estimated political map of North America in 1650," She said, pointing out the map behind her, "Most territory we see here are colonial dominions, with the exception of the Iroquois, the last remaining documented nation, or more accurately, federation in the continent,"

"With all of the great powers of the time grabbing every piece of land they could, the space in which the natives could live freely became tighter and tighter by the decade, and so, many wars were fought here, mostly between the stronger civilizations, like the Iroquois, and other undocumented federations,"

"Now, judging again by your faces, why are the Iroquois so important? Why are they so relevant if they hadn't succeeded in repelling the European Powers?" She paused, adjusting her voice a little, "Because, like many other lost civilizations, they were consequential, they shaped how today's world works,"

A hand shot up.

"Mr. Jim?"

"In what way did the Iroquois shape the world, teacher?"

"They warned us of our ambitions, dear boy,"

The class seemed perplexed, none seemed to be accompanying the teacher in her reasoning. 

"H- How so, teacher?" Asked Jim, utterly confused.

"How they warned us of our ambitions?" Smiled the teacher, "Fifty years later, when the English were at the Iroquois own homeland, their leader warned the colonists of the dangers if they settled further westward,"

"What were these dangers, teacher?" Said Hannah without raising her hand. The teacher did not object.

"Let's see..." She glanced up at the ceiling again, thinking, "If you have been paying attention, you could argue that the Spanish conquered nearly a quarter of both Americas in just over a century, without much resistance... This meaning most of South and Central America, of course,"

"All found civilizations were inherently human, very much alike how Europe was before the Roman Empire. But, for the Spanish, once they had reached what is now northern Mexico, they were having trouble settling the land, for what reason, we do not know, at least, the other European Powers didn't,"

"But, teacher?" Said Hannah, "Couldn't it be because of the deserts that span that area? Maybe the settlers couldn't survive for long on those conditions..."

"Excellent point, Mrs. Hannah," She said, gazing the student.

"You see, the Russians, the French and the English, had so far only encountered human civilizations, each with varying degrees of knowledge and technology,"

"That warning, made by the Iroquois leader, shortly before being annexed by the English, was not made for nothing, and, to understand why, we must talk about how the Iroquois governed their land,"

She took a deep breath, and began explaining the various aspects of the Iroquois federation, what they valued most and how their myths and tales shaped their people. The class found this a little comical, because of one the tales involved a supposed prophet who would say nothing other than peace and friendship in his discussions with other leaders of the federation.

The pair of students who kept cracking up jokes, now tried their very best not to laugh themselves off their chairs, and other students around them couldn't help but smile as well.

"As much as this is funny, it is true," Continued the teacher, ignoring the wide smiles on the pair's faces.

"When the English arrived, the confederation pursued nothing more than friendly relations with their new neighbors. But when they started attacking, they couldn't help but to respond with aggressiveness as well," She breathed, "That was when the leader made his warning clear,"  

"Once the English had conquered the Iroquois, they expanded their influence further inland, completely ignoring the leader's warning. Russian expansion into the Great North slowed down severely once they reached further south, and the Spanish's influence stagnated on Rio Grande. No one knew why it was so, because neither the Russians, nor the Spanish told the rest of Europe why,"

"Now, half a century later, the situation changes drastically in North America," She said, pressing a button again and changing the imagery.

"Well, uh, I don't see much difference there," Said a student near Jim.

"Oh brilliant, aren't you, Arthur?" Blurted out Hannah.

Noticing the girl's expression, he lowered his head. The teacher merely smiled at them both.

"Though we indeed don't see much of a difference in the map, apart from further expansions inward, all of the colonizing states discovered why Russia and Spain's influence over the continent slowed down drastically,"

Again, the teacher reached out for her keyboard, and the same exact image appeared on the screen, with the exception of a tiny pink circle near the French border.

"The French settlers in Québec had finally discovered an entirely new species, rivaling themselves," Breathed the teacher, unable to contain her excitement, "A new being to which we could relate to, to which we could compare ourselves with, learn with, share thoughts, and everything like a human could with another one,"

"Upon contact, the French settlers were bewildered and utterly confused, as to how seeming Equines had managed to create a village not unlike their own, and behave most similarly like humans," She said, examining the students' interested faces, "At first, the town's leader seemed as perplexed as they were, and with completely different languages, it took a while to communicate their thoughts to the French settlers,"

"As it seemed to them at the time, much like the Iroquois, they wanted nothing other to discover more about the humans, and perhaps to befriend them,"

"Though various means of communications, the French settlers brought a pair of Equines to the nearest settlement, to attempt to figure out what they could do at a situation like this," She said, her grin slowly fading, "In summary... It, it did not go as planned,"

Silence overtook the class for a moment, "Teacher?" Asked a student named Bill on the other side of the classroom, "What happened a the settlement?"

"Well, let's just say that a little too much superstition complicated matters between the tw-"

The bell rang right at that moment, prompting most of the class to jump to their feet and leave the classroom. Some, however remained a little longer, eager to ask more question to what happened at the settlement. The teacher did not give a full reply, instead smiling and promising a much more fulfilling History class next week.


> Equestria
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone in the class was curious to know more about the Equines, and what happened at that settlement. Most of them pretended not to care, since they did not have a reputation for liking History of the World, though they sometimes could be heard muttering about the subject to their colleagues with interest.

As usual, the bell rang loudly over the school corridors, prompting the students to wait for their teacher beside the classroom door. The bell, as loud as it was, could not muffle out the rain and thunder that covered the skies that morning. Naturally, the corridors were full of drenched students, and the occasional sneeze.

Nevertheless, they waited in silence, even the pair of boys who usually loved telling jokes to everybody were rather silent, bearing serious looks.

Some of their closest colleagues noted this fact, and questioned their unusual lack of jokes to tell.

Both shared grim looks as one of their classmates asked them this, "You have no idea what we saw earlier today," Said a boy named William.

The other boy shook his head slightly, "Can't believe they're starting to allow ponies in our school now," He said, prompting everyone nearby to pay full attention to their conversation.

"Yeah, that's right you lot, they're allowing a pony into school grounds," Said William clearly for everybody to hear.

Robert, the other boy seemed disgusted by something, "And here I thought there'd be schools for them alone. We don't need them singing about how beautiful their place is n' all,"

The students broke into frantic whisper, unable to properly register this information. It was something never heard of before in the country, much less the school. This whispering and chatter continued on for the longest time, barely noticing the passing time, completely focused in on their current conversations.

However, the chatter slowly died down, as everyone in the class began not hearing footsteps, but loud hoofsteps. They were audible from the far end of the corridor, only getting louder as it approached the students.

Finally, whatever was making the noise, presented itself to the students:

A tall yet well-nourished pony, with grey hair and a very tired look upon its green eyes. It had a light blue coat and possessed a horn, which glowed as it engulfed a floating pair of books beside it. The pony was accompanying their temporary teacher, whom taught them in the previous session of History.

As if nothing special was happening, the teacher muttered a 'good morning' to the students and opened the door to the classroom, the pony following closely behind her.

The students did not enter immediately. Concern, and perhaps a little fear, did not allow them to proceed inside straight away. Only when the teacher called out for them, did they unwillingly enter the classroom. Though, it took a while for everyone to settle in on their seats, because they were slightly afraid that any sudden movements would scare the pony and cause it to unleash its power with that horn.

A moment's silence ensued over the classroom, having everyone sat down in their seats, and awaiting for the teacher and the pony to finish their inaudible conversation. Only the thundering rain outside kept them from paying complete attention to what their teacher was saying to the pony. The classroom's ambience was very tense, as both fear and curiosity settled in on the student's minds as they continued to gaze at them.

Finally, as if an invisible window had been shattered, the teacher spoke up.

"Good morning to you all," Said the teacher with her ragged voice, "I see everyone has noticed our new visitor," Said the teacher, showing a little smirk on her face, noticing everyone else's expression.

"Allow me to present to you, Mr. Stream Blaze, a prominent History teacher at the University of Canterlot, in the Principality of Equestria,"

The students started clapping for the shortest while and lowered their hands right away, gazing at the pony, who simply nodded.

"He is here to share his extensive knowledge of his nation with us all, as per my request," She said, nodding at the pony with a certain apprehension, "Now, does anyone wish to ask questions before we begin our session?"

Nobody dared to say anything.

"Oh, very well then!" Clasping her hands together, "Mr. Blaze, I leave the classroom to you," Nodding at him and sitting down at her desk.

The pony did not say anything at first, merely examining each and every student before him with mild curiosity. Then, he smiled.

"I presume you all have been informed about our own history, ponykind's history, to be precise?" Said the pony with a very deep and commanding voice, though, attempting to keep it calm and soft.

No one moved an inch.

"Yes, yes, quite typical around these parts, I'm sure," Placing his gravity-defying books on the teacher's desk, "At the very least, has any of you learnt about the great war between Humans and Ponies?"

Again, no one replied.

"Disappointing," Sighing, "I hoped to start off from somewhere easier, but perhaps today is not my day,"

The pony glanced back at the teacher and nodded at the monitor in front of the blackboard. She complied and started fiddling with the cables.

"Your teacher tells me that you were planning to understand more about our First Contact with Humans, is that not correct?" Impatience settling in on his voice.

Some students nodded.

The pony stared at the wall behind the students, muttering something to itself, apparently thinking about something. The pony's gaze then turned to the students, its expression changing between slight confusion and anxiousness. This moment prolonged itself for quite some time, again thrusting the classroom into an abysmal silence.

Much to the students' relief however, the pony spoke up at once.

"Right, then," Breaking its gaze and confused expression, "What we are about to discuss is something that shall not, under any circumstances, leave this classroom without my authorization; Have I made myself clear?"

The students nodded fervently. Robert and William simply shrugged.

This seemed to calm the pony down, as its tone dropped slightly, "Excellent, most welcome,"

"As I was informed, you have studied the beginning of European colonization of North America," It hovered a book from the desk and opened it up briskly, turning the pages as if trying to find the correct paragraph, "First Contact, the most important moment of this Earth," It said, slowly closing the book, while shooting glances at it.

"And yet, full of flaws in its meaning. An extremely important fact for this session of History," He looked down at the students with a stern expression, "And this is a flaw that should be revised by all who write about the past,"

The pony started pacing around the room, gathering everyone's utmost attention, "As we know, humans dwell on much larger and fertile lands, mainly on the continents we now call ' The Old World '," Sighing, "Naturally, this gave opportunity for the humans to evolve and develop highly sophisticated methods of transport, and, due to human nature, an extremely well-prepared fighting force,"

"Equines, did not have these advantages," Its voice staggering for split second, "Perhaps due to the relative isolation from other civilizations, lack of will to fight, and a very conservative mindset,"

Hannah raised her hand up slowly.

"Hm... Yes?"

"Uhm... Uh, professor Blaze, what does this fact, uh, teach us anything about the, uh, first contact?"

Professor Blaze muttered under his breath, "Quite, yes quite..."

"As a matter of fact, Mrs. Hannah, that is a good question, one that will be answered shortly," He nodded. Hannah seemed perplexed.

"A brief overview of ponykind's history will enlighten you all on the reason behind many decisions made upon First Contact,"

"This book," Professor Blaze hovered another book from the desk and showed its cover to the students, "Contains the most detailed account of Equestria before European contact. It is called, ' The Past and The Present of Equestria ', a book that has yet to reach human libraries due to its honest and extreme views of the past,"

"Naturally," Noticing some looks from the students, "us Equines do not learn history solely from one book, or many, in fact. Oral tradition plays a huge part in sharing our knowledge to the younger generations, and the books and written records simply serve to confirm facts and share some overseen details,"

"And now, as it is common in our establishments, I ask all of you, if you wish to know more about Equestrian History proper," He said, examining the students' indecisive faces, "Or else, we can skip right to the First Contact. But be warned, you may find yourselves asking one too many questions during my speech. The choice is yours to make,"  

"If you want to learn more from professor Blaze, please raise your hands," Said their teacher.

At first, no one dared raise their hand. However, as one hand shot up in the air, others began following, until a good portion of the class held their hands high. The pair of boys, however, did not.

Professor Blaze nodded at the students pleasantly, "I am glad to see interest in the classroom," He adjusted his voice slightly, and began out loud, "Once upon a time, most likely three thousand years ago, three tribes ruled the lands that now surround Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria,"

"Each of these tribes were made of different races of ponies: The Earthlings, made up of Earth Ponies who grew the lands; The Wingsalots, powerful Pegasi, who dominated the skies; And the Royalties, Unicorns looked upon for their incredible skill and wise leadership. Together, they ruled the lands around Canterlot, but were very independent of each other in their own right,"

"Independence might not be a proper term for this but... Perhaps autonomous is the more appropriate word. They required each other's assistance; The Earthlings needed help from the Wingsalots in order to grow their crops, the Wingsalots and the Royalties required food in exchange; The Royalties served as the protectors of their 'federation', casting powerful magical spells in order to defend their lands from outside contact,"

"In a sense, every tribe was dependent on each other for survival, and yet," He breathed in,"None trusted the other, they cast doubtful looks at each other, suspicious of the other tribe's intentions,"

"This status quo lasted for centuries upon centuries, and yet there are very few details about their daily lives that survive to this day," Flicking through some pages of the equestrian history book, while maintaining his gaze upon the students.

"We know that they had a similar feudal system to that of Medieval Europe, we know that the Royalties held greater powers in the affairs of the other two tribes, and we know that they always were distrustful of each other for an extremely long time, as I said earlier." Glancing at the book now, "As we now call the Dark Ages to Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire, us ponies call this the 'Age of Disharmony'

"It is believed that this federation lasted until the 16th century C.E, by which time, the way these ponies lived changed completely," Closing the book again, "Two pretenders, later known as Celestia and Luna, dared challenge the status quo, and overthrow the Royalties' unfair and unwise decisions made at the time,"

"The Royalties resisted their demands, because these pretender were not just any kind of ponies, no, they were quite unusual," A sort of grin forming on his lips, "They were different, both physically and mentally, and had powers none of the Royalties ever could've dreamed of," He sighed happily, "They were Alicorns,"

A student raised their hand.

"Excuse me, but... What are Alicorns?"

"Disappointing, I might say," Said professor Blaze in a saddened way, "Alicorns are a race different from the three others I've mentioned,"

"Alicorns are a race with both the ability to fly, and cast magical spells, having both wings and horns, however, with much more amplified abilities and powers. They are essentially superior to the other three races, far more capable of mundane tasks and high authority than the Earthlings and Royalties ever could,"

"The three races gathered together in the Royalties' Castle, around Fifteen-Seventy-Eight CE, and debated on what should be done about the two Alicorns, and why they're so powerful. They feared their federation would collapse if the two Alicorns ruled the lands in thrir own accord," He hovered the still-floating history book down and placed it gently on the desk, "As such, the three races demanded the Alicorns to prove themselves of their capabilities, and only then, would they attain right to rule,"

"According to legend, the two Alicorns bonded together, and lifted the entire castle from its foundations and perfected it, building vast hallways, replacing the old stones and using them to create vast sentries that dot the castle to this day," He nodded happily to the students' bewildered faces," From that day forth, the castle of the Royalties was renamed to 'The Castle of the Two Sisters'

"Their right to rule was never again questioned, and all of the three races bowed down to them, recognizing their new rulers,"

Arthur snorted, "Imagine that happening in Europe, you'd probably get yourself assassinated the second you turn your back on them,"

"Ah, yes, that is the issue, Mr. Arthur," His smile broader, yet calm, "They are Immortal,"

"Immortal?" Questioned Robert, who now seemed offended, "That's what all kings and queens back then claimed to be, and guess what? They are not with us anymore, are they?"

"Youth, who do you think still rules Equestria to this day? Perhaps another princess by the name of Celestia?" Said the pony irritably.

"More than likely, that's for sure,"

"I'm amazed at how little you know, young student, maybe if you let me elaborate, it would benefit us both," He said, trying dearly to keep his tone low.

Hannah raised her hand, "P-professor, I have a question-- Do Equestrians have their own language?"

He sighed, calming himself down, "Yes, they had one, in the past. Unfortunately, it has gradually been replaced by English due to the Eastern United States' influence on the nation, but, we'll leave that for another time," Adjusting his voice.

"Fifteen Seventy-Nine was the year the Alicorns officially gained total control over the three tribes. Their first order of duty, as it is commonly said, was to banish the three tribe's authority, and spread a sense of unity between all the races. Their motto was, I believe 'Harmony Above All', this, being an attempt to make the ponies forget about their mistrustful past,"

Professor Blaze turned around and nodded at the teacher again towards the monitor, issuing her to start searching for some document in the computer.

"Their form of government was rather simple, at the time at least. Using today's terms, we called it an Absolute Dual-Monarchy, both sisters exerting total control over Equestria's affairs-- And, I'm sure some of you might ask yourselves this-- why do the sisters call themselves Princesses, and not Queens, as it is commonly done in Europe and the rest of the Old World?"

"It's said, that it is to respect their parent's status as King and Queen, who perished long ago before their foals became princesses. King and Queen of what, we do not know."

"Mr. Blaze, monitor's ready for you," The teacher informed him.

"Excellent, much obliged Miss Annabel," Smiling.

Various images flickered across the monitor, and a furious pushing of buttons made themselves loud and clear on the keyboard. They appeared to be pushed by an invisible finger, but the students knew otherwise, intently gazing at the professor, who had an expression of deep concentration.

At last, however, the flickering of images came to a stop, and a very familiar image was painted on the monitor. Everyone in the class recognized it as the political map of North America in the current year, Two-Thousand and Twenty-Three. This did not stop them from staring at professor Blaze.

Believing everyone was looking at the screen behind him, he adjusted his voice slightly, "I'm positive that you have all seen this image before, and I'm certain that it needs no general description," He said calmly, "However, I urge you all to focus your attention to this tiny red dot in Western Québec... Can anyone tell me what it means?"

Silence once again overtook the class, this one eerier and more tense than ever. And yet again, a hand shakily rose to the air.

"... Is that where the, uh, First Contact took place? Because, uh, Ms. Annabel told us that's where--"

"Quite right you are, Mr. Arthur!" Professor Blaze interrupted with an awful cheerfulness, somewhat alleviating the tension.  

"As much as this is agreed upon, it is not, by any chance the first 'contact', so to say, with humans," He explained, "In reality, the 'First Contact' was the first technologically advanced and organized human civilization they've directly met with. France, in this case."

"And by directly, I mean face to face, without any immediate aggression," He said, noticing the students' confused expressions, "But of course, there have been many other contacts with humans in the past, mainly when the federation still ruled the three races," Explaining, "Most of their actions were very violent and rather ignorant, if I say so myself,"

"This, because they were simply postponing the inevitable, an open declaration of war again the ponies, but... We shall get to that shortly,"

"As I was saying, ponies have met humans before, most contacts led to aggression, and forced the ponies to exterminate them in order to guard their whereabouts. They did not want any human to tell the others where their fellow comrades died and who or what did it. This cycle of illogical killing dragged on for centuries, until the princesses took power,"

"Their response to this was slow and rather enduring, as their main focus was to unite the three tribes," Said professor Blaze matter-of-factly, "The princesses had plenty of time to unite the ponies without much trouble, as the humans surrounding Equestria had long perished due to the federation's will,"

"And now, the part everyone was waiting for... The official First Contact," Breathing in.

The image flickered again into one of a scene, more like a painting, of a French settler bowing to an important looking male pony, with a vast scene of observers in the background, both human and pony,"A painting conceived by the famous artist, Amethyst DeClaire, a pony who grew up entirely with humans-- Quite an interesting tale, personally. Ahem," 

"This painting takes place in an isolated settlement by name of Winnipeg, a border town at the time. Relatively close to this, was the newly founded Oakville, built by ponies. It would only be a matter of time before the humans and ponies met each other,"

"And approximately three years after the two settlements were fully established--"

A boy raised his hand.

Professor Blaze seemed confused, "Er, yes?"

"Professor, didn't you say that the ponies were, like, isolated and liked to be left alone?"

"Quite right..." With an expression of mild interest.

"But then why were the ponies building a town in a such isolated place, like you just said?"

"Hm, perhaps I should explain our princesses' desires at the time, because as I mentioned before, many decisions here are best shared with an appropriate explanation,"

Professor Blaze fetched the book from the table, and opened it hastily onto the page he was looking for, intently staring at it for a while. He glanced at the boy with a smirk on his lips. He replaced the book on the table with the rest, and calmly turned to the students.

He sighed, "Several decades after the princesses gained power, after being satisfied with the newfound unity between the races, the sisters turned their attention to matters outside of Equestria. One of these being proper interaction with the humans, since most encounters ended, well, badly,"

"As such, using overcrowding as the reason, they sent ponies from all three races to settle the land around Equestria, and expand their homeland further east. This decision was beneficial for everypony, ensuring that the capital city could manage its affairs easily, and devote time into other problems,"

His expression was stern, "Problems that could've easily been avoided. I am talking, of course, about native extermination,"

William and Robert shook their heads with disappointed looks, not even daring to break eye contact with the professor. Everyone else didn't even seem to be catching on with what professor Blaze said. The teacher, on the other hand, never ceased her serious look since the beginning of the session.

"Yes, I'm sure you all know about this," Stated professor Blaze, trying to decipher their expressions, "Just not how us ponies did it. Allow me to explain, that it did not differ much from the initial colonization of North America by the various European empires-- Taking their homelands, exploiting their population, and the likes..."

"No, it was quite different for us," He said, shaking his head, "The princesses demanded that no being should be harmed or abused of in their own lands, and should only defend themselves if they attack first,"

"I wonder how that turned out..." Said Robert, rolling his eyes.

Pretending to ignore him, professor Blaze continued, "We settled the lands around the homelands of both humans and pony, and attempted to integrate them into our society. As was expected, the human natives were extremely hostile to us on all occasions, and were ultimately killed. This is a common trend in Equestrian history, I'm afraid,"

"A mere twenty years after the princess' order, the Equestrian territory suffered drastic changes, greatly expanding from its original land. By Sixteen Seventy, our influence had reached the borders of the Empires of Spain and Russia. However, direct contact was never achieved, due to the local climates, and time of settlement,"

As he was about to continue his speech, he stopped himself right at that moment, sudden concentration plastered on his face. Not a moment later, a pocket watch floated from behind the professor and into his field of view. He gazed at it with interest, occasionally glancing at the students before him. Then, he paced around the room, deeply immersed in his thoughts.

Meanwhile, the room remained relatively silent, only filled with the sounds of rain from outside, and from the working monitor. The pair of boys could be seen sharing their thoughts in whispers, the rest of the students either glanced at the windows, or refused to stop looking at professor Blaze.

After what felt like half a dozen minutes, professor Blaze finally spoke up.

"I am afraid that we must leave further proceedings for a later time, as this session is drawing to a close," He said, rather disappointed, "However, in order to teach you all on what happened all those years ago, on the day we call the 'First Contact' with rigorous detail, I must invest time to prepare myself for the next session,"

"As such, I shall, if Ms. Annabel agrees, allow all of you to leave this classroom earlier than usual."

Ms. Annabel seemed taken aback, utterly caught off-guard by this. She regained her composure and adjusted her own ragged voice.

"Of course, I don't see why not!" Glancing at the students anxiously.

"Much appreciated," Turning to the students, "You may leave the classroom. In silence, preferably."

As ordered professor Blaze, the students hurried to their feet and left the classroom as fast as they could, not daring to open their mouths. The pair of boys on the other hand, took their time and observed their teacher speaking to the pony with a worried look. Once she spotted them standing idly, the pair made way to the door and left the classroom.





> Terra Incognita
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

At every part of school, from the corridors to the classrooms, everyone spoke about the pony who entered the school grounds yesterday. The news spread extremely fast. Not an hour later after the students of that class left History of the World, the corridors were filled with whispers and interest on the subject.

It was something never heard or seen of before. There was never such a case like it in the entire country, much less in the school. Usually, equines resided at ponies-only establishments, and they were very far away from human institutions. This was a subject that the pair of boys, William and Robert were discussing at lunch with their closest friends.

"Bloody hell they aren't," Commented Robert on one of his colleague's opinion on the matter, "They won't do that, they simply can't. I can't be bothered to care about those animals," He continued with a nasty look on his face.

"Oi, can't you give them a break for once? Why are you so against them anyways?" Questioned his mate Arthur, through his blond hair that covered his face.

Robert tried adjusting his own light brown hair, though, due to the force, it only became more unkempt. Then, he let out a long sigh, "Remember me aunt Alice? She went into one of those weird clinic things, can't remember its name now," He said to everyone in the table, looking nervous, " She came out as a bloody pony, I couldn't even recognize her when I first saw her!"

"Oh... Yeah," Said William, "Yeah, my neighbors are thinking of doing the same, mate. Y'know, converting and the sort."

"Wait hold on, what are we talking about again?" Asked Ted, who was paying attention on a conversation in a nearby table.

"Conversion Bureaus, ya dimwit," Said Arthur irritably next to him.

"Oh. Right." Catching on with their ongoing conversation, "Makes me wonder a few things, that does,"

As they helped themselves with lunch, nobody batted a eye on the heated discussions about the very same topic in other tables around them. Instead, they pretended to be interested in the weather outside, showing themselves curious at how there even was sunshine on the windows today. They remained so until William had finished his own plate, and suddenly looked at Ted with a curious face.

"Hey Ted, what does it make you wonder about?"

"Hm?" Gulping in a mouthful of bread.

"Y'said it made you think about a few things."

"Well, yeah, it does...I mean, I've been thinking, what if that pony, Blaze..." He paused, noticing everybody's faces, "--Didn't you guys think he acted too much like, y'know, one of us?"

"What the bloody hell are you on about?" Demanded Robert, pushing his unfinished bowl of soup aside.

"Fine then," He breathed in slightly, "What if Blaze was a human himself once?" This raised a few eyebrows from his colleagues.

"The way he spoke, how he acted and stuff, he awfully reminded me of a normal human teacher."

"Mrs. Annabel said he was from Canterwhat," Said Arthur calmly.

"Canterlot." Interjected William.

"Yeah, whatever. And so? What does it change?" Arthur asked Ted directly, but before he gave him time to reply, "I think it doesn't change the fact that he can levitate things just with his mind, and that he spewed out stuff we don't even know if really happened,"

"Actually, have any of you ever met a pony before?" Asked Ted suddenly, then added, "Before Blaze, I mean."

Everyone went silent at that moment, thoughtful expressions everywhere Ted looked. Robert's face, however, seemed to be telling him that he already knew the answer. As a matter of fact, nobody on the table, except Robert with his aunt, had actually directly met with a pony before. Perhaps they had seen a few, occasionally, but not enough to tell each other what they thought about them.

Thoroughly thinking about the topic, Ted asked yet another question, "If you don't mind, what was it like, Robert? Your aunt," Attempting to shine some light on the matter. 

Robert seemed rather impressed, to be asked this question, but nevertheless did not hesitate in answering, "How do I put this for you lot..." He sighed.

"Me aunt used to be this grumpy, no-fun type of person, though she was cool when she really wanted to. One day she found out she had some kind of problem on her back that would put her on a wheelchair. Doctors suggested her to go to one of the Bureaus and see if the problem would be solved,"

"Wow, must've been something real serious," Arthur commented. Robert continued, brushing his hair slightly, out of habit, "She went in, and stayed there for like, a week or so. We weren't allowed to see her until she could walk and stuff. Thing is, when we finally got to see her, I couldn't recognize her, not even from afar."

He noticed Arthur's smirk, "Not just in appearance, in her head as well. All of a sudden, she went from a grumpy old lady, to an all happy-go-lucky gal. Says she found admiration on the world around her, and that the next time she could go abroad, she would go to Horseland,"

They chuckled at the remark, but stopped once the information sunk in on their consciousness. They stared at each other in silence, completely ignoring the near-shouting discussions nearby.

"They brainwashed your aunt?" Asked Ted, bewildered.

He nodded sadly, "Still remembers me though, all that changed was her personality... And that horn of hers, making things float out of pure joy..."

No one pressed the matter further. They had learned everything they could've from the discussion, and felt as if any further questioning would stress Robert just enough for him to leave the table altogether. Instead, they finished lunch and started speaking about other affairs, mainly related to school.

Seeing others students leaving their respective tables, the group left their own and followed the crowd outside.

"Oi Arthur, what are we gonna have now? French?" Asked William. 

"Nah, probably Geography, I forgot my timetable already, to be honest with ya," He answered, smiling.

He glanced around and noticed his classmate, Alfred walking by, chatting with his friends. He tapped on his shoulder, and prompted him to turn around, "Oh hey there William, how is it going?" Smiling

"Pretty well. Hey d'you know what we're having next?"

His smile faded away, "Yeah, I do,". 

William took notice of this, but asked again, "What are we gonna have?"

"History, with professor Blaze,"

This seemed to have hit a nerve in everyone's mind. The group literally stared at Alfred with a shocked expression. Ted just shook his head, as if trying to figure out if this was a joke or not. They kept walking, accompanying Alfred to his locker, which was actually near the classroom where they usually have History.

Finally, William spoke up, "This is not a joke, right?"

"Not at all, mate,"

"I swear to god that we weren't gonna have History until Friday!" Said Ted, unbelieving.

"Yeah, we were supposed to have it on Friday, but they flipped our timetables without any warning. I thought you guys knew it by now?"

"Not at all," Said William, then added, "How do you know this, by the way?"

He didn't reply right away, busying himself taking and organizing his locker. When he finished, he put his bag on his shoulders and motioned them towards the classroom door, which was still locked. He checked the time on his phone and sighed.

"Not worth talking about it so close to the others--" He paused, "Hannah told me they flipped our timetables this morning," He examined his colleagues' curious faces, "I even asked her why, but she didn't have any idea either,"

"Since when could they just change our timetables like that? We never had that happening to us before," Arthur said, scratching his chin.

"I don't know," He said, simply, "What I know, is that we're gonna have to sit through an entire session with professor Blaze."

And so the discussion came to an end, with the bell screaming through the corridors, a barrage of students came flooding the hallways of the school and fill the silence with endless chatter. Soon, the rest of their classmates joined the group and awaited in relative silence next to the door awaiting for their teacher. While they waited, some students took opportunity to tell the others that their timetables changed -- many of whom seemed utterly perplexed.

Much like last time, most other classes had already vacated to their respective classrooms, and the History students were left quite alone in silence. Some students wondered if it was this time around that they would know about the First Contact, an event many (but not all) were interested in learning more about.

And yet again, they heard the familiar hoofsteps far into the corridors. They were accompanied by normal footsteps, presumably their teacher, Mrs. Annabel. And so it was, professor Blaze, a rather tall and commanding figure, following a slim, yet somehow smaller woman. Professor Blaze had a small stack of books floating shortly behind him, filled with an array of papers between them. The students noted that neither the professor with his deep voice, nor the teacher said anything to the students as they passed by.

She fiddled around with her key chain and eventually opened the door, professor Blaze being the first one to enter. Calmly, everyone followed suit´, not daring to speak or whisper anything to each other, merely limiting themselves to examining professor Blaze's odd features today.

Professor Blaze wore a small black tie around his neck, in contrast with his light blue coat and white mane, which was much more unkempt than the last time they've sen him. He also wore a pair of spectacles, that looked way too small for his expressive eyes. Though, these look like they're in need of sleep, having long dark shadows beneath them.

Despite this fact, he did not show any signs of tiredness in his behaviour, rather, he was apprehensive in every movement he made, to placing the stack of books on the teacher's desk, to speaking to Mrs. Hannah herself, by constantly tapping his hoof on the floor slightly.

Once everyone had settled themselves on their respective seats, the professor simply nodded at Mrs. Hannah as if trying to cut their conversation short. She glanced away, facing the students.

"Pardon us for this unexpected session of History," Clasping her hands tightly, "We have been preparing our next session with extreme care, but with this sudden change in timetables, we had to rush part of our plans to accommodate the early session,"

"Because of this, Professor Blaze needs, maybe... Fifteen minutes to prepare himself properly," Her voice became even more ragged than usual at the end. She glanced back at Professor Blaze, who now was levitating his books and intently studying some notes he had put between the books previously.

Another fact that nobody noticed until now, was that his horn actually glowed when he levitated the objects, encasing the books in a strange blueish-transparent aura. Everyone was very curious about this new discovery, nearly making them all ignore their teacher's speech, "While we wait, however, maybe we should recap where we left off." She paused, examining their face carefully, "Hm, what about you, Mr. Nuno?"

He shook his head, clearly caught off-guard by his own name being spoken out loud so suddenly, "Erm, what was that again? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention,"

"Can you tell us where we left off in the previous session?"

"Oh, that... Uhm," He seemed to be struggling to recall.

"We, uh, started talking about Equestria, I think... And we learned that Equestria was a federation or something before, and that it became a dual-something and started expanding fast," 

His colleagues simply stared at him, dearly trying not to laugh.

"That... Sums up our last session pretty evenly, Mr. Nuno," She couldn't help but to smile as well. She turned away, took a piece of chalk, and began scribbling on the blackboard, not text, but a scheme of all important events that they've probably learned in the previous session, "This," Once she was finished, "Is the general timeline of Equestria's history so far. You can most likely tell that this is everything that happened BEFORE Equestria met the European powers, hence why I put 'First Contact' at the very end,"

Arthur raised his hand, "Mrs. Annabel, is it in this session that we get to know about the First Contact?" Others around him seemed eager to know the answer as well.

The teacher merely smiled before calmly nodding at them all. Most of the students who were paying attention, were satisfied to hear about this, though the rest simply couldn't take their eyes off of professor Blaze, who was still very much concentrated on his notes.

For a while, everyone went silent again. Mrs. Annabel would return to the blackboard to make some adjustments here and there, but besides the noise of her scribbling, the class remained muted. Not even William and Robert bothered to interrupt this silence by sharing their thoughts to each other.

What felt like hours for the students, was like a five-minute trip to the restroom for professor Blaze, as he finally closed down his books and notes floating around, and gently placed them on the desk with a soft thump. He adjusted his voice,  and addressed himself to the students.

"Once again, forgive me for the delay. I needed some extra time in order to execute this session of History properly," His voice, deep and forceful to the ears, seemed a little more ragged than usual, "As you might, or not, have guessed, today's session will include an... Hm, what is the word I'm looking for..."

"A new style of teaching, yes, the most accurate term to describe this. One that is rarely ever used outside of Equestria," He carefully examined each student's face, "Not to worry, of course. This method of education has not shown negative consequences in the past -- Rather, it enhances the memory on the particular subject, in this case..."

"The First Contact," He breathed in very slowly, and exhaled similarly as well.

"All I ask of you, is to relax-- Clear any thoughts you might have now, and think of absolutely nothing. This will help you concentrate on the following subject, and retain as much information as possible within your consciousness," He paused, "I advise you to breathe in and out slowly, very slowly,"

The class looked at each other, very much confused by the professor's orders, however, had no choice but to comply. Slowly, the class cleared their minds, and closed their eyes; Some were even enjoying this moment,  with small, but noticeable smirks on their faces. Naturally, the group that had previously been in discussion at lunchtime, were the last ones to follow the professor's orders.

At last, when even Mrs. Annabel had relaxed herself in her chair beside the desk, professor Blaze spoke softly," And now, let us discover what really happened all of those years ago, in the fateful year of Sixteen-Seventy-Three."


**


Darkness invaded their minds. All of their possible thoughts, their future plans, everything having to do with them, was erased from existence. Everybody was one, and one only. Everyone had one goal, one mindset, one destiny.

Their eyes were closed, yet their could feel the warm embrace of the candles nearby. They were thinking very deeply, attempting to decipher what an unknown entity had just said to them. Everything seemed vague, but slowly becoming sharper as they thought about it more.

It was clear now.

They were Bernand Lavoie, the commander of a detachment from the 2nd Armée Coloniale, a most prestigious position so generously given by the lord himself, Louis XIV de France. His mission was very much clear, charter the western parts of Québec for future integration of the lands claimed by the French Empire.

His hands were held firmly on the rough wooden table beneath him, grasping an old-looking cartographic map of the coast of North America. As he opened his eyes more, his vision began to swim around unsteadily. He was tired of hearing his incompetent advisor blabbering about how they should evacuate the area, as it had 'not enough resources to sustain us this winter'.

"Jacque D'Ambroise, do I need to repeat myself once more?" He lifted himself up from the table, and stared directly into the frightened man's eye.

"Sir, with due respect!" He shivered, "What if we run out of food? What if our expedition fails to arrive within this week? Sir, it is for the good of our men that I say these words!" D'Ambroise said, fiddling around with his short cravat.

"Yes, yes, very honourable of you," Completely dismissing his words, brushing his beard slightly, thinking of something else, "But we have other issues to attend to, haven't we?" He examined his adviser's confused expression, "Our expedition, D'Ambroise. Our men have been waiting far too long for the expedition's return,"

"Well, that is a concerning thought, commander." He inched closer to Bernand, intently staring at the map near him.

With a candle positioned right in the middle of wooden table, the shadow of Jacque DeAmbroise was illuminated further, giving Bernand a clear view of his adviser. 

It is common for advisers to dress fancy -- with the blue suit above a black waistcoat, beautifully decorated with buttons and golden stripes -- on all occasions, even when traversing a swamp. It is rather sad to watch it get muddy and ragged, but customs are customs. Not to mention his spectacles, oddly shaped like half-moons, said to improve one's vision further. An interesting ingenuity.

Besides his well-decorated clothing, D'Ambroise himself was a shabby old man, barely reaching Bernand by the shoulders. He seemed quite afraid of him, even when engaging in a normal conversation. Perhaps it was due to his height, or his position so generously given by the lord. Either way, this mattered little to him, his mind was preoccupied with an important detail.

He kept looking at the map, at where he was supposed to be, an area completely surrounded by terra Incognita, lands belonging to the natives, all of them hostile to his men. But they were no threat to him, rather, it should be the opposite. But aside from having a huge advantage against the locals, mainly gunpowder, he lacked basic necessities such as food.

He had taken into account the camp's food stocks, and, admittedly, they were not enough to keep the men alive through the rapidly-approaching winter. He could not admit this openly, though. It would sever his men's morale, and only lead to bad decisions. He had not yet suffered from the displeasure of men dying under his command, but when the situation calls it, he must take drastic measures.

Yes, perhaps he should take the middle road. Ration food stocks, and await for the the expedition of his twelve fellow men west, into terra incognita, to arrive. If they did not arrive in time, however... No, it needn't come to that.

He looked at D'Ambroise, pitying him for his old age, and necessity to put his nose uncomfortably close to the map in order to read it properly.

"Jacque, I believe I have said this before, but we shall not leave this camp until we finish mapping that last spot west. Our cartographers will thank us dearly for this, as will the crown,"

He slowly rose up from the table, and adjusted his spectacles slightly, concern written on his face, "But, sir, is it worth the risk?"

"I have made my decision. I have taken into account our expedition, and they should return to us within this very week. We will act appropriately if my men do not return by that time," He eyed D'Ambroise again, letting a small puff of air flow through his beard. He held his hands on his back, and paced back and forth around the candle-lit room.

"Speak your mind, Ambroise, what is it?" He stared at the window outside, not even looking at the man.

"It will not come to that, sir," He said, approaching Bernand carefully, "I understand the responsibility you shoulder, commandant, but I too have seen what things like that do to men. What you say, is essentially, desertion. Desertion en masse.

"Of course not," He said calmly, glancing the man right beside him, "We are simply managing our resources accordingly," He continued, in a calm, but assertive tone.

He did not reply, merely looking at him with a saddened and worried way. He turned away from Bernand and began examining the map laid out in the table again. Bernand simply observed him, believing that that old coot had good intentions, and that his suggestions are inclined to be more conservative and risk-free in general.

However, he could not live his entire life without taking risks, where's the fun in that? He imagined D'Ambroise being forced out of a noble's court to join in on a expedition to the farthest reaches of the New World, almost begging to be left where he was, scared of what might lie beyond the never-ending forests.

Then again, according to what he heard, D'Ambroise was a man who grew up in the densest parts of France, where blooming cities and rich culture were prevalent. Everything was close to each other, and there was no need in worrying about food and water. Being thrown into a completely different situation so quickly with almost no warning, would confuse any man in the entire world.

Perhaps this was why the most graceful King, Louis XIV, chose him to lead the detachment of the 2nd Armée Coloniale off to the wilderness in western Québec. The natives were not friendly, aggressive even. Though, a big enough force should dissuade them from attacking the detachment, even though the number of men he currently possessed at his direct command was very low, at roughly fifty in total.

He could see them through the window of his cabin. Men tirelessly patrolling the fortified camp, moving resources from place to place, having short breaks beneath some sheds, training their gun positions, taking stocks... They were all part of a truly disciplined army, however small their number was. 

But mother nature was not on their side today. In the background, behind the endless carpet of trees, there were huge mountain ranges, that brought strong winds down below, hitting the camp very hard. He could see his men trying to lift a barrel of gunpowder to no avail, as the wind kept pushing it out of their grips.

Not mentioning the ever-so gloomy skies, a type of weather he had to get accustomed to, including the freezing temperatures it brought, forcing his men outside to wear thick and protective clothing, such as long brown coats, head ware, gloves, and scarves. At a cost, his men's maneuverability was hindered, and were more susceptible to ambush attacks that required fast thinking and movement.

Winter was not the first thing that came to mind, though. He had already heard what it meant from D'Ambroise if they were to remain here until that time. He was confident that their mission here would be finished by the time the first specs of snow fell to the ground.

He sighed, deciding that it still wasn't time to be thinking about that. He turned away from the window, and approached Jacque, who was still eyeing the map. He did not say a word to him, as he too examined the map again.

It wasn't as nearly as decorated as the other maps he'd seen in his voyage to North America. Many of which he'd see before held beautifully decorated seas and land areas, full of detail and made very clear. This one had nothing compared to those. It was a very rough sketch, barely resembling North America at all. It seemed to be copied straight out of another map, bearing only vague descriptions and names around it, mostly centered around grand ports or cities.

He spotted Kakabeka, the closest settlement to which he could bring his soldiers safely without having to worry about the local natives all the time.

"Jacque, are you able to tell me where we are in this map?" He said, brushing his beard slightly.

D'Ambroise looked at him suddenly, with a pleasant look on his face, "Thank you, sir Bernand," Giving him a nod, "And I'm afraid that this map does not stretch so far west, sir Bernand."

"Are we really that far off?" He asked, showing the tiniest amount of interest. While in reality, he was concerned.

"Oui, we quite are," Taking the opportunity, "That is why I am worried about this winter, sir." He added, with an hopeful expression written on his old face.

"Hm. Perhaps your fears are justified, but they should not be the center of our attention, at the moment," Pretending to not care about situation much.

"Whatever you say, sir. Still, I believe that an early arrival from our--"

The door behind them suddenly burst open, with frantic shouting and panting. Bernand and Jacque quickly turned around, caught off-guard and definitely not expecting a disturbance like this without their guards notifying them about this.

But just as it happens, a man, drenched in sweat and colored in every shade of red, stood there with his hand against the door frame, panting heavily. Behind him, they could see the guards finally catching up with him, shouting curses and dreadful insults at the man. Yet, he did not care, despite his current condition, he seemed determined on doing, or rather, saying something to them.

He breathed in very slowly, and said these words, "The. Expedition arrived. Front gate. Please." Just as the guards seized him by his shoulders and dragged him back outside, leaving the door open and allowing for a cold breeze to invade the room.

Jacque and Bernand simply stared at the man, utterly bewildered by what just happened. Not a moment later, Bernand had put his boots on, closed off his coat, and put his preferred beaver Tricorne firmly on his head. When he looked back, Jacque simply put on his coat, and marched out of the door, closing it behind them.

His men in the camp had noticed what happened, and stopped fulfilling their duties, looking at the man being dragged off onto the front entrance of the camp.

"MEN! HEAR ME!" He called out, as loud as he could, "OUR EXPEDITION HAS ARRIVED, MAN THE FRONT ENTRANCE, AND PREPARE YOUR GUNS!"

As the last word was spoken, every man abandoned what they were doing, and rushed to get their equipment ready as soon as they could. D'Ambroise barely managed to keep up with Bernand as he rapidly paced forth to the main entrance, where the man was still being escorted by the pair of guards. 

"Si- Sir! Why is there need of guns? It is our own expedition!"

"The way that man said it, he seemed desperate, D'Ambroise. Hurry up, now!" He said, picking up speed.



> Equs Sapiens
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I repeat, HALT!"

Finally, his men turned around, shocked at seeing their commander appear behind them. They stopped in their tracks, a short distance away from the main entrance, where more and more guards were awaiting further instructions. The man they carried by the shoulders let out an audible sigh.

Bernand finally caught up with them, "I demand you to release that man," His guards complied to his orders immediately, and dropped the man on the ground. He later shakily rose up to his feet, and tried to look at Bernand, but couldn't, as he kept trying to adjust his unkempt hair.

"What is the matter, my good man?" He carefully put his hand on the man's shoulder, which was enough to calm him down just a bit.

The man did not say anything at first, merely looking at them with a concerned and yet scared expression. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out of it. It was clear to Bernand that this was afraid of something, just enough to keep him from talking about it. He shook the man's shoulder a bit, trying to emphasize his need of knowing why this man was in such a state.

Then, he finally spoke, through his trembling teeth, "S- sir, I- I am from the expedition. W- we concluded our mission w-west, and... And we found something hideous, something unimaginable,"

"Well? What is it soldier?"

"Sir, please, do take me as insane, do not judge me, for I am completely sane and about to tell the truth!" He clambered to his knees, begging for his commander to take his words as the whole truth, "Horses, sir! They... They spoke to us! They know how to talk, they have a village, they're so many in number. Our men thought they were being fooled by the devil himself! B- But no! It is Truth!"

He helped the man on to his trembling feet again, showing concern for this man's sanity, "What is the meaning of this soldier? Surely you must have been hallucinated by one of those natives' arrows, no?"

D'Ambroise suddenly spoke behind him, "Nonsense! Sir, how are you even considering this matter? It must have been something else, surely!"

Men all around them seemed inclined to agree with D'Ambroise, "Talking horses? There have been many fairy tales about animals who could talk, all of them have been proved wrong!" He continued still.

Bernand turned back to the man, who now held his head low, "My good man, why are you in such a state?"

"Sir... Sir, please forgive me, b- but I am just exhausted from our expedition, and... I've been sent to warn you that they are arriving in a few moments... With the talking horses."

"The church would certainly condemn this man to herer--"

"Enough, Jacque D'Ambroise. Can you not see this man needs our help?" Looking back at him, clearly startled, "Was it not you who worried so much about our men's well-being? If we leave this man and call him a heretic, then we are doing as you yourself feared! Desertion en masse!"

He fell silent, and looked away from the commander. Bernand took this as an opportunity to further question the man, "What is your name, soldier?"

"A- Augustine, sir,"

"Augustine, are you able to tell me if what you say is the complete truth?" Before he let the man speak, he said,"Are you willing to face the consequences if this ends up being untrue?"

"Yes, sir! In my mother's name, what I tell you is truth!" He said, now looking directly at Bernand's face, with an unquestionable amount of assertiveness, "Sir, I urge you to watch the front entrance! The rest of the expedition is closing in. Only then, sir, will you see if my words are truth or not!"

"Very well, Augustine," He turned away from the man, and observed the remainder of his men line up against the pathway to the front entrance, ready to act.

"MEN! POSITION YOURSELVES, FACE THE MAIN ENTRANCE, AND NOTIFY ME WHEN THE EXPEDITION ARRIVES WITHIN OUR CAMP'S FIELD OF VIEW!" He gestured his two guards from before to come closer to him, and ignore the previous order, "I want you both to climb the guard towers next to the entrance, be sure to notify me if they arrive, or if anything out of the ordinary happens nearby,"

Both guards saluted their commander, equipped their rifles, and made way to the guard towers.

"Sir, if I may?" Asked D'Ambroise, now next to Bernand.

"Speak," He said, simply.

"What if this man is lying?" The man was startled, shocked even. D'Ambroise continued, "Superstitions are not uncommon sir, and every one of them have been proven to be false..."

Bernand simply looked at his men getting into position facing the entrance. He could see from the corner of his eye that his soldier Augustine was silently begging to believe him. All the while, D'Ambroise tried and tried to convince him that the man is merely seeing things, that the church would not approve of this man's behaviour, and that they would be in trouble when they arrive in France.

"I believe that it is quite enough D'Ambroise," He stated, becoming slightly annoyed. He cleared his mind of his adviser's words, and focused on what the man had told him. At first, it seemed that his soldier was telling the absolute truth, that he had indeed seen things, mainly, horses speaking, and that they're coming their way at the moment.

But when he put more thought into the matter, it started becoming more and more far-fetched. Speaking horses? Horses that had so far, not spoken a single word in humanity's history so far, that were used for both war and plowing the land. He almost felt ridiculous at even considering the matter. Though, he did not plan on showing this to his adviser.

He looked directly at the man next to him, a tiny bit shorter than he was, but certainly a figure of respect, if not for his current condition. His clothing was ragged in almost every direction, his face was still red from running so much, as were his eyes. This man was so vulnerable right now, easily knocked over with the slightest change of wind...

But what impressed him the most, was that this man kept his discipline, even in this state. It was something he deeply respected, the only thing keeping him from personally training his men in every day of every week. He could not forget that this was an actual army, a detachment of one, to be exact.

He was pleased to see, that in a few short seconds, his men were awaiting further instructions on both sides of the pathway leading to the entrance, their guns firmly pressed against their shoulders, and separated of each other only by a twig's length. Though, he was not satisfied with this position, now that he thought about it further.

"Men! Spread out along the pathway, face the soldier apposite of you, and take two steps backwards!" He shouted.

His command was law, and as soon as he finished, his soldiers were following his orders with rigorous precision. Once they had spaced themselves out, and faced each other on both ends, was Bernand truly satisfied. He was proud to have this men under his command. He felt as if he could conquer the world with them.

And with all of this thinking, Bernand managed to completely ignore D'Ambroise's suggestions to send this man away and be done with it. He honestly was getting sick of hearing his adviser's constant bickering, his excuses becoming more and more illogical each time he spoke his mind. He would gladly tell him to tone down on his useless suggestions, but did not have the patience to do it.

Time kept moving forward, only seemingly going faster because of Bernand's endless thoughts about his men and current situation. While he thought, he would glance around at his men, silently awaiting for the expedition to arrive. He would look at his camp's fortifications, completely made out of wood collected in the nearby forest.

He thought of replacing the walls of the camp with stone, as to offer better protection against possible invasions by the native's part. Maybe installing a proper gate on the entrance wouldn't be so far off... Then again, he and his men wouldn't reside here for too long before finally leaving for France. 

He caught eye of a brown leaf, flying through the skies like a bird. It swirled around mid-air, never taking a straight path in the sky. It flew off to the distance, in between the many trees that painted the forest ahead. He was aware that Autumn had finally come, and his thoughts of leaving this camp as soon as possible were plentiful.

But, amidst the trees in the distance, partially covered in flying leaves pushed by the winds, he could see something. Some kind of movement.

As soon as he had spotted this, his men on the guard towers shouted down at their commander, pointing at the trees ahead.

"Both of you, come down here!" He shouted at them vigorously. 

He let out an audible puff of air. He did not like being under pressure. Simply spotting movement on the forest's edge was enough to break his thought process. All he needed to know was if their men were all well. He simply couldn't live with himself, knowing that he had sent them to certain death and not see them again.

Inside, he was on edge, almost panicking. But on the outside, he remained calm and vigilant, having the look of one who's spent too much time on useless affairs, and hoping for something better.

This was a general's best tactic to soldier their men. Even if morale is low, even when the situation seemed grim, never falter, never give up. Rile up the men, and boost their morale with an inspiring speech, a resilient attitude, or an ever-lasting victory, however small it was. This was, implying he was in a battlefield, marching against the enemy forces, and not awaiting for your own expedition's return, who he could probably see in the distance.

His guardsmen had retreated behind him, on his flanks.

There he waited, in the middle of the pathway, with his adviser, a soldier and two guardsmen. Whoever entered the camp would easily recognize him as an important figure amidst the vast numbers of men lined up near the pathway itself. He glanced at D'Ambroise, who seemed to have spotted some sort of movement as well, shutting him up completely. Bernand was pleased by this.

His soldier, Augustine, had stopped shivering, and now had a clear-white face, looking his commander's lined up men with interest. He did not seem to have spotted the expedition yet, or rather, whatever came their way right now. Bernand himself was not sure if it was them who came their way. He had the distinct feeling that this was a trap of some sort.

Yet he waited, and waited. The distant figures had vanished beneath the valley, far from the camp. Bernand had intentionally chosen a hill as a suitable location for the camp. It gave him a large view distance, enabling him to assemble his forces in time before anything bad could happen to the men.

He wasn't surprised to see that it, at the very least, too twice the time in order to climb the hill. it could've been easier if they had made a stone pathway up and down the valley. But this would've been far more beneficial if they weren't in a so isolated place, far away from the French Empire's most populous settlements. Transportation of goods was not an issue here, so he left the valley in its original state.

His men were starting to look at each other more often, occasionally tapped their feet on the grass and some were even starting to shiver -- not out of fear, but from cold. Not even their thick brown coats could stop the freezing winds from piercing their skin. Yet they remained in position, waiting as Bernand did.

A figure rose from the valley, still a considerable distance away from the main entrance. He could not quite tell, but he thought it was one of his men, leading the rest behind him calmly. They walked as if they were taking a stroll through the park, not really worried about anything, just passing the time.

As they got closer, D'Ambroise noticed something, "Sir, are they..." He inched closer, adjusting his spectacles, "Why do they have their hands together like that?"

The more they approached the camp, the easier it was to see what D'Ambroise meant. They held their hands close, gripping them together in front of them, as if they were practicing some kind of religious ceremony. Their faces were obscured, all of them hung their heads low, barely knowing where they were going.

Augustine, his soldier, had taken this fact into account as well. This was shown by his furious shivering and horrified expression. He was just barely keeping himself up straight. Bernand pretended to not care much, instead observing his men's reaction to this. They would occasionally glance at the entrance, trying to decipher what was going on.

The expedition drew closer, and closer still. At which point, they were close enough to be able to distinguish their clothing and what they carried with them.

But this was also where they came into a complete halt. The man in front of them, who kept his head low until now, raised it, and looked directly at the commander's direction, with an expression he could not read at that distance. He then proceeded to step aside, away from the grassy pathway, and turn around to the other side, much like Bernand's men did.

The people behind that man did the same as well, and opened the pathway for a figure, a figure that was vaguely familiar to Bernand.

Hah... Yes, of course, this must be a joke. It was all a trick, Bernand was simply seeing things. Surely it must be a well-played joke made by one of his loyal men...

Augustine trembled and trembled, nearly shattering his teeth.

D'Ambroise let out a gasp of surprise, but remained silent still.

All the while, Bernand simply stared at the figures which were now approaching them.

He saw, how three distinct creatures entered the camp, in an almost royal fashion and stopped just a short way of Bernand.

It was as if he was dreaming right now. Right there, right in front of him, he saw three horses... No, they resembled more like ponies due to their size, which at most, reached his upper arm, and their overall characteristics. 

One of them had a horn, placed right in its forehead, another had wings on both of its flanks, and another lacked both of these aspects. They had huge-- enormous eyes, so full expression and thought. Their head was shaped very differently from a normal horse's. They were more round, their snout wasn't as pronounced, and their noses were very small.

The most unsettling fact, was that they were all colored differently. The one with the horn had a deep blue fur, and a darker tone of the same color for its mane. The one with wings was a bright shade of purple, with a pale version of the same color for its mane. The horse, pony, or whatever it was, without a horn or wings, had a yellow-toned fur, with stripes of pale grey all over its black-pitched mane.

These creatures were so very similar to horses as Bernand knew them, but, they were so different from them as well. They way they act, from looking at his men with those expressive eyes, to curiously watching him right in front of them, they reminded him so much of people, of humans... Was this normal? Was he becoming insane?

He glanced at his soldiers, who eyed the creatures with equal interest, but with completely different intentions, as he gathered. A few of his soldiers were twitching their hands towards their guns, clearly very afraid of anything these creatures might do. It was safe to say, that his men were not trained for this kind of moment.

The wind was the only thing that many any noise in that camp. Everyone stared at the three horses in the middle of the pathway. Everyone was scared of what they might do. His men were indeed disciplined, but to an extent. He did not want to know how much time it took for one of his men to suddenly snap and shoot at them.

Bernand, to an outsider, looked perfectly okay with the situation. He did not flinch, he did not move a muscle. He remained exactly in the same position as he did since he last ordered his men to move. Though, he held his head a little high up, and looked down at the creatures with mild interest, as if he was watching a very uninteresting  piece of poetry sung by a bard.

While on the inside, his brain was struggling to comprehend the situation at all. It was too much pressure to handle, too many things happening at once in his head for him to even begin making sense of them. The only way one could tell that Bernand was nervous at all, was by a single drop of sweat rolling down his temple.

The creature with the horn, turned away from one of Bernand's soldiers, and looked up at him. Suffice to say, the creature seemed awfully curious about Bernand, as it tilted its head. It then looked next to him, and spotted Augustine, who was still shivering like a madman. It simply nodded at him with a smile. A smile that sent a chill down Bernand's spine.

A creature other than human, smile? It was something completely--

The creature looked straight at Bernand, and adjusted its voice.

"Greetings, fellow human being," It said in perfect french, "I am Striking Blue, and we are here to formally establish relations with your most honourable kingdom."

> Terra Nostra
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Utter silence, like there was nothing in the world that could break it.

The men under commandant Bernand from a detachment of the 2nd Armée Coloniale, had just witnessed something completely out of this world.

Three horses, ponies, whatever they might it be -- It spoke to Bernand. It spoke in a very clear and audible way. If he hadn't looked, he would've mistaken it for a woman's voice. But no. It was in fact, a horse, that spoke to the commander.

A horse, a being that for so long in his entire life, convinced him that it could not speak in any shape or form. It turned his world completely upside down.

For so long, humans thought themselves as the only creature of God that could speak, that could communicate to humans directly, that had the intelligence to do so. After one-thousand six-hundred and seventy-three years of human dominance in the world, was this really the beginning of a new age? A time where we have to share our throne with a horse?

This way of thinking was simply too advanced for his time, Bernand thought to himself. The church would condemn him and his men to the stake, for even considering the existence of sapient beings besides humans... How would the crown even react to this? If he was to tell what he is seeing right now to his king, he might just as well revoke his title and privileges for acting like a madman.

But no, he was completely sane, and very well aware of his surroundings.

So much so, that he stood there, completely frozen, as the creature bowed down to him... As if he was a ruler of sorts.

As much as he wanted to do something in that situation, he was locked in the same position as before, barely even moving his muscles. He held both of his hands behind him with a tight grip, so tight, that it began to hurt him. He felt as if he had been literally petrified.

His men, much more expressive of their emotions, did not waste a second to gasp and show their surprise. They remained exactly in their place, not moving an inch. But Bernand had a feeling that if he were to leave his men alone with these things, then bloodshed would surely follow. 

He was aware that people disliked finding new things, that they would surely turn their backs around at anything that posed a threat to the established norm. They prefer the old and the known above the new and the strange. Society, in France at least, was like that. But when you are forced to meet the new, you either have two options.

One, deny it with brute force, declaring it heresy and proceed to the church for help, and maintain your old way of life. Or two, embrace it willingly, and go with the flow, attempting to adapt to the new circumstances that you've brought to yourself. It was a tough decision for Bernand at that moment.

The first thing that came to mind when the horse spoke, was to grab one of his soldier's rifles, and shoot it, point-blank, at the thing and hope it stays down, all the while stating that it was the devil's work, and that his men should not be fooled by his trickery.

But once the horse had lifted itself up, and looked directly into Bernand's eyes, he thought differently. Perhaps, just maybe, this once, he should try to find a solution to this newfound problem, and maybe even benefit from it in the long-term... Yes, he had done so in the Iroquois campaign, it was very profitable for the Empire.

He had made up his mind. He would adapt to the current situation -- not too quickly, as to not bring suspicion upon him by his men. He would treat this new being as a native to the land, as a fellow human being, completely ignoring the fact that it was not human in any shape or form. He let out a weak puff of air.

"I feel honoured to receive you here," He stated simply, as if addressing to a person.

His men were quick to look at their commander in shock. It was as if they had just heard gunfire from nearby. Still, they remained silent.

"Most welcome!" Replied the horse with the horn, a smile on its face.

He breathed slowly, "Might I ask, what is the reason you accompany my men to this lonesome camp?" He had so many other questions to ask, but he needed to sound like he had dealt with this sort of thing before.

"That is a good question," Said the pony with an interested look, "But I am afraid we will have to discuss these matters somewhere less crowded, do you not agree?"

He felt offended by this, he would gladly tell these things to leave his camp and never return. But he held his tongue.

"That... Would be most beneficial, yes."

He breathed in very slowly, and glanced back at D'Ambroise. He was just as shocked as his men were, wide open eyes behind his short spectacles.

"Jacque D'Ambroise," He was startled by his name being called out so suddenly in a moment like that, "Could you please direct the newcomers towards our cottage?"

He blinked several times, as if trying comprehend what was being asked of him. But in a flash, he nodded curtly.

Bernand's guardsmen pulled themselves out of the pathway to let the adviser lead the three beings into the cottage at the end of the camp. He observed his adviser having a short, and very spontaneous conversation with the trio. He seemed visibly nervous.

Turning back to the front entrance again, he noticed his men staring at the four figures behind him with avid curiosity, not even attempting to hide the fact that they are not in line. He did not object to this, he would've done exactly the same. But he needed to break their psyche, and call for their attention.

"Men," He barely shouted, nearly missing the farthest soldier's attention, "I require you all to return to your previous duties, and ignore this little incident. If I catch any of you staring at my window, there will be punishment,"

"Understood?" All his men could do, was nod at their commander, their voices lost to the three beings that had just invaded his cottage.

He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. His heart had been pumping hard against his chest for the longest time now. He himself was not sure how he managed to overcome that situation, but he did anyways. He should not rely on luck next time around, it might cost him very much if he fails to manage the situation accordingly.

His back turned away from his men, he slowly picked up speed towards his cottage, his mind full of thoughts, full of ideas of how to deal with these new sentient beings. He, admittedly, was afraid of what they might do, of how they would react if he were to do something that did not please them in the slightest.

Yet they spoke to him as if they were just another settlement. As if they had actually done this before...

His thought process was broken by a slight tap on his shoulders. He turned around, to see his guardsman looking at him with slight concern on his face.

"Excuse me, sir, but... What should we do to the men at the front entrance?" Bernand glanced behind him, and noticed that his expedition was still indeed waiting outside the camp. He sighed.

"Bring them in. If they require assistance, do so. Do not remove the ropes around their hands, I'll have to sort that issue with... Them," He said, nodding at the cabin.

His guardsman saluted him, and went on to pass this order to the other one who was nearby.

He turned himself back towards the cabin. The door was now closed, the windows dark... It must've been the wind that blew the candles' fire into nothingness. He was sure D'Ambroise was attending to that issue now; He wouldn't want to displease these newcomers.

Now, where was he... Hm. An interesting question, posed by himself. What aspect of these newcomers did he find most shocking?

Was it the ability to speak to him like a person? Was it their figures, their general body aspects? Was it their intelligence? It was most likely, that those three beings completely defied everything he knew until now. His reality had been broken, and was forced to turn into another one completely.

Finally reaching the door, he paused, thinking for a little while more, staring at the miniature stone steps below the door. Once he had pushed his thoughts away, he knocked twice on the door, and opened it carefully.

Inside, he caught a glimpse of D'Ambroise lighting up the candles in the room, until he suddenly looked at him with an expression slight relief. The next thing he noticed, was that the three beings were spread across the entire room, examining every nook and cranny they could find, from the map laid out in the middle of the table, to his personal collection of deer heads near the corner of the room.

His arrival triggered their immediate response, motioning them to turn around from whatever object they were observing, and looking straight at Bernand. The horse with the horn smiled at him yet again, but more pleasantly than before, he could tell.

Out of pure habit, Bernand took off his tricorn beaver hat and placed it neatly on a small table next to the door. He adjusted his hair slightly, and moved further into the room.

A short moment of silence ensued, only broken by the horse's voice.

"Ah, hello again... Hm, Ser Bernand Lavoie, is it?"

"That is indeed my name, most appreciated, ...?"

"Striking Blue. I believe I have introduced myself prior to this moment," It said, looking a bit disappointed.

"Ah, yes, but of course," He said, "Forgive me for this, I am simply... Astonished to make your acquaintance," He added, bowing slightly.

The being inched closer to the table, where D'Ambroise had just lit a candle. It eyed the map spread across the table curiously. It glanced at the two other beings and nodded at them to come closer to it. There they examined it, not taking their eye off of it for a moment. While it kept its gaze on the map, the horse spoke.

"And, might I ask," Now looking up at Bernand, who had inched closer to the table, "What exactly is this?"

"That, is a map," He stated simply, but once he caught eye of its questioning look, he added, "It allows us to know where certain locations are,"

"For example, those black marks represent the coastlines, separating land from water," The horse was intrigued by this, "It represents the Earth, North America, in this case."

" 'North America', is this what you call the landmass here?"

"Indeed," Bernand tried to sound as polite as possible, and not seem like he was teaching a child how to read and write.

"Very... Curious, don't you think?" The horse looked at the pair beside it. They nodded.

Then, it looked at Bernand, curiosity spread across its entire face. It seemed to have so many questions in store, just sitting there in its head, ready to be spoken out loud for him to hear. He felt a little more comfortable, knowing that he was not the only one with so many unanswered questions about this day.

However, instead of a question, the horse said, " I am very much sure that we can benefit from each other's knowledge and customs, but we came here for other more serious reasons,"

Bernand held out a palm, as in to stop the horse from speaking anymore. Unsurprisingly, they did not understand this gesture, and continued, "We came here on behalf of our wise rulers to discuss matters regarding those individuals who are currently entering your camp."

This set a red flag on Bernand's mind. Despite everything he thought would happen, from him learning more about these beings, to sharing their views and culture -- and quite literally -- everything about their species, he was about to be questioned in regards of his own expedition, the very last thing on his mind since these three beings arrived.

Such a waste, he thought to himself. Nevertheless, he retracted his palm, and listened closely on what these beings had to say.

"According to what your personal adviser said, you have sent around twenty individuals on a 'expedition' to 'charter' the western parts of the wilderness. Do I stand correct?"

"Very much so," He said, faking a convincing smile.

"I regret informing your tribe about this, but you must not travel further west under any feasible circumstances." 

"Dearest apologies, but what is the reason behind your sudden demands?" His smile dropped. His temper rising steadily.

"I understand that you must be confused right now," Said the horse, raising its arm slightly, "But your people have trespassed our rightful territory,"

"I see... Can you describe this event in more detail, please?" He said, adjusting his coat's sleeves.

"But of course, it would be my pleasure," It said, bowing.

"Your people arrived in our peaceful settlement very shortly after its foundation. Our own people had just started to make room for the buildings and the like; It was planned to be a major food source, due to its proximity to a very fertile river," The horse started pacing around the far side of the room, near Bernand's deer head collection. He followed its movements closely.

"The settlement, Winnipeg, as it was named, was set in a very ideal location, and of course, it would be prone to outside interest," Bernand was becoming a little agitated, "So it is understandable that your people would do anything to acquire the location for themselves, even -- I dare say --, take other's lives..."

"Are you saying that my men committed a crime against your people?" He said, louder than intended.

"Unfortunately." The pony said, nodding solemnly, "Once they had arrived in the settlement, chaos ensued, and they began to torch the place to ashes, killing and looting anything they could. Simply thinking of it makes me shiver," It said, looking away.

Bernand placed a firm hand on the wooden table, and looked at the three horses with an angered attitude, "I guarantee you that it was not under my orders that my men committed those crimes. It is something I condemn, and do not tolerate in shape or form. It would never have crossed my mind that these men would do such a thing to your people!"

"I assure you that my men will be punished for their misbehaviour, and that it will not tarnish our relations further."

The pony smiled at Bernand, very pleased by his stand on the matter. It returned to the other side of the table, where it intently observed the map again. There it stood, with a hoof placed upon the map, trying to understand its writings... It seemed to Bernand that this being was very interested in knowing more about humans, but was forced to do what its rulers wished.

He knew that feeling very well, he could not argue with the horse about that, as he was just as curious to know more about them... Now was the opportunity to do so.

"Excuse me, but, what are your people called by? I wish to be able to describe them appropriately," Gulping his temper down.

The horse rose its head from the map, and looked at Bernand intently.

"That is a matter we ourselves are not sure how to respond," He did not hide the fact that he was confused, "We have had many names before today... But, using your language, the closest name I can think of, is, Pony,"

"And, while we are on the topic, how are you able to speak our language so fluently?" He unconsciously started scratching the wooden table, which was still firmly held by his hand.

The pony simply lifted its arm, and tapped it gently on its horn, all the while smiling at him. 

"...Your, horn?"

"Indeed, it allows me to communicate with you as easily as if I was one of your people,"

Bernand fell silent. So many times now, he thought he was being played by a fool, that this was just some kind of theater, and he had to go along with it. But now, now he saw something that shattered the remaining pieces of reality he had so dearly held on to since these ponies arrived.

Its horn glowed a transparent blue, much like its skin color. And when he realized it, his ink bottle beside the map was floating mid-air, surrounded by the same aura as the pony's horn. He even dared look beneath it, trying to see if it was some clever act of trickery.

But no, it was indeed floating, defying gravity. Not just gravity, but everything else in the world. His brain was exploding with objections and reasons why this is not real, or how this is just a dream made up by him during his sleep... If he was one his men, he'd be running down the street like a madman, shouting how he had seen the impossible and that the church was wrong in every aspect imaginable.

Yet, his reaction on the outside only showed mild interest on the matter, as if he had been observing a jester doing his work at the lord's court. He was not sure why he reacted the way he did, seeing something so extraordinary, so mind-breaking, that could break any man's mental state in moments.

And he was not very much surprised to see that D'Ambroise has sunk himself deep into sleep in a nearby chair after seeing the event happen before his eyes.

"Oh, do worry about my adviser, he is simply not used to seeing such things..." He said, casually.

Bernand inched closer to the table still, "Did you in fact... Levitate that using your horn?" He said in almost in a whisper.

"Indeed," The pony said, "And I'm even more impressed by your own reaction to this!"

"Ah, well," He distanced himself from the table now, brushing off the dust from the table off his coat, "One mustn't make too many presumptions in moments like these,"

"And, as a matter of fact, I myself encourage my men to be prepared for any situation, no matter how strange they might be at first glance," Bernand said, regaining his regal attitude from before.

The three ponies nodded happily to each other upon hearing Bernand, chattering in their language with interest. They continued their conversation for a while, giving him plenty of time in to assess the current situation.

He did not think about much, though. His mind was locked away in a very confined space, almost like a cage, where he only had access to thoughts about the present, about the ponies, and about his room. And as he thought and overthought the same things for a while, he could not help himself but look away from the three ponies, and stare out the window.

How strange it should be, to see the heads of long-dead animals hung along the walls of your own room. He tried seeing his room, and more generally, his camp, in the ponies' perspective.

They might as well call him a murderer, for sacrificing the lives of wild animals for his own pleasure. Or, an evil overlord, who commanded his men with an iron fist, and could not tolerate the slightest lack of discipline.

And now that he delved deeper into this thought, he himself should be impressed by these ponies' reaction to this. Not even when he rose voice to them with anger, did they flinch or object to it in any way. It was as if they had met a man in a state of anger before... Yes, the evidence is starting to add up, and he would not rest until he had asked this question.

And he could use that as a starting point to establish relations with these new beings. As of right now, he had more or less treated them as natives to the land, and definitely not as a completely different species that had the same intelligence, and that could speak as fluently as a human.

He let out a short puff of air, obscuring the view from the window in front of him into a blurred image.

But so was reality itself blurring into nothingness. 

He felt like it was time, time for something to end... And then it hit him. He was not one, but many, hidden behind an invisible veil, just outside his reach. He grabbed on to the veil, and smiled into the nothingness, waving at whatever was behind it.

The time had come, for the students to finally wake up.

> Finis
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A familiar silence echoed throughout the room.

It wasn't a tense silence, nor was it a forced one. It was a silence that was somehow satisfying to hear. It would be any teacher's dream to have a classroom such as this one so incredibly devoid of sound, with so many students in it. 

Even the teachers were silent, while everywhere else in the school, they kept shouting at their students on how to answer a question in an exam, or ordering them to remain silent while they spoke to them. That was their way of teaching their students.

But in this particular classroom, things were drastically different. The students did not need to hear anything from their teacher for the entirety of the session, nor did they have to ask questions. In fact, everyone there was sleeping in the classroom, all the while learning from the past, without a single spoken word.

The staff members on the school, who usually swept the corridors closest to that classroom, could be seen conversing among themselves on how silent, even eerie it was inside. They were far too used in hearing about the class' mischievous reputation of having terrible grades and being as loud and wearisome as any human could be.

They couldn't exactly complain, either. It was a most pleasant change from the norm, but they couldn't help but notice that fact.

Meanwhile inside of that classroom, everyone was still in deep slumber. Indeed, it was a correct statement make, but there was also another individual who, by current norms, did not count as a somebody. It was Professor Blaze, a pony who suddenly came to these student's classroom, and taught them about the history of Equestria.

It might not look like it, but he was very much awake, albeit, deep in concentration. All the while, his horn glowed strongly, to the point of emitting considerable shadows on the furniture nearby, despite the windows being completely open to the outside. He would occasionally let out short, forceful puffs of air, in a manner that would be appropriate if the professor was very exhausted.

And with due observation, he was. His facial features were extremely sluggish, and somewhat in need of attending to. Below his closed eyes, he held long dark shadows, and only his white mane, completely unkempt and greasy-looking, served as contrast. The rest of his body, currently in a sitting position, was blue in color and somewhat malnourished, contrary to how he usually presented himself beforehand.

And then, he opened his eyes. Not too fast, nor too slow; Just at the right speed. He looked around the room with wide-open eyes, like if he had just seen something extremely upsetting. And then he blinked a couple of times, and stood up.

He seemed confused for a while, as if he didn't know where he was -- that he encountered himself in some obscure place he had never set foot before.

His expression returned to normal after a minute or two of looking around the room with avid curiosity. He realized that everyone else in the room was sleeping profoundly, to the point of even having one or two people snoring loudly. He sighed, and looked down at the floor, where his hooves were right now.

He tapped on the floor a couple of times, the noise echoing throughout the classroom. He tilted his head slightly, whilst he tapped. It seemed as if he had never experienced it in his life. Despite this odd behaviour, he lifted his head up, and turned around at the woman sleeping on the teacher's desk.

He approached her, and gently tapped her arm, pushing her over ever so slightly.

She would not wake up for another minute or two of periodic tapping and whispering calls. But when she did, it would be yet another long moment until she realized that she was on the classroom as well, in front of a crowd of sleeping students.

"Is everything alright with you?" Asked professor Blaze. Mrs. Annabel simply looked at him with an awed expression.

"Well, uh, yes, I am well... But you, you certainly do not, Blaze," She said, blinking several times at him.

"Drop it Annabel, it is not important right now. What matters, is that I have fulfilled my task here in your class," He said with a satisfied tone. He looked at the slumbering students again, and smirked.

"I don't think I would mind being here permanently, you know?" He commented, whilst he levitated some books from the teacher's desk in front of him. He examined the book he was looking for, 'Runes of the Past'. It had a very aged look about it; It was partially covered in dust, and its cover image and writings seem to have faded away considerably.

Gently opening it in a marked page, he read out the ancient runes and its strange symbols and imagery. Many stick figures, mostly resembling unicorns, were painted into it.

Mrs. Annabel had lifted herself up and walked, as if drunk, near professor Blaze, "So, is that the book, then?" She said, with her familiar ragged voice.

Blaze nodded, "I had to acquire special rights in order to get it... But I believe it was worth it, no?"

"If it was. But don't you think that it is tiring for you to do it for so many students?"

"Well, I can say that being tired is the least of my worries, right now. That is for sure," He said, looking at Mrs. Annabel with a curious look about him.

Before he let her say anything, "And don't worry about feeling dizzy right now," He returned his gaze towards the book, "It'll wear off before the session ends."

"That much I know, Blaze. But please don't over-exhaust yourself. We still have many things to do for next week,"

"Is it really worth it? It is a ridiculous plan, Annabel, and I have every reason to believe that you accepted simply out of curiosity of what would happen," He glanced at her with a serious look.

"And it might just as well give us a chance to finally complete it. The organization is well-funded and prepared for any draw-backs, why should we stop supporting them?"

"How many times have organizations like these ever gone back to their original goals and promises? We are taking a risk; Plain and simple,"

He shut the book close, and placed it atop the desk near the others. He sighed, and glanced at Mrs. Annabel with a concerned look.

"What if they do what they said they would, hm? I say this again, do the rewards really outnumber the risks we are about to take?"

"If it means helping those in need, then I see no reason to think twice about it," She said, crossing her arms.

He seemed disappointed, but did not press the matter further. Instead, he turned around from her, and asked, facing the students, "Aside from that, what did you think of the memory?"

She joined him by his side, "... It adds a new perspective on the First Contact, most likely,"

"And if I'm being honest, this should be a new way of teaching students history, don't you think?"

"Maybe... But the psychological effects differ from each person... What did it feel like when you woke up?"

"Like I had traveled the universe to replace another person entirely," She said, smiling to herself, "For a second, I thought I was still that Bernand, watching the blurred window and hearing those ponies speaking behind him,"

"And you, what did it feel like?"

"Blurry. I wasn't paying attention half the time. All of my thoughts were concentrated on keeping the memories playing for everyone... Though I did see glimpses of it, more so during moments of distress lived by Lavoie. When I woke up, I thought I could stand on two legs and walk like you do... It was a strange feeling,"

She did not comment. Her eyes were upon her students, who were still sleeping profoundly.

"Aren't you able to wake them up earlier? I am not want to have worried parents at my doorstep tomorrow,"

"Sorry, I can't help you right now. I did not have time to prepare that, most of it was dedicated to the memory spell itself. Fifteen minutes or so should do it for them, unless you're looking to wake each one up individually," He said, looking at her with a smirk.

"...You can start by grabbing those books over there, and positioning them near their faces. When you're ready, just give them a nice wake-me-up call and you're done. Easier done than said, huh?"

He showed her a warm smile, "Exactly,"

For a moment, the classroom fell silent again, with both teachers looking at the sleeping students with mild interest. They took notice of a few rays of sunshine through the windows, lighting up the darkened skies for a bit. After a while, it vanished, and was replaced by the same gloomy clouds that so commonly dotted the skies in London.

Professor Blazed yawned a few times, unable to contain his tiredness. Mrs. Annabel took notice of this, but did not say anything until professor Blaze spoke up, after another yawn.

"I'm afraid that the spell was too much for me, Annabel,"

"What? What do you mean?"

"I mean I cannot teach these students any more, at least not today."

"You look tired as well, no doubt in that," She commented, "But I understand, you did something not even I could've imagined you doing,"

"Thank you, I appreciate that," He said, lower in tone. 

He slowly sat down on the floor and hanged his head low, apparently deep in thought. Mrs. Annabel, instead, sat on the teacher's desk, and  watched over the students, and even professor Blaze for some time. According to the classroom's clock, it would be another seventeen minutes until the bell rang. 

Mrs. Annabel stood up from her chair, and walked across the room to open up the windows a bit, as the air inside of the class was becoming a little heavy for her. As she turned around, she noticed professor Blaze with his books floating beside him, standing up, and slowly marching towards the exit.

"Blaze? Where are you going?" She asked, clearly worried.

"Home, for the time being," He said wearily.

"Already, Blaze...? Just a quarter hour and we can leave together for some tea or..." Her words died out once she looked at him in the eye.

He said nothing.

"Do you, really...?"

He nodded, simply.

He continued towards the door, tilted the handle with his aura, and slowly opened it with loud creaks coming from the wooden material. He looked back at her, and smiled. He was about to step off, until Mrs. Annabel called out for him once more.

"And Blaze, what should I tell the students if they ask about either you, or what happened next after that memory?"

He did not look at her straight away, instead getting distracted by a pair of teachers that passed through the corridors, greeting professor Blaze. When he turned, however, he answered, though forcefully:

"I will give you a summary, Annabel, because of the students. They deserve to know the truth," He closed the door behind him, and placed his belongings near a student's desk.

"In the aftermath of those events, the french commander reached a consensus with the ponies, and punished his men for their wrongdoings,"

"In the years that followed, the other empires found the ponies, and various events similar to this one happened for nearly a decade. After every empire had met the ponies, Princess Celestia, who had just suffered a great loss, her sister, mainly, sought to open relations with the empires, and invited them into her court,"

"There, border disputes erupted, with each side demanding something from the other. In the end, it only worsened things, and the fire pot had begun heating up, as they say," He said with a smile on his face.

"Many years later, industrialization began in Europe, and the ponies were becoming increasingly weaker in terms of technology and general knowledge. Celestia understood this issue, and decided to reform her entire kingdom, at which point, spanned most of its modern territories. Finally, by the late 19th century, Equestria was basically on par with the rest of the world, having humans serving as advisers on its courts, and helping to manage various aspects of the country,"

"In Nineteen-Fourteen, the United States, eager to find a reason to gain more territory and increase its influence on the world, decided to declare war on the central powers during the First World War. Due to events that not even I am sure of, Equestria was dragged on to the war, except not in the United State's side,"

"They were essentially fighting alone, Annabel. Think of that, three great powers; the United Kingdom, France and the United States, all against Equestria,"

"Hatred had built up among each nation's leaders, all of them hated ponykind in a way we cannot imagine today," Professor Blaze seemed wide awake at that moment, like he wasn't tired at all, "Everyone in the world saw ponies as these vile beings who could not understand anything, and were simply intelligent due to human interference,"

"This sort of thinking led to the creation of a new ideology called 'Human Fanaticism', that there could be only one sapient species in the world, and one only!"

"This was the main reason those Empires declared war on the ponies... Fortunately for ponykind, however, they managed to win the war," He said, in a much more tired, but satisfied way, "The ponies sacrificed a great number of their population in order to repel the more advanced tactics and weaponry used by the invading forces, but it was worth it in the end,"

"After countless lives lost, mount for almost Thirty-Six million ponies of all races, Equestria signed the treaty of Canterlot in Ninteen-Twenty Two, and ended the war with the Allied Powers. After the war had been fought, Equestria found out that it lost Forty-Six Percent of its total population... Equestria was in ruins, and there was no one willing to help them rebuild their nation,"

"The 20th century was later known as the Rebuilding Era in history books, never completely recovering from its effects until Two-Thousand-Ten, after having payed all of its debts for raw materials in order to rebuild their historic landmarks,"

"... And I can't see the United Nations being formed without Equestria, either. They were the ones who proposed it, who held that idea tightly until the global powers decided that it was indeed a valid effort undertaken by the ponies... I'm just glad they didn't enter the second World War, then ponies wouldn't exist today."

He had stopped talking. During his entire speech, more than fifteen minutes had passed, and most of the students were beginning to lazily wake up, presumably because of professor's Blaze over-sized summary. It was a fact that did not go unnoticed by Mrs. Annabel, who couldn't help but smile at him.

When he realized this, he went slightly pink, but regained composure almost immediately.

"And that was that, Annabel. You know I value truth above all else, no matter how much I rant about it,"

"I do." She said, still smiling.

"But let this be known,"

"Ponykind has suffered gravely in humanity's hands. Equestria will not do the same to humans, however. They will receive each and every human being into their homes as one of them, despite what happened in the past. And the only feasible way I can see this happening, is through the Bureaus,"

He looked at her, a tired smile on his lips.

"Until then, I will be waiting there for you, Annabel," He said with a nod.

And so, he lifted his books with his magical aura, and left the classroom with a soft thud from the wooden door.

None of the students were aware of anything said between professor Blaze and Mrs. Annabel. None of them knew, that for the next nine years, the world would change drastically, for the better or worse. All they knew, was that their teacher was left sobbing, and with tears streaming down her red cheeks.