//------------------------------// // Humans! I thought they were a myth. // Story: Past Lives New Lives // by Dark Wish //------------------------------// Meanwhile at Twilight’s Castle, everypony were having their usual morning chats about what they have done. “Spitfire offer me to train the newbies while she is away to do so some business,” Rainbow Dash bragged, “She knew how awesome I am that I’m able to train them even it was only for one day.” “That’s nice, Rainbow,” Twilight turned to face Fluttershy, “What about you?” “Oh,” Fluttershy twirled her hair, “Nothing much. Feed the animals, had tea with Discord and read some books like the usual.” Spike was carrying a tray of pancakes for the girls, until everypony felt a big tremor on the ground. Spike tripped over and dropped the pancakes. Fortunately Twilight managed to catch the pancakes with her magic before it could touch the ground. “What thuh blazes jus' 'appen?” Applejack picked her hat from the floor as everypony was recovering, “Was it an earthquake?” “No,” Twilight felt something unusual in the air, “It’s much bigger than that. I can feel it but I don’t know what it is exactly.” “Is it a big monster?” Rainbow Dash threw some punches in the air, “I’m really itching for a good fight.” “Rainbow!” Rarity gasped, “You cannot expect every problem have giant monsters and solve it by using brute force.” “No girls. It’s much bigger than a monster,” Twilight rushed to the open window and stared at the direction of the strange force, “Something big is here and as the duty of a princess, I have to investigate it.” There was a big flash that blinded the girls then Princess Celestia and Princess Luna appeared in front of them. “Twilight, we heard a disturbance beyond Equestria. We need you and your friends to come with us to find this source of power,” Princess Celestia pointed at the direction of the disturbance, “We need to determine if it is safe to be left alone or need to be swiftly destroy. “I know, Celestia,” Twilight scrambled to collect everything she needed to write down the new discovery, “Is it dangerous?” “We sure it is not dangerous at the moment,” Princess Luna reassured the group, “But it is safer to be prepared for anything unpredictable.” "Just get what you need and tell us when you are ready." The princesses teleported all of Twilight's friends to the place where all major nations connected. It was originally a barren place with no clear evidence who should own the place. After heavy dispute between the leaders, there left it as no one's land. Now it was replaced by a city surrounded by suburban towns and green field with a beautiful beach which is protected by a large forcefield. Leaders from different nation and nearby communities were all observing the buildings and trying to find any signs of the inhabitants. Cameras were flashing, reporters were writing every detail down on their notebook and soldiers were holding the civilians away from the forcefield. "This is amazing," Twilight was in awe as she see the complexity of the giant buildings, "These skyscrapers are way bigger than the ones from Manehatten and look like they are mostly made of glass." "These creatures must be highly intelligent to be able to construct buildings that big without looking unstable," Princess Celestia saw the leaders discussing with each other, "Twilight, please continue observing. I am going to meet the other leaders with my sister." As soon as they left, the girls are talking about the new arrivals. "Wow. A new species visiting us," Pinkie was jumping up and down, "I hope they like parties. I wonder what kind of party they like to do. I never planned this kind of party before." "What if they are killer aliens from outer space like in the Power Ponies from issue #394,The Alien Unknown?" Spike whimpered. "If they are killer aliens, then I am ready for them?" Rainbow Dash was doing punching motion to showcase her willingness to fight. Fluttershy squeaked in terror and hid behind Rarity, "Killer Aliens. I want to go home." "Spike! Rainbow Dash! Stop putting silly nonsense in our head," Rarity pointed all the beautiful buildings and surroundings, "They are obvious civilized creature. I bet they are just explorers from faraway lands and want to spread their culture." "Where are thuh creatures anyway?" Applejack complained, "This look like a ghost town." "Maybe they're shy," Fluttershy offered an idea, "If I were them, I would be hiding from strangers." "Or it could be a cult," Everypony stared at Starlight Glimmer, "What? I was a leader. I know how a cult operate. You have to be one to know one." "Okay," Twilight cut the conversation short, "Let stop thinking of theories of why they are here and try communicating with them." "How?" Rainbow mocked Twilight by staring at the forcefield with her hoof above her eyes, "I don't see anypony there. Maybe we should just walked up to them and knocked at the front door and asked for direction. "Very funny Dash," Twilight looked annoyed, "We just have to gained their attention. Something big and flashy that nopony could ignored." "Like fireworks and loud music!" Pinkie Pie pulled out her party cannon. "Maybe but we must make sure that the forcefield is not sound proof and if anypony live nearby." "Why don't we ask?" Pinkie managed to popped behind the guards and knocked on the forcefield, "Hello. We come in peace. Wait. Doesn't the aliens suppose to say that?" Twilight yelled at Pinkie, "Pinkie, don't do that. We do not know if it is safe to do so." Before Twilight could berate Pinkie further more, a loud robotic voice came out from the forcefield, "Hello, how may I help you?" Everybody, including the guards, took a couple of steps away from the forcefield. Nobody knows how to react to the forcefield that just started talking. Twilight speak up for the ponies. "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. I am here to know who you are and what are you doing here?" "Hello Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. I am an A.I, artificial intelligence, that protects the inhabitants inside the forcefield." "Who are the inhabitants and where are they?" Twilight asked curiously. "Let make it more fun. How about a television show?" "Hmm.. What's a television?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Oh dear. You don't have T.V. Well it is like a movie but in smaller episodic parts. It will explain the dynamics of the civilians and how they cope with the new situation. Get yourself comfortable. The show will start in three hours," the A.I turned itself off and replaced with a giant timer counting down. "Wait. I need more answers," Twilight tried to gained back the attention but the A.I didn't reply. "Cool! Movie Night! Lets get some sofa and snacks before the show start," Pinkie looked really please with the outcome. "The artificial intelligent treat this situation as a drama show," Twilight was fuming, "Meeting a new civilization is not some kind of entertainment." Princess Celestia came up to her and put her wing on her back, "It's okay Twilight. Just listen to it and we will understand them more." "Fine!" Twilight huffed, "Let just teleport back home and retrieve the stuff for 'movie night'." When it was ten minutes before the show start, Twilight took note on all the stuff they needed for a perfect movie watch and the materials to take notes on everything about the new civilization. "Food check. Drinks check. Chairs check. Papers, quills and ink check," Twilight checking off the list as the girls settle in their spots. "I hope it is an action show. I want to see some fighting!" Rainbow was pumped. "Darling," Rarity laughed, "This is likely an introduction show. It will be mostly aiming at the culture and the inhabitants." "Maybe how they party!" Pinkie munched on her popcorn while waiting. While the girls discuss about the show, Twilight had an uninvited guest. "Twilight!" Lyra Heartstrings popped in front of her. "Aaargh!" Twilight stumbled over and dropped her stuff, "Lyra? What are you doing here?" "To see the humans of course," Lyra was setting her sitting location, "I knew humans exist. My human sense is tingling." "What the tartarus are you talking about? Humans don't exist. They are just foals' tales." "Really. Does that mean Nightmare Moon doesn't exist as well? I clearly remember I was there when Nightmare Moon announced her arrival." Twilight facehooved herself as she got a point, "What made you think that they are humans? What proof you have?" Lyra shoved papers and diagrams of humans, "Look at the pictures of houses. Remember I show you the pictures when we were in school together. You just laughed and said grow up and humans don't exist. Here's my proof." Twilight stared at the pictures and gasped at it. Many of the pictures reassembled the building within the forcefield. She clearly remembered when she first saw them. When she first saw it, she blatantly tossed it away and said that many of the buildings are too ridiculous and unstable to be a proper structure. Her whole world shattered when everything Lyra have said could become true. "How?" Twilight was in clearly amaze on how accurate the diagrams are, "How did you know?" "Research and dreams that you almost shattered," Lyra laughed, "I know that humans are really and I just prove it in your face." "Sorry Lyra," Twilight felt guilty on how she treated her ideas, "Your drawings are so close to the real ones that it could not be a coincidence." "No probs Twilight. Water under the bridge. I just want to see humans for the very first time. It's so exciting that your dreams will become true." "Well, you can join us," Twilight offered, "We have food and drinks." "Sure, I can take the offer and I rubbing it in your face for not believing me." "Deal. I deserved that," Twilight led her to the sitting spot until she noticed something wrong, "How did you get her so quickly? Using public transport would take at least a week non-stop to get here." "I got connections," Lyra smirked. At Bon Bon's house "Lyra! Where are you?" Bon Bon's face was red with anger, "How many time did I tell you to not use my secret stuff?!" Bon Bon spotted her bag unzipped in open space. "Lyra, you know not to leave my stuff out! It has all my most important gadgets for my missions!" Bon Bon checked all her equipment and noticed something is missing, "Lyra! Why the tartarus did you want to use my magically infused portable cart? Is it because I won't lend you one because it is really important and expensive?" Bon Bon found a sticky note under her bag. It read, "Gone to find humans. Won't be back to tomorrow. XOXO. Lyra <3" "LYRA!!!" Back to the plot The girls were surprised to find Lyra here. Twilight made an excuse that she is an avid learner of new civilization. She didn't want to ruined the surprise and there might be a small chance that it could not be humans. When it reached to ten seconds left, everybody was counting down in their own native language. "TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX! FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE!" The show started with an epilogue. The pilot episode Narrator: War. War never change. Everything around you changes but war never change. Film: Show the earliest civilization of humans Narrator: Humans. Remarkable creatures. They are small, fragile and magicless they still managed to survive through many disaster. Humans, an intelligent species, evolved and made the environment adapt to them. Film: Show the changes from the early civilization to the middle ages then to the modern ages. Narrator: Like every good thing, there is always a evil thing. Film: Shows invasion of other countries, cruel leaders, slaving and massacre. Narrator: With almost 200 countries. Wars is inevitable. Expanding the lands, conflicts of interest, religion are the only few reasonable reason why they fight with each other. (Many of the viewers gasped at the numbers. They don't have that many nations in their world) Film: Showing different wars in different eras. Narrator: As they advanced, they made stronger and better weapons. Nations need to advance themselves to stay relevant in the world and not become obsolete. Some wars can last for hundreds of years. Millions of people died for either good, bad or no reason. Film: Showing many leaders with different views to govern their country and showing threat to each other. Narrator: Leaders have the power between peace and war. One wrong move can risks millions of people's lives. Film: Showing figure heads that supports peace and harmony. Narrator: There are people who will risk their lives for a better future for the whole of humanity. Film: Showing advancing technology Narrator: The humans are never complacent. They always strive to be better than other nations. Outsmarting the enemies is the sure way to keep your country safe. Brute force doesn't work anymore. Film: Showing countries representing their best attributes. Narrator: To prove their worth, they either show their; military power, religion, culture, wealth and production. Film: Showing the devastation from the civilians side of view Narrator: No matter how far people advanced, war never changed. The conflicts between nation created terrorism, poverty, destruction of people's livelihood and racial bias. To put it simply, if you don't look, act or think like us, you are an enemy. Film: Showing a dark-skinned boy who tried to presentable but couldn't help crying. Subtitles were added on the bottom. Boy: It's tough. I am just a normal kid caught between two warring nations. I was lucky to be alive as I was late to a place where I suppose to meet up with my friends. A bomb hit that place any all my friends died. It was traumatizing to see your friends' lifeless bodies scattered across the field. The leaders do not care who caught in the crossfire. They only care about their pride and power. Narrator: This is a common case for people in a poor country which is often caught in conflict. Film: Separating the countries into three categories: First World, Second World and Third World. Narrator: People from the third country, the poorest of all countries, tried to get to either the first or second world countries. However there are obstacles in the way; citizenship, wealth, history, waiting time, space, etc. It is exceptionally hard, almost impossible, to escape for a better future. Film: Showing thousands of people's profiles who were currently living in the forcefield. Narrator: These people have something special that nobody else have. From different background, culture, laws and religion, they are really good people who do not wish harm to innocent people. Film: Showing them standing in rows, feeling scared and confused. Narrator: In order to collect them, we took them while they were asleep. Even though they are angry and upset with our method, it is the best for them and for you. Let's see how they react to their new environment. They show the scene when somebody yelled at the shadowy figure to take him home. People panicked and follow the person's rules. Everybody saw the reaction of hearing the news that they were assumed dead. "Ah feel sorry for 'em," Applejack commented, "Takin' away from your family and noway back home." Now it was the scene with people in the bus losing hope and cussing at each other. "They scare and angry. No hope can lead to disaster," Fluttershy whimpered. The next scene show some people discussing at the table. They were discussing what to do and how to do it. They proposed they should host a meeting with everybody to find the best solution. It was shocking to see one of the people noticed something, "Guys, do you feel being watch?" "Of course. That cunt is everywhere. He maybe a pervert watching us shower." "No, not him. It is like being watch by hundreds of eyes like we on a web show," the guy started to stare around to find any hidden cameras. "You overreacting a bit. Maybe a good night sleep and some food will do us some good. We got people from all around the world. We would think of something good." "At least they are calm and logical at the moment," Twilight took note on how they react to being kidnapped. "Thousands of years of fighting made them tougher than you think," Lyra added, "They know they need to think straight to find answers." Another scene shown a group of girls looking over their map. "This place is ridiculous. Look at this," the girl with blond hair pointed at each section of the map, "That place is like a winter wonderland whereas the opposite side is like the Sahara desert. They got every kind of season and environment within the red circle." "Maybe he is kind enough to have every kind of environment to suit our needs," the girl with glasses pointed everybody in the room, "We are from different part of the world. We adapt to weather differently. It is unfair to have a specific weather where most people weren't exposed to." "But how?" the blond girl pulling her hair, "Creating weather that are totally different next to each other is literally impossible. This is like a Disney movie but without walls to separate them. I could literally drive from the desert to a frozen wasteland within a couple of hours." "Don't do that. Bodies can't adapt the two extreme of weathers within a day. You will get sick quick." "We can tell how the community is separated. It is obviously that people who live in the hotter area either live near the beach or the desert whereas the people who live in colder areas live in the giant land of ice or snow." "At least we are not just stuck under one weather. A good variety is good for our mind and body." "You always look at the bright side. This doesn't mean we should get comfortable. We are still kidnapped." The next scene shown people polishing their guns and arming themselves. "That monster trapped us here and we won't be some lab rats," he loaded some bullets in his gun, "I bet he going to kill us for his benefit. Maybe he would summon monsters that we have to defeat." "Are we sure we can do this?" "Don't worry I have been using guns since I was six years old. I learnt all the gun safety, laws and shooting protocols." "Yeah but not everyone can use a gun. It easy for a USA citizen to use one compare to other countries where they are extremely hard to obtain and even outlawed. Do we think we have enough people to protect everybody?" "No, but we have to try," he put the gun away in a secure place, "For us and the humanity." "We need to form a government. Too many people from different countries. So many different rules. We need laws to keep us safe without it there will be anarchy." The last scene shown Kevin and his friends hanging out. "We are now more reunited than we ever before," Kevin said as he placed down the snacks, "Everybody, no matter who they are, are facing a common enemy and problem." "Do you think he would hurt us?" asked Dexter as he played a first person shooter. "He said he won't do permanent damage," Daniel explained, "It still mean he would hurt as in some way." "Yeah. The best we can do is to follow his rules until we find a weak spot or an exploit to get us home," Kevin grabbed a controller, "If you pissed him off, he would limit our resources including food and weaponry." "I hope he is not a monster. We got a kid here," Dexter stared at Robert sitting by himself watching television, "Why is he here? Where are we all here? Why are we so important? What make us so special?" "We will get answer sooner or later. Just play the game and we would think about it tomorrow. It's going to be a long day." The show end with still images of people with different emotions: anger, confusion, happiness, fear, hopelessness and depressed. Narrator: Will they managed to push aside the differences to reach a certain goal or will they fight like the people with power from their home world? In the next episode, what if we injected some drugs in one of the civilians? Film: Show a Caucasian boy being injected by some drug in his sleep. Narrator: The drug will exposed him to the hidden secret of the people. Will people ignore it like he is a madman or is it a sign of a prophecy? Who is going to be the leader of the new nation? Will they be under one leader or multiple leaders with different ideology? Will this divide the people. Stay tune for the next episode tomorrow night. The show ended and everybody clapped at the show, couldn't wait to explore their culture and advanced technology. "This is amazing," Twilight was in awe as she finish taking notes, "Ignoring the wars and death of some nations, it is really interesting. I feel like watching a documentary mixed with drama on how nations advanced to keep ahead of other nations. They always strive to be better because of some immediate war that could possibly come. Faster communication that connect around the world, powerful weapons that decreases the time of training, cultures and religion spreading. They are remarkable creatures." "It is something that I would never imagine," Princess Celestia was highly impressed with the creature, "With only using the power of science, they managed to create everything that I wish it would happen know." "Indeed sister," Princess Luna added, "It's easier to host the world leader conference by staying in our own kingdom." "Truly. Last time I lend the ruler of the Deer Nation with a flying chariot to get to the conference quickly, he ended up being air sick and had to cancelled it. He swore to never take transportation by flight." "Hey Twilight," Lyra interrupted Twilight while the princesses were talking, "How do you like about the humans?" "They are a really unique creatures. After reviewing you theories, they are almost spot on! How did you do know that?" "I just know. I knew spending more than a decade on humans will be good for something." "Twilight, who is your friend?" Princess Celestia asked as she finished talking with her sister. "Celestia!" Twilight pushed Lyra in front of her, "This is a self acclaimed human experts. Most of her reports were spot on before the show started." "Hi," Lyra was nervous for meeting the ruler. "Really?" Princess Celestia was surprise to hear an expert on a new species, "I would love to discuss about it. Maybe I should make you a diplomat." "Are you sure?" Lyra was concerned with the proposal, "Isn't Twilight more qualified?" "Twilight would make a good diplomat but you have the knowledge of humans before we any of us ever know. Humans were considered a myth ever since I could remember." "Sure, I could brag to Bon Bon that I am going to be the first pony to communicate with humans," than she was tackled. "Thank you for your cooperation," Princess Celestia turned to Twilight, "We have to be back at the castle. I am going to send a pony who will record the show and send it back to me. After Lyra getting back home by Twilight's magic, she got tackled by Bon Bon. "Lyra, where have you been?!" Bon Bon shook her like a rattle, "You knew how worry I was when I found you missing." Lyra just smiled at Bon Bon, "Hi Bon Bon. I got good news." "Not now. Where is my gadget you stole from me?" "Hey! It's not stealing. I'm just borrowing it for a short amount of time without telling you." "Still stealing. Where is it?" Bon Bon hold out her hooves. Lyra dropped the broken gadget in her hooves, "Your cart got destroy in the way. It was so fast that I managed to get to the border by only spending half the day. It crushed into a tree because I couldn't stop in time." This made Bon Bon fumed with anger, "Don't worry. I will pay for it because Princess Celestia made me a diplomat and I am going to be the first pony to meet the humans." Lyra ended up sleeping on the floor with only her blanket to keep her warm, "You don't have to take my couch!" "I'm sorry. It seem I like to take stuff without asking the owner for permission," Bon Bon slammed the door loudly to get the point across.