March 17, 1825AD
Southwest of Sangre de Cristo Range, New Mexico Territory
A lone fort stood, near a mountain range, with no other man-made building in sight. The fort had seen use until a few years ago, when it was abandoned. Since then, nary a soul had approached the place. Until now.
From the northeast, in the direction of the mountains, a group approached. These men were on horseback, the horses kicking a dust cloud behind them due to their quick gallop. This group kept their momentum, until they came at close sight of the fort, at which the one at the front, the leader, signaled his comrades, and one by one they began to slow down, coming to a halt.
“I was right! I knew it was a good idea coming this way!”
The men turned, at the now excited man who had spoken.
“I have to admit, this was much faster than going back to the Trail,” another man said.
“It was fortunate I remembered the existence of the pass,” the leader admitted.
“We can thank Leo for that.”
“Great, now he’s likely to not shut up about it the rest of the way back,” one of the men groaned.
This caused a few to chuckle, but the man called Leo remained unfettered.
“Say what you will, but it was still my suggestion that prompted the captain to remember,” he boasted.
“I still don’t see how that can be considered a big of an accomplishment,” the other man continued.
“Regardless, we must press onwards,” the captain said.
“We will rest at the fort, then continue southwards to the Bravo River. That will return us back to Santa Fe. We will restock provisions at Taos on the way.”
“I’m glad for that,” one of the other men said.
“I feared we would ran out while we ventured through the pass.”
“We did have to resort to ration them, though,” another said.
“And that’s why I still think Leo’s idea was too risky!”
“Oh, shut up!”
The men ignored the banter between Leo and the other man, and commanded their horses to resume their gallop towards the fort.
“I never knew there was a fort here,” one of the men spoke up on the way.
“Me neither,” another added.
“It was built to look out the area in case of French, and later American, invasion,” the leader answered.
“Once that treaty defining the border was signed, it lost its use.”
“I guess then we won’t find anything of value in there?” Leo asked.
“It is likely we won’t, but it will serve us fine either way.”
West of the Equestrian Border
After having departed back east that morning, the pegasi Thunderbolt and Scud flew as fast as they could back to Equestria. The forest had quickly made way to grasslands that stretched eastward, but they had first shifted north until they reached a river, after which they resumed their flight east. But as the morning gave to midday, then to afternoon, they had stopped to rest. As the skies were clear around them, they had opted to descend by the river.
Scud had taken an apple from his saddlebags almost as soon as they landed.
“You know, I think we’re making a good time,” he said to Thunderbolt, who was drinking from the river.
“At this speed, we can reach the border by nightfall,” he continued, before taking a bite of his apple.
Thunderbolt finally turned to look at Scud.
“Come on, what do you say, a race for the last stretch?”
Thunderbolt said nothing, simply taking out an apple of his own from his own saddlebags.
“What, afraid I’ll even the score?”
“You’ve kept track?” Thunderbolt finally spoke.
Scud made a surprised face.
“You mean you haven’t?”
Thunderbolt simply shook his head, biting his apple.
“How can we determine who is faster if you don’t?”
“This has never been a competition, Scud,” Thunderbolt said.
“Of course it’s a competition!” Scud protested.
Thunderbolt sighed. Here we go again.
“I’ll prove I’m the fastest pegasus of the squad, and that means proving without a doubt I’m faster than you!” he pointed at Thunderbolt.
Once we make it back, I need to talk to Thundershock to stop encouraging him on, Thunderblot rolled his eyes.
“Fine, a race to the border,” he conceded.
Win or lose, at least he will stop pestering me for a while, as always.
“We are going to be even once I beat you, you’ll see!” Scud boasted.
Is it that close to a tie? Thunderbolt wondered as he finished his apple. He never took count of how many races he'd had with Scud, all started by him, of course. Nor keeping track of the score.
If he doesn’t show signs of dropping this perhaps I do should keep track.
Once they had both finished eating, they placed themselves into position. Side by side, parallel to the river.
“Ready?” Scud asked.
“As always,” Thunderbolt answered.
And shortly after both pegasi took off, resuming their eastward course to Equestria’s border.
Acapulco, State of Mexico
Ever since yesterday when General Echávarri’s ship had returned, activity at the port was bustling more than usual. Due to its location, many people at first had been unaware of what had happened, until news began to pour from the east. They wouldn’t be at fault if the news were the object of ridicule, but reason would win in the end once enough people had brought the same news. With too many people on it, it had become less sensible to think that everyone in the state of Chiapas had gone mad or were pulling some sort of prank.
Human curiosity can be very strong, though, and even before New Year’s Eve had arrived many people had decided to see for themselves, traveling eastward and crossing the Suchiate River, only to find it was quite true. And ever since the ship departed from port to travel west, the port had become filled with people wondering about what sort of news they would return with.
It wasn’t just them, though. Across southeast México it was mostly the same, as those that could afford making the journey and back were big in number. And it was why so many had traveled to Acapulco itself to find out about the ship’s journey in the first place.
To their disappointment, they had not spoken openly about it. At most only the mayor was informed, and then on the following day, that is today, many of the men had departed to the capital. But that didn’t stop them from asking the ones that stayed behind, mainly the sailors.
“We never went that far,” one was saying. “We actually ended up heading south after that.”
“Journey was expected to take weeks, even months,” another told. “We were meant to reach Hawaii.”
“The general wanted to be sure,” yet another spoke. “It isn’t like we are talking about Cozumel Island, for example. Not close enough.”
“We did not encounter anything out of the ordinary,” the ship’s very own captain had even joined in. “General Echávarri still had orders that we shouldn’t tell a soul, but even before departing he could tell word would still get out once we returned. We knew it would not take long before all the southeast was aware of what had happened.”
And as the information poured out, things had only gotten even more hectic. Few could guess what was the true revelation behind the journey.
South Equestria
Since the last few weeks, the southern reaches of Equestria have been bustling with activity. More specifically, near the site where Discord was defeated, to the south of it. In commemoration for their newest princesses, ponies were busy building the castle that would be their new home.
Such a shift in the balance of power in comparison to how things were before Discord came into the picture would change the course of the country in the years to come. And perhaps it was of no surprise that the powerful unicorn Starswirl, one of Equestria’s most valuable assets since even from the days of the three tribes, had took it to himself to guide the newest princesses for their new trials.
Despite construction still being underway, one of the already finished sections of the castle was the tower Starswirl took as his new residence. Currently, he was on one the tower’s rooms. It was lined with bookshelves filled with books, and a few desks. Starswirl was before one the desks, which had a few books laid out on it. A few others, however, were being suspended in the air by the unicorn’s magic. There was also a piece of parchment laid out on the desk with a bottle of ink next to it. A quill, also controlled by magic, would occasionally scribble down things, dipping itself on the ink to renew it when needed. The unicorn’s eyes quickly darted from book to book. Pages turned on their own, and every now and then a book would fly to a shelf, only for another to replace it on the desk or floating around. All this while the quill kept writing things down, and even crossing out lines at times.
It is unfortunate there’s no more recent records, Starswirl thought as he glanced at the parchment.
It may not even be enough for the princesses. But this will do for the time being. It will be up to them to decide.
The magic surrounding the quill dissipated, and it fell onto the desk. The books resting on it then began to glow and lift off. They, and the ones already in the air, all flew back into the shelves, but no more books came from them. And then the parchment ended up rising as well, but it remained near Starswirl.
And then, with a brief flash of light, the unicorn disappeared from the room.
Beach
The late afternoon sky was above them, but that was of little concern. The humans were now mostly back on the beach, at their camp. A few had remained in the ship, but even then, it was only on the deck, rather than remaining hiding inside. The pegasi had set up their own camp not far but still apart, to the north of the humans. Activity bustled in both, but it was higher with the humans.
A small group of men sat at the edge of camp that faced the pegasi. They were in a semi-circle, not giving their backs to the equines.
“I still can’t believe it,” one man was saying.
“Me neither,” another said.
“Flying ponies... sounds like something out of a dream or fairy tale.”
“And yet, it is real,” a third added.
The men briefly glanced at the other camp.
“I am impressed by the captain,” the second man continued.
“He kept his composure while we panicked.”
The men felt uncomfortable at being reminded of that.
“W-Well… I am sure he was as much shocked as us,” a fourth quickly said.
“I would not doubt it,” the first man said.
“He just has more professionalism due to his years as a soldier!”
Murmurs of agreement followed.
“Speaking of the captain,” the third man said, glancing back at their own camp.
“Where is he?”
“I think they’re having another meeting inside the ship,” a fifth man answered.
“Again? Well, that shouldn’t surprise us,” the first man observed.
“Hopefully they do not take long,” the second man said.
“And we find out what is our next orders.”
“I would rather have them be to head back,” the last man of the group said.
“Can’t say I want to know what else is out there, other than flying horses. Thank God those creatures weren’t hostile!”
In comparison, the pegasi camp had a more relaxed atmosphere, and its occupants kept to their own business. Few were paying attention to the humans, except for some like Keen Eyes, who had been finally ordered to descend from his cloud. He shot occasional glances in the direction of their camp from where he sat.
“Nothing new to report?”
Keen Eyes glanced back to face who had asked him. It was Wing Shield.
“No sir. Most still pay attention to what we do, but nothing else. Related to us, that is,” Keen Eyes answered.
Wing Shield sat next to him.
“Tell me, Keen Eyes. What do you think of these creatures?” He asked.
Keen Eyes briefly glanced once more to the other camp.
“Well, they don’t seem that bad,” he said.
“A little jumpy, perhaps.”
Wing Shield gave a small smile.
“Ah, Keen Eyes, so quick to judge. Of course, I cannot deny our guests had a very unusual way to greet us.”
“Well, at least that one shook hooves with you.” Keen Eyes pointed out.
“Correct. Despite not knowing each other’s language, it did not stop us from trying to greet each other.”
“So, is that it, sir? We don’t have to worry of their presence here?”
“Who knows, Keen Eyes. We still have to find out the purpose of their arrival.”
Whing Shield stood up.
“In any case,” he continued, “it may not take long before Thunderbolt and Scud reach the border, and word can reach the princesses.”
Especially if Scud convinces Thunderbolt to another race, Keen Eyes mentally added.
“I am confident the princesses will see us through this without a problem,” Wing Shield finished.
“But sir, can they? Defeating Discord was one thing, but this is different.”
“They have Starswirl,” Wing Shield simply said, before departing.
“Well, I can’t argue against that,” Keen Eyes went back to glancing at the other camp.