Chapter 2
Standing on her stone balcony, Celestia took a moment to look out over the sun-drenched lands of Equestria that her little ponies called home. They had lived in peace for well over a thousand years with the Discordian incursion registering as little more than a slight hiccup in the prosperity of Equestria. Even now ponies across Equestria were rising from their slumber and preparing for what the new day would bring. They knew nothing of the true horrors of the world. Her ponies knew only peace, tolerance, love, and harmony. It was everything she and Luna had ever wanted for them. So why did she feel a sense of unease and . . . guilt, when she looked out over these lands? Maybe it had something to do with. . .
“No,” she said, shaking her head to drive away the memories. “That time is long gone.” With that, Celestia turned around and stepped back into her quarters, calling for an attendant as she did so. The doors to her quarters quickly opened and a grey earth pony impeccably dressed in a black suit, with a silver tray as his cutie mark, bowed deeply to the princess.
“Good morning milady, how may I help you?” he said, rising from his bow to look expectantly at Celestia.
“Good morning to you as well Silver Platter,” Celestia said smiling warmly at the old pony. “Could you go and wake my student, Twilight Sparkle? I fear she may still be quite exhausted from last night.”
“Of course princess,” he said with another respectful bow as he turned to leave. As he left a maid entered, wheeling in a pot of Celestia’s favorite tea. Accepting the tea gratefully, Celestia took a seat to await Twilight’s arrival. Two cups of tea later, Silver Platter returned with a worried look on his face.
“Princess,” he began slowly. “Miss Sparkle was not in her room. I asked some of the guards and they say she never returned to her room last night.” Celestia sat up quickly, suppressing an involuntary shudder at the news.
“Very well,” she said. “I may know where she is, but have some of the guards search the rest of the castle just to be safe.”
“Of course princess,” the pony said, turning to leave once again. “I’ll see to it immediately.” With that Celestia hurriedly donned her regalia and strode out into the large stone hallway, her guards snapping crisply to attention as she passed by. Celestia trotted down the cavernous hallways, hurrying towards the only other place she could think Twilight would have spent the night: the archives. As she approached the gilded doors of the archives, Celestia practically threw them open with a burst of golden magic from her horn.
The dull boom of the doors echoed throughout the silent stacks of the archives as Celestia raced into the archives.
“Twilight was researching the Founding,” she thought aloud to herself as she navigated through the maze of shelves. “If I remember correctly it should only be a bit farther away. Left here . . . then a right, oh never mind another left. Finally!” With that last outburst Celestia arrived at the small research nook that Twilight had occupied the previous day. What she saw there terrified her. Twilight was curled up on the chair, almost in the fetal position, and there were great bags under her bloodshot eyes. Her normally immaculate mane was in shambles as hair stuck out in every direction and she rocked slowly back worth, murmuring quietly to herself as she did. “Twilight!” Celestia cried moving to help her obviously disturbed student.
At the sound of her mentor’s voice, Twilight’s head shot up quickly. As Celestia approached her Twilight recoiled swiftly, almost falling from her chair as she did so. Celestia stopped moving as her look of concern intensified.
“Twilight,” she pleaded. “Please, tell me what’s wrong. The guards said you didn’t return to your room last night. What happened?” Twilight’s mouth opened and closed several times before she finally pointed to the still open scroll lying on the table with a trembling hoof. Celestia turned her head to see what Twilight was pointing at and felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she saw the yellowed, unfurled scroll lying on the table amidst a mess of research materials
“I don’t understand princess,” Twilight said. “This scroll mentions events that never happened, names I’ve never heard of, and. . .and . . . you long before you and Luna overthrew Discord. What is going on?!” Twilight had become frantic and looked to Celestia with confused and pleading eyes. Celestia could barely look at them as feelings of guilt overcame her.
“Twilight,” she said slowly, striving to choose her next words as carefully as she could. “That scroll is a record of a time in Equestrian history that all but a few have forgotten. It details events and encounters Luna and I purposefully hid from ponykind to spare them the horrors of the past. Twilight could not believe what she was hearing
“So you just made up a fake history?!” Twilight shouted. “You’ve lying to eveyrpony, you’ve been lying to me.” Celestia could hear the pain and betrayal in Twilght’s voice and it tore her up inside.
”Twilight,” she began.
“What else have you lied to me about?” demanded Twilight. “Was Discord actually evil? Was Nightmare Moon not the evil you made her out to be? Better yet, do you actually care about me, or was me becoming your student just a . . . a . . . whim that meant nothing?” By this last question tears had formed in her eyes and her voice had become little more than a whisper. Celestia could feel the beginnings of tears in her eyes as well. All she had been trying to do was protect her little ponies, but it was obvious that in the end the result was that she had caused even more pain to a pony she cared deeply about. Bending down she wrapped her wing around Twilight comfortingly. Twilight buried her face against Celestia’s chest sobs wracking her whole body.
“Twilight,” began Celestia. “I’m sorry: far more than I can ever explain. All this time I thought by burying this I could protect my little ponies from the horrors of our past. But, you’ve shown me that even the best intentions can end in disaster. While I cannot promise that I can tell you absolutely everything, nor even that you will feel better following this tale, I will strive to impart to you this history as best I can.” Twilight looked up at her mentor with big eyes.
“Really princess?” Celestia smiled down at her.
“Yes Twilight. It is about time this tale was told.”
“Yes!” shouted Twilight practically jumping for joy before catching herself. Looking up once again at her mentor and friend, Twilight smiled.
“Thank you princess,” Twilight said before giving Celestia another hug.
“Well,” said Celestia. “I think you should get some food in you before we begin. Also,” she said looking over Twilight. “Maybe a bath wouldn’t be amiss either. Twilight nodded as she raced out of the room.
Hours later, the two sat together on the plush crimson rug in Celestia’s private quarters.
“Twilight, this tale stretches back for many thousands of years so you will have to forgive me in advance if I cannot recall some parts of this tale.” Twilight just nodded excitedly, stretching out a fresh piece of parchment and readying a newly inked quill pen. With a slight smile at the familiar scene, Celestia began her tale.
“It began over two thousand years ago. Contrary to the popular belief we have encouraged we came to power soon after Equestria was founded, before Discord came to this land. The tribes, while united, lacked clear leadership and their early years were marred with decision making stalemates and never ending arguments over the future of Equestria. Shortly after we came to Equestria, the tribes saw in us a way to end the stalemates. As alicorns are essentially a combination of the three tribes in one form, we represented the very unity that the Equestrians were striving for and were soon asked to lead Equestria. We accepted and took our places as the rulers of Equestria. And our first order of businesss was simple: the reclamation of our old lands. To accomplish this we sent out a small, but elite scouting team to explore the frozen regions. However, theirs was a journey fraught with peril and hardship from the outset. . .”
Freezing winds swept over the snow covered landscape, biting into the group of explorers like steel knives. They stumbled across the hard packed ice and snow as they struggled to keep themselves upright in the ever shifting environment. The small expedition consisted of only six ponies, two from each race: the pegasi, the unicorns, and the earth ponies. The two ponies in front were both unicorns, their horns glowing brightly as they attempted to keep the scouring winds away from the group as best they could. The unicorn on the left had a coat and mane as white as the snow around them. It was a mare that boasted a cutie mark of a roaring fire, a skill at manipulating heat and flame making her a key addition to the beleaguered party as they roamed the snowy wastes. Walking alongside her was a unicorn with a chestnut brown coat and dark black mane. He stood at the same height as her and boasted a cutie mark of an open eye. Snow Flame turned to her fellow mage with a look of concern.
“Are you alright Far Sight?” she asked. “We’ve been going for a few hours now and you’re not used to maintaining magic for so long. Maybe we should find a place to rest.”
“No, Snowy,” he said, his voice strained and tired. “There aren’t any caves we can stay in around here. If we stop here we will freeze to death. We have to keep going and hope to Celestia we can find some sort of shelter close by.”
“But if you burn yourself out I won’t be able to maintain the shield,” Snow Flame replied heatedly. “And if that happens than we will still freeze to death. We need to stop soon so that we can all get some rest.”
Far Sight shook his head ruefully. “I. . .I know Snowy. Neither option is looking too good right now. But whatever we do we have to make a choice now. And seeing as we can’t reach an agreement ourselves, let’s see what our companions think we should do.”
Even with his ability to magically pierce the white wall of snow being blown about by the wind, Far Sight could barely see the outlines of his other four companions.
“Should we stop for the night or keep going?!” he shouted, straining to be heard over the howling of the winds. He could just barely hear some quick deliberations before he got their response.
“Should. . . stop. . .NOW!”
Far Sight turned back to Snow Flame. His face furrowed in a tired look of resignation.
“I suppose I’m outvoted than. I’m sure I saw an outcropping of rock not too far ahead. We can stop there.” And with that the party trudged forward with renewed determination, the idea of rest spurring them on.
Upon reaching the outcropping, the six shivering ponies shrugged off their respective packs and began unpacking warm blankets and coverings. Quickly they threw up some of the blankets over the outcropping in an attempt to trap some measure of heat in with them. Once this was done, Snow Flame lit a small fire and the six ponies sat down to rest. One of the earth ponies immediately started looking over his companions. He was a medium sized pony with a light yellow coat. His mane was as red as his cutie mark: a red cross embossed with an open book. His name was Cross Reference, though his friends mainly knew him as “Doc.” While lacking the manipulation abilities of the unicorns, Doc was a walking medical encyclopedia. He was on top of the medical field and with the aid of a unicorn assistant could perform quick, but expert operations on his patients.
“Well,” he said with a sigh. “At the very least it doesn’t look like any of us have developed too serious frostbite yet. Though if we don’t find a better shelter soon I can’t promise anything.”
“I suppose we’ll just have to manage then won’t we,” said the second earth pony calmly. This pony was gunmetal grey and was larger than any of the others, with muscles rippling beneath his coat. His cutie mark was that of a cart filled with boulders. This, a testament to his phenomenal strength, had given him the dubious honor of carrying the majority of the team’s possessions.
“The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go home to fame and fortune!” This last statement was made by the one of the twin pegasi that made up the last of the expedition’s team. The two pegasi were Nimbus and Cumulous. With cutie marks of their namesake clouds and matching coats and manes of sky blue, the twins for chosen for this assignment because of their affinity for weather manipulation.
“Please,” Doc scoffed. “We discovered a land we already knew about and trudged through the snow. Riches and fame are just ours for the taking.” The pegasi frowned as the other burst into laughter.
“All right, I think we should all get some sleep,” announced Far Sight. “We should be reaching the borders of Old Equestria by tomorrow at this pace and then our job begins in earnest.” The others nodded and settled down for the night, the fire still smoldering in their makeshift pit. Far Sight alone stayed up for a few moments more. He closed his eyes and let his magic flow into his horn. Once there he released the spell and he could see beyond their makeshift shelter. It was as if he was soaring over the frozen wastes, the equal of any pegasi. Eventually he reached the limits of his sight. But that limit revealed their first destination. Beyond a massive hill of hard packed snow stood dark mounds that he could just make out. He could feel excitement rising within him. For these ruins to still be intact meant that they might hold relics and remains of pre-Equestrian civilization. And even if that were not the case, they looked like they could provide a far better shelter from the cold than the rocky outcropping he was in now. He released the spell and lay himself down on the frozen ground as a smile crept along his face. Maybe this expedition wouldn’t be so uneventful after all. . .”
“Princess,” asked Twilight, instinctively raising a hoof into the air.
“Yes Twilight?” replied Celestia.
“I thought that after the events of Hearths Warming Eve the Windigoes were banished. I could understand some longer winters or something . . . maybe. But how could the conditions in those lands still be so horrible?”
“The Windigoes were indeed banished Twilight, by the power of the newly forged harmony and friendship between the three pony tribes,” answered Celestia. “However, that power had yet to blossom in the old lands. Without that power to counteract the magic of the windigoes, the terrible blizzards that the windigoes wrought continued to wrack that land. That was one of the reasons we sent a scouting team in the first place. We had to ascertain the condition that the old lands were in, to best decide how to reclaim them. But in that land of ice and snow Equestria found far more than we had could have ever imagined. . .”
Celestia’s sun shone brightly overhead, the light reflecting off the snow fields making them shine like a freshly polished diamond. The explorers had been traveling for two days, each hour bringing them closer to the hill from Far Sight’s vision. Nimbus and Cumulous flew overhead, glorying in the lack of the biting winds from the previous night. Nimbus flew down, hovering near Far Sight.
“So how far until we reach those ruins you saw anyway?” Far Sight sighed, eyeing the pegasus with an annoyed glare.
“Please stop asking me. If you have to know now, than why don’t you just fly ahead of us?”
Nimbus looked thoughtfully at him for a moment.
“I could I suppose. But. . .” he said, dragging out the word as he did so; It is just so much more fun to bug you about it,” the pegasus said, a wide grin stretching across his face.
Far Sight shook his head. “Honestly, why do I ask anymore? Look, it shouldn’t be too much longer. There’s a large hill that you can see from here. The ruins I saw should be on the other side of it.”
Seeming satisfied, Nimbus took back to the air, drawing level with his brother. Continuing onward, they reached the base of the mountainous hill. After taking a brief rest the party began to scale the hill, though they quickly noticed something strange. In the background there was a strange noise that was growing steadily louder the farther up the hill they went. Far Sight quickly held out a hoof, calling for the party to stop.
“Do you hear that?” he asked, a worried look crossing his face as he did so. The others nodded as they began to look for the source of the rising noise. It was like a gentle roaring, and seemed to come from beyond the hill.
“Is it an animal or something?” asked Nimbus worriedly.
“If it was than it would have to be pretty big to be that loud from the other side of this hill,” Doc cut in.
“Whatever that noise is,” said Far Sight. “We shouldn’t just walk into this situation blind.” He turned to face Snowy. “Snowy, can you go to the crest of the hill and scout it out? With your coat and mane, you’ll fit in best with the snow.”
“Got it,” she said snapping off a quick salute. With that she took off towards her vantage point, making sure to keep as low to the ground as possible as she did so. About 10 minutes passed before the others saw her coming back down the slope. As she did, they could see a whole host of emotions skittering across her face: excitement, trepidation, awe, and shock being the most prevalent.
“Guys,” she said, her voice shaking slightly. “You’re gonna want to take a look at this.” Doc stared at her concernedly.
“Snowy are you alright?” She shook her head.
“Yeah, but seriously you’re gonna have to see this for yourselves.” And with that she turned around and began to make her way back up the hill. With one last apprehensive look at each other the five ponies moved to follow their shaken companion. When they all reached the crest of the hill, they gazed out over the landscape . . . and their jaws dropped in shock.
There before them were the buildings that Far Sight had glimpsed with his magic, but they were not the ruins he had been led to believe. They were huts and structures of wood and stone that formed what appeared to be a large village. But it was not this village that interested the six ponies, but rather their inhabitants.
Swarming throughout the thoroughfares and streets between the houses were the strangest creatures any of the ponies had ever seen. They were all bipeds and even from atop their vantage point, the ponies could easily tell that any of these bipeds would tower over them. On their heads was a sparse covering of hair, the coloring of which lacked the variety of ponies’ coats and manes. Their bodies were adorned in rough clothing some which appeared to be supplemented with various animal furs. The skin not covered by hair or clothes was a pale white in color that matched their cold and frozen surroundings. Their eyes were smaller and closer together than the ponies’ and their nose little more than a slight bump to pony eyes. But for the six ponies, one of the strangest features of these creatures was their upper appendages. At the end of their fore hooves were five snakelike appendages. These were seen gripping items at the market, holding weapons, and used to emphasize these creatures’ communication. After a few more moments of stunned staring, the six retreated back down the hill.
“So?” asked Snowy expectantly. “What do we do now? There was nothing about dealing with a new bucking species in the briefing.”
“Simple,” said Far Sight, “We contact the Princess.” He turned back to face the hill they had just descended. “And tell her we found something big. . .”
“A new species?!” asked Twilight excitedly. “What were they called? Could they speak our language? Did they have magic? And what did. . .”
“Twilight you’re rambling,” said Celestia gently.
“Oh,” said Twilight as a blush came to her face. “Sorry princess.”
“It’s quite alright Twilight,” said Celestia. “What they were called was “humans.” Humanity was a race that lacked any true knowledge of magic. What they did have was numbers, creativity, and an unmatched tenacity. Remember that while the windigoes were banished by this point, their influence had greatly damaged the land to the point where the terrible winter was a near constant. Yet, despite this, humanity had somehow eked out a living in these frozen wastes and thrived.
“But how could they, when none of the tribes had been able to best the cold, princess?” asked Twilight. “It doesn’t seem possible that these “humans” could have fared any better lacking the advantages of magic and weather control that ponies have.”
“Yes,” said Celestia nodding. “Many prominent mages and scholars felt the same way. The only answer that seemed to make sense was that humanity was a product of their environment and history. While ponies have fought battles in the past, the war with Nightmare Moon being the most recent, ponies are generally a peaceful race. Humans are far different. Where the pegasi could control and shepherd the weather, humanity had to endure the wrath of the elements. Where the earth ponies were blessed with an innate strength and knowledge of the land, humanity had to acquire that knowledge through trial and error and create various tools to equal that strength. Where unicorns could move the very sun and moon and use magic to reduce the difficulty of their lives, humanity had to endure every hardship the world could throw at them unaided by any force but their own ingenuity and tenacity.
Humanity has had to fight for their survival at every turn and it is that fight which gave them the ability to withstand and even thrive in the terrible blizzards.”
Twilight could not formulate a response to Celestia’s speech. The very idea of a race who had fighting not only readily present in their society, but who had fighting at the very core of their race was something that she could just not wrap her mind around. However that was a topic that could be addressed later.
“So,” said Twilight, ready to get back to the story proper, “After the scouts encountered them what happened? I mean you know so much about them princess, so ponies must have interacted with them in some way.”
“Indeed they did Twilight,” answered Celestia. “Soon after the initial reports, Luna and I dispatched a diplomatic team to make contact with the human leadership. Their efforts were eventually rewarded when they were invited to meet with the most powerful of humanity’s leaders in a “clansmeet.” At the time we thought it a triumph, but it was the start of a terrible time in our history. . .”
The newly arrived diplomatic team strode through the great doors of the building. Silver Tongue was a unicorn with a jet black coat and mane with an image of his namesake as his cutie mark. Beside him strode Highwind a crimson coated pegasi with a silver mane and a cutie mark of a sweeping gust of wind. Finally there was an earth pony representative by the name of Grapevine. His coat was a deep purple color with a dark blue mane and a cutie mark of a fresh bunch of grapes on an emerald vine. Despite the uninterested air they attempted to put on, even they were awed by the structure’s interior. The great hall in which the clansmeet would occur was massive. Great columns of finely carved oak stretched from the floor to the ceiling above. Carved into each column were spiraling lines of script and images of great human heroes and mythical animals.
Along the polished stone walls were engraved images detailing the history of humanity. Starting at the entranceway, the images showed humans plowing the land, clearing the snow, fighting off wild beasts, constructing the first towns and villages. The further one walked into the room, the more of humanity’s history was revealed to them. The images then stretched together at the opposite end of the room to form a great stylized sunburst that framed the chieftain’s seats.
There were twelve seats upon a raised dais in the shape of a U. The seats were occupied by the chieftains of the twelve most powerful tribes of humanity. At the center of the table was the chieftain elected as the leader of the Clansmeet. He was an older human whose hair was the color of steel, stretching down to his shoulders. Gazing out over the hall, he saw that hundreds had gathered for the historic meeting and hundreds more seemed to be watching through the windows. As Silver Tongue and his associates walked through the doors, the chief rose from his seat and brought a gnarled wooden walking stick on the dais. Silence fell over the hall as the great doors were closed and barred to prevent any unwanted interruptions during the Clansmeet.
“Greetings honored guests,” said the chief. “I am Chief Thorvaldsen of the Thunder Tribe and I have been chosen as the arbiter of this clansmeet. We have all heard much of your land and its harmony. It is most admirable. As you know, this clansmeet was called in order to determine the future of our two races. You may present any proposals you have before this august council now should you wish.”
Silver Tongue bowed to the chieftain. “Thank you very much Arbiter. I am Silver Tongue, and these two are my associates Grapevine and Highwind. We are honored to be before such a gathering of powerful individuals such as you and we hope that this meeting will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between our two races. As to the topic of proposals, I would first like to answer some questions that I do not believe have been adequately answered as of yet: The purpose of a unicorn’s horn and the abilities of the pegasi.”
There were some nods and murmurs of assent from the assembled chieftains and some even leaned closer, varying levels of interest apparent on their faces. Admittedly, there had been much speculation on the purpose of the horns and what exactly made the pegasi “stewards of the weather.” Any questions asked about it had been deflected quickly and it had led to no little suspicion towards the ponies.
Silver Tongue could barely suppress a smile as he saw the naked interest on full display in each human in the hall. “Time to work my magic,” he thought. “It shouldn’t take much.”
“There exists in this world a great power,” he began. “It exists all around us and permeates the land and all the creatures on it. The horn of a unicorn is used to channel that power and use it to aid us in our everyday lives. What is this power you may ask?” he asked. He was playing to the crowd now, driving up their expectations and the reaction they would have to even the simplest of his abilities.
“This,” he pronounced dramatically. “This is the power of magic!” And with that he focused power into his horn. A silver aura appeared around his horn and with a flash of light and bang of sound; the table in front of him had been transformed into a great wooden bench upon which he sat. Silver Tongue did not even bother to hide his smile of satisfaction as he heard furious whispers echo around the hall as many looked on in awe at this display of his power. Highwind also smiled at the obvious reaction this had caused amongst the human crowd. Grapevine however saw something else. He listened to the whispers and heard fear and suspicion present in them. He gazed at the faces of the crowd and saw some of them contorted in disgust rather than the awe his associates took it for. Though it was the faces of the Chieftains that showed the seriousness of what had just happened. While many of them looked on passively, some looked on only in anger.
Grapevine turned to his two companions and leaned in so as not to be heard by the Chieftains or the crowd.
“I think that the magic show was enough of a demonstration. We should move straight onto the proposals at hoof.” Highwind looked at him with elation.
“Please,” he said. “These humans love it. The proposals can only be helped if they are awed by what we can do.”
“Still,” argued Grapevine. “I think that some of them may not approve of magic. The looks on some of their faces say that well enough. We shouldn’t try to awe them with something that might antagonize them.”
Highwind considered it for a moment.
“I see your point, but now we have come too far. We promised answers and if we don’t give them we will only look worse. If you’re right than it may not be the best idea to continue with this, but if you’re wrong than we need all the leverage we can get.”
While they had been having their private discussion, Silver Tongue was busy answering questions from the Chieftains about the various applications of magic.
“Indeed, magic can be used for various situation limited only by the power and imagination of the user.
One of the Chieftains rose from his seat. “Are the unicorns are the only Equestrians who can use this ability?”
Silver Tongue considered that for a moment.
“At the very least, unicorns are the only ponies who can use magic like this. Both pegasi and earth ponies have their own innate magic though the applications are slightly more . . . limited than that of a unicorn’s ability. Actually that brings us to our next point. Highwind, could you explain the abilities of the pegasi?” Highwind puffed out his chest slightly as he took center stage, Silver Tongue slipping back to stand with Grapevine.
“The pegasi are stewards of the weather. We have the innate abilities to soar through the skies, walk on the clouds, and work to monitor and maintain the weather.”
The Chieftains shared looks of confusion at the pegasi’s answer. Thorvaldsen held up one hand and addressed Highwind himself.
“While flight is something we can understand, what exactly did you mean about the weather. What does to monitor and “maintain” mean?”
“It’s simple really,” Highwind responded. “Our abilities allow us to disperse clouds with a single kick, grab and move clouds, summon tornadoes and ensure that sunlight shines and when storms come. We literally have control over the weather.”
Silence reigned over the hall in the wake of this announcement. Expressions of surprise, shock, and anger appearing on the faces of the Chieftains in turn as the ponies began to feel less and less at ease. Eventually Thorvaldsen stood up and stared directly at the ponies.
“This is . . . troubling to say the least. For you to control the weather is unnatural to us. Nature is meant to run its own course, not be bound to the passing whims of rulers. While you may not find this strange in your land, it is not something we can tolerate here. On behalf of all the chieftains I would ask that you refrain from manipulating our weather or using your magic whilst within our borders. Is that acceptable to you?”
The three ponies were stunned. What they had revealed was commonplace to them, and these humans were calling their abilities unnatural and asking them to refrain from their use. It was an uncomfortable situation, but they knew that they had to comply if they wanted to retain any chance of salvaging these talks.
“I believe that we can comply with your request, Arbiter,” Silver Tongue said slowly. Thorvaldsen nodded in thanks and sat back down.
“Excellent. Then we can continue with these talks.” Days passed and still the Clansmeet dragged on. The ponies and humans discussed matters of trade, possible alliances, and various treaties. But soon the final day of the Clansmeet arrived and the ponies were ready to reveal their most controversial and most important proposal.
They arrived back at the hall where the Chieftains were already seated and waiting for them. When the now familiar ritual of closing and barring the main doors was concluded, the ponies walked up to their table.
“Arbiter,” said Silver Tongue. “Members of this esteemed council. On this, the last day of our talks, the three of us have a petition to put before you in the name of our rulers and our ancestors.”
Excited whispers echoed throughout the room. To humanity their ancestors were heroes. Men and women whose blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifice had given rise to their civilization. For the ponies to invoke their ancestors now was something that would not go unnoticed by the chieftains. Silver Tongue gave a slight smile at this and continued his speech.
“Long ago, in the years before your ancestors came to this land, our ancestors ruled here. While their civilization thrived for a time, they were forced to leave their land due prolonged blizzards that transformed the land into the frozen expanse that it is today. Now our civilization has begun to be restored due to the efforts of the three tribes of ponykind and our rulers Celestia and Luna. However as we recover from the wounds of the past there are tasks that must be accomplished to ensure our survival and future. This land was once ours and we wish for it to be ours again. We would like for you to allow Equestrians to begin relocating and re-inhabiting this land as soon as possible.”
The Chieftains rose up in anger, hurling shouts and threats at the shocked ponies. Thorvaldsen raised his hand and in a moment the angry clamor died down though looks of hatred and rage stayed fixed to the faces of the Chieftains.
“What you ask is something that would infringe on our rights,” Thorvaldsen said. “I understand your ancestors lived here, but to have more and more ponies living here would bring what we don’t want here as well. We expressed our dislike for your magic long ago, but if more of your kind come here than I doubt we will be able to keep them from using their powers as they please. While I am sorry, we cannot and will not fulfill that request.”
“This was our land and we would see it returned to us,” Highwind said fiercely. “While you live here now, this land belongs to the princesses and Equestria, not you and not your ancestors. We will not take no for an answer.”
Now even Thorvaldsen bore a look of rage on his face as the hall erupted once more into shouts and jeers of rage and hate. Again Thorvaldsen quieted the hall with a loud rap of his staff upon the floor. This done, he turned towards the ponies angrily.
“We allowed you into our home, took the time to hear you out, and even suffered the use of your unnatural magic. And how do you repay us? By insulting and spitting on us and our ancestors. Our ancestors were brave and resilient souls. They toiled for years to make this land livable for us, consecrating it in their blood, sweat, and tears. Your ancestors were mere cowards who fled this land at the first sign of trouble. Where your kind ran in fear, we survived and thrived in the wastes. Then and there you gave up all claims to the land when you abandoned it rather than fight for your home. Get out of our land and never return!”
Twilight was shocked. “So, princess?” she asked hesitantly. “What happened after that?” Celestia sighed heavily.
“It was a blow to relations between our lands that never healed Twilight. For a time humanity and Equestria merely ignored each other, and we busied ourselves with our own affairs. However this was not to last. Even now we are not sure who struck first, but a small skirmish on the border between our lands boiled over into armed standoffs on both sides. There was sporadic fighting in many areas. For lack of a better term: it was war.”
Twilight sat there, jaw dropping in shock. While she and many others were aware of war from an academic standpoint, over one thousand years of peace and prosperity had made war exactly that: an academic point. Nopony had firsthand knowledge or experience of war and so Twilight found it a near impossibility to imagine an Equestria where war was a part of life in any way.
“Princess, what happened then? How did the . . . the war end?” Even saying the word was difficult for her
“Eventually humanity retreated, leaving their land behind. Unwilling to allow more of their own to die, they took ships and sailed north across the sea. In time we moved back into the now abandoned lands. The entire time period was a dark one in our history eclipsed only by Discord’s rule in later years.”
“Princess,” said Twilight. “I can’t even begin to imagine what that time must have been like; for you, Luna, and for all of Equestria. Thank you for sharing this with me.”
“It was something I should have told you long ago Twilight,” said Celestia warmly. “These memories leave a bad taste in my mouth, but it is never wise to keep all that pain to oneself. I should be thanking you for listening.”
“Oh princess, it was nothing really,” said Twilight.
“It was Twilight,” Celestia said. “More than you know. But now you should probably get to bed. We’ve been talking for some time and I must lower the sun.”
“Of course princess,” said Twilight, rising quickly. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning then?”
“Yes Twilight, laughed Celestia. “Just try not to pull another all-nighter this time alright?”
“I won’t!” exclaimed Twilight, already rushing out the door. Passing through the stone hallways, she encountered nopony. The only sound was the gentle clopping of her hooves against the flagstones as she made her way back to her room. Alone with her own thoughts, Twilight ran the princess’s tale through her mind over and over again. On the one hoof, her trip had been a great success. She had been able to learn firsthand of the hidden history of Equestria, but something kept nagging at her, something she could not quite put her hoof on. But what was it? It was only as she reached her quarters that it hit her: It was too neat. Humanity, a race that Celestia herself said had fighting in their very blood, just up and leaving after a few deaths? It just didn’t add up.
Twilight walked slowly to the bed as she considered what this could mean.
“So does that mean the princess . . . ? No, no that would be silly,” Twilight said, shaking her head to clear the ridiculous thought from her mind. But as she curled up under the plush covers of her bed, only one thought was running through her head.
“I have to find them.”