//------------------------------//
// The Age of Marvels 
// Story: Humans 
// by unclefester84 
//------------------------------//

The Age of Marvels.

In the newfound peace that came with the end of the Great Crusade, the alicorn civilization reached its climax.
The Legions were disbanded and the crusaders were welcomed back to civilian life with great honors and joy, yet many could not ignore the desire for wander that was born into their hearths after so many journeys in the wide world, and so joined together in groups and guilds dedicated to the discovery and the mapping of the new lands beyond the Everfree.
The treasures and knowledge that these Errant Knights, as they became known, brought back to the kingdom would become the subject of stories and songs, and it was thanks to them that many marvels that the Humans devised were discovered by the alicorns.

For an entire age these expeditions braved the world, venturing above the lands and under the seas, climbing the tallest peaks and diving into the deepest abyss, reaching above the highest clouds to map the paths of the high winds and delving in caves deep beneath the earth in search of minerals and gems both common and marvelous. Even the infernal hellscape of the Cradle of Fire was occasionally traversed, even if only with great effort and with the blessing of Sol himself. (1)

Inevitably, many others followed behind these brave explorers.
At first most of them were scholars, impatient to unravel the secrets of creation, but also many young enterprising alicorns that in time founded new settlements in these far away places, and indeed in the wake of these expeditions many magnificent cities sprouted all over the world. Some of them, mostly the smallest ones, blended with their environments so well that a traveler would need to pay careful attention to not miss them entirely, such were the cases with the underwater coral villages of the eastern islands, or the towers of icy crystals floating in the frozen northern sea, while the larger ones tended to stand out like a shining gem over the landscape, enriching it with buildings of stone, metals and glass.
Many shrines dedicated to the memory of the Great Crusade were also constructed, especially near those places that saw battles and loss of life.
These solemn buildings were made of a black obsidian and decorated with enchanted diamonds that shone bright in the night, reminiscing of the very light in the Caves of Stars.
The countryside was also tenderly cared for by the alicorns that preferred the peace of the farming life, cultivating succulent crops and fruits from the more mundane Shocking Rainbows, to the most exquisite Golden Ambrosia. (2)

And so what began in the time of the Crusade as simple encampments and logistic lines for the Legions, quickly evolved in a flurry of new towns and roads, connecting the far corners of the world until entire continents could feel the reach of the alicorn civilization, and thanks to their labor the splendor of the world became even greater.

Fantastic feats of magic and might shaped the planet, the most advanced magical arts and sophisticated sciences were joined as one to discover and use the secrets of creation itself for the betterment of the world and its inhabitants, and in fact some of the most intelligent beasts, and even some trees, were tamed by those alicorns that loved them the most, and uplifted into true thinking beings, creatures with whom the alicorns hoped to share the journey of life through the ages.
Such were the cases with the great Wind Serpents, whose bright feathers scattered the light of the high sky into rainbows, the Leviathans, gigantic luminescent krakens that roamed the depths of the oceans, the Wandering Oaks  of the western continent, and many others. (3)

And so it was that the provinces of the Kingdom became like a mirror of the splendor of Everfree, but for all the magnificence that could be made outside the borders of the Grey Wall, nothing seemed to surpass the almost supernatural bliss of the place that had been the cradle of the first alicorns.
Indeed the Island of Everfree remained the center of the Kingdom for as long as it lasted, and with the rise in greatness of its inhabitants its wealth of marvels seemed to increase no end.
The already marvelous ancient towns grew in size and sophistication, every house and building became like a palace, masterworks of culture, art, science and magic surrounded almost every corner of the land and the white roads became decorated with gold, silver and precious stones.

Yet even with all these advancements nature was not forgotten. On the contrary the entire world became like a garden of beauty and abundance, one that saw alicorns and Spirits work and live together like family and friends.
Indeed with the years many Spirits became well known and much loved by the alicorns, so much that they became figures held in high regard almost on par with the Humans themselves, and many of them answered in kind, often going to the length of renouncing their original elemental form and assume one resembling their mortal friends. Albeit some with more success than others. (4)

The only note of sorrow in this blessed age were the ever more rare sightings of the Humans in the world.
This had been expected, as Queen Faust had already reported on what she had been revealed by the Creators themselves, that the Humans did not desire to interfere with the development of the world, preferring to watch its history unfold throughout the eons, and instead wanted to give to them the stewardship of Creation.
This absence tasted then bittersweet on the tongue of the alicorns, who just like their queen were torn between the prideful joy of responsibility, and the sorrow of the absence of their Creators.

But the Humans would not wholly disappear for the world, and the tales of their interventions became legends in the lore of the alicorns.
Indeed, all knew of the time when Mortis revealed, in dreams, a flaw in the magical equations of a researcher in the University of High Weave, which allowed its correction before its demonstration the next day, thus preventing her failure and allowing her to meet the one who would one day become her husband.
Or the times when Gaia would appear at the feet of some tree to play with some troubled foal, easing their hearts and minds.
Or also when Naseema manifested in flight besides an Errand Knight in such a way that it appeared to him that she was challenging him to a race, only for him to discover, once he seemingly arrived first at his house, that his wife was soon to give birth to their first child, and had he not hurried he would have missed the event.
Or even when Azibo helped a humble janitor to clean the floor of a palace, working alongside him with a broom like any simple mortal, and thus allowing him to finish in time to be present to his daughter’s recital that evening.

Indeed these and other scattered examples showed that the Humans never truly abandoned the World or the alicorns, and on the contrary They seemed to be ever close to those who were in great need of their help, especially if it involved an act of love.
But of all the great and small feats of care towards their creations, none would become more renowned than the part they had in the founding of the seventh, and last, Great House of the kingdom.







Annotations



As mentioned before, a place that matches the description of the Cradle still exists today in the very heart of the Dragonlands, yet not even the strongest of dragons could enter its borders, not even when reinforced by magic provided by the Foundation. Now reading that even the alicorns needed the blessing of the Human of fire to explore it makes me realize that we never stood a chance.

I found some depictions of these rainbow colored fruits that resemble the famous Zap-apples of the Apple family of Ponyville. I had the pleasure of tasting one when I was young and I can guarantee that they are something special. Yet apparently they were a common thing back during the alicorn reign, which makes me wonder how much more overwhelming their Ambrosia really is…

Today our world is home to many different species besides ponies like me, and despite being sometimes the source of conflict, there is some solace in knowing that we are not alone, so i can understand those alicorns in wanting to have more companionship, but still it’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that they took TREES and made them intelligent and mobile.

This paragraph here is what makes me think that spirits “evolved” in a somewhat similar way to their Human masters, becoming less like automatons and extensions of their creator’s will and more like real living being, if they indeed still exist today they might explain some very strange phenomenons that happen from time to time here and there even today.