Spike was worried.
Most times, when something was bothering him he’d go to Twilight, and she would disprove whatever was worrying him as a silly fear or an event that would never come to pass. Unless, whatever that was bothering him was truly dangerous to him or anypony around. Then she would tell him to get to safety, and then she would get her friends and they would stop what was scaring him before it did any real damage. Normally he would have gone to Twilight, but this time he couldn’t because what was worrying him, was Twilight.
After she found that book she read through it in record time, which was just like Twilight.
…but when she finished the book she put it back into the hole it had came from and quickly went to bed, which was not like Twilight at all.
She didn’t even say goodnight to him.
The next day at breakfast, she told him to never, ever read the book or to even hold it, because then he might be tempted to open it. That was when he really started to get worried. Twilight had never told him not to read, hay, she always told him that he needed to read more. He didn’t get it, but he agreed to the conditions and hoped that this would be the end of the weirdness.
It wasn’t.
For the next two days afterward, Twilight stayed inside, pacing in the middle of the library as she muttered to herself. Now and then, Spike had caught her staring at the still gaping hole in the wall. She would look at the hole as if she somehow expected the book to pull itself out of the wall, attack Ponyville, and then kill everypony in town. In those two days, her friends knocked on their door every so often. Asking Twilight if she wanted to help raise a barn, have a tea party, or just to hang out. She would tell them that she was too busy, closed the door, and go back to the hole to stare at it.
Rainbow Dash had sneaked into the library at one point to find out what was up with her. When Twilight saw Rainbow Dash she yelled at her, actually yelled at her. She then covered Rainbow in her telekinesis and literally threw her out. That night he woke up to the sound of her trying to cover her sobbing. As he comforted her she kept on repeating how sorry she was.
On the third day she gave him a note and the latest book of the Daring Doo series, and told him to give these things to Rainbow Dash. Of course Rainbow told him that she forgave Twilight and it was her fault that Twilight reacted that way. Spike walked home that day happier than ever, but when he got home he found that she had haphazardly boarded up the hole in the wall. Then smiling at him with a slightly unbalanced grin, she told him that it was over and that he could forget about the last three days.
…but she kept on staring at the place where the hole used to be.
On the fifth night he was woken again by her, but this time instead of just crying like before she was also screaming. Twilight wouldn’t wake up, no matter how hard he shook her.
Taking desperate measures, he hit her with a small exhaled fire. He was so happy when she woke up, but his smile dropped when he saw her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and the fur on her face was damp with tears. His sister’s wings kept on flapping erratically, as if some part of her mind was still trying to escape her nightmarish slumber. Her dark purple mane was a total mess and she continued shaking, as if she had never woken up and she was still in the darkest parts of her besieged mind.
That night, neither of them went back to sleep.
On the eighth day, he came downstairs to the library to see that the boarded up wall was torn down and the hole in the wall empty. Their was a note on the basement door that was hastily written in big black bold letters ‘DO NOT DISTURB’.
That was three days ago, and he still hasn’t seen or heard Twilight.
So now Spike was quickly making his way to the town square, where he knew that Applejack was at her stand to ask for help. As he saw the familiar orange pony and her Stetson hat firmly planted on the golden mane of her head, he quickly brought up his pace.
He just hoped he could help his older sister in time.
Sitting in a dark corner of her dimly lit basement was Twilight. She had spent the last three days trying to make sense of the horror that was in the old tome she was currently reading again.
Every time Twilight read the first page of the book it still said the same thing no matter how much she wanted it to change.
‘During the rule the of King Conquering Wind, after the founding of the land that would one day be called Equestria following the reuniting of the three pony tribes, the ponies under the King’s rule were faced with many hardships, such as taming the uncultivated land that was filled with vicious predators, growing enough healthy crops to feed the starving small communities, and keeping their territories theirs as many outside forces tried to steal the land for themselves.’
‘King Conquering Wind found a solution to all the tribulations of the first large scale pony territory. On the land that he deemed his, lived the clothed wandering nomads that were the Human tribes. This race struggled day to day to stay alive but were thought to be a happy and trusting species. Even though they were among the predators of the untamed land, they did not seek out to inconvenience the ponies of that land or readily attempt to consume them. Seeing the opportunity that was laid before him, King Conquering Wind used their trust against them. He told them that if they worked under pony hooves they would be fed and will no longer need to aimlessly wander the land.’
‘The Humans overjoyed at such a prospect, believed the King, and worked under the ponies of the land. They assumed that they would be treated as the ponies and would have the ability to leave whenever they felt the need to.'
'They were horribly mistaken, and soon under the cruel rule of King Conquering Wind, the once free humans became slaves. Their lives and their families’ lives for many hundreds of generations afterwards were controlled fully by the ponies who now owned them.’
Twilight choked back the suddenly extremely dry air in the basement as she read the ancient text over again.
Slaves, not servants or workers... they were slaves.
The hundreds of books she read about the founding of Equestria never once mentioned slaves; they didn’t even hint that there was another group of species living on the land before the ponies that came there.
After she got passed the idea that there possibly was another species living on the area that came to be known as Equestria, the last paragraph on the page brought a new disturbing thought into the young mare’s mind. At first she could keep the ominous thoughts at the back of her mind but, as she read on they became more and more prominent.
‘If there were so many humans that they were able to fully change the land, why haven’t I heard of them until now?’
‘Why did nopony do something about their treatment?’
And the most disturbing thought that she really wished wasn’t true, came after she finished the book again for the tenth time. Sadly, this thought stayed at the forefront of her mind and wouldn’t leave her alone.
‘Does Celestia know about this?’
The worst part of the book was how it described, in detail no less, how violently the ponies of that time treated the humans.
‘Humans are not born with their own natural spark of magic; this meant that their masters would not need to use much force to stomp down any uprisings that may have occurred. As a violent, precise blast of magic on an unmagical source can and will distort or destroy said unmagical source.’
‘Bone fragments suggest that many of the would-be mothers were crushed to death under the hooves of their pony masters. As the masters that did not want to pay extra for the upkeep of young humans were relentless in the culling of their stock.’
‘The only possible reason for this treatment of a sentient race is that many of the ponies of that time believed humans to be less than every creature that lived or not in King Conquering Wind’s kingdom. This mind set bought many ponies to the belief that humans were expendable, soulless creatures. That belief had many violent outcomes which can be seen in bones that my team and I have found. Many of the pelvic bone fragments (both male and female) that have been found to be destroyed in a way that suggest that many of the human succumbed to violent deaths by rape. Deep lacerations in the fragments suggest that crude cuts were made in the victim to allow the violator to do these acts with greater ease. It is not known what the human slaves must have done for them to warrant this sort of aggressive treatment and death.’
‘Through examinations of a mostly intact skeleton of a young human seem to point to the belief that dissections and or vivisections may have been performed on the human slaves. This is supported as possible fact, as the anatomies of predatory creatures are incredibly hard to study due to their violent nature and larger stature. Having this much access a predator species that were harmless, must have allowed scientists of that time to study what makes a predator work in an easier and safer fashion.’
As Twilight read through the book she had, in the beginning, thought that the book may have just been a terrible prank. This however was proven false as Twilight realized how old the book was when she detected the age of an old spell woven around the book to preserve it. If it was hundreds of years old and put in the tree before Ponyville even existed, then it was made in a time where obtaining this much paper was expensive and using it to make books were even more so. Even if some rich mare or stallion had the money to make a joke book why would he/she hide it?
This and many others reasons, is why, after some self motivation following some of the worst days she had ever experience, Twilight decided to study the book in-depth.
She was going to do everything she could to learn more about this lost race, and maybe with some luck she could be the one to find them again. Even if she had to study constantly until the Winter Wrap Up came again.
She began to start writing notes with more vigour as the last phrase in the book gave her a ray of hope in a very dark tunnel.
‘Even as this book is filled with many pages of the uncertainty, pain, and death that the human species has encountered, the one piece of information that shines pass it all is their ability for survival. Even if a few hundred were able to live through King Conquering Wind’s reign it is almost certain that this race is alive somewhere hidden and waiting for a bit of kindness for them to come back to.’
Applejack was walking down a busy street away from Sugar Cube Corner in an easy trot. She had finally gotten away from the stand after she got Big Mac to fill in for her. The apple farmer was currently on her way to bring her fashion-isha friend to try to drag Twilight out of her house, again.
The apple farmer knew that something bad happened when Spike had ran up to her apple booth asking for help. So, already knowing what kind of situations Twilight can get into, she immediately went into action. She just counted her lucky stars that she had found both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy at Sugar Cube Corner. After making sure that Spike would be okay staying with the Cakes until they could come back for him, they made a plan of action. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy would go get Rainbow Dash while she went to get Rarity; thankfully it played out as a quick and convenient situation for them.
Finally the apple farmer saw the large carousel that was Rarity’s boutique. Going in, Applejack began yelling for the fashion designer.
“Rarity are ya’ here?”
“Applejack, whatever are you doing here so early in the day?” A notably feminine voice replied from the back of the boutique.
“Ah need ya’ to come with me, Twilight’s ‘aving another one of her episodes and it’s causing’ a might hullaballoo for Spike.”
“Oh, my poor Spikey Wikey, he must be so worried. Wait, I thought Twilight outgrew that, with her being a princess and all?”
A snow white unicorn emerged from the back of the shop. Her blue eyes showed confusion as a perfectly kept deep purple mane gently swayed as she trotted up to the farmer.
“Ah guess not," Applejack replied, "come on, we have to hurry. The rest of the gals are probably at the library waitin’ for us.”
“Well then, let us go! There is no time to wait, but let me just get some things first.” She said as she walked upstairs.
Leaving the Boutique with Rarity in tow, Applejack headed toward the library with a faster pace than before, determined to get there in time to shake some sense into her friend before she injured herself.
Coming up the front of the library the white and orange mares saw that the rest of the group was waiting for them. An impatient cerulean pegasus jumped into the air as she watched them get closer. She easily stayed in the air with a few practiced flaps of her wings.
“Finally! Now let’s get this show on the road and help Twilight!” With that the mare got ready to ram the door of the library.
“Now calm down Rainbow," Rarity stated, "we can’t just waltz in there all willy nilly. We need a plan.”
“What is the plan, um if you don’t mind me asking that is?” Fluttershy asked timidly.
“Oh, oh I know!" a pink mare began to excitedly bounce up and down, "Why don’t we throw her a party?”
“Pinkie dear, I don’t think a party would help Twilight right now.”
“So, what do we do? Come on guys we need to do something.” Rainbow Dash said with annoyance.
As Applejack watched her friends continue to argue over what would be the best way to help Twilight, an idea came to her. It was risky, needed to be done in perfect sync, and was a heck’a foalish…but it could work.
“Gal’s!” the four ponies turned their attention to the apple farmer, “Ah got an idea.”
“Yaaarrrg!”
Spinning around, Twilight squinted her eyes at the sudden light as the basement’s door was thrown open. Standing at the top of the stairs was a glaring cerulean pegasus mare who, with another wall shaking shout, was currently dive bombing the alicorn princess.
Completely caught off guard Twilight could only shout out in shock as Rainbow Dash grabbed her tail and proceeded to quickly fly her out the library’s basement screaming all the way.
Once the Rainbow Dash entered the main library, she drop her disgruntled load unceremoniously on the ground far away from the basement door.
When the princess got up, she turned to find both Pinkie Pie and Rarity standing in front of the basement door. Most likely standing as last minute guards to keep her from going back in. At the base of staircase leading upstairs, Fluttershy stood watch, semi hiding behind her long pink mane. In front of the only door leading out of the library was Applejack giving her a look loaded with resolve. To top it all off the Rainbow Dash hovered in front of her, fore hooves crossed with a smug look on her face.
Twilight turned to them and, with confusion she asked, “Girls what are you doing?”
“Twilight, oh please don’t be mad, but we were worried about you.”
“What?” Twilight looked at the nervous mare standing on the staircase, “Fluttershy, why are you guys worried about me?”
“Duh, because you decided to go into egghead mode and lock yourself in the basement again, that’s why.” Rainbow Dash snorted.
“Also dear, you look absolutely dreadful.” With a light blue glow, Rarity levitated a mirror out of her saddle bags and moved it towards Twilight’s face.
Visually wincing at her frazzled appearance Twilight lowered her head, ears drooping flat against her head.
“I’m sorry, it’s just ever since I read that book… I just can’t believe…” She couldn’t finish.
How could she tell her friends about the doubt and disgust that she now felt about the ponies that lived long before any of them? How can she tell them about a race who may have never gotten to grow because of what their ancestors did? How would they react to the unnecessary cruelty that they were put through, only because they dared to hope for a better future?
The answer was simple, she couldn’t tell them.
Abruptly putting a smile on her face she finished her earlier sentence with. “It’s nothing really, but thanks girls for checking up on me.”
“Now Twilight ya’ know that’s a load of rotten horse apples. We’re not leavin’ until you tell us what’s wrong.” Applejack stomped her hoof on the ground to emphasize her point.
“Applejack please listen…” Twilight said trying to intervene.
“No ya listen here!” Applejack spoke snorting loudly, “According to Spike, ya ‘aven’t left this here library in over a week, you keep looking at that there hole in the wall, and kept him up with your nightmare’s! We want to help you. Now ‘ah don’t know much about these hum-ans or whatever, but ‘ah do know you! So don’t lie tah me and tell me you're alright!”
Twilight and Applejack stared each other down, causing the room to fill with tense loaded air.
Then Twilight's horn began to light up, and in turn the orange pony started to scratch one of her fore hooves on the ground getting ready for a charge. Around them their friends tensed for the fight that was about to break out.
As Twilight watched as all her friends got ready to hold her down, she let her horn glow brighter and brighter with unleashed magic. The magic coming from her horn casted on her friends fearful but determined faces making them shine eerily in the bright purple light.
Suddenly as if a switch somewhere far away was flipped, she lowered her head and let all the pent up magic drained away.
Slowly she raised her head to look up at them with tears streaming down her face and leaving little salty rivers behind.
“Please, help me.” Twilight whispered.
As her friends ran to her aid, the young alicorn realized that, through the last couple of days she was trying to help a whole missing race and save her friends and everypony from finding out about their ancestors past mistakes, not once did she think that she was the one who needed help the most.
She allowed herself to fully relax into her friends embrace. Fluttershy spoke soothingly as she dried her tears; Rarity taking out a comb from her saddle bag fixed her mane. Pinkie Pie talked about throwing the biggest get well party, and Rainbow Dash punched the air around her going on about taking down whatever was bothering her in 10 seconds flat. Even if she had no idea what she would be taking down.
Applejack put a comforting hoof on her shoulder.
“Anything for ya’ sugar cube, now please, tell us what is wrong.”
Feeling like everything would be okay in the first time in what felt like months, she relented, and prepared to reveal to her friends what she found in the book, what it meant, and what she wanted to do with the information.
“It all started eleven days ago…”
His wingless back creaked under the pressure of carrying the large crate to the waiting wagon. Each step he took was labored as his muscles in his arms and legs screamed under the unwarranted abuse. With a long suffering heave he dropped the wooden crate with the rest that laid in the wagon.
Turning away from the peaches he faced the huge frame of his tormentor who put him up to this impossible task.
“Damn it… Thomas… I’m not built… for this!” He angrily wheezed out, trying to take in large breaths of air.
“Farm house is o’er there, if ya’ want t’ tell my family why you're really here, Zachery.”
Zachery glared up at him. His wet with sweat long strands of black hair were stuck to his face. His cloths were dirty from the time he dropped into a pile of manure, then being forced to clean Bessie. The whole morning had been like this.
He woke up to a splitting hangover and a large farmer’s death threat ringing in his ears. When he got to the farm he had to struggle to keep his cover of innocence and his head as Thomas' oldest brother John told him in great detail what he planned to do with who ever was the culprit. Zachery thought he was joking about what he could do with a pitch fork, until John gave him a demonstration by slamming an old rusty pitchfork into an old tree stump. He couldn’t even see the rusty metal that made the sharp part of the fork any more. It was like the old stump just said ‘Screw it’ and grew a straight, smooth branch in the dead center of itself.
Needless to say he got right to work on Thomas' orders and began picking up all the fallen, mostly green, peaches and started putting them into crates. Though, as he tried to work, members of Thomas' family kept dragging him away from his work including Thomas himself.
Since the crack of dawn he had washed pigs by hand, which is where he found out about Bessie. The huge, ugly, fat lady pig tried it’s best to give him hell as he tried to clean it. The stupid thing rammed its head in his gut, knocking the wind out him and dropping him in the muck. The day didn’t get better from there, he shoveled manure then somehow tripped and dropped into said manure, had to hand pull a plow through an area of field, redo the same field as his first try was ‘a damned shame’, and fetch a whole bunch of odds and ends for the family.
The one area of fallen peaches he did work on took him four inconstant hours to do. Now he was forced to carry the heavy crates to the wagon and it wasn’t even close to noon yet. Even though the abuse he was put through was horrible, it didn’t mean that he was desperate enough to face the anger of the peach farming family.
Still, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t complain to Thomas about his treatment.
“You and your whole family are sadists.”
“Crates aren’t goin’ t’ move themselves.”
Letting a small growl escape his throat, he stalked back into the field to get another crate.
“I thought ya’ mother taught ya’ that growling at someone was bad manners?”
Thomas then caught the green peach that was thrown at his head with practiced ease.
Studying the peach he said calmly, "It’s a little green aint it?”
Zachery responded to this with a louder growl shout of frustration.
Once Zachery was out of earshot, Thomas dropped the green peach into a crate and left his post beside the large wooden cart. He walked up to one of the many peach trees in that area.
“Y’all can come down now.” The young farmer called up to the tree. He took a few steps back as two older men jumped down from the branches. As they landed the ground around them shook, rattling some of the leaves on the trees around them off.
The older one stood at six feet five, he had medium-short dark blond hair and a scruffy beard covering his face. The younger of the two had his long medium brown hair in a pony tail and stood at six feet three. Unlike the older one he was clean shaven and had both of his ears pierced at the ridges of both his ear lobes.
Both of them stood over Thomas and were looking at him with searching dark brown eyes. The three powerhouses stared each other down waiting for a movement of uncertainty to be made. Finally, the oldest of them sighed and relaxed, going into his pocket he pulled out a cigarette.
With a small blast of heat from his fingertips the cigarette lit up, and he took a long drag.
“Thomas, ya’ friend’s an idiot. Ya’ know that?”
Relaxing Thomas put his hands in the pockets of his overalls, nodding he replied, “Yepp.”
“We ought t’ break the varmint’s wings off.” The long haired bother said with some venom in his voice.
“Ah know that Dustin, but ‘ah thinks we can get more work off him if he’s alive. Now ‘ah knows ya’ didn’t come here for small talk. So, out with it.”
The two older brothers looked at each other for a second before turning their attention back to the youngest.
“Well Tom, Ya’ know hows people talk, we were just wondering if the black-haired idiot said anything.” The oldest one said lightly scratching his beard.
“Anything ‘bout what, John?” Thomas said taken aback by his brother’s change in demeanor.
“Ya’ know, ‘bout any low down no good things walking our land that really ought to not be.”
“Ya’ mean dem ponies ‘ight?" Thomas's voice dropped to lower tone, "We talked t’ him ‘bout it last night, and he said that they ‘ave a better chance of finding a family o’ worms in one of mom’s jams.”
“Ya’ made that part up.” Dustin snorted.
“It’s the truth either way, so none of y’all has t’ worry a hair on ya’ purty little heads. Now y’all be off now before he comes back.”
“Shut ya’ damned mouth ya’ little varmint. Come on John, lets leave da idiot to his babysittin’.” With that Dustin stalked back to the farm.
“What’s eating ‘im?” Thomas asked the brother that was left behind.
“Da idiot’s galfriend is leaving for three months t’ go see family…”
“So what? Aria’s not that far off.”
“She moved here from Illusaq.” John finished.
Thomas let out a long whistle, “Well darn, that's a least a day’s or two flight away maybe two weeks and a couple of days journey by foot. No wonder he’s more tense than you when talking tah a gal.”
“...Dustin’s right, ya’ are a little varmint.” At that John began to follow after his ticked off brother. “When ya’ gals are done ‘ere, come t’ the farm, somebody didn’t close the pigpen and they made a right mess of themselves again. We needs someone t’ clean dem.” John said before leaving.
“Ah know just da’ guy," Thomas said to himself as he watched Zachery try and fail to drag another crate of peaches to the cart, "ah think ‘es starting to love Bessie.”
The tree house library stood silent, as five ponies tried to digest the information that Twilight gave them.
The first one to speak up through the silence was Rainbow Dash.
“What do you mean, there is a whole nother race that used to live in Equestria!?”
The cyan mare’s statement released the floodgates as everypony tried to get their many questions answered at once.
“Twilight dear, I don’t understand, how can this be? How can anypony wear clothing at all times?”
“Oh, oh, oh! Do you think that they like to have parties? What kind of party do you give to a lost race? Would it be a lost and found party? Cause I never threw a lost and found party to a whole species before! I don’t know where I would start!” Pinkie Pie said bouncing excitedly.
“Um if you don’t mind me asking, but, a-are they scary? I just don’t know if I could face something as scary as a lost race.” Fluttershy whispered.
“Now, Twilight where would ya’ even start lookin’ for a lost race?” Applejack said curious.
Twilight breathed in deeply, "The race lived in Equestria long ago and may or may not have died off or left for somewhere else, I have no idea how they could have worn clothes at all times. I’m sorry Pinkie but I don’t think they would want to go to a party that ponies hosted, if they are alive they have been hiding thousands of years from us *gasp*, I don’t know if they are scary or not because the book only had diagrams of uncompleted skeletons but they are predators," she took in another large breath, "and I plan to ask Celestia for ideas of where to go because I believe that she may have some knowledge about what humans are, but she might not know anything at all as they lived in Equestria long before she was born.” Twilight took a couple of large gasps as she tried to get her breathing back to normal.
“There was a time before Celestia?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “but I thought she was the oldest pony in like ever!”
“Pinkie, Princess Celestia is the oldest living pony, but before her was King Conquering Wind, her father, and according to the book the one who," here Twilight hesitated, "…enslaved the humans.”
That quieted the ponies in the room as the darker information came back to the forefront of their minds.
Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack looked away from the alicorn as Fluttershy hid behind her hair and Pinkie Pie’s normally bouncy mane slightly deflated.
After a minute of awkward silence Rarity spoke up, “Twilight dear are you sure that the humans are still… alive? I mean, I don’t want to be the barer of bad news, but it sounds like they are…deceased.”
“I know it sounds like that Rarity but I believe the book was right when it said that there is a chance that they are still alive and are hiding somewhere.” Twilight replied.
“They sound pretty dead to me.”
“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack exclaimed.
“Don’t look at me like that AJ you know I’m right, nopony survives living like that!”
“I know it looks like that Dash, but if there is even a slim chance that they survived I want to find them and maybe bring them back and fix this whole mess.” Twilight intervened.
“I want to see them too.”
The five of them turn to face Fluttershy who gave a little ‘eep!’ at the attention.
“I mean if you don’t mind," the gentle pegasus stood a little taller; "I want to come with you.”
“Fluttershy you don’t have to come with…”
“I’m coming too, someone has to protect you guys.” Rainbow Dash said confidently, puffing out her chest just a small bit.
“So am I! Even if travel can be atrocious to one's mane.” Rarity said while looking at her mane in a mirror, fixing it a bit.
“Ya’ can go ahead and count me in too.” Applejack said grinning widely with a mix of determination and eagerness.
“Ya know that if we are all going we can find the last humans doubly as fast!” Pinkie Pie said bubbly, bouncing in place a bit in excitement over meeting so many new, possible friends. Her mane was completely back to its normal, puffy look.
“You guys,” wiping the last tears from her eyes Twilight looked at them with a large smile, exclaiming in a voice filled with hope and confidence of their future success, “ok ladies let's find them!”
“Cool, um, one question though, where do we find them?” Rainbow Dash asked as she scratched her head, lazily flapping her wings as she floated in the air.
“I don’t know but I know where to start," Twilight smiled at her group of friends, who had confused looks on their faces, "I need to send a letter to Princess Celestia, the Royal Canterlot Library may have the information we need to find them.”
Happy at the now excited and determined looks on their faces she looked around to find that somepony was missing. Somepony who was a very vital element in contacting the princess, and without him they couldn’t even start their search.
With a concerned look adoring her face she asked her five friends, “Where’s Spike?”
Dear Princess Celestia,
I’m sorry for the lack of letters to you over the last couple of days, but I have stumbled on something of great importance.
When I was studying late at night a number of days ago I found a hidden safe like area in one of the walls of my library. When I went to inspect the hole I found an old tome which I believe to be many hundreds of years old. Excited, I read through it only to find that the tome was filled with cruel events of thousands of years past that were brought on by ponies. The tome which is titled ‘Humans: The Lost Race of Equestria’ goes into great detail about how they were treated and the violent nature of some of their deaths.
I write to you now because I believe that the Royal Canterlot Library may have more information about this forgotten race and where they might be currently located. With this information the other elements and I plan on going out searching for them and righting the wrongs of years past.
Your faithful student
Twilight Sparkle
Sitting on her throne during one of the few breaks in day court, the eternal princess read over her newly turned alicorn student’s letter again.
At first the sun princes had felt mirth at her student’s continued display of worry of not getting her friendship reports in on time. Even if the last time Twilight gave in to worry about being tardy was formally no laughing matter. Although Celestia did have a small chuckle time to time on how she got the whole town to run after her old doll. This mirth however disappeared as she continued to read the letter.
Humans… she had not heard that name for many years. Not since the death of her father. He used to tell her about them before she went to sleep as bedtime stories. Even then the stories of humans and their exploits were that of a fictional race, that to her knowledge, never existed.
Teleporting the scroll to her room, the sun princess took another sip of her tea and began to ponder what her student had written. As she thought about it, she couldn’t help feel a little concern about the possibility of contact between their races.
In the stories her father told her, humans were violent in nature. They stalked the night in search for the weak and innocent to torture or consume them. The ponies were always the heroes chasing them off their land or stopping them before they could kill those that had no part in their conflict, because of this the white alicorn was hesitant in letting her student look for them.
Not to mention that Twilight and her friends were essentially chasing ghosts with nothing but an old book and a couple of stories that even she barely remembered leading the way. Even if the Royal Canterlot Library did have some information on the human’s whereabouts, it would be hopelessly outdated. Also, she had read through every volume in there and she has never even seen a book referencing humans.
All in all she should have just written to Twilight and told her to stop chasing old mare’s tales, but some key points in her students letter stopped her from doing just that.
‘The tome which is titled ‘Humans: The Lost Race of Equestria’ goes into great detail about how they were treated and the violent nature of some of their deaths.’
That statement puzzled her, in the stories that her father told her, the humans were the ones to attack without provocation, and readily killed and ate any ponies that they could get their hooves on. Her father was very persistent on getting that very distressing point about humans across.
So why was Twilight telling her differently?
It made no sense in the pink eyes of the princess of the day. How could her student say something completely different about a race that her father has actually seen? Does the tome that Twilight has in her possession truly say that much about the condition that the humans have been through or is it just a book made to make them seem innocent?
These thoughts had caused her mind to drift to another part of her student’s letter.
‘With this information, the other elements and I plan on going out searching for them and righting the wrongs of years past.’
If ponies were the ones to allow that much cruelty on a possibly undeserving race, was it not in her best interests as a current princess to find this race and right whatever wrongs they put on them?
Making up her mind the sun princess picked up a quill and scroll of parchment. She did not know if she was growing irrational due to her older age, or if the uneasy excitement of finding a lost race was clouding her judgment, but she was moved to let her student go on this quest to find a race of legend.
She just hoped that whatever Twilight found would not be too much for the young alicorn to handle.