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// A Professor's Inquiry 
// Story: In Another Life III: A Human(e) Retelling 
// by Bateman66 
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Professor Neuro Paraprax was indifferent to public speaking. Although he’d given several lectures in his past, travelling from the finest institutions in Equestria to research facilities in the Griffon Kingdom, in no way would he ever label these experiences as “fun”.

He did not hate the practice in particular, only finding the necessity of verbally describing scholarly topics unnecessary in comparison of simply reading a textbook pertaining to the topic. Never the less, whenever he was asked by the University to give an orientation or discussion on the several fields he excelled in, not once did he object militantly, only shaking his head and requesting that he would not be asked again.

Now, as he stood professionally in the center of the wooden exhibition stage with the warm white spotlight shinning down at his orange furred face, he felt mildly invigorated as he instructed new arrivals to the University of Canterlot on one of his favorite topics.

“A commonly asked question about the nature of sapient movement,” he announced grandly, “is almost always about their most unusual feature of using two legs to walk instead of four.” He gestured with his hoof. “Granted, other species such as certain dragon geneses or the advanced canine race commonly referred to as “Diamond Dogs” both do posses this ability.”

“However, these races contain other members in their genetic families that are unable of biped movement, were as all humans, every single one recorded within Equestrian history, have always used a single pair of legs to rely on adequate movement. 

“But, we must also disregard the case of the third century human Ogelthorpe the Eye, for it’s believed he suffered from a genetic disorder which caused the sprouting of his third leg. But, let’s move on.”

On cue, the large white screen behind him clicked on and displayed a skeletal image of a human leg.

“Now, as most ponies are aware of, standing or moving around on one’s back legs are possible, for a short bit. But eventually, the strain of our weight proves too difficult to support and we most return to our normal quadruped form of movement. Many assume that that is the secret to human movement, that by being lighter they are thus capable of needing only two legs to move properly. This, however; is not true.”

A light murmur went through the audience, a commonly believed urban legend was once again being disproven by science. Paraprax normally would have not tolerated a disturbance to his lesson, but he understood that these were first years and not particularly aware of inter-dimensional organism’s anatomy.

“There have been several cases of a human male or female weighing the same if not more than their average pony counterpart. And yet, they were still able to comfortably suffice without the need of an extra pair of legs. This is all made possible by this single little bone,” he pointed with his hoof towards the white screen at a small circular bone at the skeleton’s knee.

“This is the patella, commonly referred to as the “knee cap”. This small circular composite of several other bones is what keeps our none-furred friends from moving along on the more natural all fours. It acts as a sort of cushion or, more directly, a weight distributor that not only distributes the human’s weight around its legs but also protects its knee joints from trauma or damage.”

He clapped his hoofs together to single the end of his short presentation. “And that my friends, is all we have time for today.” A collective groan went through the crowd, no doubt dissatisfaction among the students with being given less of a lecture they’d been hoping for.  

Never the less, the crowd of ponies applauded him graciously as he bowed to them formally.  “Thank you all for coming today. If anypony is interested, we’re giving out pamphlets on the course outlines for Human Studies this semester. You can pick them up by the door.”

The audience quickly filed out of the auditorium exits, leaving him alone on the stage as the spotlight continued to shine down from the balcony. Not bothering to use the tiny flight of stairs, Paraprax hopped off the stage and gathered up his things from a nearby table.

“Wasn’t that bad,” he mumbled as he closed his attaché case shut. “Not bad at all.”