My Little Earth: Humans Are Special

by Skyler Walker


Chapter VIII: The Code Is More Like Guidelines, Really

Okay, no one panic, I'm alive, I'm alive! Here's something for all of you, fresh off the grill!

---

“Man, it's been a day...” Kyle let off, sitting down on the bench. He was at the mall, two bags overstuffed with groceries either side of him as he slipped his shoe off, setting it on the opposite knee as he started to massage it through the sock.

It had been a long day; while he'd gotten out of work at two thirty he had to go to the shop to drop the van off to get it tuned up, go pick up the stain to finish the shelves he and Aunt Polly started three months ago, before she became too ill to continue.

It was a shame he didn't finish it until now, but between grieving and helping Twilight he had a full plate to start with.. His Aunt had played video games since she first played Super Mario Brothers Three and Legend of Zelda when she went over to a friend's place. Since then she'd accumulated a collection of consoles, and a library of games for each. She had kept her old NES games in a cupboard for years, until one of her guests had a overestimated his agility during a dinner Polly hosted.

Thankfully his foot didn't break...

The cupboard was destroyed, but rather then get a new one they hit on the idea to build shelves themselves. Oak boards, stain, router, everything. It was just another bonding project for them. It was a shame she'd never see them put up.

They were built, the router being used to put nice edges onto the wood. All that needed to happen was staining the pieces and instillation.

After buying the stain and few other odd supplies he'd stopped off at the mall, grabbing groceries and Super Mario 3D Land.

Aunt Polly always loved Mario games the most.

Even the crappy ones.

Just as he set his foot back into his sneaker a foot pressed itself onto the back of the bench, making his head turn.

The first thing he noticed was the three inch red heels.

The second thing he noticed was the long, silky smooth leg.

The third thing he noticed was the micro mini skirt, black with red trimmings.

The fourth thing he noticed was the pink thong from how spread the legs were, and how short the skirt was.

The fifth thing he noticed was they all belonged to Linda. “Hey there, Handsome. Miss me?”

“Like the flu.” Kyle replied, leaning back into the seat, crossing his arms.

“Ouch.” Linda let off, wincing. “Come on, baby...” She said, setting her foot down before moving to sit down next to him, resting her arm on the back of the bench, facing him. “Are you going to blame me for having needs that had to be filled?”

Kyle bit hit tongue, before speaking what she was filled with. “Linda, you cheated on me. Playing innocent isn't going to win you brownie points.”

“Oh, come on...” She let off, pouting as she crossed her arms, still keeping her torso facing him. “You think that new girlfriend you found is going to be as awesome as I am.”

“One, Twila isn't my girlfriend. Two, she's pretty awesome in her own right.” Kyle spat back at her.

Left unsaid was the fact she was a unicorn who traveled across dimensions, but she wouldn't believe it if he said it.

“And yet you buy her shoes...”

“I bought you shoes.”

“And they still fit.” She replied, grinning as she reached over, setting a hand on his shoulder that was swatted aside. “Oh come on, don't tell me that old woman is warning you about 'girls like me', hmm?”

“Aunt Polly died.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her whole demeanor change. Her eyes widened in shock, her smirk vanishing a moment later as she brought a hand to her mouth. “Oh god... I didn't... Oh, I'm sorry...”

“About the only thing you've been sorry for.” Kyle let off, picking up his bags as he stood up.

“Kyle...” Linda let off, extending a hand before pulling it back as he turned a glare on her.

“You never apologized.” He hissed out, trying not to cause a scene as people passed them by in the mall. “Ever. You blamed me for not fucking you, you blamed Uric for being too charming, you blamed my Aunt for not liking you, mainly because you cheated and not once did you say sorry. For anything.” He snorted, adjusting his bags. “I don't know if I could have taken you back, but if you can't even admit blame, why should I bother?” He said before turning and walking towards the exit.

Linda for her part gave him a sad, hurt look before huffing. “That's because I don't have anything to be sorry for!” She spat out to herself before letting off a sigh. “...right?”

---

“I'm home!” Kyle let off as he entered the house, kicking his shoes off before setting the can of stain by the door. Sighing he shut the door, walking to the kitchen, past Twilight with an X-Box controller in her hand, setting his bags down.

He was still irritated with Linda, but decided it wasn't worth getting too upset over.

Or rather that she wasn't worth it.

“Hi.” Twilight replied, sticking her tongue out, bangs coming out of the TV as she focused on what she was doing. As he set the food away, leaving the box of Panko bread crumbs on the counter he looked to see what she was playing.

He could make out two wooden ships firing cannons at each other. “Pirates?”

“Sid Meier's, yes.” She replied. Once the food was set away one of the ships slammed into the other.

The scene changed to the strapping young captain fighting the opposing captain, the only delay being Twilight choosing the longsword. He always used the rapier. Kyle moved into the living room, standing next to her as she played.

“I'm surprised at how accurate it is to actual piracy.” She added as she forced the other pirate back on the screen with a stab. “I mean I know there are liberties taken, and unlike Equestrian pirates they have cannons, but still.”

“Wait, you have pirates in happy-go-lucky-sugar-land?” Kyle asked, confused as Twilight rolled her eyes.

After the other captain lost, and was knocked overboard by a load swinging into him, she set the controller down. “We do. Bad ones, mostly. They tend to embrace the romanticism of piracy, and think that it's fairly easy, get them stallions... They wind up being so sloppy that the Royal Guard tracks them down within a week. The only exception within the last two hundred years was the Diamond Crest Pirates who operated for over a full year before being caught. By my brother, actually. The were led by a Diamond Dog who did know what he was doing. But eventually Shiny sent one of his stallions undercover and got his first mate, a unicorn mare, I think, to brag in bed.”

“Huh.” Kyle let off, moving to sit next to her. “So ponies on the high seas, huh?”

“Ah, no.” Twilight replied, shaking her head. “Airships, mostly. Like the Final Fantasy ones. They're still expensive, but Blue Yonder Industries has been making them more affordable as of late. Actually, some of the first airships wound up being used for piracy. Interesting story really.”

“You know, I should have asked about your world a bit more.” Kyle said, crossing his legs. “So, let's start here.”

“Wow... Most of my friends wouldn't ask...” She said, tapping her chin as she leaned back into the seat. “But... Okay... Well, you remember what I told you about Princess Luna turning into Nightmare Moon and being banished for one thousand years?” She saw Kyle nod so she carried on. “Well, afterward Princess Celestia took a leave of absence. She... She had to come to terms with banishing her own sister so she left Canterlot in what's known as the 'Dusk Century.' It wasn't a full century, mind you, just eighty five years. After she left she placed Princess Silver in charge, who in turn used a disguise spell to pretend to be Princess Celestia, fearing that without her on the throne Equestria would come under attack. Which it did, leading into the Fallen Crown War, when we were attacked by an alliance of the Minotaurs and Griffins. Then again, the Griffin Empire doesn’t have the heart to attack when Princess Celestia is on the throne. When she went missing four hundred years ago they attacked again, and pretty well ran when she came back. Mind, they were kept out of Equestria for the most of that war, with the bulk being fought in the Fillypine Islands so they wouldn't have enough of a claw hold to attack--”

“Twilight, we're getting off track.” Kyle said, holding a hand up to stop her. “Pirates?”

“Oh, right, sorry.” Twilight let off, blushing a bit before speaking again. “Anyway, Princess Celestia was attempting to bring the station of stallions up to equality with mares before she left. It was a hard struggle; due to the gender imbalance and higher numbers mares had a tendency to look down on stallions, not unlike women in your history. Things to be desired, protected, not as smart, and so on. Princess Silver was expected to carry on Princess Celestia's work, but failed. She was more focused on maintaining her illusion and keeping the major players of the day happy and keeping the three tribes together. This led to a period where mares mistreated stallions and more or less got away with it.

“One stallion was named Lifting Sparrow. He was a pegasus who was... Umm, it's regrettable to say but...”

“I'm sure whatever happened to him humans have done to humans.” Kyle said, nodding at her and gesturing for her to continue.

“...He was treated as breeding stock for a herd of mares. However he had gotten in contact with other upset and downtrodden stallions and they decided to band together. They hatched a very daring plan. At the time, Airships were still new and the Guard was outfitting them with ballista and other weapons. One of the first had just been finished and Sparrow and his followers decided to steal it. They used one of their numbers to distract the ship's guard with flirting before they were knocked out from the back. Taking the helm, the now Captain Sparrow took his crew and named the ship 'Pearl Breaker'.

“They raided villages and towns, stealing food and valuables before using fences in the cities to acquire bits. They made their base in an island on a large lake, which had hills all around it, meaning their camp wasn't visible from the shore. They called it Bucks Port. They spent over twenty years going across Equestria, raiding and pillaging. They used young stallions to find out what the armies movements were going to be, as well as find good places to strike. They're best known for the... Well, the Rape of Hooferville...

“It was a response to what happened to a young colt named Loose Spirits. Poor colt.. Sold by his own family as a sex slave, abused and forced to clean, not able to play, not able to learn, just forced to work or breed day to night. One night he ran away into the woods, but he was caught two days later. Beaten black and blue. Both front legs broken... Nurses patched him up and he told the Guard what happened, but nothing was done to the family. Not even a stern word. All the townsfolk just... acted like it never happened.

“Then Captain Sparrow learned of it and came and attacked. He captured the colt's family, and all of the mares that didn't escape. He had the mares lined up, tied down and told his stallions to use them. He even coaxed most of the stallions in town to take part, raping every mare left in the town, sparing only the fillies. And he waited until heat season to start up... It's estimated that forty five percent of Hooferville today has lineage to the crew of the Pearl Breaker. Loose Spirit joined the crew, as did other stallions from the town.

“After that Princess Silver devoted a lot of time to bringing him down, but wasn't able to. Eventually a band of pegasus mares formed a watch group called the Sky Burst Squadron to fight back. They eventually located Bucks Port and led the guard there. Sparrow and most of the pirates fled on the Pearl Breaker, but it was damaged in combat before being forced to the ground and boarded. Most of the crew was caught, but some like Loose Spirit escaped. As for their leader, well it was they day they almost caught Captain Sparrow. After the Bucks Port Raid he just... vanished. No one knows what happened. Some say he died of wounds accumulated from fleeing the battle. Others say he took his booty and quietly formed his own herd in the outskirts of the Kingdom. Others say he was caught, but the guards covered up imprisoning or killing him to avoid making him a martyr.”

“Wow, that is quite a bit of history.” Kyle said finally. “Need a drink?”

“Yeah, please.” She said as Kyle stood, walking to the fridge. “The after effects were wide reaching though. Princess Silver realized she needed to prevent another Sparrow, so she carried on Princess Celestia's work. While the public did resist, she laid out the foundations for gender equality.” Kyle sat back down next to her, passing her a can of Pepsi in his hand. She popped it open before taking a long sip. “It still wouldn't be until after Princess Celestia came back that fully equality would come about, but that's another tale for another time...”

“Well, maybe we can do another history lesson later.” He said, standing up and going back to the door, picking up the can of stain. “I'll be in the basement, finishing something up. Call if you need me.”

“Okay!”