//------------------------------// // A Still Mind // Story: Perseverance of the Ancients // by The Bourgeoisie Bear //------------------------------// Deep in her studies, Twilight was on a journey, a journey into the past. Two hundred years ago, much like today, a griffin warlord thought he could make his fortune in conquering human land for his kingdom. The technology at the time was similar to todays, and warfare tactics haven’t change much at all. ‘...A griffin heavy armor unit of the 27th battalion marched forward on the dirt path. The soon to be battlefield was growing silent, the eerie quietness of the forest around them gave voice to the gut wrenching battle that was to come. The heavy armored unit marched loudly, they held their great-swords and war-hammers close by, ever vigilant of another ambush. Crash, the warlord, led the battalion at the head of the formation. A long streak of warriors, perhaps only four or five units wide continued on in their marching formation. They knew the most powerful tribe in the area lived near here. They thought they could take them by force. Crash ordered his men to stop marching, sensing another ambush. “Halt,” called his commanding officers. The company stopped. All was silent for a moment, only the clanking of his soldier's armor could be heard. Then the most horrifying scream of demonic proportions echoed out, in every direction, in numbers beyond counting by the sound of it. Mad men leapt out of the clearing as flying spears hit his closely packed griffin, most of which bounced off their armor, but a few lucky ones managed to find their mark. Humans charged into their ranks from both sides, with unmatched ferocity. They wailed on the griffin with steel and iron weapons, with man-made weapons of bones and teeth, and sometimes with their own monstrous fangs and claws. Much of their tools were bartered with from the frontier ponies for slaves, the metal tools catching the civilized griffin off guard. They still fought hard, like any species would when backed into a corner. The barbaric humans were wearing the thick pelts of the prey they had slain, but the stronger more powerful ones wore the skins of dangerous predators. Bears seemed to be a popular choice at the time, but even endangered mystical monsters sometimes found themselves dead and clothing these humans. Even worse yet, some wore the hides of other griffin that were slain in other battles, the psychological effects this had was evident. At first, things were going their way, thanks to no small part to their military warlord, who had gotten them this far alive. However, survival was not their fate, not counting a few deserters. The ground began to shake in a rhythmic pace, one after the another the ground shook. Stomping out of the clearing came a behemoth monster, weighing at least a ton by some accounts. It was clad in a thick layer of mismatched iron armor, and bore a great-sword that was nearly as tall as him. Just upon seeing him the Gryphon army panicked, the only thing keeping them together were the humans currently slaughtering them. The lighter infantry began to abandon the battlefield by flight. Crash, the every prideful warrior, charged the beast. They had their duel. All hope was lost when the warlord fell, with his skull broken in pieces. The battle of the Shattered Skull was over. Those that could, took off by air as the humans feasted on the survivors and began making pelts and hides, ripping the skin off of their still living and screaming victims…’ Twilight closed the book, Beast of the North, an interesting read, if perhaps a bit disturbing. 'Yes, diplomacy,' thought Twilight, 'Celestia made a wise choice there. Don't want to fight those things.' The princess turned around in her seat to get a good look at her slave that still sat in his cage, looking straight at her, silently. It wasn't a late night study session, Twilight had been too tired from the day before, with all the drama of getting her new human. The falling sun was still giving adequate light. Twilight stretched, she had studied all day long, just like yesterday, but it was all worth it, she learned so much. Not sure what to do with her free time Twilight checked her check list. When the scroll was lifted to her face, she remembered why she forgot what she had to do, in plain equis was, 'Examine human communication skills in the late afternoon,' Twilight whined internally. 'Ah, my selective memory's got the best of me,' She sighed, and began walking over to the caged slave. He was sitting straighter, leaning against the bars of the cage, and grew more attentive with her every step. “Umm, hi.” To her surprise the human nodded. The books said that one must spend at least two hours a day with their human in order for them to bond and grow attached. It was the first step in training them. Twilight stood there for a while, admiring his features in an objective way, and not sure what route to take with this sort of thing. His loincloth was still clean, and wouldn’t need to be washed today. ’That’s good.’ Upon examination she realized that his feeding tray was empty, she hoped that the castle staff didn't forget to feed him again. Twilight was explicit, the books said three meals a day two thousand to twenty-five hundred calories for male humans, dependent on size. It was easy to find out that her slave needed the higher amount, he was a big guy, even for a human, tall and strong. The staff however seemed scared of him. It was the drama that occupied a lot of time the previous day. Her brow was furrowed, not sure if the human ate at all that day or if he just ate all his food quickly. That's what bothered her the most, not knowing if he ate. She had no idea if her slave was full or starving, they had no way to communicate. Twilight suspected that the staff was covering for each other. Looking around she found a basket filled with big fat red apples, courtesy of the Sweet Apple Acres. 'Thanks for the gift Applejack.' A smile made it's way to her features. Taking three apples she bit one, and made her way with the other two pieces towards her human. She was surprised how passive the creature had been, honestly she anticipated more trouble out of the human, especially considering the escape attempts on the train and the strangling thing. While chewing on her food she managed a smile, the human snorted in response. Twilight levitated the other two apples into his cage between the bars, his face softened, Twilight noticed. Perhaps surprised that she was sharing her food with him. The slave lazily took one in his hand. Looked at it, then looked back at her. Twilight was still chewing on her apple, eating slowly, more interested in him than anything else. Bringing it to his mouth he took a bite larger than Twilight thought possible without a muzzle. They both ate there for a silent moment. 'This isn't so bad, I can manage fine with these humans... given that they're behind a cage... and can't get to me.' Twilight knew she was still scared of humans. Like she always had been. The events of the last couple of days brought back memories of a studious filly ducking behind stalls and grown-ups at the sight of even a slightly agitated human. 'My slave isn't violent at all,' Twilight thought with pride in her heart. 'The First Tier Company was obviously doing something to aggravate him, but he's happy now.' The human gave her a dirty look. 'Well relatively happy.' Her slave began using his left hand, the one without apple-juice in it, as a makeshift comb. 'Ah, self grooming, interesting. I'll have to remember to record this.' Finished with his second apple the human sat with his legs tucked underneath him and put his hands on his lap. With his eyes closed and his mind focused, intently and purposefully on nothing. Twilight watched in curiosity which slowly turned to admiration. He looked utterly relaxed, unmoving, almost looked like he wasn't breathing. Twilight walked closer to the cage, closer than she had ever been before to the human. Still he didn't move. His short hair on his head was parted, most of it went one way, the other part on his left went straight down his head. Twilight walked around the cage as silently as she could, not out of fear of stirring him, but strangely, out of respect of his meditative state. The newer scars on his body were healing nicely, but the older ones obviously still remained. Scars from predators, scares from battle, and some unmistakably from whips. Twilight cringed. She knew that many slaver companies could be... overzealous in pacifying the wild species. It was a shame really, but that's what the humans wanted. They were the ones that sold their own into slavery. But Twilight and many other ponies still found it revolting. Twilight tip hoofed behind him, he was still silent and unmoving. Her face was mere inches away from his back. One of the big problems of caging humans was their arms, they were lanky enough to slip through and hurt anypony unfortunate enough to be on the other side. She was so close, yet no harm came to her, she put her hoof against the bars, it was no more than two inches away from his back. Slowly he stirred. Looked over his shoulder to see her. It was so slow she saw no reason to move, he looked so passive. In fact he looked half asleep from leaving his meditation. Again, he moved very slowly, he turned around and stretched out his hand, with one finger pointed out. Her whole body became twitchy, her mind was readying her to bolt, to get away. To flee the dangerous situation she was in. Flooding her with endorphins, adrenaline, and preparing itself. Thoughts of the monstrous human back at Canterlot flashed through her mind until... He touched her. He poked her hoof gently with his index finger. Twilight's heart hurt from the stress. She looked up a term since she arrived In the Crystal Empire, Anthrophobia, and she was reasonably sure she had it. Humans after all could be terrifying, especially when they are foaming and trying to kill somepony. But this experience, though terrifying, was manageable. Her chest heaved madly, despite her attempts to calm down. In return, the human tilted his head, his expressive eyes showing a mixture of confusion and concern. Two fingers pointed outward, moved towards her, slowly. They inched out between the bars and came for her. Twilight didn't know what to do. The books didn't mention this! Is this a human greeting? Am I supposed to touch it with my hoof? Is he going for my head? My ears? Does he want to poke my eyes? Oh no! What is he aiming for!? My neck?' The fingers touched the side of her neck. Her heart rate increased even further in her surprise to see that it was in the perfect spot to feel her pulse. They both felt the quick heart beats pushing his finger away slightly, the blood traveling through faster thanks to the quick pumping of her heart. He looked a bit sad, or dejected even, no, he looked downright disheartened as he looked down at the ground, and he gave a long winded sigh. The human looked back up, and whispered something too quiet for her to hear. The hand slowly traveled up to her cheek, it's fingers were spread wide and did something close to a pet. In reaction to the dexterous hand Twilight folded her right ear, allowing it to glide over her, to let it rub right behind the sensitive area right behind her ear. 'Ahh,' Twilight accidentally moaned, causing her to blush. Part of her was condemning her embarrassing actions, while another part of her tried to justify itself. 'Okay look,' she told herself. 'Ponies don't have hands, the only time we feel this sort of touch behind our ears is in maybe foreplay with some kissing and nipping. They feel sooooooo good!' 'No stop this. You've never even been on a date before, don't be that creepy lonely mare. If I'm not careful I'll end up with thirty cats and some sick fetish. If I go down this road I'll end up doing something much, much worse with this primitive species. I have some pride!' One of Twilight's eyes opened to get a look at the human, he looked so calm, and for the first time ever he had a smile on his face. 'He doesn't look that primitive,' she rebutted lamely. With his nimble little fingers he was holding one of her ears and was massaging the inwards part of it, it felt better than anything else so far. Her cheeks were burning red now. “Oooohhhhh,” she cooed much louder. The hand stopped immediately. Twilight looked up. 'Even he looks disappointed in me.' The hand backed away, slowly. He had a strange expression on that she couldn't fully read and he scooted away. “I-” Twilight stopped herself when she realized she was about to justify her actions to a human. The slave stared at her for a moment with one eyebrow raised. He looked over her shoulders for a moment. Snorted, then pointed behind her. She stared at the end of his finger, still entranced with it. He pointed more fervently, but before she could catch on her brother spoke. “Hey Twiliy, what are you doing?” Finally catching the meaning of the pointing finger Twilight whirled around to see her brother and Spike standing by the doorway. “How long were you two been standing there?” Her eyes were the size of saucers. They continued walking into the room, both looking confused. Spike spoke up first, he was walking shoulder to shoulder with her brother, they were almost at the same height. “When we walked in you both were looking at eachother a bit too intently,” -Twilight was fighting and losing a battle with her spreading blush.- “and I can't really speak for Shining here, but I for one was feeling mad uncomfortable.” “Oh Spike,” Shining mumbled as he massaged his temples. Unable to look at his sister at the moment, so he looked up at the human. “But in all seriousness, it's good to see that you're training your human.” He paused, watching the quiet and behaved slave. “I was worried that you wouldn't be able to handle all difficulties that come with these things, but you've done well. He looks so calm and well behaved.” Twilight gave a nod. “Thank you.” And then gave her assistant a look that said, 'later you're going to get it.' The little reptilian baby put his hands behind his back and tried to whistle nonchalantly. “Anyway,” said Shining, “me, Spike and Cadence are going to have biscuits and tea, and we were hoping you could join us.” Twilight sat her backside down, and rubbed her neck. “Well I scheduled this time for me to bond and train with my human… the bonding process requires two hours a day, and that’s a minimum...” Both guys looked heartbroken. Spike was looking at the human while rubbing his hands nervously. “Maybe you can bring him along. He looks really calm.” Outside his field of view Shining gave the baby dragon a chastising look to the back of Spike's head. “Mmmmm,” Twilight grumbled, with her hoof on her lips, unsure of the suggestion. All three of them were looking at the human. One of the creature's eyebrows slowly raised as his eyes darted to each one. The human wondered if his mentors were really right when they told him that a still, calm mind could get one far in life. If they were right about that, he thought, what else could the elders have been right about? The ponies spoke in their strange equis language a bit longer. Now all in agreement Twilight pushed the key into the lock and turned it. The lock's shackle pushed open, and Twilight untangled the chain. “I initially planned to never let him out of his cage until the entire project could be completed and I could have given Celestia a very thorough analysis of the species: Homo Sapien. But He's been so good that I thought after two weeks of training he would be ready to leave his cage for short heavily supervised periods, but he seems ready now...” The chain in her magical grasp faltered a bit, in her nervousness. 'What am I doing? Why am I this nervous?' she asked herself. I wasn't even that nervous when I let him out of his cage on the train... Well... there was the leash that time. The one he broke...' Twilight then lifted the large key for the cage and inserted it into the keyhole. The human stood. He was calm, he was still, he knew better than to continue being the embodiment of defiance. There was no need of that in the foreseeable future as far as he could tell. The cage door swung open, the human didn't move, even when Twilight backed away. He kept his eyes fixed on her. “You can come out now,” Twilight said with a beckoning gesture. The human stood, like a good slave, and walked out of the cage. “Woooooo~w,” came the chorus of amazement from Shining and Spike. They both stood there for a moment admiring the obedience of the slave. “Whoa Twilight!” said Spike as he moved toward his studious friend. “When did you even have time to train him like this?” Not one to brag Twilight corrected him. “Actually, I only trained him a little bit, he's just really tame, and a lot of his training from the First Tier Company must of actually stuck.” A white lie she realized, she had never truly trained him. Shining was back to looking at the human with disdain. “Remember to always be careful with him Twilight, some humans snap. I've seen some things at Canterlot Twily... Unshackled humans are always a risk.” Shining nearly shivered as a thought passed through his mind. “Things always get worse when the humans manage to get a hold of weapons, and much, much, much worse when they can free other humans.” He turned to them both. “I'm just glad we haven't had a full human rebellion in over three hundred years.” Spike suddenly had a change of heart after listening to Shining's story. “So are we really gunna take him w-with us?” he asked, his voice faltering near the end. Twilight sighed. “Yes. In all truth if I actually tried I could easily subdue a human.” The thought of what happened in Canterlot slipped into her mind for the fifth time that day, making her feel guilty for being too confident in her abilities now. But she knew she could do it, and she had grown more accustomed to the creatures with having to study him for the past three days, counting her arrival. 'It's not over confidence if it's true,' she told herself, causing her to smile. “Ready when you are Twily,” said Shining as he began walking towards the door. “I'll escort you all there.” The human followed Twilight, the gestures she gave him being more helpful than her actual words. They were rounding a corner, almost to their destination, when a maid happened to be walking past them, this happened without incident until the human rounded the corner following Twilight. The maid gasped and tripped over her hooves in an attempt to get away. The sound of her falling caused Twilight and her escorts to turn around. The maid, a petite crystal mare, was cowering on the floor, trembling forelegs covering her face. The human loomed over her, reaching out to her. Remembering what happened in Canterlot and vowing to never sit by again, Twilight jumped over to the maid’s side and charged her horn, readying herself to cast any spell that proved necessary to cast. But the outstretched hand never touched her, it just hung their open, waiting on her. The maid looked up at him, confused by the human's mannerisms. When the slave gave her a gentle smile, it finally dawned on her the meaning of the gesture. With fear and trepidation, she lifted her hoof to his hand and he took it, and lifted her up on all fours. The maid still backed away though. “S-sory,” stammered the maid to Twilight, “I-I have to go.” The mare trotted off in a hurry. The remaining audience was watching the slave straiten up on his two long legs. “Uhh... good job human...” said Twilight awkwardly, letting the energy in her horn fizzle down, not knowing how else to praise him. “Really well trained,” said Shining, thinking, “maybe I was being a bit prejudice against him. I guess you can train a human right.” He shrugged. “You can let him out of his cage whenever you want Twilight, as long as he's always under your supervision.” “Alright,” Twilight mumbled with a nod. She beckoned her human and they continued to the study room. They continued onward without another incident. Shining pushed the door aside, entering the study first. His wife was in a neat, little, dull red sofa by a low coffee table. Though technically a 'study' it had slowly turned into a cozy place for small gatherings. The crackling fireplace added a certain intimate atmosphere, a homey, quaint place to spend time alone, away from the troubles of bureaucracy. “Shining my love! Finally you've come!” Twilight walked in just in time to see Cadence kiss her brother. 'W-was their tongue involved?' Twilight shook the idea out of her mind. “But it was worth it.” Shining looked back to his sister. “I managed to drag her away from her work.” Cadance chuckled, walking over to Twilight, embracing her in a hug. “It's good to see you Twilight. I feel like you're living far away when you live on the other side of the castle. I don't see you at dinner... or breakfast... or court... your...” Cadence backed away a bit looking behind Twilight. “Oh my, is that your human?” They all looked at the quite slave, the only one who was interested in the books in the study room. “It's fine honey,” said Shining as he stood by his wife's side, “he's as safe as they come.” “Most chill human I've ever seen,” butted in Spike. Once again the human just stood in place, subject to being the center of attention once again. Cadence shifting her weight about, trying to get a better, more complete look of the strange creature. “I haven't even seen a human in some time, the last being Luna's human, Double.” Her head ducked. “That human had it out for me... But I trust your judgment Shining.” Twilight would have offered to let her sister in law touch her human, to help her with her nerves, bit in all truth Twilight didn't trust her human nearly enough for that, at least not yet. They sat at some couches in the center of the room, tea and biscuits were brought in for them, most of the staff giving the slave a watchful eye and wide birth. Much to Twilight's dismay the conversation topic continuously changed to her, 'what was diplomatic training like', 'what happened in day court,' 'what happened in royal court,' 'was she nervous', 'how was she feeling about being a princess now', 'when was the last time she saw her friends'. That last question got Twilight thinking. “Well they did come to visit me halfway through my diplomatic training. Being a princess has been very difficult for me. So I haven't had any free time in a while...” Cadence put down her cup. “You're doing better than most royal ponies who were born into this lifestyle, Twilight. Don't be too hard on yourself.” Twilight smiled. “Thanks.” Spike and Shining had been listening to, what they perceived to be, very long winded girl talk, while occasionally saying a few words themselves, they still enjoyed it though. It was starting to get late, they knew this in the windowless room by the large grandfather clock. The human meanwhile was sitting in a faraway couch, eating a biscuit very slowly, just one small piece at a time. “Your right Spike,” said Cadence, “he is the most chill human.” The mare continued before Spike could reply. “Oh Shining, look dear! He's eating more neatly than you!” “Hey...” Shining wined as he looked down at the little bits of food in his coat. Cadence stuck her tongue out to her prince, it looked somehow, unintentionally seductive, while he gave her a goofy look in exchange. Twilight looked away, awkwardly, not wanting to see her brother get too frisky with the one he loves. Without even looking at the clock, Twilight spoke, “Oh wow, look at the time.” She got up, Spike and her slave followed. “I guess I'll see you two tomorrow. Bye!” Twilight left them quickly, but not too quickly, which would have made things even more awkward. The hushed giggling that could be heard as she left the room made her blush. “I'm glad you took a break, Twilight.” The little get together had proven to be fun. “Me too Spike.” On their way back, a guard walked by, the guard nor her human acknowledged one another. Back at the library, the slightly delirious human slumped back into his cage. The sun had already set, and the moonlight was the only thing helping them see. Twilight gave him his night time things: A fluffy blanket and pillow. Although usually those two things were forced through the bars as opposed to simply handing it to him through the open door like it was now. The human said something, quite like always, but this had a certain relatable tone to it. Twilight imagined that he told her thank you in his strange language. Twilight went to her room and slept well, and had a good dream that she didn't remember when she woke up. She had already thought of what to put in her letter to her friends the next day.