Homeworld Conflict

by Lily Lain


Saddle Arabia

The star has passed half of its orbit. The ambassador unit is rested and reports full functionality.
We assume that the word of our arrival has spread across the planet’s sapient species.
They will be prepared.
 
“For better or for worse,” finished Fleet Command. “Launch the Ambassador.”
 
Ambassador launched. Current destination: Saddle Arabia.
 
Saddle Arabians were a desert nation, and thus the most familiar one to the Kushan, who had spent the most of their lives at the hot, nearly waterless world of Kharak. Beacons were shot into the sky above the Saddle Arabia to hail and monitor them at once.
 
After consideration of the delicate matter of the situation, a direct speaker-Mothership link was established through a small radio set in his headphone. The same was given to his advisor, and now both had immediate access to the Fleet Intelligence’s team of linguists and diplomats.
 
Ambassador landing.
No automatic hostile reaction has been triggered.
It appears we are welcome.
 
The ambassador unit left the ship and proceeded with the appointed guards, once again escorted by a set of stares.
 
Culture strikingly similar to ours. Some of the Equines here use blade dancing techniques resembling ours, and their clothing, if ancient, is mostly designed to ward off the warmth, similarly to ours, if slightly more colourful.

“Have you noticed,” asked one of the historians of the Fleet Intelligence, “that these Equines have saddles? While it might be somewhat modified by cultural standards both in Saddle Arabia and in Equestria, these saddles are not only a thing of fashion it seems. They appear perfectly rideable. Now a quick question: where are the ones who rode them?”
 
“Based on the Minotaurs’ resemblance to us,” answered a biologist, “we can safely assume that they used to be a smaller species, or have evolved from smaller species that might be extinct, and that might, or might not have used the Equines as their travel means.”
 
“But biological evolution takes hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years! The development of a civilisation could take no longer than a few thousand years,” countered an archaeologist.
 
“The species could have gone extinct recently, or have moved into hiding for reasons unknown.” The biologist retreated in defensive.
 
“That would be quite strange for a whole species to go extinct, especially if they were the masters. Historians here would suggest a sudden shift of power,” said the archaeologist, some of the historians nodded, “but it often happens between the middle class and the higher one, and the ruling class never becomes extinct, especially if they were numerous enough to make so many Equines wear saddles.”
 
“They didn’t have to be numerous,” a sociologist interrupted. “It was merely needed for the higher-class Equines, the ones upon whom the master species rode, to wear saddles for the fashion to spread, even though it was quite unnecessary.”
 
“I still don’t believe in their total extinction,” admitted the historian. “I think they’ve gone into hiding. It would become our secondary goal to find them.”
 
“I second that notion,” said the biologist, and the archaeologist added the same.
 
There might still be some live specimens of the species that used the Equines for travelling, hence the use of saddles. Our secondary objective is to find that species and contact them.
 
“Objective will be taken into consideration,” answered Fleet Command. “Ambassador, inquire the Equines about the saddles.”
 
“Understood,” confirmed the speaker. He shivered slightly after hearing the soothing, yet regal voice of Fleet Command in his ear as if she were right beside him.
 
Caution advised. Based on Celestia’s speech patterns and body language, we can assume that she would be more trustworthy for that question.
 
“Withdraw the question until you’re entirely sure you won’t cause any negative repercussions,” ordered the voice of Fleet Command before going silent.
 
“Understood,” said the speaker’s advisor into his little radio before he took it off and examined it. Not more than a few hours ago, these miniature long-range communication radios didn’t yet exist. The speed of technological advancement of his nation surprised even him.
 
 
Towers of silvery marble rose to the sky before them, only to support the golden spires that pierced the heavens in an act of defiance to the generally low architecture around. The Equines about not only sported, but also wore, swung, or sold a whole myriad of colours.
 
“It seems that the more their clothing hurts the eyes, the more important they are,” said the advisor, rubbing his temple and wincing.
 
The equine clothing doesn’t have the strong sunlight-reflection abilities that ours has. It might signify their class divisions.
The tallest buildings appear to have little to no utility outside of aesthetic value. Perhaps they are used as places of worship.
 
The ambassador unit entered the palace, were introduced to the rulers of the nation, this time male and female, and after a lengthy conversation, left.
 
Summary of the conversation without the use of diplomatic language patterns is as follows:
 
– The Equines of Saddle Arabia use the tall, ornament buildings for worship of their gods.
 
– As the Equestrians failed to state, Saddle Arabia and all the other equine countries are either protectorates or colonies of Equestria, ruled by the government in Canterlot, the Equestrian capital.
 
“We’re not, as you’ve called it, an ‘expansive nation.’ Why should we be? The soil gives us food, there’s enough place for everyone, and there’s still a lot of inhabitable desert all over the country. While our families are not allowed to have too many children, what bad is there in it, if it’s the Lord’s will?”
 
– A careful inquiry about the saddles has led to a friendly response. The saddles haven’t apparently been used for riding in the recent times, but they come from a long bygone era from which all the recordings have vanished. Thus, no proper answer can be given of their use.
 
“We are focused,” the male ruler had added, “solely on prayer. We allow the Lord to dictate our lives, it allows us to worry far less.”
 
Their faith, however, was not completely unified until the recent ages, just as ours.
 
“We have waged wars in His name, but in years prior, when the winter came from the north and threatened to destroy us, we forsook the war, and understood that He does not want us to die out fighting, but rather spend lives in faith and worship.”
 
“That is somewhat like us,” the ambassador unit’s advisor had said. “We’d have pretty much killed each other by now without the promise of the Guidestone.”
 
“The Guidestone had led us here, to Hiigara, if that’s what we can call this planet. Otherwise the wars over where we’ve actually come from, as Kharak was near-uninhabitable, would decimate us into nothingness,” commented Fleet Intelligence, more to herself than to the pilots and Fleet Intelligence that listened in.
 
Basing on the information gathered, it would be best to forsake the contact with other Equine countries for now, and proceed with visiting the other species.
 
The conversation within Fleet Intelligence steered away from the Griffins for the time being. Perhaps the laws of sociology had been broken somehow on this world, and there were more than two expansive species.