//------------------------------// // Imperium // Story: Humanity and Ponykind // by Swordsmen //------------------------------// Life at school in London couldn't be any different from the previous day. Students who've been here for half a dozen years already know what the procedure is whenever the bell rings: Lean against the wall, and await for the teacher to open the door for the classroom. These students however, receiving education for nearly nine years, had grown far too used to it, and sometimes lose themselves to intriguing conversations and funny jokes. They were scheduled to have History of the World right now, with their most beloved teacher, Miss Sarah. Though they did not show it, the students of that class had had trouble getting used to her, for she bore a certain attitude towards all who interrupted her mid-speech. But as it turned out, most of the students from other classes already had vacated to their respective classrooms, and they were left quite alone in their chatter. A couple of minutes later after the bell rang, the class made up of roughly fifteen students, began wondering why their teacher was taking so long. Some had started knocking on the door in hopes of finding her already inside, others began questioning some school staff about the unusual lateness of their teacher. Most staff were as confused as they were, unable to give an exact answer. Twelve minutes later, the students were beginning to question themselves if they could leave and wait for their next lesson elsewhere. As if they had made the question out loud for everyone to hear, a tall and slim woman with blond hair and tiny glasses on her noise, strode past the students muttering a 'good morning' to them as she went. The students did not recognize her, she certainly was not the person they expected it to be, however, they followed her inside in relative silence, apart from a pair of boys cracking up some jokes between themselves. Once inside, most of the students began unpacking their bags and taking out their pens and pencils, as they usually did in their history classes. The teacher, who had been unpacking her bag as well, hadn't noticed this beforehand, but when she did, she raised her hand and called out to them. "Oh, no!" She tried making herself clear with a slightly ragged voice. "That won't be necessary at all!" "You will not be needing to write anything today," She explained to the students. All of them bore a face of slight surprise, but did not object, some, even enjoying it. As they all put their materials away, they awaited for the teacher to fiddle around with a large monitor beside a blackboard, and turning it on. She did so in silence, as she took out an USB Drive and plugged it in the classroom's computer. "Now," The teacher began as she adjusted the intensity of the screen beside her. "As I said, you won't be needing anything from your bags today. In this lesson, we will not be using anything besides our own voice and ears." She said, trying to soothe her ever so slightly ragged voice, to which some students let out short chuckles and sneers. "And perhaps-" Noticing the sneering students, "your brains as well. Those are important in a subject like this." The sneering students lowered their heads. "Now, if you haven't guessed already, I will be replacing Mrs. Sarah for the time being, as she has been in a sickly disposition for the past week, which does not suit our school at all until she is in a stable enough condition to continue teaching." "Judging by your interested faces, yes, I do indeed work in this school, just not on the teaching department. I have been offered this position of History of the World teacher just this morning, and I am most eager to share my knowledge of the past with you all," "However, I will not share my knowledge in the same way as your previous teacher, I rather prefer talking to students, answering their questions, without the need of a book or a sheet of paper," At this, some students nodded in agreement. "If it's possible, where were you left previously on History of the World?" She said, looking at each student individually, examining them carefully. A hand shot up from a girl with curly black hair. "Yes, miss...?" "Hannah," "Well?" "We, uh, we were left at the first global empires and how they formed," The girl explained, a little apprehensively. "Excellent, very good, that is indeed a great starting point for out lesson today," She said, beaming at everyone. Before the teacher could say more, another hand shot up from a boy. "Yes, Mr...?" "Jim, teacher. And may I ask, what is your name?" The teacher seemed surprised, "Oh, well, how could forget about that? Ahem, I'm Annabel Cross, dear boy," "Now," She started, ignoring some the students' sneering smile at their colleague Jim, "I am aware that your teacher left me a message to what should be taught today, however," Taking out a piece of paper heavily written on, "That will not be necessary, as I have my own agenda for today." She replaced the paper back on her desk and looked once more at the students, "Are there any questions you would like to be answered before we begin?" A boy with a careless smile and sleepy attitude raised his hand. "Ted Parker, teacher," Before she could say anything, "And, can you tell me which part of the lesson we should be sleeping?" She seemed shocked for a moment, but then raised her lips into a pleased smile, "I daresay at roughly eleven AM, Mister Parker," It took a while for it to register on his face, but when it did, he realized that the teacher herself was joking on him. Eleven AM was when the subject ended. "Aside from that, does anyone have any decent questions to ask?" She waited a moment. When nobody raised their hands, "Alright then, let me just pull up an image where we can start of off," She said before searching for some document in the computer screen near the blackboard. A long moment of complete silence ensued over the classroom. The soft pounding from the rain on the windows, and the teacher's continuous clicks with the computer's mouse were the only noises in that classroom. Over time, however, some students started to bring up idle chatter between themselves, to which the teacher did not object to, until one click later, the screen displayed a large image, to which all of the previous chatter died down instantly. The teacher glanced at the screen, then turned her gaze back to the students, who did not seem very interested. "As you can all probably tell, this is the political map of North America in the year Two-Thousand and Twenty-Three." She paused, thinking of a good way to phrase her next thought. "To your right, are the Eastern United States, and Québec, also known as Canada. To the south, we have Mexico... To your left, we have, as clearly stated, the Principality of Equestria, a rather unique nation state to which I am very sure none of you have ever studied before." A hand rose from one of the far corner of the classroom. "Yes, Mr...?" "Ronald, teacher. What does this have to do with the first global empires?" "Perfect question, Ronald!" Beamed the teacher. "It might not look like to it us, but this single country, that spans over nearly half a continent, has had huge consequences since its discovery centuries ago." "Now," Glancing at the ceiling, choosing her words carefully, "As we all know, it is commonly said that the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal were the first to venture off of their own continent and establishing trade routes never seen before." "And the interesting fact about this, is that most of it was carried out by humans, like everyone on this classroom," "Back then, we thought we were the only beings capable of speech, rational thinking, and overall superior intelligence," She paused, "Since the times of Ancient Egypt to the last remnants of the Roman Empire, only humans dominated the landscape, built incredible things, carved its legacy on to the Earth," She paused yet again, examining the students' more interested faces. "With the voyage of Columbus in 1492-1493, the Old World, mainly Europe, became aware of another continent, completely barren and open for colonization," She sighed, "But as we all know, it wasn't like it seemed to be, other peoples lived there, had civilizations of their own, even nations of their own. Most notable of these, were the Iroquois, Aztec, Maya and the Inca peoples, all of which lived in the Americas." "When the first colonists arrived there, mainly Portugal and Spain, they encountered humans like themselves, people living in tribal conditions and lacking any of the technologies of the time, like iron armor, spears, and more..." "Again, like it was explained to you all beforehand, diseases brought on by the colonists ravaged the local populations and left the lands truly barren and open for colonization. Only small percentages remained of the native populations, and those who survived, were assimilated into the conquerors' culture and customs." "Most of these events early on, took place in South America, and affected mainly the Inca peoples," She breathed in, "In North America, colonization was not possible due to the aggressiveness and fierceness of the local peoples, except for the Aztec and Mayans, who were defeated by plague and war alike," A hand was slowly raised upward. "Mrs. Hannah?" "Wasn't all of it caused by the Spanish Empire, teacher?" "Unfortunately, most of it was, yes." She said, looking grim, "The Portuguese did cause mass culture extinctions as well, many of which, were undocumented," "Now, we fast forward a century after the discovery of the Americas, and reach the 1650's." She said, pressing a button on the keyboard and switching up the present political map. "This is the estimated political map of North America in 1650," She said, pointing out the map behind her, "Most territory we see here are colonial dominions, with the exception of the Iroquois, the last remaining documented nation, or more accurately, federation in the continent," "With all of the great powers of the time grabbing every piece of land they could, the space in which the natives could live freely became tighter and tighter by the decade, and so, many wars were fought here, mostly between the stronger civilizations, like the Iroquois, and other undocumented federations," "Now, judging again by your faces, why are the Iroquois so important? Why are they so relevant if they hadn't succeeded in repelling the European Powers?" She paused, adjusting her voice a little, "Because, like many other lost civilizations, they were consequential, they shaped how today's world works," A hand shot up. "Mr. Jim?" "In what way did the Iroquois shape the world, teacher?" "They warned us of our ambitions, dear boy," The class seemed perplexed, none seemed to be accompanying the teacher in her reasoning. "H- How so, teacher?" Asked Jim, utterly confused. "How they warned us of our ambitions?" Smiled the teacher, "Fifty years later, when the English were at the Iroquois own homeland, their leader warned the colonists of the dangers if they settled further westward," "What were these dangers, teacher?" Said Hannah without raising her hand. The teacher did not object. "Let's see..." She glanced up at the ceiling again, thinking, "If you have been paying attention, you could argue that the Spanish conquered nearly a quarter of both Americas in just over a century, without much resistance... This meaning most of South and Central America, of course," "All found civilizations were inherently human, very much alike how Europe was before the Roman Empire. But, for the Spanish, once they had reached what is now northern Mexico, they were having trouble settling the land, for what reason, we do not know, at least, the other European Powers didn't," "But, teacher?" Said Hannah, "Couldn't it be because of the deserts that span that area? Maybe the settlers couldn't survive for long on those conditions..." "Excellent point, Mrs. Hannah," She said, gazing the student. "You see, the Russians, the French and the English, had so far only encountered human civilizations, each with varying degrees of knowledge and technology," "That warning, made by the Iroquois leader, shortly before being annexed by the English, was not made for nothing, and, to understand why, we must talk about how the Iroquois governed their land," She took a deep breath, and began explaining the various aspects of the Iroquois federation, what they valued most and how their myths and tales shaped their people. The class found this a little comical, because of one the tales involved a supposed prophet who would say nothing other than peace and friendship in his discussions with other leaders of the federation. The pair of students who kept cracking up jokes, now tried their very best not to laugh themselves off their chairs, and other students around them couldn't help but smile as well. "As much as this is funny, it is true," Continued the teacher, ignoring the wide smiles on the pair's faces. "When the English arrived, the confederation pursued nothing more than friendly relations with their new neighbors. But when they started attacking, they couldn't help but to respond with aggressiveness as well," She breathed, "That was when the leader made his warning clear," "Once the English had conquered the Iroquois, they expanded their influence further inland, completely ignoring the leader's warning. Russian expansion into the Great North slowed down severely once they reached further south, and the Spanish's influence stagnated on Rio Grande. No one knew why it was so, because neither the Russians, nor the Spanish told the rest of Europe why," "Now, half a century later, the situation changes drastically in North America," She said, pressing a button again and changing the imagery. "Well, uh, I don't see much difference there," Said a student near Jim. "Oh brilliant, aren't you, Arthur?" Blurted out Hannah. Noticing the girl's expression, he lowered his head. The teacher merely smiled at them both. "Though we indeed don't see much of a difference in the map, apart from further expansions inward, all of the colonizing states discovered why Russia and Spain's influence over the continent slowed down drastically," Again, the teacher reached out for her keyboard, and the same exact image appeared on the screen, with the exception of a tiny pink circle near the French border. "The French settlers in Québec had finally discovered an entirely new species, rivaling themselves," Breathed the teacher, unable to contain her excitement, "A new being to which we could relate to, to which we could compare ourselves with, learn with, share thoughts, and everything like a human could with another one," "Upon contact, the French settlers were bewildered and utterly confused, as to how seeming Equines had managed to create a village not unlike their own, and behave most similarly like humans," She said, examining the students' interested faces, "At first, the town's leader seemed as perplexed as they were, and with completely different languages, it took a while to communicate their thoughts to the French settlers," "As it seemed to them at the time, much like the Iroquois, they wanted nothing other to discover more about the humans, and perhaps to befriend them," "Though various means of communications, the French settlers brought a pair of Equines to the nearest settlement, to attempt to figure out what they could do at a situation like this," She said, her grin slowly fading, "In summary... It, it did not go as planned," Silence overtook the class for a moment, "Teacher?" Asked a student named Bill on the other side of the classroom, "What happened a the settlement?" "Well, let's just say that a little too much superstition complicated matters between the tw-" The bell rang right at that moment, prompting most of the class to jump to their feet and leave the classroom. Some, however remained a little longer, eager to ask more question to what happened at the settlement. The teacher did not give a full reply, instead smiling and promising a much more fulfilling History class next week.