Humanity

by ScrimpyMule

Chapter 1

“Ugh… I can’t believe we missed the train. Now we’re going to have to wait until tomorrow to get back to Ponyville.” Twilight Sparkle had been summoned to Canterlot to demonstrate and discuss her latest magical achievements to her mentor, Princess Celestia.

“I know, now I won’t make my date with Rarity”, lamented Twilight’s assistant, a baby dragon named Spike.

“Spike, she asked you to let her fit you for a dress she is making as a surprise for her little sister. It’s not a date.” She only chose you because you’re the same size as Sweetie Belle and her two friends can’t keep a secret.

“Well… still, its quality time with her that I’m gonna miss now”, Spike retorted.

Twilight rolled her eyes and giggled, marveling at how long Spike’s crush on her friend had been brewing.

“Well I guess the only thing we can do now is go back to the castle and ask the princess if we can stay the night”, she said. “Let’s get going.”

After a few minutes of walking they came across a bookstore Twilight didn’t recognize. They agreed that it must be new if she had never seen it, being a pony known for studying more than anything else. Twilight decided to go inside and Spike followed quietly, yet begrudgingly. He wanted to just get back to the castle and relax after the long day they’d had. Unfortunately, however convincing Twilight not to investigate a new bookstore was like convincing their friend Pinkie Pie not to laugh.

Upon entering the bookstore Twilight was taken aback. The place was so bleak and colorless that it was almost depressing. Twilight began looking for books of interest, not even bothering with the shopkeeper, who was so out cold, that he was producing a large puddle of drool on the counter over, which he was slumped. She scanned over the books in the store, most of which she had already read or already owned. Just before she decided to give up and leave, she spotted a strange book.

It wasn’t the book itself that caught her eye, but rather the illustration. It was a strange animal of sorts she didn’t recognize. It had a slightly similar appearance to monkeys and apes she had seen in pictures, but this creature was nowhere near as hairy and stood upright. Even more perplexing was the weird title, “Humanity”. What in all of Equestria is a humanity, she thought. The book was marked as fiction. This made sense because if there was any such thing as these creatures she likely would have heard of them before.

Lured in by curiosity, she picked out the book. When she approached the shopkeeper she had to say, “Excuse me” three times to wake the lazy pony up. The shopkeeper opened his eyes, scowled at Twilight, then focused on the book.

“Five bits”, the pony said in an irritated tone.

Twilight was taken aback. Five bits? She had seen fruit that cost that much. “Are you sure that’s all it costs?” She didn’t want to cheat anypony out of money.

The shopkeeper grew even more irritated, “Five bits, do you want it or not?”

Twilight produced the five bits and left, wanting to get away from the grouch.

“What’s his problem? What a jerk”, said Spike.

“You’re not exactly Mr. Sunshine whey you get woken up”, Twilight reminded him.

Knowing she was right, Spike didn’t’ say another work.

When they arrived at the castle Twilight explained to Princess Celestia what had happened. The were given a room to stay the night and they spent the rest of the afternoon telling the princess about their adventures in Ponyville in greater detail (their letters had only given a broad overview). By dusk they were both exhausted from the day’s events so they retired to the suite they had been given.

_____

The next morning Twilight and Spike, well rested, said goodbye to the princess and made their way to the train station where they boarded the Friendship Express back to Ponyville. They arrived at noon, ate lunch at one of the cafes, and make their way home. Twilight decided against getting started on her new book so as to focus on her magical studies and reorganizing the library… again.

Fluttershy came by later that day with Owlicious, having agreed to take care of him while Twilight and Spike were gone. Twilight thanked her several times during their short conversation. Before Fluttershy left, the new book caught her eye.

“What is that?” Fluttershy was intrigued by the strange piece of literature.

“Oh, it’s a new book I picked up in Canterlot”, was Twilight’s reply. “From what I can tell, it’s a story about some strange kind of make-believe animal.”

“Oh, I love animals. Do you think maybe I could borrow it when you’re done reading it?”

“You can borrow it now Fluttershy. I’m going to be very busy for a while and I don’t know when I will get the chance to even pick it up.”

“Oh, thank you Twilight; I’ll get it back to you soon.”

“Take your time; I won’t have much free time for a while.”

Fluttershy thanked her several more times and then left, excited to read about these strange make-believe creatures.

______

Two days after returning from Canterlot Twilight had her nose buried in a spell book when Rarity came in looking alarmed.

“Oh Twilight, you have to come right now. It’s Fluttershy”, said Rarity between breaths.

“What’s wrong?” asked Twilight, worried.

“Fluttershy didn’t meet me at the spa today like we planned. I went to her cottage to check on her and the place was in chaos. The animals looked like nopony had feed them in days. I went inside and up the stairs to look for her and I found her under her bed. She keeps mumbling and refuses to come out. She was shivering and looked utterly distraught.”

“Let’s go”, said Twilight.

When they arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage Twilight was taken aback by how unkempt it seemed. They made their way inside and up to Fluttershy’s room and found her where Rarity had left her.

“Fluttershy, what are you doing under the bed?” asked Twilight as calmly and gently as she could.

“H-H-Hiding from the h-h-humans!” exclaimed Fluttershy, barely able to speak.

Humans, that’s what those animals are called. Twilight thought. That’s why the book is titled Humanity.

“What in all of Equestria are humans?” asked Rarity confused.

“I’ll explain later”, said Twilight. “Fluttershy, come out of there. There’s no such thing as humans.”

“NO!” exclaimed Fluttershy. “I’m not taking any chances.”

“Fluttershy, you need to come out. If not for your sake, then for the sake of your animals. The grounds are in chaos. How long has it been since you’ve taken care of the animals?”

“Since you leant me that book”, Fluttershy replied weakly.

“Fluttershy, that’s two days, you need to come out and take care of these animals right now.”

“Can’t you do it for me?”

“No!” Twilight’s reply was calm and gently, yet firm and unmoving. “They are your responsibility. We’ll help, but we’re not going to give you any excuse to stay under there. Now come out and let’s talk.”

Slowly, Fluttershy crawled out from under the bed, cringing as Rarity opened the curtains and let in the afternoon light. Suddenly, a loud and abrupt growl sent Fluttershy back under the bed shivering even more violently.

“That was your stomach Fluttershy”, said Twilight annoyed. “You haven’t eaten in two days remember?

After a few moments, Fluttershy came out again. Rarity got to work fixing them all something to eat while Twilight and Fluttershy sat down to talk about why Fluttershy had been so spooked by the book.

“Alright Fluttershy”, said Twilight. “What is so scary about that book that you would hide under your bed for two days?”

“Oh, it was terrible”, said Fluttershy, practically in tears.

“Start from the beginning.”

“Well, I started reading the book when I got home from returning Owloicious. It was very good at first. It talked about Humanity’s accomplishments. Machines that could fly, machines that could think and solve problems faster than any living creature, and even machines that allow humans to talk to each other from far away.”

“That sounds amazing.”

“It was, but then it got bad, very bad. Humans are…they are…meat eaters Twilight, they eat animals. They don’t just eat them though, they mass-produce death in factories. They kill the animals and prepare them for packaging and transport in the most unimaginable way possible. And a single factory may kill thousands, sometimes even tens of thousands of animals a day.”

“That sounds awful”, said Twilight, disturbed.

“It gets much worse. How many wars or even battles have been fought in all of Equestrian history, or pony history for that matter?”

Not many, yet too many, Twilight thought. She didn’t answer the question, knowing it was rhetorical.

Fluttershy continued. “Humans fight through their entire history. I lost count of all the wars. They even had two horrendous wars where nearly the entire world was involved. How does an entire world fight a war? They got so good at killing each other that they made weapons that could kill thousands of people. They even made bombs that could destroy the entire world if everybody used them.

Twilight didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t imagine how it could get any worse, but she was sure it would.

“That’s how far I got before I heard a scary sound and hid under my bed”, admitted Fluttershy. (It was probably a tree branch tapping the house)

“Oh how awful”, said Rarity, appalled. “No wonder you were so scared Darling.” Rarity placed their meal on the table and then rubbed Fluttershy’s back for support.

Eventually Fluttershy stopped whimpering, then they ate. Afterwards they went out to take care of the animals. Between the three of them they got chores done and the animals fed and calmed down fairly quickly. Even Rarity put forth a strong effort despite her hatred of dirt and manual labor, knowing Fluttershy needed her support.

Fluttershy was able to convince the animals to forgive her for neglecting them for two days. The responsibility seemed to calm her nerves and cheer her up despite the traumatizing experience she had gone through.

Fluttershy asked Twilight and Rarity if they would stay the night (something she normally wouldn’t do due to her preference for solitude, but needing the emotional support) and they agreed.

Twilight and Rarity each went home to grab a few things and prepare for the night with Fluttershy. Upon learning that Rarity would be there Spike offered to come and offer his support, but Twilight wouldn’t have it.

___

That night, Rarity and Fluttershy lay in the bed and Twilight lay on a mat on the floor next to them. She thought about these humans from the book, inexpressibly relieved that it was fiction. She had faced all kinds of monsters, all-powerful villains, and even an entire army of changelings. But the mere thought of these humans terrified her more than she was willing to admit, even to herself. If humans were real, she expected that not even the Elements of Harmony would be able stop their bloodlust.

Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes to sleep. She tried to prepare herself for a vicious nightmare that she expected would come. A nightmare that she was sure would be the first of many.

Comments

[AhopelessEndevor]

Nice concept and a good read, although it was a bit weak when showing humanities dark side.

we've done so much worse then farm animals (Although that might seem horrifying to ponies). Look at Hitler and his generals, Nazi doctors, Kony, torture, rapists, genocide, racism (involving violence), abuse (includes child, spouse, animal ect), ignorance, religion, war (although covered, was not in any great detail) and the many dark MLP fanfictions that have been written which reflect the basic natures of those who wrote them.

[Zh3sh1re]

Muhahaahahaha! TASTE HUMANITY! THE STRONGEST CIVILIZATION IN THE WORLD! Nah, Not really. Lets just hope she keeps reading until the 2000s. Most things have calmed down now and things are definitely not as horrible as they were before. We shall see. I'm liking where this is going though. You should try to lengthen the descriptions a bit more, as this 1500 word chapter told about three days. Thats a bit too fast. Slow down and describe more. Language is good and all. Might want to correct :

"How does an entire would fight a war?" Misspelled "world".
Keep going, I have a feeling this is going to be good.
Also, will there be humans in this, Or is it just stories?

[Sothile]

Interesting. O_O

[Alexer]

It looks interesting with humans being fiction, but the thing with 'humans are bastards' is really annoying.
But i will still watch.

[Rontio]

Interesting concept...I'll come back and give you my opinion once I read it.

[Flying Wingnut]

Really puts things into perspective, doesn't it.

[Sonson-Sensei]

Yes our bloodlust can not be satiated, I hunger for more death, more chaos hahahaha!!!! No but seriously humans have definitely committed atrocity's but that book just paints humans to be monsters. There's always good with bad, perhaps there's more in that book depicting this, besides our awesome technology.

Even so I don't quite understand where this story is going. Is it just about that book contents scaring the shit out of everypony?

[Collins4112]

I don't think we're that bad... Well sometimes we are but eating meat is just a way of life.

[DVP_ID]

This is argument getting tiring. And I was led to this fanbase because one friend said this fanbase "endorses the shows themes of love, friendship and kindness, unlike the cynic and nihilist ones of Avatar that hate humanity." Here is some food for thought:

Outcome: Human is Equal to Animal.
-Animal does not equal evil or good. Driven by instinct.
-If mankind is equal to animal, then man is driven by instinct. Neither good nor evil.
-Therefore, mankind does not equal evil.

Outcome: Human is Not the Same as Animal.
-Possible cause 1: They Possess Morality.
-If mankind possesses morality, mankind has the capacity for both good and evil.
-Therefore, mankind does not equal evil. He has choice.

-Possible cause 2: Mankind is Worse then Animals.
-Mankind is evil by default and without choice, therefore evil has no meaning.
-Mankind is equal to evil, but evil has no meaning.

Outcome: Good and Evil are Meaningless Concepts.
-Evil and good are equal.
-Therefore good and evil have no meaning.
-Mankind could be either, but mankind does not equal evil because evil has no meaning.

I like reading Rorschach in Equestria and others that actually question the 'perfect paradise' even though I strive for one too as anyone would.

[Wyrm]

558497
No, humanity isn't evil, but we do kinda suck. We're a species whose knowledge outstrips its wisdom, and is strongly tribal in its relationships. We regard misfortune that happen in our neighborhood 'tragedy', but misfortune on the other side of the planet 'statistics'. Cows (and other livestock) are 'food' and 'tools' and not 'friends'. Nature is something we cannot coax into helping us (like the ponies), but rather have to beat into submission with our machines and industries. Most of our problems are self-inflicted.

Also, the book itself was written by a pony, and as such, probably doesn't involve itself with the subtleties I merely touched on above. For a creature that has lived all its life in a world that we would describe as idyllic, Fluttershy is literally being asked to think the unthinkable: to believe that a creature as sentient as her, with the ability to comprehend pain and sorrow and happiness and love, is capable of such violence against itself as well as against other creatures. It makes me sad. I'm not surprised poor Fluttershy is devistated.

[ClavisRozen]

I'm more than a little annoyed at stories where Fluttershy is shocked and disturbed that humans eat meat. She's an animal lover; she knows that some animals eat other animals. She feed fish to ferrets for goodness sake.

[Carpinus Caroliniana]

I am surprised that Fluttershy is upset by Humans eating meat; she cares for carnivores, she should have seen her carnivores eating fish or something.

On a side note, we live in what is essentially a worldwide Everfree Forest; which is a location that terrifies the ponies. So we probably would be seen as either badasses or eldritch abominations (or both).

Question, will Humans actually appear or just stories of them?

On a side note, Spike wearing a dress! Ha!

[THAT_1GUY89]

558072>>558111>>558527 it's marked as complete...

and here, i to was wondering where this would lead.

[ScrimpyMule]

560838
Actually, the only reason it says Chapter 1 is because I couldn't figure out how to put it all in without using the chapter feature. I'm afraid that's the end of the story.

[Smurf]

see i always think that ponies would see humanity as some sort of insane eldritch horror from the darkest pits tartarus

[Smurf]

will you be adding more chapters?

[ScrimpyMule]

563649
The only reason it says Chapter 1 is because I couldn't figure out how to put it all in without using the chapter feature. I'm afraid that's the end of the story.

[Humanist]

558933

"Cows (and other livestock) are 'food' and 'tools' and not 'friends'. Nature is something we cannot coax into helping us (like the ponies), but rather have to beat into submission with our machines and industries."

To be fair, that's by necessity. Other animals are not as intelligent as their counterparts on the show, and we do not have the magical ability to coax nature into doing what we want easily and without any negative side-effects.

That also applies to many of our other flaws and seemingly poor decisions. We are the product of our environment. Evolutionarily speaking, if we were not as "mean" as we are, we would have gone extinct long ago. Also, many of the evils humanity has committed throughout history are actually perfectly understandable if looked at through the perspective of those who committed them. Few people deliberately try to be evil or believe themselves to be evil, and those that do either feel they are evil by necessity (working for a greater good, ends justify the means), or are mentally ill (in which case they can hardly be blamed for their behavior). The real problem seems to be ignorance, not malice.

Basically, this story was pretty much another "Humans are bastards" story, which is not only really unfair but kind of makes me sad. I know that humanity has its problems, but I do think that we can better ourselves. Unfortunately, in order for us to do so, we have to believe that it can be done. If instead we convince ourselves that we are irredeemably evil, well... that's kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy kind of thing (or maybe a perception becoming reality thing?).

Humans aren't evil bloodthirsty monsters. We have flaws, but we can overcome them, as long as we are willing to try.

[XxgmanxX]

not ALL of humanity eats meat. there is still that 1.5% and 0.5% vegetarians and vegans. I happen to be part of that 1.5%.

[Brave3]

And after this we come to the reality we live, we sure don't make friends a lot this times and even don't help them by heart, only few people are like this. I know it, I tried so many times but it keeps bouncing back and slapping me in the face.

[The Wingman]

Quite a good story. Really liked it

If the ponies are real and did know of us but only in fiction, they would be scared of how we look, our technology and our craving for meat. But this does make out like we are some type of monster when really, we aren't. Well....not all of us anyway.

But overall, great job!

[OldGlory]

SHould write some more

[OldGlory]

SHould write some more

[Armadaes]

Damn people you scary

[Dr Placebo]

Spike didn’t’ say another work.

didn't

word

[Thunder--Clash]

I can see your point of view of humanity in this story.

I absolutely loved reading it