Daring Do and the Gryphon's Quest

by De Writer

Chapter 1. Ethnological Geography 305

Chapter 1. Ethnological Geography 305

Doctor of Antiquities Daring Do stood in front of her latest class of students from all over Equestria and places even more remote. She had two Gryphons who were recently transferred from the Emperial College and, though they were ponies, one from the Chineighese Empire and one from the Far Northern Dales.

There were two large magic net mirrors as well. That was the only practical way for X'ibian dromedaries to take the class and actively participate. The average dromedary was over two meters high at the shoulder and his or her head could be as much as two and a half meters to three meters above the ground. They just would not fit into pony sized buildings.

Daring Do asked, “How many of you have read any of my books?”

About two thirds of the students raised a hoof. Both gryphons raised a claw and both dromedaries, in their mirrors, raised hooves as well.

A sarcastic voice from the lecture hall said, “Just like all the other profs. Gotta buy her books!”

Daring Do instantly replied, “No, you do not. Not in this class. There are three texts that you have been required to buy and which we will use extensily. I am not the author of any of them. My expedition reports, from which my books are popularized, and some other materials, can be had by magic net or reserved from the Royal University Library.”

“Getting back to the curriculum, we will be covering two basic topics in this class.

“The first is the ancient cultures themselves. This part of the class necessarily has to be a survey, as each of the civilizations that we will touch on is a specialty in itself.

“The second topic, which we will cover in far better detail, is the REASON that those civilizations collapsed, where their populations went, and what came of their migrations. That is were all of our modern civilizations and cultures came from.

“For those interested in better detail than this class will have time for, study the Nightmare Wars. They are the primary cause for all of those collapses and migrations world wide. How? Simply put, BOTH sides used weather as a weapon. In the process, without meaning to, they destroyed the natural weather patterns over the entire world.

“I recommend using the Chronicle of Equestria, Volumes 300 through 457 as your primary sources. If you find discrepancies between other sources and the Chronicle, go with the Chronicle as the definitive source.”

A self satisfied Chineighese accented voice from the audience smirked, “It sounds like Equestria owes the Chineighese Empire massive reparations!”

Mild of voice, Daring Do replied, “If one wishes to think in such terms, possibly. Do remember that what you ask may be required of you. The Chineighese Empire is composed of fifty two states. Each one was conquered by force. The Empire was built on literally millions of deaths, the destruction of whole cities, the burning of libraries, and hundreds of years of slavery. Are you sure that you want to make those reparations?

“If so, feel free to press your claim to Equestria as soon as you have settled the ones that you owe.

“The past is dead. We cannot change one thing of History. We can see clearly both the good and ill of what was done. What we CAN do is learn the lessons of that past in the hope of creating a better world to come. We, in this class and others like it, are the memory of the whole world, not simply some part, however large or small.

“That is why the study of Ethnological Geography is important.”

A genuinely puzzled sounding voice from somewhere in the shadows at the back of the big lecture hall asked, “If the Nightmare Wars wrecked the weather, didn't the Cloudsdale Weather Authority fix it?”

Daring Do smiled at the question. “The short answer is No.

“Celestia needed nearly a hundred and fifty years to regain the trust of enough pegassi to begin serious weather control here in Equestria. Cloudsdale, though many do not realize it, is an enormous weather engineering feat. It took over two hundred more years to build it to where it is now.

“Ask any weather engineer how far our weather control reaches. Many nations have some sort of weather authority. They operate on different philosophies of how the weather should be dealt with, too.

“In any case, regaining control of the weather took at least hundreds of years. The disasters that forced the migration of populations were long past.

“Those changes in the world's weather are the reason that the ruins of ancient civilizations often lie in such hostile environments as jungles or deserts.

“Now, here is your assignment. Using the world map in your study kit and what you can find in the first two chapters of your three required textbooks, see if you can sort out what the climate was for each of the marked civilizations. Then compare it to the present climate.

“Class dismissed!”

Daring Do watched the orderly stampede of students for the exits, fondly remembering the days when she did the same!

She packed her notes and started to return to her office. She did not get there.

Author's Note:

This tale can be regarded as an Alternate Universe or an Equestria of the future. I have incorporated both characters Of Carmen Pondiego and the Equestrian Defense Bureau with permission from both blog holders.
Carmen Pondiego I regard as a co author. She provides ideas and plotting assistance as well as writing critique.

Comments

[redmar]

This is of course wrong, the weather was actually ruined by Discord because he found natural weather patterns to be boring.

[De Writer]

In my blog section you will find my AU's canon. I began it to fill holes left in Season 1. My alternate history was well advanced by the beginning of Season 2. The result is that my tales take place in a very different Equestria than is show canon.
A brief description of my canon is found HERE
I hope that you take the time to enjoy it and the tales that sprung from it. It is a history that is VERY different from the show's.