Chapter 12 - Understanding
“The second meeting between Wing Shield and Vicente Guerrero was a contrast compared to their first. After all, both parties had the time to process somewhat the situation they faced, which for the humans it was still more extraordinary than for the ponies. Initial hurdles aside, wanting to normalize the situation as much as possible was perhaps what made it easier for them to deal with it.”
Ignacio Manuel Hernández Ríos, Ancient History of Mexico - Volume II, UNLAP 1081AL
Captain’s Quarter
Pony and human stood on opposite sides of the desk. Wing Shield had sat down on the floor once he had reached his side. There was no chair for him, but it wasn’t needed, for he was too big for them, in any case. And it was likely they had accounted for that.
He eyed the human before him. Even back on the beach Wing Shield had noticed how he stood out. Comparing him with the rest of his kind, he was among the tallest, and his skin among the darkest. His hair seemed to be more concentrated on the front over his forehead, with prominent sideburns but no other facial hair. But what perhaps stood out more to Wing Shield was not something noticeable at mere glance. Not for most ponies, but he was a pesasus. Despite the relative peace that governed Equestria since its foundation, most pegasi still clung to their pre-unification past. Indeed, for after the tribes united, the pegasi’s forces became the new nation’s army, or self-defense force depending on who you asked. And while over the years they lost their monopoly, to this day pegasi still are the majority. As such, he could tell the man before him was one who had seen its fair share of battle, a determinator, a battle-hardened leader. And perhaps it was why that he was the leader. Though that could present a problem, in that it meant they were most likely dealing with a nation that was used to engaging in war, with a good chance some may have been started by them as well. Wing Shield hoped things could remain cordial between them at the worst if that was the case.
He was snapped of his thoughts when the human moved his limb again. This time, he pointed to one of the papers on the desk. Wing Shield leaned forward to see better, and saw it was a map. He did not understand the various labels written on it, but there was no need. He quickly knew it was a map of their homeland. It also helped a similar image of an eagle and a snake as the one in the vessel’s flag was in it as well. From the thick lines he presumed meant to be borders, he saw they had at least four other countries as neighbors, though one was not connected by land. There were also thinner lines, which most likely represented regional divisions; provinces, no doubt. All labeled, of course, but likewise meaningless to him for now. Likewise, it was easy to deduct the larger continuous zones were mean to be bodies of water, which had a lesser number of labels. The only other significant thing the map had was that a few areas were colored in red by the borders, which for the mostly colorless map, it made them stand out.
Another thing that Wing Shield took note was the cut-off points. A narrow strip of land heading southeast, a big expand to the north and northeast, and a small piece of land east, but all things considered, this was most likely an island. But what got Wing Shield’s attention the most was the land northeast. No doubt it continued, and it brought him to mind that not everything west of Equestria is coastline. There was a far expanse heading west, dubbed the Undiscovered West. Could it be the map he was seeing showed what lied beyond those lands? In any case, the man then made a circling motion around the main country depicted on the map, and said a single word:
“México.”
Ship’s Deck
“Just how many are now up there?” One man asked.
“Around twenty or so,” was another’s reply.
“Hmph, they act no different from a flock of seagulls if you ask me,” a third said.
“Is the flag really that interesting to them?” another added.
For indeed, many of the pegasi were fluttering around the main mast, centering around the flag. Most were in conversation with themselves, and a few had even now began looking at other aspects of the ship.
“Well, I wasn’t expecting this,” Keen Eyes said from his position, being a bit distanced from the main pegasi crowd.
“I guess we spent enough time looking at it to draw attention.”
“Which is good for us,” Thundershock replied, who next to him. He glanced down.
“Look, they’re now watching this way. This is our chance to sneak around and find the captain. Come on!”
And then quickly flew down, for the side of the ship facing the beach.
“Hey, wait for me!”
And Keen Eyes followed suit right after.
Captain’s Quarter
Vicente Guerrero allowed the pony before him inspect the map some more. He knew it was largely a moot gesture, since other than Mexico itself, the map was now largely useless. Which brought the next course of action in mind, for he still needed to convey that; but communication was still a problem. He knew what to do next, but he took this time to inspect the equine before him more closely.
There was little to call normal with the equine before him. From the unusual colors, to the armor it was wearing… and of course, the wings. A creature of myth, standing before him. What did it mean for the land they were in? Would other mythological creatures be found within as well? Guerrero doubted they would get an answer any time soon. But back to the one before him…
His coat was that of a light brown, and the mane and tail a bright orange. Guerrero had to admit, such a combination was tame compared to some of the more orthodox ones of the other equines. It cast doubt if they could truly use their ability of flight as an advantage if they could be spotted from afar, especially for those with the brighter colors. On the other hand, Guerrero remembered they could treat clouds as if they were solid, in addition of pushing them around, so perhaps it was moot if they could use them for cover as well. But something worth to keep in mind, just in case. The armor was gold in color, and while Guerrero was not full versed about barding, he could tell it followed a slightly different guideline. The armor didn’t seem to cover as much as what he had seen before, but that could be attributed that for a creature of flight, a full barding would weight them down considerably more. It also had a helm rather than chamfron, the biggest difference he could spot. And of course, there was also the matter of the wings. Compared to the other creatures Guerrero saw, these had to be among the largest, but it also came to attention that they were still smaller from a creature their size would suggest. They didn’t seem big enough to carry the full weight of the equines, and yet, they already saw they could fly all the same. All in all, adding the spears they wielded, it suggested to Guerrero that these creatures favored quick charges, using their flight and speed. But truth be told, he had no idea just what sort of enemies these equines could have. And if that wasn’t all they had to show for.
In any case, he figured it was enough time, so he now made his next move. Unnoticed by the pony, he grabbed a pencil that was to the side of the desk, and tapped the desk with the pointy end.
Wing Shield heard the tapping, and stopped studying the map. The human held a small, think, almost straight wooden stick in his right forelimb. But the curious thing about it was at one of the ends, the one facing the desk. It thinned out to form a pointy end, where it was instead a dark gray material instead of wood. Coal?
The man now proceeded to move the stick over the map, placing the point over it, and began to drag it across. It was when Wing Shield realized what the stick was for. He had seen them use quill and ink, just like they do, but it seems they had other tools to write with. Seems the dark gray material was meant to be left imprinted on the paper, and the wood was to encase it for protection, considering how brittle it had to be. Wing Shield saw as the man was mainly drawing lines, but the curious thing was that they were mostly parallel to the borders of México, and of the red areas; both north and south ones and were on the outside. The lines expanded a bit into the bodies of water, but it was likely whatever he wanted to convey only really applied to the land itself. This was strengthened when, to Wing Shield’s surprise, the man now proceeded to cross out every label on land outside of the lines.
Wing Shield was confused at this action, but he kept watching. The man now placed the stick at a certain point of the eastern coastline, by the middle, and drew a new line. This one was now over the water, first going straight into the peninsula to the east of the starting point, following the coastline now until it began to shift southwest, due to the way the peninsula was positioned. Then the line went straight east again, to the border of the map. The man now used his other arm to grab a blank paper from a nearby stack, and placed it next to the map. He then drew the line into the new paper, stopping not far into the paper, and finished off turning that end of the line into an arrowhead. Wing Shield realized he was mapping out their journey. But he still had little clue about why he crossed out everything that wasn’t their own country. He then saw the man place the stick on the paper, and pushed it towards him.
It wasn’t hard to guess as to why.
Guerrero watched as the pony rose to his feet and took the pencil in his mouth. He wasn’t sure if among the things they carried included a map of the land. But when the equine had come into the room he saw he was not carrying anything but the armor it wore, so it was quicker to just request for a crude drawing. There was no easy way to convey the scale didn’t had to match that of the map’s, but perhaps there was no need. As the pony began to draw, using the arrow as a starting point, Guerrero glanced around.
Álvarez and the other man had so far mostly remained still, with only the occasional movement. A fine work so far, and hopefully it would remain so. At this point Guerrero was confidant they had showed, at least to their leader, that they meant no ill will. Now if only conveying their plight was as easy.
Glancing back, he saw what the pony had drawn so far. As expected, it was the mostly just an outline of the coastline, for the paper was not that wide. But the highlight was that after a certain point north the line curved east, but the pony had stopped there and instead drawn a new line, this one being another curve, opposite the first one, and moved north. A river mouth, most likely. The new line kept going north but instead curved west and into the edge. Curiously, the pony had matched it with the map’s eastern edge, but Guerrero knew he could not ask as to why right now. The pony at this point was now drawing the river, an eastward course. He left a little opening implying a branch, followed by a small lake, then another. At this point, he then drew a triangular shape next to the second lake, by the paper’s edge, since it wasn’t that wide. To Guerrero’s best guess, the triangle was a mountain. Then continued the lake into a waterfall on said mountain. Finally, at a middle point in the mountain, the equine was now drawing a building. For its relative size and features, like towers, to Guerrero it was likely to be a castle. A castle on a mountain, very reminiscent of Chapultepec. With their ability of flight, it was plausible. But other than that, did it mean these winged ponies had a monarchy in place? That could say more about what to expect from them, at least.
The pony dropped the pencil, and moved a hoof over the paper. Like he had done with the map, the pony made a circular motion over the paper with the hoof, followed by a single word.
“Equestria.”
Wing Shield sat back down as the human grabbed the paper for a closer glance. Truth be told, they had indeed not brought a map for this expedition. It was not deemed necessary since the area was well scouted and the great river, with its course from Canterlot to the ocean was as good a marker as any. Had this been anticipated? It was hard to tell, but either way, the hoof-drawn map would have to do for now.
Was revealing Canterlot a good move at this point? Wing Shield could only wonder. But he felt that after seeing their map, he had to respond in kind. It’s not like such information could be of use. Canterlot was too far inland and high on a mountain, far from apparent danger. Well, at least from their current guests.
Just then, one of the men at the sides left his post. Wing Shield saw as he moved to a cabinet, and brought out a candlestick. He then glanced to the room’s window. The light outside was already that of a sunset, which meant night was almost upon them. At this point he didn’t saw what more could be gotten. So as the man with the candlestick, now lit, placed it on the desk before heading back to his post, Wing Shield took this moment to rise back up. The man across placed the paper back down, and rose as well. Wing Shield glanced at the doorway and back, and the man nodded. He then said something to the man who brought the candlestick, who then walked a bit forward. His escort back outside, Wing Shield figured. And with a forelimb extended forward from across the desk, he took that as a sign he could now leave. Thus, he turned around and made his way to the doorway.
Exterior
Keen Eyes and Thundershock peeked from outside the window, before flying a bit away from it. The former sighed.
“Well, seems it went well after all,” Keen Eyes said, a look of relief on his face.
“Now can we please head back now?”
Thundershock narrowed his eyes back at the window, then shook his head.
“Ugh, fine,” he said.
“I was hoping something more would’ve happened, but they stood there looking at a bunch of papers. Boring!”
“You’re not serious, are you?” Keen Eyes looked at him, surprised.
“Nothing bad, at least,” was all Thundershock said before flying back to the beach.
“Well, I would take boring over bad any day,” Keen Eyes muttered to himself before following suit.
Captain’s Quarter
Wing Shield was almost at the doorway.
“Vicente Ramón.”
He stopped, and turned back. It was Guerrero the one who had spoken, and was pointing at himself.
Ah, his name, I presume, Wing Shield thought.
Maybe it was among the things he said yesterday on the beach. I know I did it, at least. But I guess either way it was futile since we can’t understand what we say.
A small smile appeared on the pony’s lips.
Perhaps this can work, after all.
And thus, he responded in kind.
“Wing Shield.”
He turned back, and made his way back outside.
But not before seeing the man smiled back.
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Glad to see this story back, interesting to see your new approach and I think it works. I may not have that much of a criteria for writing but I'll say that you did a good job on making an interaction without using words.
Finally, the history book quote at the very beginning was a nice touch.
I can't seem to like this story (as in give it a thumbs up), so I'll leave this comment as a sign that I did, even if I couldn't. (I hope that made sense.)
Edit: After some time passed, I was able to like this story. Before that, I was giving a lot of stories that I read and liked a thumbs up, so maybe I tripped some kind of like spam prevention feature.
I really like this story. Not many ‘country in EQ’ stories out there.