Humanity and Ponykind

by Swordsmen

Equestria

Everyone in the class was curious to know more about the Equines, and what happened at that settlement. Most of them pretended not to care, since they did not have a reputation for liking History of the World, though they sometimes could be heard muttering about the subject to their colleagues with interest.

As usual, the bell rang loudly over the school corridors, prompting the students to wait for their teacher beside the classroom door. The bell, as loud as it was, could not muffle out the rain and thunder that covered the skies that morning. Naturally, the corridors were full of drenched students, and the occasional sneeze.

Nevertheless, they waited in silence, even the pair of boys who usually loved telling jokes to everybody were rather silent, bearing serious looks.

Some of their closest colleagues noted this fact, and questioned their unusual lack of jokes to tell.

Both shared grim looks as one of their classmates asked them this, "You have no idea what we saw earlier today," Said a boy named William.

The other boy shook his head slightly, "Can't believe they're starting to allow ponies in our school now," He said, prompting everyone nearby to pay full attention to their conversation.

"Yeah, that's right you lot, they're allowing a pony into school grounds," Said William clearly for everybody to hear.

Robert, the other boy seemed disgusted by something, "And here I thought there'd be schools for them alone. We don't need them singing about how beautiful their place is n' all,"

The students broke into frantic whisper, unable to properly register this information. It was something never heard of before in the country, much less the school. This whispering and chatter continued on for the longest time, barely noticing the passing time, completely focused in on their current conversations.

However, the chatter slowly died down, as everyone in the class began not hearing footsteps, but loud hoofsteps. They were audible from the far end of the corridor, only getting louder as it approached the students.

Finally, whatever was making the noise, presented itself to the students:

A tall yet well-nourished pony, with grey hair and a very tired look upon its green eyes. It had a light blue coat and possessed a horn, which glowed as it engulfed a floating pair of books beside it. The pony was accompanying their temporary teacher, whom taught them in the previous session of History.

As if nothing special was happening, the teacher muttered a 'good morning' to the students and opened the door to the classroom, the pony following closely behind her.

The students did not enter immediately. Concern, and perhaps a little fear, did not allow them to proceed inside straight away. Only when the teacher called out for them, did they unwillingly enter the classroom. Though, it took a while for everyone to settle in on their seats, because they were slightly afraid that any sudden movements would scare the pony and cause it to unleash its power with that horn.

A moment's silence ensued over the classroom, having everyone sat down in their seats, and awaiting for the teacher and the pony to finish their inaudible conversation. Only the thundering rain outside kept them from paying complete attention to what their teacher was saying to the pony. The classroom's ambience was very tense, as both fear and curiosity settled in on the student's minds as they continued to gaze at them.

Finally, as if an invisible window had been shattered, the teacher spoke up.

"Good morning to you all," Said the teacher with her ragged voice, "I see everyone has noticed our new visitor," Said the teacher, showing a little smirk on her face, noticing everyone else's expression.

"Allow me to present to you, Mr. Stream Blaze, a prominent History teacher at the University of Canterlot, in the Principality of Equestria,"

The students started clapping for the shortest while and lowered their hands right away, gazing at the pony, who simply nodded.

"He is here to share his extensive knowledge of his nation with us all, as per my request," She said, nodding at the pony with a certain apprehension, "Now, does anyone wish to ask questions before we begin our session?"

Nobody dared to say anything.

"Oh, very well then!" Clasping her hands together, "Mr. Blaze, I leave the classroom to you," Nodding at him and sitting down at her desk.

The pony did not say anything at first, merely examining each and every student before him with mild curiosity. Then, he smiled.

"I presume you all have been informed about our own history, ponykind's history, to be precise?" Said the pony with a very deep and commanding voice, though, attempting to keep it calm and soft.

No one moved an inch.

"Yes, yes, quite typical around these parts, I'm sure," Placing his gravity-defying books on the teacher's desk, "At the very least, has any of you learnt about the great war between Humans and Ponies?"

Again, no one replied.

"Disappointing," Sighing, "I hoped to start off from somewhere easier, but perhaps today is not my day,"

The pony glanced back at the teacher and nodded at the monitor in front of the blackboard. She complied and started fiddling with the cables.

"Your teacher tells me that you were planning to understand more about our First Contact with Humans, is that not correct?" Impatience settling in on his voice.

Some students nodded.

The pony stared at the wall behind the students, muttering something to itself, apparently thinking about something. The pony's gaze then turned to the students, its expression changing between slight confusion and anxiousness. This moment prolonged itself for quite some time, again thrusting the classroom into an abysmal silence.

Much to the students' relief however, the pony spoke up at once.

"Right, then," Breaking its gaze and confused expression, "What we are about to discuss is something that shall not, under any circumstances, leave this classroom without my authorization; Have I made myself clear?"

The students nodded fervently. Robert and William simply shrugged.

This seemed to calm the pony down, as its tone dropped slightly, "Excellent, most welcome,"

"As I was informed, you have studied the beginning of European colonization of North America," It hovered a book from the desk and opened it up briskly, turning the pages as if trying to find the correct paragraph, "First Contact, the most important moment of this Earth," It said, slowly closing the book, while shooting glances at it.

"And yet, full of flaws in its meaning. An extremely important fact for this session of History," He looked down at the students with a stern expression, "And this is a flaw that should be revised by all who write about the past,"

The pony started pacing around the room, gathering everyone's utmost attention, "As we know, humans dwell on much larger and fertile lands, mainly on the continents we now call ' The Old World '," Sighing, "Naturally, this gave opportunity for the humans to evolve and develop highly sophisticated methods of transport, and, due to human nature, an extremely well-prepared fighting force,"

"Equines, did not have these advantages," Its voice staggering for split second, "Perhaps due to the relative isolation from other civilizations, lack of will to fight, and a very conservative mindset,"

Hannah raised her hand up slowly.

"Hm... Yes?"

"Uhm... Uh, professor Blaze, what does this fact, uh, teach us anything about the, uh, first contact?"

Professor Blaze muttered under his breath, "Quite, yes quite..."

"As a matter of fact, Mrs. Hannah, that is a good question, one that will be answered shortly," He nodded. Hannah seemed perplexed.

"A brief overview of ponykind's history will enlighten you all on the reason behind many decisions made upon First Contact,"

"This book," Professor Blaze hovered another book from the desk and showed its cover to the students, "Contains the most detailed account of Equestria before European contact. It is called, ' The Past and The Present of Equestria ', a book that has yet to reach human libraries due to its honest and extreme views of the past,"

"Naturally," Noticing some looks from the students, "us Equines do not learn history solely from one book, or many, in fact. Oral tradition plays a huge part in sharing our knowledge to the younger generations, and the books and written records simply serve to confirm facts and share some overseen details,"

"And now, as it is common in our establishments, I ask all of you, if you wish to know more about Equestrian History proper," He said, examining the students' indecisive faces, "Or else, we can skip right to the First Contact. But be warned, you may find yourselves asking one too many questions during my speech. The choice is yours to make,"

"If you want to learn more from professor Blaze, please raise your hands," Said their teacher.

At first, no one dared raise their hand. However, as one hand shot up in the air, others began following, until a good portion of the class held their hands high. The pair of boys, however, did not.

Professor Blaze nodded at the students pleasantly, "I am glad to see interest in the classroom," He adjusted his voice slightly, and began out loud, "Once upon a time, most likely three thousand years ago, three tribes ruled the lands that now surround Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria,"

"Each of these tribes were made of different races of ponies: The Earthlings, made up of Earth Ponies who grew the lands; The Wingsalots, powerful Pegasi, who dominated the skies; And the Royalties, Unicorns looked upon for their incredible skill and wise leadership. Together, they ruled the lands around Canterlot, but were very independent of each other in their own right,"

"Independence might not be a proper term for this but... Perhaps autonomous is the more appropriate word. They required each other's assistance; The Earthlings needed help from the Wingsalots in order to grow their crops, the Wingsalots and the Royalties required food in exchange; The Royalties served as the protectors of their 'federation', casting powerful magical spells in order to defend their lands from outside contact,"

"In a sense, every tribe was dependent on each other for survival, and yet," He breathed in,"None trusted the other, they cast doubtful looks at each other, suspicious of the other tribe's intentions,"

"This status quo lasted for centuries upon centuries, and yet there are very few details about their daily lives that survive to this day," Flicking through some pages of the equestrian history book, while maintaining his gaze upon the students.

"We know that they had a similar feudal system to that of Medieval Europe, we know that the Royalties held greater powers in the affairs of the other two tribes, and we know that they always were distrustful of each other for an extremely long time, as I said earlier." Glancing at the book now, "As we now call the Dark Ages to Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire, us ponies call this the 'Age of Disharmony'

"It is believed that this federation lasted until the 16th century C.E, by which time, the way these ponies lived changed completely," Closing the book again, "Two pretenders, later known as Celestia and Luna, dared challenge the status quo, and overthrow the Royalties' unfair and unwise decisions made at the time,"

"The Royalties resisted their demands, because these pretender were not just any kind of ponies, no, they were quite unusual," A sort of grin forming on his lips, "They were different, both physically and mentally, and had powers none of the Royalties ever could've dreamed of," He sighed happily, "They were Alicorns,"

A student raised their hand.

"Excuse me, but... What are Alicorns?"

"Disappointing, I might say," Said professor Blaze in a saddened way, "Alicorns are a race different from the three others I've mentioned,"

"Alicorns are a race with both the ability to fly, and cast magical spells, having both wings and horns, however, with much more amplified abilities and powers. They are essentially superior to the other three races, far more capable of mundane tasks and high authority than the Earthlings and Royalties ever could,"

"The three races gathered together in the Royalties' Castle, around Fifteen-Seventy-Eight CE, and debated on what should be done about the two Alicorns, and why they're so powerful. They feared their federation would collapse if the two Alicorns ruled the lands in thrir own accord," He hovered the still-floating history book down and placed it gently on the desk, "As such, the three races demanded the Alicorns to prove themselves of their capabilities, and only then, would they attain right to rule,"

"According to legend, the two Alicorns bonded together, and lifted the entire castle from its foundations and perfected it, building vast hallways, replacing the old stones and using them to create vast sentries that dot the castle to this day," He nodded happily to the students' bewildered faces," From that day forth, the castle of the Royalties was renamed to 'The Castle of the Two Sisters'

"Their right to rule was never again questioned, and all of the three races bowed down to them, recognizing their new rulers,"

Arthur snorted, "Imagine that happening in Europe, you'd probably get yourself assassinated the second you turn your back on them,"

"Ah, yes, that is the issue, Mr. Arthur," His smile broader, yet calm, "They are Immortal,"

"Immortal?" Questioned Robert, who now seemed offended, "That's what all kings and queens back then claimed to be, and guess what? They are not with us anymore, are they?"

"Youth, who do you think still rules Equestria to this day? Perhaps another princess by the name of Celestia?" Said the pony irritably.

"More than likely, that's for sure,"

"I'm amazed at how little you know, young student, maybe if you let me elaborate, it would benefit us both," He said, trying dearly to keep his tone low.

Hannah raised her hand, "P-professor, I have a question-- Do Equestrians have their own language?"

He sighed, calming himself down, "Yes, they had one, in the past. Unfortunately, it has gradually been replaced by English due to the Eastern United States' influence on the nation, but, we'll leave that for another time," Adjusting his voice.

"Fifteen Seventy-Nine was the year the Alicorns officially gained total control over the three tribes. Their first order of duty, as it is commonly said, was to banish the three tribe's authority, and spread a sense of unity between all the races. Their motto was, I believe 'Harmony Above All', this, being an attempt to make the ponies forget about their mistrustful past,"

Professor Blaze turned around and nodded at the teacher again towards the monitor, issuing her to start searching for some document in the computer.

"Their form of government was rather simple, at the time at least. Using today's terms, we called it an Absolute Dual-Monarchy, both sisters exerting total control over Equestria's affairs-- And, I'm sure some of you might ask yourselves this-- why do the sisters call themselves Princesses, and not Queens, as it is commonly done in Europe and the rest of the Old World?"

"It's said, that it is to respect their parent's status as King and Queen, who perished long ago before their foals became princesses. King and Queen of what, we do not know."

"Mr. Blaze, monitor's ready for you," The teacher informed him.

"Excellent, much obliged Miss Annabel," Smiling.

Various images flickered across the monitor, and a furious pushing of buttons made themselves loud and clear on the keyboard. They appeared to be pushed by an invisible finger, but the students knew otherwise, intently gazing at the professor, who had an expression of deep concentration.

At last, however, the flickering of images came to a stop, and a very familiar image was painted on the monitor. Everyone in the class recognized it as the political map of North America in the current year, Two-Thousand and Twenty-Three. This did not stop them from staring at professor Blaze.

Believing everyone was looking at the screen behind him, he adjusted his voice slightly, "I'm positive that you have all seen this image before, and I'm certain that it needs no general description," He said calmly, "However, I urge you all to focus your attention to this tiny red dot in Western Québec... Can anyone tell me what it means?"

Silence once again overtook the class, this one eerier and more tense than ever. And yet again, a hand shakily rose to the air.

"... Is that where the, uh, First Contact took place? Because, uh, Ms. Annabel told us that's where--"

"Quite right you are, Mr. Arthur!" Professor Blaze interrupted with an awful cheerfulness, somewhat alleviating the tension.

"As much as this is agreed upon, it is not, by any chance the first 'contact', so to say, with humans," He explained, "In reality, the 'First Contact' was the first technologically advanced and organized human civilization they've directly met with. France, in this case."

"And by directly, I mean face to face, without any immediate aggression," He said, noticing the students' confused expressions, "But of course, there have been many other contacts with humans in the past, mainly when the federation still ruled the three races," Explaining, "Most of their actions were very violent and rather ignorant, if I say so myself,"

"This, because they were simply postponing the inevitable, an open declaration of war again the ponies, but... We shall get to that shortly,"

"As I was saying, ponies have met humans before, most contacts led to aggression, and forced the ponies to exterminate them in order to guard their whereabouts. They did not want any human to tell the others where their fellow comrades died and who or what did it. This cycle of illogical killing dragged on for centuries, until the princesses took power,"

"Their response to this was slow and rather enduring, as their main focus was to unite the three tribes," Said professor Blaze matter-of-factly, "The princesses had plenty of time to unite the ponies without much trouble, as the humans surrounding Equestria had long perished due to the federation's will,"

"And now, the part everyone was waiting for... The official First Contact," Breathing in.

The image flickered again into one of a scene, more like a painting, of a French settler bowing to an important looking male pony, with a vast scene of observers in the background, both human and pony,"A painting conceived by the famous artist, Amethyst DeClaire, a pony who grew up entirely with humans-- Quite an interesting tale, personally. Ahem,"

"This painting takes place in an isolated settlement by name of Winnipeg, a border town at the time. Relatively close to this, was the newly founded Oakville, built by ponies. It would only be a matter of time before the humans and ponies met each other,"

"And approximately three years after the two settlements were fully established--"

A boy raised his hand.

Professor Blaze seemed confused, "Er, yes?"

"Professor, didn't you say that the ponies were, like, isolated and liked to be left alone?"

"Quite right..." With an expression of mild interest.

"But then why were the ponies building a town in a such isolated place, like you just said?"

"Hm, perhaps I should explain our princesses' desires at the time, because as I mentioned before, many decisions here are best shared with an appropriate explanation,"

Professor Blaze fetched the book from the table, and opened it hastily onto the page he was looking for, intently staring at it for a while. He glanced at the boy with a smirk on his lips. He replaced the book on the table with the rest, and calmly turned to the students.

He sighed, "Several decades after the princesses gained power, after being satisfied with the newfound unity between the races, the sisters turned their attention to matters outside of Equestria. One of these being proper interaction with the humans, since most encounters ended, well, badly,"

"As such, using overcrowding as the reason, they sent ponies from all three races to settle the land around Equestria, and expand their homeland further east. This decision was beneficial for everypony, ensuring that the capital city could manage its affairs easily, and devote time into other problems,"

His expression was stern, "Problems that could've easily been avoided. I am talking, of course, about native extermination,"

William and Robert shook their heads with disappointed looks, not even daring to break eye contact with the professor. Everyone else didn't even seem to be catching on with what professor Blaze said. The teacher, on the other hand, never ceased her serious look since the beginning of the session.

"Yes, I'm sure you all know about this," Stated professor Blaze, trying to decipher their expressions, "Just not how us ponies did it. Allow me to explain, that it did not differ much from the initial colonization of North America by the various European empires-- Taking their homelands, exploiting their population, and the likes..."

"No, it was quite different for us," He said, shaking his head, "The princesses demanded that no being should be harmed or abused of in their own lands, and should only defend themselves if they attack first,"

"I wonder how that turned out..." Said Robert, rolling his eyes.

Pretending to ignore him, professor Blaze continued, "We settled the lands around the homelands of both humans and pony, and attempted to integrate them into our society. As was expected, the human natives were extremely hostile to us on all occasions, and were ultimately killed. This is a common trend in Equestrian history, I'm afraid,"

"A mere twenty years after the princess' order, the Equestrian territory suffered drastic changes, greatly expanding from its original land. By Sixteen Seventy, our influence had reached the borders of the Empires of Spain and Russia. However, direct contact was never achieved, due to the local climates, and time of settlement,"

As he was about to continue his speech, he stopped himself right at that moment, sudden concentration plastered on his face. Not a moment later, a pocket watch floated from behind the professor and into his field of view. He gazed at it with interest, occasionally glancing at the students before him. Then, he paced around the room, deeply immersed in his thoughts.

Meanwhile, the room remained relatively silent, only filled with the sounds of rain from outside, and from the working monitor. The pair of boys could be seen sharing their thoughts in whispers, the rest of the students either glanced at the windows, or refused to stop looking at professor Blaze.

After what felt like half a dozen minutes, professor Blaze finally spoke up.

"I am afraid that we must leave further proceedings for a later time, as this session is drawing to a close," He said, rather disappointed, "However, in order to teach you all on what happened all those years ago, on the day we call the 'First Contact' with rigorous detail, I must invest time to prepare myself for the next session,"

"As such, I shall, if Ms. Annabel agrees, allow all of you to leave this classroom earlier than usual."

Ms. Annabel seemed taken aback, utterly caught off-guard by this. She regained her composure and adjusted her own ragged voice.

"Of course, I don't see why not!" Glancing at the students anxiously.

"Much appreciated," Turning to the students, "You may leave the classroom. In silence, preferably."

As ordered professor Blaze, the students hurried to their feet and left the classroom as fast as they could, not daring to open their mouths. The pair of boys on the other hand, took their time and observed their teacher speaking to the pony with a worried look. Once she spotted them standing idly, the pair made way to the door and left the classroom.