The GATE

by scifipony

08 - Shades of Prehistory

A corral stood near the house. It was hard to see inside the two-story building's windows because of the glare on the glass. While most of the interior was well lit by light passing through, I didn't take a chance and kept to the cover of shrubs and trees.

An inarticulate nicker made my heart lurch and I changed my course toward the corral.

The sight of actual living breathing giant horses caused my jaw to drop in awe. Popular literature called them cave-ponies, though archeologists were adamant that at most prehistoric horses sheltered in caves during bad weather, drawing on the walls only then, and never else. These specimens would dwarf the bipeds themselves, probably by 25%, and would out-mass them by thrice or more. They weren't Equestrian, though. They had the biped's small eyes, though they were more colored in with less white showing. And, like the bipeds, they looked drab. Sure, there are some non-pastel Equestrian ponies, but these two giants could blend into the dirt and scrub background in this very environment. One was dirty brown with black points and had a muzzle and hooves to match. The other was dappled gray and brown. Neither displayed a cutie mark. One noticed me and looked. Briefly. It nickered, blinked unintelligently, and set about reaching for some sedge branches waving enticingly almost within neck's reach. I saw droppings scattered all around the corral.

Pretty disgusting.

And the shifting breeze carried the scent.

Further study showed a very elongated muzzle and a relatively restricted skull. Sometimes foals were born with a similar looking congenital defect and it was always sad. These specimens made a real pony look practically flat-faced and dome-headed, though not as flat-faced as the bipeds. The bipeds shared a skull size nearly as big as that of ponies, but, heart-wrenchingly, these horses weren't even cave-ponies. They were just animals. Dumb animals.

I heard a shout and sudden laughter from the house.

My caution was warranted and I crouched down in my cover. In this environment, my purple fur and feathers really stood out, but I was in deep shade compared to the approaching bipeds. I so wished I could master Starlight Glimmer's Don't See, Don't Look, Don't Hear spell. She had used it to fool the Changelings in their last attack, and during her entrance exam to Celestia's School when she'd spent half a year there. It wasn't that I couldn't cast it, I just couldn't maintain it. It was self-reciprocating, but the caster had to also be hyperaware of her surroundings because the spell cast her perceptions to show what normal sight would block, as well as to convince ponies not to look. It required being able to concentrate while clearing your mind. Starlight often laughed that I had too many thoughts in my head. Maybe true. She could multitask spells better than I could, even if she didn't know as many as I did or why the arcane ones worked.

I remained hidden in the shade, probably aided by the dry breeze that moved the leaves, obscuring any movement I might have made.

I watched as one of the bipeds hauled out a saddle and thunked it on the corral fence, then, as his companion waited, he fetched a second one he thunked down with weird dangling tack ending in metal parts. When she giggled at something he said, I realized a number of things at once.

I'd seen my first biped mare.

She was a bit more slight in stature than he was, but her hair was as short as his, and they both wore the same clothing.

It wasn't flannel.

A mishmash of gray, green, olive, and tan splotches splattered their shirts and trousers. They wore brimless hats in the same pattern. I could imagine Rarity gagging at the poor fashion choice. Both wore makeup, though it was more smears of dark gray than anything enhancing. The mare filled out her shirt, or rather her blouse, pretty much like Canterlot High's Pinkie Pie. Rather enormously. And very mammalian, the way its contents moved when she laughed.

The bipeds saddled the horse, despite them being taller than either, in short order. My stomach turned, and not because I realized immediately that the saddles were to allow the bipeds to ride the horses not unlike how I let Spike ride me. No. That wasn't it. After the bipeds cinched the straps under the barrels of their mounts, they put a bridle over their heads... and inserted the metal thing in their mouths.

I cringed, despite my caution, expecting broken teeth, but apparently the teeth in the rear of their mouths at the cheek-line were missing. The horses chomped on the devices, not crunching thankfully, and white spittle appeared.

They were clearly not pleased, but tolerated it. The bipeds mounted with the help of handy foot loops dangling from the saddle body, took the leads attached to the metal bits, turned their mounts heads, and tapped their flanks with the end of the leads.

The brown horse jumped into motion, obviously annoyed, then they both trotted through the opened corral gate. At the garage, the biped stallion opened the door, led his horse who started shying back, and his mare's, inside, closing it behind them.

As my revulsion settled, thoughts occurred to me about what I had observed. AJ and Fluttershy both raised farm animals, all of which had their pony uses. Secondly, this pair were younger than the other flannel-dressed bipeds I'd seen. If I was eventually to befriend the creatures, the younger ones were probably better to start with. Last, maybe now the house was abandoned?

Time to find out!

Author's Note:

Twilight Sparkle. Going somewhere no pony has gone before... Tomorrow.

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Comments

[alfonso_rd_33]

MOAR... I NEED MOAR!!!

[Xp45]

I love the way you portray an equestrian seeing... well... equestrian for the first time. I like how twilight is able to pick up on their emotions, Princess if Friendships has its quirks. Regarding that Starlight paragraph, is it your head canon she went to magic school briefly, or was that shown in a comic or something, I’m not up to date on those

[Arkonfleight]

As much as I love first contact stories, "Both sides aren't first contact nerds" is a good variation.
I really hope the red hats don't mean what I think they mean.

9883033
Is that a terribly inaccurate take?

[FanOfMostEverything]

Ah yes, that moment of horrific mental dissonance seeing an animal so close to your own species. At least with apes we have some obvious mental distance with the amount of body hair. There are ponies like Troubleshoes who look disturbingly close to real horses, to say nothing of Saddle Arabians. This is a major uncanny valley moment.

Though for now, Twilight's still doing recon. I just hope she doesn't forget about the Apples during her stealth mission. AJ is still trussed up in her own barn, after all, and Mac's patience has its limits.

[scifipony]

9888535

...that Starlight paragraph, is it your head canon she went to magic school briefly, or...

It is part of a backstory I created for SG starting with The Enforcer and Her Blackmailers. My characterizations of her are borne out by SG's actions in the Ending of the End.
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/8/87/Starlight_Glimmer_walks_away_in_victory_S9E24.png/revision/latest?cb=20191016233227
I've tried to keep it as a deep background that doesn't contradict canon, and but for SG's father's return*, it does not contradict. What it does do is put a peculiarly competent spin on her actions (and her reformation and insecurities) for those who have read her stories by me. Also, I'm not one to reinvent the wheel, so, yes, she is the Enforcerverse SG.

Btw, if you like a calculated and competent Twilight Sparkle operating at the best of her abilities as in The GATE, you should also like the SG story linked above. Or, for bad-ass Twilight focused stories, try Sisters in All But Blood or The Alicorn, the Lord, and the Katana (A Ninja Twilight story).

---

*And I have an unwritten story for that.

[Black--Soul]

And in the mean time AJ could get killed at worst. Reconnaissance that might end in suicidel high risk with no clear advantage makes more sence than saving her friend/fellow Element user...