Fate of the Lostbelt Kingdoms

by ElementBrigade

Chapter Fifteen: Cultural Education

Fate of The Lostbelt Kingdoms

Chapter Fifteen

Cultural Education

There were a lot of things that didn’t surprise Ivan and Anastasia. Seeing the mutilation of their subjects through cannibalization, Ivan going on a rampage when he was having his moods, demonic beast hunting the Yagas and other demonic beasts, the list goes on as to the stuff the two servants went through during the years within the lostbelt of Russia…though seeing a school that caters around friendship, this pretty much took them by surprise that it’s a real thing. I mean the concept of friendship isn’t a bad thing, but having it be a school was a mix between odd…and unsettling to say the least to the servants.

“This is…I don’t even know how to put it into words.” Ivan said as he and Anastasia stared at the school in bewilderment.

“I would say it’s an odd concept…but then again we’re in a country full of talking colorful horses, so this shouldn’t be surprising…I think?” Anastasia said while trying to keep a straight face but noticed Ivan staring at her. “Let’s just see how it is before judging them.” She said before noticing Twilight walking in front of them and towards the front doors of the school.

“Welcome to the School of Friendship!” Twilight said before pushing the door open to the school with her hoof and motioning for them to follow her inside. “Now I know it may not be what you would expect, but I can guarantee that we do teach students from different areas of Equestria ranging from griffons, dragons, hippogriffs, ponies, yaks, changelings-”

“There’s more than just ponies on this planet?” Ivan asked as the alicorn nodded.

“Yep, I would go into much more detail about it but that will have to wait once we’re done with meeting Mayor Mare.”

“You sure she won’t freak out about meeting us? I might be able to pass as being seen as harmless…Ivan on the other hand…he looks like he would gobble up a pony or two in his sleep.” Anastasia said, which caused Ivan to stare at her.

“I’m right here you know?”

“Doesn’t make it less true. The Yagas may not find you scary. But given what happened yesterday when we were riding on the demonic beast, you can imagine how they will react.”

“Aren’t you being a bit rude to Ivan? I mean I know he made some mistakes but-”

“I will never forgive him for what he did to me. End of discussion.” Anastasia said with a cold tone in her voice. Twilight was surprised by the sudden quickness of the servant’s answer but also felt the atmosphere around them getting cold for a moment before returning to normal.

“Um…N-Noted,” Twilight said before looking over at Ivan, who in turn shook his head. The alicorn soon turned her attention forwards and continued to lead the two to the principal’s office. “I-If you don’t mind me asking, you said that your world has magic as well, correct?” She asked as the caster servant nodded. “I was wondering what kind of magic can the yagas perform?”

“Sadly the Yagas can’t perform magecraft,” Ivan answered. “That’s mainly due to multiple factors. One of which involved cannibalism over the years.”

“The other would be stagnation due to being stuck in time because of the constant snow. Because of that, no progress could be made to further the progress of humans. Hence the reason why it became a lostbelt and was pruned from existence. Though just because they can’t perform Magecraft, doesn’t mean we can’t give you a rundown of how magecraft worked for humans before the ice age.” She said which caused Twilight to perk up a bit due to her curiosity. “Magecraft is the artificial reenactment of Mystery, which is ordinarily possible only by inhuman beings. It is the ability to bring about what is possible through science with supernatural means; although the process is considered a miracle, the result is not. The limits of Magecraft have changed with time, as science evolved and Magic from the past became possible through science.”

“A bit odd but understandable given how they do share some properties that can rival each other to some degree,” Twilight said as the servants continued to follow her through the school while occasionally getting a good layout of the area they were currently walking through. “Are there limitations to human magecraft? Like they can’t use it to bring back dead humans or change their molecular forms?”

“There are limitations to magecraft. Mainly in modern magecraft in pan-human history from what Kadoc mentioned to me. Modern magecraft follows the rules of the world and the limits of human intellect. Magecraft acts as the reenactment of preexisting phenomena. It’s impossible to use it to create new mysteries, or on your terms. New magic. Even with an infinite amount of research, there’s going to be a wall that prevents human wisdom from doing so in the current era they live in.”

“I see. And which era did you and Ivan originate from?”

“The lostbelt was from the age after the age of the gods had ended. The China lostbelt falls under the same category as Russia’s lostbelt of being in the age after the gods. Scandinavian, Atlantic, Olympus, India, Britain, and possibly the seventh lostbelt, fall under the category of the age of the gods…which would explain why we were ranked the weakest lostbelt out of the others.” Anastasia said as Twilight heard a slight annoyance in the caster’s voice upon saying that. “Modern-day magecraft is inferior to that from the Age of Gods in terms of magnitude. This is mainly because the magi from that era had acquired their magical energy from the Root.”

“The root? What is that?” She asked as Anastasia looked over at Ivan for an answer.

“To make it sound less confusing without taking so long due to meeting with this pony named Mayor Mare. The root is a force within the universe which we originated from. It exists outside of time and stores and archives information about all possibilities and events, past, present, and future, of the world. It is the place from where all souls, including those of Heroic Spirits recorded on the Throne of Heroes, originate and to where they return after death.”

“So it’s a library that holds information from the past, present, and future?”

“Something like that. Though, unlike a library, reaching the root is…difficult.”

“Difficult as in how?”

“From what Kadoc mentioned, using first and fifth magic would work. But both are kind of rare in modern magecraft.”

“First and fifth magic?”

“It’s a bit hard to explain when your master isn’t that well-versed in the history of magic. But from what he mentioned, the first magic is the denial of nothingness. I can assume that it involves using the element of nothingness or the void to reach the root. Fifth magic’s concepts seem to revolve around consumption and extinction, which could mean that the Fifth Magic might manipulate heat values as energy to achieve various effects like time travel. Though second, third, and fourth magic would allow you to time travel as well, in a different method I believe.” She said which caused Twilight to stare at her in disbelief and fascination. “Is something wrong?”

“You wouldn't have time after this to talk about this in great detail, would you?” She asked while getting a bit closer to Anastasia.

“No, but Ivan would be willing to do that.” She said as she could feel Ivan staring at her with a deadpan expression. “I mean wouldn’t it be more obvious to get the information you need from the first Tsar, right~?”

“You do make a valid point,” Twilight said as she looked over at Ivan with an innocent smile on her face. “You wouldn’t mind if you could explain in great detail about the different magecrafts, would you?”

“...I suppose it wouldn’t be an issue to go into detail about the different magecrafts.” He said as Twilight smiled in delight. Though Ivan would glare at Anastasia who was giving him a devilish smile of innocence. “I’ll be sure to remember this.” He whispered as Twilight looked forward and continued to lead them to the room Mayor Mare was waiting.

“Please do~” Anastasia whispered back as she noticed Twilight stopping in front of a door that was labeled Principal’s Office. “I take it this is where we’ll be meeting with Mayor Mare?” She asked as the alicorn nodded while placing a hoof on the doorknob.

“Now, try not to take what she says..offensive. She just wants to make sure you aren’t trying to take over Equestria or think of you both as a threat.”

“Again, I might be able to pass as non-threatening, Ivan on the other hand might be an issue due to his appearance.”

“...We’ll figure something out.” She said before opening the door to the room. The moment Mayor Mare heard the door open, she turned her attention to the doorway to see Twilight. A smile spread across the earth pony’s face to see a familiar face, but it soon faded upon seeing Ivan and Anastasia entering the room after Twilight enters.

“Wow…when you said they were ambassadors from where the giant tree appeared off in the distance, I wasn’t expecting them to be so…unique.” Mayor Mare said while trying to keep a straight face. “I-It’s a pleasure to meet you…um…creatures from another country?”

“The pleasure is our ma’am,” Anastasia said before bowing to the earth pony. “My name is Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, but you may call me Anastasia for short.” She said before hearing Ivan speak up.

“My name is Ivan Vasilyevich, former Tsar of Russia.” He said as he bows to Mayor Mare. “I would like to apologize for what happened yesterday when we came to your town. I’m sure Princess Twilight has informed you a little bit about what happened before coming to this small town?”

“F-For the most part. A lot of it was…or is confusing from the somewhat summary Twilight explained. I’m still trying to understand the whole pruning of an entire country, timelines, and a few other things that I can chalk up to magic. But what I do understand is that your country is in trouble and you two need a place to stay until you can recover from your narrow escape from this Minotaur pony…creature…thing?”

“That is correct,” Ivan answered. “Our country is currently trying to recover from an…incident that caused a lot of damage. Because of what happened, Anastasia and I had to stand down as leaders of Russia, and let the Yagas rule over the country. Of course, if they have any questions, we’re willing to answer them and give them some solutions to certain problems. But we want them to think for themselves instead of relying on us.”

“Yagas?” Mayor Mare asked as Anastasia used her magic to show a visual of what a Yaga looks like. “Huh…I was not expecting to think werewolves were a real thing.”

“Yagas, not werewolves.”

“Not to sound rude, but what’s the difference between the two?” Mayor Mare asked as Anastasia deadpans at her.

“Yagas are humans who have fused with demonic beasts. The reason behind that is that Russia was a very cold place that was bombarded by snow storms due to a meteor changing the climate to the point where it would be called the ice age. So as a means to survive the harsh coldness of the storms, mages performed a ritual that fused humans with demonic beasts to survive. It worked…for the most part.”

“For the most part?”

“While we solved the issue with surviving the cold…it didn’t solve the issue involving food shortages which resulted in self-cannibalism, strong ruling and eating the weak society, and regression of civilization to where the Yagas lost the ability to use magic,” Ivan answered as he noticed the earth pony’s expression turning from calm to that of horror and shock.

“While it is not my place to judge seeing how I’m not a ruler of an entire country, but a small town…How can you two let something like this happen?” Mayor Mare asked as Anastasia looked off to the side in shame while Ivan continued to stare at the earth pony with a stoic expression on his face…or at least that’s what it appears to be from what the Mayor could tell.

“Given how we didn’t have many options at the time, survival was the most important out of everything else.” He said before letting out a sigh of disappointment. “Though leaving things in the hands of Rasputin and the fox woman might’ve made things progress even worse.”

“Might’ve helped if you weren’t asleep and let your bodyguards kill a lot of the Yagas that were deemed to be traitors,” Anastasia added as Mayor Mare looked over at Twilight with a deadpan expression.

“And you want me to let them live in my town until they can recover?” She asked as the alicorn let out a slightly awkward chuckle.

“While I understand you might be worried that they might cause trouble in Ponyville. I can assure you that they’re not dangerous or threatening. They just need a safe place to stay until we can formulate a plan to help their country.” Twilight said as Mayor Mare had a concerned expression on her face.

“I have my concerns about letting them stay in Ponyville. Not because of their appearances. But the fact that the citizens of Ponyville might have some…speculations about them. Especially after what happened yesterday with the giant pig walking through town.”

“Demonic Boar if we’re trying to be a bit accurate on the species of animal.” Twilight corrected before flinching at the deadpan expression on her face. “Right, sorry.”

“If I’m being honest, I would prefer to not have them in my town due to me getting the feeling that something bad might happen if they stay long in Ponyville. But if you insist on keeping your friends here in town, then I suggest I can let them stay here until the time comes for them to leave.”

“You mean they can stay until they can recover?”

“So long as they don’t cause trouble or attack anypony in town, then I see no reason to take legal actions that would make them leave Ponyville. Just because you’re a princess Twilight, doesn’t mean you can't ignore a petition under legal action of ejecting a pony out of town for safety reasons.” Mayor Mare said before adjusting her glasses. “In exchange for allowing this, I would like a full detail of their country’s culture if that’s okay?” She asked as Twilight looked over at Ivan who sighed in annoyance.

“I suppose that’s fair seeing how Twilight did offer us some books on Equestrian culture and the laws of this land. Would you prefer it be written on paper or verbal?”

“Written is fine by me.” The earth pony said before standing up. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting to set up for the afternoon in front of the town hall. I believe it would be best to have you two present around that time so that the explanation would be easy to explain?”

“I figured that would be the case. Especially seeing how some of them have seen us from yesterday.” Anastasia said as she watched the earth pony leave the room. The moment she left the servants turned their attention onto Twilight who let out a sigh of relief from how the meeting turned out.

“Well, that went better than expected. For a moment I figure she wouldn’t be okay with the idea.”

“You are a princess. Kind of hard to say something when you pretty much rule part of Equestria, right?” Ivan asked.

“Well…yes. But I prefer not to abuse my powers as a princess. Fewer ponies think ill of me.”

“Pretty sure they would think ill of you no matter the situation,” Anastasia said, which caused Twilight to deadpan her. “I’m just speaking the truth as a former ruler.” She said as the unicorn sighed.

“Perhaps, but I have faith that ponies wouldn’t think that.” She said before walking over to the door and motioning the servants to follow her. “Now, while Mayor Mare is off setting things up for the meeting this afternoon. How about I give you a tour of the school so you can get a better understanding of how things work around here?”

“It still baffles me that something like this is even real. I mean, who’s idea was it to think of a concept of teaching friendship to others like it’s normal?” Ivan asked as he and Anastasia began to follow after Twilight.

“That’s kind of a long story. If you’re up for listening, I would be glad to tell you the whole story of how this school was made if you don’t mind?”

“Not like we have much of a choice seeing how it would be a bit boring to wait until the afternoon,” Anastasia said as she noticed a smile appearing on Twilight’s face as the mare began to explain in great detail how the school of friendship was made. As the trio was walking down the hallways of the school, a small familiar trio of ponies was watching Twilight and the servants making their way down the hall from around the corner they were hiding behind. The trio looked at each other for a moment before secretly following after the alicorn and servants.

Comments

[Ultimate Warrior of Zera]

Nice bringing up how a School of Friendship would be weird to an outsider. Is this trio the Cutie Mark Crusaders?