While it is true that intelligence goes paw in paw with brain size it doesn't necessarily mean that small things can't be sentient. Although many would argue against this fact there is one thing that most forget to consider: Magic
Magic is as magic does, and magic gave us a chance to truly live. -------------------------------------------------
This is the story of a new intelligent species and their recent emergence in Equestria. Follow along the band of rodents in their quest to establish a country of their own in: The Chronicles of Rodentia!
It is difficult to comprehend the sensation of suddenly realizing you exist.
For beings such as yourselves who were born with sentience it would be near impossible to describe. The only analogy that I can use to emulate such a sensation would be the feeling of waking up for the first time ever after being brought into the world. But at such young an age the memories of the feelings experienced would be difficult to retain through time, so maybe the particular sensations are truly lost to anyone who could appreciate such splendor.
But even so, we who have been born anew from humble origins were able to experience such a sensation from our sudden birth into the world. It is true that our ancestors have been a part of this world for just about as long as any of the other inhabitants, but they were different. They did not contain the intelligence, strength or longevity that the ‘sentient’ species had such as the Ponies, Griffons and Minotaurs. Instead they were crippled by feral instincts, weak muscles and short lives. To add to their inferiority the other dwellers, both sentient and insentient looked down on them for being weak.
But our ancestors bore many names and even though they were spoken in a variety of languages they still meant the same thing:
It was our ancestors curse to walk upon the lands of Equestria and beyond among the lowest of the food chain. They were scavengers, too weak to be hunters. They were prey, too feeble to be predators. They were dismissed, too unimportant for other creatures.
But they lived.
Truth be told it was the intervention of the Ponies which enabled a life instead of a survival. The Ponies sudden expansion after the emergence of the Royal Alicorn sisters gave the rats a chance of a co-existence with the peaceful powerhouse than controlled the domain of Equestria. No longer fearing constant predation from the Griffons in their aeries nor the Diamond Dogs in their tunnels, our ancestors grew in numbers and became just as common to find in a household as a pony.
But the rapid increase of creatures who were viewed among the lowest of creatures was not viewed favorably by all. Even the peace-loving ponies had a limit to what they would tolerate. No more were the rats viewed as a simple creature which inhabited the lands like the rabbits or the birds, instead the common names of ‘pests’ and ‘vermin’ resurfaced and branded the rats. Soon our ancestors were driven into hiding, forced to become scavengers and thieves among trash and homes. For many generations our ancestors became feral, serving more as a parasite to society rather than a bystander or neighbour. True, there were some who pitied the defenceless creatures and provided a solace for a few, but only a few. Rats were never a common ‘pet’ for anyone and even then not all were treated as kindly as others. Rats simply do not contain the endearing qualities of other animals such as the innocence of a rabbit or the harmonies of a bird.
But the abundance of the land allowed our ancestor’s survival. They were not among the few who would no longer linger on this world, eternally perished and only remembered in name. For an eon our ancestors slaved as simple creatures again as before the ponies sudden expansion. This continued throughout the pivotal events of pony history as The Princess of the Moon was imprisoned by The Princess of the Sun, The Princess of the Moon’s release and redemption, the bringer of chaos’s release, imprisonment, and eventual redemption, the re-emergence and liberation of an empire once thought lost. All these events passed with no change to our ancestors until the emergence of who we, the Rattus, consider to be our creator: The Princess of Magic.
Even though she was not the one to create us biologically she bestowed upon us the sentience which elevated creatures above the rest. Mere rodents who were once considered the lowest of the low were suddenly able to be just as smart as any pony, as agile as any griffon.
...Unluckily, it did not give us the vast strength of a Minotaur.
Nevertheless, the sudden evolution of our species overnight from Rats to Rattus was attributed solely to our dear creator. Although it could be attributed to an accident the events leading to the creation of the Rattus could only be held responsible by The Princess of Magic.
A case of a group of rats being in the wrong place at the right time. A potion left on a table-top that was beset upon by a group of hungry rats, myself among them. The purple potion was left in its flask unguarded and although it did seem dangerous there were many among the group willing to take the risk. It was a fact that at the time we as a race were struggling. Although several rats took refuge among the protection of a butter-yellow pegasus guardian, they were restricted: they were only able to obtain safety by remaining as prisoners. While it was true that they were shown true kindness, and that as rats they were as happy as one could hope for under the protection of another. But in the end it was still just a gilded cage, those who lived under the pegasus’s protection would be able to live but never able to thrive.
But, those who take risk shall reap the biggest rewards. By venturing out into the abundant land that had been claimed by creatures far larger, far superior, a sense of life could be gained. While unfortunate, it is true that we were thieves. Sneaking into households and stealing away the food that ponies worked hard to grow so that we ourselves could obtain them. We ran on instinct, stealing the fresh produce that they could not grow themselves. We could not work for food yet were haunted by the desire for the produce. We could not ask for food for we could not speak. So we had to steal.
It was on one of these raids that we discovered the potion, what was originally designed to be an enhancer of talents had an unexplainable effect on simple creatures such as ourselves. After just a couple of drops of the potion a sentience was born, and through the individual the sentience was spread. All who belonged in the pack was given a small amount of the potion to consume until not a drop was left.
It was startling at first when we were able to suddenly communicate large strings of thought to each other, albeit in our own native tongue. We were so caught in surprise that we did not notice the hoof-falls of the house’s resident descending into the basement. Only when a blinding light emitted from the tip of her horn did we realize that we were not alone. But in that blinding light we knew that the lavender alicorn was the one responsible for our creation, that without her our intelligence would be unattainable.
As one we had bowed to her, and as one we heard her first proclamation to us:
Twilight's shrill cry of alarm was enough to stagger most of the rats, one rat in particular who was positioned right in front of Twilight was sent tumbling towards his brethren. The small reddish-brown rat was barely the size of a mouse, his smaller stature being stopped by his larger companions as his tumble finished as a ruffled heap in the arms of two of his brothers. Confusion and panic beset the rats as their creator continued hollering up the stairs while her gaze analyzed the group of rodents.
Rapid footsteps could be heard from behind Twilight as her ever-faithful assistant came running into view. Wide-eyed and breathing heavily the small dragon stared at Twilight expecting just about anything, the only times he could recall her shouting this loudly was when either an Equestria altering event was happening or when Twilight was just freaking out about a book. Just as his mouth opened to voice his concerns he spotted the large group of rodents milling about and squeaking in panic. Instead of addressing Twilight he immediately fell upon his natural instinct to pointlessly comment about the situation.
"Holy guacamole that's a lot of rats Twi'... Where'd you get them?"
"Not now Spike! There's something WEIRD about these rats!" shouted Twilight, beads of sweat trailing down her forehead with pupils as sharp as pinpricks.
The rats now milled about the room in confusion with rapidfire squeaking filling the night around the Library. In the midst of the chaos was the small reddish-brown rat, his eyes containing a spark of curiosity similar to those found only in small children. It was this curiosity that enabled the small rat to do what his brethren could not. For unlike the older and wiser rats who were milling about in panic the young and foolish rat was enraptured with the sight of the large benevolent creator who had appeared from the darkness.
Briskly stepping towards the distressed alicorn the small rat was jostled side to side as he progressed slowly yet steadily towards his goal. In his eyes, Twilight had become his new mother. Although he still could remember who his birth-mother was, it contained little value to a runt like himself. Being weak held no value to the scavenging pack and so the small rat was neglected, resources going to the strong and healthy so that they may continue the family line. It was a cruel but necessary treatment for rats, it was a miracle that there were enough resources for survival for nearly all the rats including himself. But that didn’t change the fact that he was alienated among his peers and brethren, it was only by chance that he managed to join today’s scavenging expedition.
Breaking free from the massed panic, the small rat scampered up to Twilight’s hoof while her attention was still directed towards Spike who was still staring in awe at the large amounts of rats that had seemingly appeared from nowhere in the middle of the night into the supposedly secure library basement. Quickly scampering to Twilight, the small rodent started squeaking and tugging his creator’s hoof in hopes of gaining her attention.
It was fair to say that the small rat didn’t expect Twilight to react so rapidly.
With a quick glance Twilight shrieked in surprise as the small rat gazed in awe below her. Caught off guard, Twilight's hoof shot forwards in an attempt to create distance between herself and the rat in front of her. With a small 'oof' and squeak her hoof collided and the rat was propelled backwards into a stack of boxes, toppling the pile onto and around the small rat while spilling their contents into the air.
Quills wafted through the air as the frenzied noise was replaced by sudden silence as Twilight realized what she had just done. A small near-defenseless creature was now buried underneath a small stack of boxes. Twilight has never tried to hurt any creature before, sure she's endured more physical conflict than the average mare but she was a princess! A leader figure! Leader's don't just knock small creatures around!
Spiralling into yet another panic Twilight pivoted on the spot and shot Spike a look of sheer mania. "Spike! Get Fluttershy here now! Tell her there's a whole bunch of rats here and one of them got hurt!" She shouted.
Spike sighed in resignation, the displaced hairs and pinpricked eyes were the clear indicators for Particularly Panicked Purple Pony Princess (Code 4b). He knew he couldn't calm her down when she worked herself into this much of a tizzy. All he could do was do as she says then lay low for a while and hope for the best (Protocol for code 4b, subsection C (she'll be alright eventually)).
The door closed with a small click as Spike waddled out to find Ponyvilles resident animal caretaker. Meanwhile Twilight's horn started to blaze as boxes and rats were suspended into the air. Lavender eyes scanned the ground for the small rodent that had possibly been propelled to his doom. Relief and concern clashed as a small furry heap was seen isolated from the suspended objects. The small rise and fall indicated that there was still life, but the little amount of movement did not bode well for the small rat's physical wellbeing.
Twilight slowly started lowering the suspended objects and rodents to a different part of the room. One injured rodent was enough and the oddly sedate rodents she had held aloft in her magic field seemed to be calm enough to be let loose as she focussed her attention to the injured rat in front of her.
"Okay Twilight, calm and quite makes for a happy animal." she muttered to herself quietly. Twilight slowly approached the small ball of fur on the floor. Twilight slowly encompassed the rat with her magic, sending small currents over the body to try scan for any external injuries. Thankfully the small rodent seemed uninjured other than a nasty bump behind the right ear, although there was a rather worrying case of malnourishment.
That's when she noticed the brilliant bright red quill that had found its way into the small rat's paws, the feathers of Phoenix's were said to contain just as much magic as the rest of their body, and unlike the magical feathers from pegasii, phoenix feathers innate magic allows for near eternal preservation and so the feather and magic would never decay on top of being extremely durable. It was a mystery how such an expensive quill was grouped along with the ever-replaceable standard quills she kept in those boxes, and the chances that this particular quill would somehow end up in the paws of a rat after knocking over the entire arsenal of quills was microscopic at best.
Twilight was in the middle of pondering this conundrum and so didn't hear the rapidly approaching sound of laden hoofbeats. The source became frighteningly obvious when the library door was flung off its hinges as a buttery blur sped into the library. Cobalt blue orbs bore into purple as the stare struck fear into the heart of the pony princess. A sharp intake was followed by a bellow that was thought only gods could produce.
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE! HOW DARE YOU HURT AN INNOCENT CREATURE!"