Shortly after its formation, a new nation faces a situation that did not saw coming after finding itself in a whole new world.
When a new nation is born, more often than not it is bound to face the many issues and hardships that come from becoming a new prescence in the world stage. And for the United Mexican States, it was no different. After a brief period of keeping the monarchical rule, they now proclaimed themselves a federal republic. As one of the emerging nations in the Americas, Mexico was ready to stand on its own after centuries of colonial rule.
For other nations, a significant event in their history can act as a rebirth. A time where they can start anew; sticking to their past, forging a new path, or a combination of both. And for the Kingdom of Equestria, it was no different. After a time of ruling Equestria, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, Discord, was finally overthrown by two alicorn sisters, who were made the new princesses of Equestria. And thus, Equestria would enter a new chapter in its history.
These two countries, not even found on the same planet, it was unlikely they would ever meet. That is, until fate had other plans.
The United Mexican States suddenly found themselves alone after a mysterious event. The rest of their world had seemingly vanished, their country now itself an island. Panic gripped the areas near the new edges, and while the rest of the country was still skeptical, the newly formed government now found itself dealing with this new problem.
What they would soon find, however, would create more questions than answers.
We have entered our third week since we left the Yucatan. There is still nothing but the ocean in sight. The Cabo Verde islands, which we had hoped to encounter today, were gone as with everything else so far. The men have started to become restless. Murmurs of turning back home are still few, but I know it may not be long before they increase and become stronger. I would not blame them, for without a doubt we are treading unknown waters now.
Some still cling to the hope we will find Africa or Europe still standing. Others hope for any sort of land, even if it were to be completely unknown to us. I would sooner join them than to think the only land waiting for us if we press on is our own, having circumvented the world without finding anything else.
A lone ship, in the middle of the vast expanse of the ocean. It departed from port on a mission. A mission to see what’s out there. And what possibly wasn’t.
It moved eastward at a steady pace, aided by its sails. The winds were currently favorable for the eastward march. The crew worked diligently at their posts, but inside the captain’s cabin a meeting was happening.
The captain was seated before a desk, of which several charts laid out which were being looked at by him. Around the desk were standing a few men.
“Gentlemen,” the captain started, moving his gaze from the charts to the men.
“We have come this far, and our fears had only been proven truer today. Not even across the ocean they were spared. We do not have the provisions to cross the entire planet if we continue to find nothing but ocean. The crew has started talking of turning back. I may not be in charge of this expedition,” here he nodded to one of the men. “But as captain of the ship I have to look for the safety of her and that of my crew. We only have roughly a week left before being forced to turn back, but I would rather turn back now if I see we gain nothing going further east.”
“Captain,” one of the men spoke up. “As understandable your position on the matter lies, I propose we dedicate that week to survey the nearby areas. Surely we couldn’t have been the only ones left. The world is vast after all.”
“I agree with Mister Lemaur,” another followed. “Adding on that the search can also entail finding new land. Before now it could have only looked like a possibility, but now we should start to come to terms this may not be Earth anymore.”
“Surely Mister Álvarez, you are not one of those who think it was us, and not the rest of the world, that were the ones that vanished?” Lemaur asked.
“Honestly, I would rather think that as well,” a third spoke up. Despite speaking the same language, his accent gave away the fact it wasn’t his native tongue.
“If we were the ones who disappeared,” the man continued, “at least we know the rest of the world is fine. If the rest of the world was the one who disappeared, well…” he stopped explaining further, but from the faces of the men it was clear it was not needed.
The silence didn’t lasted long.
“Let us not dwell on what Mister Austin said, not for the moment at least,” the expedition leader spoke. “What matters more right now is our next course of action.”
He stepped up near a window.
“As previously mentioned, we have at best a week before needing to go back. Regardless of finding known or unknown land, I agree that we have to keep searching until the very end. We should retain our eastern course, see what became of Africa, and then northeast to Europe. Time may only permit to look no farther than Spain and Portugal, but it is better than nothing. Captain?” He turned to face the man.
“I have no objections Mister Guerrero,” he simply stated. “One week, and no more.”
“Very well, if no one has more to add, I consider this…” but Guerrero couldn’t say more as for in that very moment frenzied knocking was heard at the door.
“Come in,” the captain called out.
The door quickly was swung open and a sailor rushed in.
“Captain! Land sighted!”
Activity on the deck had not been greater since the journey began. Most of the crew were now standing on it looking over at the still distant, but clearly visible dark line between the blues. Reactions varied among them. Some reacted positive, being either cheerful or relieved. Others, however, felt doubt and fear, of what they would find once they arrived to shore.
But two men stood stoically, one looking over with a spotting scope.
“What do you think?” Guerrero asked to the Captain.
“It’s still too early to tell,” he answered as he put the spotting scope down. “It’s not wide enough, it could be an island.”
“Well, that is still better than nothing,” Guerrero noted.
“Perhaps, but it could also be a mountain,” the Captain replied. “In any case, once we get closer, we will find out.”
Hours later, the captain’s second guess was proven right. They were approaching what looked to be a mountain close enough to be visible from their distance, which now wasn’t that far from shore.
“What do you think, can it possibly be Africa?” Guerrero asked the Captain, once again looking through the spotting scope.
“Once I’ve been to Saint Louise,” the Captain started. “And taking into account our route, we would not be that far from it.”
He shook his head.
“But it cannot possibly be. There are no mountains this close to shore in the area. Whatever this is, it’s not Africa.”
“Nevertheless, we should be grateful we found anything at all,” Guerrero said. “And plan for our next step.”
“These are unknown waters and lands we’re treading now, Mr. Guerrero,” the Captain warned. “We must be careful.”
Up in the skies above ground, not far from shore, resting on a cloud, lied a pegasus. He had a bored looking expression that gazed to the sky above, fore hooves between his head and the cloud.
How long must I keep waiting…? he thought. Why did I had to stay behind… why would anypony had to for that matter.
With a yawn, he flipped over to now lie face down on the cloud, his face and fore hooves slightly over the edge.
This is a remote area, it’s not like there is an actual need to keep an eye on it…
But his thought process would be interrupted, for something had caught his attention.
“Hm…?”
He rose to his hooves while leaning forward. Over in the ocean, he could see it, a small shape. Most pegasi would’ve missed it, but not him.
A ship?
He focused his eyes on the object. It was indeed a ship, but even for him it was still hard to make out its crew. But one thing was certain. Whoever they were…
They were getting closer.
To the shore below him.
Well this is unexpected, he thought spreading his wings and taking off from the cloud. I must report this!
With a swift motion, he turned around, and promptly flew off in the direction inland as fast as he could. He was soon over the mountain and out of sight.
The pegasus flew as fast as he could, leaving the shore behind. His flight took him northeast across valleys and forests. Soon after he spotted some figures off in the distance on the ground below, and thus began his descend.
His destination was a camp, where many other pegasi were around. They were in the middle of packing up, most of the camp already dismantled. The few that were first to spot him approaching had stopped their packing and focused on him, soon slowly joined by the rest and they all began to murmur between themselves.
“Isn’t that Keen Eyes?”
“Shouldn’t he be waiting for us back at the shore?”
“What’s he doing here?”
Soon, the whole camp had their eyes on him, their previous task seemingly forgotten.
“Hey, what’s going on here!?”
The one who shouted was another pegasus, clad in armor and wearing a stern expression as he stared to the slackers.
“Why has everypony stopped working?” He asked.
“It’s Keen Eyes, sir. He’s coming this way,” one of them answered.
“What?”
The pegasus looked up as well. Sure enough, there he was, now descending in altitude. He soon landed in the middle of the camp.
Should’ve… he panted. Slowed down sooner…
“Keen Eyes!”
Keen Eyes quickly turned and straightened out to face the armored pegasus.
“Ah, sir, Captain Wing Shield, I…”
“Why did you left your post?” Wing Shield went straight to the point.
“I’ve come to repot sir; I saw a ship approaching the shore!”
This caused the other pegasi to break into murmurs again. Wing Shield narrowed his eyes.
“Are you sure, Keen Eyes?”
“Yes sir, it is true.”
Just what is the meaning of this? Wing Shield wondered. Is it a coincidence, or…?
He shook his head.
Still, I must investigate this.
“Keen Eyes, take me where you saw this ship,” he ordered.
“Yes sir, follow me,” Keen Eyes took flight once more.
Wing Shield still stood on the ground. The other pegasi still only stared…
“Why are you still standing there doing nothing? Get back to work!”
… until promptly reminded they had work to do. With that, Wing Shield took flight and followed where Keen Eyes had flown to.
Both pegasi were now standing on top of a cloud overlooking the beach, where the ship had now taken anchor. They saw several creatures disembarking into the shore, bringing with them various things, like crates and barrels.
Wing Shield didn’t like what he saw.
This is just what Starswirl warned the princesses about, he thought. Still, it amazes me that news have spread this fast. They might not be that far across the ocean if they could be here at best a few weeks’ time.
“Captain?”
Keen Eyes snapped Wing Shield from his thoughts.
“Uh, sir, should this be a cause of concern?”
Wing Shield glanced briefly at him, before looking back below.
“It’s too early to tell. We don’t know of their intentions. They just arrived to this beach. We could try to make contact with them, and find out.”
Keen Eyes was surprised to hear this.
“S-sir! You think it would be a good idea? What if they’re hostile?”
“Then we can find out now, rather than later. What if their goal is to reach Equestria? If they don’t do it with good intentions, then at least we can warn the princesses before they arrive. Those creatures don’t seem to have wings. If things do go wrong, we can easily get away.”
Keen Eyes took a step back.
“I still think it’s a bad idea.”
“I would still have to consult it with everypony,” Wing Shield said. “For now, we better go back to tell them to not fly over the mountain. We’ll set up camp on the other side from the beach. That should buy us time. I would guess these creatures might do the same and not head inland until tomorrow at best.”
“What if they do, sir?”
“It would still take them time to reach us,” Wing Shield turned around. “I know you’re concerned, Keen Eyes, I am too. But we wouldn’t let our fears guide our actions. Just as much they could be hostile they might not be. I would not want to be the cause that Equestria’s first contact with another nation went wrong due to not thinking things through.”
Keen Eyes turned to face him.
He sighed, “if you say so, sir.” And I thought with Discord gone we’d finally have some peace and quiet.
“Good. Now, we should make haste; we have to intercept the others before they reach the mountain after all.”
With that, the two pegasi took flight once more.
Back on the beach, a man was finishing carrying a crate and placing it on top of another. He wiped the sweat from his forehead as he glanced to the sky and a sigh escaped his lips.
Just then, he took notice of two distant figures in the sky.
Birds…? The man thought.
He stood there watching them go out of sight. He watched for a few moments more before shrugging and resuming work.
Guerrero overlooked the beach from the ship’s deck, watching the men below work. Having crossed the ocean and finally finding land, it felt like their journey had only truly begun. There were so many unknowns, and here they were, in position to confront them.
Meanwhile coming up the ramp connecting the deck to the beach was Lemaur. He soon came to the deck, and spotting Guerreo, he walked over to him.
“Unloading is almost done,” Lemaur said. “We can begin setting up camp. The place is quite open, but so far it doesn’t look like there’s any real danger.”
“We’ll have to post sentries, just in case,” Guerrero said. “We must not let our guard down. Even if so far there’s no signs the area is inhabited.”
“Understood,” Lemaur turned around and began to walk back to the ramp.
Guerreo watched him go before looking back at the beach.
Just what will we find here, he thought. In this land…
He shook his head.
I can only pray we can head back and report our findings once we find out.
As dusk approached for the ship and its crew, back in the capital business went on as usual under the midday sky. Far from the borders, skepticism still ran high despite the many news coming in.
The same could not be said at the National Palace, where the president Guadalupe Victoria at this very moment was in his room looking over the reports that had arrived so far.
Reports from the north were still few. The region was sparsely populated, and Apache attacks had impeded progress time and again. The south fared much better, being more populated, less hostile, and closer to the capital. As such, a more throughout account of the situation there was compiled.
But that wasn’t the object of his attention now. The topmost paper was a letter, received just that morning. It came from the port of Acapulco, and it read thusly:
“The Pacific expedition has returned ahead of schedule. Expect General Echávarri to arrive to the capital by the 18th with a full report.”
This had been surprising. This second expedition had departed days after the first. Its goal was to reach Hawaii; or at least, the general area should the island chain be gone as well. To be back this soon meant they must have found something worthy to report already. Whether that be, it would dictate the next course of action.
Now, to wait for the Atlantic expedition to come back…
Beach
The sun moved down to the horizon as all across the encampment fires were being lit. They had set up a bit away from the shore, a little beyond where the sand ended and grass now carpeted the land. Not everyone was on land, as a few had stayed on the ship.
Those that were on land were gathering in small groups around each fire, mostly to just talk between themselves to pass the time. Others were designated as the first watch, and thus were across the encampment edges that didn’t faced the beach. Lastly, since the majority of the crew had left the ship, the cook had decided to follow suit. As such, one last fire was being used to prepare supper.
Juan Álvarez was in one of the groups nearest the beach, gazing at the ocean, watching as the sun finally sunk below the horizon.
“Something the matter, sir?” One of the men asked.
“Does it has to do with what were you saying yesterday about the sun?” Another said.
“I am sure of it, gentlemen,” Álvarez replied, facing back to the small group. “Since a few days ago the sun seems to rise and fall faster than back home.”
“Has it? Are you not simply mistaken, sir?” the first man said.
“I don’t think I could notice something like that,” a third spoke.
“It is not just the sun,” Álvarez continued. His gaze now went to the opposite side of the beach.
Shortly afterwards, the moon began to rise over the eastward horizon.
“Ever since the rest of the world disappeared, it has always been the same thing. On some days you could see the moon even during the day, but now it only ever appears at night. And when has been the last time any of you has seen it as a crescent?”
The men began to briefly murmur between themselves.
“Truth be told, I have never put much thought into it,” the second man spoke.
“Not many would, I reckon,” the first man said. “We have been busy with the whole missing land matter, and now this,” he finished with a hand motion to denote their surroundings.
“Exactly. Not many would notice, or care, to put much thought into it,” Álvarez stated. “Or there are more pressing matters to attend to.”
“Well, in any case, I still wouldn’t dwell much on it,” the second man said.
“To each their own, I guess,” the third spoke. “Still, we are going to be more focused on surveying this land.”
“Yeah, I’m starving already,” the first man said. “I wonder when the food will be ready.”
And thus, the conversation had shifted to a more mundane topic.
Mountain Base
For the pegasi, the sun was already out of sight thanks to the mountain. Despite being airborne creatures, they had always camped at ground level during their journey. At most they only needed a sentry up-high, something that was tasked to Keen Eyes. But with the mountain and with how late it was, he was already down with the rest, as they gathered around a big campfire.
Landing near the fire, he got closer to take a seat alongside the other pegasi, a look of worry as he gazed at the fire.
“Should be we lightening it this early?” He looked around to the others.
“Couldn’t we have waited until it was more dark?”
“Oh, you worry too much, Keen Eyes,” one of the already seated pegasi said. “The mountain would block the light, and the smoke would barely be visible from the beach anyway.”
“Ah, let it be, Thundershock,” another pegasus said. “You know Keen Eyes here can be such a worrywart.”
The comment provoked a few chuckles from other pegasi, and Keen Eyes simply glared.
The laughter stopped, however, when Wing Shield finally showed up.
“Everypony, let’s not forget the important matter at hand,” he said as he took seat. “Those creatures right now are on that beach. What is their exact purpose? We don’t know. But I would like to find out when they’re still there, then to wait for them to find Equestria.”
The pegasi began to murmur between themselves. One of them rose a hoof.
“Yes, Thunderbolt?” Wing Shield said.
“Captain, if I may,” Thunderbolt said. “I don’t oppose to the idea, but should it be here and now? We could head back and report already, and have a bigger force prepared to meet them.”
“I wouldn’t mind that myself, personally,” Keen Eyes spoke in a low voice. Which didn’t pass unheard of to those nearest him.
“We get it already, Keen Eyes,” the pegasus named Thundershock said, a slight annoyance in his voice.
“Calm down, brother,” Thunderbolt said. “Let him be, he isn’t the only one worried here.”
“Which brings me to my proposal,” Wing Shield continued. “Thunderbolt, I have taken that option into consideration. I would like for one of you to head back to the castle and report to the princesses and Starswirl. But I do want to make contact as soon as possible.”
“But sir, would it really be safe?” Another pegasus asked.
“That I cannot be completely certain,” Wing Shield answered. “When we do meet them, I want for a few to remain up high on watch, so if things don’t go well, they can get away undetected and warn Equestria.”
He looked around to face them all.
“So now I ask of you. Who is willing to go through with this now?”
Promptly, this sent the pegasi on another murmuring spree.
“I don’t think we should do this.”
“We’re here already, the sooner we go through this, the better.”
“Just imagine, we can go down in history as the first ponies to meet up with creatures of another country.”
“Let’s make them reconsider if they think they can mess with Equestria.”
“We should head back.”
“You already know what I think of this.”
“Let’s not back down from this, brother.”
Soon the murmurs died down, and all turned back to face Wing Shield.
“Well? Raise your hoof if you think we should wait?” He asked.
A few raised them. But overall, they were the minority.
“And just to make sure… who wants to go through with this?”
And the majority raised their hooves this time. Wing Shield nodded.
“Then it’s settled. Tomorrow by midday, we will make our presence to them known.”
He looked around once more.
“Now, who volunteers to report back?”
“I’ll go, captain,” Thunderbolt said. “I am one of the fastest here, I can deliver the news as fast as possible.”
“I could doubt that,” a pegasus spoke up. “I’m sure I can get there first.”
“You think you can beat my brother, Scud?” Thundershock said. “Not a chance. He’s the fastest there is!”
“It might not be a bad idea if both of you go,” Wing Shield said. “Just in case.”
“Yes, captain,” both Thunderbolt and Scud said, though they eyed each other for a moment before breaking contact.
“I suppose it goes without saying, but Keen Eyes will be the one to observe from the sky,” Wing Shield continued, causing more chuckles at Keen Eyes’s expense.
“Yes, sir, I don’t object… much,” he said.
“And I expect it will at least remain as such. We’re counting on you in case something goes wrong.”
He looked over at everypony once more.
“You’re all dismissed, we have an important day tomorrow. Be sure to rest up.”
“Yes, Captain!”
They all saluted before rising and scattered across camp.
Wing Shield, however, remained seated by the fire. His gaze was over it, but his mind was elsewhere.
What if I’m making a mistake? They outnumber us, and we don’t know what sort of weapons or magic they use. I can only hope I’m worrying over nothing.
He finally rose.
No, I must not fall in doubt now. It’s a high risk to take, but I didn’t become captain for backing down at the slightest sight of danger. Besides, whoever they are, I doubt dealing with them could be worse than Discord ever was.
And with that, he too left the proximity of the campfire.
The light of dawn began to shine between the trees, signaling to the pegasi the start of a new day. They rose from their slumber, and began preparations, packing up and donning their armor.
“Remember, everypony, we’ll fly around the mountain, and descend once near the forest edge to just above the tree cover, and keep that altitude,” Wing Shield said, already clad in his armor, as the pegasi moved around him.
“Any last questions?”
“Sir, will we touch land?” One of the pegasi asked.
“I’ll touch land, but the rest of you should stay in the air,” Wing Shield replied.
“Will we have our weapons at hoof, captain?” Thundershock asked.
Wing Shield paused to think.
While neither Keen Eyes and I saw, they are bound to be carrying weapons, even if for protection. I should do the same. Our armor would already give away we are soldiers, but we must avoid making them think we are approaching them with hostile intentions.
“A few of you will carry your weapons,” he finally said, looking back at the pegasi.
Just then, two pegasi stood before him. They were Thunderbolt and Scud. Unlike the others, they weren’t clad in armor, only carrying saddlebags instead.
“We’re ready, captain,” Thunderbolt said.
“We’ll inform the princesses and be back before you know it,” Scud added.
“We are counting on you to report this, so make haste,” Wing Shield said.
“We’ll do, sir.”
Both pegasi saluted before spreading their wings. Thunderbolt looked over to Thundershock.
“Be careful,” he told him.
“Don’t worry about me brother, I can take care of myself,” Thundershock said.
“I’ll take responsibility for whatever happens, Thunderbolt,” Wing Shield reassured.
“Hopefully there will be no need for that,” Thunderbolt replied before facing back to Thundershock.
“I mean it Thundershock. Let the captain deal with what happens, and don’t disobey him.”
“Come on, Thunderbolt, let’s not waste time,” Scud said.
“Fine. Let’s be on our way,” Thunderbolt.
And with that, both he and Scud took flight. They elevated past the tree line, and speed off quickly out of sight.
Thundershock let out a sigh.
“It’s not like I would actually do it,” he said.
“Well, what else can you expect from him,” Wing Shield said.
“He’s your brother, and he won’t be there to keep an eye on you,” he then chuckled. “Besides, we know he would still warn you even if he had stayed.”
“Well, I say he over worries,” Thundershock said before walking off.
Almost soon after, another pegasi walked up to Wing Shield and saluted.
“Preparations are done, sir,” he said.
It is time, Wing Shield turned to face him.
“Understood, tell everypony to take to the air, we depart now.”
Beach
At the human camp, the sun was only barely peeking over the mountain when it began to stir. The atmosphere was mainly calm as its occupants were mostly having breakfast, though others were either keeping watch or surveying the nearby area. And like in the previous day, another meeting was happening aboard the ship.
“So how long we will stay before heading back?” Lemaur asked.
“I would not advice for more than a few days,” the captain said.
“Unless they can be replenished in this land, supplies will only barely last for the return voyage. That, or we find fish to be more common now that we are close to shore.”
“Personally, I think we should be back by Easter,” Álvarez spoke.
“For that we would have to go back almost right away,” Austin pointed out.
“We are that close?” Álvarez was surprised to hear that.
“Did you forget? We departed in the early days of Lent,” Austin said.
“In any case, I would not want to miss out the opportunity to learn more of this land,” Lemaur said.
“It would be a shame to wait. The return voyage, the time debating of going back, then the voyage back itself. If I may, not all of us have to return.”
There was a pause as the thought sank in.
“Leave some behind? We have not yet learned enough of this place to know if it would be safe to do such thing,” Guerrero said.
“I concur,” Austin said.
“It would be at best a month before another ship sails back here. Should anything happen, there would be little to nothing that could be done about it.”
“It would be a risk to take,” the captain spoke up.
“But perhaps a day or two can be dedicated to determine that.”
“I would advise against staying long either way,” Álvarez said.
“We need to report back as soon as possible, and verify at least that whatever happened months ago has not happened again during our absence.”
A sense of dread filled the room.
“I’d rather not think about that,” Lemaur said.
“And I would not be wrong to say that I am speaking for everybody here.”
“Well, we cannot ignore that possibility,” Álvarez pointed out.
“Both are right,” Guerrero said.
“But for now, let us focus on our current course of action.”
A silent unanimous agreement followed.
North of the human camp
The pegasi had finished flying around the mountain, the land below them still filled with trees, and the ocean within sight in the far-off distance. It was only a matter of time, though, as the forest’s edge was now within their sights. As per Wing Shield’s orders, they had started to descend, all but Keen Eyes.
They flew in formation, with Wing Shield at the front, flanked by two others, one of which was Thundershock. They, like a few others at the front, carried their spears in a fore hoof, standing upwards if slightly tilted forward. Other than that, everypony were carrying their own things, placed either in saddlebags hanging at their sides, or by the pegasi in the back, carrying bigger bags in conjunction.
The pegasi were making their way south, between the mountains to their east, and the ocean to their west. The trees were soon now behind them, replaced by grassland as they kept their flight south.
Beach
As midday approached, activity at the camp had subsided compared to early morning. The meeting in the captain’s quarters continued, the watchmen remained at their posts, some mingled around camp, while others engaged in conversation.
The two north watchmen were no different, dutifully at their post. One was tending to his firearm, but the other had his eyes forward.
And that’s when he saw it.
Various dots began to appear in the northern sky. He could’ve easily dismissed them as a flock of birds, if it wasn’t that they began to get bigger, and take a more defined shape.
“Y-you need to see this…” he barely mouthed to his companion.
“Finally saw something?” The second man removed his gaze from his rifle.
“You interrupted me just for some bir…”
But a prolonged gaze at them had proven him wrong.
But they were no longer the only ones. Various men had also taken noticed and were only staring as well, provoking the rest to slowly follow suit. Shocked expressions began to overtake the camp, but one man had found enough willpower to ran to the ship.
They’ve noticed us, Wing Shield thought, watching the distant figures stop their movements. Even if he couldn’t tell et with his eyes, he knew they had stopped moving because they were aware of their presence.
“Slow down, everypony,” he ordered.
“This is getting us nowhere,” Austin said.
“The day could pass by with us debating and it would be a day lost.”
“I agree,” Guerrero said.
“It would be up to them to decide if to stay or not. But one thing is going to be certain: if the majority do not decide on staying, then everybody will leave. It would be a risk to leave so few behind on unknown land.”
He turned to face Lemaur.
“Would that be acceptable?”
“Yes,” Lemaur simply answered.
Just then without warning, the door suddenly swung open.
“What’s the meaning of this!?” The Captain demanded of the man at the doorway.
“Outside… it… they… you won’t… believe this…”
The man was barely articulate, speaking in the middle of panting and shock, before finally collapsing on the floor.
The men looked at each other before making their way outside.
When the men made it outside, the atmosphere was quiet. And it was not hard to see why once they reached the edge of the deck.
And they too were not prepared for what they saw.
“Those are…” Álvarez began, but found himself unable to continue.
“… horses…” Austin tried, but he too would speak no more.
“… with wings,” Guerrero found himself finishing the statement.
And perhaps because of that, the statement came out sounding more incredulous than it seemed.
“That is unbelievable. Those are creatures from myth!” Lemaur protested.
“And yet, it cannot be our eyes are all lying,” the Captain said.
“Just look at the men.”
For indeed, looking over at them, the men were all but looking directly at the equines. Some could even be seen backing away from them. Others were murmuring between themselves.
The equines, for their parted, simply stared, flapping their wings to stay hovering in place, but nothing else for the most part.
“This is absurd,” Lemaur continued.
“It should not be possible.”
“Gentlemen, are we going to still dwell on that, and not on the fact they are clad in armor?” Austin pointed out.
Which indeed it was.
“War horses?” Álvarez asked.
“But where are the riders?” Lemaur added.
“Wait, aren’t some of them, in their hooves… carrying spears!?”
This surprised them more.
“This is not normal. Just what is this place?” Austin asked, but none could answer.
They didn’t know what to do, but they knew something had to happen. Just then, Guerrero moved towards the ramp.
“Sir?” Álvarez asked.
“You are not really thinking on…?”
“I am going to get to the bottom of this,” Guerrero said.
“But sir, these creatures… they…”
Álvarez tried, but could not finish that statement.
“They are not doing anything but stare, it seems,” Austin noted.
“I would still advice to keep our distance, but it doesn’t look like we are in any apparent danger.”
“We should try to get the men to focus and be ready for anything. Not that many are currently armed, but anything is better than letting them be overtaken by the strangeness of the situation,” the Captain said.
“Um, Captain, what should we do now?” Thundershock whispered.
Wing Shield assessed the situation, now that he had a better view of these creatures.
They were peculiar. They stood on their hind legs and upright. Of course, he had seen some animals, and even some ponies, do this before. But for these creatures it seems it was the norm. The only creature he could compare it with was Discord, who had seemed to prefer moving around that way.
They all wore clothes, with no exception. It looked like they had seen better days, but that could be excused due to their voyage across the sea. It was hard to tell with the clothes, but it didn’t seem like they had coats, though their skins came in various tones, and their manes were short.
Just then, he saw a few more emerging from their vessel. In comparison, these had a different look. He could tell from their appearance and clothes. Their leaders?
One of them was not following the others. In fact, it was walking towards them.
“Sir?”
Thundershock once again tried to get his attention.
“It’s time,” Wing Shield merely said.
“Remain alert.”
Wing Shield descended and touched land. With a slow trot, he began to approach the creature.
“What is he doing?”
“Has he gone crazy?”
“Should we follow?”
The men couldn’t believe what Guerrero was doing. Approaching those… horse things… on his own. They didn’t fail to note one of them was now moving towards him.
They didn't fail to notice Lemaur and the others approaching them.
“Sir, what do we do?” They asked.
“Stay on guard, but for now, just watch,” Lemaur answered.
For Guerrero, these equines were full of surprises. Beyond the wings, beyond the armor… another peculiar thing about them was their colors. Never before could he have foretold that he would ever see horses in colors such as blue, or green, or purple. And yet here they were, and in other colors than those.
Also, now that he could see closely, especially with the one that was approaching him, these horses did not seem… big enough. He could almost say they were more the size of ponies, but even these looked smaller still.
And there was also their behavior. They seemed like too smart for mere animals. On the other hand, perhaps they were simply well trained. Perhaps soon they’ll find the owner of these equines, and have the answers they were seeking in this strange land.
And thus, man and pony slowly approached each other. Both sides could only stare, as these events transpired. It was a heavy atmosphere that blanketed the area.
They were close now, and soon came to a stop. They only stared each other, neither daring to make the first move.
And no one would know at the time, but it would be a day that history will never forget.
“The day of first contact was an event that would change the course of history, and not just between human and pony, as it would become more apparent in the following decades. Though even to this day historians would agree that perhaps when such events were recorded, there was a less than desirable distribution of focus over certain events.
For instance, it is known that during that historic moment, it was by then Captain Wing Shield who spoke first between himself and by then Captain Vicente Guerrero. However, such action only makes for a small footnote. And the reason is because it got eclipsed because of what happened right after.”
Ignacio Manuel Hernández Ríos, Ancient History of Mexico - Volume II, UNLAP 1081AL
“Greetings, I am Captain Wing Shield, from the Kingdom of Equestria.”
It had looked so simple. Introduce himself to these creatures, well, mainly to the one who had walked up before him. Though his voice had been loud enough for at least the ones who were closest would’ve heard it. And indeed, they did. And that’s when everything changed.
They stopped what they were doing, and were now staring at them. They all began to get weird looks on their faces. Even the one before him now had an uneasy look. Wing Shield was unsure on how proceed. He saw some of them had moved forward a little, but no farther from the ones already in the front. Perhaps to hear him better?
“We do not come with hostile intentions, and hope you do the same,” he continued, trying to ease them.
And that’s when pandemonium was unleashed.
It could be best described as them having turned into an unorganized mob. Shouts could be heard. Some ran back to their ship. Even the creature before him had taken a few steps back.
Wing Shield glanced back to the other pegasi, a slightly confused expression on his face. They responded in kind.
“And I was worried about them?” Keen Eyes said to no one, up high on his cloud.
“What kind of place this is!?”
“Horses shouldn’t talk!”
“What did it even say?”
“I want to head back!”
To say things were bad was an understatement.
“Order! Order!” Lemaur tried to calm them down, but it was in vain.
“Can’t say I fault them,” Austin said. “I could join in a heartbeat.”
“What is Guerrero doing? He is still over there!” Alvarez pointed out.
Meanwhile, the deck of the ship was now starting to mirror the situation on land, as the men that hadn’t stayed were now on board.
“What’s the meaning of this!?” The Captain asked, having remained on the ship, as some of them were even going as far as below deck.
“That horse spoke!” One of them had managed to answer.
The Captain stared at the man. He had seen the horse move its snout, though admittedly the ship was far enough to hear anything.
“It… spoke?”
“Captain, I know that sounds hard to believe… but that’s what it did!”
It can’t be that so many misheard things, he concluded. Of all things to find… talking flying horses. Just what sort of place we ended up?
He looked over again. Few had remained on land, the horses didn’t seem to have reacted much at the spectacle they were witnessing, though what caught his attention the most was Guerrero, who was still somewhat rooted to the spot.
Has the shock left his body unable to react? The Captain wondered.
At least it doesn’t look like he’s in danger.
Vicente Guerrero was not sure what he was expecting by having approached the horses. Things had not been normal since November when the rest of the world seemingly disappeared, and the expedition he personally offered to lead had been increasingly found itself with oddities.
From the unknown land, the appearance of winged horses, to the… peculiar characteristics of them. It had been hard to believe at first, but a part of him had thought that they were more than met the eyes. It was hard to ignore those spears. You couldn’t just train a horse to do such a thing; in fact, it would have been almost impossible the possibility would have crossed his mind had he not see it now, when it was too late to discard it. The lack of riders was also concern. It seemed hard to accept that a big number of horses would be without their riders, and the armor discarded them being wild. They had been moving, or flying for a better word, in a matter that did not suggest it was without purpose. More importantly, they had stopped once they spotted them. That was no normal behavior of mere animals. And then, as it turned out, they were capable of speech as well! As if it was some parrot from the southern jungles.
It had been too much. Guerrero didn’t have to turn to know the men had not taken the revelation well. But a more pressing matter was himself. He had merely stepped away a slight distance from the equine before him, but his mind was torn. A war waged between the rational and irrational parts. The irrational side was imploring to join the men in the safety of the ship, or at least with the ones still behind him. It had help in that some were now shouting for him to do just that. But the rational side held its ground. This may not be a battlefield, but he nonetheless had to remain composed and not let his judgement be clouded, despite with how unnatural the situation was.
With the beings in front of him, it was easy to tell they weren’t, at first glance, hostile. Those few spears seemed to be the only weapons they have, and even then, they weren’t being held in a battle-ready stand. Their numbers weren’t huge either, so at most, they could be a patrol unit. They may have the ability of flight, and yet were moving not that far from the ground and across the beach, so if they were spotted at any point since disembarking, they had opted for a face-to-face meeting. And so far, they seemed to just watch the situation unfolding before them than to take advantage of it.
And in there lied the heart of the issue. Acknowledging all this would be conceding that these equines were, in fact, intelligent enough to be on a level like humans. The implications were big if so. But then again, these were creatures that would’ve only been talked about as myth, so who could say what they would be like in the flesh?
At any rate, Guerrero had to admit that they themselves were certainly not making a very good first impression to these equines. But perhaps it wasn’t too late to salvage the situation. But what could he do or say? These equines clearly had their own language, though their leader had talked anyway. Perhaps it expected they would speak the same language? And with a big part of him thinking how wild of an idea it was, he nonetheless came to a decision. After all, this couldn’t be any more different from meeting any other foreign nation. Just, with winged horses.
Wing Shield was prepared for many things. He was prepared if these creatures were friendly. He was prepared if they turned out to be hostile. He was prepared to fight, or to talk, or to shake a hoof with the creature’s… claw? Truth be told, claws was the closest he could describe them, but they didn’t look like them. In any case, he had thought about the possible scenarios that could unfold.
Watching them turn into a panicked mess, however, was not one of them.
He could only stare, trying to think as to why that had happened. It was a big contrast to their previous state, which was mostly that of wariness but not outright fear. It did not escape to him that the sudden shift was after he spoke. Was that it? Did his words had that big of an impact on them?
Wing Shield wasn’t exactly sure on why. He had only presented himself. Or perhaps they hadn’t understood? He remembered Starswirl had mentioned other creatures were likely to have their own languages. Equestria at most only had the knowledge other nations existed beyond the seas, and that was before Discord had put an end for any possibility of contact to be made. But at most that would mean he simply talked nonsense to them. It was unlikely his words could have a different meaning in their language.
In any case, one thing was clear, these creatures could hardly pose a danger to Equestria if they could be scared so easily, even considering if perhaps they were simply unprepared to find anyone here. But then, does Equestria was not their purpose for being here? It was possible Starswirl could’ve been wrong. Even somepony like him couldn’t be right all the time, could he? In any case, they were here now, and that meant dealing with them.
“Uh, sir?”
It wasn’t spoken loudly, but enough for Wing Shield to hear. He glanced back.
It had been Thundershock.
“What do we do now?”
From the looks of some of the others, they wanted an answer as well. Wing Shield wasn’t sure. These creatures were currently in no position for conversation… assuming they could even talk the same language.
“Captain.”
One of them had now raised a hoof, pointing forward. Wing Shield glanced back. The creature before him had moved again. It straightened out its figure again, and had even took a step forward.
Guerrero wasn’t completely sure of what he was doing. It was all a shot in the dark. He wasn’t experienced on the matter. He had been more a soldier than a diplomat, after all. Perhaps even better politician than diplomat. But as appointed captain of this expeditionary journey, he would deal with this personally.
And thus, he regained his composure, made a step forward, and spoke.
“Greetings. We do not come with hostile intentions. I am Captain Vicente Guerrero, from the United Mexican States.”
It was unlikely they would know what he meant. But language alone wasn’t all what communication entailed. And perhaps his actions, and not words, would be enough.
The creature had spoken back, and it confirmed they did indeed had a different language. This made difficult, but not impossible. Wing Shield pondered.
There must be some other way to reach to them, he thought. But what?
He took a good look at the creature. More specifically, to the upper limbs. An idea truck him.
Perhaps they aren’t strangers to hoof shakes? Well, without the hooves.
It was worth trying. Though he had to be careful. Perhaps the outstretched hoof would do nothing but upset them further. Least he wanted right now was for them to now resort to violence in their fear. Still, he felt like he could trust at least the creature before him. It seemed to wanting to at least try, just like he was.
And thus, he took a few steps forward, and outstretched his right forehoof, a little upwards as the creature was the taller one.
Guerrero watched the peculiar motion the equine did. An outstretched hoof.
What does that mean? It wants me to shake it?
Horses knowing how to shake… hooves. But after showing they could talk, was that a big surprise now?
Although, hooves cannot grip anything.
His mind protested, not finding the logic behind it. But what else could it be? It seemed the safe choice to follow. Besides, if that was what the equine was waiting for, it would be rude for him to not to deliver.
Well, this day had already turned strange already. What more could be shaking the hoof of a winged horse?
He closed the remaining distance, and outstretched his right arm. His hand gripped the hoof.
March 17, 1825AD Southwest of Sangre de Cristo Range, New Mexico Territory
A lone fort stood, near a mountain range, with no other man-made building in sight. The fort had seen use until a few years ago, when it was abandoned. Since then, nary a soul had approached the place. Until now.
From the northeast, in the direction of the mountains, a group approached. These men were on horseback, the horses kicking a dust cloud behind them due to their quick gallop. This group kept their momentum, until they came at close sight of the fort, at which the one at the front, the leader, signaled his comrades, and one by one they began to slow down, coming to a halt.
“I was right! I knew it was a good idea coming this way!”
The men turned, at the now excited man who had spoken.
“I have to admit, this was much faster than going back to the Trail,” another man said.
“It was fortunate I remembered the existence of the pass,” the leader admitted.
“We can thank Leo for that.”
“Great, now he’s likely to not shut up about it the rest of the way back,” one of the men groaned.
This caused a few to chuckle, but the man called Leo remained unfettered.
“Say what you will, but it was still my suggestion that prompted the captain to remember,” he boasted.
“I still don’t see how that can be considered a big of an accomplishment,” the other man continued.
“Regardless, we must press onwards,” the captain said.
“We will rest at the fort, then continue southwards to the Bravo River. That will return us back to Santa Fe. We will restock provisions at Taos on the way.”
“I’m glad for that,” one of the other men said.
“I feared we would ran out while we ventured through the pass.”
“We did have to resort to ration them, though,” another said.
“And that’s why I still think Leo’s idea was too risky!”
“Oh, shut up!”
The men ignored the banter between Leo and the other man, and commanded their horses to resume their gallop towards the fort.
“I never knew there was a fort here,” one of the men spoke up on the way.
“Me neither,” another added.
“It was built to look out the area in case of French, and later American, invasion,” the leader answered.
“Once that treaty defining the border was signed, it lost its use.”
“I guess then we won’t find anything of value in there?” Leo asked.
“It is likely we won’t, but it will serve us fine either way.”
West of the Equestrian Border
After having departed back east that morning, the pegasi Thunderbolt and Scud flew as fast as they could back to Equestria. The forest had quickly made way to grasslands that stretched eastward, but they had first shifted north until they reached a river, after which they resumed their flight east. But as the morning gave to midday, then to afternoon, they had stopped to rest. As the skies were clear around them, they had opted to descend by the river.
Scud had taken an apple from his saddlebags almost as soon as they landed.
“You know, I think we’re making a good time,” he said to Thunderbolt, who was drinking from the river.
“At this speed, we can reach the border by nightfall,” he continued, before taking a bite of his apple.
Thunderbolt finally turned to look at Scud.
“Come on, what do you say, a race for the last stretch?”
Thunderbolt said nothing, simply taking out an apple of his own from his own saddlebags.
“What, afraid I’ll even the score?”
“You’ve kept track?” Thunderbolt finally spoke.
Scud made a surprised face.
“You mean you haven’t?”
Thunderbolt simply shook his head, biting his apple.
“How can we determine who is faster if you don’t?”
“This has never been a competition, Scud,” Thunderbolt said.
“Of course it’s a competition!” Scud protested.
Thunderbolt sighed. Here we go again.
“I’ll prove I’m the fastest pegasus of the squad, and that means proving without a doubt I’m faster than you!” he pointed at Thunderbolt.
Once we make it back, I need to talk to Thundershock to stop encouraging him on, Thunderblot rolled his eyes.
“Fine, a race to the border,” he conceded.
Win or lose, at least he will stop pestering me for a while, as always.
“We are going to be even once I beat you, you’ll see!” Scud boasted.
Is it that close to a tie? Thunderbolt wondered as he finished his apple. He never took count of how many races he'd had with Scud, all started by him, of course. Nor keeping track of the score.
If he doesn’t show signs of dropping this perhaps I do should keep track.
Once they had both finished eating, they placed themselves into position. Side by side, parallel to the river.
“Ready?” Scud asked.
“As always,” Thunderbolt answered.
And shortly after both pegasi took off, resuming their eastward course to Equestria’s border.
Acapulco, State of Mexico
Ever since yesterday when General Echávarri’s ship had returned, activity at the port was bustling more than usual. Due to its location, many people at first had been unaware of what had happened, until news began to pour from the east. They wouldn’t be at fault if the news were the object of ridicule, but reason would win in the end once enough people had brought the same news. With too many people on it, it had become less sensible to think that everyone in the state of Chiapas had gone mad or were pulling some sort of prank.
Human curiosity can be very strong, though, and even before New Year’s Eve had arrived many people had decided to see for themselves, traveling eastward and crossing the Suchiate River, only to find it was quite true. And ever since the ship departed from port to travel west, the port had become filled with people wondering about what sort of news they would return with.
It wasn’t just them, though. Across southeast México it was mostly the same, as those that could afford making the journey and back were big in number. And it was why so many had traveled to Acapulco itself to find out about the ship’s journey in the first place.
To their disappointment, they had not spoken openly about it. At most only the mayor was informed, and then on the following day, that is today, many of the men had departed to the capital. But that didn’t stop them from asking the ones that stayed behind, mainly the sailors.
“We never went that far,” one was saying. “We actually ended up heading south after that.”
“Journey was expected to take weeks, even months,” another told. “We were meant to reach Hawaii.”
“The general wanted to be sure,” yet another spoke. “It isn’t like we are talking about Cozumel Island, for example. Not close enough.”
“We did not encounter anything out of the ordinary,” the ship’s very own captain had even joined in. “General Echávarri still had orders that we shouldn’t tell a soul, but even before departing he could tell word would still get out once we returned. We knew it would not take long before all the southeast was aware of what had happened.”
And as the information poured out, things had only gotten even more hectic. Few could guess what was the true revelation behind the journey.
South Equestria
Since the last few weeks, the southern reaches of Equestria have been bustling with activity. More specifically, near the site where Discord was defeated, to the south of it. In commemoration for their newest princesses, ponies were busy building the castle that would be their new home.
Such a shift in the balance of power in comparison to how things were before Discord came into the picture would change the course of the country in the years to come. And perhaps it was of no surprise that the powerful unicorn Starswirl, one of Equestria’s most valuable assets since even from the days of the three tribes, had took it to himself to guide the newest princesses for their new trials.
Despite construction still being underway, one of the already finished sections of the castle was the tower Starswirl took as his new residence. Currently, he was on one the tower’s rooms. It was lined with bookshelves filled with books, and a few desks. Starswirl was before one the desks, which had a few books laid out on it. A few others, however, were being suspended in the air by the unicorn’s magic. There was also a piece of parchment laid out on the desk with a bottle of ink next to it. A quill, also controlled by magic, would occasionally scribble down things, dipping itself on the ink to renew it when needed. The unicorn’s eyes quickly darted from book to book. Pages turned on their own, and every now and then a book would fly to a shelf, only for another to replace it on the desk or floating around. All this while the quill kept writing things down, and even crossing out lines at times.
It is unfortunate there’s no more recent records, Starswirl thought as he glanced at the parchment.
It may not even be enough for the princesses. But this will do for the time being. It will be up to them to decide.
The magic surrounding the quill dissipated, and it fell onto the desk. The books resting on it then began to glow and lift off. They, and the ones already in the air, all flew back into the shelves, but no more books came from them. And then the parchment ended up rising as well, but it remained near Starswirl.
And then, with a brief flash of light, the unicorn disappeared from the room.
Beach
The late afternoon sky was above them, but that was of little concern. The humans were now mostly back on the beach, at their camp. A few had remained in the ship, but even then, it was only on the deck, rather than remaining hiding inside. The pegasi had set up their own camp not far but still apart, to the north of the humans. Activity bustled in both, but it was higher with the humans.
A small group of men sat at the edge of camp that faced the pegasi. They were in a semi-circle, not giving their backs to the equines.
“I still can’t believe it,” one man was saying.
“Me neither,” another said.
“Flying ponies... sounds like something out of a dream or fairy tale.”
“And yet, it is real,” a third added.
The men briefly glanced at the other camp.
“I am impressed by the captain,” the second man continued.
“He kept his composure while we panicked.”
The men felt uncomfortable at being reminded of that.
“W-Well… I am sure he was as much shocked as us,” a fourth quickly said.
“I would not doubt it,” the first man said.
“He just has more professionalism due to his years as a soldier!”
Murmurs of agreement followed.
“Speaking of the captain,” the third man said, glancing back at their own camp.
“Where is he?”
“I think they’re having another meeting inside the ship,” a fifth man answered.
“Again? Well, that shouldn’t surprise us,” the first man observed.
“Hopefully they do not take long,” the second man said.
“And we find out what is our next orders.”
“I would rather have them be to head back,” the last man of the group said.
“Can’t say I want to know what else is out there, other than flying horses. Thank God those creatures weren’t hostile!”
In comparison, the pegasi camp had a more relaxed atmosphere, and its occupants kept to their own business. Few were paying attention to the humans, except for some like Keen Eyes, who had been finally ordered to descend from his cloud. He shot occasional glances in the direction of their camp from where he sat.
“Nothing new to report?”
Keen Eyes glanced back to face who had asked him. It was Wing Shield.
“No sir. Most still pay attention to what we do, but nothing else. Related to us, that is,” Keen Eyes answered.
Wing Shield sat next to him.
“Tell me, Keen Eyes. What do you think of these creatures?” He asked.
Keen Eyes briefly glanced once more to the other camp.
“Well, they don’t seem that bad,” he said.
“A little jumpy, perhaps.”
Wing Shield gave a small smile.
“Ah, Keen Eyes, so quick to judge. Of course, I cannot deny our guests had a very unusual way to greet us.”
“Well, at least that one shook hooves with you.” Keen Eyes pointed out.
“Correct. Despite not knowing each other’s language, it did not stop us from trying to greet each other.”
“So, is that it, sir? We don’t have to worry of their presence here?”
“Who knows, Keen Eyes. We still have to find out the purpose of their arrival.”
Whing Shield stood up.
“In any case,” he continued, “it may not take long before Thunderbolt and Scud reach the border, and word can reach the princesses.”
Especially if Scud convinces Thunderbolt to another race, Keen Eyes mentally added.
“I am confident the princesses will see us through this without a problem,” Wing Shield finished.
“But sir, can they? Defeating Discord was one thing, but this is different.”
“They have Starswirl,” Wing Shield simply said, before departing.
“Well, I can’t argue against that,” Keen Eyes went back to glancing at the other camp.
March 18, 1825AD Castle of the Two Sisters, South Equestria
A new day dawned across Equestria. For the castle, still under construction, that meant another day for the ponies to keep working on it to finish the job. They were already awake as the sun began to peek over the eastern horizon, as the moon made its way down to the western one. If anypony bothered to look up to one of the finished balconies overlooking the north, they would see the two alicorn sisters at work. Side by side yet facing opposite directions, horns aglow, they would concentrate on the sun and moon in the sky, directing them in one more shift of positions across the sky as their gazes followed. The moment the moon was gone beyond the west horizon and the sun had risen enough, their horns ceased to glow, and the sisters made their way back inside.
The ponies on the ground, for their part, continued their morning preparations. Few had stopped to watch. It was a sight they had watched in amazement at first, but had become used to for the past few weeks. What they were still not used to, however, was in regards to the creature that was waking up nearby. At first glance, it could’ve been mistaken for a particularly large red maned lion. But as it rose to its feet, and stretches its limbs, it was hard to ignore the bat wings and scorpion tail. Local ponies had come to call creatures, such as it, as “Manticores”. They were one reason nopony had dared to approach the forests south of Equestria, where said creatures made their home, among others equally deemed dangerous. The fact the castle wasn’t that far from the forest’s edge was not lost on them. Thankfully, the creatures of the forest rarely, if at all, wandered out.
And then this manticore stood out, literally. The ponies were wary to approach it, even if sometimes it was necessary. Hard as some still found it to believe, the manticore too was helping in the construction of the castle. They knew it had the trust of the new princesses, but the ponies themselves held a different opinion. For its part the manticore, after stretching, let out a half-yawn half-roar, and then took off, heading towards the forest. Ponies knew what that meant, it was going to hunt its breakfast. To the shudder of a few.
Ponies weren’t ignorant to the concept of carnivores. Some had such animals as pets, like cats, for example. But one thing was an animal they knew eating a pony wasn’t first thing on their mind when hungry… and another was one they knew they would. They had to find out the hard way when too many a close call in the forest put an effective stop to exploration, long ago. As such, the idea of having one of the latter around, for quite the undetermined period, it was an uncomfortable subject that was hard to ignore. On the other hand, since construction begun no major incidents had happened, so the situation was tolerated, if to a degree.
But once the manticore was out of their sight, the atmosphere at the camp relaxed, even if it was a brief respite, as ponies went on to tend to their own breakfasts, and finish preparations for the day itself.
After having moved the sun and moon, the sisters had retreated from the balcony back inside the castle. The balcony was connected to the inside with another balcony, this one overlooking the castle’s entrance hall. While structurally finished, it was still devoid of any furnishing. It had doorways to the sides, and a staircase at the back, with more doorways at the three sides of the upper level. The balcony itself had doorways on its sides, but no stairs connecting it with the ground floor. But to the alicorns, there was no need to go the long way around, for they simply unfolded and flapped their wings, flying down.
No sooner than their hooves touched the floor, did a flash of bright light materialized before them. It was only brief, but they still shielded their eyes with a wing on reflex. And no sooner that it dissipated…
“Good job as always, your highnesses,” a voice was heard.
The sisters removed their wings from obstructing their vision, to reveal the recent arrival was none other than Starswirl.
“Given a few more weeks’ time at this rate, and I would dare say you would master already moving the sun and moon on your own,” he continued, a small smile could be seen.
“Ah, Lord Starswirl,” one of the sisters said before they both briefly vowed.
Starswirl chuckled.
“Oh, Celestia, Luna,” he said as the sisters rose back.
“Soon, almost every single pony in Equestria will be the ones vowing to you two,” he continued. “As some already do. And yes, that includes me.”
“But, Lord Starswirl,” the one named Celestia protested.
“Our coronation is still days away, we are not officially princesses until then.”
“And it is precisely because of that,” Starswirl said, “that you have the time to adjust. And yet even at this point it seems there has been little progress. New princesses or not, defeating Discord is no small feat. Something not even I was able to accomplish.”
“That was only because of the Elements of Harmony,” the sister named Luna spoke now.
“Surely, Lord Starswirl, if you had been the one to find them…” but her words died down as the unicorn briefly raised a hoof.
“It is true they are powerful artifacts,” Starswirl stated, a more serious expression taken hold.
“And no doubt if it had not been you two, it could have been anypony else. But it is also not something anypony could have accomplished. You braved those dangerous forests. You confronted the beasts that dwell within, even befriended one of them. You found that crystal tree. You used the elements to stop Discord.”
He paused as he then turned back, head glancing upwards.
“And I did not,” he continued.
“Keeping the capital safe was an accomplishment, but I was not outright dealing with the problem, just preventing it from spreading to a specific area. And even if I had, the legends stated not everypony could use their power. For all the magic and I power I wield, there are things outside my grasp. And as we now know, the elements are considered such.”
He faced back the sisters, who had lowered their heads in slight shame.
“It is admirable to remain humble. Other ponies in your position would have already failed. But also, take pride in what you have accomplished, and what you have become. And take this time to prepare. You have done well so far, but if you are not willing to fully commit, then I cannot prepare you to be fully ready for the world you are about to enter.”
The sisters didn’t dare to look back at him, but after a while of not hearing him continue, they finally did. He was smiling again.
“But, as you mentioned earlier, there are still days away from your coronation,” he now stated in a more relaxed matter.
“We still have time, and not everything has to be learnt in that moment. Not all will wait, however.”
“We understand, Lord Starswirl,” Celestia replied.
“Good. Now, there is something I must attend to, before we start. Your highnesses,” he bowed slightly, before his horn briefly glowed, and disappearing in a flash of light.
The sisters only stared at the spot the unicorn used to be, before glancing at each other, and sigh.
“Luna, I am afraid we cannot avoid this any longer,” Celestia said.
“You don’t think it is too late to decline, now, can we?” Luna asked.
Celestia turned the stare at her. Luna simply chuckled.
“Luna! This is a serious matter,” Celestia sighed.
“As Lord Starswirl said, we need to take this more seriously. That sort of attitude is one we should drop.”
“Oh, relax, sister,” Luna dismissively waved a hoof.
“I’m sure we will be ready once the coronation happens.”
With that attitude, maybe you won’t, Celestia thought, but nodded nonetheless.
Western Border of Equestria
In the boundaries of Equestria lied many small settlements. They weren’t actual villages, only composed of few buildings. They were the kingdom’s many border outposts, serving to stand watch over what may approach. And for one in the western border, it had become just that.
In the middle of last night, the watchpony had reported of two figures approaching. Most of the ponies stationed were asleep, with only the night shift awake. But waking the rest up was not needed, but the approaching figures had been fellow pegasi. Thunderbolt and Scud.
No sooner they had arrived, the ponies of the night shift had already gathered before their landing area.
“You’re from Wing Shield’s group, are you not?” One of them had asked.
“Yes, we are,” Thunderbolt said between pants.
“We are here to report, we found travelers from across the sea.”
The ponies briefly murmured between themselves.
“This must be delivered, as soon as possible,” Scud added, he too catching his breath.
“Very well, just inform us the main details.”
Once that had been done, a pegasi was sent flying east at that very moment despite the late hour, and Thunderbolt and Scud were guided to one of the buildings so they could sleep the remainder of the night. And now, the following day, activity at the outpost was bustling despite the early hours. For the night shift were now spreading word to the now waking ponies of the next shift. And despite the sun only having rose not long ago, Thunderbolt was already waking up.
He groaned as he rose his head from the pillow and stretched. The sleeping quarters were mostly vacant, with only he and Scud present. The latter was still asleep, and despite having his back to Thunderbolt, he could still hear some light snoring. Memories of last night came back to Thunderbolt. They were too tired and more focused on their mission, focusing on who had won the race had taken a back-seat. And then soon afterwards were being guided to the beds. But they did notice. There just wasn’t time to comment about it.
I bet once he wakes up and remembers, I won’t hear the end of it, Thunderbolt thought as he made his way outside, shaking his head. At least Scud usually wakes up late.
He knew it was going to be, either way, as Scud’s rambling about the supposed score had revealed to him. The score would either tie, in which case he’ll pester him about the tie breaker, or he could increase his lead, and Scud will be adamant in catching up. But that was concern for later in the day. For now, he will enjoy the time before that happened.
“Ah, good morning,” Thunderbolt heard a voice as soon he stepped outside. A small glance to his left revealed an earth pony, right by the building’s entrance.
“Good morning,” he greeted back.
“Thunderbolt, was it?”
The pegasus nodded.
“We expect for the message to be delivered at any moment now,” the earth pony continued.
“Was it taken straight to the King?” Thunderbolt asked.
“Absolutely, the highest priority,” the pony replied.
“He had orders to ensure the message is then brought to the princesses, but with some luck, Starswirl may be there to hear it, saving up time.”
Thunderbolt nodded.
“That’s good to hear,” he simply said before trotting away.
“There’re still serving breakfast in the mess hall, the big building to the right!” The pony called out.
“You might still find something!”
Thunderbolt didn’t shout back to indicate he heard, but he did shift his direction towards the mess hall, and perhaps that was good enough. The outpost wasn’t that big, so he didn’t have to traverse long.
This better not take long, he thought on the way, and we can be heading back as soon as possible.
Their orders hadn’t been anything beyond heading back and report. He knew he would have to wait now for further orders, and he wasn’t fond of that.
Thundershock, whatever situation you may be now, you better be safe.
“Thunderbolt!”
His ears twitched, at the sudden shout. He turned back to see Scud, barely off the ground, flying towards him.
Oh great, he woke up, Thunderbolt could almost groan. He barely noticed the flash of light behind his view.
“Don’t think you can sneak away from me!” Scud continued.
“I quite remember last night, and…!”
But whatever else he had to say it didn’t came, for he had come to an abrupt stop, hovering in place with a surprised face. Thunderbolt was left slightly confused at this.
“Why did you…?” But a hoof raised as a pointer cut off Thunderbolt’s question, who proceeded to turn back.
Only to find none other than Starswirl the Bearded before him.
“Well, hello,” the unicorn said with a smile.
“I take it you have something important to report?”
“So, what is your opinion on this?” Guerrero asked.
The midday sun shone over the two camps, and the members of both were simply mingling about, still mostly the confines of their own, although some of the humans were on their ship. Some of the humans had made little ventures to explore the south and east, to inspect the area, but not dared to head across the pegasi camp to the north. Guerrero had called forth for another meeting, taking place in the captain’s quarters of the ship, as usual. A few papers laid on the desk, of which the other participants looked at them as suggested.
“These ponies do not cease to amaze me,” Lemaur stated.
“This whole morning had been a surprise after another, not unlike yesterday,” Álvarez said.
“By the point they started to write with their mouths, it now seemed minor.”
“Not seemed, it was the least significant thing,” Austin corrected.
The morning had seemingly started ordinarily, as much it could be after yesterday. Guerrero had decided last night; first order of business was try to overcome the language barrier. Though that would wait for until after breakfast, and it was that time when things had become once more extraordinary for them. They had spotted a couple of the pegasi fly up high, it caught the attention of many. The sky was partially cloudy, so the pegasi were quickly out of view. They would’ve stopped paying attention if it wasn’t that not too soon after one of the clouds had started to descend. Imagine their surprise when they saw it was the pegasi the ones pushing it down with their front hooves, once it had descended low enough to see above it.
It was a more subdued reaction compared to yesterday’s, with no one running back to the ship in panic. On the contrary, now everyone was intent in paying attention all the way through. The pegasi took note of this, but carried on with their own business. The cloud was brought down close to the ground. About a man and a half’s worth of height. The other pegasi, meanwhile, had placed various wooden buckets on the ground below the cloud was brought down into. The pegasi, once done pushing it down, assumed a standing position on top of the cloud, giving the humans’ amazement more fuel. They then proceeded to raise their front hooves, and stomped the cloud.
To the ever-increasing amazement of the humans, water began to pour down from the cloud, to the buckets below.
“The least indeed!” Lemaur added.
“Just imagine what would the ability to control clouds could mean. And who knows what else.”
“Certainly, a lot, I would say,” Austin said.
“Exactly,” Lemaur continued. “But so little we can find out right now, unable to communicate with them, and when we have yet to see the kind of civilization they have.”
“That may be an interesting subject,” Álvarez said.
“But we must not forget we should prioritize heading back.”
“Which brings to our next order of business,” Guerrero said.
“At this point, I would not deem to consider this place as dangerous. Those ponies out there have shown to not be hostile, or at least, not without provocation. They have not taken our arrival as intruding in their lands, and are open to dialogue. As best it could be done for the time being.”
“Hopefully we aren’t making a mistake there,” Álvarez said.
“After what they did this morning?” Lemaur said.
Wing Shield sat at the edge of camp, looking over at the human camp. He could see a few of the creatures around a barrel. They were holding cups with their limbs, and one leaned in and placed the limb holding the cup into the barrel. It was hard to tell, but he could tell from how much the limb sunk in, the barrel was more empty than full. The limb was bought back out, and then another introduced his. They took turns, until they all had filled their cups, with what Wing Shield presumed was water.
Although, he could see they weren’t particularly enjoying their drinks. He shook his head. He could probably hazard a guess. He rose and walked back to his camp, heading towards the nearest group of pegasi. They were only about four of them.
“Ah, captain,” one of them noticed his approached, and saluted. The others did the same in response.
“At ease,” Wing Shield said.
“I have a task for you. I want you to bring back down a cloud, and release its water.”
The pegasi briefly looked at each other.
“But, captain, we don’t need to restock our water provisions,” one of them said.
“I am aware. The water is not for us, rather, for our guests here,” Wing Shield pointed a hoof towards the other camp.
“Um, whatever for, sir?” Another asked.
“After the events of yesterday, I am no longer so sure these creatures came here seeking Equestria. Regardless of reason, they are far from their home, in a foreign land; and until we receive word back on further orders, we are the only ones nearby. And look at them.”
He glanced back to the other camp, briefly.
“No wings, no magic displayed so far. And in these wild lands with no control over the weather, I ignore how long they traveled but I wouldn’t be surprised if their water reserves are already low.”
“Well, we know the great river flows not that far north from here,” the first pegasus shrugged.
“We can direct them to it if they really need the water.”
“We could do that, but I think a more direct approach may be best. A gesture of goodwill,” Wing Shield explained.
“Is that really necessary, sir?”
“No, but if this is the first of many further contacts between our countries, leaving a good impression on them won’t hurt in the long run.”
“Well, if you say so, captain,” the third Pegasus shook his head.
“Though I don’t think we really need to worry for that sort of thing.”
He nevertheless took position to fly, followed by his comrades, and they took off.
They still have much to learn, Wing Shield thought as he watched them rise. We all do.
The job half done, Wing Shield immediately went to work on the rest.
“They did help replenish our water supplies, even if we could not exactly ask them to,” Lemaur pointed out.
“And not a moment too soon, I would say,” Austin added.
“The water was already getting quite stale. It was unfortunate it didn’t rain much.”
“After such an action, it helps me think any ulterior motive they may have, is not to our detriment,” Guerrero said.
“But I concede Álvarez’s point. After what we have seen, we must report back as soon as possible. It is another two weeks at best the journey back, in addition to any time we remain here.”
“How long?” Lemaur asked.
“Not less than a week, at the most,” Guerrero answered.
“In any case, as long we remain here, we should not forget about the creatures outside. We should prioritize learning the most we can about their language. They are our only lead to these lands, in case we make a return trip.”
“Which brings us back to the papers, I presume?” Álvarez inquired.
“Precisely,” Lemaur placed a finger over the words written on one of them.
“Despite initial appearances, of which the proof otherwise lies before us, they have a writing system, using their mouths to hold the quill. At first, it carries some degree of sense because of their hooves, and yet…”
He trailed off, but there was no need to continue.
“Yes, I was almost expecting them to use their hooves,” Austin said.
“I have to admit, wanting to know how exactly that works is a strong consideration against leaving right away,” Álvarez said.
“Maybe we can ask them, once we can grasp their language enough,” Guerrero said.
“Or they to ours. We each made copies of the papers.”
Western Equestria
“… so, as it is, we don’t know how their meeting might be going,” Thunderbolt finished.
He spared a brief glance to Scud, who was devouring a loaf of bread. He barely suppressed rolling his eyes.
The three ponies had moved into the mess hall of the outpost, and sat before one of the tables, where Thunderbolt and Scud had begun to report to Starswirl. Or at least, Thunderbolt mostly did, for Scud had focused more on eating than explaining.
“Captain Wing Shield made a wise choice to send word right away,” Starswirl said.
Unlike the pegasi who sat down at the same side, the unicorn sat across them. Not with food before him but a simple cup of warm tea, occasionally grabbing it with his magic to drink. If he thought anything about the scene before him, Thunderbolt couldn’t tell.
“Though perhaps he could have waited until he had gathered more information,” Starswirl continued.
“Surely there is nothing to worry about, Lord Starswirl?” Thunderbolt asked.
“Perhaps; it is too early to tell. We might not receive further word until hours later if something happened.”
“You worry too much, Thunderbolt,” Scud finally said, mouth still stuffed with bread, crumbs flying.
Thunderbolt shook his head.
“Tables manners aside, you should heed his advice,” Starswirl chuckled, taking a sip from his cup.
“See? Lord Starswirl agrees!” Another mouthful comment from Scud.
“Right now,” Starswirl continued, unfazed, “worrying will not help you.”
“Not when you are no position to do something about it.”
I could fly back right now, Thunderbolt thought.
“It is mostly about my brother, sir,” he replied.
“I had to leave him behind.”
“Ah, a family matter, I see,” Starswirl said.
“But surely both of you knew joining the military would carry risks, as peaceful our realm is, Discord notwithstanding. If it eases your mind, once I had heard your report I am to discuss the matter with the King. You may not have to wait here for long,” he took one last sip from his cup, now empty, before rising from his seat and walked towards the exit.
Thunderbolt watched the unicorn leave, before gazing back to the table and sighing.
“You’re going to finish that?” Scud, mouth finally devoid of food, suddenly asked pointing at Thunderbolt’s half-finished food.
Thunderbolt rolled his eyes before pushing it over. He didn’t have much hunger in the first place, anyway.
Central Equestria
Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. A city on the side of a mountain, it was one of Equestria’s first settlements. The most prominent building was, naturally, the royal castle overlooking the rest of the city. And it was within its halls that, sitting on his throne and flanked by two guards, was the King.
King Gold Ingot, direct descendant of Founder Princess Platinum herself, and reinstated as King after Discord was dealt with. The last few months had been a busy and almost hectic matter, shaping the realm back to its hooves. But things are never that easy, as the sudden flash of light signified. Despite so, none of the three there to witness it even flinched.
“Your majesty,” Starswirl bowed, for he was the one that had teleported in.
“Ah, Starswirl,” Gold Ingot smiled at the sight of the fellow unicorn.
“What news about our potential visitors?”
“Unfortunately, there is not much to tell,” Starswirl rose.
“Captain Wing Shield opted to send word already before actually meeting them face to face.”
The King’s smile faltered.
“That is unfortunate, the Council will not be pleased hearing their debates of all morning were for naught.”
“And yet we know they will still go through with it,” Starswirl said.
“Assuming, of course, they actually have by now.”
A brief silence followed, before both suddenly chuckled.
“Yes, they can be a stubborn lot,” Gold Ingot said, before rising from his throne.
“Well, I am not going to wait for them if so.”
He began to walk towards the doors of the room, with the two guards following him.
“Oh, have you come to a decision yourself, your majesty?” Starswirl asked when the King was now passing next to him.
“I was not just sitting on my throne waiting for your return, you know,” Gold Ingot replied.
“The Council may not be happy,” Starswirl began to walk as well, just shortly behind Gold Ingot, to the side.
“Let them complain, but they will agree in the end,” was all the King answered.
Nacogdoches, Coahuila & Texas
The sun had yet to rise across the sea, but the light of dawn was already there, and the town of Nacogdoches was already stirring. In a corner of the central plaza lied a stone house, and at close inspection one could see light coming from the second floor. It came from candlelight, as it illuminated a room currently housing a few dozen people.
They made small talk between each other, as they waited. There were many chairs in the room, but a few of the men had preferred to remain standing. Some had arrived for the better part of an hour ago, and as more people came in, so did the anticipation. Finally, one more person enters the room.
“Gentlemen!”
He calls out firm and loud. The small talk dies quick but gradually, as they notice. The few standing men finally sit down in the remaining chairs. The man who spoke glances around the room.
“It’s good to see many decided to come,” he said.
“Why did it had to be at such early hour?” One of the men asked.
“I had a half a mind in remaining in bed.”
“It gives us some more time of privacy,” the first man answered.
“Not that what we’ll be talking shortly is crucial that remains secret. Not for now, at least.”
“So what then,” a different man spoke, “could be so important?”
“I’ll get to that in a moment, just let me talk, then you can all make your questions,” the first man said.
“As you all are quite aware, a few months ago America disappeared…”
The sun was only just peaking over the Mexican capital. The city was bustling with activity already, but what was already setting it apart from past days was the group of men on horseback approaching the city. True to his previous message, General Echávarri and his men were arriving to the capital on schedule, all the way from Acapulco. They still had distance to cover before reaching the outskirts, but at the speed of the horses’ gallop, it would not take more than an hour, barring an unforeseen difficulty. They had woken when it was still dark, but Echávarri knew there was such a thing as arriving too early. But by the time they would reach the President, he was bound to be already awake, and perhaps even already waiting for them.
The city soon came within sight.
Canterlot, Central Equestria
Gold Ingot and Starswirl, alongside the former’s guards, were almost at the room that housed the Council, advancing through the preceding hallway. The doors awaited at the opposite end, flanked by two guards. And yet, despite still advancing towards the doors, they could hear the voices coming from within.
“They cannot possibly be too many! We do not need the entire army there!”
“It is a risk to our reputation! Is that what we want for a first impression!?”
“We do not know yet how Captain Wing Shield is proceeding! He just sent word back, we should wait to hear the full report!”
The King stopped, allowing Starswirl to close the distance between them, stopping once they were side by side. The guards remained a bit behind them both.
“Seems they are still in debate,” Starswirl said, as the voices kept going.
“So it is,” the King began.
“It is almost a shame, then.”
“Oh, and what makes you say that, your majesty?” Starswirl could almost not need to ask, but sometimes, it humored him hearing it anyway.
“The time they spent bickering will not be fully come undone once I announce my decision,” Gold Ingot, likewise, found humor much the same in replying.
They stood there for a few moments more, listening to the loud conversation.
“I think it is time we should let their throats rest, don’t you agree, your majesty?” Starswirl asked, a small smirk on his face.
“I agree,” Gold Ingot returned a smirk, but both were brief, as they soon returned to their previous neutral expressions.
They all resumed their walk, closing the remaining distance. The guards at the doors bowed, before one of the them opened a door with his magic. It opened to a big room, with a high ceiling like the throne room, but this one housed a large table running across it. It contained several seats, almost all which were currently occupied by the bickering ponies, spread out uniformly around. The table itself was mostly barren, but did contained a few glass pitchers filled with water, and a cup per seat. There were guards present on the room’s side of the doors, two as well. They bowed as well as the entourage of four crossed the doorway, the door closing behind them. All this did not go unnoticed by the seated individuals, which finally brought pause to their arguments.
“Your majesty!”
They all bowed. Gold Ingot made his way to the seat at the closest end of the table, which was unoccupied, and sat. Starswirl for his part, took the also unoccupied seat that was to the right from Gold Ingot’s perspective, the first of the side seats. The King’s two guards positioned themselves behind his seat, to the sides.
“Everypony,” Gold Ingot began, glancing around the table.
“As I was coming here it came to my attention the heated discussion that was happening a moment ago.”
The ponies glanced at each other, and while a few did falter into a brief worried expression, most kept their composure.
“Unfortunately, I cannot say I liked what I was hearing.”
The council kept their silence.
“This is not a light decision to make, I will admit. And I know you are hopeful that Captain Wing Shield has sent us information on the identity and intents of our potential visitors.”
He made a pause, before grabbing one of the pitchers with his magic, and began to pour water to his designated cup.
“But the truth on the matter is that we are still in the dark about them.”
And that did it, the whole room’s silence was broken.
“Wing Shield sent us nothing!?”
“This is of no help!”
“We should proceed anyway with the plan!”
“That is still a bad idea!”
The council had begun to bicker with each other once more, as Gold Ingot merely drank from his cup. Starswirl only stared at the scene unfolding before him.
“You were right, your majesty,” he said, speaking louder than usual to be heard over the mass of voices.
“None pleased whatsoever.”
“Starswirl, if you will,” Gold Ingot said, at an equally raised volume.
“At once, your majesty,” Starswirl lit up his horn, and shortly after the same glow appeared in Gold Ingot’s throat. The guards behind him barely had time to cover their ears with their hooves.
“Silence!”
The augmented volume, thanks to Starswirl’s magic, was enough to quiet once more the room. As almost everypony present flinched at the sudden outburst, they all turned back to face their king. The glow on his throat vanished, as did the one in Starswirl’s horn.
“Thank you, Starswirl,” Gold Ingot said before glancing back to the rest of the room.
“Yes, it is unfortunate Captain Wing Shield acted the way he did,” he continued.
“Perhaps we may soon be hearing more news, but I think we should act now.”
“Your majesty,” one of them was finally addressing Gold Ingot.
“Did you not previously stated you disliked our current discussion?”
“That is correct,” Gold Ingot nodded.
“We must not forget the values from which our realm was born.”
On cue, Starswirl used his magic once more, from which a cone of light shot out from his horn. He moved his head so the light now shone on a big tapestry that hung on one of the walls. It depicted six ponies, with three huddled together in the center, and the other three forming a semi-circle below them. Just above the former three was a fiery heart, and all around the edges of the tapestry depicted ghostly equines. It was a depiction of the Hearth’s Warming.
“Equestria came to be when we united in friendship, and while we never had the chance to, now the opportunity has come where we can show it to the rest of the world. Starting with our first contact with a fellow realm.”
At this the light dissipated, as Starswirl turned back to face the council.
“Quite well stated, your majesty,” he said.
“But, your majesty,” a pony spoke up.
“We still need to think on our safety. Discord was a foreigner to these lands. What if they too come with malign intentions? Or expect compensation for whatever havoc spilled out during Discord’s reign?”
Other ponies murmured in agreement. He had a point. Some of the things Discord did, like moving the sun and moon however he pleased, that was something the rest of the world could hardly ignore. And he had usurped the title of ruler of Equestria, which now meant the kingdom was now involved to a degree.
“I am sure we can clear any misunderstanding that could arise,” Gold Ingot replied.
“And it is for that reason that I have decided that we should not only meet up with them, but also invite them into Equestria proper.”
The silence was only brief.
“What!?”
Mexico City, Federal District
“Is that all?”
After arriving to the capital, Echávarri made it directly to the National Palace. President Victoria was, indeed, waiting for his arrival. Echávarri was then able to deliver his report to not just President Victoria, but also to Vice President Nicolás Bravo, who was present as well.
“Yes, Mr. President,” Echávarri replied.
“And since by that point we had veer so much off the original course, it was decided to head back immediately.”
“A wise decision,” the vice president said, glancing to Victoria.
“Though personally, I would think we already had enough evidence.”
“It is true, considering the reports that have arrived so far,” the president said, returning the gaze.
“But I think that after listening to the general’s findings, it seals any doubt that still lingered. Any remaining report from the north might no longer be needed, at least for that subject.”
“Should we inform Congress right away?” Bravo asked.
“That would be best,” Victoria replied.
“Besides, there are a few things to address in light of the new information.”
He then turned back to face Echávarri.
“General, I would like for you and your men to accompany us. Some of the congress members may require more than just my word.”
“Understood, Mr. President,” Echávarri said.
The three men then proceeded to leave the building.
Not far from the National Palace lied the St. Peter & St. Paul Church. Ever since the Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish realms in the mid eighteenth century, the church, and the college with the same name next to it, were left mostly abandoned with almost all the items housed within taken elsewhere. Despite their return in the early nineteenth century, only restoration work was done to the buildings. It wasn’t until the year eighteen twenty-two when the church saw use again, being chosen to house the congress of the nascent nation, and remained so when the failed empire gave way to the federal republic. It was where the 1824 Constitution was drafted and ratified, and Guadalupe Victoria was chosen as the first president of the country, mere weeks before the rest of the world vanished. But such action did not stop the First Constitutional Congress from starting suit at the beginning of the current year, but their workload had to shift accordingly because of it.
Echavárri and his men, alongside Victoria and Bravo, had now arrived in front of the church. They crossed under the archway that served as the entrance gate into the small courtyard that then led into the buildings. They all dismounted from their horses, and gathered by the main entrance of the church.
“There is no need for all of you to enter, wait here,” Echávarri was saying to his men.
Soon, they were inside.
Canterlot, Central Equestria
Gold Ingot waited, a front knee resting on one of the armchairs, chin resting over a hoof. The council members were once more arguing with each other. But enough was enough, so he simply glanced towards Starswirl, who nodded and his horn began to glow again. However, unlike the last time, somepony happened to see it, and began to franticly wave and point. He didn’t go unnoticed, and soon the room quickly fell into silence once more. Seeing there was no need to cast the spell again, Starswirl cancelled its casting right away.
The attention back to him, Gold Ingot straightened back out on his seat.
“Everypony, I know many of you are not sure of this decision,” he began.
“It is true, they might come with less than friendly intentions. But if we stay true to what Equestria represents, and they are witness to it, it might compel them to respond in kind. I should say we must give friendship a chance.”
“And if they don’t want to?” A pony spoke up.
“Then we will answer accordingly,” the king replied.
“Please do not misunderstand my proposal to mean we will not be cautious about it.”
The worried expressions on most of the council began to relax. Gold Ingot could almost smile. The more comfortable they were to the idea, the more they would accept it. Though others seemed to need some more convincing.
“I know it is a risk,” he decided to immediately continue.
“We have not done this before. Even before Discord, before the unification, at best there are only records of isolated cases. We ponies have been mostly on our own. But now that will change. If not them, others will come, and we need to start somewhere. We will learn from the experience, good or bad. But we need to act.”
Silence fell once more upon the room. Barely noticed, one pony had a thoughtful look, lightly tapping his chin with a hoof. He finally stopped, nodded to himself, and rose from his seat.
“Your majesty, I understand what you say,” he said, as he began to walk to the end of the table.
“Even if I cannot say I fully support it. I know many here would agree with me. But, at the same time, you have a point that otherwise it would be going against the very values that founded our society.”
He finally reached the end of the table.
“So, if you think it is our best course to follow, I am willing to give your suggestion a chance.”
And then gave a small bow. The effect was almost immediate. Talk once more took over the room, with the atmosphere was different. Only a few remained silent. The standing pony returned to his seat.
“So quick to comply when they can shift all responsibility of what happens to others,” Gold Ingot turned to face Starswirl.
“And are you worried about it, your majesty?” Starswirl talked back.
“A little,” Gold Ingot faced back the council, still mostly talking between themselves.
“But I still trust it will not come to that.”
“I take it you had also thought about how to actually proceed with this?”
“As a matter of fact, I have,” the King replied.
“And that involves…”
Castle of the Two Sisters, South Equestria
“Us!?”
Celestia and Luna could only stare in shock.
“Yes, it is as I say,” Starswirl said.
“The King has chosen you two to meet up with our guests.”
Celestia was pacing back and forth, an exasperated expression on her face. Luna sat nearby, following her sister’s movements with her head. Starswirl merely stood before Celestia’s back-and-forth path. Finally, Celestia stopped her pacing.
“Isn’t this so soon, Lord Starswirl?” She asked.
“I must admit I was also a bit surprised at the King’s decision,” the unicorn said.
“Just a bit? Wonder how that felt,” Luna said with a smile, earning a glare from Celestia.
“But his reasoning was sound,” Starswirl continued.
“He wants to greet them with what can represent Equestria best. And as the wielders of the Elements of Harmony, he thinks you are the best suited for the task.”
He then began to stroke his beard with a hoof.
“And honestly, I find myself agreeing with that.”
Both sisters just stared.
“But surely, Lord Starswirl,” Celestia spoke again.
“We are only just preparing for our new roles as princesses, does it have to include being diplomats as well?”
“Oh, it might be more important for the long run,” Starswirl replied.
“While you both are expected to make use of your new titles, they are mostly honorary, after all.”
“The King should’ve come up with a different reward,” Luna said as Celestia merely sighed.
“It couldn’t be helped, Luna,” she said.
“It was more a decision of the populace, remember?”
“Since it conflicted with those wanting for Gold Ingot to take back the throne. But at least a compromise was reached.”
“Yes yes, adopting us into the royal family,” Luna dismissively waived a hoof.
“I don’t mind the perks, but I could do without the responsibilities. We already did much for Equestria to have our reward be more work.”
Celestia sighed again.
“What? You know it’s true,” Luna said.
“In any case, we must make haste,” Starswirl said.
“We will be departing soon enough, once preparations are done back in Canterlot.”
“Wait, today!?” The sisters replied almost in unison.
“Don’t worry, your highnesses, we will have the journey to prepare ourselves. Besides, there might not need to learn much yet in the first place.”
Mexico City, Federal District
“As you know, we departed from Acapulco on the third day of the month,” Echávarri was explaining.
He was in the middle of the room as the members of Congress, from both chambers, listened. They sat in chairs placed around the walls of the room, though some stood due to lack of chairs. By the opposite end from the entrance was a desk, where before it sat Victoria and Bravo, alongside the chamber presidents, Miguel Valentín and Cayetano Ibarra.
“Our course was to sail up the coast of the Californias, before finally turning west,” he continued.
“But by the seventh the spotter announced land in sight. We changed our course, and after checking the charts, it turned out it was Socorro Island.”
“Socorro Island? So, the Revillagigedo still exist?” Valentín asked.
Murmurs and whispers began across the room, but quickly died down.
“It was our first thought, and therefore I ordered to change course. By sun-fall of the following day, we had confirmed all four islands were there.”
“That is incredible,” Valentín said.
“We had thought that only the closest islands to shore would remain, same how the land ends somewhat beyond our borders, but this new information changes everything.”
“Though keep in mind that the Revillagigedo are roughly as apart from shore as the western end of Cuba is, and we know it was gone,” Ibarra noted.
“Well, once we reached the islands, part of the crew was thinking similar,” Echávarri continued, and Victoria and Bravo exchanged looks of understanding.
“We would have to abandon our original mission, as the supplies would not allow it, but I admit I too was curious to what they were saying. So, we changed course south, and after a few days, we saw it was true. Passion Island was there.”
More murmurs followed, lasting longer to quiet down.
“We spent the night there, checking our provisions. Even if we could simply go and restock in the Californias, it was decided we would turn back instead, and report our findings,” Echávarri finished.
Victoria stood from his seat.
“Gentlemen,” he spoke.
“We had our suspicions, but what General Echávarri reports confirms it. It targeted us as a country.”
“But surely, Mr. President,” one of the deputies spoke up.
“It could still be a coincidence?”
Bravo shook his head.
“No, the evidence points otherwise. We got enough reports from the south that all agree the land ends after a certain distance from our borders.”
“Excuse me Mr. President, but,” another deputy spoke.
“Our southern border is not exactly well defined. There were areas still in dispute with the Central Americans and the British. Which, admittedly, is no longer an issue as any land left beyond what is unquestionably ours, is definitely ours now as well.”
“That is precisely why we came to this conclusion,” Bravo replied.
“What we meant by our borders was already taking our claimed areas into account.”
“And while we do not know the full situation with the northern border,” Victoria added.
“The few reports we have already received from the Americans and Russians already agree the same.”
He then gazed back on Echávarri.
“Thank you, General, you’re dismissed,” he told him.
Echávarri saluted, before turning and headed for the exit. Victoria for his part sat down again, as the murmurs began anew.
“Even if that is true Mr. President,” Ibarra said.
“That does not place us any closer to finding out how it happened, or what did it.”
“Admittedly, that is true,” Bravo commented.
“Short of an act of God, I doubt there could be any other explanation. As for why our country, that is certainly out of our understanding as well.”
“Gentlemen,” Valentín said.
“Let us not concern right now with matters we don’t have the means to answer. We must address the situation in front of us. We still have a country to lead, and we must ensure it does not descend into chaos now that we are alone.”
“Right on the mark, Mr. Valentín,” Victoria grabbed the papers before him on the desk.
“Thus, we must go over basically everything. Starting with…”
Beach
Wing Shield sat on the deck of the ship by the rail facing the beach, Thundershock and Keen Eyes at his sides. Thundershock held his spear, gazing forward; while Keen Eyes stared upwards. They weren’t alone, for the deck was busy with activity, but they were the only ponies aboard.
“How much longer must we wait?” Thundershock groaned.
“Patience, Thundershock,” Wing Shield replied.
“There must be a reason for their delay.”
“I don’t mind waiting, but did it had to be under supervision?” Keen Eyes asked, briefly glancing to his side.
Near them were three men, standing also with their backs to the rail, rifles in hand. Like Thundershock with his spear, they simply held their own weapons. They mostly kept to themselves, but often enough, each of the three would glance to them.
“It can’t be helped. This is their ship, and we are still largely unknown to them,” Wing Shield said.
“Well, we could’ve just waited on the beach,” Keen Eyes pointed out.
“Oh, stop worrying so much, Keen Eyes,” Thundershock rolled his eyes.
Perhaps a change of topic is in order, Wing Shield thought.
“This is a fine-looking vessel,” Wing Shield said after a moment of silence, gazing around.
“Do you think they have more of them, captain?” Keen Eyes asked, briefly gazing to him before resuming watching upwards.
“It is possible, but so long we are unable to ask them, we don’t know,” was the reply.
“Well, that is quite reassuring,” Keen Eyes said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Thundershock chuckled.
“What, afraid they might invade Equestria or something? We could probably drive them out if it comes to that, anyway.”
Keen Eyes broke his upwards gaze again.
“Well, no, not exactly. But what if they decide to take over the beach? We would have them closer to our borders.”
“What is troubling you, Keen Eyes?” Wing Shield asked, concerned.
“I thought you had calmed down.”
“Well, uh…” his averted his gaze from them.
“Lately I have been paying closer attention to their flag.”
And he pointed upwards, to the top of the main mast. Wing Shield and Thundershock turned to gaze it.
“What of it? Seems quite normal to me,” Thundershock shrugged.
“I find interesting they placed an eagle on it,” Wing Shield said.
“It must have an important significance to them.”
“Yeah, an eagle… an eagle that seems about to kill the snake it’s holding,” Keen Eyes pointed out.
“So? Is that what’s troubling you?” Thundershock smirked.
“Can’t handle it?” He scoffed.
“It’s not so much the image itself, but rather they felt the desire to use it,” Keen Eyes replied.
Wing Shield placed a hoof to his chin.
“That is a good point,” he said.
“A symbol like that cannot possibly mean something peaceful. On the other hoof, symbols can easily be misinterpreted, specially without context. And personally, from what I’ve seen of them so far, I would not worry, even if it does mean something worrisome for us.”
Keen Eyes sighed.
“You’re probably right, captain. I am maybe overthinking it.”
“Well, I don’t know you, but regardless of meaning, I think it’s great,” Thundershock said.
Keen Eyes sighed again, as Wing Shield shook his head.
Mexico City, Federal District
“We cannot afford losing the port!”
“Then we can build our own.”
“And compete with ours? I hardly think so.”
“Hold it, we haven’t agreed to give our land in the first place!”
The deputies and senators were in heated discussion. At first the talks had started smoothly enough, but soon found themselves with their first big snag. The country’s new situation as an island had brought different reactions to the representatives of the landlocked states and territories. And in the case of San Luis Potosí, that meant bringing up the idea of giving the state access to the ocean.
Reactions to that varied.
“Access to the sea?” Valentín looked over to the senator of San Luis Potosí.
“Yes, it was a matter the governor thought about for weeks,” the senator said.
“He thinks that among the landlocked states ours is in best position to afford having a direct path to the sea, now that it is going to become a more important asset for the country.”
“And I take it you want to have this access to the sea by taking land from our state?” Another man spoke up, the senator of Veracruz.
All eyes were now upon both men.
“Gentlemen, I’m sure we can reach an agreement on this,” Valentín spoke.
“Though in the end, we need to confirm with the governor, after all.”
At this, he nodded in direction of Victoria.
“Just what is the extent of land the governor wants?” The president asked.
“Not much, just the land north of the Pánuco River,” was the reply.
Victoria grabbed a map from the desk.
“That does sound reasonable,” Bravo noted, also looking at the map.
“Although, does not the river stops crossing through the state by the time it reaches the ocean?”
“Which brings us to the boldest part of the request,” the senator said.
“The governor is willing to negotiate the acquisition of the port of Tampico and surrounding lands.”
Silence reigned on the hall. Shortly afterwards, a man stood from his seat. It was the senator of Tamaulipas.
“Tampico? And why would we give up the port? What could we possibly gain in exchange to make up for it?”
Many did not fail to notice the tone of slight annoyance on the man.
And thus, it didn’t take long before the representatives, including the deputies, of all three states had begun to argue with each other. As this unfolded, a few others huddled together, engaging in conversation instead.
“I do hope this doesn’t escalate,” Ibarra said, watching the argument unfold.
“Idelfonso certainly thought this out well,” Victoria said.
“Even if it meant asking for Tampico. In any case, Governor Enrique needs to be informed of this, before we can continue.”
“Speaking of potential territorial changes, what word has come from the Soconusco?” Valentín asked.
Bravo began to search through the papers.
“It was here somewhere… ah, here,” he finally took out one, and handed it over to Victoria.
Victoria glanced at it, before passing it to Valentín.
“It might not be any better than our current problem,” he explained.
“They accept to rejoin the country, if only due to the circumstances, but also request to become their own state, not to rejoin Chiapas.”
“I could see how that may be a problem,” Ibarra glanced where the representatives of the mentioned state sat. Perhaps fortunately, they weren’t close enough to overhear them, especially with the still on-going argument.
“We don’t know if the populace made their decision or is just a decision of the Central American authorities,” Bravo said.
“But once we investigate on the matter…”
“…we will post troops on the border if that’s what it takes!”
But the sudden outburst made them glance back to the argument. The men had stood from their seats, and were almost before each other. Their expressions fierce. A few others had also risen, ready to interfere if needed.
“Order! Order!” Valentín began to shout, while tapping the desk with a gavel.
This, fortunately, broke off the soon-to-be confrontation.
“I think that’s our cue,” Bravo said as he and Victoria stood.
“Gentlemen,” Victoria called out.
“I understand this is not an easy matter to discuss, and neither a short one. We would have to devote another meeting for this matter alone, with everybody involved present.”
“But that would have to be for another day,” Bravo said.
“For now, we need to agree on what we can, and then go over what is still pending.”
The men all looked at each other, before facing back.
“We understand,” one of them said, before they all headed back to their places, and sat down. Victoria and Bravo sat down as well.
“Good, we shall resume the previous topic regarding the budget…”
Captain Wing Shield stood in the captain’s quarters of the ship, before the desk in the middle of the room. He wasn’t alone, but Thundershock and Keen Eyes weren’t with him. The room, or much of the interior of the ship he saw on the way for that matter, was not big to house all three. Or at least, all three in the same area. Although that was not the reason why they weren’t there with him.
They weren’t sure how long they had waited, but the sun was already descending, indicating night would soon arrive. Finally, one of the humans emerged from the inside, and stood before them. He rose an upper limb and used one of its digits to point from where he came. It was their way of communicating they wanted them inside.
“Are you sure, captain?” Keen Eyes had asked, peering at the doorway.
“The insides look cramped. It might suit them fine, but we could have some trouble moving around.”
“I agree, we would be in a disadvantage if they try something,” Thundershock said, and made a motion with his spear to point backwards, where the men watching them were not far behind.
“They would’ve done something already by now,” Wing Shield said.
Thundershock shook his head.
“Fine, but don’t think we’re not going with you, captain. We might not be able to fly inside, but we can use our hooves.”
He then waved his spear in a circular motion.
“Or my spear.”
“I’m still not so sure on this,” Keen Eyes glanced around nervously.
“But I’ll go in as well.”
And so, the three had entered the bowels of the ship. Or tried, because as soon Thundershock, being first to move, approached the doorway, the man that had indicated them to enter had moved into the doorway. He shook his head, before pointing at Wing Shield.
“Hey, what gives?” Thundershock protested.
“I think he wants the captain to enter first,” Keen Eyes suggested.
Thundershock hmphed, but moved aside. The man stood aside as Wing Shield moved in, but as he was doing so, he began to speak to the ones behind them. The ponies knew not what he said, but one of them then moved past them and began following Wing Shield.
Just as Thundershock proceeded to follow, the first human once more stood on the doorway, and the last two now stepped forward and stood at his sides.
“Now what’s the big idea!?” Thundershock said.
“Thundershock, calm yourself,” Wing Shield called from the inside.
“But captain, you’re going to be alone in there!”
“I still trust things won’t become an issue. If they feel better with only one us inside, then so be it. This is still their vessel.”
“But, captain,” Keen Eyes began.
“Now now, considering our communications issue, this may not even take long. I’ll be back quite soon enough.”
Thundershock and Keen Eyes glanced at each other.
“Fine, but we’ll be on the lookout of anything that could happen,” Thundershock said.
And thus, Wing Shield ventured deeper inside.
The humans remained blocking the doorway, one of them even closed the door.
“So, what do we do now?” Keen Eyes asked.
“With some luck, the captain might be in a room with windows,” Thundershock answered.
“We could try to fly around and check.”
“Will they allow us to?”
Thundershock glanced around. Most men on the deck tended to their businesses, only the ones guarding the door were looking at them.
“Not sure, but right now we have the advantage they can’t figure it out right away,” he said.
“They might start to suspect something, though, if we go around trying to look inside, but perhaps we could fool them.”
“How?”
Thundershock put tapped his chin with a hoof as he glanced upwards, towards the main mast and its flag.
“Maybe if we start somewhere else…” he said as he leaned forward, spread his wings, and took off.
“Huh, what do you… wait up!” Keen Eyes took flight after him.
Western Border of Equestria
Thunderbolt and Scud stood on the outskirts of the outpost, saddlebags and armor back on, staring westward.
“Ready to go?” Thunderbolt asked.
“As always,” Scud grinned, then quickly took off.
“Race ya!”
Here we go, Thunderbolt thought, following right after.
Not long after midday a messenger had flown to the outpost, looking for them. The two had listened closely.
“That’s a big decision,” Scud had commented at the messenger’s words.
“And it came straight from the King?”
“Why, yes, it surprised me a bit too,” was the reply.
“So, does that means that…?” Thunderbolt had begun, but trailed off.
“Yes, your orders are to report back to Captain Wing Shield, and inform him of the arrival of the delegation.”
“That’s good, isn’t it, Thunderbolt?” Scud had asked.
“Yes, of course,” Thundershock half-paid attention to what he said.
Good thing this didn’t took long, he had thought. Thundershock, I hope you didn’t do something reckless while I was gone.
“Still thinking on your brother?” Scud asked.
Thundershock said nothing, but it was enough for Scud.
Figures. Maybe he’ll get distracted with another race on the way back…
And thus, the two began their journey back west, following the river.
Mexico City, Federal District
“Military cuts!?”
Congress was once more nearing an uproar, most had even risen from their seat.
“Mister president, do you even realize what you say?” One of the senators spoke.
“It is true we no longer have to worry on the Spanish staging a reconquest, but we still do not know what dangers we could face now.”
Many nodded and murmured in agreement.
“Order!” Valentín tapped once more the desk with his gavel.
The room quieted down, and some returned to their seats, others following in the following minutes.
“Gentlemen, I am aware such an action carries a big risk,” Victoria began.
“But our situation already calls for big cuts on our budget. For the time being we are without trade. We were fortunate this happened after we received the British loan, but it also means we cannot ask for another. Our other alternative would be to raise taxes, but the populace is bound to object to that. And we cannot afford to increase our internal problems when facing this situation.”
The members of Congress glanced at each other, knowing well what that entailed.
“If the rest of the world disappearing had a good side, is that it already made some cuts for us,” Bravo said, glancing at a paper.
“We no longer need to pay back that loan, and neither the pension to Iturbide’s widow. And as previously mentioned, we do not have to worry of being attacked, at least for the time being. And Alamán’s project to strengthen the navy is now on hold. This among other things.”
“So then Mister President, why do you propose further cuts, and on our military?” Ibarra asked.
“As you know, the army as it is expensive to maintain. It is in fact what most of our expenses go into,” Victoria replied.
“Which is mainly why we requested the loan in the first place.”
Several people nodded.
“It was considered necessary, but now our new situation has left us with no apparent threats for the time being. So even if we had the money, I would have still suggested making changes,” he continued.
“And what does that entail?” a deputy asked.
“What it means is that soldiers will instead have a bigger focus on patrolling the roads and the towns, to safeguard them from bandits or raiders,” Victoria explained.
“But what if we do eventually encounter something hostile?” another deputy inquired.
“We will keep maintaining the coastal defenses, with the construction of a few more, including outposts on the Revillagigedo and Passion islands, and eventually we will focus on reinforcing the navy” was the president’s reply.
“Will there also be a reduction in the number of regulars?” Valentín asked.
“Not a big number, instead the plan is to reduce their salaries by a small amount, the exact number will be discussed at a later meeting.”
The president’s reply sent a few more murmurs around.
“And what will happen to those that do get removed?” a senator spoke.
“They will be assigned a different employ,” Victoria said.
“But will remain in the service of the army. We must place a bigger focus on producing our own weapons and ammunition if we want to keep maintaining a standing army. Therefore, they will be reassigned to these tasks.”
More murmurs followed.
“Would that be all, Mister President?” Valentín said.
“For now, it is,” Victoria said.
“Further details, as always, will have to refer to a future meeting.”
“Very well, I think we can finally put all that was mentioned to the vote on what to prioritize,” Valentín then glanced at the room at large.
“Keep in mind of this, that due to the extraordinary circumstances we are facing, we will not veto the proposals themselves. Not yet, at least. Instead, we will vote on the order to hear them in more detail for future meetings, where we can judge them properly.”
“As a reminder, we must not dwell on this for too long,” Ibarra spoke up.
“So far, we have been able to run things without much change. But as more months pass, we should already be implementing any changes we decide upon. So, we must be careful if we make too much counterproposals, or proposals outside these concerns.”
At this he glanced to San Luis Potosí’s congressmen.
“Which, admittedly, one such as yours would be. But that is not to say we will ignore them.”
“We understand,” one of the men nodded.
“Very well. Now, let us begin.”
Beach Area
“Sir, are you sure it was a good idea to do this here?”
On the captain’s quarters of the ship, Guerrero sat before the desk.
“We could have done it at the beach, where they might be more cooperative,” said Álvarez, for he was the one who asked.
“Or at least, not alone.”
“You know it cannot be helped, the ship’s hallways are not big enough, and even this room might get too crowded,” Guerrero answered.
“As for why here than outside, it is mostly a matter of trust.”
“Of trust, you say?” Álvarez repeated.
“If we can show them that they can be alone among us without coming to harm, it could help show we do mean no harm to them. And if we can convey our current plight, they might be more accepting to help.”
He glanced towards the desk, where many papers laid.
“You can thank Austin for the idea, but now we have to see if it can work.”
“Well, I still don’t like it,” Keen Eyes crossed his forehooves.
He and Thundershock were hovering around the main mast of the ship. The latter had grabbed the end of the flag, an action that made much on the ship to glance, but ultimately went back to their businesses.
“Yeah, we know already,” Thundershock said.
“It looks even better from up close.”
“I have to admit, I am curious at what sort of plant it’s standing on,” Keen Eyes said.
“Looks like nothing we have in Equestria.”
“Well, whatever it is, it looks like it has thorns, and the eagle has no problem standing on it. That makes it even better,” Thundershock had now a big grin on his face.
Keen Eyes rolled his eyes.
It is true, the hallways are not suited for a pony’s mobility, Wing Shield noted as he walked.
Where he was being escorted he did not know, but it still gave him the chance to inspect the insides of their vessel.
At least just walking forward is fine.
Soon he was led to a big room. Bigger than the cabins he saw on the way. Those which had their doors open to see inside, anyway.
This must be their leader’s room. Or that of the vessel’s captain if they’re not the same.
Almost instantly he saw the room wasn’t empty. Inside he saw the one he hoofshaked with. And right now, he was sitting before the big desk in the middle of the room. He wasn’t alone, as two others were at near each side wall. Said man extended a forelimb over the desk. The limb was arched upwards, and Wing Shield took this to indicate he wanted him to get closer to the desk. He complied, as the men who followed him bowed and left the room. The man retracted his limb once he had close enough.
Wing Shield eyed him closely. They had already been at close distance before, naturally, but now the circumstances were different. This was more his element, and how he was the one treading the unknown. He still wasn’t sure why he was here, but perhaps he may soon find out.
Canterlot, Central Equestria
A small crowd was assembled in a courtyard, lined up in two rows. Behind them stood a float. It had no wheels, but with support beams sticking from the front and back, which meant it was to be carried by hoof. It wasn’t elaborately decorated, white in color, and the platform itself housed mostly cushions and pillows of various colors.
Gold Ingot, Starswirl, and the sisters stood before the assembled ponies, looking at them. The front rows were mostly composed of earth ponies, with the back row being mostly unicorns. A few at the ends of the rows were clad in armor, but the majority were in either robes or with no clothing at all.
“A fine ensemble, your highness,” Starswirl said.
“This will impress our future guests for sure.”
“Huh, no pegasi?” Luna wondered.
“Is not the float too much?” Celestia asked.
“Nonsense,” the king answered, glancing at her.
“You are not just our representatives, but saviors of the realm and recently made royalty as well. It should be fitting to reflect that as well.”
He turned his gaze back at the crowd.
“Which is also why I also wanted to reflect the unity and diversity of our country. Hence an equal number of unicorns and earth ponies. With Wing Shield’s group already there, there was no need to have more pegasi to meet them.”
“Oh, so that’s why,” Luna commented.
“Very well, time to go over things one last time,” Starswirl’s said as his horn began to glow.
A wall of solid light materialized, giving the impression of a board. Said board began to change in color, until in its place was a map of Equestria.
“It’s almost time for the night to begin,” the unicorn explained.
“We’ll depart as soon the princesses raise the moon and lower the sun.”
At this he glanced at the sisters, who nodded.
“We’ll warp to the western outpost,” he continued, as a red dot appeared in the before mentioned place.
“And spend the night there, to give time for the message of our arrival to reach Wing Shield. On the next day, we’ll depart after the princesses move the sun and moon again, following the river and then south where Wing Shield’s group and our visitors are.”
As he explained, the red dot turned into a line, which followed the mentioned course.
“Is that understood?”
Everypony nodded, with a few “Yes, sir!” from the armored ones. Starswirl’s horn stopped glowing, and the map disappeared as well.
“Everypony, do your job well. I expect good results from this,” Gold Ingot said.
“Yes, your highness!” The crowd chorused and bowed.
“That includes you two,” the king turned to the sisters, who bowed as well.
“Well, your highnesses, if you will,” Starswirl pointed a hoof towards the sun.
The sisters turned into position, and their horns began to glow.
“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.
The sun was already rising high into the sky. Activity in the camps was bustling as usual, except that compared to yesterday, the signs of inter-camp mingling were beginning to form. While most were keeping to their own, human and pony alike had begun to engage in activities together.
It had started during breakfast. A small group, which combined were no more than seven individuals, had sat together to eat. It wasn’t evenly shared, with more ponies than humans present, but this small daring act had served as an icebreaker, with two or three more small groups forming as well, all at points between the two camps. Though one could still see some doubt and wariness in the faces of the humans. It showed it had been a daring act for them, to approach creatures they knew and understood so little, and unable to communicate with them. But after what they’ve seen the last two days, perhaps they were slowly coming into terms with it.
As such, not much went on, not even talking between same species. But it still proved a chance to learn. The humans were still a little baffled at the dexterity of the equines’ hooves, as they held the food despite the lack of digits. The ponies, for their part, were intrigued by how diverse the humans’ food were. They themselves had only carried mostly fruits and vegetables, some cereals and hay, and there was always the option to graze whenever they landed. But the humans’ diet seemed to consist of different things, which to their surprised included fish and eggs. The revelation they were omnivorous creatures was perhaps a concern to one or two of them, but the rest were taking it better. They had already spent enough time with them to know they had nothing to worry on that front. Although, what most took their attention were the pieces of thin, round, cooked dough. It didn’t go unnoticed by the humans, for at least one grabbed a few of them and extended them to the ponies of his group, as an offering. Food which was accepted, and from the looks after trying them, didn’t found them that bad.
Whether or not this would prelude to more interaction, it was yet to be seen. The day was still young, after all.
West of Equestria
Midday was approaching, the sun glaring down over the land. Sticking close to the river, the Equestrian delegation made their march. They went at a fast trot, westward to the coast, to meet with their guests. They traveled at a steady pace, and had yet to stop since they departed.
At the float, Starswirl sat at the front. He had several books piled up next to him on one side, and rolls of parchment on the other. He paid little attention to his surroundings, for he was holding unrolled parchment with his magic, and was reading its contents. The princesses were at the back, sitting in thrones built for the float. Celestia sat still, her head turned slightly downwards to her right, reading a book resting on the throne’s armchair, though held within her magic aura. Occasionally, she would glance to the moving countryside. Luna looked at the countryside all the time, but resting her head on the throne’s armrest, a bored expression on her face.
It wasn’t long, though, Celestia rose her head to look at her.
“Do you plan to remain that way throughout all the journey?” she asked, before glancing back to her book.
Luna straightened out her posture slightly and turned to face her.
“I’m bored,” she merely replied.
Celestia shook her head.
“You should have though on bringing something to occupy yourself with, then,” a page from the book was flipped. “Other than Melvin,” she then added, without even glancing away from her book, as Luna was about to speak up again.
The younger sister quickly closer her mouth again, briefly.
“I still think we should have brought him with us,” she instead said, crossing her forehooves, annoyed.
“I don’t think our guests would have been thrilled to see a manticore as part of the delegation,” Celestia replied.
“If they even know what a manticore is, anyway,” Luna said.
“We barely know anything about them, Luna. Maybe they do have them in their homeland,” her sister said.
“Whatever, I’m going to stretch my wings for a while,” Luna rose from her throne.
“It’s not like we need to remain here until we actually meet up with them anyway.”
And with that, she took off.
Celestia shook her head again and sighed, before flipping another page of her book.
Beach
Scud flew as fast he could, being currently over the mountains that separated the beach from the rest of the mainland. He turned his head back. Thunderbolt was not far behind. Their journey back had, as expected when one of them was Scud, turned into another race. At least for the stretch after they had to stop for the night. Scud’s lead was not big, but they were so close now to their destination.
There, I see them! Just a little more…
Though never been to the actual beach, they had been told of the location, from what Keen Eyes had reported when he first spotted them. Not to mention, something big like the ship was not hard to miss, without much else on the beach to confuse it with something else. As such, both pegasi had begun to descend once they had the mountains behind them.
As they did, Thunderbolt began to take note of the beach.
They’re camping close to each other? So, things went without issue.
He could almost sigh in relief.
I just still hope Thundershock still didn’t got into any sort of trouble while I was gone.
Caught in his thoughts, it was the likely reason he was still behind Scud, but at this rate, it didn’t matter to him. Soon, their approach was noticed from the ground by human and pony alike.
“… I see, that is some big news,” Wing Shield said, as he heard the two pegasi.
They had arrived at the coast, and landed not far from the ponies’ camp. They took notice of the humans, but it was a brief glance, for captain Wing Shield was soon upon them. And thus, they immediately began to report. Other pegasi approached throughout.
“Yes, captain,” Thunderbolt glanced in the direction they came from.
“They estimated the delegation would arrive here in two days’ time from today, but even they weren’t sure,” he glanced back.
“Two days? That is still too much of a wait,” a pegasi commented.
“Do you think they would wait that long?” another asked, looking over at the human camp.
“Maybe if we could explain it to them… somehow,” Keen Eyes said.
“We will worry about that in a moment,” Wing Shield shook his head.
“I am surprised the princesses themselves will be coming.”
“Unfortunately, we were not told much on the matter,” Thunderbolt said.
“Well, not that it was that important to know,” Scud shrugged.
“I’m sure we’ll find out once they get here.”
Wing Shield looked over at the human camp.
“In any case, since they are on their way here, we must prepare ourselves as well,” he said.
“We must continue to know more about them. What we can, anyway. Soon, we’ll have to send someone to meet with the delegation to update them on what we find. We may be mostly assured they have no hostile intentions, but we still cannot afford to look ourselves weak. The princesses will need to prepare in advance how to approach them. If they are really arriving in two days’ time, then we must use today and most of tomorrow.”
He turned back to the group before him.
“Those that sat together to eat had good initiative.”
“Ah, that reminds me, captain,” one of the pegasi opened the saddlebag he had.
“I saved one of those round things they gave us to try.”
He took the mentioned item from the bag with a hoof, and extended it towards Wing Shield, who took it.
“It probably may not taste as good since it has cooled off, but I figured you may still want to try it,” the pegasus continued. “I think they called it tortilla, if I recall correctly.”
Wing Shield eyed the tortilla, before moving it near his mouth, and took a bite off.
Not bad, he thought.
Meanwhile, the humans were taking Scud and Thunderbolt’s arrival in their own way.
“Two of them, you say?” Lemaur asked a man.
They were a small group, by the camp’s edge. They looked in the direction of the other camp, where the group they were watching had begun to break.
“Yes, sir, they flew from the east,” the man replied.
“I don’t recall that any of them left since their arrival,” Austin mentioned.
“We had reasons to believe they knew of us before showing themselves,” Lemaur said.
“Perhaps it was true, and they sent word back to their superiors before meeting with us.”
“What does it mean? That they already know we’re here?” another man asked.
“Most likely, and now they got word back,” Lemaur continued.
“What does Captain Guerrero think on the matter?” Austin asked.
“He expects this means we won’t remain in this beach for long.”
“They likely received further orders; and if it pertain to us, they might try to let us know.”
“Thank God, I want to return already,” someone spoke, followed by murmurs of agreement.
Lemaur shook his head.
“We will see about that. It might still take some time.”
West of Equestria
The delegation had stopped to rest. They had covered a good distance since leaving the border outpost, but expectations were still a two-day trip. As such, after moving almost non-stop since dawn, they finally gave themselves to take a longer rest than usual. As such, after picking a suitable spot by the river bank, they began to slow down until coming to a stop. The float was set down on the ground, after which Celestia stepped down, Starswirl following shortly after. From the sky, Luna flew down and landed.
“Attention!” one of the earth ponies spoke before the group began to disperse.
“We will stay for one hour, then we will resume the march. Make use of this time well.”
As the ponies began to go their own ways, he turned to the princesses, and made a small bow.
“Your highnesses, if you feel the need to stay for a while longer, feel free to say so. We will leave at your command,” and with another bow, he walked away as well.
“Ah, the perks of authority,” Luna cheerfully said.
“Now this I can get used to.”
Celestia shook her head.
“Luna, you better not be getting ideas,” she warned.
“Whatever you mean, dear sister?” Luna feigned innocence.
Starswirl chuckled.
“Worry not, your highness,” he told Celestia.
“Though I doubt she would really abuse her authority, there is not much you two can actually do that couldn’t be overruled by the king. Or even the council.”
“She might still let it get over her head,” Celestia pointed out.
“Quite possible, your highness,” the unicorn replied.
“But are you not her sister? Don’t you know her well? If so, then you more than anypony else would know if that is a real risk or not.”
A few seconds passed before Celestia sighed.
“You’re right, Lord Starswirl,” she said.
“Thinking it over, I can place my trust on her.”
“Then there is not much to fear,” Starswil said.
“Besides, in the case we do are wrong about it, there might still not be much to fear. At most, it might just be demanding small or petty things.”
“I suppose that does sound like her,” Celestia gave a slight giggle.
“Hey, I’m still here, you know,” Luna spoke up.
The unicorn chuckled again.
“Oh, worry not your highness,” Starswirl told her.
“We do trust you will fairly follow what responsibilities you and your sister will have, even if few they may be.”
“We move the sun and moon just fine,” Luna said.
“That should be enough.”
“Perhaps, but now you will have more to do,” Starswirl then lit his horn, and some of the books hovered from the float.
“So, we will use the better part of the hour to focus on how to proceed once we meet our guests.”
“Now?” Luna was surprised.
“You got plenty of time to spend at your leisure on the way to this spot,” Starswirl merely said as the books now piled themselves on the grass.
“So now, it is time to learn.”
Luna groaned, but she and her sister proceeded to sit down.
Beach
“… really, brother, I’m fine.”
After his report to Wing Shield, Thunderbolt went straight to find his brother.
“I didn’t step out of line,” Thundershock continued. Well, mostly, he mentally added.
“I’m sure the captain has already told you.”
“I wanted to hear it straight from you,” Thunderbolt said.
“Well, now you know,” was his brother’s reply, annoyed.
“I’m not a colt anymore.”
“You still act like one sometimes,” Thunderbolt pointed out, sighing.
“Was never on board with him joining the military… still aren’t.”
“Hey, take it easy on him.”
Thunderbolt turned around to see Scud.
“Keep it like that and he might consider transferring to another squad.”
“What would you know?” Thunderbolt asked.
“Personal experience. Though not with a brother, I don’t have any,” Scud shrugged.
“As he said, he’s no longer a colt. But unlike some who turn too serious and boring when that happens,” Thunderbolt rolled his eyes at the comment, “Some of us don’t. So that naturally put you two at odds. So, do try to tone it down.”
Thunderbolt blinked.
“Who are you what did you do to Scud?”
Scud laughed.
“Surprised I can be serious as well? I get along fine with Thundershock. He certainly needs a less serious role model to follow,” Thunderbolt rolled his eyes again. “It’s only natural I care about him. And you as well.”
He then proceeded to turn around.
“Scud…” Thunderbolt was at a loss of words.
“Besides, I can’t let you get too distracted, otherwise your performance would slip. Beating you then would lose its meaning. I did notice on this last race. So, it doesn’t count. We’ll break the tie next time!”
Chuckling, he walked again.
And there’s the Scud we all know, Thunderbolt thought. I should’ve guessed it had to involve the races somehow. Still, perhaps he has a point after all.
West of Equestria
“… communication will be among the biggest obstacles to face,” Starswirl explained.
The unicorn’s lecture went as the designated period of rest went on. Most of the delegation had also joined the sisters in listening.
“Unfortunately, there is not much evidence that a country from across the sea will speak the same tongue as ours.”
He lit his horn, and the silhouette of a pony of each tribe appeared, and next to them that of another creature’s.
“From salvaged records, which I can confirm due to being present, what little outside contact the pony tribes had in the time before unification was with nomadic yaks. We spoke the same language, but they also had of their own. Naturally, repeated visits enabled them to learn our tongue. Just what was necessary whenever they passed through our old lands; but there’s no indication we ponies bothered to learn theirs.”
The silhouette of the yak disappeared, before being replace by that of another creature, on the other side of the ponies.
“Rarer reports mention half-mammal, half-bird creatures, living beyond the eastern sea. While I personally never saw them in the flesh, I knew of ponies who did, including my own student Clover. Recounts also said these creatures spoke a different language.”
His horn dimmed down, the silhouettes disappearing.
“As such, I don’t expect they will be any different.”
“In that case, Lord Starswirl, what can we do?” Celestia asked.
“I suppose Wing Shield and his squadron will have started on that front,” Starswirl began.
“But that does not give us enough time. As such,” he waived a hoof at the books, “I am looking if there is any way we can bypass the problem, if only temporary.”
“You mean like some sort of translation spell?” She asked again.
“Oh no, there is no such thing,” Starswirl shook his head.
“We never had a need, so nothing was done about it. But now there is, and as such, it is one thing I’ve focused the most ever since Discord’s defeat. I think I am in the verge of procuring of having a workable spell that will… well, why not show it instead? Though, I will need a volunteer for this.”
A few ponies looked at each other, some with worry on their faces.
“Now don’t fret, the spell should be safe. I’ve tested beforehand in its earlier stages and results were promising.”
They stilled looked wearily at each other.
“Perhaps one of us should do it, Lord Starswirl?” Celestia offered.
“Hey, don’t count on me,” Luna protested.
“Luna, we would be better suited of going through any unseen complications if the spell doesn’t work correctly,” her sister scolded.
“I-I’ll do it,” a voice spoke out.
They all turned to see its source. It was one of the earth ponies, who rose and took a step forward. He looked a bit nervous but held his ground.
“Your highnesses,” he turned to face the princesses.
“That m-may be true, but we can’t afford something happening to you, n-not on something as important as our diplomatic mission.”
He turned back to face Starswirl.
“Lord Starswirl, I’m willing to be p-placed under the spell.”
“You don’t need to go through it if you…” Celestia began, but Starswirl raised a hoof, and she stopped.
“No, your highness. It would be best if you don’t,” he said.
“While he has a point, there’s also the matter that the effects on you two would not really give an indication of what exactly could be wrong with the spell. It needs to be cast on someone more… ordinary. No offense,” he added, facing back to the pony.
“N-none taken, sir,” was the reply.
“Well, without wasting more time, I will cast the spell right now.”
Starswirl’s horn began to glow once more. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, until the horn was now pointed at the pony, who stood still. He braced himself for it, turning his head away slightly, eyes closing. The rest just watched the whole thing unfolded.
Cape Sebastian, named after Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno, who explored the area in the early seventeenth century. Located not far from the Mexico-Oregon border, the disappearance of the rest of the world had left the cape as the now-island’s northwest most point. Indeed, the land got cut-off barely north of the cape, leaving a smooth and straight cliff-face extending eastward. It would not last, though, for erosion would eventually make it like the already existing cliffs around the cape. Although it would take long for that to happen. Other than that, for the area, sparsely populated as it was, not much had changed.
But it had reached that time of the year when the gray whales, the ones that leave early the waters of the Baja California peninsula, would reach the area as part of their migration north. A group composed mostly of males and the females that failed to get pregnant. Since time immemorial their kind have made the great journey throughout the coastline of North America every year, in both directions. This year, naturally, it all was going to change.
Had one been able to witness, they would’ve seen the whales starting to converge around the cape. Perhaps they did understand to a degree the new situation they found themselves in. Time would only tell if they would remain there, or swim further north, into the unknown. For them, at least.
West of Equestria
The delegation was on its way once more. The time for the princesses to bring forth the night drew near. Soon, it had come the time to once again stop, this time to rest for the night. A makeshift camp was being propped up, as the princesses moved the celestial bodies.
“… is that all?”
Starswirl was inside a tent set up for him. With him was the earth pony who had volunteered to be the target of his spell.
“Yes, lord Starswirl,” said pony replied.
Starswirl began to stroke his beard.
“That is an interesting development,” he said.
“I would need another volunteer tomorrow to see if the spell has consistency in its after effects. If so, then we would be able to skip many steps with our guests.”
“Would they want to have the spell cast on them, lord Starswirl?” the earth pony
“Conveying that is going to be one step we cannot skip,” was Starswirl’s reply.
“But we must have the spell cast, for both our sakes.”
“Well, I hope they don’t think otherwise before we actually can,” the pony said.
“I would not worry,” Starswirl commented.
“Anyway, I thank you for assistance… ah, I believe you have yet to tell me your name.”
“It’s Red Apple, sir,” the pony replied.
“Well, Red Apple, you are dismissed. Though I will want you to be present for my next testing tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir,” Red Apple bowed before leaving the tent.
March 20 Beach
Morning began not much different from yesterday. Inter-group gatherings happened once more as they ate, more this time around. The real difference, however, began shortly after.
The pegasi watched with interest as the humans began shifting things around their camp. Mainly taking what they used to sit down, and placing them in orderly rows, forming two columns with sufficient space between them. A few actual chairs and even a table were even brought from the ship, placed at one end, alongside a few crates and barrels. Whatever it was, it looked like a big deal, since practically every one of them were now on the beach, taking positions between the rows. From the ship emerged a small group, clothed in white robes. One of them had a more elaborate garb, predominately violet. They all carried various things with them, which were placed on the table and barrels.
All in all, it was a peculiar spectacle. The violet-clad man would speak up and go through various actions. He would make limb motions, read from a book, swing an object attached by a chain that expelled some sort of smoke, among other things. All this done with the aid of the other robed men, which could easily be assumed to be assistants. But what perhaps was the most peculiar thing he did was when he was presented a bowl, placed some sort of long, thin, object in it, and then shook it around. On himself, on the assembled crowd, and even on the land around them. As Keen Eyes would clarify, he was sprinkling water. For what purpose? Only they knew. The crowd for their part would also go through motions of their own. They’d sit down, rise, speak as well, but overall, they didn’t do as much in comparison.
It soon ran all its course. The crowd began to disperse, and things began to be carried back to either the camp or the ship. The pegasi who had decided to watch from afar too mostly left their positions.
“What was that about?” one of them said.
“Some sort of ceremony… or ritual?” another wondered.
“Looked that way, especially with those robes,” Scud commented.
“I was expecting something more exciting…” Thundershock said.
“But if so, then what was its purpose? Captain?” Thunderbolt turned to face Wing Shield, who was deep in thought.
“Hm, well, it was very sudden,” the captain replied.
“That’s another thing we would have to inquire about in the future. I can only guess that for all the preparations they did beforehand, it is supposed to be more elaborate, but they can’t afford it so far form their homeland.”
The pegasi looked at each other, not quite satisfied with the answer. Wing Shield sighed.
“It can’t be helped, there’s not a lot to work with,” he continued. “If it took until now to happen, it can’t be related to their arrival here or meeting us. Perhaps today is important for them, but we can’t ask them now. Perhaps once the princesses and Starswirl are here… which reminds me, we need to redouble our efforts from yesterday. They arrive tomorrow, so we must make haste.”
With that, he too departed from the spot.
“Well… anyone wants to guess?” Scud asked.
And thus, the remaining pegasi promptly began the conversation anew.
At the same time, some humans were having their own discussion.
“What did you think about the priest’s sermon?” Álvarez asked.
“Too long,” one man simply said.
“Well, it is our first Sunday here, in this land,” another replied.
“And he did mostly talk about it.”
Álvarez shook his head
“Not exactly what I meant,” he said.
“I know what you mean, mister Álvarez,” Lemaur said.
“Certainly, an enlightening talk. Though it’s hard to tell how much the words were the priest’s own, and those of Archbishop Fonte’s.”
“Huh, what do you mean?” one man asked.
“I mostly only heard of this, but,” Lemaur explained.
“Throughout December the Church held a few meetings at the capital. Their position on our situation is more optimist than most. That we were the ones sent to another place instead of the rest of the world.”
“I thought as much as well, and now everyone here, too, knows without a doubt,” Álvarez said, waving an arm with a slight backwards motion, for he had his back to the rest of the landmass.
Everyone gathered murmured in agreement.
“And I had heard about the gatherings, as well,” Álvarez continued.
“But is that really important?” a man asked.
“For weeks the priests have said the same thing every Sunday. That this must be some sort of trial from God, and our faith must remain strong. We know that already.”
“That is not the whole truth on the matter,” a voice said.
Everyone turned to see who had spoken, and they saw Guerrero walking towards them.
“Oh, so there was indeed more to it?” Lemaur asked.
“That’s correct. It was among the things President Victoria mentioned to me before we departed.”
February 23 Mexico City, Federal District
“There is one more matter to convey, it is regarding the Church,” Victoria said.
Victoria and Guerrero were at the National Palace, seated across a desk in the president’s room.
“Is it about the priest who will conduct mass during the voyage?” Guerrero inquired.
Victoria shook his head.
“No, although that may be brought up once you reach Veracruz. This is a bigger matter,” was his reply.
“I would assume they are interested in the expeditions?” Guerrero asked.
“That would be correct,” a voice was heard from the doorway.
Both men turned towards the entrance and stood up as another man walked in, clad in elaborate robes. It was none other than Pedro José de Fonte, Archbishop of the Mexico Archdiocese.
“Archbishop, what brought you here?” Victoria asked.
“I heard the man in charge of the Atlantic expedition would soon depart for Veracruz,” the Archbishop replied.
“I wanted to explain things directly, and in good fortune I find him here,” he turned to face Guerrero.
“Please, Archbishop, sit down,” Victoria waved an arm towards the desk, as Guerrero moved a chair. They both sat next to each other on one side as Archbishop Fonte sat on Victoria’s former seat, at the opposite side.
“Well, gentlemen,” Archbishop Fonte began.
“As the president knows already, I, as many of the clergy, believe the country was sent to another world.”
Guerrero nodded.
“And how else could that be possible, if not by an act of God?”
Victoria and Guerrero glanced at each other briefly.
“That would certainly be hard to disprove, Archbishop,” Guerrero said.
“But then, if that were true then…”
“Why?”
The Archbishop spoke suddenly, silencing Guerrero.
“Yes, that is the question,” he continued.
“I do not believe we got sent to a planet with nothing but water. There must be other lands, somewhere across the seas. And I do not doubt either for them to be inhabited. We find interest on whatever matter of belief they might hold.”
Realization dawned on Guerrero but decided to not interrupt.
“Three-hundred years ago, when our ancestors first arrived in these lands, they found a land untouched by the nuances the Old World had. A land filled with pagan beliefs. The Church took it as its duty for the word of God to be delivered on the denizens of the land.”
Not that there has been much success in the north, even to this day, Guerrero thought.
“Perhaps that is our purpose, why we are here,” Archbishop Fonte concluded.
“So you say,” Guerrero finally decided to speak.
“We could be here to convert whoever we may find?”
“That is our belief, yes,” Archbishop Fonte replied.
“That is… a bit hard to swallow, sir,” Guerrero said.
“You are not the only one. I had already expressed my doubts on the matter as well,” Victoria told him.
“And I also repeat, there’s also doubt within the Church,” Archbishop Fonte replied.
“We do not have proof there is indeed other lands or people across the seas. And so, we have an interest in these expeditions, and would want to be informed of any discoveries made on the matter.”
March 20 Beach
There was silence once Guerrero finished talking. Surprised looks abounded, not daring speak.
“So, that explains it,” Lemaur spoke, breaking the silence.
“Now it does sound certain the priest was speaking on behalf of the Archbishop, and why we conducted mass outside the ship, where it could be seen.”
“That’s some tall business,” one man commented.
“I find it hard to believe.”
“Well, the Archbishop himself admitted it was just conjecture on their part,” Guerrero said.
“Regardless, it is likely that whether it’s true or not, they are going to try anyway. Hence wanting to know what the expeditions find.”
“And convince as many to the idea as possible,” Álvarez added.
“Correct,” Guerrero agreed.
“I can assume then it’s the same matter in Echávarri’s expedition?” Lemaur asked.
“I left the capital before I heard of it, but I would think it is,” Guerrero replied.
“With all this talk, now I am curious about if those horses worship anything,” another man spoke up, looking over at a group of pegasi who seemed to be in conversation.
“They might, all things considered,” Guerrero said.
“One more thing we have to wait to find out.”
West of Equestria
The delegation was making another stop for the day, still following the river.
“So that’s the ocean,” one pony said, as he gazed westwards.
“That’s a lot of water,” another commented.
“This is exciting. We might be able to reach it by nightfall,” a third said.
As ponies digested this fact, Starswirl and the princesses were inside the unicorn’s tent, alongside Red Apple and a couple others.
“Thank you all for your participation,” Starswirl said.
“After comparing the results, I am confident of the workings of the spell.”
“That’s good to know, Lord Starswirl, but can we be sure it will work on them?” one the ponies, a unicorn, asked.
“I don’t see why not,” Starswirl replied.
“Being of a different species should not impede the spell from working. Although it is a valid point to bring up, but I would not be worried of it failing.”
“Ah, I see,” the unicorn said.
“Well, in any case, you are dismissed.”
The ponies bowed before they did so.
“Now it is just a matter of getting our guests to accept having the spell being cast on at least one of them,” Starswirl continued, now addressing the princesses.
“Would it be easy to convince them, Lord Starswirl?” Celesia asked.
“It is in Wing Shield’s hooves, your highness,” Starswirl replied.
“I expect we will be brought up to date for anything he discovers about them once we arrive, though with just a few days, I doubt we can get enough of a linguistic exchange to convey the message properly.”
“Do we need to? Can’t we just cast the spell and then explain?” Luna asked.
“That is a big risk, Luna!” her sister replied.
“I have thought on the matter, and I do not discard it,” Starswirl commented.
“But Lord Starswirl, what if they think it might be some sort of attack?” Celestia asked.
“Your highness, there will always be risks,” Starswirl said.
“Trying to learn enough of their language to convey what the spell entails is going to take much longer than if we could just cast it and explain immediately. Yes, it is safer, but can that much time be afforded?”
“That is a good point,” Celestia admitted.
“But only if we can explain immediately. If casting the spell right away can speed things up, we must not give them the chance to misinterpret the action.”
“Then it shall be done,” Starswirl merely said.
Celestia sighed.
“That’s what I said from the beginning!” Luna, however, grinned.
“Don’t worry, your highness,” Starswirl continued.
“It’s never foolish to be concerned about the consequences. Just don’t let it paralyze you with indecision for what could go wrong, for it never is set in stone what could happen. Let that be a lesson for both you. Now, if you excuse me, now that I am done with the spell, there are other matters I must attend to. You are free for the time being.”
The princesses bowed before leaving the tent.
As Starswirl and the princesses talked, the ponies who had left the tent were in a talk of their own.
“So,” one of them suddenly said, barely having moved from the tent.
“How do think it will go, once we meet up with them?”
“Not sure, to be honest,” another replied.
“It’s going to be mostly between the princesses and whoever is their leader. We are likely to just stand there and still, like guards.”
“Oh, I see,” the first pony said.
“And you, Red Apple? What do you think?”
“Hm? Oh, I’m mostly the same,” was Red Apple’s reply.
“I am just a farmer. It’s going to be something way out of my league, so I’ll just leave it to those who are capable.”
“Is that so? Then why come?” the last one, the unicorn who spoke to Starswirl, asked.
“When they were looking for volunteers,” Red Apple explained. “They mentioned seeking what could represent Equestria best. You remember, right?”
The ponies nodded.
“I signed in, at the time only thinking about my job and what it brought to the kingdom.”
He stopped his walk and turned to face the ocean. The others stopped as well but kept their gazes on him.
“But now, it dawns on me. This is a big thing. If things go well, it won’t be the last time our country and theirs will meet. And it may happen with others as well, in the future. But at this moment, it is the first time.”
The other ponies now began to gaze westward as well.
“It won’t mean the same, afterwards. The pegasi already were the first to do so, but we could become the first unicorns and earth ponies to do it. When could another opportunity like this show up? Perhaps it is not a bad thing, to be part of such a big event. I would be able to say I was more than just a farmer, once we come back. Perhaps I didn’t come here for that at first, but I am certainly now.”
“Hmm, when you put it that way, that does make it worthwhile,” the second pony said.
“Yeah, it does sound nice,” the first pony said.
“Do you think we could be mentioned in books on the subject?” the unicorn asked, excited.
“Even if just as names on a list, that is still something,” the second pony said.
“Okay, everypony, let’s be sure we do leave a mark!”
The rest of the day went underway. Soon, night had arrived at the beach, and activity was winding down; though the same could not be said within the ship, where another meeting was underway.
“Gentlemen,” the ships’ captain said.
He stood before a window at this quarters, hands at his back.
“We have been here for a few days now, and I think we need to address now regarding our return trip.”
He left the window and walked back to face his listeners.
“We found new land, established contact with the natives, surprising as it was, and we got enough information to make a suitable report for when we return.”
“I take it this is a matter of our supplies,” said Lemaur.
“That is correct,” the captain replied.
“While those ponies were hospitable enough to replenish our water supplies, I’m afraid that in terms of food we are still facing an ever-dwindling amount.”
“Surely we are still not in danger of running out?” asked Álvarez.
“Not for the moment, but we are getting closer to the point we could run out during the return trip,” the captain answered.
“Now, we could afford that if it’s just a day or two from arriving back to Bacalar; and if we ration, we could prolong our stay here, but I don’t think the crew would like to go through with it.”
“If only those ponies could also help us there, like with the water,” Álvarez said.
“Even if we could convey that, the time it would take to bring us anything might make it moot,” Austin pointed out.
“Perhaps there is hope,” Guerrero spoke, taking out a piece of paper.
“Earlier today their leader drew more on the map he made two days ago.”
He placed it on the desk, with everyone gathering to look. The map itself remained the same, in its simplicity. What was added, however, was an arrow that departed from the castle on the mountain, following the river, then following the beach to their location. Back on the area with the castle, three horse heads were also added, side by side, near where the arrow began.
“Wait… are those horns?” Austin pointed out, surprised.
Indeed, all three heads had horns drawn from their foreheads.
“Unicorns? There are also unicorns out there!?” Lemaur said.
“This land gets more extraordinary by the day,” the captain commented.
“More mythical horses, huh,” Álvarez commented.
“Then what, these unicorns are coming this way?”
“Judging from that arrow, it seems that way,” Guerrero answered.
“We believe that must have been what the ones that flew in yesterday were here for, to deliver the news.”
“Hmm, too bad we didn’t brought women with us,” Lemaur commented, earning a chuckle from the ship’s captain.
“Do these unicorns favor women?” Austin asked.
“Well, some myths say that only virgins can approach and tame them, but I doubt it is going to apply here,” the captain answered.
“In any case, I would like to point out something perhaps more important about them,” Guerrero said, pointing a finger to the drawn heads.
“Are two of them supposed to be wearing crowns?” Álvarez said.
“Well, it’s not that surprising, if they do have a castle,” Austin pointed out.
“But are you telling me their monarchs are actually coming this way to meet us?”
“Seems to be that way,” Guerrero replied.
“Perhaps it is their customs,” the captain commented.
“After all, even if they weren’t ponies, we are nonetheless dealing with a foreign culture.”
“That can say a lot about them, although I would at least expect these monarchs would be arriving with a significant escort nonetheless,” Austin said.
“And what about the last one?” the captain asked.
“It looks like it’s wearing a pointed hat rather than a crown.”
“Probably also important, if it was drawn with the others,” Guerrero theorized.
“Probably an old chancellor, if the long… beard signifies age,” Austin said; the word ‘beard’ being pronounced with a tone of doubt, however.
“In any case, if we are to meet their leaders, we must prepare accordingly,” Lemaur said.
“Thankfully, we can now avoid the… spectacle from days ago.”
They all murmured in agreement while nodding their heads.
“Were they able to convey the time of their arrival?” Lemaur continued.
“In a way…” Guerrero recalled back.
Guerrero was slightly confused, as he stared at the recently drawn heads.
Horns? He tried to recall if he ever heard of such a thing as horses with horns. That was certainly new, either way. I will have to ask about this later, he finally concluded, failing to have come up with an answer. He was more intrigued, if anything, by the crowns they had, two of them at least.
In any case, he couldn’t dwell on it longer as Captain Wing Shield was now pointing at the heads with a hoof, and then moved the limb to now point at the sun. Guerrero kept watching as the pony’s limb moved again so it was now extending forward, and then made a circular motion. The motion ended up being more of an oval shape, but Guerrero hadn’t failed to understand its meaning.
“So, a day,” Lemaur said.
“That should still give us enough time to get the men in line.”
“Should we at least let them know already?” Álvarez asked.
Guerrero shook his head.
“No, it’s getting late and some men have possibly already fallen asleep,” he replied.
“But it should be told first thing in the morning.”
“Hmm, winged ponies, unicorns… anyone have the feeling there could be more mythical equines out there?” Lemaur asked.
“A kingdom of horses…” Álvarez pondered.
“Well, perhaps it was a good idea we didn’t brought any of ours.”
Everyone turned to face him.
“That… is a good point,” Guerrero said, before turning to face back the others.
“Perhaps we should not bring that up, at least for the time being.”
Monterrey, Alta California Territory
It was the still around the early afternoon at the Californias. The territory’s capital of Monterrey, despite its remote location compared to the rest of the country, was nonetheless quite aware of their new situation thanks to being close to the country’s new coastal edges. Or close enough to go and find out once word was sent from Mexico City, at the very least. Messages would be sent south, towards the country’s capital, responses would come back, but the sheer distance made the whole ordeal a lengthy matter. As such, the Alta California was mostly minding its own business for the most part, as it did before the rest of the world disappeared.
Meanwhile, at the governor’s residence…
“Would you like some wine?”
“Ah, yes, thank you.”
Governor Luis Antonio Argüello had received a guest in the early morning. It was a surprise for many at Monterrey, since it was none other than Fort Ross administrator Pavel I. Shelikhov, but not to Argüello. He had been waiting for Shelikhov to come, and now they were seated at his dining room, where a servant was pouring the offered wine.
“I apologize it took so long to come here,” Shelikhov said, grabbing his wine-filled glass and taking a sip.
“Repairing our ships has taken even longer than anticipated.”
The man’s Spanish was decent enough. As expected, he had an accent, but his grasp on the language was enough for communication.
“Not that it matters now, with the whales passing through,” he continued.
“It left no choice but to travel by land.”
“I take it there were no problems on the way?” Argüello asked, grabbing his own glass.
“None regarding our safety, anyway,” Shelikhov answered, taking another sip.
“But it was mostly the same situation. Concerned men and women asking if it was true we lost contact with the motherland. Asking if we could at least contact our people in Alaska. Some even regretting they came here, considering what happened.”
He stared at his glass for a moment before facing back to Argüello.
“I’ll head straight to the point. After you sent word your country’s government was sending expeditions across the seas, we decided to organize one of our own.”
“Oh, really?” Argüello was surprised.
“Will you travel where Russia once was?”
“It could be possible,” Shelikhov answered.
“But perhaps it is too risky, not knowing if anything replaced it. Perhaps we’ll simply follow the whales north. We should still have some weeks before they finish passing through.”
“So do you want for that to be delivered south?” Argüello said, sipping from his own glass.
“In part,” Shelikhov placed his now empty glass on the table.
“But speaking of delivering news, what has been the latest word from Mexico?”
“It seems they are finally addressing the matter,” was the answer.
“The president and congress would dedicate these last few days to go over almost every issue arising from our new situation, which does include the fate of those now left stranded, like your people.”
“Ah, splendid,” Shelikhov smiled.
“Perhaps we can reach a suitable agreement.”
“Depends for who it may be suitable,” Argüello put down his now empty glass too.
“The area can no longer be acquired by Russia, after all.”
“Yes yes, we are quite aware,” Shelikhov replied.
“I can bet Zavalishin was disappointed once he heard we are no longer there, wherever he and the rest of Russia are now. But rest assured, if only due to necessity, we can't afford to make enemies of the Mexican government.”
“That may be good to know,” Argüello said.
“Do you want some more wine?”
“Of course.”
March 21 East of the Western Coastline
North of the camps lied the area where the river that flowed all the way from Canterlot finally poured itself onto the ocean. Not far from the river mouth was Thunderbolt, having flown here since the early morning. Midday was approaching, and as he flew further inland, he could already see the delegation in the distance, coming from the opposite direction.
He descended enough and kept flying. It didn’t take long before he was finally spotted, and sure enough, the delegation began to slow down. As it did, he closed the remainder gap before stopping in midair just before the now immobile float.
“Ah, Thunderbolt, it is good to see you again,” Starswirl said as the pegasus bowed.
“Lord Starswirl, your highnesses,” Thunderbolt bowed.
“I take it Captain Wing Shield has sent you to debrief us,” Starswirl inquired.
“Yes, milord,” Thunderbolt replied.
“Thunderbolt, was it?” Celestia said.
“You must be tired from flying all the way here. Please, sit down so you can explain while we resume our course,” she motioned with a hoof at the floor of the float.
“Yes, your highness,” Thunderbolt bowed again before doing so.
“Alright, let’s resume our march!” A voice was heard, and almost immediately the delegation was on the move once again.
It was the first time Thunderbolt was seeing the alicorn sisters this close. It was hard to believe they were practically unheard of until recently; and suddenly, they show up, and stop Discord. Then there’s the fact they can pull on their own what groups of unicorns need to work in unison to do so, and of course, they possess the traits of all three types of ponies. As such, it was not much of a surprise, that they were being adopted into the royal family because of it.
Despite so, they still had their differences, Thunderbolt could notice. Outside the most obvious ones, like the sun and moon thing. The one who had spoken to him, Celestia, sat straight in her throne, at full attention. Her sister, however, had a forelimb resting to the side, and her head resting on the hoof. He noticed she had a bit of a bored expression, at least until Starswirl mentioned the debriefing, and though she replaced it with one that showed curiosity, she had remained in the same pose. A sign of different attitudes, but perhaps it wasn’t really that surprising.
As expected of siblings, no matter who they are, Thunderbolt mused.
Perhaps he wasn’t that off the mark. In any case, he wasn’t here to compare them with Thundershock and himself. He had a job to do, and even though they would take longer to arrive at the camps than the time he spent coming this way, he wasn’t going to waste it. It would serve them better that way, anyway.
“As you know, I wasn’t there when the first contact was made,” Thunderbolt began.
Beach
The human camp bustled with activity since the afternoon began. People moved things around as others hauled things back to the ship and from it. Tents would be relocated or outright dismantled altogether. The news had been spread already of their eventual visitors, and thus, the day had been dedicated to preparing for their arrival.
“So, what do you think they be like?” One man said, as he carried a crate.
“More horses, what else could they be?” The man beside him replied, also carrying a crate.
“No no no, I meant how they would behave,” the first man shook his head.
“They’re royalty, no?” Another replied, who had a barrel with him.
“Probably not different from any other.”
“But coming all the way here?” The second man said.
“Doesn’t sound like what a king would do.”
“What do I know,” the third man shrugged.
“Besides, they’re horses. Who knows how they think.”
The three soon reached their destination, the edge of camp, where they placed their things. A crate stacked on top the other with the barrel on its own to the side.
“Well, so far things haven’t been bad,” the first man said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Though I’d still wish to know when we are leaving this place.”
“Who knows when that is, but it has likely been extended due to this,” the man who carried the barrel replied.
“But it might not even take too much time. Not like we can do much if we can’t understand them.”
Meanwhile, in another part of camp…
“Are you sure?” Lemaur asked.
“Yes sir,” the man with him replied.
“We reached further south than previous days. We began to notice that far in the distance the land began to turn into that of a desert.”
“Was there anything else of note?”
“We believe the landmass beings to extend west as well. All things considered, we might have disembarked in a gulf, with its southern region bordering said desert.”
“Hmm, that could be possible,”Lemaur mused.
He remembered the drawn map. It was very simplistic, but it showed the land extended west after going enough distance to the north. Perhaps it was indeed a gulf, but further exploration would be needed. Or perhaps not.
“Very well, recall the men. I think that is enough exploration,” Lemaur said.
“Besides, I don’t think requesting maps of the region will be hard to convey to them once they arrive.”
“Yes sir,” the man then left.
“A desert? That sounds surprising,” a voice was heard.
Lemaur turned around, seeing Austin approaching.
“We are in a very tropical latitude for a desert to be further south,” he continued.
“Well, to be honest Mister Austin, at this point I can no longer trust things here to work entirely like we expect them to,” Lemaur said.
“Ever since the flying ponies?” Austin asked.
“Wish I could say since the rest of the world vanished, but yes,” Lemaur replied.
Activity at the pegasi camp was no less hectic in comparison, as the arrival of the delegation also meant they were doing their fair share of preparations.
They should be arriving at any moment now, Wing Shield thought.
He stood at the northern edge of camp, glancing between further northwards and upwards at the position of the sun. He wasn’t alone, as a few ponies were nearby, tending to their armors.
“I can’t believe I’ll finally meet the ponies who overthrew Discord,” one of them said, while inspecting his helmet.
“Me neither,” another added, polishing his.
“First visitors from across the sea, and now this? I didn’t expect a simple patrol would turn into all this.”
“Well, that was the point of our patrol,” a third spoke up.
“We simply lucked out.”
“Who knows, maybe the ones at the east coast also found something,” the first one said, putting his helmet back on.
“I’d think they wouldn’t be coming this way if there was,” the third replied.
“Perhaps we just sent word first,” the second one shrugged.
“In any case, we have a more pressing matter to focus right now.”
And as they continued their talk, Wing Shield turned in their direction for a moment, and turned back with a smile.
It’s good to see them so dedicated.
“Captain!”
Wing Shield’s thoughts were interrupted by the sudden shout. Glancing upwards, he saw Keen Eyes flying towards him, and landed just before him. The nearby pegasi glanced at them. Keen Eyes didn’t spoke, but they all knew at this point what his descent meant.
“They’re here,” Wing Shield simply said.
“Can you see them?”
Guerrero and the ship’s captain were on the deck, the latter using his spotting scope.
“Wait…” the captain began.
“Yes… yes, I see them!”
As soon they were informed that activity at the pegasi camp had shifted, they had come quickly to the deck. It wasn’t hard to deduce why.
“It’s almost a pity we can’t have a vantage point like they can, with their flight,” Guerrero mused.
“I could agree. Too bad we didn’t have a balloon to bring with us,” the captain replied, lowering his spotting scope.
“Perhaps it’s for the best. We still have some time, if barely,” Guerrero started to make his way to the ramp.
“I had the privilege of meeting Princess Celestia herself back in the year 1079, having the honor to attend Equestria’s annual Grand Galloping Gala, personally invited by the princess herself. She had expressed an interest in my job as a historian; and for my work, at the time still in progress. While I was hardly the first historian she has ever graced her help with, I however was going to be the first not from her country. Though there are noticeable differences of each recorded retelling, placing note on whether the princess would focus on certain details each time she explained, nonetheless the main course of events remains constant. Which brings us to the time she first met humans. So, it was on that day, Monday March 21, of the year 1825 of the previous designation…”
Ignacio Manuel Hernández Ríos, Ancient History of Mexico - Volume II, UNLAP 1081AL
Beach
Everyone in both camps hurried for the final preparations. Soon, the pegasi began to assemble in the middle of the camp area, now devoid of things, as they had been moved to the sides. They formed a slightly curved line, with Wing Shield positioned on the inside at the center. Meanwhile, the humans were only slightly behind in finishing up as well.
“Listen up men, we will soon be before royalty,” Lemaur talked to a small crowd assembled before him.
“Talking ponies or not or coming all the way here, a king is still a king. We are no strangers to that, at the very least. So, unlike the first time we saw them, we know now what to expect. We must not make ourselves a ridicule before them again!”
The crowd murmured in agreement as Lemaur glanced to the pegasi camp.
“They already are ready,” he observed.
“Time for us to do the same!”
Across the camp was the same. Final talks before they started to assemble as well. Like the pegasi, they had cleared the area of the middle of their camp, but instead they began to assemble in various rows. Guerrero, Lemaur, Austin, and Álvarez were at the very front.
“How long do you think before they turn their attention on us?” Austin asked.
“It can’t be that long,” Guerrero said, glancing at the sky.
“It won’t be long before nightfall, so unless we end up waiting another day, they have to do it today.”
“Does it even matter? We still can’t understand them,” Álvarez pointed out.
“A few days isn’t enough time to learn enough for conversation.”
“That is true,” Guerrero admitted.
“So regardless, we now wait,” Lemaur said as they all stared back at the pegasi camp.
It wasn’t hard to see already that something could now be seen coming from the northern horizon. Though between the distant between the two camps and the pegasi now lined up, it was going to be hard to see well beyond them. In any case, they were soon going to be upon them.
The delegation began to slow down once it was close enough to the pegasi camp, stopping not far from the pegasi line. The float was placed on the ground, from which the princesses and Starswirl stepped down. Thunderbolt for his part hovered down.
“Your highnesses,” Wing Shield bowed, followed by the rest of the assembled pegasi.
“At ease, Captain Wing Shield,” Celestia said, and they rose back up.
“You have done an admirable job.”
She then gazed at the rest of the pegasi.
“And all of you as well,” she continued.
“We were just doing our service to Equestria, your highness,” the Captain replied.
“Just Princess will do, Captain,” Celestia said after shaking her head.
Even if it is still not official, she thought.
“As you wish,” Wing Shield replied.
“You can keep calling me ‘Your Highness’, if you wish,” Luna cheerfully said, prompting an eye-roll from her sister.
Starswirl cleared his throat.
“We must not distract ourselves,” he said.
“It will soon be time to move the sun and moon. I suggest we deal with our guests first.”
He turned to face Wing Shield.
“Any last significant developments to know about?” he asked the pegasus.
“None worth of mention,” Wing Shield replied.
“Like us, they seemed to prepare their camp for your arrival.”
He looked back in the direction of the human camp, briefly.
“They should be expecting you to head over there any moment now, so we should not keep them waiting.”
“Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s head over there!” Luna said, as she began to walk.
“Luna, wait,” Celestia called out.
“We have to do this properly. We must avoid startling them again.”
Luna stopped.
“What could they possible get afraid of at this point?” she said.
“Did you forgot what Lord Starswirl told us?” Celestia asked.
“Oh, that? Fine, nothing big as far as magic goes,” Luna replied.
“But do remember that moving the sun and moon is as big as it can get.”
“The princess certainly has a point,” Wing Shield said.
“Watching them these past days, I once first thought they simply were unfamiliar with pegasi magic. I know some unicorns have come up with spells that imitate some of the effects, so that could be the case for other magic-using creatures. But now I think they might not even use or know of any magic whatsoever.”
“Yes, yes, Thunderbolt made us aware of your conjectures,” Starswirl stroke his beard with a hoof.
“That could be the case. If so, it’s incredible then to have the capability to build such a large ship and cross the ocean,” he turned in the direction of said vessel.
“All without the aid of magic.”
“No magic? I don’t know if I can imagine that,” Celestia shook her head.
“Not using it is one thing, but not knowing?” Luna was incredulous.
“Yes, that may be something hard to believe,” Starswirl said.
“But exceptions can exist, and perhaps they are just that. But why guess when we can ask? Ever so important to meet up with them right away.”
“I agree, we have spent enough time as it is,” Wing Shield said.
“We should probably take a few ponies with us, just in case.”
“A wise idea,” Starswirl then turned to the rest of the delegation.
His gaze went over them, until finally…
“You there, come with us. The rest of you, you’re free for now.”
As it would have it, said chosen ponies happened to be three earth ponies and a unicorn: Red Apple and his newfound acquaintances.
“Thunderbolt, you’re with us,” Wing Shield said, before turning back to his squad.
“The rest of you, dismissed!”
The pegasi saluted and broke their line, clearing the way to the other camp. They could see them clearly now, all lined up, waiting. Without much word, the group of ponies made their way towards them.
At the distance, and with the winged ponies lined up, for the humans it had been hard to discern what exactly was happening at the other camp; but then they finally moved, and now saw a group was approaching them.
Many of the men began to whisper between themselves. Other just stared at the approaching ponies. Perhaps used to the winged ponies, their reactions thankfully were not the same as that day, but some still stood in wonder at the new types they were seeing. Few of them knew of the mythical unicorn, though reactions were somewhat tame at looking at the horned ponies. One could even say what caught more their attention was that one of them had a prominent beard. Ironically, more surprised they were at looking there were normal-looking ponies, to them at least, after all. What caused the biggest impression, however, was the two ponies at the center of the group.
Taller than the ponies around them, manes that flowed despite there not being wind, adorned with what looked to be accessories made from precious metals, but most important of all, the presence of both wings and horns on the two of them. Altogether, it made clear to all present they were the royalty they were expecting.
“I don’t suppose there is any myth that talks of horses with both horns and wings?” Austin asked.
Lemaur shook his head.
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Personally, for a foreign world, it was starting to look too coincidental to house creatures that were at least known to us, even if as myths,” Álvarez said.
“Or maybe they aren’t myths,” Guerrero said.
The others got surprised looks; even those close enough to hear them began to pay attention to their talk.
“Myths don’t just come into being, and now we know a few at least do exist,” he continued.
“And if they live here, then perhaps just like how we are here, there is a way to travel from somewhere in this world back to our own.”
Those who heard had a hopeful look on them, and word of the conversation was now being passed to the rest of the men.
“Ah, an excellent theory, Mister Guerrero,” Lemaur commented.
“Sounds too good to be true,” Álvarez frowned.
“But even if we do find a way back, I don’t think we can bring the country back with us.”
Most of the hopeful looks deflated.
“Even so, it’s still better than nothing,” Guerrero said.
“Assuming there is a way back,” Austin pointed out.
“We can worry on that later, they are finally here,” Lemaur said, making everyone’s attention gaze back front.
The small group of ponies were indeed close enough and had stopped. The two groups just stood there, staring at each other.
“So… now what do we do?” Álvarez asked.
“They might expect at the least some form of reaction,” Lemaur guessed.
“They are royalty, after all. Although the fact they’re ponies is going to change things.”
“I do not think we will really make much progress at the moment,” Guerrero said.
“Regardless, it is still better than nothing.”
He began to step forward.
“Most peculiar,” Starswirl commented.
The ponies had stopped at a considerable distance between their visitors. For the non-pegasi, they shared the same sense of wonder at looking never-before seen creatures, as those who were watching them.
“It’s certainly a different experience from just hearing about them,” the unicorn continued.
“Now all we need is to cast the spell on one of them.”
“And how are we going to accomplish that, Lord Starwirl?” Celestia asked.
“We will start small, show a few harmless spells, to get them used to the idea,” Starswirl replied.
They then saw one of them step forward. It was the one Wing Shield had described as their leader. He was soon followed by the ones who were nearest. They lessened the gap that was still between them before stopping. They then proceeded to make slight bows.
“Now then, Captain Wing Shield, would you please take off your helmet?” Starswirl asked.
The captain did as instruct.
“What do I do with it?” Wing Shield asked.
“Just hold it on your hoof for now,” Starswirl said, gaze back on their guests before his horn began to glow.
The sudden glow of the bearded unicorn’s horn was a surprise for the humans. Well, those that could properly see it. It was certainly clear for Guerrero and his group, being the closest. Unsure looks began to sprout, just like back when they first saw the pegasi. This was a new unexpected thing, to which reactions had a danger of being like back when they first learned they could talk. Well, perhaps not unexpected to all…
For people like Lemaur, the glow brought instead a look of understanding.
“I see, so that’s how it is…” he mumbled, though loud enough to be heard by those around him.
“What do you mean?” Álvarez asked, gazing between him and the glowing horn of the unicorn.
“Well, the unicorns of myths weren’t just horses with a horn that only virgins could tame,” Lemaur explained.
“They were said to possess magical powers.”
“Magic?” Austin sounded incredulous.
“I don’t think we are in a position to doubt,” Guerrero said.
“And it’s more of the myths being proven right.”
“So, is that it, the horn glows when it’s about to use its powers?” Álvarez asked.
Their focus went back to the ponies, and then if the glowing horn was already surprising as it was, what came next was even more so. They had seen the other pony took off its helmet but hadn’t paid much attention as the glowing horn caught more their eye. Just then, the helmet began to glow, in the same color as the horn; and without warning, the helmet began to slowly rise in the air. It didn’t rose much, kept it self slightly above the ponies’ heads. For a simple action, it still carried a big effect.
However, it wasn’t met with the shock and the fear of days ago. There was still a sense of wariness, but now mixed with curiosity. A few of the men in the main crowd took a step or two forward, to get a better view. Murmurs and whispers abound. All in all, it was a much better reception.
Celestia sighed in relief.
“It seems they are taking to basic unicorn magic well,” she stated.
Starswirl then began to move the helmet around. First horizontally, then in a loop, and finally was rotating the helmet. All met with similar reactions.
“To be fair, princess, even if it’s not the same, they had the time to grow accustomed to pegasi magic,” Wing Shield said.
“That’s all well and good, but how are we going to cast the other spell on one of them anyway?” Luna asked.
“The spell is hoofs above simple telekinesis,” Starswirl said, finally placing the helmet back on Wing Shield, before finally dissipating the magic aura.
“The latter didn’t have to involve any of them, to begin with.”
“In that case I don’t think we have the time to go showing off spells,” Wing Shield said while adjusting his helmet.
“Not if we want to get done this, quick, anyway.”
“Um, excuse me, but,” the sudden voice made them turn to the rest of their little group.
“The spell could be cast on any of us first, perhaps?” It had been the only other unicorn of the group who spoke.
“How is that going to help in casting the spell on them?” Luna asked.
“Hmm, perhaps we can convey that,” Starswirl said.
“But it would be hard for what exactly the spell will do. They won’t be able to discern its effects before casting it on them.”
“I can think of a way…” Wing Shield began.
“This can’t just be a display of power, does it?” Austin asked.
“Moving a mere helmet is too simple for that,” Guerrero said.
“Unless it was just how they want to start.”
“It’s hard to say just can they do,” Lemaur said.
“Not even the myths go into specifics of what can a unicorn do.”
Just then, one of the winged ponies took a step forward. He looked directly at Guerrero, who for his part had no difficulty recognizing he was ‘Wing Shield’.
“It’s the leader of the winged ones, was it?” Álvarez asked.
“Perhaps it’s going to be like back at the ship?”
Guerrero merely nodded, and with a little hesitation, he took a step forward as well. The distance between the two was now so close, they could shake hand and hoof again if they made a step or two more each.
The pegasus raised a hoof and pointed at the horn of the bearded unicorn, then at himself. Right after, he pointed back at the horn, but this time pointed at Guerrero afterwards.
“What was that about?” Álvarez asked.
“Well, it seems to involve the unicorn’s power,” Austin said.
“Pointing at itself and Guerrero… they want to use it on them both?”
“Hmm,” Lemaur briefly closed his eyes while crossing his arms.
“As I mentioned before, it’s hard to say what this unicorn is fully capable of. Perhaps it is in its power to communicate with us.”
“That would certainly be convenient,” Álvarez mused.
“Nevertheless, regardless of what they actually plan to do, can we trust it won’t be something bad?” Lemaur asked.
Guerrero glanced back at them.
“We went through this before; at this point I doubt they plan something harmful with this. More so since one of them plans to go through with it as well.”
“Well, we don’t know if it matters that we are not horses,” Austin pointed out.
“Are you still going to go through with it?”
Guerrero turned back to face the ponies, then back at them.
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
“Just be prepared, in case something does go wrong.”
He turned back to the ponies, as the other three took a few steps back. Guerrero then gazed at Wing Shield and nodded.
“Is that a good sign?” Celestia asked.
Wing Shield glanced back.
“I believe so,” was his reply.
“Hmm, good, good,” Starswirl nodded.
“It’s a small but sure sense of trust, having the time to grow through your interactions. And could perhaps grow stronger. It’s an important step in the making of friendship.”
His horn began to glow again.
“Very well, let’s get this over with.”
The unicorn closed his eyes and concentrated. He first aimed in the direction of Wing Shield, before finally released the spell. The sudden flash was even more of an attention grabber for their guests, who kept watching intently. The ones right before them, though, had to shield their eyes, clearly not accustomed to such procedures.
“How do feel, Captain?” Starswirl asked.
The pegasus shook his head.
“I think I…” he suddenly stopped.
Wait, he wasn’t talking in, realization hit Wing Shield. I see, so that’s how it works…
“I’m fine,” he continued after a brief pause; the statement delivered in a way which made the unicorn smile.
The sudden flash didn’t allow them to see properly but could still make out something had traveled from the horn of the unicorn to the winged pony. It was hard to tell exactly what had happened, but for Guerrero, watching Wing Shield react made him guess it went without a problem. At least, it had better be. Now came the moment of truth, though, for he was next.
Guerrero braced himself, standing still, though with an arm ready to cover his eyes again in case he didn’t closed them in time. The unicorn took a step to the side, likely to have better aim, horn glowing again. Pointed at him now, the glow began to get brighter. Knowing that was the sign, Guerrero quickly closed his eyes.
Guerrero wasn’t sure what to expect for when the unicorn’s magic hit him. Part of him was still processing the fact that magic was a real thing where they were now. He also recalled the abilities displayed by the winged horses, and some doubt had begun to rise. With bigger concerns to deal with, however, he had to later remember to speak with the priest on the matter.
His thoughts were then interrupted, for he felt it. He could feel something entering his head. Not in the literal sense of course, but it was still a fitting description of what he was feeling. Shortly after, he was assaulted by a headache. It wasn’t a severe one, but he still lowered his head slightly, eyes still closed, placing a hand to its side.
“Sir are you alright?”
Álvarez’s voiced called from behind, making him open his eyes again.
“Yes… yes, I am,” he replied, turning his head half-way to meet their gazes.
“The winged pony didn’t react like that,” Lemaur stated.
“Are we sure it’s the same magic?”
“Maybe there is a difference since we are not horses,” Austin said.
Guerrero lowered his arm, the headache subsiding. Before anyone could say more, a voice called out. Guerrero turned back, to see that the bearded unicorn had took a step forward, and most likely the one that had spoken. However, his words remained as non-understandable as ever.
Did it not work? Guerrero frowned in thought, the words echoing in his mind. It was the spell what I felt, was it not? Then…
His thoughts were interrupted, as his expression then turned to surprise. As sudden as the headache had arrived, so did… understanding. The words, his focus kept on them. Slowly but surely, their meaning became clear:
“Can you understand me?”
That was what the unicorn said, who was now smiling.
Wind Shield was a little concerned at seeing the human react to the spell. He seemed to be in pain, which was a sign of alarm, since that wasn’t the purpose of the spell. Nothing of the sort happened when Starswirl casted the spell on him, after all. Thankfully, his worry was short-lived, for he had recovered quickly enough. Shortly-after, the spell’s effect had seemed to take effect.
“Well, I call this a success,” Starswirl turned to face Wing Shield, nodding.
“Lord Starswirl, why did he react that way to the spell?” Wind Shield asked.
“There is a difference between how much I placed on each of you, captain,” was the reply.
“The headache was expected, I’m afraid. Too much information with such short of a time span.”
He then turned back to face the human.
“Ah, forgive, much still not understandable yet?” He simplified a bit his word choice, for the human’s sake.
The human seemed to be in thought for a moment, before he shook his head, waving his hand as well.
“No, it is… fine,” he finally answered, but not in his native tongue.
He had spoken in their own. It took both pony and human alike in surprise, the latter beginning to murmur with each other again. Starswirl for his part just smiled.
“I see. Good, becomes easier with time,” he said.
Starswirl then faced back to the rest of their group.
“Your majesties, as you can see, we have finally stablished communication,” he said.
“How long must we wait before he can grasp well our language?” Celestia asked.
“Hopefully not long,” Starswirl replied.
“With how comparable we are, their minds should sort it out quickly enough. Despite my way of speech earlier, it might benefit him more to hear our language as much varied as possible.”
“Wait,” they heard the human call out, prompting them to face forward again.
“Can you… do same to my companions?” He asked, waving an arm in a backwards motion.
“Should be no problem,” Starwirl replied.
“If they accept.”
The human nodded, before turning.
The scene that greeted Guerrero wasn’t surprising. Most of the murmuring crowd stopped to pay attention, and to his convenience it included the ones he wanted to talk to.
“That was incredible,” Álvarez said.
“You were really speaking their language!”
“What can take up a long time to learn made possible in just a few minutes,” Lemaur stated, hand on his chin.
“The myths are now starting to fall short.”
“It is certainly extraordinary,” Guerrero said.
“Though now I must ask: would you want to partake on this as well?”
He received looks of surprise.
“You mean we are offered having their magic used on us as well?” Lemaur asked.
“Well, to the best of my ability, I asked,” Guerrero replied.
“It would be best if it isn’t just me alone talking to the equines.”
“Well, I am not letting this chance go by,” Austin said.
“Besides, we can save ourselves the trouble of asking later.”
“I agree with Austin,” Lemaur added.
“If this is not the first time we will interact with them, we should eliminate the language issue as soon as possible.”
“We will have to go through what you did, isn’t it? That headache,” Álvarez said.
“It didn’t look that severe,” Austin noted.
“Well, I suppose it is a small price to pay to be able to understand them, then,” Álvarez said.
“Very well, I’ll tell them you accepted,” Guerrero said before turning back to face the ponies.
I could just nod, I’m sure the unicorn will understand, he thought. On the other hand, perhaps I should get to grasp their language better as soon as possible.
“They accept,” Guerrero spoke once more in the equines’ language.
The unicorn merely nodded. Guerrero turned his head back, motioning the other three to come forward, with his arm. They took a few steps, until they were almost aligned with him. The unicorn’s horn began to glow, ready to apply the spell thrice more.
A short time later, the onlooking human crowd had dispersed back to their camp and ship. Few had remained to keep watching, largely because at best they would hear few of what they could understand. A few chairs were brought so Guerrero and his companions could sit down. A table was also placed next to them; a stack of papers on top of it. Seated closest was Álvarez, who had his focus on the papers, writing with a pencil. The ponies for their part merely sat on the ground, though two cushions were taken from their float for the alicorn sisters.
“I believe enough time has passed for the effects to settle,” Starswirl began, before facing Guerrero.
“Well, perhaps just for you, mister… ah, what was it again?”
“Vicente,” Wing Shield was the one who replied.
“Ah, yes, Vicente,” Starswirl nodded.
“You mentioned this was not permanent,” Guerrero spoke up.
“How long will this last?”
“It should be of no concern, it will last until deep into the night,” Starswirl answered.
“My tests on the spell show they last on average a few hours.”
Looks of confusion appeared on the humans.
“You don’t employ hours?” Starswirl asked.
“No, we do,” Guerrero replied.
“But I doubt yours and ours are of the same length.”
“Ah, a valid concern,” Starswirl smiled.
“Wait,” a voice called out.
“The spell didn’t tell them?”
They turned to face the new speaker. It had been one of the other ponies, the lone unicorn, who spoke up. The humans hadn’t been paying much attention to the other new attendees outside Starswirl and the alicorn sisters, but now that one of them thought to speak up, they turned to see them.
The unicorn was a mare, sporting a white coat and a braided mane of bright red. The horn was likewise white, but what perhaps caught the most attention was the markings on her flanks. The humans had seen them before, when they first saw the pegasi remove their armors. It was amazing how the fur not only formed a clear picture but seemed to remain constant despite the movements of the fur and body. They had yet to know their purpose or meaning but could already guess. After all, most of the pegasi had them either related to the weather or were military looking. The unicorn’s, however, was a book, with a black cover and a red bookmark sticking out.
“Was it not included when transferring the definition of the word?” she continued.
“No, I am quite sure that kind of details were included in the spell,” Starswirl stroke his beard.
“The nature of the spell means it should come to the front once they become aware of the word.”
“Perhaps,” Lemaur spoke up.
“The systems are too different?”
“We can compare,” Austin added.
“We have… watches with us.”
They begin to have the confidence to speak our tongue, Starswirl noted. Good, things should go smoothly from now on.
“I believe we have at least in our possession as well,” he said.
“Lord Starswirl,” Celestia spoke up.
“Perhaps we can discuss that at a later point. I think it should be best if we first deal with why we are here.”
Starswirl turned to face her and nodded.
“If you wish, your highness,” he said with a slight bow.
He turned back to face the humans.
“I believe we should begin with proper introductions, now that we can understand each other.”
“I am Starswirl. Throughout my life I have partaken in many endeavors, most of the scholar kind. This has earned me a reputation of one of our Kingdom’s most acclaimed spellcasters, also giving me the title of ‘The Bearded’. No doubt you may see why.”
He then chuckled. Some of the humans did showed faint smiles, catching on the humor behind the statement. Starswirl then cleared his throat.
“Recently, though, I serve as advisor to our King, and even more recently, to these two ladies.”
He rose a hoof, motioning it towards the alicorn sisters. The humans stood up, even Álvarez, who had been still more focused on the papers until now.
“Before you are Celestia and Luna.”
At each mention of their names, the corresponding alicorn would give a small nod.
“Representatives of our King, and soon to be princesses of our country.”
“Soon to be?” Lemaur repeated.
“It might sound confusing to hear such a statement, but it is the truth,” Celestia replied.
“Recent actions made by my sister and I were of great service to our kingdom. The King thought fitting to rewards by being adopted into the royal family.”
The humans were a bit perplexed by this.
“It is certainly a very… orthodox reward,” Guerrero said.
“I share the sentiment, it was very unexpected for us as well,” Celestia agreed.
“Not that it was entirely unwanted in the end,” Luna added.
“So, what was what you did?” Austin asked.
“They were the ones who overthrew the tyrant Discord, bringing peace back to our kingdom after long period of misrule, and restoring our King back into power.”
“Ah, I see now,” Lemaur said.
“You’re war heroes.”
A small blush formed in Celestia’s face.
“I would not consider it that way,” she replied, turning her head away slightly.
“There was hardly a battle.”
“It was still quite the spectacle, though,” Luna smiled.
“He never even saw it coming!”
“It’s still impressive,” Austin said.
“To reach him despite all the security he had.”
“Oh no, no, he was not one to employ guards,” Celestia shook her head.
“If anypony dared enough, he would just deal with them himself.”
“From your story, he sounds to be a very powerful individual. So how were you able to subdue him?” Álvarez asked.
Now the ponies were the ones confused.
“You have never heard of Discord?” One of the other ponies spoke.
It was one of the few the humans would’ve considered a normal pony, at least in the sense of lacking both a horn or wings. Unlike the unicorn who spoke earlier, this one was a stallion, with a dark green coat and a short and messy mane of dull red. The image on his flanks was that of a single red apple.
He was, of course, Red Apple; not that the humans were aware of their names yet.
The humans shook their heads.
“I’m afraid not,” Guerrero said.
“Hard it may sound for you to believe, but the truth is that we had no idea what we would encounter once we reached this land.”
The human’s words were a big surprise to the ponies. Starswirl began to stroke his bead, deep in thought, as most of the group broke into murmurs. As this began to unfold, the humans could only stare, except for Álvarez who decided to focus back on the papers on the table, and thus sat back down. The murmurs were ones the humans couldn’t quite make out, until suddenly…
“That makes no sense!” the unicorn mare suddenly raised her voice.
“How could they not know of Equestria!?”
“Calm down,” Red Apple told her.
“I’m sure there must be some explanation.”
“Discord was not exactly subtle,” she countered.
“We know some of the things he did extended beyond our borders. And the Dragon Migration happened during it! Actually, that makes it even more hard to believe.”
“Maybe they avoid them, like we do?” Red Apple guessed.
“Wait, did she just mention…?” Álvarez pointed out to his comrades as the argument unfolded.
In their language, as the few ponies who kept paying attention to them noticed.
“Calm down, you two,” Thunderbolt approached them.
“We should let them explain themselves.”
I guess it is time, Guerrero thought, looking as the pegasus tried to defuse the argument.
If he recalled correctly, it was one of the two that arrived after the main group. They had theorized the pegasi knew of their arrival and had sent word back before deciding to show themselves. Said messengers just coming back. The arrival of the would-be princesses and their escort had confirmed that had been the case.
This one was a stallion of dark purple coat and black mane. Unlike the captain, and as with the rest of his comrades, he wore gray armor. Said armor was currently covering the mark on his flanks, but if word was to be trusted, his was that of a yellow symbol. It was described as best resembling a lightning bolt, but not one they were familiar with. Perhaps it was simply what they used for one.
“Gentlemen,” Guerrero called out to his comrades, deciding to speak back in Spanish.
“This is a prime opportunity. Even if this a place where magic is common, and creatures of myth are real,” he began.
“Which we now must add dragons to the list, apparently,” Álvarez interrupted, speaking mostly to himself, but loud enough for the rest to hear.
“Right, we need to ask for more information about that,” Guerrero continued.
“But as I was saying, our situation could still be unheard of for them.”
“Their recent doubts to our ignorance of their world seem to show otherwise, however,” Lemaur noted.
“Exactly, this could help make our plight more believable to them,” Guerrero said.
“Regardless, we must soon make acquaintance with the beings and countries of this place. Whether we remain in this world temporarily, or… permanently. We must not remain in isolation.”
“We might have to resort for a more proper diplomatic delegation for this,” Austin pointed out.
“I am aware,” Guerrero said.
“I think the time has come to put an end to our expedition. We will inform them of our plight and see if we could schedule a more official meeting at some later date.”
“That’s a sound plan,” Lemaur commented.
“I concur. We are already looking at a month at the least for returning just to the coast alone,” Austin said.
“It’s best to get this over with as soon as possible,” he finished as Guerrero began to walk forwards.
“Do you think it’s true what they said?” Luna discussed with her sister.
“I do not know, sister,” was Celestia’s reply.
“They could be like us, as Equestria does not have much contact or knowledge with other lands either. That included them.”
“That’s a good point,” Luna said.
“And yet…” Celestia then briefly glanced in the direction of Red Apple and the others.
“It is true that it cannot be said the same for the other way around. She is right: Discord was not really known for his subtlety.”
“Another good point,” Luna deadpanned.
“And the dragons alone would be enough for word to spread, regardless of them being, well, dragons,” Celestia continued.
“Something else is going on, perhaps even big.”
“An excellent observation, your majesty,” they heard Starswirl call out.
The unicorn was now looking at them.
“Well, whatever it is, perhaps we are soon to find out,” he rose a limb and pointed towards the humans.
The sisters faced back forward and saw that one of them had taken a few steps towards them. This had caught the rest of the ponies’ attention as well.
“We understand our previous statement might have confused you,” Guerrero spoke, once again in the Equestrian language.
“As such, we believe we should explain why that is, as well as to why we traveled here in the first place.”
“In light of that, just as confirmation I ask: It was not, then, in any relation to our Kingdom of Equestria, or that of Discord’s rule of tyranny?” Starswirl said.
“No, it wasn’t,” Guerrero replied.
“Though finding you was not entirely out of the scope of our mission.”
“A mission, you say,” Starswirl stroke his beard.
“Yes, and we weren’t the only ones who departed our country. It all begun a few… hm,” Guerrero took on a puzzled look.
“What is the matter?” Celestia asked.
“I don’t think your language has the word I want to use,” Guerrero explained.
“Yes, I remember we did stablish our time measuring systems were different,” Starswirl commented.
“Do go on, perhaps there is a way around that issue.”
Silence now reigned. Guerrero had finished his tale. About how they weren’t native of this world. That their country had suddenly found itself alone, the rest of their world having vanished. Of their confusion if they had been whisked away, or the rest of their world had been. On how they departed across the ocean to find anything. Of their arrival to this land. The rest of his companions pitched in where they could. For further credibility, they had called forth for a few maps and navigation charts to be brought from their ship. Of both Mexico and the rest of Earth. They only gave the most basics of explanations, as it wasn’t deemed critical yet to go in detail about Earth. In the end, they all sat back on their chairs, Álvarez still working with the papers on the table, as they waited how the ponies digested their story.
The ponies for their part, first thing they did was converg into one big group, in a circle.
“I understand now,” Wing Shield was the first to speak.
“When I was in their ship, and shown that map. The lines drawn were portraying what they lost contact with. Even before they attempted to explain their plight as best they could. And seeing those maps… between that and how they’ve behaved these past days, I don’t doubt they’re telling the truth.”
At this Thunderbolt shook his head.
“That may be Captain, but it’s still hard to believe,” he said. “A giant landmass, teleported from a different world?”
Murmurs of agreement followed.
“Is that possible, Lord Starswirl?” Celestia.
“It’s hard to tell, I’ve never heard of anything like it before,” was the unicorn’s reply.
“However, we move big objects like the sun and moon every day, so what difference it makes if it’s teleportation, and with a big piece of land?”
He then placed a hoof to his chin.
“But it would require tremendous power, far imaginable. I don’t think even gathering every unicorn in Equestria we could be able to move the country to the other side of the world, let alone a different one.”
“What about Discord?” Thunderbolt suggested.
He received stares in reply.
“I wouldn’t rule it out,” Starswirl said.
“His magic was certainly in a whole different level. For all that he performed while Equestria was his playground, I doubt we saw the limits of his power. However, outside of moving the sun and moon, he mostly kept his magic within Equestria itself. And nothing we heard was this big.”
“So, could he have done it?” Celestia asked.
“It is hard to say,” Starswirl continued.
“He might. But this action, from seeing and hearing all he did, it would still be unheard of. Unlike anything else he did. It would…”
He frowned slightly, then sighed.
“Not make sense.”
Almost everypony else groaned. They all knew well what those words meant when it came to Discord.
“Which means he totally did it,” Luna deadpanned.
“It is still too hasty of a conclusion,” Starswirl said.
“But I have to admit it is our only possible explanation for now.”
“Which means there’s no way to send them back, sir?” Red Apple asked.
“I’m afraid not,” Starswirl briefly glanced at the humans.
“At least with what we have available. This world is their home now.”
A few of the ponies saddened, only imagining how that could feel.
“Well, on the bright side,” one of the earth ponies of the group spoke up.
“They didn’t lose a whole lot, if it was their whole country sent here, right?”
“For most, perhaps,” Red Apple said.
“Yeah, from their story, it sounded they did have a lot of outsiders when the whole thing happened,” Thunderbolt added.
“They did state most of the group here were from those hoping to still find their own country, even if the chances were low,” Wind Shield commented.
“And unlike us, they sounded like they were more in contact with the lands beyond their borders. With their immediate neighbors, at least,” Starswirl added, before gazing into the sky.
“It is a sad thing overall,” the unicorn mare said, whose expression then shifted into that of slight panic.
“What if it were to happen to Equestria as well?”
The sentiment of panic was briefly shared by most of them.
“I… I wouldn’t worry too much about that, Bookworm,” the same earth pony from before said.
“Y-yeah, this doesn’t sound like the sort of thing that could happen often enough to worry about,” Red Apple added.
“Besides, if it was really Discord the one behind it, then we no longer have to worry, right?”
“But what if it wasn’t him?” The last earth pony of the group spoke up, sounding more afraid that the rest.
“See? It could still happen to us!” The mare, Bookworm, added.
“We still can’t be sure of that,” Thunderbolt pointed out.
As the ponies continued their discussion, Celestia turned to see Starswirl, who was still gazing at the sky.
“What is it, Lord Starswirl?” She asked.
“Is it finally time to bring forth the night?”
The unicorn broke his gaze to face her.
“That it does, your highness,” Starswirl replied.
“And I think this can be a good time as any to bring this fact to our guests.”
“What do you mean?” Celestia asked.
“Well, if they didn’t think magic existed, then they wouldn’t think that’s what moves their own world’s sun and moon,” Starswirl explained.
“That’s one explanation I would like to know,” Luna said.
“We should ask them afterwards.”
“All things do seem to point that magic is at best just rare in their world,” Starswirl said.
“Or a lost art.”
“I agree. A world where magic doesn’t exist…” Luna shook her head.
“I just can’t imagine it.”
“They did at least know about magic as a concept,” Wind Shield pointed out.
“And their own maps showed they haven’t fully explored their own world. Perhaps they just hadn’t discovered it yet.”
“Well, in any case, we must show them,” Starswirl said.
The humans, sans Álvarez, rose once more from their seats when they saw the ponies were approaching them again. This time it was only the princesses and Starswirl, the latter which took a step more.
“We believe in your story,” Starswirl began.
“Though before we begin to discuss that in detail, there’s one thing we must do first.”
He then faced turned to face the sisters.
“Your highnesses, if you will.”
Both alicorns merely nodded, before placing themselves in position. Seeing another spectacle may be incoming, the few men that were keeping an eye on them began to call others. The humans saw how their horns began to glow, as expected now from having seen Starswirl do the same earlier. However, they couldn’t discern exactly what they would do. One of them faced the ocean, her head raised, towards the sun. The other, facing in the opposite direction, just looked towards the forests.
Just then, they started to notice it. The visibility around them was dimming. They saw the sun was now making its last part of the descend on the sky. However, they saw how the alicorn staring towards the sun was following in its path. They were quick to piece it together.
“Wait, is that horse really…?”
“It can’t be!”
“No way!”
For Guerrero and the others, similar thoughts were had.
“Is she… is she really moving the sun…?” Austin asked in Spanish.
“What else could it be?” Lemaur responded in kind.
“I don’t think they would suddenly do this now to fool us. It truly must be happening.”
Soon the sun was out of their sight. This made the humans’ focus shift to the other sister. Some already looking towards the sky to the east. Sure enough, they soon saw the moon rise into view from the mountains. It kept rising in the sky before finally, the alicorns’ horns stopped glowing. The moon’s ascension soon slowed down, almost to a stop, though if anyone could’ve had the means to look more closely, they would’ve seen it was still moving, albeit slowly.
“And looks like the moon as well,” Álvarez commented, glancing towards the moon.
Despite how seemingly calm his words sounded, he was as shocked as everyone else. He then faced back to the table and frowned.
“I’m going to need a candle now.”
Though the moon was giving off significant light, it was still dark enough to properly keep working on the papers. The spectacle seemingly over, the onlookers had all left back to their now nighttime duties.
“Never mind that for now,” Guerrero said.
The alicorn sisters turned back to face them. They and the unicorn sat down. Behind them, the other ponies seemed to be starting up a campfire. This illuminated the immediate area enough to continue their conversation, though the humans moved their chairs slightly closer before sitting own as well.
“I understand you’re going to have many questions about what you just saw,” Starswirl began.
“So, I think we might get something out of the way first. Is this not how it works in your world as well?”
“No, it most certainly not,” Guerrero shook his head.
“Are you sure? We know you don’t have magic,” Starswirl said.
“But surely it still must exist.”
“If I may, I don’t think any of us here can give a truly satisfying answer,” Lemaur said.
“But regardless, our world has had… ah, countless years of studies on the movement of our land and what we see in the sky.”
“Is that so?” Starswirl asked, his interest piqued.
“Then just say what are the current conclusions.”
“Well, it’s an application of… well, your language doesn’t seem to have a word for it. We call it gravity.”
“Gravity?” Starswirl repeated.
“Yes, the concept that any given object exerts some kind of force,” Lemaur explained.
“And when they interact with each other, usually the bigger object affects the smaller one. For something like our… world and the moon, the latter, for being much smaller, is forced to travel around the former.”
It’s not the best of explanations, but it would have to do. Lemaur thought.
“Fascinating,” Starswirl stated, stroking his beard.
“Are you sure this force isn’t just magic?” Luna asked, sounding a little incredulous.
“I would think we would have noticed, if that was the case,” Austin noted.
“Well, I have my doubts,” Luna said.
“Wait, you only mentioned the moon,” Celestia said.
“Does the sun does not work the same way?”
“Oh, it does,” Guerrero said.
“But in this case, it’s our world who travels around the sun.”
All three ponies were surprised by this revelation.
“Around the sun, you say?” Celestia asked.
“Wait, what? Why the sun!?” Luna asked, slight annoyance in her voice.
“As I mentioned, it’s a matter of size,” Lemaur said.
“The sun is much larger than the world. The largest object of the whole system.”
“Well, perhaps in your world,” Luna said.
“Sister, please calm down,” Celestia said.
“I suppose if true, it was bound to happen we’d begin to see big differences between our worlds. It’s certainly a surprise for us,” Starswirl said.
“Well, from our side, we have already faced our share of it,” Álvarez noted.
“I agree, and how the sun and moon work in this one, is another to the list,” Austin commented.
“But, if you two have the power to move them…” Guerrero began.
“Oh, well, it is not just a matter of raw power,” Celestia suddenly spoke.
“Moving the sun and moon is our special talent.”
“Special talent?” Guerrero repeated.
“Yes, we ponies have something we excel at. For my sister and I, that is moving the moon and sun, respectively.”
“And what exactly does that entails?” Lemaur asked.
“Well, before Discord took over, moving the sun and moon was a job for a group of unicorns,” Starswirl explained.
“A very straining job. Most unicorns would eventually lose their ability to cast magic due to the sheer amount of magic they had to exert twice a day, every day. But as you just saw, the princesses were able to do it on their very own.”
“And without any negative consequence,” Luna boasted.
“Then, about this Discord individual you overthrew…” Guerrero spoke.
“Ah, yes, that’s one matter we wanted to discuss,” Starswirl said.
“Yes, Discord was very powerful. Not only he could move the sun and moon without much thought like the princesses, but also countless other things. Things even beyond our power, and that mere descriptions can’t do justice.”
He then briefly gazed towards the ocean.
“Some of us currently believe he may have been the one who sent your country here.”
This surprised the humans.
“Could he?” Lemaur asked.
“It’s hard to say, but we wouldn’t rule it out,” Starswirl answered.
“There are many things we don’t know about this world. Much less so yours. Anything could’ve been the cause.”
“Well, a lead is a lead, nonetheless,” Guerrero noted.
This Discord… he sounds more and more like what many could mistake for a deity. He thought. Though after what he has done, perhaps demon is a better word to describe him.
“Not that we may be able to follow it,” Starswirl said.
“Even if Discord was willing to answer, he no longer can.”
“Why is that?” Guerrero asked.
“Because of his power, there was almost nothing nopony could do against him,” Celestia began.
“Our sister and I, we had to resort to search for these powerful artifacts Lord Starswirl told us about, that were able to subdue him. However, the result was that he got imprisoned in stone. He is just a statue, now.”
“So, is he… dead, then?” Austin asked.
“We do not believe that is the case,” Celestia shook her head.
“In theory, he could be freed,” Starswirl said.
“And there’s no way we will ever do that,” Luna huffed.
“For all he’s done, he can remain a statue for all eternity, I’d say.”
“In any case, considering your current situation, while we cannot do much, we offer any help we can,” Celestia said.
The humans felt relief at hearing those words.
“We still need to report this back to the King, but we are sure we can get him to accept to stablish formal relations between our countries,” Starswirl added.
“That is wonderful to hear,” Guerrero said.
“In that case, we also need to make our way back and report this to our… ah, leader as well.”
“Hm, what was that hesitation,” Starswirl asked.
“Well, you see, we don’t have a King in charge. Our country is not a kingdom,” Guerrero explained.
“At least not since recently. So, what we call our leader… is not something your language has the word for, I’m afraid.”
“I see,” Starswirl stroke his beard.
“Perhaps we should wait for our next meeting to explain that further.”
“Speaking of that, how do we stablish when to meet again?” Lemaur asked.
“Our trip took us many days. Coming back here alone would be the double of that, in addition to any time it would take to decide and prepare.”
“I think it should be here once more,” Celestia said.
“It is an ideal neutral ground.”
“Perhaps at first, your highness,” Starswirl pointed out.
“Eventually either delegation has to travel to the other country itself.”
He then turned to face the humans.
“Well, in any case, since we at least seem to have the same concept of what a day is, perhaps we can decide on some range.”
“If you brought some kind of calendar, like we did, then we can easily plan it,” Guerrero said.
“Excellent,” Starswirl nodded.
“May this be the beginning of a long and lasting friendship between our countries.”
Eventually in Mexico, nightfall had also arrived. As the nighttime activities of the city began, in the residence of one Antonio Maza, an event was winding down. As it had been going on since the early-midafternoon. A birthday celebration for a young man, who had turned nineteen that day. That man was named Benito Pablo Juárez García.
“I thank you, once more,” Juárez told Maza.
When Juárez moved to the city at the age of twelve, he sought his older sister María Josefa, who worked as cook in Maza’s household. He asked Maza for lodging and work. Though weeks later he would be under the tutelage of Franciscan priest Antonio Salanueva, Juárez had remained in touch with Maza.
“It was nothing, boy,” Maza replied.
“Besides, it was also in part a celebration for your good start in the arts course at the seminar.”
“Perhaps if you only count Latin,” a new voice was heard.
They turned to see the new speaker, who was Salanueva.
“Ah, Father Salanueva, surely young Benito here hasn’t started to slack off,” Maza said.
“Well, his performance in theology leaves much to be desired,” Salanueva responded.
“I won’t fail the course, sir,” Juárez responded.
“You better not,” Salanueva said.
“Otherwise it might hurt your chances to be ordained. It’s not a chance to waste. With God’s favor, you might even become among the first missionaries to indoctrinate this new world.”
“Ah, I had heard about that,” Maza spoke.
“I’m still not fully convinced that’s what happened. Even if true, the Church isn’t bound to have it any easier this time around.”
“Surely Mister Maza, it’s quite the bold assumption,” Salanueva replied.
“Once the expeditions bring the answer to that quandary, we can truly debate if it will be an easy task or not.”
“Perhaps,” Maza continued.
“Though word has already reached here the Pacific expedition turned back. Your hopes now hang on the Atlantic one.”
“And we’ll soon see about that,” Salanueva said.
Taking this opportunity, Juárez slipped away from their debate.
Though thankful to Salanueva for enabling him to receive a formal education, Juárez wasn’t keen on joining the clergy. Salanueva had tried once already, but Juárez had convinced him he wasn’t yet old enough for it. That had bought him time, and the arts course would bring a few years more. Soon, the city’s Institute of Arts and Sciences that was under construction would finish; and he was already planning to attend to study law, once he finished his current course. He would have to convince Salanueva; but that would be dealt in due time.
There was one thing he did heed about, though. The idea to visit this new world didn’t sound that bad. Perhaps he would one day travel abroad. Not as a missionary. It would be on his own terms.
March 22, 1825 Beach
It was the early afternoon. Preparations for departure were almost non-stop since last night; but didn’t took long. It was, after all, simply packing up the camp and bringing it back on board. The ponies had been doing the same with their own camp. The leaders of both groups, however, spent all that time ironing out the details of their eventual reunion. Specially on the matter that not all may be present for it.
The language spell’s effect had ended during the night; but it had been a non-issue since the humans were all sleeping when it happened. The spell was reapplied to all four in the morning. Though not before first testing how much of the Equestrian language they had managed to retain. As such, for the final moments before the humans departed, they had taken the talk to the ship’s deck, someplace it wouldn’t disturb the activity wherein.
“This is such a remarkable vessel,” Starswirl commented.
“Too bad we can’t afford to take a look of the inside.”
“I’m afraid the insides are just not easy traversable for your kind,” Guerrero commented.
“And I can vouch for that,” Wing Shield spoke.
“Still a disappointment,” Starswirl said.
“At least just being here is quite the experience.”
“Experience, indeed,” Luna said, who was mostly staring at her hooves.
“I don’t think I like all this motion under me.”
“Unfortunately, that can’t be helped for those that have never been on a ship before,” Lemaur said.
“You get used to it, eventually.”
“Although then being back on land is what you need to get used to again,” Austin commented.
“Well, for us pegasi it’s nothing to worry about,” Wing Shield said.
“Getting used to walking on clouds is not that different on principle.”
“Perhaps, sister, we need to do the same soon enough,” Celestia said.
“To be back on topic,” Guerrero began.
“We thank once again you’re giving us most of your provisions for the trip back.”
“And replenish our water reserves,” Lemaur added.
“It was nothing,” Celestia said.
“A last gesture of goodwill until we meet again, to mitigate the issues of your trip back to your homeland.”
“Well said, your highness,” Starswirl nodded.
“Admittedly, we weren’t sure how long our stay was going to be. It is in good fortune then our surplus will give you fresh food, if only for the first days of voyage.”
“Although we already had plans to ration our provisions to make them last until the end of the voyage, I’m sure I speak for everyone that we won’t miss having to put them on hold right now,” Álvarez said.
“It’s a sentiment I understand too well,” Wing Shield said.
“Well, I’m thankful we didn’t have to stray far from Equestria, in that case,” Luna commented.
“In any case, I would think the journey itself is not the biggest of our worries,” Austin said.
“Oh, and what would that be?” Lemaur asked.
“Well, trying to explain we found a kingdom of talking ponies without sounding like we went crazy,” Austin explained.
The men looked at each other. A collective sigh was then heard.
“Yes, that is going to be a problem,” Lemaur crossed his arms and shook his head.
“Explaining that is going to get interesting,” Guerrero said.
“Is that really a big concern?” Luna asked.
“Surely after what your country just went through it should make it easier to believe.”
“Well, you see, just because that happened doesn’t make anything else fair game,” Guerrero explained.
“Besides, we wouldn’t really have much proof to back our words, either.”
“It is a shame this was something unexpected,” Celestia said.
“Otherwise, something could have been arranged regarding the matter.”
“Trust me, your highness, perhaps it’s a good idea that has been left for a later date,” Wing Shield said.
“I’m sure their country will come in due time to fully understand the world they’re now in,” Starswirl stroke his beard.
“In that case, we’ll let them take it one step at a time.”
Shortly after a sailor approach the group, saying something in the humans’ native tongue. He then left.
“Well then, I suppose it’s time to say farewell,” Lemaur said.
“We were just told that preparations for departure are finally complete.”
“The time had to come sooner or later,” Wing Shield said.
“Our time together was short; but very important. Hopefully it can be an ‘until we meet again’.”
“Some of the farewells might be final, however, all things considered,” Austin said.
“That would be a shame,” Celestia said.
“If an understandable one.”
“Then this moment, we must commit it to memory,” Starswirl stroke his beard.
“The time spent here, even if brief, will accompany us for the rest of our lives. Even if we never see each other again, the friendships made here, will find a way to endure.”
A chorus of agreements came afterwards.
“Hmm, what a shame,” Álvarez said.
“This could’ve been something to raise a toast for.”
Some chuckles followed.
The ship began to move. As a last action by the pegasi, they used their wings to create artificial gales as there currently was no westward wind to help the ship. Some of them flew following the ship for a bit, before stopping and just waved goodbye. Eventually they returned to shore. Over there the last of the preparations of their own departure back to Equestria were underway.
“I hope they do reach their country safely,” Celestia said.
“They already made it here, your highness. I’m sure the journey back won’t be an issue either,” Starswirl said.
“I do look forward to meet up with them again,” Wing Shield said.
“I share that sentiment,” Luna said.
“I wanted to know more about the moon of their world.”
“Was that what you spent inquiring about last night?” Celestia asked.
“Of course, sister,” Luna replied.
“Though I did get what I most wanted: The word for moon in their language.”
“Oh, and what is that word?” Starswirl asked.
“Well, none other than ‘Luna’,” the alicorn replied.
“Luna?” Celestia repeated, getting a nod in reply.
“I like how it sounds,” Luna then got a pensive look.
“Yes, yes, I think I want to be referred to as that from now on.”
Her sudden declaration brought different responses. Wing Shield’s was mostly neutral, while Starswirl gave a brief chuckle. Celestia, however, was astonished.
“You want to change you name!?”
“Oh please, sister, my name already means ‘moon’. It’s practically the same word, just in a different language. Besides, if we are taking the titles of princesses, perhaps giving them a bit of an exotic flair can make them stand out.”
“Our actions will be more important, sister,” Celestia sighed.
“Perhaps, though so long we’ll have them, then might as well. Say, I also asked what their word for sun was. Do you want to do the same?”
“No, I am okay keeping my name,” Celestia replied.
“Though I would want to know the word, nevertheless.”
Before Luna could answer, a pony approached them.
“Your highnesses,” he bowed.
“Preparations are done. We can leave at your command.”
With that, he turned and returned from where he came from.
“Well, young Luna,” Starswirl chuckled at using the Spanish word, complying with her wishes.
“Perhaps that can wait until we’re already heading back. I’d like to know more of what you were able to learn.”
“Oh, absolutely, Lord Starswrl,” Luna said, as they all now made their way to rejoin with the others.
“Mentioning this now, there was this story regarding the moon and a rabbit you might find interesting…”
“The Atlantic Expedition was now on its way back. As long it took for them to reach those distant shores, it took them around as long to return to the Mexican ones. That meant they spent Easter still on the ship, the first celebrated in the new world. They wouldn’t return until the seventh of April, already rationing their supplies; but return they did. By the time the ship was back in Veracruz, news of their arrival had already reached the capital. The news they brought back shook the entire country in the weeks to come. Before all that happened, however, there was one final thing they did before they were far from shore…”
Ignacio Manuel Hernández Ríos, Ancient History of Mexico - Volume II, UNLAP 1081AL
The beach soon came out of sight. The last of the humans who had stayed watching took this as the sign to head back to full attention on the ship; and the long journey back to Mexico. Not all of them, though.
“Well, gentlemen,” Guerrero said.
“I may be getting ahead already; but I consider this mission as an outstanding success.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Lemaur said.
“I can agree with that sentiment.”
“Well, I won’t join with that sentiment until I see the shores of the Yucatan again, at the least,” Álvarez said.
“Heh, I could almost say the same about Texas,” Austin mentioned.
He then focused back on the land they were leaving behind.
“It’s almost a shame I’ll be busy with the colony back home. Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind coming back.”
“I’m with you, friend,” Lemaur said.
“So many of my countrymen are yet to build new lives in light of our situation. I’ll dedicate myself on that once coming back.”
He chuckled.
“I don’t suppose there may be room in your colony now, since much of your settlers were left behind.”
Austin chuckled in response, though then he shook his head.
“I’m afraid not. Before leaving, I had received word that our seventh infantry regiment was left stranded in what was left of the Arkansas territory. In one of our frontier forts. I already made plans to allocate some of them as replacements.”
Lemaur hummed. “What a shame,” he replied.
“After your service here, I’m sure you’ll have no problem convincing President Victoria to also give land grants to you and your men,” Guerrero said.
“Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind,” Lemaur said.
“Well, perhaps of all here I might have the best chances to coming back to… uh, the coast we left behind.” Álvarez began.
He frowned.
“That place doesn’t have a name, does it?”
Guerrero shook his head.
“It doesn’t. Not even they had a name for it yet.”
“Perhaps we should give it one, at least on our end,” Lemaur mused.
“What kind of name, then?” Austin asked.
“Perhaps we should name it after the ponies,” Álvarez suggested.
“They were the most notable thing about the place.”
“Not a bad idea,” Guerrero said.
“Naming it after the winged ones, since we meet them first.”
“On that subject, we don’t really have a proper name for them either,” Lemaur pointed out.
“Since they are creatures we will see again; and likely quite often in the future, we should have a more proper term. Unless you think flying or winged horses can be enough.”
“No, we should give them an actual name,” Guerrero said.
“Any ideas, then?” Lemaur asked.
“Well, sometimes things get named after whoever discovered or created them,” Austin began.
“Or significant individuals when it comes to terminology.”
“I don’t suppose there are any flying horses of note in the mythologies of the old world?” Guerrero asked.
“Well, there is Pegasus…” Lemaur brought up.
“Anyone else?”
“Not that I can think of.”
“Pegasus sounds fine to me,” Álvarez said.
“I suppose that’s another matter to deal with once we get back; but for now, referring to flying horses as Pegasi it will be,” Guerrero said.
“Then it’s settled about the name of the beach?” Austin asked.
“Absolutely,” Guerrero nodded.
“The region encompassing between the coast and the mountains, that desert we saw to the south and the river we saw in their drawn map, it will henceforth be known as…”
He took once last look at the horizon, where the previously mentioned mountains were almost fully out of view.
