The New World

Chapter Two

Princess Celestia had been dozing while attending a court meeting to settle the differences between a pair of nobles. They had been discussing, or arguing, about ownership of a particular parcel of land between their estates.  The Bellerose family were insisting ownership over the few acres had belonged to their family for years while the Eisenbergs, a more humble if rather fiery group of partyers, were fairly certain that they had owned the land dating back to the founding of Canterlot, if not even before that.  Celestia had to agree with the Eisenberg nobles, being as she had at one time attended a number of their outings.  However, she was forced to sit through negotiations and bickerings in relative quiet, since her role was that of the neutral observer.

Though, that was only what they had been doing.  Now, she was having a bit of fun.  The generally regal and proper princess had been given the opportunity to act nearly out of character and much more violent due to a letter that had materialized next to her from a puff of green fire.  The arrival of which had stunned everypony in attendance and provided her with the chance to set into motion what was bound to be one of the more entertaining moments of the month.

“Please, princess,” The legal representative of the Bellerose family  had said, moments before the letter's arrival, “Do take a look at these plat books.  They contain proof of my client's ownership of the five acre section, halfway down Foal's Creek.  These books show ownership for the last thirteen years, and...” at that point he had stopped, mouth open and speechless.

Princess Celestia had been similarly startled by the sudden materialization of the letter, but, knowing it's origin, she had not been overly concerned.  However, upon seeing the startled, even worried, looks of those in attendance, she decided to have a bit of fun.  It had been, after all, not long since Nightmare Moon had made an appearance on the scene and things had gone astray for the nobles for the period of a day, what with the prospect of having a slightly evil monarch taking power and land from them.

Celestia took the opportunity to go into full commander mode, immediately tearing open the letter and ordering guards brought to the throne room.  As she read the contents of the letter from her student, being as there were few if any others who could send her a message in such a manner, she maintained an authoritative pose, in an attempt to look as in command and imposing as possible.  Given the way most ponies usually reacted to her calm and kind stance, the reactions she was getting from this were priceless.  She was sure at least two court nobles had soiled themselves, and several others had quietly slipped from the room.

Smirking slightly, Celestia continued the letter.  She had reached the quarter way-point when she reacted with complete surprise.  She had reached the first accurate enough description of the creature Twilight was requesting assistance with to be sure of what it was.  This had the best reaction yet.  To see their leader's completely shocked expression had caused hysteria within the court nobles.  Many had collapsed and were crying lightly, for fear of what ancient foe had come to conquer them this time.  This brought Celestia quickly out of her own shock, and into proper action for the situation.

She stood from her throne, putting as much effort as she could into acting calm and proper again.  She then called for her younger sister, Luna, and addressed the court while a guard fetched her.

“Nobles and Royal Guards in attendance with the Royal Court.  An issue has arisen that I must be personally present to take care of.  Canterlot life will not be affected, and neither will the daily life of Equestria as a whole.  Please, calm yourselves and PLEASE stop cowering in my court,” she paused for a breath and then continued, “My younger sister, and co-ruler, shall take over the rest of the court for today.  As for this issue we had been discussing, the land belongs to the Eisenberg family, as I have had personally been on those lands under their control, and I would ask for you of the Bellerose family to drop the issue unless I should investigate the tampering with the county plat books that you brought to our court today.”

At those last words the Bellerose family perked up, eyes wide.  They quietly gathered their things, and headed toward the court doors.  While they left through the main doors for the court, Princess Luna entered through a side door near the thrones.  She looked a bit tired, which was to be expected as it was only early afternoon, and she had likely been just woken up.  She looked to Celestia, eyes accusing, wanting answers.

“Don't worry Luna, it is just a small situation in Ponyville with my student.  She has stumbled upon another ancient relic,” Celestia offered.

“Sister, the guard told me what you did to the nobles.  You go play with your student, I am surprised that these ponies even follow you anymore,” Luna replied annoyed by lack of rest, slight insult at being referred to as a relic, and upset by her sister's occasional childishness.

Celestia took her sister's sour tone in stride, more or less expecting her reaction.  She was, however, quick to leave at the look her sister gave her after the retort.  Some days you just need to act your age, and not annoy another being capable of leveling Canterlot.

With one last look at the court, somewhat calmer after her sister took over, she teleported to her study with the letter.  She sat by her desk and reread the letter, carefully this time to catch every detail.  Once she was sure of what had transpired in Ponyville, she gave action a bit of thought.

She couldn't remember any prophecies that were set to occur around this time, nor any old foes or allies who had been cursed and set to be released.  Regardless of this, she could not remember meeting a creature like her student described.

From the description of the creature, it was a human.  While not unknown to Equestria and the other races, humans had not been present for some time, many millennia in fact.  They had disappeared some time before the founding of Equestria.  Whether from war, famine, pestilence, or hubris depended on the legend.  Humans had been depicted as everything from kind and thoughtful, to lofty and philosophical, and to war-hungry and cruel.  Which was correct was unknown.  However, Celestia had some trust when it came to humans due to an old friend.

Some two-thousand-five-hundred years before Celestia had been fairly close friends to a very old dragon, perhaps the oldest that the species had ever seen.  This dragon boasted nearly five thousand years of life, and had been one of the best story tellers of the era.  Old Firetail, he was called.  Pretty easy to remember, being as he was old and he knew the wonderful trick of lighting his own tail on fire to impress a crowd, and get free drinks.  Another interpretation of the name could have been from his stories, which was likely.  He had been a plain red drake, with gold eyes that had seen everything.  He wasn't even a god for his species.

Firetail had been one of the better influences Celestia had been graced over the last three- thousand some years, a good majority of her life, and had told her much of what she knew of the other races and the history of the world.  The humans had been a popular subject of her younger days, at that time their legends had recently regained popularity.

“Firetail,” a young Celestia, barely larger than Luna after her return, said, “You are probably one of the oldest creatures on our world right now, and as such know a good deal of tales and history.  However, I heard a new legend recently.  One that you have never mentioned.”

“Oh? Something I haven't told you about?” Firetail asked, in mock disbelief.  While he was old, and knew many stories, it was not too far fetched an idea that he may have missed a few.  “Do tell me; what was it about and who told you this legend.  I would like to know!”

Grinning, knowing something that Firetail apparently didn't, Celestia began, “It was an old earthpony stallion, about a century old by his count.  He went by the name Three-Hoof, because his fourth leg was wooden, lost in combat with the Diamond Dogs over a small piece of border territory.”

At that, Firetail smirked.  He had either heard about the skirmish of a war, or knew the storyteller.  Either way, Celestia wasn't about to give up the chance to tell a tale.

She continued, “He opened the legend with 'Thousands of years ago,' as most legends start, and then described an ancient race.  One who had long since disappeared.”  That had Firetail's attention.  He had once said that he had met every race, and had even listed them to Celestia as a way to show credibility when she questioned his word.  He opened his eyes fully, the golden orbs seemingly begging for her to continue.

So she did, “They were a very widespread race whose home was unknown by the time they died out.  They stood on two legs, like Diamond Dogs and Minotaurs, but had little fur.  These creatures seemed to be nearly completely bald, in fact, other than a patch on the top of their head and a few sparse patches on their males.”  By about this point Firetale was slowly nodding, possibly remembering something he had forgotten years before.  Still Celestia pushed on, perfectly happy to play the role of storyteller, for once.

“These creatures had often participated in war, usually against one-another, but occasionally with other races.  Their race, known as the Humans, were known by their enemies as monsters, and by their friends as protectors.  Now, the Humans ...” She began to trail off as Firetale began to speak.

“... the Humans were as a whole peaceful and good, but could be easily led astray by the wants of their hearts.  Oft times they would spark bitter rivalries over what they believed gave another group of their race and advantage over the rest.  On occasion bloody wars, on a scale not seen since those times, would be waged...  Did I never tell you about the humans?” Firetale asked, seemingly surprised.

“No, Firetale,” Celestia answered with a slight huff, “That is why I began to tell you the tale.”

Firetale thought, then replied, “Interesting.  Just so you know, I met the last of the humans.  It may seem crazy, considering they 'officially' went extinct before I had even been conceived as a little brown and pink speckled egg.  However, like other races, they did have members with extreme longevity.  This human had just passed his two-hundredth year on our world, and I was just barely fifteen myself.  Our time was short, with him passing later that year.  However, he did pass as much of the information about his race as he could, to me,” Firetale paused, he gave a small sigh.

“It isn't easy seeing someone you come to care about leave you so quickly,” He said, “especially for a young dragon with ages ahead of you.  I digress, though,” He stopped again, and looked toward the sun setting in the distance.  “Celestia, we can continue this story tomorrow.  You know how dangerous these lands can be at night,” Firetale said, with a small flap of his wings to indicate the speed at which Celestia should head back to her home.  Surprisingly quickly.

“Are you alright, Firetale?  Did I upset you by bringing up the Humans?” Celestia asked, genuinely concerned for her friend.

Firetale looked down to the pony, and gave a chuckle, “Not really, young one.  I just have much to think about and it will take a little while to get everything straightened out.  Though what I say about the danger's of the dark are not false, you had best be off.  I will see you tomorrow!” He finished on a happier tone, and spread his wings.

The old dragon gave three great, if tired, beats of his wings to get off the ground and fly back toward his home in a high mountain cave.  Celestia decided to heed his advice and trotted home as quickly as she could, she knew her parents would be worried if she was out after dark.

Celestia opened her eyes, flowing hair and castle room around her.  She knew there was more to be remembered, but at the moment needed to focus on aiding her student.  From the letter, Twilight Sparkle's most pressing concerns were what to do with the creature, what it was, where it came from... Actually, her student had mentioned a lot of questions in the letter, but those three were the most important.

Celestia began her own letter;

To my most Faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,

I received your letter concerning the strange creature that you have currently locked in Applejack's barn.  I have thought over the most pressing concerns of your letter, and am going to provide you with answers as best as I can at the moment.

First, the creature is a Human, from the description I would say that he is male.  Humans are omnivorous but don't typically eat sentient beings.  He is probably harmless, but I would be careful none the less.

Second, I would like for you to keep track of this creature for some time.  I will set up a meeting by the end of this month for him to be brought to Canterlot, along with you and your friends, so we can assess any potential threat, or need, this Human may represent.

Third, I will have to admit that I know nothing about where this human came from.  Humans have been extinct on our world for thousands of years, without even hoax sightings of them.  The anomaly you described in the sky sounds like a crude magic portal, but I don't have the slightest idea where it may have originated at.

Lastly, I have another task.  Do your best to learn about the Human while you have him with you.  Ask about where he came from, what he is doing here, and whatever else you can think of that may be important to our later investigation.

Your mentor,

Princess Celestia

There, that looks very good, Celestia thought to herself.  Short and to the point.  She could have gone and seen the Human to assure that her assumptions were correct, but she needed to devote some time to memory, and attempt to remember those events that had occurred so long ago.  She was sure that Twilight could handle it.

She felt a slight chill run down her spine when she thought that.  Strange.