The Kingdoms of Man

Princess Twilight Sparkle fidgeted in her seat at a restaurant in Ponyville. She was deep in thought as she noticed the increased amounts of guards patrolling the streets. Everypony else (and dragon) was watching the seclusive Twilight with worried interest. Finally, Applejack gently shook Twilight from her stupor as she said, “Hey, Equestria to Twilight.”

Twilight finally regarded Applejack and said, “Hmm?”

Applejack then said to Twilight, “You feeling okay, sugarcube?”

Twilight huffed, and then said, “Yeah, I’m okay. Just got lots of things to think about.”

Applejack nodded. “Yessiree, we’ve got a right mess on our hooves. What with the mess in the east brewing up, and more excitement back home...”

Applejack then glanced to the road, where a pair of ponies wore heavy silver armor of the Equestrian Defense Force patrolled.

Applejack then continued, “... it’s going to be a mighty interestin’ couple of weeks, that’s for sure.”

Twilight and the girls concurred. Twilight said, “I’m also anxious because we had to give up our Elements of Harmony to the Tree of Harmony, which means now that Equestria must depend on a more... conventional means of defense.”

The girls and Spike then watched as the pair of soldiers rounded a corner. They all sighed, and Rainbow Dash blurted, “Hey, Twilight, how much of a chance do you think these guys have? I-I mean, they can stand against the Griffons, a-and the Minotaurs, and all those guys, right?”

Fluttershy nervously added in, “D-Don’t forget the D-Dragons.” She then hid behind her mane with a squeak.

Rarity then cut in by saying, “Those brutish Kobolds and Goblins are unorganized and barbaric.”

Applejack then said with a raised eyebrow, “How’d you come to that idea, Rarity?”

Rarity then looked to her wide-eyed friends. “I am a fashion designer. It is good practice to look for good fashion trends everywhere, even in such cultures as the Kobolds and the Goblins. Juuust in case they happen to be the next week’s fashion.”

Rarity sipped from her tea. As she noticed the confused eyes that were set on her, she cleared her throat and said, “Which, now that I’ve seen what their fashion looks like, I very much doubt.”

Everypony giggled. Twilight looked up to see Lyra Heartstring of all ponies wearing adventuring gear along with heavy-laden bags. Twilight called out, “Lyra!”

Lyra walked over to where Twilight and her friends sat and said, “Hello, Princess. I was just on my way out of town. What’s up?”

Twilight then said, “I can see that, Lyra. Where are you going?”

Lyra motioned to her saddlebags and said, “I’m about to go on an expedition.”

Everypony looked at each other, then Twilight asked, “Well, where are you going, exactly?”

Lyra grinned, then said, “I’m going to help chart the Kingdoms of Man!”

Many spittakes were nearly had. Lyra’s little outburst had been heard by a lot of passersby, which attracted looks. Lyra didn’t seem to notice, and she continued. “Fancy Pants is pulling everything together! I’ll be able to map regions, encounter new flora and fauna, and clear up the rumors on the existence of other tribes of men!”

Twilight asked, “There’s more of them?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out!”

She then reared up onto her hind legs and said, “So excited!”

A train whistle shot through the air. Lyra blurted out a quick farewell and ran off toward the train station.

Applejack waited a moment, then asked Twilight, “What’s this about other tribes, Twilight?”

“First I’ve heard of them... wait.”

Twilight shot off after Lyra.

Lyra was just about to board the train when she was stopped by Twilight calling out, “Waaaiit!”

Twilight caught her breath for a moment before asking, “What’s this about other tribes?”

Lyra then said, “Well, they’re considered barbarians by the more ‘civilized’ kingdoms, but they do exist.”

“How do you know this?”

Lyra then replied, saying “I went into their camp and asked about it. I also know that--”

The train whistle sounded off again, so Lyra immediately jumped into the train, saying, “I’ll tell you later! Have a good one!”

The train doors closed, and the train left the station. Twilight fumed for a second, because she forgot to drill these visitors for information.

Opportunities can come later. Right now, I need to finish lunch.

She walked back to the restaurant, where the ponies and Spike were finishing up their respective lunches. They walked out to meet Twilight, and they agreed to meet in Twilight’s tree home. Upon arrival, they made themselves comfortable. There, Twilight sighed and said, “So, tribes.”

Rainbow Dash asked, “So yeah, what’s the deal with that? There’s more of these huemies now? I thought there were just these kingdoms, or something.”

Twilight replied, “It’s news to me, Dash. Maybe the Princesses would have more information. Spike?”

Spike just pulled out a quill and a piece of parchment and said, “Already on it.”

Scribbling furiously, Spike wrote a letter to Celestia as Twilight dictated and asked about the humans. Spike sent it off in a burst of green flame. Moments later, a reply came in a burst of flame. Twilight read off the letter.

“Dear Princess Twilight,

It is good to hear that you would like more information on this, and as it so happens, I have a tome that contains information you might need. It’s very old, so I would ask that you would please handle it with care.

Your dear friend,

Princess Celestia.”

Spike doubled over and held his gut in discomfort. Twilight and Fluttershy flocked over to Spike and held him up as the strenuous delivery took its toll. Fluttershy softly told Spike, “Deep breaths, Spike. Like we’ve practiced.”

Spike then stood up on his own and tilted his head high, trying his best to safely reintegrate the book. Finally, he burped, but the tome just jutted out of his mouth. Twilight took the tome from Spike and laid it down on the table. Twilight Sparkle then opened the tome and dug into the aged contents.

As Twilight swam through the schematics and their descriptions and explanations, one thing became clear.

This is a history of the military of mankind. These detail the hoplites, legionnaires, and the knights that served (and still serve) in the kingdom’s armies. But why would these guys have such distinctive brands of warriors?

She then looked over the histories of the kingdoms, and she found the answer to her question.

Because the kingdoms were small in their infancy and grew on their own without contact from the other kingdoms, at first. That means they came up with their own style of infantry. But why wouldn’t they standardize it after they stopped fighting?

She then looked over the histories of the individual kingdoms. After they unified, their cultures more or less merged, but their pride for their warriors remained, and their respective militaries meant that they remained consistent.

Doesn’t seem like there’s room for innovation in their pride for their classical weaponry. The large shields favored by the Hoplites and the Legionnaires was probably a result of the Laceda and Remas kingdoms encountering each other before they encountered the kingdom of Abraxas. Wait, let’s look at the specifics.

Twilight then looked over the schematics of the equipment for the Legions of Remas.

Large rectangular shields to be used in tandem with a small stabbing sword, called Scutum and Gladius respectively. Fascinating. I remember the minotaur race favoring large weapons over personal defense.

Twilight’s attention was drawn to the present when Applejack asked her something. Twilight said, “Hmm?”

Applejack repeated herself. “You alright, sugarcube?”

Twilight smiled and said, “Oh, yes. I’m just... fascinated by these.”

Rainbow Dash spoke up and said, “Yeah, Twilight, but why?”

“It’s because the warriors of the Kingdoms of Man like to wear heavy armor and use large shields. It’s a far cry from the other factions they’ll be facing. Minotaurs, for example, use heavy two-handed weapons but shun armor because they consider it a cowardice, while on the other hand...hoof... we’ve got-”
Rainbow Dash then cut in by saying, “I know this is totally interesting and all, but... why are you of all ponies interested?”

Twilight looked around, then said, “I make it my business to know about information that could prove critical. And now, it has. As I was saying, we’ve also got the goblins, who only wear old chainmail at best and rudimentary iron weapons they make themselves. The better they can make their weapons, the more powerful and prestigious they are.”

Rainbow Dash again cut in and said, “The Griffons are primarily skirmishers with heavy javelins, steel crossbows, and yew longbows. They can fly up to the cloud layer when they need to take cover.”

She noticed all the eyes on her, so she said, “I do learn about... things. Gilda can be a little patriotic, sometimes. We talk about all sort of things.”

Twilight continued, “Kobolds, now, wear light armor and employ rather... unorthodox weapons.”

Rainbow Dash asked, “Well, why?”

Twilight Sparkle said, “They... I guess mainly use gunpowder weapons, which is odd considering how inaccurate and noisy and generally not useful as weapons of war they are.”

She paused, then said, “Well... I’ve heard rumors of a weapon called a musket which sounds really good. Never seen one up close, though.”

Meanwhile...

Lyra Heartstrings stepped off of the Canterlot train station, chipper and cheery and ready for adventure. She walked through the streets of Canterlot to the Fancypants residence. Once she finally found the place, she knocked at the door.

These pseudo-mansions all look the same to me.

The door opened, and...

Daring Do was at the door.

“Are you Lyra Heartstrings?”

Lyra then realized she was staring with wide eyes and an open mouth. She quickly nodded, and Daring stepped aside and invited her in with a gesture. Lyra quickly stepped inside, and Daring shut the door. Inside, Lyra found Fancy Pants standing next to some bags of his own with a clipboard in his telekinetic grip. Fancy noticed Lyra and moved to greet her. He said, “Ah, Miss Heartstrings. I’m so glad you could come.”

Daring laid down on one of the extravagant couches with a disinterested look. Fancy then said, “I am also glad you could come on our little expedition to the human lands. I’m sure it’s going to be very informative.”

Daring Do rolled her eyes. Lyra said, “Do we have any more ponies in this expedition?”

Fancy Pants said, “Hmmm, I’m afraid not. It’ll just be the three of us in uncharted, dangerous wilderness.”

Daring blew a raspberry. “Big deal. I’ve been in unexplored wilderness in my time. Why do you insist that this will be any different?”

“Because, Miss Do, it’s the only unmapped wilderness left. Here, let me show you.”

He then pulled out a map, then unfurled it and presented it to Lyra.

“As you can plainly see here, Miss Lyra and Miss Do, the human lands are the only real unknown frontier left. I’m sure they have maps of their own, but it just isn’t the same when you don’t do your own surveying. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Lyra had to unfocus from Fancypant’s handsome form and said, “Why, yes. After our first encounter, I just had to learn more. I think this might be the only way to do it.”

Fancypants nodded and said, “I understand, Miss Lyra. I’m also yearning to learn more. Aha, I’m sorry. I haven’t properly introduced you to-”

Daring got up and shook Lyra’s hoof. She said, “Save it, Fancypants. Name’s Daring Do.”

Lyra then said, “Nice to meet you, Miss Do. I’m Lyra Heartstrings.”

Daring narrowed her eyes, let go of Lyra’s hoof, and said to Fancypants, “I’m only doing this because I owe you. After this, I’d like you to stop doing me favors.”

Looking between Daring Do and Fancypants, Lyra just wondered what she’d gotten herself into.