Ancient Humans:

Only so much information can be found about the ancient human society that once dominated Equestria. As stated before much of what is known is passed down through legends and myths which are unreliable at best for accurate information. Princess Platinum's diary and some of the older texts in the libraries of Cloudsdale and Canterlot proved most helpful in this en devour but they mostly focused on the war rather than what the humans were like. Still much can be learned about a culture in the manner in which it wages war.

The accounts of the war speak mostly of two types of engagement that occurred most often. The first were small scale raids, skirmishes, and ambushes which the humans usually won. The second were less frequent large scale battles which almost always ended in favor of our ancestors.

On a warrior to warrior comparison most texts that have survived since the time of the war agree that most humans easily over powered the individual pony. They were bigger, often stronger, and well equipped for single combat. In their lighting attacks swords, axes, and light spears made themselves most evident. Most often they would rush into an attack on our ancestors, scatter them, and then kill them one by one. The humans also turned their skills for making traps and hunting other creatures against our ancestors in such light battles or showering them with missiles launched from a strange device called a bow.

We might wonder why we lost so many of such battles. Our ancestors were faster, probably stronger, had wings and magic. Ancient humans had magic as well and some could fly but not nearly as many or as well as our ancestors. The answer is that they used terror to their advantage, chaos and confusion to gain the upper hand. They'd often strike with superior numbers and relatively quickly most of such engagements rarely lasted more than five minutes according to the stories.

In large scale battles however they formed up into large formations of overlapping shields and spears called phalanx. These heavy infantry would advance in a single group towards our ancestors. Sometimes they would have their fliers or light troops on the flanks or above. In front on front confrontations the Phalanx proved lethal to earth pony infantry.

The phalanxes great weaknesses however were that it was slow, it did not work well over rough terrain or in wood lands, and with troops pack so close together a skilled mage could devastate whole platoons with a single spell. Pegasus forces proved most effective against the phalanx, sweeping in from the sides or above and breaking up the formation. With the phalanx broken the threat it presented vanished as the warriors within it depended on the protection of the fellows shields. With the phalanx broken Earth ponies could put their strength to good use knocking down the clumsy heavily armored humans and beating them into the dirt.

Sieges turned grizzly as well. The humans often built a vast array of fortifications to keep our ancestors at bay. Walls of wood and stone, moats of dirt filled with spikes or sometimes water. Victory usually depened on ancient pegasus forces overwhelming or distracting wall defenders long enough for us to bring up heavy siege and force open the walls or gates. Starving them out sometimes worked but often took months during which they could bring up reinforcements.

Most of the fighting was done south of the Canterlot mountains giving us a good idea of where the bulk of ancient human society was located. With some research I discovered ruins under old cities like Foaledo, Baltimare, and even Manehattan. Indeed some of the oldest streets in Manehattan and bits of sewer are part of the original human city. These sewers suggest knowledge of engineering and sanitation that were well ahead of those of our ancestors at the time. Needless to say I was as shocked as you are to discover the barbarians were the first ones to develop in door plumbing.

A ruin which I suspect to be a temple in Foaledo suggested that the ancient humans worshiped a vast array of deities. What little I was able to translate at the time of the faded and worn inscriptions spoke of a concept strangely similar to our own elements of harmony. These however were not the ones we know of; laughter, kindness, generosity, honesty, loyalty, and magic. These were much more combative elements focused on war, Elements of Battle if you would.

The first is courage; simple enough to understand, bravery in the face of fear. The second is cunning; strategy and intelligence. Third comes camaraderie; the one most similar to our own elements of harmony. Honor is the fourth; the counter balance to cunning. Fifth is hope; another unusual choice for a martial element. The last is simply victory; conquest over foes and the defense of your own. The translations suggested that like the elements of harmony there were a series of relics associated with each element but what these were is lost to the ravages of time.

Further investigations suggested the outlines of the humans political structure. Their ancient empire was ruled originally by a series of Emperors for a long time. The Emperors ruled with near absolute authority likely appointing their relatives and friends to rule over sections of their empire.

However it appears that shortly before the coming of our ancestors the Empire broke down into civil war. This civil war weakened them enough to give our ancestors a critical advantage during the war, picking the warring factions apart and defeating them one at a time. Strangely it seems reminiscent of modern Equestria with the modern houses.

Regardless it seems clear that humans revolved around violence; their cities were fortresses and their religions spoke constantly of battle and war. They seemed to exist only to dominate all life about them, enslaving the creatures of nature, killing them and eating them like the most barbaric of Everfree Tribes. Today their descendants follow the same path of destruction and carnage.

Are we any different however? We built upon the bones of their ancestors, banished them from this land, and today have fallen to the same barbarism and depravity. I fear that our ancestors are looking down upon us now with the same horror and disgust that they once held for the ancient humans.

Lyra Heartstrings, Former House Whitegold Scholar, "Humans: Beyond the Legends."

Author's Note

SO yeah we go info dump, then real chapter, then info dump, then real chapter, and so and so forth. Enjoy!