Chapter 4- Lullaby for a Soldier

Planet: Equus
Locale: Canterlot Hospital
Date: Quintilis 2, 1001 AB
Local Time: 12:06 AM

The new arrivals have been in the hospital for close to ten hours now and in care for just short of nine hours. The hospital staff and the Royal sisters had difficulty in figuring out how to remove the clothing, equipment, and armor these peculiar humans had on. Something else they noticed was the actual physical differences. Celestia, however, had a country to run and couldn't be present for the examination on them. So she left her sister Luna with the hospital staff and took herself and the Elements into Canterlot to ease tensions of her citizenry.

Afterwards she returned to the hospital.

"Luna, how are things going?" Celestia asked as she entered the wing her sister had cordoned off.

"They are not doing so well. I cordoned off this wing of the hospital so as to attract far less attention, however..." Luna sighed before continuing, "I've had to have the Royal Guard arrest multiple ponies attempting to get a look at our guests. I have all the staff working on this case under a non-disclosure agreement under penalty of imprisonment."

"And how are the humans?"

"The veterinarians have been in there for quite some time now, close to four hours. The medical staff said they were in no immediate harm, they were simply in a comatose state at the moment."

At that moment, a veterinarian walked out of the room one of one of the humans. "Well, these specimens stump me your highnesses." He said as he removed his mask. "These aren't like our humans at all. I dare say they are feral and should be put down."

Celestia's smile turned to a frown before she spoke up. "I would be inclined to agree with you good doctor, exception on the notion of the one that spoke and their technology is quite advanced."

"I meant no disrespect, but their 'technology' is simply magically infused objects with a griffon aesthetic. If I may speak me mind, your highness?"

"You may speak freely, good doctor."

"I dare say this is a griffon attempt on your life. Today was the perfect day for an assassination attempt. I-"

Celestia held up her hoof to interrupt the veterinarian before speaking, "I highly doubt that. You may leave. And do not forget the non-disclosure agreement you signed. You are dismissed."

The embarrassed veterinarian could be heard grumbling under his breath as he left the ward the Rangers and Marines were kept in. His colleague, Tender Hooves, was of much more use.

"Dr. Tender Hooves?" Luna called out as she and her sister entered the room looking for her.

"Yes your highness's?" as she replied with a bow.

"What do you make of these humans? Your colleague was quite the conspiracy theorist." Luna asked, deadpanning the last part making her ears droop down in annoyance at the previous vet's actions.

"Well, where to start? They're unlike any human I've ever seen..." Tender said. "They are magnificent! To put it shortly." she and the Princesses chuckled at her little outburst. "Come look, I feel I can better show you." She said as she led them Royal sisters to the bedside of one, "This one is the smallest of the four and is the same size as our humans. His height is 66 inches and weight is 142 lbs. Our average male human is 66 inches and 145 pounds. One of the others is humongous specimen; he's 75 inches and 220 pounds!"

"And the other two?" Celestia posed.

"And why do you refer to them as 'he' instead of 'it' that is quite an uncharacteristic referral to humans." Luna interjected as well.

"If you must know, I refer to them as their sex because I feel it's the right thing to do. I became a vet solely because I feel pity for humans, how poorly they are treated. As for the other two, one is 73 inches and 172 pounds and the other is 69 inches and 177 pounds. Meaning the average size of male human, based off these four, is 70 3/4 inches in height and weigh in at177 3/4 pounds."

Luna was shocked, "That is quite large!" Celestia's eyes were also wide at the revelation.

"Thankfully their sizes are all different enough that I managed to get their clothing matched with the owner. This is important, mind you." Tender said indicating towards a neatly folded drab blouse on the chair next to its owner. "Using their uniform I managed to get much more information about them. For now, I'd like to focus on this particular man."

"Why this one?" Luna asked, seeing nothing remarkable about this human. Except upon closer inspection, there were subtle differences in the facial structure of this one from the Equestrian human. "Actually... continue... please." She said as she kept her focus on that face.

"To answer your question, he's the outlier from the other three. At first I didn't know what to make of it. But now I have some ideas." She said as she pulled the sheet off his body with her teeth to fully expose his form. "Meet Dietrich J. Steiner, at least according to his ID tags that were supposed to be hanging around his neck. It's actually very good I found them too, as his tags indicate that he allergic to penicillin."

The royal sisters were shocked at what they saw. On his left leg, below the knee was a false leg, an advanced prosthesis to replace the missing one. But what shocked them more was the presence of his left arm, or lack thereof, actually.

"Wh-where is his left arm?" Celestia muttered, taken aback by the sight of just an empty socket that was clearly not natural.

"Right here, your highness." Tender said as she brought it over to the bed. "I accidentally removed it earlier and can't get it back in. It's also a prosthetic limb, although FAR more advanced. In fact, I dare say this replacement arm is far more advanced than anything we've even dreamed up. It appears to be a magically infused muscle-like material."

"He has cutie marks!" Luna said excitedly, then lightly blushing at her outburst.

"They appear to be, but on closer inspection they are just ink under the skin. See how THIS one matches the art on his armor? And I assume THIS one has a personal meaning to him."

Pulling the sheet back over his lower half, she drew attention to his face. "I can tell you've been scrutinizing his face, Princess Luna. His face is indeed different. He has a softer brow line, less prominent forehead, a sharper and thinner yet longer nose, a more angular jawline, and larger, softer eyes." Upon hearing Tender point all the details out, it clicked with Luna.

"He matches an anatomical drawing by Clover the Clever based on the sketches by Winged Persheron! I've seen a drawing of ancient humans that match his physique astoundingly well!" She giddily shouted almost at the volume of the Royal Canterlot voice just before teleporting away.

"Well, she seems excited." Celestia mused. "What else is there to show me?"

Tender pulled up a clipboard and passed it to Celestia who took it up in her magic. "Their vitals. They're... unique."

"That's a way of putting it." The princess replied with an eyebrow arched as she looked over the data.

"Dietrich's resting heart rate is 48 beats per minute. His blood pressure is 118 over 68. His core temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenhoof. The other three are similar." Tender said, nervously chewing on her hoof.

"So what does this mean?"

"I'm in the dark on them medically, your highness. I'm familiar with Equestrian humans, but not these. I've gone through many of their belongings that were on them when they were brought here. I've gleaned a voluminous amount of information from those items, such as data that saved him from a potentially fatal allergic reaction."

"What else have you learned?"

"Well, according to their uniforms, two belong to the ROT Army and the other two belong to the ROT Marines. What ROT means, I'm not entirely sure, but flipping through some of the paper work on them, I think they come from a planet called Terra."

"Terra? That's an ancient equestrian language, long since dead. It means 'earth.'" Celestia said. Perhaps they speak this language still?"

"Doubtful, Princess, I believe they speak perfect Equestrian. This one has a letter on his person that details what he wishes if he is killed. It's in perfect equestrian, although in writing I find elegant and hard to read; while the one name Malarkey had a similar letter in a much easier to read writing. Although I feel terrible for having read them, as I invaded their privacy." Tender said, as she gingerly set the letter down, blushing with a glint of water in her eyes.

"Is there anything else Tender?" Celestia said, setting the clipboard down and taking the doctor in her wing, attempting to comfort the earth pony.

"Yes, their armor was made at a facility called Hephaestus Metal Works, presumably on a planet they call Hephaestus. That means these Terra humans are capable of traveling in space and live on multiple planets. We're dealing with the find of the millennium Princess."

"It seems that way. I'll leave you to your expertise, Dr. Tender. I must retire for the night; it has been an exhausting day. I bid you adieu." And with that, Celestia left the hospital and the Terrans in the care of Tender Hooves.

Planet: Equus
Locale: Royal Canterlot Archives
Date: Quintilis 2, 1001 AB
Local Time: 04:11 AM

Maius 5th, 10th Year of Our Mare of the Sun

From my observance of these creatures, they are bipedal omnivores and hunter-gatherers. Capable of swimming and speech, although I do not know what they say. They have basic metallurgical skills as they hunt with copper tipped spears and arrows. Their tools for the construction of their abodes are also made of copper.

Their houses are wooden boxes with logs stacked upon another and clay plastered on the sides and into the cracks before being left to harden creating rather durable structures. Their ingenuity is rather astounding for such a young race.

Luna flipped to another part of the book, The Human Predicament by Winged Persheron, and began reading.

October 24th, 13 Year of Our Mare of the Sun

The humans have settled into a more agrarian culture, although they do still hunt for their meat. They have domesticated cows and chickens as well, as they can be seen consuming the milk of the cows and excess eggs of the chickens.

They also make their own fabrics in which to clothe themselves. It has been just over two years and they are already clothing themselves in linens as opposed to the animal hides. They now also appear to have some form of a standing military as their cities can be seen with guards along the walls, which were not there three years ago.

How they have managed to advance so spectacularly fast puzzles me greatly as it appears they are on the verge of entering their own Bronze Age in a matter of a few years. It took ponykind three centuries to enter their Bronze age.

Luna sighed then flipped a page, "Where is this drawing?"

What caught her attention though was far more intriguing than a simple drawing.

December 13th, 13th Year of Our Mare of the Sun

Changelings. Changelings and humans more specifically. They appear to be symbiotic as changelings can be seen entering and leaving the human cities freely. It is a most curious relationship as most creatures regard the changeling race to be devious, vile, and despicable. Most races regard the changelings with outward disgust if not outright violence.

This changes many, many things. My ability to fly and hide in the clouds as I observe has allowed me to observe this fledgling race without being noticed, however the appearance of changelings changes that.

Luna was most perturbed by this discovery. But she noticed the drawing she was looking for on the opposite page with a block of text above it.

December 14th, 13th Year of Our Mare of the Sun

After packing up camp, my protege and I were flying home when we spotted a dead human in a field. He appeared rather young and had a bronze spear imbedded in his chest. Clearly spears of Pegasus make. As morbid as is seems however, my student and I decided to partake in an anatomical study by first observing their range of motion in their extremities before dissecting this particular specimen.

As I have cataloged more details further in another book, Human Anatomy and Physiology . But for simplicities sake, I will only leave the base set of sketches in this book.

"I need to find the other book and take these to Celestia." Luna said as she got up to look for the other book by Winged Persheron.

After a few more hours of searching she managed to find the one she was looking for, as well as another book by him that caught her attention, titled The Giant's Fall. Not entirely sure what it was about, but it wasn't printed, the entire book was unpublished and this was the only one in existence as it was Persheron's own handwriting.

After bookmarking the parts she sought after in the human anatomy book, she sat down to read some of his other work to get an idea of what it was about.

Let me preface this by saying, I may be a Pegasus, and much decorated Pegasus of the 1st Alarum Legionem, but I do not and will not condone the efforts of ponykind. We had a homeland in the hinterlands to the north of here. We ruined it by petty squabbling which in turn fuels the rage of the windigos.

I am writing this so that others may know the atrocities of our species.

Upon the desolation of our home, Alagosia, our loose 'confederation' fell apart with each pony kind making an exodus. All sought greener pastures, and all headed south to the region known as the Everfree Plains. What the history books will not say, is that the region was already inhabited. It has been 20 years since I was last here, and what I see is appalling. The humans were entering a Bronze Age when the Alarum Legionem arrived.

The history books will say ponies conquered the windigos who followed them here by becoming an embodiment of love and tolerance. This could not be farther from the truth. We wanted a land that was already inhabited. And we did not want to share.

On Martius 5th, 3rd Year of the Windigos, humanity marched to its doom.

The humans were no match. We had numbers and weaponry on our side. The human city-states banded together for a final stand, and fought valiantly. For that I commit their once noble legacy to writing in remembrance of a race that welcomed us with open arms. They embodied the true meaning of 'love and tolerance.'

And what did they receive? Their fathers and husbands were killed at spear point, and their wives, mothers, sons, and daughters led away in shackles to live a life of servitude. It is now the 48th Year of Equestria. The Battle of the Plain of Tears was 50 years ago. The humans we now use as slave labor no longer have the fire in them they once did.

Luna was disgusted as she read this book, "What barbaric creatures." She flipped later on to a chapter titled Reign of Princess Platinum II, the 'Bloody Queen' and began reading.

Today, Aprilis 1st, the 52nd Year of Equestria, a new monarch succeeded Princess Platinum, her daughter the blood thirsty Platinum the Second. On her coronation, she sentenced by teacher to execution on Aprilis 1st, a day now officially called "Fool's Day." My teacher left copious notes that I, Fleeting Truth, plan to continue in my mentor's legacy.

Luna continued to read on, not stopping with just that chapter, but finishing the book. The book ended on the 77th Year of Equestria with Platinum line being broken.

The breaking of the Platinum line of nobility was a blessing and curse. For the atrocities committed by that royal family on humanity and any ponies sympathetic to humanities plight. Humans that attempted to speak were beaten, often to death. If they tried to run away, they were magically lobotomized by the Magistrate. Over the years, the Order of Lineage has bred docility into humans. I fear another century of such treatment may render this once magnificent species irreparable.

The blessing was that the entire line of nobility belonging to the Platinum family was killed today. However, what killed them is far worse. In all the subterfuge, and abuse by the Royalty chaos was the rule of the day and the God of Chaos, Discord showed up to claim the Throne. Tomorrow, Martius 1st, marks the 1st Year of Discord. May the Sorores Caeli save us all.

Luna's eyes went wide as dinner plates. "Tia should be awake by now, it is nearly time to raise the sun. I must show her what I hath found." She mumbled to herself before standing up an tucking the books under her wings. She then bolted out of the archives in search of her sister.

Planet: Equus
Locale: Royal Dining Hall
Date: Quintilis 2, 1001 AB
Local Time: 6:51 AM

Celestia was happily humming to herself as she buttered her toast. She had quite the spread for breakfast, her favorite meal of the day after raising the sun. As she set the toast on her plate she was startled by the sudden entrance of her sister.

"Tia, thank the heavens I found you!"

"Oh, dear sister... I'm always here in the mornings." Celestia chuckled, before noticing her sister's disheveled mane and bloodshot eyes. "Lulu, what have you been doing?" She continued with a slight frown at her sister's appearance.

"We hath... I have been in the Royal Archives doing some research." With that she slammed the books onto the table causing Celestia to jump slightly.

"And what did you find?"

"Very interesting stuff. What do you know of the history of Equestria before us, during Discord's reign and before?" Luna said with a wild look in her eyes, like she was about to have an aneurism.

"We were given physical forms on the hundredth year of Discord's reign to put an end to his madness. Which we did, and upon encasing him in stone and freeing the ponies, were asked to guide the ponies of Equestria into a new Golden Age. Why do you ask?"

"Yes, but what about before his reign, the reign of the Platinum line?" Luna posed to her sister. "You know, the Hearth's Warming Eve story that we hath been telling annually for the last 4,000 years."

Celestia, now somewhat annoyed responded, "Well, after not showing each other love and tolerance, the three tribes were forced out of their previous homeland by the windigos and founded Equestria on the basis of Love and Harmony."

"But what was Equestria known as before?"

"The Everfree Plains, Lulu, you need sleep."

"Not before we hath gotten answers." Luna started to flip open the various books to pages she marked off as she crammed the open books into Celestia's face.

Celestia grasped one book in her magic, The Human Predicament, and read the passages on the pages Luna marked. Her face grew more and more perplexed until her eyes laid them on the passage telling about the dead youth, the one killed by Pegasi.

Upon reading that, her face turned to a frown and she scrunched her eyebrows.

She set that book down and picked up the rather peculiar one, the one in hoofwriting, and began to read passages that her sister had marked. She muttered to herself inaudibly before setting the book down and calling for her Captain, "Shining Armor, I am cancelling Day Court for the day, I have pressing matters to attend to." And with that, Armor was gone.

After reading the parts from The Giant's Fall that Luna wanted her to read, Celestia now had questions of her own. The only two beings on the planet that have been around long enough to answer some of those questions were missing. And she didn't want to have to ask Chrysalis or Discord.

"So, the nobility's story of wanting to 'domesticate' humanity was actually a half truth. Humanity needed salvation because the ponies caused that necessity." Celestia was livid. She and her sister were used.

A single line of thought was racing through their heads. The same line of thought, for their sins of genocide, Discord was sent as a punishment. After 100 years of pure chaos, the Alicorn sisters were given physical forms to offer salvation to ponykind. And they ruled for 3,000 years as a Diarchy in the Everfree, before Nightmare Moon.

A Diarchy that was lied to about the sins that led about to Discord was again being committed, only this time under the protection of the Diarchy.

And this train of thought made the Alicorn sisters livid.

For over 4,000 years the ponies were living on stolen land paid for by the blood of it's original inhabitants.

"Luna, what question's do you seek answers for?" Celestia said with tears in her eyes. She realized what Chrysalis told the Terrans was truth, nothing more, nothing less.

"The only question left unanswered, dearest Tia, is what shall we do with this knowledge we hath obtained." Luna managed to choke out as she moved to hug her sister.

"I don't know yet, but I think the right thing to do is to right past wrongs." After a few minutes passed of the two consoling each other, Celestia spoke again, "Luna, try to get some sleep, if you need me I'll be in the Royal Archives."

After Luna left to head to her bedchambers, Celestia finished her breakfast and made her way to the Archives, upon reaching them she told the guard at the entrance to find Twilight Sparkle. She was going to need a lot of help in her endeavor and her first step was to research as much of the pre-Alicorn era as possible.

Author's Note

Alright, brief rundown. Early humans on Equestria were very Greek like and the early pony tribes are Romanesque. After being chased out of their original homeland by the windigos, they came to the Everfree Plains which were inhabited already. The humans offered an olive branch and the ponies returned the gesture with bronze spears and iron shackles.

The bloodshed caused by the nobility summoned Discord who eradicated the original ponies responsible for genocide. After the reign of Discord was put to an end by Celestia and Luna who were until that part, merely the incorporeal souls of the sun and moon. Upon using the elements to petrify Discord, they were asked to lead ponykind by ponykind.

But, the sins of the father led the offspring of the wicked nobility to consider themselves nobility and concocted the Hearth's Warming Eve story of the three pony races "coming together and using love and tolerance, banished the windigos" where in actuality "love" was a spearpoint, "tolerance" was shackles, and the "windigos" were humans because the Alicorns didn't know better.

Leave a comment and let me know if you like!

Also, also, this chapter was supposed to be released a few days ago but it didn't feel fleshed out. So I fleshed it out and made it over twice as long as originally. Thanks for reading.