“Ugh… I can’t believe we missed the train. Now we’re going to have to wait until tomorrow to get back to Ponyville.” Twilight Sparkle had been summoned to Canterlot to demonstrate and discuss her latest magical achievements to her mentor, Princess Celestia.
“I know, now I won’t make my date with Rarity”, lamented Twilight’s assistant, a baby dragon named Spike.
“Spike, she asked you to let her fit you for a dress she is making as a surprise for her little sister. It’s not a date.” She only chose you because you’re the same size as Sweetie Belle and her two friends can’t keep a secret.
“Well… still, its quality time with her that I’m gonna miss now”, Spike retorted.
Twilight rolled her eyes and giggled, marveling at how long Spike’s crush on her friend had been brewing.
“Well I guess the only thing we can do now is go back to the castle and ask the princess if we can stay the night”, she said. “Let’s get going.”
After a few minutes of walking they came across a bookstore Twilight didn’t recognize. They agreed that it must be new if she had never seen it, being a pony known for studying more than anything else. Twilight decided to go inside and Spike followed quietly, yet begrudgingly. He wanted to just get back to the castle and relax after the long day they’d had. Unfortunately, however convincing Twilight not to investigate a new bookstore was like convincing their friend Pinkie Pie not to laugh.
Upon entering the bookstore Twilight was taken aback. The place was so bleak and colorless that it was almost depressing. Twilight began looking for books of interest, not even bothering with the shopkeeper, who was so out cold, that he was producing a large puddle of drool on the counter over, which he was slumped. She scanned over the books in the store, most of which she had already read or already owned. Just before she decided to give up and leave, she spotted a strange book.
It wasn’t the book itself that caught her eye, but rather the illustration. It was a strange animal of sorts she didn’t recognize. It had a slightly similar appearance to monkeys and apes she had seen in pictures, but this creature was nowhere near as hairy and stood upright. Even more perplexing was the weird title, “Humanity”. What in all of Equestria is a humanity, she thought. The book was marked as fiction. This made sense because if there was any such thing as these creatures she likely would have heard of them before.
Lured in by curiosity, she picked out the book. When she approached the shopkeeper she had to say, “Excuse me” three times to wake the lazy pony up. The shopkeeper opened his eyes, scowled at Twilight, then focused on the book.
“Five bits”, the pony said in an irritated tone.
Twilight was taken aback. Five bits? She had seen fruit that cost that much. “Are you sure that’s all it costs?” She didn’t want to cheat anypony out of money.
The shopkeeper grew even more irritated, “Five bits, do you want it or not?”
Twilight produced the five bits and left, wanting to get away from the grouch.
“What’s his problem? What a jerk”, said Spike.
“You’re not exactly Mr. Sunshine whey you get woken up”, Twilight reminded him.
Knowing she was right, Spike didn’t’ say another work.
When they arrived at the castle Twilight explained to Princess Celestia what had happened. The were given a room to stay the night and they spent the rest of the afternoon telling the princess about their adventures in Ponyville in greater detail (their letters had only given a broad overview). By dusk they were both exhausted from the day’s events so they retired to the suite they had been given.
_____
The next morning Twilight and Spike, well rested, said goodbye to the princess and made their way to the train station where they boarded the Friendship Express back to Ponyville. They arrived at noon, ate lunch at one of the cafes, and make their way home. Twilight decided against getting started on her new book so as to focus on her magical studies and reorganizing the library… again.
Fluttershy came by later that day with Owlicious, having agreed to take care of him while Twilight and Spike were gone. Twilight thanked her several times during their short conversation. Before Fluttershy left, the new book caught her eye.
“What is that?” Fluttershy was intrigued by the strange piece of literature.
“Oh, it’s a new book I picked up in Canterlot”, was Twilight’s reply. “From what I can tell, it’s a story about some strange kind of make-believe animal.”
“Oh, I love animals. Do you think maybe I could borrow it when you’re done reading it?”
“You can borrow it now Fluttershy. I’m going to be very busy for a while and I don’t know when I will get the chance to even pick it up.”
“Oh, thank you Twilight; I’ll get it back to you soon.”
“Take your time; I won’t have much free time for a while.”
Fluttershy thanked her several more times and then left, excited to read about these strange make-believe creatures.
______
Two days after returning from Canterlot Twilight had her nose buried in a spell book when Rarity came in looking alarmed.
“Oh Twilight, you have to come right now. It’s Fluttershy”, said Rarity between breaths.
“What’s wrong?” asked Twilight, worried.
“Fluttershy didn’t meet me at the spa today like we planned. I went to her cottage to check on her and the place was in chaos. The animals looked like nopony had feed them in days. I went inside and up the stairs to look for her and I found her under her bed. She keeps mumbling and refuses to come out. She was shivering and looked utterly distraught.”
“Let’s go”, said Twilight.
When they arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage Twilight was taken aback by how unkempt it seemed. They made their way inside and up to Fluttershy’s room and found her where Rarity had left her.
“Fluttershy, what are you doing under the bed?” asked Twilight as calmly and gently as she could.
“H-H-Hiding from the h-h-humans!” exclaimed Fluttershy, barely able to speak.
Humans, that’s what those animals are called. Twilight thought. That’s why the book is titled Humanity.
“What in all of Equestria are humans?” asked Rarity confused.
“I’ll explain later”, said Twilight. “Fluttershy, come out of there. There’s no such thing as humans.”
“NO!” exclaimed Fluttershy. “I’m not taking any chances.”
“Fluttershy, you need to come out. If not for your sake, then for the sake of your animals. The grounds are in chaos. How long has it been since you’ve taken care of the animals?”
“Since you leant me that book”, Fluttershy replied weakly.
“Fluttershy, that’s two days, you need to come out and take care of these animals right now.”
“Can’t you do it for me?”
“No!” Twilight’s reply was calm and gently, yet firm and unmoving. “They are your responsibility. We’ll help, but we’re not going to give you any excuse to stay under there. Now come out and let’s talk.”
Slowly, Fluttershy crawled out from under the bed, cringing as Rarity opened the curtains and let in the afternoon light. Suddenly, a loud and abrupt growl sent Fluttershy back under the bed shivering even more violently.
“That was your stomach Fluttershy”, said Twilight annoyed. “You haven’t eaten in two days remember?
After a few moments, Fluttershy came out again. Rarity got to work fixing them all something to eat while Twilight and Fluttershy sat down to talk about why Fluttershy had been so spooked by the book.
“Alright Fluttershy”, said Twilight. “What is so scary about that book that you would hide under your bed for two days?”
“Oh, it was terrible”, said Fluttershy, practically in tears.
“Start from the beginning.”
“Well, I started reading the book when I got home from returning Owloicious. It was very good at first. It talked about Humanity’s accomplishments. Machines that could fly, machines that could think and solve problems faster than any living creature, and even machines that allow humans to talk to each other from far away.”
“That sounds amazing.”
“It was, but then it got bad, very bad. Humans are…they are…meat eaters Twilight, they eat animals. They don’t just eat them though, they mass-produce death in factories. They kill the animals and prepare them for packaging and transport in the most unimaginable way possible. And a single factory may kill thousands, sometimes even tens of thousands of animals a day.”
“That sounds awful”, said Twilight, disturbed.
“It gets much worse. How many wars or even battles have been fought in all of Equestrian history, or pony history for that matter?”
Not many, yet too many, Twilight thought. She didn’t answer the question, knowing it was rhetorical.
Fluttershy continued. “Humans fight through their entire history. I lost count of all the wars. They even had two horrendous wars where nearly the entire world was involved. How does an entire world fight a war? They got so good at killing each other that they made weapons that could kill thousands of people. They even made bombs that could destroy the entire world if everybody used them.
Twilight didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t imagine how it could get any worse, but she was sure it would.
“That’s how far I got before I heard a scary sound and hid under my bed”, admitted Fluttershy. (It was probably a tree branch tapping the house)
“Oh how awful”, said Rarity, appalled. “No wonder you were so scared Darling.” Rarity placed their meal on the table and then rubbed Fluttershy’s back for support.
Eventually Fluttershy stopped whimpering, then they ate. Afterwards they went out to take care of the animals. Between the three of them they got chores done and the animals fed and calmed down fairly quickly. Even Rarity put forth a strong effort despite her hatred of dirt and manual labor, knowing Fluttershy needed her support.
Fluttershy was able to convince the animals to forgive her for neglecting them for two days. The responsibility seemed to calm her nerves and cheer her up despite the traumatizing experience she had gone through.
Fluttershy asked Twilight and Rarity if they would stay the night (something she normally wouldn’t do due to her preference for solitude, but needing the emotional support) and they agreed.
Twilight and Rarity each went home to grab a few things and prepare for the night with Fluttershy. Upon learning that Rarity would be there Spike offered to come and offer his support, but Twilight wouldn’t have it.
___
That night, Rarity and Fluttershy lay in the bed and Twilight lay on a mat on the floor next to them. She thought about these humans from the book, inexpressibly relieved that it was fiction. She had faced all kinds of monsters, all-powerful villains, and even an entire army of changelings. But the mere thought of these humans terrified her more than she was willing to admit, even to herself. If humans were real, she expected that not even the Elements of Harmony would be able stop their bloodlust.
Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes to sleep. She tried to prepare herself for a vicious nightmare that she expected would come. A nightmare that she was sure would be the first of many.
