Chapter 4: History of Humans and Earth (Crash Course Edition)

Lyra, Pipsqueak, the others, and me walked down the dirt path until we arrived at our destination. The library was actually a large Oak tree with a few windows here and there, a small balcony, and a door at the base of it.

"Your Library is an Oak tree?" I asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow at her.

Twilight turned to me and nodded, "Yep. Spike and I live here as well." She answered, making her way towards the door to open it.

She lives here, in a Library? That's something you don't see and hear everyday. "What happens when a storm hits, aren’t you afraid of lightning striking the tree?" I asked. Trees aren’t supposed to be a safe place to be during a storm last time I checked…

"Don't worry Daniel. I have a magical rod at the top of the Library protecting my home from any stray bolts of lightning." She answered, pushing her front door open and leading the rest of us to a living room of sorts.

Well, good to know the place won’t start on fire around us. My eyes scanned the library as we followed Twilight, and I'll say this, Twilight was a major bookworm. There were stacks after stacks of lined up books everywhere. Even though I enjoy reading on many occasions, this is ridiculous. But then again this is a library…

"Welcome to the Golden Oak Library! Please, make yourself at home." Twilight said while moving some seats to accommodate us, "Spike, can you go into the kitchen and make us some tea?"

"Sure thing." Spike saluted and ran off into an adjacent room, assumingly the kitchen.

While Spike ran off to make some refreshments, we joined Twilight on a group of couches she had set up for us to use. Twilight, Lyra, and some of the girls sat across from me, while Pipsqueak and Rarity sat next to me.

I rustled Pipsqueaks mane a little, making him giggle in the process. "So Twilight, what is it you and the others want to know about me?" I asked the lavender unicorn.

Twilight gave me a toothy smile, levitating a quill and empty scroll to her, and looked at me. "Everything!"

I smiled and rolled my eyes, "Well, okay. How about you all ask me a question, and I'll do my best to answer them." I said.

"My first question is what is the diet of your species?" Twilight asked, having her quill at the ready.

Her question made my stomach twist a little. The answer to that was gonna be difficult to answer a little, knowing they're vegetarians. I swallowed and forcefully answered, "Well, the answer to that is humans are omnivores."

They all had cringed faces after I spoke.

"You eat meat?" Twilight asked scribbling what I was saying down on her empty parchment.

I nodded, "Yeah. We humans eat meat in order to get the kind of protein we need in order to survive and help our bodies grow. However, there are some humans who find eating meat wrong and turn vegan. They don’t eat anything animal related and get their protein from some various vegetables." I explained, "Even though I'm gonna be missing some of the protein I need for my body, I can still try to get the protein I need from eggs or fish, if that's allowed that is."

"Eating eggs and fish is totally allowed, though ponies don't eat fish." Twilight explained, finishing her notes on his diet.

I nodded, happy that this information wasn’t as much of a negative as I thought it’d be. "Understandable."

"What kind of meat do humans eat?" Lyra asked, seeming to be on the edge of her seat the whole time.

"Humans profoundly go for meat that comes from cows, pigs and chicken, but some humans in different parts of the world prefer other animals to eat." I explained while shivering at the idea of some of those animals being a common source of meat.

"Like what?" Twilight asked.

"Other than the animals I said that we humans eat most of the time, some humans eat off of different animals such as Dolphins, Sharks, and other creatures that live in the wilderness." I explained. I looked and saw that Fluttershy shaking violently by my explanation about the diet of my race.

"Your kind eats one of the fiercest predators of the ocean?" Lyra asked, skeptical of the idea.

"Yeah, I actually saw a lot of sharks where I lived. My home was near the coast in a state called Florida." I replied, smiling a little as some fond memories resurfaced of simpler times.

They all looked at me enthusiastically, wanting to know more about my home. I continued, "Even though I never really ventured out far into the ocean, I've seen a lot of it and the aquatic animals from the shoreline." Twilight continued to document everything I said as I continued to describe my experience with the ocean..

"How come you really never explored the ocean, darling?" Rarity asked.

Upon hearing Rarity’s question, the fond memories evaporated and were replaced with other, less enjoyable ones. "Because even though the ocean is beautiful, Rarity, it is also very dangerous..." I stated as the memories resurfaced.

A moment later, Spike returned with a tray of tea, setting it on the table in the middle of the room. He then passed out a cup to each of us, filling them with tea.

"How so?" Pipsqueak asked while Spike filled his cup.

"Because sharks were quite common around my home, and that being the case made beaches dangerous if one wasn’t careful." I explained.

“That can’t be right, though sharks are dangerous, they’re unlikely to attack a pony.” Fluttershy’s voice spoke up. Once she focused on me again, her confident demeanor vanished. “But I guess you aren’t exactly a pony…”

I laughed lightly at Fluttershy’s reaction, shaking my head at her. “No, Fluttershy, you’re quite right on that! The main reason sharks have ever attacked another human is because they either look like a seal or on a rarer occasion, curiosity.” But then my face darkened again. “That being said, when they do attack someone, it’s not a fun experience…”

"Well of course being attacked wouldn’t be fun!" Rainbow said with a role of her eyes. How would you even know that Rainbow? You never even got attacked by one.

I stood silent for a few seconds, until I spoke again, "Well, from personal experience, I know that first hand." I said as the old wounds began to sting a little.

"WHAT!?" They all asked in shock.

I nodded and lifted the right side of my shirt, revealing a large bite, like scar on my side. Since I was starting to trust these ponies a little more now, I found I had no problem with sharing more personal information with them. "I was taking a calm walk one day near the edge of the ocean, when three boys named Tom, Chuck and Will pushed me into the water over the edge. I was about to yell at them when I resurfaced, when something brushed against my foot. Then, something clamped down on my side, and dragged me down back into the water. I opened my eyes and saw it was a Great White Shark. I began panicking, until I started punching it in the eyes." I explained.

"Why the eyes?" Twilight asked.

"It’s the only real weak spot a person can easily hit when that close and in that kind of situation." I explained, "After I hit it in the eyes a few times, the Shark released me and swam off. When I reached the surface again, someone saw me and helped me out of the water. As they were pulling me out of the water, they noticed my wound and were able to get me to the hospital in time.” I shivered at the memory, it was the scariest thing I ever experienced. “After that I just avoided the ocean.”

"Golly, never knew ya went through all that Daniel." Applejack said, coming over to me and giving me a firm, yet comforting pat on the back.

I nodded and reached into my pocket and pulled out a shark tooth necklace, "This tooth was left behind after the Great White released me. My grandfather wanted me to keep it so I can remember to stay strong and remember the bravery I showed when I fought for my life." I said, my expression getting brighter at the memory of when my grandfather told me that.

“Mind if I have a closer look at that tooth?" Twilight asked, eyeing it curiously.

I nodded and handed the tooth to her. She examined the tooth from top to bottom and was fascinated by it, "The tooth looks a lot more different than any k-nine I've ever seen. It has jagged ends and looks pretty big." She said looking at it. “I’ve actually never had the chance to look at a shark’s tooth.”

Twilight then handed the necklace back over to me. As I put it back in my pocket, I noticed the pages of notes Twilight had seemed to have taken during our chat. "You seem to be paying really close attention to all this." I said to Twilight, giving her a friendly smirk.

Twilight looked up at me and smiled enthusiastically, "Of course I am! Knowing about Earth and your race is very interesting to know about AND important." She said.

"That's Twilight for ya, the biggest egghead of all time." Rainbow said. Twilight blushed in embarrassment, knowing she was right.

I simply smiled at her, "Being intelligent isn't bad at all. Having a gift like that can make a huge difference in one's life and affect our lives for different and better ways." I said.

Twilight seemed to take my compliment well, because her blush increased and she smiled at me, "Thank you Daniel."

I smiled back, "Anytime. Now then, do any of you have any other questions?"

"OH! OH! OH! OH! MEMEMEMEMEMEME!" Pinkie said raising her hand up while bouncing up and down in her seat.

I simply chuckled while shaking my head, "Alright Pinkie, what's your question?"

"Whatkindofsweetsdoesyouracemakewhatkindofflavorsdidtheycreatewhatkindpastriesdotheyknowwhatingredientsdothey-mmmmph!" I quickly placed my hand over Pinkie’s mouth, stopping her.

"Woah, woah, slow down Pinkie! One question at a time. Now, I'm gonna withdraw my hand, and when I do, ask only one question slowly. Understand?" I said to the hyper pink pony. Pinkie nodded happily, and I slowly withdrew my hand.

"What kind of sweets do humans like?" She asked slowly, which I was happy about.

"Well from what I could guess, it’d be different for most people. But the sweets from my world don’t seem to be different than what you have here." I said. It was quite strange how similar my world was to theirs in so many ways.

"*GAAAAASP* THEN YOU LIKE CAKE!?" She asked while shouting in pure joy. Pinkie then proceeded to pull a large cake out of nowhere with Welcome To Ponyville! written on it in frosting.

I stared at the cake, dumbfounded. “How...did you-”

Before I could finish my question, Rainbow cut me off with a hand over my mouth. “Don’t ask.” She stated flatly. It seemed she knew better so I followed her advice.

“Here, try some!”

Before I could answer, Pinkie shoved a forkful of it down into my mouth. I’ll say this...BEST DAMN CAKE I’VE EVER HAD! The cake was bursting with flavor, the rich creamy frosting with the moist softness of the sponge cake was incredible. I chewed on it for a second until I swallowed it, letting it slowly glide down my throat.

“Woow. That was incredible Pinkie. I never knew you could make such amazing sweets.” I said impressed.

“Thank you Danny, I love baking sweets!” Pinkie chirped as her smile grew from the compliment.

“I also know a few recipes myself, and I’ll be more than happy to share them with you if you want.” I offered smiling.

"*GAAAASP* You would really do that!? YAY! You’ll have to show me and the Cakes what you know. It'll be super duperly awesome!" She then gasped deeply again, "IalmostforgotIstillhavetosetyourwelcometoponyvillepartygottagobye!" She then zipped out of the library, leaving behind a puff of pink smoke behind.

I was completely surprised by how she practically disappeared. Especially by how she left a little puff of pink smoke where she was sitting. This all looked like it came from a cartoon show. What is this, Loony Tunes?

I turned to Twilight with utter confusion, while she just giggled. "That's just Pinkie being Pinkie. You'll get used to it eventually." She answered, only making me even more confused.

"Ooookay then. Well, do any of you have other questions?" I asked changing the subject.

"I do. What kind of major accomplishments have humans achieved?" Twilight asked again.

"Hmmm...Oh. One achievement we humans accomplished is going to the moon." I said.

They all looked at me with utter shock.

"Your race really went to the moon!?" Twilight asked, her mouth hanging agape.

I nodded, "Mhm. We created a space shuttle that allowed us to travel in space for only far enough as the moon. We also created space suits that allowed us to breathe in space, but for only a short time, while also protecting us from things like radiation and so forth. A team called NASA were the ones who took the first step on the moon.” I paused for a moment and the next thing that came to mind was flight as I caught Rainbow give her wings a quick flutter. “another achievement we accomplished was inventing something we call airplanes, thanks to the Wright Brothers." I explained.

"What are airplanes?" Rainbow asked, curious about airplanes.

"Planes are machinery that can allow us humans to fly. Other flying machines we created were known as jets, which can fly at really high speeds." I said.

"How fast are we talking about?" Rainbow asked now, more interested about jets and planes when flight speed was brought up.

I grinned as I answered her question, "A fighter Jet can reach supersonic Speed and break the sound barrier."

"Really!? That's so cool! I can’t believe you guys made a machine that could make a Sonic Rainboom!" Rainbow said, totally surprised a machine could fly as fast as her, if not faster.

"At least you pegasus can fly anytime you want since you have wings. Using an airplane or jet is so expensive for a single short flight. I wish I had a pair of wings, it’d be pretty cool to fly around with them." I said looking at Rainbows wings.

"Hehe, a lot of ponies wish they had these bad boys." Rainbow said proudly flapping her cyan wings a little.

I chuckled and rolled my eyes, "Anypony else have a question?"

"I do darling, what is human fashion like?" Rarity asked.

I simply laughed at that, "Sadly Rarity, much like sweets, I don’t see too many differences yet. What all of you are wearing is quite similar to what most people wear back in my world, but I haven’t been here long enough to know more than that." I explained with a shrug.

"Well, as one can see from your clothes you arrived in, human fashion must be just fascinating." Rarity stated happily. “And speaking of your clothes, I simply adore your sense of fashion!”

I looked at Rarity with a smile at her compliment, "Well I appreciate the compliment Rarity but your sense of fashion is way better than mine! From what I can see, your dress is truly amazing and obviously tailored to match you personally. The pearl necklace goes well with the dress, showing off your true beauty, along with your white coat. Not to mention your baby blue eye shadow. It goes really well with bringing attention towards your eyes since it is the location of most of your color. And speaking of your eyes they look like they're made of Sapphires, that shine and glitter in the sun or moonlight. Your mane is also quite attractive, since it's purple curls are expertly styled to give it a lush and sophisticated look. I can tell nopony can easily match your kind of beauty." I told her, not wanting to be outdone.

The girls were really awestruck, especially Rarity who had the largest blush I’d ever seen, from the compliment I’d just given her.

Rarity then smiled and had her eye lids closed halfway as she gazed at me, "My, my, aren't you such a gentlecolt. You really know how to compliment a lady right. I really like that. You’ll have to tell me more later on…~" She said, giving me a wink.

I blushed a little at that and smiled shyly. Yeah, I could be pretty shy. Remember I didn't really have any friends before I came here, and was a little nervous around a bunch of girls. I looked at Spike and...what the hell is wrong with him? He looked really pissed! And I could've sworn I saw green flames snort out of his nose. I better change the subject now.

"Anyways ,any of you girls have other questions?" I asked.

"Umm..I-I do." Fluttershy said above a whisper.

"Okay then, what's your question?" I asked.

"Umm...w-w-what kind of...animals does...Earth have...i-i-if you don't mind me asking?" She asked very nervously.

I gave her a warm smile. God, she's so fragile. I then answered, "Well, Earth has many beautiful and majestic animals, many of which I’ve seen in that forest nearby. Once again that’s another question for later, once I see and learn more of your world."

"O-okay, well, do you...like animals then?" Fluttershy asked me in a little more of a higher voice.

"I love animals. They're amazing creatures that I’ve always enjoyed the company of, especially if I’m feeling a little down." I answered as memories of the camping trips with my grandfather came to mind.

"Humans keep animals as pets too?" Fluttershy asked again, this time managing not to stutter.

"Yep. The most common pets are either dogs, cats, or fish. Though I don’t really have a preference, I’d prefer a cat or dog over a fish. You just can’t interact with a fish the way you can with a dog or cat!" I said.

"Wow. All this information about your race is so amazing! Are there any problems your race has to deal with?" Twilight said to me, while adding her next question.

My smile vanished, I hadn’t been prepared to tell them anything about the problems that had occurred in the past and so forth in the human race."What's wrong Daniel?" Pipsqueak asked me, nothing but concern in his expression.

I looked at him and sighed, "To be honest to you all.." I looked back at the girls, "Humans have gone through major problems through many years. My race hasn’t been as kind or caring for one another as yours seems to be..."

"What do you mean by that Daniel?" Applejack asked.

I stayed silent while I had my eyes closed, until I gathered my thoughts and the courage to speak again, "Our history and lives have and will always be plagued by war… You’d think we’d learn from our mistakes, but no matter what there is always at least one person that will always take advantage of others for themselves." I explained sadly.”There are so many that are just out there in the world for themselves, others just get in their way or become another step in their personal journey.”

The group looked at me in shock. "That's...so horrible." Twilight mumbled sad by what I had said.

I nodded in agreement, "I know what you mean. Not every human has a kind heart like many of the other people I knew..." Then, memories of my mother and grandfather's death started to seep into my brain. I clenched my fists and shut my eyes tightly while I felt a tear or two fell from my eyes.

I quickly wiped my tears and took a huge breath to calm myself before I lost it. I looked back up at the girls, who were worried about me.

"Is everything alright Daniel?" Twilight asked me again.

"Y-yeah. Everything's cool." I plainly said.

"Well, okay. If you ever need to talk, we're here for you." She said, smiling sadly.

I smiled back at her as that warm feeling they all gave me inside returned. Having Amazing friends is incredible. I decided to move on now, before my bad memories resurfaced, "Umm, do any of you have other questions?"

They all looked at one another, and then shook their heads, telling me they had nothing left. I’m sure they might want to ask more questions later for me, but I’ll let them take their time with it.

"Okay then." I looked over at Lyra, who was blushing a little and twiddling with her thumbs.

"Lyra. Is something bothering you?" I asked the mint unicorn.

Lyra snapped her head up while her blush deepened, "Oh! Umm...I was wondering...do you...have...a..special...somepony...by any chance?" She asked curiously, almost with a hint of hope in her voice.

I arched a brow, "Special somepony?"

“Another pony that’s your significant other or is one that’s special and dear to you, that kind of thing.." Twilight explained.

"Oooh, you mean like a girlfriend. Well...I would say no. I didn’t have a girlfriend during my life back on Earth, so I would say I'm single still." I said.

I looked at the girls. Some of them such as Rarity, Twilight, and Lyra were giving me toothy smiles...as their eyes sparkling a little. Oookay then, this is really awkward... I looked at the clock and saw it was around 5:30 pm.

"Wow. Time sure flies when asking and answering questions." I said.

They all looked at the clock as well after I said that, seeing what time it was themselves.

Suddenly, my stomach went off with a loud growl. I blushed in embarrassment and some of the girls giggled at my expense.

"Sounds like somepony's hungry!~" Twilight sang in a sing song voice.

I chuckled sheeply, "Guess you're right. Do any of you know where we can get a bite to eat?"

"Theres a little shop called sugarcube corner. We can go there." Twilight suggested.

I guess that will work. I'll eat anything..as long if it's not hay or grass, "Sure. Let's get going." I got up from the couch, grabbed my bag and sword and walked to the door, with Spike, Pipsqueak, Lyra and the others following right behind me.

I stopped at the door however, stepping to the side for Twilight to take the lead. "Umm...how about you lead Twilight, because I have no idea where this Sugarcube corner is." I said sheepishly. Since I was still new to this town, I had no freakin clue where this Sugarcube corner was.

Twilight simply giggled at me, "Alright then. Follow me."

I swear to god, it felt like something was gonna happen when we get there….but what?

Author's Note

Me and The Great Reader want to deeply apologize for the wait on Chapter 4. A lot happened IRL. Happily, we were able to get the chapter done. Next Chapter will be re-edited soon and published. Thank you all for reading. See you all later everypony.