The Equestrian Reconquista: Connection

The Abbey of Saint Gall

They quickly gave him what he was searching for, after stating his position with the university and government. It was easier than he thought.

Still tired of his hour long drive to Switzerland, he sat down on a table that was provided for him and started translating.

Marcus Antiochus lead the caravan of ponies to their boat, ready to give a share of their rations. The ground was muddy and cold from the previous autumn rain. The forests was dark and deep. Many lifes were swallowed by this forest.
He could make out hopeful mumbling by the four-legged farmers, but some feared them. They followed the caravan hesitantly in the back.

One of his fellows. Paulus Armenius, a young roman lieutenant and native armenian walked beside him. They both had long, unkempt curly hair which were covered by their helmets most of the time. They could've been easily mistaken for brothers. Only their eyes and height made them look different from each other. Marcus had blue eyes as a native Italian descending from Celtic tribes from the south of the alps, was taller and had a lighter skincolour than Paulus, whose skin had more a brownish tan to it.

”We can't give them everything we have. We don't know where we are and if we can really stay here.”<< Paulus looked annoyed and worried.

”Famis has cursed this place. I don't think we're here just because of a simple accident happened in the storm. We didn't sail past the Pillars of Heracles and we are not in the mysterious lands Hanno the Navigator has set his foot on. Look at his place...you can feel the magic of this place. We we're sent by Ceres to save this place.”<< He said calmly.
He was quiet for a while.

”But still. We don't if we could trust those...horses.”<<

”What would they do to us. Their flesh has turned in from hunger. They die on the spot.”<<

”Yes, but when their bellies are full, they'll make sure we never come home. Our boat is damaged Marcus. Not even the Phoenicians can sail with a large hole in the middle of it.”<<

” Do you remember this guy called Jesus? He was crucified 5 years ago when we were legionaries in Phoenicia.”<<

”Yes I do.”<<

”He once told me as I was watching over his cell that favours will always be returned. I stabbed him the next day when he was hanging on the crucifix. And this is my opportunity to make things even between me and the gods. I don't think he was the son of one god, but in retrospective I truly think that the gods loved him very much like a son.”<<
They were silent for a while, until Paulus opened his mouth again.

“It still a two-days march to the shore and the farmers are as weak as they can get. We have to take a break and make a fire before it gets dark.”<<
Marcus nodded and stopped in his tracks. He turned around and looked over the followers.

”How do we tell them?”<< Asked Marcus.
Paulus shaped his hands to a pillow and signalled them to sleep and eat the few rations. Approving looks and pained groans rang through the ponies.

”Okay now we need fire.”<< Said Marcus to Paulus.
A light spark caught them off guard. A unicorn just made a fire with it's magic.
They looked each other in the eyes, still processing what had just happened. Paulus wanted to speak up, but got interrupted by something tugging at his tunic. He looked down and saw the mare that had greeted them before. She had slightly pink fur and dark purple hair. Her tunic was red, showing that she was of importance.
Now they noticed that she also wore a tunic, that looked more like the Greek variation.
She shook her head frequently. They couldn't communicate with the humans after all.

”What? Are you disapproving? Why?”<< Asked Marcus. She looked worried and thought of a way to tell it to the two Romans.

Suddenly she pulled her tunic up with a reddened face. Two ugly bite marks from a predator and a long scar similar to a lion's scratchmark adorned her flank.
They ogled her scars and slowly began to understand. She pulled her tunic down again and pointed to forest left and right to the muddy path.
Then she pointed to the Gladii of the Romans and then to a very sick stallion who could barely walk.

She bared her teeth and imitated a growl...then a howl. She looked pretty embarrassed and the two Romans chuckled at the cute display in front of them.
They both understood and nodded at her.

”She wants us to protect them from wolves.”<< Said Marcus and gripped his Gladius tighter.

”No wonder. They are prey animals. How do we ask her, if there are any ponies capable of fighting?”<<

Paulus looked at the starved farmers who are risking their lifes for this trip. Sure they'd brought weapons, as they all knew what to expect in the forest, but next to no one was capable of fighting.

“The fire will keep them at bay, but there is no way we can watch every single part of the caravan. They are like sheep for the wolves.”<< Said Marcus worried.

>>”Like sheep...”<< Thought Paulus for a while.

”Interesting....”<< Said Tobias to himself while changing to the next page.

>>”That would mean the Romans were there at 5 A.D. Exactly 2020 years ago.”<<
He looked

>>”I will continue reading the story at home.”<< He was excited. He had just found gold. He changed to the next pages.
An illustration of what he believed was Marcus Antiochus standing in front of three pony princesses.

>>”The three unifier...”<<
He looked at the next illustration. It showed a Roman holding the hoof of a pink pony. A mare. They were formally dressed. The pony wore a long white dress and a laurel crown. The human wore a ceremonial toga.
It's a typical Roman wedding.

”What!?”<< He read the inscriptions below the drawings.
Domina Laurentia Fausta, Imperatrix, uxor et mater Imperatoris
Dominus Paulus Armenius, Imperator, coniunx et pater Imperatoris

>>”This is getting weird now....Domina Laurentia Fausta, Imperatrix, uxor et mater Imperatoris means 'Mrs Laurentia the sacred, Empress, wife and mother of Emperors.”.......so they married and had children.<<
He scratched his head.

>>”Maybe it's just nonsense after all....”<< Anger stirred up inside of him. All this work for nothing!
Still he had expected it to be nonsense and his professor wanted him to write an essay about these books. So he remained calm.
Below those descriptions were two pony-children a colt and a filly. The colt had the whitest fur he'd ever seen and the filly wore a beautiful shade of pink.
What stroke him the most odd was the fact that each of them had both wings and a horn.
He read the latin inscription and translated.

>>”Aramazd the Great, the second equestrian emperor. The king who lead Equustria to never seen glory and size. Founder of the Crystal City.”<< He looked at the inscription of the filly.

>>”Astlik the Generous. Winner over poverty, hunger and founder of the first university of Equustria.”<<

As the family tree shows, both had children. Aramazd had a son called Solonis the Sophisticated with a deep blue mare called Ara the beautiful. Astlik had two children with Artax the duke of a place translated with 'the place to trot'.
A pink colt called 'Kadiz the Conqueror, victor over the Thestral tribes of the north' and a dark coloured colt called 'Tenes the Builder, first King of the Crystal Empire. Kadiz had a daughter named Amoire.

It seems that Solonis also had a child with a mare called Julia. King Helios the Gruesome.
He looked to the other son. King Sombra the Crystal King.
Tobias skipped to the last side.

Written by Siegfried, consultant of Emperor Konrad III, the last human to have visited Equustria.

A.D. 1140

“Holy shit.”<< He turned some pages back.

”This beautiful place once heaven. Turned to our world. Helios declared war to the Crystal City down and made sure to burn all human artefacts, every trace of us was destroyed. Emperor Conrad, enraged about this situation, sought to negotiate but was ignored at the gates of Canteria. Humanity, gods once were, were exiled from Equestria, because Helios only knew one god: Himself. Conrad met went to the Crystal Empire and gave King Sombra an old artefact said to have magic effects never seen before and only to use it when all hope is gone. Then we returned home. I'm leaving tomorrow. Friends will be left behind and Equustria will become nothing more than a blurred memory of the ones who could set foot on it. That's why I wrote this book. That's why I wrote on how to establish contact again, but for no one to be seen, I'll take this secret to my grave and wait for the right person to discover it. That's what I promised”<< Tobias' eyes widened. He had to get home and examine it more closely.

“It sounds stupid but....”
He dialled the number of one of his co-workers at the university. His hands were shaking.

Yes, Tobi?<<

Tufan, quick, make a radiocarbon-scan on the book I'm working on. Title's 'Terras ad...'<<

The one with the horses?<<

Yes!<<

Okay, okay. I'm calling you back when we have the results.<<

Thank you!

The night was uneventful the fire and the presence of the strange two creatures kept the wolves at bay.

The ponies were more death then alive as they reached the ship. The ponies were given food and water and crop seeds, they always stored in case of emergency.
Paulus showed the mare an apple.

”Malum.”<< Said Paulus simply. She hesitated but eventually took a bite out of the fruit. It was still as fresh as they had bought it two days ago in a Greek town.
She looked delighted. Probably never tasted something so sweet before. He looked at her cutie-mark. It was a laurel-twig.

“Guess I'll call you 'Laurentia'.”<< He reached his hand out to pet her head, but got interrupted by the voice of Marcus.

“Paulus, can you come here quick?”<<

Paulus nodded and stood up. He walked to his friend as they walked on deck.
Everyone was busy on the boat, explaining the crops and examining each other's species. Even some language lessons in Latin, Greek and even Phoenician started.

“The scholars want to come with these horses, as well as the seamen. Even the soldiers don't want to miss the opportunity to see their city and more horses.”<<

”And abandon the ship!? Have you gone mental!?”<<

”Look, they know where we are. We go to their capital for a few days and return with spare-parts for the boat.”<<

”Marcus, I want to get...”<< He got interrupted by a tugging at his tunic. It was Laurentia, smiling at him with large green puppy eyes.
He was signalling him to come with them.

”...to their capital. Is what I wanted to say.”<<

Marcus burst out laughing.
_______________________________________________________

Tobias compared the two books carefully. Almost the same handwriting. He looked at the last page of the first book.

Written again by Bishop Alfonso III.

A script of Marcus Antiochus

Again he compared. >>”A script of Marcus Antiochus.”<< Marcus was among the first humans to ever set a foot on Equustria. Him knowing about King Helios is not possible.
He again compared the family tree to the time Marcus Antiochus would have lived.

>>”I think I'm starting to understand.”<< He looked at his white ceiling.
>>”He wanted to confuse people. He faked the dates and authors so people won't make any connections. Either he wanted to safe the past by confusing people and hiding it, or he was just a big troll. Conrad probably wanted to erase all evidence of Equustria, Siegfried didn't want it to happen and hid the first book on how to open the gates in the Vatican Library in Rome. The Chronicles Book probably went back to the place, he originated from. The Monastery of St. Gall.”<<

He received a call by Tufan.

>>”Hello?”<<

>>”We have the results of the scan.”<<

>>”And what does it say?”<<

>>”It's from 1140.”<<

>>”I knew it...”<<

>>”Yes, but that's not the strange thing.”<<

>>”Huh?”<<

>>”The ink is something we have never seen before. It's a unique source of some special radioactive activity. The chemical compound is something we've never seen before. We actually found a new substance we've called 'Equorium' that's emitting some kind of unknown energy.”<<

Tobias dropped his phone and it went off. He was sweating. So many questions rang through his head.

”I need to find the last book.”<<
He skimmed over the last words of the Chronicles book. It's written like a farewell letter. Siegfried put him on a test and he already passed two third of it.

”There must be a hint somewhere in there.”<< He skimmed through the farewell letter.

”'ll take this secret to my grave...”<<

“Of course!”<< He jumped up.

The evidence was clear. The strange ink, the connections, the riddle. It all made sense! The Greeks were there in first place visiting the Griffins. Three hundred years later the Romans visited the horses. Rome stood in constant contact with that world. Paulus married Laurentia and started a horse-dynasty on the base of human culture.
After the Holy Roman Emperor of the Hohenstaufen bloodline gained control over Italy, the Germans visited Equustria and probably shaped the language and culture there as well.

That would explain Conrad III. In Equustria. After that the horse-king got mad and turned into a megalomaniac and cut ties with the human world.

Conrad probably also lost his temper and made sure to get rid of every existing evidence on earth. Except for Siegfried. He wrote the books with Equustrian ink, made up the riddle, faked the dates and hid the books!

His phone rang again. It was professor Erlmann.

>>”Hey Tobias have you...”<<

>>”We need to find the grave of a so called Siegfried. He was a supervisor of Conrad III. Of the Holy Roman Empire. In his grave lays a book that's from utmost importance!”<<

>>”Of Nobel-Price importance?”<<

>>”Of unimaginable importance. This might change the course of human history...and not just human's”.<<

>>”What are you talking about?”<<

>>”I'll tell you soon enough. Let's say that these books are not what you might think they are!”<<