A Question of Evolution

by Jet Howitzer

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Human, Twilight Sparkle, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 1985

A question posed by a human prompts a quick lesson in history

Phil, the first and only human in Equestria, finally poses a question that's been forming for the past three years.

Done solely for fun, and shouldn't be taken too seriously. Enjoy.

Published 2012-08-23 22:54:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-23 22:54:01 UTC

Alpha and Omega

Phil closed the latest book he had been reading, its musty old pages bringing forth images of valiant warriors doing battle with the forces of evil. While the plot was all too familiar, the characters were different, and the setting far removed from anything Phil had ever read before. The sound of hooves roused Phil from his moment of reflection, and so he cast his gaze about the room, seeking the pony he knew those hoofsteps belonged to. When his search yielded nothing, he turned back to his book, although it wasn’t a true attempt to read; it was simply a ruse.

As expected the hoofsteps resumed once Phil began ‘reading’ once again, and this time he spotted the lavender mare approaching, clearly hoping to surprise the human. When she was a short distance away, the mare leapt the last short distance, landing squarely on the human’s chest. A sharp exhale met the landing, and the mare quickly made herself comfortable. Phil lowered the book, and he looked at the mare, whose innocent expression foiled any attempt at speech.

“So, what do you think of you’re latest literary challenge?” Phil placed the book on the floor gently, not wanting to risk damaging it. After he put the book down, he shifted his position slightly, trying to make himself more comfortable. “Did you find it as exciting as the last one, or was this too similar for there to be any surprises?”

“No, it was good. I did see some of the plot twists coming, but it still had some surprises for me. But I have to wonder just how the author made the fight scenes, as sparse as they were, so detailed. Most ponies have little experience with violence, and even fewer have any drive to be violent at all.” The mare’s nose wrinkled just a tiny bit as her mind began puzzling out a response. Phil loved that look she got when she was deep in thought, and that was one of the reasons why he fell for her.

Finally the mare’s eyes brightened and she got a smile on her face. “We weren’t always so peaceful, you know. Back before the unification there was quite a bit of fighting, honestly. Never so much as what human’s did, but we had our share of war.” The mare’s response was satisfactory, and so he let it drop, but it still left a trace of doubt in the back of his head.

Several days passed, and yet the worm of doubt never eased, and in fact, it began to grow as several questions began stirring in the subconscious mind of the only human in Equestria. Finally, the point came where he could no longer think clearly without those questions bubbling to the surface. Over dinner, Phil finally managed to puzzle together the first of his questions into an eloquent query.

“How did ponies come about? As in, how did ponies evolve to their current iteration? I don’t want to know the specifics for unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies, just the gist of how you came to be the primary dominant species.” Once again the mare’s nose wrinkled and she stayed that way for quite some time, before she finally got up, and went to the library. The human had seen this coming, and so he waited patiently for the mare to return. When she did, she had one of the few books that you hadn’t read in her magical grasp. It was an immense tome, almost three feet tall, and more than a thousand pages long.

She let the book down on the table gently, after whisking away the dishes, and she opened it to a part near the middle. Her eyes began taking in the information, far faster than Phil could ever match, and soon her nose lost its wrinkles. “That’s a really big question, but I think I have an answer to it. It’ll take a while, though, so may I suggest we retire to the study?” Phil nodded his assent, and soon the two of them were seated across from each other in the study, each one comfortable in one of the armchairs.

“If you have any questions that develop as I explain, feel free to ask. Ponies have been the most widespread species on the planet for nearly one hundred thirty thousand years. However, no solid record made by ponykind exists before just over ten thousand years ago, so everything before then is conjecture, based on research, and fossils. Before anything living came to be on Equestria, it was a massive molten ball of metals. Over time it formed a thin atmosphere, and with that came life giving water. It took millennia for the water to make its way to the surface, and longer still for it to begin pooling.”

Phil shifted his position, and Twilight took note of that, and she paused for a moment. “So, your planet simply coalesced from the materials left over from the formation of the sun?” The mare nodded in response, and the human smiled. “That’s exactly how Earth formed. Although that doesn’t explain anything about ponies, just yet. Continue.”

“So, with water came the nutrient rich from which life ultimately emerged. Single cell organisms gave way to complex colonies, and ultimately primitive fish came to be. It’s at this point that specialization began to manifest itself. The plants were, of course, established by this point. The fish eventually adapted into several unique strains of life. There were the herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. Although the omnivores didn’t evolve quite at the same time. Over time the herbivores grew to be swifter, and more intelligent than the carnivores, simply because the carnivores worked independently, while the herbivores worked together to survive.

“Move forward in time a few million years, and we find that the herbivores have moved to the land, while the carnivores have remained in the sea far longer. With the new land open to them, exploration, adaptation, and mutation began to run rampant, as the newly made land creatures began to explore. Several million years later, and the carnivores finally made their way onto land, but in smaller numbers.”

Again, the human shifted, and the mare stopped, happy to entertain a question. “So, the herbivores moved to dry land first, giving them time to adapt to a new land, well before the carnivores did?”

“Exactly. Ponykind still doesn’t know why this happened, but we are working to try and understand it. With the herbivores open to explore this new land without threat of being eaten we began to see far distant cousins to ponykind. It is at this time, we theorize, that species began to display some modicum of magical potential. It was this development which allowed for true genetic adaptation to accelerate. When the carnivores finally made it to land the herbivores had established a level of dominance over the land. And so the carnivores had difficulty at first, but then they too began to adapt.

“It was around that time that the first cataclysm came about. We think that it was an asteroid, but we don’t know for sure what caused it. Anyway, most life on the planet was decimated, and the plant life began to whither, leaving the herbivores in a tight spot. The carnivores too began to decline, as the herbivores supplied the carnivores with food. After some time life began to flourish once again, with only the strongest species surviving.

“From this came our earliest clear ancestor, Equus Archai. With magic to aid them, these early ponies were able to form an adequate mastery of their early world, and so they were able to develop primitive tribes. These tribes worked to drive out predators, and with the addition of magic to their arsenal, they could create long periods of peace, as the spells they worked fended off the predators.”

Again the human felt a question rising, and the mare took note. “What about pegasi, and unicorns? How did you go from earth ponies to all three kinds?”

“That’s coming soon, actually. As the tribes grew in numbers, the magical potential of the tribes began to grow, and from that emerged forced magical mutations. You see, when a large number of unicorns get together, they can pool their magic to work spells that are beyond their abilities. The same thing happened with the ancient tribes, although it was likely by accident. These accidents proved to be beneficial, though, and so over the course of several thousand years the three kinds of ponies evolved. And with these evolutions came periods of inexplicable peace, as the predators seemed to dwindle in numbers.

“Over the years, the battles of the ancient tribes began to fade, and peace reigned for several dozen generations. In this time, the psychology of the pony mind began to change, leading to the peaceful ponies we know today. It was around this time that the first record of civilization is found. And from there the rest is history.” The mare smiled widely, proud that she had been able to explain their history so well. Still, the human was curious.

“So, magic is the primary motive for pony evolution?”

“From what we know, yes. It seems that all major changes to ponykind have been brought about by magic. But what brought this about? You’ve been among our kind for nearly three years, now.”

“It’s actually been something that I’ve thought about from time to time, actually. It’s really just a curiosity. You see, humans started out much the same, but we took the role of predators, and so we evolved differently. Human intelligence came about as a necessity to hunt better, not some magical quirk. And from that intelligence came the human drive to excel, and dominate their environment. You see, humans are never content with what is, there’s always a drive to push forward. Take technology, for instance. From what I’ve read, ponies have been reliant on steam power for hundreds of years. With magic as a supplement, you have no reason to advance steam power any further.

“Humans, on the other hand, have no magic to supplement our lives, and so we are heavily reliant on technology to see us through. We use a given technology only as long as we have to until something better is developed. We took seventy years to go from the first powered, heavier than air, flight to setting a man on the moon. Our desire to conquer, and prevail, has caused us great hardship through wars, but has also given us our greatest achievements.”

The mare smiled, slightly, and then she chuckled. “Imagine if modern humans were suddenly given access to magic? What do you think would be the outcome?”

Phil frowned before answering. “I don’t think it would be a good thing. When we find something new, the first thing we usually look to is weaponization. For instance, when we first split the atom, it wasn’t for the benefit of man, but as a weapon, meant to kill thousands in an instant. We aren’t a pleasant people, Twilight. Humans are vicious and war like, no matter how much we pretend otherwise. Hell, we’re the only people that will go to war over an idea. We’re the only species on the planet that will kill its own members because someone else said so. I like to think that we’re getting better, but now that I’m gone from the planet, I can see the solutions so much more clearly.”

The mare saw the effect the conversation was having on the human, so she stood up, and moved next to him. “Well now you’re here, and you’ve only made things better. Perhaps humans can do good, when the right motivation presents itself?”

“I’d like to think so, Twi, because if that’s not the case… Well, let’s just hope that’s the case.”