Equestria and The Land of Patriam

It was around 8:00 At castle Drachenkopf, the king had agreed to feed the group of ponies for the night. Each one of them was summoned to the table by an escort. Everyone sat around a big table full of food. There was a whole roasted hog, a turkey, and most importantly the sausages. But the King had shown his knowledge of pony kind by also having fruits, vegetables, breads, and other vegetarian friendly foods at the table. Except for the steward, Shining sat closest to the king as the ponies sat at the table on one side while other human knights sat on the other.

"Once again, I must offer you a thousand thanks for feeding us King Drachenkopf." Feather Quill Spoke up, looking to the king.

"Though to the dismay of others, you are guests while at my castle. You are also traveling to Italia tomorrow, the least I can do is give you a hardy meal." Said Johannes as he took a healthy bite of a turkey leg. Shining uses his magic to fill his plate, he then looks over at a tankard next to him. He lifts it up and smells it, smelled like beer. He takes a drink and his eyes widen from the taste. He sets it down and begins to cough.

"What's wrong? Don't you have beer in Equestria?" Asked Johannes with a slight smirk on his face.

"We do, but this, it's so strong." Said Shining. To everyone's surprise, the king let out a chuckle.

"Yes, the people of Germania love beer, and we are picky about it." Said Johannes took a big gulp from his own tankard.

"Mr... uh, King Dra- Draken...cough?" Said Applejack trying to pronounce his name.

"Just call me Johannes for now, even 6 months after my coronation, it still feels weird for others to call me king." Said Johannes.

"ok, Johannes." Applejack Said. "I don't think We have been properly introduced, you only know Shining here by name." The king looks up at her and to the rest of the group, he slowly lowers his tankard and lets out a soft sigh.

"Of course, you are right. Please, tell me, what are your names?" Said Johannes, giving his Equestrian guests his full attention

"I'm Applejack, this is Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Spike." Said Applejack introducing all her friends as they wave or nod at the king.

"You already know me so I'm skipping, This soldier next to me is Sargent Crimson, next to him is our Interpreter Professor Feather Quill." Said Shining, guestering his hoof to the sargent and professor.

"It's a pleasure." Said Johannes before turning to the humans sittinf next to him. "This is my Steward, Heinz."
"Hallo." Said Heinz with a nod.

"And next to him is my Champion, Volker." Said Johannes.

"Grüß gott." Said the knight in heavy armor as he places his armored fist to his chest.

"Well, I must say I am glad we are finally taking things to a more diplomatic direction compared to when we first got here!" Said Feather Quill with a smile. "If I may ask, where is that Gerhard fellow we came here with?"

"He is a soldier, so he has returned to the barracks here in Safehaven." Said Johannes.

"Shame, I would have liked to have seen him again. Quite the nice fellow I must say." Said Feather Quill. Shining looking heavily annoyed decided to finally speak up.

"Is it really up to me to state the obvious here!?" Shouted, Shining as all eyes laid on him.

"Shining my boy, What do you mean?" Asked Feather Quill.

"Don't play dumb professor, you are smarter than that!" Shining narrowed his eyes at the professor.

"Then by all means Prince of the Crystal Empire, please state what is going over everyone's heads." Said Johannes.

"It's you!" Said Shining pointing his hoof at the king, and then the table of food. "And this, all of this!"

"What are you talking about?" Asked Johannes raising an eyebrow.

"Not but 2 hours ago, you were incredibly hostile to me and my party. Every human has treated us with hostility as their initial reaction to seeing us! But now, you're feeding us!? You know our diet, that we are vegetarians, but that's not the weirdest part! You're speaking perfect Ponish! How!? How can a land so hostile to ponies, but at the same time have a decent understanding of us! There is something you are not telling me, why else would you request me to perform this quest for you to travel to another kingdom! Nothing makes sense! I can't come up with a single conclusion that makes sense!" Said Shining. The others slowly go from looking at Shining to Johannes, as Shining raised a good point. Going from being treated as invaders to guests within hours was odd, not to mention how the king seemed to be educated about ponykind. The king looked at the group, he himself also looked a little puzzled.

"To be honest, I found it odd that you all know so little of humans." Said Johannes.

"Everytime we set foot in this land, we are chased off or attacked." Shining argued.

"I'm not surprised by that either, but don't you have anything from the olden times?" Asked Johannes.

"What in Equestria are you talking about?" Asked Shining.

"Have you forgotten our history together?" Said Johannes as he leans forward.

"May I interject, I am a scholar, and even I don't know what you mean." Said Feather Quill, placing his hoof on his chest. Johannes looks at the ponies in his presence, he wipes his mouth with a napkin before letting out a long sigh.

"I assumed you would remember this about your history, as every human, including the peasants, would never forget what happened to Regnum Patriae." Said Johannes, looking down into his tankard.

"What's Patriae?" Asked Shining, his hostility now dying.

"It was the united kingdom of all humans. When it fell, the formation of the three kingdoms formed from its ashes. For many years, the humans could never come to peace as to who was to blame for the fall of a once great kingdom." Said Johannes. The ponies leaned in closer, prepared to hear a long story. "It is a tale every human knows, it's what fuels the anger of all humans. Allow me to start from the beginning, at a point of history I know every creature knows." Johannes took one last gulp of his drink before starting his tale.

"It all begins during the time of Grogar. The horrid monster terrorized all with the nightmarish creatures he created. Of course, that all ended when the couragous Gusty the Great defeated him and took his horrid bell." Johannes started.

"You know of Gusty the Great!?" Feather Quill exclaimed quite loudly.

"Of course, Why wouldn't I?" Asked Johannes.

"Well, she was a unicorn, a pony!" Said Feather Quill.

"I know, but we all suffered under Grogar, and we were all freed by her bravery." Said Johannes.

"Gusty der Große ist ein Held!" Said Volker in German.

"Ja, Indeed, a hero." Said Johannes.

"This... Is incredible! Please continue." Feather Quill was excited to learn more.

"Soon after the defeat of Grogar, many of the creatures soon kept to themselves, Humans with humans, Yaks with yaks, and Griffons with griffons." Said Johannes. His knowledge of the world outside his own kingdom was impressive to the ponies. " There were two human tribes, the Latinus and the Germanisch. Each had their own language and had difficulties mixing. However, the ponies had the most trouble as they never united, separating into the three groups of Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies. But us humans stuck together. We knew if we were to survive, we had to stick together. Settling away in the west, we formed our first civilization. Humans tried their best to keep in contact with the other tribes of creatures as we knew our interests aligned now that we were all on our own. Though rocky at first, Humans made a slight alliance with the unicorn kingdom. With Gusty being a unicorn herself, the humans were gracious and humble to the unicorns, seeing them as all powerful because of their ability to use magic." Johannes paused for a second to analyze the ponies at the table. They all grew quiet and were leaning in closer as he continued his story.

"When a foul winter hit the lands to the east, not much contact could be formed with the ponies. Because of this, Humans focussed on our own needs, rapidly accelerating our progress into a mighty nation!" Johannes started to sound proud while telling the story. "We called our home, Patriea, Regnum Patriea! Our Kingdom grew very powerful very fast. But as quickly as the winter storms formed, they just as quickly passed, and now the ponies were united into the Land of Equestria. Patriea saw the rise of this new kingdom as an ally, and quickly set up an alliance with Equestria. Both Kingdoms elected an Ambassador to represent our own kind. For the humans, that man was Carlo Santamano. House Santamano was a noble family, and Carlo was Thane to the throne. For the ponies, they chose a unicorn named Clover the Clever."

"Clover the Clever!?" Feather Quill yelled excitedly. "But, nowhere in our history ever mentioned Clover interacting with any humans!"

"I do not know why this history is lost to your kind, But I can assure you that this is indeed our history." Replied Johannes. All the ponies were staring at Johannes with extreme curiosity. How could a human king know who Gusty the Great and Clover the Clever were? His explanation for knowing Gusty made sense, but there should have been no way he would know about Clover, as she was known for furthering peace amongst ponies and developing advanced pony magic.

"As I was saying." Johannes continued. "Santamano and Clover became close friends. Each of which would travel to each other's kingdoms to share their culture and language. Santamano shared the two languages that the humans had developed. The first was Latin, a language that most spoke, and Altgermanisch. The two languages represented the two tribes, but Clover had shown the Humans their one shared language of Old Ponish. The humans scholars noticed how underdeveloped Old Ponish was and offered both the human languages as a reference to help develop the language into a more complex language." Johannes paused for a moment, as a sad look soon fell over his face. "But... It wasn't soon after that the humans were struck with a tragedy. The current king of Patriea, Hadrianus Drachenkopf, my ancestor, was assassinated by the traitor Thierry Trompeur!"vThe King's sadness soon turned to anger as he started to ball his hands into fists.

"The King was loved by all, and his murder shook the kingdom to its very foundation! Carlo Santamano, who was Thane to the Throne, the King's champion, was not present to save him, he was in Equestria at the time of his death. Already a split in Patriea formed as those loyal to House Drachenkopf alienated House Trompeur and those loyal to it as well. House Santamano was angered by the king's killing as well, but also found itself turned on by House Drachenkopf for its failure to protect the king. The Three Houses had their supporters, and tensions rose until an all out civil war broke out, and brother turned against brother. The marbled streets of the capital were stained with blood and littered with bodies. The Houses had no choice but to split out of fear of our mutual destruction. House Trompeur and Santamano formed their own kingdoms, and so did House Drachenkopf. Naming our Kingdoms accordingly, Gallia, Italia, and Germania. The three kingdoms have been warring ever since. This current one happened when the previous king of Gallia died, and his successor launched an all out brutal war against me and my people. Italia declared neutrality, still recovering from their war against us 2 years ago." The king seemed to be wrapping up his story, but there was one question remaining among the ponies.

"Uh, sir, what happened between the relations between Equestria and Patriea?" Asked Spike. Causing Johannes looked up at him.

"Each one of the three kingdoms looked upon Equestria for its support. But Equestria was not interested in choosing a side for war, Equestria sent a reprimand to the kingdoms and scolded them on their actions. Refusing to support any kind of war, Equestria even withheld all it's exports to the kingdoms as well. The kingdoms were outraged, and each one separated all diplomatic relations with the kingdom, some even declaring war. But the wars ended soon as Equestria showed it's might with its use of magic, leveling any human army as it entered Equestria. Because of this, Humans have feared magic and the ponies as one unicorn has the potential to wipe out a platoon. We have sealed ourselves away from the east, and ran off any who dared come near." The King then slumps back in his seat, as his story concludes. "Since we are no longer one nation, Rengum Patriea is no more, so now we only call our lands Patriam, in hopes of one day uniting once more. If, such a thing is even possible, there is too much bad blood..." The mood in the room had seemed to change, all the humans grew quiet. Shining looks among the other ponies. There were still a lot of unanswered questions, but now they all now had a clearer picture of the mentality of the people in this foreign land.

"May I ask one final question, King Drachenkopf?" Asked Shining, his voice much softer now.

"Of course." Said Johannes looking at him.

"I can tell that by your story, many humans want to unite into one kingdom once more. But there is a lot of anger present which is getting in the way of progress. That is why you want us to help you in forming an alliance with Italia. With their help in ending this war, diplomacy will open up between your two kingdoms. Is that right?" Asked Shining.

"...Indeed, it is." Said Johannes.

"Then why not send humans? If Ponies are as feared and hated as you say we are because of our abilities in magic, wouldn't it make much more sense to send humans? I don't think we would be trusted." Said Shining.

"I never said I wouldn't be sending humans at all. You will be escorted." Said Johannes. "The sight of our men with you will catch the eyes of the nobles of Italia. The sight of you will be intimidating, while the sight of humans with you will intrigue them. If we could make peace with you, we could make peace with them." Shining thought about that idea for a bit. He had to admit it sounded like a decent plan.

"Very well." Shining finally said." We do this for you, you help us save Twily, and bring peace to a troubled land." Johannes gives him a weak smile, before raising his tankard.

"Für die Zukunft, For the future! For man, and pony! For the people of Germania! Für Mensch und Pony, Für die Menschen in Germania. For the hope of the return of peace!" Yelled Johannes.

"JA!" Yelled all the human knights raising their cups in the air.

"AYE!" Yelled the pony soldiers, doing the same. Surprisingly, Even Shining Armor raised his cup.

Ever since yesterday when Twilight was interrogated, her treatment has changed to be a more merciful one. Though still in the dungeon, she was being well fed up until Léone could officially release her. She had waited all day until Pierre, her jailor finally came to retrieve her.

"Are you finally ready to leave princess?" Asked Pierre, his snake like grin plastard on his face.

"Yes, yes I am." Said Twilight Sternly.

"Good, then follow me, and Ma Matriarche will remove the ring from your horn, and you can leave." Said Pierre as he opened the door. Twilight was let out and was led down a hallway by Pierre and two other knights. As she walked she kept thinking to herself.

"Now they are just letting me go? After all of what they put me through? Is this just how humans treat all prisoners? I can't imagine Princess Celestia being too happy about this. If I told her that I was hit and starved in a human dungeon, she would be livid. She would want answers on my treatment here, would she punish Léone for her cruelty?" Twilight's trail of thought ended when they entered a new room.

It was dark except for one skylight illuminating the middle of the room. The light was shining onto a square rock in the middle of the room. Twilight looked confused as she slowly approached it. She got right up to it and looked down at it. Slowly her eyes began to widen. Pierre was directly behind her, his presence looming over her. She slowly turns her head to look at him, his facial expression was a twisted grin, caked with pleasure. The same kind of grin the devil would give to the damned. Before she could respond, he placed his foot on top of her back and forced her to the ground painfully. She immediately began to squirm trying to get up as the other two knights quickly pounced on her, one of them grabbed her head to hold it still on the block.

"No! Nonono!!! Let me go!" Yelled Twilight. She looks up to see that Léone had been standing back in the darkness. Her helmet was on, only showing her eyes. Her eyes were cold yet glowing with a fire within them. Behind her, a wooden trap door was visible. "Léone! Léone, please don't do this! Please!"

Twilight was begging for her life as tears started heavily forming in her eyes. Léone only sat there and watched her, not moving. Yet it was almost as if you could see her smirk under her helmet. Eventually, a huge human, wearing a hood and wielding a giant curved ax enters the room and approaches Twilight. She was sobbing at this point as she continued to struggle. The hooded human stands over her for a few seconds before slowly lifting the ax above his head. Twilight closed her eyes tight and prepares for the impact. By Celestia, she was not ready to die, then the ax came down, hard. A loud crack is heard, and all the humans release their grip on Twilight who forcefully pushes herself away and lands on the floor.

She was crying heavily as the fear of death was overwhelming. She reaches up with her hooves, she could feel her head was still attached. She opens her eyes and looks down at her body, she was in fact still in one piece. Though breathing a sigh of relief, fear still racked her. She rubs her head trying to collect herself, and that's when she noticed it. Her eyes widened and looked back towards the block, there laid her horn, cut off and detached from her head. Léone slowly steps forward towards the block, she bends over and picks up Twilight's horn in her grasp and examines it. She uses her other hand to slide the ring off of it, now examining the whole thing.

"Wh-Wh-What h-have you d-d-done!?" Twilight yelled through her tears. Léone snaps her head towards the destrought princess, her eyes still cold and burning with desire. "You c-cut off m-my horn! MY HORN! H-How could y-you do s-s-such a thing!?"

"This... This is the second step to my plan." Said Léone, her voice void of all emotions. "Step one, capture a unicorn. Fortune smiled upon me by giving me an Alicorn princess instead. Step two, learn how they use magic. And you gave me more than what I needed."

"But you can't use it! You yourself! You don't have a horn! I told you because I knew you would never be able to use magic!" Yelled Twilight. Léone only stares at her.

"Why do you think I cut off yours?" Léone softly said. Twilight looked confused for a moment before it finally clicked with her. The others present, including Pierre, looked confused. They either did not know what she meant, or she didn't fill them in completely on her plan.

"And now... it's time for step three!" Yelled Léone as she turned behind her and forcefully opened the trap door. What was inside shocked everyone, it was one of the pools of pure raw magic that Léone had mentioned. It was a deep dark blue and appeared to be boiling as it was severely unstable.

"Léone!... You're insane! Your body cannot handle raw magic! You will be destroyed!" Yelled Twilight. Léone Turned around till her back was facing the pool. She out stretches her arms to the sides

"That is a risk I am willing to take... for the glory." Said Léone. She slowly falls backwards and plunges herself into the pool of magic.

"MA MATRIARCHE!!!" Yelled Pierre as he ran towards the pool as it began to thrash around violently.

Everyone watches the pool as it thrash and boils uncontrollably. The two knights that came with Pierra also run to the pool and get right up to it hoping to save Léone. But as the pool splashes, some of the raw magic splashes onto the knights. Immediately, they both begin to scream as if they were splashed with acid. Their armor goes limp as smoke spews out of the cracks. Soon the armor drops to the floor and sinks as if no person had even worn them. Pierre and the hooded human back away, fearful of being splashed as well. After what appears to be 5 minutes something miraculous happens. A large mass began rising from the pool. Everyone holds their breath as the face of a skull rises out of the blue pool getting taller. It was Léone's helmet and she slowly crawls out of the pool and gets on all fours with her face looking towards the ground. Pierre kneels down but is afraid to touch. Slowly, she rises to her feet and raises her head. Twilight gasps at the sight she sees, her own horn was sticking out of Léone's head, going through her helmet. She raises her hands to her head and removes her helmet. Once its off, it is revealed that Twilight's horn has fused to Léone's forehead. Léone looks at Pierre and then to Twilight. Slowly she smirks as the look of horror and awe are outstretched on both of their faces.

"L-Léone...you...you..." Twilight stuttered.

"Ma Matriarche, You have a horn." Said Pierre his eyes widened, hardly believing what he was seeing.

"Indeed, I do." Said Léone as she reaches up and feels the new horn on her head. Her gaze is then switched to the hooded human with the Ax who was now practically against the back wall. Léone narrows her eyes and slowly lifts her hand to him. In unison, her eyes and her new horn begin to glow a dark crimson red. Around the hooded human's throat, the same red aura forms around his throat. Immediately he starts gagging as he is slowly levitated into the air. Pierre and Twilight were left in total shock as the hooded human is being pulled towards Léone, seemingly by magic. The hooded human is now gasping for air as he clenches his own throat. Léone only cocks her head to the side, as if she was examining her own work. Then she suddenly clenches her fist, and a sickening crack is heard from the hooded human as he goes limp. She then swings her arm and sends the corpse flying into the wall. Léone then turns back to look at Pierre, he was shaking but he managed to get onto his knees and bow before Léone. Léone gives him a pleasing yet sinister grin of approval.

Léone then looks at Twilight who has also backed herself away into the wall. With the exact same motion she did before, she raises her hand and her eyes and horn begin to glow. Twilight herself is also lifted up by the throat and is dragged towards Léone. Twilight struggles to breathe as she is pulled towards Léone. Eventually they were face to face, their noses were almost touching.

"...plea....don't....kill....me..." Twilight managed to choke out. She was met with soft chuckling in response.

"Don't worry, my poor little pony. You were most helpful in making this whole thing a reality. Your reward is that you shall be spared, for now at least." Said Léone as she brings her hand down fast and slams Twilight into the ground. The magic releases and Twilight sucks in a big clump of air before Léone suddenly stomps on her chest, causing the fresh gulp of air to leave her lungs once more. "You will be spared for last. If you submit to me, you may live out the rest of your pathetic life. Refuse, and you will perish." Twilight looks up at Léone, she was far more fearful of the human now more than she ever was before. "Pierre!"

"Oui! Ma Matriarche!" Pierre said Standing up as fast as he can.

"Ramenez-la dans sa cellule. Return her to her cell." Léone said with a chuckle “I must practice my new abilities before I make my debut to the world."