Fading Suns: A New World

by David Silver

First published 2nd of May, 2017

A new jumpgate is discovered, or rather a very old and decayed one that had been brought back online. House Hawkwood sends a bold explorer through to discover what riches await on the other end. He did not expect equines to be the result.

A new jumpgate is discovered, or rather a very old and decayed one that had been brought back online. House Hawkwood sends a bold explorer through to discover what riches await on the other end. He did not expect equines to be the result.

This is a Fading Suns/MLP crossover. Did you need to know Fading Suns? Nah, learn along with our pony friends.

Done as a patreon reward!

1 - Laud Mountbatten, Reporting

Laud checked his instrument panels, his eyes roaming over the many dials and readouts. His right hand was playing over the hilt of his sword. It would do him little good in the depths of space, but its presence was always a calming one to him. Before him, through the transparent material of his cockpit, he could see that yawning void. Small in it, but growing larger, was the restored jumpgate.

A voice crackled through his radio, "The gate will be ready for your arrival. You will be out of communication. Near as we can tell, we can get you there, but getting back will be harder. The destination gate isn't something I'd trust to start the process. As it is, we barely trust it to get you there."

Engineering was not his forte. Laud frowned a little. "Tell me there's a plan."

"Of course. It just requires time. That's one thing you should have plenty of. Most gates weren't placed idly. There should be a world, possibly several, to explore. That is your mission."

"Right." Laud thought back to his acceptance of the mission. It had been a tremendous honor, but faced with the reality of it, he questioned if his past self had considered the matter fully. It was too late to back off. He would never live it down if he cringed away in fear at the last moment. "I'll have a full report ready for the first ship to follow me."

"Provided it's one of ours," spoke the voice. "Good to hear you're still with us. I'm sending the coordinates now. Match up with the gate and be ready for the call to proceed. Do not deviate from the flight course."

Preparing for the jump was standard enough. It was almost comforting. He just had to not think about the unknown gate he was going to appear at. He gave his console a light patting. "At least you'll be with me." He had his ship, and his sword, and his ideals. They would have to see him through.

The signal came, and he nudged the ship forward as directed. The gate flickered into life, a deep thrumming felt all through the ship as tremendous energy swirled in it, ready to send him soaring to a new place. It was far from the first time he'd jumped, but it was the first time he didn't know where he'd land.

Everything was gone.

He came to in front of a deceptively earth-like world. It had blues and greens. It had stretches that looked like mountains and deserts. It was a world. It had clouds. If its atmosphere was right, it could even be a nice place. There was only so much he could tell, gaping at it from so high above. He swiveled the ship around to see the gate he had come through.

It was a wreck. Fresh smoke billowed around it. Sparks jumped fitfully. It was no small miracle that he had even arrived safely. No, he would not be jumping home through that, at least not until it had gotten major repairs. The jumpgate was just a hollow reminder that he was alone. He was alone with a world to explore and document.

Laud took a slow breath as he pivoted the ship around slowly, looking for other worlds. The world had two moons, one much larger than the other, and also on fire. It was very rare to see a moon burning like a tremendously small sun. To make matters worse, he could find no sun. There were also no other planets. The world was floating free in the void with only its satellites to keep it company.

What matter of apocalypse or madness would create such a thing? The idea that it happened naturally seemed beyond impossibly against all odds.

He would get no answers simply looking. His ship informed him that the atmosphere of the planet wouldn't kill him. The balance was unique, but every planet was a little different. It was well within the bounds that meant he wouldn't be wearing a suit for his entire visit. That was good, really good. Considering it was the only planet he had a prayer of reaching, he could only thank God that it was a good one.

He took hold of the controls directly and eased the ship down. He'd done re-entries before. A gentle touch and a good feel for the ship brushing against the atmosphere had let him land without issue on many worlds.

Most worlds didn't have sudden gravitational waves. Several panels went red and the interior began strobing as alarms began sounding. A monitor showed that both moons were moving far more quickly than they had been a moment prior. The force of the motion slammed into his ship and he hit the atmosphere wrong. Flames erupted from the front of his ship.

"Blast it all to Hell," he swore as he pulled hard, trying to undo the damage, but the controls were sluggish to respond. The world was coming at him uncomfortably fast. He eased the ship to a horizontal path, cutting through the atmosphere in a bright fireball, moving far too quickly for how far down they were. He was twisting knobs wildly, trying to brake the ship and avoid becoming a crater on the new world. That would be too ignoble a start to his assignment. It would also be his end.

His ship wasn't responding the way he'd have liked. Had it taken damage arriving in the failing gate? There was no time to consider that too deeply. He did the best he could as the world spun by beneath him. Too fast. He was still too fast.

He struck.

The ponies of Ponyville all gazed up at the sky. There was a star in the middle of the day, well, more morning. It streaked past, leaving a brilliant trail of smoke behind. Even the uneducated among them started gossiping wildly at such a huge meteor coming in like that.

Starlight glanced aside at Twilight, then back up at the sky in the direction it had gone.

Twilight nodded to the unspoken question. "Pack your bags."

"Already done." Spike popped up with two filled saddlebags and slipped them on Twilight and Starlight. "Are we getting the girls?"

Starlight nodded. "Probably a good idea. I'll go get Trixie."

Twilight gave an uncertain smile. "This isn't exactly her kind of adventure."

Starlight frowned at that. "What is her kind of adventure?"

Spike rolled a hand. "One where she gets to show off?"

Starlight clopped a hoof in annoyance. "Stop that! She's a friend and she's been learning magic. She can help us."

Twilight let out a weary sigh. "Alright, go ahead. I'll get the girls. Come on, Spike."

He saluted and off they went to recruit the others.

Laud awoke to the sound of warbling sirens. Smoke was filling the cockpit. That was bad. He moved without thought. He popped it open with a hiss, allowing the air of the world to come in and greet him. It smelled fresh, though that wasn't hard compared to the scent of smoldering electronics.

He scrambled free and fell the short distance to the ground. The landing was far smoother than it had been for his ship. He hit and rolled, coming to a smooth halt and springing back to his feet. He spun around to look at his ship, or what was left of it. It was a crumpled mess. It was nothing short of a miracle that he was even in one piece after it. It was on fire. No extinguisher would make a difference. Barring a divine ritual, his ship was thoroughly lost. He reached for his side and realized his sword had been left inside.

He could write off the ship, but his sword? Never! "This damned world isn't taking that." He got to climbing, sticking to rocks where he could, they were less heated than the still smoldering surface of his ship. He had been wearing his flight suit, thankfully, which provided some heat resistance.

Pain flashed through his fingers as he put too much pressure on a sharp flap of metal, but he pressed on. A small gash wouldn't stop him. He crested the opening leading to his cockpit and waved at the smoke that had filled it. His sword was in there. Laud jumped in and reached around wildly. He heard the tink of its metal bouncing against his gloves. He grabbed it up and strapped it properly into place. He couldn't see. He couldn't breath. They said you should always wear your flight mask, always. That was one rule he regretted not following.

He was cooking, blind, and choking. He jumped. The second landing wasn't nearly as graceful as the first. He slammed into the ground roughly with a pained wheeze, but he was alive, and he had his sword. He rolled over and pushed up to his hands and knees. There was his ship, burning brightly. He would get nothing else out of it. "You always wanted some adventure, Laud."

He turned his hands to look at the cuts he had felt before. A sharp and narrow gash ran right along the underside of his fingers on his right hand. Painful, but not terminal, he decided. Unless the world had horrible diseases waiting to come get him. He couldn't do much about that but keep his hand clenched and wait for it to clot.

It was only at that point that he actually took in where he was. It appeared to be a mountain side. His ship had been sailing so fast, it failed to be surprising that it had smashed into the first thing tall enough to stop it. Moving away from his ship to get a better view, he could see he was fairly high up. The rest of the unknown world spread out before him away from the mountain. He had no idea what direction that was. He didn't have a compass, and he couldn't trust magnetic north could be geographic north anyway.

"You're off to a good start," he sighed out to himself.

The entire crew had been gathered. All of the Elements, plus Trixie, Starlight, and Spike.

Twilight pointed off towards a nearby mountain. "It landed on the same mountain where we had to talk that dragon out of sleeping."

Pinkie peered at it, and the smoke that could be faintly seen drifting up. "Do you think it's some kind of crazy space dragon? Maybe it's taking a nap too. See? It's smoking."

Applejack shook her head. "Ah ain't no dragon expert, but that didn't look like no dragon t'me."

Spike nodded in agreement. "Dragons breath fire, they usually aren't on fire."

Rarity considered it a moment. "Twilight, dear. You know I want to support you, but this isn't really an emergency. It's not a threat to Ponyville."

Fluttershy gave a soft noise that sounded agreeable. "I mean, it's a space rock."

Trixie put a hoof to her chest. "Very well then. Trixie will claim the honor of recovering this cosmic meteor!"

Starlight flashed a bright smile at that. "That's the spirit! I wonder what kind of rock it is."

"Wait, it's a rock?" Trixie looked confused.

Starlight blinked. "We just said that. It's a rock, from beyond Equestria."

"Trixie has had enough rocks." She waved the whole thing away. "Good luck!"

Trixie departed, but she was not alone. Pinkie remained, ready to help Twilight and Starlight. "If this is a rock," noted Pinkie. "I know exactly who would be a huge help, and she's right here in Ponyville!"

Pinkie was gone in a streak and back almost as fast, holding up Maud, who didn't look surprised at all. "Behold, Ponyville's resident roctor!"

"Roctor?" asked Twilight.

"I have a doctorate," explained Maud.

Spike snickered. "A doctorate in rocks, a roctorate. So you're a roctor. Um, congratulations though. What are you doing now?"

"Being asked to go with you."

Starlight nodded. "Good to see you, Maud. Did you see the meteorite?"

"That wasn't a meteorite."

Everyone blinked at her.

"Its flame signature was entirely off. It was composed of metal and unknown materials." She put on a hard hat. "I'd like to examine it."

Author's Notes:

And so the adventure begins! Laud makes a rough landing, and he missed the Everfree entirely. Shoot, that's where they're supposed to land, right? This story's already full of typos...

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2 - Surviving the Wild

Laud had not noticed in his initial daze that he was not lost in an entirely wild world. It was clearly visible, once he had calmed down a little. Right there, a town! Lazy wisps of smoke in the far distance hinted that the beings that lived within it had at least mastered fire. He could say almost nothing of the construction from so far away.

Life...

But was it life he would be safe around? The odds seemed poor. Humanity had reached many species, and existing peacefully beside them seemed to not be the end result more often than not. "I arrived with a bang," he said to himself, looking at the smoking ruins of his ship. What if they were already swarming to see what had caused the commotion? What if they were immediately hostile?

The odds they could even communicate were vanishingly small.

He patted his pockets and pulled out a small device that he began to finger. "Fat good you'll do..." It was a translator. It worked great, if it knew the two languages involved, the one the person wearing it was speaking, and the one it would translate to. Even if it were programmed to replicate the noises of the locals, it would be a one way communication. Better than nothing... which is what he had.

This all assumed the locals wanted to chat. He found his hand squeezing the hilt of his blade. That was one thing he could be certain of. "Keep it easy, Laud. Let's take this one step at a time." He decided he had to assume the locals wouldn't ignore the great fireball he had made. He decided ascending was the best idea, to find a defensible position and get out of direct sight.

Twilight and her friends sang a song of hiking as they went.

"Every step I take, I can hear the rocks say--"

Maud tilted her head. "Rocks don't say things."

The song came to an abrupt halt. Maud seemed to sense some of the tension. "Did I say something wrong?"

Starlight nudged her gently. "That isn't true. Boulder says things, doesn't he?"

Maud gave a placid blink as she walked. "You have a point. Can you hear him?" She pulled out boulder into view.

Starlight leaned in a little closer, ears trained on the stone. "He says... He hopes you find interesting rocks today."

Maud slipped Boulder away. "That is very likely."

Twilight let out a nervous laughter. "Maud, you have such an interesting way of seeing the world."

"Isn't it the best?" Pinkie was grinning ear to ear. "It's so nice Maud lives closeby now. How have you been liking Ponyville?"

They were ascending the mountain, trail by trail, slowly ascending the stony paths towards the still smoking thing that was above them.

"You know," said Spike, perched on Twilight's back. "You could just fly there."

Twilight tilted her head. "I could, but we'd be leaving Pinkie and Maud behind. It doesn't look like it's running away."

Starlight nodded softly. "Maud's insight could prove quite important. It can wait until we walk there."

Laud scrambled up away from any trails. He went until he could fall down behind a large rock that hid his presence from any curious onlookers that were coming from the direction of the settlement he had spotted. There were other issues to be concerned with. Most of his rations were being overcooked in flames. He was on a mountain. The vegetation was sparse at best. How edible any of it might be, or toxic, was completely unknown.

"I'll have to figure it out the hard way." Namely by sampling the smallest bits possible and hoping to not be dead a short while later. If only he still had his ship... "Times like these..." If he was a godless sorcerer, he could wiggle his fingers and make dinnner, and maybe a house to go with it? He didn't know the full measure of sorcery, besides that it was heathenous and foul work.

He might die, but he'd do so a Hawkwood.

Laud decided to handle the immediate situation first. He looked down at his burning ship, sheltered by his rocky hiding place. He'd wait and see what might show up.

He was eventually rewarded for his patience. Four brightly-colored equine creatures ascended from below. On the back of one was a reptile of some sort. Shantor? They reminded him of the equine species he knew from home. They were humanity's first contact... He couldn't place the lizard. Was it in charge? Were the horses slaves to it? It rode the largest of them and seemed to be doing the least work.

They spoke. He had to focus on the speaking to hear any of it, but he couldn't decipher it. It all sounded like horse noises. Even the lizard was making horse noises. He'd never heard a lizard make equine sounds before without the help of a translator, though he supposed if they were living together, practice could allow many things. Could he make horse noises?

The grey one in a frock approached his burning ship and spoke what seemed to be maybe two words at best. She reached for the hot metal and tore a sheet right off and threw it to the side. Laud threw himself down, new terror thumping through his heart. No being should have been able to just tear apart his ship so easily!

Maybe the fire had weakened it? It had to be! The very concept that any normal creature could just sink its teeth into metal, then rip off a huge portion like that? It was beyond reckoning. He said a soft prayer to God. He wasn't the most faithful man around, but it seemed the right time to make sure things were straightened upstairs.

He reminded himself that he was a Hawkwood. He wouldn't cower in fear. He peeked his head up to see again. The larger equine had spread her wings (what horse has wings?!) and was flying above and around the wreckage, speaking quite quickly those alien words. She... sounded excited?

The pink bouncing one seemed equally excited. If he ignored the fact that she was pink, she and the grey ones seemed the most normal. They appeared as Shantor, if you ignored that their hooves weren't split. The pink/purple one had a horn. The large one had a horn and wings. Were they demons? That was silly. They lived here. Demons don't usually... just live somewhere.

"Ow." That was one word Laud knew. The reptile had dismounted his ride gracelessly and bounced off the hard rocks of the mountain. He said some equine things, looking... cross a moment before it passed.

It seemed clear they were communicating back and forth. They were a social species.

The large one held her horn up and closed her eyes. It began to glow, dimly at first, then it flashed. Ice appeared all over the ship in a sudden frost. The fire guttered and began to die, choked by the magic. It was magic. Or maybe psionics? A naturally psionic species? It wouldn't be the first Laud had heard of... It was no less terrifying for it.

The strength to tear metal apart without obvious stress. Psionic power. Flight. This was no minor species. Laud considered his options with a severe frown. Even revealing himself would be opening himself to immediate attack by possible very deadly combatants. On the other hand, if he remained hidden, he would have to always hide. He would have no allies, no respite on a hostile world. His life would be little more than an intelligent rat, scrabbling for survival.

"You're a Hawkwood," he muttered to himself lightly. "Lead."

He would face them. Better he die nobly than live like a wretch. It was his right to stand tall and proud. He patted his blade, but left it secure in its sheath. To draw one's blade was to invite battle, unless in very specific situations.

"It's taken extensive damage," rambled Twilight with a giddy smile. "But it's clearly of alien make. The pieces are melted and bashed, but even from here, I can see this is the work of a very advanced species!"

Starlight waved it off. "You're leaping to conclusions, Twilight. It could be from somewhere else right here on our own planet. What if it's a crashed Minotaur thing?" She hiked a brow. "We can't prove it's not."

Maud tapped at the metal she had ripped free. "The composition is wrong. It's not steel. I specialize in rocks, but metals are a kind of rock."

Pinkie clopped her hooves together. "You think it's from outer space!?" She thrust a hoof up into the sky. "Woosh!" She waved her hooves with growing excitement. "I wonder what it looked like before it got all beat up."

A strange noise drew all their attentions uphill to a bipedal and clothed creature. The creature was saying something. It sounded serious and formal. It clasped a fist over his chest, then nodded its head at the group.

Spike peered at it, as everypony else did. "Uh, you all see that, right?"

Twilight was filled with excitement. "Ah-ha! I told you!" She vanished, only to appear in front of the being. "Hello!"

Laud stood stiff and tall. "I am Laud Mountbatten, of house Hawkwood. I come in peace if that peace is returned." He knew none of his words were understood. He knew it, but he said it anyway. It comforted him, and let him stand there in plain view without displaying fear.

At least until the large one made an excited noise, vanished, only to reappear directly in front of him, startling him.

He staggered back, hand falling to the hilt of his blade, ready to defend himself. "No closer!" She peered at him with her enormous eyes.

She made a little whicker of a sound and tilted her head him before slowly raising a hoof and offering it towards him.

Starlight called to Twilight, "He looks scared. Maybe you shouldn't go teleporting around him?"

Twilight nodded as her head tilted. She slowly raised a hoof. "I'll be slow. I was too excited."

The slow offering of a hand, hoof, or other limb, was not usually a sign of aggression by most animals, intelligent or not, that he knew. Laud dared to take a breath. Perhaps the powerful psion before him did not mean him direct harm.

A soft wicker came from directly behind him!

Maud brought up her hooves just in time to catch its blade. It had come out with amazing speed, only matched by Maud's defensive pose. She caught the weapon between her mighty hooves and blinked at its owner. "This is made of the same rock as the ship."

Pinkie squeaked, but then she brightened. "I know what will make this right. A song!" She took a deep breath and began a little ditty.

Laud faced the grey pony. He had struck without thought, a failure on his part, though one that could have saved his life. Instead, it just let the equine best show its skill. Only in tales had he heard of men so well trained that they could catch naked swords with equally unclad hands, clapped between hands as his own blade was between the hooves of the beast.

The pony did not pull, twist, or otherwise try to take advantage of the situation. It just looked at him and the sword.

Then the noise began. The pink one was making quite a racket of sounds. Were they words? He guessed they were. They had a certain melody to them, but the meaning was far beyond him. "Can I have this back?" He pulled the sword away, and the grey equine allowed it without resistance.

Twilight waved at Pinkie. "I don't think that's helping." She cleared her throat, then pointed at the creature. "You. From Stars?" She pointed up at the sky, then back to it.

Laud sheathed his blade as he turned back to the larger one's noises. It pointed at him, said something, then pointed to the sky, and back to him.

Was it asking if he was an alien?

He nodded.

It smiled. It pointed at itself and made a noise. Then it repeated it and the noise. It pointed at each person and gave a different noise for each, then at itself once more and repeated that first noise.

Laud was no fool. Names. He was being given names. He returned the gesture, pointing at her and attempting her name. He was sure he butchered it terribly. He had little practice trying to sound like a horse.

"Yes!" cried Twilight. She pointed at herself once more. "Twilight."

"Twrlo," he said. His words were so thick and strange, but the fact that he was trying to say Twilight's name filled her with joy.

Contact had been made.

Author's Notes:

If she's psychic, why didn't she just rape my mind and learn what she wanted to know? Maybe these equine aliens don't work like humans...

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3 - Welcome

The strange creatures walked on either side of him. They were not animals, at least no more so than he was. Animals did not make so much sound without purpose. He was fairly certain they were speaking, likely about him as they walked. One said something, another replied. Without understanding it, it was all so much bleating, but Laud struggled to keep a kind of perspective. How would human chatter sound to something that didn't understand?

The largest of them waved a hoof at the town they were approaching, bidding Laud look at it. It said a word, he guessed, then nodded. The name of the town? It pointed then, sweeping across to the large crystal tower that seemed to dwarf the town. It pointed to herself, then the reptile that used her as a mount, then to Laud.

Laud suddenly realized. The largest of them, with an exotic species attached. Was it a figure of import, or the mount of one? Was that tower its home or office? Of course, size wasn't always a measure of rank, but combined with living in the largest building did paint a particular picture. Was it or the reptile a local figurehead, or did their culture have more ornate ranks? So many questions buzzed in Laud's head.

Spike leaned in towards Twilight's head. "He looks a little overwhelmed."

Starlight shrugged lightly. "He's new here, and he doesn't understand us. I'd be overwhelmed too."

Pinkie pronked up beside the new guest of Ponyville. "Don't you worry even a little bit! I'll introduce you to everypony." It did not understand her words, but it did grasp that she was speaking to it. A hand reached and dared rest on her head. Pinkie was thoroughly amused, giggling. "Nice to meet you too."

Maud's eyes rested on its blade. Behind her, she dragged a cart with most of the remains of the thing they had come to investigate. It was heavy, but the wheels made the difference.

As they went through town, they began to split off. Maud went towards her underground home, taking the ship with her without a word. Starlight glanced after her and back to Twilight. "Do you need my help with the visitor, or should I be helping Maud?" Both seemed like fine ideas to her.

Twilight lifted a hoof to her chin. "Thinking about it, it may be best if we avoid overwhelming our guest."

Laud watched as the purple/pink one went off in the same direction as the grey one with some statement or another. His group was diminishing. The pink one and the large one and its rider were left. Of course, they were also in their village. Unsurprisingly, the creatures they came across that noticed him, and most did, looked uncertain about his presence.

More important than that was the simple fact that none of them charged him or made obviously angry noises. They eyed him like the strange thing he was, relative to them, but seemed to trust that he meant no harm... or... they trusted the large one and the reptile to keep him in line and protect them? That seemed far more likely than the town they were walking through just idly trusting something as alien to themselves as Laud without reason. He was being given an escort by someone of import, even if he still wasn't sure if it was the reptile, the large one, or both.

The pink one remained close to him. It was speaking at him animatedly, not that he had any idea what it was saying, but they sounded happy. They also emoted it, which was comforting in a way. A smile seemed to still be a smile. It had the mannerisms of a human, even if all the words were lost. It also helped that it had expressed the least amount of psionic power, so far.

"What is that?!" Sweetie Belle had been rushing towards something but came to a skidding halt on seeing the strange thing that was with Twilight, Pinkie, and Spike. Scootaloo bumped into her from behind and Apple Bloom came rushing up beside them.

Twilight waved back at the bipedal creature. "This is, um. I don't think I caught his name properly. He doesn't speak our language well."

It was looking at the smaller ponies with some nervousness. Scootaloo noticed this and tilted her head off to the side. "Why's it scared of us?"

Apple Bloom came out and asked, "Is it a stallion or mare whatever it is?"

Spike snickered softly. "Twilight hasn't checked. My bit's on a stallion."

Tiny versions of them arrived and gaped at him. They began asking questions. He didn't need to know their tongue to know that much. Their eyes sparkled with curiosity. How young were they? Not too young to speak, clearly. Young were a risky place to be. Threaten a young creature and even docile beasts can be turned hostile. He tried to stand still and not give off any threatening postures.

It worked, perhaps too well. One of them came right for him. It squeaked some words, a question he guessed as it looked at him, clearly hoping for answers. But what answer could he give to a question he didn't understand? "I am Laud Mountbatten," he tried. An introduction seemed a safe place.

Twilight pointed. "There, that's his name. I'm sure of it."

Apple Bloom extended a little hoof. "Nice t' meetcha, Loud. Ah'm Apple Bloom." She pointed to her friends. "Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo." Each of them nodded at it as their name was called. "Welcome to Ponyville!"

The large one spoke, perhaps guiding the small ones. The one with a ribbon in her(?) mane said his name, sort of. It was an admirable attempt. It introduced itself and its small friends, then all three of them said something to the larger pony and dashed off just as eagerly as they had approached. Were they satisfied with an exchange of names?

Spike shrugged from atop Twilight. "Tell me you have some kinda translation spell in all those books."

Twilight shook her head. "Between ponies, easily. I could, perhaps, let him understand us, but he is an alien, a real one. He just isn't made to speak our words."

Pinkie pronked forward. "So why not make him a pony so he can talk?"

Twilight frowned at the idea as she climbed towards her castle. "I will not perform such invasive magic on an alien species. We can't even be certain it would work properly. What kind of guests would we be if we hurt him while trying? Speaking of which, why are you so sure he's a he, Spike?"

Spike shrugged softly. "He has a beard, and he sounds like one when he talks."

Pinkie glanced back at Laud. "Maybe all of those have beards? And without hearing a mare one, how can we tell?"

Twilight nodded in agreement with Pinkie. "You're jumping to conclusions. I want to know as much as anypony else, but I also want to be a good host, and good hosts don't rush to asking their guests to strip and allow for examination."

They arrived at the great crystal edifice. Unless crystals were far more numerous on this world, which was possible, he guessed its mere existence was a huge symbol of the wealth of its owner. The trick remained, who was the owner? What if it was none of the creatures with him, but instead something else that resided within? The large one could be a local guard, the reptile a knight of sorts, and he was being brought to the actual owner of the land for judgment.

It was not a comforting thought.

He lifted his head high and walked properly. He would meet whatever came for him with dignity. If they attacked, he would meet them with steel and give them something to remember before he went.

However, instead of being led to a courtroom, he was instead guided up some stairs and to a room that looked like a bedroom. It had a clear bed, with pillows and blanket. It had a window to the outside world, unbarred. It had no bathing area or toiletries attached. It was a perfectly pleasant bedroom as they went.

The reptile hopped to the ground and hiked a thumb out into the hallway, saying something, then waving for Laud to follow it.

Laud did follow it, growing all the more curious. He discovered what he was being led to quickly, a bathing room. It had a tub, and a toilet, a mirror, and some hygenic supplies. It was all... amazingly mundane. If he forgot who owned all of it, it could have fit in on a noble's estate easily. Despite all the differences between them, they both brushed their teeth, and had to take care of mundane day to day needs.

That was when he realized that he really could use the bathroom.

The reptile gave a thumbs up, an uncannily human gesture, and dashed off to give him privacy. He closed the door and there was no resistance to his being alone. He was being trusted.

Spike returned to Twilight. "He looked like he had to go, and I think that's what he's doing."

Pinkie giggled. "When ya gotta go, ya gotta go."

Twilight looked less amused. "Good thinking, Spike. Even alien species have to take care of... those things." A brow climbed. "You really are stuck on referring to it as 'him', aren't you?"

Spike shrugged. "How much do you want to wager?"

Twilight seemed to be considering a moment before she shrugged. "If it turns out to not be male, you have to clean the windows early."

Spike shuddered at the idea of it. "But if he is, then you have to do it this time!"

Twilight returned the expression, tongue poking free lightly. "It's an explorer, like Daring Do. It's probably a mare. Just be ready to do those windows."

Pinkie looked thoroughly amused by the exchange. "I really should get back to the bakery, but he looks like he's getting comfortable. What kind of cake do you think he likes? I have to plan his 'Welcome to Ponyville' party!"

Twilight's face turned to worry. "Let's not rush ourselves. Being surrounded by a room full of strangers may not be the way we want to work our guest into things. Let's keep things low key and slow."

"Aw." Pinkie pouted. "Can I at least throw one with the girls? They should meet him at least."

"You're siding with Spike," noted Twilight dryly, noticing Pinkie using male pronouns. "I'm telling you, it's almost certainly a mare."

Pinkie shrugged at that with a grin. "Maybe, but I don't like calling him an 'it', so he it is until then. I'll make something nice and quiet, with the girls." She squinted a little. "I'll go with chocolate. Chocolate's a safe bet for cake flavors. If you get to ask him what he likes, let me know."

Content with her place as a party planner, Pinkie pronked off to take care of her job and prepare for the festivities to come.

Laud washed his face with the water the sink provided in both cold and hot varieties. He dried his face with a hanging towel. He had been provided tools enough that if he were a prisoner, he was an exceptionally well treated and trusted one.

He had been invited into their grand home and given a guest room. That is what he was. He was a guest. Perhaps all his worry was needless. Maybe these people were just that trusting and cordial.

That worried him. If that was true, they were practically waiting for the harsher elements of the universe to find them and crush them. To be so accepting was admirable enough, but they really had no reason to trust him. God damn it, he had attacked one of them. Only that creature's lightning reflexes had prevented him from cutting it, possibly killing it. They really should be at least cautious enough to request his sword.

Not that he wanted to part with his blade. His emotions were torn between gratitude and a sincere belief that the kindness being extended to him was not wise.

Author's Notes:

Another day at the con, another chapter is produced! As if a convention could slow me down, muahahahaha.

Written for a patron. You could also have you story written by joining the atreon!

Join my discord to chat!

4 - Reading is Fundamental

Laud emerged from the bathing room. He could have returned to his given room, but saw no reason for that. Relaxation was far from his mind. He strode with cautious determination through the crystal halls of his temporary new home. If his hosts trusted him, and they certainly seemed to, he would take advantage of it to learn of his new world.

None of the doors had any markings, not that he imagined he could read the local language. Did he dare to see what may lay behind one of many doors? He did. Behind the door he selected at random he found a stately sitting room of sorts. He walked inside and looked around curiously. There were shelves lined with... Something he wanted to see. He reached for one and pulled it free, confirming that it was a book.

God be praised.

"They do write and read," he said to himself. That was a huge relief that he didn't even realize he was worried about in the back of his mind. Even without a programmed translator, words could be worked through the most alien of throats when put to paper.

He carefully opened the book and examined the literally alien words that filled it. They didn't resemble English words at all, but they were words. There were illustrations as well, but they weren't enough to put any meaning into any specific word present. It was then that he realized that the pictures were referring to some strange equine sorcery. He dropped the book in alarm.

A soft voice came from the door. He turned to see the larger horse there, regarding him with a curious look. It said something chastising as its horn glowed and it casually used its psionic power to lift the book and set it exactly where it had come from.

Was he not allowed to read, or was it annoyed at his treatment of the heretical tome? He decided to find out. He pointed at the books and went to reach for another, though his eyes never left it.

Twilight shook her head a little. "Magic books aren't for irresponsible use. Can you even use magic?" She didn't know, but she didn't want to find out through random experimentation either. "This way." She waved for him to follow her.

Laud could see the horse wanted him to come with it. It sounded puzzled, but not angry. It turned and began to walk away, seemingly confident that he would follow. He decided to not be a rude guest and see where it... she. A glance confirmed that. Where she wanted to take him.

"Where are we going?" He was pretty certain she wouldn't understand him, but being silent didn't feel right.

Twilight twitched an ear back at her strange guest as he asked a question. It was a marvel to her how similar they were. His expressions were perfectly readable, and his words, though alien, had the same inflections for emotions. It lifted up in a questioning way towards the end, and it was clear he was asking something.

The odds of a true alien species with that many similarities boggled Twilight's mind. She had so many questions, but, perhaps, answers would be coming. Since it had spoken, she decided to reply, "Since you like reading, why don't we get something more useful? It may be for foals, but it might help you understand things." She began to descend stairs. "If you managed to build that thing and travel between the stars, you're probably clever enough to learn to read and write."

She was speaking. She sounded cautiously optimistic about something as she went. Laud followed her down some stairs as she spoke for likely the same reason he had, to break the awkward silence. It was then that he realized that the reptile rider wasn't present. She was acting on her own initiative, which put a little hole in the idea of the reptile being her master. Then again, they trusted him, a stranger and alien, with a blade at his hips. Maybe they were just not a very strict people?

They went down the way they had originally came and were heading out of the tower. Where was she taking him? He asked as much, futile as it might have been. "Are we going somewhere specific?"

She replied in her strange equine noises. He liked to think she was answering his question, and maybe she was. It wasn't as if his question was hard to guess. A forehoof lifted and pointed towards a building in the distance. More impressive was the fact that she switched gaits from four to three-legs without slowing down.

He looked where she was pointing and saw it appeared to be some kind of gathering building. It had a bell on top. It had some hearts on its trim. He couldn't be sure with the distance, but he was pretty sure that was a pony-shaped bush near the entrance. To the left, there was a large sign that showed a book and some other things he couldn't pick out. Was it... a library? Why would a library have a bell.

"A church," he decided out loud. The book must be their version of the bible. If those hearts meant the same thing as they did for humans, these people's religion was extremely welcoming, which matched how he had been treated so far. Then again, it could all be a cheerful march to something terrible. Assuming alien religions were happy places for him felt foolish at best.

Twilight glanced over her shoulder. "There's a very kind and skilled educator that works here. Her..." She trailed off. It looked worried about something. But what? "What's wrong?" She turned back towards him. "Cheerilee will help you read and write far better than I could. I'm not a proper educator, ask Rainbow." She rolled her eyes in memory of her attempt.

"Though I did eventually get that right..."

Her words were not comforting it, but she was not sure what was the source of its discomfort. "Are you embarrassed?" She smiled gently. "It's alright. It would have been beyond comprehension for you to understand us or our words from another world. I mean, it's not like the mirror worlds. They basically are our world, just a little different. I'm rambling. Back to the point, you're fine, and you'll have this under control in no time at all!"

She was speaking animatedly. She sounded consoling and trying to comfort. While she was speaking, another horned horse was approaching them. That one had light-green fur and was eyeing him in particular. She said something that sounded like a greeting.

The larger horse looked to her and nodded, saying something back, then pointing at Laud.

The mint-green horse raised a hoof and waved at him in greeting as she spoke before approaching. The larger horse said something in a cautioning tone.

Laud had the sense to feel guilty. She was probably warning not to make any sudden moves, considering his reaction to being approached before. The green horse was coming from ahead of him, and it looked happy enough. He offered a hand towards it, assuming it was a friend of the larger horse. "I am Laud Mountbatten, of House Hawkwood, and you are?" His words would be lost, but speaking still had its uses.

The green horse replied with its strange noises, then reared up onto it... her... hind legs and thrust out a hoof to meet his hand. He wasn't sure at first, but decided to just treat it as a hand. He took the hoof in a solid grip and gave a shake. She matched it almost instantly, giggling as she did so. She looked over her shoulder, saying something to the larger horse, then returning her gaze to Laud. "Laud," she said, almost acceptably clearly.

Laud smiled. Hearing his name spoken basically properly brought more joy than he was expecting. "Yes, I am Laud. You are?" He drew his hand back just enough to point at her.

A soft series of equine noises was the reply. The larger horse pointed at herself and repeated her own name. Laud was certain they probably had meanings, in their own language, but to him they were just horse noises. He made his best effort to repeat the green horse's name even as she fell back to all fours.

She bobbed her head in approval, then turned to the larger horse. They spoke back and forth as the larger horse pointed at the church.

The green horse made a dismissive sound and approached closer to Laud, speaking in a friendly chastising way.

Laud realized what she was saying. She was making light of his concerns. A part of him was riled by it, but another cautioned. Perhaps he was being worried over nothing. The horses had given him almost nothing to be worried about, besides their concerning acceptance of psionics and potential blasphemies. Alright, that counted for something... Still... He had to face things, not hide from them.

They seemed to realize he was ready to proceed. The green horse gave a friendly wave at the larger one before she trotted off. She said something, but it had the word 'Laud' clearly in it. Had she said goodbye? He could only guess, but he returned the gesture. "See you later, " he did his best with the strange equine sound.

She giggled joyfully as she left.

"You made a nice impression with Lyra," Twilight spoke as she resumed leading the way towards the schoolhouse. "If you like her, you shouldn't have a problem getting along with Cheerilee. She's kind and caring, a perfect teacher. You've been to school before, I imagine? They wouldn't send the uneducated to explore space, would they?"

It didn't understand her questions, just that she was asking something. It replied in its strange tongue. "We need to get you reading." Why hadn't she thought of that before? She quietly chastised herself for not realizing the ultimate answer to most of life's problems, namely books.

They proceeded inside and its attitude shifted almost instantly as it looked around the interior of the schoolhouse. Had it not realized where they were going? Twilight couldn't even guess what else it had thought it would be. "Cheerilee?" she called out as she emerged into the main room with all the schooldesks.

There was the teacher. Cheerilee appeared to be grading papers. She looked up at Twilight and smiled. She let her quill drop from her mouth. "Twilight, what brings you here?" Then she spotted what was right behind Twilight. She went tense with surprise. "I... assume it has something to do with that?"

A school? He wouldn't have guessed that! It was so very obvious from the inside. Schooldesks, books, a playground, chalkboards. Yes, it was a school. The school teacher, or so he assumed, looked surprised to see him, eyeing him suspiciously as it spoke with the larger horse.

The larger horse waved back at him, saying something that included a lightly mangled 'Laud' in it.

The schoolteacher nodded uncertainly, then rose up to its hooves and trotted over to a shelf of books. She reached out and grabbed one in her teeth, then set it on her desk, open towards Laud. She waved him closer and spoke gentle words as she tapped at the book, clearly trying to direct his attention towards it.

Laud had thought his days of being schooled as a child were long over, but he hadn't planned to learn an alien language without anything native to base it on, so there was that. He stepped forward to see what she had. It was an apple, big and red and perfect. It had a word under it. That word was almost certainly apple.

Alas, he couldn't say the word out loud.

She provided that part, speaking its name clearly, then looking to him.

Well, it was clear to the horses. To a human, it was a horse noise. It was different than the horse's names he had heard so far, but it is still a strange noise, a bit of a whicker. He did his best.

Cheerilee's snout wrinkled a little. "Not a plum, an apple. Apple." She tapped the book gently.

Twilight shook her head. "We're dealing with a fundamental difference in speech. At best, he'll have an almost impenetrable accent. I'm more interested in him learning to read and write. There's nothing standing in the way of his communication through words."

The alien turned to the next page on its own, then the one after that, but then back. It was clearly focused on the task.

Cheerilee looked less certain. "Learning a language that different from what you know will not be easy."

"Which is why I brought him to the best teacher I know."

Cheerilee blushed softly. "I thank you for your vote of confidence, but even foals come to me with the ability to understand most of what I say. I just teach them to read and write the words they're already using. I expand their vocabularies, certainly, but I don't teach them what the language is from the start. That's a whole other challenge."

Author's Notes:

We'll bust that language barrier! Maybe... Nopony promised this would be simple or easy.

Written for a patron. You could also have you story written by joining the atreon!

Join my discord to chat!

5 - Growing from Basics

Basic objects were too advanced, so they went back a step.

Letters. Every part of the equine language was shared one by one with the writing that went with them and how they could be combined. An alphabet was required to get anywhere, and Cheerilee was happy enough to provide that. As out of her depth as she seemed, she tried her best to coach the alien along.

Laud was determined to make the best of the situation, even if that meant learning to give a whicker on command. There was more to it than the brute noises a wild horse would make, of course. It was a language, full and rich and wonderfully complicated, like any functional language had to be.

Diamond Tiara shook her head slowly as she glanced to the left where the strange alien pored over a book. "Teacher, does it have to be here in the middle of class?"

Cheerilee snorted softly. "We've been over this. They're not bothering anypony, and are a guest. We should help them, not begrudge them."

Snails raised a hoof. "What are they readin'?"

Snips snorted softly. "Ya should be asking what they're saying." An ear directed at the strange creature. "They haven't stopped making noises."

Cheerilee saw the class was not going to be easily put back on path, so rolled with it. "Our friend, Laud--" The strange alien glanced up when his name was spoken. "--is learning our language, and they have a special problem. Twilight has informed me that their throat is not naturally designed to imitate our words, but, all is not lost, much like us, they are very flexible. We are very confident they'll get this, with practice and effort." She stood up. "Which is why--"

Scootaloo hopped up from sitting to practically standing on her chair. "We're gonna help an alien!"

"Yeah!" Exclaimed Apple Bloom. "Let's get it talkin'!"

His name had been said, the one bit of familiarity amidst the foreign noises. The teacher was speaking to her students, and they were looking at him. One of the smaller ones hopped onto their desk suddenly with a cry, then... he was swarmed.

A crowd of little horses were grinning at him while speaking encouraging words. Some were holding up cards with a single letter or word and a picture on them. The entire class had decided to try to help him learn. It was... overwhelming, and kind of cute, he had to admit.

He wasn't sure he learned all that faster with the entire class involved, but it was a welcome change of pace, and, perhaps, just knowing they were eager to help was comforting.

When lunch time came and all the little ones ran off to get a bite to eat, he decided to make himself scarce. As amusing as that was, it was clear him haunting the schoolhouse was distracting from any other lessons being given there. He thanked the teacher as best he could. She didn't seem to mind his keeping the book with the alphabet in it for practice, and he ventured back out towards the castle to the tune of the class waving and, he assumed, wishing him luck.

He could see his host's tower, it was hard to miss. It also did not fit the aesthetic of the rest of the town very well. It was hard and crystal and dark purple while the rest was all sorts of bright hues and largely made of wood where it didn't occasionally look like it was made out of candy. If he hadn't met its owner, he would think they were some kind of harsh overlord.

Speaking of that, he had come to a conclusion on that reptile. It wasn't the master. It was more like a hawk that a noble might carry on their arm. Sure, the hawk got a free ride out of it, but the noble was the one in charge. The reptile was the largest horse's pet. He was fairly sure it was a relationship with warmth in it, helped by the fact that the reptile spoke better horse than he did, but on the hierarchy, the horse was higher. Was she the top? He wasn't sure of that yet. She was the largest of them he'd seen, but size wasn't always the start and end of social hierarchy.

It would be a strange universe if all intelligent species opted to follow the biggest at all times. Heck, Laud wasn't the physically most massive member of his holdings, but he was still the leader by right of title and birth. He sighed softly as he went. Would he ever see home again? Would he even see any part of the known universe? Odds weren't looking so hot.

Even if he didn't, he still had a job. His situation was stable. Learning more about the locals was certainly a valuable thing to do, but he had to start surveying the world if he wanted to be able to hold his head up when, and if, they came after him and found him.

"Hi."

Oh, he... actually understood a word. It was so strangely thrilling. He turned towards the speaker to see that green horse had returned.

She said something else, sounding happy to see him.

"Nice to see you too... Rose?" He said the name in their tongue, mangling it.

"Rose? (odd noises) Lyra. I (slowly said words) Lyra." She put out a hoof, saying something but it ended with another word he had decided was very important, "you."

Speaking in parts English and, uh, equine, was odd, but his syntax was anemic, to say nothing of his vocabulary. "Lyra. You, Lyra." He spoke each syllable slowly, doing his best to get it right.

Lyra seemed delighted, bobbing her head. "You, Laud." she returned before she pointed at herself, saying a simple word he hadn't learned yet but guessed was likely 'me', "Lyra."

Smooth and placid words came from behind Laud. He started, but turned without his sword to find it was the horse that seemed best at sneaking up on him. The grey one with the frock. She always wore that, it seemed, an oddity in the largely nude equine society.

She nodded at him. "Hi." Her word was clear and slow.

"Hi," he returned. "Me, Laud. You?"

"Maud."

Lyra was pleased at the exchange, clopping her forehooves and saying something far too fast for Laud to have a prayer.

Maud nodded at Lyra and replied in her slow direct way.

Laud had an idea. Though the words were strange and alien, Maud's way of speech was so very precise and slow, she would be perfect. He held out his alphabet book towards her.

Maud tilted her head at it, then reached a hoof. He wasn't sure how she took hold of it with a hoof and could only blame it on a subtle psionic power. Their entire people seemed heavy with the stuff. It was... just what they were. He could scream and wail, but that wouldn't make them suddenly stop.

She opened the book and started reading each letter slowly.

Lyra interrupted with a few questioning words.

"Why are you saying the alphabet?" asked Lyra with an arched brow.

"Isn't this what he wants?" Maud looked at Laud, then Lyra. "He was listening." She resumed reading the letters.

Lyra gave a shrug and a smile. "Well, have fun with that. If he needs any help, just call. I like him." She trotted away, allowing Maud to finish her reading of the alphabet. Maud set the book down and looked at Laud patiently.

He said something in his own strange language while gesturing. Maud hoofed his book back to him. He quickly flipped through it as he sat beside her, speaking more strange words. He sounded thankful. He pointed to a letter.

Maud said it.

He tried to say it, but it wasn't right. Maud repeated it.

They spent some time going through the book. As great was it was just reading, having someone slow and patient was a godsend. Maud seemed to have no end of time to speak the letters.

By the time they had worked through the alphabet a few times, he felt indebted. Here was this alien that owed him not a thing at all that presumably had things to do that just gave up hours of its life to go over the alphabet. It wasn't even like she was a teacher. What she did for a living, Laud had no idea, but it was still a kindness. He owed her, but what could he give her?

Ah, yes. It would be useless on the alien planet, but perhaps it would have some sentimental value for its oddity. He fished out a firebird. It was a coin used by their people. He displayed it to her, the phoenix side facing her. "For you," he declared, the first word in English, the latter in equine. "Thank you," he followed up in English, wishing he could say it properly.

She leaned in and sniffed the coin, then slurped it right out of his hand. In her mouth it was swished around as she kept her placid expression. Laud wasn't sure what to make of it. Was it tasty? She spat it out into a hoof and said something odd before tapping the moistened coin with her other forehoof. She tucked it away and said some other equine things in a clear question, but it was one he didn't understand. She stared at him for an uneasy moment before she nodded and pointed to his book.

Did she want to continue with the lessons? He could only assume she liked the gift, or... she had questions that could only be asked once he could actually hold a conversation with her. Both seemed likely, and neither were a bad reason. He accepted her offer, and the study resumed.

Twilight's gaze drifted from alien bit to alien bit, their strange metal glinting in the light. She had chalkboards filled with observations and calculations, but the exact composition of half the things before her were beyond her. Many weren't any single elements. Alloys of metals she wouldn't have dreamed of combining, or strange chemical brews that seemed like rubber, at least the small parts of it that had escaped the fire, but it wasn't rubber. It wasn't rubber at all.

Intricate patterns that she would have guessed were magic were made of other strange combinations of things. The whole thing spoke of an incredibly advanced people. People she couldn't ask questions of. She grunted loudly in frustration. If only she could talk with Laud clearly. Surely it would have answers to some of her questions!

"You really shouldn't talk to yourself."

Twilight jumped. Spike had entered the room.

"You get pretty loud when you're worked up," he explained. "Everything alright?"

Twilight threw a hoof across the scattered and labeled pieces and the ruined craft it came from. "I'm more than alright! If I could just figure out how half of this works! Is Laud back?"

"Where'd you take him to anyway?"

"I brought him to school, to learn how to read and write. Even if he never speaks proper Pony English, there's no reason he can't communicate that way."

"Yeah, I doubt that's how that'll work." Spike rolled his eyes. "Want to up that bet?"

Twilight crossed her forelegs. "You're awfully confident about this alien."

He rolled a claw. "We've seen things like him before. He's like a slightly misshapen pony from the mirror world where Sunset is. Remember them?"

"How could I forget them?" asked Twilight defensively.

"And you didn't notice a difference between stallions and mares there?"

Twilight looked clueless.

"Something every mare there had that most stallions didn't?"

The staring continued before she shook her head. "Get to the point, Spike. What did you notice?"

He put a claw over his face. "You really missed it? The mares have fat up here." He pat his boyish scaled chest. "It's really kinda obvious."

Twilight blinked, thinking back to her time in Canterlot High. Every female... "The cutie mark crusaders didn't have those."

Spike's eyes dropped halfway. "Congratulations, you just discovered biped puberty."

Twilight's hooves fell to the floor. "I... How did I not notice that?"

"You were focused on getting your crown back?" Spike flashed a smile. "So, since Laud doesn't have those, he's a dude, and I expect you'll get to cleaning those windows, the same way I'd have to. I'll show you where the rope and pulley is."

Author's Notes:

Spike gets his sweet sweet reward for actually paying attention. Relish in this victory, little dragon.

Meanwhile, Laud and Maud bond over the alphabet, and Laud said a few things that could be mistaken for sentences! PROGRESS!

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6 - Speech

Despite one odd evening when he returned to his new home to find the larger horse doing the windows without help of her psionic power or wings, Laud fell into a sort of routine. He met the grey horse somewhere quiet and they would go over letters and words, trying to expand his grasp of the horse language.

His speech was impeded. It always would be. When the pink one was there, she explained it as if he always had a sickness. His face was flat, compared to theirs. How surprising was it really that his words would come out with an accent if nothing else. That mattered little compared to the simple fact that he could actually speak something, and understood more than obvious emotions.

"You sister help me," he said to the pink one.

She smiled quite happilly. "Maud is the best!"

"At what?" challenged Maud with a straight face, which was about her only expression save for the occasional lifted brow.

"At everything," reported the pink one.

Speaking of pink ones, Laud pointed at her. "You name?"

"Pinkie, didn't I say that?"

"What mean?" His words were far from eloquent, but he was saying it, dang it, and that felt good.

"Mean?" She tilted her head. "Pink. Color?" She reached out a hoof and pointed at it with the other forehoof. "With a little 'ie' at the end. Pink, Ie. My full name is Pinkamena Diane Pie."

Her full name was beyond comprehension, but he held onto the simpler common name she seemed to prefer anyway. "Pinkie. I am Laud Mountbatten." His own name was spoken in English. What would the Equestrian translation be?

Maud nodded softly. "Maud Pie. Do you wish to continue the lesson?"

"I questions." Perhaps it was foolish to try, but he had to. "Who..." Uck, he didn't have the word. "Pony above ponies."

Maud looked curious, but Pinkie was bouncing up and down. "Do you mean a leader?" Laud looked confused. "A pony that tells other ponies what to do."

"Yes!" He beamed with gratitude that Pinkie had understood. "Leader. Who Leader?"

Pinkie tapped at her chin. "Well... There's (unknown) Mare. She's tells ponies in Ponyville what to do. There's Twilight." She thrust a hoof at the castle. "She's a princess! So she can tell ponies what to do. But there's a pony above her. Princess (unknown) and Princess (unknown). They're (unknown) and they're in charge of alllllll Equestria."

That was getting somewhere. Laud's caretaker had a position of some authority, which made sense, but was not the highest. He felt it would be prudent to eventually meet the top of the social chain, but perhaps he could start lower and work his way up. Few rulers appreciated others skipping the ranks, so to speak. But before he could do that... "Learn more." He settled with Maud.

Maud opened the book, as patient as ever. "Did Pinkie say anything you didn't understand?"

Oh, plenty, and Laud happily tried to repeat the words. The lessons would continue. He would compose himself as a proper noble.

Twilight nodded at Spike. "Did you get all that?"

Spike's eyes ran over the thick scroll in his claws. "Think so. Should I send it?"

"Please." Twilight bobbed her head. "I had thought to keep this to myself, but that may be irresponsible. What if Celestia already knows what this is and has a plan for it?"

Spike rolled the scroll up tight. With a soft puff, the scroll was consumed by flames, the magic that made up his breath and the paper rushed out of sight, bound for Canterlot. "She'll get back to us quickly. She usually does."

"I hope so." Twilight's eyes fell to the pile of scrap she had managed to create organized piles out of. "My attempts to decipher this on my own have been... slow at best."

Spike crouched down and prodded a discarded bit. "So, why aren't you just asking Laud?"

Twilight blinked at that. "I would if I could, but he doesn't speak our language, and may never. Cheerilee said he stopped coming by for lessons."

"Oh, yeah, he's with Maud." He sounded as if that were common knowledge, nothing to speak of.

"Maud?!" Twilight practically pounced Spike. "Why is he with Maud?!"

He shrugged helplessly. "I dunno, he seems to like listening to her. They talk over letters and stuff and I think he just likes her more than Cheerilee. Why?"

"Why?!" She shook him a moment before letting him back to the ground. "This is huge! It means he hasn't given up on learning. In fact, if he's chosen a teacher, it may very well mean he's farther ahead than I would have hoped for. Where are they? Do you know?"

Spike dusted himself off lightly. "I bet Pinkie'd know."

"She knew?! Was I the only one that didn't? Don't answer that." Her wings unfurled. "I'm going to look for either of them. Let me know if Princess Celestia responds while I'm gone."

Twilight launched out a window, soaring towards Ponyville. Descending the stairs came Starlight. "Did I just hear Twilight having a meltdown?"

Spike smirked at that. "Starting to recognize it?" He pointed both fingers at Starlight from either claw. "Welcome to the club. She's out of her head about that alien guy."

"The human?" asked Starlight. "I've been checking my own things off and on. What if he's actually from a mirror world? Maybe he wants to go back home."

"Maybe," said Spike with thick uncertainty. "But didn't he come in this thing?" He waved over the great collection of junk. "Why would he need all that if he just stepped through a mirror?"

"Maybe it wasn't a normal mirror?" argued Starlight with a little snort. "I don't know, but you can't rule it out. So what has Twilight worked up today specifically?"

"She just heard Laud--" He stopped when he saw Starlight looking confused. "The human, his name?"

"Oh, right, sorry. What about Laud?"

"He's stopped going to Cheerilee for language lessons and has been going to Maud instead." He shrugged. "It doesn't surprise me all that much."

Starlight's head tilted a little. "Maud's a great pony, but a teacher? Why?"

Spike hopped over a small pile of stuff, making his way free of the room. "Well, to start, she isn't a teacher of foals, which maybe a grown person feels awkward being taught by."

Starlight winced as she followed after him. "I hadn't considered it from that angle, but what makes Maud a good choice for that, instead of just 'better than a foal teacher'?"

Spike extended a finger just to count on it. "She speaks slowly. She speaks directly. If she's willing to do a thing, she's very patient." He pivoted in place to face Starlight. "And! Most importantly, she wants to, really bad."

"Why?" Starlight looked Spike over curiously. "You sure seem to know a lot about this."

He shrugged. "I pony watch sometimes. She's a rocktor, he has a lot of new rocks." He jerked a thumb at the room they had left. "She wants to ask him questions. So, if she can get him talking, she wins. She's not being entirely selfless, even if Laud probably appreciates it."

Starlight shook her head as they approached the kitchen. "When you put your head to it, you really can understand ponies. So, how's he doing? I mean Laud, with talking. Can he?" Her brows went up together. "Didn't Twilight say he wouldn't be able to?"

"She did, but Twilight isn't always right." He hopped up onto a stool and started grabbing ingredients. "He sounds like a pony with a bad cold, but he's learning. I ran into him this morning and he said 'Hi'."

Starlight sat down beside him, helping him casually with a glowing horn, grabbing what it seemed he wanted. "Is that all he said?"

"He's still learning." Spike shrugged as he began to assemble food out of the parts. "I said 'hey' back. He asked what my name was, so I told him, then he said hi again with my name. He seems polite at least. Oh! He did ask for something that confused me at first."

"Yeah?" Starlight's eyes went to the bowl and the sprinkle of gems that went into it. "Are you making a gem cake?"

Spike's tongue went over his scaled lip. "You betcha! Want some?"

"Oh, uh, thanks, but I'll pass. This is all yours." Starlight was in no hurry to test her intestinal fortitude with gems. "What did he ask?"

"He asked for 'sharp metal'. I pointed at the sword he always kept on him. That wasn't what he wanted."

Starlight's eyes shone with curiosity. "So did you find out what he wanted?"

"A razor, for grooming his face fur." He grinned lopsidedly. "Most ponies I know just use scissors."

Starlight shook her head. "A razor's only good if you're taking it all off. No wonder his facial fur looked so specific. In a way, that's a relief. Any creature that takes time to look right must not be entirely stressed out. I mean, I'd be a little bent out of shape if I were in his position."

Maud had excused herself, leaving Laud to Pinkie's care. He did not attempt to continue the language lessons. Pinkie seemed kind, certainly, but perhaps too kind and energetic. She spoke excitedly and often ran her words on themselves, making her a poor target for learning new words from. Still, she was a friendly pony. "So!" She started, bouncing on her hooves. "Now that we can talk a little, it's long past time we had your welcome party."

He understood most of that. "Party?"

She tilted her head left then right. "You know, when a lot of ponies come together and (unknown) something?" She threw her hooves wide. "We haveta say 'Welcome Laud!'. You'll get to meet (unknown) of ponies and play games and have fun. Doesn't that sound great?" She leaned in, her face a scant inch from his own.

It was a gross violation of personal space. It was also expected of Pinkie. She did it to Maud constantly, and Maud handled it stoically, even if Laud could see, just subtly, that Maud would prefer her space respected. He wouldn't mind having his own space respected, but shoving her away in the midst of her friendly words didn't seem well-timed. He wouldn't insult the sister of his teacher.

The idea of a gathering intrigued Laud. It would be a chance to meet others, and maybe begin introducing himself to those in charge, starting with the mayor. He hadn't seen a single police force since he had arrived. How did these ponies defend themselves? He had a lot to discuss, but was he ready? "We party when Maud says I ready."

Pinkie pouted at that. "Aw... You can already talk (unknown) good."

With a bright flash of sparkles, Twilight appeared with the disruption of powerful magic. "There you are!" She was facing Laud directly, her expression somewhat strained. "You can talk?!"

He had hoped to unveil that when he had more practice and at least the start of elegance, but lying would not serve him in the situation. "Hello. Nice to see you, Princess Twilight." He gave a formal half-bow.

Her expression became one of outright shock. "O-oh! Um, hello, Laud."

"Laud Mountbatten, of house Hawkwood," Laud corrected. The words to say his name properly were of high priority, even if 'house' came out more as 'family'. The ponies didn't have the same political structures.

"Oh, um." Twilight glanced at Pinkie and back at him. "I don't have a formal 'house'. A pleasure to make your proper acquaintance, Laud Mountbatten. If I'm a princess, what are you?"

There was a question he was not yet ready to answer. "I don't know word. Below prince or princess, above mayor."

"Well, (unknown), you are welcome to Equestria." She dipped her own head with some formality. "I heard you were learning from Maud?"

"You betcha!" piped up Pinkie. "Maud's been a (unknown) good teacher! Why, I (unknown) they--" She said much more, but it began to run together in a confusing mess as she gushed on and on about her sister.

Twilight nodded softly. "I'll have to thank her, next time I see her. Laud, we should (unknown) talk, if you're up to it?"

Author's Notes:

The language barrier has a hole in it, and Twilight is eager to peek through it. What manner of typos will result?

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7 - Interrogation

"How did you, I mean... I (unknown) for sure you (unknown) (unknown, maybe part of the first word?) be able to read." Twilight was rambling energetically as they went, seeming excited and confused in equal measure. "But, here you are. You must have so many questions."

He did, but he was operating with a dulled and cracked blade in this battle. It was not one he was ready for, yet, there he was. "I not read yet. Can read my speak." He felt like a buffoon, speaking like a child in the new language. It was an accomplishment, he knew. Picking up a language was never a small feat. That fact did little to make him feel eloquent as he strung together basic nouns and verbs like a damned cave man.

"Read your... oh! You have a (unknown) (unknown) of your own! I'd (unknown) to see it! Can you (unknown) me?" She was facing him, a quill hovering beside her, and a paper not far from it. Where both had come from, he couldn't say, just blame it on the powerful horse's innate magic.

He put the pieces together. Why would he be offered a paper after, clumsily, speaking of languages? Right, she wanted to see his language. There was little harm in that. He took the paper from the air and it ceased glowing softly with her magic. When he took the quill, she released that as well. At least she gave him room to hold and use it properly.

"(unknown)... It is nice to meet you." she prompted, rolling a hoof excitedly and not sounding like she was greeting him at all.

Was she a bored noble eager to be amused, or a scholar of strange things, maybe even languages? In either event, he wrote. He had worked with a quill before. For documents with that special touch, knowing how to use a proper quill was just mandatory for proper nobles. A little calligraphy was called for when making decrees that commanded respect. So he made his English greeting for her, embellished with stylish markers and dignified in all the ways his speech currently was not.

Twilight's ears perked up as she looked over the result. "Your (unknown) is pretty." She gave a firm nod as the paper began to glow, lifted up and pulled closer. "(unknown) I keep this?" When he didn't refuse her, the paper vanished, puff, simply banished from the world to wherever she wanted it, he assumed. "Thank you."

Her power, divine or profane, was terrifying. Of course, that made it all the more important that he not flinch. "Is what you want?"

She started. "I have (unknown) many questions!" She looked to a door and it opened, glowing with her power. "This way." She led him into the room where the ruins of his ship resided. One great portion was still there in a vague shape of what his vessel once was. Most of it was in small organized piles. "We (unknown) all we (unknown). Can you (unknown) me what this is?" She pointed at a piece.

He knew what it was. It was a motherboard, a circuit from the deep innards of his ship. Could he say what that specific circuit did? No. He was a warrior and a noble, not a technician. Moreover, he hadn't yet learned the word for 'circuit', if they even had circuits to begin with. He stared at it, struggling to find even a single word to start with. "Make work." Smooth. He colored with shame.

"(unknown), yes... Can you be more (unknown)?" She looked at him with hope shining in her eyes.

His right fist balled tightly. "Learning speak."

"Yes yes, right..." She trailed off, looking disappointed. "I (unknown), I (unknown) (unknown) you." Her pout turned into an unsure smile. "You're (unknown) very (unknown)."

"He can't (unknown) you." The reptile had arrived. "Poor (unknown) (unknown) learning. Talk simple." He looked bored, as if he was saying what he thought was obvious.

Twilight snorted at him. "Spike, I'm (unknown) to be a (unknown) (unknown)."

"Good, (unknown) with (unknown) you talk." He crossed his arms and gave her a stern look.

Who was the master, and who was the pet? Laud suddenly wasn't entirely sure.

"Fine fine." She rolled her eyes and turned back to me. "I talk small word."

On one level, by God above, being spoken to like that by a noble, of any species, made him want to scream in fury... On the other, he really did kind of need small words. Dignity. He had to hold onto dignity. "Thank you. I learn more word, speak better."

Spike's expression brightened. "See? Stop (unknown) to (unknown) him. (unknown)."

"Patience." Spike turned to Laud. "It's alright. Learning a language isn't easy. Hey, are you hungry?"

Laud accepted the offer, which Spike assumed was partially to get away from Twilight's technical queries. "Well, as a courteous host, I will now get Laud something to eat."

Twilight could see what was happening and frowned. "Have fun," she said with mildly grit teeth, but she didn't stop the two males from making good their escape.

Spike led the way with a smile. "Maud is teaching you, right?"

"Yes," he replied, keeping pace with him easily. Spike's smaller footing may even have been slow for him, though Spike couldn't be sure.

"She is good pony." Spike couldn't help but giggle ever so faintly. Speaking like that was funny. "A little..." Uh oh, what was a simple word for stoic. "Not... smile or frown?" He made each expression as he said the word, then adopted a mask of neutrality. "This."

"What word for that?"

Oh thank Celestia. "Stoic." He pointed at his neutral face. "Stoic. That is good word for Maud. Good pony."

Laud didn't seem to argue either sentiment.

When they arrived in the kitchen, Spike got to putting together a sandwich when he paused. "What do you eat?"

Laud lifted his shoulders, then frowned. "Not learn words." He came closer and began to look around. He started picking out foods. Eggs, sugar, flour. He didn't pick a single gemstone. Good, Spike wouldn't have competition there. He also didn't select a single flower of any variety.

He found the lone fish in the ice box and put it beside the eggs. Cheese and milk were apparently also on his edible list. "What word?" He pointed to the eggs.

And an impromptu language lesson began as Spike called out the name of each thing as he pointed to it, going over kitchen vocabulary. Laud came back to some things more than once. Spike didn't find that too odd and played along. "Now, we eat." He put the extra things away and made some cheese omelettes.

Just to test, he put a few of those flowers that weren't picked beside the eggs, where they could be decorative, or edible, to see if Laud tried any.

Laud sat at the table where the food was placed. "Thank you."

Spike hopped up across from him at the small dining-room table and nodded. "You're welcome. Time to eat!" Laud looked confused. "Eat," repeated Spike, leaving off the other words.

"I learn more words," spoke Laud, though it sounded more like a swear, an oath. He seemed so very determined to get past it. He was also hungry, the way he eyed the food, but he didn't attack right away. He said a few words in an alien tongue, hands clasped and head lowered. Only after that strange ritual did he begin to eat. "Eggs good," he said in compliment. "You good..."

"Cook," provided Spike with a smile. He noticed Laud did not touch the flowers. Oh well. He made a mental note to scratch that off the human diet. "Thanks." He reached over and grabbed a shaker. Laud looked at him curiously. Curiosity turned to shock when Spike shook it and dusted his food with some ruby dust and granules, still shining and sparkling.

"You eat rock?" His voice sounded incredulous, to say nothing of his expression.

"It's a dragon thing." Spike saw Laud looked confused. He hiked a thumb at himself. "Dragon. Rawr." Spike wriggled his claws a moment before returning to eating.

Laud let it drop and focused on his own, soon finished, meal.

Spike hopped free of his chair and got to cleaning up the plates.

"Thank you."

Laud sure seemed to say that a lot. Spike nodded. "No problem." He took the plates over to the sink. "So... What do... not with Maud?"

Laud seemed to consider that. "See pony." And off he went, walking determinedly.

Spike had to admit, the guy sure did seem to have that, determination that was. He wondered what pony it was that Laud wanted to see. Twilight? That seemed unlikely. It was just then that he started to get worried. What if some pony that didn't understand the situation started hassling Laud and being a jerk?

He left the dishes behind and went dashing after the human. He would play foalsitter. Celestia knew he'd done it enough with Twilight at times.

Laud strode with large even steps out of the castle. Twilight was his host, but also overwhelming to be around. He had to focus on destroying that weakness. "When they understand, I can move forward," he spoke in English. "They have so much to learn." Sure, they may also want to teach him a thing or two, but he wasn't going to start using heathenous magic.

Besides, the gate far above the world was, in theory, being fitted for eventual travel. The world of horses had to be prepared to be a part of the universal community, or be crushed by houses far less inclined to civility than House Hawkwood. Maybe they could become vassals of his house? That would be nice. He would gladly oversee them and look after their needs. "It is a noble's duty," he proclaimed to no one as he hiked towards town.

Author's Notes:

Laud, not a man to sit idly by. His vocabulary slowly grows. We'll bust that wall down, given time. Spike would like Laud to not get into trouble. Spike is a good dragon.

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8 - Musical Interlude

Spike darted from cover to cover. Sure, he had originally meant to just march up to Laud, but then.. "Where is he going?" he muttered to himself as he trailed after the human. The desire to see what he was up to, without knowing he was being watched, was too much. "Besides," argued Spike to himself. "He's a proud fella and he doesn't want to be foalsat, so I'll just get involved if I have to."

He watched as Laud moved through the town. Ponies gave the human odd looks, but he said 'hello' whenever one crossed his path and never made a rude gesture. For the most part, he was left to his peace, though some whispered behind him. Spike mosied up to a few of them.

"Hey, Spike," greeted Carrot Top. "Did you see that thing that walked past? It belongs to Twilight, right?"

Spike put his claws at his hips. "That 'thing' is called Laud, and he doesn't belong to anypony."

"O-oh," she stammered, looking flustered. "Is... he safe?"

One of the rose mares nodded her head as she gestured in the direction Laud had went. "I never saw such a thing. I thought he was a polite monster."

"Do monsters usually stroll through town?"

"I did say polite." She gave a smile just a bit too wide. "Are you keeping an eye on him?"

"Y--" He cut off, realizing his quarry had gotten away. "Uh, see you all later!" he dashed after where he had last seen Laud.

Laud had discovered that getting directions was a challenge with his limited vocabulary, but he made his way slowly through the town, finally arriving at what he hoped was his destination. It looked like a cozy little store. It was two stories, made of wood like most of the other buildings in the town. Unlike the castle, the door was sized closer to that of the horses that live there, which meant he had to stoop down to enter. Fortunately, it did raise a few merciful inches after the door frame, but he was still a bit confined.

The pony inside blinked up at him but her stance shifted quickly. To the unaware, they would think she was recovering from surprise, but Laud did know better. She was ready to fight. It surprised him. The horses seemed so benign so far, aside from their terrifying magical abilities. Here was this standard one, no wings or horn, that was ready to engage in combat. "How (unknown)(may?) I help you?" she asked, her whicker tense.

It was a defensive posture, Laud decided. She was reacting to an alien in her store. He would not be well at ease either, were the situation reversed. He could find little fault in her suspicion. It was stranger that the other horses seemed to not have that. She had assumed he spoke, however. Were speaking strange creatures normal for that world? "I look pony. Green. Music." He tried to remember the specific phrasing of Lyra's name and said it as best he could.

The pony frowned faintly. "She isn't here."

Laud had been lied to. It was shocking. He hadn't heard a lie spoken to him on the world of horses, but there was one. The tells were there. The way she glanced away as she said it. The delay in her words. It was very clear. As alien as their words and bodies might be, the expressions were identical and undeniable. She just lied to him! "I am Laud Mountbattan of House Hawkwood," he said, voice a tense mixture of pride and annoyance. "I not hurt."

"I (unknown) (unknown) not." She gave a soft snort. "Do you want (uknown) else?"

"(Unknown)!" came a call from upstairs. "Have you seen the (unknown)?!" It was Lyra.

The horse put a hoof to her face, caught in her lie. "What do you want?" she asked through grit teeth.

"Talk." Laud tried to keep his voice even. "Just talk."

"(Unknown)!" Hooves were heard on wood before Lyra entered from the back. That's when she saw Laud and broke into a wide grin. "Laud! Good to see you. How are you? Have you met Bon Bon?" She gestured at the other, suspicious, horse in wild excitement. "Bon Bon, this is Laud, oh, I (unknown) you (unknown, 2-3 words?) that, but yeah, wow, how did you find me?"

Bon Bon muttered something quietly and sat down, watching Laud as if ready for him to do something rash.

How were they related? Laud couldn't tell by looking at them. Did colors show relations? If so, they were not. One being mint green and a unicorn, the other was a regular horse, cream colored with brightly colored mane and tail. In either event, there was the horse he wanted to see. "I learn speak," he reported. "Still learn. Maud help."

"Maud? (unknown). Good! It's (unknown) to be able to talk to you. Still learning? That's alright. (unknown) makes (unknown)." Wait, did she just use a human term?

"Say again?"

"It's (unknown) to be--"

"After."

"(unknown) makes (unknown)?" She tilted her head. "It's true!"

"What first word?"

"Uh.... (unknown). To... do something again and again." She pointed at the other horse, Bon Bon. "She (unknown) (unknown) every day." Her horn glowed and pulled a brightly colored thing from the display case that dominated the room and floated it over towards Laud.

Both Laud and Bon Bon tensed. Laud had no idea what was being offered to him, and Bon Bon didn't agree to giving strange creatures her candies. Lyra remained blissfully unaware of it. "Try it! It's (unknown) tasty!"

He took the floating thing from the air, just so that it didn't have to keep glowing. Whatever it was, his suspicion was true. Practice makes Perfect. "Other word. Mean to be better?"

"Yeah!" Lyra bobbed her head. "You're good at this, and you'll get better."

Bon Bon coughed into a raised hoof. "This is all very nice, but (unknown) when were you a teacher?"

Lyra sat up tall and proud. "Since ever! Everyone's a teacher if they try. You teach me things all the (unknown)."

Bon Bon glanced up at Laud, then at Lyra, and back. "I (unknown)." She dipped her head and ears splayed out. "Welcome to Ponyville." Her stance adjusted in that subtle way. She wasn't prepared to engage Laud in physical combat, and Laud could see it. Still...

He pointed at her. "You..." Crap, he didn't know the word for fight. He slapped his hands together, knuckles first.

Lyra peered at the expression. "I don't get it."

Bon Bon, on the other hand, seemed to get it. "Are you asking if I (unknown)?"

"What word?" He had to be sure, or misunderstandings could crop up easily.

Bon Bon walked over to Lyra. "Nothing personal."

"Wha--?" Is all she got out before Bon Bon gave her a shove, almost knocking Lyra over with a squeak. "Hey! What was that for?!"

Bon Bon gestured to the recovering Lyra. "Fight."

Laud was pretty sure the meaning had been communicated. "Yes. You fight?"

Bon Bon's expression darkened. "Do you?"

"When must." He patted the blade at his side.

Her eyes homed in on the thing dangling there. "Let me see?"

Laud was not so quick to draw it. There were only a few times that was proper, though showing one's skill to another warrior could qualify as one of them. "Outside." He jerked a thumb.

She nodded and they both moved for the door, with a confused Lyra trailing behind. "What are you two doing?"

Bon Bon moved to the fore and led the way around the building into the back, past a locked fence. "Here." She pointed to a stuffed pony that stood in the center of the little field.

Was it a target dummy? It was. A target dummy for a horse to use when practicing against other horses. What life did Bon Bon lead that would make her desire such a thing? Of course, he could ask, why didn't more of these horses concern themselves? It would do as an example. He drew his blade free in a smooth motion. It wasn't as fast as he could have drawn it, but it was more for show.

Bon Bon tensed at the sight of it, as if just realizing what a weapon it was. Lyra remained clueless. "That's pretty (unknown)." She clopped her hooves. "What do you do with it?"

"Fight," replied Laud before he gave it a swing. He angled it upwards as it went and it cleaved through the thin wooden support of the dummy's neck, beheading the dummy. That was showing off, and not a move one wanted to rely on in an actual confrontation.

Bon Bon shook her head. "Can you fight (unknown) that (unknown)?" She pointed at the thing in Laud's hand.

He lifted the blade a little higher, repeating that last word.

"Yes, sword." Bon Bon nodded. "Fight (unknown) it."

Was he actually being challenged to fisticuffs with a horse? He wanted to know the true measure of Bon Bon, and that certainly seemed an expedient method. He sheathed the blade, letting it rest safely. "Fight without it," he repeated, grasping the word she was using. As alien as their words were, their grammar was no different than English. Now that he had a foot in the linguistic door, picking up new words was becoming less of a daunting task.

Bon Bon rose up to two legs. "Fight (unknown) give up or (unknown)."

He didn't know all the words, but these were the words of battle. He could guess pretty well. Fight until someone gave up or was knocked out.

Lyra gaped at the whole thing. "You're kidding! Don't hurt each other! C'mon, I thought you two were becoming friends and stuff."

Bon Bon ignored her, and Laud did as well. It was a matter between two warriors, and one he didn't plan to back away from. Here was a horse that worked without magic or trickery, who challenged him plainly to an honorable fight. He would not, could not, refuse.

Lyra shook her head as her eyes darted between the two prepared combatants. She heaved a dramatic sigh and moved between them. "Alright, if you two are set on this, I'll be the referee at least. You start when I give the signal, and stop when I say so, alright?

Spike barely managed to scale the fence to see Lyra between Bon Bon and Laud. Bon Bon and Laud looked pissed at each other. "Fight!" came Lyra's cry as she ducked out the way of the two. Spike's mouth peeled back on both ends. He had failed spectacularly. Twilight was going to be so mad...

Author's Notes:

Next chapter, some action! Bon Bon is not accepting Laud so easily, but Laud isn't backing down either. Lyra thinks both are being silly. Let's see this typo as it's drafted.

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9 - Crossed Swords

Bon Bon gave a gesture that surprised Laud. She bowed as any other biped might, folding over in her two-legged stance. She fell to all fours immediately afterwards in a smooth transition. None of the motions were specifically for combat, but they spoke quite a bit to Laud. He returned the gesture, one hand folded over his chest as he did so, eyes never leaving her.

To the side, Lyra tilted her head. “You two were ready to tear each other (unknown) a (unknown, 2 words?), now you’re making nice?”

Bon Bon circled to the right. “He understands.”

Laud felt certain he did, turning with her and considering how to start the match properly. Chivalry was not what it once was, but the horse in front of him was, supposedly, a female candy maker? What life leads a candy maker to that of being a warrior? It was the wrong time to ponder that too deeply.

Bon Bon made the first move, lunging for him with hooves ready to bludgeon him as readily as two clubs. He dodged to the left and took hold of one of her legs as she went, trying to throw her off balance. She recovered athletically, performing a cartwheel as she hit the ground on one leg and coming down facing him, unhindered by his attempt. “Can you fight?” she asked.

Was that a mocking question? No, it was a goading one. She wanted him to make a move. He would not deny her. Her front seemed less dangerous than risking the buck of a horse, so he closed the distance, fists balled in readiness to attack or deflect. In a true battle, there were often other things that could distract one party or the other. It made things chaotic, gave opportunities to succeed or fail outside of raw skill. The arena they were in was mostly still. It was just them... and Spike? When had he arrived? Laud shook free the distraction before it became the factor in his defeat.

With a sudden lash, he did not attack with those fists. They were also a distraction. He kicked out at her. She didn’t expect it, her eyes fixed on his hands. He scored a satisfying thump against her side as she twisted away at the last second, but she did not crumple. She was forced back a step and winced, but seemed quite ready to continue.

Spike hissed at Lyra, calling her closer. When she came within quiet speaking range, he pointed at the two. “What happened?! Why are they fighting? Why aren’t you stopping them?!”

Lyra rolled her eyes. “You don’t know Bonnie like I know Bonnie. That look on her face, nope, no way I’m changing her mind. Besides, look at him.” She pointed at Laud’s determined expression as they circled. Bon Bon suddenly moved in, ducking under his swing to come up, hoof catching him on the chin. He gave a grunt of pain and staggered back, but recovered quickly, grim resolution returning. “They’re both into it.”

Spike shook his head slowly. “Did she say something bad? Did he? Why are they so mad at each other?”

“I’m not sure they are.” Lyra shrugged softly. “I think we’re watching the first pony versus human boxing match.”

“Wait huh?” Spike blinked softly, watching as Laud got a grip on Bon Bon from above and literally hurled her aside, but she came down on all fours and bounced back towards him. “You mean... it’s a game?”

“Yeah, I think?” Lyra’s horn glowed as the instrument on her rump came into being over her head and began to play a lively battle tune. “All I can do is be a good friend.”

“Twilight’s gonna kill me if I bring him back all beat up...” He hung his arms over the side of the fence dejectedly.

“Hey, that doesn’t look comfortable.” She lifted Spike with her magic and set him down beside herself. “May as well enjoy the show.”

Laud brought down his fists together in a haymaker, bashing Bon Bon’s exposed skull. She swayed a little, a trickle of blood seen from her mouth. Had she bit her tongue? She spun around in place all too quickly and struck with her back legs. It was just what he had been trying to avoid. He collapsed backwards under the tremendous power of those legs, breath knocked clear of him for a moment.

By the time he could move again, she was on him, one hoof raised high. “(unknown)?”

Give up? Hardly. He delivered a rapid series of strikes to her exposed belly, battering what he hoped were softer parts. He was rewarded with a startled cry of pain. She went limp, just a little, just enough for him to shove her off of himself and scramble back to his feet. Their exchange had been fierce. Both were starting to show signs of it, but neither wanted to give up yet.

Something dripped painfully into his left eye, forcing it closed. Blood? sweat? He didn’t have time to check. While she was still reeling, he went in for a brutal spinning kick. It was a flashy move. Too flashy. She was not nearly as dazed as she appeared. As he spun towards her, she ducked under the flying limb, grabbed it, both of her arms wrapped tight around it and wrenched it away from him and down. His balance could not dream of compensating. He fell towards her, at her mercy.

She let him fall. He hit the ground on all fours, and she jumped, pouncing on him. He felt her legs squeeze around his midsection as she put a forehoof at the top of his spine. “(unknown)!” She squeezed at him painfully.

It was then that he realized he had been mounted by a horse in a humiliating reversal of the usual process. She was probably telling him to get moving. He rolled over. She scrambled away before she could be pinned by him in turn and the two were soon on their feet, glaring at one another.

“You can fight,” she said, spitting a red mixture to the earth.

“You can fight,” he agreed.

Her posture softened. “(unknown)?” She extended a hoof, not in battle. It was too slow, and it just hung in the air.

Was she surrendering? Or... was she just calling it off? Would it matter which she was doing? The fight had taken a lot out of both of them. He reached out and clasped her hoof as he would a hand. She shook firmly, even if she couldn’t grasp him in return. Did the ponies have the gesture of a shake? How did that work?

Lyra came dancing over in a lively trot, her instrument left behind and Spike at her side. “All friends now?”

Bon Bon nodded. “I’m not (unknown) we’re friends, but close enough.” She shook her head. “He fights like a (unknown, a monster?).”

Spike approached Laud, looking him over. “Aw... There’s no way we’re hiding this.”

“Hide what?” asked Laud, wiping free his left eye. The motion tugged painfully on what felt like broken flesh. Red came away from the gesture. “It is not...” His limited vocabulary came to bite him again. “Thing not do because told not to.”

Lyra shook her head. “You mean a law? Nah. Two ponies want to tussle, that’s their business, mostly... Especially in their backyard.”

“Good, then nothing to hide.” Laud wanted to find a mirror to assess what damage he took in the match. He could only feel the aches and see what he had inflicted on Bon Bon, marring her pelt.

Bon Bon let out a slow breath, slumping a bit. “You made me work.”

Lyra suddenly punched Bon Bon in the shoulder. “You did that! I just wanted you two to meet and stuff. Laud, Bon Bon. Bon Bon, Laud. There. Now come on.” Her magic wrapped around Laud and tugged him towards the house. “You didn’t come here to fight my violent friend.”

“Please stop that,” he objected, trying to be polite. She released him, thankfully.The horses may wield their magic freely among themselves, that didn’t mean he wanted to be in the middle of it. “That what I want talk about.”

“What?” She looked over her shoulder. “Magic? I’m no (unknown, expert? master?), but I can try!”

They walked off together into the house, leaving Spike and Bon Bon. Bon Bon looked down at the dragon. “Hello, Spike.”

“Oh, uh... hey. So... that was... something.” He rubbed behind his head with a claw. “Could you not, uh, fight with him again?”

Bon Bon snorted, nostrils flaring. “It’s not up to you what two adults choose to do together, Spike. He’s living with you and Twilight, right?”

“Yeah. He’s kind of Twilight’s guest, you know, and she’s going to flip her lid when she hears he was in a fight.”

“Nopony was seriously hurt, in the end.” Bon Bon raised a hoof to her snout. “I’ll be sore for a while. So will he, I imagine. Is this the first fight he’s had?”

“Um, well, with us? Yeah?” He shrugged softly. “Actually, he did swing that big sword of his once.”

Bon Bon’s expression hardened into a scowl. “Was anypony hurt?”

“Nah.” He waved it off. “Maud’s tougher than that.”

That expression softened into confusion. “I know the Pies are tough, but she just shrugged off a sword?”

“Oh, not like she got sliced.” He winced at the idea of it. “She caught it.” He brought his clawhands togethers in a loud clap. “Pow, just like that.”

“And how did he react?” She circled the young dragon that had become a source of information. “Was he angry?”

He shook his head quickly and gestured where Laud and Lyra had gone. “Nah, more surprised than anything, then he put it away and that was the last time I saw it outside the thing at his belt.”

“Sheath. That is a sword sheath,” educated Bon Bon. “Good... So he isn’t... usually violent?”

“Naw.” He put up his hands placatingly. “He’s harmless. How did you even get him to fight?”

Bon Bon looked quite unconvinced at the idea of the human being harmless. “Look, Spike, be careful. If he wanted, he could hurt you, or Twilight, or anypony else really badly.”

Spike’s eyes widened a moment before they fell half-open. “Bon Bon, you realize Twilight could probably do terrible things at any moment, but she doesn’t, because that wouldn’t be her. I don’t think Laud’s a bad person. Hay, I saw how you were fighting. I bet you could do some painful things, but I’m hoping you’re not... up for that.”

Bon Bon reached up and pat him gently on the head. “I’m not going to hurt you, Spike,” she said in warm tones. “I’m sorry for scaring you. Just keep an eye open, that’s all I’m asking. We don’t know him, yet. Hopefully he’s just as good as you say.”

Lyra led her guest to her room. She set her instrument aside next to her cabinet before she hopped up onto her comfortable looking bed and turned to face Laud. “What did you want to ask? And sit down please.” She pointed to the carpet just beside the bed.

Laud sank down close to her. “What can unicorn do magic?”

“With it?”

“Yes, that.” He watched as a napkin approached, glowing with Lyra’s magic. He tried to bear her cleaning stoically, even if it stung as she dabbed and worked around his injuries. “What can unicorn do with magic?”

“Oh, (unknown, god? an expletive?), there are a lot of answers to that.” She pointed back at her rump. “Do you know what this is?”

He looked at it, the picture of a harp-like instrument. A ritual painting, a tattoo of sorts? He couldn’t say... “No.”

“This is a (unknown).” She saw his confusion and repeated the word. “Two words, (unknown) mark.” She saw some confusion remaining. “(unknown), like (unknown) with an extra ‘ee’.” She frowned then. “(unknown!) You know, something nice and... Like a kitten, or a foal?”

Oh. Cute? A cute mark? What a strange name.. “I understand.”

Author's Notes:

Some part of me worries I didn’t put enough time into the blow by blow of this exchange. How did I do?

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10 - Destiny

Lyra nodded. "Alright, so cutie marks, they represent." She saw his confusion and went over what represent meant. "I want to complain about that, but, on the other hoof, you're picking up the language pretty fast, so anyway! We get them when we realize what our destiny is, our purpose. The reason we are."

That was deeply fascinating on several levels. Far from being creatures of chaotic power, they were literally subservient to a higher power without even thinking about it, as if it were a base biology. These horses who had no church were pious creatures without noticing or realizing. But was that higher power a good one or ill? Was it God? That would make the whole situation infinitely more palatable. But first... "How get?" If they just had it penciled in when they made a decision, that wasn't nearly as interesting.

"It varies from pony to pony, but for most, a nice sparkly flash, poof! They have their mark." She threw her arms wide at getting to the flash. "But that's just working to what I was saying. So they get a mark. For unicorns, magic about that mark comes easier. Mine is about making music, so music magic is a snap for me." She clopped her hooves together briskly. "But some unicorns get all the luck. Twilight's is 'magic', as in plain magic, so all magic is open to her to use." Her eyes rolled. "She'll cast spells I can barely dream of using."

And she is considered a noble for it? "Is Twilight princess for magic?" He rolled his two hands over one another. "Is all princess for magic?"

"Huh, not exactly?" Her head canted to the left a little. "Twilight is known as the Princess of Friendship. Celestia is the Princess of the Sun, she raises and lowers the sun every day. Her sister, Luna, is Princess of the Moon, guess what she does." She shrugged as she turned in place. "Oh, then there's Cadance, She's an exception. I mean, she's not a princess of 'insert talent here' at all. She runs a smaller country, the Crystal Empire. Nice place, shiny."

Memories of his sharp descent towards the planet and the moving celestial bodies that caused it resurfaced for Laud. He was literally downed by the reigning rulers of this strange horse land. Wait, friendship? "She is not friendliest pony I met. No offense."

Lyra waved it off. "No one said she was perfect at it. But she's always trying and getting better. You're the first real alien she had to host before, so she's off balance about it. Does that answer your question?"

Not entirely... "What can magic do?"

"Sheesh, more?" She tapped her chin. "You know, this kind of question would be better asked of a magic pony. I'm a music pony, remember? Twilight fits the bill, but there are others. Moondancer pops into my head right away, but she lives in Canterlot." She pointed up towards the mountain city. "You'd have to ride the (unknown) to reach her.

"Ride what?"

She repeated the word before making chugging noises and shuffling forward in a straight line. A train?

The technology level of the horses seemed wildly off-kilter. There was no way their civilization grew into such a state on its own. He had seen something electric before, a simple light, which implied they had a way of supplying that electricity. They had trains, but clearly never opted for automobiles as a thing, perhaps because they moved quickly enough? But then why would they need a train? To haul goods? But it hauled people just the same. He struggled to place their development in line with what he knew of the human timeline.

Lyra could see he was focused on something and suddenly walked for the door. "Want a snack?"

He surfaced from his thoughts. "Do you have..." Darn vocabulary. "Town, bigger. Very bigger."

She spread her hooves. "A (unknown)? Lots and lots of ponies in a small place?"

Yes! "City, yes. Have city?"

She nodded as she resumed her walk with him trailing behind. "Oh yeah. There's Canterlot, Manehattan, Baltimare... Plenty." She stepped down the stairs easily, a feat he knew normal horses had issues with, and ambled into the kitchen. "Something sweet or a main course?" She asked.

He remembered the eggs he had been given shortly before the fight. "A snack is good, thank you."

"One snack coming up!" She popped open a barrel with her magic and grabbed a handful of small wrapped packages in colorful wrappers. "Bon Bon made these, and she's good at it." She floated the candies over to him. "Get to know her sweet side."

He had learned of her harsher side well enough. She was clearly a warrior. "Why candy maker fight?" he asked as he undid the wrapper on one, wondering how a winged horse or a normal horse dealt with the wrapper without magic to make it go away. For that matter, how did Bon Bon put the wrappers on in the first place? There were too many questions.

"She has reasons," deflected Lyra with a lack of subtlety. "Look, she's a good pony, and you're a good... you. Human, right?"

He couldn't be a hundred percent sure that was the right term for him, but it was the term used for him so far, so he had just started assuming it meant human. "Right." The candy was acceptable. Sweet, tasty. He tried not to partake too much in them. A warrior did not live on candy. "Can you fight?"

Lyra spun around at him. "No! I mean... I guess, but I don't want to. Sorry. If you're looking for another (unknown? fighting, sparring?) partner, you're going to have to find someone else. I would rather we be friendly friends."

"That is good." He nodded at her. "You do not need fight." That was what nobles and those who serve with them were for, protecting those who didn't want to fight.

"Phew, alright. If you... Nevermind." She shook her head as she lifted a sandwich of her own and got to chewing it even as she walked. "What do you do, besides fighting?"

That was a fair counter-question for what he had been trying to get, but how to explain it. "I am... like mayor, higher. Lower than princess." Did they not have princes? He hadn't heard mention of one so far. A matriarchal society. Would they be offended if he, a male, attempted to take a place of dominance? It would be for their benefit, but they might not see it that way. That could become a problem.

That was when he reached out for something that had no business in a world of horses. A door knob. His fingers curled around it gently and it struck him how insane its presence was. Only one third of the population, at best, could make easy use of it. What would inspire a horse to engineer such a device? Why not something more easily manipulated with their hooves? Despite that, it was universal. Every door had a knob.

There was only one reasonable solution... "Who..." Arg, vocabulary. "First to make something..." He rolled his hand, hoping to prompt the word. "Who first to make this?" He tapped at the door knob.

"Invent?" provided Lyra helpfully. "Wow, I don't know... You'd have to look that up." She thrust a hoof up at Twilight's castle through a window. "She has the most books of anyone in town, try asking her."

They had trains and electricity, but not computers, clearly. Or were they at the point where they occupied entire rooms? He didn't know, but he would have to learn. "Miss Heartstrings, thank you."

Lyra colored. "I'm not a 'miss'!" She protested, giggling. "Just call me Lyra and we're fine. Oh right, magic, you wanted to know some stuff, so let's do some examples." She sat on her haunches. "Teleporting, messing with time, making the whole town want a doll." She saw the look of confused horror on his face. "It wasn't that bad, we cleared that up with the help of Princess Celestia." She giggled as if it were nothing. "Let's see, turning a frog into an orange, that was a weird one..." She tapped her chin. "I think it's still living in the swamp."

Oh sweet merciful God. Their magic was beyond any reasonable measure. They could influence the mi... Wait... "If magic work here." He pointed to his own head. "Why not use?"

Lyra tilted her head left and right. "What, like a spell to make you talk better? That would be nice, but I'm not a magic pony, remember? Ask Twilight if she has a spell like that." She blinked suddenly. "Wait, do you mean, like, why don't we... just zap you." She threw a hoof at Laud, her horn glowing. "I mean, I guess we could... but that would be rude. Only the meanest of bad people would need a (unknown, mind?) spell."

"What spell?" he asked, keeping his fear in check. He had to know more.

"Oh, uh... make bad person to good person." She flashed a big smile. "You're a good person though, so we don't need that."

They could reform their criminals with magic, and saw nothing wrong with the idea. They were on a dangerous cliffside, waiting to give out beneath them. "What about magic to make friends?"

Lyra stuck out her tongue. "I mean, sure, I remember hearing some spells like that are out there, but that's a lousy friendship. We're friends without magic, and that's way better." She firmly bobbed her head. "Even the awkward parts. We have to learn about each other and stuff, but that's half the fun, right? Friend spells just means you get two people who are just... happy to be together for no reason. Boring."

"So... no use magic because not want to."

"Yep." She seemed entirely unaware of any terrifying implications. "I'll take one real friend over a thousand fakers." She offered a hoof towards him. "I mean, I know we're still getting to know each other, and that's alright. Hey, speaking of that, what do you like doing? Besides fighting."

That wasn't a bad reason, no, but it meant they could, if they thought he was a 'bad' person. He had been walking on a much more dangerous razor's edge than he had known. "Like to do... I often busy with... things must do. When not, art, music, horse riding--" Did he just say that? He just said that. He looked to Lyra for a reaction.

She didn't look disgusted. She looked fascinated. "You ride ponies?" The word for 'horse' and 'pony' were the same word, at least he didn't know a different word for the two things. They were horses, right? "You're too big to ride me." She squinted a little. "But if you ride ponies, why can't you talk like a pony? What kind of ponies do you have where you come from?"

He felt a frown coming on as he considered that answer. "Big." He held up a hand at the level where he would expect a horse's back to come to. "Not talk. Strong, fast. We care for them."

"They're your pets?!" She burst into laughter. "That's too much! Oh wait, wow, this must be so (unknown) for you. We all look like little pets. Well I'm nobody's pet. Except maybe Bon Bon, but that's (unknown)."

Bon Bon stepped in as if summoned by her mention. "Twilight's on the way. Let's get you cleaned up." She looked past Laud to Lyra. "He's been good, I hope?"

"He's a real treat." Lyra bobbed her head. "I mean, strange, sure, but isn't everyone until you get to know them? Did you know he rides ponies?"

Bon Bon got a wry smirk. "Does he now? It seemed more like ponies rode him. That aside, this way. We'll get you looking proper, for Twilight's sake."

That was a low blow. A humiliating jab. Laud wanted to fire a witty retort, but his vocabulary was failing him entirely. He could make a physical retort, but that might get him marked as a 'bad' person. Perhaps... he could take it as the poor humor it was? He would have to, for the moment.

Author's Notes:

Laud is creeping closer to deciphering this mystery. How close are you?

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11 - Duty

Twilight burst into the candy shop and came rushing up to Laud, who was looking far better than before, but still not perfect. The way her features turned from annoyance to shock showed that much. "Are you alright?" she asked. "I am so sorry!"

An opportunity was present, but he wasn't sure how to leverage it. "What pony do if not-princess hurt princess?" That was awkward, but the point was carried.

Twilight blinked at that. "They'd be taken to jail, I mean, unless... Celestia might forgive them, depending on the circumstances." She pointed to herself. "Come to think, plenty of ponies have hurt me, on accident in the end. We worked it out."

They were a peaceful people, despite terrifyingly potent magic at their finger, er, hooftips.

"Why, are you mad at someone?"

He shook his head. "We fight together." He gestured away from himself and back at himself. "Good fight."

Twilight blinked at that. "It really was a boxing match? I thought Spike was being (unknown)... Well... if you enjoyed yourself and so did Bon Bon, no harm there, in the end... Come on. Let's go home." She turned to lead the way back to her castle, and Laud didn't fight the idea.

Laud had things he wanted to read up on. A shame he had barely gotten started with reading. "Princess Twilight?"

"Mmm? Oh, you can just call me Twilight if you prefer." She smiled over a shoulder before nudging the door to her castle open with a glowing horn. "What's up?"

"I... do... not mean to... bother." He spoke slowly, trying to get out a proper sentence. "Can you read... to... me?" No wait, that's not quite right. "For me."

Twilight's ears went up as they went inside and she closed the door behind them. "I'd be delighted to. What boo--"

The door they had just passed echoed with a knocking from the other side. "Twi? Ya in there?" A female voice, with an accent. Laud had to work to decipher the words.

"Come in," called out Twilight in response. "We're right--"

The door opened to admit an orange pony inside with a quaint hat on her head. "We got trouble!" Her eyes strayed to Laud. "Oh, there he is... huh, anywho, Trouble, real trouble. Th' cave worms are (unknown). Ah already asked Fluttershy and she says there ain't no stoppin' them."

Twilight lifted her shoulders, an act no normal horse could accomplish. "So let them (unknown)?"

"Well, normally we would, but this year they're goin' right through Ponyville, dead center." She sat down just to bring an arm down across the opposing hoof to emphasize the dead center.

Twilight stiffened at the news. "Get the rest of the girls."

Laud knew that tone of voice, even if it was horse noises. A battle was coming. He would not, could not, stand by. He rested a hand on the hilt of his blade. "I will help protect these people." Even if they had horrifying magic and should be able to defend themselves.

Twilight tilted her head at Laud. "I really don't want you getting hurt, more than you already have."

Laud dropped to a knee to be on Twilight's level, looking in her eyes. "You will not ignore this."

"No, I can't."

"I can't," he echoed back at her. "I am with you."

She was still a moment before a nod came to her. "If it means that much, than alright. Please, be careful. Applejack, get the girls and we'll meet in the square." She saluted crisply and took off at a gallop. She was one of the horses without extra parts, so running quickly was the best she could do. No flying or magic.

"What's going on?" asked Starlight as she descended the stairs, Spike just behind her.

"The cliff worms are going to attack Ponyville," spoke Twilight with a determined tone. "We have to stop them."

Starlight vanished, just to appear beside Twilight. "You're not planning on going without your student, I hope?"

Twilight smiled. "Not if you're offering. Laud's coming with us too."

Spike didn't look quite as eager to join. "I'll... protect the castle."

Twilight didn't seem to have much mind set on him. "We should get going." She trot with purpose to the front door with the two that were ready to march with her.

Starlight looked aside at the human beside her. "I know you can fight. You plan on using that sword of yours?"

"If there are beasts, yes." Laud so no reason to spare rampaging animals from his blade. "You will use your magic?"

"Of course," she half sang out, her horn glimmering. "We'll protect Ponyville."

Twilight glanced over her shoulder. "You two sound way too happy about fighting. You do know what we're up against, I hope? They have teeth this big." Her horn glowed as she made an image of a great tooth. "And they have plenty to go around. But it gets better. They prefer (unknown) their (unknown) whole if they can."

Starlight's confidence diminished a little. "Oh, well... still, we'll all be there. Some worms won't stand up against all of us."

Twilight turned around and walked backwards. "This isn't 'some' worms. We're talking about basically all of them, together. This is no laughing matter."

Laud was distracted from the walking battle a moment just watching Twilight walk backwards a moment. These magical beasts were not horses, no matter how artificially they resembled them. He made a quiet promise to try to stop calling them that. "Is there a ... group fight ponies, besides your friends?"

Twilight looked confused a moment before she shook her head. "There are some guards." She turned back around. "They'll help with the... ponies not fight." She clearly dumbed down her words on purpose. Frustrating, but also helpful. "We will fight."

Alright, no backup from whatever the local militia was. Laud patted his blade. He would fight side-by-side with magical equines. Sure.

Starlight pointed ahead. "I see them!" Ahead, in the center of town, was all of Twilight's friends, gathered and ready. Mostly. The white unicorn looked least pleased to be there. Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus, looked terrified. Rainbow and Pinkie spotted them coming and moved to intercept. One flew, the other bounced.

"So here's the big guy that threw down with Bon Bon?" asked Rainbow, appraising Laud. "I coulda taken him."

Twilight raised a hoof between Laud and Rainbow. "We're not here to fight each other."

"Yeah!" piped up Pinkie in a chipper tone. "We're here to fight big mean worms that tried to eat my sister once. Buncha big meanies."

"Maud?" asked Laud, startled.

"Uh huh. She wasn't paying attention and snap! I had to pry it open to get her out and she was still studying her rock." Pinkie turned mid-jump, having never stopped bouncing. "They're on the way right now!"

Everyone looked where Pinkie did, but no worms were in sight, yet.

Fluttershy coughed into a hoof. "It will take them a few hours to get here."

Laud frowned at that. "I know late to ask, but no defenses?" No fortifications of any kind, really?

Twilight shook her head. "Ponyville isn't a very large town. We don't have a wall, if that's what you're expecting. We don't need one, usually."

Rarity snorted softly. "Except that rabbit (unknown)."

A few chuckles murmured through the group, leaving Laud wondering. "What rabbits do?"

Rarity looked up at Laud. "Oh, pardon. How very rude of me. They came rushing through town, scared some ponies half to death, but didn't cause any harm in the end. I don't believe we've had the (unknown) of an (unknown)." She offered a hoof up at him. "My name is Rarity, pleased to meet you. I'm told you're (unknown)?"

Laud met the hoof with a balled fist, but she looked subtly displeased. The way she spoke... He uncurled his fingers and took her hoof in hand. That got her attention. She was watching him intently. He dropped to a knee and gently kissed the hoof. She colored brightly and let out a string of tittering giggles. "A proper gentleman! It will be a pleasure serving at your side." She reclaimed her hoof.

A faint rumbling met their ears. Twilight frowned in its direction. "Let's meet them at the edge of the town instead of in the center." Noises of agreement rose from the crowd and they set towards the incoming shaking. "Fluttershy, any advice for dealing with them?"

Her eyes darted left and right. "Oh, well... they're very pack-oriented. If you make enough of them (unknown), all of them should go away. They don't like to... talk much."

Rainbow clopped her forehooves together. "Got it. Smack enough of them and the rest follow. Easy! They've tried to chomp me before, but I'm way too fast for 'em." She dropped down in front of Applejack. "Bet I smack more of 'em than you."

"Yer on!" They met, hoof to hoof, with a loud clop and mutually shared smirks of confidence.

Pinkie drew a cannon. An entire cannon. She clearly had no space to be holding it, but she pulled it free from the void itself. Its wheels were painted bright and cheerfully, but it was still a cannon. "Nopony's getting past me!"

It seemed even the 'normal' ponies were still ponies, which meant they had magic. Magic was simply part of their being. They didn't even question it. Laud's own questions were forced to wait as the first worm burst from the ground like a dolphin from the waves, arcing to catch Fluttershy on its way down. Applejack shoved her friend out of the way and gave a tremendous kick, her hooves catching the beast's nose and arresting its charge with a pained cry.

It was far from alone. The sky darkened under the mass of fanged worms cresting up and over the defenders. Laud drew his blade free. It was time for it to earn its keep. The first that tried to catch him directly met its cruel edge on equally sharp teeth, but the reinforced blade proved tougher than what nature had provided the beast, and with a grunt of effort, Laud severed several of those fangs with a shove. The beast collapsed, mouth held shut against immense pain.

Its defeat left no time for victory as others moved to fill in the ranks, snapping viciously. Pinkie fired her cannon with a loud report, but instead of a cannon ball, or even a beam of magic, as Laud would have accepted, there was... glitter. She had shot them with glitter.

His moment of distraction cost him, as a jaw closed on his leg. He spun his blade and brought it down on the head of the biting beast. It sank wetly into the skull of the beast, only meeting resistance in that first instant before he pressed into what he assumed was its brain. It spasmed and shook, but ultimately fell limp, another victim of battle.

A muffled cry echoed out. It was Fluttershy. She wasn't being devoured. She just looked horrified. She was also staring at Laud and the worm he had dispatched. Was she worried for him? That was nice. "I am alright," he assured as he moved to rejoin the battle. Their ranks were already losing cohesion. It seemed the cost of taking the town was quickly reaching the limit of the price they were willing to pay, and some of them were breaking off.

Ponyville had been defended. Its citizens would not be hurt or killed, not that day. Not while Laud had any power to prevent it. To allow anything else would be admitting he was no true Hawkwood, and he'd rather die than accept that possibility.

Twilight was heaving, her own magical attack having taken some stamina on her part. "Is that all of them?"

Starlight blew smoke off of her horn. "As if they had any chance against all of us. Hey, Laud, you alright?" Her eyes were on his lacerated leg.

Author's Notes:

Laud fights against a true foe, and does not hold his punches. Fluttershy may not approve.

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