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.

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