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// Pony Languages 
// Story: So you've been magically transported to Equestria... 
// by Pendo 
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Your first real hurdle to living here is the language barrier. If you haven't already experienced one, translation spells are clumsy and imperfect, unsuited for constant use even without considering your current anti-magical nature. You'll need to pick up the basics at least, and there are tutors who can assist you.

The exact history and structure of Equestrian language is an argument only of interest to academics, but what you need to know is that each of the three races – Earth Pony, Pegasus, and Unicorn, has their own distinct dialect. Enough loan-words and common structure exists between them that learning just one is often enough to get by, and you'll naturally pick up bits of the other two in time.



Earth Pony is very simple and direct. It is mainly concerned with things like building, farming, various trades, and to a lesser degree, warfare. Without fine dexterity, Earth ponies were limited in how they could write, and their alphabet consists of simple combinations of lines and dots, which evolved out of the practice of making marks in the dirt with their hooves.

This is the simplest language used in Equestria and a few places beyond, spoken by most everyone you'll meet. Personally, I recommend starting your studies here.



Pegasus is slightly more complex, and is considered something of a romance language. Naturally, it has extensive terminology dedicated towards weather, flight, and various atmospheric phenomena. Since communication in Equestria has always been heavily dependent on Pegasi carrying messages, their language also deals with mercantile matters – many contracts are written in Pegasus. Using their wings to write by dipping the tip of their longest, finest feather in ink, Pegasus is written with large flowing lines that curve and overlap, with lots of smaller tics above and below the main line. Pegasus calligraphy is quite beautiful, and those that can manipulate their wings with such great precision become minor celebrities.

The basics of Pegasus aren't terribly difficult to learn, but expect to trip over the subtle infections and extensive conjugation. The script is tricky as well.



Unicorn is the pony equivalent of Latin – it is highly exacting, long-winded, and has not changed in some time. It has fallen somewhat out of common usage, but because of the constant experimentation and intellectual pursuits unicorns are famous for, it continues to dominate in technical, magical and mathematical usage. Both Earth and Pegasus Ponies have their unique terms, slang, and shop-talk, but when experts want precise communication, they use Unicorn. Since telekinesis allows for fine manipulation of writing implements, Unicorn script could become highly detailed and very complex. It has a vague resemblance to some Asian alphabets, with simple characters for individual letters which combine into more complex symbols to encompass various concepts.

Because of Unicorn's uncommon usage in daily live and its sheer complexity, I strongly recommend against trying to make this dialect your first subject of study.