//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 - Talk // Story: Flight of the Golden Eagle - A New World // by Acacia Sgt //------------------------------// Guerrero wasn’t sure what to expect for when the unicorn’s magic hit him. Part of him was still processing the fact that magic was a real thing where they were now. He also recalled the abilities displayed by the winged horses, and some doubt had begun to rise. With bigger concerns to deal with, however, he had to later remember to speak with the priest on the matter. His thoughts were then interrupted, for he felt it. He could feel something entering his head. Not in the literal sense of course, but it was still a fitting description of what he was feeling. Shortly after, he was assaulted by a headache. It wasn’t a severe one, but he still lowered his head slightly, eyes still closed, placing a hand to its side. “Sir are you alright?” Álvarez’s voiced called from behind, making him open his eyes again. “Yes… yes, I am,” he replied, turning his head half-way to meet their gazes. “The winged pony didn’t react like that,” Lemaur stated. “Are we sure it’s the same magic?” “Maybe there is a difference since we are not horses,” Austin said. Guerrero lowered his arm, the headache subsiding. Before anyone could say more, a voice called out. Guerrero turned back, to see that the bearded unicorn had took a step forward, and most likely the one that had spoken. However, his words remained as non-understandable as ever. Did it not work? Guerrero frowned in thought, the words echoing in his mind. It was the spell what I felt, was it not? Then… His thoughts were interrupted, as his expression then turned to surprise. As sudden as the headache had arrived, so did… understanding. The words, his focus kept on them. Slowly but surely, their meaning became clear: “Can you understand me?” That was what the unicorn said, who was now smiling. Wind Shield was a little concerned at seeing the human react to the spell. He seemed to be in pain, which was a sign of alarm, since that wasn’t the purpose of the spell. Nothing of the sort happened when Starswirl casted the spell on him, after all. Thankfully, his worry was short-lived, for he had recovered quickly enough. Shortly-after, the spell’s effect had seemed to take effect. “Well, I call this a success,” Starswirl turned to face Wing Shield, nodding. “Lord Starswirl, why did he react that way to the spell?” Wind Shield asked. “There is a difference between how much I placed on each of you, captain,” was the reply. “The headache was expected, I’m afraid. Too much information with such short of a time span.” He then turned back to face the human. “Ah, forgive, much still not understandable yet?” He simplified a bit his word choice, for the human’s sake. The human seemed to be in thought for a moment, before he shook his head, waving his hand as well. “No, it is… fine,” he finally answered, but not in his native tongue. He had spoken in their own. It took both pony and human alike in surprise, the latter beginning to murmur with each other again. Starswirl for his part just smiled. “I see. Good, becomes easier with time,” he said. Starswirl then faced back to the rest of their group. “Your majesties, as you can see, we have finally stablished communication,” he said. “How long must we wait before he can grasp well our language?” Celestia asked. “Hopefully not long,” Starswirl replied. “With how comparable we are, their minds should sort it out quickly enough. Despite my way of speech earlier, it might benefit him more to hear our language as much varied as possible.” “Wait,” they heard the human call out, prompting them to face forward again. “Can you… do same to my companions?” He asked, waving an arm in a backwards motion. “Should be no problem,” Starwirl replied. “If they accept.” The human nodded, before turning. The scene that greeted Guerrero wasn’t surprising. Most of the murmuring crowd stopped to pay attention, and to his convenience it included the ones he wanted to talk to. “That was incredible,” Álvarez said. “You were really speaking their language!” “What can take up a long time to learn made possible in just a few minutes,” Lemaur stated, hand on his chin. “The myths are now starting to fall short.” “It is certainly extraordinary,” Guerrero said. “Though now I must ask: would you want to partake on this as well?” He received looks of surprise. “You mean we are offered having their magic used on us as well?” Lemaur asked. “Well, to the best of my ability, I asked,” Guerrero replied. “It would be best if it isn’t just me alone talking to the equines.” “Well, I am not letting this chance go by,” Austin said. “Besides, we can save ourselves the trouble of asking later.” “I agree with Austin,” Lemaur added. “If this is not the first time we will interact with them, we should eliminate the language issue as soon as possible.” “We will have to go through what you did, isn’t it? That headache,” Álvarez said. “It didn’t look that severe,” Austin noted. “Well, I suppose it is a small price to pay to be able to understand them, then,” Álvarez said. “Very well, I’ll tell them you accepted,” Guerrero said before turning back to face the ponies. I could just nod, I’m sure the unicorn will understand, he thought. On the other hand, perhaps I should get to grasp their language better as soon as possible. “They accept,” Guerrero spoke once more in the equines’ language. The unicorn merely nodded. Guerrero turned his head back, motioning the other three to come forward, with his arm. They took a few steps, until they were almost aligned with him. The unicorn’s horn began to glow, ready to apply the spell thrice more. A short time later, the onlooking human crowd had dispersed back to their camp and ship. Few had remained to keep watching, largely because at best they would hear few of what they could understand. A few chairs were brought so Guerrero and his companions could sit down. A table was also placed next to them; a stack of papers on top of it. Seated closest was Álvarez, who had his focus on the papers, writing with a pencil. The ponies for their part merely sat on the ground, though two cushions were taken from their float for the alicorn sisters. “I believe enough time has passed for the effects to settle,” Starswirl began, before facing Guerrero. “Well, perhaps just for you, mister… ah, what was it again?” “Vicente,” Wing Shield was the one who replied. “Ah, yes, Vicente,” Starswirl nodded. “You mentioned this was not permanent,” Guerrero spoke up. “How long will this last?” “It should be of no concern, it will last until deep into the night,” Starswirl answered. “My tests on the spell show they last on average a few hours.” Looks of confusion appeared on the humans. “You don’t employ hours?” Starswirl asked. “No, we do,” Guerrero replied. “But I doubt yours and ours are of the same length.” “Ah, a valid concern,” Starswirl smiled. “Wait,” a voice called out. “The spell didn’t tell them?” They turned to face the new speaker. It had been one of the other ponies, the lone unicorn, who spoke up. The humans hadn’t been paying much attention to the other new attendees outside Starswirl and the alicorn sisters, but now that one of them thought to speak up, they turned to see them. The unicorn was a mare, sporting a white coat and a braided mane of bright red. The horn was likewise white, but what perhaps caught the most attention was the markings on her flanks. The humans had seen them before, when they first saw the pegasi remove their armors. It was amazing how the fur not only formed a clear picture but seemed to remain constant despite the movements of the fur and body. They had yet to know their purpose or meaning but could already guess. After all, most of the pegasi had them either related to the weather or were military looking. The unicorn’s, however, was a book, with a black cover and a red bookmark sticking out. “Was it not included when transferring the definition of the word?” she continued. “No, I am quite sure that kind of details were included in the spell,” Starswirl stroke his beard. “The nature of the spell means it should come to the front once they become aware of the word.” “Perhaps,” Lemaur spoke up. “The systems are too different?” “We can compare,” Austin added. “We have… watches with us.” They begin to have the confidence to speak our tongue, Starswirl noted. Good, things should go smoothly from now on. “I believe we have at least in our possession as well,” he said. “Lord Starswirl,” Celestia spoke up. “Perhaps we can discuss that at a later point. I think it should be best if we first deal with why we are here.” Starswirl turned to face her and nodded. “If you wish, your highness,” he said with a slight bow. He turned back to face the humans. “I believe we should begin with proper introductions, now that we can understand each other.” “I am Starswirl. Throughout my life I have partaken in many endeavors, most of the scholar kind. This has earned me a reputation of one of our Kingdom’s most acclaimed spellcasters, also giving me the title of ‘The Bearded’. No doubt you may see why.” He then chuckled. Some of the humans did showed faint smiles, catching on the humor behind the statement. Starswirl then cleared his throat. “Recently, though, I serve as advisor to our King, and even more recently, to these two ladies.” He rose a hoof, motioning it towards the alicorn sisters. The humans stood up, even Álvarez, who had been still more focused on the papers until now. “Before you are Celestia and Luna.” At each mention of their names, the corresponding alicorn would give a small nod. “Representatives of our King, and soon to be princesses of our country.” “Soon to be?” Lemaur repeated. “It might sound confusing to hear such a statement, but it is the truth,” Celestia replied. “Recent actions made by my sister and I were of great service to our kingdom. The King thought fitting to rewards by being adopted into the royal family.” The humans were a bit perplexed by this. “It is certainly a very… orthodox reward,” Guerrero said. “I share the sentiment, it was very unexpected for us as well,” Celestia agreed. “Not that it was entirely unwanted in the end,” Luna added. “So, what was what you did?” Austin asked. “They were the ones who overthrew the tyrant Discord, bringing peace back to our kingdom after long period of misrule, and restoring our King back into power.” “Ah, I see now,” Lemaur said. “You’re war heroes.” A small blush formed in Celestia’s face. “I would not consider it that way,” she replied, turning her head away slightly. “There was hardly a battle.” “It was still quite the spectacle, though,” Luna smiled. “He never even saw it coming!” “It’s still impressive,” Austin said. “To reach him despite all the security he had.” “Oh no, no, he was not one to employ guards,” Celestia shook her head. “If anypony dared enough, he would just deal with them himself.” “From your story, he sounds to be a very powerful individual. So how were you able to subdue him?” Álvarez asked. Now the ponies were the ones confused. “You have never heard of Discord?” One of the other ponies spoke. It was one of the few the humans would’ve considered a normal pony, at least in the sense of lacking both a horn or wings. Unlike the unicorn who spoke earlier, this one was a stallion, with a dark green coat and a short and messy mane of dull red. The image on his flanks was that of a single red apple. He was, of course, Red Apple; not that the humans were aware of their names yet. The humans shook their heads. “I’m afraid not,” Guerrero said. “Hard it may sound for you to believe, but the truth is that we had no idea what we would encounter once we reached this land.” The human’s words were a big surprise to the ponies. Starswirl began to stroke his bead, deep in thought, as most of the group broke into murmurs. As this began to unfold, the humans could only stare, except for Álvarez who decided to focus back on the papers on the table, and thus sat back down. The murmurs were ones the humans couldn’t quite make out, until suddenly… “That makes no sense!” the unicorn mare suddenly raised her voice. “How could they not know of Equestria!?” “Calm down,” Red Apple told her. “I’m sure there must be some explanation.” “Discord was not exactly subtle,” she countered. “We know some of the things he did extended beyond our borders. And the Dragon Migration happened during it! Actually, that makes it even more hard to believe.” “Maybe they avoid them, like we do?” Red Apple guessed. “Wait, did she just mention…?” Álvarez pointed out to his comrades as the argument unfolded. In their language, as the few ponies who kept paying attention to them noticed. “Calm down, you two,” Thunderbolt approached them. “We should let them explain themselves.” I guess it is time, Guerrero thought, looking as the pegasus tried to defuse the argument. If he recalled correctly, it was one of the two that arrived after the main group. They had theorized the pegasi knew of their arrival and had sent word back before deciding to show themselves. Said messengers just coming back. The arrival of the would-be princesses and their escort had confirmed that had been the case. This one was a stallion of dark purple coat and black mane. Unlike the captain, and as with the rest of his comrades, he wore gray armor. Said armor was currently covering the mark on his flanks, but if word was to be trusted, his was that of a yellow symbol. It was described as best resembling a lightning bolt, but not one they were familiar with. Perhaps it was simply what they used for one. “Gentlemen,” Guerrero called out to his comrades, deciding to speak back in Spanish. “This is a prime opportunity. Even if this a place where magic is common, and creatures of myth are real,” he began. “Which we now must add dragons to the list, apparently,” Álvarez interrupted, speaking mostly to himself, but loud enough for the rest to hear. “Right, we need to ask for more information about that,” Guerrero continued. “But as I was saying, our situation could still be unheard of for them.” “Their recent doubts to our ignorance of their world seem to show otherwise, however,” Lemaur noted. “Exactly, this could help make our plight more believable to them,” Guerrero said. “Regardless, we must soon make acquaintance with the beings and countries of this place. Whether we remain in this world temporarily, or… permanently. We must not remain in isolation.” “We might have to resort for a more proper diplomatic delegation for this,” Austin pointed out. “I am aware,” Guerrero said. “I think the time has come to put an end to our expedition. We will inform them of our plight and see if we could schedule a more official meeting at some later date.” “That’s a sound plan,” Lemaur commented. “I concur. We are already looking at a month at the least for returning just to the coast alone,” Austin said. “It’s best to get this over with as soon as possible,” he finished as Guerrero began to walk forwards. “Do you think it’s true what they said?” Luna discussed with her sister. “I do not know, sister,” was Celestia’s reply. “They could be like us, as Equestria does not have much contact or knowledge with other lands either. That included them.” “That’s a good point,” Luna said. “And yet…” Celestia then briefly glanced in the direction of Red Apple and the others. “It is true that it cannot be said the same for the other way around. She is right: Discord was not really known for his subtlety.” “Another good point,” Luna deadpanned. “And the dragons alone would be enough for word to spread, regardless of them being, well, dragons,” Celestia continued. “Something else is going on, perhaps even big.” “An excellent observation, your majesty,” they heard Starswirl call out. The unicorn was now looking at them. “Well, whatever it is, perhaps we are soon to find out,” he rose a limb and pointed towards the humans. The sisters faced back forward and saw that one of them had taken a few steps towards them. This had caught the rest of the ponies’ attention as well. “We understand our previous statement might have confused you,” Guerrero spoke, once again in the Equestrian language. “As such, we believe we should explain why that is, as well as to why we traveled here in the first place.” “In light of that, just as confirmation I ask: It was not, then, in any relation to our Kingdom of Equestria, or that of Discord’s rule of tyranny?” Starswirl said. “No, it wasn’t,” Guerrero replied. “Though finding you was not entirely out of the scope of our mission.” “A mission, you say,” Starswirl stroke his beard. “Yes, and we weren’t the only ones who departed our country. It all begun a few… hm,” Guerrero took on a puzzled look. “What is the matter?” Celestia asked. “I don’t think your language has the word I want to use,” Guerrero explained. “Yes, I remember we did stablish our time measuring systems were different,” Starswirl commented. “Do go on, perhaps there is a way around that issue.” “Very well,” Guerrero nodded. “As I was saying, it all began many days ago…”