Non nobis Domine

by Dsarker

Prima pars - Non nobis Domine

Night was falling as five mounted men went careening down the old Roman highway at speed.

They were a relatively unusual bunch to be seen riding through the nights in central Europe, the heart of Christendom. These men wore the arms of the Order of Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, and all bar one were riding on horses ready for a battle. One of them wore a white surcoat with red cross, while the others wore black with red cross.

The fading light of the sun glinted off something in the distance, and the white-surcoated Templar raised his left hand, and then swung it down. As he did, the one civilian of the party fell in behind as the three sergeants made a wedge behind the knight. They drew their swords, while the knight lifted his lance up.

Ahead of them, only just visible in the darkening light, lay a roadblock with twelve footmen wearing the insignia of the French king. They were here to block the Templars' path.

The knight, a young Teuton named Johann von Saxony, heeled his mount on, lifting the lance. Unlike a jousting lance, this was more like a long spear, and not designed to break when used. What separated it from a spear was that it had a vamplate on it, to help keep a grip.

The horses leapt over the barricade and into the guards. Johann charged at his first opponent, and his lance pierced his throat. Pulling back, he watched the man try to clutch his throat as blood started pouring out. Even as he collapsed, Johann went at his next opponent, with his courser still at full gallop, and the lance managed to pierce the young man's heart. As the sergeants with him leapt over and slashed, they forced the other guards out of their way, and the way through was gained. The last member of their party leapt over, and they surged off before the Frenchmen could react.

They kept up their gallop for a few seconds before resuming an amble, and as they did, the last member of their party spoke. "Brothers, we will pray for the men we fought then, and for our own deliverance."

Johann nodded, and said "Very well, Father. If you would lead us in this prayer?"

The priest nodded and said "In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti," as he and the four others made the sign of the cross, and then the five said in union "Amen."

"Sovereign king, we your servants have been forced to fight those who are part of your holy church, and to shed their blood to escape unjust persecution. We pray now for their souls and that you receive the men who died into your eternal home. We also ask your forgiveness on both us and those who seek our death." The priest turned around at a sound behind them, but there was nothing. "Heavenly king, we ask that you protect us on our travel to the Kaiser, and that you may grant that our request for succour would be granted. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen."

The five men made the sign of the cross and continued on their travels.

---

Twilight Sparkle was always, always more interested in her books than in anything that seemed to be happening outside of them. Nevertheless, as almost any reader does, she occasionally is disrupted from her reading by those external events. And the noise outside was enough to disrupt anyone.

With a huff, she shut her book, and called out "Spiiiiiike!" in as loud a voice as she could summon up. She waited a couple of seconds, and then called out again just as the little dragon burst into her room.

"Yes Twilight?" Spike asked the unicorn, sitting near her bookstand. He was still panting from the run up. "What's wrong?"

"I can't study in this noise," Twilight announced. "I need you to go find out what all this commotion is. And then deal with it." Spike raised a hand, as if to protest, and then lowered it again. There was no point to doing that anyway.

"Alright, Twilight," he said, with a tone in his voice that said he had different expectations from his little expedition downstairs, and that Twilight could be a little more accommodating.

Twilight waited until the noise seemed to die down a little bit, before resuming her reading. Finally, she could get back to her third-edition copy of The Varieties of Ancient Equestrian Languages, And their Implications for Modern Speakers. It had been a hobby of hers ever since meeting Zecora. The zebra, an intelligent equine, had spoken about her own home having many hundreds of different languages, and the change it was to come to Equestria, with its one tongue.

Twilight's book definitely agreed with her, but it highlighted important reasons for this to be the case, as well as what that meant for modern ponies. It was a new topic for Twilight, but she had already (as she saw fit) corrected several errors that she saw in the text. The author had talked about a ‘danger’ being present in having a single language, which Twilight disagreed with. While she was happy to learn new languages, and had learned a smattering of the zebra tongues with Zecora's help, she also felt that a unified language helped the process of civilisation as a whole. Without one tongue, people would not be able to talk with each other on a common basis. With a single tongue, they could explain difficulties and understand each other. Moreover, new words would be easy to create. Rather than there being multiple-

Twilight was pulled from her train of thought by the sound of hoofsteps coming up the staircase. She was intrigued for a second, before quietly closing her book. It would seem that the reason for the commotion had something to do with her and the library.

She did not need to wait for long before Spike opened the door to her upper room. Behind him were Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, a few more ponies, and Rarity in the back… The train of ponies led down the stairs into the library itself, and Twilight realised there must still be some waiting outside.

Spike opened his mouth, but Pinkie Pie was the first to speak. "Happy Birthday, Twilight Sparkle!" she said, in her customary no-concept-of-inside-voice voice. She produced a cake from seemingly nowhere, shoving it in Twilight's face. "Here's your cake!"

Twilight took a step back from the icing-covered cake, and frowned. "Pinkie, it's not my birthday till tomorrow. Why are you celebrating it today?" she asked. Even though she had long ago grown used to Pinkie Pie's foibles this failure to remember the current date was a new one.

"Well, of course, silly," Pinkie Pie said, as if that were obvious. "But this is a surprise party, and what's more surprising than changing the date?"

Twilight had no choice but to concede the point, although the pink pony's application left a fair amount to be desired. "Well, yes. But why didn't you tell me? I'd already scheduled today for reading my book. It's not often I get a chance to indulge in my old hobby, things being as busy as they are." She looked at her friend, trying to seem both stern and loving, and instead seeming just slightly cross-eyed.

"Oh, Twilight," Pinkie said, laughing it off. "Can't you just schedule it for tomorrow?"

Twilight shook her head, as if the concept was absurd. ‘Re-schedule? Re-schedule my parents, my brother, and my sister? Do you know how busy they are? How long this has been on their schedules? Obviously not, or you wouldn't have suggested something so patently ridiculous." She took a deep breath, and waited for her friend to respond.

But it was Rarity who responded. "Now, Twilight, we're sorry about disrupting your schedule, but that's no reason to talk to her like that! Pinkie Pie meant well, and although her execution of the plan may not have had amazing success, she still did it for you." Her expression showed a little disappointment in her friend's behaviour.

Twilight opened her mouth, ready to make some further argument against it, and then closed it. She slid down to the floor, looking a little glum. "I… I know. It's just that, well, I've been so used to getting some time by myself, to look back at what's happened, and what is going to happen, and now I feel like I don't ever really get that. Even though it's good to spend time with you, I really just wanted to spend time by myself. You know?"

Rarity nodded a little, and sat down beside her friend. "Twilight, of course I know that sort of feeling. But this isn't the right way to deal with it. If you're feeling like you're overworked, perhaps you could ask us for help. We are your friends, after all. We want to help you."

Twilight looked at her, biting her lip a little. "But the princess has entrusted me with this stuff. I can't just ask you to do it. That would be lazy, and Princess Celestia wouldn't like that at all."

Rarity shook her head. "Twilight, the Princess would not expect you to deal with all this work all by yourself. Just as she can't do all her own work by herself, she would expect you to get help with it too. I'm sure she'll have no problem with you asking us for help." She reached over and patted Twilight's side. "You don't have to worry, Twilight. You could even ask your brother when he comes over tomorrow. I'm sure he'll tell you the same thing we have."

Twilight, still not sure, smiled a little. "Maybe… Maybe if I ask her, she won't mind…’

Rarity smiled, and nodded. "Yes. That sounds good. But right now, we should celebrate with this party that Pinkie has planned for you."

Twilight nodded, and stood up. "Well, Pinkie, I guess we'll be having the party after all..."

---

The five Templars kept on until the deep of night. They were still on the road, and forest surrounded them on both sides. Johann signalled for a halt, and they went into the forest, looking for a clearing under which they could set up a camp.

The forest was a thick and ancient one, and it reminded Johann of the loss of the Roman Legions in the Teutoburg. Still, it was unlikely that any tribes of barbarians lurked within. Moreover, the horses seemed to be calm, so there probably were not any wild beasts, either.

Eventually, having found a small clearing, the five men dismounted. They tied the horses down, and knelt down. The priest led them in the singing of compline. As they finished, the three sergeants went to set up the rest of the camp, while Johann and the priest sat aside.

"Bless me, father, for I have sinned," said Johann, making the sign of the cross. "It has been three weeks since I made my last confession, and my sins are these. I have committed the sin of murder, twice today. I have ordered those under my command to fight Christians. I have gone against the Rule by hunting. I have taken joy in battle. I have been lazy in my practice of arms. I have put aside discipline in favour of laxity. I have not observed the feast of Michaelmas. For these and all of my sins, I am truly sorry." He bowed his head, waiting for the priest to administer a penance.

"Johann," said the priest, "You are a young man, are you not?"

"Yes, father. Twenty three in two months," Johann answered.

"And you are yet now a veteran in our Order. So quick it is, now. Perhaps it is because we have more enemies to face…’ The priest leant over, and lifted up Johan's head. "Listen to me, Johann. Our sovereign king knows our lives, from beginning to our eternal life. You know this. You are not some untutored peasant, who knows only the barest of religion. You obey the sovereign king, our Lord Jesus, not out of fear, but willingly, yes?"

"Yes, father," Johann replied. "But what does that matter?"

"Because many do just that. When I first became a priest, Johann, I was terrified. I thought that if I did the merest thing wrong, God would smite me as he did Sodom and Gomorrah. I was afraid of our Saviour, as if he was as capricious as men were. So listen to me. God's rules are not there so he can find an excuse to destroy us. God gave us his commandments so we can find the way to eternal life with him. Do you remember the story of the rich young man, Johann?"

"Of course I do, father. However, what has that to do with me? I have foresworn my riches, as have we all."

"It has to do with you because Jesus did not look at this young man with a judge's eye. He had followed the commandments, and Jesus did not give him a new commandment, and tell him that since he had failed in that, he was doomed. Rather, Jesus loved him, and gave him the next step in the road to perfection. The commandments were not there to judge him by, but as guides. Does that make sense, Johann?"

"I… I suppose so, father," said Johann with a reluctant nod.

"Then what does that lesson suggest to you? The Rule that we follow, the feasts we observe, all these are to guide us to God, to give us a sure path. Therefore, for your penance, this is what I command. You are to reflect on the faults you have committed, and to ask God for the strength not to commit those faults again, and to partake in the Eucharist with that intention. You are also to say thirteen paternosters. Now, if you make an act of contrition, I will absolve you of your sins."

"Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you. I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend you, my God, who are all good and deserving of my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin."

"God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Go in peace and sin no more." The priest patted Johan's shoulder twice, and stood up. "Now, let's go help our brothers."

Johann nodded, and stood up as well. "Thank you for the sacrament, father."

"It's not a problem, Johann," said the priest. "You saved my life. I might as well repay the favour." He smiled. "Come on, those tents have still got to be set up."

For a few minutes more, the Templars worked in silence. Finally, with their work completed, they rested.

---

Twilight woke early the morning after her surprise party... to find that the library, which she had cleaned up in preparation for her family visiting, was a complete mess. Confetti and streamers littered the floor, and empty plates and bowls covered the tables. She groaned, and stood up. She hadn't even gotten to her bed last night, just sleeping on the floor. Thankfully, there were no other ponies around… so with one great shout, she called "Spiiiiiike!" The little dragon was also no-where to be seen, and she would need his help to clean up this whole library in a little more than the two hours until they were expected to arrive.

When Spike finally came down the stairs, he found Twilight hurrying around with a dustpan and brush, sweeping up the confetti from the ground. "Gruh… morning, Twilight," he said, still sleepy and clutching his blanket.

Twilight paused, and looked up. "Spike, what are you doing? We have all this stuff to clean up before my family arrives! We can't be sleeping around on the job!"

Spike took a couple of seconds to figure out what Twilight was talking about, before hurriedly dropping his blanket and hurrying to help her. "Oh, no! I completely forgot!" he said as he rushed around, picking up whatever he could find.

The two were busily cleaning up the remnants of the unexpected party when there was a knock at the door. Twilight looked frantically at the clock. "It can't be time for them to arrive yet, can it? We still should have another hour... oh no, oh no..."

Spike said, "It's probably just Pinkie Pie coming to wish you a happy birthday again," as he hurried to the door. "Hello?" he said as he opened it, and then continued with "Shining Armour? What are you doing here so early? Oh, it's good to see you, I mean."

"Hello Spike," said Shining Armour from beyond the door, Spike standing in the doorway to stop him from getting in. "Would you mind letting me in? I need to speak to Twilight."

"Uh, she's a little busy," said Spike, looking aside at Twilight, who scurried around, trying to clean up as quickly as she could. Her magic was flashing around the room as she kept hard at work. "Maybe try in an hour or so?"

"Spike, it's urgent. I'm on business from the Princess Celestia, and I need to talk to Twilight before I do it," said Shining Armour, his voice getting a little annoyed. "Now would you please mind letting me in?"

"Spike, it's alright," said Twilight, as she came over to the door. "Hello big brother! It's so good to see you again!" she said as she swung the door wide open and embraced him. "What's wrong?" He was in his Royal Guard armour.

"Hello Twily," said Shining Armour, smiling a little more now. "Nothing's wrong… yet, at least. We've just gotten reports of the diamond dogs being more active in this area. So I'm coming here to give that a bit of a check-up before your party." He looked around the room, and saw a few of the leftovers from last night. "Although," he said, with a little chuckle, "You seem to have started without me."

Twilight blushed a bit. "Well, kind of. Pinkie Pie decided to throw me a surprise party. The surprise was that she changed the date." She gestured around the room. "So I've just been cleaning up after that this morning. Sorry about trying to keep you out."

"Oh, it's not a problem, Twi. I still remember trying to get my own room clean before Mum and Dad checked it. Just don't be too concerned over making the library look un-lived in, hey?" he said with a knowing glance at her.

"Well… I guess," she said. "So what's this about the diamond dogs?"

"Well, actually, you're one of the reasons we're out here. You and your friend Rarity," said Shining Armour. "We try to keep an eye on the diamond dogs, for obvious reasons, and this place is fairly distant from their nearest reserve. It's possible that they're breaking out, and we want to know why. That's why we are investigating this incident. It's not too big on the scale of things, but since I was in the area, I'm going to look into it."

Twilight nodded. "That makes sense. Where's Cadence?"

"Oh, she's back with Mum and Dad. They should be coming in about an hour or so. I managed to keep things on the down-low." Shining Armour put his hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "I know I can trust you to take care of them when they get here. I'll be back before you know it." With that, he nodded his head to her and Spike, and left in the direction of the quarry.

"What do you think that was about?" asked Spike, scratching his head. "The guards have been in town plenty of times after the diamond dogs tried to abduct Rarity. Why didn't they check it out then?"

"I don't know, Spike," Twilight said, a little puzzled. "I guess it mustn't have been very important." She shrugged. "Whatever the reason, it's not really that important. We still have to get ready for Mum and Dad and Cadence. And this room is still pretty messy."

The two got back to tidying with gusto.

---

The sun was beginning to rise as Johann woke up. The forest looked a little clearer in the light, but he could see things he had missed the night before. Vines covered the trees, and the ground scarcely a few yards away turned into a bog. Shaking his head, he quickly dressed, and joined the others kneeling on the firmer ground. The priest, whose name was Frederick, led them in Lauds and Johann joined in with feeling, offering up the office for all the brothers who had died in the last few days at the hands of the French king. As they finished, Frederick gave a reading from his lectionary, before putting it back in his pack and joining in with the others to eat their meal. It was a simple one, only some oats and water, but it was filling. Despite the events of the past days, or perhaps because of them, the meal was eaten in silence.

As soon as they had finished, each of the Templars sat aside to thank the Lord for the meal, before rising to get ready for the day's ride. Johann went to assist Frederick with his own horse.

"Father, what are your thoughts on the last day's events?" asked Johann after the silence grew too overbearing.

"I think it is typical of the French. Their kings have rarely been honourable men. If it wasn't for our support, he would have fallen long ago, and now to thank us he tries to destroy us?" Frederick snorted. "We speak of the mass of perdition in our rule, and he certainly is a member of that."

"But surely only those God wants to rule can do so?" asked Johann, feeling a little shocked. "Why would God want such a faithless man to rule?"

"Well, Johann, that is true. However, who know what plans God has? Perhaps the fault lies in us. God caused the Assyrians to rise up to punish the Jews when they lost faith. But the Assyrians were not more faithful than the Jews." The priest shook his head. "Or perhaps those who God put there to stop him did not do their duty."

"And we must suffer for it…’ Johann shook his head. "But our hope springs eternal."

"Indeed, Johann. And do not fear. The Hospitallers and the Kaiser will succour us."

There was a sound in the distance, like a scream. Johann spun and drew his sword. "Frederick. Get back to the camp. Brothers, to me!"

---

Scootaloo hurried through the forest, looking frantically behind her occasionally as she did so. The twelve diamond dogs were still following her, with anger on their face. She didn't expect that they'd follow her into the Everfree Forest. Even she didn't know the way too well, but she thought she was on the right way to Zecora's hut. She hoped the zebra would be able to keep her safe from the diamond dogs.

Her little wings flapped as she tried to get as fast as she could. The dogs were fast, even though they were on two legs. And they were gaining fast. She kept going, although her legs were hurting with the effort now.

Behind her, she could hear other howls, of the beasts within the forest. The noise gave her newfound energy to speed onwards.

There, a clearing within the forest. She headed towards it.

---

Shining Armour heard the howl of Timber Wolves within the forest, and cursed quietly under his breath. The beasts were relentless, and if they were present, then it would be more difficult to find the tracks of these diamond dogs than it would have been normally. He kept pace through the forest, using only the smallest morsel of his magic to keep a proverbial (and definitely not literal) eye out for the wolves.

However, the next sound surprised him more than that - the sound of steel on steel. The only soldiers he knew of in the area were him, his companion, and possibly some diamond dogs. But even the brutish and aggressive diamond dogs didn't fight amongst their own soldiers. That meant there was someone… or someones in this forest with him. And that wasn't good. But he rated himself against any group that would be able to assemble un-noticed within this forest, and he went on to investigate, unclipping the spear from his side.

---

Things had started to move remarkably quickly for Johann.

As the Templars had come together, looking around for what had made that scream, a pony had raced out of the forest, heading for the horses that they had loosed and standing around waiting. Before Johann could send any of his sergeants to examine it, twelve things that stood like men with cat eyes, ragged armour, and thick hair all over their bodies came out of the trees. They had mixed weapons, including a knife, a dagger, a pair of falchions, a goedendag, and some spears.

"Hello there," called Johann. "Be you friend or foe?" His men seemed to be of the opinion that they were the latter, and though they did not answer in words, they seemed to be affirmative of that opinion.

As they charged at the four Templars, Johann nodded, and set himself to fight these things. He held his longsword in a two-handed grip, and he settled into the Fool, waiting for his foes to hit.

He received four foes, and immediately moved into action. He moved to the side, hoping that if he could split them up, they would fall more easily. They didn't even stop, the brutes failing to recognise the danger. The first one had a knife, almost four feet long. He chopped with it wildly, and Johann parried the blows with ease, before slashing back with his longsword. His sword cut deep into the thing's head and kept going, almost chopping its head in two. Bone and flesh and blood went flying as the skull shattered under the impact. The thing fell at once, dead instantly, and Johann set himself to be ready for the next.

The next one carried on, its momentum too fast to slow, but it clearly had no intention of fighting, falling into a defensive stance and holding out its falchion trying to block a blow. Johann was in no mood to let it flee, though, and swung his sword horizontally across the thing's chest. His sword bit deep into its upper abdomen, and its intestines fell out. It dropped to the ground, but it was still alive, judging by the noises it was making. Around him, he could see his sergeants still dealing with their own opponents. He stepped over the one that was still screaming, and gave it mercy.

He stood up, and watched as the last two things that faced him fled, along with five others. Johann forced his breathing to slow, relaxing. The thrill of battle was, as always, intoxicating, and he refused to lose himself to that lust. He inspected his sergeants, who had been no less successful in their duels than he had. They had killed five of those things, including two of them by his own hands, and any sensible being would avoid them after being defeated so utterly.

He turned around, to look at the pony whose arrival had sparked the conflict. Something about it had seemed wrong, and his eyes widened as he looked at it in detail. Like the Pegasus of ancient myth, it had two wings. That was not all. It was coloured bright orange, and it was looking at him with eyes that seemed to him to indicate more-than-usual intelligence, despite it looking quite young.

"You can understand me, can't you?" he said, almost thinking aloud. "The Pegasus was the smartest of the horses." He was about to start walking over when he received a more startling answer than he had imagined - the Pegasus began to speak. Although its tongue was no more comprehensible than the Turkish that his superior in the order had started to teach him, it was clearly speaking intelligently.

He stooped down, looking it face to face. Although he had never seen a talking Pegasus foal before, it was logically possible - or else he was asleep, or in a dream. It backed away, looking at his sword. He was surprised for a second, and then he nodded. It was still bloody, and he doubted whether any young one was used to seeing violence, whether pony or not. He took a step back and slowly, making sure not to frighten it any more, he put the sword down, laying it on the ground. Then he approached again. Again stooping down, Johann spoke to it, saying "Greetings, child. Do you understand me? Shake your head for no, and nod your head for yes."

Belatedly, after it made neither action, Johann realised that if it had not understood him, it would not shake its head to show that. Acknowledging his foolishness before God, he sat down, shaking his head ruefully. Here he was, far from home, fleeing from the King of France, and now he was sitting down and trying to speak to a talking flying horse that did not even understand him. He was about to try to reach out to it, when another howl, like the one before, came. And it was closer.

He slowly backed away, and again lifted up his sword, turning away from the foal and looking back in the direction of the howl. His sergeants formed on him, and they looked through the thick forest. Behind them, the horses were spooking, and Johann made the sign of the cross. He raised his sword, looking for where the wolves would come.

However, when they did come, there was another surprise to come. The wolves were not only larger than any he had seen before; they appeared to be made of wood, rather than of flesh. They appeared as ferocious as lions, bounding forward to attack. Johann almost turned to flee from this unnatural foe, but he held firm and he made ready to receive them.

The first wolf jumped at him and grabbed his sword with its mouth. Johann let go of it, reaching down to his belt and drawing his misericorde, and in the same motion stabbing at the wolf's eye desperately. It glowed, and unlike the other parts of the wolf, did not appear to be made of wood.

The dagger struck true, whatever substance the eye was made of providing no resistance. Nevertheless, when he pulled it out, the wolf was still up and fighting, though clearly in pain. Johann quickly stabbed again, and though the wolf tried to avoid the strike, the knight's experience proved the better, the dagger finding its mark.

The wolf finally dropped as he thrust the dagger deep into the wolf's skull. Johann sighed, in relief. He looked at his men, and found them victorious. One of the sergeants had hacked away at the neck of the thing until it gave way. Another had bashed the head in with his pommel. The last had simply stabbed his sword down the throat of the wolf, trusting in his maille to protect him from the jaws partially closed around his hands.

Johann walked over to help the last one free his hands from the jaws, and looked around, watching in case anything else should decide to show up and disrupt them.

---

Shining Armour watched as the new beings dealt with the Timber Wolves quickly. It hadn't been entirely without harm - he watched as one, who had been bitten on the hands as it delivered the killing blow, pulled splinters left behind in the hands. It was a telling response. These beings clearly reacted to everything as a potential foe to defeat, rather than the usual pony response of cautious tolerance.

Now they had a pony foal down there with them. Yet they didn't seem to think it a threat. He watched as the one wearing white wiped the short spike it held clean of the remains of the Timber Wolf. It did not seem to be the slightest bit concerned about the minor injuries suffered by its fellow. All these things went against what Shining Armour knew about civilised races. It reminded him of the diamond dogs, or the dragons, but both of those were indiscriminate in their violence. What could be behind a race that readied itself so quickly for war and yet was able to dismiss a being as not right to attack?
 

Comments

[Indigo Surprise]

Well I finally read it, what better time to do it than on a Sunday?

The biggest glaring mistake I've found is the using of apostrophes in place of quotations. Quotations denote spoken word, apostrophes show internal thoughts. I had to read things over several times to realize the characters were talking and not thinking.

Twilight's surprise party seemed to be nothing but filler bridging the gap between Twilight's language studies and Shining Armor's exposition, especially with the amount of time dedicated to getting Twilight to accept the surprise party. Especially since Twilight has been interrupted from her studies before and dropped them to make time to deal with whatever problem the pastel horse folk have interrupted her with.

The best parts for me were from the Tempar's half of the story. Other than the misuse of apostrophes, I love it. Given your knowledge of the period I could read anything you've written about the period all day.

[Warlord-1]

Whoa, just what a chapter. Definitely following this.

[Kenshinryuu]

Interesting start, I can't wait to see how Shining Armor, Scootaloo, and the Templars get along.

[Amethyst Blade]

I almost mistaken this with a crossover with Assassin's Creed...Almost.

[Just Sandy]

oh some got someone got splinters in his hand its a world crisis and barbaric to not help him.........seriouly those are just splinters those are not minor injuries shining armour

[Chicago Ted]

Finally, she could get back to her third-edition copy of The Varieties of Ancient Equestrian Languages, And their Implications for Modern Speakers.

Where can one acquire such a book?

While she was happy to learn new languages, and had learned a smattering of the zebra tongues with Zecora's help, she also felt that a unified language helped the process of civilisation as a whole. Without one tongue, people would not be able to talk with each other on a common basis. With a single tongue, they could explain difficulties and understand each other. Moreover, new words would be easy to create.

Ahem.