Spirit: Stallion of Equestria

by Sacred Blade

Language Barrier

Author's Note:

More raw, unedited shenanigans. Hopefully less procrastination from myself too.

(3/10/21 - I lied. I procrastinated. I also went through the chapter and did some minor edits/tweaks so if this shows updated on the site, my apologies! I needed to read the last chapter so I know where I left off. Know that I'm working on more!)

Spirit was not sure how he understood but that yellow foal managed to get through to him to go. To run. Just not too far. So he did! The new sights, smells, sounds, the everything was absolutely wonderful to take in. It drove him. Pushed him. The newfound pressure in the air seemed to give him a little more pep in his prance. He wasn't sure how or why but he felt younger again.

By no means was he an aging mustang, far from it, but years had in fact gotten away from him. Yet here he was, kicking up grass and dirt like it was nobody's business. From that small cottage the group of foals departed from to a vast, sprawling apple orchard. This gave him pause just long enough to rear up and snatch himself a snack. A brief memory came to him, one that brought a knowing smile to his features. The memory of a mare he desperately tried to impress.

He took this moment to further observe the orchard and the sights beyond. Truly, he was no longer in the same lands he had called home for so long. A glance behind him toward the forest he had emerged from not so long ago, he began to wonder. Would he be able to return? Will he be able to even understand his fellow equestrians despite their tongue being eerily similar to that of the two-legs?

Shaking these thoughts from his mind, the stallion turned and took to a sprint. Eager to rid these worries from his mind to simply run free. His direction eased back toward the humble, supposed home of the timid foal whose parents he hoped have since returned. As he crested a small hill he noted the addition of two larger figures in the distance. Dark and Light. Unable to make out the figures in full detail, Spirit advanced all that more urgently.

**********

The Royal Sisters observed ever so curiously their new arrival. While one ear of each listened to Fluttershy as she spoke of the storm in the Everfree, the explosive portal that vanished as quickly as the storm. Fascinating as it was to them, their other ear and too, their attention, was solely upon the stallion in the distance. It has been a long time since either has been this fixated on an individual let alone the same one at the same time.

As Fluttershy finished her trek into the Everfree, Celestia finally spoke.

"Thank you, Fluttershy. I am hoping we will be able to send our distant traveler back home, but first, we should find some way to communicate. You said you could not understand him yet there was a familiarity to the language he spoke?"

"Oh! Yes. It's honestly very strange to me. While he doesn't portray the feelings I am able to read from my animal friends, there's just something I can't seem to put my hoof on," Fluttershy responded in kind.

Another nod of a regal head, Celestia focused then on her sister with a knowing smirk. It had been ages since either ogled a stallion of similar stature as them. More so Celestia than her smaller, younger sister. Still, she felt bothered by the notion of letting such an ancient attraction play with her instincts. It was by no means unwanted, but it was the first time in so many years that she has felt...conflicted. That was not to say stallions of this day were any less attractive and there may or may not have been a time where she indulged over the millenia.

"What do you think Luna?" Celestia queried.

"Mmm? What was that sister?" came the reply.

"Our visitor. What do you think of him?" Celestia pressed. Was that the formation of drool at the corner of Luna's muzzle? Eyes narrowed for further investigation.

"Dreamy. A stallion of mine own dreams. A stud like no other. Not even the Saddle Arabians can compare," Luna responded, her voice lost and her body falling equally victim to that same ancient, natural attraction.

A roll of royal eyes could almost be felt as Celestia swatted the back of her sister's head, "Focus, sister."

Luna's gaze did just that, blinking the daydream away as quickly as it took her. "Oh! Apologies, dear sister," she started sheepishly only to clear her throat, "It is a most curious event I will admit. The Everfree is as mysterious and untamed as it has ever been. To think there is enough magic within its grasp to summon such perfection..."

Another swat of wings met Luna's head only for her to return the gesture with her own wing against Celestia's. A brief albeit immature swatting match commenced as subtle as they could. Fluttershy, in all her quiet glory merely looked on with a soft giggle at the sisterly affection, all but reminding Fluttershy of her own sibling battles of the past.

"Luna!" Celestia started, silenced briefly with the passing of dark blue wings across her snout. "Stop. He's coming this way!"

Whatever it was causing these two regal mares to act like crushing fillies was beyond her. Beyond both of them, but they will figure this out. They have to. Despite a few dislodged feathers of white and blue now taking flight onto the gentle breeze, the two sisters stood at their tallest as the approaching stallion grew ever closer in quick fashion. Again, he was fast!

**********

Spirit shortened the distance quickly but his gait began to shift from a run to more of a slow gallop. Confusion and curiosity had settled once more. There were indeed two mares of adult stature in the encroaching distance. The white one specifically while the dark blue one was on the shorter side. A young filly perhaps and the white mare is her mother? Sister perhaps?

That gallop shifted into a slower trot as he noted the flowing manes of the two, moving independently of the wind. If that wasn't enough there were matching wings on either side of them much like the yellow foal beside him. There was one thing that truly stood out to him amidst all the absurdity of it all.

They were beautiful.

Energetic as he was and even dared himself to waltz right up to them in order to impress, he leaned toward a more democratic approach. After all, he was not a poacher of females if they were in a herd of their own. Technically, he doesn't have one of his own at present.

"Good afternoon, ladies."

No response. Only that of confusion written upon the two mares who looked at one another carefully then back at him as he came to a stop a comfortable distance.

"Hello?"

Again, no specific response to him, however, the two did begin to speak amongst one another in a familiar language, one which he could not speak nor properly understand.

**********

"Sister! Is that...the language of our precursors?" Luna asked, eyes twinkling with surprise.

"I believe it is. Do you remember any of what Star Swirl taught us?" Celestia questioned her sister in turn. It was not something either of them formally studied. While Luna was brash and oft aloof in her youth, her studies, too, fell by the wayside.

"Not much, if I am honest," Luna answered with a growing frown.

Of course. To think my sister a scholar, mused Celestia inwardly. She didn't blame her sister who stuck more to learning battle magic back in that era of their lives, so, so long ago. Celestia on the other hoof found pony history fascinating among many other subjects. "I guess it is up to me then."

Stepping forward, Celestia dove deep into the recesses of her mind for the lost knowledge of the precursors. Those that came before. Who Equestrians evolved from so many millennia before. Her muzzle parted a time or two, miming words to herself and testing them on her tongue. Oh, how embarrassing this would be were she in the public eye, but desperate times calls for desperate measures. Sucking in a breath, she spoke.

What came out would make even the most stoic of stallions or mares crack a grin. Luna was taken aback and Fluttershy only stared disbelievingly. Never have either of them heard such noises coming from such a regal, motherly mare. Albeit some certainly was familiar; noises even they make to this very day but never in such seeming complexity.

Celestia blocked out her audience and focused on the tall earthy po- no, stallion before her. A whinny escaped her lips. This had specific inflections to it and came from deep within her throat. It was guttural in sound, raw and straight from the horse's mouth. She paused, cleared her throat with a blush forming on her cheeks as she tried again. The second time flowed much more smoothly from her throat and lips.
***

Spirit watched eagerly as the two mares spoke amongst themselves, wondering what it was they were discussing. By the occasional glances his way it was obviously about him. Of course it would be! That had him standing a little taller and practically preening in confidence.

The white one came forward, his attention following suit as he watched. Waited. Then a sound reached his ears. Ears that quickly slicked back at the harsh voice aimed his way. It took every bit of willpower not to nicker in laughter and what smirk that had begun to form at the edge of his muzzle slackened into a thin line as a word was finally spoken.

"Greetings."

It was spoken with confidence, that much he could tell, even if the accent was questionable, certainly. All of that didn't matter only the fact that there was communication happening and he understood it.

"That's wonderful! You can speak my language too!?" came a speedy response from the stallion.

The white mare took a moment to decipher the words spoken to her and she held up a leg to hopefully promote her next wave of speech.

"Not good at speaking language. Speak slowly so I understand, proper." If only Celestia was one hundred percent confident at what she was saying. Thankfully Spirit made no comment to the butchering of his language but did keep a hopeful smile plastered across his lips.

"Where am I? Who are you?"

"Equestria." The answer came out strong which garnered a tilt of the stallion's head. The white mare touched her chest with a hoof, something he's only seen the two-legs do. "I Celestia. This Luna." A beat of a pause followed, Celestia's muzzle scrunching cutely as she fumbled the yellow foal's name before finding a wording she was satisfied with, "This, Fluttershy."

Spirit followed where the white mare, this Celestia's hoof was pointing to each individual. Both of whom looked as if they were about to bowl over with laughter. Luna especially, while Fluttershy hid it demurely behind a hoof. Both waved their hooves at him, another motion the two-legs seemed to do to one another in greeting. Strange. "And you are?"

In a herd, on his world, names were never truly given. Everyone in the herd knew one another. Their scents. Their sounds. Their words. They were one unit flowing over the plains, hills, and rivers. However, there was one given to him by the only two-legged he considered a friend.

"Spirit. Nice to meet you, Celestia." Focused on the other two, he spoke their names in his language in turn, "Luna. Fluttershy."

"Do know how got here?" Celestia questioned curiously, ears pressed intently forward.

"No. Not really. I saw something in the forest and I got a little too close," he mused, a sheepish smirk forming, "I heard voices before a bright flash of light. Next thing I know there were five foals in front of me."

Celestia lifted a brow at the stallion's wording. "Foals?"

"Yes," Spirit answered, nodding his head in Fluttershy's direction.

That got a soft chuckle from Celestia, "No. Not foal. Adult pony."

Pony? That was a foreign word to him despite the use of his language. "Not a horse?"

"Similar. Not same but close," Celestia answered.

Spirit couldn't argue with that but was surprised to know who he considered foals were actually adult...ponies. He frowned and focused his attention upon the yellow pony. "Apologies, Fluttershy."

**********

"He's apologizing to you, Fluttershy. From what I can surmise, you are about as tall as a foal from his world so he thought all of you were foals," Celestia explained now shifting back into Poniish.

"Really? Oh, that's quite all right. Please tell him that for me, please?" Fluttershy asked of the Princess who nodded and did just so.

Spirit pressed forward, leaned his head down, and gave the yellow mare a sudden nuzzle of apologetic nature. She giggled and returned it as she would with any of her woodland creatures.

"His name is, assuming I'm translating this correctly, is Spirit."

"Is he truly one of the precursors?" Luna wondered intently.

"It is quite possible. Not him specifically. I cannot detect much magic from him but since we've exchanged words, his magical signature is becoming more and more pronounced. Whether he knows it or not, earth pony magic is flowing through him."

Spirit, for his part in the conversation, took the opportunity to further inspect both larger mares while they were conversing. This involved a sniff here. A sniff there. A press of a muzzle into a dark, almost starry night mane. The ethereal strands flowed over his snout, tickling as they did so.

Luna, the regal mistress of the Night, found herself shying away while pressing her wing against his face to prevent further physical inspection. Too far has he advanced into her personal space. This only lured his curiosity to her wings which were snuffled at as if testing whether they were real.

"Stop it. That tickles. Cease thy actions!" Luna was all but a hair's breadth from using 'knave' having slipped into Old-Poniish when excited -- or agitated, as the case may be. All said in half-snickers and a regal snort or two. "He's rather forward isn't he?"

"Oh just let him be, Luna. I don't think his kind has wings let alone seen them if I recall our history correctly." A pause allowed Celestia to glance up toward the spire protruding from her forehead, "Or horns."

With Celestia's attention shifted she was unaware of further movement by the stallion. Until she felt a muzzle most curiously feeling up her flank. It took all of her willpower not to lash out at the otherwise rude behavior. While the stallion might very well be getting more intimately familiar with her scent she gave him the benefit of the doubt. Much like an animal he was, so she knew patience was in order.

To Spirit's credit, he withdrew and asked the very question Celestia expected to eventually come up. The picture on their flanks. What was it?

Celestia smiled knowingly. The stallion was from another world of different rules. A different order. Spoke a very, very old language. Ultimately, she knew some form of education would be in order, one spent away from the public eye of Canterlot as to not overwhelm the new stallion. Gesturing with a wing, she bade him to sit as she reclined back onto her haunches. The others did the same; Spirit too, if not awkwardly. Both Luna and Celestia noted his form was not as flexible as their own, an evolution perhaps from the precursors to present times? They will know more in due time perhaps but for now, it was best to explain some ground rules, expectations, and assurance that they will do all in their power to get Spirit home.

Comments

[Venerable Ro]

Well now, a continuation! The image of Celestia speaking primordial equestrian is quite amusing.

[TheMyth]

Also, Luna x Spirit... I can so see foals in the future

[Green Cuppa]

As an old fan of the film, you've gained my attention. Will Spirit take interest in Celestia or Luna? Or perhaps both? I'd assume Celestia, for proportion reasons, but it could work with Luna, too.

I hope to see more updates with this story, soon!

Admittedly I am a little nervous with the gaps of dates between your updates, though. Still, I can definitely relate with that.

[Viper Pit]

9515780
All of the yes

[Emperor Draxgaroth]

you sir.... have gained a follower and a fan, l eagerly look forward to more of this story

[Xanderfox]

So basically the Princesses have never seen a "proper man" before?

[Sacred Blade]

9515830
I've been a bad pony I know. With the last season around the corner I want to get this on a more consistent update schedule of some sort. With the influx of good comments like this, more reason to keep at it :)

[Sacred Blade]

9516074
Precisely. When you only see smaller in stature stallions for hundreds of years, one that can match their height and is handsome as heck...

[Sacred Blade]

9516030
Thanks! I aim for more frequent updates.

[J-90]

Nice job. Waiting to see how the language barrier is fixed. And what else is there to come.

[rikithemonk]

Its an interesting story.

You have my interest, but I'm not sure how much you can do with this. Its basically a cave-man story, more or less.

The Monk

[Sacred Blade]

9516264
Fair enough. Honestly, I just wanted to throw Spirit into the mix and see what happens/what I can come up with. It'll mostly be slice of life but who knows-- not even me!

[rikithemonk]

9516373
I can see slice of life working.

Monk

[QueenChrysalisForever]

This is very entertaining! Can't wait to see more, as a fan of both MLP and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Please keep it up! :)

[LordMentat]

Looking forward to where this goes.

[Mix-up]

This is an interesting story, through I wonder what will be the main plot of the story, once he is adjusted to the place?

[Historylover]

Please continue this story

[Miles Skywalker]

sees title Oh awesome! I loved that movie!

Unedited and raw.

groans in Grammar Nazi Good thing I stocked up on Excedrin. Let's get this over with.

[TheMyth]

You continuing this?

[Nathar]

I'm loving this story, the Spirit ship with the sisters Celestia and Luna seems very funny and interesting to me, I would like you to continue doing this story

[xiwu]

11477695
This work has disappeared forever in the long river of history, and I'm afraid it will never be updated.