Fading Suns: A New World

by David Silver

6 - Speech

Despite one odd evening when he returned to his new home to find the larger horse doing the windows without help of her psionic power or wings, Laud fell into a sort of routine. He met the grey horse somewhere quiet and they would go over letters and words, trying to expand his grasp of the horse language.

His speech was impeded. It always would be. When the pink one was there, she explained it as if he always had a sickness. His face was flat, compared to theirs. How surprising was it really that his words would come out with an accent if nothing else. That mattered little compared to the simple fact that he could actually speak something, and understood more than obvious emotions.

"You sister help me," he said to the pink one.

She smiled quite happilly. "Maud is the best!"

"At what?" challenged Maud with a straight face, which was about her only expression save for the occasional lifted brow.

"At everything," reported the pink one.

Speaking of pink ones, Laud pointed at her. "You name?"

"Pinkie, didn't I say that?"

"What mean?" His words were far from eloquent, but he was saying it, dang it, and that felt good.

"Mean?" She tilted her head. "Pink. Color?" She reached out a hoof and pointed at it with the other forehoof. "With a little 'ie' at the end. Pink, Ie. My full name is Pinkamena Diane Pie."

Her full name was beyond comprehension, but he held onto the simpler common name she seemed to prefer anyway. "Pinkie. I am Laud Mountbatten." His own name was spoken in English. What would the Equestrian translation be?

Maud nodded softly. "Maud Pie. Do you wish to continue the lesson?"

"I questions." Perhaps it was foolish to try, but he had to. "Who..." Uck, he didn't have the word. "Pony above ponies."

Maud looked curious, but Pinkie was bouncing up and down. "Do you mean a leader?" Laud looked confused. "A pony that tells other ponies what to do."

"Yes!" He beamed with gratitude that Pinkie had understood. "Leader. Who Leader?"

Pinkie tapped at her chin. "Well... There's (unknown) Mare. She's tells ponies in Ponyville what to do. There's Twilight." She thrust a hoof at the castle. "She's a princess! So she can tell ponies what to do. But there's a pony above her. Princess (unknown) and Princess (unknown). They're (unknown) and they're in charge of alllllll Equestria."

That was getting somewhere. Laud's caretaker had a position of some authority, which made sense, but was not the highest. He felt it would be prudent to eventually meet the top of the social chain, but perhaps he could start lower and work his way up. Few rulers appreciated others skipping the ranks, so to speak. But before he could do that... "Learn more." He settled with Maud.

Maud opened the book, as patient as ever. "Did Pinkie say anything you didn't understand?"

Oh, plenty, and Laud happily tried to repeat the words. The lessons would continue. He would compose himself as a proper noble.

---

Twilight nodded at Spike. "Did you get all that?"

Spike's eyes ran over the thick scroll in his claws. "Think so. Should I send it?"

"Please." Twilight bobbed her head. "I had thought to keep this to myself, but that may be irresponsible. What if Celestia already knows what this is and has a plan for it?"

Spike rolled the scroll up tight. With a soft puff, the scroll was consumed by flames, the magic that made up his breath and the paper rushed out of sight, bound for Canterlot. "She'll get back to us quickly. She usually does."

"I hope so." Twilight's eyes fell to the pile of scrap she had managed to create organized piles out of. "My attempts to decipher this on my own have been... slow at best."

Spike crouched down and prodded a discarded bit. "So, why aren't you just asking Laud?"

Twilight blinked at that. "I would if I could, but he doesn't speak our language, and may never. Cheerilee said he stopped coming by for lessons."

"Oh, yeah, he's with Maud." He sounded as if that were common knowledge, nothing to speak of.

"Maud?!" Twilight practically pounced Spike. "Why is he with Maud?!"

He shrugged helplessly. "I dunno, he seems to like listening to her. They talk over letters and stuff and I think he just likes her more than Cheerilee. Why?"

"Why?!" She shook him a moment before letting him back to the ground. "This is huge! It means he hasn't given up on learning. In fact, if he's chosen a teacher, it may very well mean he's farther ahead than I would have hoped for. Where are they? Do you know?"

Spike dusted himself off lightly. "I bet Pinkie'd know."

"She knew?! Was I the only one that didn't? Don't answer that." Her wings unfurled. "I'm going to look for either of them. Let me know if Princess Celestia responds while I'm gone."

Twilight launched out a window, soaring towards Ponyville. Descending the stairs came Starlight. "Did I just hear Twilight having a meltdown?"

Spike smirked at that. "Starting to recognize it?" He pointed both fingers at Starlight from either claw. "Welcome to the club. She's out of her head about that alien guy."

"The human?" asked Starlight. "I've been checking my own things off and on. What if he's actually from a mirror world? Maybe he wants to go back home."

"Maybe," said Spike with thick uncertainty. "But didn't he come in this thing?" He waved over the great collection of junk. "Why would he need all that if he just stepped through a mirror?"

"Maybe it wasn't a normal mirror?" argued Starlight with a little snort. "I don't know, but you can't rule it out. So what has Twilight worked up today specifically?"

"She just heard Laud--" He stopped when he saw Starlight looking confused. "The human, his name?"

"Oh, right, sorry. What about Laud?"

"He's stopped going to Cheerilee for language lessons and has been going to Maud instead." He shrugged. "It doesn't surprise me all that much."

Starlight's head tilted a little. "Maud's a great pony, but a teacher? Why?"

Spike hopped over a small pile of stuff, making his way free of the room. "Well, to start, she isn't a teacher of foals, which maybe a grown person feels awkward being taught by."

Starlight winced as she followed after him. "I hadn't considered it from that angle, but what makes Maud a good choice for that, instead of just 'better than a foal teacher'?"

Spike extended a finger just to count on it. "She speaks slowly. She speaks directly. If she's willing to do a thing, she's very patient." He pivoted in place to face Starlight. "And! Most importantly, she wants to, really bad."

"Why?" Starlight looked Spike over curiously. "You sure seem to know a lot about this."

He shrugged. "I pony watch sometimes. She's a rocktor, he has a lot of new rocks." He jerked a thumb at the room they had left. "She wants to ask him questions. So, if she can get him talking, she wins. She's not being entirely selfless, even if Laud probably appreciates it."

Starlight shook her head as they approached the kitchen. "When you put your head to it, you really can understand ponies. So, how's he doing? I mean Laud, with talking. Can he?" Her brows went up together. "Didn't Twilight say he wouldn't be able to?"

"She did, but Twilight isn't always right." He hopped up onto a stool and started grabbing ingredients. "He sounds like a pony with a bad cold, but he's learning. I ran into him this morning and he said 'Hi'."

Starlight sat down beside him, helping him casually with a glowing horn, grabbing what it seemed he wanted. "Is that all he said?"

"He's still learning." Spike shrugged as he began to assemble food out of the parts. "I said 'hey' back. He asked what my name was, so I told him, then he said hi again with my name. He seems polite at least. Oh! He did ask for something that confused me at first."

"Yeah?" Starlight's eyes went to the bowl and the sprinkle of gems that went into it. "Are you making a gem cake?"

Spike's tongue went over his scaled lip. "You betcha! Want some?"

"Oh, uh, thanks, but I'll pass. This is all yours." Starlight was in no hurry to test her intestinal fortitude with gems. "What did he ask?"

"He asked for 'sharp metal'. I pointed at the sword he always kept on him. That wasn't what he wanted."

Starlight's eyes shone with curiosity. "So did you find out what he wanted?"

"A razor, for grooming his face fur." He grinned lopsidedly. "Most ponies I know just use scissors."

Starlight shook her head. "A razor's only good if you're taking it all off. No wonder his facial fur looked so specific. In a way, that's a relief. Any creature that takes time to look right must not be entirely stressed out. I mean, I'd be a little bent out of shape if I were in his position."

---

Maud had excused herself, leaving Laud to Pinkie's care. He did not attempt to continue the language lessons. Pinkie seemed kind, certainly, but perhaps too kind and energetic. She spoke excitedly and often ran her words on themselves, making her a poor target for learning new words from. Still, she was a friendly pony. "So!" She started, bouncing on her hooves. "Now that we can talk a little, it's long past time we had your welcome party."

He understood most of that. "Party?"

She tilted her head left then right. "You know, when a lot of ponies come together and (unknown) something?" She threw her hooves wide. "We haveta say 'Welcome Laud!'. You'll get to meet (unknown) of ponies and play games and have fun. Doesn't that sound great?" She leaned in, her face a scant inch from his own.

It was a gross violation of personal space. It was also expected of Pinkie. She did it to Maud constantly, and Maud handled it stoically, even if Laud could see, just subtly, that Maud would prefer her space respected. He wouldn't mind having his own space respected, but shoving her away in the midst of her friendly words didn't seem well-timed. He wouldn't insult the sister of his teacher.

The idea of a gathering intrigued Laud. It would be a chance to meet others, and maybe begin introducing himself to those in charge, starting with the mayor. He hadn't seen a single police force since he had arrived. How did these ponies defend themselves? He had a lot to discuss, but was he ready? "We party when Maud says I ready."

Pinkie pouted at that. "Aw... You can already talk (unknown) good."

With a bright flash of sparkles, Twilight appeared with the disruption of powerful magic. "There you are!" She was facing Laud directly, her expression somewhat strained. "You can talk?!"

He had hoped to unveil that when he had more practice and at least the start of elegance, but lying would not serve him in the situation. "Hello. Nice to see you, Princess Twilight." He gave a formal half-bow.

Her expression became one of outright shock. "O-oh! Um, hello, Laud."

"Laud Mountbatten, of house Hawkwood," Laud corrected. The words to say his name properly were of high priority, even if 'house' came out more as 'family'. The ponies didn't have the same political structures.

"Oh, um." Twilight glanced at Pinkie and back at him. "I don't have a formal 'house'. A pleasure to make your proper acquaintance, Laud Mountbatten. If I'm a princess, what are you?"

There was a question he was not yet ready to answer. "I don't know word. Below prince or princess, above mayor."

"Well, (unknown), you are welcome to Equestria." She dipped her own head with some formality. "I heard you were learning from Maud?"

"You betcha!" piped up Pinkie. "Maud's been a (unknown) good teacher! Why, I (unknown) they--" She said much more, but it began to run together in a confusing mess as she gushed on and on about her sister.

Twilight nodded softly. "I'll have to thank her, next time I see her. Laud, we should (unknown) talk, if you're up to it?"

Author's Note:

The language barrier has a hole in it, and Twilight is eager to peek through it. What manner of typos will result?

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Comments

[StarzGecko]

Laud isn't ready for a huge talk yet Twilight... Man, sometimes she jumps to conclusions to fast at times, she's going to be upset when many words of questions she ask Laud won't understand...

I'm sure she isn't going to be patient like Maud...

Laud make her blow up!

[badninja]

Well at least they are now communicating now. I do wonder how Princess Celestia will react to the news.

[Booster Spice]

At this rate, someone is going to have to do the broken mic comedy routine at the Party. Especially if all the words that are missing are those that Laud cannot understand yet.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Avenue Q said it best: Every time you do good deeds, you're also serving your own needs. What helps Laud helps Maud, and so she continues teaching him. A shame Twilight can't hold her horses until he's comfortable talking to her. It says something when you're more impatient than Pinkie.

[StarChaser01]

"I had thought to keep this to myself, but that may be irresponsible. 

Yah think?

Seriously, WHY would she keep this to herself in the first place? She has a direct line to someone with WAY more experience than her, even if it isn't directly "contact with aliens", "contact with other race" should be close enough to have SOME crossover in terms of experience!

[tsaukpaetra]

so it's been a little over a week then, gotcha.

[redmar]

It's good that they can talk to eachother. I am slightly dissapointed that Spike got away with cheating on a bet since he could have just told Twilight his observations from the last chapter when she asked him why he thought Laud was male.

[David Silver]

8898029
Twilight was not in the listening mood. She had a theory and she was hot on its trail, and Spike followed along with a smirk.

[LucarioFan2066]

8898568
When is she ever in a listening mood, when she's on a roll? Even if that roll ends with her in a ditch, it takes quite a bit of effort to make her realign her path - er, change her thought processes.

I'd say 'stubborn as a mule', but I just know a mule will be right next to me and I'd have to apologise.

[Animatorsnake]

I find it confusing how the perspective works in this story, especially the parts with Laud in it, is it focusing on his perspective, then so that'll explain the unknowns then

[Skittlebug]

9220763
No offence taken.