Anonymous presents: Anonymity Anonimised Anonymously

Anonymous runs the local shop around here. We don't know why Anonymous introduces himself by that name, or why he's male, or why he sometimes likes to be called 'Anon'. It's weird that none of the ponies around here seems to care that a new creature made its home in Ponyville of all places, or that the nexus of all strange events seem to happen int he Everfree, even though we've only been there probably less than ten times in the whole show. Oops, I'm breaking the fourth wall again, which is annoying. Anyway, this story isn't about him. It's about me. Or more the story of my struggles in trying to read a newspaper.

"You ever wonder what makes the sky so blue?"

"No Rainbow, I don't. I know what makes the sky so blue."

The pegasus gets down from her cloud... that can somehow exist at surface-level altitude. Her face looks like my dog's when he accidentally bit into a lemon. "Gees," she mumbles in disappointment. "You're no fun."

I sighed and fold up the newspaper. I hated the dang things, I'd always get some of the ink on my fingers. What would I give to read online articles again. Still, they were one of the few sources of entertainment around here, especially when you wanted to do something alone. I stared at the bored pegasus with raised eyebrows and crossed arms.

"So what makes the sky blue?" I finally asked.

Rainbow blinks at me and cocks her head. "What?"

"Well don't you know the answer, isn't that why you asked?"

She looks at me like I'd grown a second head. "Uhh, no," she replied as if it was obvious. "Why would I ask you a question if I knew the answer?"

I gestured helplessly. "Some people like to know if someone else knows what they know, you know?"

Rainbow shook her head. "No," she shot back. "I don't."

With a sigh I sat back on my bench and leaned into my hands. "Okay," I said, "if that's all you wanted to know, why are you still here? In fact, why bother me when you have Twilight? She probably knows the answer too."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "When she explains stuff she always makes this prim voice, kind of like Rarity. Besides, she always explains it in a complicated way."

I shrugged and patted the bench next to me. "Fine, so you want it simple?"

Rainbow nodded eagerly and sat down on the bench next me. Actually, from the posture it was more like lying down rather than sitting. "Yeah," she said. "Make it simple."

I carefully framed my thoughts for a short moment. Hmm, got it.

"The sky is blue because the air is blue," I said.

"Really?" Rainbow frowned. "How come the sky is red at sunset?"

I raised an eyebrow. "That's a bit more difficult," I said, running my fingers through my hair. "The sky is red then because the angle of the sun is low. Red light scatters more then."

"Scatters?" Rainbow's eyebrows drew together in intense concentration. "What like kind of like a rainbow?"

"Yeah," I chuckled. "Kind of like that. The other colours don't scatter as much, and there's some complex chemistry and physics involved, but that's the gist of it."

"Hmm." Rainbow absorbed the information and nodded to herself. "Alright. I guess I get it."

"Anything else?" I asked.

Rainbow shook her head. "Nah, if I need anything else I'll come around again."

"Alright," I said. "But try to catch me when I'm doing something unimportant."

She snorted. "What like reading the Foal Free Press? That's the local newspaper made by the foals at school, you know?"

I glanced at the newspaper. "Huh, so that explains why its so good." Better than the junk I get in my world's media.

Rainbow waved a couple of times and flew off, leaving her familiar Rainbow contrail behind. I picked up the paper, but noticed Twilight standing there with a confused look on her face. With a sigh I put it back down again.

"What?" I asked.

Twilight snapped her focus to me, then shook her head. "How come she just accepts your explanation?! You didn't cite anything, or even go into the scientific history!" she exclaimed, folding her arms and sitting down in huff next to me.

"Teaching is different," I said to her. "You have to condense everything into the appropriate size for each student."

I glanced sidelong at her. "In your case, it'd probably be expand, though."

Twilight chuckled slightly. "If you're such a good teacher, why weren't you one on your world?"

I looked up at the sky, my eyes seeing things other than the clouds floating above.

"No reason," I lied. "It just wasn't the job for me."

Comments

[Tuong Lu Kim]

orig12.deviantart.net/6f50/f/2012/164/b/d/get_dunked_by_khorme-d53exwh.png
Get dunked on Twilight!
Since when have we been playing basketball, and why do I get the feeling like the universe is laughing at me? How is that even scientifically possible?
*looks at Twilight piteously* Silly Twi! Don't you know that there are some things your mortal mind can't comprehend? Buuut...maybe you can ask Anon to teach you the rest? *waggles eyebrows*
Grrr...
I must go now. My planet needs me. Kazaam! *vanishes in a cloud of glitter*