//------------------------------// // Chapter XI: Alphabet // Story: Distorted Fate // by Silvak //------------------------------// Aether is capable of communication!  Well, some level of communication. but it still means that I can finally ask her about her language!  Oh, the possibilities in linguistics that could be discovered once we can get her language translated, a language that isn't related to any known language known! Twilight thought to herself as she smiled at Aether.  She then realized that she was still standing in the doorway as she said, "Oops, I'm in your way.  Just let me stand aside for you, then," as she stepped aside, keeping her eyes on the filly. Aether walked inside, eyeing Twilight with suspicion that caused her smile to twitch a bit.  Closing the door after her, Twilight turned around to see the filly still eyeing her.  Before Twilight could open her mouth, Aether suddenly asked, "What do you want?" Blinking in confusion, Twilight responded, "What do you mean, Aether?" "I can see you want something from me.  Your smile is... not you, so tell me, what do you want." Blinking again, Twilight simply stared at Aether, dumbstruck by what she said.  How can she know that I want to learn her lan- no wait, she knows I want something, but she doesn't know what yet.  Still, it's amazing that a young filly like her was able to read me so easily... or am I an open book? Twilight thought to herself.  Chuckling to herself, Twilight averted her eyes from the filly for a moment, before looking back at Aether to say, "What do you mean?  I'm just happy to see you, Aether.  What's wrong with me being overjoyed at seeing a friend visiting?" Aether narrowed her eyes at Twilight, staring at her like she was staring into her soul.  "You no trick me. I see that smile is happy, but smile is happy for something else too.  Tell me what that something else is," Aether said as she folded her forelegs across her chest. Staring at Aether in shock, Twilight sighed as she revealed the truth, "Alright... I was excited that since you could talk, that there maybe a possibility that I could learn something about your language," finishing with a sheepish smile. Aether stared at Twilight for a moment, causing her smile to falter a bit before Aether shrugged and said, "Eh, we can talk about my words if you want." Staring at the Aether again, Twilight said, "Really?" "Yes, I see no harm in you learning my words, not like there is other ponies that can talk to you in my words." Twilight reared her head after hearing Aether's words.  Oh, no, I must have reminded her that she lost her family...  Looking at  Aether with a tinge of sadness on her face, Twilight said, "We don't have to talk about your language, that can wait for another time." Cocking an eyebrow, Aether responded, "Why not?  You was happy to have chance to learn my words, and I see no trouble in you learning my words." Baffled at the response, Twilight asked with caution, "Are you really okay with teaching me your language?"  After receiving a nod, Twilight continued, "You don't have any problems with it at all?" "No trouble for me. Might even learn your words better, maybe." "Okay..." Twilight said, before she get excited again at the prospect of learning about an unknown language.  She lit up her horn, various scrolls, inkwells, and quills came out of the woodwork as she seated herself in front of Aether with a scroll and quill ready to take notes.  "This is so exciting!  Think about all the phonetics we can learn from your language. It might introduce us to new possibilities in how we study ancient languages!  I can't wait to write... down... all..." Twilight said before coming to a stop.  Looking at Aether with a shocked expression, Twilight said, "Sorry, you probably don't know how to write..." "What‽  I know how to write, just not in your words," Aether replied with an annoyed huff.  Her expression suddenly changed to horror as she realized what she just revealed, looking at Twilight to see her face gaping at her before her mouth smiled an even more eerie smile then the one she had at the door. "Your language even has a written form, one that is not Equestrian!  This is even better than I can hope!  Not only now are we presented with an opportunity to advanced our linguistic understanding, but we can even uncover another writing system!  Your language might even be the key to translating some of the ancient documents in the Royal Canterlot Archives that nopony could translate!" Twilight exclaim as she continued on her rant, to Aether's displeasure. Who would have thought someone could go on a nerdy rant for this long, I thought as I listened to Twilight's rant go past the thirty minute mark.  I shouldn't have mentioned that I could write, although I thought it was harmless to mention at first due to the odds of these ponies ever getting a hand, or hoof so to say, on anything written in my language. I should have known better that Twilight would react this way. She was quite a nerd after all. Deciding that enough was enough, I shoved my hoof into her mouth, silencing her as I said, "No.  More.  Talking," before pulling it out to which Twilight smiling sheepishly after realization struck her. "Eh heh, sorry about getting carried away. The prospect of undiscovered knowledge was just too good to resist."  I watched as she levitated a scroll and quill over to me as she asked, "Would you mind writing down your alphabet first please?"  After giving her a blank stare due to not knowing what 'alphabet' means, she then said "Letters?" "Oh, yes, I can write down... the letters of my words," I said as I grabbed the quill with my hoof and got started.  It was frustrating to know so little of their vocabulary. I really needed to learn more about it so there would be no more confusion when I needed to converse with them.  After a few moments, I put the quill aside as I handed over the scroll back to her.  I watched her smile in joy as her eyes looked over scroll, before they widen in surprise. "Your... your language's alphabet has seventy four letters‽  How can you... I mean... wait, do you know our number system?" Twilight exclaimed in shock. "Yes, I know your numbers, I can count to the thousands.  What, not enough letters?" "Not enough‽  Equestrian only has twenty six letters!" Only twenty six?  Odd... and this makes things more complicated... for her... why can't there be some dimensional constant with alphabets... I thought before I replied, "That can be problem then..."  Twilight on the other hoof simply stared at the scroll before her until her creepy smile started to return.  Oh shit... "This is nothing more than a challenge to cultural studies, but one that we will overcome and all of ponykind will benefit culturally from your language and its alphabet.  To date, the largest known alphabet is barely over forty letters but yours is over seventy!  I can't wait to learn how that goes into your language's lingui-" Twilight ranted until I stuck a hoof into her mouth again.  This pony really needed to learn some self-control. "One thing at a time, one thing at a time.  Will be hard for you to learn the words of... my words if our letters are not the same," I said before removing my hoof. "You're right. I have a hard enough time wrapping my head around the thought of a language that has seventy four letters in its alphabet, but it’ll probably be the same for your case.  You’ll probably going to have a hard time with figuring out our alphabet. You must be used to having a bunch of different letters make different sounds, while we have just a few letters that make a lot of sounds when put together.”."  After I replied with a simple shrug, Twilight continued, "Pronunciation alone will be problematic, so it may be best to teach you our alphabet first so that you can write your language's words in our alphabet, if only your par-" before she stop as she averted her eyes as she gave a sheepish smile. "Twilight, I know what you were about to say," I deadpanned, giving her an expression that said that I wasn't fazed, at all. Releasing a nervous laugh, Twilight said, "Heh... sorry for bringing it up, though you are more mature than most fillies in their mid-twenties." As I was about to give the nod that says 'yeah yeah, let's just move on already,' I stopped dead in my tracks after my brain processed what she said.  Fabfffgabker- what! Mid-twenties!  What the fuck‽ I thought as I stared wide-eyed at Twilight, who looked back curiously as this was the first time my composure was completely broken. "Huh?  Don't you kn- oh!  Your culture might have different ways of tracking ages!  No wonder you're confused. Do you want to know how we keep track of our years?"  After I gave Twilight a dumbfounded nod, she continued, "Well, there's three hundred, sixty five days per year, with a day being twenty four hours." Hmmm... since after watching a clock out of sheer boredom I know they have sixty minutes to a hour, and sixty seconds... have to calculate the number of days per standard cycle... then have to adjust for the time difference in hours of my days to theirs... I thought to myself as I rubbed a hoof against my chin as I concentrated. "Ummm... Aether, you do know some basics about mathematics, right?   Or, well, how to do 'well with numbers'?  I mean, I don't expect a filly of your age to be ab-" Twilight said before I raised my hoof to interrupt her. "Quiet, I know numbers, let me think," I replied before returning to my thoughts.  Wish they stop thinking that I was an uneducated fool, now where was I... oh yeah, carry the five, divide by their days and... I'm about twenty seven... years old... and since I'm a child... fuck... if a foal of my age is in their mid-twenties... I'm gonna to be stuck as a child for... who knows how long... this is just grand.  At least this explains why I'm so young, though that doesn't help one fuckin bit. Releasing a frustrated sigh, I turned my attention back to Twilight as I murmured, "I am twenty seven years old..."  I was still disturbed at how long I was going to be stuck as a child, and not looking forward to the prospect of puberty, assuming ponies do have a puberty. "It's good that you know of math, though I'm now curious about if your culture has a different approach to mathematics, though you do seem to understand base ten numbers, so we do have some common grounds between our cultures after all.  I just wish I could meet an adult from your culture. There must be some mathematical formulas in your culture that  are unknown to us, and to think of the possible advances it would generate!" Twilight said as she went off on another rant of hers. Sighing to myself, I shook my head at how easily distracted Twilight could get.  If only you knew the real truth about me, but I'm not gonna let that come out.  Not worth the risk after the last time... I thought with a shudder as I remembered the last time I let the local population know that I was from another dimension.  I was lucky to escape with all my limbs intact and only end up having to pull foreign objects out of my body for days afterwards. Twilight continued on her rant until she noticed what time it was on the clock, for she instantly stopped to say, "Oh, look at the time. It's time for you to go home Aether." Looking at the clock, I replied, "It is only middle of day. What are you talking about?" "No, no. You have to go now, Aether.  Here, I'll accompany you home so you don't feel lonely," Twilight said as her horn alight and she levitated me onto her back before trotting out of the library.  What is it with ponies carrying me all over the place? It didn't took long for us to arrive back at the Sugarcube Corner before Twilight let me off her back.  However, instead of opening the door herself, she indicated with a hoof that I should go in first.  Eyeing her with suspicion, I opened the door only to see a void of darkness inside instead of the usual day-to-day business.  As I took a cautious step inside, the lights suddenly turned on, blinding me as I heard something right in front of my face yelling at me. "SURPRI-" THWACK!