Phase Shift

by redtau

Day 5: Learning to Speak the Native Tongue

Notes on another world Day 5

Now that I'm no longer some kind of secret among these six ponies it was becoming quickly apparent that the translation difficulties needed to be overcome. While one of the six, usually Purple, was accompanying me whenever I left the library it was near impossible to communicate by pantomime. My attempt to convince Purple to purchase eggs for me took nearly twenty minutes because he thought I was asking him to explain eggs. At least, I think he thought I was asking him to explain eggs. That's the only reason I can think of why he went to get a chicken and then proceeded to pantomime laying eggs. Having a Purple unicorn mime pooping in the middle of the market is not how I wanted to spend my morning.

Purple must agree with me because he is trying to teach me the language. Of course, with a mind like his, we aren't starting where you might think.

I tucked the journal away and looked at the complex scrawl that covered the chalkboard before me. Purple had started simply enough by pulling me to a seat and pulling out a dozen books, most of which were placed before me. The top three books were simple children's books with a word and a picture of what the word was. The next two were more advanced, and each one after appeared to double in length. Some of the bottom ones had a textbook kind of look to them. Purple'd started writing on the board and hadn't stopped writing or talking for nearly fifteen minutes.

<-and then we can progress up to conversational Equestrian which is harder than formalized but you should know most of the words by then. Any questions?> Purple turned around dramatically. I raised an eyebrow at him and he seemed to deflate a little. <Right, you didn't understand any of that.>

Picking up the children's book, I flipped through till I found a picture of an apple. I pointed at it. "Apple." I said.

<Is that your name for it?> Purple walked closer. <Apple>

"That doesn't sound right, I thought you called orange that. Ah pull."

<Do you want me to learn your language too? How exciting.> Purple smiled. "Aie ple?"

I nodded. It wasn't perfect, but it would do. <Tomato>

<What?! I thought you- oh, you aren't pronouncing it right. Ah pull>

<Darkness> I said slower.

<No, don't streach out the sounds, it changes the word. AH PULL>

<Apple> I tried again. Purple nodded and grinned even wider. "OK, lets see what else the book has." I turned the page and found what I could only assume was counting since it showed first one apple, then two apples, all the way up to five. I touched the first apple. <Apple>. "One <Apple>".

<Numbers? We aren't scheduled to do numbers for another three lessons.> Purple muttered looking back up at the board. I was surprised the concept of numbers confused him so. Maybe they counted differently? But I shouldn't be dealing with plurals yet. I tried again. "Whan <apple>"

"Whan aie ple." Purple tried again.

"One apple." I said, trying to correct him.

<What? That's not what you said earlier!> Purple let out a dejected sigh. <This might take a while.>

---

Purple walked down the market road, waving a hoof at items as they passed. "<That's the sofa store>" He said. "<Sofa>"

"<Furniture>" I dutifully repeated, accepting the nod that I now realized meant I was close, but not close enough. Still, it was better than pictograms. I smiled as I saw we were coming up to Orange's stall. Orange, his big red sister, and his little brother were all out today trying to entice buyers with their delicious wares. In addition to fresh apples there were also jars of sauce, jam, and pie filling, along with several baked goods. The sign across the front was almost illegible to me, but I was able to make out one word. "<Apples!>" I said happily.

"<Right,>" Purple said with a big grin, "<Those are apples.>"

"<Correct object apple>" I mimicked.

Purple sighed and turned to Orange and his family. "<How are things going today Applejack?>"

"<Not too bad,>" Orange responded, "<Ah'm tryin' to get Applebuck ta help sell apples, though I've given him tha job o' crier ta attract customers. Don't want him fillin' up bags with unwanted apples.>"

"<Hey there!>" Little Yellow said, bouncing around the side of the cart towards me. "<Ya wanna help sell stuff?>" He held up an apple to me.

"<Apple>" I said carefully, taking it from him. He grinned up at me and nodded.

"<Say it louder!>" He said, then yelled "<APPLES>"

"<APPLE!>" I repeated louder, earning the attention of several nearby ponies. A few came over to investigate me and the food stand.

"<Buy some apples!>" Little yellow said. I quirked an eyebrow. There were a couple new words there and I wasn't sure what they meant.

"<Aquire?>" I tried.

"<Huh?>" Little yellow looked confused. "<"No, buy. Buh-eye">

"<Purchase>" I tried again. Little Yellow scrunched up his nose for a moment before nodding. I must have been close enough, but still far off. "<Purchase Apple>" I called.

"<No, it has to be a number of apples.>" He said, holding up one apple to me. I picked it and held it aloft.

"<Purchase One Apple>" I called.

"< No, not one!>" He said.

<"Negative?"> I replied, trying out the word he'd said. I recognized the one, so maybe this was a multiplier. Like how the number ten can be written with a one and a zero.

"<Not one>" He replied with a nod.

I lifted the apple again "<Purchase Negative One Apple>"

Orange looked from me to Purple. "<Is he telling folks to return my apples?>"

"<I'm not sure>" Purple replied.

Little yellow was trying to correct me again. Apparently I was giving the wrong number for the sale. <"Some! Say some apples! sss-uh-mmm>"

<"Quantity?"> I tried. I was picking up a lot of the language today.

<"OK, that's good enough"> Little yellow turned to the crowd. "<Buy some apples!>"

"<Purchase quantity apples!>" I mimicked. I felt like there was something lost in translation.

The crowed stomped their hooves but they were smiling so I guess it was applause? At any rate, a good number came over to the stand and Orange and his sister Big Red were busy with customers while I and Little Yellow continued to yell out to passersby.

It was a fun hour, with ponies coming and teaching me new words every now and again. I'd gotten that their money was <bit> and learned a few colors. From what I can tell there is either an inflection or some additional bit of the language that I'm not doing correctly. I had quite a few ponies laugh at my way of speaking, but at least it was good for business and the locals weren't treating me like some monster.

"<Look at that thing!>" a new voice called out. "<It sure is ugly!>"

I looked up to see a little pink colt and a grey colt trotting up, big smiles on their faces. Little Yellow pointed at me. "<He's not ugly!"> He said. There was that multiplier again. it was used as a descriptor though, so maybe it meant something else? Singular? Or maybe it was an adjective like very.

"<He is ugly>" the pink colt said, pointing at me.

"<He looks stupid too>" the grey colt added. "<You're just a big ugly stupid monster aren't you?" he said in a baby voice.

They were smiling, and they seemed to be using descriptive words. Nice? Odd? They were saying them in a cheerful way, so probably positive things. They didn't sound like <nice> or <unusual> which I had learned before.

"<He is not stupid!>" Little yellow said emphatically. "<He is not ugly and he is NOT A MONSTER!>"

He seemed pretty passionate about it. I smiled, having him say I was very nice or whatever was great. I reached a hand out and tousled his mane, something I'd done a few times and earned a grin. Little Yellow smiled up at me in response, so I knew I was on the right track.

"<Purchase quantity apple?>" I inquired, holding an apple out to the pink colt.

"<Nah, I'd rather teach you something.>" he said, waving with his hoof for me to lean down.

"Ah, <learning>" I understood that at least thanks to Purple's work that morning. I put the apple down and knelt closer.

"<I want you to call Applebuck a blank flank.>" He said, pointing at little yellow. "<Blank Flank. Got it>"

"<Void side?>" I tried.

"<By harmony you are stupid aren't you.>" the pink one said with a laugh before nodding. "<Go on.>"

I stood up and decided to show off a little bit, adding that adjective in. "<Negative Void Side!>" I announced, pointing at Little Yellow with a grin.

"<NO!>" Purple said.

"<Negative?>" I repeated.

"<No! Blank flank!>"

Good, he agreed with me. <"Negative void side."> I repeated with a nod.

"<"Ugh, you are an idiot.>" he said, pointing at me.

"<Foolish?>" I asked pointing at myself. That got a smile and a nod. "<Negative foolish>"

"<Ugh>" the grey and pink one huffed together. Maybe the adjective wasn't universal? Like how saying furry water didn't make sense.

I pointed at the pink one and tried one of the kind words he'd said earlier. "<Ignorant>".

That got a bad response. "<What did you call me?!>"

Oops, maybe that word only applied to upright creatures? Or pets? "<Hideous>" I said, trying the next word.

"<I'm not hideous!>" He yelled. "<You are hideous!>"

"<Hideous abomination>" I tried. "<Idiotic, ugly>" What was that word White had taught me? Attractive I think, he did like it when I applied it to him. "<Negative Slim abomination>" I finished with a grin. it was the biggest sentence I'd strung together all day. Everypony around me was impressed, even the three colts had their mouths hanging open in astonishment. Little Yellow fell over laughing I'd done so well, though little pink started to cry. I guess I'd surprised him.

"<WHAT DID YOU CALL MY BABY?!>"

I turned towards the sound in time to see a fast moving hoof, but I didn't see it for long.

---

I winced and moved the ice pack a bit, juggling between the stinging ache of the bruise and the sharp pain of an ice cream headache without the ice cream. I lay on my mat in my cage and closed my eyes for a moment to fight off a short wave a nausea left from my quick exit of the market. Purple had pulled the enraged mare off of me after only a few blows and teleported us home, scolding me the whole time. I don't even understand what I'd done. He got a good hour of lecturing me before a knock at the door interupted us. A well dressed pony handed over a formal looking letter a few pages long and then ran as Purple started shouting at him. Then he pulled a dozen books of the shelves, consulted them for a moment and started to dictate to the little dragon.

"<Furthermore, Mrs. Rich, the creature you assaulted today does not have a firm grasp of our language. If he called your son and his friend an ignorant, horrible, ugly, blank flanked abomination I can only imagine it is because he was mimicking things your son had taught him. If you really wish to pursue a lawsuit for defamation of character then you can expect a counter suit for either attacking an endangered species or assault of a foreign ambassador. Take some time to think it over before you make a move you will regret. Yours, Dusk Shine, Personal Student to PRINCE SOLARIS! Send it Barb.>" Purple finished with a shout that saw the little dragon incinerate yet another scroll of paper.

I shrugged and shifted the ice pack. Maybe someday Purple would write something worth keeping.

Comments

[nighters]

worth it!

[OmicroniX]

Very good. And not dead! Yay