Chapter 3: Words
Cupcake slowly began to stir, warm morning light illuminated the room. She opened her eyes, let out a yawn, stretched and brought a forelimb up to her face to rub the sleep from her eyes. Looking to the side she was greeted with the sight of her husband sleeping contently. Reaching out she gave him a nudge, "Honey, time to get up."
Shaking off her hoof, Carrot Cake rolled over mumbling something unintelligible. It was always a struggle to get her husband out of bed in the morning. Not willing to let him fall back asleep she tried once more to rouse him. "Today will be busy and we will need the extra time to prepare", she insisted but was quickly shrugged off once more. Letting out a sigh she got up and took a couple of steps towards the door then looked back over her shoulder. "Fine, I am going to freshen up but if you are still in bed by the time I come back I will bring the twins, and you know how much they love to wake up Papa." A devilish smile crept across her face.
She watched his ears twitch as his tired mind processed the information. A moment later his eyes opened wide and he shot up into a sitting position. "I'm up. I'm up." Letting out a giggle at his reaction she left the room.
With great efficiency she cleaned herself up and styled her mane. She exited the bathroom she made her way down the hall to check on Pound and Pumpkin. Slowly she opened the door and peeked inside. Pound Cake had once again found his way into Pumpkin's bed. She smiled at the sight, Pumpkin had her hooves wrapped around her brother holding him tight like an oversized stuffed animal. Not wanting to disturb their slumber she slowly backed her way out of the room and softly closed the door.
~CRASH~
Cupcake jumped and let out a short startled yelp. Remembering that the twins were still sleeping she held her breath hoping they had not been awoken. Moments passed then she let out a sigh of relief as their room remained quiet.
Turning her attention to the source of the noise she made her way down the hall and up a set of stairs. As she approached a bright pink door the sounds moving objects became more pronounced. Reaching up with a hoof she knocked on the door. "Pinkie?", she inquired unsure if she really wanted to know what was happening on the other side of the door.
The shuffling stopped and the door opened revealing a smiling Pinkie. "Oh, hey Mrs. Cake, Sorry about the noise I was just cleaning my room." Pinkie stepped to the side reveal an almost spotless room with only a small pile of random objects sitting next to a rug.
"Well that's fine, but can you keep the noise down? The twins are still sleeping."
"Sorry", Pinkie said with a sheepish smile while rubbing her mane with a hoof, "I kinda forgot about them since I have so many more things I need to get ready for the weekend. Oh that reminds me, do you have a spare cot that I could set up in my room?"
Mrs Cake tilted her head confused, "Why do you need a cot?"
"Well... when I was visiting Soft Snow yesterday...”
“Soft Snow?”
“It’s the name we gave the lost colt.” She nodded her head, “Well anyway, Caring Skies asked if I would be willing to be his foster parent and I said yes!"
Mrs Cake thought processes ground to a screeching halt, she opened her mouth to say something but she could not find her voice. She just stared at Pinkie in shock. After a minute of silence Mrs Cake found her voice once more. "Pinkie", she began adopting a stern voice, "We need to talk."
"Sure thing", Pinkie said ushering Mrs Cake into her room. "Just let me put away these last couple things" Mrs Cake made herself conformable on a chair across from a small love seat. She watched Pinkie as she lifted her rug and swept the pile of random object under it creating a rather noticeable bulge. Pinkie eyed the bulge for a second then began jump on it. Every time she landed the bulge became smaller until the rug was once more flush with the floor. Satisfied with her work she made her way over to the love seat and sat herself down. "So what do you want to talk about?"
Mrs Cake brought a hoof up to her mouth and let a small cough, most of the time Pinkie's antics did not phase her but every once in awhile she would do something that caught her off guard. "Pinkie…”, She began after finding her voice, “Before I start, know that I would never turn away a foal in need, but since we are your landlords you should of talked with us before agreeing to be a foster parent."
Pinkie lost some of her cheerfulness and shied away slightly from Mrs Cake's scolding. "Sorry", she mumbled looking down at her hooves.
"It’s fine Pinkie", assured Mrs Cake which made Pinkie look up at her with a hopeful smile, "We share many common areas in this building so in the future I want you to promise that you will consult with myself or Carrot before you make any decisions that could change the social dynamic of this household."
Pinkie nodded, "I promise", she went through the motions for her particular brand of promise.
"Good", said Mrs Cake her tone brightening, "Now then, when do I get to meet my new nephew!"
The morning air was brisk with a gentle wind picking up little tufts of snow causing the flakes to perform a slow dance across the road.
"Do you really need to drag me there in your magic?" complained Rainbow Dash, her forelimbs crossed as she cast an annoyed glare at a particular unicorn from within the cyan aura of her magic.
"Well would you come willingly otherwise?"
"Well no but.."
"My point exactly. Anyways, there is nothing better than the spa the day after the first snowfall. A warm mud bath is the perfect thing to take the the chills out of your bones."
"Come on Rainbow, it won't be so bad. I could use a bit of time to relax after getting the farm ready for winter", Applejack assured. "Though I think I’ll skip the mud bath," Applejack’s face contorted in disgust. "I get enough dirt on myself working the farm so I see no reason why I would bathe in it. Ah'm looking forward to curl up and doze off in a nice warm Sauna."
"Um.. I just want to soak in a nice warm bath", said a timid voice hiding behind a pink mane, Fluttershy had been trying her best not to involve herself in her friends bickering.
"Well I guess to each their own, I'm just glad that you girls could join me today."
They rounded the corner and Sugarcube Corner could be seen fast approaching in the distance. "I'm disappointed that Twilight was too busy to join us but I’m sure Pinkie will be thrilled to come." As if reading her mind the door to Sugarcube Corner opened revealing Pinkie. "Pinkie!", exclaimed Rarity while waving a hoof trying getting her attention.
“Hey guys, what’s up?" asked Pinkie as she waved back and made her way towards her friends.
"We were just heading to the spa and were wondering if your would care to join us?"
"Sorry I can't, I need some reading material on how to properly care for my foal." Rarity's magic suddenly faltered and Rainbow Dash fell to the ground barely noticing the impact, all four of them stared in shock at Pinkie's revelation. "Have fun at the spa!" Pinkie called, already bouncing down the street.
Applejack was the first to recover and rushed forward and clamped down on Pinkie's tail with her mouth pulling back sharply. "Wo nelly" Applejack began in the sternest voice she could muster, "You’re not going anywhere until you tell us what the hay is going on."
Rarity’s eye’s sparkled, “Yes do tell, who’s the stallion?”
“Hmmmm…. Well over there is Time Turner, near the barrels is Burnt Oak, and by the Spa is Bulk Biceps!”
“Arrrggg! she meant, who’s the father of your foal!”
“I don’t know!”
“Oh my.” Fluttershy raised a hoof up to mouth in shock.
Rainbow flew up and pinkie and got in her face. “How can you be pregnant and not know who the father is?”
“Silly filly, there’s no bun in this oven.” Pinkie waved a hoof dismissively, “I’m going to foster Soft Snow!” Pinkie then shared the story of how she found Snow and ended up agreeing to be his foster parent..
Rainbow’s face became contorted with anger, “Let me get this straight, a foal was left to fend for itself in the middle of an Everfree storm?” Pinkie nodded.
Fluttershy flew up to her enraged friend and placed a hoof on her withers “It’s ok Rainbow, Pinkie found him so he’s safe now.”
“Who the buck forgets about their foal anyway!”
“Ah’m right disappointed myself but Fluttershy is right, he’s safe now so there is no point getting our tails in a knot.”
Dash let out a sigh and looked at Applejack, “I suppose you're right.”
Rarity took advantage of the lull in the conversation and turned to Pinkie,"Pinkie, it sure sounds like you will have your hooves full but I am impressed you took the initiative to do something so important for Snow." Rarity placed a hoof on Pinkie’s withers, "I may not be a parent but Sweetie stays at my place often enough that I have picked up a few tricks on how to handle foals. If you need any help I would be more than willing to lend a hoof."
“Aww, Thanks guys.”
"Oh it's no problem dear. Now we won't keep you anymore" Pinkie nodded, waved at her friends then departed. Rarity turned to face her other friends, "Now then off to the spa!", she exclaimed triumphantly. She blinked noticing that Rainbow Dash was missing. Looking around she tried to spot her. In the distance she heard a loud boom and let out a sigh of disappointment.
Pinkie stuck her head through the door of the castle's library scanning the room for Twilight. At the far end she saw her hunched over a desk with a book. A quill was held in her magical aura and she was vigorously taking notes oblivious to her surroundings.
Pinkie smiled brightly as she approached her friend. "Hey Twilight", she called out loud enough to get her attention.
"Hmm Huh?" Twilight looked up from her book, "Oh hey! Pinkie, what brings you by?"
"Do you have any books on parenting or raising foals?"
Twilight got up from her desk and made her way towards a bookcase to her left, "Anything we have on parenting should be over here." She scanned the titles pulling out the odd book that she thought Pinkie might be useful. “Are you looking for foalsitting tips for when the Cakes leave the twins with you?”, she asked adding a fifth book to her ever increasing pile.
“Nope, I will have my own foal running around soon and I need some pointers on parenting.”
“What!?”
Pinkie bounced down the hall of the hospital towards Snow’s room, behind her followed Twilight who was wearing a saddle bag filled with various books she thought would be helpful for Soft Snow’s first equish lesson.
“It surprises me though that no one seems to know his language. Maybe I could help, I may only be fluent in two other languages but I should be able to identify which one he speaks.”
“Oh that would be perfect”, she rushed forward and wrapped her a tight hug. “I knew I could count on your help with this!”
“Pinkie!”, called a voice from behind them. Pinkie stopped, looked over her shoulder and saw Caring Skies making her way towards them.
“Good morning, Caring Skies!”
“Could I borrow you for a couple of minutes, I need you to sign some papers.”
“Sure thing.”
Pinkie and Twilight followed Skies into her office. Skies took a seat behind her desk and shuffled through the many folders on her desk. “Ah ha!”, she exclaimed stopping at one particular folder, “Here you are.” She pulled out an official looking document and presented it to Pinkie along with a quill. “I need you to sign this document here to officially make you Soft Snow’s legal guardian.”
Pinkie nodded and took the quill in her mouth, neatly she printed her full name where indicated then signed underneath it with her signature.
“Perfect” She took the paper back from Pinkie and added her own signature next to Pinkie’s then placed the paper back in the folder. She looked up at Pinkie and smiled, “Let me be the first to congratulate you on officially becoming a foster parent.”
Pinkie tensed up and a worried look crept across her face. Twilight noticed her apprehension reached forward and gave Pinkie a hug. “Congratulations Pinkie, I know you will do fine.” Her reassurance worked and Pinkie began to calm down.
“Now I won’t keep you any longer, I’m sure Snow will be delighted to see you.”
Pinkie and Twilight left the office and made their way to down the hall. Pinkie stopped in front of door to Soft Snow’s room, reached up with a hoof and gave it three swift knocks before she pushed her way in.
A smile crept across Pinkie’s face as she saw her ward sitting on his bed. Nurse Lemon Heart sat beside him feeding him large spoonfuls of oatmeal. His eyes met hers and he smiled with the spoon in his mouth and waved. Lemon heart frowned slightly as her hoof slipped off the utensil.
“Hey Mister, get back here with that spoon”, berated Lemon Heart with mock irritation while reaching forwards and pulling the spoon out of his mouth. With the spoon once more placed in the half eaten bowl of oatmeal she turned to the new arrivals. “Good morning Pinkie, Princess”, she bowed slightly her head at Twilight.
“Morning, Lemon Heart. I see someone is enjoying their breakfast.” Pinkie approached Soft Snow and gave him a gentle nuzzle on the top of the head.
“Yes he has quite the appetite but I’m still worried about him.” She grabbed another spoonful of oatmeal and presented it front of Soft Snow’s muzzle. He happily opened his mouth and chomped down on the offered spoon.
“What happened?” Pinkie asked with a worried expression.
“Well…”
She had been doing her rounds, but as she walked past Snow’s door she heard soft whimpers coming from the other side. She opened the door and poked her head through. On the bed she saw the colt, crying in his sleep.
She approached him and nuzzled him in an attempt to wake him up from his fitful sleep. He opened his eyes, looked towards her with tears streaming down his face. Without warning he reached forward with his fore-hooves and hugged her tightly, sobbing into her fur.
“Shhhh, it’s alright” she cooed slowly rubbing his back.
After fifteen minutes he had cried himself dry but still clung to her. She looked down at him and let out a sigh, “You know I am going to start to feel bad if every time you see me you have a negative reaction”, she complained.
She nuzzled him once more, wrinkling her nose as she pulled away. “Whew, someone needs a bath.” Using a hoof she shifted Soft Snow around her neck until he was comfortably positioned on her back.
“I feel bad for him, confused and sad but unable to express what could be wrong” added Lemon Heart after finishing her story.
“Well Pinkie and I were going to work on the language issue today. It will take some time but hopefully once he is fluent enough he can tell us what is wrong.”
Soft Snow finished eating, Lemon Heart gathered up the bowl and stood up to leave. “If you need anything just press this button next to his bed.” She pointed to a small button mounted on the wall behind the bed. “Good luck with his first lesson.” She left the room leaving Twilight and Pinkie to their own devices.
Snow sat on his bed and watched as the nurse left the room. The pink and lavender ponies sat in front of him discussing something he could not understand. His attention was drawn the lavender one, not only did she have wings, but protruding from her head was a horn.
Eventually they seemed to have come to an agreement, the pink pony approached him, standing just off to the side of his bed. She made eye contact with him ensuring she had his undivided attention. Raising a hoof she tapped it lightly against her chest while saying something very slowly. Next she did the same with the lavender pony who was stood next to her, this time using different words.
Snow tilted his head in confusion trying to figure out what she was telling him. It became evident that he was not understanding, she looked to her lavender friend and exchanged a few quick words. She nodded tried again, this time slower, repeating herself multiple times.
Snow paid rapt attention to her body language intently trying decipher her meaning. His eyes suddenly brightened in understanding, She was trying to tell him her name. Using a forehoof he pointed towards the pink pony. “~Pintie Pee~”, he tried the foreign syllables slurring in his mouth.
She gave him a smile and nodded her head in encouragement. Once more she pointed to herself and said her name slowly carefully enousiateting each syllable, “~Pinkie Pie~.”
Following her lead he tried once more, “~Pinkie Pie~.”
~Pinkie’s~ face brightened as he pronounced her name correctly. Using her forelegs she reached forward and embraced him in a tight hug. Releasing him she enthusiastically pointed her hoof towards the lavender pony, “~Twilight Sparkle~.”
He followed her lead, “~Dwikight Sartle~.” Pinkie shook her head and repeated herself. It took three tries but eventually he pronounced it correctly, “Twilight Sparkle.” ~Twilight~ gave him a smile and nodded her head.
There was one person in the room who had not been properly introduced yet. Lifting a hoof he pointed to himself and proudly declared, “Massak.”
Twilight stared wide eyed at him. She exclaimed something loudly and turned to Pinkie and went off on a tangent rapidly speaking their language. Eventually Pinkie was able to calm her down.
Turning to Snow Pinkie tried to pronounce his name, “~Qaatap~.” Soft Snow shook his head disapprovingly as she butchered his name. He repeated himself once more for her. “~Taallap~”, she tried again the syllables to his name still lost to her.
She tried for ten minutes to get his name right but no matter how she tried to pronounce his name it came out wrong. He let out a sigh of defeat and slumped down on the bed, he could not think of any way to help her with his name. Looking up at the plain tiled ceiling he tried to think of anything, then a thought occurred to him! He would let them give him a name but was not sure how he would get this across.
Lifting a hoof he pointed at Pinkie, “Pinkie”, he said then moved his hoof to pointed at Twilight. “Twilight.” Lastly he moved his hoof to himself and remained silent and waited for a few moments before he repeated the motions once more.
Pinkie nodded in understanding. She pointed a hoof at him, “~Soft Snow~”, she pronounced slowly and clearly.
Taking his time he repeated the name given to him, “~Soft Snow~.” He wasn’t sure why but the name felt right to him. He looked to Pinkie to ensure he pronounced it correctly, she smiled and nodded. “Soft Snow”, he played with the syllables as they flowed out of his mouth, letting out a small giggle.
Twilight watched as Pinkie taught Snow their names. He had a bit of trouble but after a couple of tries he was able to reproduce their names. When he said his own name though Twilight could not believe her ears, not only was he speaking a different language but he was used sounds she never knew a pony could make. Pinkie had tried her best to reproduce his name but no matter how she tried his name eluded her.
He eventually gave up, and allowed Pinkie to give him the name she had chosen. Much to Twilight’s relief he seemed to like the name given to him. He kept repeating it over and over giggling as he played with the sounds.
“So what should we teach him next?”, asked Pinkie interpreting Twilight's thoughts.
“I’m not sure, I’ve never taught a language before”, Twilight honestly admitted. She brought a hoof up and lightly tapped her chin in thought. “I think we should teach him how to express a ‘want’.”
“A ‘want’?”, Pinkie gave twilight a confused look.
“You know, A ‘want’. For example ‘I want a cupcake’”
“Really!?”, she reached into her mane and pulled out a box and opened it to reveal a large number of frosting covered treats. “I was going to share these later but you can have one now.”
Twilight promptly faced hooved, “Pinkie, I was giving an example. I don’t actually ‘want’ a cupcake.” She motioned with a hoof towards Snow. “With his mobility challenges it is important learn how to express his needs to others so he can obtain assistance.”
“I know, but this talk of cupcakes made me hungry so I thought we could use a snack” She popped one of the treats into her mouth swallowing it whole.
Twilight shook her head, she looked past Pinkie and saw Snow eying the box of cupcakes intently. “Ah ha”, exclaimed Twilight, “I know how we can teach him this.” She pointed toward the cupcakes, “Offer him a cupcake but teach him how to properly ask for it. But first let's teach ‘yes’ and ‘no’”
“Good idea Twily.” She began to nod her head up and down, “Yes”, then shook her head side to side, “No”. He watched her body language intently, eyes brightening in understanding reproduced ‘yes’ and ‘no’ while imitating Pinkie’s motions.
Satisfied she reached into the box and pulled out a cupcake with light blue frosting on top and turned to face Soft Snow. “Cupcake”, she said while presenting it to Snow.
He stared at the pastry for a moment seeming to think over the new word. “~Cupcake~”, He repeated the word back to her.
“Good job!”, Pinkie praised and gave him a gentle pat on the head. Next she pointed a hoof towards him then the cupcake, “Yes want cupcake?” She nodded her head up and down, then began to shake her head side to side, “No want cupcake.”
He mulled over the new word combination then gave Pinkie an uncertain look. “Yes want cupcake”, he hesitantly repeated back. Pinkie smiled and held out the cupcake for him. He reached forward with his fore-hooves and delicately sandwiched the cupcake between them without crushing it, brought it up to his mouth he took a satisfying bite.
“He is really catching on quickly, I want to try it something else though to make sure he actually understands.” Twilight lit her horn and disappeared in a flash of light.
Snow looked at where Twilight had stood and tilted his head in confusion. He pointed with a hoof where she once stood then looked to Pinkie for answers. “Twilight?”, he began to inquire unsure of the words to properly phrase his question.
Pinkie shrugged and opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by another flash of purple light. Soft Snow gave a startled yelp and looked wide eyed at Twilight. His eyes drifted from her to three cups which floated in the air wrapped in her lavender aura.
“Let's have him choose what he wants to drink, I brought water as well as orange and apple juice”, said Twilight not noticing the cautious look Snow was giving her.
She used her magic to levitate the cups towards Snow. Fearful of the the unknown force he tried to scurry away from the floating objects.
“Twilight stop, you're scaring him”
Twilight looked over at Soft Snow and saw that he backed himself right up against the headboard. Snow’s eyes were wide in alarm as he attempted to further push himself away from her. She frowned, “Sorry, I was not expecting that kind of reaction.” She brought to cups back towards herself. “I wonder why he is fearful of magic magic?”
“Oh I know Twilight, levitate a cup to me so we can show him that magic won’t hurt him.” Twilight nodded and passed Pinkie one of the cups. Pinkie reached out and grabbed the offered cup, as her hoof passed the outer edge of of Twilight’s aura the fur near the base of her hoof stood up on end as if charged by static electricity. Twilight released her magic once Pinkie had a firm grip on it.
Soft Snow’s fear turned to curiosity upon seeing that Pinkie remained unharmed. He pointed to one of the other cups, slowly Twilight levitated a cup towards him. Reaching out with a hoof he cautiously touched the cup. A giggle escaped his mouth as a ticklish sensation briefly went through the base of his hoof as his fur stood on end.
Satisfied that he would not be harmed, he removed his hoof. Twilight levitated the other two cups next to the first cup. Using her magic, she lowered one of the cups so he could get a good look at its contents.
“Water” said Twilight slowly.
“Wa-ter”, he tried saying each syllable slowly. “Water”, he tried once more saying the word faster.
“Good”, Twilight nodded then moved the cup back, brought the next one forward and repeated the process.
Once he pronounced all three liquids she posed the question, “Soft Snow want which?” Motioning with a hoof to each of the three cups.
He pondered the new word as he watched her body language. Eventually he spoke up, “Soft Snow,” He pointed to himself then motioned towards the middle cup, “Want apple juice.”
“He did it!” exclaimed Pinkie, proud of Snow’s progress.
“We have a good start so far.”, agreed Twilight as she levitated the cup of apple juice towards Soft Snow. “But it will take a lot more work to get him talking equish fluently.”
Soft Snow carefully positioned his hooves on either side of the cup and squeezed gently ensuring she had a firm grip. He took a sip, his eyes widened in delight as the sweet amber liquid touched his tongue. Quickly the contents of the cup disappeared and he let out a satisfied sigh.
He placed the cup on the bed then looked to the Pinkie and Twilight for instructions, they were once more talking amongst themselves unaware he was waiting on them. He cast his eyes around the room and realised that there were many things in the room he did not know the words for.
“Pinkie” he said in an attempt to get her attention. When she turned to look at him he used one hoof and tapped it against the bed. “Want….” he started then was silent, he wanted to ask their word for bed but did not know how to ask.
“Soft Snow want ~bed~?” She tilted her head in confusion.
He was to focused on trying to say the new word to notice Pinkie’s confusion. “B.. be.. Bed!” he exclaimed getting the word to sound right and beamed a smile at Pinkie. He looked around for another object to ask about. His eyes drifted to the cup sitting in front of him, he repeated his motions, “Pinkie, want..”
This time she understood what he was doing. “~What this~” she stated pointing to the cup.
He muld the words in his head for a moment before attempting himself. He tapped the cup once more as he tried the new words, “~What this~”
“~Cup~”, she said and pointed at the cup.
It was Soft Snow’s turn to be confused, she just told him two different words for the same object. “~Cup~”, he repeated not understanding what she was trying to convey with these new words. Deciding to move on rather than let her word play confuse him more he turned his attention to the table next to his bed and tapped it with a hoof. “Pinkie, want..”, he stated just as before.
Pinkie shook her head, “No, Pinkie want” she firmly stated. She pointed to the table, “~What this?~ Yes.”. She nodding her head.
He slowly processed her statement, his eyes widened with understanding. He Tapped his hoof against the table once more he proudly asked the question, “What this?”
“~Good job~, Snow” she praised and gave him a wide smile. She motioned with a hoof towards the table once more, “~Table~.”
He repeated the word back to her then looked for another object. They went back and forth, he would point out an object and she would tell him what it was called. After he pointed out six different things Twilight interrupted Pinkie. she smiled brightly and nodded her head.
She took a couple of steps forward and raised herself up and grabbed him by his scruff. She placed him on her back and made her way around the room pointing out things for him. There were so many new words that he found he could only remember a small portion of them.
Lemon Heart sat behind the front desk in the lobby going through medical charts with a bored expression on her face. Her ears twitched and she looked up, Pinkie, Snow and Twilight enter the lobby.
“What this?”, Snow asked motioning to the many chairs that dotted the lobby
“Chair”, Pinkie simply states.
Lemon Heart smiled, “Hey Pinkie”, she greated. “What brings you by my humble lobby?”
“We taught Snow how to ask what things are. Then Twilight mentioned it would be a good idea to tour the hospital so he could point out things he wanted to know.”
“Well he seems to be catching on quickly.”
“Not quite” Twilight started, “He might be curious but I don’t think he’s remembering many of the words that we tell him. He has asked what a door is three times to far... I’m sure he will get it eventually though.”
“Soft Snow”, Snow spoke up drawing the attention of the older mares as he pointed to himself. He then pointed a hoof towards Lemon Heart and remained silent.
“What’s he trying to say?” asked Lemon Heart confused by his actions.
“Oh, He is introducing himself and wants to know your name.”
“I see.” Lemon Heart pointed to herself, “Lemon Heart.”
Snow mulled over the word silently for a few moments. “Lemon Heart”, he repeated back to her then pointed at himself once more, “Soft Snow”
“It’s good to properly meet you Soft Snow” Snow tilted his head in confusion. “Oh right he does not know enough to understand” She brought up her clipboard to hide an embarrassed smirk.
Twilight looked towards the lobby’s door then turned to Pinkie and spoke up, “Pinkie, I have some things that I have put off that need to get done today.”
“OK, Thanks for your help Twily.”
“Any time.” She waved a hoof dismissively, “I left some reading material in the saddle bags in Snow’s room. Also going forward, talk slowly and point out new words as they pop up but try not to dumb down your grammar too much, this should help him pick up our language.”
“Okie Dokie.”
Twilight looked to Snow, “Bye Soft Snow.” she said and waved.
“Bye Twilight”, he responded back quickly catching on to her meaning.
Once Twilight left the lobby Lemon Heart spoke up, “ Pinkie, before I forget I was told to let you know that Snow’s first therapy session is today at three.”
“Ok.”
“I would love to stay and chat some more but it is time for me to do my rounds” Lemon Heart approached Snow, raised a hoof and playfully ruffled his mane, “Bye Snow”, she said in parting and walked down the hall.
Pinkie entered a large room with Snow lying on her back. The room was dotted with specialized objects to help ponies with different aspects of physical therapy. In one corner hung a harness attached to a set ceiling tracks that snaked around the room.
A forest green unicorn stallion took notice of their entrance and approached Pinkie. “Hello Pinkie”, He started, his eyes locked onto the small ball of white fur riding on her back. “I see you brought my new patient.” The stallion took a couple of steps forward to get a better look at Soft Snow.
“Yep, this is Soft Snow.”
He nodded and got closer to him then spoke in a soft comforting tone, “Hello little one, I’m Dr. Bones.”
He received a blank confused look from Soft Snow, “Um, he doesn’t speak equish yet. We just started teaching him today.”
“Oh”, he coughed slightly into a hoof in embarrassment. “Well then, Pinkie can you confirm a few things for me. The notes I have on him state he is having mobility issues his rear-hooves even though no injury or medical condition could be found to explain his difficulties.”
“That’s right.”
“Hmmm, alright” He nodded then walked over to a padded mat laying on the floor. “Put him down over here and I’ll see what we can do for him.”
Pinkie reached over her shoulder, grabbed Soft Snow by the scruff with her mouth, carried him over to the mat and gently set him down. Bones looked at Pinkie, “I am going to start with checking his range of motion.”
Approaching Snow’s side he encouraged him to roll over onto his side with his muzzel. Snow looked to Pinkie with apprehension visible on his face at the doctor's actions. She smiled and placed a reassuring hoof on his withers. Reaching forward with both forehooves Bones took hold of one of Snow’s forelegs and began to move it slowly testing it’s range of motion.
Satisfied he moved onto his rear leg and repeated his motions. Finishing with the leg he hmmed then encouraged Snow to roll over to his other side and repeated the motions with his other two legs.
“Good news, he seems to have a full range of motion in each leg.” He ‘hmmed’, then repositioned Snow so he was once more laying on his belly. Wrapping his hooves around his barrel he lifted him into a standing position. The tips of Snow’s hooves just touching the mat below. Slowly the doctor shifted Snow’s weight to hooves studying closely how his limbs reacted.
Snow’s forelegs held firm easily supporting him but his back legs quickly gave out as if they were made of rubber.
Bones let out a sigh, “Hmmm.. I don’t see anything that can readily explain his paralysis. My best guess would be some form of mental trauma as the doctors already ruled out the other possibilities”
“But you’ll still be able to help him right?”
“Pinkie I am a doctor not a miracle worker.” started Bones, “I’ll do what I can help him, but it will take time and a lot of effort to see any results. He will not get better over night.”
“So what needs to be done?”
“Today, nothing. This appointment was so I could assess his condition. Now that I have a better idea of what is wrong, I can put together a routine for his next session.” He levitated a piece of paper, a quill, and calendar from his desk and started to write furiously. “Going forward I want to see Snow three times a week.” He stole a quick glance at the calendar, “So that makes our next appointment on Monday. Also, I would like to start him on these exercises,” He offered the piece of paper he was working on to Pinkie. “he will need to do these everyday.”
Pinkie nodded, took the offered piece of paper and stored it in her mane for safe keeping. “Anything else I should know?”
“Nope that should be all for the day.”
She then turned to Snow and lifted him onto her back. “See you in a couple of days”, she stated then left the room.
Snow was tiredly laid on Pinkie’s back with a full belly as they made their way back to his room. They had eaten in the hospital's cafeteria, The food was slightly bland but at least it had been filling.
Entering the room, Pinkie gently lifted him off her back and placed him on his bed. She made her way to the saddle bags sitting near the foot of the bed. She rummaged around in them until finally she lifted out a small red book. She lifted herself up onto the bed and layed next to him.
With the book in front of him he studied the cover. It had a picture of a green lizard using a swing. “what this?” he inquired pointing to the lizard.
“~Alligator~”
He repeated the word as she opened the book. There were many pictures which depicted many things Snow did not know. The story seemed to be about a caramel pony who had a keychain in a similar shape to the Alligator on the cover attached to her saddlebags.
Pinkie began to read the story, she was slow and careful taking time to point out new words to him. He tried his best to follow along but found his understanding lacking but did his best to follow along with the pictures.
He let out a yawn as she finished the story and closed the book. His eyes were heavy and he fought to keep them open. Looking down at him she said something in a soft and cheerful tone as she lowered her head down and gave him a nuzzel. His body grew heavy and as sleep quickly took him.
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That doctor is the real mccoy isn't he?
Didn't notice too many problems.
"...left to fend for itself in the middle of a Everfree storm?” should be an Everfree storm.
“I wonder why he is fearful of magic magic?” has magic twice.
Other then those, great story. Looking forward to reading more.
FEATURED!!! Congrats!
7613198 Glad you caught the reference. You get a cookie.
7613199 Thanks for the catch.
7613202 That honestly surprised me.
Sauna?
Asking what a door was, DOORS ARE EVIL AND MUST ALL PERISH IN THE ABYSS
7613284 Fixed.
There were a few mistakes, but it wasn't so bad, I think you did an even better work for this chapter, the characters felt a lot more real then in the last chapter and you did a good job in demonstrating how they would get around the language barrier. The chapter was more focused on the Mane six this time around and I hope we will see more of Soft Snow's perspective and thoughts in the next chapter. the chapter was actually very consistent.
Keep up the good work.
shouldn't he maybe have tried to drink it too? At first I thought it would have made more sense to let him try it, but then again they don't think he is an alien, but only that he doesn't knows the words, so I think they only believe that he doesn't knows the words.
It is nice to see it again, I hope you make any timeskips small, so we can see if he is meeting more important Ponys for the firt time and stuff like that.
I'm not sure how such a situation would look like, but I thought about two things.
Mr. Cake somehow managing that Soft Snow doesn't like him, but Soft Snow would completely adore Mrs. Cupcake, or maybe Cupcake is the one killing him with love, while he tries to escape.
Another situation I would like to see is, Soft Snow misunderstanding the word mother, mom or whatever and calling Mrs. Cupcake his mother. Maybe Pinkie could react to that in a weird way,....just thinking.
i cant wait for the next chapter
I see that soft snow is both a he and a she after all you called him a she one sentence and a he the next.
7830655 oops I will look and fix that.
7830923 thx friend it happens to everyone once in a while also really awesome story
Wow, Im rather surprised that this is getting quite this amount of nit picking and would like to remind the commenters that this site is amateurs that write stories for a hobby. You can't compare these stories to H.P. Lovecraft or Ernest Hemingway. Personally, I really liked this story and listened to it while I was washing dishes last night. In the entire, one hour thirty minutes of the stores current length, the repetition mentioned and other minor issues, didn't stick out to me. Trust me when I say that when your listening to stories, generally typos and repetition really stand out. So in my opinion this Author, while a learning hobbyist, is doing rather well.
Now, my review of the story.
I really liked this story. I liked the characters and their over all interactions with each other. I also liked pinkies depiction in the story, as well as the short pregnancy running gag. I highly encourage the Author to continue this great story.
Also, I award the Author
100 points for not using the "Waking up in the Ever Free" shtick. (over used meme)
100 Points for not having the OC fight a Manticore, Hydra, or Ursa Major , in which he wins with little effort. (over used meme)
200 points for the OC not being a kiss less virgin that hyperventilates into a bag any time the story turns suggestive. (over used meme)
You loose 50 points however for the over reaction panic sin. Ponies are pastel colored tiny animals with technicolor hair, about the size of large dogs. The average ponies heads comes up to crotch level in most head cannons. Im sorry, no one sane would be pissing their pants terrified of them. Sadly, this reaction is not uncommon in stories.
You gain 200 points for only using the word chuckled twice in the 17,869 words of your story. Please try to remove the word chuckled in future for additional positive points. Also please avoid having any character "Nervously rub the back of their neck" (both over used memes on this site.)
Again, my props to the Author for this creative story, and there is no mistake, you are an Author. Hone your skill and write. Don't let grammar nazis curb your enthusiasm. Authors grow from writing, and I am looking forward to where your going to take us next.
The Monk
I would like to see more of this if possible.
7849594 this is one of the most mature comments I have seen on this website.
8010642
There is a reason for that.
Reason 1. I am in my late 40's , which makes a difference when most readers on this site are under 20.
Reason 2, I am blind and rather than reading the stories I listen to them, via Apples text-to-speech Ava engine. Believe it or not, Listening to stories rather than reading them, gives you a rather different viewpoint on occasion.
Reason 3, I love fan fictions. I try to give the best feedback to Authors, in order to encourage them to produce more fan fictions in the future. While i do rebuke some Authors for minor sins, my comments tend to be positive over all. (Bearing in mind that last night I just slammed an Author for being too random. ; ) )
The Monk
8011462 you sir have my respect.
i looked up the name "Massak" (the boy's/colt's human name) and it Actually mean's "Soft Snow"
8011462
Sorry if this is a rude question. but if you're blind then how do you pick witch story you want to listen to, does someone do it for you or something?
Excuse me
?? "Enunciating" 
?
His real name seems somewhat Arabic... although he was in Arctic... But I know Arabic has sounds unfamiliar to those nonsemites. Is it why the ponies couldn't pronounce his name
?
Didn't you mean "mulled", as in "contemplated"?
[enter Sans]
Sans: it is so on. get ready. because... i'll crush your doctor bones. [cue "rim-shot"].
You know, I doubt this teaching technique would work. Do you know of Lincos? It's the language that can be understood even by aliens. Of course Soft Snow is no alien, but nevertheless...
In Linkos each message starts with a dictionary and a few phrases built on that dictionary. Of course an alien should not understand us, but he might look at the dictionary and the phrases and see, that they form a system.
Though Linkos uses Maths, Twilight and Pinkie might have chosen anything else -- the point was to show patterns. They might not necessarily introduce the concept of natural numbers to teach Soft Snow, how to say each number -- but he should have understood, that, using those words, they would have been counting -- thus he'd have learnt, how to count in Equestrian.
But, Maths aside, the priorities were not on learning, how to solve mathematical problems. He might even not know Maths so good. However he needed at least to convey his needs and requests. Like: "Help! I've fallen and can't giddy up!" Alright, puns aside! So, the basic form is "help me, how do I...". He must also learn, how to grab someone's attention.
So: how does he say "Help me!"? Twilight might pretend to be in trouble, so she said: "Help me!" -- and Pinkie helped her. If Soft Snow figured out, that Twilight had described her calling for help, he'd bind the call for help to the meaning of it. And so on.
Of course it is insufficient just to call for help, and then not to know, how to describe the problem. So in which problems is he most likely to get? If Pinkie Pie is around, she must watch him an keep him out of most of them, but what, if he got lost? He can't survive due to his immaturity, therefore he must re-unite with Pinkie. And if he couldn't find her, maybe, someone else could? So he must ask someone: "Please, take me to Pinkie Pie".
This is the part the name comes in. You seem to have handled it plausibly enough: I think I should have gotten it, if I had been him.
So he can be taken back to Pinkie in case of having gotten lost. He knows also Pinkie's name. Great. Now, whenever he call for Pinkie, she knows he needs her help.
Well, he could be more specific: what kind of help? How does he show her his problem?
It's simple: he demonstrates it by role-playing! Of course then words would be gratuitous, and he needs to learn to speak. And the girls know it. Now it's their turn to convey, so they have to model situations.
First let us show the other side, that we do not understand: TS approaches PP and calls her name, and PP answers. TS speaks, but PP cannot understand, so she looks helplessly, as if to ask, if somepony has understood. This seems conveying enough. So SS knows PP's problem. Then PP says, that she doesn't understand -- using specific words to ease the learning, forex. "no understand". TS shows she's understood PP and acts differently, forex. speaking more slowly and clearly. PP shows then she's understood.
They repeat the process some times to show which words to use, if one doesn't understand. Then they ask SS something, waiting for him to say he doesn't understand, and then they show they've understood him. So now SS knows "no understand" means what it means. Moving on.
They might want to have used other words, like "what?", so SS, not understanding something, would call: "Pinkie, what?" -- so she knew he did not understand. And since he knows, how to express his having no clue, the pair may move on. Forex., they might want to explain certain objects, as follows: PP asks TS: "Twilight, what?" -- pointing at something, so TS knows she understands not and says: "This is Smartie Pants". PP shows she's got it, proceeds and points to another object: "Twilight, what?" -- and TS says: "This is bed" -- and PP shows she's got it... After some repetitions SS notices the pattern and deduces "this is" defines objects. The same way he learns to mark a satisfactory answer by the words of choice...
And so on
.
Dammit, Pinkie! She's the only pony to get on Dr Bones nerves more than Spock.
Good
She would rather take into her mane. In show it was shown that Ponk has manewriting abilities.