For a while it was difficult to put Anonymous' book out of your mind. But you kind of promised. Well, not really, you just feel like this should be treated as if you did promise. And in a weird way, you feel like that's the way Anonymous wants it to be too. Though you'll never be sure of that.
"Twilight," Applejack calls out, breaking your train of thought.
You look down from the balcony and wave.
"I tried bringing Anonymous around but he got dragged into a game of tag."
"It's alright. I have something for you anyway."
You head downstairs as AJ lets herself in. Shuffling through some draws you find the bit sack and pass it to her.
"That's to get Anon a few things."
Applejack shuffles the purse in her hoof for a little weight, feeling the hefty weight of it. You notice she's got a look of discomfort written all over her as she sighs at it.
"Thanks Twi', and do thank the Princess for me. I-I'll pay her back if--"
"AJ, you know you don't need to do that."
"I know, I just feel a little awkward accepting money to help a member of my family is all."
You purse your lips a little.
"Still feeling uptight about that, huh?"
"I don't mean to be."
"Don't you sweat it none. If anything, I should apologise."
"What? Why?!"
"Well, first this strange creature rolls into town and we just scoop it up like a pet without knowing a thing about it. Of course you'd be worried. I didn't mean to give you a hard time about it."
"It's okay, really."
"I mean, he and Applebloom get along like a barn on fire."
"I get it."
"TWILIGHT," a puffed out Pinkie Pie pleads, "You gotta hide me!"
Before another word can be uttered, Anonymous comes barrelling inside and tackles Pinkie to the ground. The two tumble together for a while as Pinkie shrieks in horror before they come to a stop in the middle of the library. Now Pinkie bellows out a cheer.
"You're getting good at this Nonny."
She boops him on the nose then jumps out of his grip. Anon just gets up enough to remain seated as he hunches over, struggling to catch his breath.
"Pinkie, what in the hay were you two up to? I've never seen him so worn out."
"He has been in a full sprint since we started, hopping over ponies and buildings just to get me. He's a climber."
Finally the exhaustion hits Pinkie as she falls onto her back, panting loudly.
"Thank Twilight," Anonymous states with a little wave.
"Thank Anonymous," you reply.
While you shouldn't really encourage mistakes like that, this one has become a habit not just for you but everyone who has spoken to Anonymous at any length. It's really taken off around the town to thank people as a greeting. It's an amusing little thing that also rather sweet of the town as in a way, it shows just about everyone has accepted this strange creature as a member of the town. Even you're coming around. In part.
"Speak," Anonymous mutters.
"Y'know, I think he's going to need a bit before that lesson Twi'," AJ remarks as she rubs the tired creature's shoulder.
"It's a little overdue, but I should probably get Anonymous' measurements again."
"Why?"
"If he's in any kind of early stage in his life, he will likely have growth spurts happening. If we compare variious stages of measurements, we'll have an idea if he's young or elderly. It's not completely reliable but we haven't got a lot to go on until Anonymous is able to inform us himself."
"I'd say he's pretty young."
"What makes you say that," you ask as you magic over a few utensils like paper, quill, and measuring tape.
"He's full of energy and I don't see any wrinkles."
"I guess, but those aren't clear indicators. After all, his skin is rather odd compared to the creatures of Equestria."
You begin taking measurements. It's pretty easy, Anonymous recalls what you were doing last time so when you tap on an arm, he knows to hold it out for you.
"So, what do you think?"
"Hang on," you hush her for a bit as you pull out the last measurements.
The last ones are a couple months old so there is a noticeable difference but it's not that much. You weren't expecting clear growth or not though after only having two sets of measurements. There's a silence for a while as you make note of each bit of growth, then AJ impatiently speaks up again.
"Well?"
"Seems like he is growing. Maybe he still in an early stage, I can't say. It'd take more data before I can reach that conclusion."
"Anon will be able to tell us himself at this rate."
"Heh, I don't know about that," you scoff.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
AJ isn't taken aback by your remark. She knows you meant nothing rude by it, instead she seems rather curious. In fact, she has been very interested in keep updated on all of Anonymous' progress so far.
"Anonymous has made leaps and bounds sure, but he is still barely able to form sentences. Plus, we don't know for sure how limited his intelligence may be. For all we know, he might be only as smart as Winona or Gummy."
"Gummy is the smartest alligator I know."
"Crocodile," you mutter under your breath.
"Do you think he'll speak properly, like us at any point?" AJ asks in a rather sombre tone.
"I think it's likely he will some day," you trail off in thought for a moment, "I've seen multiple examples of Anonymous being very clever. And it is difficult to learn a language without any kind of translation set up. But it's not for sure."
The conversation dies after that. AJ wasn't supposed to stay long anyway and with Anonymous no longer able to play, Pinkie takes her leave too. The lesson goes by easy enough. Kind of the same run as the other lessons recently. Still working on pronunciations, recognising letters, words and their meanings. However as things go by, your mind drifts to that book. It often does when you're with Anonymous. He has his own language, so what kind of things would this big, hulking bipedal creature write about?
"Twilight?"
"Hm? Oh, sorry, what's the matter Anonymous?"
"Anon to Apple Acres."
"Understood. Take care."
"Thank Twilight," Anonymous waves.
"Thank Anon," you wave back.
(checks story updates)
A Word of Caution?
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a being that can keep up AND make pinkie tired! that in and of itself is special!
Niiice.
Oh man, I waited for a new chapter for all this time, and it's short. Which is sad. Please write more.
Nice, very pleased with this.
This is quite interesting. Keep going.
read the whole story again >__<
7849969 agreed
I'm really glad to see this story update and also get a good update with it. Keep up the great work.
Thank Twilight
Thank Celestia
Thank God
Heh. Twilight will be twilight.
Yay! You updated!
I forgot about this story but then I reread it and remembered everything. I love it and I hope the next chapter comes soon!
Oh, wow. I wasn't expecting this in the update feed, but boy am I glad it was. I love this story too much. Can't wait to see where it goes!
Glad to see an update!
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Can't wait for the next update
Update? Aw hell yiss!
It's updated?! Ho-li-shyt!! I have to read it all over again!
Twice!
It is back! Sweeeet.
oh hey a new chapter.................................................................................
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All aboard the re-read train! *choo choo*
7852634 lol legit.
Let's see where would I think this story is going? Hmmmm Idk, its kindoff discouraging knowing you were going to drop the story and that you have no plans for it. But on another hand it's neat to know that what we write might be implemented into the story if you like the idea enough. I just hope you don't feel like you have to force yourself to write cause we are begging for more on this story.
Well let me see if I can pull up some ideas, tbh I should probably re read this cause I don't remember what has happen and what hasn't. I only remember bits and pieces, so I'll just give rough ideas here and after I read it again I'll see if I need to amend anything.
Ok so I take it that the language barrier has to stay for a while cause there's no story without it, so anything that automatically let's twi undertand him immediately is out. I would love to see some dream walking, going inside Anons dream and seeing a bit of how earth is even if Twi doesn't understand what they are saying. Maybe in the dream she can be introduced to some human music and human inventions like radio, tv and such. It would totally blow Twis mind seeing that he's actually more advanced than ponies. Maybe later twi can try to make a prototype radio or videogame with magic and show it to Anon. That would be a cute mini arc, and you can decide how to write it cause there are so many ways it could go down. I mean Twi could use the magic without Anons concent and he could get scared, or he could be oblivious to it, or not care and think she's part of his dream. Really the possibilities and space to be original are big here.
Second idea let's see.... I would like to see a chapter where Ponyville gets attacked by some random monsters, (maybe diamond dogs since they aren't op), and have a situation where the fillies are in danger and Anon saves them like really heroically. Like beat down the dogs or scare them away, maybe get a bit injured to show he puts the wellbeing of the fillies over his own safety. Tbh I just want to see Anon fight and be a bit cooler if only for a chapter. And it would also help to put any and every doubt that he could be dangerous to the ponies at ease. Or maybe the fact that he beats the diamond dogs puts certain ponies at edge cause they didn't know Anon was capable of such violence. Again many ways this can turn out, would love to see this.
Third idea, ok this is just a random thought I had and its not deep or anything but it made me smile when I thought about it. A chapter where one way or another Anon gets to fly. Like he's watching pegasi fly not paying attention to twis lecture with his head on the clouds and Twi gets the idea that anon want to try it. Some cloud walking spell, maybe a weird contraption or gadget to make him fly. Just something nice and cute and lighthearted.
My last idea for now.... Anons birthday. Anon knows its his birthday and the ponies don't know why he's so down. Somehow they figure it out and try to do something about it. It would be awesome if Pinkie was out of town and couldn't automatically partycannon a b-day party for him so the Apples have to rush and do something in less than 24 hours. So cute and sad at the same time depending on how you play it. In any case it would bring a lot of feels.
I'm gonna stop with the ideas here for a few reasons. 1- Idk if I'm just blabbering and if anyone remotely likes any of this ideas. If anyone does an up vote would be a good way to let the author know that we want to see something similar. 2- I don't know if I'm in some way being rude by giving so many ideas. I don't want to come out as if I'm dictating what he should write or that I'm trying to take over, I assure everyone that this is just me fangasming over a story I like. I'm only trying to be helpful but if I'm not let me know and I'll apologize. Down votes will let me know, comments too if you want. 3- Idk if the author is even reading any of this so me continuing to give ideas without know if he's seeing them would be a waist. So for now I'll stop here and see what you guys say.
On a side note, love the chapter it was cute and a nice read. A bit shorter than I would have expected but I understand you don't know where to go with the story and you were running on empty. Hope to see more in the future, keep up the good work and God bless
yay it's back!!
7853589
Oh, awesome. I wasn't sure if anyone was going to suggest something.
I like these and I can already think of a few ways for things to pan out based on them, but I'll wait a bit to see if there are any other ideas people have. Then I'll work it out from there.
Thanks for suggesting ideas, it's a great help.
7853513
Dear Gogofan,
Thank you for your astounding reply. We at re-read train incorporated try our best to make sure we stop at every story that hasn't had an update in at least a month so that the readers have a chance to remember details they might have missed.
Sincerely,
Re-read Train Inc. Official PR Manager
P. S. *Choo Choo*
honestly, I completely forgot about this story, I still don't remember when I first read it to begin with, but it appeared in my story updates, and it looked interesting, so I've read everything again and can say I approve
thanks past me :P
7853884 Awesome, if you want more let me know and I'll put on my thinking cap
Oh man, glad to see you picked this back up. Language barrier stories are usually pretty fun. I'd like to see someone suggest nonverbal means of communication or learning, like using pictures of objects to work on pronunciation and learning the alphabet. Also, exploring Anon's culture over pony culture to get Twilight thinking. Something like Anon, Twilight and The Crusaders are eating out and Anon tips the server, much to the confusion of all the ponies involved. Just little things like that could over time show to Applejack that he isn't some critter.
At the end, she's gonna read the book and the first entry is going to be "Huh, I'm in a new world... I guess I can mess with the locals with the whole 'language barrier' routine".
Huzzah! It returns! Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
Great story, had to re-read but I enjoy it. I'm happy that you are going to start writing this story again.
As for some ideas, you could...
* Have him show off some items from his camp that showed up with him from Earth.
* To help make his intelligence clear or hinted at have him able to play a piano or some sort of instrument.
* Show his culture difference through small hints like swap of gender roles, what is OK to him but not be OK to the ponies and vise versa, keep working more on the government difference like you have started (don't gotta focus a lot on it but more suttle hints like him bowing to the princess), and social issues.
* Have him show off him cooking some human food like grilled cheese or something that could be something that would seem small to us but big to ponies like introducing pizza or grilled cheese. Something like that.
* Have a backstory planned of how he got here and how he survived when he first showed up. How this affected mentality and emotionally.
* What do you wish to go once they do get his intelligence known and speaking their language? Maybe could be a stopping point for the story at that since it would finish what this story is mainly about. Then start another which tells his life afterward his intelligence is being spread, he knows the language, and starts to live on his own life with certain smalls things from this story become bigger plot point in the next one like him trying to date Pinkie Pie or something like that.
It really depends on how far you are willing to go and the type of story you wish to write. I know those are kinda touching points that may come sooner or later, but it is all I could think of ATM. Let me know if you would like some help or something. I'd be more than willing. Just excited as this idea of this story is a great one and it can go in so many directions.
Squee!
More, please.
-Ru
Alright, I'll give it to Ya. Randomly found this and kinda hooked.
It's simple and relaxing. Thanks for not giving up on it. Chapters are a little short, which is why it's been on my read later list, but like I said. Relaxing.
More updates soon right? This is one of the anon stories i really love xD
Can we get an update please
7888705 the problem here is that most equestrian animals have demonstrated themselves to have nearly as much intelligence at least as a 4-7 year old human child, which makes it difficult for ponies to determine whether new species should be considered civilized or just a smart animal.
I really enjoy this story and would like more, perhaps we can get some info on what Anon did when he was back on Earth. A sure fire way to get Twilight to realize he is as intelligent as a pony would be for him to show some of his skills. Maybe he was an Engineer back on Earth and can understand, fix and improve upon their current trains or something.
This is a wonderful story, nicely written
"Date: X/X - Y
Dear diary.
Today I played tag with Pinkie Pie. Day well spent!
Ponies still think I'm their pet lol!
The 'thank greeting' meme is spreading.
Trolling Twilight is still hilarious."
8783779
Let us hope
8783779
i would totally do this
9383725
My sides, they exploded
8783779
PS: All according to plan, mwahahahaha