Days seem to blur into one another as you find yourself carrying each one out the same as the last. You're unsure why perhaps it's the stress or maybe you're just trying to distract yourself from the burning question you've had ever since you snuck into Anon's camp two weeks ago. The little wooden figure Anon made of what resembles another human reemerges in your mind. At first, you tucked it away in a drawer of your reading desk as curiosity caused you to grab it just as Anon came back to turn his camp inside out to find it. Now you're stuck with this token, unable to work out how to give it back until you decided you'd just... place it somewhere he will find it. So now you've started keeping it on yourself until you can find such a place.
"Oh, hey Twi," Applejack calls as you approach the farmhouse.
"Hey AJ," you aimlessly call back.
You give your head a firm shake, trying to wrest yourself free from distraction and back into reality.
"How--"
"Anon, uh, cut his hair?" Her voice has a strange level of uncertainty to it that cause you concern.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. It gave poor ol' Granny a bit of a fright. He did it with a kitchen knife you see... And well, she thought."
"Ah," you nod with a vigorous understanding to show she doesn't need to go further into detail on that.
"Everything is fine. But well... He looks so different now without all that fuzz. Ya know? Any idea why he'd shave like that?"
"Not really. It's a little hard to understand those intricacies without asking him to just explain. Have you?"
"Yeah," Applejack shrugs, "He just said he didn't like it. I don't really get it if he didn't like it then why not just say so? He's a confusing little critter I tell ya."
"AJ, it seems like something else is bothering you."
You seem to hit the nail on the head as her already stiff composure gets stiffer still. The two of you take a seat on the step overlooking the farm. The sun is setting like it always is when you come for Anonymous' lessons. The warm yellow-orange glow flows over the trees and sky like paint in water. The clouds blur the incandescent glow but do nothing to stop the warmth giving its caressing touch across your face.
"We've had Anon for some time now. And I get he is a little more complex than say, Winona, but I thought I understood what goes on in his head pretty well. Ugh, I dunno. I think I'm just tired and stressed. We're going to have a late harvest this year it seems. Like way too late if we want to have stock set and ready for prepping the next field in time."
"Well, you've got an extra set of hands this year," you reply with a light-hearted laugh and a nudge.
This seems to spur Applejack on a little, her usual beam of a smile returns at the least.
"Yeah, he's been a real help this year."
Suddenly an idea hits you, and you open your mouth to voice it before catching yourself. Applejack is always a little touchy of Anonymous, so you find yourself hesitating for a while until she glances your way to see there's something on your mind.
"I have an idea," you finally state, "And if you don't want me to, I won't. I just want to run it by you first."
"Okay," replies Applejack with a wary smile.
"What if I followed him around a bit? Just for a few days. I'll make notes and see what we can understand by thoroughly observing him."
"I thought you already did that when he first arrived?"
"I did," you reply with a blush for being called out, "But now he is more comfortable in the town. He knows ponies, he can communicate a little now, and he understands us a little more too."
Applejack seems to give it some deep meditative thought for a brief moment before nodding.
"Sure. What's the harm in knowing him a little better? Tomorrow is his day off too so who knows what you'll find out."
The two of you agree and excitedly chatter over a few observations you've made individually before Anonymous appears for his lesson. Today something seems off. He doesn't seem to take to his lessons, words seem harder for him to grasp, and your mind begins abuzz with what could be the matter. But as he is concentrating hard on his lesson, you keep your words to yourself even when it's time to go.
You're up at the crack of dawn and immediately head down to the Apple farm to find Anonymous, leaving Spike at home to do whatever it is he does when you're not around. Once you track down Anon, you follow a fair few metres behind him. Far enough to make sure he won't notice you easily, but close enough where you can get a clear sight of whatever he gets up to.
"For the first part of the day, Anon escorts Applebloom to meet up with her friends in the town square," you jot down in your log book.
The three fillies chatter about, occasionally trying to include Anonymous in the conversation where possible. Usually, he just nods politely and seems content to just be in their company as he sits on the water fountain's edge watching over the town. Every so often, his gaze his flit upwards to survey the town. His eyes seem aimless, not really looking for anything in particular. Just watching. Once the fillies decide what they want to do with their day, they make tracks after bidding Anon goodbye.
"Hmm, he seems to be just sitting there," you mumble aloud as you bite into a bag of trail mix.
It's been some time since the Cutie Mark Crusaders left, but Anon is still in his spot watching over the town. Then he notices a pink party pony pressingly pouncing progressively to Sugar Cube Corner. Anonymous stands up and intently makes his way over to her, who easily notices the tall human heading her way over the busy crowd of ponies.
"Hiya Anon," Pinkie pleasantly pronounces.
He waves back.
"Wanna come in?" Pinkie gestures to the bakery, to which Anonymous nods.
You've always found it curious how the two seem to communicate more through gestures and charades. An old habit they got into before you were giving Anonymous lessons. You've tried using gestures and still do when teaching Anon, and at times he will do the same with you. However, with Pinkie, the interesting thing is how in sync they are with the other's intended meanings.
Hastily, you rush towards the window, taking care to not be spotted. Then once you notice the pair head into the kitchen, you dart around to the back of the bakery to watch through the window there.
"Wanna help me make some triple choc-chip 'n fudge cookies?" She beams, miming to be eating a biscuit made of air.
Anonymous shakes his head.
"Brownies?" Pinkie asks as she draws a little square.
Again he shakes his head, then he draws a circle.
"Cupcakes?"
Anonymous draws a larger circle in the air.
"Oh, a cake?"
He nods.
"Okay, but what flavour." thoughtfully states Pinkie as she points to her tongue.
Anon shrugs.
"I'm thinking we should do something with fruit... Real fruit. Like... Banana?"
Anonymous holds out his hand and teeters it like it's a seesaw.
"You're right. It needs more."
Anon makes a series of dots in the air.
"Blueberry? Oh, we could do banana AND blueberry. Yes. But it needs MORE," she pleads.
Now Anon makes a series of gestures. First, he mimes eating something from a bowl, then pretends to be icing, then sprinkles with his fingers.
"Yes. Yes! YES!" Pinkie gleefully bellows, "Banana and blueberry cake, frosted with cream custard, and sprinkled with coffee flakes. Anon you're a genius."
The two immediately set to work without a word. It seems like Anon understands his role in the kitchen with Pinkie as he gathers all the utensils needed and sets to work prepping some ingredients once Pinkie places them by him. The pair works seamlessly, without a word or hassle, until the cake is in the oven. Then they clean up and prep a few other common treats for the bakery like icing eclairs, making a few cookies, and bite-sized cupcakes.
"Oh, it's done," Pinkie calls just a second before the oven bell rings.
Anon grabs some nearby tea towels for either hand and pulls out the cake where it is left to cool before being frosted and decorated. Your stomach lets out a low garble as you realise you've had nothing to eat but the nice parts of trail mix. Once the cake is finished, Pinkie cuts Anon a slice to box for him. The two wave then Anonymous heads off with the cake slice in hand.
As you follow him down towards the lake, you find yourself in a bit of sparse odds for hiding places. There's only a bit of trees and bushes to hide near the lake, but there is a gap of nothing for a while. Deciding the risk the clearing, you follow silently as best you can behind the lumbering human as he finds a nice bit of shade lake-side.
Dive into a nearby bush as soon as you can allows you a clear view to watch over Anonymous. For a moment he sits in silence, enjoying the serenity of the quiet lake before taking out his cake. Then to your amazement, he takes out a candle to place into the cake and some matches to light it. There is a haze of confusing mist that seems to be clouding something just in front of your face so it isn't until Anon begins to hum a tune before blowing out his candle that it dawns on you.
You hesitate in the bushes, thinking briefly that you should go and say something. But then you realise your position. Pinkie, however, spear tackles Anonymous is a loud chorus of tears and apologies. Nobody likes to miss someone else's birthday, and nopony dislikes that feeling more than Pinkie Pie. Rather than follow suit, you take the distraction as a cue to leave.
Your hastened steps, at times skipping one or two to gain speed, carries you toward the barn of Sweet Apple Acres where Anon resides. Grabbing the little trinket that belongs to Anon, you shove it amongst the hay bale that is his bed.
"I thought you were following Anon around today," comments a voice behind you.
You spin around to see AJ, concern all over her freckled face.
"Saw you running up the field in a mighty rush."
Your words trip as they're about to leave you, making an odd croaking noise.
"I ran into Anon," you stammer.
"Well, obviously. Did you find anything interesting out?"
You nod and it's followed by a silence before Applejack gives a gentle nod in return to urge you to continue.
"He's... lonely."
Damn been a long time since I have seen this one update, great chapter!
How odd. In our world, if we saw a creature like Anon, one showing above-animal intelligence, wistfulness, an understanding of music, the meaning of words, and self, we'd immediately understand that this thing was likely a sapient. Another person. Even though we are the only people on our planet.
They have whole scores of other people, entire civilizations full of other intelligent races, and despite the general intelligence level of your basic animal in Equestria, they still can't recognize Anon as more than 'another primitive animal creature'. I wonder if their delayed realization of his sapience will be called into question once he can more fully articulate his issues.
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Assuming they measure things the same way we do, of course. Alien species and all, completely different biology and social evolution (which is also based in biology).
Nice.
Damn what a hard conclusion.
Sweet, an update
Happy New Year
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All of which are also assumptions, fellow pony-admiring friend. It works if you're just looking for something quick, but something definitive that can never be. For all we know one foot to them might be two inches or twenty feet to us. Let us also not immediately assume that they actually speak English to one another even though they do in the show. Considering that their written language is rarely shown to be perfect English (given an 'alien' effect by turning some letters around here and there), it helps add to the idea that it's a completely meta experience that we can understand them at all. It's 'for our benefit', I would say.
Or they could all speak American English, one foot is twelve inches, and their world was previously populated by humans which early ponies have had such impactful contact with that what is leftover from humanity in form of design and language and writing is still used perfectly to the modern day even though all idea and memory of humanity has completely fled them. It's just something not touched upon. Still, a safe bet is that a civilization which - despite similar sapience - has a different set of variables for civilization formation and evolution to ours will reach a different path altogether from our own. Logically speaking.
Whenever I see the title of this story my mind instantly goes to Disney's Hercules.
Poor Anon.
Of course Pinkie's Pinkie Sense can tell when someone's alone on their birthday. Of course she does.
I was waiting to see Anon get really angry when he worked out Twilight had stolen his figurine, but this is a nice twist.
you know once I realized he shaved I thought either it's his birthday or the anniversary of the day someone close to him died.
Well that was a welcome update of sadness. Hurray to the author! More updates please?
Happy New Year Anon.
Lonely. :(
Hopefully we get some more, this is starting to get interesting!
Thank you for the update! I read it as soon as I noticed the post! Good read, just like before!
So.
Firstly, good to see more.
Secondly, has AJ still not realized he's fully sapient? Has Twilight even for that matter? She said
So, while he's above a dog, he is still an animal? Is he her property?
I just have some difficulty rationalizing that sort of attitude in a world with multiple native sapient species. Yes, the Apples are farmers, so they may not be the most well-traveled or learned bunch. But you'd think Twilight or some other townsfolk would realize he is just as aware and capable as themselves or a griffon and the differences are a result of the language barrier and cultural differences, and then say something to inform them he's not just a particularly clever/well-trained beast or pet. And that he therefore is NOT "theirs," he is simply their tenant.
THIS IS JUST SO SAD
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AJ has kept Anon for a few months basically as a pet, showing no more intelligence as Winona for example before he tried speaking. I was trying to convey that she isn't really used to the idea of him being this sapient creature that entire time but is trying. That's why he has lessons, his own room, etc. But they're confused by him.
Seems I haven't done the best job of showcasing that so I'll try and clear this up the coming chapters.
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It could also be at least partially be because I'm a bit rusty on the story and the previous chapters. So I don't really remember what other scenes have also addressed the issue.
I'll reread and refresh my memory.
I was worried that this story was dead. Then I forgot about this story. But when I see this I was happy to read this chapter. This story is one of more memorable one. I did not have to reread the earlier chapters. Good story and a happy New Years.
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So, reread the previous chapters.
I think I was misattributing the problem. AJ, while she does treat him like a labourer, does see him as a part of the family, and as family he is expected to help out.
Twilight, on the other hand... While she was initially the one who thought he may be cleverer than he seems, she still thinks of him as a creature and potential threat, despite him apparently possessing a language, society, culture, tool-making abilities, and capable of abstract thought and ideas.
I think the issue is: There's no moment of realization. No one suddenly goes "Oh. Wait. He's sapient." and then acts upon that, telling the town or others that he is. We just see them treating him like a gorilla that knows sign-language.
Maybe that's a failing on their part, that they do know he's just as aware and sapient as them, but forget/slip back into treating him like a animal because of his appearance and/or communication difficulties. I can't tell if that's the case. If it is, we missed the moment where we saw them realize that and decide to treat him like one of them. Whether they know and don't care, know and fail often, or simply don't know is impossible to tell without seeing the initial 'cause,' the moment they saw him as like themselves and decide to change how they treat him.
If it's simply the case that the 'reveal' simply hasn't happened yet, no one has actually realized he's like them... Going to be a little harsh here, but... They are morons.
Most humans upon seeing how Anon acts, learns, builds, etc. would conclude the individual is sapient, (or close enough to make no difference) and we're the only sapient beings on our entire planet. They have cows, donkeys, griffons, zebras, dragons, cat-people, sea-ponies, spirits, and more. "Monkeys" should not be a stretch of the imagination. A 'scientist' such as Twilight should have realized it after their first lesson at the absolute latest.
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You've gotten that across fairly well. I feel like he could have tried using pictographs to get it through to them, since shapes and such tend to defy language barriers, but I'm not Anon.
More I'm curious as to how Equestria's social structure and evolution plays a part in their inability to realize he wasn't just some beast before he started speaking. Issues like how we see them treat Zecora, or the fact that sheep and cows - both sapient and speech-inclined, appear to be kept penned up. A sort of cultural bias against creatures who can't perform this or that, whether they're actually sapient or not.
Just random musings as to how things got like this, really. No particular criticism to be found on my part. Keep up the good work please, this is an interesting read. Happy New Year's, by the way.
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To play Devil's advocate, Anon hasn't done much to prove his sapience.
Not anymore than a gorilla taught sign language.
They know that he understand them, they know he has been taught a few words, they know that he can follow instructions, they know that he can use tools, and they know that he can create simple art.
All behavior that we have observed in animals.
Plus the end of the chapter reeked of Twilight realizing that Anon may be more than a very smart ape.
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If a computer program demonstrated as much capability at natural language as Anon does, I'd declare it Turing-positive and call it a strong AI. Anyone pretending that it isn't proof of sapience is willfully fooling themselves.
Also, gorillas are sapient, as ought to befit one of our closest relatives. They're just substantially less intelligent than we are.
Man... was a sad note to end this on :fluttersad: nicely done however, I eagerly await more~
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He wrote a farking diary and made a tent, shaves because he doesn't like facial stubble and can communicate with them, though with limited success due to language barrier. He is fully sapient.
damn, that's gotta feel bad
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They're also still kept in zoos, and as exotic pets to the rich and unscrupulous.
Coco being able to communicate, care for living things outside of her species, and perform simple math didn't keep her from living her entire life in a research facility.
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Every animal can groom and make a den, that isn't as special as you think it is.
Plus remember the setting, all animals have shown some level of sapience except pigs. Most showing full sapience.
But they're still pets, they're still kept in barns and milked, they're still fed. Like animals.
Anon would show great promise if he was on earth and looked like a new kind of gorilla, but in Ponyville the most impressive thing he's done is talk to someone other than Fluttershy.
And the cows and goats already have him beat doing that.
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Sapience didn't keep humans from being enslaved for their entire life either, nor does the lack of it keep fishes and worms from living wild their entire lives. Freedom is not a qualifying characteristic for consciousness and self-directed volition.
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Are you honestly going to equate keeping animals in a zoo, beasts of burden in a barn, or pets in your home to slavery?
I truly hope I'm being a big misunderstanding idiot and not interpreting your words properly.
Because false equivalency aside that's doesn't even address the point I made.
Animals are animals, so even if some show signs of sapience and can be taught they're still treated as animals.
I know Anon being mistreated in any story is a touchy subject since he is pretty much the universal self-insert, but there is no need to stretch to try and make the point that the ponies should accept his sapience and equality as a fellow intelligent species.
Especially only after doing some things that Angel Bunny is capable of.
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Of course not. I'm just responding to what looked like an attempt to use Coco's living situation as a statement about her mental complexity, because animals aren't "just animals." That's an ignorant statement that presumes there's some kind of special dividing line between humans and everything else when there isn't. They're less than us, but they aren't fundamentally different from us - Great Apes are, by all accounts, near-humanoid (not near-human) sapient creatures, simply less developed on a sliding scale where we are near the top. They're intelligent, socially complex, capable of crititical thinking, recognize themselves in mirrors and can and do use tools. Give them a few million years of evolutionary pressure in the right environment and they might end up on a level with Neanderthals where cats or sheep in the same situation absolutely wouldn't.
That's not stopping us from hunting, mistreating and sometimes even eating them because it's more convenient and, often, pleasing to our ego to imagine that everything in the world is ours to do with as we wish. In a world where multiple sapient species already exist and have their own societies, you'd think people would be more aware of the signs of that kind of thing, though.
Funny this is that... I could not survive in Anon’s position.
I would communicate with Pictionary and sharades. I could help AJ but she will think that I’m too slow. I could bake with Pinkie but speed might still be important. Might. I could draw designs that Rarity would decline to think of. Fluttershy’s cottage would be a nightmare.
that got a little close to home
As person who celebrated the last ten birthdays alone, this chapter hit me hard man...