Lost in Translation - Chapter 4

Lost in Translation - Chapter 4
Written by: Wuten

>This is shit.
>No, really, this is complete shit.
>Looking down on the table, the zebra nudges you a bowl of some bubbling liquid-thing.
>Fuck… it smells horrible. No way are you eating that.
“No way. You got any berries around here?”
>They all stare at you blank-faced; whatever you’re saying, it’s not getting through to them.
>Right. Forgot about that.
>Hm… how can you convey it to them?
>Looking around the tree-hut-thing, you can’t seem to find any sort of recognizable berries anywhere. All that’s in here is some crudely-carved tribal-looking face up on the wall, a cauldron of some kind, and then the table where you’re sitting at, along with the six colored horses from earlier.
>Hm… there are cabinets around the hut, maybe the zebra goes out and stores food for the winter or something?
>One way to find out.
>You stand from your seat, hunched over as to not smack your head on the wooden ceiling, and walk over to the cabinets, opening them.
>Hm… there’s a lot of strange flowers and plants in here, but no— Hey, an apple.
>You reach in and grab it, turning around to face the ponies and the zebra, pointing at the apple.
“This apple. Good. I like fruits like this.”
>You take a bite of the apple, and nearly collapse from the sweet taste of the first thing you’ve eaten in nearly three days…
>…Whoa, that actually made you dizzy for a second. You should sit down and eat it.
>Walking back over to the ponies, you plant yourself on the seat, and begin scarfing down as much of the apple as you can possibly get, all the way down to the core.
>Once you finish, you let out a heavy sigh of relief and blissful abandon, happy that you actually got some food in your belly.
“Ah… that’s good…”
>Looking around at the ponies, you have to wonder; did they even understand you, and you just can’t understand them? Or is the lack of understanding both ways?

>”I think he likes it,” Fluttershy smiles, watching as the large creature wolfs down the last of the apple. “Once you get past the whole ‘he’s a strange monster thing from the Everfree Forest’, he seems pretty nice.”
>”Yeah, and he REALLY seemed to like that apple you had, Zecora,” Rainbow Dash chuckles, turning to Applejack. “What do you think, AJ?”
>”Ah think he’d be a mighty-fine customer o’ mine, if he behaved himself,” she grins back at the blue pegasus, as Twilight closely examines the creature.
>”I just don’t get it… usually a creature like this, somepony would have seen by now…” she mutters, rubbing her chin with her hoof.
>Zecora shakes her head. “Not from the Everfree, this creature has come,” she says, walking around the cauldron to another cabinet to grab another apple. “From lands beyond Equestria, I suspect he must be from.”
>Cautiously, she brings the apple back around to the creature, who snatches it from her and starts eating just as ferociously as before, but not before shooting her a dirty look.
>”It… seems he doesn’t like you very much,” Twilight mutters to her. “Why do you think that is?”
>Zecora shrugs. “To this, there are reasons abound,” she says, a grin curling across her face. “But perhaps it is because I led him into a hole in the ground,” her grin grows wider and she lets out a low chuckle.
>”Why would you do that?” Twilight’s eyes widen in surprise. “What was he doing?”
>”It was to save my own hide,” Zecora’s grin disappears, looking up at the creature. “For he, it seems, lives on the more omnivorous side…”
>They all turn to him and gasp, as he sits there nonchalantly eating the apple. Was that the reason he was pursuing them in the first place?

>Fuck, this apple tastes good.
>Chuckling to yourself, you turn with a smile towards the ponies, reaching a hand out to them, but for some reason they quickly jump back, away from your hand.
>What? What happened to earlier when they were so easily able to be petted by you?
>Well, not like you’re really surprised at this point or anything, after all you DID try to kill and eat one of them…
“Oh, that reminds me…”
>You turn to the pink one, and smile.
“Your cupcakes are complete shit and I hate them.”
>She pauses for a second, shrugs, and smiles brightly.
>Heheh. This could be fun.
“So… I don’t know if you can understand me, but…”
>You look around the hut.
“I guess you ponies are smarter than you look. And while I’m used to going camping and sleeping out in the woods, I’d prefer sleeping somewhere that isn’t dirt and leaves.”
>They just stare blankly at you, nodding every so often as you talk, before the pink one just shrugs as you finish.
“Sleep. Shelter.”
>You point to yourself, and slowly place your head on the table, under both hands and close your eyes.
>You hear them huff a few times and communicate amongst themselves.

>”What do you think he’s saying?” Twilight turns to Pinkie, who shrugs and shakes her head. “He seems to obviously want to communicate something to us, but I’m not sure…”
>Applejack shrugs as well. “Ah dunno ‘bout what he’s sayin’. Fluttershy? You got anythin’?”
>The yellow pegasus eyes the creature for a moment or two, studying his gestures. “He… wants to sleep?”
>”Well, I can’t blame him,” Rainbow yawns. “It’s getting late out. Think we should head back to Ponyville now?”
>”And leave him out here? Are you sure?” Twilight turns to her blue-coated friend. “Aside from his size, I don’t think he looks very capable of surviving out here on his own for very long…”
>”C’mon, don’t worry about him!” Rainbow grunts, floating around behind the creature, knocking him on the shoulder with a hoof. “He’s stronger than he looks, I’m sure of it!”

>Ouch, that hurt a bit.
“The hell? What’s the big idea?”
>You grunt and stand up, glaring at the rainbow-maned pony, who looks up at you nervously before shrinking back to the ground.
>Turning back around, you look at the ponies. They definitely seem more sentient than other species…
>Maybe they have some kind of writing system?
>Looking around, you don’t immediately see any sort of paper or writing utensils in your vicinity, but maybe you can improvise…
>That’s it!
“Come this way!”
>You beckon to them, walking towards the door. They seem to understand what you’re gesturing from this, because they follow you outside with little interruption.
“Okay, sticks, sticks… hm…”
>You rush off to a nearby tree, leaping up to one of the lowest branches rather easily, breaking off a rather sturdy stick, about two or three feet long and about an inch of girth.
>Kind of like your— NO WE ARE NOT DOING THAT HERE. NOT THE TIME.
>Running back to the ponies, you begin drawing in the mud. If they don’t understand words… maybe they would understand images?

>”What’s he drawing there in the mud? It’s too dark to see!” Rainbow Dash groans, peering intently at the ground.
>”Allow me,” Twilight responds, her horn glowing to illuminate the ground below them, showing the picture to them. “It’s a… house?”
>”Oh! He wants a place to live!” Pinkie exclaims, bouncing a bit in place. “Can I keep him? Huh? Can I? Can I? Pleeeeeeease?” she gets down on her knees, pleading to Twilight with big blue eyes.
>Twilight eyes her friend for a moment, before looking up at the creature. Maybe if he can understand using gestures, he’d understand her own gestures as well?
>Worth a shot.
>She nods up at the creature, holding up a hoof to him.
>He stares at it for a moment, before smiling and reaching for the hoof, wrapping his hand around it, shaking it.
>”So… can I?”
>Twilight sighs. “I suppose there’s no trouble in it. Alright, Pinkie, he’s staying with you then.”
>”Yay!” Pinkie cheers, bouncing in circles around the creature. “But what am I going to call him? Hm…”
>She eyes the creature up and down, zipping around him, inspecting every inch, much to his discomfort.
>”He’s mysterious… and I’ve never seen anyone like him before, so…” She rubs her chin with her hoof in thought. “Hm… Oh!” She turns to the group. “What about ‘Anonymous’, since he’s so new to us and we’ve never seen anything like him before?”
>The rest of the ponies mutter softly in thought, before Twilight shrugs. “I suppose that name is… fitting…?”
>”Eeeeeheehee!” Pinkie squeals, taking Anonymous by the hand. “Yay! I’ll just call him ‘Anon’ for short, then! C’mon Anon, let’s get you to Ponyville!” she beams up at him, pulling him along with her.
>Twilight turns briefly back to Zecora, smiling. “Thank you for helping us, Zecora.”
>”It is no trouble, my friend,” Zecora nods, closing her eyes. “And your excellent communication skills, I must commend,” she chuckles to herself, before waving goodbye with a hoof to the group, as they disappear into the dark underbrush of the Everfree Forest…

End Chapter 4