Phase Shift

Notes on another world Day 5

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

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

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

<-and then we can progress up to conversational Equestrian which is harder than formalized but you should know most of the words by then. Any questions?> Purple turned around dramatically. I raised an eyebrow at him and he seemed to deflate a little.

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

Purple walked closer.

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

Purple smiled. "Aie ple?"

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

I said slower.

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

Purple muttered looking back up at the board. I was surprised the concept of numbers confused him so. Maybe they counted differently? But I shouldn't be dealing with plurals yet. I tried again. "Whan "

"Whan aie ple." Purple tried again.

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

Purple let out a dejected sigh.

Purple walked down the market road, waving a hoof at items as they passed. "" He said. ""

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

"" Purple said with a big grin, ""

"" I mimicked.

Purple sighed and turned to Orange and his family. ""

"" Orange responded, ""

"" Little Yellow said, bouncing around the side of the cart towards me. "" He held up an apple to me.

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

"" He said, then yelled ""

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

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

"" I tried.

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

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

"" He said, holding up one apple to me. I picked it and held it aloft.

"" I called.

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

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

"" He replied with a nod.

I lifted the apple again ""

Orange looked from me to Purple. ""

"" Purple replied.

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

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

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

"" I mimicked. I felt like there was something lost in translation.

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

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

"" a new voice called out. ""

I looked up to see a little pink colt and a grey colt trotting up, big smiles on their faces. Little Yellow pointed at me. " He said. There was that multiplier again. it was used as a descriptor though, so maybe it meant something else? Singular? Or maybe it was an adjective like very.

"" the pink colt said, pointing at me.

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

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

"" Little yellow said emphatically. ""

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

"" I inquired, holding an apple out to the pink colt.

"" he said, waving with his hoof for me to lean down.

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

"" He said, pointing at little yellow. ""