The Philosopher's Cynosure

by Zenith Nadir

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Human, Sad, Original Character, Adventure
Length: 2384

With all of this talk of the entitlement generation, and all of these new trends and memes, who ever gives a second glance to philosophy? Here be the tale of one fed-up philosopher and his journey to learn about friendship and humility.

There was a time when Judicaël was an aspry young boy, eager to teach children the knowledge that was imparted to him via college... Sadly, that time has long since passed, and 'Kael had suffered the remarks and blows to his honour, and now he has become slightly senile and thinking of abandoning his crusade. But 'Kael is in for a different journey entirely, one that will take his worldviews for a spin, and won't leave them in their past state.

Post Note: This is one of my many fanfic attempts, however I have never finished a fanfic, and I've only successfully started updating one, which was for Elder Scrolls, so bear with my attempts. You'll notice I always tend to bite off more than I can chew, however, this is an attempt for something simpler. I hope my fanfic does not bore you and that it will sate your expectations.

Published 2012-12-28 03:50:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-28 03:50:02 UTC

Le Début

"When we speak about categorical imperative, we must remember how crazy Immauel Kant was.Truly this man was insane, but then again, when are contemporary philosophers sane?" I said in a tone that obviously was meant to be sarcastic, but I had long since abandoned waiting for laughs. "Categorical Imperative was Kant's belief in how all decisions should be based on morals, much like Locke's natural rights theory, however Kant went far beyond Locke's theory and asserted natural rights in a way that without religion almost seemed absurd, however....." I trailed on, filling up possibly only feeding information to half of the students attending the course, half seemed to be pompous kids who didn't care about the course they were taking.

That half seemed to be kids who ignorantly followed fate, with no purpose, no goal. It made 'Kael sick. 'Kael didn't think himself the best giver of lectures, in fact, it seemed he berated himself everyday, but there were children, without a doubt, taking this course, who didn't give a damn about philosophy. All of the "intrinsic good" he talked about obviously was not appropriate to these children. They were sated enough off of the hedonism spread across the world, and cared nothing for communitarianism or even utilitarianism. No, they only cared for themselves, feeding off of the world's universal religion of survival of the richest and well-off.

'Kael tried to keep his course discussion-based, he tried to emulate the great Socrates, and to a certain extent that made it more interesting. But only a select few voiced their opinions, the rest would just raise their hands in a sloth-like manner to back one side of a "poll" or another.

'Kael was brought out of his thoughts by the ringing of his internal clock, which was impatiently reminding him to stop lecturing lest he ruin his reputation. 'Kael concluded with the same words as always, "And that, my dear disciples, concludes this session!" He learned a few sessions after he started teaching that saying something like "My door is always open," doesn't help, and its best to leave it unsaid.

'Kael packed up his things and left the auditorium, going to the teacher's lounge. It was always the same routine, his students didn't wish to speak to him at all, and therefore dispatched themselves quickly, but not without noise. Nevertheless, 'Kael arrived at the teacher's lounge without any trouble. Once he arrived, he opened the door and noticed how they spoke in a gay manner. This brought the ever-so-present feelings of envy and anger rising back up, but 'Kael locked them up from physical view.

From the group Conchar was the one to notice his arrival. He announced it with his usual congeniality, "Oi, guys 'Kael decided to join us today! There's a seat available next to 'ole Guy over there!"

"Guy" or Guillaume was a pensive introvert, he didn't seem to like talking that much. Although 'Kale respected his silence, he still asserted that voicing your opinion was an essential part of communities. Nevertheless, of all the people 'Kale would prefer to sit next to it would be Guy, who didn't give you any flak about the things you said.

Conchar "unpaused" the previous discussion, "As I was sayin' before Mr. 'Kael came along, me students just love this new flipped classroom format I got setup. Basically I allow the class to be less of me speaking to these kids and boring them with facts, and more of us speakin' as equals," he asserted his statement with a nod.

This time Sweyn spoke up, "So all of your kids are just loving engineering huh? I seem to notice the same thing with the kids in my Physics class...It's like a neo-Enlightenment!"

'Kael scoffed at this, it was incredulous that these men truly compared the awe-inducing change in the world known as the Enlightenment with a huge loss of interest in so many subjects and a paltry "status quo ante" for engineering and sciences, if not a loss.

Conchar noticed 'Kael irritation, "So ya'll got somethin' to say 'Kael? We're all friends here so, let yer words spring forth!"

'Kael was so irritated by Conchar's mutilation of the English language, a language that was such an effort to build. A composite language built up of the native languages and the languages of England's invaders. Even so, that was not the biggest thing that ticked 'Kael off. No, the biggest disgrace that the people around 'Kael brought upon him was their ignorance. Ignorance of the horrible path so many are setting for their children, of the horrid way that children treat their lives, living off of material objects with gluttony. The way that men now used religion to control each other in a way that went beyond the ways of the inquisitors and Catholic fanatics of the times long time passed. Why were children directing their fleeting attention at engineering and sciences, topics which were so well-fed by the 20th century, and not topics which have been neglected...like philosophy for an example... Not that he was going to voice his emotions to the crowd around him...speaking of that crowd...

'Kael stopped abruptly as he noticed the fact that everyone around him was staring at him in a very rude manner, including Guy. 'Kael voiced his meditations as such, "What? Is something wrong with my presence all of a sudden?"

Surprisingly, it was Guy who voiced the group's thoughts, "No...It's just that your whole rant was very... peculiar...albeit insightful..."

'Kael's eyes widened...He voiced those ranting thoughts...Oh Lord....He couldn't stay there any longer knowing what had just conspired. Thus, 'Kael raced to escape, not without noticing Conchar's exclaim of the need to, "Hold up, we need to speak about this in a group!" As if 'Kael was going to return after the stain on his record he had just caused. He let himself loose again, and this is what he gained in return. All he tried to do was teach the children of the world about the subject he so loved, and this is what he gained. 'Kael continued his brooding as he raced to the roof of the complex.

'Kael reached the roof and keeled over crying for the first time in so many years. It wasn't the fact that he voiced his opinions, or the fact that he ruined his status. No, that wasn't it. Rather it was the fact that it had gone so wrong since he started teaching, and it never seemed to get better. There never seemed to be a mental feeling of satisfaction, just the hated feeling for some tangible achievement. He always came up to this roof to escape reality, but reality wouldn't leave his head....no it was on a crusade, a crusade to ruin all that was left of his sanity, and he wasn't about to let it go down without a fight.

He tried to drown it in thoughts of the love he used to have, of the happiness he used to procure, but that only seemed to get him in a melancholy mood. He felt a well-known dagger of turmoil return to his diaphragm, and now it seemed like it was being pulled out, only to be shoved back in again. Every repetition of the stab brought more and more despair, and he seemed to not be in the right state of mind to endure it anymore, he felt life leaving him, even though he saw nothing physical, and slowly he gave in to the emptiness of a, now, peaceful mind...the Philosopher's Cynosure...

Author's Note

I hope you liked this attempt, I decided to pace myself and work on length, since I always seem to make short chapters, but this seems to have been a significantly longer chapter. By the way, this is just setting up for the adventure in Equestria, and I like setting up. Hoped you liked the names, I decided to mix up the names, so if there are any questions, don't heistate to ask. Also, don't get caught up in the way I speak, I may use archaic meanings of words...but bear with me because its an essential part of my story development. Have a wonderful break off with your families, and a happy Winter Solstice!

Le Duodi

'Kael opened his eyes, seeing everything as if his eyes were covered by some translucent layer. It seemed as if it went away one second if he twitched a muscle, and went back another if he twitched the same muscle. This extremely frightened 'Kael, for one this was not like any heaven he had ever heard of, although the environment, as he looked around himself, seemed to be almost animated, not looking real, but looking as if it wasn't even meant to be looking real to start with.

'Kael soon attempted the action of picking himself up, however he soon realized he was unable to. Now 'Kael was frightened, and as he looked at his body he realized he was not even a human, but a dragon of legends. Now 'Kael was "checking reality" and went about observing his environment.

His environment was an open cave, with piles upon piles of gold and riches. Now 'Kael was freaking out, he seemed to not be in any heaven of sort, instead it seemed he was reincarnated as the one thing he tried to avoided becoming, an animal who greedily hoards material objects, seethes anger, and viciously guards treasures. 'Kael didn't understand what he did to deserve this, and as his "auto-pilot" really started kicking in his body subconsciously decided to whack and throw all the riches out, not that it would do any practical good, but it gave 'Kael a sense of comfort and room to think.

Now that 'Kael saw all the riches pour out of his cave and off the mountain he didn't even realized he was upon, a smile was brought to his face. However, once there was no more riches to be seen, his paranoia started to override his autopilot and he seemed to now be feeling the ever so familiar invisible knife of misfortune come to rest in his abdomen. 'Kael's eyes widened and soon he tried swatting the knife away from him to no avail, it seemed to sink deeper and deeper and he now seemed to be bringing only wounds to himself.

No matter how hard 'Kael swatted it seemed he only landed blows upon himself, and it seemed the knife was content with sitting in his abdomen, not even repeating the stab motion it used to. Now 'Kael was exhausted and looked upon the wounds he gave himself... It appeared as if he prematurely shed his skin, and the dermis underneath as well. 'Kael cried to the heavens, and now he saw off in the distance, a Pegasus, of which he could only identify the shocked expression on its face.

'Kael blacked out...

From a lost cause, from loneliness, from a cold knife, from an unjust restart, from these self-inflicted wounds. Melancholy barter. A wretched soul for a transfer to an unfamiliar place. Misery makes the offer, society accepts.

'Kael was soon brought out of his stupor with a groan, and he was content with staying still only for a few moments, as he soon felt the need to check reality once again. He opened his eyes and saw no translucent layer, and brought his arm into his vision and was relieved to see a human arm.

After checking reality, 'Kael was content with relaxing for a moment and keeps a fresh empty mind. However, an innate sense of detection kicked in for him. This was the ability to detect when someone, or some people, were staring at you, and many animals have it, if not all. As such, 'Kael soon opened his eyes again and glimpsed at the environment around him.

It appeared he was still stuck in the animated universe from whence he came, and now he appeared to be in a homey town. That was not the thing that really surprised 'Kael however. The real shocker was that there were animated "ponies" on the ground, along with "copies" with horns, and in the sky there were ponies with wings. They all seemed to be staring at him...

There was silence for an extended period of time, and he realized that it seemed every single pony in the town, and the sky, was staring at him. There was one right next to him, which brought him to the realization that he was laying on a second story flowerbed with an open window next to him.

Despite the proximity of the mare next to him, it was an old pony on the ground who spoke up first, "Why...By Luna's grace, in all of my years of livin' on this land, I've never seen such an appearance as that! And, on that note, I've never seen such a creature as that either!"

After a few glances behind him, and a nod from the nearby mare, 'Kael responded, "Why...Hello there! I appear to be in some hallucination or some kind of queer set for some sort of media. Nevertheless, would it be too much to ask for my location?"

It seemed it was a young foal who spoke up this time, "Why Mister, you're in Ponyville, in the heartland of Equestria!"

Despite the lack of any mention to relative location, 'Kael was somewhat satisfied with that response. This seemed to be because he was in an indifferent mood, and he was still not completely understanding reality. However, either way, there was one question that kept nagging him on the verge of his conscious.

"Would anyone be able to point me nearby lodging? I am in dire need of sleep..."

Author's Note

I'd like to point out a few elements of my story:
First thr transculent layer that I described with reptiles is a real thing, and is called a "Nictitating Membrane."
Second, the, "Misery..Society" quote was taken from Les Miserables and was changed to adapt to the situatio..
Lastly, this build-up in the first and second chapter is essential, and you will see how it plays into the plot.

I hoped you liked to story and good night...or morning... or evening...whatever.