Lost in Translation (Anon x Cheerilee) AiE

>A few months ago, a strange creature appear in Equestria with no clue as to where he came from.

>He was like a monkey, but taller, hairless except for a mane, and a lot smarter.

>You were there when he was first found.

>Buying some necessities at the market, you remember hearing Roseluck's scream as she pointed at him.

>He was taller than any pony you had seen besides the princesses, and he looked extremely dazed and confused.

>From the time you saw him, he seemed to stumble a few yards before passing out, unconscious.

>Within the next few minutes, Twilight arrived, then the rest of the Elements came, and eventually he was spirited away to the Twilight's Castle, then to Canterlot.

>You're not really sure what's happened since. It wasn't really an important topic to you, and you've been busy with all your students.

>And Spoiled Rich. Dear Celestia, she has been quite the pain in your flank.

>She had wanted to arrange a meeting today, but as with the past 27 times, there was a good chance she just wouldn't show up.

>You think she got a kick out of wasting your already minuscule amount of free time.

>The door opened, and you were already close to the breaking point.

"Spoiled Rich, if you keep coming into MY schoolhouse and yelling unsubstantiated claims from your daughter at me, I will have no other option-"

>"No other option then to what, Miss Cheerilee?"

>That voice.

>You looked up from your papers, and before you stood no other than Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Twilight Sparkle.

>Horseapples.

"Oh my goodness, your highnesses, I am so sorry."

>You moved from behind your desk and bowed to the three royals as Celestia stifled a giggle at your expense.

>"Don't worry Miss Cheerilee it's quite alright. Twilight mentioned some of your more 'difficult' charges."

>Rising off the ground, your fears dissipated but you were still confused.

"Not that I don't appreciate a visit from the princesses, but may I ask why you're here? As far as I know you all are a little advanced for my classes."

>"Well, we're not the ones we want you to teach."

>You heart fluttered for a moment.

>Perhaps they were talking about Flurry Heart? No, she was still a foal. Perhaps they were just preparing for the future.

>To think, you, educating a royal!

>"Is it true that you studied under Professor Bon-Park-Schoolyard Vanguard?"

"Yes, when I studied at Canterlot University, but that was years ago, why?"

>"Well," Twilight began, "I was researching how to educate feral ponies and came upon the book, 'The Wild Colt of Pompon.' Imagine my surprise when halfway through I discovered you as one of the listed researchers!"

>"To put it simply," Celestia added, "We need your help."

>You tilted your head.

"If you're looking how to educate a feral pony, I do have to admit I've been out of the circle of research for quite some time. Besides, Professor Vanguard is still quite active in Canterlot, and could surely offer more help on the subject than I ever could."

>"Well, that would be nice, if we were trying to educate a feral pony."

>You had no response, waiting for them to continue.

>"Miss Cheerilee, do you remember when that strange creature arrived in Ponyville a few months ago? Since then, he's been brought to Canterlot and we've tried everything and consulted every researcher we could find about how to bridge the language gap between us."

>"We know he has a language of his own, and is quite intelligent, but it's not as simple as just trying to translate from Zebrican to Equestrian. They have the gift of being from the same root language, but his does not. In my thousands of years, I've never heard anything remotely close to it."

>"And believe it or not," Luna continued, "When we did talk to Professor Vanguard, he recommended we talk to you."

"But why?"

>"He told us that when your research team hit a wall trying to communicate with the feral colt, you were the one who patiently spent hours with him, just trying to understand him and show him a bit of compassion, actually building up trust with him instead of just poking and prodding at him."

"It's how I knew I wanted to be a teacher, not just a researcher."

"And it's that gentle touch of a teacher we need. Sadly, when he was first brought to Canterlot, Celestia and I were on a diplomatic mission in Griffonstone. Not knowing what to do with him, the receiving guards simply locked him in the dungeons. While we have definitely been more hospitable to him since, he seems cold. Lonely. Distrusting. While he may be around ponies, with no way to communicate aside from gestures, he might as well be alone. While he attempted to communicate with us in the beginning, I believe he hasn't said more than a phrase in the last few weeks."

You sighed before continuing, weighing the situation.

"So, I guess you want me to try to bridge the language gap between us? I appreciate the offer, but I can't just leave the schoolhouse and go to Canterlot. My first responsibility is to the students I already have."

>"Oh, that's not a problem at all," Twilight chimed in, "We were thinking of bringing him to Ponyville. I have more than enough room at the castle, and I've been working on a book about him."

"And he wouldn't be a danger to anyone, or try to escape?"

>"No. He's been given free reign of Canterlot Castle, and could easily escape if he wished. Instead, he just spends most days sitting next to the pond in the garden."

>Celestia rolled her eyes.

>"A noble's son actually pushed him into the pond a recent afternoon whilst trying to impress a maid, fighting 'the evil monkey.' Instead of retaliation, he got out and simply resumed sitting next to the pond."

>"We know your hours as an educator are busy, so we only ask you to do this about an hour each day after school."

>Celestia levitate a note from her breastplate and placed it on your desk.

>"And have no doubts, we fully intend to compensate you for your services."

>Curious, you took the note and read the figure.

>How much per lesson?! That was more than you made in a week!

>Overcome, you fainted.

>"I believe that's a yes. Mission accomplished, sister."

 

>Still be best teacher pone, but a few days later.

>All the fillies and colts had left your classroom a few hours ago.

>Normally you would start heading home by now, but you were waiting for one very special student.

>Eventually, he arrived.

>Escorted by Twilight, the creature entered your schoolhouse.

>Whatever fears you may have had left were gone.

>While he did tower over you, he wasn't exactly as muscle bound as Iron Will or nefarious looking as Discord.

>If anything, he looked kind of sad.

>You trotted over from your desk to meet them in the middle.

"Good evening Twilight."

>"Good evening Miss Cheerilee, I've brought your new student."

"I can see, I've prepared a nice first day of lessons to set up a baseline of what he may know and understand, and perhaps teach him a few basic words."

>"That sounds wonderful."

"We can't expect any miracles right away, but I've never seen a problem in starting with your best hoof forward."

>"Sounds good to me. If you need anything, I'll just be sitting in the back reading. Really Cheerilee, thank you for doing this."

"Oh, it's really no problem at all."

>As Twilight went to the back of the room, you returned to your desk up front and motioned for the creature to sit at the desk closest to the front.

>It was a tight fit, but he managed.

>The fact that he can follow gestures is definetly a good sign.

>With your pupil ready, you began your lessons.

"I guess we'll begin then."

>Turning around, you began to write on the board basic nouns and draw what they represent above them.

>Starting with the basics that every foal learns, you drew a rough outline of a pony.

"This is a 'pony.' Pony. Po. Ny. Pony."

>You repeated the same thing for Pegasus, Unicorn, Alicorn, and then basic things like the colors. You were certainly not an artist.

>After a while though, you realized that he wasn't looking at you at all.

>You could see him with his eyes pointed at the desk, his finger tracing the worn grooves on the surface.

>This was clearly not working. But then you had an idea, although one Twilight may not favor.

"Twilight?"

>You clopped over to the back of the room.

"I apologize if this is overstepping my bounds, but do you think you could step out of the room for a bit?"

>"Huh?" Twilight replied, looking up from her book, "Why do you ask?"

>You lied.

"Well, I just think he might be intimidated by having you in the room. You are essentially his care taker, and he may be afraid of doing something wrong in front of you."

>"Well, if you say so." She picked up her book and smiled, "Anything to help. I'll come back when the lesson is over."

"Thank you Twilight, hopefully this will lead to real progress!"

>As Twilight left the schoolhouse, you returned to your desk and pulled out a few pencils and sheets of paper.

>Like with the feral colt of Pompon, you just need to relate to him first, find something to bridge the gap between you.

>Pushing another desk right up against his, you put a sheet of paper onto both his and yours, giving him a pencil.

>Without any further instruction, you began drawing.

>After a few minutes, he did too.

>Once you noticed he was comfortable sketching, you passed the pencil from your mouth to your hooves so you could talk to him as well.

>You weren't going to win any art awards, drawing with your mouth was terrible already, using your hooves was even worse. But it was worth it because you could talk to him.

"So, you wouldn't believe my day. It was already hard enough trying to brush up on specialized teaching skills I haven't used in a decade, but I had to do this while grading tests and dealing with Spoiled Rich. Again."

>You knew one hundred percent that he couldn't understand you, but you were talking to him.

>The whole time he's been here, people have been talking at him, putting his notecards in his face and trying to get him to parrot what they say.

>You just need him to understand that he's not just this curiosity in your class, that you actually want to help him.

>And as soon as he gets comfortable, you can really help him.

>As you reached the end of your time, you admired your work.

>Well tried to admire anyway.

>It was pretty ugly to be honest.

>It was supposed to be the Carousel Boutique, what you considered to be one of the most beautiful buildings in Ponyville.

>The top tier wasn't supposed to lean at that angle though.

>And Rarity wasn't that fat.

>Ok maybe she was.

"My drawing may not be the best, but I had fun doing it and that's what matters. What did you draw?"

>Looking at his desk, you saw a sketch of your desk and the board, the view he had ahead of him. It was pretty good to be honest.

"Wow, that's very nice!"

>You patted his hand with your hoof.

"I'd hang it up in the art corner, but you might find it degrading."

Placing the supplies and the drawings in your teacher's desk, you put everything back in order just as Twilight arrived to pick Anon up.

>"So Cheerilee, how did everything go?"

"Well, I'm not sure if he got anything just yet, but he was attentive the whole time, and I'm hopeful repeated lessons will help break through. Today we focused on basic words and consonants, so there's nowhere to go but forward."

>"That's all very good to hear. He was well behaved?"

"Better than my normal students."

>"Very good. If that's all you need, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"See you tomorrow."

>With a short wave, you sent them on their way.

>You're not even entirely sure you made any progress today, but you certainly weren't making any progress doing what you were doing before.

>"Foal steps Cheerilee. Foal steps."

>With luck, tomorrow will be even better.