The Island (Part 3)

>”This is incredible!” Twilight said as she kept looking over the papers. “Just look at all these scans! Complex neurological systems, a large brain to body ratio, neocortex, prefrontal and temporal lobes. This is something else....”
>You sat on the floor playing with a squishy substance Fluttershy called ‘play-dough’ while Twilight and other scientists looked at the readings.
>It wasn’t so bad.
>You got to play and eat, and all they did was poke you with stuff.
>”Based on these readings from the tests, it’s related to the Hominidae family.” One of them said to Twilight. “A sort of ape just like we suspected?” another commented.
>Fluttershy was close by. You really liked her. She was kind and nice to you.
>She didn’t leave you because she knew how attach you’ve become to her.
>Twilight and the others watched you as you played with the mushy stuff, “Look at his hands. The fingers and opposable thumb serve to better manipulate objects. These creatures must have fantastic fine motor skills.”
>Later while Twilight and the others weren’t looking, you wandered over to the cupboard that was covered in clear shiny cups.
>You picked up a clear hard and smooth object off the cupboard and dropped it. It broke into many pieces, like the other thing.
>Twilight ran over to you. She didn’t look happy. “Look at what he’s doing! He’s breaking my valuable equipment.”
>She sounded... angry. You did a bad thing. You’re a bad person.
>You sat on the floor and pulled up your knees to your face. “Fluttershy, what is he doing?” she asked in a rather annoyed tone.
>With an open palm, you brought it down on your head as hard as you could.
>You were being bad.
>With your other hand, you kept smacking yourself in the head with an open hand.
>It somehow made sense to you and was familiar. When someone was angry, you would have to get hit to make it all better.
>”Oh no... “ Fluttershy muttered. “He’s doing it again.”
>Twilight looked confused, “Why is he hitting himself?”
>”Just help me stop him!” Fluttershy ran over to you.
>You felt your hands being restrained. The thing on twilight’s head was glowing. Although you struggled and began to cry, Fluttershy was able to calm you down.
>You immediately latch onto her and cried into her soft mane.
>Her soft gentle words washed over you. Slowing your tenseness eased off and you relaxed your body. Sniffling, you grab onto Fluttershy and hold her.
>”What was that all about, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked inquisitively.
>”Whenever somep0ny gets upset at him, he does this. It’s a very self destructive behaviour.” Fluttershy replied with a heavy heart. She didn’t like to see you hurt yourself.
>Twilight thinks for a moment, “He’s not hurting you is he?”
>”Oh no, Anon understands me and he’s very gentle. He’s actually very sensitive as you can see.”
>Twilight and the team of scientists made sure your presence wasn’t publicly known during your time there. Last thing they wanted was a crowd of ponies gathering a making you upset.
>However, testing was starting to slow down over the next week.
>There wasn’t much to know about you since your kind never existed in their world. Tests could only reveal so much.
>Twilight was becoming more discouraged, “Even the Canterlot Archives don’t have anything about his kind.
>Seemingly out of nowhere, Pinkie pops up behind her. “HI!”
>The startled lavender mare jumps up to the ceiling and scolds the pink one, “Pinkie! You need to stop doing that!”
>Pinkie just giggled and sits down to play with you and your toys, “I couldn’t but overhear your dilemma, Twi.”
>”I suppose you know something about humans, Pinkie?” she asks sarcastically.
>Pinkie shakes her head, “Nope, but I know somep0ny who might.”
>Twilight was cautious at this revelation, but any new information was probably better than none at all, “Who would that be?”
>”It’s that unicorn that hangs out with BonBon all the time; I think her name is Lyra.” Pinkie starts to make funny faces at you, and you smile with a contagious giggle.
>Before you knew it, a minty coloured unicorn is brought to Twilight’s house about what she knew. Lyra wasn’t told about you, only that Twilight was interested in what she knows about two legged monkey type creatures.
>”Wow Twilight, I didn’t think you were interested in anthropology!” Lyra smiles happily.
>”What now -pology?” Twilight looked puzzled.
>”Oh, I’m sorry. I tend to use the proper terms. Anthropology is the study of humans. I even brought my collection of notes and...”
>Before Lyra could finish, Twilight snatches them away from her and lays them out carefully onto the table.
>Twilight scans quickly, but the only things of interest were some brief descriptions and a couple of drawings. “Lyra, where did you get this?”
>Lyra simply smiled, “I found them in my attic one day. I asked my family where they came from but they didn’t know. They figured it might’ve been somep0ny from our family history that drew them but I think there’s more to it than we realize! But why are you so interested in this subject? I hope you’re not trying to disprove me, because that would be awfully mean spirited of you.”
>Twilight sighs and looks over to her, “Well, you seem to be knowledgeable on the subject. I suppose it’s only fair to indulge you on what we found.”
>You were being kept in the next room, playing with letter blocks and other small toys while Fluttershy sat nearby keeping an eye on you.
>The door swings open and there stood Twilight along side with Lyra.
>To say Lyra was shocked would be an understatement of the century. She was almost ready to pass out.
>”I-Is that a.... human?” she manages to ask.
>Twilight looks back to her, “Well, he matches your descriptions and drawings...”
>You looked to the minty unicorn but you resume playing with your toys. Lyra whispers to Twilight, “Can I.... can I... you know...” her limbs were being to shake in anticipation.
>”Meet him?” Twilight finished Lyra’s query. “Sure, but try not to scare....”
>”EEEEEEEE!” Lyra squeals as she races towards you.
>You’re caught off guard momentarily by Lyra as she paces around you excitedly. “ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh! A real live human! Where did you find him? How old is he? What’s his name?”
>This pony was acting silly.
>”Look at his eyes! His hair! Oh my goodness, I can’t believe you found a real live human!” Lyra eyes you and inspects you several times all the while wearing a huge smile on her face.
>She sits in front of you and examines your hands with her hooves. “Real hands... I never thought I would see a perfect pair. Oh please scratch me behind the ear!” she bows her head down to you.
>All you did was sit there looking at this peculiar mare. Lyra waited for a moment before looking up at you, “W-what’s the matter?” She turns back to Twilight, “Did I upset him?”
>Twilight shakes her head, “I’m afraid he doesn’t really understand much at the moment. Fluttershy is the only one that can understand him and vice versa.”
>Lyra springs up over to Fluttershy, almost in a flustered manner, “Fluttershy, c-could you perhaps ask him to um... scratch behind my ear?” she smiles nervously.
>Fluttershy thought this was an odd request, but most likely a harmless one at that. Fluttershy is at your side and asks you to rub behind Lyra’s ear, and she completes her request with the appropriate actions.
>You implicitly understood her request. Setting about your task, you reached up to Lyra and scratched behind her ear and ran your fingers through her mane.
>Lyra melted like butter on a hot pan and lies on the ground in ecstasy while you continued to scratch her head. You laughed and giggled at the mare and her silly face.
>”Oh my gosh...” she moans. Twilight walks over and coughs in her throat to get Lyra’s attention. “Lyra, did you have anything else about humans? We could use all the information we can.”
>Lyra was almost lost in her hypnotic state, but immediately came to when she was spoken to. “Oh, I brought all that I have on the subject. I wish I could have my very own human.”
>Lyra wraps her arms around you and cuddles, you respond in kind.
>Twilight had to get Lyra’s attention again, “Well, if you be kind as to allow me to borrow the material you have I can let you visit Anon if you want.”
>”Really?!” Lyra races up to Twilight with the biggest smile possible.
>Twilight gave her a reassuring smile, “He seems to like you, but I’m still curious as to where all those notes came from.”
>Lyra could only give her the same answer, “I studied the notes, and there’s no indication of where and when these documents came from. It doesn’t tell us anything about human culture, technology or the extent of their knowledge.”
>Twilight seemed disheartened, but still she remains positive, “I’m sure it will still shed some important details on the subject. Now if you’ll just come with me so we can take a closer look at those documents...”
>As Twilight and Lyra left the room, Fluttershy rubbed your head softly. “Looks like you got a new friend, sweetie.”
>As the days went on, Twilight was able to get some new information regarding humans and their life cycle according to the documents.
>The question of where these findings came from still bugged Twilight.
>While she pondered, you kept on growing and exploring your world.
>Each passing day was filled with new words and sensations.
>You even began to run down the road after seeing the others do so. You were awkward at first, but soon you were able to jog in a proper manner.
>One day, something interesting came to Twilight and the research team. “We’re looking at his hormone balance and the findings show a surge.” one of them pointed onto a sheet.
>Twilight nodded her head, “Interesting... he’s undergoing a growth period.”
>Fluttershy seemed worried, “Growing? He’s going to get bigger?”
>Twilight nods, looking rather serious, “Maybe, but he is maturing. He’s turning into an adult and soon he’ll be able to reproduce.”
>Fluttershy blushed at the notion, “Y-you mean, make babies?” she stammered.
>Twilight nods to her, “Too bad we don’t have a female of his kind, and then we could study their mating and reproduction.”
>The two of them watched as you worked with wooden blocks. You would often stack them in more and more complex patterns and designs.
>Twilight also added, “See how his hair is getting longer and the dark hairs on his face? The documents from Lyra showed that this also happened when they begin to grow.”
>Fluttershy chuckled, “I was starting to wonder why he was getting a tad bit grizzly looking.”
>As Twilight thought, she saw how you scratched at your neck and face, “You should take him to get groomed. Maybe Rarity can help.”
>As you and Fluttershy entered the building that belonged to Rarity, you hear that familiar ring as always. “Fluttershy! Anon! How is the little guy doing?” Rarity jumps up and greets you both at the door.
>”Oh, hello Rarity.” Fluttershy smiled. She nudges you with her hoof. “Say hello to Rarity.”
>You lick your lips and carefully you speak to the white pony.
Hello... Rarity...
>”Why Fluttershy, you’re doing a fabulous job of teaching him words.” Rarity commented. “So, what can I do for you today? A new set of cloths for him?”
>Fluttershy shook her head, “Actually, we need to give him a trim. Twilight and I think the hair growing around his face is irritating to him. Plus his hair could use a trim.”
>Rarity whips out her box filled with an assortment of shiny metal parts and they begin to levitate in front of you. Fluttershy was by your side and told you to hold still while Rarity cleaned you up.
>You felt a soft creamy substance being smeared over your face and neck as a blade was scraped across.
>A pair of scissors flew around your head and clipped off hair and you watched each strand hit the floor. Soon Rarity was done her work and they both commented on how handsome you were.
>You looked in the mirror and saw the difference.
>Rarity suggested that you should learn how to groom yourself from now on.
>It was awkward at first, but soon you became more independent when it came to your own hygiene.
>The first few shaves were rather humorous as you left patches of hair on your face and neck. But soon you were left clean shaven every time.
>Yet Fluttershy was always there to take care of you.
>She even taught you more words.
What this?
>You pointed to a word inside of a book. “That’s ‘responsible’ Anon.” Fluttershy would answer you. “As in; I am responsible for taking care of Anon.” She gave you a pat on the back.
>She sat beside you on the couch as you would. Fluttershy handed you a dictionary. Even though it was tough at first, you began to become familiar with using it.
>She instructed you to sound out the word while you looked at the top of the pages to find the words and to look through the book.
Re...spons...ible...
>You loved Fluttershy.
>You loved all the ponies here.
>Although you could still remember how they looked at you. As if you were different.
>Walking through town with Fluttershy, you spotted a peculiar store called a paint shop.
>The colours...
>All those wonderful colours.
>You knew the words like red, blue, yellow and a few others. But this blue was vastly different from the other kinds.
What’s this?
>”That’s dark blue, Anon.” She answered.
Dark blue...
>You saw another colour.
What about this?
>”That’s um.... darker blue?” she didn’t seem quite sure on what to call it.
>You frowned a little. You wanted new words. More words to describe everything!
>Fluttershy got you a pamphlet from the store that described every colour in the store.
>Twilight and the scientists kept observing you as time went on. They kept collecting something called ‘data’ and would ask you questions sometimes.
>The one question that kept coming up was where you were from.
>But you could not remember. Nothing about your past life could be recalled.
>As the year passed, you grew a little taller.
>Stronger.
>Bigger.
>And smarter. Well... in some ways.
>Although your vocabulary and grammar have improved greatly over the year, you could only be effective at writing rather than speaking.
>”Is there something wrong with Anon, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked with great concern.
>Twilight would observe you for a moment, look down your throat and then place a large metal dome over your head.
>”Hmmm... I’m not sure. Maybe humans aren’t capable of producing certain sounds, but they are perhaps a more symbolic species rather than verbal.”
>Fluttershy still seemed worried, “He’s reading fine on his own, he’s even gone through some of my more advanced books and keeps using the dictionary. He seems frustrated that he can’t speak these words. He loves to write his feelings down on paper.”
>Twilight wrote down these observations in her notes, “What about his other lessons? Math, science, artisitc creativity?”
>”About as normal as any other filly, really. He loves to draw and paint; shows great interest in science and his mathematical skills are average so far.” Fluttershy commented.
Twilight...
>The lavender pony turns to you, “Yes, Anon?”
What’s that?
>You pointed to a peculiar object that you noticed was never there before.
>”Oh, this?” Twilight walks over to the device sitting on the counter. “I just got it yesterday, but I never had a chance to use it. It’s called a radio.”
Radio...
>”You turn it on, and tune in until you hear music from it. We’ll be able to listen music whenever we want and not have to use record players all the time.”
>Fluttershy seemed impressed, “How does it work?”
>”Well, there’s some pretty impressive stuff at work apparently, but I can get a book about it as soon as... ”
>Twilight watches as you pick up the radio and inspect it carefully. A musical box without the record.
>How does it work? What makes it function? You had to try it out.
>You read the words carefully as you pressed a button and slowly turned a dial.
>The device crackled and buzzed until you heard a faint melody.
>You slowly fine tune the machine until the music came in loud and clear.
>This was incredible!
>The tune was clean and perfect, and it was all thanks to this wonderful piece of equipment.
I hear music!
>”That’s right, Anon.” Fluttershy commented, “It’s quite amazing, Twilight. Maybe I can get one for Anon, he seems to like it.”
>Twilight nodded in agreement, “It is quite technical, but I do plan on reading more about it later. I’ll see if I can get a radio for Anon as well.”
>You were too enthralled with the radio to pay attention to either Twilight or Fluttershy. All you cared about was how the sound was made.
>Looking around the room you found a screwdriver sitting atop a shelf. You immediately set upon the radio and began to unscrew the casing.
>Fluttershy realizes what you’re doing and hovers right above you and gently beseeches you to stop. But it was too late, you had this device and you intend to find out how it works.
>The yellow pony smiled nervously to Twilight, almost expecting her to get angry at you again. But Twilight was rather intrigued by your interest.
>”I’m sorry Twilight... I can buy you a new one.” She muttered quietly almost in a shameful tone.
>Twilight went to her notebook, took a pen with her magic and began to scribble down notes. “No need to, Fluttershy. But I do find this rather peculiar. Let’s see where this takes us.”
>Fluttershy was befuddled by this and Twilight approaches you, “Hey Anon, if you want I can get you some books that can help you understand the radio. What do you think?”
>You stop instantly and look up to her, and with the biggest smile you shake your head with much enthusiasm.
Yes please!
>”Um, Twilight...” Fluttershy muttered as you continued to carefully dissect the radio.
>”Yes?”
>”Ar-Are you sure you’re OK with Anon doing this with your stuff?” Fluttershy still sounded worried.
>Twilight reassured her as she went to get a small toolbox from a cupboard and places it next to you.
>With more tools at your disposal, you began to quickly gut the machine and carefully lay down all the pieces.
>All the little pieces were so fascinating, even though you had no idea what they are. But you could remember the assembly.
>Everything down to the last piece of colourful string had its place, and in your mind you remember how it all fits together.
>It wasn’t long before you laid out all the parts before you in an organized pattern of size and other rules.
>Twilight continued to take notes while Fluttershy watched on in bewilderment. “Twilight, what’s he doing with your radio?”
>As Twilight looks up to observe you, she took a moment to answer your caregiver’s question, “From the looks of it, he just took it apart. But I’m more interested in what he’ll do next.”
>You sat there looking at all the parts.
>In a somewhat frustrated manner, you rub your forehead due to your lack of knowledge on what each piece was called.
>Looking over to the lavender pony you give a look that made you look like a lost puppy.
You can get me a book about radio?
>Twilight nods with a smile with her notebook open in front of her.
>Your attention turns back to the pile of scrap pieces as you begin to assemble the parts back together.
>Although some of it was trial-and-error, you could recall how everything would fit.
>Finally, you turn in the last screw and looked at the radio in all its uniform design and wonder.
>With a push of the button and tuning the dial, you hear it come back to life.
>Fluttershy and Twilight were both amazed at what they saw. You took apart a radio, and despite the hundreds of pieces you took off, you managed to put it back together in working condition.
>You turned to look at Twilight with a triumphant smile.
Book?
>Twilight had to snap herself out of it and nods her head in agreement with a smile, “Yes Anon. I’ll get you that book.”
>As you sat there with the radio playing a rather up-beat tune, Fluttershy turned to Twilight. “Is this normal behaviour, Twilight?”
>”I don’t know, Fluttershy. This is very uncharacteristic learning, but he seems to have a thing for electronics. I wonder if this is a common trait in all humans.” Twilight pondered as she cupped her chin in one hoof.
>Later that day, Twilight insisted that you take the radio as a gift. You couldn’t be any happier.
>As you sat in bed that night tuning to different radio channels, you wrote down your favourite channels as you went through them.
>Tuning the radio, you hit dead air.
>Static.
>The sound was familiar, yet alien as you listened to it.
>Your eyes felt funny as everything seemed to grow fuzzy all around you. You blinked several times to clear your vision.
>As the static grew louder, you saw something.
>It was a dark figure shaped like you.
>It would open the door and approach you, raising its fist in anger.
>As your mind grew blank you felt dizzy, and before you realize it, you could feel your eyes roll into the back of your head as you fell asleep on your bed.
>As the radio continued to produce more white noise, you could see more figures clouding your mind.
>They were whispering to you.
>What were they trying to say?