"Hello there. I am Anon."
You hadn't expected to feel as secure as you do speaking to the ponies for the first time, but the sense of glee coursing through your system stifles any anxiety you might've had about this, and your voice comes out intense and confident. The purple unicorn takes a tentative step forward. "Twilight Sparkle." she says in a frailer tone, and raises a hoof to gesture towards the other ponies. "These are my friends, the Elements of Harmony. Applejack... Rarity... Pinkie Pie... and Fluttershy."
You catch Sweetheart's eye(the one not hidden under her mane) and are taken slightly aback by the trepidation you can sense emanating from the yellow pegasus. For a moment, you feel like a dangerous predator hovering over another's pup and feel ashamed. "Uh... why don't you guys come in?"
Twilight frowns, seemingly weighing her options. Unlike you, the little ponies seem much more skittish now that you're able to talk to them. "It's perfectly safe-" you start before an earthquake distracts all of you. With loud rustling sounds, trees sprout out of the ground all around you like some absurd mushrooms, so unnaturally close together that you could not possibly squeeze out and leave the Castle entrance. You and the non-winged are effectively trapped.
The great Castle ruins in front of you warp and bend to form a grotesque, scowling face. Every entrance, crack and hole spews out demonic flames, terrifying all of you, particularly the yellow pegasus, who ducks down onto the ground and buries herself under her front hooves, shivering and making squeaky noises.
"Skinny, ah don't think Health and Safety covers this..." Applejack quips, and you would've been surprised to hear the distinctive southern twang in her voice were you not busy being scared. The tough farmer mare laughs nervously and hides her own face behind her Stetson to disguise her chattering teeth. "S-say, where'd you put the fluffle bat? Doesn't this..." she waves vaguely towards the fierce Castle-face-of-doom. "... sorta fall under his jurisdiction and whatnot?"
You gulp and slowly point towards the Castle as an answer, but the Castle squints right back at you and begins to speak in a reverberating bass tone: "Trespassers! You are unwelcome here! Return the Amulet you have taken to the Care Taker, and your lives... may yet be spared."
Bravely, Twilight steps up in front of the group. "As the student of Princess Celestia, I demand to know who you are!"
"Yeah! This Castle was a cutesy tenor the last time I was here!!" Cutie Pie adds indignantly, biting her lip in her best approximation of an angry expression.
The Castle grinned, the flames inside turning into a chilling blue. "I am the one that will destroy you all unless you surrender the Amulet now."
You're about to answer, but your attention is drawn away by the sight of Eris floating up next to a Castle window, chomping on a cigar. She puts the cigar right into the blue fire's way to light it, but it doesn't react at all, making her raise an eyebrow and spit it out. She shakes her head at you.
"... No." You say. "If you want the Amulet, you'll have to do your worst."
Sweetheart lets loose her loudest squeak yet. The rest of the ponies all stare at you in shock.
Rarity pulled on what was left of your sleeve. "Skinny, dear, I hate to be contrary, but could you please not encourage the evil castle to grill us all?"
"I think you mean roast us all." The pink pony points out. "Although, now that you brought it up, I think we'd taste better grilled." She tapped her pink hoof against her chin in genuine thought.
"We'll be fine." You say and daringly step closer to the Castle entrance.
"Oh, I hope you know what you're doing..." Twilight mumbles.
The flames turn a fearsome red in warning. "Stay back!!" the Castle yells. "I will burn your miserable hides to the bone!"
"Then get on with it!"
You jump through the doorway and the flames vanish without a trace. Outside, the trees disappear back into the ground as well. As you look around the Castle, you see that there are no burn marks anywhere. Even the royal carpet and banners are intact and not even singed black.
Twilight and the rest of the Elements trot in after you. "An illusion spell. I thought as much." The purple unicorn explains with a breath of relief.
"Oh? Then why were you shiverin' with the rest of us silly fillies?" Applejack asked with a playful smirk. "Got a cold?" She nudged Twilight.
Cutie gasped. "I forgot to bring cough syrup! Do you think Zecora might have some?"
Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay, I got scared too!"
"Nuthin' to be ashamed of, sugarcube."
Sweetheart's eyes darted around. "A-are we sure it's... safe?"
"An illusion spell is just that." Twilight explained in a reassuring voice. "We should be fine."
As the ponies talk amongst themselves, you take a good look around the hall. You're starting to have a good guess of what's been happening to you since you arrived in the Castle, and you're becoming quite angry. "Where are you, Care Taker?! Come out!" You roar, the voice echoing down the corridors.
The only answer you get is a dazed thestral that falls through the roof. Twilight immediately trots towards him, poking at his face with her snout. "Crimson Star?! You okay?"
Rarity was right behind him, staring at the bat pony's grimy bandages. "Oh, look at his poor hooves! We must take this young stallion back to Ponyville post-haste!"
Shaggy mumbled incoherently, his eyes rolling around in their sockets. "Eight Twilight Sparkles...? I'm good. Just need a nap." He briefly loses consciousness, only to immediately wake up again, recovered. "The Alicorn Amulet! Miss Twilight, Skinny's got it. He could be dangerous!"
"We noticed that." Twilight says, and frowns towards you. "But first I want to know what it was doing in the Castle to begin with."
Applejack nudges her. "Stop that!" Twilight snorts. She nudges her again. "What?!"
Twilight looks in her direction to see an old white-maned blue earth pony that she'd never met before, standing in a doorway. His cutie mark is that of an elaborate snowflake crossed with an axe.
"Hello, ma'am. I am Care Taker. I... apologise for trying to deceive you. I suppose my old circus tricks don't hold up in this day and age."
He walks up to Twilight and bows courteously. "It was a rather embarrassing last ditch attempt to retrieve the Amulet from this creature." Care Taker says, pointing a hoof at you.
"Why was it with you to begin with?!" Twilight demands loudly. Using her magic, she creates a two-dimensional screen depicting a young blue mare with a dark cape covering her flank. She has the Amulet around her neck, and fearsome red eyes to boot. "After we retrieved the Alicorn Amulet from 'the Great and Powerful' Trixie, I gave it to Zecora for safekeeping." The image shifts to show the zebra dude who'd taken you, Shaggy and Angel in yesterday. "Did you steal it??" she glares at Care Taker.
"And why would I do that?" Care Taker asks in a droll voice. "I'm an earth pony. The Amulet doesn't even register me, much less let me take over Equestria. In fact, Zecora gave it to me, for safekeeping. And since I thought nobody but superstitious thestrals would ever come here, it seemed the perfect place to keep it."
Twilight discards the spell.
You snarl. "I don't appreciate being fucked around with like it was pinball. You knew Shaggy- I mean, Crimson Star was a Guard." You hold up a finger to accentuate your words. "With the Princess's authority, no less. You could've told us the truth."
Care Taker is unmoved by your fury and gives your finger a dismissive look. "Oh? Were you looking for the Amulet? I'm so sorry, sir, I wasn't aware." He deadpans.
"Neither was I." Shaggy mumbles, still lying on the floor because of his damaged hind hooves. The bat's ears drooped. "The Princess ordered me to find out anything I could about Skinny. When he ran off, I figured I'd follow him and try and get some insight into what he wants. I had no way of knowing he was after the Amulet..." He shook his head sadly.
"Alright, now hold up!" You say angrily. "What's with all the long faces? I can finally talk to all of you because of this Amulet! I mean, we should be having a party here!"
Silence.
"Where's Angel? My bunny, I mean." Sweetheart suddenly asks. You feel a wave of resentment coming over you at her lack of reaction towards the gift you think the Amulet has given you. Clenching your teeth, you pat your body over to check where the damn rabbit had gotten to. "He, uh... well, he was around here somewhere..." you burn hot with embarrassment.
Fortunately, the pitter-patter of small paws running towards Sweetheart out of the gloom of the Castle corridors saves you.
"Ohhh Angel!" Sweetheart exclaims and gallops past you to hug the happy bunny. "Don't EVER run off like that again, do you hear?! I was so so so worried!!"
You roll your eyes at the melodramatic reunion and turn back towards the other ponies. Care Taker gives you his usual stern expression. "The Alicorn Amulet is amongst the darkest magic ever known to Equestria." He explains. "The fact that you're able to use it in any capacity means we're expecting you to try and kill us all any second now."
Behind him, invisible to everyone but you, Eris makes petty devil horns behind his head with her paw and claw, snickering to herself. It forces a smirk out of you. "Well, I guess it's just lucky I don't feel like going on a rampage." The ponies take your joke literally, all taking one step back and gasping. You facepalm, and rub your tired eyes.
"Guys. I don't know how else to put this, but I'm not evil."
The pink pony rushes over to you and sniffs around your ankles with a comically large magnifying glass held in front of her. "Hmm... I say... Chaotic Neutral!" she declares with a self-satisfied smile to the rest of the group, who give her blank stares in return.
Finally, Twilight shakes her head. "Okay, okay, we need to prioritize! The longer we stay in this damp Castle, the worse Crimson Star will get. Applejack, I need you to find some wood and build a quick stretcher. We can use part of the carpet for canvas."
"Right! Be back in no time." The farmer mare says and gives a military salute before dashing off to the woods outside.
"Rarity, you and I will levitate him back to Ponyville." Twilight instructs. "If we follow the main road and gallop, we should be back there in about three hours."
Rarity strokes the now-shivering bat on his furry head and says to him in a sweet, motherly tone: "Now-now, Crimson. You just hold steady and we'll have you in a..." she pondered for a second. "... a nice cozy cave in no time at all! Oh, Twilight, I do think this bat has got a fever! Don't you think Zecora's hut might be a better option for him?"
Twilight shakes her head. "She might've patched him up, but he needs a real nurse." She glanced through the open doorway. "Pinkie, go find Applejack and tell her to hurry!"
The fluffy pink pony(who'd busied herself with building a surprisingly pretty mini-Castle of the Two Sisters out of rubble) perks up. "Oki-dokey!" Bouncing lightly on her hooves, she hops away.
"We should move him to my room until you get the stretcher ready. There's a brazier there. At least it'll keep him warm." Care Taker suggests. Twilight nods and looks at you expectantly.
Trying to be as gentle as possible, you pick the sickly bat off the floor and follow Care Taker back to his hideout, with Twilight, Rarity, Sweetheart and Angel trailing right behind you.
"Miss Sparkle..." Shaggy groans as you put him down onto a pile of hay, gaining the purple unicorn's attention.
She trots over to him, with a very reassuring and slightly apologetic smile on her snout. "Just try to relax."
"Miss Sparkle, I... I left it... over there... I..." he runs out of energy to speak, and gestures vaguely towards a pile of wood near the burning brazier. On it lies the now-dried out saddle bag that you'd found.
Twilight frowns. "Is that...?" Using her magic, she levitates the bag to herself. "It is! That's my bag! What's it doing here? Did you steal this?!" She glares at you.
You hold up your hands defensively. "No! No, me and Shaggy here, we found it in the forest. I was looking for the spot where I woke up at when I first got here. And it was just kind of... well, there. I noticed it looked like your, uh... well, those pictures you got on your butts..."
"Cutie marks." Twilight interrupts.
"Yeah, those... anyway, I noticed it was yours so I thought maybe you lost it."
Twilight examines the bag under the light from the brazier. "It is definitely mine... it has my name written in it. But I know for a fact that all of my saddle bags are back home and accounted for." She tapped her chin in thought. "Yes, Spike and I reordered the library just two weeks ago, and I'm positive I haven't been to the Everfree Forest since then... was there anything in the bag?"
You think back. "Uh... some dead fruit, some feathers and a few soggy papers, I think."
Twilight's eyes lit up in a really freaky fashion. It's like she gets stars in her eyes. "Scrolls?!"
"Yeah, could've been."
She blinks, her happy expression hardening. "Could've... been? You... do still have the scrolls, right?"
You take a step back. "They were soggy... so, we didn't..."
Twilight takes a step closer. "You didn't... what?" Madness gleams in her eyes.
"... We-we threw them away." You finally confess.
The purple mare growls and tramples her hooves against the floor in frustration. Still, better than the mental skewering she was doing to you a moment ago. "Nnnngh! I don't believe this! I could've dried those out and gotten a clue!"
Sweetheart rubs her on the back. "It's okay. I'm sure we'll figure it out once we get back to Ponyville."
"I know, but..."
"Twilight?" Applejack calls out from the hall.
"We're in here!" The unicorn shouts back.
The sunburnt-looking farmer mare trots in with Cutie Pie right behind, dragging a stretcher made out of dark green wood and royal deep red. Despite having been made in a hurry, it looks almost professional. "This here stretcher is ready and raring to go!"
"Right." Rarity says and encapsulates Shaggy in her magic. "Twilight?"
"I got it!" With nowhere else to put it, Twilight holds the saddlebag with her teeth and then uses her own magic to levitate and stretch out the stretcher. Carefully precise, the fashionista floats the barely conscious Shaggy across the room and onto the stretcher, at which point her magic began to share the weight of the stretcher with Twilight.
"We'll meet you all back in the library once we've gotten him to the hospital!" The purple unicorn says as she and Rarity carry Shaggy out of the room.
As ponies with a good physique, Applejack and Cutie Pie had no issues being able to keep pace with the running unicorns, but Sweetheart, Angel and you were left behind at the entrance of the Castle, Care Taker declining to accompany you. "Thanks to you, sir, I have my own business to attend to now." was all the irascible old pony would say. Not that you're surprised, you did kind of ruin his gig.
Despite being convinced that you did the right thing by coming here, you still feel terribly guilty for having put Sweetheart through such stress, and are unsure how to approach her.
"Skinny?"
Oh dear, she's doing it.
You force yourself to look directly at Sweetheart's soft blue eyes. "Yeah?" Your body tenses up.
"I wish you'd trusted me more. It really hurt my feelings."
Oh, don't draw this out. Just get to the point...
"I wanted to be able to talk to you." You say. "I couldn't risk any of you stopping me."
The yellow pegasus looks positively mournful. "I know, but I still didn't know whether you or Angel were safe or even alive. And I had very little to give to the other animals for breakfast after you took the food... it was very inconsiderate of you." She shakes her head, ears flattening back. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you..."
You bite your lip. Fuck, fuck, fuck...
"... to clean the dishes this month." She smiles faintly. "I-if you think that's fair..."
"Huh?" You stand there, dumbfounded. "You're not kicking me out?"
Sweetheart gasped. "Oh no, I could never do that! I know you mean well." She strokes your hand with a soft hoof.
With no further ado, you pull the caring pegasus into a tight warm hug, inadvertently crushing poor Angel between the two of you. "It's okay..." she whispers. "I'm glad I can talk to you now."
Overcome with a feeling of joy, you kiss the beautiful pony on the cheek, her fur tickling your lips. Sweetheart's face turns from yellow into an adorable red, and she pulls back, her chin digging into her chest as she smiles demurely. Angel plops to the ground, dazed and giving you a thumbs up.
"Let's go home." she says and rubs her side against your foot like a cat as you stand up. Together, the three of you head onto the road to finally return to Ponyville and start over.
Finally, He can talk to them!!!
The time has finally come!
The fated day has arrived!
His friends have waited so long
But now Anon's voice has come alive!
Hey, where exactly in the timeline are we? I know we're after the wedding and before Alicorn Twilight, so where are we and how close are we to the Crystal Empire arc?
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We're in season 3, between "Magic Duel" and "Keep Calm And Flutter On"
Always leaves me wanting more
Great song choice!
So this is going to lead to some pretty major conflict back at home. On one hand, Anon is going to want to be able to speak to the ponies and they will likely determine that the ability to speak one’s mind freely will prevent friendship problems, as they did in “Sound of Silence”. On the other hand, the magic contained within the alicorn amulet is inherently evil and corrupted Trixie Lulamoon, so allowing him to have it could lead to him turning down a dark path.
Out of curiosity, what ideas do you have for the future? Could a court rule that the amulet is of historical significance and either belongs in a museum or must never leave its place of origin? Could Anon tame the evil magic in the amulet, or could everyone perhaps see that dark magic is only evil from a certain point of view?
This chapter was well worth the waiting! Well done!
Honestly, that was probably the most disappointing way you could have handled that after all this buildup. I mean, it makes sense... I guess, but man is it depressing. Really disappointed with this chapter to be honest. I could understand them being a bit confused and hesitant, but to just be upset with him and downright untrusting? Really rubs me the wrong way.
I'm waiting for Eris to be pranking people when anon is nearby. And for discord to freakout, and for Eris to be completely Opposed to Discord.
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Or the perception of him now that they realize he's not some funny pet, or the perception of the evil magic of the amulet, will change how they treat him.
It would be ironic if that were the case and the amulet had no effect on him at all due to a lack of natural magic.
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It would be a pretty interesting story if it turned out he never needed the amulet at all... but how could he have talked to everyone?
Huzzah! He speaks and they can hear him! Finally!
Hang in there Shaggy, this party is just getting started!
That was... kinda disappointingly anti-climactic. Nobody seems to react with nearly enough surprise at hearing Anon finally speak or fear that he's wielding the amulet, probably because so much is happening in quick succession that little time is spent on any one thing. Also, how did Anon know Care Taker's name?
Don't let my criticism get you down though, I still love the story btw; looking forward to more.
Well, this went a lot smoother than expected!
Hmm. Are the emotional spikes being caused/exacerbated by the Amulet, or is that just normal?
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Honestly that's probably already the case. The Alicorn Amulet has never been said to have an auto-translator effect to begin with.
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No offense, but it’s been written before that without the amulet, all the ponies could hear from Anon was incomprehensible jibberish and Anon could only hear horse noises from the ponies. What would have changed?
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Spoilers
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It's the only reasonable reaction.
From the ponies' perspective, a seemingly benevolent creature with an unknown origin and nature randomly disappeared into the Everfree Forest one day and just happened to find the Castle and take the Amulet(an object that has a slightly nicer reputation than the One Ring To Rule Them All) away from Care Taker on his own volition. That alone raises about a million questions. Given the reaction Zecora got back in the day, I'd say the ponies were as nice as they could possibly be about it. And it's not like this is their new permanent attitude towards Anon. Fluttershy already forgave him at the end of the chapter. Half of them haven't even processed it yet, and focused on getting Shaggy some treatment first.
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Constructive criticism is always welcome.
Now that this story arc has concluded, there's plenty of time for emotional processing, so to speak. After all, Anon has to basically meet Ponyville all over again.
He didn't know Care Taker's name, per se, but the Castle voice referred to him taking the Amulet from "the caretaker".
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The Amulet is not a translator. More on that later.
All this talk about the Alicorn Amulet, but what about Eris?
It's alarming enough that she might actually be real, but now she might actually be free to do as she pleases?!
We're in for some excitement, that's for certain.
MUFFIN BUTTOOOOONNNNN!!!
i would place it in my left elbow. Random fruit taste eatch
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Illusion name him/ described him 'Caretaker' cant be mistaken
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I would guess since they trust him and his not going 'overlord' they give him a day or two and the benefits of a doubt
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i.pinimg.com/originals/23/b6/5c/23b65c54bb09896c230b8bfa4778b409.jpg
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Basicly me at his first day becoming Pinkie Pie two. Only less pink & random... mainly less pink...
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More Pie now than a ponk
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Maybe Eris makes that part happen?
Would make sence. Helping her Roommate
-Goku is me
-Dr. Briefs is Twilight
-The Spaceship is my personal pocket dimentional fun box (or a fabric made by rarity)
-Krillin is Twilight ( everyone loves to fuck with logic to prank Twilight from time to time...
-Namek explosion is a certain death situation i survive with my muffin spam to act as delicious shield!
Same explaination.
Also hope Eris doesn't turn out to be evil. I want my bubbly draconequus daughteru.
I am so confused about the details in this chapter and maybe even the last one. The main plot is easy to follow but... it's like the interactions and scene continuation married Discord and then left the floating quill on autopilot mode.
Suddenly castle on fire illusion Anon, come inside scared ponies fluttershy too kind what's the dialogue doing, why is the amulet protector acting the way he is nothing makes sense? Also then everything does make sense.
Amulet goes on Anon, protector gets mad? Tries to trick Anon (wait why was there a fire in the hallway and all those illusions last chapter if it was the protector... was he trying to scare just the human away but not the thestral but if that's the case ARGH I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!), then he's like "ah yeah so the amulet belongs to Anon I guess there goes my job now" and the ponies come in all like "oh hello Skinny you were waiting at the door to let us in while being annoyed by a protector but also ignoring him to be polite and-
TranquilClaws has left the chat due to his brain exploding
This single paragraph brought all continuity to a screeching halt. All the character development and interactions just went "poof", time to reset to factory configuration now.
"Hi, I am Anon."
"Hi Anon, I am Twilight Sparkle, these are my friends here and -wait, why is my mind totally not spinning from the fact that you can talk to me right now? Celestia's horn! Is that the Alicorn Amulet? Wait, aren't you the human we came here for in the first place? Why am I introducing you to my friends as if we've never met before, you've literally shown me your dick as a present so I could study your anatomy and you've lived with Fluttershy for at least a month by now."
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What does this interruption do to advance the story? The Caretaker having the Alicorn Amulet suddenly yanked from him was a cliff-hanger that had no followup at the beginning of this chapter. Anon seems too composed for what just happened. I was expecting a fight between him and the Caretaker, not a time skip to him greeting Twilight and her band casually at the entrance, followed by an illusory attack from "the castle".
This chapter was the perfect opportunity to address a sudden change in the story, but instead it focuses on everything but the main character's transformation.
Out of everything to timeskip, you chose to skip the climax of Anon's journey through the first arc.
Nuu, i caught up to it. And there's only a chapter every month. Wah, well guess this will sit on my favorite list.
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Yes.
It's not a job. As Care Taker said, he was simply doing a favor for Zecora by looking after the Amulet. Once the Elements showed up, he had no further incentive to stick around. They know Anon(to a degree) and are far more equipped to deal with this sort of situation than he is.
People don't talk like that.
Anon's speech and the fact that he was wearing the Amulet caught them offguard, so naturally they were waiting for him to make the next move and elaborate on what's happened when the Castle caught aflame and redirected their attention. After that, they found Shaggy injured and realised that he had to be taken to a hospital pronto, so that's what they did.
They introduced themselves, because Anon doesn't know their names. They've never had a chance to say hello.
Prove to Anon that the Castle's supernatural phenomena is merely Care Taker.
Care Taker immediately retaliates by attempting to literally frighten Anon into returning the Amulet.
There was no time skip. We see the Elements approach the Castle when Anon finds the Amulet. He meets Twilight and company minutes later, having earned his victory with no time to spare(as it's likely the Elements would have forced him back into Ponyville and never let him out of sight again). He's filled with pride over how he pulled one over them, and at the moment cared more about that than the actual fact of being able to talk to the ponies.
The climax of Anon's journey is the days to come.
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That's what I was thinking, yes.
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Love your story Untill the next update Take care
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I worded the Twilight dialogue poorly. It was meant to be a sarcastic representation of what she might have been thinking at the time contrasted with what she actually said in the story. I thought it was a bit out of character for her to introduce herself and her friends the way she did when they had already spent so much time around each other. You say she was in a state of shock, and I agree with that. I just don't agree with how that shock was portrayed. I was of the mind that Twilight would have a mix of fear of the amulet, worry for Anon, and surprise at his new ability to speak Equestrian, shortly followed by a quick processing of the situation to conclude that the amulet was providing the ability to speak (even though it's not the case, it is definitely what I as the reader assumed). After that, fear of possible side affects would likely take over her thought process and prevent her from introducing her and her friends until that is dealt with. Responding to his greeting seems like a secondary concern to addressing the possibility that his mind is being tampered with by a powerful evil force. On to my second attempted point.
I recall the last appearance of Anon being the moment he ripped the amulet off of Caretaker. Then the next time I see him is standing with a seemingly composed posture while inwardly feeling gleeful at his new chance at speaking with Twilight and the others. Caretaker seemed to just disappear conveniently after having an amulet ripped off his neck (his immediate reaction to that was something I wanted to see) only to reappear with illusion magic that Anon was somehow able to see through despite having fallen for it before. If Eris had given him a clue that would make a lot more sense (unless of course the cigar was a clue that I totally missed). It is possible the constant shifting of perspectives lent a lot to my earlier confusion too.
Side note: the hugging feels a little strange now that he's talking to Fluttershy as an equal of sorts. I imagine that's just an inability to see the shift in cultural norms from human to pony on my part.
I think I know why I got so confused now. I observed multiple cases where the story abruptly jerks me into a new situation. Some examples: the very sudden changeling invasion, the constant switching of perspectives from pony to thestral to human, and the sudden shifts in focus from one character to another. The second person perspective is what really makes this have a significant affect on me, as I am inserted very close to the action. The experience was hard to describe because I was feeling physically jumbled up by the many different things happening at once. Eris appears, Twilight appears, I am feeling elated being able to communicate now but also worried about how Caretaker will react to me stealing his amulet, and then the ponies are scared of me and I have no idea why but now the castle is spewing fire and I am making the connection to Caretaker being the source even though I thought he was an earth pony. Just writing that while experiencing it in 2nd person from memory gave me a headache, so I think that is what's happening here.
Your story has brought me happiness, love, and migraines. I wish you all the best in your writing adventures to come. Peace!
So the Amulet is acting as a regulator transfer interface? At least he won't implode in magic now. How quickly will the amulet try to influence him?
Didn't they also have a small contingent of guards lagged behind them? Wonder how they'll react.
Keep going! ;)
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Well, once it was clear that the Castle was not supernatural, the only person who could be responsible would be Care Taker, especially since the Castle asked for the Amulet back... which is obviously what Care Taker wanted.
The cigar was the clue. She put it directly in the fire, it didn't react. It told Anon that the fire was ineffective.
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Nope, no guards.
I was kinda confused at first, but then it clicked. Xp
AWESOME chapter dude!
It kills me knowing that I have to wait what will feel like eons to continue this story because out of the couple hundred favorites stories I've got, this is in my top three.
I'm wondering why the amulet works for him
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His Roommate probably is the one actualy using it.
FINALLY THEY CAN UNDERSTAND!!!!
So, as much as I was happy to see an update, I gotta say this chapter was rough.
Where was the transition between the previous chapter and this one? It was so abrupt I had to go back 3 chapters just to make sure I didn't miss something.
And then the dialogue is all jumbled up with paragraphs, including different character dialogue within the same paragraph.
This needs some revision, badly.
Awesome. I wonder what happens now that Anon can talk?
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Enough magic for him to speak, not enough magic to corrupt him.
All work and no play makes Anon a dull boy.
Been binge reading the story all evening, keep it up, brother.
Damn... Anon got off easy...
So Eris can leave now?
So Alicorn Twilight chasing Glimmer lost her shit and Starlight spell probably sucker Anon into existance?
Making Fluttershy sad is punishment enough!
God gave say who but it's feeling more n more like a self insert
Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that this talking is temporary, and that one of the princesses is going to take it from him, leaving him unable to speak once again.......