//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Anon the Scrooge // by Fifty Shades of Yellow //------------------------------// (PoV: Sunset Shimmer) Finally, it’s done. Mountains of freshly baked cookies sit on the counter, ready to be eaten. ”Few!” Pinkie Pie emotes when taking off her apron. “Glad that’s taken care of.” “Don’t you think that this is a bit excessive?” ”What do you mean?” ”I thought you went off to make a small batch of cookies for Anon. Not this!” You point at the truckloads of cookies. ”Ohhh, that’s going to be passed around for the party tomorrow!” “What about Anon? That was the reason on why we wanted to do this.” Pinkie Pie grabs a plate and stacks an assortment of coloured cookies. ”Here you are. Should be more than enough to satisfy his sweet tooth.” She hands it over to you. ”Alright, how are we going to get Anon?” Twilight circulates the main topic. ”We’ll have to catch him at lunchtime, it’s the only time that we can move around the school.” ”What if he isn’t in the cafeteria?” Rarity brings up a scenario. ”He’ll most likely be hiding around campus, seeing that he doesn’t want to be with his own friends.” All of your friends nod, and begin to remove their aprons to clean themselves up before leaving. The next day... The lunch bell rings. The cafeteria seems to be packed, so this might take a while to find Anon. You and your friends scout around, only noticing the kid from yesterday. Rarity received some news that Anon is usually in a classroom at lunchtime, so you’ll have to search the school for him. ”Okay, Twilight and I will go and try to cheer him up.” ”What if he bailed?” Rainbow Dash questions the possibility of Anon abandoning the campus. ”If he wants to take the chances of being in school tomorrow, so be it.” AJ bitterly comments. “What’s wrong, Applejack?” Pinkie Pie asks. Applejack crosses her arms. ”I’m sort of having a grudge with the tone Anon picked with me from yesterday.” ”Do not let it get to you. Maybe he feels bad about it and might apologize, after we give him a small gift.” Twilight points her thumb at the plate of cookies your holding. ”Okay, best of luck, girls.” AJ goes back to stirring her mashed potatoes, whereas the rest of the girls waive goodbye as you and Twilight walk away. Some time has passed. After checking a few classrooms, Twilight is starting to lose hope on the situation. ”Sunset, I think we should call it here.” “But Twilight, we’ve only passed through eleven classes.” ”I feel as if Rainbow Dash was onto something. Maybe Anon isn’t here.” “We won’t know that until we’ve checked every spot in this school.” You hold the doorknob that leads into room 112. “But lunch is almost over, and we don’t have enough time to look at the rest of the school.” “We can at least try, Twilight.” You open the door and walk inside to be relieved when you see Anon sitting in the farthest corner. Your short lived victory is ruined when you make a closer inspection at how he’s sitting. He has his hoodie pulled up while listening to a Christmas song that you couldn’t put a finger to. It makes it even more difficult when it’s only coming through his earbuds. “Anon?” You subtly ask. ”Anon, are you okay?” Twilight crouches down and puts her right hand on his shoulder. He quickly backs up and pushes Twilight’s hand away, almost as if he was frightened by your appearance. Twilight falls back and hits her rump on the floor, frozen to the fact that she startled Anon. “Geez, didn’t you learn to leave some people alone?” He snaps at you and Twilight. You crouch down to bring up the plate of cookies you made yesterday. “We wanted to cheer you up. And to show you how much we cared, here’s some batch of cookies me and my friends made--” Without a second though, he smacks the plate off of your hands. You watched the cookies soar through the air and break into little pieces as they hit the ground. “What’s your problem!?” ”My problem is when you and your friends don’t learn to quit!” He gets up and runs out of the room. You chase him out of the room and follow him down the hallway. “Do you want to tell me what’s putting you down, or do you want to keep on running away from it?” He stops in the middle of an intersection, refusing to look at you or even bothering to turn around. ”I’d rather live it down, instead of showing it to anyone else.” He takes a left turn and walks away into the hallway. A door can be heard opening and closing mere moments after he vanishes into the next hallway. ”What happened?” Twilight comes out of room 112, holding the plate with a bunch of ruined cookies. “He’s being a miserable little brat. Come on.” You walk back to the cafeteria, thinking on your next move to get Anon out of his depression. Once you get back inside the cafeteria, you briefly talk to his friend for some information about where Anon lives. All that leaves is getting the crucial part for your next plan. Twilight dumps the cookies into the nearest trash can, lowering the now empty plate in her hands to try and hide it away. ”So, how’d it go?” Rarity asks. ”Did he leave, like I expected?” Rainbow asks with a devilish smirk. “It didn’t go well. We found him, but it looks like whatever is putting him down is even worse than I expected.” ”He didn’t even appreciate the cookies that we made him?!” Pinkie Pie nearly screams out of disbelief. “He didn’t even try a single cookie.” Twilight slides the plate across the table, stopping at where Pinkie Pie is sitting. ”Which is why Sunset is suggesting her next plan.” Twilight announces it to the group. ”Oh no, I think we’ve done enough for him.” Rainbow Dash revolts on the idea to continue this even further. ”I’m sticking with Rainbow Dash; the boy’s having some serious issues.” Applejack decided to side with her. “But this is my last attempt, honest! And I can't do it without you guys.” ”Well,” Rarity stands up, “if Sunset wants to give Anon another try, so be it.” You look at Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. ”If it means that he’ll try at least ONE cookie, then count me in!” Pinkie Pie stands up. ”I guess I’ll help.” Fluttershy meekly says as she stands up. Applejack looks around, soaking in the determination you and the girls are putting up. ”Consarn it!” She stands up. “I’ll do it, but only because that this is your last shot at cheering up the poor fella.” “Rainbow Dash?” She crosses her arms and tries to stare you down. ”Agh!” She exclaims before standing up. “You better make this good, Sunset.” ”It will be, but we’re going to have to do it tonight.” ”But the party is tonight!” Rainbow Dash yells out. “It won’t take long, trust me.” She exhales before leaning in. ”Let’s hear it.”