It had been a month since he’d returned to Ponyville. One full month of healing, recuperating, and watching the snow pile up. Apart from the ponies that the princess sent over for his training on his ‘nullification’ powers, he tried not to have too many interactions with them until he could get things under control. Having an entire population with magic gathered inside of them made his odd powers a dangerous hazard to be around.
Not that it stopped anyone from trying to visit him or get him out of the house when they could. It certainly helped with livening up his dull training. Having trainers around him constantly was getting on his nerves, no matter how much the princess was paying him to cooperate.
Currently sitting at the kitchen table, eating some leftover food from the day before, he watched as the trainer for the day scribbled down notes. With a hum to herself, she passed over another bowl, cut from fine gems.
“Okay, like last time but this time try to work it out as slow as you can manage. I’ll be working a spell to analyze what is occurring, focusing on the bowl once again.”
“Sure, alright,” Anon said, licking off his fingers.
With his finger pointed out, he tapped the crystal bowl, focusing on his inner power. He was taught to imagine it in a visual form, finding the idea of putting it behind a door the easiest for him. The door slowly creaked open; the crystal bowl started to drain of its previous luster. His trainer flinched, finding the spell flickering from its horn, struggling to keep it active.
Only a few seconds passed before the unicorn sighed, extinguishing the light. “Okay, you can stop. I just don’t know how spells can’t seem to work around your null presence even when it’s not aimed at you.”
“Are we nearly done here?” Anon asked, finger still touching the bowl. “I kind of had plans to leave the house today. Want to see what’s going on in town, get out, stretch my legs.”
“Yes, with this at least.” His finger retracted, the crystal bowl starting to regain its previous shine, albeit at a slow pace. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over that. Oh, I should probably ask about your second power and if there are any new developments there.”
Anon groaned, face-palming. “That’s not a power. That’s me observing you ponies.”
“And yet, you’re observing something about our lives that we can’t seem to identify. It’s concerning that you’re able to predict outcomes or simply know certain amounts of information that you, by all accounts, shouldn’t know.”
His ‘cartoon’ logic idea had, in turn, come back to bite him. Keeping his eyes peeled, he could see odd things that just didn’t make sense. From ponies leaving items in strange places, to the ways they’d act that seemed to defy logic. And instead of keeping his nose out of things, like a smart person, he intervened whenever he could. He stopped a few Goldberg machines early on, talked a few ponies out of making mistakes, and pointed things out that, when shown in the light, seemed to dissolve its wackiness and made things resolve peacefully.
If he had simply kept his mouth shut when his trainers asked why he was involved in so much the few times he was allowed to leave the house, when previously he stayed out of things, then the ponies would have likely not put a magically binding contract on themselves from ever revealing such knowledge. On top of, Princess Luna and Celestia wouldn’t have made that bit of his ‘powers’ a Triple S as they called it, or Super Serious Secret, that no one could know about.
Thus, he now had top individuals in the country believing he was some kind of magical non-magical human-exclusive seer that could pierce the veil of their reality. He tried to explain numerous times that, no, he was simply making guesses and predictions on what he’d expect a cartoon to do. None of that seemed to matter to them and had, in fact, the complete opposite reaction, only solidifying their views on him.
“It’s not something to get worried about.”
“Ah, ah! That’s where you’re wrong! What if someone else out there could learn of how you’re able to predict all of this or see what you can? Then we’d have a crisis on our hoofs!”
“Oh no, whatever will you all do if someone sees through all the silly shenanigans you’re pulling off.”
“I am being serious here, Mr. Anon. Ponies or other beings could use these powers for evil. For example, what of the incident involving those CMC children? Someone could have turned those bullies to true evil if it was anyone but you interfering.”
Anon wished he could have forgotten that little incident that kept coming back to haunt him. When he got his cast removed a party was involved because of course, they needed one for that. After talking to the cutie mark crusaders, he saw the little snots that were Diamond Tiara and her crony Silver Spoon talking to them, pretty much bullying, and yet not a single adult seemed to take notice.
The whole thing reminded him, as did many things as of late, of cartoons he’d watch. How he hated seeing kids being bullied around, and how infuriating it was that no adults seemed to step in at all. So, of course, he stepped in, settling the problem as best he could that didn’t involve kicking the little bullies across the party scene.
“Look, if any of the adults at the party had stepped in to help them then I wouldn’t have done anything. Seriously, their reasoning of ‘Oh I was enjoying the party so much I didn’t even notice these children being picked on’ doesn’t sit right with me. And come on, clearly, this was a setup for their stupid talent show they were having the following week. How many of those do they even need? They have one like every month.”
“Our talents are an important part of our lives, Mr. Anon.”
“Hey, at least I didn’t punt them. That’s something, right?”
She rolled her eyes, “The little things, I suppose.” He had a talking to about punting ponies around the place, the ones that needed it. Apparently, they didn’t like that. “The reports I read showed that you not only dispatched the two individuals bullying the CMC’s but also guided the two afterward into… paranormal studies.”
“If I didn’t do anything then it’d go back to the status quo when I wasn’t around. By the way, I didn’t guide them to that, that was all them.”
Talking to the scary alien after the party on his way home at night didn’t help them in the least. The petty little threats they made, which wouldn’t affect him in the slightest, only made him laugh.
Opting to try and change their attitudes, he steered them toward veiled dangers and spooks that many other ponies had been afraid of, as he had noticed in past encounters. He allowed their imaginations to fill in what those could be. Who knew it’d fill their minds with ghosts and vampires along with other secrets they were sure were out there, that Anon was a part of in their minds.
“Yeah, that’ll veer them to a horror setting. Maybe I should have thought that one through, I don’t want to deal with wendigos or specters any time soon. Still, with how things have gone here, I doubt it’ll be gory, mostly just some good spooks. It could be fun.”
“Excuse me?”
“Sorry, speaking to myself.”
“No, step back, what’s this about wendigos?”
“It’s nothing. That kind of thing won’t be for a long while, not until they’re well trained to take it on.”
“Can you please not involve yourself with those two? We’ve already got enough problems to deal with. Having two children with a building obsession with paranormal activities, while having rich and influential parents, is not a fun combination to deal with.”
“Why does it sound like you’re personally involved with that?”
“I am! Sort of. I mean, those two as of late keep paying ponies off to get into our files, which in turn brought out our division to the area to investigate why there’s been a lot of paranormal activities stirring up, which THEN, in turn, shows those two being responsible, and by omission, me!” She let out a wail of frustration. “I shouldn’t have gotten involved when I first saw them try to summon something from Tartarus for hidden secrets. Because I’m already here for your training, the division now sends me out to deal with this. I keep having to chase them down so they don’t get into any trouble. The fact that you’re instigating this makes this whole ordeal even worse!”
Anon shrugged with a chuckle. “Can't promise to stop. I kind of set myself up as the mentor to their little adventures. I can’t just back out of all that now.” The unicorn looked like she was about to cry. Anon merely laughed. “So we’re done? I’d like to do stuff when everyone’s still out and about.”
The unicorn huffed, placing her papers in her side bag. “This will be our last session for some time. The princess is recalling the other trainers in the area and I have to deal with those little nuisances; it seems they got something planned in the following week and I can’t allow them to run off by themselves.”
“So what about the plans the princess has involving me and the other two?” The unicorn froze, eyes widening. “Oh come on, it was so obvious. I overheard Lyra saying she had no further duties for the time being and Bon Bon’s entire stock was bought up by some random person, clearing out well over a month for her to kill. Mind sharing what she has in stock for us three?”
“I, uh… I am not at any liberty to discuss… confidential matters that… GOODBYE.” She popped out of the house, a quick teleport taking her away.
“Hmph. Rude.”
Finishing up his meal, Anon grabbed a few essentials along with his coat, heading out the door. He was immediately met with white everywhere. It had snowed two weeks back, all the snow quite literally dropped from the sky in a blanket, covering the entire town within moments of its arrival. It was quite a sight to see.
‘At least the roads are cleared, along with a path from the door.’
Putting his hands inside his coat pockets, he started walking down the road toward the town.
The sight of all the snow was putting him in a good mood: he always did like winter. And in this world, it looked exactly like how Hollywood interpreted it in their movies. Anon could see a flurry of activity throughout the place, with the ponies running around, throwing snowballs at one another, or tobogganing down the hills.
There were ponies building snowponies or snow forts, giggling at the silly constructions they came up with. Anon could even spot plenty of vendors about, selling their wares such as hot drinks or snow-related snacks. He hoped to cross the hotdog vendor to ask him about his order, and to pick up some on the way.
A chuckle escaped his lips, spotting Rainbow Dash with a cloud in the sky, shaking it vigorously up above Scootaloo with snowballs somehow coming down from the cloud, hitting the small pegasus. Scootaloo ran away from the cackling mare, trying to make it over a hill and attempt some form of retaliation with her snowballs.
Rainbow Dash freaked out when a massive snowball came at her, barely dodging it. It seemed Scootaloo was acting as bait to get her near the catapult Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were manning, somehow moving it forward with what Anon would assume was magically powered. They then proceeded to chase the rainbow-maned mare with cheers.
“Anon!”
Hearing his name, he turned around and saw a very large minotaur running toward him through the snow. He slid up to him, kicking snow right at Anon’s body. Wiping the snow off his chest, he deadpanned at the minotaur, who gave him a sheepish look.
“Sorry ‘bout that, boss.”
“Is there something I can help you with, Bolder? I’m pretty certain you’ve been fully trained in what to do so you don’t need to keep coming to me for questions.”
During the time his arm was in a cast, the spa sisters had been out one employee. It had hurt their business quite a bit. Anon felt bad, knowing they couldn’t just hire and train someone like him again. As luck would have it, a minotaur had come across Ponyville, originally challenging him to some odd macho competition or whatnot.
The rumors running around about him had quite a few minotaurs looking up to him, for some reason, and a few challenged him to whatever they could come up with. Bolder challenged him to throw stuff. Anon had a good laugh, activating his null and grabbing the minotaur who was helpless, chucking him into the air. Guy only landed a few feet, but seeing as he couldn’t grab Anon, his null powers forcing weakness into the guy, he had won that competition.
After talking him down from that, along with Lyra threatening to magic him like crazy, he explained that he was taking lessons from another minotaur close by named Iron Will. The rumors surrounding Anon were running wild, and Iron Will wanted in on that, telling Bolder to challenge him in some way to make a name through it; Iron Will thought that would give him more business.
Bolder just seemed like someone that wanted to find something he could be good at. Anon to put two and two together, thinking he could take his place at the spa. It wasn’t difficult to convince the spa ponies, though they weren’t impressed with his hairy hands in comparison to Anon’s smooth, oily digits.
They had created strange gloves that mimicked his skin. It was… revolting when they showed it to him, and it wasn’t perfect, but it allowed the minotaur to give massages, Anon style.
Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he looked over to Bolder. “Head in the clouds, boss?”
“Yeah, precipitation in exposition it seems. So what did you need, Bolder?”
“I just wanted to give you the final product on the gloves that were made,” he said, handing over the skin gloves that made his stomach churn. “They made some recent revisions and while it can’t replicate the oils out of your skin or how the digits work, it’s much closer to how your skin feels.”
“Oooh… thanks…”
“No problem, boss!” Bolder said with a thumbs up and a smile. “They’re thinking of marketing it to other minotaurs, using me as their model for it!”
“That’s great to hear,” Anon murmured, uncertain how to feel about that. “Is there anything else?”
“Nope, that about covers things for now,” he said, right before dodging a massive snowball coming from a fight being formed. “I should get going; I need to have some of the griffon mead ordered soon. This place is just too dry for my throat!”
“Just make sure you save some for me when it comes in. I didn’t even get some the last time you imported it.”
“Of course! We’ll drink the night away and have a blast!”
“So long as you don’t invite me on your ventures like the last time,” Anon said with a chuckle. “I don’t know how you wound up trying to stick your dick in that manticore.”
“Th-That’s not my fault, it was that darn pink pony’s fault! I knew I shouldn’t have invited her with my drinking.”
Saying their goodbyes, Anon walked away from the snowball fight that was happening around him, making it to the stalls near the middle of the town. The place seemed as lively as ever, with them all bundled up for the cold weather. There were some stands dedicated to game stalls involving the snow or other odd things about their culture, along with some music playing in the background.
It was a festive he got seeing it. Looking around, Anon had to hold back a sigh, seeing Pinkie eagerly waving a hoof at him, calling him over to her stall.
Walking over, he spotted large cups and a steaming kettle. “Hey, Anon! It sure has been a while since anypony’s seen you out and about!”
“I’ve been cooped up in the house learning how to control that stupid magic nullification ability of mine,” Anon told her. “I doubt anyone around here really wanted to deal with the mishaps from it and the whole not being able to use magic very well around me.”
“Not everypony uses magic!”
“Doesn’t matter, it’d still be a hindrance to your day-to-day activity around the place.”
“But you missed out on all the fun and adventures when you were locked up in that house. Think of all that could have been if you were with us!”
“I think I’ve already had enough of that to last me a long time. Besides, it didn’t stop anyone from visiting the place.”
“True, true,” she said, nodding her head. “The few times you’ve been out have been pretty funny too! Like that one time, you saved like, twelve people in town! There was Tapioca Lovelies nearly having that piano dropped on her head, and you just pushed her out from under it right on time from that doom! Or when that runaway cart came by and you directed everypony away in such an odd pattern. It’s almost like you can see the future!”
“Better be careful with such accusations like that; you might find me butting in and ruining some future surprises involving you.”
“Ooh, yeah, wouldn’t want that. So to get back on to the main script, since you’re here, would you like to purchase some of my super-duper, totally awesome hot cocoa? Only five bits!”
“So long as you add in extra awesomeness into it,” he replied, placing the bits down.
Pinkie giggled before messing with her kettle and mixing things around, placing it all into a cup, along with a tall stack of whip cream and powdered cinnamon on top.
“Would you like a cookie as well?” she asked as Anon grabbed the cup. He gave her an expressionless stare. “Soooo, no?”
“Definitely not,” he answered, taking a sip from the drink. The warmth that went down his throat and into his gut was a welcome feeling.
“It’s just a plain sugar cookie, see?” she said, showing a plate of star-shaped cookies.
“…Not talking antics from the stars?” he asked, taking one and looking it over.
“Nope! Crumb was the only one made like that and she’s off doing something else at the moment.”
“Wait, she’s not around here is she? I’d rather no interactions with her for some time longer, if at all possible.”
Pinkie waved a hoof at him. “Nah, she’s too preoccupied with the fillies and colts over there,” she said, pointing behind him.
Looking, he saw the cookie pony now adorned in a cookie scarf, little cookie booties, and a cookie beanie. Crumb was currently bouncing on top of a xylophone, entertaining the young ponies that crowded around her little stand.
“I think I should leave before she notices me,” Anon said, walking away in the opposite direction of Crumb.
“ENJOY YOUR DRINK!” Pinkie yelled out, making him wince, doubling his speed.
Walking around the stalls, he was offered more items to purchase, from icicle-popsicles to the classic snow cones. Anon thought it would be good business to recreate the coconut treat, Snowballs, for Bon Bon to sell. She would likely be happy selling such things, after the month-long break.
“Hey, Anon!” Looking down, right off to the side was Vinyl giving him a smirk, or it appeared to be one since the bottom half of her face was covered by a scarf. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you out and about.” She paused, examining his head. “Wow, you look different without all that hair on you.”
“I’m glad it’s gone, the stuff was bothersome.”
“I dunno, the hair looked good on you, giving you a wild look. Anyways, I was just heading home; wanna accompany me back and catch up?”
“Yeah, why not,” Anon answered, not having much to do and wanting a break from the cold.
“So is there anything on your mind at the moment?”
“Not really, I was just thinking about some treats that were sold back home. Thought I could remake them with Bon Bon’s help and have them sold off.”
Vinyl turned her head at him, “Sounds like an interesting idea if you go through with it, though you’ll make some ponies upset with that decision.”
Anon gave her a questioning stare. “Why would they be upset over treats of all things?” he asked, taking a sip from his drink.
“There’s a betting pool going around on what you’ll recreate next from your world. I believe Lemon Hearts and Rose have their bet on you making treats.”
“Are you a part of this pool?” Anon asked while dodging a very large rolling snowball, followed by Silver Spoon running after it.
“I decided not to get into any future pools since you already brought your pod out. I don’t have much more interest in anything but that at the moment.”
“Why are you telling me this? It seems like something that would need to be kept hidden to be effective.”
Meeting her to the door of the house, she looked around, not spotting anyone close by. “Some of the ponies in the pool are getting desperate with you coming up with something. I heard that some of them might try something about that to get you to make things.”
Opening the door, she invited him inside the warm house before motioning him to sit on the couch. Doing so, Anon sipped his drink as she went off into the kitchen for refreshments.
“So you just wanted to warn me about the others?” he called out loud enough to reach Vinyl’s ears. “It’s a little useless unless I have names to watch out for.”
“That’s just it,” she called back. “I don’t know who’s in it, could be everypony here in Ponyville. Giving you a heads up was the least I could do.”
Vinyl came back out with a tray of snacks and two mugs along with a steaming kettle. She served out some simple tea for Anon, which he gladly accepted as his previous drink had just emptied.
“So how have you been?” Vinyl asked as she removed her glasses and her scarf from her mouth. “Being stuck in that house had to have driven you nuts.”
“Kind of used to it, in a sense. At least I wasn’t stuck to a single room like when I first arrived. It was the whole learning how to control my null powers that made things miserable.”
“I remember when you managed to pull that off; those unicorns were whooping and hollering about being successful,” she said with a smirk. “I bet you were happy to get your arm healed by magic soon after. So can you do any nifty tricks with it, like teleport or whatnot?”
“My power revolves around me neutralizing magic, so I doubt I can do anything useful.” Anon took a sip of tea before continuing. “It’d be absurd if I could teleport, and I doubt I’ll ever be able to do much of anything specialized..”
“Okay, so nothing super radical with your newfound powers,” Vinyl said, taking a rather large gulp of her tea, “yet. So how have you and the other two lovebirds been?”
Pausing from his drink, he set the cup down, remembering how the two had been since coming back with him. “Bon Bon and Lyra haven’t changed at all as far as I can tell. Though as always something is going on around those two.”
“Nothing major’s changed?” she asked, finishing up her cup before filling it once more. “They’re officially hooked up so surely something’s different around there.”
Anon shrugged, “Those two are more awkward around one another when it comes to the lovey-dovey. Bon Bon seems happier, and Lyra is her normal peppy self, though she tries to be a romantic with Bon Bon now and then.”
“I know of one thing that would especially make her romantic,” Vinyl said, wiggling her eyebrows at Anon.
“I’ve already said I’m not interested in that kind of thing, Vinyl.”
“Sure, sure,” she said, waving a hoof. He then noticed her giving him a more serious stare. “How have you been, personally?”
“I’m doing good. Other than the whole weird skill thing and being stuck inside a house most of the time, I can’t complain. I do wish I had something to do, like a job. The bits from the princess is great and all, but being cooped up so often is making me antsy.”
“That’s not what I meant, Anon.”
He looked confused, “Sorry, I’m not sure what you mean.”
“How exactly are you doing on the inside? Like, emotionally.” Anon quirked an eyebrow at her. She placed her cup down. “A lot of other ponies see it, or the ones that have been around you long enough to notice. You’ve gotten very good at hiding it recently; almost everypony just thought it was some alien thing.”
“Ah man, am I being therapy’d right now? I forgot that’s kind of what you do.”
“Uh… what?”
“No, nothing. Forget I said anything.” He tapped his knees, humming. “Okay. What would I be hiding? I’m not scheming or planning anything, especially with how cold everything is. Though I could try and build an ice fort somewhere and take over a little section for my people. I bet I could get Lyra and Bon Bon to join in on that.”
Vinyl didn’t grab onto his joking. “Anon, you don’t have to hide your emotions. We’re extremely understanding and won’t make fun of you. I just feel like I need to ask to make sure, to see if you’re doing fine.” She tried to find the right words to say. “Anon, how are you dealing with being here in our world and away from yours?”
Lyra and Bon Bon had tried asking him about that but he kept sidestepping the topic. ‘They must have asked her to try and talk to me if she ever got the chance.’ Clasping his hands together, he bent over his seat, giving it some thought.
“I won’t lie, it’s had its ups and downs. I miss being around people I recognize, interacting with things I’m used to. Everything back in my life is kind of… just gone. My career, my goals, the few people I had close to me. Though that’s mostly referring to my mom more than anything. We were pretty close.”
He chuckled, “She’s probably wondering why I’d do something so stupid, jumping on a missile. ‘Oh that Anon, always so dramatic. He should have known he could have defused it in some manner if he just took a second to look!’ I know she’d say something like that, always joking about things like that. Heh…”
A cough, clearing his throat. “But I think I’ve gotten over it plenty well. I’m done crying about things. If… If I can’t get home, I should make the best out of this situation. I’ve already got plans on how to turn my career into something I can use here; I’ve been hearing about black rock usage and other things that could be prevented to help your world and future generations. By the way, I call black rock, coal. Some info for you. But yeah, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“So you claim,” she said, before rubbing her chin. “Thought it was strange how you acted before has changed since that trip.”
“Vinyl, I’ve already explained that weird guy from the forest had some kind of spell on me, muting me on my emotions. This ‘me’ is the real me, or it’s the me that isn’t held back.”
“So now that you’re back to ‘normal’, you now go around, drop-kicking ponies around the place?”
“Okay those ponies deserved it and you know that. Seriously, asking me those lewd things or getting specist like that. Not cool. Of course, I was going to defend myself, the jackasses.”
A laugh escaped Vinyl. “I remember seeing you do that in the marketplace. Scared the crap out of everyone for a while; they all thought you would go on a pony-kicking rampage.”
Anon blinked. “They did? How’d I miss that?”
“Bon Bon took you away from the place before you could find out. Seriously, a lot of ponies kind of got in your personal space or did something really stupid toward you for the first few months you were here, and with you not doing anything about it for the longest time, they just thought you were fine with it. Finding out differently, well let’s just say it scared quite a few about getting kicked themselves.”
“I wouldn’t even be kicking them around if it wasn’t called for. But everyone should know I wasn’t just going to come at them for some petty revenge. I’ve already forgiven them.”
“Still, when you live in a society where any weird fella from the past can crop up for some form of revenge or other baddie works, you kind of expect it in some fashion.”
“Kind of sad.”
“It sure is.”
Anon swirled the tea around in his cup, taking a sip before placing it back down. “This is my life now, isn’t it? Living among all these different people and species, expecting some odd adventure that reminds me of a weekly monster-of-the-week fest, full of magic and some lesson to learn around every corner.”
“Don’t forget living with two awesome mares that are willing to reciprocate the loving back if you ever want it.”
He rolled his eyes, “Yeah, that too.”
“So while we wait for whatever this next ‘arc’ you’ve told me about comes, whatever that is, why not just have fun with life and do what you want here?”
“What I want?”
“Sure? You’ve always done what others wanted or gone with them. What exactly does Anon want himself?”
“I’ve… never really thought about it. All I’ve ever wanted was to have a fulfilling career before finding some woman and settling down. But now, living here? I kind of still want to do that. As I mentioned, coal usage could be regulated, some practices like deforestation should be considered, and possible pollutants you haven’t come across could be warned about to prepare you all. I don’t know… I think I just want to help everyone in that regard.”
Vinyl looked confused, “Okay, I don’t know what some of that means but all the power to you. Is that all? Surely there’s something you’ve wanted to do.”
“I’m fine with going along with everyone’s trips. I’m a foreigner after all; what would I do if I was given the freedom to do whatever I wanted? Visit places? Meet the locals? I’m already in a strange enough place as it is, trying to lead myself through that hazard is a headache in itself. I’d rather have someone there leading the charge until I can get my footing, which won’t be for a while longer.”
‘The null powers sure did give me a proper step in that direction, finally having some level of control once again.’
“If the opportunity did present itself, I’d certainly try my own thing. But right now? I just want to chill out with my friend Vinyl and maybe listen to some music with you.”
She smiled, “Now that I can get down with! What you got in mind?”
“What have you checked on there so far?”
“I’ve gone through most of the electronic bands, which by the way, that Pendulum band? Sick! I was in awe at what they produced.”
“You should check out Knife Party. It’s the same people, just a different direction. But if that’s all you listened to… Yeah, I kind of feel like something melodic right now. Let me show you the musical world that is, Blackfield.”
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
He wasn’t sure how long he sat there with Vinyl. Going through the few albums he had on it was relaxing for him. The two talked about his time in Equestria, Anon slowly opening up on some issues or letting things out.
Vinyl had some interesting reactions to the music. She got teary-eyed on the self-titled song, and The Hole In Me got her choked up. Surprisingly, she wanted to hear them a few times over, wanting to ‘capture the mood’ as she said.
“You can let go of me now.”
“S-Sorry. Just needed a hug after that music,” she said, wiping an eye behind her goggles. “That stuff was really strong. I didn’t even know you could make music that emotional.”
“You silly ponies are too emotional,” he said as Vinyl moved off of him.
“You silly humans need to open up more.”
A snort came out of him hearing that. He wasn’t sure how to be more open, but he’d attempt it in some way.
“Before you leave, is there anything you do want to talk about right now? Anything you miss or just want to let out?”
A smile crept across his face, “I really, REALLY miss meat. Proper meat that isn’t from an animal that can talk back to me.”
Vinyl chuckled, “The griffons can send in meat if you want that imported. I remember reading Lyra’s reports on you, and I think the calydonian over in Gryphonia will be perfect for you. It’s kind of like pigs, but they’re used for food.”
“I remember hearing about them, but it’s expensive to import. The last time I’ve had proper meat was at the castle with the princesses. I would kill for some of that again.”
“Th-They served you meat?”
“It wasn’t real, just some fake meat made by magic. But it was very tasty.”
“So those rumors are true then! I wonder what the princess is doing making fake meat up there.”
Before Anon could say anything, a rather harsh coughing came from the side. They turned to see Octavia, standing out of the hall, looking sick.
“Where’d you go?” Octavia asked, looking relieved to see Vinyl there. “I thought you disappeared on me again.”
“I told you I went to the doctor. She said she’d be over later this evening for you. Go lie back down.”
“Don’t—” She let out a loud sneeze and sniffled. “Don’t g-go disappearing on my, Vinyl.”
“Would never dream of such a thing.”
Octavia stared at the unicorn for a few seconds before turning around and heading to her room.
Anon turned to Vinyl, looking confused. “What was that about?”
“It’s a long story I doubt you’d believe. Besides, she’s just sick and is likely hallucinating something or another.”
There was something odd going on between those two, but he decided not to push into it, not wanting the drama of it all.
“I should probably leave,” Anon said. “The other two will be back at the house soon. Besides, I wouldn’t want to get sick.”
“Can you even catch a cold from us ponies or anyone in this world?”
“I wouldn’t know and would rather not find out.”
“I should probably comfort Octavia anyways, she could use the company. Just don’t forget what we talked about.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Anon mumbled, standing up and making his way to the door.
Standing outside, he could see it hadn’t gotten any darker. It must be sometime in the late afternoon; he did wake up quite early when he went out for the day.
Walking back to the house, his thoughts drifted back to what Vinyl said. While he didn’t like opening up, who did, after all, Anon had to admit that he felt much lighter, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It still hurt to think about home. He hadn’t realized how much he missed things, like his mom and some other people, on top of his entire life.
For some odd reason, Anon was starting to realize that his past life was starting to look odd like there was something off. He wasn’t clear what that was about. Shaking his head, he put those thoughts aside for the time being. Keeping things clear and optimistic was a better view to keep his sights on.
Right before he could continue, Anon had to stop, spotting something very odd even for him in pony land.
“Rarity?” he asked, uncertain if it was her.
She turned to him, looking surprised. “Anon! Darling, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you! How have you been?”
“…Fine,” he answered, walking up to her. “Sooo… what have you been up to?”
“It’s the norm for me, with my designing and such. I’ve had a lot of orders on scarfs as of recent, of course, along with some warmer wears. Booties are of course back in season, and you have no idea the difficulties I had obtaining proper enchanted wool to line those with.”
“Okay then, alright. And… what about that?”
“About what?”
Anon pointed at the rock Rarity was currently perched on top of. “The rock you’re sitting on.”
A light laugh could be heard, with Rarity shaking up and down. “Do-ho-ho-ho! Aren’t you going to introduce me to your fabulous friend?”
His eyes widened at what appeared to be a talking rock Rarity was sitting on. The unicorn coughed to herself. “Anon, this is Benny Alicia Grimmoid.”
“Everyone just calls me Sapient for some reason, but I prefer Sappy my tall friend,” the rock said.
Uncertain about how to react, he turned his direction to Rarity, disbelief clear on his face. “So, Rarity. You’re friends with a talking rock.”
“Yes, yes I am.”
“How in the blazes did that happen?”
“She met me out in the forest as she was going out to save a friend of hers,” the rock said cheerfully. “How valiant she was! And from the description I was given, I do believe that friend of hers was you!”
“Ah, I see…”
“Yes, well, she came back afterward and we had a nice, delightful conversation with one another. One thing led to another, and now here I am with her on a great adventure of discovery and wonderment!”
“So Rarity brought back a talking rock with her from that forest I was in.”
“I personally prefer it if you see me as a large boulder over a simple rock,” Sappy said with a weird, sultriness, making him feel nauseous and wanting to gag. “Why, I see myself as a boulder-sized kimberlite. I hide all my best adamantinos on the inside, do-ho-ho-ho-ho!”
“R-Right. Well, I really should get going—”
“As should we!” Sappy spoke up. “We must go find my brother; that dastardly draconequus brought him out here and I’ve been ever so worried about him! Poor fella, he’s quite shy and most likely to not speak up no matter how much you try to open up a conversation. I worry about him.”
“I hope you have a good day, Anon,” Rarity said, “but we really should get going.”
“Yes! Let us be off to find Tomathan!” Sappy said.
Right before his eyes, the rock started moving slowly forward, guiding Rarity through the snow as it started to pick up speed.
“I don’t even know what that was. Is that a reference from something I should know, or perhaps something here in the past? I don’t get it…”
Anon wasn’t sure how he was supposed to react to what just happened, so he decided to head straight home and meet the other two to see what they were doing.
Getting home, he saw Lyra and Bon Bon in the kitchen area, enjoying some fruit while talking to one another. Lyra saw him and gasped, “Anon! We’ve been waiting for you! Come over and take a seat!”
Taking off his jacket, Anon hung it up before seating himself. Lyra looked giddy, about to blow up from excitement while Bon Bon looked happy with a large smile. Looking at the table, Anon could see an array of papers strewn about it.
“What’s all this about?”
Lyra patted the table with her hooves excitedly. “Princess Celestia’s giving me a paid vacation!” She let out a squeal after saying so.
“I also got all the candy that I had for this month all sold off,” Bon Bon added in, “so I have no obligations for a while!”
“It’s good to hear that from both of you,” Anon said, keeping a straight face. “Why is the princess giving you a paid vacation?”
“I dunno? Should it matter? PAID! VACATION! EEEEEEEHHH!!!”
“Being cooped up in a house as you had would drive any stallion— ehr, I mean man, mad.”
Lyra clapped her hooves, still giddy. “Soooo, Bon Bon and I were talking and we were planning on going somewhere, just the three of us.”
“You’ve got someplace picked out for us to go?”
“That’s where we wanted you for this,” Bon Bon said, shuffling some papers toward him. “We had a lot of different ideas on where to go, but we didn’t think it was right to not have you in this decision.”
“This is a huge list of different places and ideas that we came up with. Take a look and see if anything interests you and we’ll go there!”
“Are you two sure about this? I might choose someplace that may not be what you two want.”
“Think of this more as a way for us to let you have more autonomy when it comes to decision making.”
“Besides, all these places are awesome! We’ll stand by whatever you decide.”
Looking at the papers, Anon picked one up, seeing the griffon kingdom on it. It listed a count of places to go to and what they could do there, along with stops on the way should they choose.
‘If I recall, there’s been some hints about something big happening there. A few characters leaving some ominous warnings about the place when I was around, and that’s not including those ambassadors that came by two months back.’
Anon, in his mind, was looking at a list of possible locations that would pick up a new adventure, another storyline arc to progress in the world.
There was a paper on the minotaur lands dealing with their various clans. Another talked on the crystal kingdom and some ‘adventure spelunking’ in the region for special gems, with hidden artifacts hinted at. A few new ports had opened up in various lands, and one for directly in the ocean to some weird fish kingdom. Another couple of papers had different places like the Yak lands or other Equestrian cities, but they didn’t have the same ‘excitement’ as others did, clearly trying to downplay their cities.
‘Clearly, it’s trying to perk my interest in some of these places. So how do I go about making this as hard as I can for it trying to reel me back in while still being able to enjoy myself.’
He went over what he knew and had written down, the small clues and foreshadowing that he’d overheard. There was one that he remembered being interested in but hadn’t had a chance to ask or figure out how to get them to volunteer the information.
“How’s about this?” Anon pushed a small paper forward, something that seemed intentionally set aside from everything else. “This sounds interesting.”
Lyra looked at it, frowning. “Van Hoover? Why there?”
Bon Bon froze up hearing the town. “Y-Yeah, there’s a lot of other places we could check out. Like Las Pegasus! Lots of fun games there and plenty of celebrities on stage. Or what about Saddle Arabia,? I hear it’s got great food and we could check out the minotaur clans afterward.”
“I kind of like the idea of Van Hoover,” Anon said, rubbing his chin as he looked up. “It’s one of the oldest cities in Equestria and plenty of old fashioned attractions, so it has a lot of cultural value. The place also has quite a few ports, being a center of griffon meats which I am very interested in.”
Anon scooted closer to Bon Bon, “There’s also your parents living there. I am quite interested in meeting them.”
“Why would you want to meet my parents? They’re not that interesting.”
He had, by complete chance, overheard her talking to some random pony that stood outside her window, whispering to her. It was odd, so of course, he eavesdropped on the whole thing. It was about her parents being in a particularly highly privileged area and her having to take over in the future, something about an inheritance. Anon wanted to nip this in the bud as soon as he could, lest it festers, and become a bigger problem than he’d likely be involved in at a future date.
“I beg to differ. After all, they brought up such a great person like you. And besides, it gives us a place we know in town and can come back to after a long day of sightseeing.”
“I kind of… haven’t told them about me and Lyra yet.”
“Oh, we are SO going to tell your mom all about me,” Lyra interjected with a large smile. “I want to go now!”
“You just want to rile up my mom.”
“Well, duh.”
“So, it’s settled!” Anon gathered all the papers to put away for them. “I’m certain this will be a fun trip for all of us.”
“Yeah, fun…”
“We should get packed as soon as we can; we might be able to leave today for the last train heading out.” Lyra clapped her hooves. “This is great, now Bon Bon can show her parents both me and our future partner!” Bon Bon gave Lyra a look, making her nervously laugh. “Eeeh-heh-heh-heh-heh…”
Anon stared at the two for a few seconds as they scrunched their faces at him.
“Let’s all have a fun, safe trip to Van Hoover.”
“An exciting, super-wonderous trip!”
“Yeah… fun.”
~End Chapter Twenty-One~