//------------------------------// // Chapter Eight // Story: Not Another Anon Story // by nameundetermined //------------------------------// Anon issued a soft, contented sigh as he relaxed into his seat at the greasy pony burger joint they had settled on for their evening meal. They had commandeered the large central table usually used whenever there was a large group of ponies all together, sitting far enough away from each other to be comfortable. He was about finished with his own food, admittedly a fairly large serving for him. After having had blood drawn, he was pretty hungry. But his was nothing compared to the rather hefty allotment Twilight had ordered for herself. He watched in amazement as the mare cleared out her third plate and started on a fourth. “Wow uh, you really love the food here, huh?” He asked softly, more in awe than disgust as he looked on, fascinated. Twilight paused mid-bite, a burger levitating half-eaten in her aura as she looked over at him, blushing and slowly setting the burger down as she realized how she must look right now. “Eheheh, uh...yes, yes I do Anon, thank you for letting me pick where we came, I always love a good dinner at McDonkeys.” He nodded and gave a small smile as she sheepishly set down her food, rolling his eyes just a tad. “Well yeah, I guess it’s alright. I’m Just glad they had nonhay options. I was going to have a fit if you dragged me to a place that only serves grass.” He leaned back slightly in his chair, closing his eyes for a moment as he let his body loosen, giving a small huff and rubbing his face. His behavior caught Twilight’s attention and instead of resuming her ravenous consumption, she tilted her head slightly and questioned him. “Anon, are you...are you alright?” He seemed to catch himself and quickly sat up again with a soft grunt, nodding at her as he tried to give a reassuring smile “Oh uh, yeah, totally fine, why do you ask?” He said somewhat less than convincingly as he took a sip of his Colt-A-Cola, looking away softly. Twilight leaned in just slightly, giving him a soft, concerned look as she slowly cast her eyes over him. “Anon, you know you can tell me if something is bothering you right?” He sighed as he looked back over at her, seeming slightly pained. “Yeah, I know but...look, maybe we can talk about this later? I don’t really feel comfortable discussing it with all of these peo- or er...ponies around.” Twilight seemed to understand and gave a small nod, smiling at him kindly. “Of course, anon. We can talk about it back on the train tonight if you want?” Anon shrugged noncommittally, looking down at his drink again. “Yeah, I guess we can, if you really want to…” he said softly, not seeming terribly enthused at the prospect. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few hours and a bit of sightseeing later, they were back on the train, heading for Ponyville. They had again settled into a car just for them to prevent any incidents, especially now knowing that there was definitely good cause to do so. Twilight was sitting a ways away from Anon, who was currently sitting in a reclined seat, a book open and over his face as he tried his best to relax, waiting for the inevitable moment when the little unicorn would ask- “So, Anon. Now that we are all alone and away from any prying eyes, I would like to ask you what, if anything is bothering you.” He gave a long, drawn sigh as he slowly sat back up, removing the book from his face and putting it away. “I was afraid you might say something like that,” he said as he turned to look over at her, seeming visibly troubled, a look that did not suit him in the slightest. “Anon, I promise that whatever it is, you can tell me, I am not going to judge you over it,” she said sincerely, emphatically as she leaned forward a bit, eyeing him up with a slightly worried look of her own. It left Anon to wonder exactly why she was so worried about him. After all, they had only known one another for a few days if you wanted to be generous. “Well...I guess, a lot of stuff,” he says as he rubs his arm, looking down at where his hands were working as he spoke softly. “Sorry, I’m not..great at the whole ‘feelings’ thing, to be honest.” “Well, sometimes it’s helpful to break problems down into smaller or more immediately evident ones. What is something that you feel is really bothering you right now?” She asks him gently. “Well...I’m worried about what I am going to do for one,” he said slowly, looking back over to her, though his gaze was a bit...shifty, as if looking at her was making him uncomfortable. “I mean, sure I have all of my needs taken care of in theory, and one could argue I am being productive simply by cooperating with the ongoing scientific research that will be performed with and on me. But that just isn’t well...good enough for me, i don’t think. That’s more just me being acted on, I’m not really doing all that much. What’s my day-to-day going to be like here, when I can't even get close to people. Twilight, I literally can’t get close to anyone.” Twilight attempted to interject, raising a hoof. “Anon, I don’t think-” His speaking pace and tone become more frantic and unsettled as he continues to speak. “I’m probably going to live the rest of my life being unable to be around the majority of creatures I meet unless I move to wherever the hell zebras are from here. In a single day, I have had effectively years of schooling and education that were meant to prepare me for life on my own rendered effectively useless in terms of day-to-day application. History, Language, Philosophy, hell, even the physics here seem off. “Well, I-” “All of it is basically rendered moot except as a potential novelty to capitalize on by the inhabitants of the world I now find myself in. I mean fuck, I’ve probably been so calm because I’m sort of shell shocked, now that I’m actually saying it all out loud and making myself deal with it I won't be surprised if the first thing I do when I end up alone is curl up in a ball and cr-” “ANON!” Twilight shouted, giving a carpet-muffled hoof stomp to accentuate her outburst as she finally managed to get him to stop speaking. As he shut up, he couldn't help but notice that his heart rate was elevated and he was taking more shallow, quick breaths than usual. Damn, he must have really just let it out once he let out a little bit. “I know this must all be very hard for you. But I want you to know that you do not have to deal with it by yourself. I don’t know how things were for you back where you came from, but in Equestria, we help our friends through their problems.” Anon could not help himself, responding. “That’s another thing. Like, don’t take this the wrong way..” There really isn't a right way to take it in all likelihood, but hey. “We just met like, a few days ago, and I haven’t really done much aside from being a general nuisance. In three days I have managed to paint myself as virtually diametrically opposed to your entire worldview, insult and assault your country's benevolent god-rulers, and extrapolate at length about my gripes with your culture, what little of it I have been informed about. There isn't really any reason you should tolerate me, let alone actively encourage me to stick around and worry about me! What’s the deal here?” He didn’t mean it in a cruel or dismissive way of course. He seemed genuinely curious as to what she was getting out of helping him. Twilight seems to understand the implication and seems almost...offended, hurt even, by his question, wilting slightly “Anon, I want to help you because you need help. I want to be your friend because you need a friend. It’s not because I benefit from it, it’s because helping others just comes naturally to me, like questioning things seems to come naturally to you. Nothing is motivating me to help you outside of the fact that I see you, and I see that you need help and I want to give it to you.” she said imploringly as she looked up at him with those big, soft dark lavender eyes of hers. Anon gave a long, hard look at her. Not a harsh one, just intense, searching, before he closed his eyes and sagged slightly, exhaling as he allowed himself to go lax. “Yeah, I guess I figured that was the answer I was gonna get. Sorry…” he said softly as he ran his hands slowly over his face. “It’s alright Anon, I know you must be really out of sorts right now. We don’t have to talk about this if you aren’t comfortable.” She said gently. “I’m not expecting you to just open up right away. I just want to make sure you know that if you want to, I’m here.” “Yeah...yeah, that’s...that’s fine, Twilight. That’s just fine. I appreciate it. I think I would prefer it if we just...sort of let it be for now.” He said slowly as he rubbed at the back of his head. “I appreciate you asking though, really.” Twilight nodded, and the two of them sat in silence for a long few minutes, before she decided to break it one final time. “You know, Anon...if you would like, you could always...stay with me? At the Library I mean, you could help me keep things in order. I could even probably convince the Mayor to pay you a salary. I know you don't need it but it might help you feel like..uh…” “Like I have a purpose?” he posits gently as he stretches out slightly in his seat, starting to properly feel a bit more at ease now. “What! N-no, I didn’t mean-” “Twilight, it’s fine really,” he says, cutting her off with a slow hand wave, smiling at her thankfully. “I appreciate the thought, I do, I’ll be happy to help out around the house, but only if you need the help, ya know? I wouldn’t wanna step on any little scaly purple toes.” She gives a small, relieved chuckle and shakes her head “Oh nono, Spike is my personal assistant. He helps me all around town, what I mean is more just keeping books straight, some light dusting, watching the place, and keeping it open when me and the girls are out doing things. Besides, Spike seemed to tolerate you well enough when you were watching him and Applebloom. I’m sure you’ll get along fine.” “Well, alright then. I guess if you really want me around that badly, I can stay at your digs for a while,” he said, seeming to gain back what precious little good cheer he had on offer, grinning at her cheekily as he dug through his pack to pull out his phone. “Now, how about we check out a little bit more of what’s on my phone huh? You know I have books on this thing too…” From there, the topic previously at hand (or hoof) was as good as forgotten, as the two of them stayed up together well into the night just sort of...talking. Sometimes not even about the material in question, sometimes about nothing in particular. It was good. Good enough, for now, and that was what mattered.